December is questionable

While I wait for spring I can get ready for December.

How To Save Money On Your Annual Lawnmower Tune Up

It finally quit snowing, and then rained and rained and rained. Usually I can get away with not mowing the lawn until Memorial Day Weekend, but not this year. Between the "organic fertilizer" and the rain, it needs mowed now.

So I go to start it up, and of course no. It starts but won't stay running. I entertained the idea of searching on the internet but opted for my usual method, which seems to work on anything. You just start taking it apart and find either parts that are broken or don't seem right and put em in a bag and go to the store and get the same parts and then put it back together. If it doesn't work oh, well, it didn't work before and at least I tried. But I've been real sucessful with this method. The dryer once, washer 2 or 3 times, refrigerator once and that one was major--a $45, non-returnable part. That's as close as I've ever come to gambling with my money.

So off to Meijer's I go. All they have is spark plugs, not this other thing I need, a filter of some sort. Well why stand in line for 1.97 spark plug when you have to go to another store, Walmart, to hopefully get the filter. A spark plug is a spark plug; how much can the price vary? Apparently 50% or so.

So off to Walmart. Filter, yep, Spark Plug 2.97. WT....hm, do I go back to Meijer to save a dollar? Not just yet...off to the automotive section I go. In with the spark plugs for cars is spark plugs for small engines, with the same number on the side as the the one for 2.97 in the garden section. So I leave the 2.97 one there and take the 1.78 with me to the register. Now how weird is that 2.97 in the gardent section, 1.78 in the automotive section.

Oh, I'm done with the quilt, pictures some other day, have started another, and work continues on the purple rug. The red and white will be the traditional Irish Chain pattern.

I Thought I Was Done Cutting

I thought after spending close to 4 hours cutting up approximately 10 yards of various fabrics into strips of various widths and squares of various sizes I was done cutting. Nope. I spent approximately two more hours cutting those squares into triangles. I now have to connect this mess of triangles together in a specific order, 4 times, one for each side of the quilt. I finally got the last giagantic triangle thing for the top done and gave up and hand stitched it. Wanting to feel like I actually made some progress I spent the rest of the evening joining merely one quarter of the triangles. There must be a trick to it that I've yet to figure out. Three more borders to go, there's hope I'll stumble upon it.

While I was working on this quilt I got to thinking about a quilt I got at GoodWill for $10. How can anyone value a handmade quilt so little that they would give it to GoodWill. It was signed no less. Someone cut and pieced and put a backing and batting together and quilted this quilt for someone that just gave it away to GoodWill. I suppose once you give something to someone it's there's to do with as they wish. On the other hand, maybe the maker decided the intended recipient was not worthy of the heart and sole they'd put into the quilt and gave it to GoodWill. I'd rather believe that. Interesting thing was, GoodWill placed very little value on it. It wasn't priced. When I asked for a price, I was expecting it would be higher than the commercial made quilt it was hanging next to. So when the person said $10, I said okay. And so much for quilting tonight.

Meanwhile this is where I'm at on the rug I started last year at some point. It's getting closer to done, but I really only hook on it one evening a week. I think when I pick it up next I'll work on some of the outer border since I have quite a bit I could be working on and I hate doing outer border all at once, especially on a decent sized rug.

Progress is Progress

I got the top and bottom black strips on today and the weird giagantic triangle that resembles a flying geese.

I've never made a quilt. I started a quilt you do in long thin sections, quilting each section and attaching it to the next. That's all neatly toted up and the instructions are actually with it. That's a miracle in my world.

Then there's my gazillion 3/4 inch hexagons I'm piecing my hand. Might be ready in time for my funeral blanket perhaps.

And then there's this, that up until tonight, the cutting out part seemed the hardest until I came to this:

Trim the four 6 1/4 x 44 black flor and four 6 1/4 paisley strips to the same length as the four sides of the quilt center border. About 38.5. Well I'm trimming side by side on the off chance I'm a hair off soemwhere.

The next part is lay a trimmed paisley strip right sides up on each of the four trimmed black floral strips also right sides up.

Fold two opposite corners of the paisely strip down between the two strips forming the long border triangle. This actually looks like a giant flying geese.

The center point shoudl be 1/4 from the edge of the floral (bottom) strip so it isn't sewn into the seam. SO THE POINT SHOWS. The ends of the paisley strip should cross where the 1/4 seams will intersect. Press fold and then trim excess to 1/4 seam allowance. HAND or mAchine stitch paisley triangles to the black floral. Serioulsy, like this is going to be the only thing with top stitching. I don't think so.

