My child is so hung over. She is seriously suffering from an excess of caffeine and sugar last night. Who knows how many sodas she downed. Rob saw her drink two in the space of a few minutes.
Last night's dance was very different. There were a bit over a hundred kids there and they were very well behaved. And, there were almost as many chaperones as kids. The music wasn't so great, even though it was the same dj as last time.
We heard two different stories about the low turnout. One was that the 8th graders boycotted the dance because they wanted it to be a couple of weeks ago for valentine's, so they went skating instead. The other was that the school enforced a rule that if the kids had an unexcused absence, they couldn't attend the dance unless a parent sent a note explaining the absence, which would change it to excused. If it's excused, the school district gets more federal funding. Unexcused absences count against them. Who knows.
Anyway, she had fun. She has a headache and weepy eyes and her ankle hurts and she hurt her neck dancing. Awwwwwwww. My heart goes out to her.
As far as I remember, the best cure for a hangover is yardwork, right?
And, loud music.
Have a great Saturday.
Lane
2/26/11
2/24/11
Spring pics and a binding tip
Regan asked for spring pics of the yard. I walked around this morning and took a few. I stopped about every 8 feet and took a snap, so it's kind of a continuouse panorama around two sides of the back yard.
This bed has daylilies along the front and my last remaining rose. Later, it will be a mixture of vegetables and flowers. If you look between the lilies and the stepping stones, you can just barely see the green from my snowpeas. This is the first year I've started them early enough to get a good yield, so if we don't get snowpeas this year, then I don't know what to try next. See the off white pot on the right side? That's a small lemon tree as is the pot in front of the rocker. And, yes, that is a huge whole in the side of that pot. it also doesn't have a bottom. Can't remember how it originally got broken, but it's held together by glue and good wishes and somewhere in the yard is the big chunk that's missing and I do plan to glue it back in. That pot came from my Mother's house a long, long time ago and I guess I'll baby it along until it disintegrates (but it's such a sturdy pot I don't expect that for a long time.
This is the daylily bed. The lilies were about 2 inches tall and surrounded by dead foliage when I started cleaning last friday. Now, they're about 8 inches tall. I keep a lot of tropical shrubs in pots, partly because I like to be able to move them to empty spots in the beds and partly because I can't commit...and partly because the soil in our yard has so much clay that I can care for the shrubs better in pots. There are also iris and some tall grasses and cannas, just a mixture of leaf shapes and a variety of flower colors...later.
This is my sunny sitting area. I'd like to paint the glider this year and wouldn't it be nice if the table next to it was the same color? In the foreground is my large lemon tree. It is covered in purple blooms that will open in a few days. Hopefully, being outside, I'll get some pollinization this year and we'll get more than 3 lemons in December. In the background, behind the glider is the orange tree. It is also covered in blooms about to burst open. It was a hand-me-down from neighbors that moved away and was covered in fruit the first year, but I left all the citrus trees in the greenhouse too long last year and the bugs couldn't get to them. Sydney and I tried to pollinate with cotton swabs, but it just didn't work that well (but that's a great method on tomatoes). The tree trunk on the left is a crabapple and the posts near it are supporting another crabapple. I lost half of the second one last year because the tree overhead grew too large and shadowed it. I'm trying to straighten the remaining leader branch so it grows straight up...with good success so far. I've changed it about 30 degrees and every day, I go out and move the stakes a bit closer to the trunk and straighten it a bit more. Patience.
This is the fern bed. There are a few iris here, too. And, some angel statues and a few daylilies. I hope to fill it with ferns this year. I split a big one last year into 4 pots and hope to move some of them here later this year. Rob also wants a couple of them.
And, the last bed. This is the bed that Sydney and I redid last spring. It is getting established and by summer will be full of old fashioned lilies and shrimp plant and a firestalk that blooms in fall. There are also cast iron and tall grasses so that there is something green in the bed all year long.
And, this is the one lonely daffodil. A few years ago, we gave a friend a makeover of her front bed for her birthday and she had many clumps of daffs. As we were digging, I unearthed one and took it home. Only this one survived in the damp clay. Most bulbs rot if left in the ground around here over the winter because the ground doesn't freeze.
Okay, so here's my binding tip. It's about quickly folding a binding. The pad you see is an old piece of canvas and I put a safety pin in the other side of it so that exactly 1 1/8" of the pin is exposed on this side. I fold one end of my 2 1/4" binding in half and start it under the pin. As I pull, the binding is forced to fold in half. The unfolded side of the binding is on the left of the pin (I'm lefthanded) and the iron is on the right of the pin. As the binding goes through the pin, it gets folded and as it goes under the iron, that fold is pressed in. The canvas is tough enough to handle the extended heat, but I do stand the iron up several times as I go to let everything cool off. This is easier to complete with two people. One person pulls on the right side and the other makes sure that the unfolded side doesn't get all knotted up as it approaches the pin.
I have pins set for every width of binding I've needed to make since I learned this method. (please excuse the dirty ironing surface. That's my applique pressing mat under the canvas and it gets starch stained and has to be recovered every few years.
Okay, so that's what's going on with me. If you've asked for a copy of the Sailing, Sailing quilt, I am being very selfish. I want to put a picture of the finished quilt in the pattern and I'm down to the fingerwork on the binding, so if you're under a time crunch and need it right away, let me know and I'll send it sans pics and then again when mine is finished.
