#givethanks - day 9

This is my space.  It's often messy.  It's not perfect.  But it is my space, and I am grateful for it.  I do pretty much everything here.  I sew, of course, but I also grade papers, read novels, crochet, and simply relax here.  Occasionally I even watch TV or movies.

I have been so fortunate that for most of our 44 years of marriage, in most of the places we've lived, I've been able to have a space.  For many years, while our children were growing, it was a tiny little nook off the kitchen with 4 doorways and only 7 feet of usable wall space.  I made the most of it.

THIS space is bigger - much bigger - than that little corner I had for so many years.  And its use has evolved.  I love it.  I can be more organized and see more of what I have.  I can have two machines (and sometimes even 3) out at the same time without feeling claustrophobic.  

I am also grateful for this skill that has enabled me to help so many people this year.  I've lost count, but I've made somewhere around 800 masks I think.  

Many of them went to help our medical community at the beginning of the Covid crisis.  

I made a few hospital gowns and scrub caps too.  I'm very grateful I was able to do help in some small way.

I've also been able to make doll clothes and other items to make my grandchildren and others I love happy.  The doll clothes (and the techniques that changed it from a terrible chore to a pleasure) was shared with me by a friend of a friend that I've never met except through Instagram.

When I was around 8 or 9, my mom sat me down at the sewing machine and taught me to sew.  I'm sure I made a thing, although I don't remember what it was.  What I do remember was being at my grandmother's and noticing that my swimming suit needed mending and sitting down at her treadle machine and completing the repair like I knew what I was doing.  I remember my {male} cousins being impressed.

As I grew up, my mom would give me $100 to buy school clothes at the beginning of the school year.  In those days, it was a hefty sum, but still didn't go far if you had to buy shoes, a winter coat, underwear, and gym clothes.  I learned quickly though that Mom would buy me all the fabric, notions, and sewing supplies I wanted.  The message was clear - if you want a wardrobe, make it yourself.

I sewed for my kids when they were small, but when the youngest was 4 I went back to work and the husband went to work for an airline.  After that, if we were lucky, he spent maybe 2 days out of 7 at home.  This was a very busy and chaotic period of our lives, and for about 15 years, I rarely sewed anything but Halloween costumes and prom dresses.

And then things quieted down, grandchildren came, and I discovered modern quilting.  And I was hooked!

And now I am able to share my love of sewing with my grandkids.  They come for a month every summer and I always plan a project.  The first year, it was tote bags.  The next year, pajamas.  This year it was shorts.  But then the oldest asked if she could make a quilt for her Granny.  She went shopping in my stash and made the most wonderful quilt.

And she did everything except the quilting by herself.

And this space is where we hang out...

Where they help Grandma create...

Where we get a little bit silly...

Where we play...

Where we get a leeetle bit goofy...

Where we can relax together...

And maybe get a little bit silly sometimes.

And I love it.  And I am so very grateful.  And I hope I get the chance to share these things with my other two granddaughters - one who lives far away and one who is still a newborn - someday soon.

#givethanks

It's Great to Be Eight!

Photo credit:  Cherri Woodruff

For the last several years, husband and I have spent most of July traveling, but due to Covid, we aren't able to do that this year.  But one event I would not miss was B's baptism. We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and we baptize children at eight years old, once they're old enough to understand what they are doing.  B turned eight in April, but unfortunately, due to Covid he wasn't able to be baptised then.  Luckily, restrictions were lifted enough that he was able to be baptised on July 4th.

One of the other things that was delayed by the Covid quarantine/lockdown was a double birthday celebration for B and his grandad.  Their birthdays are just one day apart, and they had planned a picnic (mostly so that B could try out his Boy Scout cook kits that Grandad had given him.)  So while we were waiting for the other family members to arrive, we headed to the park to have our picnic.  B chose a menu of Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee spaghetti and hot dogs, 😂😂😂 (again so he could get maximum use of his cook kit.)  We all ate spaghetti and hot dogs from the cook kit "dishes" and cleaned up with the few paper towels we remembered to bring. 

And lest you think B was unsupervised, that is far from the truth.  His Uncle Sean (being an Eagle Scout himself) was Johnny-on-the-spot in the supervision department.  Naturally, Grandad supervised as well, so B was well looked after.

Photo credit:  Cherri Woodruff

Finally, the time arrived, we all got ready and headed to the church.  B was very excited.  Granny and Papa provided the lovely towel.  Grandad and I made sure he had a new shirt and tie for the event.

Photo credit:  Cherri Woodruff

Several family members were able to be present to share B's special day.  (Utah allows groups of up to 25).

