Giving Back

Nice colors for a quilt?

I dug these out of my stash of Palette. I'm planning on making this sweater, but will steek it, to make a cardigan. But first....

I have to finish this sock. It's a busy season to be trying to fit in some knitting time, but a random few minutes or so practically every day will do it, and when we drive to Beaverton for Christmas, I'll have more knitting time to finish it up, if I'm not done by then.

The Doll's Storybook this week was about how the dolls are like a rainbow. Veronika noticed that each doll was dressed in a different color, just like a rainbow.

We haven't seen too many rainbows lately. We still have snow on the ground, and the sun is getting pretty low in the sky.

It's still nice for walking on the trails (and off the trails) near our home, though. We're lucky to have a place where we can let the dogs off leash for a little while. Rocky does a little running and Dusty does a lot of it. We just walk.

Rocky is recovering well from having some teeth extracted and the rest of them cleaned. We brush the teeth of both dogs every night, but Rocky hadn't had his teeth professionally cleaned for years. We elected to do the cleaning now, because he's currently healthy at 15 years, and will probably not remain healthy for long. It would be a shame to lose him because his teeth were making him sick and dental work wasn't possible because of his health. We're happy he's doing so well.

Besides a regular visit to our doctor, a dentist appointment for me and a visit to our audiologist, we attended a luncheon put on by the local League of Women Voters. We had a nice breakfast/lunch at the Bend Black Bear Diner, followed by a talk.

The guest speaker was a member of the board of Hunger Prevention Coalition of Central Oregon, who spoke about the work they do and how we can help.

They provide nutritious food (not just belly-filling junk) to local soup kitchens (places with sit-down meals), food pantry organizations (where people pick out food to take home) and shelters (such as women's shelters) that meet their qualifications, which is basically the food has to be healthful, the money can't be spent on overhead or non-food items, and the people receiving the food can't be required to attend a service or meeting, or to do anything else in return for the food. The organization is run by volunteers, so they have minimal operating expenses. One nice touch is they have this display at the check-out counters of some local stores.

You can tear off one or more of the tickets and add it to your order. It gets run up along with your purchases, and the total accumulated by that store is send each month to HPC. If you want to help, you can donate here.
Perhaps you have a similar organization closer to you. Perhaps you have experienced a time when you didn't have enough money to feed your family adequately. With the increasing cost of housing, this is often a problem for people with limited income. We have enough, but we haven't always, and I have not forgotten what it was like.
I picked this organization as the recipient for my Facebook fundraiser this year.

In the "small world" department, our Beaverton grands and their parents went to the ScanFair yesterday and ran into my friend Eevi.

What's on my needles: Trickle Brick Socks.

What's on my sewing machine: Resting.

What's in my hoop: Still the Whole Cloth Quilt. Another week with no progress.

What's in The Doll's Storybook: A Colorful Story

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Blowout by Rachel Maddow

What's in my wine glass: Terra d'Oro Zinfandel 2016. Lovely.

What's my tip of the week: If you run out of scented candles or spray room deodorizer and really want to kill an unpleasant odor (or just want a more natural alternative), save an orange peel (in the freezer, perhaps, so you have it ready) and bake it in the oven.

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.

Handiwork

Back to this quilt:

I've been working on this quilt for years. I hope to finish it before we move.

Here's the story behind this quilt. When we were living in Texas the last time (1998-2000), newly returned from five years in Indonesia, I was watching reruns of "Simply Quilts" with Alex Anderson on HGTV, which I had missed during my time out of the country. This design and the fabrics were featured in an episode (but without the appliqué). A quilting friend who had also just moved to the Houston area from Indonesia, and who also fell in love with this design wanted to make this quilt too. She and I set about trying to find the fabrics, "The Language of Flowers" by Susan Branch. They were not available in the local quilt stores anymore. Searching online wasn't the wonderful (and time-consuming) option it is today. I was able to find out from the HGTV show that the fabric was made by Springs Industries. We wrote them (yes, snail mail) and found out they did still have the fabrics and could sell it in 1-yard pieces. The two of us each ordered half of them and we split them between us.

I decided I wanted to fill the big empty why spaces with appliqué, a technique that I was hoping to learn. I copied the design from a quilt I found in American Quilt Classics by Patricia Cox, page 58. It was a quilt kit from the 1930s. The appliqué motifs were in the corners. I photocopied the picture of the appliqué, blew it up to the size I wanted, and set about making four of them. That part actually went pretty fast. Not wanting to ruin my fabrics, I began experimenting different ways to make the Lemoyne Star blocks and partial blocks. I finally gave up trying to sew them by machine. I bought a Jinny Beyer book on hand piecing and began sewing them together by hand. Having started by hand, I decided to sew the borders on by hand, too. I'm hand-quilting, and I plan to sew the binding on by hand. (Yes, call me crazy.) I have to say that I have definitely had my money's worth of fun from the cost of the materials.

