Happy Half Year to Me!

Yep...I have been blogging a half year already! Pretty fun. I must say I have enjoyed our daily chats and still get very excited when I get a comment. I apologize that I do not have a created project on this the day of celebration. We went to the cabin today to do some banking, garage door picking-outing, plumber talking-to-ing, and more picture taking. We uncrated some of the plumbing fixtures so that we could be sure where we needed the plumber to plumb. Good thing we did. We originally thought the bathtub would be against the side wall. Once we put it in place, it just didn't look right. Now it is tucked into the back wall area and looks Goldilocks just right. Behind me, where I am standing to take the picture, are the big windows looking at the lake. I decided not to put up any walls around the bathroom. They would block the view from the tub. We are going to set up a bell system. If someone is in the tub, or using the facilities, they ring the bell. That way anyone downstairs knows that they shouldn't come up the stairs. I am sure there may be some slip-ups, but it should work out just fine. Plus it cuts down on the cost of building walls. Jerilynn

P.S. April Fool's, of course.

Something's Been Sitting in My Chair!

It appears to be the Noah's Ark tote! I got a suggestion today to line the bag with Noah's Ark fabric...how cute would that be! I thought I had some left from a baby quilt I made our grandson, Jonah. Well, Jonah is going to be nine! I did have a remnant, but not big enough, and trying to find a nine year old pattern is impossible. So, I used a brown paisley lining. The zippered pocket has two pearly button as trim. Now I need to make a Big Bottom Bonnie Bag to put inside for the secret stuff. I don't know if that will be the paisley or the woven plaid. I do know that I will put some buttons on it somewhere. Though, the ark needs to park elsewhere now. I would like to resume watching Glee Season 1 on Netflix while sitting in The Red Chair. Jerilynn

A Great Batch of Bags!

I always look forward to the second class of the Folkart Clothesline Tote. This is the class where the students show up with their sewn together covered clotheslines and I teach the lining and the pocket. What was a pile of rope and fabric strips in the first class, magically becomes tote bags when they show up for the second class! One student, Jane, had the bag all put together (top photo) . Notice the purse straps and the pocket...she went to Saver's and bought a bag for a couple of bucks - cut off the handles and the pocket and used those to finish her tote. How clever is that! I love the other bags from the class, too. Everybody always comes up with great combinations of fabrics. Pam, Lonnie, and another Jane, along with the Saver's Jane, were a great group of ladies. Again, I think I learned more than they did! I purchased a brown and cream paisley fabric for the lining of the "Noah's Ark" tote I talked about yesterday. I also bought some brown leather handles for the bag. If The Red Chair wasn't so darn comfortable, I would go down to the sewing room to finish up the bag...but I think I will just stay where I am. Jerilynn

Noah's Ark?

I had a woven stripey, plaid material that I thought would make an interesting clothesline bag. I cut the fabric cross-wise except for a couple of rows where the fabric was cut lengthwise to change things up a bit. It has a textured feel and I thought it would be a good neutral bag. I don't know what I will line it with, yet, or whether I will use purchase handles or make some out of the covered clothesline in matching fabric. My new idea, though, was to sew antique buttons all around the bag. It took a while - I hand sewed them on through the clothesline and my fingers are a bit sore. I should have used the button-sewing function on my machine! So, I was pretty pleased with the project so far, and showed it to husband, Carl. "Not your usual colors." "From this point of view it looks like Noah's Ark!" Well, I guess he is correct on both statements! Now every time I look at this bag I will expect to find little pairs of animals inside. Prior to this fabric, I tried cutting up an old pair of jeans and use that to covered the clothesline. I found that the denim was just too heavy to use. Too bad. That would have been a good recycle project. Once I decide about lining and handles and make a Big Bottom Bonnie Bag to match the Noah tote, I will re-post. Jerilynn

Darn It!!!

I decide to make a quick necklace from some beautiful beads that I bought from Loupiac on Etsy. I had some copper spacers that I thought looked really good with the color of beads. What you can't see is that above the art beads are copper tiny seed beads. The whole necklace was turning out pretty enough to talk about tonight and then....halt! No copper hooks to finish the project. I have silver. I have gold. No copper. I don't even have any antique bronze, which would have worked in a pinch. What a life lesson, right? You just can't have all fancy beads. You have to have the components that work, too - work at closing your necklace! On the other hand, if I just had findings to work with, it wouldn't be interesting at all. Desserts also need salty. Darkness and Light need each other, too, so that each is appreciated. Well, maybe this is getting a bit too philosophical for this time of the night, but, darn it! I wanted to wear this tomorrow!!! Jerilynn

Party Time!

