Love Your Planet

 

Earth Day has come and gone, but it surely can't be too late to share this picture of my grandson celebrating the day when he was a little guy.

Love your planet.

Needles

After hemming two prom dresses, I moved on to cuffing some heavy cotton trousers.

And I was reminded once again of the importance of needles.  For the satin prom dresses, size 8 ball point needles, for the heavy trousers, size 16 jeans needles.  Different needles make so much difference in how smoothly the projects go.  It isn't just a gimmick to sell more needles.

I don't think many people change their needles after exactly eight hours of sewing, how can we really know, but lots of sewists strive for that goal.  For most piecing and regular sewing, I usually stay with a universal 14 needle and I'm happy with that for my routine tasks.  I'm usually sewing on the same types of fabrics and just set my sewing machine for different fabric types.  And yes, I'm spoiled by that.

One of my friends gave me two pieces of the very best butterscotch pie last night, with a wonderful meringue.  Good meringue has always eluded me - now I'm in the mood to try again. 

Goetta

 

I took my neighbor out to breakfast to celebrate her birthday.  We went to Sleepy Bee, one of my favorites.  I tried this sandwich because it had vegan goetta.  Goetta is a local food, much loved in Cincinnati.  It's made from sausage and steel cut oats, fried in slices.  As a vegetarian, I'd never sampled it and was happy to see this version.  It was good. 

Everything I've tried at Sleepy Bee is good, especially the pancakes.  I love pancakes and theirs are light and fluffy, like mine never are.

My grandmother used to make mush, made with oats or cornmeal.  I wish I knew which hers was made of, but I don't.  My grandmother's mush was similar to goetta in that it was sliced and fried.  My grandmother and I ate it with Karo syrup.  Growing up, we never had maple syrup or pancake syrup, always Karo.

 I loved mush and would beg my mother to make it but she never would.  I'm guessing that's because she ate a lot of it during the depression, but I'm not sure of that.

(Thinking of my much-loved grandmother, she was blond, blue-eyed and short.  I got none of those genes.)  

Someone's Breakfast

 

I hadn't attempted walking up the hill to the park at the end of the street because it's a really, really steep hill.  Short, as hills go, but really steep.

So yesterday I gave it a try, and it was fine. This paark is just what I call a neighborhood pocket park, although this one does have more space than most.

When I walked around the perimeter I came across these apples scattered around the far edge.  Then I noticed a suspiciously large-sized bite taken out of one and realized that someone must have brought those apples for the deer that roam around the nearby wooded area.  (And roam around the streets and yards.)

And then I realized that the flesh of the bitten apple was white, no rotting at all.  I think that I surely disturbed a deer's breakfast.

Soon I'll have flowers and vegetables and I hope the deer continue having breakfast at the park and not in my yard.

Pansies

 

I've so enjoyed watching the pansies grow in their porch container.  Why didn't I fill another container with purples?

This afternoon I'll be helping set up comforters to knot tomorrow.  It's always a challenge from one month to the next to remember how the set up goes.   Maybe today it will look more familiar.

It seems like my hair is falling out at a great rate.  I looked it up (of course) and learned that it's called shedding and that it happens several months after an illness.  And then after six months or so it stops and hair returns to normal again.  It seems like I'll have no hair left after six months of this, but maybe it will come in pretty and white.

I've always admired pretty white hair in women but mine is more on the gray side.  And don't even mention coloring it to make it a pretty white - I'm so over that.

Clam Up

 

Yes, this little bag is finished, and yes, I'll make another one, and yes, next time I'll follow along with the tutorial as I sew.  Clam Up by Annie.com

I bought a whole bag of handbag zippers and the big pack of Soft and Stable, so there has to be at least one more, right?  And while it doesn't open flat like I thought it would, it opens very wide.  This is a medium and next time I'll try the large.

A friend just sent me a table runner kit so I worked on finishing three projects today.  And, someone is bringing a pretty pink prom dress to be hemmed too.

While I enjoy having several projects to choose from, sometimes some just need to be finished.

Remembering This Building

 

My view waiting for the doctor at one of my follow-up visits this morning.

I thought the building seemed a bit familiar and then I remembered going there for a Covid test fairly early on during the pandemic, back in the scary time  People needing a required test for whatever reason were directed one way and people who were testing because they felt sick were directed a different way.

