Such Fun

My second Fabscrap back order arrived, and first out of the box was this lovely mendable knit sweater. I don't own any sweaters, so this will come in handy when I walk the dogs during the oldest months of the year here (December and January).

It needs only a couple of simple seam repairs.

The second thing I ordered was a faux fur scrap pack. The colors and variety of these pretenders blew my mind; many are as soft as the real deal.

Finally I got another white scrap pack so I'd have enough scraps for an all-white quilt. Again I was not disappointed.

Also, if I ever want to do a Calvin Klein quilt, I'm set. :)

Living with a Mess

A few weeks ago our home insurer sent out an adjuster to look at our buckled tile floor; he poked around and said "I don't know what caused it; we'll have to get a structural engineer to look at it."

Let me translate that for you; what he meant was "I'm going to deny your claim, but I'll send a guy to make the determination I want who is an expert, just in case you try to sue us."

I know, I'm cynical; we went through the same thing after a hail storm damaged our roof. We're prepared to have our claim denied, and intend to fix the tile ourselves so we can just live with it. It's a matter of spacing out renovations so we don't have to take too much money out of our IRAs at once; this for tax reasons. This year we need to replace our very old and still damaged roof; next year we'll replace the floor.

Anyway, the structural engineer the insurance company hired to deny our claim hasn't shown up yet. We can't fix the floor until he does.

Boring Berries

At the back of our property we have a bunch of beauty berry plants growing along the fence. Most on our neighbor's side of the fence, but a few lean over on our side. I needed an art medium that I'd never used for my daily creative prompt, so I decided to gather some and use them to stain some paper.

I found out our neighbor is practicing his swing again, too. If I had a nickel for every golf ball he's landed on our property . . .

I don't want to get into creating liquid eco dyes just yet, so I decided to crush them on a piece of water color paper to see what colors I'd get. Violet, right?

Nope. The insides of the berries are a light beige.

End result. Not very exciting, but definitely a new-to-me medium.

Revisting an old Inspiration

Sometimes on the side of the road there are historic places that almost everyone passes by without realizing they're still present. While out on our drive my guy and I stopped to revisit one, the remains of a sugar mill from 1825.

The only thing that protects the place is a chain-link fence, through which I took these pics. It's incredible to stand so close to something so old.

Compared to modern factories the ruins seem so small, barely larger than a house. Local lore tells us while using the first steam-powered cane-crushing mill in the region, Dummitt produced sugar and rum at the mill with the help of approximately 40 local Indians and 100 slaves. In turn, the Indians traded fresh game for the mill’s products.

It's a very quiet spot. Each time I go there I try to imagine 140 people working at the mill, most not by choice.

This is another place for which I want to write a story one day; perhaps a mystery of something found at the mill by a slave. It has that kind of slightly eerie presence when you look at it, a ruin still concealing an old secret.

Art on the Street

While out for a drive my guy and I stopped by a town nearby to see if a cafe we liked was still in business (sadly it had closed.) I ended up noticing a lot of new street art around the town, though.

I had a little Bansky moment when I spotted this one down an alleyway.

This is so clever.

There were no clouds in the sky, so this building mural of giant monarchs could really fool the eye. Such fun.

Time and Lack Thereof

After slogging away at the little quilt kit for the last few weeks I'm finished the applique and now only have to quilt the borders before I bind and wrap it up. I think I learned a lot about wool applique from this project.

One of the more interesting art prompts from the January jar was this timed exercise. I had to work for a specific time, and then gradually decrease it. This is what I painted in 5 minutes (left) and four minutes (right.)

I was only going to paint one more in three minutes (top flower), but then I wondered what I could paint in one minute and did another (bottom). It's interesting in that I like three and one minute more than five and four. I dislike being rushed, but maybe pressure does help me.

Cleaning & Treasures

I started my spring cleaning a couple of weeks ago, focusing first on my kitchen cabinets. It's a daunting task to clean any room if you try to do the whole thing at once, so I work on one cabinet a day. This is my reusable containers and kitchen gadgets cabinet, which always ends up disordered with mismatched or missing lids or bottoms. I took everything out, wiped down the shelves, matched everything up, and then put it all back in a workable order.

Ditto with my cabinet of baking and cooking stuff -- these are all things I use a lot, some daily, so I keep them here by the stove instead of in the pantry closet. I also had a ton of expired specialty vinegars and oils my favorite person stored here from her apartment when she went off on her adventures around the world, so it was a good time to get rid of all that stuff.

Cleaning also turns up missing things. Last Christmas I went looking for this old-fashioned pottery cookie stamp that a friend gave me many years ago. At the time I couldn't find it, and made do with cookie cutters instead.

