Tidy?

It lasted mere moments after hours and hours of work. Then pouf, in the blink of an eye, it’s not, once again. I took pictures in that moment so we could all savor it. The next second brought more upheaval. The sewing room is only slightly caught in the fallout. A few crafts in progress on the kitchen island were taken to the sewing room until they are completed and put away.

Serger more accessible

Closer view

Every tub was inspected and treasures found

Cutting mat on dining table with second machine and project

Sewing/embroidery machine with project on it

Shelves going over this table soon

My friend Sharyn gave me this towel years ago. Always in my sewing room

Shelves and drawers with thread and tools

Bookcase needs some love.

I was happily working on projects in my nicely organized sewing room, when my DIL said she had a glass top stove for sale cheap. It was coming out of the preschool because they were getting a new one. I wanted to put it in my apartment because I had a burner that wouldn’t stay flat. I asked permission from our liaison manager. I was told if I got one, everyone else would want one. I could call the property manager and discuss it with them. No one returned my calls.

My DIL is a very good administrator and deals with bureaucracy on a daily basis. All preschools have that issue along with everything else. One phone call from her, and I was given permission to swap out their stove for the glass top.  Property management sent their worker to make sure it was properly hooked up and took my 20 yr. old stove to their warehouse. It was very clean so someone could use it right away. Now I must get busy cleaning the one freshly installed. DIL donated the old fridge to our Meals on Wheels kitchen in the senior center. Everyone was happy.

My new stove loves my color

Projects have been slow coming to completion due to many little interruptions but there has been a lot of creativity all around me. My craft group got together and painted clay pots for St. Patrick’s Day. Mine and one other were completed.

Lots of glitter everywhere

My finished shamrock pot. Need practice at making stencils

Liz’s pot of gold

I took down Emily’s Valentine quilt and wanted to put up the first one I made in a class for beginners since it had green in it. It didn’t have a sleeve to hang it and it was years later when Emily taught me to make them. I added the sleeve last week.

Easy but time consuming.

Sleeve bottom waiting to be attached by hand

Can you see the needle stitching up 1/4 inch.

Purple pen shows where the dowel goes in

Can you see butterflies machine embroidered in the 4″ squares?

There is only one other neighbor decorating for St. Pat’s Day. It was a simple store-bought thing that I would love to copy somehow. Maybe by next year. I’m excellent at borrowing ideas.

A neighbors decor

Each day is a challenge to keep things tidy and I give it my all. I just don’t think it’s the norm for me. Life is so full of fun things to do and my mind spends it’s nights conjuring up more projects. If I could find someone to come and clean for me, that would free up so many hours. Clean and tidy are two different things to me.

BTW, my son is on his way over to put up shelves over my sewing table. More moving things around. Makes me happy and more organized though.

Post-it notes that speak for me.

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

Ten Days

Over two weeks gone in a flash. When you realize it’s time you will never get back, it makes you want to pay close attention to how you spend it. As far as I can tell, not one minute was wasted.

my new favorite drink on a vacation Gingerbeer Mule

 

I can tell you right now that my brain hasn’t fully returned from this trip but some days, I think it’s been on permanent hiatus so, nothing new there. We ran at full speed after landing in Portland, catching my first meal of the day around 2:00 pm. That set the tone for the rest of my visit.

Willamette River from my daughter’s balcony

My friend Patti hosted me as my daughter’s second bedroom is a painting room. I got the sofa on the nights I stayed there. This allowed another good look at Patti’s sewing studio. It occupies her entire basement with eye candy at every turn. I’m green with envy in some ways but know I’m not as fast or good at the game to accomplish what she does. She found a couple pieces of fabric that will work for a couple of my projects. It’s like shopping without money in Patti’s Playland.

Perfect stitches, every one.

Midweek, I went with her to see a couple other members of Arlene’s sewing group I had attended until moving away. One of my projects was a gift Arlene had brought to me here in my little town. They were only here a few hours but I made Matzo Ball soup for her and hubby so they didn’t have to drive anymore. A Christmas wall hanging has moved onto the list.

This panel traveled a lot of miles.

Patti’s fabric added to Arlene’s panel.

Beautiful quilts everywhere in Patti’s Playland

My friend Emily’s new quilt. She always inspires me too.

