Brrrrrr

This arctic front that’s dumping all this unseasonably frigid air on us may give our gardening event tomorrow a boost, but worrying about all of the little critters who have to deal with these freezing temperatures is almost giving me ulcers. I wish they all had warm loving homes.

All of my sewing for the past two weeks has been to make some door prizes for tomorrow’s “Seedy Saturday”. It’s good to be able to think of gardening and Spring in the midst of this wintery blast. I made two of these holders for my note cards. I add a little each time I make them. This time it was the ribbons to hold them closed.

I also wanted to make a market tote. These cute little Japanese bags caught my attention and, according to several tutorials I came across on the internet, they were simple to make. It took me a couple of days and several mistakes to finally figure out just how “simple” they were. It’s like that “You can’t miss it” statement that people make when giving directions – easy to find (or make) when you’ve been there before!

So, I finally made one and it turned out like the picture. Good job. But I wanted to make a lining for it and I couldn’t remember how big I’d made the first one. I finally found my notes and made the lining accordingly, but somehow it turned out three times the size. I could have made it into a baby quilt. Well, I cut it back by a third and sewed it into a bag, but the shape was all wrong and it didn’t line up with the first one. I cut the lining apart – I reinforced the seams real good and there was no unstitching this girl! – and sewed two of the three pieces into another bag, with a lining. They just kept looking worse, so I went looking for another bag.

The one I finally made was a free pattern off the internet but there’s little point in posting a link to it because after I cut the fabric I stopped following the pattern . It’s a simple enough one but II made one dumb mistake after another on… I guess the more mistakes you make, the more you learn. Anyway, it’s not very complicated – pockets on the outside, but none inside. Just nice for carrying a few things in – maybe some vegetables or lunch. I think I’ll make a few more without mistakes to sell at our Farmers Market this Spring. Ginger is looking very put out. I guess I woke her up taking this picture.

Time to go to bed, myself. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s Seedy Saturday and talking to all of the local gardeners who show up. I have to keep telling myself that it’s too soon to plant anything. Another month to go. I am sooooo ready for it to be Spring now.

Until next time,

Stashing my stash

Honestly, I don’t know where it all came from! Fabric accumulates at an astonishing rate and the boxes, bags and piles had taken over my small sewing area. It all got tossed in the downstairs bedroom over the summer while the house renovations were taking place. Piece by piece I retrieved it as we slowly put things back into their places, and by the time winter came, it was covering the dining room table again. We had friends over for New Years and needed the table, so down to the bedroom it all went again. Last week I bought a second storage cube at Home Hardware, identical to the one I bought there in 2010 except this one was half price!

I spent about 12 hours over three days happily sorting fabric. That photo above is only part of it. Funny how the green pile seems so much higher than the rest. And I forgot about those beautiful yellows! Much of the fabric was still in the bags I brought them home in, so it was a happy surprise to see them all again. Even better, now I can open a drawer and SEE them. I now have one drawer devoted to cat fabric! And one and a half with just Christmas. I know, I need to get cracking and use it up. I’m working on it.

Rusty and Ginger, of course, assumed that I bought the storage cubes for them. I gave them a few hours to play in the one I bought last week before I filled it. Rusty takes up almost the entire cube, unlike four years ago when I bought the first one. Looks like Rusty and Ginger were half the size they are now. That’s not surprising – they used to fit in, under, over and around a lot of things they can’t now. And Ginger is much more dignified now four years later than to be caught on the camera chasing her tail upside down!

So everything is mostly tidy again. The downstairs bed doesn’t have piles of fabric all over it anymore; the dining room table is mostly empty (just a few more small things to find a place for). The cats are bored for the moment, but it won’t be long before something new takes their fancy. Everything is good today in my sewing zone.

Until next time,

Chaos

I’m getting a late start to the new year! Everything here feels like it’s moving through molasses and everyone is telling me the same thing – that they’re having a hard time getting back into work mode after the holidays. Maybe we’re all just looking for something new! One of the volunteer groups I’m involved with is planning a Seedy Saturday for Feb. 1 for all of the local garden enthusiasts who’ve had enough of winter. Me included.

I’ve also been working on my mariner’s star quilt, which I’ve renamed “Chaos Under The Heavens”. Or maybe Wild and Wacky. I’m sure you can figure that one out. Looking at the picture, I can see all sorts of ways I could have softened the colour separation and done things differently. It was an experiment, and, as my music partner says whenever we make a mistake - “Keep going!” It’s a little late to change things around now. Either I finish it or toss it out. Just have a few more sections to sew together before I put a border on it.

Until next time,