I really treasure this little thing, so I was glad I found it again. I'll have to use it to make some cookies for Valentine's Day.

The Reuse Mindset

The people who used to live on the property behind us sold their land and trailer to a cattle farmer, who uses it periodically to hold a small group of cows and calves. Eventually the trailer was torn down, but for some years it stood unprotected, and became a real hazard with all the critters and bugs that naturally infested it.

The property is now very overgrown, with untended black oak trees that sometimes have their enormous branches break off during storms. My guy and I actually watched part of one tree topple one day, resulting in a tremendous crash. Some things that belonged to the old neighbors have been left to rot as well, and even today remain on the property. Every time I see these things through the fence I'm reminded of how much stuff we tend to leave behind as debris of our lives.

This tool or tackle box has been silently sitting and rusting in the same spot for more than ten years now, tantalyzingly within reach. I'm sometimes tempted to grab it and open it to see what's inside (isn't that always the impulse with a mysterious box?) I won't touch it, of course, but maybe I'll write about it in a short story.

Because of this situation each time something I own ages and deteriorates I look for ways to revitalize, fix and reuse it. That's why I recovered my old office chair instead of buying a new one. I know a single chair doesn't make much difference in the grand scheme of things, but the mindset of seeing objects as still useful instead of junk keeps me from adding to the problem.

Stitching the Scroll

I'm three weeks into 2023 with my calendar stitch scroll project, and so far I haven't missed a day.

I'm basing the thread colors I choose for each day on my mood (green being the best; yellow being the worst), and if my hands are giving me serious trouble I do just a line of running stitches. I've also beaded a couple of days' efforts, but I am trying to resist the temptation (otherwise the whole thing would be beaded.)

Some surprises: I didn't think my moods changed that much, but from the color variety I guess they're rather mercurial. The stitching on the back of the linen looks almost as good as the front. Linen is a pain to embroider with certain kinds of threads (boucle just constantly snags) but is also very forgiving. So I'm learning a lot, too.

Scrappy Fabulosity

I had two Fabscrap orders on backorder since they shut down for the holidays (which I knew would happen because they posted the dates on their web site), and the first one arrived earlier this month. It's so much fun opening these boxes.

I ordered a neutral naturals yard pack, which came with these three yards. The gold is a heavy cotton, and the cream is a canvas. Not sure what the polka dot fabric is, but it's sheer and a lot like organza.

I also ordered more mendables, and got this men's black dress shirt. Everywhere you see safety pins is an open seam or slit, but I can sew them up easily. I think it might fit me, too.

The other top was this drawstrong knit turtleneck by a big name designer, which I looked up. If you want a new one of these they list for $82.00.

Just needs to be mended or patched in the back. :)

I was so impressed with the first sequin scrap pack I got I ordered another one before they sold out (which they did a few days later.) Among all the pretty things there's a gorgeous white lace applique piece and stunning quarter yard of ombre sequinned fabric in perfect condition.

Finally I got a white scrap pack, which also did not disappoint.

Stayed tuned to see the second Fabscrap back order when it arrives.

Mirrored

Sometimes the lakes here are so calm they become mirrors.

The effect can be a little disorienting, too -- which bird is real?

I love what the water does with light, even when it ripples a bit. Gorgeous.

Daily Art

A few weeks ago I mentioned I'd packed a month of prompts into this jar to give me a daily nudge to do a little art, mainly painting. I wasn't happy with the first few pieces I did -- it's been a long time since I've painted -- but in the past all I've done is talk about painting again. I don't want to be all talk anymore, so I have kept at it.

The prompts aren't difficult, for one thing; I just had to keep pushing myself to get into the daily habit. Now every night I'm beginning to look forward to a little art time.

I'm not always painting, either. For this prompt I was supposed to explore one of my favorite things from childhood (books, of course.) So I cobbled together a little book out of recycled paper and hand-wrote in it about how books saved me and changed my life. Nothing major, just a few sentences -- but it felt very good to remember what helped me become the person I am today.

As for the painting I'm doing, I'm just letting myself improv everything. I don't even know what this is, other than colliding circles in colors I like. I'm learning that the act of painting is very calming and centering. Sometimes the results please me, too. I do know that I've been happier this year than I have been in any other January in memory, so it's working to boost my spirits. That's what I want. If you'd like to see the prompts I'm using, Stampington.com has a .pdf here.

Down by the Lake

I'm keeping up with my intention to exercise every day in 2023. In addition to walking the dogs my guy and I sometimes go to the lake to walk and watch the sunset, which this time of year tends to be spectacular.

There are always birds near the water. On this trip I was able to snap pics of a gorgeous great egret. He's given me some art inspiration, too.

This guy was sunning himself in a tree. I love birds.