Photo credit:  Cherri Woodruff

Afterwards, the kids played with their cousins for hours!  (They have a lot of cousins - this was only 3 of the 5 families on SIL's side.  Our only other grandchild and her parents live in Canada and the border is closed, so they could not come.)

Photo credit:  Cherri Woodruff

We had some quieter moments too.  (I love this sweet pic of E and her little cousin just chatting.)  We had a lovely dinner of beef brisket and pot luck sides.  (I made gluten free banana pudding, and it was a huge hit!  It was cool, creamy, and so delicious.  My SIL said he hadn't had banana pudding in years.  I am always thrilled when I can make a gluten free dish that everyone enjoys!  I'll share the recipe below in case anyone is interested.  Please note that this recipe is only gluten free - it is NOT fat-free, dairy-free, sugar-free, or flavor-free.)

And then...  Fireworks!

Congratulations, B!  Happy Birthday, America!  And happy belated birthday to B and Grandad!  Needless to say, the kids (and adults) were exhausted by the end of the day, but it was truly wonderful.

Gluten-Free Banana Pudding

1 box GF graham crackers
1 box Jello vanilla pudding (it's GF - good to know, right?)
1 quart heavy cream
1-1/3 c. milk
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 bananas

Place 3 graham crackers in a zip lock bag and crush with a rolling pin.

Mix vanilla pudding with 1-1/3 c. milk, then add 2 c. heavy cream.  Set aside.

Whip 2 c. heavy cream until stiff.  Add sugar and vanilla.  Set aside.

Slice bananas. 

Line the bottom of 9 x 13 glass dish with the GF graham crackers.  Spoon half of the pudding in a layer on top of the graham crackers.  Place a layer of sliced bananas on the pudding to cover.  Repeat.  Top with whipped cream. Sprinkle crumbled graham crackers on top.

Sewing for the Dolls

In a previous post I mentioned that I had been doing a lot of sewing for Barbie and Ken, and also a lot of time browsing Pinterest for American Girl patterns.  When my two granddaughters came to visit recently, they brought their American Girl dolls so I would have a model to make clothes for them.  Oldest has a Mary Ellen doll, which is a regular 18" American Girl doll, and youngest has a 14-1/2" Wellie Wishers doll named Willa.  Most of the time, doll clothes are fun and quick to sew, and I am excited to find that there are so many patterns online for these dolls.  Grandson also asked for some more clothes for Ken, so I guess my work is cut out for me. 

The two oldest want to sew doll clothes, and oldest and I worked together to make a new outfit for Mary Ellen over the weekend.  Grandson is anxiously waiting for his turn.  Even with two complete workstations in my sewing room, there seems to be a fair amount of competition for available sewing space, since their mom needs to sew as well.  As entranced as they are by the features on the Bernina 750, Oldest learned quickly that it was perhaps not the best machine to learn on.  She quickly moved to the 440 to finish her outfit after the machine kept swallowing the little pieces. 

The first day of summer vacation, which was also the day after the grands and their parents arrived, I sewed for the dolls while they were at the beach.  It was a lovely, relaxing day.  Normally, I need about a week to decompress after school is out, but I did ok this year with just one day.  The remote teaching from home wasn't nearly as stressful as a month of testing - at least not for me.  First, I made Mary Ellen a dress from an old McCall's pattern I had in my stash, and it ended up too big in the bodice, which was disappointing.  This morning I took it apart and took about an inch out of the bodice - quite a lot for a doll with a 10-1/2" waistline.  It's still a little big, but it's much better.

Youngest chose this fancy fabric for her dress.  I found a cute pattern online for a 14" doll, and after some experimentation (meaning I threw the first bodice away,) I came up with a dress that fits her well.  The first time, I tried the pull-through method for making the bodice, where you sew the armholes and the neckline and then pull the back through the shoulder seam to the front, but these pieces are just too small to pull the bulk of the back pieces through, especially considering the bulk created by two layers of fabric.  I ended up partially sewing the armholes and completing the rest of the seam by hand.  I thought this little dress turned out pretty cute and Youngest was pretty happy with it, which, after all, was the whole point.

Ken also got a new shirt, but he must be off with Barbie right now, because I can't find him, or the shirt, so more Ken clothes in a later post.  Grandson liked Ken's swimsuit, so I had to hurry and make Ken his own pair of shorts.  Every time I turned around, Ken was on the floor naked.

