Stitch in Time May 2012

[poochemio]

Ack! What a nightmare Debby. I spent over 15 years doing researches in those kinds of places and the level of ineptness never ceased to amaze me. Well if your sweetie is going to be doing title searches you will be hearing much more about it. Lucky he found out about that lien.

I'll post a picture of the skirt tomorrow. Too tired to deal with it tonight. Today I finally made some curtains and altered a pair to fit my doors. Lots of ironing, serging and sewing, but my doors are covered and I have 5 new curtains under the banquette that go with my decor! Woohoo. More sweeping and mopping before I'd put the new curtains up. And yes I took picture and will post them tomorrow, I'm way to tired to figure out how to post a picture here.

Tomorrow is the pow wow at the Ohkay Ohwingeh elementary school. My new friend invited me and I bought watercolors for her entire class as a prize for participating. I love to watch the little kids dance, and some of the older kids are already becoming pretty major dancers by that age. A bit or local fun, and I have permission to sketch and take photos. Usually not the case at the Pueblos so I'm doubly pleased.

Hi to Eva and Jen, Martha where are you?

Night all.

[DrDebby]

Margo, have fun at the pow-wow. Looking forward to those pictures.

The lien issue is out of my hands at the moment. I have sent the follow up letter and proof via certified mail. I'll give it some time then have my son check to see if it's still there. Once I know it's gone, or not, I'll take further action.

Been busy in the kitchen today. I made some more of my faux cream cheese. I'm really glad I found that recipe. Between that and flat bread, my food choices are bearable. I also made a batch of my GF granola bars. I think I messed up the recipe. I put coconut in it. Only this wasn't shredded, it was pulverized. I used it as part of the nut component of the recipe. I think it soaked up all the honey/peanut butter so it isn't sticking together as well. Tastes ok, just a bit crumbly. Then I mixed up molasses cookie dough. It's in the fridge. I'll slice and bake tomorrow morning. That way DH and his friend will be fortified while they work on the bathroom. I had to put the sewing machine away to use the printer and decided that it can just stay there till I bring it to mom's on Sunday. It was time for me to do something fun.

I'm going to work on making some books. I bought this paper sight unseen. I finally opened it up and took out a sheet. I started tearing it down, only to discover it's grain short instead of grain long. So, now I'm having to re-looking at my tear diagrams to determine just what size books I can make.

[EvaJ]

I guess I had better write something today. I have been going all day on 2 1/2 hours of sleep. I couldn't sleep last night and was up most of the night. I am afraid to lay down or stop working or I may fall asleep and then I won't sleep tonight either. No win either way. I made another coat today and am now doing the hand sewing on both the coats and hats. Hope to get them done tonight yet. Then I found some other fabric that would make nice coats too in my stash so will probably keep going on these coats. They have raglan sleeves so that they can fit different sizes of dolls. I decided that this would work out better than set in sleeves because shoulder widths are so different on the different makers of dolls even in the same sizes.

Debby, hope when you are at your mother's next week that you will be able to work on your clothing and get it the way you want it. Your mother is probably a better judge of how it should fit than your hubby would be.

Back to hand sewing...yuck!

[blestlady]

Well, goodness, how long has it been since I was here? Sorry. We have had some internet problems, Tom was sick again briefly (he has done this before, gets a virus with fever, gets over it after a few days, then after a week or so gets sick again, but it doesn't last like the first time), we had a monthly service at church this week, we were galavanting today.......hmmm, what else? Today we didn't have internet all day till late, our cable service stinks lately. I want to get another ISP and then we will just use Netflix and the internet to watch things we really want to see. Forget cable or dish TV. Not much worth watching on it anyway.

We went out for awhile today and when we got back we had no WATER. We get our water from Bristol and a main line had a break in it there so we had no water for hours. But it happened I guess right after we left the house so good thing we decided to galavant! Then it was another couple hours after we got back before it was on again.

Eva, that coat is just darling. Don't know how else to describe it. You are a doll dresser extraordinaire!

Hello to all, I'm off to bed soon......it's almost 10:30 here on the east coast.

[EvaJ]

Well here is the second coat that I did. It is shown on to short of a doll but she was standing in the sewing room so I put it on her. The coat should fit 15 to 22 inch dolls as I put raglan sleeves on the coat plus there is extra fur turned up in the sleeves that could be let out. The fabric is some sort of brushed cotton with the feel of suede. Only had a small piece of it, just enough to make the coat and hat. Lined with a heavy off white satin and the faux fur is beige and rust although the pictures doesn't do justice to the color.

I had got it finished last night but didn't get pictures until late this afternoon. Did laundry this morning and then went and got our groceries for the week. Surprise, there were not that many people in WalMart. We got a close parking place and didn't have to wait long at the checkout. We thought Saturday would be a madhouse but maybe everyone went out to the river because it would have been a good day for that.

Slept too hard last night and woke up in lots of pain this morning. It got better but didn't go away but things needed to be done today so I worked a little and sat a little. Leaned on the shopping cart and that got me through the grocery store. It is hot out and we sweat a lot but the a/c runs in the car and the house and this is only the beginning of our summer. Last year we had a late summer but this year it decided to be early.

