Rayen

Today our Sheltie pups turn one year old. Beau, our sable here, is very sweet if still a bit timid around strange-to-him things and loud noises. He's the best with other people, and is getting friendly with our neighbors. He does not like thunderstorms at all and is the loudest one as far as barking goes. Shadow, our tri-color, has bonded so closely to me he's basically my bodyguard now. Although smaller than his brother he is the dominant of the pair, quite fierce and fearless. He loves to run and has endless energy, but he's also sneaky and very observant. Shelties are not known for being quiet, but Shadow is almost silent 99% of the time. He still doesn't like strangers, but he's gradually learning not to be aggressive with them. The boys love to play Frisbee in our big back yard, go for walks, play ball and blanket monster (I use a blanket to cover my hands and arms when we play to protect myself from bites and scratches, which has now evolved i

My guy really likes soft pretzels, but since the pandemic began we've not been to the city (where the malls are) to buy them. They sell soft pretzels in the freezer section at the market which are almost as good, but they've become expensive and the box takes up too much room in my little freezer. So I decided to learn how to make them myself. The best-tasting and easiest recipe I found was this vegan version ; although it does take a bit of time to make they're just like the mall soft pretzels. The only difference is that I make them into balls rather than attempted the twisted pretzel shape, which I can never do properly for some reason. The balls end up as soft pretzel bites. :)

My favorite person sent me this tiny papercut bouquet she made; to give you some scale it's about the size of a quarter. She also got a job offer as a research biologist at an island university on the other side of the world; so if they settle on a decent living wage for her she'll be moving there this summer. I'm truly happy for her; I know she is doing what she loves. I'm proud, too, especially as I played a part in helping her become a scientist. I was too poor to attend university, and my guy never finished high school. Although lack of formal education didn't hamper us from becoming successful adults, I sometimes wonder what we might have done if we'd had the chance to study at a higher level. Anyway, when it came time for this person to go we provided all the financial support she needed, paying her tuition and living expenses, so that all she had to do was study. Our primary purpose was to keep her from going into debt for her degree, but we

The arm of my stitching hand is temporarily a little sore to move, which makes me a bit unsteady with the needle. That's why I relied on tracing guidelines while embroidering the linen quilt this week. The center cable shape on this patch came from a quilt border stencil. I used a little sugar cube bowl to trace circles for these little barbed wire coils. This patch isn't finished, but I'm using a star stencil here, too.

I ended up taking a full week off from working on the linen quilt, but my hands were not idle. I quilted this estate sale house patchwork in holographic Sulky, which gave me my sparkle happiness fix. I'm going to use it for embroidery practice, too. I felt calm and ready last night when I hauled out the linen quilt to start working on it again, so these breaks are helping to keep me motivated.

The cucumbers are going crazy now in the garden; flowering and climbing the lattice like mad. We'd assumed they'd only just started sprouting, too, but yesterday my guy found one ripe cuke hiding from us. My green bell peppers are starting to ripen. You are looking at what would cost me $8.00 to buy at the market. I've noticed that the local bees really like my chive flowers, so I haven't cut any for a few weeks. The joys of the garden aren't only for us. :)

Most antiques you find for sale online are probably not what the seller claims. I knew this when I spotted this "Antique French" trinket box on eBay; I've seen another one in better shape for sale on Etsy (which the seller claims is one of a kind, no less.) I can tell you that this is indeed an antique, but not as old as you may assume. It was likely mass produced in China or India, not handmade in France. From the slightly sloppy soldering work I'm going to guess China. Another tipoff is the two gold ribbon roses on the top of the box, which are the mass-produced variety. True antique French ribbon roses are loosely woven to better resemble the real flower, and often have metallic golden centers surrounded by lighter tulle or organza layers. Trinkets were probably never kept in this box; I unearthed two rusty straight pins from the interior. It was likely where a lady from the 40's or 50's kept her sewing notions. How do I know all this

I invested in a couple of late nineteenth century crazy quilt pieces to add to my collection. This one is embroidered with two names: Mrs. Peek and Julia. Mary Flynn was embroidered on this second piece. Names on crazy quilts had many meanings; they could be signatures of the makers, family members, friends, or loved ones who had passed away. The seller also included these four hand-sewn and embroidered pieces as a thank-you, which was a delightful surprise.