What I didn't create today was a wonderful little dessert for these new little bowls. I had a $20 coupon from Pier 1 and I saw this set of 12 mini bowls with 12 mini tasting spoons. This was part of a new collection they have of all kinds of little "tasting party" bowls and glasses. Cute, huh? They came with two recipes, Tropical Pineapple Orange Delight, and Chocolate Fantasy. Both sound pretty tasty. I went to the Pier 1 website and they have other very good suggestions for both sweet and savory. Take a look. Here I am at the stage of my life when I look at all the stuff I have and think I need to disperse....and then I go and buy 12 little bowls. For little desserts. Or little casseroles. Or little salads. Want to come over and have a tasting party? Jerilynn

What Time is It?

Beautiful spring flowers from a dear friend. Lunch with her at the home of another dear friend. Catching up, listening, learning. We all had things we needed to be doing. Full time job. Pattern deadline. Visit to an ailing husband. But for a brief hour and a half we enjoyed a beautiful home, delicious food, real linen napkins, and sharing our lives. We need to take more time to smell the tulips. Jerilynn

Necklace Candy and a Zoomed-in Cabin Shot

I have shown you lots of glass tile necklaces and I bet you have lost sleep over how I store them. I think of them as "hard candy" so I thought putting them in a glass candy dish on my dresser would be cute. I was right! I enjoy looking at the bowl-of-color almost as much as I enjoy wearing them. By the looks of the bowl, however, I will need to find a bigger candy dish very soon. I think only a clear glass one will work, though, don't you? The second shot is a zoomed-in shot of the cabin from the city park. Of course the big snowfall of the last two days makes the lake disappear. You can see the new windows of the second floor family room/sleeping area and the new studio windows. The little red house near the bottom is the fish house, halfway up is the fire pit area. I am thinking this is looking pretty good! Snow, go away. Now. Jerilynn

Fluffy White Stuff

Boy, there is sure a lot of that fluffy white stuff outside these last two days! A big winter storm, don't even want to know how many inches. Carl tried to go up to the cabin today to work on the windows, got as far as the unplowed highway, and turned back. We got plowed out later in the day, but it was just a good day to hunker down and get some pattern-writing done. One down, two to go. For a break, before the final proof reading of the first pattern, I decided to continue to think Spring and make a quick bunny coaster. It stitches out quickly, like a bunny! I really don't like bunnies in our yard - they eat our flowers, but I would rather see that fluffy white stuff than what I see today out the window from The Red Chair. Jerilynn

A New Table Topper To-Be

This doesn't look like too much, yet, does it? Since taking this picture, I have fused all the squares onto another piece of woolfelt and am stitching all the pieces together with a decorative stitch and black thread. I am then going to come up with some sort of applique designs on the big dark grey squares. I plan, then to frame it all with narrow strips of woolfelt with a square in each corner. I will keep you posted on the progress and then give you a look at the finished project. I know I said I was going to try to maintain a springy point of view, but this weather is just atrocious. Thank goodness my current sewing room does not have windows - I can sew and work on pattern instructions all day tomorrow and pretend I am missing a glorious day outside. I know a walk in the sunshine would be good for me, but I just have too much to do. Jerilynn

This is only March. This IS Wisconsin.

That is a quote from the news tonight. I guess someone was not too happy when they heard the forecast of a two day winter storm warning, and we were just being pointedly reminded that this is exactly what March does. Carl was right - the girl's state basketball tournament starts on Thursday, and he said that there is always a bunch of snow for that. So, for the next week, the only Spring we will see is whatever we make inside. So, I designed this coaster to make the side table by The Red Chair look a little perkier. I think I may stop by the flower shop this week (if I can get the car out of the garage through the snow and ice) and buy a handful of daffodils. I think I will wear my bright red-orange spring coat, even if I have to have multiple layers of warm clothes underneath. I might even ask Carl to have a burger cookout. It is spring. Even if it IS Wisconsin. Jerilynn

New Necklace. Not so Springy.

