All Wrapped Up In One . . .

Creativity isn't just about the finished project,. Crafting, painting or sewing can create moments of beauty during an ugly time; memories with a good friend; or cheer during moments of loneliness.  All of those things were created at my house over the past few weeks.

While Amanda was home for her grandpa's funeral, she made me this beautiful sunflower wreath.  She had made one for herself - a little reminder of her Kansas roots while she's living in the dessert - and I requested one for my door. 

And speaking of Amanda, when she is at home in the dessert, she works with abused children.  With some help from my mom and my sister, we are furnishing each girl (and boys, if they choose) a doll and doll blanket.  This week I ran across kits for a "self-binding receiving blanket".  I didn't want to pay the price for the kit, but I found the instructions on YouTube from Missouri Star Quilt Co.   They advertise it as a 10-minute project.  It's closer to 30 when I'm doing it, but it's still a quick, easy way to make a binding with mitered corners.  I used the technique to finish some doll-size quilt tops, then made one from this adorable penguin flannel.  A yard and a quarter of both the flannel and the coordinating fabric makes four doll blankets.  I also threw in a few "dolly diapers".  

You had to know there would be a bag of some sort in my crafting.  This basket is just the right size to hold pencils, sewing notions or the TV remote.  My sister requested two to use as Easter baskets.  I found the pattern on Riley Blake Designs via Pinterest.

I cleaned out and sorted my fabric stash according to size - then went in search of projects on my Pinterest boards to use up some of the small pieces.  Some were more successful than others.

First up was this fabric "lily plate" from Michelle Made Me.  This project turned out to be more complicated than I expected.  I am marginally happy with the results, but I will make some adjustments in the technique before I try again. 

 

Fabric Christmas trees were a bust. They looked so cute in the pin from this blog but not so at my house.  Part of the problem is that I chose fabrics that are too similar and thus the tiers have very little definition.  The majority of the problem is that I thought it would be cute to fussy cut the top tier and center Santa's face.  It's not.  My trees look like The Nightmare Before Christmas meets The Coneheads.  I'll try again - some day - in better fabric choices.

My favorite new pattern was for these simple potholders.  These are a great way to use up scraps - especially leftover 2" strips - and there are dozens of color/arrangement combinations to make them unique. Best of all - no binding! 

For the top potholder, I used 4 strips each of three different fabrics, plus a fourth fabric for the center hexi and backing.  For the bottom version, I used two strips each of six fabrics and lined them up so that like fabrics touched.  I intend to make more of these and will probably add a second layer of Insulbright batting.  One layer isn't enough heat protection if you have to hold the pan for more than a few seconds.

There was more crafting as part of a Sister Weekend, but that's a post for tomorrow.  

This post is linked to Needlework Tuesday (hosted by Heather at Books and Quilts), Inspiration on Monday (hosted by Trish @ Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity, and Fall Pin It/Do It, also hosted by Trish.  And all of them at least a day late!  

I'm Just Done!

I am plum tuckered out!  Dog tired! I've got one wheel down and an axle dragging!

Dave's step-father has been in the last stages of cancer for awhile now. Within the last month, he had progressed to the stage that he needed someone with him 24/7.  His sister and daughter covered the majority of the time, but I got called to fill in for a weekend. Nurse is high on the list of things I will never be.  Thank heaven for hospice nurses and aides that handle that area.  Preparing meals, doling out medications on schedule, and washing bedding are things I can do well, so I was happy to take my turn.  

During my visit, he experienced a time of increased pain that the medication wasn't handling so, to comfort him while we waited on the nurse, we read scripture, prayed and discussed his faith and his assurance of where he was going.  This is not a side of my father-in-law that I've seen a lot and I feel blessed that we had that time.

That bout with pain was the beginning of a downturn and a few days later, hospice suggested that time was short.  Our daughter who lives in New Mexico wanted to come for a visit and we had her on a plane within a few hours.  I spent the next week driving --- to the airport (90 minutes), to my father-in-law's home (4 hours), home, airport, home, father-in-law's, home, airport . . . He passed away on Wednesday the 2nd and the funeral was a couple days ago.  

