In case you were wondering, of course we coordinated our outfits so we'd match. (Not really.)

On my list of things that are awesome, the opportunity to hang out with people I’ve met through this blog, Twitter, Flickr and all the other social media and web platforms that I’m part of is way up on the list. I’ve met Rachel, Kim, Melissa, Caroline, Susan and a whole slew of other folks thanks to the internet, and I’m pretty grateful for that. How did sewing dorks meet other sewing dorks before the internet?

A couple weeks ago, Josh & I drove up to Seattle for the day to meet up with Antoinette, who was in the Pacific Northwest for work. (Read all about her fun weekend meeting up with bloggy friends over here.) We had a lovely dinner at our favorite Seattle restaurant (which is both vegetarian and vegan friendly, by the way) and had a fantastic time chatting like old pals. Of course, being the dorks that we are, we forgot to take pictures until we dropped Antoinette off at her hotel.

Really, this may be the worst photo that's been taken of me this year. No lipstick, crazy hair, weird posture... Ugh.

Also, awesome is my authentic Yummy Goods Unicorn You=Awesome T-shirt. I’ve been waiting for what seems like forever for Melissa to start offering these online–who doesn’t need a little Unicorn love in their life? I screwed up and ordered a size too big, but I love it nevertheless. The best part is watching people read the shirt and then kind of grin. Unicorn makes people happy. What made me happiest, though, was the sweet way Melissa packaged my order.

Fantastic!

Orange tissue tied up with some Sugar Snap--you know I'm using this fabric as a headband right now.

The anticipation!

Some atomic fireballs--Josh snagged these. He & Melissa share a mad obsession with these candies.

I’m so glad that I photographed this, because it really made me happy on a day I was really stressed out from my hellish commute (I think it had taken me an hour to go 10 miles).

Saoirse has taken over these ottomans we made about three years ago–to the point that she gets irked when people sit on them. So flippin’ cute. Man, I love this dog much.

My world has been rocked.

A few months back, I finally sucked it up and ordered some fancy-schmancy earbuds. I have quite a few situations these days in which I need to block the world out. However, I had no clue how to actually pick out earbuds–despite being a certifiable geek, I always bought the cheapo ones. Finally, I settled on some thinksound extra-bass noise cancelers. Oh. My. God. That is all.

This summer Josh surprised me with the most awesome gift ever–a Kindle. I’ve always been a huge reader, but the last year or two I haven’t been reading much because we just don’t have the storage for books. Sure, I could use the library, but it seems like every book in the Multnomah Country Library that I want to read either has 100+ holds on it, or has been stolen. Josh got me this Kindle (which is a K2–a new one came out this week), and it’s literally changed me life. I’ve read a huge number of books in the two months I’ve had this thing, and discovered that a lot of my buddies who I know through the basketball geek community are also huge readers who love the same sorts of books as I do. I really hadn’t realized how much I missed reading every night, until I started doing it again…

Mmm... Echino.

Of course, I had to make myself a case for my Kindle, so I created a simple pattern (I know there are loads of instructions online, but it didn’t occur to me to Google) and made a sturdy case with some leftover Echino fabric I had sitting around. (By the way, have you seen the phenomenal case Quilt Dad made for Beth? So freaking awesome!) Of course, me being me, I neglected to think about how I would close the damn thing, so I have to keep it shut with a hair band. Oops. This coordinates with the awesome giant tote bag (the fabulous Jackie Clark‘s Junk Bag) that I carry everywhere (which I need to photograph for y’all).

TopPot Doughnuts in Queen Anne, Seattle.

Also awesome: doughnuts.

