Testing. Testing. Does this thing still work?

 It's been a minute since I last posted. Technically, over 3.5 million minutes. Lots has happened in my life since then. There will be no recap. This post is simply to see if I still know how to work Blogspot. It does seem since I last checked in, I got 3.5 million spam comments... at least 1 a minute. 

If all looks okay... and I do mean looks okay and NOT reads okay or is in any way, shape or form interesting... then I do have some ideas for future actual sewing posts because, hey,

 It IS a Sewing Life.

Barrett and a Lemon

 

 

In the meantime, enjoy this picture of my dog, Barrett, waiting for something better than a lemon slice to fall on the kitchen floor. Can you just see the disappointment on his face? I mean, there are only 3 things in the world that he doesn't like: mint, garlic (which I know dogs aren't supposed to eat) and lemons. 

New Pavlova Skirt & Renfrew #5

It's a holiday weekend here in the US....wishing everyone a thoughtful Memorial Day here. I have the day off, and with family scattered far and wide today, it's me and the dogs. I briefly considered shopping, but decided to play the anxious recluse instead. I do suffer from time to time a bit of free floating anxiety, mostly as a result of things beyond my control, and there are several facets of my life right now that fit that description.

Anyway, enough with the soul baring... a few weeks ago I made Pavlova circle skirt #2 from some wonderful cotton shirting from Gorgeous Fabrics. Yesterday, I finished my 5th Renfrew t-shirt, this time making it sleeveless with a modified cowl collar. The fabric is a modal knit from fabrics.com, which was like sewing on kleenex, and just about as sheer. I've got a white cami underneath, and see this top more as a winter layering option. We'll see.

The only changes made to this version of the skirt were to make the waist slightly smaller, and the length a wee bit longer. Oh, I did make the belt, too... for another dress. 

And the dog... he would not leave me alone, and was in every picture, mostly trying to lick me in the face. And my attempts at the spinning of the circle skirt pic... impossible because he apparently thought it was some kind of game wherein he was required to jump on me. Good thing he's cute!

Pavlova Wrap Top, Redeemed, AND...

BANGS!!

You know what... thank you all for all of the votes on the bangs vs. no bangs debate. Bangs won, and really, I really wanted bangs anyway. Plus, it's only hair, right? I can always grow them back out. Check out the awesome red. Huge shout out to Freddie at Jamison Shaw Hairdressers in Atlanta. He is a genius with color!

Oh, yeah. And I made another Pavlova wrap top today. This is one that I'm proud to model. A few notes about this one:

• Fabric is a rayon jersey from fabric.com. Super soft and thin enough to wrap successfully!
• I narrowed the neck/collar area by placing the back section that goes on the fold 1/2" over the fold. Did that make sense?
• I added 1/2" back to each back side to make sure the muffin area was sufficiently covered.
• I lengthened both the front and back 1-1/2". Could have added even another 1" to the back.
• IT'S NOT BLACK!
• The skirt in the picture is the Pavlova circle skirt.

A Marilyn Moment:

The dog shot. What are those pups behind me up to?

Dog Sweaters

Hang tight... I'll have pictures of the "wedding dress" at the event itself in a couple of days, but these little sweaters have been waiting in the wings. A little back story... earlier this year I knitted sweaters for Laura and Thomas' 2 little puppies that were not going to get much bigger. Haha. Like any good rescue puppies, they turned out to be something a little different. And bigger. So now their adorable little sweaters looked like they were shrunk in the wash.


Fast forward to a freak snowstorm in October, and reports that the puppies hate cold weather, and I had to get busy. Too late for that storm, but they're ready now.


Basically, Laura sent me new measurements, and having traced a dog coat that my mom had for her little dog, I only had to "grade up" in length. It's a flat style with tabs that go around the neck and belly and velcro shut. I used a sweater knit scrap, interlock knit scraps and batting, giving them 3 layers of warmth. I basted the batting to the interlock, treating it as one piece, put right sides together of the interlock and the sweater knit, left a hole for turning, and stitched around the edge. Then I turned, topstitched to close the hole, and put a buttonhole near the neck for their leashes since they use harnesses. Like this:

I did sew the collar on separately, and I think it is upside down from the original tracing, but it works. You know, they're lots cuter ON the dogs. Hit it!

Sam modeling the sweater side, collar popped, and leash attached.

A good view of how the tabs go around the belly and neck.

Reversible. Looks like a little jailbird (jaildog?).

Ella with her collar popped, leash attached.

Close up of the buttonhole.

The reverse side of Ella's. She's thinking "do these stripes make me look fat?"

"Nah. I'd like a treat now, please. All this modeling has made me hungry."

In a Quilting State of Mind

Are you as relieved as I am that June is over with? I've been sewing lately, but have I ever mentioned quilts? I've made quilts on and off since, oh, 1982. But I like to actually finish things, and quilts originally, for me, took FOR.EVER. The first 2 I made were queen-sized, and hand quilted. But starting around 2008 or so, I discovered that now people machine quilted (please don't tell me it became popular before that... it's just that quilts were not on my radar). Besides, my kids had outgrown my sewing, and I hadn't rediscovered sewing for myself, so quilting it was.