My first couple of days in Portland were about completing my list of things to get done. Shoe shopping happened with two new pair. My daughter drove us to Craft Warehouse; a favorite of all craft stores for me after we had a grand breakfast at Elmer’s. I got 10,000 steps that day so I could indulge. Craft Warehouse is a place to be inspired, then followed by some grocery shopping and on to my old neighborhood to see my place looking as lovely as ever.

Bush needs a trim

Not bad after a year

Albizia still shading the porch

We had two days at the beach and a good long walk on it along with long walks in the shopping districts. I found some unusual items that ended up in my bag. Please remember, I haven’t been shopping since last February except for staples. It was going to be my last hurrah.

Daughter walking out

The expanse is breathtaking

Yes, it was cold.

I had lots of lunches with my sister, niece and friends and we had meals in places we had never been before. Good finds, all of them. There was lunch and cake at Papa Haydn’s. They dressed the Bocconi Dolce up just for me. A month late but better than never. Leftovers came from every meal.

I’m showing my age

A month late

By the time I headed home, I was staggering from fatigue and stopped eating. I came home five pounds less than when I left. I’d overdone it but there was more on the list. My dad’s cousin Virgie is 89, lives in Phoenix, smart and spry and had a lot of genealogy information for me. We exchanged quite a bit with a promise to return soon.

A new big shirt waiting to be made now

Finally on my way to see the friend that got me hooked on machine embroidery. Her work is always stunning and prolific. She gifted my DIL and I with what she called little things. Also, some scraps. I was in heaven. I am also once more home filled with inspiration. Now that I have had a week to recover, I’ll start putting some of that inspiration from all my friends into action.

Stunning and true

It matches my kitchen and LR

I want to put this one everywhere

my now favorite mug rug

So much fun lurking there

Do you need vacations after your vacations?

“We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.” ~Unknown

 

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

Finally Finished

It’s hard to write a blog when everything you do takes so long to finish. I have been very busy completing projects that have been in the works for years!  I have a bad habit of starting several projects simultaneously. These are  two more in line, ready to be started. I’ve washed, starched and pressed the fabric needed. Cutting will take a great deal of thought as to what pattern I use for each; plotting and planning the layout.

Cultivate kindness will go outside my door in the hall.

The quilt for my new couch.

Can’t seem to capture the color of the couch. It’s the lightest shade of the teal.

I’ve been doing a lot of hand embroidery the last few years because it’s portable and takes up very little room when I’m on the move. I take it with me when I house-sit for my son, or go to visit friends and other family. A couple of these projects traveled to Germany and back with me and I worked on them when good light was available.

Embroidered on these since before covid started. Turned out too big.

I need nine days a week. One for writing and one for gardening

This one was half embroidered by a friend who was no longer interested in completing it. It was small and appeared quite simple. Looks are definitely deceiving here. The border directions made me what to pull my hair out. ( Marlene does not follow directions well, on every report card.) It looked so simple but somehow, my brain balked. I called my son and told him if I didn’t figure out what I was doing wrong, I’d have him come and help. It was so simple and made ridiculously hard that I really want to do another and see if I can make it easier the next time. Yes, insanity runs in my family.

How hard can it be?

Finally finished

Gingerbread blessings has special instructions to color next to the embroidered lines. I bought crayons to try it but I have not been courageous enough yet to finish that part of it. I also have another one exactly like it ready to work. I’m thinking of using more colors on the next one. It felt a little boring like this but I loved it when my friend, Arlene framed hers. She does amazing work and always inspires me to try my hand at things.

Finally finished also

Should I color it?

This last one looked a lot harder than it turned out to be. I fell in love with the design and wanted it done right away. There are tiny beads at the tops of the pins and a button that give it dimension. The border turned out to be simple enough for me to finish without blue words. It needs outline stitching and after starting it, I pulled out the stitches and drew a faint line all the way around. I sew crooked…everywhere.

Still needs some work

Lines will disappear later

I’m writing this in the Senior center away from so many distractions because my apartments air conditioning is not working. Someone will be here later to see about it being repaired. I have all the coffee I can drink and I’ve had breakfast here as well. How lovely and convenient is my life!

Angie’s information desk. She gave me a free bus pass for seniors.

Cozy chair for writing, No outlets nearby.

Do you ever regret projects you start on but make yourself finish anyway?

