Where Have I Been?

I was attacked by a virus last Thursday. It took until Monday to get rid of it and me back on track. Yesterday was a catch up day. Hopefully, I won't get another one of those lovely things. If you want to know the truth, I think I got it from another blogger, because I was reading along on a blog, and everything closed zip, zap, zowee!! Just like that! I could restart my pc and work on anything that was local, no problemo. I could send and receive email, and I had internet access, but when I would attempt to open Internet Explorer, I'd get a message saying 'failure to initialize'. We ran one virus scan 4 times on Friday, and again on Monday. Each time finding something I hadn't seen before. Then we changed to another virus checking software and found some the other hadn't. This nasty piece of work actually changed some of the settings on my Internet Explorer, and it finally took two of us sitting side by side with my pc and a laptop, and comparing settings. Needless to say, I'm back on line, and a measley little ole virus isn't going to keep me away from blogland.

I have some more projects in the works, and lots to do, so come back and see what I'm up to(that is if my kids don't put me in the home first). They think I've lost my mind, and they may be right. They keep telling me they are reporting me to Hoarder's Anomymous. Actually, I'm reducing things as quickly as possible. I just have to work on some before they leave. I found a rocking chair and two chairs in the storage building which is getting torn down. I also found a Holly Hobby babydoll high chair. I had thought about painting it, but I think a good cleaning is all I'm going to do. I have a feeling it's worth some money. It's in mint condition, just dirty.

What projects are lurking around the corner for you?

I hope you are having a great Wednesday. Pray for those deluged in water around the world. Love one another.

One Goal!

Do you remember the song from Sesame Street, you know the one that said "Three of these things belong together, three of these things are kinda the same"? Well, that's what I'm going for here in an offbeat sort of way.
Just looking at the four pictures here, you probably couldn't in a million years find any connection to even get two of them together, but there is a connection.
The first three are connected because they go into the princesses room. The first one is the first initial of their first names. They aren't finished. I had planned to paint them the turquoise that is in their bedding, and may still do so. Their parents have painted the bedroom two colors. The top half of the room is a soft yellow and the bottom half is a pink. This will be divided by a chair rail, but I don't know what color it will be. They are putting it up today. I will need to ask their mother what color she wants the letters painted. I don't know if she will hang them on the wall or maybe set them on a shelf(that is assuming each girl has her own shelf). Another decision mom will have to make. The second is three girls dancing. There are only two girls, but I got this for a dollar at Abilities Unlimited. It was painted gold, and I'm painting it white. I have some work to do on it. It has some little holes in it, and they need to be filled with something. I thought it would look cute on their dresser. The last thing is a dresser scarf/runner that I made from some of the leftover fabric from the bedding set. It will cover most of the top and hang down about 12 inches on each side. It is very plain. I thought about trim on the ends, but that would have meant a purchase, and stash reduction is the ultimate goal here.
Then there's this little dress. I'm not very good at lace insertion and I originally made this for one of the older girls. The first time she wore it, some of the lace separated from the fabric. It has hung in the sewing room for a couple or three years, and in an effort to reduce the contents(aka stash), I did some machine stitching around the insertion using some of the decorative stitches on my machine, using a machine embroidery thread. I'm hoping that The Banty Hen will be able to get a couple of wearings out of it before summer is over.

The way all of these are connected is that 1. they will help reduce my stash, and 2. will finish some unfinished projects, and 3 get them out of my house before the hording people come.

As a side note to my children, I have another piece of furniture to play with and will be bringing it home soon. It's not as big as what's sitting on my carport right now.

I hope you enjoy driving your children crazy like I do. Pray for them. Love one another.

Stash Reduction!!

I mentioned in an earlier post that I had made a new pair of slacks and they fit pretty well. So, since I can't seem to buy anything that fits, I decided it is time to work on some things for myself. As I began thinking about what I wanted to make, it dawned on me that there were three goals I could accomplish. 1. Have a few new pieces of clothing to wear. 2. Save some money, and this is an important one, 3. Reduce the amount of fabric in my stash.

It seems that about the only thing I ever do is add to my stash. I've heard a couple of gals call this a 'stash enhancement'. So, I've decided to call mine a 'stash reduction'. This 3rd thing is very important since my oldest daughter mentioned an intervention from a hoarding group - again! BTW, my hoarding isn't filth like so many of those on the show. You won't find any rotting food, empty fast food cartons, or empty wine bottles in my house. I just can't seem to pass up a bargain, but in some areas, it seems a bit out of control. Should I be attending meetings or something?

So last night, after the Reds and the Cards settled down to playing ball and not fighting, I began working on my latest project. First I got out these two pieces of fabric. Thought there was enough to make a pair of capris and a shirt. Plenty to make the shirt, but only enough to make a pair of shorts. Not to be deterred, I went ahead and cut out the shorts, since I'll need a few things for a short trip I'm taking the later part of the month.

Then I spied this piece of knit I had bought to make a top. I cut it out and had a finished shirt by bedtime.

By the way, I have this on today. The pattern amounted to a front, back, sleeve and neck binding. By using my serger,I was able to cut it out, and sew it up in about an hour and a half(this was with one eye on the ballgame too.)

Tomorrow, I will have pictures of the big bookcase that is now sitting on my carport and that my son is not happy with me for asking him to move. It's big, and it's heavy. I hope I haven't bitten off more than I can chew.

