A Just Plain Fun Mother's Day

I always love my Mother's Day gifts, but this year's gifts were especially fun.  Since I have a deep and abiding love of glittery hanging things, one gift was this awesome star with iridescent rays.

It's hanging over my elliptical trainer so I have something attractive to look at while suffering exercising.

Then there is this bright, blingy stained-glass peacock mobile that matches my denim furniture.  So he's at the other end of the sun room.

I also got a new member for the rubber duck collection!

He quacks and gives off a blinding blue light! (I found out about the blinding light the hard way.)  I'm torn.  Part of me wants him with my keys and another part wants him with my collection:

This picture reminds me that, once again, the sewing room clutter is getting out of control.  And thinking about the sewing room reminds me that I got Martha's new book!

(That's my rubber duck on the cover not Martha's.  Somehow I just know she's not a rubber duck collector.)  There are tons of project ideas in the book.  The problem is deciding which I want to do first.  Check it out here.  It is an incredibly nice book for the price.

And last but not least:

Not one but two Dunkin' Donut gift cards!  I love their coffee but feel guilty spending two bucks for a cup of it.  This should keep me in guilt-free coffee for quite a while.

I hope you all had a fun and blingy Mother's Day as well.

Home-made Produce Bags

Wisdom of the Moon had a tutorial for these bags on her site in January.  Since I had an overabundance of voile from making draperies, this project had to happen. 

I so wanted to do the cute little vegetable stamps Wisdom had on her produce bags!  Unfortunately, I could not find a single veggie stamp anywhere.  I finally gave in and got an alphabet stamp set instead.  I cannot--absolutely cannot--stop experimenting.  While I wish I had just gone with the nice simple, "fruits and veggies" lettering on all the bags like this center one,  I did not.

I had to keep adding more

and more, until I just got carried away.  This one ended up looking like something Jackson Pollack would have done if he had been on crack with nothing to express himself but a set of alphabet stamps and a rainbow ink stamp pad:

Cashiers (who usually seem just a bit annoyed to be dealing with my many different sized cloth bags anyway) are beyond speech when they get this bag.  They just sort of hold it up to me as though they don't know whether they should pay attention to what is in the bag or on the outside.  I don't use it unless I really have to. 

All in all, the bags are exceptionally easy to make and work well.  I used round elastic cord for most of them and textured ribbon for one.  Both of these work fine.  I think Wisdom of the Moon used string.  Give them a try, but go easy on the stamping.

Crafty Giveaway from In the Next Room

In the Next Room is having a giveaway to celebrate a new degree and opening an Etsy store.  Take a look at it here--lots of fun, crafty items are included.

Fabric Matching Games ala Chez Beeper Bebe

Chez Beeper Bebe has a tutorial for making matching games from fabric that inspired my attempts.  I have the worst time sticking to directions.  I always end up venturing off the path to try some new idea.  These have numbers of changes from the very nice ones on the tutorial.  So here are my three versions.

This first one has farm animals to match up and a bag that closes with a button.

I used the same fabric for the bag lining and the backs of each piece.  For all three sets, I sewed around the square leaving an opening for turning and to stuff in a square of batting.  I hand sewed them shut and sewed in about a quarter of an inch around the outside to stabilize the batting.  This is a picture of the bag closed.  I used a loop of very thin, rounded elastic (I can't think of the right name for it now) sewn into the back top seam of the bag to pull over the button which is sewn  a few inches down the front center of the bag.

Since I had enough animal prints to do another, I tried out a new bag design.

For this one I tacked the ribbon to the back with a few stitches to keep it from getting lost.  I did the bag as two long strips sewn together leaving an opening for turning right side out. Then I stuffed half of the bag to the inside for the lining.  I made the strip just a tiny bit narrower at one end so that the lining end would fit in nicely.  Since I forgot to put the fabric picture on the front before sewing up the bag, this one just has the picture held in place on the bag with double-sided iron-on.  There is no finishing stitch around the edge of the picture.  The button bag has the edges sewn which I would prefer.  However, I don't think these kinds of things get used heavily enough to make much of a difference.  Here is the bag with the pieces:

The backing is the same as the other set.

I found another great fabric with musical instruments that I thought might work for this project.  I should probably have looked for a fabric that would work with the browns/tans instead of the black I chose for the bag and backing.  It's a bit drab for kids, but here it is:

 
I tried a drawstring for this bag.

I squared off the bottom of all three bags by sewing triangular corners and serging them. 

I really can't decide which bag I like more.  The drawstring and ribbon will probably travel better.  The button one, though, has the advantage of providing the wee ones with some eye-hand coordination practice.

