Inside Out

It was a short week, due mostly to a medical procedure, part of my preventative care. (That's the "inside" part.) However, that's over, and all is well.

Matti’s wardrobe is finished. As you may remember from last week's post, I made him the boy's version of the Cabbagetown Jacket (just shorter and without the flaring at the waist). Most of his wardrobe was purchased on sale from Silly Monkey, but his puppy, Goldie, came from Emily Rose Doll Clothes. Matti will be going to Therapy Animals of Utah soon to help them with their next silent auction. (The auction isn't for a while, but I'll be handing him over, because I'm leaving and didn't want to have to ship him.) Here are a couple of the outfits he will take with him. Dressy casual....

Of course, a boy needs pajamas.

He has an assortment of summer and winter, "dressy" and casual, and of course, Goldie. He's hoping she will have the right temperament to be a therapy dog, so he's being diligent with her basic training.

I picked up a couple of items for Jolena in the Silly Monkey sale, because she was unexpected (like my youngest child). My favorite is this outfit, especially the T-shirt with the butterflies.

The girls and I have been participating in a "Picture a Day in June" activity in the American Girl group on Ravelry. (They allow foreign-born dolls to participate.) Each day we get a prompt, and we're supposed to post a photo (or some photos) and say something about it/them. I try to make a little story out of each post.

For instance, June is a traditional month for weddings, so one day we needed to come up with something having to do with weddings. Here's what I did:

It's Mandy's turn to teach Jolena about her new family. Today's lesson is about Jolena's new parents' wedding.

Mandy started out with Vroni's Powerpoint presentation: 

"...and this is when they cut the cake at the reception..."

A Powerpoint presentation isn't really Mandy's thing. "I'll tell you what," she said. "Let's go cuddle in a chair with the old-fashioned photo album." That's cozier.

The chair was roomy with just two girls.

"They look like dolls," Jolena pointed out. "Pretty. They don't look like that now."

"Well, that was 52 years ago, Jolena," Mandy explained. "Human beings wear out as they get older, even if no one plays with them."

Jolena thought about that for a moment or two. "52! How much is that in doll years?"

Jolena's Viipuri Dress is finished.

I've been making corrections to the pattern, and I hope I've found all the errors. I'm making a new dress for Lotte, because her Russian Dress was the first one I did, and it wasn't small enough around the waist. It's a good way to check the pattern.

My sister-in-law's sewing machine has been serviced. I had planned to sell it, because I won't have room for it and its cabinet at our new place, but our younger daughter-in-law wants it, so we're taking it along to Bend and then will bring it to her when we visit next, as they only live a few hours away.

I think my sister-in-law would have loved for her to have it. She was very close to all our kids, having none of her own, but our youngest (husband of the DIL who wants the machine) lived with them for a time right after finishing college while he looked for a job, so they had a special relationship.

My girls were intrigued with the machine, especially Vroni. It formed the foundation for another little story, where they all cooperate to get the machine threaded and ready to use.

I'll be using it until we get moved, as my beloved Featherweight is in one of the U-haul boxes packed for the move. (I think those boxes have made it as far as Salt Lake City, but they will be on their way when we say we're ready for them to go. In my mind, they are on their way to Bend.)

Manuel, our music director at St. Luke's, and his family have gone to visit his mother in Argentina, so our little choir and our wonderful pianist are just providing basic service music, but Pam, our harpist, and Mary, an accomplished pianist herself, and the golden-voiced Felicia, are providing special music for services.

I managed to get the pups to Run-A-Muk Dog Park. I will miss that place, even though Bend has some great trails and dog parks.

We had a couple of warm days, and then it turned cool for about 24 hours. It's supposed to be warm again today.

We managed to sell a few more big pieces of furniture this past week. I think we're going to see what the local ReStore (Habitat for Humanity) will take, and then give St. Lawrence Thrift Shop a call. Both will pick up furniture.

