Sew Sew Sunday

 

I went back to work on the spring placemats yesterday with a renewed respect for the rotary cutter. I don't want a repeat of my little accident even though it really was just a little boo boo that wanted to bleed a lot. 

I also went back to work on that nightmare of a project that I am trying to machine quilt. I had more popped seams to repair and lots of technical difficulties with the machine. Somehow I managed to drop the bobbin deep into the body of the thing. I tried everything I could think of the fish it out. Finally, I remembered I had dad's telescopic magnet thingy and slowly but surely I coaxed it out. 

And.....thanks to my sister's partner, we finally got that leaked fixed. He does that sort of thing for a living so he could spot the mistake we had made right away. With the leak fixed we could finally put the finishing touches on what has been a weeks long staging area for all sorts of plumbing mischief. Ta da.....three out of three bathrooms-DONE. 

Happy Chance

 

I finished hand quilting Dad's squares quilt so it's time to think about a binding. His box of scraps didn't have quite enough of anything to make it a solid so I thought I would try a pieced binding. I wasn't sure if it was even a thing but then I saw Kate at The Last Homely House do it and thought I'd give it a try. I spent an early morning ironing and cutting. I couldn't believe how many colors there were. 

That l little job reminded me that I had my spring placemats to make. I had bought this charm pack ages ago. Dad's scraps will work perfectly for the borders so it was a win-win morning until....

.....I almost took my little finger off with my rotary cutter. I have no idea how I did it but I did and I can assure you the cut is not as bad as I am making it out to be. I am a BIG sissy when it comes to cut fingers hence the over the top splint on top of the band-aid. All I have to see is blood and I freak out so that was the end of my sewing session while I nursed my wound. At least it got me out of doing more plumbing work on the leaky sink. The Mister decided to take the rest of the day off. 

Friday Fluff

 

I've come to the end of my 2 ounce mini spinning adventure for the Garter Squish. The last little turquoise skein was finished last week. I've got two empty wheels so I see a stash diving adventure in my near future. Spinning is my stress relief and the closer we get to The Mister's surgery the more I need to spin. Since he's doing the outpatient surgery center thing and not the hospital thing the responsibilities are piling up. I've been through this with dad many times so I know what I'm in for and I admit to being a bit unsure about it all even with the nursing help we're going to be getting before and after the big day. 

We've been working like crazy to get the house put back together. We're still dealing with the sink leak but we did get the molding down. I'm getting pretty good at it but I still hate it.

I've also been trying to make a dent in cleaning up the yard now that the piles of debris are gone. Florida friends and anyone who lives in milder climates, I need your help. This winter was so mild that all my outside furniture and decking turned green. Mold, fungus? I dunno what that stuff is.

I've been scrubbing it off of everything using white vinegar. Is there a better way? Getting it out of all the nooks and crannies has been a full time job. I'm planning on dragging out the power washer as soon as it gets warm enough.

And...it's hard to believe but it's been six weeks since I popped all this soap out of the molds so that means it's time for testing. I've got 12 batches times 8 bars. That's a lot of soap. It's a good thing I only have to test one bar from each batch but that's still a lot of soap to get through. 

 

Before and After

 

Remember this pitiful thing?

Charmin' Chatty looks like this now. There wasn't much I could do with her hair but pull it up in a messy bun and hide her bald spots with a wide headband but I did find her a new pair of glasses and a new outfit. I couldn't believe how beautiful this little jumper was for the money. It even came with that pretty white blouse and was only $17 on Amazon. A comparable American Girl dress costs about $45. 

It also came with some leggings. I've got some socks and shoes on the way that I hope will fit a 24 inch doll. 

And..........you know that 1000 piece puzzle I was never going to finish? Well, I finished it. 

I liked doing it so much that I bought this spring one. It should be here today. 

Weird Wednesday WIPs

 

Well, this is no fun. We're back at work in the bathroom this week and by we I mean me. The Mister really can't get down and squeeze into that small space with his hip anymore so I had to do the the plumbing hook ups and as you can see it didn't go so well. I've still got a little leak happening. I'll try again today to get those pipes tight. 

Thanks to the bathroom and the dumpster filling my real projects have been all but ignored all week as I am still obsessing over the things from the attic. Another thing I found up there is this HUGE crocheted bedspread. It's not mine. I don't know whose it is or how I came to have it but that didn't stop me from giving it a wash and a good looking over. 

It appears that some of the joins are broken. I was tempted to toss it but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Someone slaved over this thing and I'm not going to be the person to throw it out. That could be grounds for a haunting. 

Believe it or not I was tempted to try and repair all the broken bits. There are a lot of them. I must be crazy. When I am done, if I am ever done, this thing will never see the light of day but nonetheless I feel compelled. 

While I was working on it, I left if for a minute and came back to find that Pup had claimed it. This thing has taken on a life of its own. It might be a battle to keep it from taking over mine. 

And...someone asked me to explain crewel and the best thing I can say is that it's covering up printed blue lines on linen with fuzzy wool yarn using a sharp needle.

You do that using a variety of embroidery stitches. Here are the ones I'm going to have to figure out for this project. I have figured out that it's not in your best interest to ever stick that yarn in your mouth to thread the needle. Not unless you want a nasty mouth full of fuzz. Don't ask me how I know this.

Tiny Needle Tuesday: Appley Dappley

 

My happiest of happy dances came when I pulled this out of the attic. When I thought it was lost I spent years searching for another kit so I could replace it. Appley Dappley hung in my hallway at my old house and I loved her so much. Some of you even helped me search for the now very vintage Erica Wilson crewel kit from way back in the 70's.