Super Giveaway to Help a Handsome Little Man

Six-year-old Liam has Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2.  His mom, with the help of over 50 artists, is raising the money needed to remodel Liam's bathroom with a fantastic giveaway.  Stop by here to find out how to participate.

The new clothes line aka manufactured wasp nesting sanctuary

I finally replaced the clothes line (aka clothes tree or clothes umbrella in some parts for the universe).  The old one was, well, old.  Then, the tree limb fell on it.  I followed all the directions putting it up.  I even used a level to be sure the base was straight.  And:

It's a little crooked.  It looks better from this view.

I got it at Home Depot.  This one-and-only-model-available is strangely short.  To use the inside lines, I need to bend down.  My last one was taller.

My  real concern is that there are rows and rows of holes in the  pole.  You push it up like an umbrella and it falls into a set of holes.  I understand that some people might not be strong enough to push it up really tightly and that the plastic lines might loosen over time so that you could push it up another notch.   Consequently, it is reasonable to have several sets of holes to accommodate these circumstances.  But the majority of the center pole IS holes.  I started counting them but stopped at 43--yes,  there are more that 43 sets of holes on the center pole.   In my neck of the woods, that qualifies it as an official wasp nesting sanctuary.  I have a sinking feeling that I will be battling the little stingers all summer.  A few years ago I had to tape over holes in the base of some new patio chairs that were attracting the wasps.  Taping up 43 plus holes multiplied by the 3 sides would be a monumental task.  Besides, I don't relish looking at peeling tape for the next ten years. It's annoying enough to keep up with the tape on the chairs.

Lesson learned:  If you're buying something for the yard, make sure the wasps are not going to like it as well.

The laundreary room (no, it's not misspelled)

You may have a laundry room, but I have a laundreary room as in:

I made that sign a while ago.  It's not that I hate doing laundry.  I just don't find it all that interesting or fulfilling. I find it dreary.  I've gotten better at it.  I seldom have things shrink or colors run.  I always check the pockets carefully.  Cell phones are small, expensive to replace, and don't work at all after being agitated in sudsy water for 20 minutes.  I shake each piece out before putting it in the dryer rather than grabbing the big ball from the washer and tossing it in the dryer.  It was years before I figured that one out.  I do love to iron, but nothing is going to take the wrinkles out of twisted synthetic material that has been in the dryer for 45 minutes.

I blame the appliance manufacturers for the laundreary problem.  Laundry machines are boring.  Where are the fun gadgets?  Where is the music, video, touch screen?  Why can't the detergents and softeners be dropped in every few months and dispensed automatically?

And timers!  What are the manufacturers thinking??  Timers are boring at best.  More often than not they give off some ear-shattering noise akin to the sound one would expect from a high strung ocean liner.  Have the designers of these machines never heard any pleasant sounds that might attract us to the laundry room in a peaceful manner rather than in a frenzied rush to stop the horrific noise?  How about a pleasant vocal  recording that announces that the laundry is ready to be dried or folded?  I think my dryer has the same sound device used in World Ward II air raid horns.  Consequently, I don't use the timer and usually forget to take the clothes out until the laundry has cooled down and the wrinkles are set.  It's a good thing I like to iron.

I guess my laundreary sign is going to stay until manufacturers give us something more innovative than a window in the front of the machine.

I've been making Perfect Little Stitches' "towel wraps for your hair"

I've been  experimenting with making these hair towels from Perfect Little Stitches for a while trying to get the appropriate size for me.  Skip to My Lou  put up directions that I find little easier.   Adjustments to sizing were definitely necessary for a better personal fit.  I apparently have a pin head.  I've known it for a while. Baseball caps pulled down to fit the top of my head leave the tops of my ears stick straight out.  I wasn't surprised when my first few attempts quickly became gifts for women with normal sized heads.  I love these things, though.  They are so easy to use, stay on so much better than a regular towel, save on laundry--they're smaller, and they have that great little elastic loop to hang on the back of the bathroom door.

I used terry cloth fabric from Joann's instead of towels as the tutorials suggest.  Originally I did this because I wanted to experiment on inexpensive fabric.  As it turned out, the terry fabric is a great weight, washes well, and dries quickly.  I can make two hair towels out of a yard of fabric which is definitely less expensive than using towels especially if you get the fabric on sale.   

The patterns are 36 inches long which I found to be way more than necessary.  In fact, I found that length to be uncomfortable hanging down my back and harder to put through and take out of the elastic hoop.  I cut that down to 32 inches.  However, for someone with really long and/or thick hair, the 36 inches might be necessary.  I also cut the height from 12 inches to 10.

If you've made them yourself, let me know how the sizing worked for you.  If you haven't, give it a try.  It's a quick and easy project.