I messed up the name of the bead store within the garden center a few blogs ago...the name of the bead place is VITA BONA (Beautiful Life). Ooops. Anyway, I bought some vintage-looking brass charms there, and one of them was this darling little bird. I had a spool of thread charm that my sister gave me a while back, and it was antique silver...that's okay - I'll just mix metals. So then I remembered the tile I made that said "Quilt or Die". I threw them altogether on three strands of seed beads. Interesting, I think. I started off making more strands of seed beads to use for assorted glass tiles, but then decided to put these three dangles on one strand each. Of course, if I change my mind, or need a quick different look, I can simply open a jump ring and I am good to go. As I have mentioned before, beading is pretty forgiving for changing one's mind. And that I do! Jerilynn P.S. Happy Spring! I supposed I should have celebrated with something a little more pastel and sweet. It was rainy today and I was in a Quilt or Die mood.

Fun Day!

What a fun day! Ellen came up from Madison for a retirement party for a close friend and she brought along her new beau and his darling daughter, Kali. We chatted a bit and then I suggested we make some glass tiles! Even Mike, the beau, got into the act (although he is going to turn his creations into magnets). It took us a while to get through the piles of printed images, but we all managed to find some that struck a chord and we glued away. Tomorrow they will be dry enough to glue on magnets or bails. Breakfast with my folks, then they will be on their way back to Mad Town, new creations in tow. Sleepy time now. Jerilynn

Raw Edge Applique

Good morning! I dug around in my towel drawer to find something a little springy and I pulled out this towel. I think I made this a couple of years ago, but it always seems to make me smile when I bring it out. It is made using raw edge applique. Basically what that means is that you cut out the applique shapes with a fusible on the back, iron them onto whatever you are working on, and instead of stitching around the edges to neatly secure them, you stitch inside the edge and allow the natural fraying that will happen add to the overall charm and dimension of the piece. I did a little zig zag on the flower center, and did some free motion scribble swirls on the flower petals. I then decided I needed to add a ladybug that had some free motion flight paths. This is very much like sketching with your sewing machine needle and thread. This method is used often for quilts for kids - again, lots of dimension. It doesn't have to be perfect to look fun. I will have to make more things with this technique. Jerilynn

Warning! Possibly Boring Shots of Bathroom Fixtures!

I did sew most of the day, but because I was working on the soon-to-be-published patterns, I can't really take a picture of what I did. But, another thing I did was order the toilets for two of the bathrooms, and the lavatory for the master bathroom. They are both by the Toto company, and what we like about them are their clean and simple lines. The toilets are dual flush - a good way to save some water. One setting for liquid, one for solid. Is this more information than you want from a "creative" blog? Probably. But, I really think this will be the required norm before long. So, even though we are getting responsible toilets, we are also getting some pretty sleek ones, too. The lav is a drop-in - not sure what it is going to drop in to, yet, but at least we have it when that decision is made. It also is nice and contemporary. The faucet we got isn't the one in the picture. It is a Moen Icon single handle faucet. It reminds me of a pump, albeit a modern pump. I think it will be a nice touch for a modern sink in a pine bathroom in a cabin. I told you, possibly boring pictures. I should have also warned you that this may be a possibly boring blog entry. That's it tonight from The Red Chair. Jerilynn

Yes I Am!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you. When I saw this image I knew that I had to make a glass tile necklace from it. The ladybug on the shamrock sealed the deal, but I also loved the "lucky". Yes, I am a lucky lady. I could bore you with a laundry list of all the things that I am grateful for, but I think I will just talk about the good things that happened today. I attended my monthly Bernina V6 software class this morning, and those ladies (teacher included) are hilarious! Talented and funny. Not only do I always learn something new, but I get in some good, big laughs. Lunch with the ladies at Culver's, then on to meet with the bath stuff sales guy to firm up some purchases for the cabin. Picked out some sleek, contemporary fixtures - things are falling into place. Then I stopped by a new bead shop within a new garden supply store - Vita Bena Jewelry in the Green Oasis Gardens building just off Melby on Hwy 53 in Lake Hallie, WI. The Owner/Teacher/Designer of the Jewelry store is an adorable 17 year old, Madeline Black! I had a great time chatting with her and, of course, buying a few beading things. (Thanks Kem for the heads up on this!) I came home and had a long chat with the folks, found out daughter Ellen is visiting this weekend, and found out sister Sandy is visiting for a while in April. Carl came home after finishing the studding of the basement walls, and we worked on the budget - good news is that we are still on target. The new shots of the cabin show the roof - a porch will come from the garage area over to the door. The other picture is showing the inside of the door and some of the stairs UP TO THE STUDIO! And now, sitting in The Red Chair and chatting with you. Yes, lucky. Very lucky. Jerilynn