What project are you working on? Pray for cooler weather. Love one another.

I'm Definitely A Sucker!!

I tend to be a follower. I'm easily swayed. You can talk me into almost(I said almost)anything. I go with the crowd. Whatever you want to do, I'm usually with you.

When I first started reading blogs, my daughter told me about the pioneer woman. I didn't follow her down the path of becoming a rancher's wife and having 4 children(I only have three), but as she cooked, I cooked. I thought I had to make everything she posted in the way of food. And I kept up for a while, but you have to remember, I don't have anyone to cook for on a daily basis so you know where I'm going with this. Either I eat everything I cook, or take it to work, and my grocery budget just didn't like that.

Then I decided I needed to find some sewing blogs since I do a lot of sewing. I found more quilting blogs than clothing blogs, so what did I do, I made a couple of quilts for my grandchildren. This made both them and their mother happy, and I was tickled to do it for them. But as much as I'd like to quilt, I don't seem to have the ability to put things together enough to make pretty quilts, plus I just don't know if I can commit that much energy to one project.

Then I found a couple of blogs that make adult clothes. So what did I do, I(after years of sewing primarily for small children)have decided to make myself some clothes. I made a pair of slacks over the weekend that turned out very well, so I'm planning to make more. I also want to make some capri's and a couple of pair of shorts. I intended to do some cutting out last night, but a huge bag of purple hull peas that I found in my Living room had to be shelled.

I've also been reading a blog called The Frosted Gardner. They take furniture that has seen better days, usually being that the finish is ruined from years of abuse. They do some sanding, some repair, then they paint and refurbish the pieces. So what do you think I've done? Yesterday, I found out that a fellow behind me who is remodeling a house has decided to remove a custom hutch. It was sitting on his front porch. I marched my happy self over and asked what he was planning to do with it. He said he would give it to me if I wanted it, which, of course, I did. My son will move it to my house today. I have big plans for it. If it gets moved today, I'll take some pictures when I get home tonight and post them here. I'll also tell you what my plans for this piece are, and maybe you can help me with a few minor decisions.

I hope you aren't as easily moved to do crazy things like I am. Pray for me. Love one another.

For Whom Do You Sew?

If you sew that is. I like to sew for my granddaughters, but I'm the one who needs clothes. I have very few dress clothes since I mostly wear jeans to work. But I have need of some things and I can't seem to find anything that fits.

I'm 5'3, and a petite fits in length as far as leg length. But from waist to crotch even a petite is too long. I have a pair of jeans that I've been wearning for 3 years and they are pretty worn. They are too long in the seat, but I wear them anyway. I decided since they are pretty much worn out, I'd make a pattern from them and see how that worked.


I've used garments to make new ones before. Sometimes I have good luck and sometimes it's a disaster. But during my spare time, I ripped one leg out of these jeans, pressed it and used it to make a new pair of slacks.

As you can see, I'm making a pair of white slacks. I got the fabric from Hancocks, and it has the best 'hand' of anything heavy enough to make slacks I've picked up in a while. I trimmed some off at the top so they wouldn't bee too long in the seat(we've already discussed that) and sewed them up in about an hour. They don't have a zipper, but they do have pockets. I don't like pants without pockets. I wore them to church Sunday morning with a white tank top and royal blue shirt with burnout segments in it. Needless to say, I looked like a top model(and if you believe that, I've got some swamp land south of town for sale--reasonable).

I like this pair of pants enough that I've dug out enough fabric to make another pair, and think I will make a couple of pair of capri's. I'm taking a short trip the end of the month, and having something nice to wear would be great.

I'm going to start the capri's tonight. I'll let you know if I finish them before I go to bed.

I hope you've started something new and exciting this week. Pray for a break in the heat. Love one another.

Mary, Mary, How Does Your Garden Grow?

The little garden my brother has planted in my yard has proffered a bit of work. As August rolls around, it's becomming more of a chore to work with the bounty. But here's a little update. The garden has cut into my sewing time also. Would you believe I'm just finishing two of the three sundresses I started back in April. Fortunately, they are running big, so I think when I finish them, they will go in the closet until Spring. Then they'll have something new to start Summer, 2011.

Back to the garden.

This is the first year in a long time I've been involved in a garden. Actually, my brother has done most of the work. We think the cucumbers and the squash crossed. We've gotten almost no squash, and the cucumbers get too big too fast. I've made lime pickles out of them.

The tomatoes haven't done well. The leaves curled up and the production has been sad. I have made some tomato juice. We had an early crop of green beans, and have now replanted in an attempt to get a second crop. We are cutting lots of okra and it looks like it will continue. We've had just enough to eat along and give my son enough to make a few quarts of pickled okra. The purple hullpeas did ok, but a friend had a big patch, so I've ended up canning about 40 quarts, and my brother has put enough in his freezer to feed a small army this winter. I also made pea hull jelly.

The small watermelon patch has about 10 melons, but the one I cut the other night had very little taste. I personally think they got in bed with the cukes and squash.

Oh well, there's always next year.

We are having an extremely hot spell. It got to 103 yesterday and is supposed to get to 101 today. If you don't have to be out, the best thing is to stay in.

I hope everyone is finding a good cool spot. Pray the heat wave won't last. Love one another.