Repurposing!

 Still cleaning out closets; finding all sorts of interesting things I had forgotten about.  Years ago, I had spun cotton and wove on indigo dyed warp yardage to make a costume to wear while I did demos at the local plantation.  The plantation grew both cotton and indigo--so it was perfect to show case their crops.  Fast forward---- there is yardage in the closet bin.  Why not do something with it?  

I pulled it out and cut into tea towels!  Great gifts for sure!  interesting to see my spinning then and now.  I can spin a fine thread now; then, it was a nice yarn but little thicker and bumpy.

I can see how to use this yardage.  Some things I'm just placing in the give away bin--off it will go to someone who can  maybe make use of it.

I also found a bag of  leather pieces (why did I have this bag)  I don't know--it had a price of $5 so must have been my bargain mind thinking I could do something with this!!

Also, found a bag of fur pieces!  Go figure!  I still have a longing to sew the pieces together for a pillow. , I love running my fingers through these small fur pieces—yes, a pillow would be fun!

In one bin I found this yard of woven fabric and one booster pillow. 

The woven fabric is from 1/4” strips laid in the warp one piece at a time, in order to keep the pattern.  It’s time consuming to cut and place in order. 

 

Wrap the pillow and sew in the ends.  Ta da!  More items repurposed!

Back to the see what else is in the closet bin!

Memories!!!

 Guess it’s my age—I’ve been sorting through boxes of photos, recipes, patterns, fabrics, quilts, etc.  when I had a pile of  photos from a series of group meeting, I ask my friend “what should I do with all these pictures collected over 35 years?”  She said, I’ve been doing the same thing—I know my kids would not know any of these people in the photos.  It was sad thrumbing through, so many of these friends have gone to the heaven of happiness.  

Memories always flood back when you view them.  Oh, remember when that happen! But, I have no one to reminisce with over those times.  I pulled out several photos to put them aside--maybe, someone would like these, I said to myself.  The rest went into File13--then I immediately regret what I did---so many recorded memories gone, just like that!!

This was one of the photos I found--date is 1979, place is New Orleans--that I could summarize as the sign says "Happy Mardi Gras".  Photo is my two brothers, their wives plus another couple on the left--wasn't too sure who it was; contacted my brother, emailed him the photo and he replied it was his friend and girlfriend.  Yes, we were parked in Superdome parking lot, drove in that green/white van, loaded with food and drinks--ready to walk to St.Charles Avenue for truck parade.  

Memories are intersting--I don't remember this occassion at all!  But, My brother did!  His memory kicked in (of course, my brother was one for 'remembering wrong too'!)  Then what he told me was unbelievable to me.

My brother said before he came to NO, a friend said, if you go to the French Quarter and to Al Hirt's club, ask for so and so and she'll get you in--right there I didn't believe him!  But, he continued, atter the parades, we walked into Quarter by Al Hirt's club and remarkable, we ask for so and so and we were emitted at no charge and received a table up front!  

We were given free drinks! Turned around to see Henry Winkler (the Fonz) sitting behind us (he was the King of Bacchus Parade), in walked Pete Fountain, who also had a club in the Quarter; comedian Rodney Dangerfield was there also.

Boy, this story sounded so good but I have no memory of all that!  I thought my brother has really gone off the deep end with his story!

When I said something to my husband--"yes, that's true!"  No way!  He validated my brother's memory!!

What memories are you harboring that others will not believe?  

Things That Make Me Happy!

 Fall weather is approaching!  I mean real cooooool temps!  That makes me happy!

This makes me happy also!  I can pull out my fall quilts and this makes me so happy!  we hang this one at the landing of the staircase.  

It's such a fun quilt!  It made me happy to work each block!

These two great grandsons make me happy!

They came for dinner the other night and  the oldest wanted to go upstairs, but said "there's monsters up there!"  pointing to the quilt!  He went up with his Oma though.   She was picking out quilts from the pile on the guest bed.  W came down with his quilt--he said "I like this one!"  It was flags quilt.  I was surprised he knew what a flag is!  But, they do surprise you all the time with the 'stuff' they learn.

That makes me happy too!

had this hat  pattern and had the orange yarn too!

and I finished the hat!!  good for me!  This makes me happy!!

Challenges?

Challenges?!!  Do you like a challenge?  A reason to set a goal?