I was working on hand-quilting this quilt when Vintage Stitchers met at my house.

I decided to host Vintage Stitchers this time so they could go through the quilting books I wanted to give away and see if there were any they would like to take. I started out with three boxes, and now I have two (not quite full) boxes.

You may remember this quilt of Marilyn's. She was planning to drop it off at Quilts on the Corner after our last meeting.

This store is a favorite place to have quilts quilted for the Vintage Stitchers ladies. Here's the back:

They also quilted Barbara's quilt.

And the back:

She used the special hexagon ruler from Missouri Star Quilt Company. It makes half-hexagons that can be sewn with the background fabrics and other hexagons using one straight seam. Barbara matched up the strips with the same fabrics so you don't notice that they were sewn in two pieces.

I served the ladies some products from Flourish Bakery. I had picked up some at my church on Sunday. One of our priests was a baker in her previous life and runs the Flourish Bakery project.

It's a training program for people who are recovering from substance abuse or have been incarcerated. Fifteen students spend a year in the program learning how to run their own bakery business. Then they receive mentoring and support when they go off on their own, either to work for another bakery or to start and manage their own business. If you would like to help, you can donate on their website. If you're in the Salt Lake City area, you can order baked goods from them.

The girls thought the little pie should have been for them. (I can't begin to tell you how decadent the chocolate-toffee pie was!)

I stopped by the rummage table to donate on Sunday, because the diocese was matching anything we could raise for missions on Super Bowl Sunday. I found this.

It was a hit with the girls. (I paid more than they were asking for it, because I had planned to donate anyway, and it was so cheap.) You will see this item again.

Speaking of the girls, Mandy and Lotte each wanted a Steampunk Blouse pullover like Vroni's. I didn't have any T-shirts the right color, and I don't like making them wear something will holes over their bare skin, so I made them each a camisole to wear underneath.

I cut a girls’ sock 1/4″ below the cuff, turned it under and zigzagged it, then attached straps I made from the soft side of Velcro (5/8″ cut in half lengthwise) to the front and sewed little squares of the Velcro with the hooks in the back. No back closure, Mandy just stepped into it and pulled it up. It was really easy. I don’t know what size girls’ sock I used, but the foot was 7 3/4”or 19 3/4 cm long. Here's Lotte wearing hers, along with her new slacks from the same pattern I developed for Vroni and used for Mandy.

Mandy's Steampunk Blouse pullover is finished.

...and I'm working on Lotte's.

(Mandy and Lotte are Götz Happy Kidz, and Vroni is a Classic Kidz.)

And speaking of Vroni, she tells me to wish everyone a happy Valentine's Day, and please help yourself to one of her chocolates (but watch out for the pins).

In other news, the lady who used my steeked Fair Isle doll sweater as her first steeking project is making another one in different colors.

What's on my needles: Lotte's Steampunk Blouse pullover.

What's on my Featherweight: More pants and skirts for the girls.

What's on my loom: Scarf to use up last of the warp.

What's in my hoop: My hand-pieced "Spring Flowers" quilt.

What's on my wheel: Stanzi is still awaiting her next task. I hope to spin as part of the Ravellinic Games on Ravelry.

What's on my iPad/iPhone: Finished Murder on Black Swan Lane by Andrea Penrose. It was excellent. Very visual, artistic language and interesting science (of the time) background. Now listening to Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet by M. C. Beaton. 

What's in my wine glass: Lindemann's "Bin 45" Cabernet Sauvignon 2016. Tastes better than you'd think.

What's my tip of the week: If you need to keep seams from coming apart, but you don’t want to backstitch, try this simple tip: At the beginning of the seam come onto the fabric at a right angle to where you want the seam to be, or at the end of the seam make a right angle turn off the seam allowance. However, when I sew a seam that won't be covered by another seam (such as a border piece on a quilt), I do backstitch. Unless I'm piecing by hand, ha-ha! Then the normal tying off works just fine.

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.

Planning Ahead

Have a seat, and we'll chat.

Well, most of us wouldn't fit in one of those chairs, even though Mandy and Vroni found a few friends who would.

A chair to replace the one that was damaged in shipping arrived this week. They sent me a pair to replace the one that broke because they are sold in pairs. I bought them through eBay from strcastle. I have to say, they have good customer service. I'm trying to get in touch with them now to see if they will let me pay for the one good extra one they sent me that wasn't a replacement. So now the girls have four matching chairs, one of which is damaged. (We'll just keep that one in the back.)

We can't use the fourth chair right now, because there isn't room enough on the sewing machine cabinet to use all four.