Yesterday I returned Amanda to the airport.  On the way, she received a text that her flight was delayed 2.5 hours!  It used to be a joke that Amanda's planes were always delayed, but it's not that funny any more.  Albuquerque and Kansas City are both small airports and many of the flights in and out are "commuter" flights - small planes run by subsidiaries of United, US Airways and American Air.  Evidently they are all incapable of running on schedule, staffing reliable crews, and maintaining a fleet of planes.  Yesterday was the last straw.  I called United and asked for my money back - which they agreed to.  In fact, they even agreed to refund the "change fee" they had charged me because THEIR ineptitude meant Amanda would miss her connecting flight in Denver and had to be rescheduled.  And they saw nothing ironic or wrong with that!  From now on, this family flies Southwest exclusively.

Today I woke up with a mongo head cold and sore throat.  I am supposed to get back into my car for a trip to Omaha (90 miles) and a doctor appointment for a completely unrelated issue.  I debated rescheduling to avoid the drive and spreading my germs, but I finally decided to just get it done.  Armed with Day-Quill, Kleenex and hand sanitizer, I'm headed out shortly.  

I'm three days late getting started on the Re-Readathon hosted by Bex @ An Armchair by the Sea.  But when I get home, I plan to collapse on the couch with a comfort book and a cup of tea.  I'm starting with "Out to Canaan" by Jan Karon - the first of my favorites I'll be re-reading.

It's In the Bag

My fascination with sewing bags and totes continues.  I completed two bags this week - one is adorable and one not so much.

The adorable is the Origami Bag from The Crafty Mummy.  It's about as simple as a bag can get:

• Sew 2 18" squares together - turn, press and top stitch
• Fold all four corners toward the center of the square, pin and stitch 1/2" from the folded edge to form the casing.   (The amount you fold determines the size of the "ears" and the depth of the bag.  Mine are 5", measuring from point to top of the casing.)
• Thread ribbon or cord through the casing and voila! - an adorable drawstring bag.  

The not-so-adorable bag is this "teacher's bag", the first of two I'm making for my nieces. The bag is designed to hold a Rubbermaid file holder, which functions both as an organizational aid and as a framework to give the bag shape.   As my luck usually runs, Rubbermaid has discontinued them.  I found an office supply site that offered the rack below as a replacement with a promise that the measurements are the same.  The width is adjustable and the sides fold in. 

 With careful arrangement, the completed bag doesn't look too bad.

But what woman is going to take the time to pose her bag every time she sets it down??  Under normal use, the bag looks more like this:

The sides of the plastic file holder are not high enough to give structure as it appears on the pattern, and the sides of the holder do not lock in place, so they have a tendency to fold inward. It's inconvenient and makes it harder to load papers, etc.  Although it's a usable bag, it's not what I want to give my nieces.  Fortunately I have enough fabric to begin again with another pattern.   This time the bag gets it's shape from heavy-duty interfacing.

So, it's "back to the drawing board" or, in this case, the cutting table.

This post is linked to Needlework Tuesday, hosted by Heather and Quilts & Books.  

Retirment Fantasy: Bout of Books Day 3

Today's challenge is hosted by Sarah @ Rocky Top Real Talk.  As a child of the 90's, she remembers playing the MASH game.  Although it wasn't called MASH, we had something similar in my childhood.  Girls will always find a way to fantasize about their future.  Sarah's challenge was to put our own twist on the game.  She suggested using fictional characters from our favorite novels as the leading men, fictional locations as our possible hometown, etc.   Since I've been married for better than thirty years, and the number of children I will have has long since been decided, my sister and I decided to take our own twist.  So here is my Retirement MASH:

I will retire in a   [type of dwelling]    in _[place]____, with my husband, Dave.  We will have __[#}_____ grandchildren, who visit frequently.  I will drive a ___[type of vehicle]______, to my __[hobby]_.  I will have free time to read _____[#]     book(s) per week.

M-A-S-H (MASH stands for Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House.) 

Place                            #Grandkids             Car                     Hobby                #books
Hutchinson Is, Florida           7                  VW Bug          Greeter @ Wal-Mart          2
Outer Banks, NC                   5                  Mercedes        Bowling                            1
Bar Harbor, ME                    10                 HoveRound     Photography                     4
Manhattan, KS                      6                 Range Rover    Shopping                           3
  
So, there you have it - my retirement plan according to the MASH game.  MASH normally stands for Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House. 

