Another species

Finally got the block cut from the picture i took of Maguire, my mule (she's "Maggie" for short).  She is the creature for whom the phrase "cuter than a bug's ear" was coined...

 

I'm planning to donate a couple of these prints to Equine Rescue League, for the auction at their spring open house on May 7th and 8th.

Lines

Now and again, i get a little impatient with Vogue patterns - sometimes, you get the idea that they're putting in funky seams for the sake of funky seams, and not to serve any purpose of interesting design.  And then i find something like this, which goes a long way toward restoring my faith:

For the way that the edge of the bodice front swoops into the edge of the pocket, i could forgive a lot of design sins.

Reasons to be thankful for Facebook

My aunt is getting ready to move to a smaller apartment, and more or less out of the blue, i got a Facebook message from her, saying she knew i liked vintage stuff, and would i like all her old gloves?  Well, i lost no time in saying please and thank you, and she shipped off two big boxes, full of gloves, linens from my grandmother's house, and doll clothes made by my great-grandmother.  I haven't properly sorted it all, but i think i found my favorite item: a pair of deep burgundy gloves in what feels like the lightest doeskin.  They're marked "Saks & Company" and though they're somewhat worn on the fingertips, they're just my size.

 And, of course, Boomer wanted to help model:

Nap hard

Napping - it's not for sissies.  Eliot demonstrates his technique:

The ones i'm keeping

Two patterns from the latest lot that won't be making it to the shop:

The Simplicity pattern (on the left) is dated 1950.  The Advance, of course, isn't dated, but since it's a printed pattern, it's got to be mid-fifties or later - Advance was one of the last companies to switch to printed patterns.  The style sure looks earlier, though - those pointed cuffs and the wide revers look oh-so early 1950s.  I love the extreme raglan sleeves on the Advance pattern, and of course, i'm a sucker for anything with unusual shirring, hence the need to keep the Simplicity...

Two tabbies, take two

Here's the second version of the "Tabby love" print, this time on black paper, and hand colored:

Instead of listing...

...i finished up carving this block today - well, it's technically yesterday, by now.  I still want to do a version printed on black paper (using the same brown ink), with a few white bits hand-colored.  But i think i need to make a little trip to pick up some art supplies first.

I did this one from a photo of Eliot and Winston... Tabby love.