Strange Habits

The other day my friend Jill and I were talking about how weird we're getting as older women. She gave me permission to post one thing she does: carry around a little coin purse to give exact change, just like her mother did. I am not quite turning into my mom, but I see myself doing a lot of things that are a little strange now. So here are:

Ten Things I've Developed as Strange Habits

Every night I have a cup of hot herbal tea after dinner. I am convinced this helps with my digestion. This one here is my favorite.

When a server brings us extra napkins or packaged crackers at a restaurant, and we don't use them during our meal, I put them in my purse and bring them home. This is because I know they'll be thrown away (ex-waitress here) and I hate the waste. My family laughs at me for this habit, but hey, we never run out of crackers or napkins.

Not once have I ever tasted red velvet cake or cookies or anything red velvet-inspired. I see it and instantly think blood and do I want to eat all that dye? and the answer to the latter is always no . . . but now I warn other people not to eat it for the same reason.

In my purse is a little coin purse with salt and pepper packs, wrapped toothpicks and Truvia packets (see, Jill, you're not the only one.) I also carry a pair of scissors, emergency honey sticks (in case my blood sugar crashes) and those packaged hand wipes they give you when you have ribs at a restaurant. I keep adding to the stash now because I hate needing something and not having it on me. P.S., no one in the family laughs at my little purse stash because they've all needed something from it.

After many, many years of fussing over my hair, dyeing it, trying to find a hairdresser who wouldn't scalp me every time, etc., I have stopped dyeing it and winnowed down my maintenance to the bare bones. I brush it twice a day, once in the morning and once after my shower. I never blow dry it, curl it, straighten it, put hair styling products in it or do anything but use the absolute cheapest shampoo and conditioner (usually Suave on sale at Target) to wash it. It's thin and white, but in very good condition now, and currently hangs to the middle of my back. My guy cuts the back once a year to just below my shoulders; I trim my bangs every other month. I get compliments on it all the time, too.

As I'm in charge of the food buying around here, and there are no children I have to feed nutritionally, I now boycott the veggies I've never liked. Beets, lima beans, okra, and any form of squash are not allowed in my house. I break my rule once a year to make a fresh pumpkin pie for my daughter at Thanksgiving, but I don't touch the pie myself.

When people leave my house or drive away from me I refuse to watch them go, in case I never see them again. This is because two of my family members died shortly after I watched them leave. I stick to this habit religiously now. I know it's irrational, and probably silly, but most superstitions are.

People think I'm cheap, and I suppose I am, but my thrifty habits have always been about avoiding debt. I've gotten super cheap now (and I really don't have to be, but staying out of debt makes me very happy.) These days I either pay cash for everything I want, or do without. I have one credit card I keep for emergencies that always has a high credit limit but a zero balance. We're planning to buy a new car this year, but I put my foot down and said we're waiting until we can pay cash for it. P.S. my guy is the same way, which is one of the main reasons we still get along so well after 35 years.

Empty thread spools never go in the garbage here anymore. I reuse them as winders for thin lace and embroidery thread.

Another superstition in my older years: before I go to sleep I try to remember to silently give thanks to the universe for my life, and apologize for all the things I've done wrong. This is in case I don't wake up. I don't really worry about dying in my sleep; I just want to cover all the bases.

Have you developed any strange habits in your later years? Let me know in comments.

Swatchy Tote Done

Last night I finished my little swatchy project tote:

This was good stitch practice, which I need. I used only scrap fabrics along with the photo swatch. I quilted it with three shades of holographic Sulky, and added color with a bunch of little/leftover embroidery threads, which ended up being a neat effect:

The fabric I found while bin cleaning worked great as a liner (and forgive my camera strap for hanging into the shot):

While spring cleaning I also found a bunch of blank canvas totes I had squirreled away, so I will be making more of these in the months ahead. As for the other two swatches I found, I made them into snack/mug mats with the leftover lining fabric:

Updates

I finished clearing out another closet and in the process whittled down my fabric stash again, bringing my emptied bin total to eleven. Now I'm finding fabric I forgot I had, like a big bundle of fabric Mom dropped in my lap after we moved up here. I love my mom, but I'm pretty sure I will never make any project that requires twelve yards of hot pink polyester satin. If I do, please notify the authorities.

It's becoming a little easier to fill the donation bags now, although I'm a bit mystified as to why I bothered to save all this stuff. One bin came from a friend up north who told me to donate whatever I couldn't use, and since her gift was 30 lbs. of novelty print fabrics, also something I rarely use, I definitely should have. Oh, well, better late than never.

The Swatchy tote project is nearly finished; all I have to do is add a bit more hand-quilting. I didn't know what I was going to use for the lining until I found this yard of Eclectic Elements fabric while I was cleaning out a bin:

Stay tuned to see the finished tote tomorrow.

Board Clean

Sometimes spring cleaning involves little projects like this one. Backstory: years ago the kids gave me a cork board for my office as a birthday gift, something which I have never before owned. Want to know why I avoided them?

Yep, a cork board is a clutter magnet. After a couple years of letting it go, I decided to clean it off and keep on it only the things that I do want to see every day. Now it looks like this:

I kept photos on it that inspire and delight me (I definitely need to add one of Oliver and his parents), a little art quilt, three motivational messages, a monthly financial reminder because I always forget that figure, and a little burlap bag. Inside the bag are the cut-up remains of the last two credit cards I paid off and cancelled -- a reminder of how good that felt, and to stay out of debt. Once I hung it back up in the office the whole room felt cleaner, so even little projects like this can go a long way toward improving a space.

