Look what I found at IKEA

I don't shop at IKEA very often, and I was there the other day and discovered that they sell fabric by the yard. A lot of the fabrics are upholstery weight, some are lighter weight blends. This is one I bought - it's a cotton/linen blend, 60" wide, and was only $7.99 a yard. The print is pretty big - I was thinking of making a table runner, but am now thinking of maybe just hemming it and making it a tablecloth. They have a lot of their signature large-scale Swedish prints, some nice stripes, and some solids. I didn't see anything more than $7.99 a yard.

What I've Been Working On Lately

Today I finished my PhD dissertation. This is the culmination of 6 years of study and research and also the end of a VERY long week of editing, referencing, and eventually printing. It is 130 pages long and barely fits in the folders that I bought for the copies that I am about to deliver to my committee members. This thing is LONG but somehow the thickness doesn't seem adequate to contain the years that have gone into it. I think everyone feels this way. For today, I'm glad it's finished. Next week I start working on my defense presentation.

Beach Bag

I made my first beach bag this week. I found the pattern while I was shopping with Kathy and Reenie, and I believe they were making fun of all of the fabrics I bought to make beach bags. (I was just planning to make one for everyone I know!) Anyway, I finished it in about 2 nights, and have started the second one. We will look pretty stylish on the beach this summer. And, if you're lucky, I'll make you one!

Fabric Finds in Ohio

Here are some of the fabrics I bought in Ohio. Kathy, Pam and I had a great time checking out some of the fabric shops. Pam took us in her Prius, we figured out how to use the GPS system, and we went on a little shop hop. We found 4 shops in the Cleveland/Akron/Canton area. We had so much fun that we didn't take any pictures of us, so I only have this one of some of the fabrics I bought. The one on the bottom of my stack is an upholstery-weight Amy Butler fabric - I'm thinking tote bag for that one. The others will find their way into various other projects. I also came home with a couple patterns - one for a quilt and one for a quilted beach bag. So I better get to sewing!