This bed has daylilies along the front and my last remaining rose. Later, it will be a mixture of vegetables and flowers. If you look between the lilies and the stepping stones, you can just barely see the green from my snowpeas. This is the first year I've started them early enough to get a good yield, so if we don't get snowpeas this year, then I don't know what to try next. See the off white pot on the right side? That's a small lemon tree as is the pot in front of the rocker. And, yes, that is a huge whole in the side of that pot. it also doesn't have a bottom. Can't remember how it originally got broken, but it's held together by glue and good wishes and somewhere in the yard is the big chunk that's missing and I do plan to glue it back in. That pot came from my Mother's house a long, long time ago and I guess I'll baby it along until it disintegrates (but it's such a sturdy pot I don't expect that for a long time.
This is the daylily bed. The lilies were about 2 inches tall and surrounded by dead foliage when I started cleaning last friday. Now, they're about 8 inches tall. I keep a lot of tropical shrubs in pots, partly because I like to be able to move them to empty spots in the beds and partly because I can't commit...and partly because the soil in our yard has so much clay that I can care for the shrubs better in pots. There are also iris and some tall grasses and cannas, just a mixture of leaf shapes and a variety of flower colors...later.
This is my sunny sitting area. I'd like to paint the glider this year and wouldn't it be nice if the table next to it was the same color? In the foreground is my large lemon tree. It is covered in purple blooms that will open in a few days. Hopefully, being outside, I'll get some pollinization this year and we'll get more than 3 lemons in December. In the background, behind the glider is the orange tree. It is also covered in blooms about to burst open. It was a hand-me-down from neighbors that moved away and was covered in fruit the first year, but I left all the citrus trees in the greenhouse too long last year and the bugs couldn't get to them. Sydney and I tried to pollinate with cotton swabs, but it just didn't work that well (but that's a great method on tomatoes). The tree trunk on the left is a crabapple and the posts near it are supporting another crabapple. I lost half of the second one last year because the tree overhead grew too large and shadowed it. I'm trying to straighten the remaining leader branch so it grows straight up...with good success so far. I've changed it about 30 degrees and every day, I go out and move the stakes a bit closer to the trunk and straighten it a bit more. Patience.
This is the fern bed. There are a few iris here, too. And, some angel statues and a few daylilies. I hope to fill it with ferns this year. I split a big one last year into 4 pots and hope to move some of them here later this year. Rob also wants a couple of them.
And, the last bed. This is the bed that Sydney and I redid last spring. It is getting established and by summer will be full of old fashioned lilies and shrimp plant and a firestalk that blooms in fall. There are also cast iron and tall grasses so that there is something green in the bed all year long.
And, this is the one lonely daffodil. A few years ago, we gave a friend a makeover of her front bed for her birthday and she had many clumps of daffs. As we were digging, I unearthed one and took it home. Only this one survived in the damp clay. Most bulbs rot if left in the ground around here over the winter because the ground doesn't freeze.
Okay, so here's my binding tip. It's about quickly folding a binding. The pad you see is an old piece of canvas and I put a safety pin in the other side of it so that exactly 1 1/8" of the pin is exposed on this side. I fold one end of my 2 1/4" binding in half and start it under the pin. As I pull, the binding is forced to fold in half. The unfolded side of the binding is on the left of the pin (I'm lefthanded) and the iron is on the right of the pin. As the binding goes through the pin, it gets folded and as it goes under the iron, that fold is pressed in. The canvas is tough enough to handle the extended heat, but I do stand the iron up several times as I go to let everything cool off. This is easier to complete with two people. One person pulls on the right side and the other makes sure that the unfolded side doesn't get all knotted up as it approaches the pin.
I have pins set for every width of binding I've needed to make since I learned this method. (please excuse the dirty ironing surface. That's my applique pressing mat under the canvas and it gets starch stained and has to be recovered every few years.
Okay, so that's what's going on with me. If you've asked for a copy of the Sailing, Sailing quilt, I am being very selfish. I want to put a picture of the finished quilt in the pattern and I'm down to the fingerwork on the binding, so if you're under a time crunch and need it right away, let me know and I'll send it sans pics and then again when mine is finished.
I'm also working on an applique quilt. A friend shared the Keepsake Quilting kit with me a couple of years ago. I am about half through with my first block, which is the pears, third row down, left side. I was going to do this as machine applique, but decided it was too pretty for that and I wanted to do hand applique. Now that I've gotten so far along, I'm not so sure that machine applique would have been any quicker for me as I would have had so much more prep for my applique pieces. I'm loving needle turn now that I'm actually doing it right. I've taken so many shortcuts when I tried in the past and ended up with such disasters that it's quite fulfilling to see it unfold when done correctly. I'll share more about that in another post.
Take care and have a great Thursday.
Lane
2/23/11
Spring has sprung
It's spring in Texas. The daylilies have jumped up 4 inches since Sunday, when I worked in the yard last. The Forsythia, while it is not going to bloom for me this year (probably because we moved it last year) is leafing out, as is the mock-orange. We've pulled the big potted plants out of the shed and the lemon and orange trees are starting to bloom. And, a single narcissus has bloomed in my flowerbed, left from a bunch of bulbs planted years ago that didn't survive.
Spring makes my mind wander. Spring is all about renewal, newness, fresh starts. I see it in my garden and I love the idea that a plant that didn't work out last year can start fresh this year and give it a try. How lucky that must be...to be able to forget about the past and put everything into the future; an investment that you hope will pay off.
And, as the caregiver to my garden, I try to give each plant its shot at a great year. I feed them and I clean around them to prevent disease. I make sure they get plenty of water and when they have done all that they are supposed to do, I cut them back and wait for another spring to come and bring its fresh start.
How I wish sometimes that people got such a dramatic fresh start every year. A chance to forget all that happened in the past and try again. I guess that we have the advantage of not needing to wait until spring. We can take a fresh start any time that we want one.
So, why not today? I think that today I will make an effort to forget the things that bother me. An effort to work on me instead of all the detritus that surrounds me. A chance to leave any failures behind and only think of successes, past and future.