The first step in crafting the life you want is to get rid of everything you don’t. Joshua Baker

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

ISO an Island

It’s been longer than even I expected since my last post. Squeezing forty pounds of stuff into this two-pound bag has taken determined effort. It seems as though we bring in things that work better for my apartment and the kids carry out things that will go to a thrift store or yard sale.

First they finished my sewing table. He wanted to make sure it wouldn’t cave in from the weight of the machine. I couldn’t find filing cabinets to hold it up so he improvised.

 

Original 2012 sewing table

Sew hard work

This will hold a whale.

No slackers here

Time to screw it down

Already looks different. WIP

 

Once the newly built by my son bookcases were complete and installed, I realized how many books I actually gave away. There is room for more on the new shelves! How did that happen? The last one is 4’ wide by 10” deep, built to fit the area in the hall. The bathroom door is so wide, it takes all the hall width to close it. Everything is strategic. My son decided after seeing the books on the shelves, the 4’ would need bracing in the middle.

3 ft bookcase for the sewing room. I need a stool to reach the top

4 ft narrow shelves for the hall

Once books were on the shelves, braces were called for just in case. I have room left.

In the search of more drawer space, (I have 2) we looked at all possibilities. Again, I wanted only things that could serve multiple purposes when I no longer need them. I looked at prefab cabinets of drawers out of wood and they were inadequate. Walking through the big box home improvement store, found us looking at a tool roll-away in black (On Sale). It had several colors listed but after much research, found the colors other than black were hard to come by. This apartment is just too dark for black so my son foolishly suggested spray painting it any color I wanted. Little did he know what can of worms he had just dumped on himself.

 

It’s the same color as my blog background this month.

It took longer than expected since they had a 10-day trip in the middle of it all but the end result of his ingenuity and fortitude was priceless! I was in love with my new island. Both he and his wife worked on this masterpiece. I want to have a showing with people lined up in the hall to see this thing of beauty and practicality. I’m still trying to decide what goes where and that still goes for much of the rest of the apartment. Things keep shifting until it feels just right.

 

What we started with.

Back yard sea of seagreen

Soft closing drawers with padding inside

Every size drawers.

They even found 2 free bar stools

They replaced the butcher block to give me overhang for eating at by using flooring on plywood.

 

My DIL trolls Craigslist and the thrift stores which can make some people roll their eyes but my goodness, she has found some really handy and beautiful things. I now have a sweet little bistro set for my porch at less than a fraction of what the original owner paid for it.

Craigslist find

I put a 30″ glass top on it for protection

the battery powered light was a bonus gift. They had my colors.

 

They brought a second little white wicker end table for my Mother’s Day gift found at a thrift store in perfect condition and it has a ‘drawer’! I love white wicker as it lightens up dark, heavy spaces.

I love white wicker

I also found a sweet little quilt rack on Craigslist that was here locally but we were all so busy that I couldn’t get over to see it and I was undecided if it was practical. I sent a note to the owner and he brought it to me. We couldn’t make one for the price I paid for this little sweetheart. I can put my napping quilts on it and not have to dig one out of the chest each day. I’ve met some very nice people through Craigslist. Maybe I’m just lucky that way but I guess right now I’m living on an island of delight.

 

Photo from Craigslist

It’s another thing to squeeze in.

My first quilt on my first quilt rack

Have you ever used things in an unconventional way?

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

A Roll

It’s been a while since I’ve done any creative work. First one must dig out and put order into the space where creativity happens. There has been no shortage of projects placed in my hands in the last two months or more.

It was clean yesterday

First, here is one I finished for Christmas and forgot to photograph. My son and his wife really want to live at the beach so I made this panel up for them. They have no wall space left so it hangs in front of his desk.

Seating for two at the beach. I think it needs pressing from the shipping.

Sleeve for hanging is used with sticky to desktop.

Backing on Beach scene

Beach scene pebbles border

center of beach scene

Binding on the beach scene

Many of us have found projects we no longer chose to do so the reasonable thing is to pass them on to someone who is more inclined to finish them. I have  fabric that I’m going to pass on to a quilting acquaintance who does quilts for Veterans. I like the word ‘finish’ and hoping that’s the word for our winter as well.

