What I Have Been Doing When I Have Not Been Blogging

1. We went to Florida to visit my sister. These sandhill cranes wander around her neighborhood.


2. I went trick or treating with my great-nieces. I didn't get any candy.


3. I fed the giraffe at the zoo.

4. I'm trying to learn to juggle. It's going very slowly. The book said I could learn in 10 minutes. Whoa! I must be in some sort of alternate universe where time is measured differently. Ten minutes passed a long, long time ago, and I'm still using only two beanbags. (Note: Do not put sand-filled beanbags deep in your suitcase. The TSA will need to search through your undies to determine what they are.)

5. I'm trying to learn Spanish. I'm using two free computer programs, one through our public library an one through the BBC. I took two years of Spanish in high school, long ago during the previous millennium. I'm surprised at how fast it's coming back after not quite 50 years. I do tend to occasionally revert to French, which I took in both high school and college. We're planning a trip to Spain and Morocco in the spring.

6. I'm working on another beaded doll. This is her front. If you recall, I thought about making my birthstone doll in these colors. I didn't. So here she is. I planned to put a molded paperclay face on her, but the ones I made seem too large. So she is temporarily faceless and nameless, blah, blah, blah...


This is the back.


Notice that in the description of the previous activities, there was no vacuuming. Pero las ventanas están limpias.

Very Cool, Very Warm Mittens!

These are my new very cool, very warm mittens. They are made from a felted wool and angora sweater. The lining is fleece. And they are very, very warm.

These mittens were the latest project of the Renegade Militant Seamstresses. Wendy and Lorraine showed us how to make them. They were not really hard to make.

The former sweater was a soft and lovely cable-knit turtleneck. I wore it with a brown skirt. Then one summer there was an unfortunate incident with the skirt and I was unable to wear it to work any more. That incident involved my hips and a Tommy Turtle sundae. It's too horrible to think about.

So, inspired by my daughter, I machine washed and dried the sweater. It came out very small, about a foot in length and two feet in circumference, just barely big enough to make two mittens. Jan let me use some of her lightweight royal purple fleece for lining. The fleece I had was too thick.

I'm thinking about making some more mittens with this pattern. I have some windblock Polar Fleece in the basement, but not enough to make any sort of garment. That would make really warm mittens. I'd use the windblock fleece on the outside and some thinner fleece on the inside.

One of the Seamstresses mentioned that the mitten pattern would work for oven mitts. Hmmm... 100% wool would not conduct heat and is fire resistant. It sounds like another project. I guess I'll have to go thrift store shopping.

Paper Cloth, such as it is...

Here are a few samples of the paper cloth I made for the Stitch Alchemy book study described in the previous post.

This first one shows how opaque the Speedball Acrylic Ink is. I should have known. The label says "super pigmented." The paper cloth was made with blue and white tissue paper and a few scraps of paper towel previously painted blue. I sprayed blue ink and then dripped red ink. That was so dark that I stamped some stars with an iridescent red-gold ink. It's still dark.


This second piece was made with plain white tissue on the muslin. It was sprayed with some blue paint while the glue was still wet. After it dried, I applied pink, medium blue and very dark blue ink, rubbing the stamp pads lightly on the surface. This made the folds in the tissue show up better.


For the third piece, I layered both tissue paper and cheesecloth on the muslin. After it was dry, I sprayed it with the blue acrylic ink. After that was dry, I applied a wash of yellow Dye-na-Flow. Then I sponged on some blue Dye-na-flow.

So far, this has been great fun, and I'm learning a lot.

Stitch Alchemy--An Extra Credit Book Report

Stitch Alchemy by Kelli Perkins is one of my new books. I'm taking part in an online book study of Stitch Alchemy through Mixed Media Art Friends, a yahoo group. Belinda Spiwak is organizing the book study.

I've been waiting for Stitch Alchemy to come out since it was first advertised last spring. And it's not just because Kelli Perkins is My Own Personal Reference Librarian. Kelli has had many articles published in Cloth, Paper, Scissors, and she has appeared on Quilting Arts TV. Her work is accessible, colorful, and imaginative, and her writing is wonderful. So the book was bound to be good.

I've had the book for a couple of weeks now, and I have enjoyed it very much. It shows us how to combine paper and cloth into a textile that can be embellished and used like both paper and cloth. And anyone willing to get her fingers sticky can make paper-cloth!

First, the book is visually beautiful. The samples draw you in at first, but then you look at the rest of the page. This is not a black-text-on-white-page book. Everything is colorful and shows texture. Yet it isn't jarring or overwhelming, and you can easily settle on the text. The entire book is eye candy that won't give you a stomach ache.

Second, it is loaded with techniques to color and pattern paper-cloth. I mean really loaded. A quick count identified more than 80 different techniques, from dripping ink to thread sketching. These techniques may not all be new, and the descriptions are brief. But it's a treat to have them all in one place, making Stitch Alchemy a very useful reference. I found myself thinking about how I could combine a number of the techniques and how I could adapt them to just paper or just cloth. Kelli writes about serendipity, and I found myself anticipating serendipity.

Third, Stitch Alchemy is written for (and by) a lover of language. Kelli's librarian side shows in the way the book is written. And I don't mean the Shhh! kind of librarian. Think purple-streak-in-the-blond-hair kind of librarian. Meander, saturated glory, divine, montage, akin, rustaholic, hand-rendered. Different--simpler--words could have been used, but the book is much more fun to read with these words.