Spring is not the time to wax nostalgic, but the time to yearn for the good of the future.
I'm going to grab all the good I can this year; all the warm days, all the flower smelling, all the time spent in the porch swing, all the gardening time. And, all the family time and sewing time I can.
Lane
Spring makes my mind wander. Spring is all about renewal, newness, fresh starts. I see it in my garden and I love the idea that a plant that didn't work out last year can start fresh this year and give it a try. How lucky that must be...to be able to forget about the past and put everything into the future; an investment that you hope will pay off.
And, as the caregiver to my garden, I try to give each plant its shot at a great year. I feed them and I clean around them to prevent disease. I make sure they get plenty of water and when they have done all that they are supposed to do, I cut them back and wait for another spring to come and bring its fresh start.
How I wish sometimes that people got such a dramatic fresh start every year. A chance to forget all that happened in the past and try again. I guess that we have the advantage of not needing to wait until spring. We can take a fresh start any time that we want one.
So, why not today? I think that today I will make an effort to forget the things that bother me. An effort to work on me instead of all the detritus that surrounds me. A chance to leave any failures behind and only think of successes, past and future.
Spring is not the time to wax nostalgic, but the time to yearn for the good of the future.
I'm going to grab all the good I can this year; all the warm days, all the flower smelling, all the time spent in the porch swing, all the gardening time. And, all the family time and sewing time I can.
Lane
2/22/11
Oodles and oodles to talk about
Wow, so much has happened in just a few days. Time flies when I'm having fun, tho. First, thanks so much for your kind comments on Sydney's dress. We all love it. Unfortunately, I let her read the post and this morning, she introduced the idea of wearing jeans. She thinks she looks too grown up in the dress and showed me pictures of what other girls are wearing. And, they are not wearing anything like the purple dress. Grrrrr. Okay, so that's fine. It's okay that I spent $70 on that outfit for her to decide not to wear it. The important thing is that she's comfortable in what she chooses to wear. And, if it comes to it, I'll make her clean house in the dress to get our money's worth out of it...I mean a lot of housecleaning to pay off the time and money we spent...something like painting the outside of the house maybe. Anyway, just shows how fickle she can be.
On to happier thoughts. I want to talk about my birthday haul. My Mom sent the first gift. She renewed our subscription to Nat'l Geographic. We love that magazine and Rob and Sydney will read every word in every issue. Me, I stick to the highlights, but they are glued to every copy for the first week after it arrives.
My friend Coloradolady (for me, the REAL Coloradolady) sent me this wonderful bunch of fabrics! Thanks, Suzanne! I opened the envelope and thought, how beautiful. Rob looked and found a deeper meaning (his hobby is looking for deeper meanings). The fabrics on the left are all about the passage of time. The center is based on an owl print, so I have attained the wisdom of an owl. And, the stack on the right is neutrals because time and wisdom have made me more neutral in my actions. Not sure if Suzanne meant all that, but hey, it kept Rob interested for several minutes.
Rob gave me this huge windchime. I shouldn't even show this picture because it's not clear, but the thing weighs at least 13 pounds and goes "Dong!" in the wind. It's like a buddhist monastery bell. The neighbors have one too, so when you stand between them, it's like hearing the dong in stereo.
I got a lot done over the weekend. You've seen one quick snap of the baby quilt that is waiting a binding. And, here is my February Linus quilt. I knocked out the FMQ in 2 1/2 hours. That is a record for me.
I'm getting pretty good at knocking out these random swirls and points and curves. I have a couple of tops that would benefit from this kind of loose, all over, meander quilting.
And, I finished that shirt I cut out Friday afternoon. This fabric was supposed to be my muslin. I paid $1 a yard for it. But, after I looked at it for a while, I decided I liked it, so saved it to use later. It looks much busier in this photo than it does in person. But, it's going to make a great addition to my "Hawaiian themed" shirts for this summer.
And, I put away my shirt pattern (on the right), with all it's alterations and success stories and pulled out Rob's patterns (on the left). It's time to make the man a shirt. He's picked out two fabrics, one a semi Hawaiian theme and one a vintage looking route 66 printed fabric...not a map, but stops along the highway and roadsigns. Really cute fabric...so cute that I'm afraid to cut into it. But, I know a lot more about making shirts than I did before, so I'm pretty confident that I don't need to make a muslin of his pattern. I just need to measure very well and compare him to the pattern pieces.
Pauline had suggested that I try a pattern from the Authentic Pattern Company that was based out of Dallas. They designed western wear and I finally got my hands on a pattern. That's the one you can barely see in the middle of Rob's pile. The left one is for Rob's Hawaiian shirts and the right one is so we can put a real collar on those shirts, with a collar stand, instead of the camp collar in that pattern.
And, finally, I did get started on some applique. I opened my kit and studied it and decided that it was too beautiful for me to use to learn machine applique, so I put my hex project back in it's box and started some applique for my finger work for a while. It's a 12 block kit and I'd like to think I'm ambitious enough to finish in 12 months, but hey, let's be realistic. I'll get bored with it in a month and it will go into the regular rotation of finger work projects that I pull out, work on a bit, and put down. It's just the way I am. And, it's good to accept who I am...at least it helps set reasonable expectations.
Take care and have a great Tuesday. Lane
On to happier thoughts. I want to talk about my birthday haul. My Mom sent the first gift. She renewed our subscription to Nat'l Geographic. We love that magazine and Rob and Sydney will read every word in every issue. Me, I stick to the highlights, but they are glued to every copy for the first week after it arrives.