On Saturday afternoon, I made Willa another little outfit.  I used the basic Barbie skirt idea and changed the dimensions to 5" x 13".  This is honestly a 15-minute project.  The fabric is one of the scraps from the hospital gowns I made a few weeks ago.  The top was a nightmare.  The fabric is a quarter yard of knit I bought at Joann's before Christmas.  It did not want to sew.  The machine kept skipping stitches, and I couldn't find a ball point needle, although I know I have several packages of them somewhere.  I finally used a piece of paper in the seam to keep the fabric from getting grabbed by the needle.  It made a 30-minute project into an hour-long one, at least.  The pattern for the top is the Pixie Faire trendy t-shirt pattern for 14-1/2" dolls, but it is honestly a bit too tight.  Next time, I will add maybe 1/2" to front and back in the width to make it fit better.

So, I'm keeping busy.  Lots of other projects on the list while the grands are here.  We'll see how many get accomplished, but we're making good progress so far.  We've been checking things off the list pretty regularly, and as far as I know, no one has been bored or missed any of the activities we can't do because of all the closures due to Covid-19.  So far, so good.

Good Friends/Fun Mail

My online friend and I were talking Barbie clothes and Harry Potter, and just having a great convo on IG.  As part of the conversation, I said I wished I had some Harry Potter fabric.  [I really don't know why I didn't buy some earlier, but I didn't.  I've been going through a phase where I'm trying to not buy more fabric.  (Don't ask how well that is going!)] And I don't remember whether it was the same convo or not, but this same IG friend mentioned the cutest HP social distancing shirt, and I decided that I really needed one to add to my teacher wardrobe. 

Anyway, I came home one afternoon, and there were not one but two wonderful packages on my favorite chair that had come in the mail  The first was an adorable mask made with Harry Potter fabric.  It's a different style than I make, but has the cutest Harrys, Rons and Hermiones on the front. 

Along with the mask was a wonderful selection of HP scraps.  I suddenly remembered that my school bag is nearly 6 years old and I really NEED to make a new one, and that these scraps would be perfect.  That naturally led to the conclusion that I must have more Harry Potter fabric.  Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much HP fabric to be had after the recent mask-making, fabric-buying Covid-19 frenzy, but I did find a few pieces, and my daughter found a few pieces at a Joann's store close to her.  She also apparently had a few pieces in her stash she offered to me but apparently forgot to bring.  But a plan for a new school bag is developing. 

The other package contained my new HP social distancing shirt.  LOOK at this shirt Susie (@crafty.like.a.slytherin) made.  It is so perfectly timely!  I had so much fun wearing this the first teacher day we had to spend actually at school.  Some of the other teachers actually did a true double take, and then laughed. 

Here's the original Educational Decree #31 but we all know that in the Covid era, 8 inches isn't nearly enough.

It came with the cutest note that made me smile. 

She even made me a tote bag from the outtake (or what I call the weeding) of the vinyl.  That was so very thoughtful.  I don't think this tote will hold up to the weight of bringing a million papers home every day, but it will be great for the beach or other outings. 

Then, this past Saturday, I received a most unexpected package of fabric from my friend Leona.  Leona was my very first swap partner, way back in the Flickr heyday.   A few years ago she often made trips to the Florida panhandle and we would meet often and talk sewing and quilting and family and whatever, but unfortunately she hasn't been able to come this way in awhile.  She said that she saw that I had done a lot of charity sewing and she wanted to help out with some fabric.  That was just so kind.

So it's been a great week or so for mail.  Thank you Liiani, Susie, and Leona.  I am very grateful for friends to take the time to think of others and brighten the world a little, especially in these stressful times.  I need to take more time to think of how I can lift others and make someone smile.  Yesterday, in our home church, we sang a Primary song that goes like this:

I want to be kind to everyone

For that is right, you see.

So I say to myself, "remember this:

Kindness begins with me."

Oh, What Do You Do in the Quarantine, When All the World is Closed?

Sometime during the Covid-19 quarantine, I saw this t-shirt and just had to have it.  This is exactly what I expected I would do during a quarantine.  What could be better for an introvert like me than an excuse to stay at home and read books???  And I tried.  I really did.  And I certainly had the time.  There was a period of about 8 weeks when I barely left the house.  Simply sitting outside for awhile during the day was a big deal, it seemed. 

Our church has a song our children sing that goes, "Oh, what do you do in the summertime, when all the world is green? Do you fish in a stream, or lazily dream on the banks as the clouds go by? [Chorus] Is that what you do? So do I!"  (I can't find a vocal version, but here is a piano version for your listening pleasure.). Throughout this quarantine, this song has been running through my head, with the words changed rather slightly.  My version goes like this, "Oh, What Do You Do in the Quarantine, When All the World is Closed?  Do you cover your face, and stare into space, and wish you could socialize?  Is that what you do?  So do I."  Sorry.  Sometimes I just have to get these things out of my head.

I am an avid reader.  I read all the time.  During the first 10 weeks of 2020, I read 22 books.  (I keep track of my reading on Instagram.). During the quarantine, you would have thought I would have read at least a book a day.  Certainly several each week.  But no.

