November Thankfulness

My dear sister-in-law Bobbie, who lives on the west coast, loves to post to Facebook and posts the most fun things, especially photos of my baby brother and his long beard and his red flannel shirts!

On November 1, she posted 30 Days of Thankfulness, and I thing there was a hashtag there somewhere.

I decided that I would post along with her daily.

So far, so good.  I've posted something every day, I think.

Nov 1 I must have started late, because I can't find a post for the first...

But:

Nov 2 I'm thankful for the gift of my life and the freedom to life in God's service
Nov 3 I'm thankful for a church home and family
Nov 4 I'm thankful for clouds
Nov 5 I'm thankful for sunshine
Nov 6 I'm thankful for warm water and good smelling shampoo
Nov 7 I'm thankful for a husband who supports my fiber addictions!
Nov 8 I'm thankful that I can read, and for used books
Nov 9 I'm thankful for breakfasts, especially tea.
Nov 10 I'm thankful that football on TV gives me guilt-free sewing time
Nov 11 I'm thankful for a family of veterans.  Five of my seven siblings have served.

And today, I'm thankful for doctors and nurses and medical professionals.

My friend Julia and I were discussing our various parents and their medical issues, past and present.  I'm so thankful that my mom had good care after her strokes, and that she remained happy after she started her slide into dementia.  She was able to stay at home until the end, over 20 years ago.  I still miss her and think about her often.

Julia is going through things with her mom that remind me of our journey, and I can be a sympathetic listener and a willing ear.  Sometimes that's all you can do.  But  it IS a thing that you CAN do.

Anyway, to those good souls who care for the sick and injured, the old and infirm, and the young and newly born, thank you so much, and bless your talents and your work!

Be happy, and be thankful!

I Had A Thought...

I read some of my favorite blogs yesterday, November 1.  Some of them were a little discouraging to me.

Does everyone have monthly goals or lists except me??  Wow!

Sometimes it's days between the times I get to actually spend time in the sewing studio.  And often when I do get in there, I have to spend an hour straightening up and deciding what to work on next.  Sometimes I just can't get focused.

Well, at least it doesn't look like this anymore!

I did manage to get my machine set up about a month after my knee surgery in April, so I really had no excuse.  Then my favorite sewing machine, Valkyrie the Viking, had a complete breakdown and went belly-up in the pool.  

I fixed that by buying two machines and tossing the Valkyrie into the nearest dumpster (after being told by the Expert that it could not be fixed for any amount, reasonable or un).

My first purchase was a Babylock Aria.  It was a little pricier than I was hoping to spend, but after I pulled out the last of the gift cards I received on my retirement in 2018, and dug into my purse for loose change, it was manageable.  I have to say I have no regrets.  None.  It was a very, very good and wise decision.

Here she is, on a new-to-me table, next to my serger.  The perfect combination!

The next purchase I made was totally serendipitous, but it's something I've had on my Bucket List for a long time.  I blogged about it several years ago, whining a little about the fact that finding a Singer Featherweight in good working condition for less than a small fortune can be challenging, what with some people buying six or seven and all that.

I have had elbow and shoulder issues in my left arm for a while, and some portable machines are so heavy in their cases that it makes dragging them to classes a chore.  So one day in conversation about machines a lady told me she had one to sell and the person who had been interested in it decided to pass on it.  The price was within my budget, and although there were virtually NO accessories or parts other than the foot pedal, it was in good working order so I grabbed it.

She is beautiful.

I signed up for Featherweight University at a local quilt shop, and learned how to lubricate and oil her up.  The instructor tuned up her tension, and she sews the most beautiful straight stitch I have ever seen.  I am in love... twice over.

So you see, I ought to be able to think of something to sew each and every day.

Maybe I need to make some lists of the projects in my bin to start or finish, and the projects rolling around in my brain.

Think about it... and sew on!

Thank Goodness for YouTube!

Today I needed to finish the toe of one of a pair of cuff-down socks I have been knitting for months... don't ask.  It was actually the second sock of the pair, so I don't feel too terrible.  I could not for the life of me remember how to start doing the Kitchener stitch to do the finish.  I did it on the first sock.  Months ago.