Kathleen Tracy’s challenge to her Facebook  followers—“complete one small quilt a month beginning October 1”

This is a great goal for me!  One small quilt a month!! Yes, I can add that to my list of things to do!  And possibly, this could happen!! 

Holiday sew along with Jen Daly as well coming up

Free toque pattern—what’s a toque?

In American English, this type of hat is known as a beanie or a watch cap, while in Canadian English, a knit cap is known as a toque, touque, or tuque 

Here you have the path to the free pattern 

Avocados!!! Photo what to do with them?  My brother’s Florida avocado tree took a hard hit with hurricane Helene—all on the ground; I received a benefit box of these beauties

Cross stitch is here for those want to stitch tiny little crosses on cloth.  My eyes don’t allow that any more.  At one time, many moons ago, I was big into counted cross stitch!  

Our daughter has lost two of her furry friends within two weeks of each other.  She had to put down her loving dog after Diamond collapsed and vets found a huge tumor in her chest. 

Week later after she went to round up the horses and donkey from their leisure time in larger pasture, she found protector, Perico the donkey, dead. What a shock!  The family is grieving these losses as well as the horses. 

There are daily challenges in your path always—buckle up, more on the horizon!

TA DA!!

And just like that—we have October!  Really!! Time is fleeting so quickly—so we’re getting older, busy most of the time—we can’t stop time— Of course, to some time moves too slowly.  Not for me though—

Looking at all these UFOs, my ADD kicks in.  Not sure where to begin next.  Work a little here, squirrel moment. Look over there— what is that flashy shiny thing that needs some attention?  Let’s make another cup of coffee and decide where to put my energy. 

Oh WOW!  A mystery began October 1!  Let’s jump on board—Quilting Gail is designer and mysteries are my forte

Warping the loom was high on the list and that’s marked off.  Threw shuttle a few times—NO mistakes!! YAY!  No broken warp threads!  YAY!  Plain weave—boring!  Going for twill, YES!  Enough of that. Moving on to the next thing.

Found this orphan pumpkin block amongst a stack of “stuff” on my sewing table.  My intention was to make several pumpkin blocks designed by Fatcat Patterns  You can see that didn’t happen.  Time to outline the pattern with black thread using buttonhole stitch

Little tedious on these small parts

Finished!! Now what?? To do with this?

Can always use a decorative pillow!!  Pillow is designed by Jendaly.com

Done!! Done!! Yarn did all the work in this One Skein wonder shawl—love it!! 

Moving on—what’s next?  

Knitting and Baking

 

Knitting and Baking--what could be better??!! I love watching "The Great British Bake Off" Show!  and now, Becky Greene has designed a sock for the Great Brititsh Sock Off for Sept and October 24 sock group on Ravelry.  This is going to be fun!

Of course, I'm behind as usual--didn't get my start quite as soon as I like.  Printed off the first two clues, looking for the best sock yarn in my stash. 

Each clue has a recipe included--both look interesting and delicious.

What yarn to use?  Going through stash, I find many yarns that create stripes. 

Looking at the first two clues, stripes would not work—dig through yarn again and find a solid

Malabrigo sock yarn—that is aged!!  Perfect!  

Off we go!  The ribbing is different—4 knit 2purl—was hard to remember not k2 p2 as usual ribbing or k1p1– once over that hurdle, comes OH NO!  Cables!!  I do not like cable knitting but I will not give up! 

I’m getting the hang of this pattern; wish I’d started both socks at same time!  Oh well, more practice on cables for me. 

Got the heel finished, heading to toe.  

Fall into Fall!

The air is crisp!  Temperatures are nice! It’s that time of year!  And my thoughts turn to Fall knitting!  Yes!  We’ll need those warm cozy things soon. 

Found this cute pumpkin pillow on our travels—great addition to our meager fall decorations.  A lot of the Autumn deco went bye bye—looked so tired.  Replacing as I find interesting (on sale) items.  Of course, I could wait till after Halloween and the “picked overs” would be on sale.  

It’s time to pull out the pumpkin quilt!  Livens up the room! 

Knitting please for fall! 

Little Pumpkin Hat designed by Asita Krebs for my grand babies

Wonders never cease!  I found a pumpkin yarn in my stash!!

The Kitchen Sink Shop designed this neat Autumble Sock pattern.  Just wish I had some Autumn shades of sock yarn--maybe, I'll dye some yarn for these.

She also has designed some great dish cloths--I love knitting them!

Wherever you live, my wish for you is some Fall weather and color!

Happy stitching!