Since the quarantine started, I have only "read" 4 books, and 3 of those were audio books.  All but one were long-time favorites.  I must have started a dozen or more books, read the first chapter, or maybe two, and put it aside.  It seemed that nothing could hold my interest, which is very unusual.  A response to the world situation?  Probably.  I've heard that others are having this issue too, which makes me feel somewhat better.

I didn't binge on Netflix either.  I watched all the Harry Potter movies early on.  They were on my list for Spring Break before there was a quarantine.  I watched The Fellowship of the Ring (but not  the others in the series,) the Patty Duke version of The Miracle Worker (I really have no idea why,) and the Disney version of A Wrinkle in Time.  It was this movie that got me listening to audio books at least.  I hated it.  I was so mad that they had changed the story so much from the book, that I just had to see if I remembered the story correctly.  I did. 

I had planned to teach A Wrinkle in Time this quarter, but of course that didn't happen.  I hadn't seen the Disney version of the movie before.  When I teach a book that has a movie, I like to have students discuss what was different.  Some differences are caused simply by time - every page in the book is a minute on the screen, they say, and most audiences today aren't going to sit through a 4-6 hour movie.  Those days are gone.  But Disney's A Wrinkle in Time is an example of filmmakers who changed some very important things about the story.  For example, the characterizations of the witches are all different than L'Engel wrote them.  The writers made some startling changes for this all-star cast.  And, they left out my favorite part of the book - the part with Aunt Beast.  This is the focal point of the story because it's where Megan realizes she has to go back and get Charles.  But they changed all that, and it just didn't work for me.  It might have been an interesting discussion with the kids though, so I probably would have shown the movie anyway.  Still, I was disappointed.

But I think I'm mentally focused enough to read  now.  I've got a backlog of good books that I intend to read this summer.  Stay tuned.

What I actually did during the quarantine, of course, was work from home and sew, which have already been documented here.  How did you spend the time during the quarantine? 

Out of the PPE Business

I thought I was finished with gowns and surgical caps after my last post, but when I opened FB on Thursday morning, I saw a note that some agency in town had requested 25 surgical caps and I only had 16 finished.  I still had the scraps from these gowns...

so I started cutting.  The caps take quite a bit of fabric for the ties, and I didn't have enough of the purple, so I started digging and found 2 pieces that coordinated well.

In 2 or 3 hours, I had another dozen surgical caps.

I gathered up the last 3 gowns, all the extra scraps and supplies, and the caps, and delivered them to the mask makers group.  I will sew more if I can, of course, but with my daughter and her family coming for a month, there may be a few other things to occupy my time.  And hopefully, the need for these things will keep winding down.  With any luck, I'm out of the PPE business.

Do you need a cap to go with that gown?

It seems I just can't help myself.  I keep talking quilts, but I keep making medical gear.  First masks, then gowns, and now surgical caps.  My friend who gave me the fabric for the gowns gave me some smaller pieces, and I just can't let it go to waste - and it doesn't seem fair to just shove it in my stash and move on - so the other day, I sat down and made several of these surgical caps.  They were easy, and like most other projects get easier the more you make.  And this fabric was so cute, they were fun to sew.  And they go pretty fast, I made 8 caps in about 4 hours, including the time it took to make and eat dinner.

The pattern is here.  There is also a video tutorial if that's your thing, but I'm too impatient to watch people sew seams - I've been doing that since I was 5 so it's not a mystery to me - so I prefer to skim down to find the place where it explains what to do if I'm stuck.   I know others get a lot more from video, so choose whatever works for you.

You can get 2 caps out of about 1/2 yard of fabric if you're careful how you cut.  I had to piece the ties on one of the pink caps, but I don't think that's a big deal.  The part that confused me was how the tie ends worked, but once I saw what she did, I realized it was genius. 

The only thing I did differently was to put a piece of elastic in the back.  People have different sized heads and I think the elastic may make it fit a bit better.  I used a piece of 1/4" elastic about 3-1/2" long, and attached it using the same method I've been using on Barbie clothes and hospital gowns -  feed it through the casing just until the end of the elastic meets the edge of the fabric and sew it down, then feed it the rest of the way, remove the safety pin, and sew that end down.  Now it is anchored firmly in the seam and can''t come loose. 

I have enough fabric for about 6 more surgical caps, I think.  Guess I should get on it.  They don't make themselves. 

EDIT:  In between the time I wrote this and the time it was to be published, I used that fabric, and managed to get 8 caps out of 1-1/2 yards of fabric by piecing two of the caps along what should have been the fold.  And - bonus for me - they're paisley, and I've always loved the way colors play together in a paisley.