Well off to see what else is going on the other forums I am on.

everyone, hope you are having a good weekend.

[poochemio]

Eva sorry you are being sleepless and then in pain. Not fair! It certainly hasn't hurt your design skills! A brilliant idea to do raglan sleeves so the coats can fit a variety of dolls. My favorite winter coat has raglan sleeves, which in my case means they are long enough. Sleeves are frequently just a little bit short on me. Maybe I should be making my own coats too, with raglan sleeves.

The Community School pow wow was awesome. Those little kids can dance, I expect to see some of them in the winners circle at some of the bigger pow wows very soon. And my school teacher friend came through and I was allowed to sketch and take photographs. Very big deal, for which I was quite grateful. Didn't get home till late last night so no pictures, yet.

I started another skirt this morning but didn't finish before we went to town. The other local Pueblo was having a wine tasting at their hotel, and we ended up staying for a wine dinner. Some tasty wine, and every single owner invited me to come and paint on their property, so a pretty good weekend for a girl who doesn't know many people, to have so many invitations to come and paint. There was supposed to be a balloon launch today but it was too windy. I talked to a couple of the ballonists after dinner and they didn't feel very positive about being able to do it tomorrow. So it goes. It's past my bedtime just popped in to say hi. Think I'll actually be home tomorrow so I hope I'll get around to loading some photos and figure out how to post them to the site. Night all.

[blestlady]

Hello, hello........home from church and went out for Chinese with friends who we sit by in church. We have had a connection with these people almost from the beginning and have tried to get together with them before but it hadn't worked out. I didn't really want to go out for Chinese. I like it but trying to keep losing (22 lbs gone now) and Chinese buffets can be bad news. But anyway, decided I should just go and be careful. I think I did ok. They had broiled or poached fish that was quite good and sushi and egg drop soup which aren't bad. I used up some of my "bonus points" on WW but that's what they are there for.

Eva, that last coat set is fantastic. And the doll's expression just works great with the tilt of that hat!

Margo, the pow wow sounded like a neat experience. Glad you got to take the pictures and sketch.

Debby, your cooking sounds tasty to me, crumbs or not! Glad your DS found the lein problem.

Going to work on Noah's baby blanket. That is our new little guy's name who will be here in June.

[EvaJ]

Worked on a new cape design for dolls and it never worked right no matter what I did so I scraped it. Oh well another day I will try again.

We painted our front door this morning and I cut down a couple of trees growing in the wrong place and John watered the plants out front. We waited for the door to dry which was quick in our very warm morning. About 11 John got bored and wanted to do something so we went out for a while. Didn't buy another.

This afternoon I worked on a couple of little dolls I got last week at the new thrift store. They were real dirty and the hair needed to be fixed and I had already done that so today they got clothes and shoes. They didn't have shoes when I got them. They had been bride dolls but those type of dolls don't sell any more so they have checked dresses in blue/white and the other in turquoise/white. Turned out pretty good.

I want to make an outfit for the 24 inch doll that I have had for a while. I already made a sweater and cap for it so now just have to decide what type of dress I want to put on her. I want to open her up and put on weight into her too. She should be heavy and isn't right now. Just haven't decided where I want to open her at. I have to find my plastic beads to because that is what needs to go inside her.

Margo, really want to see the pictures of the pow wow and that skirt that you are working on.

Bonnie, your weight loss is great! Keep it up and you will soon be able to be skinny.

Debby, hope your day is going well.

[rue d'oak]

Hello to all!

Has it really been over a week that I have dropped into the Stitch?

Let's see.....

Went to Annapolis for my nephew's graduation from St John's College. Wonderful event and wonderful old town.

Daughter was here for about 2 weeks, a break between seasons at the Alta Lodge where she works, up in the mountains above Salt Lake. She has accepted a full time job there, managing their wedding business in the summer and dining room in the winter. The Girl Ski Bum even has health insurance with this step up!

The Boy Ski Bum seems to have scaled peaks to ski down during finals vs studying, but apparently has survived both the climbs and the tests. I think we hear these stories a bit like big fish tales, just to keep us guessing. He is now also in the Salt Lake area, interning at a ski factory. He reports that there are skate board ramps for employees.

I've been getting long-parked projects finished, some things even started 2+ years ago. Feels good. The house is a wreck, mind you, but the art quilts are coming together. Someone once said that you are ready to sell your art when so much stacks up -- especially taking up space in your house -- that you are willing to let go. OK, I am clearly working toward that!

Good to read the news of you each, from the elegant new doll coats and frustrating lien to the continued diet discipline and new curtains!

Jen

[DrDebby]

Eva, she's beautiful in her hat and coat.

Margo, glad you got to the pow-wow and got to take pictures and sketch.

Bonnie, congrats on the further weight loss.

Jen, what a busy couple of kids you've got. Glad you are getting projects done.