Stitched Sampler aka Problem Avoidance

Have you ever had something that you needed to get done but you were running up against a few snags so you decided instead to do something mindless and not really related to the task at hand? Well, I thought that it would be a good idea to sew out all the stitches that are on my Bernina Aurora 440. Stitches sewn out look different, better, than they do as a drawing on the chart. Most of them, of course, I had previously discovered and used, but there were a few patterns that I had cruelly ignored and now their true beauty has come to light. I am still working on some of those snags, and a solution will present itself, probably when I least expect it. In the meantime, I now have a nice, cobalt blue sampler of stitches that I can refer to as I start a new batch of stitched woolfelt items, as I know I will. On the cabin front, it is coming along. Windows still on track for next week, an interior bathroom wall is ready to install. I will probably take a ride up this week to take some pictures. Aren't you just so excited about all of this??? Jerilynn

Yes, It is a Keeper

Isn't this a great looking simple tote? I first saw it online at All People Quilt. I somehow signed up for their emails - I am sure if you go to their site you can see that option. They send out some good ideas, and I had marked this as a project I wanted to try. Well, then I saw the latest issue of Quilts and More, Spring 2011, and as I was paging through, there was the tote again! This time with full-size pattern. It is reversible, and I thought this was a good time to try out some of that vinyl coated quilting cotton that is popping up on the market. Thinner and drapier than oilcloth, and in fun patterns. I thought one side would be that water-resistant material, and the other side just cotton. So, you decide on which side will be the messiest - something gooey on the inside, or damp elements on the outside. Anyway, the pattern was very easy - good instructions and diagrams. The coated fabric was also surprising easy to use. I even pressed it slightly on the wrong side - worked perfectly! It seemed much easier to sew on and deal with than oilcloth, or fabric that had an iron-on vinyl applied. I didn't even have to use a Teflon presser foot, even though I had one at the ready. It takes a half yard for each side, so it could be a perfect project to showcase some fabulous prints. A pocket could be added, or applique. Great for errands or for using for a gift bag - a two-fer! Yes, this pattern is a keeper. Jerilynn

Warm Weather Necklace

These past couple of days of warmer weather and sunshine and some snow melting has really got me in the mood for even more warm weather and sunshine and ALL the snow melting. I made the pictured necklace a year ago when we were at St. Pete Beach. I wore it quite a bit. The silver is from Thailand, from the Karen Hill Tribe. "The Karen Hill Tribe is located in the mountainous forests of northwest Thailand. By far the largest of the hill tribes, over 400,000 tribe members live in this region with a history dating back to the 12th century. This village lives a largely traditional lifestyle with no electricity. Villagers live in teak and bamboo homes built on stilts with their livestock living underneath. The population is sustained through self-sufficient agricultural methods. For the most part, this area has not opened up to the tourist industry. " That bit of information is from here. The silver is handmade, and is nice and heavy. It is hard to see, but the clasp is also a little silver fish. I haven't worn it for a couple of months. I just didn't think it looked right when it is so cold and snowy. I am thinking, though, that it will be just a matter of a few weeks before I fasten this necklace on and not have to cover it with a heavy coat. Yea! Jerilynn

Runners!!!

Great class today! Three students for the Posy Penny Table Runner. One student, a darling new sewer, decide to make the circle version. The other two students have been in classes of mine before and I was happy to see their names on the roster - one even has the name of Penny! Two of the students had some skipping problems when stitching the squares onto the backing. I have used Lite Steam a Seam 2 before, and not had any stitching problems, but last week, during that awful flu/sewing day, I did have some problems. I chalked it up to being off my game that day, but when it happened again today to two more people, I took notice. I have no idea why one sewer didn't have any skips at all, and two did. It must have something to do with the fusible being too steamed/hot or not being fused enough. I will call the company next week and hope to speak to someone in customer service to help me solve this mystery. I have used this product many times, cut off the same bolt of the web. Never before did I have a lick of trouble. We had fun anyway (I think!) and I hope everyone shoots me a picture of the finished runner. It is a simple pattern that can be changed to suit many seasons. Makes me want to jump up off The Red Chair and start a new runner. I have my jammies on, though, and have a nice cozy blanket over my lap. I think I have turned into an old person. Maybe tomorrow I can start something new and try to figure out the fusible mystery. I will let you know when I learn anything. Jerilynn

Burning Down the House!