My friend Coloradolady (for me, the REAL Coloradolady) sent me this wonderful bunch of fabrics! Thanks, Suzanne! I opened the envelope and thought, how beautiful. Rob looked and found a deeper meaning (his hobby is looking for deeper meanings). The fabrics on the left are all about the passage of time. The center is based on an owl print, so I have attained the wisdom of an owl. And, the stack on the right is neutrals because time and wisdom have made me more neutral in my actions. Not sure if Suzanne meant all that, but hey, it kept Rob interested for several minutes.
Rob gave me this huge windchime. I shouldn't even show this picture because it's not clear, but the thing weighs at least 13 pounds and goes "Dong!" in the wind. It's like a buddhist monastery bell. The neighbors have one too, so when you stand between them, it's like hearing the dong in stereo.
I got a lot done over the weekend. You've seen one quick snap of the baby quilt that is waiting a binding. And, here is my February Linus quilt. I knocked out the FMQ in 2 1/2 hours. That is a record for me.
I'm getting pretty good at knocking out these random swirls and points and curves. I have a couple of tops that would benefit from this kind of loose, all over, meander quilting.
And, I finished that shirt I cut out Friday afternoon. This fabric was supposed to be my muslin. I paid $1 a yard for it. But, after I looked at it for a while, I decided I liked it, so saved it to use later. It looks much busier in this photo than it does in person. But, it's going to make a great addition to my "Hawaiian themed" shirts for this summer.
And, I put away my shirt pattern (on the right), with all it's alterations and success stories and pulled out Rob's patterns (on the left). It's time to make the man a shirt. He's picked out two fabrics, one a semi Hawaiian theme and one a vintage looking route 66 printed fabric...not a map, but stops along the highway and roadsigns. Really cute fabric...so cute that I'm afraid to cut into it. But, I know a lot more about making shirts than I did before, so I'm pretty confident that I don't need to make a muslin of his pattern. I just need to measure very well and compare him to the pattern pieces.
Pauline had suggested that I try a pattern from the Authentic Pattern Company that was based out of Dallas. They designed western wear and I finally got my hands on a pattern. That's the one you can barely see in the middle of Rob's pile. The left one is for Rob's Hawaiian shirts and the right one is so we can put a real collar on those shirts, with a collar stand, instead of the camp collar in that pattern.
And, finally, I did get started on some applique. I opened my kit and studied it and decided that it was too beautiful for me to use to learn machine applique, so I put my hex project back in it's box and started some applique for my finger work for a while. It's a 12 block kit and I'd like to think I'm ambitious enough to finish in 12 months, but hey, let's be realistic. I'll get bored with it in a month and it will go into the regular rotation of finger work projects that I pull out, work on a bit, and put down. It's just the way I am. And, it's good to accept who I am...at least it helps set reasonable expectations.
Take care and have a great Tuesday. Lane
2/21/11
Sydney buys a dress
This Friday night is the school's Spring Dance. Yes, Rob and I are chaperoning again and yes, I am terrified...read why here. Our own little Syglets decided she wants to wear a dress this year. First garment that she's worn voluntarily other than jeans and a t-shirt since she's been with us.
So, the two old men took her on a full day of shopping. We went to our favorite store where we always have lots of success and the prices are right. The first dress she tried on was too "Easter Sunday". Second dress didn't fit. Third dress was covered with ruffles...all over...everywhere. Hated it. But, she liked it and Rob liked it. I hated it so much that I touched each and every other dress in the store and held most of them up so she could turn her nose or roll her eyes at them. But, I kept hunting and eventually, I found this dress. Not much bettter, but some better. A little too "Suzy goes to a spring wedding" for me.
I don't think she understands quite how uncomfortable she's going to be on Friday night in this dress and we're going to take jeans in the truck...just in case. We've already decided that she has to wear a pair of her spandex volleyball shorts underneath it. Who knows, maybe she'll take to dresses like RuPaul did and we won't be able to get her out of them after this.
Rob is thinking of getting a tattoo that says Cell Block D to scare boys away with.
After the dress, there were shoes. She wanted purple and we couldn't find them, and after two stores ended with this pair of black flats. And, while we were buying the dress, we forgot to get a slip, so we had to stop at yet another store for that. By the time we ate lunch and got home, Rob and I both needed a nap.
As, did the cats.
I can't quite believe that our little tomboy wants to wear a dress.
Take care and have a great Monday.
Lane
2/19/11
2/17/11
La Camisa de rojo manta escocesa (finale)
Yes, this is the last post about the red plaid shirt. It's in the laundry basket now, waiting to be washed and I'm hoping that the "wings" in the shoulders will relax.
So, this is the shirt from the front. We're having so much trouble getting that tiny red and white plaid to photograph. A flash distorts the fabric and no flash makes it look kind of orange, doesn't it? Anyway, we have a good fit. The sleeves are a good length. The collar fits well. There's an extra half inch in each shoulder that i don't need and won't be included in my pattern going forward.
Here's the view from the back. I do have small triangles on the back that Peter addressed yesterday, but I don't plan to do anything about them. Look at the left shoulder. See that bit of a wing that stands up? You only see it because the shoulder doesn't slope down. Not sure there's anything I can do about it. I'm going to wait and see what the hot clothes dryer will do for me.
And, no, I'm not showing off my non-existent "guns" here. But, rather the fit of the sleeve, which I'm pretty happy with.
So, that's the red plaid shirt. I've made a promise to at least finish the baby quilt before I start anything new. I will finish, I will, I will, I will.
Actually, I'm almost done with the quilting...maybe another two hours and then just the binding. And, then I'm going to work on a machine applique project. This is supposed to be the year of machine applique for me and I haven't done a thing. I'm going to be following Harriet Hargrave's method for Mock Hand applique, which I love, but am not very good at. It is definitely a skill that needs practice. I was gifted a couple of kits two years ago and haven't started either one, so I set that as my goal this year. But, I've let myself be distracted. So, as soon as I figure out how to use two sewing machines at one time, one with each hand/foot combination, I'll be able to make clothes with my right hand and applique with my left. That should work out real well, huh?
