And Now For the Fun Part

 

And now for the fun part. That is what I kept saying, as my son looked over my shoulder day after day as I diligently worked on Ken’s Christmas present. My son is very much the creative type ( just like his mama), and I am enjoying watching his creativity bloom. He definitely has an eye for colors, style, and design. I imagine, if he had the inclination and with his amazing computer skills, he would make an awesome graphic designer or even a game designer.

There are many, many steps in the quilt-making process, especially when one is designing as she goes, as with a free-form T-shirt quilt. For one, I greatly underestimated how many T-shirts I would need. Even though Ken has a huge collection of shirts, he was rather stingy in which he was willing to sacrifice. I tried my best to make them stretch (no pun intended), but I finally had to go back to him and ask for more T-shirts. Since he could now see the beautiful thing I was creating for him, he was slightly more generous. He even gave me the shirt of his back. Of course, I had to wash it before cutting it up, though.

I also got him to give up a pair of Valentine’s boxers. No comment . . .

I had plenty of creative help, though some “helpers” were more insistent about getting their own way than others.

But where I really needed the help was with hand-washing the batting.

I chose an all-natural 100% cotton batting for this project, and if I did not pre-wash, I would have lost 3% in size with the first washing-that’s almost 3 inches in length alone. It is worth it, though, being all-natural and made in the USA.

I discovered something while working on this quilt. My work table is in front of the armoire, which my friend has yet to take even though she has paid for it. The colors in the quilt look great up against the dark cherry of my old bedroom set. Again, I regret selling it, but it had to be done.

The armoire will not fit in the RV, no matter how hard I try, and I would hate for it to be damaged from sitting in storage for years, not to mention the storage costs to keep a bedroom set so large. Ken will have enough stuff he is unwilling to part with that we will have to pay for, again and again, in storage fees.

Here, my guys are modeling the front side, when it is almost completed. It just needed the border, and then I could slap it all together. That’s Suzie in the bottom, right corner.

It took a lot of finessing, and more safety pins than one could imagine, to get the two sides and the batting to cooperate, but I finally got this quilt finished, and just in the nick of time, with Christmas right around the corner. I bet it will look absolutely beautiful in the Raven—if ever we get her back from the shop.

I just had to show off the boxers. They made it onto the quilt, whole and intact.

SEW BUTTONS ON EGGS

 

Oh, fiddle sticks. It has been an interesting month that I have been away from my writing. Life. Yes, it is a sentence. Life has been frustrating to say the least these past several weeks.

My mom always said that things happen in threes, though she was usually talking about deaths, and in particular, the deaths of celebrities. This past month’s three had to do not with death but with illness. My hubby was in the ICU with complications of his diabetes and a medicine that should never have been prescribed to a diabetic. Don’t even get me started on that subject. And the other two of the three were two friends who have also been in the hospital recently. I have had my hands and my heart full just trying to keep up in my prayers lately.

Well, (“that’s a very deep subject,” as Ken would say), crisis averted. Life is settling down now, just in time for Christmas. And me without my Christmas projects finished. Oh, my! I see a few all-nighters in my future. Lucky me.

My biggest Christmas project is a T-shirt quilt for my husband. It has only taken me at least a year to convince him to give me part of his massive T-shirt collection for this project. I have tried reassuring him that he will love the end result. He knows I can sew like nobody’s business. After all, I learned at the knees of my grandmother, who was a master seamstress, and my mother.

The quilt is coming along beautifully, though I may have to steal a few more T-shirts, and I am amazed at how quickly I am putting it together. I haven’t made a quilt since I was pregnant with my son, and it seems to me that that particular quilt took forever. But then again, I was working full time and I had a very active four-year-old too. I am just amazed at the stuff I used to be able to accomplish back then. For one, I made a good portion of my daughter’s clothes myself, that is, until she was about eight and discovered that her clothing was “different” than what the other girls were wearing. Go figure—a child not appreciating hand-made items. What is the world coming to?