There is a bangle I saw at Tiffany's that I really liked. Notice how I just threw that out there? I used to go to Las Vegas quite a bit for trade shows when I was working for a catalog company, and I would love to poke around at the Tiffany's at the Bellagio. A few times I was there around my birthday, and Carl bought me Paloma Picasso zigzag rings. The bangle was always on my wish list, but I thought I could make something that was similar, for not so much money. If you click on the link you will see that now the bracelet is half price....too bad my birthday is way over! Anyway, I got some silver wire and bent it back and forth and came up with a bangle that isn't too bad. I wear it a lot - it is simple and seems to be a good "everyday" type of jewelry. Why I am talking to you about this today is that I just got a fabulous new book: Wire Style 2 by Denise Peck. Great inspiration! It even has a dvd that comes with it that goes through techniques, step by step. It has gotten me very excited to try some new wire projects. One of the techniques that Denise talks about in the video is the method of making your own head pins by sticking the ends of the silver wire in the flame of a torch. This creates a ball of metal at the end of the wire, and then you can use as you would any purchased headpin, but these are much more cool and interesting. I can just image what Carl is going to say when I tell him I want to get a small butane torch. He will probably think I will burn the house down. Silly. Jerilynn

I Feel Blue Today

Have you noticed the color blue is popping up everywhere? Especially the darker, cobalt. Maybe I am just zeroed in on it, but even Target has some of that out this year. When I first got married, a million years ago, we picked out white ironstone dishes with a cobalt blue band around the edge: Noritake Fjord. Of course they are no longer made, and replacement dishes can be found at a premium. I still am quite fond of the style and color. I would love a covered casserole in that pattern, but they are going for around $100, and I keep thinking I should pass. Anyway, back to blue. I have liked the turquoise blue/orangey red combination for some time now, but this cobalt is starting to call my name. Add that to the turquoise/red mix and it could be pretty. Our first apartment in Chicago was in an old brownstone apartment building and our kitchen had a big window that was by the wooden stairs down to the back alley. With the curtains open, any one going up or down those stairs had a clear view. We had cobalt and white Dresden print curtains, blue and white checked tablecloth, and usually a blue and white pitcher full of daisies (a few bucks a handful at a small stand in the subway) on the table. After living there a while, an elderly lady stopped me in the hall and said "I love your blue and white kitchen!" I had never seen her before and it took me a while before I figured out how she had seen our kitchen! Throughout the years, red gradually took over my go-to decorating color, but I guess that bright blue never left. I am thinking it should be a part of the new cabin addition's decor in some way. I know, dear blog readers, that I said I wouldn't keep showing you stitched items, but in my sleep last night I designed circle stitchery that was then cut in fourths and sewn back together. So, I had to try that today on the blue woolfelt. Not so sure I like the little coaster (gasp!) but I like the bigger arrangement of the other arcs. Just in case you want to know what the Noritake Fjord dish pattern looks like, I decided to include in the shot the cream pitcher. Jerilynn

My Dad's Carvings

The last things to pack up from my parent's house were my dad's carvings. He took an elder hostel class back in the early 90's at the insistence of my mom and he never looked back. He became a master carver, teaching many. If you ever get a chance to go to the Leinenkugel Brewery in Chippewa Falls, WI, you will see a saloon scene that is his and four other buddies' handiwork. He preferred to carve "characters", and thought of most of his carvings as his friends, and didn't feel he could sell them. So, when the estate sale happened, we carefully tucked away all the wooden people and marked the cupboard off-limits. Two days ago I helped my dad pack away the carvings, and took pictures of all of them, labeling the boxes with pictures of what was within. He has decided that for future birthdays and Christmas gifts, he will chose a character to gift. His family will enjoy receiving such treasures, and he will enjoy seeing these treasures have a new home. You never know when a chance exposure to a craft will strike a deep chord. Jerilynn

