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Wednesday 29 February 2012

Knit A New Collar

On my knitting shelf are books like Knitwear Design Workshop and Stitchionaries and how to books like The Big Book of Knitting.  There were very few actual patterns and even less following the sewing room purge. That's because I prefer to design it - whatever it may be - and had - as some of you know - contemplated writing a book on how to design knitted garments but...

... over the past few months I've come to realize that knitting for me is simple and soothing, social or contemplative. Although I can knit at a high level, I'm not interested in complicated patterns, tricky yarns, or difficult dimensions. One or two projects like that are just fine but mostly I knit to get out of the house, to socialize with other women, as a way of keeping my hands busy will talking with friends, and as a thought enabler. There's nothing like a good bout of ribbing to help you resolve an issue - VBG.




While I learned to knit in my twenties, there was a long space in the middle where I didn't knit at all until about five years ago (or so) when I started again. In-between, I became a different kind of creative and one thing that's different with my knitting now is the ability to judge when to leave something alone and when to re-work and improve it. This left over ball of black yarn showed up when I was sifting and sorting through the yarn stash. I was particularly happy to see it because...




... the collar on this black sweater was done incorrectly and as much as I like the rest of the garment, I would have been embarrassed to give it away. It was knit earlier on in my return to knitting before I knew about adding stitches on the row after the pick up row of the collar. The way it was, was way too tight and the collar stood out from the sweater body.




I knit a new collar. With this version, I added nine extra stitches. That's it. Isn't that an amazingly small number for such a huge difference? Nine stitches and about 1 1/2" of length. MUCH better.




The yarn is a machine washable, thick acrylic. The pattern is a basket weave front with a plain back and sleeves and a excessive amount of buttons to keep the wearer done up and warm. It's the perfect sweater for a hard playing little boy. Not that I know one. But eventually. I have absolutely no idea what the size is - LOL - which has happened more than once so I need to start attaching information to the stored sweaters.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - although it's very long, I'm on the last row of my current knitting project ready to cast off. YEAH!

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Personal Growth - With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity. - Keshavan Nair  - - - - -  I don't have a lot of respect for talent. Talent is genetic. It's what you do with it that counts. - Martin Ritt

As I near fifty, it feels as if I am - finally - getting to know myself and becoming who I am meant to be. It's a different kind of maturity and knowing than what I had at thirty and forty even though back then I felt so mature. Perhaps, it's not about getting to know myself as much as it is about accepting who I am and walking MY path while letting go of what isn't mine to be or do or have. I wonder how I will feel at sixty, seventy, eighty? Growing up is a curvaceous adventure.

Tuesday 28 February 2012

Patterns With Issues

When placed with the rest of the bag, the beading looks like it belongs otherwise the flap is a bit busy and I'm not sure about the look BUT - since the beads took eight hours to stitch on - they're staying.




The flap is finished and sewn to the bag body. That's progress of a sort. Now I need to complete the beading on the back, insert the lining, and create the strap.




We've been busy giving away, selling, or returning whatever can be given away, sold, or returned. Near the end of last summer, we bought six chairs from Costco for over $500.00 and then stored them all winter. If you're not aware, Costco has an amazing return policy that allows you to return just about anything for just about any reason. We were able to take back the chairs which is fabulous because they won't fit on our new porch.




I had coffee with a friend yesterday morning and thought she might like this antique, parlour model stove for her back porch and she did. YEAH!




The stove used to be in my grandparent's guest house on their farm in Manitoba. Considering that they had neither running water nor electric heat, it was an important feature. From there, it was at my parent's cabin and then in my family room and is currently on the front porch. Any family member who might have wanted it lives too far away to ship such a heavy item and my friend will really enjoy it so that's great. We gave the trampoline to a family in the church and the basketball hoop to a family down the road. All good. There's more to go... like those antique sewing machines... hopefully someone wants them.

Carolyn (Cmarie12) wrote - Moving does have a way of making you look at and seriously re-evaluate the things you've been holding onto. Since I just went through that process, I understand where you are now. However, I don't think I was as merciless as you're being! Because wow - half your pattern stash - that alone gives me the willies. The fabric I don't mind so much but the patterns...




LOL - I've always been especially gifted at getting rid of stuff. For me, it's partially about giving back to the community by putting unused and unappreciated items out there for someone else to love and - even better than that - I've found that cleaning and giving away opens up flow, creates possibilities, and increases creativity. I'm okay with that.

Besides the fact that it's way too easy to buy inexpensively via the BMV Club, a huge factor in why I had so many give away patterns is the fact that I've only been back to sewing fashions for a relatively short time and now that the buy everything in sight first blush is off the sewing room rose, I can see how many of those patterns were not suited to my fashion personality, figure type, life style, or preferences. Better to move them along than have them taunting me from the overly full drawer.

Another deciding factor was cup sizing. Custom fit patterns with cup sizing are relatively new and they are so much easier than having to make a petite adjustment through the armhole and a full bust adjustment and a bust placement adjustment which was creating a lot of trial and error bodice work. With cup sizing, things are simplified and - generally speaking - if you've never sewn the pattern before and it's basic with no outstanding features, then one pattern is as good as another so in the case where one pattern had cup sizing and the other did not, I kept the one with cup sizing. That helped the weeding process considerably.

