Sewing, claying, and market-going

I’ve been eager for the farmers market season to start around here, but upon checking the Jersey Fresh website, I found that most local markets aren’t starting up for another few weeks at least.  The one I particularly like to go to is starting at the end of the month.  Since I was heading an hour south this morning to go to the monthly NJPCG workshop, I decided to see if there were any open markets near the meeting.  I lucked out and found one.

It was on an awkward corner, in a trafficky area, and I’m pretty sure I spent more time trying to get into and out of the market than I did walking around it.  Still, I was able to get myself some radishes, scallions, strawberries, and a big ol’ garlic pickle to share with my pickle boy, Eamonn.

I kept my produce in one of those silver keep-things-cold kind of bags while I was at the workshop, but the strawberries didn’t like it much and were mushy by the time I got them home.  I need to use them fast – any ideas?  I need to use them in a recipe that doesn’t require them to look attractive.  A batch of jam would be perfect, if I had some pectin lying around.

(Oh, and can I just say how much I am really loving my new camera?  Such fun to take pictures at the market today!)

I wasn’t feeling overly inspired at the guild workshop today, but I did manage to mix a few custom colors to go with the Chocolate Lollipop fabric by Anna Maria Horner.  I made a couple of canes, too, before packing it in and going home.  When I get a chance, the canes will be used in buttons (of course!) so I can swap out the button on my Chocolate Lollipop purse, and also so that I can put a handful of them in my Etsy shop.  I haven’t added anything new there in a while.

I did a little sewing last night.  First up, these cropped lounge pants that I had cut out over a month ago but never sewn together.  They’re made from a bedsheet identical to the ones that I had on my bed as a kid.  I bought the sheet when I found it on eBay, but I probably should have just called my mom to see if she still had the original.  You never know…

And speaking of bedsheets, Elizabeth sent me this one the other day, and I just love it!  I’m a big greens and blues kind of girl, so this really appeals to me.  I didn’t use a book or a pattern for this skirt.  Instead, I traced my Valentine’s skirt on the fabric because I just loved the fit of that one and have only gotten to wear it once.  This sheet is soooo soft and broken in.  Love it!

I’ll leave you with one final, completely unrelated to anything, thought:  I saw Amy Karol talk about Goodreads last week, so I checked it out.  And now I’m wondering, where does the crafty blogging community mostly hang out?  Goodreads or LibraryThing?  It’s not like I plan to spend a whole lot of time there or anything, but it seems that if I’m going to have a web presence for my book collection at all, it should be in a place where the most people I know and know of will be.  Make sense?  So.  Are you guys using one of these services, and if so which?  My initial impression is that LT is more of a serious site, and GR is more social-networky, but I’m not sure how accurate that is.