Did I tell you I have a good memory, but it's short?

Oh well!  Now that I can watch YouTube on my TV (as opposed to my Kindle with the tiny screen), I can see what's being knit in glorious detail, big as or bigger than life.  I know that there's a video of the Kitchener in slow motion, so I watched it, and finished up the toe lickety-split.

Thank goodness for YouTube!

As long as I was sitting there knitting, I picked up another project and kept watching other videos.

Most of the teenaged girls I know have long hair.  Some have REALLY long hair, others are 'growing their hair out'.

My grands have what I consider to be long-ish hair, long enough for buns and pony tails and the like, but not so long that they're sitting on it.

I used to have long hair, because my dad thought girls SHOULD have long hair.  Not because I like it, because I have a sensitive scalp and I HATED having my hair brushed from the youngest age.  Long before the days of No More Tangles shampoo and cream rinses to de-tangle, my mom would go at my wet hair with a comb and I would cry the whole time.  I remember crying through half an episode of the Perry Como show because that's how long it took to get all the tangles out.

If we are ever invaded, I do not have to be tortured to give up any secret they want...all they have to do is pull my hair and I'll tell everything.  I will make things up.

I digress.

Last Sunday, Grand Number three, Miss A, asked me if I knew how to make scrunchies.  You know those bands of fabric and elastic that girls put in their hair to either a)hold their hair in a pony tail or b)make a fashion statement by matching their outfit.  Or c)both...

I said "of course I do"... so she asked if I could teach her how to do it, now that she has her own sewing machine and her own stash.   Uh, sure.


Therefore I did what every dedicated grandmother does, and turned to YouTube, since I was already watching, to find out what size fabrics I should be cutting, and to see if there were any good tutorials for making scrunchies.



And there are THOUSANDS.  Since it's so easy to upload videos to YT, and literally anyone with a computer can have a channel, I sat and watched an hour's worth of videos on how to make these little donuts of fabric.

Some used regular elastic.  Some used the pony tail bands.  Sometimes they used the pony tail bands whole, and sometimes they cut the pony tail band and used it like someone else used elastic.

Whew!  Who knew this could be so complicated!!

Suffice it to say that I did eventually make it down to my sewing studio and made two, yes count 'em, two scrunchies.

It turns out that the hardest part of this operation is deciding what color fabric Miss A might like.

Sew on...

Followed Closely be Winter?

It was bad enough Tuesday, when we got a light layer of snow on top of the green grass and the piles of leaves.

But today -- oh boy this day takes the cake!!

SO FAR we've gotten 5 inches of snow.  On October 31.  It's the snowiest Halloween since like forever.  The weatherman on channel 12 says it's officially the snowiest Halloween on record.

Oh well, at least this year I don't have to shovel it!

Sew on...

Autumn: Yes, It's Finally Here...

With cooler weather, I'm working on finishing more projects.  I guess now that it's cooler outside I'm not so anxious to be anywhere outside if I can help it.  I'm trying to coordinate my errand days better, so I don't have to drive anywhere a couple of days each week.

I do wish I'd remember to take more photos of projects I'm working on.  And I wish I'd finish more of the things I've started.

Like the Kaffe Mystery quilt.  I do have all of the blocks put together.  I just have to assemble the quilt top.

These blocks were finished before I started packing to move here -- so in 2018.

What's the matter with me that I can't just sew these puppies together??  Ack!

But let me start a new project; I'm all gung ho about that!!

Next month I'm teaching a new bag pattern.  I think I'm done with the cycle of wire framed totes.

This is the new bag, sort of finished... I was having some trouble with attaching the grommets that hold the handles in, so this is the side without the grommets.  The fun part is making the outside fabric and quilting it.  I jumped right on that, even though I still have one Wire Framed Tote to complete, and one more class of that scheduled before the Diamond Gem bag starts.

This is the old class... the Wire Framed Tote Bag.  Kind of like a 31 bag, but you can customize it so you don't confuse your bag with anyone else's bag of the same fabric!  I loved making them but I'm kind of over them too, if you know what I mean.