A Short Look at a Short Book: Peter Kreeft's "If Einstein Had Been a Surfer"

I wanted to put the book title above in italics or underline it, but Blogger setup does not support that even by cutting and pasting.  If someone knows the trick, I'd appreciate knowing how to work around this.  Oh, but I can do it here!!  If Einstein Had Been A Surfer.  Oh, no!  That was supposed to be in italics, but the Amazon link will only let me underline it.   Does this level of focus on italics indicate an obsessive-compulsive disorder?

So, about the book.  I have a love-hate relationship with this beginner's guide to a subject that baffled even Einstein.  It is the author's redaction of conversations by three "friends" relating to what Einstein called the "Unified Field Theory."  Others have since called it the "Theory of Everything," and, in this book, Libby suggests calling it, "The Universal Wave Theory."    The three in conversation are a Christian who is a scientist with a  theology degree, a Muslim philosopher/scientist, and a Christian surfer/poet/psychologist/psychiatric social worker.  Obviously religion plays a large role in their discussions.The conversations introduce some of the hows, whys, and problems of the theory at a very basic level.  My brain would normally quickly send me signals to stop reading this subject matter.  However, the book manages to provide information at a level I could understand and enjoy.

While I found useful, thought-provoking information in the book, I too often found that the interactions of two of the participants (Isa and Libby), were negative to the point of distraction.  Isa whips out his religion constantly in a most unbending manner, using it to rudely bash beliefs and ideas presented by the others.  He appears to have little respect or even liking for Libby.  Libby does, however, often go off on tangents.  The surfing analogy was useful, but overdone to the point of distraction.  Her attempts to be the intellectual laid-back surfer end up making her look like a bit of an airhead.  The list of jobs Kreeft attributes to Libby indicate she has had some trouble deciding what she wants to be when she grows up.  She actually refers to herself as "surfer girl" at one point. [Note to Libby:  You are grown up now!  You are a woman!  If you must define yourself first and foremost as a surfer, fine.  Just drop the girl.  With all the credentials and jobs listed, you've got to be at the very least in your late twenties.]  Libby also has the unattractive feminist habit of attacking what she thinks may be anti-feminist remarks rather than dealing with them in a reasoned manner.  As a result, Evan, the last member of the trio must not only contribute his viewpoint, but also serve as moderator (referee?) for the group.

That said, the book had some significant pluses.  The simplified explanations of concepts and theories offered throughout the book make this difficult subject absolutely approachable. The book introduced me to the idea that the mechanics relating to waves may extend much further than I had imagined.  There are light waves, sound waves, brain waves, etc.  But Isa brings up the idea of thought waves and soul waves.  Libby mentions that emotions come in waves.  The what if's of these ideas inspire me! The waves discussion and the one on synchronicity alone made it a powerful read for me. Throughout the book, however, novices will gain useful information and clearer understandings of some complex issues . 

I now not only know that a unified field theory will require that ordinary physics, quantum physics, ordinary conscious, and unconscious be unified, I care enough to want to know more.

If anyone else has read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Is there a contest for the ugliest quilt ever??

I said I would post the good, bad, and ugly.  This quilt top comes under the ugly.  It's a bit of a long story to understand how this bit of ugly was born.  First, I bought some green chairs that I love.  Others look at them politely with a pained expression or just out-and-out ask what in hell I was thinking buying putrid green chairs.  I love these chairs.  They are extremely comfortable.  I'm sitting in one right now.  It turned out that they did not exactly go with the two shades of green wall paint, though.  Okay, here they are.  Don't try to adjust your screen.  This really is the color.

In an attempt to pull the room together, I started looking for quilt fabric with the colors of the chair and walls.  Each individual fabric was really nice.  Together, they are truly horrific.  I kept thinking that when it was all together, it would look good.  So, here it is:

Please excuse the faux fur bench.  It was an attempt at that touch of whimsy all the designers talk about.  Off topic--back to the ugly.  I honestly thought the browns in the bench, quilt, bed skirt and pillows would somehow pull together. 

This picture shows the greens in the quilt and the chairs.

See, the greens do at least match the chair.  Unfortunately this picture is deceptive.  When you are in the room, the quilt looks overwhelmingly brown with  garish flashes of blue and white from that one fabric.

I'm supposed to start the actual quilting.  The thoughts of spending that much time looking at it are scary.  Please, someone give me permission to put this in the closet until my eyesight fails.

Meditation: Day Three - I Think I Passed Level 1

Day three was some sitting and walking meditation practice, discussion groups, and a final short talk.

Overall, I think a major benefit was to be with a group containing many beginners who were willing to ask questions.  Authors try to answer questions in books and audios, but they are not necessarily the right questions for the listener.  You also can't ask for clarification.

