Summer Movies

It has been an extremely hot summer--what better thing to do than go to the movies?!

We have seen some of 'blockbuster' movies of the summer--very enjoyable 2.5 hours of your life.  We recently saw "Dunkirk" as a family--not all together but each of us seeing the film in our perspective city of residence.  

"In May 1940, Germany advanced into France, trapping Allied troops on the beaches of Dunkirk. Under air and ground cover from British and French forces, troops were slowly and methodically evacuated from the beach using every serviceable naval and civilian vessel that could be found. At the end of this heroic mission, 330,000 French, British, Belgian and Dutch soldiers were safely evacuated."

Us older folks had heard of Dunkirk but the younger generation had not---which led to much discussion about how this piece of history could be turned into a film.  What struck me was the fact that most of these soldiers were very young men--and scared out of their wits!  These were English soldiers!  and the question the 'kids' asked--'where were the Americans?"--another topic of conversation for sure.

If you haven't seen this film, I suggest you take the time to watch a powerful period in history--we can not change history!  Only relish it for what happen and be thankful for those young men.

Books On My Bedstand..............

I love to read!  And I'm always looking for that next good read--

I can read two books at the same time--also, listen to audiobook

as I work--too many good books to let slip through my fingers.

"Precious and Grace" is such a quick read--all about those

lovely ladies of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

"The Midnight Assassin"--interesting history about Austin, TX

and the serial killer that roamed the streets of 1880's

"The Woman in Cabin 10"--haven't begun this one yet, but

it was recommended by several people

"Killing the Rising Sun"--oh my!   Just so factual

with such detail--I find this one fascinating about WWII Pacific War

as our small town of Fredericksburg, TX has Pacific War museum

and this book brings the museum more to life.

"Killers of the Flower Moon"--never knew anything about this piece

of history, especially the birth of the FBI

"A Gentleman in Moscow"--this one I read a chapter or two at 

a time--the descriptions of characters is timeless

Oh, I do have others on my bookshelf 

and in my ear--I enjoy all of Lisa See's books--this one

about tea growing, cultivating, family involvement and

the progress of tea in China.

Selvages--What Do You Do With Them?

As a person who works with fabric, I'm sure you've seen the selvages--there is a lot of information printed for your assistance as well as the manufacturers.

You can find the name of the fabric and the designer

There is a copyright date as well as internet address

And there are all those dots with numbers--what do they mean?

These are color registrations--as the fabric is printed each color goes on in different print

sequences.  Color #1 is the first color to be printed, etc.

these circles or squares serve as check point for printing,

making sure the colors in the fabric are in the right spot.  If not,

the printing process is stopped and realignment takes place.

Some people take these selvages to assist with shopping for additional fabric--

Me, I'd rather take a sample of the fabric.

Most people cut off these selvages, but WAIT--there are

ways you can incorporate those in your finished products.

One year I used them to make paper pieced Christmas trees to

use on my Christmas cards.

Don't throw those selvages away!!  Here are some other

ways to be used..........

The Sewing Loft  has a handy list of 25 things to make with

selvages!  I like the postcard idea!  

Happy stitching!!

Silk Stitches

Every few days I pick up my stitching--usually, when I don't want to 

concentrate on knitting--

This is my Snowman Christmas blocks--I turned to my embroidery box with

all my threads (wish I had more!!) and pulled out my handspun silk bobbins--

I had forgotten I had these to stitch with--The silk is single ply

and the above has been dyed with indigo

My handspun silk pulls nicely through the cloth and is strong

to resist any tugging--no breaking on this yarn!  

Oh, how I love the indigo color!  I think one day

I'll stitch all my blocks with indigo silk thread (handspun, of course!)

I also have other natural dyed handspun silk threads in

my handy dandy box--I did these when I held a natural dye

workshop--not hard to make a small skein and throw it in

the dyepot along with the other skeins--here I have some

over dyed greenish gold--dyed yellow, dipped into indigo--yellow and

blue make green!

I also use madder, cochineal and logwood--

WAKE UP!

Well, wake up!  You are in control of this situation!  I have been knitting on Estonian Sampler by Elizabeth Ravenwood (Ravelry).  I like the blues in the yarn but not the brown--what's the problem?  The yarn is HANDSPUN from roving----dud, I'm in control of the spinning!  I'm in control of the color arrangement!  I'm in control.......................So, here I've spun this first skein with the brown and I'm knitting away thinking--I really don't like this brown stripe and just the other day, I realized--I was in control!!  I can take out the brown bits and just spin the blues--

Here is the roving that I spun up with the brown color

The roving without the brown

Throw away brown--NOT!  I'll save these bits for another challenge

See that brown stripe--don't like it!

It sure did take me long enough to finally

realize--I AM IN CONTROL!

Well, OOPS!

I'm thrilled!  I finished my Christmas quilt!  This is the one I should have bought the kit and didn't; then searched for the right fabrics--well, it's done, finished, complete--well, almost!

I spread it out on the floor to take a photo and only your camera can pick up your mistakes in a flash-there it was!  The big mistake--well, it was only a small mistake, but it was there!

Thought I would have seen it sooner, but NO--already had the borders on and I was ready to press--one small block, NO, two small blocks turned the wrong way!  I could leave it and call it

my path of redemption, but I couldn't stand it.

RIP It--or frog it as they say in quilter and knitter language!  

NOw, off to the quilters it goes!

Christmas In July!!

In order to cool out during this HOT month of July, we can think about the winter months and sew up something fantastic!

Here's a cooool row by row quilt that could work for Christmas and January--

lots of snow featured!!  You can find this free pattern here

Another row by row The Spruce