There's a casserole carrier from the same pattern maker.  Maybe I'll do a picture of that one when it's done.  I guess I shouldn't plan to start that until I finish up a couple of other projects.

But that might be a post for tomorrow.

Sew on...

Sue and the Terrible, Horrible...

no good, very bad day??  Do you remember reading the book about Alexander and his bad day when you were young, or reading it to a child or grandchild?

Yesterday I had a T-H-NG-VB Day.

Everything took three times the amount of time that it should have taken.

I dropped off my embroidery machine for cleaning, and what should have taken three minutes took at least 15.  Someone was purchasing a sewing machine ON THE PHONE.  As if!  That put me behind which would then make me late for my next few errands so I skipped my second and third errands and went directly to the movie theater for stop number four.

I had purchased tickets for two different films, one on Friday and one on Sunday.  I asked for the ticket to see Downton Abbey (Friday), but they printed the wrong ticket, which due to lack of reading glasses I didn't notice immediately.  By the time I got that situation remedied, the movie had started and there was someone in my seat.  She had apparently decided that I was not coming.

I finally found an alternate seat (not easy in the dark).  I didn't even have time to purchase a $5 soda, so I just concentrated on the movie.  That was the best part of the day!

Downton Abbey was the best thing on

TV for six seasons, and the movie

did not disappoint.

After the movie I went back to errand number two, pick up an order at the yarn shop.  Only when I got there, the sweet girl behind the desk couldn't find it.  By this time it was sprinkling outside and the wind was blowing.  It was approaching rush hour and I didn't really appreciate having driven all that way for nothing!  She was about to give me a replacement order when I got a text that my order had been delivered to my house.  She said things were crazy on Thursday when they did the mailing, so free shipping on them!  I only hope the lady whose order was NOT shipped will be as happy.

Now I went out to rush hour to deliver a table runner to church.  That was errand number three.  I was dropping it off for the Lutheran Women's Missionary League coordinator for Sunday.  Too bad I had missed her by about 15 minutes.  :-(  I texted her and told her where it was, and it turned out she was at the grocery store and could come back.

Disaster averted.

Having skipped lunch, and now approaching 5:30 p.m., I decided to run to a Taco Bell, but the street I was on had been improved this past summer and I couldn't make a left turn into their parking lot.

<sigh>

By this time, famished, I kept going until I found a fast food place on the RIGHT side of the street, and grabbed a sandwich and fries, and a $2 diet soda.  So less than half of the price of the one I missed at the movies.  My luck is improving.

And did I mention that by this time there was hail?  Teeny, tiny hail, but hail nonetheless.  Oh, and my reading glasses?  In the bottom of my purse, broken and missing the right lens.

Oh well, as a certain fictional heroine would say, I can't think about that now, I'll think about that tomorrow.

Sew on...

Back to The Blog!

OK All you loyal readers (all six of you!!) I fixed whatever issue I was having with the photos, my life has calmed down a little, and I've resolved to blog more frequently.

We'll see how it goes.

Last month I went to the Wisconsin Public TV Quilt Expo.  That is a great show, and if you haven't attended, you should consider it.  There were over 300 quilts in the main show, plus several smaller exhibits in other areas, including a tribute to Nancy Zieman, another one to Prince's Purple Rain, and some fabulous smaller quilts like Amish with a Twist, and sashiko embroidery.

Then I got a yarn order from Knitpicks, including a new winder.  Not that my old one was broken, but the yarn could slip off the cone and when it wound around the gears it made a maddening mess that could only be removed with a ton of patience, or a scissors.

This new one has a bigger shield and if it slips you get a mess but not in the gears.

I had previously purchased a 'yarn swift' of sorts.  It's from Chiao Gu (I think that's how you spell it) and it holds the hank while you wind, thus eliminating the need for someone to hold the skein while you wind it.  It's perfect!  And it disassembles and goes flat for storage.

I wound three skeins of sock yarn while watching Midsommer Murders on Friday.

This is the skein on the swift. The wound cake is the photo below.

This is what the next skein looked like.

Then draped over the swift.

