Deadly Notions - By Elizabeth Lynn Casey Page 0,89
know you were there.”
“I was counting on that.”
“You were?”
He nodded, his feet closing the gap between them as his focus remained trained on her face. “I was also counting on finding you at home . . . alone. Only you weren’t there.”
“That’s because she’s here. With us.” Margaret Louise tugged her still closer, planting a kiss on the top of her head. “She saved most of our necks by pluggin’ away ’til she figured out the truth.”
“Lulu calls Victoria the expert finder-outer.” Melissa reached across the table and patted Tori’s hand. “She says there’s nothing in the whole wide world her Miss Sinclair can’t find.”
Milo cleared his throat to reveal a voice that was unnaturally raspy. “Actually, there’s one thing.”
She swiveled in her chair to meet his gaze head-on. “There is?”
He nodded. “Though just the other night you claimed you had, only you hadn’t. Not the right one, anyway.”
One by one she looked from Milo to Margaret Louise to Melissa to Leona to Rose to Debbie to Georgina to Beatrice to Debbie to Dixie and back again, each face sporting the same look of confusion she felt on hers.
Except Milo.
His face was simply unreadable.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she finally said.
Reaching for her hand, he tugged her off her stool and into the center of the room, the bakery virtually empty except for the members of Tori’s sewing circle. “Remember what you said about finding me?”
“About finding you?” She felt her brows furrow only to settle back to normal as her memory filled in the missing blanks. “Yes, I remember. I said I’d found the diamond in the rough when I found you.”
“And do you know you almost gave me a heart attack at first?”
She stared at him as the confusion returned. “Milo, I’m sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Dropping to his knees amid a burst of squeals, Milo glanced over at Margaret Louise and shrugged. “My apologies to Lulu.”
“Lulu?”
“Hush, Victoria,” hissed Leona. “There’s a time and a place for all those silly questions of yours. But now is most definitely not that time, dear.”
“What is everyone talking—”
The words disappeared from her lips as Milo reached into his back pocket and extracted a red velvet box. With careful fingers he opened it and held it in her direction. “I’d intended to do this in private but, once I got here, I realized I couldn’t have picked a better spot if I tried.”
She gazed down at him through lashes that were suddenly tear-dappled. “Milo, I—”
“Let me finish.” He reached up, pulled her left hand down, and entwined his fingers with hers. “It was here, in this very bakery, where we had our first date. And it was in front of these exact people that I began falling in love with you. So, when you take all of that into account, you’ll realize there really isn’t a better place on earth for me to ask this question.”
“What question?” she whispered as the butterfly brigade took flight in her stomach once again, their constant presence tied to all things Milo.
“I said hush, Victoria. He’s getting to that.”
Margaret Louise clapped a hand over her sister’s mouth. “Don’t mind her, she won’t make another peep.”
Shaking his head softly, Milo tightened his grip on Tori’s hand and smiled up at her as if they were the only two people in the room. “Tori? Will you do me the great honor and pleasure of becoming my wife?”
Sewing Tips
Use a pencil sharpener to sharpen a dowel rod, and then soften the tip with sandpaper to create a handy tool to help add stuffing or turn items.
Felt is a great material for children learning to sew because it is a firm fabric and even large stitches will hold it together.
Machine stitching on felt can be difficult to remove without damaging the project, so it is wise to use pins to secure the pieces and to double-check measurements and placements before sewing the pieces together.
The blanket stitch and the whipstitch are nice decorative stitches for hand sewing felt projects. Even stitches provide the most attractive results.
Use a smaller needle when working with felt. Larger needles create larger holes which don’t disappear easily.
Felt is a nice material for craft sewing projects, but because of the way it is made, it doesn’t stretch easily so it may not be the best choice for clothing that needs some ability to stretch.
When felt is stretched, it will lose its shape and irreparable holes may also be created.
The edges of felt do not fray when cut and look good straight or pinked in many crafts.
When sewing by hand, cut your thread in 20-inch lengths to help prevent tangling.
Place a thimble on the second finger of your sewing hand to assist in pushing the needle through the fabric.
Aim to keep stitches small as large stitches will tend to create gathers in material when pulled too tight.
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Sewing Patterns
Felt Food Patterns
Experience:
Some sewing experience is helpful.
Materials:
Craft felt in a variety of colors
Embroidery floss in a variety of colors to match or complement felt colors
Thread in colors to match or complement felt colors
Quilt batting or Poly-Fil
Cardboard for making templates
Washable fabric marking pen or chalk
Sharp scissors
Straight pins
Needle for hand sewing
Directions
Use cardboard to create templates.
Trace around the templates onto felt using a washable fabric marking pen or chalk.
Use two strands of embroidery floss when hand sewing.
Bread Slices
Cut two 4-inch squares of ivory-colored felt for each bread slice. Cut a rounded edge on each corner. Cut quilt batting the same size and shape. Cut ½” x 17” strips of tan-colored felt for crust. (If you are using 8 ½” x 11” craft felt, you will need to cut two ½” strips and overlap them as you sew them to the ivory felt.) Use a whipstitch to attach the tan felt strip to the ivory square, overlapping and securing the end. Place quilt batting in the center. You may need to layer more than one piece depending on the thickness of the batting. Add the other ivory piece to the top of your bread slice and whipstitch it in place.
Lunch Meats
Cut two 4” circles of felt in colors for the lunch meat of your choice. Pin circles together and machine stitch near the edge or use a blanket stitch to sew by hand.
Cheese Slices
Cut two 4” squares of orange-colored felt. Pin squares together and machine stitch near the edge or use a blanket stitch to sew by hand.
Peanut Butter or Jelly
Create a blob shape to fit within a 4” square bread slice. Cut two blob shapes in tan or purple felt. Pin shapes together and machine stitch near the edge or use a blanket stitch to sew by hand.
Rippled Potato Chips
Place two pieces of ivory-colored felt on top of each other. Machine stitch lines every ¼” to create the look of rippled chips. Cut 2” x 2 ½” chiplike ovals from the rippled felt. Machine stitch around each chip near the edge.
Chip Bag
Create a bag for chips with two pieces of felt 4 ¾” wide by 5 ½” tall. Use pinking shears along the top edge. To create a logo, sew a strip 4 ¾” wide by 1 ¾” tall across the center of one piece by machine or by hand using a whipstitch. Cut a 2 ¾” circle and place it on top of the strip and sew in place by machine or by hand using a whipstitch. Place front and back sides of bag with right sides together. Pin in place. Sew around the sides and bottom of bag by machine. Clip corners. Turn bag right-side out.
Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Cut two 3” circles of tan felt. Cut scraps of dark brown felt into small rectangles about ¼” x ½” to resemble chocolate chunks. Sew small dark brown rectangles onto one of the tan circles using a whipstitch. Sew tan circles together using a blanket stitch, leaving a space for adding Poly-Fil. Continue sewing closed.
Berkley Prime Crime titles by Elizabeth Lynn Casey
SEW DEADLY
DEATH THREADS
PINNED FOR MURDER
DEADLY NOTIONS
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Sewing Tips
Sewing Patterns