Beyond blouses, I'd bought quite a few skirt patterns that were full - and would make me look hippy - or had details over the stomach - and would make me look fat - or were high waisted - and I'm not - or had waist details that would never show because I never wear my tops tucked in. It was the same with pants, coats, dresses, and any other category. I eliminated any patterns with issues unless they had some distinguishing feature I wanted to keep. There are 203 patterns left in stash. I'm not suffering!

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - able to return the chairs for cash

Monday 27 February 2012

Sewing Room Sale

We have two 64" love seats each with a camel back and curved arm shape that are covered in a bright forest green that is - IMHO - way better than beige and still neutral enough to go with everything. For the past fifteen years, the couches have been in our family room. The fabric is slightly worn and the foam is completely shot. Even so, they're better than anything I've found in the stores. Plus, they're free. I already own them.




While we're not ready to invest the cost of re-upholstering, we did try those stretchy love seat covers - or Spanx for furniture as some designers put it - and they looked terrible so I ordered four high density foam cushions on the weekend and for just over a hundred dollars plus a cleaning, they'll look fresher and will be usable for a few more years. I'll add some ball feet and colorful throw cushions and that will perk up the look even more and make them perfect for our new living room.
I've spent a LOT of time reorganizing our furniture so the pieces will be located in new spaces giving the impression that everything is different when it's not really, just sort of. The round pedestal table that's been stored under the stairs for most of the past twenty years will be back in the dining. The check couch that's been in the living room for just as long will now be in the studio, the floral chair will be in the guest room, and so on. It's fun - and economically wise - because other than appliances, the only items we're buying are new dressers for our bedroom since ours are going to different rooms. I found what I want at Ikea - the Hemnes dresser - for a fraction of the cost of all that highly ornate stuff currently in the stores.  I prefer clean simple lines just like with my clothes.




The big task this past weekend was to thoroughly clean every box, basket, drawer, cupboard, and storage space in the studio. My creative direction has shifted significantly since moving to this house eight years ago and there were a lot of supplies that I hadn't even looked at and can't imagine using any time soon so I started purging and once I was on a roll the pile soon contained half my pattern stash, half my books, a HUGE box of fabric, magazines, yarn, notions, quilt tops, and art pieces. It was too much to just give away so I'm having a Sewing Room Sale on March 10th from 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. If you live within driving distance and want to attend, I'd love to have you. Email me at myrna AT myrnagiesbrecht DOT com for directions.




And... I started some March packing. Above are the pieces for my new quilt. They're going to the longarm quilter on the 12th and there's a box of "stuff" started for my workshops in Port Townsend end of the month. One class has a kit so all I need is $10.00. The other two have lists and I already own almost everything on them. Perfect.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - the delight of a thirty-seven year stash that keeps shifting along a never ending creative journey.

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Personal Growth - When you believe that nothing significant can happen through you, you have said more about your belief in God than your belief in yourself. You have said that God is not capable of doing anything significant through you. The truth is, He is able to do anything he pleases with one ordinary person fully consecrated to Him. - Experiencing God, page 46

Friday 24 February 2012

The Principles of Knitting

When I first returned to knitting, a friend told me that the very best book to get was The Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiat. Unfortunately, it was out of print and copies were selling on-line for well over two hundred and fifty dollars, which meant it was out of reach for me even though another friend told me it truly was the be all and end all of knitting books and that she had picked up a copy at a yard sale for under twenty dollars. LOL - and how did that help me?




Before Christmas, while researching books at Chapters, I noticed that The Principles of Knitting was being reprinted.... back by popular demand... for $31.34. That's manageable. I pre- ordered it and it arrived yesterday.




The subtitle is The Comprehensive & Timeless Guide - Methods and Techniques of Hand Knitting. That's a mouthful and it lives up to the reputation. I couldn't find a biography on the author but if I'm remembering correctly she's a university professor and the book shows it. It's hugely detailed, informative, filled with dense text and black and white photos, just like a text book. I doubt you'd need any other book if you had this one although I already have many others - VBG. It's along the lines of...




... Helen Joseph-Armstrong's Patternmaking for Fashion Design. If you're a detail and a how-to lover, and you knit and sew, you'll love both books. Right now, the knitting one is less expensive.

I've been making careful lists of which furniture is going with us to the townhouse and which isn't. Occasionally Howard and I disagree on a piece and I'm trying to find manageable compromises. Thirty years ago, I bought him a roll top desk, the smaller version, about three feet wide. It fit perfectly in our home at that time and hasn't fit well anywhere since. Right now, it's in our living room and he mostly stores junk in it because his office is downstairs. Even so, he didn't want to get rid of it and I don't want to take it with us so we've compromised.

The husband of one of the women in my knitting group builds and refinishes wood furniture. Jerry came over yesterday and he will take off the roll top upper portion off the desk and refinish the bottom portion into a small writing desk similar to the ones we're starting to see in furniture stores right now. Then, he'll cut back the top part with the small drawers and cubbyholes to create a piece that will sit on Howard's desk in his office. It's a perfect solution and...

... best of all... he's taking the parlor model treadle sewing machine in exchange for the work. At one time, I had thirteen treadle or portable sewing machines and I am so done with that quilt-y country phase of my life. There are three more and two toy size machines to get rid of still but I'm hopeful they'll be gone before we move. Actually, they will be gone even if I have to give them away which I'd happily do if someone wants a machine and wants to pick it up or pay the postage. 




