Soap Opera

It began so innocently. We were visiting Lizard's parents in 2022, when it was safe to be in the limited company of trusted others again, when I received an email from a favorite quilt shop advertising the cutest table topper kit. Lizard's mom's favorite color is teal, and her entire house has a western theme. I showed her the ad, and she fell in love with the table topper. I ordered the kit. It arrived at our house the day after we returned home. I couldn't wait to get started!

I was so excited to make something Lizard's mom might actually like. She loved the advertisement photos of the project, and she commented how perfect the table topper would be for her dining room. Unfortunatley, I was so excited, I didn't thoroughly read the instructions. I ran out of fabric and had to order more because I cut 2.5-inch strips instead of 1.5-inch strips. In my defense, I think the larger strips show off the fabric far better.

I made a HUGE table topper! I presented it to my mother-in-law on Mother's Day. Thankfully, her table wasn't too small for the giant. (I'd made one of like size from stash leftovers for my mom in her favorite color, blue, and she loves it, even though it is as big as her little table for two.) Lizard's mom asked if I could make a smaller one, too. I bought more fabric to comply.

I presented the smaller table topper to her later that year for her birthday. She loved it. She still uses both but favors the smaller one. I had enough leftovers to make a third table topper in the smaller size for my Etsy shop. (I loved the pattern so much, I made a dozen more table toppers from various stash for my Etsy shop. Only five remain!)

My mother-in-law loved the fabric of the table toppers so much, I decided I would try to teach her to quilt. I bought a yard each of two of the teals in the Home on the Range fabric line and a charm pack. I thought one teal might make a great backing, making the quilt reversible. I cut the background teal into charms, and we returned at Christmas to help Lizard's mom make a cute quilt with fabric she liked. Even Lizard was going to help, if he could. I'd been trying (unsuccessfully so far) to get him back into quilting as part of his art therapy.

The Christmas visit didn't go as planned. We encountered some resistance every time we tried to sit down to the sewing machine. Finally, Lizard's mom confessed she did not want to learn to quilt. She said she's an old dog and doesn't want to learn a new trick. I was pretty discouraged because I'd done all this prep work for her. I decided I'd make the quilt for her. Maybe I could teach Lizard to longarm again so he could quilt it for her... I hoped she'd still like it, even if it wasn't her own creation. I even found a fat quarter bundle of coordinating solids, and I bought it, thinking I could make the quilt larger than lap-size.

Along came a variety of health challenges for Lizard, his mom and his stepdad, plus, Lizard unexpectedly lost his stepsister just a few months later, and then I unexpectedly lost my dad six months after that. All the stress accelerated Lizard's Parkinson's. I don't think I touched my longarm or my sewing machine for two whole years, except for emergency clothing repairs on the fly. Life seemed so non-stop out-of-control. I began feeling guilty for not finishing that quilt while Lizard's mom could still enjoy it. I think it became my most dreaded project. I got depressed every time I walked by the quilt-in-waiting.

A few months ago, I learned my neighbors were expecting their first child, and they were decorating his nursery with a western theme. I thought (hoped) I'd have enough Home on the Range leftovers to make a baby quilt. That meant I'd have to finish at least the flimsies for my mother-in-law first so I'd know how much fabric I'd have leftover and if it would be enough. I found charm squares AND one layer cake of the Home on the Range line, even though it's going on four years old now. I was SO tempted to order another charm pack and a yard of background fabric so I could make a matching quilt for the baby.

Especially after I finally finished piecing my mother-in-law's quilt top! Man, did it ever come out cute! Much cuter than expected, too. I still got depressed every time I looked at the stack of fabric, but, man, did the finished quilt top improve my quilting attitude! I was able to get a little more size out of the charm squares by incorporating all the teal squares in the charm pack (and cutting a few more), which I had not planned to do in the original MIL quilting lessons design. (I originally had wanted to keep it simple so she wouldn't get frustrated and not want to finish.)