The people we gave our piano to came and worked for a couple of hours bringing brush and other debris from our backyard to our dumpster. They are very grateful to have the piano, and we're happy not to have to move it.

I feel lighter, inside and out.

What's on my needles: Still the Coastal Skies, and a second Viipuri Dress for Lotte, so I can test the rewrite of the pattern.

What's on my Featherweight: On its way to Bend.

What's in my hoop: Still the Spring Flowers quilt, no progress done this week.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is still in hibernation. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Still listening to The Crooked Staircase by Dean Koontz. It’s really good. Wish I had time to listen to it straight through.

What's in my wine glass: Lost Angel Mischief Red Wine 2016. “Naughty wines for naughty times.” On the back of the bottle it says, “Lost Angel’s wines are for people who appreciate bold, edgy and iconoclastic. They are as different and exciting as you’d like to be. As the old saying goes, ‘If you only live once, make it count. If you live more than once, then who the hell cares.’”

What's my tip of the week: There's no need to buy hummingbird feed with all that red food coloring. Just mix 1/2 C sugar with 1C boiling water. When it's dissolved, add 1C room-temperature water to cool it off. Store unused portion in the fridge.

Also, there is no reason to buy Gatorade or Pedialyte for electrolyte replacement. Unlike hummingbirds, I can't have regular sugar. I learned that if you mix 1/4 teaspoon sea salt per cup of water, you have the same thing. You can sweeten and flavor with honey, lemon juice, ginger or whatever, if you like. (If I get to be very old, I will have learned a lot of stuff.)

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals or dolls were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Paying It Forward

To finish the Therapy Animals of Utah doll with a flourish:

This is a somewhat artistic representation of the uniform used by therapy teams for the organization. The shirt is made from a Garanimals boys shirt in a size 5T that I took apart, because it was the only green knit fabric I could find in my town. I might be able to get something else out of what's left, especially the navy blue sleeves. The pattern is the free polo shirt by Dolls Duds from Pixie Faire. The pants are from the jeans pattern I just used and have used several times before, Liberty Jane Boot Cut Jeans, also from Pixie Faire, not free, but I've had my money's worth of value out of it. She also had to have new shoes, as her sneakers, black patent-leather shoes and the blue Mary Jane's that she arrived on my doorstep wearing, were not regulation.

I've named the little bulldog "Billy." He came from Emily Rose, by way of Amazon. He came with a pink leash and collar, which will go with him to his new home, but since pink leashes and collars aren't regulation for therapy teams, I made him a new set just for visits. I had a collection of old leashes, collars and harnesses that had been chewed in two by the pups or not in use anymore. I cut the skinniest one (actually our late cat's harness) to use for the leash and collar. The plastic buckle was used on the collar, and a small clasp from a dog leash was used on the leash.

Zoey was excited to have a puppy to train to be a therapy dog, so she took this selfie.

We know that Billy will be a great therapy dog. Although he may look fierce, he's actually just soft fluff inside. He's well behaved, too. He has "sit" and "stay" down perfectly. (And he's smiling in all the photos. Maybe you can't tell.)

Park City Quilt Guild met this week at Davidene's. I went especially to take the finished Habitat for Humanity silent auction quilt for show-and-tell, as well as the quilt from 2015, loaned back to me for that purpose. We have a new quilter in the group. She actually is new to quilting, having only made five quilts, but she has already purchased a long-arm quilting machine. She brought this "simple" kaleidoscope quilt. (Simple, because the blocks only have four pieces. They are quarter-square triangles.) Besides the black solid used for the sashing strips, the entire quilt was made using one fabric, which you can see on the borders.

Linda works at the store. She was working on this appliqué quilt from a design by Edyta Sitar.

Guild members had made this Trip Around the World quilt using fat quarters each participant brought in.

Lynn had made this baby quilt for her new grandchild. The nursery is ocean-themed.

Jill made this quilt from a panel, doing what she always does with panels: cutting them apart.