I've been trying to put off sorting and packing until closer to our moving date only cleaning out the desk got me started so I cleaned my clothes closet, dresser drawers,  jewelry chest, and beauty supplies. There's a huge bag of clothes and a box of "stuff" to go to the second hand store already.

Several garments were taken down to the studio for recycling into purses which felt a bit like shuffling the mess but that's how cleaning goes. When it's all sorted out everything will be fine and I love that clean, open, full of potential feel that comes from giving any room - and particularly the whole house - a good clean. It's such positive energy, which is always perfect and really wonderful now.

Carriekaye wrote: Wow, your life is sure exciting and stressful all at once! Sorry you have surgery on March 6th. I hope it's the good kind where they take out the offending flesh, sew you up, test it & find out it's fine, and that you can move on with your life including your big move. Do let us know about your surgery with what you're comfortable sharing.

I needed a couple weeks to think things through and have a good cry before sharing but I'm okay now, actually I'm incredibly calm. The threat of cancer certainly settles a few issues in your life. That's something to be very thankful for and to retain.

Although it appears that I'm on a bit of a journey, I have a strong conviction that all will be well in the end. It started with that swelling on New Year's Eve and then the in-office procedure which led to a ultra-sound exam which showed abnormal cell shape which lead to a biopsy which came back with atypical cells. At every step, they've told me it was nothing to worry about and just a precaution but we keep moving up a step because the medical professionals are not sure what they are looking at. The surgery is to remove and test the lump. If the results comes back definitive, that may be the end of things. If they come back atypical, we may be going up another step.

As I mentioned earlier, the move is a wonderful gift of distraction. It gives me something else to focus on and we're both looking forward to it. Howard said he was listening to all the guys in the coffee room talking about everything they need to do this spring in terms of yard work and he was so happy to not be a part of that. Once we're settled, all he has to do is throw is leg over his motorcycle and go for a ride which is exactly what I wanted for him. Less work. More fun. YEAH!

We get possession March 24th and on the 26th I'm going to Port Townsend for a week for ArtFest. When I get back, I'll be packing, unpacking, and moving boxes and doing a bit of painting before we move everything else on the 14th of April. Between now and then, I may not be posting every day because I might have nothing to say beyond I painted the closet or unpacked the laundry room. I will try to stick to my regular posting schedule and write smaller posts so I can spread some - hopefully interesting - information over a longer time periods - LOL - if I can. This was supposed to be a smaller post. You know how I love to talk - VBG.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful
- authors who take the time to write thorough and comprehensive, labour intensive, you'll never make your money back on that manuscript but we love you for it, books

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Personal Growth - Did Elijah or God bring down fire from Heaven? God did. What was Elijah doing? Being obedient. Elijah had no ability to do what God was about to do. When God, however, did something only He could do, all the people knew that He was the True God. God did the mighty work, but he acted through his obedient servant Elijah. - Experiencing God, page 43-44

I was recently convicted to do a good deed for someone. I'm normally a generous person but this action was beyond what I really wanted to do and would mean not accomplishing my own goal. It doesn't always happen this way but I was able to see why I had been convicted and the beneficial results of following through which is certainly encouraging however... I've also been feeling way too much pride in myself for doing what God asked me to do. That's wrong. It wasn't me. It was God working through me. The glory is God's.

Thursday 23 February 2012

Glue - Take Two

This morning, I'm cleaning house but just for us, not for viewers, or buyers, or inspections, or anyone else. This is good. After seven months, I am SO GLAD to have my house back to myself and to be less diligent about the cleanliness levels. Not that I'm dirty. I just don't like cleaning every two minutes - LOL.

I've been arranging and measuring furniture to determine which pieces go with us and where they'll fit in the townhouse. That's not always easy to do so I'm glad we have three weeks to decide once we get possession. I have a lot of experience moving and can usually trust my instincts. The problem is when I want to take a piece and my instincts are telling me it won't work. Most likely, it won't work.

Right now the in excellent condition eight foot couch in our living room doesn't seem to fit where I want it to go and the two badly need recovering five foot love seats in the family room would work perfect in the new living room. I've already researched purchasing replacements only I want a color like purple, fuchsia, or lime green and the stores carry black, brown, cream, light blue, grey, and for the really adventurous... red. NOT. I'll research recovering the pieces next but will wait to decide.


 


Yesterday, I shortened the V8699 tunic using the lines on the pattern for the shorter length. I marked the line with chalk and then - after serging along the line to cut off the excess - pinned and stitched a 1 1/4" hem. Even though it's only a pj-shirt, this length is more functional and flattering.




Re-assessing how I divided the sizes, the 14/22 hip split creates drag lines and wrinkles along the side that look as if there isn't enough hip or bust ease when there is. Next time, I'll use my more typical 16/20 divide at the hip and see what happens.

The top felt a bit big through the chest and when I tried it on the second time, I noticed that the shoulders were also slightly too wide so I pinned a 1/4" tuck at center front and center back. That improved the fit significantly, especially in the back. For next time, I've graded down each princess seam 1/4" from waist to shoulder.