As for the dog fight yesterday, after Rob and I discussed it, we decided that it was best not to call the police or animal control on a neighbor. This time. There's something hard about reporting people that know where you live. People are crazy.
Anyway, life goes on and I have yard work on my mind (in addition to applique). We are in our spring and this morning, I set out the snow pea bushes that I started in the potting shed a few weeks ago. I also have shasta daisy seeds that are up and am waiting and hoping on some white moon flowers bush seeds like the ones my great grandmother used to grow. She gave me a seed pod in the 70's and for many years, I kept generations of plants growing from that. But, I got older and that slipped away. I got some seeds from a neighbor and started them in peat seed starters, but they haven't broken through yet. Still got my fingers crossed on that. I'll also be converting the potting shed to a sunroom this summer, with my cushioned patio furniture and expect to have a table that I can sew on out there. I can take out a featherweight.
Okay, so that's big dreams for a little bit of space. We'll see what I actually get.
Take care and hope you're having a great Thursday. I might just ask for tomorrow off. If I get to everything I need to do today. We'll see.
Lane
So, this is the shirt from the front. We're having so much trouble getting that tiny red and white plaid to photograph. A flash distorts the fabric and no flash makes it look kind of orange, doesn't it? Anyway, we have a good fit. The sleeves are a good length. The collar fits well. There's an extra half inch in each shoulder that i don't need and won't be included in my pattern going forward.
Here's the view from the back. I do have small triangles on the back that Peter addressed yesterday, but I don't plan to do anything about them. Look at the left shoulder. See that bit of a wing that stands up? You only see it because the shoulder doesn't slope down. Not sure there's anything I can do about it. I'm going to wait and see what the hot clothes dryer will do for me.
And, no, I'm not showing off my non-existent "guns" here. But, rather the fit of the sleeve, which I'm pretty happy with.
So, that's the red plaid shirt. I've made a promise to at least finish the baby quilt before I start anything new. I will finish, I will, I will, I will.
Actually, I'm almost done with the quilting...maybe another two hours and then just the binding. And, then I'm going to work on a machine applique project. This is supposed to be the year of machine applique for me and I haven't done a thing. I'm going to be following Harriet Hargrave's method for Mock Hand applique, which I love, but am not very good at. It is definitely a skill that needs practice. I was gifted a couple of kits two years ago and haven't started either one, so I set that as my goal this year. But, I've let myself be distracted. So, as soon as I figure out how to use two sewing machines at one time, one with each hand/foot combination, I'll be able to make clothes with my right hand and applique with my left. That should work out real well, huh?
As for the dog fight yesterday, after Rob and I discussed it, we decided that it was best not to call the police or animal control on a neighbor. This time. There's something hard about reporting people that know where you live. People are crazy.
Anyway, life goes on and I have yard work on my mind (in addition to applique). We are in our spring and this morning, I set out the snow pea bushes that I started in the potting shed a few weeks ago. I also have shasta daisy seeds that are up and am waiting and hoping on some white moon flowers bush seeds like the ones my great grandmother used to grow. She gave me a seed pod in the 70's and for many years, I kept generations of plants growing from that. But, I got older and that slipped away. I got some seeds from a neighbor and started them in peat seed starters, but they haven't broken through yet. Still got my fingers crossed on that. I'll also be converting the potting shed to a sunroom this summer, with my cushioned patio furniture and expect to have a table that I can sew on out there. I can take out a featherweight.
Okay, so that's big dreams for a little bit of space. We'll see what I actually get.
Take care and hope you're having a great Thursday. I might just ask for tomorrow off. If I get to everything I need to do today. We'll see.
Lane
2/16/11
In the heat of the moment...
People do stupid things in the heat of the moment. We don't think. We act. And, our judgment is all clouded with adrenalin. And, we do stupid things.
I have a hard and fast rule about big dogs. Stay away.
I have a hard and fast rule about animals fighting. Stay away. Okay, if the animals are really small, and if I have shoes on, I might insert a swift kick. But, that's about it.
But, when there's a person involved, the rules get all muddy.
This morning, I was in the back yard with our dog Bella and I heard a dog fight. Hey, it happens, although personally, I've never needed more than a strong word or a smack to break up anything between any of my pets. Next, I heard a woman in the dog fight. I assumed that she was walking her dog and one of the neighbors dogs got out and that she was in distress. When I got to the gate, I saw a woman, two pit bulls and a small dog. One pit bull and the small dog had leashes. The woman was trying to pull the pit bulls off one another and I assumed that she'd been jumped as she walked by.
But, as I tried to sort out which dog was hers so I could help with the rescue, I found out that all three dogs were hers. I held the small dog back while these two pits tried to kill one another. Seriously. But quietly. Not the growling and barking and violence that I'd expect from a dog fight. Just grabbing one another by whatever they could, usually the throat, and hanging on until they drew blood.
And, then she said, "let that one go (the small one) and grab this one by the back legs." My response should have been "What the &*#$? You're nuts!" I can remember two thoughts going through my head; "these are both her dogs and she knows whether they'll bite me". And, "this is the stupidest thing you ever did."
So, I grabbed and the dog was not at all interested in me and I dragged and the dog pulled and jerked and I dragged. And, just as we got the dogs apart, the dog I had hold of turned and snapped at me, not even a serious or threatening snap, but I let go. And, then, we started all over again. Me dragging and the dog pulling and us getting them several feet apart and my dog snapping and me letting go. And, we did this for about 10 mintutes. During which, both dogs ended up covered in blood from some serious bites. The woman ended up covered in blood, presumably, dog's blood, but I don't really know. And, she ended up covered in mud and dirt from being tackled and dragged and knocked down. And, she wasn't a young woman. She was at least mid 50's.