Nothing to worry about

Our only snow this year

Another quilting friend gave me two sets of embroidered donkeys. Her heart was a little broken looking at them as her granddaughter thinks quilts are for old people and didn’t want one for her  baby boy. The joy of making something for her great-grandson was lost. So I will do my best to complete it and find someone that will cherish it. I did make a mistake right away by letting myself get distracted when trimming them down. They are going to be much smaller now than I originally thought.

Embroidery by Pat, sashing and border fabric

A few of the 12 embroidered squares

At our last gathering for hand sewing, Emily had each of us reach into a paper bag and pull out a 5” charm pack to make something from. A couple of us are not very creative on our own so Emily brought me a pattern to use and walked me through the first part. The wonky stars have turned out to be quite the challenge for me. Emily eventually remembered how they were done and will take me through it this week.

Emily’s assignment

My first practice house.

My 5″ charms

Coordinating fabric?

I also finished five embroidered aprons out of seven in the last year or so and am starting on the last two. I’m also hand sewing  the binding on a quilt top Emily didn’t want to finish. I put on the border, batting and back then quilted it before machine stitching the binding on to one side. Now I have simple handwork for our groups gathering.

Apron hanging laundry

Cleaning day

Baking day

Ironing day

Sewing day

Rest day

Next up Market day

I learned a lot from finishing this quilt.

Back and border are the same fabric. I almost forgot to add a sleeve to the back.

My son uses the phrase “an object in motion stays in motion” often. Let’s hope this object stays in motion once on a roll.  It will be a slow roll.

“Creativity takes courage.” –Henri Matisse–

Are you finding new momentum to roll with in this new year?

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

Time for Other Things

The summer has started out with freezing cold and then oven temperatures then back to cold again. It’s in transition, just like many of us. Summer brings so many more projects than hours in a day as many of you know from experiences of your own. No more leisurely moments under a cozy blanket reading and writing. Summer always brings hard work even though it’s deeply enjoyable.

These are gone now but so pretty I wanted to include them again.

Mine has had an explosion of work, starting with getting my carport repaired. My son connected with someone who is somewhat family, (long story) and this sweet young man squeezed me into his very busy schedule while giving me the friends and family discount. (Still not cheap) It turned out there was a lot more rot and incorrect construction than originally anticipated. I expected that and made provisions for it.

Those kids (to this old lady) worked darn hard and did an outstanding job. I painted the plywood white before they put it up and the new support beams the color of the house so they would fade into the background. They should have been put there when the carport was built 14 years ago. I’ve had to wait 5 years to get it done but the next owner will feel so much safer now.

It all got wet on the edge

The dump requires them to bag every bit of old roofing. It was tested for no asbestos but now there is more plastic going into the landfill. Sad.

Painted plywood to make the roof not so dark.

I don’t believe in child labor laws. She parks her car under it, she helps paint.

Why on earth did they construct it like this. Can’t change it now but they made it better

It has to fit in one load

Now I have to paint the rest. It looks a little out of place here.

The whole outside edge was rotted from water seepage.

I painted the 4 posts but one needed to be longer so I still have one left to paint 3 sides. They did the back before it went up.

If only I could afford a skylight there permanently.

More damage than expected.

Almost invisible posts to support the carport

 

We are coming into inspection season in our park so my list is long. I have a yard sale planned for the last week of June to raise money for our animal shelters and lighten my load. I will be pressure washing my house, fence and porches then painting all that has worn down in the last year or two.

Free oregano that no one wants.

The garden is perking up nicely and several containers of green waste (weeds) have been recycled to compost. I will be painting the underside of the rest of the carport, the shed attached to the carport and some railings that succumbed to the rain this year. There are so many chores that need doing in the summer months that I almost don’t look forward to the warm weather. I don’t get as much time to write or sew. I’d like to sit under my trees with my feet in the dirt and know everything is in order. I’m sure I’ll get there by September. Maybe.

My little Dogwood tree has bloomed later than others in the area. Maybe rosemary is giving it a run for it’s water?

Hydrangea and Albizia tree.

Nigella (love in the mist)) coming back each year now.

Weeds everywhere so it’s hard to find the good stuff

I’m going to have to take some out. Can’t give it away fast enough

I didn’t realize they would get so big

My kids say I create work for myself and then lament over the fact that I can’t get it all done in record time anymore.  I’m my own worst enemy. They may have a point.

So there you have it. My explanation of why I blog or visit your blogs rarely during the summer months. This weekend will be about getting stuff out of storage and ready for sale and donation.  I’ll try to visit again soon.