I spent about an hour adding 8" of length to the pattern for a nightshirt and then turning the pieces this way and that on the remnants to see if I could fit them in. The extra length created more width because the pieces are A-line, which meant they wouldn't fit. I gave up. I'll make something else with those remnants later but for now, they're folded and back in the cupboard. Luckily, the second set of remnants doesn't have the piling problems of the first. They're worth rescuing.




The purse frames arrived a week or so ago and yesterday I attempted to glue the frame to the P12-2 purse using E6000, a glue I'd read about in my research. The applicator is not shaped in any way to help you apply the glue directly into the channel, which means it gets everywhere, and it's a mess to clean up, and stinky because you use acetone. That's a mark against it in my books. AND...

... the glue oozed onto the fabric and after an hour of wondering if it was going to dry clear and invisible, I pulled the purse out of the frame figuring I could glue it back in but it'd be hard to get it out later if I didn't like how it dried. Good thing. This morning, the glue is clearly visible. These are high end, labour intensive bags with pretty price tags. They can't have oozed glue anywhere. To fix it, I'll need to cut down the top of the purse and restitch it and then figure out how to either use the glue neatly or try another brand. Glue - take two. Perhaps I should try it on a scrap first! You'd think I'd have learned that lesson YEARS ago. Apparently not.

One lesson I have learned is to be brave. Yesterday, while I was journaling at Starbucks, I observed another woman also journal writing. She was wearing a GORGEOUS wrap that draped in all sorts of criss-crossing directions. On my way out the door, I interrupted asking her about the wrap and she happily demonstrated how it works. It's a long circle from her neck to the floor that can be wrapped around the body in numerous directions.

While we were discussing the wrap, she mentioned that if I know how to knit it would be an easy project which started a discussion about knitting and then she noticed that I was reading The Artist's Way and asked about that which led to another discussion because we're both on our fourth time through. We talked for quite a while and eventually booked a coffee date for next Thursday to talk some more. I'm very much looking forward to it. We appeared to have a lot in common. What fun.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - a surgery date, March 6th

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Personal Growth - Yesterday's questions in The Artist's Way were about your beliefs and feelings around money. This is the fourth time I've done this study and my answers were measurably different, dare I say more mature. People often tell you in difficult situations that you are strong, you'll get through this, that God will not give you more than you can handle. I always find it interesting when sayings like that are applied in one way but not another. What if you apply that to money? I've come to believe that if we are not faithful with the little, God will not give us a lot, that I need to show that I respect and am grateful for and am using wisely the money He has given me... and that I'm generous... no matter the amount. Until I can use the little wisely, why would He give me more?

Wednesday 22 February 2012

The Filter Question

SOLD! - BOUGHT! - This has been my absolute longest and most stressful experience with buying a house. It took almost three weeks but all the paperwork is signed and it's a done deal.  Now, "all" we have to do is pack and wait - for 32 days - and then we can start moving in.

Our preferred way to move is to have early occupancy, make whatever immediate renovations need to be made, paint any difficult to reach once the stuff is in spaces, pack, unpack, and move our own boxes, and get help with the furniture.  This time, we have four "sons" who'll be doing all the lifting and carrying - five if we require him - which is really quite nice.




Equally nice was to click into the mls site to see these two property is no longer available postings. When we first started looking there was our listing plus seven potential buys. At one point, there was only our listing and a single potential buy and then only our listing but luckily the time frame had run out on the potential buy and the listing was renewed and that's the property we bought. How nice of God to show us so clearly which one to buy - LOL - the last one standing - which was the first one we'd looked at and my first choice and Howard's second.




We were being very particular about location, house and complex size, and features and there were only two complexes that met our goals. I'm very pleased with this purchase. One of the selling features for me was the ability to paint your front door a color. I know that seems silly but I like having color because as you can see the units are very beige on the outside. The porches fascinate me. Each unit has the same 6' deep by 9' wide front porch and 7' wide x 12' deep back porch and there are 113 different variations on how to decorate them. LOVE it!




There was supposed to be no one home when we went yesterday only when we got there there was a young woman and she was not at all happy to see us nor accommodating. It was awkward but I did manage to get the measurements I needed for appliance purchases and some furniture choices. Enough to be able to make decisions. The family room pictured above will be my studio. Where you see the support post, I'll have a ten foot wall installed that my computer desk will be on. My sewing desks will have...



... this view which is the same view from the back porch, the kitchen, the dining room, the living room, the master bedroom, and the guest room. LOVELY. These pictures are so small because I managed to download them from the listing a couple days ago before it disappeared only they can't be enlarged. I couldn't take pictures yesterday. There was no view unless you count dense fog.

Sixteen years ago, we paid our mortgage off. We'd been building, buying, renovating and flipping houses for about ten years and had just flipped to zero when my husband became very ill. He ended up going to a ultra expensive private clinic in the United States at a time when the exchange rate was 45%. Luckily, we were able to remortgage our home to pay that high but he's alive bill but we've had a mortgage ever since. With this sale, we will have a four year term and then we're done - something we both find highly motivating.

I recently watched a video on how to decide which opportunities to pursue and which to let go of. The content was aimed at building a business but had a process that we can all use in many areas of life - the filter question. How it works is that you develop a question that allows you to weigh the current opportunity against the long term goal. In my case, I might ask myself how does _______ allow me to meet my goal of being mortgage free in four years? Based on my answer, I can decide if I'm going to follow up or let go of the opportunity.