~Sarah

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Fremont Bridge

This spring, along with my friend Bryan, I took a wonderful digital photography class through PNCA’s continuing education program. (Shameless self-promotion alert: I’m still teaching there–check out all their wonderful, high-quality courses for the community over here.) I loved, loved, loved it–I did photography a million years ago back when I was in high school and it was one of my favorite things. (Okay, it wasn’t really a million years ago, but it was the early- to mid-nineties, before google and all that other snazzy stuff.) It’s remarkable how much I’d forgotten, but I have to say, I much prefer the digital darkroom to the “real” one I learned when I was a kid. Of course, now I’m jonesing for a fancy-schmancy DSLR. (Hey, Nikon! I’d be happy to “review” the D5000! And while we’re at it… Hey, Beats by Dre/some other headphone company! I’d also love to “review” some noise-reducing earbuds! [I obviously screwed up and never hopped on the blogger free stuff gravy train of the mid-2000s. Damn integrity...])

Some of my favorites that I took during the class are over here, if you care to peruse them…

This photo of my mom is one of my favorites I've ever taken. She looks pretty hot in that hat, right?

This bad boy's on sale right now--I receive no kickbacks from C & B, but I sure do love this couch.

In completely unrelated news, we got a new couch this past fall. (We really try to buy locally as much as possible, but this was from a chain, Crate & Barrel. And, I’ve got to say, I cannot explain how fantabulous they were, from the ease of order–we ordered online–to their wonderful delivery people. It didn’t hurt that we got a great deal on a really good couch that’s made with sustainable materials, in the United States. I have really bad reactions to the off-gassing from things like foam and the stain treatments that are put on fabrics, and this particular sofa had none of those issues. Plus is nice and wide and two people can sink into it comfortably, unlike our old, beat-up “small scale” sofa.) It’s been a great sofa, but the colors are a bit blandish–kind of a woven mix of olives, golds, rusts and sable. We have a totally funky rug that goes in front of it, so the sofa needed some livening up.

The blue in this Denyse Schmidt cheater print is one of my favorite colors ever.

Saoirse "customized" this pillow for us--do you see it? She's such a talented pooch.

These were the most ridiculously simply pillows ever. We had some of Denyse Schmidt‘s Patchwork Promenade from her County Fair home dec line laying around the house (Josh ordered a little too much from Kathy last year) and it had the perfect colors to match our funky circle rug that my mom got us for Christmas last year. I literally just cut the large 18×18 block pattern out, stitched them right sides together and stuffed them–it was certainly the easiest pillow project ever. And, they compliment our osprey pillows beautifully. I’m thinking of using the same fabric to create some large floor pillows using sets of four of those blocks and maybe some weird button action. We’ll see where that goes…

Mulberry silk fibers.

The afore-mentioned Bryan went on a really cool trip to Scotland this month, and being a totally badass friend, he picked up this bundle amazing hand-dyed mulberry silk fibers for me. How fantastic is it to have friends who know how delighted that I’d be to receive a little pouch of special fibers from Scotland? The thing is, I really don’t know what to do with it, and the tag isn’t that helpful…

"Suitable for any number of imaginative wool work and creativity projects!"

So while my first inclination is to just keep the fiber in its little pouch and play with it every once in awhile, I would love to know what to do with it, should I ever decide it wants to be something else. Ideas? Anyone?

Finally, some very exciting news–I met a BIG celebrity: Melissa Averinos’ Unicorn!

Melissa, Unicorn & I. I first met Melissa at J. Caroline's first Fabric 2.0, which Quilt Market was held in Portland in 2008.

If you haven’t watched Melissa and Beth’s awesomely quirky Unicorn Stories, you’ve missed out on something kind of mind-blowing. Stop reading and go watch right now! Turns out, I wasn’t the only person at Quilt Market who wanted to have their moment of fame with Unicorn… Unicorn gets around. Melissa has assured me that he’s just in it for the snuggles. Plus. since I now have a copy of Melissa’s new book, I can make my very own Unicorn.

Speaking of Small Stash Sewing, it is, as you’d expect, just wonderful and I love that Wiley really produced it so Melissa’s personality really shines through. I’ll write a longer review of it (urging you to hit up your nearest independent bookshop to buy it immediately) later, I swear! My copy, however, is pretty special… Look at the inscription.

I love the internet! It's amazing how the internet has allowed so many wonderful inside jokes to evolve--enough to fill up an entire book page. Though all the parts about my being "so pretty" are completely true!