But Patty, the Snug Bug re-piqued my interest with her gorgeous wedding gift quilt and she mentioned the Modern Quilting movement. Huh? Again, I was out of the quilting loop, and did some investigating. According to the Modern Quilt Guild, modern quilting is a new twist on traditional quilting. You can see their full definition here.


I bought 2 books:

and after looking at some gorgeous pictures, realized that I've been "modern quilting" for a couple of years now, and just didn't call it that. Here are a couple of quilts I made for my Down the Street etsy shop that have sold. I made them in 2009.


A table runner from a jelly roll (2-1/2" wide pre-cut strips for you non-quilters)...

And a string pieced wall-hanging:

Kinda wish this one hadn't sold.


Yes. Modern quilting before it was called that. Specifically.


Why am I rambling on about quilting? I have a good bit of quilting cotton, including fat quarters and strips and general scraps that is crying out to be turned into quilts. I have 2 bags of t-shirts from Laura that she wants turned into hip and happening t-shirt quilts. Hmmm, modern t-shirt quilts. That's what she wants. Definitely a challenge.


And an awesome UFO that needs, yes, really needs, to be finished. It's almost done, and why did I stop? It's complicated.


Oh, and yeah. Almost forgot. I just made a little dog quilt. For those spoiled rescue dogs we have. Here's a look at how we torture the poor creatures.

"Look at poor little us, forced to lay on the hot concrete. We've been out here for hours, a couple minutes, and we must come back in."

The reality is that these poor creatures pretty much lounge about on virtually every couch, chair and bed in the house. At this very moment, they are at opposite ends of the sectional, "watching" House Hunters with me. During the day, they like the chairs in the great room with its big window (so they can keep tabs on the evil squirrels). The chairs are actually kinda nice though, so they have little quilts on them.

This one was originally for sale in my shop, but nobody bought it, and now it's mine. It "goes" with the plaid, don't you think?

This is the new one. About 25" x 25". Look at the cute little doggie prints. And it really goes with the yellow chair I made it for.

The arm of the chair is a perfect support to be able to peer out at squirrels.

Wow, this whole post may have really been TMI about me and my quiltmaking journey. Be thankful I didn't take pictures of the first quilt I ever made.


Edit: I added the link to Patty's blog and the post about her gorgeous quilt!

The Galloping Horse Theory, and other Catching Up

Whew! I'm back from 10 days in Texas staying with my mom, and helping her deal with a bloody $#@%!@%# mess of crazy. Apologies if I've offended anyone, but this is one time when, if you knew the whole story, you'd totally understand. At least I hope you would. Anyway, I'll spare you the horridness, and get on to some of the better parts of the trip.

First highlight was meeting an online Etsy friend, Wendy, of Sweetwater Gifts. My mom and I made our way out to Allen, TX where Wendy was participating in a craft show for our first meeting. I knew her right away, and even got a chance to meet her hubby who was cheerfully helping her sell her beautiful jewelry. Well, cheerfully might not be totally accurate.

(Note to self... make a cuter denim skirt.)

A couple of days later, we met up on a toasty morning at the Dallas Arboretum, for a stroll through the gardens before a delicious lunch on the terrace. Thanks, Wendy! I'm including this picture because she looks adorable, but. (Yes, I have neck issues, but my therapy dollars are being spent on more pressing problems, lol.)

I also traveled with my mom and sister down to College Station to pack up my niece's freshman dorm room, and carry all her (*&^*(&  belongings down 3 flights of stairs in 96 deg. heat with oven like wind blowing strongly. No pictures of that lovely sweatiness. We did eat at Cracker Barrel... my sister's first time, and she pretty much cleaned her plate.

I won't talk about the Mexican food I ate that was the potential reason for a 24 hour miserable stomach thing that cramped more than my style.

Let's see. Oh, yeah, I started a sweater. This is how far I've gotten:

Hmmm, well, hard to tell what it looks like, but it's knitted from the top down and I'm almost to the armpits.

I also had an afternoon with an newish old friend (an amazing woman I've known since 1995 or so), and lunch with an oldish old friend (another amazing woman who was my best friend from my earliest memories until 4th or 5th grade when we drifted to other cliques. We reconnected about 2-1/2 years ago, and it's all water under the bridge.)

Meet Gibson.

He's my mom's dog, and will jump up on your lap when you're not looking.

I had intended to work on Laura's crescent skirt to keep up with the sew along, and thankfully Tasia is moving at a snail's pace. Not a criticism, but really a relief. I'm right on schedule. I had taken all the cut out pieces, and did work on it a bit, but remember that unfortunate stomach thing. That pretty much ruled out sewing. One of my favorite parts of this skirt is the waistband, and with the fabric I've chosen, I tried very hard to get it to have some matching. I think it looks pretty good.

Oh! Look at my dog's new bed... perfect size, and filled with soft comfy "blankets".

Yes, a bin of fabric.

The galloping horse? My mom taught me this saying that quilter's have to help them not obsess over little mistakes:

If you can't see it from a galloping horse, ignore it.