Dave and I retire to our split-level home in Manhattan, KS (home of Kansas State University.  Go Cats!).  Our 10 grandchildren will  visit frequently to attend games with us.  I drive my VW Bug to take my award-winning photographs of the tall-grass prairie and flint hills surrounding Manhattan.  All this keeps me so busy I only have time to read 1 book/week.

Wait just a dog gone minute, Tami - S is supposed to stand for Shack.  

I know, but I chose to reject that plan and substitute my own - which is to live in a lovely 4 bedroom, split-level home with in-ground swimming pool.  

But that's cheating!  You can't just make up whatever future you want.

That's true.  Even the best laid plans sometimes get hit with unforseen circumstances, but this is my retirement fantasy and, to paraphrase Evelyn from Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg, "Face it girls, I'm older.  I have more 401K" 

Bout of Books - Day 2

Forces have conspired to keep me from getting much reading done - work, a sewing project on deadline, a car that needed to go to the shop . . . wasting time with games on my phone.  I promise to do better the rest of the week.

I have managed to find time to enter today's Book Scavenger Hunt hosted by The Book Monsters.  Here are my finds:

Books beginning with the letter B

Blue Books

A book I hope to read during the readathon:

Books from my favorite genre - Mystery

     - I included the entire series that tops my fav list.  

My TBR shelf -  At least 5 of those are Dave's, so it's not just me.

Needlework Tuesday

The next step in my plan to update my living room is recovering Dave's recliner.  I started out to purchase a new one, but after multiple stores, styles and colors I realized that the best compromise between our widely varied tastes was the La-Z-Boy chair we already have.  And why buy a new one when this one is structurally and functionally sound.   So I spent hours one afternoon at the upholstery shop looking at at least 50 books of potential chair coverings.  The options are overwhelming.  Fortunately, a designer friend helped me understand not only color, but pattern, texture, durability and "hand" - how the fabric feels to touch - and I was finally able to make a decision. 

Totally by coincidence, the upholstery shop I chose shares their building with a quilt shop.  (I'm trying to look surprised.)  So of course I browsed through the rows.  Lots of beautiful fabric and lots of beautiful projects on display . . . and one thing I have never seen before.  A large basket held "Scrap Bags".  Each bag was filled to bulging with the leftovers from the beautiful projects the store staff made for display.  These were not remnants, which are normally yardage.  These were the sections left from yardage when blocks or patterns are cut.  The fabrics were packaged according to color/coordinates or theme.  Of course, you can see the outermost fabrics to have a glimpse at what you're getting, but the complete variety and size of pieces remains a mystery until you get home.  For $8, I decided to give it a try.  I'm very happy with what I got:

Most pieces are strips - width of fabric by anywhere from 4' to 15"

These are obviously cut from some sort of panel or border fabric.  They may be more challenging to incorporate, but fun.

My bag also included some random pieces in related colors.  The largest piece I received was 2 strips, each 3 yards x 15".  The smallest were 4" squares.  I'm not sure how I'll use this scrap bag, but I'm sure they'll show up in future projects.

Also part of my living room re-do, the decorator/friend suggested some large, bright floor pillows to counter my tendency for solid color furniture, and because Dave lays on the floor to watch TV.  I found these patterns at the same store:

I'm participating in a reading challenge this week, but maybe I can actually slip in some sewing time.

This post is linked to Needlework Tuesday, hosted by Heather @ Books and Quilts

Bout of Books Readathon: Better Late Than Never

Whew!  I'm sliding in under the wire.  The Bout of Books Readathon starts today.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 17th and runs through Sunday, August 23rd in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 14 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. 

Theresa at Armchair by the Sea, who is hosting the Re-Readathon beginning September 7, called Bout of Books the push she needed to finish up what she's reading now, so she'll be ready to sink into some old favorites.  It's not to late to join both Readathons.


Fictional World Travel Challenge:  The first challenge of the readathon is brought to you by Leann at Between Library Shelves.  The idea is to choose 3 to 6 books of fiction, set in countries other than the one where you currently reside.  I learned something about myself - I'm not very adventerous in my reading.  It proved difficult to come up with a third book.

Brava, Valentine by Adriana Trigiani is set in Italy.

The collection of English Country House Murders is self explanatory.

The Gunslinger by Stephen King is a bit of a stretch, 

but it takes place in the fictional world called Mid-world.

I'm off to the library to broaden my fictional world.