It was so comforting to know that almost everyone found meditating to be difficult.  Trying to sit still,  focus on the moment, gently brush aside all the thoughts that incessantly push in, not get angry with yourself when you need to refocus over and over and over IS the process.  Despite practice, we will still be human and the process will be a challenge. It turns out that I wasn't all that bad at meditating after all.

I also was able to find out what all those cushions were for and why some people sit one way and others another. I learned lots of options for being as comfortable as possible while meditating.

Last, I learned that I am going to get old and die--if I'm lucky.  Bad thing will still happen.  I will have the opportunity, however, to handle these things a bit differently than I might have before attending this course.  Rather than running away from things or wallowing in self-pity, I will try to experience what is happening, come to grips with it, and let it go.  Yes!  I'm signing up for level 2.

Home-made fire starters

As we move into campfire season, I am reminded of my home-made fire starter venture this winter.  Right after the winter holidays, blogger, Wisdom of the Moon, had a post about making fire starters from left over things at home.  I've made them before, and the post was a good push to do it again.

The blog advice at Wisdom was to put dried pine needles from holiday trees or the like into the individual pockets of paper egg cartons and pour melted wax from candle stubs into each.  I had always used dryer lint instead of pine needles and paper cupcake liners instead of egg cartons.  I liked the idea of the pine needles, but using up that useless dryer lint always made me feel good.  My eggs come in plastic containers since it's the only way I can get free-range eggs around here. In this case, I'd rather support more humane farming practices than be green.

On checking back to read comments at Wisdom, though, I found some disturbing information.  Someone else mentioned using dryer lint and the question arose, "Isn't there hair in dryer lint?"  I never thought of that.  In checking my finished fire starters, I was mortified to see that when held in the sunlight, there were definitely strands of hair standing up there.  I had planned on giving some of these away.  I don't know how to broach this subject delicately, but, there was also the question of just where the hair came from.  I'll leave it at that.  The normal display near the hearth pictured here:

won't be happening until I need a new supply of fire starters.  I did do some with the pine needles. They're easier to work with.  With lint, you have to keep topping off each one as the lint settles down.  The pine needles are just plain prettier and smell better, too.   I gave the pine ones away before getting pictures.  Trust me, though, they look much better even close up.

I do a few things differently that I think might work for others.  Rather than melting the candles on the double boiler as suggested at Wisdom, I use my large electric candle melter that you usually use to give off the candle scent without burning them.  I melt down the ones that have lost their scent for the fire starters first and then drop leftover stubs in the glass a few at a time.  Since there is always a lot of leftover wick material, I take it out of the melted wax (a wooden skewer works well), cut them up, and put pieces in the "cupcakes" as they begin to thicken.  It gives another place to light in addition to the paper when making a fire.  I put the cupcake tins in the sink to pour the wax.  There is little mess, but if something does spill, it can easily be cleaned up.

It may be a bit slower to use the melter, but it cuts down on the size of the equipment I need to keep for messing with wax.  I use the same disposable cupcake tins over and over.  They stack together and take up very little storage space.  

As for dryer lint, I am mixing it with potting soil for outside plantings.  If someone knows a good reason I should not be subjecting hostas and marigolds to dryer lint, please put it in the comment section.  I have a whole new respect for comment sections.  How humiliating it would have been to give away the hairy fire starters!

My Copy of Imagine is Here!

My copy of Imagine by Norman Messenger has arrived, and it is as wonderful as I have heard.  While this book may be listed as a children's book, it is just as much fun for adults.  Each page is a new and beautifully illustrated piece to fire the imagination or get the brain working.   To add to the fun, the pages also have tiny puzzles to solve in the top corners.  I have it sitting on my coffee table.  I'll let little visitors enjoy it--I'm sure they will, but it is definitely for the adults, too.

Meditation: Day Two - Success At Last!

Yes!  It was a great day.   After last night, I was more than a bit worried about how today's meditation classes would go.  While everyone was still schmoozing at the continental breakfast.  I grabbed a set of cushions in the back row and began the process of figuring out how to sit on them.  The downside to that was that I hadn't eaten and that became quite obvious during silent meditation time.  It's kind of hard to relax your muscles as they suggest AND squeeze stomach muscles to squelch the constant rumbling.  Fortunately the stomach settled down after about a half hour. 

Sitting meditation went well.  I learned that if you don't scratch the itch, it usually just goes away.  I also learned that the Shambhala way of keeping the eyes open and cast down works better for me.  With closed eyes, I tend to start falling asleep.

Shambhala standing meditation is a faster walk than Zen standing meditation and slower than the usual way of walking.  Sounds easy, doesn't it?  Somehow it makes me feel a bit unsteady.  Just when I felt stable, I realized that I was not actually meditating but, rather, taking in all the things in the room.  By day's end, however, I was feeling pretty good about it.  I could probably draw a near perfect picture of the room and everything in it.  Still, there was progress. 