Next came the backing for the first quilt. I didn't have enough of any single fabric for an entire backing, and I've always been a fan of pieced backings anyway. I decided to try to use up as much of the teal as possible because it's Lizard's mom's favorite color and to get rid of the fabric I couldn't stand to look at for so long. I am so pleased with how the backing turned out! (And I used up almost all of the teal!!! There's just enough left for the binding.)

I was beyond tempted once again to buy another charm pack and another yard of background fabric (which was still available online in two different shops) so I could make another top similar to the first one, just in a different color scheme. (The dark brown and cinnamon burlap weave prints are still available in yardage.) I didn't do anything for two days because I was fighting the almost overwhelming urge to buy more fabric. Finally, I decided to cut up my leftovers into six-inch squares and use the coordinating solids to make my own non-standard charm squares. And to use up as many of the leftovers as I could.

I'm not sure now which top I like better because they both came out SO stinking cute. (Plus, I twice resisted the fierce impulse to buy more fabric!!! YAY!!!!!) I had one full yard left of one boot fabric, so I cut it up and pieced in stitched leftovers from the table toppers to create another GREAT backing. Now I just have to quilt. Home stretch!!! I can finish up at least the baby quilt in a couple of days. I can take my time with the MIL quilt because I will give it either as a birthday present or a Christmas present. The pressure is gone. I'm hoping if I give it enough time, I won't hate the fabrics anymore, and the rest of the chore will be fun. How can I not love quilting such adorable quilts?!?

Linking up with Alycia Quilts.

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One More Season

I crafted these shorts from quilt leftovers back in 2018, and I love them so much, I patch them and patch them and patch them. Eventually, the fabric will be too think to bother with. But for now, I've patched them one more time for one more summer. They look a little crazy, but boy are they comfortable in this summer heat!

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Finally!

I'm not sure yet if I like it, but my newest dress is finished. I wore it to church on Sunday. No one said anything about it. Typically, I get a lot of compliments.

I can't complain. I have a lot of cool dresses. And this one isn't waiting to be finished anymore.

I think one of the things I don't like about it is having to wear a T-shirt underneath in such hot weather. (91 on Sunday!) Perhaps I'll like it more in winter when I can wear a long-sleeved shirt underneath.

I do love the fabrics. And I love the pieced blocks down the front. So original! Perhaps I should just use it as a scarecrow in the backyard... :)

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Piece of Mind

I made three major mistakes (requiring the services of Jack the Seam Ripper) in this block before I finished it. Before pressing, I noticed I'd made yet another mistake.

I was tempted to leave it as is because I'd already had to correct so many mistakes. Who would notice one goose flying in the wrong direction on the skirt of my dress? I stepped away for a few hours, then returned. The fixed booboo made ripping out four seams totally worth it. What a pretty block!

Now I just need to sew the three blocks together in a strip and then sew them into the front skirt panel. Maybe I can wear this dress to church on Sunday!

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Too Many Choices

I looked it up. I cut this dress out on February 9. I thought it had been a month or so earlier. I'm pleased to discover it didn't take quite as long as I'd thought!

Six and a half weeks later, I wore this dress for the first time. I absolutely love it. And I've got a sort of companion dress to go with it, to hopefully prevent this one from becoming too worn out too quickly and to provide a tiny bit of variety for my Sunday school class so they aren't left wondering if I own only one dress. :)

I bought four yards of Kaffe Fassett Collective Blue Tropical Water Lillies back in September of 2023. I didn't even wait for it to go on sale. I loved it so much, I wanted a dress, a whole dress, I could wear to work. (choke, choke, but that's a blog post for another day) And that was my original intention. When I cut out the dress parts (mistakenly believing I could wear the finished dress to church that very day), I cut all six major pieces from my Kaffe yardage. I cut pockets and linings from solid leftovers that sort of harmonize.

Caregiver duties ensued, and no sewing got done that day. Or the next 14-15 days, for that matter. Good thing, too. By the time I finally did sit down to the sewing machine, I'd decided to split the pattern pieces into two different dresses. I'd use one stash solid for the bodice of the first dress, and another stash solid for the skirt for the second.