As soon as we'd talked to our banker and figured out the payment schedule, I found myself doing that naturally. Walking through the mall, something would catch my eye and I'd be intrigued for a minute and then think no, I already have a ____ and I don't need another one.  I imagine the initial euphoria will wear off and filtering will start to be work but I also know that it can quickly develop into a really good habit. It seems to me that you'd need more than one filter question. This afternoon, I'm having lunch with a friend. Buying lunch doesn't help pay down the mortgage but spending time with friends is an equally critical component in my life. I think that's what budgeting is all about - LOL.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - the final four years

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Personal Growth - Explore daily the will of God - C. G. Jung

This quote by Carl Jung was in The Artist's Way and the question What are some ways God has been molding my life for service? was in Experiencing God. That's an example of the synchronicity that's happening between the two study books. I remain fascinated by that and reminded of how absolutely important it is to remain grateful for and to use the gifts God has given me instead of over thinking the situation by attempting to figure out my own answers. I must walk in the direction He is leading even when all is dense fog and the only thing I know is the next step. It requires trust. It requires giving up control. It's hard. Just as I knew there was a gorgeous view behind those clouds, I know that God has a beautiful plan for my life. The thing that gets in the way is me.

Tuesday 21 February 2012

The Experiment

It's a constant struggle to fit my hips because not only are they eleven inches bigger than my waist, they're high and wider across the back. When I read that someone sewed a straight size, especially if it was a small size, I can get a little jealous... on a bad day... but mostly I have things figured out. Every once in a while I experiment.




IMHO so far, Vogue 8699 does not have ample bicep room nor is it loose fitting although I did find it too broad across the back and will pin out the excess to determine how much to remove with the next muslin. With this first muslin, I cut a size fourteen through the shoulders, bust, and waist using the C-cup front and then...




... the experiment... added the extra hip width needed to the back only. That makes the front hip a size fourteen and the back hip a size twenty-two... which averages out to an eighteen... which is my hip size. In the past, I've used a sixteen front and a twenty back. I wanted to see how this distribution  worked out and my conclusion is pretty good but I want to experiment further before trying a different kind of pattern.




It was way too late last night to take pictures plus I cut out the tunic length to see how it looked thinking it could be a night shirt if I didn't like the length... and it can be... only a really short one. Howard said he didn't mind. I think - LOL - that it looks great on Millicent and may shorten it to a pj top for me. The fabric was quite expensive and very disappointing. Just the two pre-shrink-washes caused pilling I wouldn't want to wear in public. 




The t-shirt was cut from the remnants of the pj pants and this pile is left over left overs and I still can't bring myself to throw them away because they will make the perfect soft layer for a bag constructed from a firmer fabric like denim. I could so easily be over run by scraps. HOWEVER, when I cut out the next t-shirt, I'll lengthen the pattern to nightgown length and if it will still fit on the remnants that will mean fewer scraps. Hopefully.

This morning acupuncture, then a final visit to the townhouse to take a few measurements and sign the last two pieces of paper, and it's a done deal. I hope to report success tomorrow and show a few pictures of how amazing the view from my studio is going to be. And then we wait. We don't get occupency until the 24th of March.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - walking in the sunshine

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Personal Growth - If you are still dealing with a god consciousness that has remained unexamined since childhood, you are probably dealing with a toxic god. What would a non-toxic god think of your creative goals? Might such a god really exist? If so, would money or your job or your lover remain your higher power? - The Artist's Way, page 106

Monday 20 February 2012

The Gift of Distraction

My friend Ruth was expecting her second grandchild and the plan was for her to come last Thursday, stay with us for a week, work from the Kamloops office, and be available this coming Thursday when her daughter was supposed to have her baby.

What really happened is that the bigger than expected snowfall prevented her from coming Thursday and by the time she got here on Friday, her daughter was already in labor so she stayed one night and has now gone to look after the family. Darn. I was so looking forward to a week together although she may be coming back and forth for a while and that's good. She brought me...




... a great big hug and this coffee mug. I drink a LOT of coffee. Ruth used to be my next door neighbor and I am sure we have drunk a literal ton of coffee together over the years. It's so wonderful to have friends who support and encourage you and that you know you can count on. Friendships like those are worth working on and celebrating.




Fabricland had an "ultimate" sale this past weekend. Everything was 50% off for members. I've been watching for a good deal on fabric for a new quilt for our bed. I want a whole cloth quilt as opposed to a patchwork one. This is backing fabric, 100% cotton, 108" wide, and the same price as regular quilt fabric only you need half as much.

Ten meters will be more than enough for the top and back of a quilt, pillow shams, a set of pillow cases, and any other details that occur to me and it's way less expensive than buying a less than lovely bed in a bag at the mall. Quilting a queen size quilt is too much bulk for my body to work with so I'll hire a long arm quilter to stitch it in an all over design possibly in a purple thread of the same value because...




... the color above is not true. It's more of a lime-ish olive similar to the green in this painting detail. As you can see, that color goes well with purple and fuchsia which means it will go well with...




