I Will Catch You Up on What is Happening

I am back! We were up at the cabin working, working, working. Lots of stuff still needs to be done, and this is where Carl steps in. He has been having a friend here and there help him, and I was that "friend" for a couple of days. I didn't get to use any of the power saws (a good thing) but I did use the nail gun. Quite fun, actually. We also put in the dock, which was a challenge considering the water level being the highest since we have been there. It is a bit droopy at the end of the dock. When the water level goes down, or when we have some more help, we can get that up where it should be. We got several walls covered with pine car siding. Looks great, still very cabinny. Not sure if we will get it done before Memorial Day or not. You can see the updates on my Facebook page, Jerilynn Lijewski. The picture above is of a vest I did before I went to the cabin to do all that potentially fatal manual labor. I had seen a sweater at the Bibelot shop on Grand Ave in St. Paul. It was white with multi sized snaps sewn on here and there. Very cute, but, cha-ching! pricey. So, I decided to buy some black snaps, and sew them on a plain white linen vest. I used brighter colored threads. I could have sewn these on by machine, using the button sew-on feature, but it was a nice mindless activity in front of the tv from The Red Chair. Lots less money. Still pretty cute. Jerilynn

I Did this Wall!!!

I came up to the cabin today to help Carl with the walls. He did all the sawing, but he let me do the nailing with the nail gun. Super fun, and I didn't hurt myself or anyone else! Tomorrow I help him put in the dock and then we are going to do more walls. Ready for people in 3weeks? It will be close. Jerilynn

Now, Where Did I Put That Card?

Last month at Bernina Software Club, Jessi, the teacher taught this in-the-hoop little card case. Loved it! So fun to design in the software. I wanted to sew some out right away, but forgot all about it once I got back home and distracted. I had a great dinner out with Meg tonight (her birthday!) and she mentioned the case we did in class and how much she liked it. Memory restored, I came home and stitched out the project. First go round, not so good. A triple piece of extra felt got caught underneath and I didn't know it until the whole thing stitched out. Darn it. So, I hooped more felt, carefully cleared out the extra folds, and pushed the "go" button. This time it turned out great. Thanks to Jessi for the lesson and thanks to Meg for the reminder! Jerilynn

Finished Neutral Clothesline Bag that May Change Tomorrow

All done! Last night's picture looked a bit amputative. I will probably make an inside Big Bottom Bonnie Bag. I don't have a lot of these fabrics left so I may creatively piece some of them together for the inside bag. I keep thinking I want to throw one of these clothesline bags in the washer and dryer to see what would happen. I think reproduction fabrics would look good - just like I made a purse out of an old rag rug. This one wouldn't be too bad to try. Maybe tomorrow morning when I am fresh I will give it a try. Carl is at the cabin putting up more wood. We made the decision to buy the pine already finished and I think it was a good decision. Carl said the wood looked very, very good. And there is LOTS of it. He said if we were going to finish it ourselves with three coats of poly, we would still be putting on layers in August. Plumber is coming tomorrow for more hook-ups. More insulation next week. Carpet to go in the week before Memorial Day. The studio will be the last to get finished, but I can sew on tables that are on subfloors. Easy. Jerilynn

I Want to Have Fun, Too!

I taught a clothesline bag class today and the ladies are making some great looking bags. The colors each chose were all so very different, but really pretty. I then left after class and went to the monthly sewing club talk at our local Bernina shop and loved all the projects shown and presented. I had bought some neutrals a week ago to make a new bag as a class sample and just had to start it once I got home, even though it was getting late. I just couldn't take seeing all the fun people were having with sewing and not do any myself today! I need to make another handle for the bag, a zippered inner pocket, and the lining. But my eyes are very tired, and I need to just be happy with the amount of sewing time I did manage to get in. This much of the bag took me about 2.5 hours. They go pretty fast once you have made a few. I hope I get to get a little time tomorrow to finish it up. Thanks for stopping by. Jerilynn from The Comfy Red Chair

One Person's Coral is Another Person's Light Red

Florence at Loupiac on Etsy is destashing and having a sale on some of her wonderful art glass beads and I just couldn't let the orangy-red ones go live with anyone else! I used her destash beads along with the gorgeous lampwork beads that have dots and swirls, and threw in some red seed beads of my own for one of the strands. There is a great new color out there this spring - a pretty coral that I prefer to call light red. I am thinking this necklace will look really good with that color. If not, I am sure I have something that will let this neckpiece be the star! On the cabin/lake house front, I have talked Carl into letting me help him with the pine car siding. I think he is talking about letting me use the nail gun...cool! Watch out world! If I suddenly stop blogging, it may be a digit problem. I will let you know somehow. Jerilynn

Second Try

Well, along with the horrible picture, I am not sure this new version of the WIP necklace is all that much better. I added some chain and some antique brass touches, but it still seems a bit on the yawny side. I will try it on tomorrow and see what else it needs. How many times can I take apart a necklace and re-work it? Don't even ask. Carl and I drove up to the cabin, oops, Lake House, today to measure windows. I also inspected the pine ceilings and pronounced them wonderful! We stopped at a carpet place and decided upon a carpet made out of corn...I am sure you have heard of that fiber. It is very soft, durable, and stain resistant, as well as earth friendly. I will call around tomorrow to get some bids from various places. If all goes well, we may have walls and carpet and light by Memorial Day. I sure hope I can introduce myself to my sewing machine tomorrow. At this point it probably has forgotten me completely! Jerilynn