And the cake.  And you won't believe the changes when you begin knitting...

which I haven't done yet.  I have cast on a gray blend called Hawk that is going to be a pair of fingerless mittens for Miss E.  You know high school seniors don't wear mittens, but a pair of fingerless ones will keep hands a little warm and leave fingers free for texting.

On Thursday I was sitting in Starbucks with a tea, knitting between appointments.  A small boy and his mom were watching me knit.  He was whispering to her but I didn't catch what he said.  She finally asked me what I was doing as they were leaving, actually I think she said "What are you making", so probably she recognized it as a knit project.  She said they were nice, so hopefully I get a thumbs up from the teenager too!

Knit on...

Photo Challenges -- Mine, Not Yours!

This blog was originally a place to show off pictures I've taken of various things like all my marvelous and not-so-marvelous projects, works in process, etc.

Still having trouble getting my photos from my phone and tablet onto my computer.  I'm not sure what the difficulty is exactly, but it's getting more frustrating as the days go by.

I swear, I used to just connect the tablet to the computer and a file folder would open and there all the photos were, ready for transfer to the computer.  Now, I plug the devices together and the computer says "I detect a charge-only device attached to me".  Ugh!!  Same cord I think.  Newer computer, but same make and model as the old one... I have no idea what's up with that.  Or them, as the case may be.

Time to go to work, or at least comb my hair and put on clothes so I may do same.

Maybe I'll have some time to sew this weekend, and find a solution to my posting issue.

Sew on...

572

Just for the record, this is post number 572, with no particular significance to that number.

Trivia, mostly useless!

The heat in Wisconsin continues.  Today it was in the low 80s, although the humidity level is manageable.  I don't know how people manage to live in the south over the summers.  I guess it's all in what you get used to...

I'm very frustrated with my computer right now, or maybe with my phone... I'm never sure.

The two are not on speaking terms.

I think I have to enlist the geek squad to help.  I can't get my pictures from my phone onto any of my computers.  I also can't get them off my tablet to the computer!  I plugged the cords into both units and I seem to have only a recharge cord; at least that's the only thing that currently happens when I plug them in.

I had lovely photos that I wanted to post, of things I've recently completed or worked on, but nope!  Not happening here.

I guess I need a ten year old.

So here are a few gratuitous photos to which I do have access!!

Sew on!!

Summer Business

I have a love/hate relationship with summer.

I love the freedom from coats and jackets.  I love sitting on the patio with a beverage and listening to the bird and seeing the flowers.

I hate the hot, hot weather and the air conditioning.

I also love the air conditioning at night, when it would be too hot to sleep without it.  And I love ceiling fans and open windows.

We have in the condo these wonderful ceiling fans with remote controls which can turn the fan on, off, higher, lower, to help control the temperature of the room automatically.

Except I think mine are haunted or something.  I set the one in the master bedroom to 71 degrees.  And there it remained until today.  Today for some odd reason the temperature was set to 74.

I was doing laundry, folding the load from the dryer in the master bedroom.  It seemed warm in the room, and sure enough, it said it was 77.  I noticed the 'set' temp was 74.  Now it seems like even at 74 set, the actual should not be 77!  The fan was on low.  I think it has to reach 2 or 3 degrees above set to go higher, but no way am I happy at 77, especially not when folding a load still warm from the dryer.

I turned it down to 71 again.  Hubby says he did not change it.  I don't know why he would.  Maybe it has some sort of internal brain that only holds a set temp for so long and then spazzes out... who knows.

I'm happier sleeping in a room that is 71 than one that is 77.

What did we do without central air?

And then sometimes it's too cool at 71, especially when you're sitting and watching TV.  That's when I pull on a quilt or a sweater.  Hubby will say "are you cold?"

No, I just like turning blue at the toes and fingertips!

Summer.  Love it or not, it's pretty short in Wisconsin, so I guess I will just have to suck it up for now...

Sew on!

Independence Day, Part 2

What does Independence Day mean to you?

What I think of is the hard, hard work that people did between 1776 and 1783 when the Revolutionary War was actually over.  They endured hardship, deprivation, arguments among themselves as to what they were fighting for; they risked their very lives committing 'treason' against what they perceived as unfair governing by people across the ocean, who didn't know what was going on here other than what they heard months after the fact in letters.