... the bathroom accessories I purchased last week. YEAH. This will be only the fourth quilt for our bed in the thirty one years we've been together. One every ten years seems quite reasonable to me and I am SO DONE with patchwork. Most likely, I'll add purple, dark navy, and fuchsia accents and I'll need more fabric for throw cushions and a bed skirt only I plan to check my stash first. I won't have enough yardage for the skirt but I will have enough for accents.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful
- friendship

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Personal Growth - A few weeks ago, I alluded to a phone call that suddenly complicated life. It was the call with my biopsy results which are atypical. It was the call that started another what if journey of a completely different nature than the textile ones I prefer although one that I expect to have as positive a conclusion. Even so... suddenly your thoughts go from where will I live to will I live and while you can't dwell there, you visit briefly and that visit makes everything else more manageable in comparison.

Other than the crazy-maker day with the potential buy of the townhouse - when I had to choose to get off that person's rollercoaster - and of which I should know all the final details on Wednesday - I am very calm. Perhaps this was the knock on the head that God knew I needed to teach me to stop worrying about insignificant details and to focus on our relationship and to live in this moment with these people who are important to me. Life is about relationships. Everything else is peripheral. I just think His timing is once again too funny unless you call it the gift of distraction.

Friday 17 February 2012

One For Stretchy One For Stable

The house inspection lasted from 9:30 until 1:00 yesterday. As much as a person is eager to have it done because it's a final step in selling your home, I find it extremely difficult to have someone crawling all over my house, going through my things, especially while I'm listening... and then the clients showed up... and spent an hour and a half doing it all again... only this time I was trying to eavesdrop because the inspector was supposed to go over the report with me and didn't.

The clients were fun to observe. A young couple, very excited about the house, and eager to move in with their cat and their dog. It's a huge house for two people, two pets. They plan to make my studio into the master bedroom which will be gorgeous. Listening to them reminded me of when Howard and I bought our first house. 




It was hard to concentrate with people all over the place but I did manage to trace off the pattern for Vogue 8699 a custom fit pattern with A, B, C, and D cup sizes. With princess seams, it's perfect for using up the PJ pant scraps especially as it calls for moderate stretch only and double knit or sweatsuit fleece which is close to what I have. I'll need to add width to the hips first before cutting it out.

The reviews were mixed from the fit was too baggy to it was too fitted and the bicep width was amble to it was too skimpy. When that happens, I look carefully at the comments by reviewers with a similar body shape to mine and for a reviewer I recognize like Katie and give those opinions a lot more weight. She loved it.

Several of the reviewers noted that this pattern was their T & T. When I thought about that, it occurred to me that perhaps a person needs two or more T & T patterns for t-shirts such as one for stretchy knits and one for stable knits and one with princess seams and one with bust darts or easing. There are so many factors that could make this T & T pattern perfect for that fabric but not for that other fabric. The fabric factor is a HUGE consideration.

Deciding on this particular pattern required digging through my pattern drawers which were too full to easily navigate and reminded me once again that I've reached overload stage. In a world with plenty of time, I'd cull via Pattern Review to determine if I'm about to eliminate a pattern that has fabulous reviews and think twice... I hope... only that could take a long time. I have many many patterns and I'm not terribly patient with things like that but I may try and see what happens.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful
- my oldest son was in a car accident last night that involved a bunch of cars sliding around on a slippery hill which meant that his car was hit from behind and from in front. The car is most likely a write-off. He's okay. No one was hurt.

Thursday 16 February 2012

No More Extra Diligent Cleaning

Last night on the news, during the weather report, the blue blob that indicates snow was morphing its way over the entire province and this morning I woke up to snow falling heavily. It's been so spring-like that some people have been out working in their yards. Snow again is a shock except that it is only February. Snow was always a possibility. Late snowfalls are like early ones. People drive like idiots. Lovely. Not. I have a lot of appointments today.




I cut out the pj pants yesterday afternoon and sewed them last night while Wendy was over to quilt. They would have gone faster if I'd had enough fabric. It's VERY rare for me to be short yardage. Usually I have an excess to deal with.

Last week, when I went looking for flannel and ended up with these knits, I didn't bother bringing my pattern because I've sewn dozens of pj pants... only out of flannel... which is much narrower. When I decided on the 60" wide knit, I consulted another pattern that said it required 1.5 meters. Mine must have wider legs and more ease because it takes 2.4. Luckily there was still more at the store only to get another leg out I had to buy another 1.2 meters which made these ridiculously expensive pj pants although they'll be quite comfortable. Lesson learned - trust your instincts. Normally, I'd buy 2.5 meters for pants.




Which leaves me with scraps. Again. Always. After I check the amount of stretch against a few patterns in stash, I'm hoping to use these left overs to muslin an unsewn pattern and either end up with co-ordinating pj tops or a hoodie or something of that nature. We'll see.

When I sew a pattern, I write the date and my measurements on the tissue. The pj pant pattern is dated for 2009 although I know I've used it in-between. At that time, my bust and waist measurements were the same as now but my hips were 2" smaller. That's a bit frustrating and makes me wonder why I would put weight on only on my hips. It also explains why my jeans aren't fitting like I want them to. I've decided to sew a pair of jeans, trouser style, with wider legs, that won't cling like crazy, soon, before my trip end of March.

This morning the potential buyers are having our house inspected prior to removing that subject on the agreement to purchase. Once that's over, no more extra diligent cleaning and I can revert to a more normal schedule. YEAH!

