How I Spent My Summer Vacation...by Guavmom
Well, here it is, mid- August already. My how the time flies! Not to mention, mosquitoes! Those little bastards have sent me scurrying for cover, after succumbing to their aerial barrages on my side porch, for the last few days. See, my porch faces due west, and I get the intense afternoon sun which, lower in the sky as nightfall approaches, slants in under the porch's roof, and hits me dead on. Sun=sweat. Sweat=mosquitoes. I lloathe the little buggers! I'd gladly get a bug zapper were it not for the fact that the bats across the road in the barn, feast on the 'skeeters. So, environmentally respectful sort that I am, I leave the mosquitoes for the bats, and go inside, albeit reluctantly. The cricket chirpings outside, along with the bird songs and hummingbird buzzings, are all the music I need. But I'm itching, and scratching like crazy, so inside it is.
So what have I been up to? Well, in the past week, I crocheted a lovely shawl, to donate to my club to raffle off to raise money for their camping trip. I have also cut out no fewer than 10 purses and coordinating linings out of a variety of pretty prints. One is for my Daughter In Law, Bea, for her birthday. The rest are also for sale to raise money for the club. In the mix: fabrics with butterflies, grapes, songbirds, red mini-plaid, two different sunflower prints, a beautiful dusty red paisley, and a linen look floral of large mauvey red hydrangeas. So, just cutting these all out has taken quite a few hours, and I want to also pad some of them with batting, and quilt around the larger motifs, and iron on interfacing on the rest. This entails going back to the drawing board and cutting all those battings and interfacings out next. Then, and only then, can I proceed onto the sewing of the purses. That should go relatively fast. In some instances, I cut out pockets to sew onto the front of the purses. In those cases, the pockets get sewn onto the outside fabric before sewing on the linings. Oy! I need to remain focused!
So, yeah. Basically that's what I've been up to, and why I haven't posted for a while. The camping trip is on the 27th, and I'm racing to get these done and sold before then. And, no, I am not going on the camping trip. Just thought I'd do what I could to help out.
I have temporarily put aside my own quilt for the time being, to get these projects done.
What else? Oh, I have been up to my eyeballs in packing and shipping a dozen Patchouli plants to points north, south, and west for the last month. I purchased a dozen plants for my LJ gardening community, and have only one left. Meanwhile, my living room is a mess of empty cardboard boxes, donated by my pal, Hurricane Annette, natch. She always has a plethora of boxes on hand from her HSN, and QVC purchases. Additionally, I have a huge bag of packing peanuts, and several rolls of packing tape lying around. Tomorrow, I can finally clean up after all that mess is finally over with.
Hmmmm....what else? Oh yeah! Last week, my washing machine quit on me mid-cycle. I was in the process of washing the fabrics to use as purse linings at the time. BUMMER! John, who gets out for work every day, said he'd look for a new washer. As luck would have it though, it's Yours Truly who discovered a washer and dryer sitting in front in someone's yard, covered with tarps, on the way home from dinner out last night, with Little Old Laura. Turned out I even knew the guy selling them, and John said the price was right, and forked over a $100 bill. The pair was delivered to me this morning, and John will remove our old set tonight when he gets home. I'm giving the washer to my friend Bill, who finally got his own trailer, after living between his brother's, my place, and Marianne's for several exasperating months. Marianne will get my old dryer.
So, on that front, I'm a real happy camper.
Not much else new. Marianne and I took Bill out to the local Chinese take out for his birthday, this past Sunday, and a good time was had by all. We each got take home as well, and I've been eating Chinese for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for days! YUM!
So, my dears, that about sums up my summer to date.
Hope yours have been more exciting/enjoyable.
the little buggers!
So what have I been up to? Well, in the past week, I crocheted a lovely shawl, to donate to my club to raffle off to raise money for their camping trip. I have also cut out no fewer than 10 purses and coordinating linings out of a variety of pretty prints. One is for my Daughter In Law, Bea, for her birthday. The rest are also for sale to raise money for the club. In the mix: fabrics with butterflies, grapes, songbirds, red mini-plaid, two different sunflower prints, a beautiful dusty red paisley, and a linen look floral of large mauvey red hydrangeas. So, just cutting these all out has taken quite a few hours, and I want to also pad some of them with batting, and quilt around the larger motifs, and iron on interfacing on the rest. This entails going back to the drawing board and cutting all those battings and interfacings out next. Then, and only then, can I proceed onto the sewing of the purses. That should go relatively fast. In some instances, I cut out pockets to sew onto the front of the purses. In those cases, the pockets get sewn onto the outside fabric before sewing on the linings. Oy! I need to remain focused!
So, yeah. Basically that's what I've been up to, and why I haven't posted for a while. The camping trip is on the 27th, and I'm racing to get these done and sold before then. And, no, I am not going on the camping trip. Just thought I'd do what I could to help out.
I have temporarily put aside my own quilt for the time being, to get these projects done.
What else? Oh, I have been up to my eyeballs in packing and shipping a dozen Patchouli plants to points north, south, and west for the last month. I purchased a dozen plants for my LJ gardening community, and have only one left. Meanwhile, my living room is a mess of empty cardboard boxes, donated by my pal, Hurricane Annette, natch. She always has a plethora of boxes on hand from her HSN, and QVC purchases. Additionally, I have a huge bag of packing peanuts, and several rolls of packing tape lying around. Tomorrow, I can finally clean up after all that mess is finally over with.
Hmmmm....what else? Oh yeah! Last week, my washing machine quit on me mid-cycle. I was in the process of washing the fabrics to use as purse linings at the time. BUMMER! John, who gets out for work every day, said he'd look for a new washer. As luck would have it though, it's Yours Truly who discovered a washer and dryer sitting in front in someone's yard, covered with tarps, on the way home from dinner out last night, with Little Old Laura. Turned out I even knew the guy selling them, and John said the price was right, and forked over a $100 bill. The pair was delivered to me this morning, and John will remove our old set tonight when he gets home. I'm giving the washer to my friend Bill, who finally got his own trailer, after living between his brother's, my place, and Marianne's for several exasperating months. Marianne will get my old dryer.
So, on that front, I'm a real happy camper.
Not much else new. Marianne and I took Bill out to the local Chinese take out for his birthday, this past Sunday, and a good time was had by all. We each got take home as well, and I've been eating Chinese for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for days! YUM!
So, my dears, that about sums up my summer to date.
Hope yours have been more exciting/enjoyable.
the little buggers!