Linda showed us this fun barnyard animal selfie panel the shop just got in.

 Friday night was the annual Overall Ball for Habitat for Humanity, which included the silent auction. I was mostly interested in how the  dolls and the quilt did. My friend Shirley, who is on the board of the local Habitat for Humanity organization, bought the girl doll (she named Rose) and both trunks, as well as most of the shoes. I provided Carter, some of the shoes and the brushes. I made all of Carter's outfits and a few things for Rose. The rest of Rose's outfits were made by generous friends on Ravelry. Both dolls wore overalls to the ball, as we were all supposed to do. (Jeans were OK, but I made overalls for the dolls, and they had their screwdrivers in their pockets.

The dolls attracted a lot of attention. There was a crowd around the dolls the whole time the silent auction went on. I moved in and out of the crowd to answer questions and bring people's attention to the flyers and cards from My Sibling/My Pal Dolls.

The bid sheets had a price for people to buy the item outright, which one frustrated (because people kept upping the bid) lady finally did, buying both dolls for $175 each. She explained that she had twin five-year-old grandchildren, a boy and a girl. I'm so glad they get to stay together.

The quilt didn't attract as much attention, but it was popular. One lady kept begging her husband to let her buy it, and he finally gave in. (He left the event at the end of the evening with the quilt wrapped around his shoulders!)

Life at home has continued with home repairs and culling of "stuff." We will run out of time soon, though, at least for the outdoor work. Charlie's birthday (aka "International Talk Like a Pirate Day" brought our first snow, although it didn't stick. Friday we got more:

On Sunday, it snowed all day long. [Sigh!]

The pups have been a little frustrated by the cold, damp weather, which shortens walks and pretty much eliminates any real hikes. They still enjoy their snuggles on the couch, though, and their food. They get a spoonful of whole-milk yoghurt every morning. When we finish the container, they get to lick it. Dusty decided to keep the container this time.

What's on my needles: Just finished the red cardigan for Vroni, so I CO the iPhone Pouch for my niece. I'll try to show off the cardigan in next week's blog post. Maybe the pouch, too.

What's on my Featherweight: More doll clothes for Christmas and to replace what I gave away, so I don't have to see naked and semi-naked dolls standing around. It makes me cold.

What's on my loom: Still waiting.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is still awaiting her next task. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen, the second of her novels for me. I haven't decided what to listen to next. Still just a couple of chapters into Amy Corwin’s novel All She Loves on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Crane Lake Malbec.

What's my tip of the week: You can increase the amount of soluble fiber when you make oatmeal by reducing each cup of rolled oats to 3/4 cup and adding 1/8 cup of oat bran. 

Turn, Turn, Turn

I'm leading off with Vintage Stitchers this week...

...to please the long-suffering quilters who read my blog. We met at Marilyn's on Thursday. Marilyn's middle name is "Bright," and this is her quilt.

Julie was working on hand-quilting a fund-raising quilt. The top was donated.

She's the go-to person when we want something quilted.

Rebecca is working on another crayon piece.

This is the pattern.

I was working on my "Sistine Chapel." On the third and last panel and outer border.

I'm using the masking tape to mark where I want to quilt.

Shirley, my contact person with Habitat for Humanity for the silent auction, loaned me the 2015 quilt (which she won/purchased) to show Vintage Stitchers this week and Park City Quilters next week, because members made the blocks for it, as well as the 2017 quilt.

Speaking of the 2017 quilt, here it is. All quilted, binding and label sewn on.

(Well, the label is on the back, that that would take another photo.) Julie brought it to me all quilted on Tuesday.

During the week we had a number of repairs done to our house. I had to take the pups out into the backyard when the chimney sweep/repair man was fixing our chimney. He had to get up into the attic, where there is a lot of loose fiberglass. We didn't want the pups walking about in the fiberglass that wafted down into our living area, so I ended up spending a lot of time in the back. I took the quilt to work on, sewing the binding down. I finished before the chimney repair was done.