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - new pj pants

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Personal Growth - Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, do what you need to do, in order to have what you want. - Margaret Young

Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about it's own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. - Matthew 6:34

In my daily study and journal sessions, I'm working through both Experiencing God and The Artist's Way. It's intriguing how many times the text is on a similar theme and in particular about not trying to figure out every detail of every detail but living in relationship with God, one day at a time, step by step, with trust that as you begin to move in HIS direction, what you need will be revealed. I'm not so good at that trust thing. It's something I'm constantly learning.

Wednesday 15 February 2012

Bathroom Accessories

Things are moving at a snail's pace. I've been signing papers and looking into "things" and going to appointments with not much sewing time. Today - hopefully - will mostly be spent in the studio. The purse is being put aside for a few days until it decides to play nice and stop changing its mind all the time, which just may be indicative of my own state of mind. I'll start on the pj pants instead. Don't worry. The purse will get done. I'm enjoying the parts that are finished. Yesterday, I pinned the other gusset side. I'll sew it first before moving on.




Sears had these bathroom accessories on sale 30% off. It's rare to see this raspberry-fuchsia-ish color and especially in a matte finish. Whether we move or not, this is a "me" color. I bought a soap pump for the counter, a soap dish for the bathtub, and a cup for make-up brushes.

By Friday, we should know if we are moving or not. That will certainly set the direction for the next few months. If we are, we'll get possession of our townhouse March 24th, do a few minor renovations, and move on April 14th just before my husband heads off to Guatemala. That means the craziness - house talk - and is she even sewing - time frame will be relatively short. I'll try not to bore you with it all BUT...

... I did think through what would be the easiest to sew while moving and lingerie comes to mind. It requires only specific supplies, no serger, and no iron. That could be fun.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - color and sunshine

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Personal Growth - It is within my power either to serve God or not to serve him. Serving him, I add to my own good and the good of the whole world. Not serving him, I forfeit my own good and deprive the world of that good, which was in my power to create. - Leo Tolstoy

Tuesday 14 February 2012

Better Than Nothing

This morning is my acupuncture appointment. An hour... lying still on your back... in a dark, warm room. NOT something I'm good at and yet I go back every week because I've tried a lot of alternative treatments over the years and it's amazing how much this has helped. My food sensitivities are massively improved, I'm happier overall, I'm dealing with stress significantly better than before, and other than that one episode that turned out to be PMS (which is also greatly improved) I haven't had any problems with SAD this year. YES YES! I highly recommend giving it a try... even if it does take up stitching time - LOL.




It took an hour to pull out all the thread bits left from the beads including a few extra stitches that need to be put back but that's easily done.  This looks MUCH better. I'm still debating green beads.




I drafted the lining pattern, interfaced the fabric, cut out the pieces, stitched the pocket, and sewed half the gusset in place yesterday. It wasn't as much as I'd hoped for and better than nothing.

sdBev wrote - You inspire me in the techniques and processes you execute. I only hope my enthusiastic comments encourage you to continue and to blog as you go.

Definitely. Your comments are appreciated. Thank you. I really enjoy blogging and sharing what I'm doing and it's nice to know that what I'm writing is enjoyed and useful.

This afternoon, I will take coffee and cake out to my husband for Valentine's. It's a tradition that drives his co-workers crazy. They figure I should spoil them too and complain that their wives never bring them anything to which I ask and what do you do for your wife cause we all know that what goes round comes round.

Tonight, we are having the boys - all four of them - our two sons, our adopted son, and their roomate who is a sweetheart and we may need to adopt him too - over for dinner. Howard and I will go out on Friday after the rush is over. Funny how as I age going on the day is not as important as making time. I'd rather have a quiet dinner later in the week than wait in line today AND... I'll do something fun, just for me, just to love myself. I think that's REALLY critical. So often women do everything for everyone but themselves and it's important to practice self care and fill our own wells so we have energy for those we love.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - some signed paperwork, progress

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Personal Growth - All the arts we practice are apprenticeship. The big art is our life. - M. C. Richards

I've spent a lot of time regurgitating the past or dreaming of the future. While we can learn from the past and need to plan for the future, one is over and the other may never come. It's so important to be here, living now.

Monday 13 February 2012

A Suitcase On The Hips

One of the packages that came last week was my latest BMV club order. Why I ordered more patterns I have absolutely no idea because I haven't used any from the last order, or the one before that, or the one before that. I shudder to think of - hopefully - packing up my pattern stash. It has me reassessing how many patterns I have and which I'll keep. This last order was all patterns with cup sizing. That may be one of my criteria for deciding. I probably have enough of those alone to sew/design just about anything I want. At some point you have too much and a collection stops being fun. We're there.

I was intrigued to read on Shams blog about her self imposed pattern buying ban. She allowed herself one in the last sale which seems quite wise to me. I'd prefer to allow myself none only that may be totally unrealistic so if I feel the need for a wee bit of the drug, perhaps one pattern will do. Only they're like potato chips. You can't just buy one. Maybe I can. The drawers are getting way too full.




Howard took a really early flight to Calgary on the Saturday morning to see a Vancouver Canucks vs the Calgary Flames hockey game with our son-in-law. After driving him to the airport and before picking my oldest son up at nine to go for breakfast, I took the purse apart. The shape was bothering me. The gusset was quite deep and the purse would have sat like a suitcase on the hips. 




