I Like Thursday: Some Sewing and Outdoor Friends

Are we done with this isolation thing yet??  No?  <sigh>

Still - there are little bright spots here and there.  I'm sewing!  Mug rugs, mostly.  The woven one is my favorite.  I had so much fun making it.

I offered the larger HST quilt to my mother.  She's thrilled.  I'll be making that into a throw pillow.  I need to think about what to put on the back and how I want to quilt it.

I've started sewing the braid quilt.  I suspect it's a little shorter than I want.  But I haven't sewn much - it's easy to modify at this point.

Mug Rugs and HST

I do not usually work multiple projects at once, but that seems to be the norm nowadays.  Lack of supplies or lack of concentration or maybe because none of these projects are going to anyone in particular - so I'm all over the place.

The woven mug rug is seriously Frankensteined.  This was made from quarter-inch strips I had cut off blocks for a braided quilt I'm working on.  The batting is nothing but strips, too (not even zig-zagged together).  The idea was to quilt the heck out of it, and therefore it will all stay together.  I'll be interested how it survives a trip or two through the washing machine.

Braids and Scraps

With the Switch carrier completed, I'm back to my projects.  Mine.  Not for people or purpose - simply because I wanted to create.  It's funny - I get most inspired by leftovers.

First up is a braided quilt.  This was designed around yards of border fabric my mother gave me ages ago.  They needed to get used or given away.  They look like screen print on cream fabric, two strips between four to six inches wide, each three to four yards long. 

I Like Thursday: Snow, Switch Case, Sewing

It snowed early Saturday, then was sunny and 62F on Sunday.  It's spring!

I was a little surprised it was coming down as snow, since the thermometer was reading 36F.  It stuck to everything.  Trees really haven't started budding yet, it was pretty. 

There's a bunch of daffodils in the yard, but only a few have actually bloomed.  Yellow, green and white.

Completed Switch Case

It's done!  And delivered.  And appreciated (along with the extra TP I brought with me).  I couldn't decide the whole time I was sewing it together if the carrier was a little too big or too small.  Turns out I could have made it smaller, but everything fit in nicely (my nephew ducked into the house, packed the bag, then came back outside to show me - this physical distancing thing is getting tiring!).

I've said it before, but I really like the fabric he chose.  

Switch Case Insides

As smoothly as Saturday went with the Switch case, Sunday did not.  It fought me.  Hard.

The day started out well.  I attached the flap to the lid.  Looks good!  Then hand bound the inside seam.

Also - check out the inside of the front pouch.  That came out quite nice.

Switch Case Top

Lots of progress on the Switch carry case on Saturday.  I spent a good chunk of time of the day stitching it together.  I basically got the entire outside done.  I had a hard time putting it down.

My goodness, though, I make a mess.  At some point I was wading through foam, fabric, pattern pieces and guts of the old camcorder case just to get to the cutting table.  I was constantly digging around for my chalk or pencil or scissors.  I nicked my rotary blade because I ran over a pin that was hiding under the fabric.

Carry Case Front and Sides

I'm making my nephew a carry case for his Switch.  I had nailed down the dimensions and picked fabric just before isolating (over a month ago?!).  Then I discovered I didn't have nearly enough fabric.  Researched the fabric pattern and bought more fabric online (because how else could I buy it?).  Just as it arrived, I got sidetracked by making masks.  My sister has been asking weekly how progress has been going, and it has been embarrassing to report nowhere.

But look! Progress!

Thank goodness I had cut pattern pieces and made notes.  I wish those notes were more detailed - it took hours to reconstruct my plans.  I checked my math and my measurements and wrote up a new detailed set of instructions.

A Rough Ride

Dakin called us on a Sunday afternoon to give us the "good" news:  Bugsy and Pumpkin Spice were being adopted.  When could we get them back to the shelter?  I wanted to say:  in another week?  I had been prepared to have the pigs for at least a month, not a paltry two weeks.  I settled on Tuesday afternoon - it was the earliest time between meetings and appointments that we could make the drive into Springfield.