We also had our damaged solar panels replaced this week. I think they have figured out how to mount them so that the snow won't damage them next time we have a winter like our last one. With luck, we'll be living somewhere else then...a place with a little less snow.

The plumber was also here, the same one who replaced our water heater. This time he was here to make a number of small repairs to the plumbing, but also to install our new dishwasher and to install the faucet array (replaced for us by Pfister) and the new RO faucet, all of which had been leaking.

It's the same faucet model we had before, but new. I think it's pretty. We also got a new garbage disposal installed.

Hello, down there!

Like the new garage-door opener and the new dishwasher, it's very quiet. (Just don't stick your hand down inside.) 

I'm still working on outfits for Zoey, the Therapy Animals of Utah Doll. I gave her the Cyan Gracie Cardigan, because it matched her shoes.

Then I finished the jacket for her and tried it on her before it got cold, while she was still in her skirt. (If she looks startled, it's because the flash went off.)

The jacket really went better with her new jeans, though, especially with the yellow boots.

Here's a better look at the jeans. The pattern is the "Boot Cut Jeans" from Liberty Jane. it's a good pattern. I've made is several times. The jeans look great with the new pink sneakers.

I also made a bathrobe to go with the cute paw-print PJs. It sort of has the Obi-Wan look.

I decided to give Zoey the green French Back-to-school Cardigan, because it goes so well with her tunic, and it makes me cold to look at her with bare arms. Her black patent-leather pumps came in the package with the sneakers and her special hairbrush. (You have to use a brush with metal bristles on dolls with rooted hair. A wig brush or a dog brush of the same type will work, or you can buy a doll brush...usually cheaper.)

I have another couple of things planned, but they will remain a secret for now.

More unneeded things were found in my fiber studio and were included in my drop-off at Savers in Salt Lake City on Thursday, after Vintage Stitchers at Marilyn's.

Friday was our 52nd anniversary. This was a quiet one. We were both busy, so we didn't go out. Sometimes staying in is nice.

You can tell we broke the budget for the champagne! (LOL!)

What's on my needles: Still Kitty Cat : 1 Cardigan with Knit Picks Palette in “Lipstick” for Vroni, to go with the sun dress. She’s wearing her Fair Isle Cardigan right now because I felt cold looking at her.

What's on my Featherweight: Still clothes for the Therapy Animals of Utah doll, just finishing up.

What's on my loom: Still waiting.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is still awaiting her next task. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Emma by Alexander McCall Smith and now listening to A Royal Pain by Rhys Bowen, the second of her novels for me. I’ll probably end up listening to all of them.. A couple of chapters into Amy Corwin’s novel All She Loves on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Charles Shaw (aka “Two-buck Chuck) Merlot. (I need to pace myself; who knows when we can replenish this supply.)

What's my tip of the week: Keep an empty box close at hand wherever you sew/knit/spin/weave. Whenever you come across something where you wonder why you still have it, toss it into the box.

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.

Dolls on the Runway

You may remember that someone from Therapy Animals of Utah saw the clothes for the Habitat dolls on Facebook and asked me to dress a doll for their silent auction, too.

Zoey came to live with me until I finish making her some clothes. I'm using some of the outfits I had already made, but I had to make her some PJs. I thought the paw print fabric was appropriate for Therapy Animals of Utah. I tried a few things I had already made on her to see what she could take with her.

I thought she could use this dress, because it goes with the shoes she arrived in. (She will also receive some boots for rain and winter, a pair of sneakers and some dress shoes that go with everything, probably black.)

The Gracie Cardigan in "Cyan" looks good on her and goes with the dress, too. 

Then there was this outfit, a little too low-cut for her crepey neck caused by her cuddly cloth body, but with her blue T-shirt, it looks OK. (The sneakers are borrowed until she gets her own.)