Happy Summer Solstice to you all. We will celebrate tonight wrapped up warm. It may get to 70 degrees today for a minute.

How about you? Are you finding time for things other than chores? Are you your own worst enemy or do you find the hard work creative and fulfilling?

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

The Pick Up -Truck

All winter I mentioned  to my son that when he came for a visit, he should fly out and rent a large truck and take lots of stuff back with him. He had to drive one of those when he moved his things back to Arizona and it wasn’t fun. It was January, cold and lots of snow and ice all the way. It’s summer now, almost.

All 3 lilac bushes in the memory garden are blooming.

Does he listen to his mom? Not usually. I was hoping he would wait another month to come out until I was a little more rested and ready for the chores and clearing I was preparing to get done. Instead, they show up two days after I get back home from my trip visiting them driving the father-in-law’s pickup truck. I was absolutely certain that everything I had for him to take home would not fit.

They came to work. Tools in the back taking up valuable space but they came in handy. I had a list of big and little jobs for getting this place inspection ready and for the future sale when that should need to happen.

New laptop came unhinged

Tech Support saving the day…again.

 

They worked hard each day completing projects that I had asked to be done and many that popped up out of current need.

Because my daughter is now living in the room they usually slept in, we had to make adjustments. I gave them my queen bed and tried the air-mattress in the sewing room floor. Didn’t do it for me so we tried to put it in the den and moved out the TV into the living room.

They had to be emptied to move.

He had to get the wiring right for the TV

This had to be unloaded too. So I dusted really good.

He turned one bookcase sideways without unloading. Scary

All the books had to be moved. I slept in there a night and it was slightly better. Mentioning it to my sister, she suggested we come get the full-size bed she wasn’t using. After the hour drive to her house, the kids did a good job of getting it down her stairs, into her open bed truck, then set up in my den. I now have a guest room again. I slept very nicely the rest the two weeks they were here. We had a giant inside shuffle.

Does it have enough air?

It feels ok now.

Very comfy guest bed in the den now.

My son trimmed the shims under the master bedroom toilet and caulked it, replaced the flimsy skirting we had originally put around the new raised deck after the fire and hauled all the wood out from under the deck. It had to go. They pressure washed the old deck wood and cut it to fit in the truck. Then we went to the shed and got four large boxes of Dept 56 village pieces, several boxes of Christmas ornaments and trims, a space heater, pictures and knick knacks that would eventually be his anyway. He took books and anything else I could give him. If he didn’t take it, I threatened it would be sold in the yard sale.

They work as a team.

wood drying out after a good wash. Under the deck was muddy and buggy. Yuk.

 

They also arranged several contractors to come look at my carport to see about repairing it. It’s leaked since I moved in and I can’t sell it like that. The main roof has to wait…indefinitely. It’s not leaking yet.

A bribe for one of the contractors. His two sons are my step great grandsons. Long story.

They wouldn’t let me pay them so I took them to my new favorite place for breakfast.

In SE Portland, Hawthorne street is an eclectic, artistic area where hippy and creative types hang out.  They have great shopping and fun little restaurants. Not a chain to be seen. So, it was breakfast at Bread & Ink for all with my sister joining us. My sister and niece introduced me to this sweet, busy restaurant. Breakfast was my daughter’s contribution because she was always at work. We love the atmosphere and the food. Here is the link to the history of this wonderful little place. They stand for an hour to get a table on weekends. https://www.southeastexaminer.com/2016/01/bread-and-ink-cafe/

Their special bread for French toast and bananas/whipped cream

Best waffles ever and I shared.

Scone and Jam are made here.

Egg scramble

crab omelette and cheesy polenta

Niece’s idea of a balanced meal. Giving it 2 thumbs up

Some of the ink drawings

More of the ink drawings

Ink drawings on envelopes. No longer allowed

Then came the stuffing of the truck. My DIL is quite skilled at fitting 40 pounds of stuff in a two-pound bag. Son took a large portion of what I had set out but there will be more. The truck needed to be a bit bigger.

How do you deal with the unexpected and are you good at stuffing?

Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change. — Jim Rohn

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

 

Spring, Sprang, Sprung

It’s here today and gone tomorrow. Spring finally showed up and I put out my welcome sign. In the next moment, we went back to winter then summer and finally spring again. What we had of spring was lovely  Everything is confused except the bees. I’m listening to them.