It didn't take long to figure out that the mistake was getting the dogs where they couldn't see one another, so she pulled hers into a fenced area in her back yard while we watched and she closed a gate.
And, I dropped my dog's legs and put my hands on my hips and in my most sharp and furious and high pitched, adrenalin filled voice, announced "This is insane and I will NOT be coming back to help you again." I heard her talking behind me as I stomped away home. I neither know nor care what she said. I think there were some apologies and some attempts to explain. Doesn't matter. Having pets you can't control is not right. What if this had all happened to some pedestrian and their pet. What if all the dogs hadn't belonged to the same...idiot.
I wasn't hurt, but it's a wonder. I changed my clothes, even though I didn't seem to get anything on me. I washed my arms up to the elbows several times, but can't get my hands to feel clean. The adrenaline is burning off now and my breathing is more normal.
When I told Rob about it, I apologized to him for putting myself in such a dangerous position. That was all I could think to do. It wasn't herioc. It was idiotic. All I did was put the lives of these two dogs, that had obviously been trained to fight, above my own and above my responsibilities to my family.
After he finished telling me how much my family needed me and BOTH my arms and legs, we agreed that we would be more careful about the situations we got into, in the heat of the moment.
Life is never dull.
Lane
I have a hard and fast rule about big dogs. Stay away.
I have a hard and fast rule about animals fighting. Stay away. Okay, if the animals are really small, and if I have shoes on, I might insert a swift kick. But, that's about it.
But, when there's a person involved, the rules get all muddy.
This morning, I was in the back yard with our dog Bella and I heard a dog fight. Hey, it happens, although personally, I've never needed more than a strong word or a smack to break up anything between any of my pets. Next, I heard a woman in the dog fight. I assumed that she was walking her dog and one of the neighbors dogs got out and that she was in distress. When I got to the gate, I saw a woman, two pit bulls and a small dog. One pit bull and the small dog had leashes. The woman was trying to pull the pit bulls off one another and I assumed that she'd been jumped as she walked by.
But, as I tried to sort out which dog was hers so I could help with the rescue, I found out that all three dogs were hers. I held the small dog back while these two pits tried to kill one another. Seriously. But quietly. Not the growling and barking and violence that I'd expect from a dog fight. Just grabbing one another by whatever they could, usually the throat, and hanging on until they drew blood.
And, then she said, "let that one go (the small one) and grab this one by the back legs." My response should have been "What the &*#$? You're nuts!" I can remember two thoughts going through my head; "these are both her dogs and she knows whether they'll bite me". And, "this is the stupidest thing you ever did."
So, I grabbed and the dog was not at all interested in me and I dragged and the dog pulled and jerked and I dragged. And, just as we got the dogs apart, the dog I had hold of turned and snapped at me, not even a serious or threatening snap, but I let go. And, then, we started all over again. Me dragging and the dog pulling and us getting them several feet apart and my dog snapping and me letting go. And, we did this for about 10 mintutes. During which, both dogs ended up covered in blood from some serious bites. The woman ended up covered in blood, presumably, dog's blood, but I don't really know. And, she ended up covered in mud and dirt from being tackled and dragged and knocked down. And, she wasn't a young woman. She was at least mid 50's.
It didn't take long to figure out that the mistake was getting the dogs where they couldn't see one another, so she pulled hers into a fenced area in her back yard while we watched and she closed a gate.
And, I dropped my dog's legs and put my hands on my hips and in my most sharp and furious and high pitched, adrenalin filled voice, announced "This is insane and I will NOT be coming back to help you again." I heard her talking behind me as I stomped away home. I neither know nor care what she said. I think there were some apologies and some attempts to explain. Doesn't matter. Having pets you can't control is not right. What if this had all happened to some pedestrian and their pet. What if all the dogs hadn't belonged to the same...idiot.
I wasn't hurt, but it's a wonder. I changed my clothes, even though I didn't seem to get anything on me. I washed my arms up to the elbows several times, but can't get my hands to feel clean. The adrenaline is burning off now and my breathing is more normal.
When I told Rob about it, I apologized to him for putting myself in such a dangerous position. That was all I could think to do. It wasn't herioc. It was idiotic. All I did was put the lives of these two dogs, that had obviously been trained to fight, above my own and above my responsibilities to my family.
After he finished telling me how much my family needed me and BOTH my arms and legs, we agreed that we would be more careful about the situations we got into, in the heat of the moment.
Life is never dull.
Lane
2/15/11
Red plain shirt post, next to last one
Okay, so what did I learn by making the red plaid shirt?
1. White writing paper is not a substitute for pattern tissue. I'd rather draw patterns on gift wrap tissue next time than white paper. I couldn't see through the white paper and while it was a dream to draw on and make adjustments on, moving seam and cut lines around and erasing mistakes, I should have then traced onto tissue to use to cut the garment. There is a reason patterns are printed on tissue, even if it is fragile.
2. Don't add size to the shoulders when you really only need size in the gut. And, that's enough about that. The shirt hangs off my shoulders like an extralarge ready-to-wear shirt would and my size is large. So, I'll be using the original pattern pieces for the two front panels and for the shoulders in the yoke. I can still add size down the center of the back and yoke to add some extra size to the collar, which on the pattern is too tight. I can get some size in the gut by cutting the sides of the back and the sides of the front panels in straight lines rather than the fitted curves in the pattern. Should give me an inch and a half around the middle.
3. Bulk is bad. Not much to add there either. I showed some really bad seam lines a few days ago and I took all of them out and cut away all the bulk and put them back in and everything worked out much better. There's more about this process in the pictures below.