So I measure, fold, press, etc and BASTE the stitching line and somehow manage to stich this one long side at a time. What I don't understand, since there's plenty of extra on the black floral is why it's not done like a flying geese. I need to check my extra pile and see if I have enough to experiment with. This is going to be one side pernight, which means I won't finish by Friday. Unless perhaps I spend the rest of the evening drawing my lines on the back of the fabrics, basting (machine) the fold lines, pressing and then pinning in preparation for sewing maybe two tomorrow.

I spent Friday evening cutting instead of hooking. It seems I have almost as much left over, on the left, as I cut. Other than that it seems I've been busy accomplishing nothing while waiting for Spring. It's still Winter here in Michigan. I've cut out a skirt that probably won't fit, so it's all in a plastic bag where it will stay until the scale shows less than it currently does. There's hope it may fit by Summer. Heck, there's even hope we'll have Summer this year. Who knows, maybe I can make a small throw out of the remains.

This is the center portion of the quilt, hanging from the drapes. Who knew a window could double as a design wall. There's also a rug hooking pattern behind the quilt center, and pattern directions from projects I've been working on, as well as the quilt, are also pinned to the drapes. And the whole purpose of locating the sewing machine in front of the window was to enjoy the view. That's not happening so far. Everything has to do double or triple duty in a miniature house.

I also dyed some wool last week. I started with a dark oatmeal, a yellow and white check, and a pale beige with pale green stripes running through it.

DO I DARE

aka sewing a vintage pattern that is two sizes too small.

Okay, I must have weighed 25-30 lbs less when I acquired this pattern, or I was delusional, or I thought maybe some day it would fit. Who knows. I've had it for a long time. The envelope cover is literally disintegrating. I keep it in a plastic sleeve and every time I look at it more of the envelope falls apart. The measurements are barely there, the only reason I know the pattern number is because it's on the instructions.

This is the pattern, obviously not my picture, because on this one you can actually read the size.


But, and it's a big but, it is two sizes too small. But I want it. And I really don't want to learn what I'd need to learn about grading patterns to grade this up two sizes to make it out of a woven. So my solution was to spend an entire evening measuring all the pattern pieces, figuring out based on measurements what the ease was, doing the math on if "I add 1/4 inch to every seam" it will still not fit, thinking about 1/2 and deciding I'm not up for any more math or disappointment and then arriving at the brilliant idea to lay it out against a dress I have that fits, that I destroyed by spilling nail polish remover on, but saved because it fits. It is made out of knit. The fabric I want to make it out of is knit. So okay, it appears it will work.

So, I've ironed all the pieces, which amazingly enough are not fragile like the envelope, and tomorrow I will lay it out and cut. Plan b is well if it doesn't fit, I'll still be able to make a skirt out of the bottom half pieces and hey, I'll be on my way to a many pieced ensemble but I'm really hoping the dress works out.

My Wool Has Been Shipped and Pants Update

I'm so excited. The wool I ordered on Presidents Day is on it's way.

Is it suitable for a coat. Nope, still haven't found the perfect wool for any of my vintage coat patterns. But while looking I came across this great wool, that yes, it will work for a retro suit jacket and, bonus, I can dye the excess for rug hooking. How much excess will there be, oh about 7 yards or so.

Meanwhile, the pants. Well I pretty much went as far as I'm going on the pants. The good news is, hey they fit. And the bad news. My fabric selection sucked--but remember, I have no fabric for pants because I generally don't sew pants and this fabric was free. I burn tested it and hey, it's not synthetic, so I think I will sew up the side seam, attach the facing, baste the hem edge so it doesn't ravel and wash these every time I do a dark load and see how much this fabric will soften up. I don't want to waste my time on a zipper unless these soften up. So it's cotton, it's a medium weight twill, there is some hope these could end up very soft and hanging very nicely by summer. Currently they are too stiff. It's like trying to make something out of cardboard. So now that I know they'll fit, I just need to make them out of something decent fabric wise.

And now for he darts. Check out the angle of the darts. Different eh, but they work. Anyway, having difficulty the first time out with trying to pin and sew I gave that method up and basted just inside the line I should be stitching on. I wised up after the first one and used a contrasting thread.Then I finger pressed along those lines to form a ditch to stitch in, then I matched up the stitch lines to find the fold line for the dart and finger pressed that. Then I sewed just outside the basting. The threads on the outside are the bobbin from the basting using contrasting color. You just pull those threads and your basting goes away. More on these after a few months of washing.