 

Dressing in layers is the only way to go these days. We get a cold rainy day then a scorcher.  One day I have lots of energy to put into the yard  The next day I’m spinning my wheels and sitting trying to decide if I can do anything of use.  I’ve been here in my cozy home for four years at the end of this month and made so many changes.

 

Spring is the month I can get the most work done outside and even inside. Once I could open all the windows, I took a day to clean my oven. Four years ago, it took 4 hours to clean that nasty mess the previous owner left for me. Now it’s taking me a whole day to clean a rarely used oven. Looks like some of my spring, sprang.

Ground cover spreading and front porch in need of serious help.

Weeding on the hill and the front yard took lots of rest periods that would never have happened four years ago. But the end result was worth it.

 

The entire top of the hill was covered in these sticker weeds. Birds carry the seeds everywhere as does the wind.

 

 

beginning of the weeding

 

Still more work to do but a good start. Lower bed is the Oregano and Thyme.

I have been gifted with pieces of many plants from friends around here. I take those gifts seriously and nurture them to the best of my ability. Of course, I gift in return. A neighbor came looking for Thyme to cook his dinner.He said what I gave would have cost him $5 for a small bundle, he wound up with triple for a thank you. I’ve offered my Oregano as well to anyone that wants fresh. I’ve passed on ground cover and anything that I’m growing that can be split. It’s how the world should work. I get a lot of my plants from a fellow blogger and photographer, Sabine.

Year 2 for the Forsythia start.

Pineapple Lily gifted last week.. I’m such a fortunate person. Sabine separates large clumps of bulbs to thin them out..

Planted last year and the Nigella has bloomed next to the Forget me not.

Sabine also gave me this foxglove along with the weed that came along for the ride. I’ve left it because the bees love it.

This was what butterfly bush looked like two years ago when I planted the starts from my friend, Sabine.

Planted last fall, this gift is going strong.

A big change in two years. Can you see the Lemon Cypress under it? I think it will have to be moved.

A neighbor no longer wanted this Honeysuckle. It’s second season is looking very promising.

There are lots of projects on the list. This week I had the distinct urge to take care of my window trim as it was the last cool, cloudy day on the sunny side of the house. If the butterfly bush blooms, it will be covered in bees which are not conducive to standing on the ladder with black paint. I’m embarrassed to say it’s taken two years to get to this. I’ll do the one on the front porch tomorrow. Then I must sand the stairs and railing on the front porch and re-stain. Today I can’t move. Old feet on ladders takes its toll. I’ll wait for the next surge of energy.  They don’t come so often anymore.

Old tape in the sun for 2 years.

Finished trim before the bush blooms.

This is what the other window looked like. This one will be done this week too.

So I’ve hung up the Welcome Summer sign since my spring is sprung anyway. How about you? Are you ready to welcome the next season or is there still a spring in your step?

This one goes up Memorial Day and stays until after Labor Day.

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

 

After Alys

It’s hard to explain but the best I can say about Alys’ visit is that a switch was flipped and I saw a light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Clearing so much out of my line of sight seemed to lift a weight off of my shoulders. After a short rest, I walked into my organized sewing room and got to work.

All my projects were listed in order of priority. I started with making the kitchen curtains from fabric given to me by my sewing friends. They were coming to my house for sewing that week. It had been laying across the curtain rod since I decided that’s what I wanted to do with the fabric.

Butterflies and flowers

close up view of fabric

Then came a machine embroidery, quilted for a friend who I felt could use a little lift. I had planned to mail it as soon as I finished it but as I finished the binding at my sewing group, my friend Patti said she needed it for the Senior Center’s quilt show because they didn’t have enough to show. It was a fund raiser for the Senior Center and Meals on Wheels. How could I say no?

How it all begins

auditioning fabric for wall hanging

Hanging at the quilt show

Almost couldn’t find it . They put it next to coffee shop door

I’ve never had one of these

Next came the shirt Patti asked me to make for her almost 10 months ago. She gave me the fabric and I had to decide how to piece this puzzle together. It’s the first one I’ve made in at least 10 years. Patti seemed happy with it. It’s called a Big Shirt to be worn over another like a light jacket and this one is made of flannel.