It wasn't easy, people!  I think they came up with a pretty good system.  But we might be wrecking it.

It isn't easy today either.  Many, the vast majority, do not exercise the right to vote, and then complain a LOT when the officials that do get elected don't do what they think should be done.

I'm disappointed in so many ways in today's political situation.  We elected an administration that doesn't have a Servant's Heart.  It wants to punish children for the actions taken by their parents when they were minors... and yet we don't wish to improve the situation anywhere in the world but here at home.  "Yay, we're the BEST!!  Sorry, the rest of you are just stuck in unsafe and hazardous conditions, and don't you dare try to come here to improve yourself or escape danger!!"

And now, tanks.  Yeah, TANKS.  On the Mall in our nation's capital.  Oh boy, can you imagine how great that looks??  That went on in 1930s Germany and Japan and is now the norm in Russia, China, North Korea.  That's who our administration admires!  OK, not all of them.  But who's standing up and saying no?  A minority.

I have heard lots of snappy quotes about real men.  'Real Men don't eat quiche', 'Real Men don't ask for directions', but Real Men, the kind that I admire, wear pink shirts, eat quiche, cherish their women and children, stand up for what's right.

Kind of like John Wayne, or at least the characters that were portrayed by him.

Strong.  Silent.  Protective.  Defender of the down-trodden.  Didn't say much until it was time to say something.

We have forgotten what it's like to have Principles.  Truth is no longer True.  People are offended if you say you don't like something they're doing, even if what they're doing is wrong. Voltaire said "you can do anything you wish as long as you are willing to accept the consequence of your actions".  But they're saying hey, let's just say it's OK to do it now.

Independence means that I will can disagree with what you say and still defend your right to say it.  We have forgotten that too!  These days we're not happy with just disagreeing with what someone else says, we must totally destroy them in order to 'win'.

Win??  Why is it that you can only be right by making me be wrong?  Why can't we just agree to disagree, and not become disagreeable?  No, now we have to call people names and belittle them because they disagree with us.  I am only big by making you small.

I am praying for this country on her birthday.  We need to become what our name says, United.

The United.  States.  Of America.

Please God, let it be so.

Amen.

Holiday Week

This week is a national holiday... Independence Day is Thursday, July 4, 2019!

I normally would be working at the quilt shop on Thursdays, but since this is a holiday, I will not be there, since we're closed.  But after last week, I'm glad to be off two of my regular three days of work this week!

Vacation Bible School was a blast.  The staff did an amazing job!  There were somewhere around 68 little attendees, half of whom were five and under.  I was crew leader for a group of six; three threes, two fours and a five year old.  One cried all day for two days; one sucked her thumb and needed to be carried for four of the five days, and the two boys ran ahead of everyone, regardless of whether they were going in the right direction or not!  But we learned a lot, and sang and danced a lot, and generally had a really great time.

But now my knee hurts.  A LOT.

I hope to spend much of this week sitting and resting the limb.  

today I finished reading David McCullough's book 1776.  I really enjoy David's books; previously I read The Johnstown Flood and really enjoyed that.  I've also seen him on Book TV on CSPAN 2, although lately that's been nothing but political discussions and I don't enjoy those...  But 1776 was a great read!  It reads like a novel except that you recognize the major players as real people.  It's the story of the Continental Army under General George Washington right up through the end of the first year of the American Revolution.  

I learned several things I didn't know before.  Like the war wasn't a war for independence at first, and that the 'founding fathers' who wrote the Declaration of Independence were mostly non-combatants with a couple of exceptions.  

If you are looking for a good book about what it means to be American, I can recommend 1776.

 Next up for me is John Adams, also by David McCullough.

I'm also slogging my way through Alexander Hamilton's biography, although that goes from his early childhood all the way through his death from dueling with Aaron Burr, and I think it may take me as long to read it as it did for him to live it!

Meanwhile, I'm waiting for delivery of the biographies of Nathaniel Greene and Henry Knox two of Washington's best military leaders.  Knox owned a bookstore.  He might be my favorite Revolutionary General of all time!

Hope you're enjoying your summer too.

Read on...