First, I put the wrong sides of the fabric together and sew the seam with a quarter inch seam line. This is just the first seam line, so don't worry that it's not the seamline on the pattern. I trim this seamline down to an eighth of an inch. I know, that's not enough to hold a garment together, but it's not the seamline that holds the garment together, so it's okay.
And, then I sewed that sheath down a quarter of an inch away from the second seamline. All of this is inside the garment...
1. White writing paper is not a substitute for pattern tissue. I'd rather draw patterns on gift wrap tissue next time than white paper. I couldn't see through the white paper and while it was a dream to draw on and make adjustments on, moving seam and cut lines around and erasing mistakes, I should have then traced onto tissue to use to cut the garment. There is a reason patterns are printed on tissue, even if it is fragile.
2. Don't add size to the shoulders when you really only need size in the gut. And, that's enough about that. The shirt hangs off my shoulders like an extralarge ready-to-wear shirt would and my size is large. So, I'll be using the original pattern pieces for the two front panels and for the shoulders in the yoke. I can still add size down the center of the back and yoke to add some extra size to the collar, which on the pattern is too tight. I can get some size in the gut by cutting the sides of the back and the sides of the front panels in straight lines rather than the fitted curves in the pattern. Should give me an inch and a half around the middle.
3. Bulk is bad. Not much to add there either. I showed some really bad seam lines a few days ago and I took all of them out and cut away all the bulk and put them back in and everything worked out much better. There's more about this process in the pictures below.
4. Don't cheat on the flat felled seams. Just do it. The right way.
So, here is the story of how I make my flat felled seams. Or at least how I made them the second time.
First, I put the wrong sides of the fabric together and sew the seam with a quarter inch seam line. This is just the first seam line, so don't worry that it's not the seamline on the pattern. I trim this seamline down to an eighth of an inch. I know, that's not enough to hold a garment together, but it's not the seamline that holds the garment together, so it's okay.
Then, I fold the shirt right sides together and sew another quarter inch seamline, capturing my original eighth inch seamline inside. When I did this, the excess fabric kind of "unwove" and flattened out nicely inside it's protective sheath.
And, then I sewed that sheath down a quarter of an inch away from the second seamline. All of this is inside the garment...
So what you see from outside is a nicely flat felled seam. Tee-hee.
Not that you can see it because the tiny plaid of the shirt confuses the heck out of my cheap camera.
Last night, I picked out the seams on the second side of the shirt and this morning, I redid them and got all the buttons sewn on. Now, when it's hemmed, it's finished. That's why this is the next to last post. There'll be another where I show me in it, soon as it's hemmed.
Okay, so that's what I learned from this shirt. Now that I have a second one under my belt and am more sure about sizing my pattern. And, now that I've learned several things not to do when making a shirt, I think I'm ready for the next step of Peter's sew along. And, not a minute too soon.
Oh, and Sydney retook the spanish test yesterday and feels very good about it. Now, we're working on getting some missing homework assignments finished and turned in before the grading cycle is over. A parent's work is never done.
Have a Great Tuesday. It's a special day for me, so it should be special for everyone. I declare it to be so! Let all of mankind be happy in celebration of my birth!
Or not.
Lane
2/14/11
Happy Valentine's Day
Valentine's day is a very commercial day, all wrapped up in expectations and disappointments and commercialization. But, despite my jaded attitude about the candy and the cards and the balloons and flowers, I see the day as a great opportunity to say I love you to a sweetheart. Actually, I take every day as a great opportunity to say I love you to my sweetheart.
Some days, it is a mumbled "luv u" on the way out the door. Some days, it's a passionate, overwhelming "I love you" as a show that something is going well. Sometimes "I love you" is the same as "Thank you". And, sometimes it's another way of saying "I'd kill you dead in your tracks if my laser vision wasn't on the fritz".
But my favorite is the "Luv you" said on the way out the door. That one means I'll miss you and I look forward to when we are back together and safe under the same roof, focused on the same things again. Because, really, that's what love is all about, right? Being focused on the same things again and being glad of it?
----------------------------
I've been reviewing my weekend and have found myself at my desk with a bunch of notebooks scattered around that hold the details of my life. On top of the quilting notebook and the work stuff notebook and the details notebook that contains my many lists, now I have a spanish notebook, full of my scrawling script of things to remember; words translated, verbs conjugated and usage hints.
There is no half way here. I either jump in with both feet and help my child in school...or I don't. I can't just sit back and watch, waiting until the grades slip to the point where she can't recover.
Here's what the teacher and I learned from both of us talking to Sydney. She told the teacher that spanish is boring. She told me that spanish is hard. For my kid, those are the same thing. When it got hard, she stopped paying attention and didn't put the effort into it and it got boring because she couldn't understand what was going on in class.
The teacher let them do group activities and my devious child realized that if she got with a group of students that learned spanish as their primary language, she'd get all the group stuff right. Then, they rearranged her schedule and she got moved to a different class and suddenly, grades started to drop.
And, that's where dear old dad kicks in and does what dear old dad does best...he solved the problem. Okay, so she still can't speak spanish after our weekend cram session, but she can speak it better and she has a better understanding of the chapter the test was on. And, we both think she will do better on the retest that the teacher is offering her today.
But for me, there was a lingering anger that I shared with Rob, but never with Sydney. She created a situation where everyone in the house lost a weekend because she didn't want us to get involved from the beginning. She wanted to keep us out of her stuff, and when she couldn't handle it, then we had to sacrifice to help her out. And, it makes me just the tiniest bit angry.
Okay, a lot angry. But the closest I got to expressing it was after we had played a two hour game in spanish that I invented and we both enjoyed, I pointed out how fun it was and that we could have been having that fun all year long.