Rob offered to drive, which turned out to be a very good thing.  When we brought the boys home fro the shelter, they hardly moved the whole trip.  This time, we didn't get out of the driveway before they started bickering.  We joked that they were blaming each other for why they had to leave a nice cage and good treats.  But 10 minutes from home, the snapping and complaining escalated into a whirling ball of fur.

I Like Thursday: Candy, Carry Case

Wait... what?  It's Thursday?  How did that happen?  At about 10pm on Wednesday night I suddenly realized I hadn't written a post.  For some reason I thought I had one more day.

I made Easter candy.  It was a solo effort this year - so strange.  I sent a box home to my parents.  I know my mother was thrilled.

I managed to get my mother and sister up on a video conference.  I haven't seen my mother at all since before my surgery.  Not the same as in person, but it was nice.  We have another scheduled for Saturday.

I stitched more masks and sent them out.  Yay.

Getting the Hang of It

Within days Bugsy and the Punk had figured out the routine in this household.  By day five or nine, they knew the kitchen meant veggies and they wheeked at the refrigerator.  I thought they had it a little backwards, because they'd wheek louder after they got the goodies.  On the other hand, if a little wheeking got that much, just think of the results of even MORE wheeking.

Every day there was popcorning and zoomies.  The good news was - far less bickering.  Lots of energy, occasional spats, but everyone was settling in nicely.  I particularly liked the way the Punk looked like he had been tossed across the cage - or the way he "drifted" around corners.  What a goof!

Isolated Candy Making

I was going to trim down the participants for candy making this year, but I hadn't figured on paring it down quite this much!  Just me.  Working solo required a smaller number of recipes.  I picked items that would freeze or would ship well and could be scaled down easily.

The counter was a mess as I melted butter for the toffee, chopped white chocolate for paves and dark chocolate for ginger nut clusters.  Stuff scattered all over as I tried to organize what I wanted to work on first.

I Like Thursday: Loafing, Fabric, Shots

This may be a quick post.  Not because it's been a slow week, but because it's been a busy one.

I still have videos I need to edit and post.  But at least you can enjoy Bugsy and The Punk loafing.  They loved the third level in the cage.

Good news and bad news with the guinea pigs.  They've been adopted!  But not by us.  Rob says my photos, video and write-up on the Dakin site was why they were adopted so quickly.  I only had them for two weeks.  So there will be a couple of posts (catching up).

We both really enjoyed having them here.  I'm looking forward to my next fostering experience (hopefully in the not too distance future and I get to keep them a little longer).

Trial and Error

Last week, along with my mini HST's, I made masks.  Isn't everyone?  There is so much (conflicting) information on masks right now.  I finished up the few rectangular ones I had cut the previous week.  These had contrasting binding so someone using the mask can identify front/back if they took it off temporarily (see lower right of photo).  Then I started trying various fitted mask patterns.

Between the standard rectangular masks and the fitted masks we quickly learned that one-size-fits-all is not true.  The pleated masks and some fitted ones fit me, but did not fit Rob. 

Leftover HST Squares

Carry case fabric actually arrived on Thursday, but while awaiting washing that project is still on hold.  In the meantime, I have three other sewing projects in the works.  This is one of the three.

I mentioned last week that I have 298 little HST squares made up and ready to work with.  I threw them on the floor to see what they looked like.  Pretty basic.  I discovered a bunch of pieces that were very pale compared to the rest.  I collected them at the bottom.  Just as the white came from Sunshine, I had a large number of squares with blue and brown leftover from the same quilt.

I stared at it a couple of days and googled a bunch of HST designs.  After Rob told me that he really should vacuum the floor but he couldn't because he didn't want to disturb my project, I recalled I had a nice design wall I could use.  (He was sorely disappointed when I moved it.)

I Like Thursday: Friends, Flowers, Food

It's strange that as the word slows down I seem to be busier than ever.  How can that be?

One of my neighbors has an eclectic mix of decorations in the front yard.  The wire mannequin was sporting a new blue dress and tie.  I laughed when I realized the tie is covered with the characters from Green Eggs and Ham.