Ubiquitous

We finally cleaned yesterday. Nothing like feeling good after having the flu to start the urge to clean everything. Carl usually does the vacuuming, and he usually comments on the threads that seem to be everywhere, on everything. As much as I try to be careful with cut threads in the sewing room, they just magically cling to me and travel wherever I go, choosing to make a stop-off at their whim. Even after a good cleaning, little threads will be found - the black ones look like scary, leggy bugs, and the multi-colored ones look like the end result of a fiesta. When my kids were little, spit-up was everywhere, too. Not the big gobs - they got cleaned up right away, but the little burp-ups that you didn't really notice until you were on your way out the door and you notice the white spot on your left shoulder. On the couch back. On the blanket. Down the front of a tee. Everywhere. My grown-up kids now say that wool felt coasters are everywhere at our house. Each living room surface has up to four. Dining room buffet drawer holds dozens. Bedroom nightstands are ready for a glass of water. Family room, sun porch, sewing room? Check. Everywhere. This winter I can say the same for snow. Everywhere, of course, but also everyday, almost. Another March storm is coming. Carl says that every year during the time the high school kids go to Madison for the state tournaments, there is a big snow storm. I think that is in a week or two, so we are not done yet. Maybe we should start a movement to change the calendar. I always seem to be ready for a good snowfall after the leaves fall, but am more than ready for spring in March. What if we just change the months so that March is now April? At the same time we could work on getting rid of the whole time change fiasco. Always unsettling. Ladybugs are also everywhere. Well, I guess they are called Asian Beetles. They come out whenever it warms up a bit. Don't squish them -they are pretty smelly! Yuck. I have collected real ladybug things ever since I was a little girl. Ladybug things used to be hard to find, so I would buy whatever it was. Now I see ladybug stuff everywhere, and I am much more selective about any purchases or about current bug stuff I keep around. A darling ladybug timer was left on our porch just the other day by an unknown gifter...it is seriously cute, and definitely a keeper. Today's project has more stitches. I know, I said I was done with stitches for a while, they were turning up everywhere on stuff I was making. I just wanted to see how the circular attachment would work for quilting the round potholders. I think the layers still shifted a bit, but the circles are definitely round this time. I also used the fabric that I talked about in this blog, and I really think they are beautiful colors. I just might have to forget about de-stashing and buy some more colors of the collection before they are no longer made. Hopefully, if our kids have to help us sell all our stuff, one of them will rescue these special colors and give them a nice home. Jerilynn

Garnets and Silver, a Real Deal

I saw this necklace in the Sundance catalog and fell in love with it. 1) Garnets are my birthstone and I love them, 2) They are red and red is my favorite color, and 3) It was classicly simple. Ooops. $1,130.00. Well, I guess I need to get over that one. But, I found the above garnets on Etsy for a little over $30.00 from aaarealgem. I had some thin sterling silver headpins on hand, a pretty silver chain, and a cool silver flower closure (not shown, shucks). I changed the design just a bit, but if I get tired of it this way, I can take off the garnets, get new head pins, and make the necklace more like the Sundance one. That is one of the beauties of making jewelry. Most of the time you can wear it a while and then make the beads into something else! With fabric projects, it is a little harder, but projects can still be repurposed most of the time. Both of my boys were born in the month of July, which has a ruby for a birthstone (Red!!), and my daughter was born in June - Pearl. I have a mother's ring with a pearl set between two rubies. Very pretty. I suppose now that I have lots more kids and some grandkids that I need to investigate their birthstones and see what I can come up with. Rainbow fun, I am sure. I wore the new garnet necklace today, and nobody stopped me on the street and begged me to sell it to them. I was going to give someone a good deal, too. Half price, $565.00. Jerilynn

Enough with the Stitches, Already!!!

I seem to get stuck on stuff. The fascination with rows of stitches, though, is almost coming to an end for a while. This one, a coin purse, was done on the embroidery machine. I designed it in Bernina V6 software, then stitched it out on my Pfaff Creative Vision. The advantage of doing this with an embroidery machine is that the stitches are more perfect. The downside is that you don't have the excitement of seeing if the chosen designs are going to match up in the corners. Like I said, I think I need to move on from this. The good news is that this is a stitched-today little project. I am feeling better, the sewing room is a bit back to normal, and Carl is upright, too. My parents' estate sale seemed to go well. Everything is pretty much gone. It was a sad couple of days, but I think we all feel some relief that it is over. It is a new week, the big snowstorm might miss us, and building goes on at the cabin. Jerilynn

Staying Around for A While

Carl is now sick. I would love to show you new things I made today, but it was just The Red Chair day. I will tell you about the above image some other time. I like it, though. Jerilynn