So, (sew buttons) wish me luck on getting the quilt finished by Christmas. And then maybe after Christmas, I will be able to get back to the Roman shades, though we still don’t have the Raven home. The new roof is taking much longer than anticipated. Not that I begrudge Trent his family time, but did he have to choose now to go to Disneyland, when my future home is in dire straits? Actually, Trent works very hard all year long, and I am happy for him winning the vacation lottery at work, so to speak, by getting time off right before Christmas.

So, (sew buttons) here’s to all of us spending quality time with loved ones and finding peace and joy in unexpected experiences.

By the way, how do you sew buttons on eggs?

Roman Thoughts

 

The Romans were notorious for their ingenuity. Even though Rome was not built in a day, it was built magnificently. Some of the architecture from the time of Christ is still standing today, though a little worse for wear. Do you believe that anything we create today will still be standing 2000 years from now?

My brain is always questioning, always dreaming. There is always another tangent I must explore, another question to ask. Today’s tangent came about because we are making Roman shades for the Raven. All these Roman facts are wandering through my brain.

We spent several days this past week as soldiers on a mission to find the perfect fabric and other materials to make the perfect shades. Our mission led us to several local merchants. The first was The Mill End Store where we searched out bolt ends and other bargain fabrics. And of course, we found the absolute perfect remnant just big enough to create spectacular shades.

We also found the perfect fabric for the bedroom, but that will be revealed at a later date. Isn’t it funny how, sometimes if you are patient enough, the perfect item will just jump right out at you? Ken kept suggesting this and that and the other, but I kept saying, “nope, I will know the right one when I see it.” And then it was there. Perfect colors. Perfect pattern. I love when that happens. Oh, heck. I am so excited about it, I might as well show you now.

Our second stop was at The Oregon Leather Company where we dug through their scrap bins and found some rather large, beautiful pieces. Perfect. And of course, I bought too much. I teased Tinker Belle that I might just have to make her a red leather bustier. Can you imagine that for next Halloween? A Pug in a bustier? Too funny. Maybe I will just have to make all the dogs new harnesses and leashes. That is a more realistic use for the leftover leather. Oh, by the way, the bustier idea really came from a friend. I showed her my leather finds and suggested I might make myself a purse out of the red leather, and she said that it would make an awesome bustier. (Though I think she was thinking about for herself and not for the dog!)

And then on to what should have been our last stop: Scrap. It is a great store with loads of recycled items which can be used for art projects. I had hoped to find either wooden dowels or plastic ones to use as battens in the Roman shades. No such luck, but my creative fingers were definitely itching because of all those raw materials. Ceramic tiles. Carpet tiles. Wood. Magnets. Fabric. Yarn. Cardboard tubes. And little bits of just about anything you could think of. It is a great little shop, but it just didn’t have what I was looking for. I guess the best approach is to go there with an open mind. Boy, howdy, could a girl have fun there! I am thinking birthday party. Hint. Hint. Number 44 is just around the corner, girls.

Yikes. We had to make yet another stop, but that is okay because it is one of my all-time favorite recycling centers. If you want unique building supplies, you have to check out The Rebuilding Center. It is huger than huge and always has a surprise or two tucked away if you are willing to dig a little. But isn’t that the fun of treasure hunts, the digging?

With all these finds now in hand, it is a good thing that I have two slaves (sorry for slipping back into Roman times again) to help me. My guys are great to carry on when my hands or my back give out, which is all too soon and all too often as far as I am concerned. Alas, I have had to learn to sit back and appreciate what others are willing to do for me. That is not as easy as it sounds for a do-it-yourself girl, though. Most of the time, I would much rather be doing it myself, rather than just giving creative input. My guys are good to me and I love them and appreciate them more than I could ever express to either of them. I love you. Thank you for lending you fingers and your muscles to strip the old fabric off the box valances. You are awesome!

I even managed to get our neighbor involved, but he made me promise not to have his face in the pictures. That’s him on the left. Thank you, too!