What did I Create While Watching the Most Boring Oscars Ever?

Two potholders. They are about as exciting as the telecast. End of story. Jerilynn

Family, Friends and Fish

Just sitting here in The Red Chair and thinking about what a fun day I had! Ellen was in town for the second half of her how-to-run-her-new-sewing-machine-class. I joined her in the class because she has a new Brother machine, and I am not familiar with that brand. Nothing I love more than figuring out new machines. It is quite a machine. I am quite impressed with all that it can do. After the class we had a soup and salad lunch at the Olive Garden and our favorite waiter, son Peter, waited on us. Plus, the fun news is that I ran into a friend that I hadn't seen in many years! It was so good to see her! Her kids are getting all grown up, and I remember them as little ones. Zoom. Then, for dinner, we took a bunch of pizzas to the assisted living place and had dinner with my mom and dad, along with Ellen, Peter, Katie and Ben. They have a nice family dining room at the facility that we used, and then moved to an activity room for a couple games of cards. Fun night. Peter and Katie said they bought a fish tank a few days ago and are getting the water ready for fish they will buy tomorrow. That reminded me that I didn't show you the fish apron and oven mitt that I made. It was a printed panel that I bought at Spoonflower.com. Have you discovered that site yet? It is a site that you can upload designs and then they will print fabric for you and sell it! Tons of interesting fabric. It isn't cheap, but you sure can find some great designs! The fish apron and mitt were designed by a French lady and the panel came with instructions printed on the fabric, but all in French. I minored in French in college, but that was almost 2000 Friday Fish Frys ago. I just sewed it together they way I thought it should go, and it turned out cute. I thought it would be a good addition to the cabin kitchen. Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate your taking the time to visit a bit. Jerilynn

What are You Going to Be When You Grow Up?

Scrumptious, huh? The circle potholder that I made a few days ago was made by the designer out of Cross Weaves by Moda. They are basically shot cottons, which I talked about before. The color weaves are subtle and luminous! The fabric, 100% cotton, is almost like a fine linen or silk. Just gorgeous. I ordered this assortment from fabricquarter.com . I am not sure what I want to make - I am almost unwilling to mar the perfection. I just want to stack it up in my sewing room and look at it a while. Silly. On another note, I had another Folkart Clothesline Tote class the other day, and the star student, Angie, came back for the second half of the class and reported that she made FIVE totes in a week. She hadn't lined them yet. That was what I was going to teach. One tote I especially loved. It was a tote made entirely out of one fabric, a blue and black varied stripe. Most of the tote she cut the fabric selvedge to selvedge so the stripes were going up and down on the bag. Twice, though, for a few rows, she cut the stripes so they went the other way. Very attractive, and only one fabric. Wow! Of course, I forgot my camera. Darn it. Also, very good news: we went to see our grandson, Aaron, today. Two weeks after the horrible ski accident with the news that he might not make it, he is probably going home from the hospital tomorrow!!! Yes, he looks great, all therapists say he is doing really well. He will be able to go back to school for a couple of classes in a month. He was bummed that the doctor told him no contact sports for a year...so he will miss his sophomore year at football, but, again, it is a miracle! It felt good to give him a hug. We told him that fishing was definitely not a contact sport and the fish in Beaver Dam Lake will be happy to keep him busy this summer. Jerilynn

Where are the Sewing Ladies?

Why, just follow those stairs up to your left! Watch your step, though. Jerilynn

Aaah, a Hot Bath!

I worked on a few things that I can't really talk about yet, so I thought I would show you a picture of the bathtub that is going to be in the studio bathroom. Yep, a real soaker! In a few years I am going to need a forklift to get me in and out of the tub, but for a few years I am going to enjoy some seriously wonderful baths. I am not quite sure what kind of vanity/sink I want to put in that room. The tub is obviously pretty modern. The toilet is similar in shape, modern, too. The walls and ceilings are pine carsiding. Floor is a darker wood look - it's called luxury vinyl planks. So, not a lot of color, which is not a good thing in my book. I bought an antique sewing machine table from my neighbor, Betty, which I am thinking of using. It has a couple of drawers that could be used for a few toiletries, and a white vessel sink could be put on the top. I could leave it wood, or, gasp! , I could paint it. Or, I could have Carl build a vanity, paint that a fun color, and put a black counter top on it with a white sink. Or, I could put in a utility sink that would be useful for messy things. I think I have about a month and a half to figure this out. Any suggestions? Jerilynn

Naked Fokart Clothesline Tote Revealed!

I finished the naked Folkart Clothesline Tote today. Turned out pretty good. I learned a few things along the way. Black thread on cream clothesline shows up quite well, and so do the mistakes. The extra padding/stability that the fabric wraps give the clothesline tote are missing with this, and the resulting tote is a bit softer, less sturdy. I used iron-on interfacing on the lining, and if I make this again, I would use iron-on fleece to compensate for the loss of the extra fabric. A good steam press with a sewing ham helps to shape the bag. The tote is attractive in a back-to-nature sort of way. I paired it with a Big Bottom Bonnie Bag, made out of selvedge edges, that looks good with the dotty lining. "What are you going to do with that bag?" says Husband Carl. "I don't know. It would be a great warm weather tote." Hmm. That leads me to the next picture:

Yep, Martha went crazy with the glitter. But, look at that blue sky! Pretty, huh? Seriously, I am trying VERY hard to like this winter we are having. Maybe I need to dust off my cross country skis so that I can celebrate new snow inches. Nah. Jerilynn

Hot!

I saw this round potholder on this blog, stitchindye.blogspot.com. The pattern is coming out on Thursday. Obviously, from the picture of the potholder I made, as soon as the pattern is released, I will order it and figure out where I went awry. I used Kaffe Fassett shot cottons that I bought at the Madison Quilt Expo in September. From the Kaffee Fassett website: "These fabrics are woven using cotton thread which is dyed in small batches. Variations in color and small imperfections in the weaving are a natural part of the process, and to be expected. Tonal warp and weft create soft and subtle color effects." The fabrics are beautiful - very soft and the colors are just wonderful. Solids with personality. Because of the softness, however, they moved around a bit on me while I was machine quilting. I think after I get the pattern, and make some more of these, I am going to try quilting using the circular attachment tool on my Bernina 440. This should make the circles stitch out in good rounds. I didn't do any pin basting before quilting, and I will do that with the next one. I used one layer of cotton fleece and one layer of

Insul-bright. Despite the imperfections, this will be a good potholder to use. Jerilynn