Wise words, indeed!

The Knit Ball

The what? Well, you know, I've taken up knitting and one of the benefits is that I find it very therapeutic and relaxing. But, I've finished the puppy sweaters, and needed a new project. A quick one, that took little brain power, and one that I could use just any old yarn. I used the inexpensive green from the puppy sweater, pulled out the dpn's (double pointed needles), the Itty-Bitty Toys book and THIS was created:

And what, you ask, does one do with a knit ball? Well, THIS of course:

Puppies!!

This weekend, Laura and Thomas drove down for a visit and to introduce us to the newest members of their family, Ella and Sam. We were so excited to meet this little brother and sister pair, and it went amazingly well! And, of course, they are SO cute!

This is not a great picture, but it accurately depicts the pups! This weekend went by in a blur of fur, with everyone getting along swimmingly. My 2, but especially Teddy (the big black one in the picture), were especially fond of the little guys. You really want to see them, though don't you?!

Meet Ella (in the new green sweater that I just finished this afternoon) and Sam, chi-weenies (a chihuahua/dachshund hybrid):

The sweater is actually for Sam, and I added sleeves after the photo shoot here. Ella's will be pink with green trim.

Even cuter than the sweater on the kitchen counter, is a video of Sam doing a bit of modeling!

Finally, can it get any better than this?

Ruh Roh

So our fabulous rescue dogs are not so well behaved after all. One of them, in fact, is a chewer. One of the first victims is pictured above. I was going to just chuck it, and then thought that perhaps I'll just remake it. How hard can it be? So, let's call it a WIP right now.

Now that the raincoat is finished, I'm feeling a bit unorganized, but finally just impulsively bought a new sewing toy. Something I've been wanting for awhile. I'll reveal it later, but it has prompted a massive reorganization and clean out of what I call the "basement" part of our basement. It's the part with the cement floor and the storage shelves, but also the part that houses my cutting table and fabric stash among other things. It's been 3 years since the last big purge, and you know how these kinds of areas get. Well, let's just say that I'm not quite a candidate for Hoarders Anonymous, but it's pretty cluttered.

So furniture is being pushed around, garbage bags are being filled, the shredder could possibly be working overtime, and the Goodwill pile is growing. And while this is happening I've decided to tackle my UFO's, both sewing and non-sewing. My challenge to my self, that I'm putting out here in cyberspace, is to finish one a week in each category. Friday is going to become Finished Friday. Embarrassingly, more than a handful of my sewing UFOs are items destined for my Etsy shops. Non-sewing UFOs will mostly include some organizational projects, but right now I'm calling the basement studio a WIP. Good thing I'm allowed to make up my own rules!!

Look! Someone ate the painter's tape! It wasn't me!

Yep, I realize that now Friday is the day after tomorrow, so I'll cut myself some slack and pick a couple of super easy projects. Sadly, there are a few of those that just need a teeny bit of finishing and they'll be ready. Sheesh *slapping my forehead*! This, of course, does not mean that I won't be starting new projects, too. In fact, a new knitting project will be cast on tonight. Dog related, though not for one of my dogs. That's all I'm saying about that right now.

GUILTY!

 

 Teddy, surrounded by his stash of approved toys. He's quite the hoarder.

Meet some new buddies

Not so fast though. I just want to say thank you to all my loyal commenters and followers. Maybe this is silly, but it really does mean so much to me to read your comments, and lately, they have seemed especially supportive. (Oh sure, I love a good "what a great dress", too! Does wonders for the spirits, won't lie about that!) There were several new names and faces that responded to our new family situation with Kyle's illness, and you all have my heartfelt thanks for that. By the way, he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder (at least tentatively), and has been participating in an outpatient program. Tomorrow we are switching him to a different program here in Atlanta, but still outpatient.

And... tomorrow, to show my gratitude and appreciation for all my followers (all 100 and TWO... I know, I promised this at 100), I'll be posting my giveaway. There will be something for everyone, so if you've just been lurking and haven't clicked the follow button, now would be a good time!

And in the meantime, today, I was really wishing I had my Amy Butler raincoat made because it's rainy and gray, but instead the last two days have been all about these guys:

Danny

 Teddy

Kyle and I picked them out yesterday at Clover Run Rescue in Jefferson, Georgia. Danny is Kyle's and is a corgi/shepherd mix, and Teddy is mine and is a gordon setter/retriever(?) mix. They are about 18 months to 2 years old, and both boys are as sweet as can be. Their first night home, after going out for pottying about 10pm, they retreated to their little mats and didn't get up until 7:30 this morning!

Oh, sure. They aren't complete angels. Danny has already rolled in poop, and seems to adore the softness of a couch. Teddy has contemplated the day bed, but so far resisted. They both love a good belly rub (who doesn't?) and lots of attention. Danny is not so good about sitting, but can dance, and Teddy is a great sitter. Neither like baby carrots. And so what if my eyes are itchy today!

Edit: Almost forgot... only one more day for the sale at The Blue Gardenia! I'll be shopping tonight and buying something for myself for my birthday! See ya later, Denise!