I finished another project this week, and I have to admit, the results are not quite as good as I hoped. So I thought I’d share what I learned to help me remember not to make the same mistakes again, and maybe save someone else from the same errors.

I have some big, square feather pillows from Ikea that needed covering, so I had an idea to do some big appliqué flowers.

I used a heavy linen for the cover, and quilter’s cotton for the flowers. When I finished stitching up my cover, I put it on the pillow, and it was okay, but seemed a little stiff. I also think I could have made the flowers a little bigger. So I thought I’d try washing it, to soften it up a little, but it turns out the linen I used shrank more lengthwise than widthwise. So now my pillow is more of a rectangle. The flowers bunched up a little too. Petey, however, is indifferent to the pillow.

So, what I learned:

• Pre-wash all my fabric
• Try a little harder to keep the appliqué fabrics smooth, so they don’t get bunched up
• Make the flowers bigger in proportion to the pillow

Also, perhaps I should not write boring blog posts while still grumpy from allergies and while watching Raising the Bar which I Tivo’d last week. I can’t get past the bad haircut to decide if the show is any good. I don’t think I will be getting a season pass to this one.

I have many things that I would like to talk about, but I’m too busy sniffling with the worst allergies I’ve had in several years. What the heck is blooming that is doing this to me? I don’t like it one bit. I get no sleep because I can’t breathe. I even went to to the doctor for the first time in nearly two years, and he gave me a prescription for Zyrtec, which seems to have made my taste buds non-functioning. The sole purpose of this entire paragraph is just to illustrate how grumpy I am right now, was I successful? Also, thanks for all the shorts love, I really like to respond to comments as much as possible, but I just haven’t had it in me to deal with e-mail either. I’ll get to it eventually, so please don’t think I’m being rude and ignoring all the nice comments and good advice about the blue birdcage.

So, this is just a quick drive-by post to discuss Project Runway (and to let you know that I am grumpy and sniffly and tired. And my eyes itch. And I have comments to reply to.). How about that Leann? Yes, I called it way back in the beginning. She is definitely my favorite. Her last two designs have been really great, I thought.


I don’t think this picture does her design justice, but I thought it was really pretty. I loved Korto’s look too:

Too bad about Stella, although she was kind of on borrowed time, anyway. It was a close call between her and Joe this week, but his drag queen outfit was so good a couple weeks ago, I think that may have helped him stick around to see another week.

Who do you think will make the final three? I’m going to go with Leann, Korto and maybe Terri? Discuss please.

I only have two pairs of shorts that fit anymore, a black pair and a white linen pair. The black ones are a kind of dressier fabric, so not really conducive to various weekend activities, like cleaning out the chicken coop. And white linen, well, also not the proper attire for that either. When I checked my clothing budget for the week, I only found about 56 cents, so I got creative. Despite the fact that I only have two pair of shorts, I have quite a few pair of khaki pants. I’m not sure how that happened. I wear khaki pants once, maybe twice a week, but I don’t think I really need the 6 pairs in my closet. So, I took the ones I wear the least (pretty much never), and cut them off. My first thought was to just leave the raw edge. Then I considered tidying them up with a hem, but then I had the brilliant idea to bind the edges with some red calico. It might be kind of nerdy, but I think I like it.


The obligatory macro shot of the binding:


Oh, and while I have your attention, notice the birdcage in the top picture. I’m still on my spray paint kick, and I decided I didn’t like the original color of my birdcage. I may have gone a little crazy. Is the blue too much? I had also considered white or yellow. I think I better have another poll.

Since the last post was about starting something new, I thought maybe I should try finishing some things for a change. All finished:


The pattern is Embossed Leaves, and this is the third pair I’ve made. I love this pattern, not only are they pretty and easy to knit, but they fit my big feet perfectly. This time I used some old Blue Sky Alpaca yarn that I had in my stash, and the gauge is probably a little big, but they’re so very soft and cozy. I’ll enjoy them a lot this Winter. As you can see, getting a picture outside without a dog in it is nearly impossible. Here’s what most of my shots looked like:


Winston finally got tired of posing and went to lay on the doormat.


His fur is growing back quickly. I hope it cools down soon, for his sake.

Next project, nearly finished:


I’m not even going to link to the post where I described starting this sweater, it was so long ago that I’m completely embarrassed. The pieces have all been knit for ages, but I needed to seam it, and it turns out I don’t really like seaming. Especially with this bulky cotton yarn. And then there was the crocheted edging. I want to like crochet, and I want to be good at it, but I think it’s going to take awhile before that happens. My hands feel all claw-like tonight after working on this. It’s just two rows, one of single crochet, and then one of crab stitch, which I didn’t think I was ever going to get the hang of doing. It is nice though, so it was worth the struggle.


I just have to sew in a zipper, which I am going to attempt tonight. This pattern is Blue Sky Alpaca’s Zip Cardigan (free!), and the yarn is Blue Sky Cotton. It’s lovely and soft.

One last nearly finished project, another bluebird pillowcase:


The first one I made for my Christmas swap with Yvonne. I was really tempted to keep it for myself, but I resisted. I still have to stitch up the hem and seams. I may even make one more, so I have a pair.

Three posts in three days! What’s up with that? I just get chatty sometimes, I guess.

I have so many projects to finish that I did the only logical thing I could. Started another one, of course! I had to see how my sewing stool would work for containing a Television Watching Project (TWP), and nothing in the current to-do pile really fit the bill. I like to have some sort of hand-sewing for sitting in front of the TV, so I don’t feel like I’m totally wasting my time. I’ve had this quilt pattern for awhile, and even have the background blocks all cut out, ready to go. I’ve never done needle-turned appliqué before, so it’s slow going, and, as you will see, I need to work on my technique a little more, but I really like doing it. I need to get a few more fabrics for some of the other blocks, but I had everything I needed for the first one.

The pattern is Robyn Pandolph’s Botanika, and I think it’s usually done as a block of the month quilt. Maybe I’ll try to make it that way too. I should be able to finish this block by the end of the month, although some of the others look a little more involved and might take longer. I really like the primitive style of it, but I’m doing it in fresher, brighter colors.

I’m using freezer paper, which works pretty well, but it doesn’t stick as long as I would like. Especially on larger pieces, like the vase. I only made it about 2/3 of the way around before it was peeling up. I just took it off to do the sections within the handles. Any suggestions for making it stick better? Did I iron it too much? Or not enough? Can I re-iron in halfway through?

Oh, and everything fits quite nicely in my little stool, so I’m pretty happy with my $20 purchase.