Staff and other participants were all kind and helpful.  There were a few readings from Shambhala:  The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa that were so meaningful and helpful to me I wanted to get the book.  How nice that we each received a copy as a gift just before leaving.

So, tomorrow morning we have another go at practicing before I branch out on my own.  Fortunately, the center has numbers of things going on.  I'm sure I will be stopping in often.

Readjusting my expectations of the meditation center

I saw the small picture on the meditation center website of brightly colored floor cushions near a dark wood-framed rice paper window and made the assumption that the center would be bright and new.  I've been watching too many movies.  As it turns out, the center is in an older downtown building.  The meditation room has a dated acoustic tile hanging ceiling, white walls, vertical blinds, and industrial greenish blueish wall-to-wall indoor-outdoor carpeting.  There is an eclectic collection of floor cushions, chairs, and small tables along with a few pictures in inexpensive frames, a few cloth hangings, and assorted small decorative pieces.  Not a bad place at all.  It's just that it sure wasn't what I had envisioned.

I would probably have adjusted quickly had not a series of tiny incidents set off my inner child.  I had trouble finding the driveway and had to circle around three times.  That's not easy in an area of one way streets.  Then I made the mistake of of almost entering the meditation room with shoes on.  Fortunately, someone quickly pointed out my ignorance.  I know many people have the no shoes policy in their homes.  I've not been one of them.  Yes, I have occasionally passed the no shoes mandate after a particularly hard day of cleaning.  However, I was always the first one to break the new rule within hours.  

On entering the meditation room (sans shoes), I immediately saw that some of the floor cushions had been marked as reserved.  Reserved seating always annoys me for some reason unless, of course, I get to sit in it.   But, I was determined to keep the inner child in check.  I graciously moved on.  Well, maybe not exactly graciously.  I didn't try to take one of the reserved seat, though.  

You know how no one wants to sit in the front row in class?  No one wants to sit on the front floor cushions either.  All the back cushions were taken when I got there.  My choices were to sit on a cushion in the front row or on one of the chairs lined up along the back wall.  Normally this is not a problem for me.  I'm a die-hard brown-noser.  I LOVE the front row.  The problem here was that I  wasn't sure HOW one was supposed to sit on the cushions.  There were different kinds of cushions, flat round ones, boxy foam ones, cushions on cushions.  Some people were sitting cross-legged.  Some had their feet facing back. What if I sat on a cushion wrong?  Everyone would see me right there in the front row.  I had already almost broken the no shoes rules.  I opted for a chair.  By that point, I was a tired, frustrated and, yes, a bit pouty.  

The session was supposed to start at 7:30, but we waited an extra half hour in near silence for stragglers.  I am a firm believer in starting on time.  If the show is supposed to start at 7:30, I expect it to begin at 7:30.  I certainly don't want anyone waiting for me if I'm late.  By the time the main speaker began the lecture at eight o'clock in a lovely soft voice,  I was really annoyed, more than a bit pouty,  and falling asleep.  My eyes started drooping closed almost immediately.  I spent the next hour desperately trying to keep my eyes opened and preferably focused. 

Tomorrow I will be there from 8:30 until 5.  I've already paid so I've got to see this through.  I'd go in late, but I need to get there early enough to get one of those highly sought-after floor cushions in the back rows.  Do you know how hard it is to sit cross-legged on a metal chair?  My greatest fear is that I will fall asleep and keel over.  I'm not sure if Buddhists do caffeine, but I'm sneaking in some Red Bull anyway.  Wish me luck.

The meditation weekend begins!

I'm starting my weekend meditation lessons tonight at a meditation center in Albany, New York.  The program is called Shambhala Meditation Training Level 1:  The Art of Being Human.  Who knew being human was an art?

So, I've read about meditation, listened to many tapes on meditation, attended one introduction to meditation talk long ago, and practiced meditating in spurts over the years.  This is my first real live training session.  I've decided it is time to invest in my own well being.  The family has been most supportive of this venture.  I wonder if that means I am more uptight than I realized.  Well, never mind that.  Not only am I embarking on an new adventure, I am doing it alone--no human crutches. 
 
If I am not too relaxed after this evening's session, I shall post about it.

Bedtime book hanger

My niece, Binnie, came up with the idea for this project, and I got to find the embroidery design, and sew it.  There is a plastic sheet usually used for hand embroidery sewn into the back for strength and to keep the shape. The ribbon handle can hang on a door knob, hook, or drawer pull.  For the next one, I will probably use cording instead of ribbon--books can be heavy!

The embroidered section in front is a pocket for small books that sits on top of a larger pocket for bigger ones.  Binnie's idea was for the kids to not only have a place to put the books they have chosen for bedtime reading, but also to give them a sense of  independence and control.

