Virginia is an overwintering place for several bird species. I have my year-round friends, red-bellied woodpecker (yes, they have red on the belly), tufted titmouse, cardinal, carolina wren, eastern blue birds, goldfinches (who don their olive drab coats in the winter), nuthatch, chickadee, hairy...
December 29, 2020
December 24, 2020
True Grit or Home Dryer Repair
I have an old pair of stackable Kenmore (Whirlpool) washer and dryers. Thanks to YouTube, we (with considerable cajoling for my husband) can easily see the necessary steps in a repair, order parts and make things work. It is not without considerable cussin' and fussin' on the part of one...
December 23, 2020
December 21, 2020
Brown Betty: a/k/a my Kenmore 117.812
This could also be called an "Ode to a Vintage Sewing Machine"Brown Betty is what I call my Kenmore. I have had her about 2 1/2 months. I love her. She does one thing and one thing...
December 20, 2020
Mistyfuse--Use in Quilt Binding and Quilt Sandwich
I'm interesting in doing more art quilting/applique. I read many positive things about Misty Fuse, and I thought that I would give it a try. I bought ten yards of it (20" wide). Seems like alot, but it is gossamer! So it it comes in a smallish package that is still light as a...
December 17, 2020
Fabric Purchases
I enjoying purchasing fabric, but the costs can add up. Accordingly, I approach fabric purchasing as I would any endeavor: bargain shop. My bargain shopping is not finding...
December 15, 2020
Sewing Room "Stuff": Stacking Letter Trays
Amazon has these 5 bins for $22. I bought them .99 a piece at my local thrift store. I think that you could find them at the Dollar Store, too. I bought them because I thought...
December 12, 2020
New Baby Quilt + Fun with Triangles
I wrote about my learning Inkscape (that learning is ongoing), and using the project of a baby quilt to provide concrete means of understanding basic concepts.I settled on the following patternHere...
December 12, 2020
Block Construction Techniques: The Gospel and the Optional.
I'm still a new quilter with 18 months under my belt. My best advice to new quilters is to really focus on the basics. These are going to sound so obvious; these are going to seem so simple; but if you've never done it before you are building skills and muscle memory. Muscle...
December 11, 2020
Inkscape for Quilting: Storm(ish) at Sea!
This is another post on my evangelicalesque bent on showcasing what one can do with Inkscape for quilt design.The above is not meant to be a finished quilt, but rather an exposition of some of the...
December 6, 2020
Inkscape Redux
In working with my "baby quilt" Inkscape drawing more, I realized that I had an element that was not quite right.Here's the original image. I realized that the diamond centers in mid sashing...
December 5, 2020
Using Inkscape for Quilt Design
Among my many nebbish pursuits, I stumbled upon Inkscape. It is a free vector drawing program which to can discover for yourself here. My intent is not to teach anything about it here,...
November 27, 2020
My Smallest Thanksgiving Ever!
I took over Thanksgiving prep from my mother and mother in law in 1987. I had been married for 5 years, and with two Thanksgivings attended for about 7 (pre marriage), two TG meals was just too much. So verily, my home has been the TG headquarters for the last 33 years. I did...
November 15, 2020
The Lemoyne Star---Again
I've been away from star making since my last post. Yesterday I decided I would try to make the star again using my sew and flip method. I looked at it against a regular Lemoyne Star. The regular star is prettier. The sew and flip gives an additional seam in each corner...
October 29, 2020
1954 Singer 66
I purchased a 1954 Singer 66 in mint condition from a local Craigslist seller. I thought that the machine might be more "solid" than Brown Betty, not a cookie, but my pet name but for my Kenmore 117.812 (made by White, 1948). I paid $100. It was in excellent, original condition. ...
October 18, 2020
Toastmaster
No, I'm not going to speech-making school. Rather, I purchased a little bit of my history--I bought a Toastmaster griddle.I foolishly stored my Krups Belgian Waffle Maker on top of my fridge...tall side up, rather that flat side down. So a jog from the fridge door shutting sent it down to...
October 14, 2020
117.812 Kenmore Deluxe Rotary Part II
I wrote about my acquisition of this machine here. I've been doing a little sewing on it, and I wanted to provide some "fresh" observations. The person who sold this to me stated she got it from a 92 year old
woman who was the first owner. She would have been 20 when the machine
was purchased...
October 13, 2020
Kenmore 117.812: Part I
Update + Preamble: If you need a high quality manual for this/similar machine I copied a manual for a 117.551 that I received from the purchase of some Greist Rotary attachments made for this...
October 10, 2020
Upcycling
Oh yes, "upcycling" is the new, big thing. You Tube has many great vids/contributors on the glories of upcycling. I've been a "thrifter" for decades. Of course, thrift stores were not as ubiquitous "then" as they are "now". Thrifting satisfies our hunter, gather impulses--without...
October 8, 2020
CrossBody Bag
I found this wonderful video for a cross-body bag on You Tube by Kay Whitt. With my burgeoning stash of fat quarters AND some home fashion fabric that I likely will not do anything with, I...
October 7, 2020
The Little Zippered Bag
I used to write systematically. I would get up in the a.m....early .... and begin writing. As Jose Ortega Y Gasset said, "Writing is the policeman of the mind." The act of writing...