The fabrics were discontinued samples from a fabric distributor. Some of them were very small pieces, but they did work well together and are good for doll clothes. Zoey still needs a coat or jacket, but I have until the end of October.

Sometimes you need very little, as for this T-shirt I made for Mandy out of the scraps left over from Zoey's PJs. The pattern for the T-shirt is a free one from Pixie Faire. (It's always free, not a "Freebie Friday" pattern.)

The leggings were made from girls' XL leggings, cut and pieced according to the patten from Lilli & Fleur Couture, the new pattern company I'm test-sewing for. I made another pair of leggings and another T-shirt, this time using the hem at the bottom of the leggings legs (to coin a phrase) for the hem at the bottom of the T-shirt. I have a couple more pairs cut out and ready to piece.

I discovered I could make a tank top by leaving off the sleeves and making the shirt a little shorter.

The pants are improvised to go with the pajama top pattern I used for Zoey, but altered to fit Mandy. The pattern alterations still need some work, but here she is, at least able to sleep in PJs.

The group of Lilli & Fleur test-sewers (as in people who sew, not as in the drains removing the waste water from your house) received the fourth and final pattern to make before the company goes public. It's a sun dress. The pattern can also be used to make a crop top and skirt. We all started on the dress. Here's mine.

If you look closely, you can see that there are pockets in the skirt. Here's a look at the back.

It's a lot of fun, getting patterns for free ahead of everyone else. Mandy needs a sweater. It will start getting cold here soon. When can I knit? I'm always sewing.

One reason I'm sewing is on Saturday I picked up all the quilt blocks from people who donated blocks for Habitat for Humanity's silent auction at the Overall Ball here in Park City later this month. (In last week's blog post I showed the block I made and the one I had already received.) I offered to put them together with sashing and borders. Here are the blocks with the sashing.

I got a discount on the fabric for the sashing and border fabrics from Davidene's Quilt Shop, and she will print the label for me. A good friend donated fabric for the backing. In this photo, the upper fabric is for the borders and the lower fabric is for the backing. (Both fabrics have a grey background, unlike the colors in the photo.)

The person who donated the backing has offered to do the hand work on the binding. A machine-quilter is donating the batting and the quilting, and will sew on the binding. 

Habitat for Humanity also helps tear down and rebuild after storm damage. It's likely they will be helping in Houston in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.

Our Rocky celebrated his 13th birthday with us last week. It was on Thursday. We went for a hike in the Run-A-Muk Dog Park, which is part of Basin Recreation's series of trails and dog parks.

We were happy to see that water in the spring-fed stream was still available. It always tastes so much better than the bland water from our canteens.

We're so happy Rocky remains in good health and enjoys life.

What's on my needles: Still the Gracie Cardigan in “Cotton Candy” for Vroni. Very close to done.

What's on my Featherweight: Still clothes for the Therapy Animals of Utah doll and still more test-sewing for Lilli & Fleur Couture.

What's on my loom: Still waiting.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is now awaiting her next task. 

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished listening to Why Shoot a Butler, a mystery by Georgette Heyer. Then listened to The Christmas Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini. Now listening to Emma by Alexander McCall Smith, being a modern-day retelling of Jane Austen’s classic novel. On the Kindle app, I'm reading All She Loves by Amy Corwin. The author gives them to me for free, and I tell her where the typos, grammar errors, etc., are for the next edition. When I find one in bed late at night, I take a screen shot, then the next day, I reread the page, if I need to, and add an arrow to the photo to send to her when I'm through.

What's in my wine glass: Crane Lake Malbec. I could say, "Same old, same old," but it's still good.

What's my tip of the week: If you prewash your fabrics before sewing, you often find your clean, dry fabric tangled in a nest of threads when you’re finished. If you clip the four corners off each piece of fabric before you put it into the washer, it will minimize the raveling. I line up all four corners together and cut them off all at once. (Usually, your fabric is a square or a rectangle.)

Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.

appliqué