I did the embroidery for the book bag on my Brother Pacesetter. I do love that machine. I had it in for a tune-up recently, and the guy acted as though I had brought in an original Singer pedal machine.  It's not THAT old! It does both regular sewing and embroidery incredibly well.  I will not be replacing it despite the repair person's nasty insinuations.

It is rather fitting that I made this since I almost always give Binnie's kids books as gifts. If you are thinking of getting some little person a book, take a look at David Wiesner's Three Little Pigs.  He does the traditional tale in a whole new and fun way.  It's not your mama's three little pigs tale!  



You all can probably figure out the design if you want to try one.  Give a shout in the comment section if you need any info.

What happens when you mix candles and pin cushions?

I've made a number of pin cushions from simple cloth to the ornate teacups variety.  But I really like the gritty stuffing in the plain old traditional tomato pin cushions.  I am convinced that gritty texture keeps my pins sharp.  Unfortunately the tomato pin cushions are so light weight that picking out a pin sometimes resulted in picking up the entire pin cushion, too.  I also have a near obsession for scented candles, so I had a few left-over glass tops from jar candles sitting around my sewing room.  Hmmmm.....Voila! My new favorite pin cushion was born.

I used a hot glue gun around the rim of the inverted candle top and sat the lovely but lightweight, store-bought pin cushion on top.   It kind of spins if it is sitting on a wood surface, but I like that.  It prevents me from sticking all the pins in one area.  You could put some felt or silicon cushions on the bottom if you didn't want the spinning. 

Wandering into a Yankee Candle shop can be an expensive trip for me.  Their vanilla lime scent is my new favorite.  Adirondack Candles has some amazing scents as well, and they last forever.  Their Adirondack Lodge scented candle is on my permanent wish list. Adirondack candles are harder to find, but you can check them out online here.

Newest sewing adventure - the slouch bag from Akiko Mano

This is actually a pic of the refinished bag with longer handles.
Using Picnik resulted in the loss of some of the original blog photos
 at some point.   I've gone through and replaced them where I could
or used others when I could not!

My only complaint about Akiko Mano's book, Linen, Wood, Cotton:  25 Simple Projects to Sew with Natural Fabrics is that there was no errata sheet included when I bought it.  Fortunately, I found the errata information here.  The changes needed are simple and clear.  While making the slouch bag, I suspected that the handles were too short and that the directions for putting the top pieces together were not quite right.  Since I tend to be a bit spatially challenged, however, I went with the pattern.  The bag, as you can see from the picture, looks great in any case.  It JUST fits on my shoulder, though.  I'm going to redo it with longer handles next week.  It's a quick project.  I finished it in about two hours.

Quick semi-tutorial on reupholstering the "that's so nineties furniture"

I saw that commercial with the denim furniture designed by Cindy Crawford and loved it--the furniture.  Buying it was not going to happen, though.  So, having tackled reupholstering before, I decided to do it again.  This set used to be a well-worn gray and mauve, stripes and flowers set from around 1995.  The kind everyone is selling on Craigslist.

Reupholstering is time consuming, but not really difficult even if you've never done it before. The sewing required is almost exclusively of the straight line variety.  And, it can be relatively inexpensive.  The fabric for this whole set was around $175 using coupons and sales.  I still had enough to make pillows, the lap quilt on the back of the sofa, Elliot (star of my last post), and further crowd my sewing room stash. This is not an in-depth, step-by-step tutorial, but, rather, an overall guide including information I have gleaned from my many early mistakes.  I hope that this will make the process easier for others who will be taking on the challenge.  There are tons of videos on the web showing the specifics such as sewing on piping. Start with a small chair!

Among the mistakes I made with earlier pieces was avoiding things that I thought would make the job more difficult such as the piping and skirting.  Those things turn out to be far easier that I thought they would be and are the very things that make the furniture look like professionals did it.  Check out the front of the arms and cushions here!

and here:

I am NOT a great seamstress.  I sew very little clothing because it more often than not doesn't turn out so well.  Doing the piping actually makes my corners which are not always so great look much better. Skirting is little more than some folds of fabric, filled with stiff fabric, and stapled in place.

As for the how-to part, most of what you need to know you will learn in the process of deconstructing the original fabric.  I take apart the pieces and use that fabric as a pattern.   Use a seam ripper to take apart the cushions AND LABEL EACH PIECE.  You can write right on the old fabric.   Use a narrow screwdriver to dig out the fabric stapled to the wood frame AND LABEL IT.  Can you see what one of my early mistakes was from those caps? 

