Chill out

I left my house this morning with a hefty bag full of wool and 3 plastic bins full of fabric in my trunk and came home with nothing. Well, almost nothing. A friend gave me a book, Hip Handbags, which I will be giving away as a door prize in my Getaway Class. More on that in a bit.

So, my quilting buddies came through and took all that fabric off my hands. You should have seen these women crowded around the table: it was like sale day at Filene's Basement. I couldn't watch, but was very happy to go home without it. I have more than enough to get by. They were worried that I was going to quit sewing. Bwah ha ha! I'm not the only one cleaning out: my friend Renee brought in a collection of antique cigar tins. I was so tempted....

I keep talking about this Getaway that I am going to next week, and I think I need to explain what it's all about. Our local quilting chapter hosts this getaway every year for about 75 attendees as a fund raising event. For the past several years, it has been held at the Red Jacket Mountain View Inn in North Conway, New Hampshire, which is about an hour West of Portland, Maine. Technically, the event runs from Friday to Sunday, but the hotel gives us a great early registration rate for Thursday arrivals. Each year, the Getaway Committee chooses a theme, and the entire weekend is based on this theme, with classes and a costume dinner on Saturday evening. The hotel gives us one of their large conference rooms, Hampshire Hall (with a gorgeous view of the White Mountains), for the entire weekend. By Friday evening, the room is full of women, sewing machines, and the smell of hot irons and chlorine (the room is level with the pool entrance). It is not uncommon to see us in there at 1 in the morning, laughing, sewing and swearing (because it's late and we are getting punchy from all the candy we've been eating). I always think of it as a weekend prom for mature women. Pure fun.

As I may have mentioned, this year's theme is "Flower Power". In the past, I have taken the theme to extreme levels, with multiple outfits and accessories, and have gained quite a reputation. Now I am under pressure. Everyone keeps asking me "What are you going to wear?" For the first time ever, I have no outfits planned, no gifts for my friends, nothing. I am totally unprepared. I know that I will have fun no matter what I am wearing, but suddenly I am excited and under the gun.

So....

Mod or Hippie?

Tonight I had this idea that I'd like to crochet a granny square vest like the one I had as a little girl. It was a giant granny square on the front and back with straps. Do you think I can find a pattern for this anywhere on the web? No!!

For inspiration, I turned to my Nana's collection of groovy patterns.

Do you think I have time to make this?

OK, even if I had the time, I don't have the body.

How about this? I could make a matching one for Mr. Strange.
Shudder.

I need help! Inspiration! Bell-bottoms with fabric inserts? Jeans converted into a skirt? I could go feminist: bra-less with hairy armpits! Hmmm. Nancy Sinatra? Goldie Hawn from Laugh In? Mary Quant? Too many options. I wish I didn't have to wear glasses; I'd love to wear giant fake eyelashes. Even better: "lashes" made from flower petals. I could go as a giant flower, with petals radiating from my head. I bet someone else will do that. Last year at the "Wild Wild West" dinner, one woman came as a cactus with clothespin spines. It was a hoot. Obviously, I need to come up with something better than a tie-dyed t-shirt. The pressure!

While leafing through my grandmother's patterns, I happened across this little advertisement, sandwiched between poncho patterns.

Looks mighty familiar.

That's the same hippo on the right as pictured in the ad.

This makes me feel very happy inside. These animals did delight my heart. My Nana loved me.

I wonder what ever happened to the sheep and the seal? Maybe they ran off together.

P.S. I ate way too many Girl Scout cookies today. Evil little things.