The girls are using a napkin made from quilting fabric as a tablecloth until I get one made for them. You may remember I found this item in the pile of stuff to give to charity and realized it might make a good table base.

I believe it was supposed to hold fruit. I've had it a long time and have used it to hold various things over the years. 

DH cut to size an old cabinet door leftover from our kitchen remodel. I glued 1/8" balsa wood strips to the underside to just fit around the top of the bowl part of the base. Then I painted it black, on the top and underneath. Now the table top acts as a lid for a compartment for storing the girls' cutlery. (I still have some rings to snap off the cutlery and sanding of the ends to do.)

I finished making the leggings I had cut out last week. I need to get a photo of the two girls together in their matching leggings.

I'm still waiting to hear how and where Lilli & Fleur Couture patterns are going to be available, but watch this space. Or read Andrea's blog.

I finished the Gracie Cardigan for Vroni.

Other business this week was putting the borders on the new Habitat for Humanity quilt for the silent auction. 

It's at Julie's place at Bear Lake getting quilted. I'll get a photo to show when it comes back. 

There was a nice article in the local paper about the dolls for the silent auction. In the meantime, the wardrobe for the doll for Therapy Animals of Utah is coming together. Here's the latest outfit. I used the tennis dress pattern in Fancywork and Fashion's Best Doll Clothes Book by Joan Hinds. I like that it has a high neckline, as Zoey has a rather crepey neck where the fabric body meets the vinyl neck. The leggings she's wearing were part of her "meet" outfit (what she was wearing when she was...um...sold).

She still needs a nice coat to go with the yellow fleece scarf and hat set I made her. She could use a few more items as well. I have until October 28th to finish, so I'm spreading it out a bit. Some people from Therapy Animals of Utah work with Best Friends Animal Society, and they're down in Texas now, helping take care of dogs and cats that have been rescued and helping reunite them with their human family members. When we use our Walk for a Dog app as we walk or hike with our dogs, it raises money for Best Friends. Both are worthy organizations.

Thursday was a busy day (as it usually is). Common Threads met at Lynda's. Susan, who only lives here part time, was here because of the danger from Hurricane Irma to the part of Florida where she lives most of the year. She's a prolific weaver. She had just finished a set of these placemats.

Lynda was still working on her "Come Fly With Me" shawl.

I was working on my "Sistine Chapel" quilt. It's coming along, but I need to quit making things for charity and playing with dolls if I want to get it done.

Later on Thursday, the representative from Costco who sold us our window shades a few weeks ago came to install all except the ones that go over the sliding glass doors. You've seen a bit of them in the photos of the dolls at the table, but here's a better look.

We spent most of Wednesday moving things away from the windows, so he could get to them for installation. That meant moving the cabinet my cutting/light table is on. I vowed that I would not put anything back into it until I had gone through and culled what was there. That got me started on the rest of my fiber studio, which has to be done anyway before our move next summer.

I had to tidy up so I could work, but I still have lots of stuff I can stand to part with. This was how it looked the first day. 

This was the "good" stuff left in the hall at the end of the second day. 

It doubled over the first day, and that doesn't count all the curtains we took down. They will go into the pile after washing. I have to leave room to walk in the hall, so I had to stop. I had about an equivalent amount of recycling and trash.

And...my niece says she wants one of my iPhone totes, which uses Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, and she wanted "Columbine". How could I order just one ball of yarn? The shipping would cost more than the yarn. So....

While all this was going on, the dogs had their regular grooming appointment. They came home looking spiffy.

Finally, speeders have been scaring children and running over pets in our neighborhood for as long as we've been here. Warnings from the sheriff's office didn't work any better than the speed-limit signs. People put out those little green men and children even made signs with their own childish decorations on them. Nothing has worked so far. I spotted this the other day. I wonder if this will work?

I sure hope so!

What's on my needles: Just CO the Kitty Cat : 1 Cardigan with Knit Picks Palette in “Lipstick” for Vroni, to go with the sun dress,

What's on my Featherweight: Still clothes for the Therapy Animals of Utah doll, but test-sewing for Lilli & Fleur Couture is finished for now.

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: Still listening to Emma by Alexander McCall Smith, being a modern-day retelling of Jane Austen’s classic novel. No progress on Amy Corwin’s novel All She Loves on the Kindle app.

What's in my wine glass: Trader Joe's Charles Shaw (Two-buck Chuck) Shiraz. One of our favorites, although we have to smuggle it into the state when we come back from trips.

What's my tip of the week: A freezer bag or ice chest will keep food hot for a long time while transporting a casserole to a potluck event. Just be sure you keep it flat during transport, and use a towel or other insulation to keep the hot dish from melting a plastic liner, if you use a bag.

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