’tis the season

It must be the beginning of summer. There is lots of busy happening, and not much posting, by me or anyone else lately.
A week ago the big yard sale here on the peninsula was somewhat of a bust – it was rainy off and on. We went to a few while Ryan was here; I did the best at an estate sale across the street.  Here’s a couple of the *treasures*:   Singer model 99K complete with buttonholer attachment and hard case.  I found this twin bedspread hand crocheted and in near pristine condition  – it will make a beautiful tablecloth:  along with a few other linens ( of course ).
There were lots of bad ceramics at the estate sale across the street, but I had to have these two pots  which are both funny and frightening:   Do owls have snake eyes like the white one?They are big – each will hold a 10" pot.

I know that June is usually the wedding month, but seems more like birthday season has landed. I made these linen bins for Ryan 
  They were a simple pattern that I drew up, and I embroidered just the big one.

After the crappy weather that we’ve been having, I jokingly told my neighbor that I’d make her an ark. On a whim, I made this little ‘ark’ for her new little kitten – Cheetoe  who immediately took possession of it. And, it quit raining for a day or two.

I painted the kitchen. Orange. pics later.

School let out today, and tomorrow we’re leaving for Vancouver and Victoria. Richard6 has never been to Canada (or on a ferry!), and is anxious to have his new passport stamped.  We’ll be there a couple days and be in Seattle for the weekend. I’m so excited to be done with monitoring all the school stuff.
Here’s hoping for good weather while we’re there.

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the (endless) project list

The past week has been busy with the fence project. Ugh. Not a lot to say other than it’s slow going. And I’m achey from the digging,  carrying lumber, and serious weed pulling / brush clearing. I’m not used to hard physical labor anymore, I guess, and a lot older than when it was the norm for me. This is a big project, and as much as I want it done yesterday, it will be awhile before it’s complete.
A few of the plants are finally blooming, and it looks like there will be a wealth of poppies returning this year. I think I’ll be relocating several of the plants that we put in last year to a (hopefully ) better location in the yard once the fence is done. As I drive around the area, there are sooo many tulips in bloom, replacing the daffodils from the last couple of months. I vow to plant a ton of both of those bulbs in the fall for next spring – they seem to last forever, even with the rain and wind that we get here.

While in Seattle last week, I worked on mom’s quilting machine, in an attempt to get the current quilt finished. I didn’t. The first several inches, or two rows of stitching looked awful to me, and I just didn’t like it. I moved on, going in a different direction with the stitching – I began using a pantograph, which just isn’t my thing, I think. From there I decided it was time to do freehand stitching. Much better, and easier going. The worst part is that I didn’t finish doing all of the quilting. I had to bring it home, so that the first quilting I did using the pantograph pattern could be   ‘dewes’,  reverse-sewed, or un-picked; a lot of the stitches are super tiny, which makes the picking out of those stitches horrible.  The quilt itself looks good with the borders on, and my freehand quilting is not too bad, for a beginner. The light colored border is actually a pale creamy yellow, which is in the print a tiny bit, and sets off the other colors well. That same fabric is on the back of the quilt. Once the quilt is totally finished, there will be better pics, but for now:

   To make myself feel better for the non-finishing of the quilt, I began working on a bag/purse project, which is also giving me fits. I need to figure out how to make a hole. Sounds easy, but. This hole has to be faced, and it’s out of leather. This hole will serve as the purse handle. Trying to get it all tidy and pretty is the challenge, and with leather you only get one chance at getting it right. I know the solution will be simple, once I ‘get it’, but I keep sort of getting stuck with a couple of the details. I never thougt that I would be at a point where sewing would be difficult; for me it’s being out of practice. I think back on not too long ago that I spent 10-16 hours a day sewing – then, everything seemed pretty simple. I think it’s like playing a piano; without practice your skills get a bit rusty, and you forget some of the finer points which make it beautiful.
I want to be downstairs sewing a lot right now; I have an ever changing and growing list of projects that I want to make. But with the weather finally getting nicer, and the fence project taking priority, and the gardening that needs to be done –  I think I’ll only manage to keep revising and adding to that list for a while.

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projects

Here’s what I’ve been working on these last couple weeks.
On Saturday morning Richard and I hung the ‘new’ light over the dining table.
This started out as a big ugly lampshade that was given to me by the owner of a local thrift shop that we’ve donated a lot of stuff to. It was meant for a table lamp, I’m guessing some 40 years ago. It was covered in an off-white nubby textured cloth, and with large gaudy braid both top and bottom.
          I began by stripping off the trim, then the fabric, which caused the whole thing to totally come apart. So, I then made a pattern from it, and figured out what I wanted it to look like. I had the linen that is now covering it, and embroidered the designs from some that I had in the collection. That was the hardest part, laying out the sixteen embroideries, flipping and rotating as needed, and getting it all spaced evenly around what was a large, curved piece of fabric. This was about eight hours of embroidery time, over a couple days. Then, I had to figure out how to reassemble it all, this time with a diffuser on the bottom ( of an ivory colored linen ).  Richard used some of the insides of a light fixture that was once in the garage, and was able to make it work with the frame. It illuminates the table well, and I think it works perfectly with the curtains. Yeah, I know its a little kitchy, but I’m happy with it.  Slowly, we will get all of the lighting changed out in this house.

The other thing that I finished was this little ‘quilt’ for a friend of mine ( she has a pug ) :
 and because I liked it so much, I made a second one to keep: It is small – only about 15 x 18 inches, and is meant to hang on the wall. It was a pattern that I bought, and it worked like a jigsaw puzzle. It’s appliqued, and stitched down with matching thread- here is a detail shot:   and   

The best part of working on these things is that it gets me thinking of other things that I want to make. I have some clothes to alter for myself, and at least a couple of real, bed-sized quilts that have been started, planned, or cut out. Now to decide what’s at the top of the list.

Maybe a walk on the beach, since it’s still beautiful weather.

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