OH -- Junk!

 The other day, as we tried to tidy up the house in preparation for Thanksgiving (still no idea whose turn it is to host, but we’ll be prepared if it’s our turn) someone was looking for scissors--not my good sewing scissors please!!!  The voice could be heard from the other side of the house--"look in the junk drawer".   Pull out the designated drawer and there were the all purpose scissors--right there in the Junk Drawer!  

Doesn't everyone have a junk drawer?? What's a junk drawer, you may ask? Then you don`t have a designated place to put your odds and ends of small stuff—

Indeed!  A drawer filled with “junk”—odds and ends of stuff that we might need sometime in the future.  For instance, a padlock with no key! Flashlight, no batteries; glue (that’s probably dried up),  rubber bands—at one time there was a rubber band ball (wonder where that went!?) matches AND a fire stick, of course when one doesn’t work, there is the other! 

There’s string and wire, sticky things to hang pictures on the wall; and don’t forget the batteries!! Probably no good but we saved them in the Junk drawer!  And you can’t have a junk drawer without duct or packing tape! 

Not only do we have a junk drawer, the BOWL is ready to be nominated for the next junk location!  The Bowl, which holds the garage door opener, contains billfolds, keys, pocket knife, business cards, zip tie, reading glasses container—NOT reading glasses!! Loose screws, of course! Oh and least we forget, the car touch up paint pen! 

Every once and awhile, the junk bowl becomes over crowded and spills into the junk drawer. 

Heaven forbid, we get rid of anything or move to another location—we couldn’t find any of that junk—who knows 

When we’ll need a padlock with no key! 

Boy!  I thought we had a messy junk drawer.  Daughter has not one but three junk drawers!! 

WOW!!

Whew!!

 The wedding is over!  We sweated about the weather—but, thank goodness, there were no storms!  No rain! cool temperatures, which was fine. We had heaters for the outdoor ceremony.  It was a beautiful wedding under the oak trees, covered with twinkling lights! 

The wedding and groom cake were centered stage

Bride’s nephew carried this satin pillow that first used in bride’s great grandmother’s 1940 wedding

After wedding clean up, there is a let down feeling—all that planning, shopping, friends/family departing—it is time rest and be ready for another day. 

Life continues—always moving fast! Never a dull moment as we move through our days of adventures.  Here is a progress of my fiber creations.  I'm trying to keep myself grounded--especially, with the holidays fast approaching.  One day at a time, one foot in front of the other.  I'm deciding whether to start on Bonnie Hunter's 2022 mystery, which begins day after Thanksgiving.  The color selections are on her website.  I will save all the clues and decide in the new year.

Fat Quarter Shop is hosting Sewcialites.  Each Friday a different pattern is released from a designer.  This is second pattern--I'm trying patriotic colors for now.

This is the first pattern.

This stack of stars have been staring me in the face for months--finally, I did it!!

I started putting them together!

Scrappy Stars by Kathleen Tracy

It's a start--just need seven more stars to complete the last two rows. Not sure I like the green squares-- but finishing up will be a bonus.  Another thing off my table stacked high with projects!  

Log cabin blocks made with scrap strips—didn’t matter size of strip,  just started in the center and work out till you have at least 12” block. If larger just square up.  

Once the blocks were together, I thought it needed a border.  A friend suggested piano keys—back to the strips sewn and cut to 2.5” length. 

The top still needed something else to make it complete— 

4” black border and ta da!  Finished!

What you reading?

 

Shannon Bream has this lovely book "The Women of the Bible Speak".  A great read!!  She has also written

"The Mothers and Daughters of the Bible Speak", which will be my next read.

I've always enjoyed Lisa See's books--this is interesting tale of how women can conquer the sea for their lively hood.  This book is about Korean women in their daily chores of the sea.

My Florida friend (formerly from Louisiana) has bragged about this book for months.  She says it is drop down hilarious—I finally succumbed to reading it—I’m not sure I would say hilarious, but it is light hearted enough to read between serious reads. 

Book one of three about Murphy Shepard—I’ve read “When Crickets Sing” by Charles Martin and found it to quite readable.  So, now I’m on the journey to learn about his character Murphy. 

Just finished listening to “The Hunting Party” guests arrive on a remote island for a wedding.  What can go wrong?  Many twists and turns in this one to keep you Interested.  When I do handwork, my ears are tuned to a book. 

Book sale!!!  OM!  Our local library had book sale one Saturday—would I miss it it?  Definitely NOT! Tables and tables of books!!

What are you reading?

 

Traditions!

 As we fast approach our granddaughter’s wedding, I’ve thought about wedding traditions and wondered about some of those special traditions.  Are these traditions still practiced anymore?

At the bridal shower, given by her friends, no one thought of making a rehearsal bouquet with gift ribbons; except the older generation.  The younger gals had never heard of such a thing.  She didn’t have many gifts with bows, so I did the best I could. 

But, they did know that all special events have a balloon arch!!  Lots and lots of balloons decorate the stairway railing—how on earth do you get rid of all those balloons ( some filled with confetti)?  You can’t pop them! So, the “arch” still rests on our stairway.  A suggestion was to leave it up through Christmas and New Year! 

Anyway, back to traditions—the bride to be is gathering something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue—where did that come from? 

Something old represents continuity; something new means a positive outlook on the future; something borrowed is a symbol of borrowed happiness; and something blue symbolizes fidelity, purity, and love. A sixpence in your shoe is of British influence. This timeless saying is a tradition where small charms are given and carried before walking down the aisle. 