Whoo! Isn’t that the best? Anytime you can slip an Atomic Fireball reference into just about anything, it’s is a good thing…

I also recently met (in real life!) the wonderful Cherri House, who it really seems like I’ve known forever, and her sweet daughter, Lizzy, who is such a talented and creative fabric designer. It’s always a treat to actually meet internet folks in real life–I love how conversations carry on like you see each other every day. (Actually, that reminds me of one of my current pet peeves; I went to a marketing seminar and the presenter talked about how “young people today” don’t make meaningful connections because they’re using the Internet and cell phones to communicate. I know that those technologies have enabled me to connect with like-mind people that I count as dear friends all around the world–and that’s a meaningful thing!)

Alrighty… That’s about all that’s up with over at Casa de Sewer-Sewist. Hope you’re heading toward good things this summer.

~S

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So, Saoirse doesn’t actually sew, but she does love hopping up on the chair in front of the sewing machine. But my mom does sew.

A couple of Mondays ago, my mom came over and hung and we each made a quick project–the Amy Butler Swing Bag. Oddly, my mom has never ever made a handbag. She had it in her head that it was really hard–and I think they’re one of the easiest things to make. She was kind of driving me crazy over the last year talking about how she was going to make a bag, but not actually doing–which resulted in lots of absurd conversations, for sure. So, we went over to Bolt and picked out fabric for each of us and she brought her machine over and we got to work.

Like I told my mom it would be, it basically took no time at all to sew up our bags–hers in a cool brown and orange Amy Butler print with a houndstooth lining, mine in an Anna Maria Horner print in aqua and blue with a complimentary lining. Here are a few photos of what we were up to (in reverse order, because my slideshow maker is not being cooperative at the moment).

It also seems like my making a quilt started an all in the family trend as well, because my mom finally pieced together the quilt kit that she’d ordered from Pink Chalk Fabrics “some time ago.” She brought it over that same day to show it off and get me to help her pick out her backing fabric (because, apparently, since I’m the only person in our family who has ever made a quilt, I’m now the resident quilting expert). Check out how gorgeous this is.

She chose a very cool Joel Dewberry print for the back, by the way. At some point, I’m going to help her sandwich and quilt the thing. (Again, how funny is it that I’m now the “expert” on quilting around here? I literally have no idea what I’m doing.)

My point with sharing this random snapshot of an afternoon is to remind y’all about how sewing actually can be a “community” thing. For knitters, crocheters and needle-workers, getting together to work on projects and share knowledge is second nature, but–despite the history of quilting bees and families sewing an entire school year’s wardrobe together back in the day–sewers don’t really do that a whole lot. It was great to get the chance to share so new tricks I’d figured out with my mom, pick out fabrics and just talk sewing. It’s a great change from the normal solitary nature of sewing as a craft.

Modern sewing machines are pretty darn portable, and fabric isn’t that difficult to transport at all. Scheduling time to meet up with folks at your favorite fabric shop isn’t that hard either–I mean, you’re going to be going there anyway. One of the things I love about watching basketball (yes, it all circles back to basketball for me), is the communal nature of it, the shared experience. Sewing can have that same effect–try it sometime.

~Sarah

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I need these Chuck Taylors. Need. Them. Unfortunately, the Converse website only has them in a size 12.5! And I wear a 7. This is a freaking tragedy. Because they’re meant to be my shoes. They’re red. They’re patchwork. They’re Chucks. They’re perfect. I’ve looked high and low online and can’t find them. So, if you see them, please, please, puh-lease let me know and send me a link. Otherwise, enjoy the gorgeous canvas shoe eye-candy.

Sigh…

~Sarah

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1.) While I was in Pittsburgh, Josh was able to put heavy-duty grommets (Or are they eyelets? I never know the difference.) in the awesome Trail Blazers-ified Gadsden flag he made me and hung it in our entryway, which is looks totally amazing. Yeah, visiting our house is probably a strange experience for newbies.