Giving up our own time to help them out when they need us is what parenting is all about, huh?
And, I walked away from the weekend with a feeling of great success. I worked hard and I did what I needed to do. And, I walked into work with that feeling of confidence from success. And I'm feeling better about work, too.
So, I guess I'd better get to it. Take care and have a wonderful Monday.
p.s. I got the whole "bad" side of my shirt unsewn last night and most of that side put back together this morning. I'm going to take the other side apart as well because I can do better than I did. I'll post more about what I learned as a sewist from that experience tomorrow.
Lane
Some days, it is a mumbled "luv u" on the way out the door. Some days, it's a passionate, overwhelming "I love you" as a show that something is going well. Sometimes "I love you" is the same as "Thank you". And, sometimes it's another way of saying "I'd kill you dead in your tracks if my laser vision wasn't on the fritz".
But my favorite is the "Luv you" said on the way out the door. That one means I'll miss you and I look forward to when we are back together and safe under the same roof, focused on the same things again. Because, really, that's what love is all about, right? Being focused on the same things again and being glad of it?
----------------------------
I've been reviewing my weekend and have found myself at my desk with a bunch of notebooks scattered around that hold the details of my life. On top of the quilting notebook and the work stuff notebook and the details notebook that contains my many lists, now I have a spanish notebook, full of my scrawling script of things to remember; words translated, verbs conjugated and usage hints.
There is no half way here. I either jump in with both feet and help my child in school...or I don't. I can't just sit back and watch, waiting until the grades slip to the point where she can't recover.
Here's what the teacher and I learned from both of us talking to Sydney. She told the teacher that spanish is boring. She told me that spanish is hard. For my kid, those are the same thing. When it got hard, she stopped paying attention and didn't put the effort into it and it got boring because she couldn't understand what was going on in class.
The teacher let them do group activities and my devious child realized that if she got with a group of students that learned spanish as their primary language, she'd get all the group stuff right. Then, they rearranged her schedule and she got moved to a different class and suddenly, grades started to drop.
And, that's where dear old dad kicks in and does what dear old dad does best...he solved the problem. Okay, so she still can't speak spanish after our weekend cram session, but she can speak it better and she has a better understanding of the chapter the test was on. And, we both think she will do better on the retest that the teacher is offering her today.
But for me, there was a lingering anger that I shared with Rob, but never with Sydney. She created a situation where everyone in the house lost a weekend because she didn't want us to get involved from the beginning. She wanted to keep us out of her stuff, and when she couldn't handle it, then we had to sacrifice to help her out. And, it makes me just the tiniest bit angry.
Okay, a lot angry. But the closest I got to expressing it was after we had played a two hour game in spanish that I invented and we both enjoyed, I pointed out how fun it was and that we could have been having that fun all year long.
Giving up our own time to help them out when they need us is what parenting is all about, huh?
And, I walked away from the weekend with a feeling of great success. I worked hard and I did what I needed to do. And, I walked into work with that feeling of confidence from success. And I'm feeling better about work, too.
So, I guess I'd better get to it. Take care and have a wonderful Monday.
p.s. I got the whole "bad" side of my shirt unsewn last night and most of that side put back together this morning. I'm going to take the other side apart as well because I can do better than I did. I'll post more about what I learned as a sewist from that experience tomorrow.
Lane
2/13/11
Red plaid shirt in the light of day
I've had the night to think about it and here's my honest critique of the red plaid shirt. Rob agreed with everything that I found. First, the shirt looks good. Fix a couple of problems and it's perfectly suitable for either of us to wear to work. Unfortunately, the fabric is not a good one. It's like a knit instead of a woven cotton and it stretches and it has a lot of bulk in the seams.
Like this shoulder seam. Way too much fabric in there. And, that half inch I added to each side? Ididn't need it. I'll be taking that back out of the pattern.
An, dthe cuffs are too long. I made two adjustments to the cuff and only needed one.
So, now, it's deciding whether the shirt is good enough to take both cuffs off and take one shoulder out. I'll have to decide on that. Not happening right away. That knitted fabric is nearly impossible to rip a stitch out of. We'll see.
But first, mas de Espanol.
Like this shoulder seam. Way too much fabric in there. And, that half inch I added to each side? Ididn't need it. I'll be taking that back out of the pattern.
An, dthe cuffs are too long. I made two adjustments to the cuff and only needed one.
So, now, it's deciding whether the shirt is good enough to take both cuffs off and take one shoulder out. I'll have to decide on that. Not happening right away. That knitted fabric is nearly impossible to rip a stitch out of. We'll see.
In the meantime, here are 165 very hardworking safety pins in a Linus quilt that needs to be seen to.
But first, mas de Espanol.
Have a great Sunday. Lane
2/12/11
Hola! (Red Shirt post 4)
Como estas? Me llamo es Pepe. Quien es el muchacho? Oye Felipe!
Ugghhhh
Okay, so everything is done except the buttons and the hem. Even the buttonholes are in.
This is me making french seams then then sewing them down in a mock flat felled seam that's so much easier for me than a real flat fell
And, this is me in my muslin, which I wore all day. And, now it's in the laundry. I wanted a picture before I washed it in case it came apart in the machine.
Take care. I'll show it all buttoned up tomorrow. I'm going to sew the buttons on by machine, so this should go quick. Lane
Ugghhhh
Okay, so everything is done except the buttons and the hem. Even the buttonholes are in.
This is me making french seams then then sewing them down in a mock flat felled seam that's so much easier for me than a real flat fell
And, this is me in my muslin, which I wore all day. And, now it's in the laundry. I wanted a picture before I washed it in case it came apart in the machine.
Take care. I'll show it all buttoned up tomorrow. I'm going to sew the buttons on by machine, so this should go quick. Lane
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