Take pictures of the construction prior to deconstruction.  Take pictures of seams on cushions near the zippers, any pleats in the fabric around the arms or cushions, the fabric UNDER the cushions, the back of the furniture pieces.  Note what pieces of wood the arm and base seat fabrics are stapled to and whether the base seat fabric goes on first or the arm fabric.

Careful deconstruction is as time consuming as construction, but it is well worth it. It's a great activity to do while watching television or listening to books on CD.   I listened to Christopher Moore's Fool on CD while deconstructing this set.  It is without a doubt one of the funniest (in a very bawdy and wild way) I've listened to and the reader is perfect for the book.

Iron your "pattern" pieces so they will lie flat.  In order to have a more symmetrical piece, fold the "pattern" pieces at the center--almost everything will be the same on both sides aside from, possibly the zipper sections-- and place the center on a fold of the new fabric.  Sometimes the original fabric has stretched through use or in deconstruction so that they are no longer symmetrical.

Label each newly cut pattern piece as well.  You might want to use small pieces of paper and pin them on for this.  Remember that the fabric needs to be taut in the cushions and to pull firmly when stapling pieces on.  Fabric has some stretch and will loosen with time.  If the cushions are loose, resew a seam or two. 

Supplies and materials:

• First, if at all possible reuse the original piping material, zippers, stiff materials in the skirting, cardboard strips in the edges (you will find them in the process of deconstructing),  the fabric under the seat cushions, and, of course, the cushions.  It is likely that they are a better quality than what you will get at the store, they are free, and you're recycling! So, be careful with the deconstruction.  I haven't had luck reusing the nail strips (again, you will find them if you don't know what they are), but you can buy them at Joann-kinds of stores, online, or maybe use upholstery tacks from the same sources.  Tacks look great on some pieces.
• Use a heavy fabric and plain old thread.  Joann's often has upholstery fabric on sale.  I've had good luck, though, with  the heavyweight denim from the regular fabric section for this set and for cushions on an old church pew.  In my first attempt at reupholstering, I used fabric on sale that was a style already on the way out.  My "new" furniture was out of style at birth.  I try to find fabrics with staying power in the style department--something that will not make you think of eras gone by as in, "that's so eighties."  You might also need some batting if your furniture is well worn to smooth out cushions, arms, etc. 
• You will need a seam ripper, heavy-duty stapler, staples long enough to get well into the wood of your furniture, thin screwdriver to get out the old staples (and misplaced new ones), and a hammer for the staples that need a little extra help getting in tightly.  
• You need a sewing machine that will handle fairly heavy fabric. I have found that most of them do just fine.  I have used an old Kenmore and some newer Brother machines that were all fine.  If you don't have one check with friends.  So many people have machines they are no longer using.  They might be willing to let you use it, sell it cheap, or even given it away. 

My final advice:  don't be a perfectionist.  No one is going to pull out cushions to see how well your zippers are sewn in.   If they do, they are either not friends or very insecure.  And if you are the insecure one, stifle the need to point out what you feel are flaws when people are complimenting you on a job well done.  I have found mistakes during deconstruction by the professionals that are comparable to mine such as pieces of fabric sewn together to compensate for fabric cut too short.  Do be willing to use the seam ripper (carefully), however, if you think it is worthwhile to resew something.  Take your time, don't rush it.

I'm new at this sharing by blogging.  If there is something that needs to be stated more clearly or corrected, please feel free to let me know.  I'd be glad to clarify anything, and someone else may benefit from the correction. 

I'd love to hear from others who do this.  Feel free to add advice in the comments. If you are encouraged to give it a try, I'd love to hear how it worked out, too.

My version of John Murphy's monster plushie

In the fall I watched John Murphy's video tutorial on making monster plushies at Threadbanger's site.  By the winter holidays, I had the time and courage to attempt my own.  These are the first two I did.

Since the fabric used for the arms and part of each one's ears was called cheetah fabric, I  named them Tiger and Elliot.  I guess everyone can figure out how Tiger got his name.  If you are from New York State or really into politics, you may understand where Elliot got his.  Since these were not for little kids I went with button eyes.  Elliot had bloodshot eyes (much as he namesake's) as you can see here.  Yes, he is a blue blood.

I decided to birth some more of these for newly arrived grandchildren of my book club members, and Tattletales were born.  I do consider that my monsters are born rather than made.  They take on personalities.  I swear they do.  These new sweet things tattle on the new owners like Addison's below:

Yes, that says, "Addison did it.  Babies have it way too easy.  These little monsters will toughen them up.  I gave this one embroidered button eyes for safety purposes.   I think they look just as nice as the real buttons.  There is the added advantage of using the little beast to help with learning colors.  The nest came from a pattern by Michael Miller that you can find here.  THEY call it a soft basket rather than a nest.  There are a number of  great tutorials on the right side of the website.  Just scroll down to the "soft basket" one that I think should be called a nest. 