2.) When Josh picked me up from the airport, after I’d been in Pittsburgh for over a week, he met me with my favorite burrito from Laughing Planet (tempeh, pinto beans, rice, veggies, salsa verde). Some gals get flowers, I get burritos. Reason #817 I love my husband–he knows how happy a burrito would make me (I have lots of food weirdnesses, so Pittsburgh was tough on me with regard to eating).

3.) Indygo Junction’s new dress pattern, Audrey’s Afternoon Dress. I saw a bunch of them made up at Quilt Market and it’s so adorable I made one for myself this past week in Anna Maria Horner’s Good Folks fabric. I’m also loving the Bolt still had a bit of my fabric in stock, because in true Sarah form, I didn’t get enough fabric for the sleeves. I promise, I’ll post pictures as soon as I get over this stupid cold (yes, another stupid cold–more on that in a minute).

4.) This awesome quilt kit from the Quilt Company that my boss at FabShop got for me when we were in Pittsburgh. I’m not a quilter, but this super-easy (already cut!) kit doesn’t mind. It came together sooooooo easily and looks awesome. I am searching for the right backing and binding and then I’ll be done! Amazing. (Seriously, it blows my mind that me, the ultimate non-quilter, has made a swell-looking quilt, thanks to this cool kit.)

5.) This photo of our dog, Saoirse. You may not know this, but she’s the Best Dog Ever. This is the new wallpaper on my G1 (geeky smart phone–another thing I love).

6.) Homemade ice cream. Josh and I each made some today using a Mark Bittman recipe. Mine was pomegranate-blueberry-lemon, Josh’s was chocolate. Good stuff.

7.) The latest version of Flock. It’s got Facebook chat integrated right into the browser, and loads of other goodies. Get it now. You won’t regret it.

8.) The Powell’s Happy Hour. A book-related happy hour? How rad! Thanks to Susan for reminding me of this one. I chose the red glass.

9.) How to Make Books. I can’t stop thumbing through this gorgeous and useful book.

10.) Vitamin Water. Specifically the “Defense” variety. Because I keep thinking that if I drink enough of it, it will force this ghastly cold out of my body. It tastes really good, I swear. I chugged the stuff when I was in Pittsburgh in an attempt to ward off germs. I am convinced it helped. Yes, I’m aware it’s a Coke product, and therefore probably quite evil, but I love the stuff, okay? Plus, I really enjoy the weird ads that my favorite Canadian– Steve Nash–does for them.

And a Few I Don’t…

1.) Cold season. I have another head cold. I don’t remember a cold and flu season in which I’ve gotten more bugs. I just don’t get it. Summer can’t come soon enough at this point. I calculated that I’ve been sick over a month total this spring with various colds. This seems really unfair. Furthermore, in Oregon it is very, very difficult to obtain decent cold medicine, as Sudafed, etc, is prescription-only and doctors are very reluctant to write prescriptions for it because of the meth problem bere.

2.) Amy Butler’s amazing new pattern software, Softwares, is only available for Windows operating systems. So that means those of us who love Amy’s patterns but use Mac or Linux operating systems are up a creek. (Yeah, I know you can run Windows using Parallels, but I really don’t want to risk all the viruses, etc that comes along with Windows. Sorry.) Please, please, please, Electric Quilt (the producer of Softwares), make a Mac-compatible version of Softwares. I’d be all over that in a heartbeat. A lot of us would be.

3.) The NBA Playoffs are primarily on cable. We don’t have cable. This is extremely irritating, because I know that back in the day, at least the conference finals were on network television. I know that most people have cabel these days, but we don’t (factoid: Portland has the highest rate of over-the-air TV viewers of any decent-sized city). In my sickness-induced state, some playoff basketball would have been just the ticket.

4.) I had the worst cup of coffee ever in Pittsburgh. It was so bad, I had to take a picture of it. While Pittsburgh was a neat city, I was shocked at the lack of coffee shops.

5.) Crocs.

~Sarah

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Some of the original projects from "Button it Up." I got to pick a necklace to wear during the event--I sort of felt like Angelina Jolie borrowing fancy jewelry for the People's Choice Awards.