If I'd had more than one yard of my hyacinth Grunge, I'd have used it for both dresses. The two fabrics go together so beautifully! Perhaps it's good I didn't have enough of any stash solid to cut a matching skirt and a bodice. The two dresses would have been so similar, it might look like I was wearing the same dress every Sunday.

When I finally sat down to sew the last full week of March, I'd decided to cut out one of the leftover flowers to create an appliqué for the Grunge front bodice. I remember thinking at the time the flowers were dahlias. That was meaningful for me because I'd decided I'm not going to invest in dahlias for my garden this year. They are too disappointing at my altitude and in my climate. Having a dahlia dress sort of makes up for the garden sacrifice. Now I find out the "dahlias" are instead water lilies...

I wished I'd had enough hyacinth Grunge for the sleeves. But flowery sleeves will do.

Actual combined sewing time for the first dress was less than three hours, with the appliqué taking up the lion's share of that time. The rest of the dress was so darned fast, I feel ashamed it took me so long to finish it. This pattern is easily a one-sitting project. Unless the seamstress is loaded up with a plethora of duties that take priority...

When I first cut the dress fabric, I modified the bodice from empire to princess cut, adding about four inches in length. I forgot to adjust the skirt and wound up slicing off three inches along the bottom once the dress was assembled.

When I first decided to make two dresses instead of one, I wanted them to be different enough that they didn't look like twins. Ultimately, I didn't have enough of any of my Grunge stash for a skirt, much less sleeves, and I didn't want to do floral sleeves on both dresses. I had plenty of denim-look fabrics, and plenty of yardage to boot. I decided to go sleeveless on the second dress.

While cutting out the skirt for the second dress, I suddenly became bored with way too much solid. I wondered what the dress might look like if I stuck a vertical stripe in the front of the skirt...

And then I got REALLY crazy. What if I did some quilt blocks in a stripe down the front of the skirt using leftovers of both fabrics... If I don't like the stripe, I can always make a quilt...

So maybe this second dress will get finished in the next two months, or maybe a bunch of quilt blocks will be crafted... Or both... :)

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White Friday

Snowflake crochet doesn't always come easy. We'd found ourselves stuck in a hotel one summer night at least 12 years ago when unfavorable weather (dangerous lightning) brought an early end to a backpacking trip. We made a quick run to the local department store, a very mini version of the typical establishment, and I was horrified to find not only NO thread crochet hooks in stock, but no crochet thread either!!! How could that possibly be!?!

As soon as we got back home from that trip, I put my emergency thread and hook storage in the car, and I've carried it around ever since. Everywhere we drove, I always had the tools I need to design a new snowflake, should the inspiration arise.

We don't get to enjoy 14er climbs or cross-state cycling trips these days, but I've still got that emergency stash in the car. White Friday Eve (very late in the evening of Thanksgiving Day) in 2022 was spent winding a big ball of white thread from that stash so I could design a new snowflake on White Friday while we were visiting my mother-in-law.

I'm finding myself becoming more creative in White Friday photography with our adaptive travel limits. We actually did make a road trip prior to Thanksgiving in 2022, but our desert destination boasted no snow and no forecast of snow the entire week of our family Thanksgiving visit. However, during a White Friday bicycle ride along an irrigation ditch, we found white.

Alkali leaches out of the soil (or bricks) when it rains or snows in the high desert. The white residue also can be rinsed off with water. When you're hungry for snow like I always am, alkali apparently can be the next best thing.

Even though I didn't have real snow, I did have snowflake photos from eight days earlier that needed to be edited.

I fully intended to string about 100 white crocheted snowflakes during White Friday 2022, but I was too busy (having WAY too much fun) making jewelry. Including one white necklace...

I did make one white snowflake.

And one white snowflake necklace. I encased a white glow-in-the-dark rock inside the middle of the snowflake.

And I did finish stringing a few snowflakes. Not enough. Stringing snowflakes is pretty boring for me...

The best part of our no-shopping White Friday last year, however, was finding a safe way to climb down into the nearly dry irrigation ditch (and then back out after I was done) to shoot genuine white ice!!! In the desert! Hundreds of miles from my youthful stomping grounds, White Sands National Monument!

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