This tattletale was for Reid:

He has felt eyes sewn on that give him a bit of a condescending attitude with those droopy eyelids.  I decided to make his feet the same as the hands.  I like that three-fingered and toed look best.  Actually his feet tuck quick nicely into the basket, but I wanted to show his adorable toes.  Eli's tattletale sneaked out before I got his picture.  I'll have to see if I can get the family to take a picture.  If he behaves as badly as Elliot, they have probably thrown him out on the street.

Elliot is still with me.  My nephew, Randy, takes him home occasionally, but he tells me that Elliot behaves so badly he has to keep bringing him back.  Randy has, however, been teaching Elliot how to play lacrosse.  Or perhaps Elliot stole the equipment from Randy.  I'm not quite sure.  That is Elliot's mother in the background, the couch.  They are indeed cut from the same cloth.  Stay tuned for the story of the reupholstered furniture coming to this blog soon.
 

I got John Murphy's, "Stupid Sock Creatures:  Making Quirky, Lovable Figures from Cast-off Socks.  I'll post my first creation soon. I've had a bit of trouble gathering socks.   It's amazing how attached people are to their socks.  People react badly when asked to part with their them, especially the striped ones.

Mixed Media Collage from Kim and Kris at diydish.com

Just in time for Mother's Day--here is a link to a video by Kim and Kris on creating a collage of photos and other things on an inexpensive canvas frame.  The results are impressive.  The process seems easy, quick, and quite inexpensive.  As you will see, the requirements are a canvas, some decoupage paste, photos printed on a laser printer using regular photocopy paper, and a few crafty things like flowers, beads, or really anything number of things you might want to glue on to personalize the collage. I don't have a laser printer or a good friend with one willing to let me use up their color ink cartridge.  As suggested, I will be using the big box office supply store.

I'm looking forward to creating one (or two).  I'll post the results.

Promises to live by

Just a quick entry here.  One the blogs I frequent, Kind Over Matter,  has a wonderful piece from Christian D. Larson posted that serves as a succinct reminder of  ways we can best navigate life.    Just click here.  I hope you will like it as much as I did

I have a frame on my desk where I keep whatever inspirational writing appeals to me at the moment.  It changes frequently.  At present, there are three about change. I don't remember where they came from, but they may well have come from Kind Over Matter.  Since I often have trouble dealing with change, both in accepting the need to move on from abruptly changed plans and from long-term situations that are not longer working, these have worked well for me.   The quote from Alan Cohen says:

"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new.  But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful.  There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power." 

Anais Nin's advice is:  

Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through.  Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it.  This is a kind of death.

And from Georg C. Lichtenberg:

I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.

Hello!

I finally did it!! I have a blog! I have continually said to my husband, "I really want to start a blog." He has continually responded, "Great idea. You should do that." The prospect of starting, however, always seemed sooo overwhelming. I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Everything has to be researched in depth before I can begin. What if I wrote something that had errors in it? What if no one cared about what I had to say? It would be all out there for EVERYONE to see! But yesterday I was reading Gretchen Rubin's book, The Happiness Project. Not only did she admit to sharing some of my doubts, but she really did start a blog. Thanks to Gretchen there will be no more blog procrastinating. This may not look exciting right now, but I am determined to learn as I go with this.

Why do I have a blog? There are a number of reasons. First, I like to write even though, as I said, I am a bit of a perfectionist. I edit to distraction and agonize over any errors that still manage to get through. One of my goals is to write and just let it go. I will try to do it as well as I can and will accept the errors as gracefully as possible.

I also want to find kindred souls that share my interests in sewing, crafts, books, home maintenance, writing, photography, and life in general. I love my family, but they really don’t want to talk about how difficult it is to gather appropriate fabrics for a quilt. I love my book club members, too. We can only get together once a month, though.

In addition, I really appreciate other bloggers who have taken the time to share. They have given me so much inspiration. Sometimes the simplest ideas have helped me make life easier, create something beautiful, find the perfect solution to a dilemma, even be a better person.

Last, I sometimes forget how much I really do accomplish. This blog will serve as a record of all the successes and even failures I have in the course of just living. I’m hoping that someone out in the vast web world might benefit from them as well.

Consider reading The Happiness Project. While I am only a quarter of the way through, I have already found interesting ideas, encouragement, justification for some of the ideas I have long held, and greater understanding of how we, as human beings, interact with one another. I am going to read this though quickly because I hate putting it down. Then I am going to read it again with a highlighter and a notebook in hand (more likely a laptop in hand) so that I can go check out at some of the many resources Gretchen mentions. There are few—very, very few—books that I willingly read twice. The only other one that comes to mind right now is Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. Look at that! Two book suggestions in my first blog entry.