No, it hasn’t gotten to be all buttons, all the time here, but Josh and I have both been sick with various bugs–again–so we still haven’t had much of a chance to do much in the way of projects or photograph a few (now) oldies for Sewer-Sewist. I’ve also not had a chance to take pictures of my progress on my colossal project for my letterpress class through PNCA’s Continuing Education program, but I’m going to go to some printing tomorrow, so hopefully, I’ll have an update for you soon! (Hint: My big project is looking like it’s going to be bad-ass.) Anyway… I just had to share some of the pictures from last night’s awesome event in support of Susan Beal’s new book, Button it Up. (Yeah, I’ve mentioned it once or twice.)

Three of my button hairclip creations. I love these. They also reminded me that I need to accessorize more often.

Susan’s event was at the Best Bookstore in the World (aka Powell’s Books here in Portland) and was loads of fun. Not only did we get to hear all about buttons and check out the original projects from the book, Susan brought along the supplies for a really marvelous little project–hairclips embellished with buttons. It was so fun getting together with folks and working on this simple project. I honestly think I could have made button clips all night–if I’d had my way, they probably would have had to kick me out of Powell’s, clutching the tube of Dazzle Tack in one hand, vintage buttons in the other.

I love the clip on the right--Michelle snagged those buttons out of the pile and said, "These so look like you." And she was right. I wore this clip around today.

It was also lovely getting to catch up with some cool folks from around our area–and it reminded me how fortunate we are to live in a community that really fosters such creativity. In addition to Susan, I got to chat with the undeniable Queen of Craftiness Diane, Knitter Extraordinaire Lee (who also took the crown for “Best Dressed”–check it out), Baking Phenom Caitlin and my fellow member of the Blazers Craft Posse (yeah, we definitely need T-shirts), Michelle. (Y’all know about my love of assigning random nicknames to people, right?)

Three different sets of fingers digging into a rainbow of buttons.

Oh, and Caitlin and I “styled” this part of the display.

It's sort of hard to believe all these beautiful pieces are made with something as simple as buttons. It kind of blows my mind, even though I've seen a number of the items before.

I totally think that we knocked it out of the park–we could totally get jobs doing window displays at Anthropologie based on our skills here.

It was loads of fun, and reminded me of the importance of taking a bit of time to do something simple, like make a little hairclip for yourself. I felt a nice bit of creative revitalization, and I think everyone else did as well.

Don't you just want to plunge your fingers into all those buttons and play with them?

You can check out all of my pictures from the event over on this Flickr photoset.

Also, there’s still an opportunity to come do some buttony crafting with Susan and pick up a signed copy of her book. The Best Fabric Shop Ever (aka Bolt in Portland’s awesome Concordia neighbor, right on Alberta Street) is hosting a book event where you can also make a bit of buttony goodness to take home next weekend. As a double-bonus, everyone who buys the book at the event at Bolt will get their own sampler bag of vintage buttons to take home–so you can get started with your own button projects right away. Get the details here and here. As a triple-bonus, Bolt is a unique independent sewing shop, so if you haven’t been there before, you’re in for a real treat.

~Sarah

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Front of the quasi-famous "Channing for Mayor" shirt.

Anyway, Sarah made the shirts as a silly project for herself and a few friends, and doesn’t have any more. But, we still have the screen, so there is the possibility of printing some more. However, there’s a fair amount of time and labor involved, so if you’ve landed here looking for where you can find your very own Channing for Mayor shirt, please leave a comment here (if you’ve never commented before, your comment will be held for moderation) or drop Sarah a line at sewersewist [at] gmail [dot] com, with a subject line that will be kind of obvious. If there are enough folks who want one, then we’ll do a small run–probably in the red and blue shown in this photo and this photo–and put them up on Big Cartel. We’re not looking to profit from the shirts or anything (in fact, we’re not a big fan of folks looking to make money off of other people’s image–if that makes sense), but but shirts + ink + labor do add up.

Back of shirt - "Keepin' Portland Weird."

Thanks, all, for your interest in keepin’ Portland weird.