Plus - with such a strong curve - even reinforced - I couldn't see how the hobo bag would hold it's shape once a wallet and other things were inside. To create the new shape, I started by picking the point at which the bag could be the widest and the longest and then, when I traced the shape of the curve, realized it could be another 1/2" longer.




Earlier, I'd constructed the back from a black cotton print with narrow rows of black stitching, fused squares and triangles, thread scribbling, and green glass beads. Only six or seven beads needed to be removed when the new shape was cut. More will be added once the flap is stitched in place. I left them off until then for ease of sewing.




About the only thing that remains of the original bag is the curve of the top front. All the piping was removed and the gusset narrowed to 1 5/8". I like this shape a lot better. What I didn't like...




... was how heavy this beading looked. It took HOURS to add one bead on each end of this randomly stitched pearl cotton only...




... I think it would have looked better if I'd left off the black beads or had used a lighter color, perhaps a green. I'd intended to leave the beads in place until I finished the flap and then reassess but I ended up cutting them all off yesterday. When you know you don't like something, you know you don't like it. It will be a miracle for this poor purse if it ever gets finished - LOL! - it's a one step forward, two step back, kind of dance.




For the flap, I played with some different stitch options and like this one of a running stitch with beads the best. I want it to move in flowing, curving lines across the flap.




Once the edges are finished, the straight top will be sewn to the back of the bag, the first tuck will fold over the back, the second tuck will fold over the front, and the distance between is the width of the gusset.




The running stitch and beads need to be worked around the closure. I plan to use a snap on the inside and am debating this fuchsia button on the outside. I bought it in Calgary while visiting my daughter last summer. We went to a sewing store which was really a quilt shop and they had a whole selection of these buttons in tubes. I bought five for a sweater. If I use one for this purse, I'll have to ask her to go back and buy me another one! It's quite close to their apartment so that should work.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - friends

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Personal Growth - If you are experiencing a time of fruitlessness right now, you may be trying to do things on your own that God has not initiated. - pg, 30, Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby

For the past week, we've been attempting to co-ordinate a potential sale of our home with the potential purchase of a townhouse and it has been highly stressful. I could tell you all about the crazymaker but it wouldn't be polite or pretty. All I can say is that I totally understand why there's an ex! The whole situation is possibly more stressful right now due to other issues but it does make you wonder whether you should actually be doing this. I am praying that it either comes together or falls apart quickly. If it does fall apart, we'll be taking our home off the market and staying put. It's a relief to have made that decision and to have decided not to ride this person's emotional roller coaster. Sometimes all we can do is make the one decision that we can make and let things develop from there. Nothing is for sure yet. I should know by the end of the week.

Friday 10 February 2012

The Lime And Black Makes Me Happy Purse

Howard usually phones at lunch and if I'm home, we chat and if I'm not, we talk later. Yesterday, he called back at afternoon coffee wondering how I was and where I'd been. When I told him I'd gone to Fabricland to spend his money he said oh, good. LOL - too funny!

Along with a green on green plaid from the bargain center, I bought two packages of elastic and two pieces of medium weight knit fabric to make pajama pants. The fabric is heavier than t-shirt and lighter than sweatshirt. It should be perfect and comfy. The plan is to sew them before I go to ArtFest at the end of March since I'm sharing a room with a friend and we're staying in dorms that are neither well heated nor well insulated. Decent pj pants might be a good idea. If I have time, I'll sew some tops to go with BUT... FIRST.. finishing this next purse.




I made significant progress yesterday although some of it was fiddly - like piping. It's something I rarely use and especially not this lime green piping bought so long ago that I might not have remembered it was in stash except that the pattern is called the Piping Hot Hobo Bag and has piping - of course. Above is the bag front. On the right, the piping is turned under and top stitched in place and on the left it's tacked ready to be sewn into the seam allowance when the gusset is added.




Speaking of the gusset. Instead of cutting it on fold, I cut two separate pieces completely forgetting to add the seam allowance. I've done this before. Here's the repair. It works quite well. Start by...




... butting the two edges up tight and fusing them in place with a wide strip of interfacing and then...




... stitch across the join with two rows of zigzag stitching one slightly wider than the other. Next...




... use some kind of decorative element on the right side to hide the join. In this case, I cut a strip of the lime green used on the front of the purse, centered it over the join, and zigzagged both edges in place. On the back...




... the black stitches are the original ones holding the fused edges together and the beige ones are the second set of stitches holding the lime green strip in place. The join is now securely stabilized and won't be a problem. I know. I've done this before. Sigh!




Here's the join on the gusset plus the piping sewn into the seam allowance. The join is at center bottom and echos the green elsewhere which is a blue based lime, not minty like it looks on my monitor, and definitely not yellow. This is one of my favourite shades of lime green.

I'm referring to this bag as the lime and black makes me happy purse. I talked to several friends yesterday and when they asked what I was doing, I said sewing a lime and black bag that's making me happy. They thought the bag had to be for me, that I couldn't sell it, and maybe but maybe not. I'm happy making it and I'd be thrilled to be paid for that so we'll see what happens.

Right now, I'm working on the back piece. That was the issue from yesterday. There wasn't enough of the original quilt top to cut the back from so I had to improvise. I'll show you what I did on Monday.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful
- blue based lime green - when we do move, I bet I paint my studio that color again!

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Personal Growth - There's a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost. - Martha Graham