One reason I wanted to grow tomatoes in the garden this spring was so I could make my own pasta sauce from scratch. I never have tried, so it's something I've always fantasized doing in the kitchen. After picking our ripest tomatoes I blanched and peeled them, chopped them, added onion, garlic and spices, and cooked them over a low heat. I then pureed the cooked tomatoes, and finally spoon-pressed puree through a sieve to remove the seeds. All that took most of an afternoon and was pretty messy. Here is the result -- a little over two cups of pasta sauce. It tastes very good, although my guy can probably eat the whole thing in one sitting. While I'm glad I can cross this off my cooking bucket list, I doubt I'll make sauce like this again. We can't grow enough tomatoes for me to make enough sauce to keep my guy satisfied -- I make Italian for him at least once a week -- and the process is really too much work for someone with a day job. :)

Last week my guy and I made a trip to a local farm to pick up some produce; they have a lovely little open-air market with all sorts of delicious veggies and fruits. It's watermelon season here, and although they're a bit much for two people I had to buy one. I didn't buy any cucumbers this trip, as we're growing our own at home, but it's always impressive to see the truckloads produced at the farms. Here's my haul: a big bag of fresh corn, sweet potatoes, Valencia oranges and of course the watermelon. Yum!

This is all the plastic and plastic-coated cardboard junk mail I received this week. Although I usually put junk mail in the recycle bin, I wanted to use these for something else -- embroidery thread bobbins. I've given up purchasing bobbins; from now on I will either recycle the ones I have or make my own. It's very easy to do -- simply cut up the junk mail into the thread bobbin shapes you like (I do these, which creates zero waste) and then store them within easy reach. I have a little bobbin bag I keep with my thread. You can make your own bobbins with other waste paper, too: business cards, greeting cards, advertisement inserts, and even the labels that come with your embroidery thread.

Last week I turned in and got approval for the second phase of my new work project for 2022 (seen in the somewhat fuzzy pic above); this week I'm beginning the third phase. This is now the halfway point for the project. We're still fine-tuning everything and tweaking some little details, but so far it's going very well. If I can keep myself motivated and stick to my new methods I should finish all this in August. That means over the summer I need to start thinking of ideas to pitch for the next project, so I have them ready to go.

I decided to quilt this house patchwork piece for my break from the linen quilt project; I'm also going to take a longer-than-usual break this week -- maybe four or five days. I'm feeling a bit depressed after my quarterly check-up, which wasn't all that great. Hopefully some dietary changes and more exercise will help improve my condition. As for the patchwork, I first removed the left-side ivory fabric strip (I didn't have any more to add to the other side) and added three strips from another estate lot piece to balance the house on both sides. I'm going to quilt this piece entirely in holographic Sulky, as that makes me happy -- and I need some happiness right now. :)

I have a near-endless supply of materials for small projects to do when I take my weekly break from working on the linen quilt. This patchwork house block came from that estate lot I bought last year, and I really enjoy just hand quilting and embroidering a piece like this before I make it into something (at the moment I'm thinking gift bag, as I've run out of the handmade variety.) Then there is the lure of slightly larger projects, like this bunny patchwork project from the same lot. I love the colors and the bunnies, and with a little help from my stash it could become a little crib or lap quilt. That said, I know it's something I can't finish in a day or two. I'm drawn more to the bunnies project, but I see that taking more of my time than I'm willing to spare. So I will set that aside for now and instead quilt the house block.

We see this bird very often down by the lake where we walk, usually perched on a rock or branching while sunning itself. I did some research online to learn more about it, and turns out it's an Anhinga. They're underwater hunters that feed mostly on fish, hence the sharp bill and webbed feet. The species is not considered rare or endangered. I like knowing what something is, even if it's a common creature like this that is evidently in no need of official protection. Being aware of the living things that share the world with me makes me more mindful of my impact on the environment. Buying a set of reusable straws and cutting my own thread bobbins out of recycled cardboard are two things I've done this month to weed more disposable plastic out of my life. It would be nice if I could get to zero plastic waste someday, so that these guys can go on sunning themselves by the lake long after I've moved on to the next place.

I thought I'd post more pics of the vintage embroidery thread haul I purchased as practice materials so you can see how nice and clean this lot is. Here's the pile of J.P. Coats variegated thread, along with two skeins of Iris. Prism variegated thread, which I've seen in kits to make friendship bracelets. Anchor embroidery floss, which is made in India. DMC embroidery floss from France, my favorite embroidery thread brand. AI cross stitch thread. Two project thread holders, and the handful of unlabeled skeins in the lot (these were leftover from craft kits, I think.) The four oldest skeins, a very vintage Clark's floss, Royal Moulin floss, and two hanks of wool embroidery thread. The spool of fine metallic gold thread. All of the DMC floss on cards fit nicely into an old Christmas tin.

I like herringbone stitch a lot, although I always have trouble keeping it consistently sized whenever I use it for my embroidery. I tend to get mixed up with the over/under pattern if I think too much about my thread placement, and my stitches always seem to start small and then grow larger on their own. I want to improve, so I went looking for some new ideas for the stitch that wouldn't require me to stitch straight, and found a tutorial where it was used as leaf filler. I decided to try that out on the linen quilt. I first drew a shape outline in disappearing fabric marker before I began stitching it, which is how I got the nicely aligned edges with each leaf. I'm still occasionally mixing up my over/under pattern by fiddling with the thread placement (and probably thinking too much), but otherwise it turned out nicely.