Words to Live By

Just some favorite quotes from one of my favorite people.

"Think celestial!"

“Anger never persuades. Hostility builds no one. Contention never leads to inspired solutions.”

"One of the best ways we can honor the Savior is to become a peacemaker."

"The future is always uncertain. Weather changes. Economic cycles are unpredictable. Disasters, accidents, and illness can change life quickly. These actions are largely beyond our control. But there are some things we can control, including how we spend our time each day."

"Charity is the antidote to contention."

"... end conflicts that are raging in your heart, your home, and your life. Bury any and all inclinations to hurt others—whether those inclinations be a temper, a sharp tongue, or a resentment for someone who has hurt you."

"Now is the time to bury your weapons of war."

"We have never needed positive spiritual momentum more than we do now, to counteract the speed with which evil and the darker signs of the times are intensifying. Positive spiritual momentum will keep us moving forward amid the fear and uncertainty created by pandemics, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and armed hostilities."

"We need each other."

"Counting our blessings is far better than recounting our problems."

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Legends of Calypso

Confession: I was totally seduced by the blue Color Calypso fabric line (that isn't even available anymore). I don't think I even waited for a sale to snag my fat quarter bundle. I loved the colors and the individual designs from the very first time I saw them in a magazine ad. I didn't unpackage my June 2018 bundle until late 2022. I still am not sure what I should do with it, yet I love to look at the gorgeous hues when I need creative inspiration.

I adored the "color-kissed" flower print so much, I decided I need a dress made of it. I bought four yards. Again, I didn't wait for a sale. But I also still haven't gotten around to selecting a pattern for the fabric. (I have so many blue floral fabrics for which I haven't yet chosen dress patterns!) I can't decide if I want this particular dress to be a jumper I can wear in all seasons or a summer-sleeved frock that will get put away in winter.

I didn't expect to see any of the collection go on sale ever, but more than one year after I bought that initial bundle, a handful of the jelly roll strip packages landed in a popular online sale bin. I wasted no time in adding one to my collection.

I knew from experience one package of 40 or 42 jelly roll strips is not quite enough strips to make the entire skirt for a dress I designed with my own Spoonflower fabric designs back in 2014. (Man, I can't believe it's been that long ago now!!!) I knew must supplement. When I buy a set of jelly roll strips I intend to fashion into a dress, I typically buy a yard of my favorite fabric in the collection or in a coordinating solid to add half a dozen or so more strips to the skirt and to create a dress bodice. Pockets typically are made from whatever I have in my scrap bin that goes along with the dress fabric as close as possible. After all, my deep side pockets don't show.

I modified my strip skirt design just a bit with blue floral fabric leftovers from other projects and cut from worn-out dresses I made about as far back as high school.

The Color Calypso fabric line was so dated (most fabric collections - except for Moda Grunge and various solids - don't tend to be on the shelves longer than a few months), I knew there wouldn't be much yardage selection anywhere to add to my dress, so I thought a coordinating solid might be a nice addition. I used an online store's color matcher tool and bought a couple of yards of the recommended blue.

I wasn't impressed with the solid shade when it arrived. In 2021, I used the solid in my Painterly Charms quilt, then used the leftovers in a table topper for my mom for Mother's Day.

I haven't had enough time to make anything for me for so long, I'd set aside all my planned dress projects. I hoped a better Color Calypso coordinating solid option might materialize one day. At the end of 2019, I needed a tiny bit more of one specific fabric to finish an unrelated quilt. I got online to find the fabric, and there in the daily highlights was what I considered the perfect match for the Color Calypso dress! Moda Grunge, of course.

When this new fabric arrived, I couldn't wait to sit down to my sewing machine! I could not wait to wear this new dress! I cut the strips I needed several months later, and the following year or so, I cut out the bodice, lining and pockets. The unfinished project has been on my dining room table-turned sewing table since March of 2020. I never touched it again until now!!!

It likely will take a while to finish the piecing, and then I'd like to topstitch each seam with row of fancy embroidery. I went through my thread stash and don't have anything but a blue solid for the topstitching, but I guess I have a while before I have to make that decision. Each skirt panel will be at least 24 strips wide, and I'm only 9 strips into the first of two panels. Sadly, this isn't a dress I'll be wearing to church this coming weekend. How I wish I could finish it that fast!

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Grape Escape

A funny thing happened on the way to the basement... Actually, I guess it happened IN the basement. But I've been in a nostalgic mood for a while now and couldn't help but lean on that old overused cliché.

I decided last week to go ahead and dye some crochet thread, even though I still have around 80 unfinished balls of assorted sizes and colors. My 2023 temperature crochet project has already used up two pastel purples and a pastel green. I expect it will use up the two substitute pastel purples I pulled from the stash, perhaps by autumn, and at this point, I don't want to quit. So I get to dye again!

I absolutely love dyeing. That's why I have so many different colors of crochet thread. A few years ago, I think pre-pandemic, I vowed to stop dyeing until I could use up some of what I have. I think using up all my pastel purples entitles me to dye more purple! And I don't really care if anyone disagrees!!! (Lizard isn't complaining at all. He loves to watch the colors develop as I dye.)

When I first went down to the basement to dig into my dyes, I couldn't find any of my favorite colors. So I used grape and did a gradient by re-using the dye juice twice. The wet color looked really awesome, and I couldn't wait to crochet with the thread.

When I let the thread dry out before washing and rinsing, it took on more of a raspberry cast. Very pretty, but very not what I need. I still hadn't been able to find my favorite shades, which would have helped to achieve the hyacinth/lilac colors I hoped to obtain. So I put all three hanks back in the jar and added a touch of lapis blue. Boy, did that ever do the trick!

After all that, while waiting for the new color to stew, I decided to look for my favorite colors all over again. I remembered putting them in a new bin because I'd outgrown the first bin, but also because I was dyeing frequently, and the new, smaller bin was kept upstairs in a kitchen pantry for easy access. I had no idea where I moved it when I filled that pantry space with Lizard's ice machine and PT accoutrements back in late 2019.

I searched the entire house, then searched again. Finally found that second bin of favorite colors stashed safely away beneath Lizard's work desk because that's where he moved it one of the times the window well flooded the basement. I had actually looked up a couple of my favorite shades online, thinking I'd need to reorder. Wasn't looking forward to spending more money on dye, even though I love dyeing.

Colors don't always turn out the way I expect, and colors always are lighter once finished. Sometimes there is a hint of disappointment, but I always love achieving colors, even if they are different than what I wanted. My first batch didn't give me everything I wanted, but that just means I get to dye again! I LOVE blue, but I need purple. So I will overdye the blues (stick them back in a dye jar), maybe even with more grape...

I am so thrilled to have my favorite dyes back within reach! And I am so exited to be able to create new crochet thread colors! I really can't wait to dye more! But, I promise to keep trying to use up what I've got before I dye outside the purple range.

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Love Must Be Blue

It's nearly Valentine's Day, and I'm not feeling blue, but I always love blue. My hand-dyed crochet thread stash is predominantly blue.

In the theme of Valentine's Day (and love being blue), I thought it might be fun to share some of my favorite blue quilts I've finished over the years.

I guess crochet thread isn't the only overflowing blue in my life...

I guess you could say I've got a bit of a blue heart...

And yes, my current WIP project has blue in it, too! (And yes, I've finished the border blocks hand-sewing!!!)

Linking up with Alycia Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

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A Few of My Favorite Quilts

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