The Flu Flew In

Yes, I caught the flu. So did son Peter, daughter-in-law Katie, and grandson Ben. Husband Carl is still healthy, but staying a good distance away. I feel I may just live today, and must be feeling lots better because I keep thinking of things that I want to do. First on my list is to clean and organize the sewing room. After this last week's rush to get things done, it is a battle zone. Yesterday was the last day and three bags had to get the final touches. And, yes, I was ill the whole day. Work a little, sleep a lot. Repeat. Somehow everything got done, and I survived to tell the story. The top picture is of circular embroidery on woolfelt, of course. People, march right now to your sewing machine store and buy a circular stitching attachment. Legally supper fun. The bottom picture was taken today by Carl at the cabin. I was still too under the weather to take a ride up there. He climbed a ladder to take a shot of the third story roof. For those of you who have been to our place, the little cottage way down below is Robert and Angie's. Whoa, we are high! Next week we are expecting another big snow storm, of course, so I think Joe the builder will move indoors and start on interior walls. Plumbing fixture will need to arrive so that walls can be built around them. Flooring is ordered. Other than the flu, things are good. Jerilynn

If There Had Only Been a Sewing Team!

Today, a 15 + hour sewing push to get stuff done. Here is a partial picture of some of what I worked on. As I am doing patterns over and over again, in squares and in circles, my mind starting thinking about synchronized swimming. In the school that I went to in Rockford, Illinois, girl synchronized swimming was quite a big deal. No way did I participate! There was the whole bathing suit thing, not to mention the whole lack of ability. Not sure why this stitching reminded me of all that, but if I weren't so tired I am sure I could tie it in somehow. I also remembered that I got voted "Best Personality" in 9th grade. Not "Best Dressed" (even though I made most of my clothes back then), not "Cutest", not "Most Intelligent". Embarrassing. I don't know why that popped into my mind as I stitched row after row. I guess looks fade, and there probably are not too many of the Valkyries (synchronized team name) that can still lift those legs up high in the water and smile at the same time. But, I can still sew, and I am still considered fairly personable. A couple more hours of sewing to do in the morning to finish up. Then off for photography. Soon I can show you the projects. Lots of stitches lined up in perky rows. Jerilynn

New Shot of Cabin Taken Today!!!

March Fools! Oh, wait a minute... that is April Fool's, right? I was looking through some digital shots to find a picture of a bag I need for the deadline and ran across a series of shots from last summer. Yep, I got it bad. BUT, March is the month that has the first day of spring! This is very good news. Just after March, the month of April, is the month that the ice goes away and the docks go in. Just after April, the month of May, is the month that should see the completion of the cabin addition. Blink, blink. Well, today a new circular attachment was secured. I will treat the new one a little better than I did the old one. Although, the old one was purchase sometime back in the early 90's, so I guess I did get my money's worth. Tomorrow will be a long day of sewing. Box of samples will go out on Thursday. Photography on Tuesday. I will then tackle the writing of the patterns and may take offers up on pattern testing. I find my mind wandering and thinking about new projects that I want to do, just for fun. My reward for this last push. The Red Chair is feeling pretty comfy tonight. I think I may be too old to do almost all-nighters anymore. Nah. Jerilynn

Circles!!!

I think I mentioned the circular attachment tool for my Bernina a few posts ago when I talked about the round potholder. I thought that the next time I made one, I would do the quilting with the attachment and the circles would be actually round (a good quality for a circle to have.) A couple of my students were making a bag project and put a few circles on their bag, rather than the square design of my sample. I thought they looked really good, and suggested the circular attachment that would make life a bit easier. Sure enough, the circles are a breeze to make, and fun to see how different the stitches look in the round. BUT, about halfway through the project that I was trying to get done by my Thursday deadline, I BROKE THE ATTACHMENT!!! Yep, not good. Carl looked closely at it and identified the teeny tiny area that broke off. I pushed it together the best I good and carefully continued to use it, even afraid to breathe too hard. It worked good enough to get the circles done. Tomorrow (I guess it will be later today!) I will call Sew Complete to see if they have a replacement in stock. Cross your fingers for me, blog readers. As I said, my pattern deadline is Thursday and I am trying to get everything done. Also cross your fingers for that!!! Jerilynn P.S. Sorry about yesterday's very short post and horrible potholders! Reviews today confirmed the show wasn't all that great. By the lack of comments yesteday, it has been confirmed the potholders were not all that great, either. I will make sure I spill something gooey on them quite soon.