Sorry I've been absent for a few days. I'm not even on my own computer. The bathroom renovation is in process and I'm hanging out at mom's. Actually, in order to make sure I have enough to eat, I'm making dinner tonight. DH just got back from working on the bathroom with his buddy and I need to get to it. Just a side note. I worked on the pants with mom today. I still don't have them. Very frustrating. Later...

[EvaJ]

My day seem to go to fast today. We were only gone about a hour this morning and them I have either been on the computer or in the sewing room. I am working on a brocade dress for a 25 inch baby doll. It is going slow and will not get it done until tomorrow afternoon. We have more running to do in the morning so that will take up that time. I had to do some work on the doll before I could make something for her. She needed some weight and some more stuffing. It is an unmarked cheap doll so don't know how old it is. I am tired now so will just go veg out for a while.

[blestlady]

Hello all........I am just breezing through here. I had to get WC set up on this laptop. I had been using the newer laptop since our closing on this house 4/2011 because this one crashed. Still under warranty so we sent it off to be fixed and it was but also cleaned out and they said $250 to restore our memory. Thanks a lot guys. Some kind of warranty! Anyway, I got ticked with them and have just used the newer laptop till now. Recently it is slowing down a lot so I'm switching to this one again. Both the laptops are basically mine, Tom uses the one on the desk in here in the den where we are most of the time.

Tom's youngest sister's step-son was beaten badly during a home invasion/robbery when 4 guys broke into his home. His wife hid in the bedroom and they yelled to her that they didn't want to hurt her, they just wanted their money. Our nephew tried to fight them off and they broke many bones in his face including one eye socket, bashed his head till he had to have surgery on his brain, just many broken bones in his body and injuries. He is in the hospital and under protection. Thank God that he is responding to the doctors. They don't know if he can walk or talk until he is able to come out from under the heavy sedation, or what the extent of the injuries are but we are praying and it's been good news so far for the shape he is in. His wife was not injured at all.
He was to start a new job the next day.

Today is our pastor's mom's viewing/funeral and I need to hurry to find directions there (Johnson City) and need to get ready. She was not all that old, our pastor is 47. She had been having some health issues and the last couple weeks were iffy for her. I hate it so bad because he was very close to his mom, and a lot of his family goes to our church, too.

Just wanted you all to know I'm thinking of you and will check in when I can. I have to finish the baby blanket in Tunesian crochet for our DGGS who will be here next month. "Here" as in born.

Stay well and safe all.

[EvaJ]

Can't go too many days without posting something I made. This is a large 25 inch baby doll. It is sitting in a child's rocker although it is hard to see. Trying to get the dress not to shine this late in the afternoon and still show it is hard. This dress and bloomers is a satin brocade, white on white. I crocheted the pink and white sweater and hat for her. The shoes are satin soft baby shoes that I put pink sparkle ribbon in.

It took me off and on two days to get this dress made. My seam ripper was very friendly. I wish you could see the dress better and maybe tomorrow I will take pictures outside and they will show up better.

[Aral]

Hi dear friends

I had a terrible internet connection in Helsinki and could not really do anything on the computer... so sorry I have not send you any pics. Also I have not had the time to resize them to fit this forum... but it will be very soon..

Well it is good to be back home from Finland though it was sad to say good by to Helsinki. What a beautiful city. What great friends, especially the Estonian people It was a big surprise to see how alike we are to the Finns and the Estonians. I felt like I had found a lost family, a huge family
The exhibition was a success. All the rugs were left behind to be exhibited in a new exhibition at the residence of the Icelandic Ambassador.

I got the Custom officers in Finland to allow the rugs to stay in the country for one year and if they are sold that is fine as we have payed all duty on them.

We also might have an agent in the UK. It was very hard work all the time promoting, champagne breakfast at the Estonian Embassy, then afternoon cocktail at the Icelandic Embassy... just goes on and on and on

The future looks promising girls. Finally it is all paying off.

I have been able to follow some of the stories and glad everyone seems to be ok apart from few hick-ups....

[blestlady]

Hello again........

Wow, Sigrun! on leaving the rugs to be exhibited at the Ambassador's! How neat! And sounds like you really enjoyed Helsinki.

Eva, that's a really adorable set on the baby doll. You're getting back into crochet, aren't you? I love it myself.

We went to the funeral for our pastor's mother last night but getting there was not good. We had a million things happen before and during the ride to Johnson City!! The leak started again (as it turns out only 2 or 3 drips and no more since, though we have had a lot of rain, so he's waiting, but got more goop today), the dog had a nervous fit when the thunder started, we finally got ready and out to Tom's car, I sat down and started to put my seatbelt on when I felt sopping wet pants .......Tom had left his window open slightly!, went back in the house, changed, got in my car to go and the window on my side had a whistle,when Tom tried to "fix" it by rolling the window down and back up he of course couldn't get it back up, it started to rain again on the way and I tried to get the window up and almost pushed it totally out so I hold it with 2 fingers most of the way there!! Whew! Glad we went though. The chapel was almost totally full. We just wanted them to know we care and I knew we should go.

Not much crochet going on.............