I wasn't feeling sick so I was directed with the many people waiting for required tests.   Mine was prior to a pulmonary function test.  No one wants to be giving the test in a small room with Covid-positive people breathing heavily.

I'd forgotten the strange way the parking garage works.  On entry I got a ticket with a mag strip and in the office I got a second one.  After putting in the first ticket the machine showed that I owed $7.00.  When I put in the second the screen told me to have a good day, the gate lifted, and I went on my way.

Eclipse

,

Sitting with my legs crossed at the park up the street.  I'm sure you've seen enough pictures of the actual eclipse and don't want another one.  

It wasn't totality here, but it was 99% and that was enough to make me very happy.  It was a glorious show.  The street lights came on at the darkest part, then went off again on the other side.  The temperature cooled down and the breeze picked up and then things went back to where they were before.

The clouds stayed away and it was as warm as a nice summer day.

And then I went home  no traveling involved except for a trip to the Dairy Queen, because it was that kind of a day.

Love Series

 

Here'a how the hearts ended up, scattered on a pink batik to hopefully get people ready for the current  five-week Love Series at my church.

Tonight I'm working on a small clamshell bag.  I almost never sew at night, and that could be why I'm doing quite a bit of ripping.  Really, though, I don't think that's it.  It's just the nature of the project.  I thought the bag was supposed to open flat but I can't imagine ending up there - we'll see.

Maybe there's a reason why there's an online tutorial to go along with the written directions.  And maybe I should have watched it.

Fingers crossed for a sunny day tomorrow for the eclipse.  Many local schools will be closed.  There will be lots of disappointed people if it's a cloudy day.

Hearts

 

Ages ago, like many years ago, I purchased a package of die-cut hearts.  Several times I've looked at them and wondered if I should even keep them.  I must have originally thought I'd use them for applique but of course I never did.

Now I have a use for them, and you'll see that tomorrow.  For today, I fused Wonder Under on the backs of the hearts, along with a piece of red ribbon.  And then fused a second heart on the back.  Very easy.  The only thing that took any time at all was cutting the Wonder Under to heart size.

I feel like the Universe spoke to me twenty years ago and said, "Buy those hearts, you like them."  And later said, "Keep those hearts, you like them."

And finally this week the Universe said, "It's time for those hearts, and you know just where they are."

Comforter Top

 

Finally this comforter top is completed and ready to be knotted.  I used 5" blocks because I had quite a few already cut out.  If I do something similar again, I'll use 6 1/2" blocks, both because the piecing will go more quicky and because this one will require a lot of knots.

Scrap quilts are my favorite, and mine aren't as random as they appear.  My own personal theory is that scrap quilts need a few things that tie them together.  Note the yellow diagonals - even though the shades of yellow are different, they still identify as yellow, although in the picture the lighter ones look white.  Most rows have one of two print fabrics.  And even though they are  randomly placed, you'll find lots of greens, reds, purples, and blues.  I think all those things keep the quilt from being chaotic, they keep our eyes from bouncing around when we look at it.

When I got in my car tonight, it told me that the roads might be icy.  (They weren't.)  And the weather app tells me that on Monday - eclipse day - the high will be 72 degrees. 

For tonight, I'll go outside and cover my porch planter with its pansies.

Tenth President

 

Berea College is preparing for the inauguration of its tenth president this weekend, and she will be its first woman president.  The campus is preparing to show off its buildings and grounds, and the flowers are gorgeous.

My daughter and I just spent some time there, shopping and eating.  I had never spent the night at Boone Tavern, and that was a treat.  We had breakfast and dinner there, and both meals were wonderful.

Of course I have some awesome new earrings.

One of my recovery goals is to do some traveling, and this was a good start.

Hot Cross Buns

 

Little hot cross buns with dried cranberries, apricots, and raisins.

I noticed a tube of white icing in the store and decided that I didn't need that, I could just make icing and put it in a sandwich bag and snip off the corner.  Later I regretted that decision and got the tube after all.  Whoever designed that little tube knew what they were doing.

There were so many daffodils blooming on this early Easter.  They were putting out a show everywhere.

A new month - new goals, of course.  April is always such a hopeful month.