 In the 17th century, wedding desserts were made in pairs — a bride’s cake and a groom’s cake, which was typically a small fruitcake. Instead of being served at the reception, the groom’s cake was cut up, packaged and given to guests as favors. The tradition of groom’s cakes actually died out for a while, but recently resurged in the U.S. "

What about the exchange of rings:  The circle represents eternity, because it doesn’t have a beginning or an end. During ancient times, women would wear rings made of papyrus around their wrists and ankles. Romans then began to substitute the material with iron, which ultimately led to the use of gold to make the first betrothal rings. The tradition of a diamond engagement ring was started by Archduke Maximilian of Austria when he proposed to Mary of Burgundy. Like circles, diamonds have long been considered as symbols of eternity because they are the hardest gems on earth. The placement of the ring on the fourth finger came from the Egyptians who believed that it was the finger that contained the vein that connects to the heart.

When doing research on this topic, more tradtions popped up; some I never even thought about.  Go HERE to learn about other traditions in other countries.

And here is a tradition I didn't think about--

• During the ceremony, the bride and groom typically stand across from each other, clasping hands or wrists, and the binding material is looped around their wrists. The Officiant then explains that the rope represents the couple being bound by their love and commitment and that they, like the cord, are two individual ends that are also one.

We will be looking for that perfect wedding cake and Jordan almonds to be served. 

• The bitterness of the almonds represents life, and the sweet coating represents marriage. Jordan almonds should only be distributed in odd numbers at weddings, as this represents the couple's indivisible bond and shared life together. Italians call Jordan almonds 'confetti.' Greeks call the same treats 'koufeta.'
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  The Ring Bearer, nephew of the bride, will carry the rings on a pillow that was first used in the wedding of the bride's great grandmother in 1940.
• Traditions, either new or old, carry through generations.  Most don’t stop to think—why are we doing this? There are reasons for what traditions we do. 
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Just What We Need!

                                                                                     Just what we need-- during this busy time of the year!! Of course, sometimes, these sew alongs give us a mental break to the busy time of the season.

Quilting Gail is offering this free Scrappy mystery.  And I do love a mystery!

• Oct 18: Clue #1: Fabric Requirements and Cutting
• Oct 25: Clue #2
• Nov 1: Clue #3
• Nov 8: Clue #4
• Nov 15: Clue #5
• Nov 22: Clue #6
• Nov 29: Clue #7
• Dec 6: Clue #8
• Dec 13: Mystery Quilt Parade

Join into this sewalong that has already began —make one block each week from October 21, 2022 and runs through April 14, 2023, with two more weeks afterward dedicated to finishing and backing the quilt. FAtquarter Shop

Them Holes Can Be Deep.

 I know!  I know!  I can go down rabbit holes and never surface--and when I do, there are so many ideas swimming around in my brain!  Sure, I want to do them all...........

I found this on an app--which one I couldn't tell you!  But, I love, love leaf quilts!  Then one of those rabbit holes I jumped into I found this free pattern for a leaf!

Of course, I grabbed a screen shot and then went searching to find the pattern

The Crafty Quilter offers this free pattern in Three sizes!  Now, that's a winner for me!

She also has other patterns on her blog--more time to explore will take me there

But, first, I must make one of these scrappy leaf blocks--I'll do a large size first--10"

I know I should be doing something else--there are so many Christmas items

to be working on instead of FAll leaves!

Then my brain went into overdrive--

Quilting.craftgossip has several versions of leaves.

Why not make a quilt with different leaf patterns??  

Shabby Fabrics shares this video for their style of leaf.

My friend has been gathering fat quarters for her leaf quilt. You can never tire of seeing fall colors! 

Did you ever wonder why we say "down a rabbit hole"? 

“down the rabbit hole” comes to us thanks to the great Lewis Carroll who introduced the term in 1865 in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In the story, Alice literally falls down the hole of the White Rabbit, taking her to Wonderland. In this case, falling down the rabbit hole meant entering a strange and absurd alternate universe, which many believe was supposed to represent a psychedelic experience.

Today, when people say they “went down the rabbit hole”, they usually mean that they got sucked into spending way to long reading about or researching something on the internet.

another rabbit hole I jumped in--we have been watching a show that is Welsh--the language is interesting-very hard to understand.  So, where did Welsh language originate? Down the rabbit hole, I went.

Welsh language is one of the oldest language---Welsh is a Brythonic language, meaning British Celtic in origin and was spoken in Britain even before the Roman occupation. Thought to have arrived in Britain around 600 BC, the Celtic language evolved in the British Isles into a Brythonic tongue which provided the basis not only for Welsh, but also Breton and Cornish.

So, sometimes it helps to go down that rabbit hole!! But, we still use closed captions on this Welsh show!

TAlly Ho--OnWard WE Go!

 There hasn't been much time at the sewing machine--that's not to say the hands and brain haven't been functioning--maybe, not simultaneously, but working!

It starts out small--then it grows and grows--mindless (brain doesn't need to be engaged) knitting on this pattern  Musselburgh--it's two hats in one.

For this hat, I’m combining lots of small bits of leftover yarns—should be a colorful hat for someone. 

I found this yarn in my stash and couldn’t help but begin another hat—anxious to see how each color stacks up. And finished!!

Purl Soho is offering a Bandana Cowl KAL (knit along)  The pattern is free--learn how to do short rows on this knit.

Alycia Quilts has clues for the latest Quilt of Valor she designed.  Her quilt designs are always simple to complete for a special quilt for a special veteran.

Just in time for fall and the holidays, here is a free pattern for knitted pumpkins.

 

Take some time to begin on this sew along for Christmas--Lisa gives you the pattern in the notes and also walks you through all the pattern pieces.

 This is a busy season for all of us. Not only are the holidays upcoming, we are readying for a bridal shower and a fall wedding.