The last part of the book provides a number of projects to make with decorated paper-cloth. I'm not there yet. I'm still looking forward to the decorating. Now all I have to do is control my enthusiasm so I don't work way far ahead of the book study. Huh! I'm after the extra credit, so I'll start playing as fast as I want!

I'm Wearing a Tablecloth!

I'm wearing a tablecloth! A garage sale tablecloth. And I love it!

This jacket is made from an originally white, rayon damask tablecloth I bought at a garage sale last summer. The tablecloth spent the winter in a drawer mulling over its options. Finally it decided to become a blue jacket.

First, I washed and bleached the tablecloth with chlorine bleach. It had plenty of coffee or other spots, and most of them came out. Second, I decided where on the tablecloth I would place my pattern pieces to best utilize the damask pattern. Third, I cut up the tablecloth into manageable pieces and zigzagged the edges. The reason for that was to make it easier to stir the fabric in the dyepot for more even dyeing.

I dyed it using Procion MX dye--Midnight Blue, I think. This was my first home alone dyeing adventure. I was pleased with the way the tablecloth turned out. The damask pattern shows up very well.

There was only one problem. I couldn't remember which pattern pieces went on which fabric pieces. So when the dyed fabric was rinsed, washed and dried, I had to work with the pattern pieces and the fabric again. Only this time, the smaller fabric pieces limited where I could put the pattern pieces. I really should make notes of these experiments with alchemy.

I used Chinese ball buttons and corded loops as a fastening, and I usually button all of them. It is unlined and very comfortable. The jacket drapes well and (I think) looks better on me than the pictures show. I am not listing to the side. The camera holder is.

This is the back.



Now I have two more tablecloths and several smaller linens dyed. It is fun to use these pieces as fabric.

Sheep Baa Loudly!

I didn't remember that. But sheep baa loudly. Very loudly. And they have different vocal ranges--bass, baritone, tenor. I didn't hear any altos or sopranos.

Yesterday my daughter and I went to the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. We first took a leisurely stroll through the vendors, looking at the lovely yarn and roving, tools and gadgets, and sample projects. It was especially interesting to see the hand dyed fibers. The colors are gorgeous, and incite drool.

Throughout the stroll, each of us muttered to ourselves and each other, "I don't need any more projects." And, "I already have some of that."

Our muttering was successful. I only bought a bottle of Synthrapol. Although I do have some of that, I don't have enough for more projects.

My daughter bought two root beer floats. She drank one and I drank the other. The root beer floats were sold by the Future Farmers of America Alumni. A discussion about the vendors commenced. Are they farmers? Or former future farmers? Or both? Or some of each? We didn't ask them.

We also took the grand tour of the sheep barns. That's where we reminded about the sheep voices. Loud. Very loud. And rude, on occasion. My sources describe the actual sheep voices as "parodies of themselves." My sources are right.

This knowledge of loud sheep voices causes one to think about the idea of counting sheep to fall asleep. It wouldn't work. The baaing would keep one awake. It would keep one's neighbors awake. The neighbors banging on one's ceiling would keep one awake. The law enforcement official ringing one's doorbell would keep one awake. The siren of the firetruck called as reinforcement would keep one awake. The splashing of the water from the fire hose squirting the sheep would keep one awake. The barking of the sheepdogs brought by the animal control officer herding the sheep would keep one awake. Counting sheep wouldn't work.

Better to count goldfish.

Fancy Feet!

Aren't they fabulous?

And they're mine, all mine!

In June at the Relay for Life, I won a certificate for a pedicure in the door prize drawing for survivors. Not an ordinary pedicure, but a Spa Pedicure!

This week I ventured out for the Spa Pedicure. I have never had a pedicure before. Or even a manicure. It was my chance to become glamorous!

One of the many reasons I've never had a Spa Pedicure (or even a regular one) before has to do with my everyday footwear:


And my dress-up footwear:


And my football footwear:


And my... Oh, no, these aren't my footwear, but they are my feet.


The size of my feet makes it difficult to find footwear. I wear size 5AA. One of the first things I learned when we moved to West Michigan is that Dutch people are tall and have big feet. And they brought those feet to West Michigan. I've been laughed out of every shoe store in town. And it's getting harder to find shoes in my size online. Several manufacturers that used to make my size no longer do. New Balance, my previous favorite shoes, even changed their last to provide "a roomier toe box". I don't need that room, and the size I used to wear is now too wide.

This is what is available in my size. After you eliminate all the Birkenstocks, which are too wide, all the tap dance shoes, all the ballet shoes, and all the shoes over $150, there's not much left. (If you have a good source of shoes in my size, please let me know.)

The Spa Pedicure itself was wonderful. I should have taken notes, because I can't remember even half the steps. The massaging chair, the foot soak, the exfoliating cream, the lotion, the feet in plastic bags wrapped in a hot towel, the foot and leg massage. And after both feet were done, it seemed the same steps were repeated except with different creams and lotions. My toenails were filed, my calluses and rough spots were treated, my cuticles were pushed back, and several coats of polish were applied to my toenails. I read Elle, Glamour, and three issues of People.

I left the salon with my well-moisturized feel sliding all over my sandals. When I got home, I sat for an hour with my fancy feet on the footstool so the polish could dry completely. And then I put my socks and shoes back on. My feet were freezing.

And now I'm glamorous. I'll definitely win a Spa Pedicure again.