CLOSED!

The laugh's on me!!

This was the second time I've been to the Thai/Asian market. The first was when I left my camera memory card in the computer, the second yesterday. Hope you can read the sign. They were closed to celebrate Vietnamese New Year, Feb. 15, 16, and 17. They reopen the 18th. That is today. If all goes well, Dana and I will go again today and I will actually take photos of this place. Click to see the closed notice up close.

In case you are wondering about the gun photo, Kansas has a conceal/carry permit law. If the business posts this sticker on their doors, you are not allowed to take your gun into the business. If there is no sticker, you may bring your concealed gun onto the premises.


As we were about to leave, I took a shot of the entire building. Note the empty parking lot.

Before I could get closer, several cars pulled up, one right after the other,

and like lemmings heading to the sea, each headed for the closed store,

only to turn around in disappointment.

A much needed break brought us to KFC

and our carry out. Since I'm a vegetarian, I promise to NOT tell you what is in the packages.

What would a day be like if I didn't have a tiny bit of art fodder to discuss? Here are three of the six sweaters I bought last week at the thrift store. They have been felted and shrunk quite nicely.

In case you don't know about wool felting (which I didn't until I got a lesson from Dana, whose bachelor degree is in fiber arts), wool, cashmere, and other natural animal fibers can be woven, then shrunk to tighten the weave. You may have heard it called "boiling wool," a term used before synthetic or artificial fibers. All you need is a bit of soap, hot water, and your washing machine (agitation) to turn a big, loosely woven sweater that is at least 50% wool into felt. The one on the left is cashmere, the other two in the photo are 100% wool.

There are other ways to felt, but this process is called "wet felting." Of course, you could always get a ball of yarn, knit or crochet your own piece, then wash in hot water. But this project was more fun, simpler, and so much faster.

All the sweaters I purchased were 100% natural animal fibers. You can see how these sweaters shrunk around their labels. They will make awesome backgrounds for art quiltlets, but you more frugal readers might want to use them to make real quilts, blankets, hats, purses, or afghans.

And here is an update by Margaret on the Project Dress Up project.

I've had a little (time to ) think about the project in general. I orginally
proposed to post my dress and the Linky at the end of each
month but with themes such as Valentines it seems a shame
to do it after the event!

Therefore, I'll post my February dress and Linky by the
middle of next week but from March onwards the link will
be posted on the 1st of every month (for the upcoming month)
until the end of the year. The links never close and you
can add your dress of the month at anytime.

I want to thank Margaret for the update. So look for my February dress sometime next week. I know many of you asked about it when I was making it, but by following the rules, I have given you something to look forward to.

One final update is on the tip-in I started yesterday. I have done nothing with it. In fact, it is still on my scanner. I may scrap the background and start over, but one way or the other, I hope to make something Mardi Gras ish this weekend.

So are you ready for a healthy dose of fiber? Today's blog is actually a web site that leads you to many textile and fiber artists. It is called Textile Threads. If you like what you see, you can click on the link at the bottom of each post and go to that person's blog. You will feel full to the brim of fiber after you check out all these blogs today.