~Sarah & Josh

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And I think I’ve shared the back-story here before, but here’s a recap. Back in summer 2007, it was pretty obvious that the Trail Blazers weren’t going to re-sign my then-favorite Blazer, Ime Udoka (local guy). They also shipped off two other local guys to New York as part of a deal to get rid the nightmare that was Zach Randolph. I was pretty tweaked out that I didn’t have anyone to root for–I love the star players, but I’ve had a lifelong habit of rooting for some player who is not a star that I really like (who will then, in turn, get traded sooner rather than later). It’s not intentional, it just sort of happens organically. Anyway… In that aforementioned deal, Channing Frye came to Portland. I was listening to the radio (I’m old school that way) when he did one of his first interviews where he was being very funny, slightly weird and actually mentioned a couple of neighborhoods he wanted to check out in Portland. Like actually in the city. Not the ‘burbs. I decided this guy had potential to be kind of cool. A few days later (my memory for the timetable here is foggy), we saw him wandering around the Pearl District (he’s very tall, so kind of hard to miss), staring up at the new buildings over on Lovejoy. I thought it was really cool that he wasn’t full of crap about being excited to check out the city, and wanting to live actually in Portland–a rarity for any Trail Blazer. I like to claim that I was the first Channing Frye fan in Portland (probably inaccurate, but whatever).

Shortly after that, I added a quotation from him to my Facebook profile (the “Buffet of Goodness” one) and started joking that I wanted to meet Channing Frye and tell him that I have a quote from him on my Facebook profile. I thought this was a really funny joke, okay. It was not serious. But, as these things do, the joke grew, I started arguing with a co-worker about how “awesome” Channing is, and basically began playing this silly role of Channing Frye fan. I decided that if I met Channing, I needed to tell him that I was glad that he liked Cadillac’s so much, since I was the one who commented on his blog that he should try it. Funnily enough, the whole Channing thing seems to have gone viral among people I know, because it seems like A LOT of my friends and family have come over to my way of thinking. Even my mom says things like, “I sure hope Nate [the coach] is nice to Channing, because he’s a good guy and he need a positive work environment in which to thrive.” (My mom’s very, very funny.) Josh, too, has become a fan, wincing every time Channing misses a shot. Susan has totally embraced Channing fandom and I think I’ve even got my friend Bryan cheering for Channing. Hell, just today, even Diane–who has never struck me as a big NBA fan–said that she’d vote for Channing for Mayor on my recommendation (Portland would probably need to annex a good part of Washington County to make that happen, but whatever.).

So I finally met him.

Because Michelle kept me from chickening out.

You can totally tell from my body language that I'm spazzing out. (Thanks to Michelle's super talented hubby, Brian, for snapping these pics, by the way.)

He seemed to think my “Channing for Mayor” shirt was hilarious (or at least did a good job of pretending). He shouted “Oh yeah!” and high fived me. (Actually I was the one who had to kind of reach high, he graciously low-fived me, since he’s like two feet taller than me.) He also used the word “awesome” at some point. It was all a blur. I forgot to show off the back, which has the “campaign slogan” of “Keepin’ Portland Weird.” Oh well.

I think he's trying to do some sort of cheesy politician thumbs up, which indicates to me that he totally gets the intentional irony of the shirt.

I’ve actually never been one for tracking down famous people or whatever. I think because I’m a bit of a nerd, that it just seemed to me to be the grownup equivalent of wanting to hang with the popular kids or something. And the popular kids never liked me anyway. Back when we lived in New Mexico, I used to see Gene Hackman at Borders in Santa Fe all the time, he even held the door for me once, and never really talked to him. (Then again, what the hell do you say to Gene Hackman? My friend John once answered this question pretty well, actually, saying that if he ever met Gene he’d say, “Hoosiers changed my life.” [John: I don't know if you read this site, but if you do, you really did say this once, and it still makes me laugh every time I see anything about Gene Hackman or Hoosiers.]) There’s a lot of risk involved in meeting someone who, in the abstract, you think is awesome. What if they’re a jerk? Or have really bad B.O.? Or are just plain stupid? That would suck. I really appreciated Channing–in the minute or whatever we talked to him–being exactly like he seems in his blog, in interviews, etc. Outgoing, silly, engaged with the people around him and very Portland. That was a relief.