FINISHED on the hanger

Some details

It’s a Big Shirt and Patti is very little

The back of Patti’s shirt

I made a cover for the pillow I need in my car. The old one had long gone to the trash and I had a new form in my closet and even had the cover cut out. That’s as far as it got until the shirt was finished.The serger was out and ready for the shirt so pillow cover was next in line. I’m a little taller in the seat again now.

On to something really easy. Car seat pillow for the vertically challenged

Easy in and out. Used upholstery fabric I’ve had for years

Since they were all sorted and sitting in a reusable zip lock I started on bowl cozies that had been waiting not nearly so long. Batting was already cut so I just cut fabric and marked it for stitching. They go quickly but not quickly enough for me to make for sale. I sew to make gifts. It’s not an easy way to make a living especially if you don’t see well and sew like I walk, wobbly.

There were fun to do but take a bit of time.

So now there is only one project that I’ve procrastinated on for well over a year, as the pattern is one I’ve never used and directions are sketchy. I’ll tackle that next week when the rain starts again. I expect a few uninterrupted days together to get started now that my courage is up there.

I’ve spent time working in my yard pulling weeds which always makes me feel calmer. That’s the plan as long as the rain holds off. bumble bees are working hard out there already so I have to time my work carefully. I’ll keep you posted but it’s already looking much better.

My Bunny Basket for spring. Painted back in the late 1980’s

Does organization make you more productive?

Happy Easter to everyone or happy spring.

From my heart to yours,

Marlene Herself

Seeing

It’s been too long but I see the light! Winter is a favorite time of year…usually. This year was long, dark and exceedingly wet. I’ve plodded along trying to summon up the energy to do things. My friend and fellow blogger at incahootswithmuddyboots.com came by to cheer me with signs of spring from her yard.

First signs of spring from my friend

The struggle with my vision has really slowed things down. I finally wised up and went back to the optometrist. My glasses that are eight months old were not working and I was scared. “Well no wonder” he says. “You’ve lost a whole diopter of vision since this last prescription.” Now I have no idea what a diopter really is even after my son explained it to me. “What caused it” I asked? He seemed to think it was because of excessive dry eye. That eye doesn’t blink as well as the other and leaks tears since the onset of Bells Palsy 7 years ago. Why am I losing so much vision now?

I bought 5 of these for my sewing group as a Christmas gift. This is mine finally finished.

The back is pink, not my favorite color but it’s cheerful.

It’s possible the C-pap machine that blows wind in my face all night might be drying out the eye if I’m not keeping it well closed in my sleep. I didn’t think that could be the answer so I made another appointment with an ophthalmologist and she verified that the eye was indeed quite healthy and quite dry.

So onto finding solutions. I put in a gel at night for better lubrication and have an eye mask to cover the eyes. My son’s ex-wife saw something online that she thought would help and I checked it out. This morning on my trip to town for lunch with friends, I stopped at the sleep study center and asked if they had it or could they get it for me. In 15 minutes, they saved me the more than $100 and handed one over after a fitting. I practically danced out of the office. No more wind in my face all night. Granted, it’s not terribly attractive but I’m hoping it fills the bill.

The wind is at the top of the head with this one.

So the second pair of glasses that were made a few weeks ago works quite well for distances but I can’t read the computer with them. Back to the old pair when I’m on the laptop. The optometrist will try to come up with another prescription that works better for both. It’s frustrating but there’s still so much I want to do, read and write. Vision seems essential to those desires.

I’ve been working on this forever it seems. Now comes the quilt around it.

In the meantime, the clutter has continued to be cleared. All of the industrial shelving from my son’s storage unit were sold and are gone from the yard. I am continuing to pare down but have found it’s a good idea to go through the boxes carefully before donation. I found a whole bundle of embroidery patterns that I bought almost 10 years ago for over $60. Everything else in the box went, the patterns are now being lined up to work.

I feed a sheet of water soluble adhesive into the printer and then stick it to the fabric, The ink washes away when I’m done.

Started this one this week

There are 15 designs to finish and put into a quilt possibly.

I’ve managed to get a few other things done.

My 2 squares for the donation quilt.

The darker one is mine. Made 2

Each of us puts in 2 squares and this is the result. It will keep someone warm

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So how are you seeing this time of year? Signs of spring or signs of autumn becoming more clear? Are you starting to perk up or wind down?

From my heart to yours,
Marlene Herself

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