With your help I found this one which was similar. I was going to try to modify it to look like the original.

I did find these companion kits from the Beatrix Potter series but I never stitched them because I was waiting to see if I could find the Sitting and Knitting one first.

Now that Appley Dappley's back, I went ahead and kitted up Home Cooking. I'm going to try my hand at some crewel again. I'm not very good at it but I've got nothing to lose...so here goes nothing. 

A Stitch in Time

 

After drying in the sun, many of my newly found cross stitch projects were badly stained. They got soaked overnight in a vinegar solution and then spot cleaned with some Oxi Clean. I sat in the sun to dry and I was surprised how well most of those 30 year old stains faded. What a difference.

When they were dried I had a pile of wrinkly samplers to iron. 

I couldn't believe how many there were. I have no idea where I got the time for all this stitching with three little kids. I can barely find the time now. I was really happy to find this one. It was on the living room wall of our old house. It's in pretty bad shape but I can work around it. 

I had the bad habit of stapling or thumb tacking my work to the backing boards and you can see all the rust marks. My other go to was masking tape. Up in the hot attic it baked into the fabric which also left marks.

I also have no idea why all these ends are flying all over the place. Did I not know how to weave in all that loose thread? Who knows. I don't even remember making any of these things. This one says 1984. That was a long time ago.

I do remember this one. I remember thinking this was the hardest thing I'd ever stitched and I never wanted to do fill work again. 

I am beyond tickled that I found all the little things I had made for the kid's rooms way back when. I have no idea what I am going to do with all of them now but I'm glad I have them. Even if they live the rest of their lives in a drawer at least I know they are safe. 

A Light in the Attic

 

Guess what we did on Friday. We had space left in the dumpster so The Mister insisted upon emptying the attic. I was totally against this move because attics are icky. I'm of the mind that you just burn it all down with the house when you've had enough of it all. The Mister didn't see it my way so he started pulling stuff out and handing it to me to take out front. 

Most of the junk went straight to the dumpster but a few boxes held things that couldn't be parted with. Daughter's American Girl dolls got a good bath and hair washing and spent the day in the sunshine. She's been asking me for them for ages but I wasn't going up to get them. I avoid the attic at all cost. 

Their clothes went straight into the laundry and then I had too much fun dressing them. Look at Pup behind them. She was ticked off that I was sitting on the floor playing with dolls when I should have been making dinner. Too bad. We had spent all day running up and down stairs, in and out and I was going to sit and play whether she liked it or not. 

They weren't the only dolls I found up there. Ladies of a certain age might recognize this one. 

Before I cut off her hair and painted her face she was a 1963 Charmin' Chatty and looked like this. She was the only doll I ever asked my parents for when I was a kid.  You stick a record in her side, pull her string and she talks to you. Not anymore, poor old thing. 

Then there was artwork. Mine. I painted this when I was in my first year of college for some art class.....

....but my favorite find was an old book about dogs that I had kept through the years because apparently I had used it as an art journal. It holds some of my best work. Lol.

You have to admit that my ballerina is pretty good for a 3 or 4 year old. 

What had me doing a happy dance in the front yard was finding these. Many years ago we had an attic purge when mice got up there and ate everything. We just tossed it all without looking and I assumed that my old stitching projects were gone. They weren't. They got a good wash and when they are dry we'll take a look at them.

And......the thing that tickled me the most was finding this. This belonged to my step-grandfather. It sat on his bar and I was fascinated by it when I was a kid. It was filled with wine that is long gone.  I didn't even remember I had it but she's got a place of honor now. She's right at home among all the other junk I can't part with. 

On the Mend

 

In between cooking the various part of our St. Patrick's Day dinner I was gluing little shoes....

....and darning little sweaters. I'll tell you why tomorrow. 

Today I want to show off my St Patrick's Day dinner. I've been busy, busy, busy but I pulled it off for another year right down to the homemade soda bread. 

I can always count on The Mister to bring home dessert. No beer this year. No Irish Whiskey. The Mister's on the wagon because of his impending surgery. Today is MRI day. Good times. 

If You Are Lucky Enough to be Irish....

 

...I'm not but that doesn't stop me from throwing some soda bread in the oven and a corned beef in the crock pot today to the tune of some Irish folk music. My English ancestors would probably raise an eyebrow but thanks to those folks who went for a long boat ride I'm an American and we celebrate everything and everybody here. Ain't it grand!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Fill'er Up

 

The crazy wind was still rocking the house yesterday but The Mister was still determined to get that dumpster loaded even though we have it until Monday. In spite of having had to sleep in the lower level, he was raring to go before the sun came up. I am not kidding when I say he slept in the dog's bed on the floor all night. I slept on the little love seat we bought for Pup. He tried to sleep in his recliner but it hurt his hip so I woke up at 4 am to find him on the floor on the dog's bed which he swears was comfortable.

I did not want to go out there with that wind under those trees but nothing stops him when he has his mind made up so out I went. It took us just a few hours to get the piles we had in the driveway and in the backyard gone, gone, gone. We'll clean up the cinder blocks and the pallet that we had everything piled on when that wind dies down.  

I even got my fleece shed cleaned out. It was jammed packed full odds and ends leftover from whatever job we were working on. I'm not planning on buying any fleece anytime soon but you never know. The MDSW is just a few weeks away now but The Mister's surgery is just two weeks before that so who knows if I'll get there again this year. If I don't it will be the fifth year in a row of not getting there for one reason or another and that is just so very sad.