I'm still spazzing out in this one. Michelle, thankfully, acted like an adult. (Although that wasn't the case when she met Rudy Fernandez and his glasses.)

For the record, it was too crazy where we were at to mention the weird stuff that I’d planned on mentioning when I finally met the guy. And I’m thinking that would have been a little extreme, anyway.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming…

~Sarah

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Notice that the dog has kicked off one of her booties? She really regretted that once she realized how cold the ground was.

Ugh. It’s been frigid here in Portland, and we’ve even had a dusting of snow–a rare sight, for sure. So we’ve been stuck in the house (with the notable exceptions of Josh going to work for a few hours each day and venturing out to the Blazers vs. Kings game last night). You’d think that would help with the final push to get all of our holiday gifts finished and shipped. Yeah, you’d think. As of Sunday, this was the state of all of our gifts that needed to be made.

The pile looks pretty daunting, eh?

We sent Sunday slogging through a couple of gifts for folks–the pieced bag (for Josh’s grandma) from Anna Maria Horner’s new book and a fancy hostess apron for Josh’s stepmother (also from Anna Maria’s book). Josh’s other grandmother is going to be getting an Amy Butler Downtown Purse, which she specifically mentioned when she didn’t get one last year (she saw Josh’s stepmother‘s last year), and it’s almost done, just needs the lining sewn attached to the bag body.

Half of the pieced bag--this is looking dangerously close to quilting...

We’re on the home stretch, but totally blew our December 16 deadline. (Snow was a factor, but not the factor.) This year, we’re not attempting any insanity like last, in which we tried to make everything for everyone. That was just too stressful and exhausting. And, frankly, not everyone likes a homemade gift (weird, huh?).

In other–completely random–news, Sarah was shopping for the fabric for the pieced bag at Fabric Depot last week and was innocently minding her own business when she crashed smack into this pillar with her cart.

At least they had the decency to paint it red.

Yes, it’s a concrete pillar, the same height as the bolts of fabric, in the middle of the aisle. Hands down, The Despot has one of the most inhospitable shopping environments ever. What, they’re booby-trapping the store now?

And, finally, this is Josh’s secret holiday project. He calls it, “A Very Zombie Christmas.” Can’t say much else about it…

This guy was left over from our garage sale from hell.

Happy holidays, everyone. And please reassure us that we’re not the only ones who have totally botched up the gifting and decorating this year…

~S & J

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This dude cut strips of black, red and white felt and then sewed them to a patch to create a wig fit for a true Blazermaniac.

Next, the lady sits in the row in front of us, and sewed a great blouse out of Trail Blazers branded fabric (they sell it at The Despot) that she wears as a jacket to the games. Her collar points are a work of art, and I wish this picture was better so that you could see them in all their perfectly pointy glory.

This woman is a hardcore fan. Not only does she wear this awesome home sewn Blazers blouse, she simultaneously listens to the to games on the radio and keeps a stat sheet while watching the games. Impressive. She's kind of my personal hero now.

And finally… Josh and I got to sit in a suite in the game versus the Miami Heat because I was on the 2008 Fan Advisory Board and it was our last get-together. (This was a nice upgrade from our upper bowl seats.) The wife of one of the Board members made the most amazing sign ever. Ever. Check it out.

For those of you not in the know, "G.O." stands for Greg Oden, the team's 7 foot center who was out last year (his rookie season) due to knee surgery.

The sign was created by Michelle, who is another Crafty Blazers Nut. She made this sign using glitter and installed a battery pack (battery pack!!!) to illuminate the basketball. The glitter letters pulled the whole thing together. Needless to say, her sign is unchallenged in its awesome. However, the geniuses who operate the fan cam thing that put people’s signs on the giant jumbo-tron thing obviously didn’t understand this and failed to feature her sign. Personally, I think this is a travesty of monumental proportions. My theory is that they didn’t want all the other sign makers to feel bad because their signs didn’t involve battery packs. It’s just a theory, though.

~Sarah

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