No doubt it will get cluttered again this year, but from now on I'll make a point to clear it off every time I do spring cleaning to keep the mess to a minimum.

Must (Not) Reads

Sometimes I think NY Publishing is clueless, but never more so than when they SPAM me.

Take Penguin Random House's monthly harassment by e-mail, to which I have never subscribed, and no matter what I click cannot for the life of me unsubscribe. Is this perpetual punishment for working for them for 20 years? Am I in electronic purgatory and simply don't realize it?

Anyway, every month I get some lengthy, chirpy blast of book recs that they assure me I absolutely cannot miss and MUST read because I'm going to LOVE them. These are always books I wouldn't touch even with surgical gloves on.

To demonstrate, let's take a look at February's browbeating, shall we?

1. Brother & Sister by Diane Keaton: "From the beloved film star and best-selling author of Then Again—a heartfelt memoir about Diane Keaton's relationship with her younger brother, and a poignant exploration of the divergent paths siblings' lives can take."

Sadly, I don't read celebrity memoirs because they're almost always written by underpaid, unappreciated ghost writers. In fact, I have never read any celebrity memoir other than Stephen King's long-winded, unhelpful writing how-to that actually should have been titled On Stephen.

2. The Holdout by Graham Moore: "One juror changed the verdict. What if she was wrong? From the Academy Award–winning screenwriter of The Imitation Game and bestselling author of The Last Days of Night..."

Some warning words popped out at me immediately (namely, Academy Award–winning screenwriter) but nothing about this book sounds even remotely interesting. Someone call Scott Turow to write a decent tag line for this man, would you?

3. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson: "An addictive, twisty crime thriller about a closed local murder case that doesn't add up, and a girl who's determined to find the real killer—but not everyone wants her meddling in the past."

This book may have the worst title I have ever seen on a thriller. The cover art is runner up. And addictive? Twisty? Whoever wrote that is spending too much time on their smart phone, and possibly drinking their lunch.

4. The Other People by C. J. Tudor: "A gripping thriller about a man’s quest for the daughter no one else believes is still alive, from the acclaimed author of The Chalk Man and The Hiding Place."

Here, let me correct that tagline: Yet another thriller exploiting children and parental fear as entertainment for the reader. Pass.

5. The Queen's Assassin by Melissa de la Cruz: "This is the first novel in a sweeping YA fantasy-romance duet about a deadly assassin, his mysterious apprentice, and the country they are sworn to protect."

Which means the author's sales have taken a dive, so they would only give her a two-book contract, hence the "duet." And hello, for the thousandth time, I don't read YA.

What do I read based on recs? Not much. The last book I bought based on someone else telling me about it was The Body by Bill Bryson. My partner said "Hey, Bill Bryson has a new book out" and I ordered it immediately.

Let's see, what else am I not reading? I've gotten countless SPAM e-mails for American Dirt, which sounded unappetizing even before I read about the scandal surrounding the author; not going to invest in that no matter how hard the publisher pushes it. Also not paying my hard-earned money for any book related to politics and politicians, whistle-blowers, social media, bully romances (I still can't get over the fact that we're romancing the bullies now), guns, religion, climate change, the stock market, fad diets, self-help, and of course all literary novels.

Sigh. Maybe Sarah Addison Allen will publish The Truth in Stories something soon.

What are you not reading?

Image by Anemone123 from Pixabay

Next Month

These are the scarves and fabrics I'll be using in March for block three of the silk crazy quilt:

Stay tuned to see what I do with them next month.

Swatchy Scrap Project

While cleaning out one of my old fabric bins I found these three swatches I got from Spoonflower, made from some photos I took one winter while up in the mountains:

I was playing with the idea of designing a fabric print based on my pics, but it didn't work out as cool as I thought back then. Anyway, I thought I'd make one into a small/quick project to work on for the rest of February, so I went with a crazy patched tote:

All of the other fabric I'm using for this tote came from my scrap bag, including a few trims from Oliver's quilt:

Stay tuned to see the finished tote.

Embroidery Ten

Since it's National Embroidery Month, here are:

Ten Things About Embroidery

This is a very cool article on the kind of embroidery found on late medieval clothing and accessories.

Did you know embroidery has often been subversive ways for women to protest and be heard? Read more here.

Christie's shows an amazing selection of historic Chinese embroidery robes in this article for collectors.

Learn more about the different styles of embroidery in this V&A article with beautiful example pics.

This article on book-embroidery shows some beautiful examples of the fabric covers made and embroidered for books dating back to the 17th century.

The very famous Bayeux Tapestry (which should really be called the Bayeux 220-foot-long Embroidered panel) can be seen in its entirety online here.

One of the earliest known examples of primitive beaded embroidery was found along with the fossilized skeleton of a Cro-Magnon man, who died some 30,000 years ago. Click on the link to see an illustration of the skeleton and the reconstruction of the man in his burial clothes.

See what may be the only surviving, beautifully embroidered scrap from one of Queen Elizabeth I's 16th-century dresses in this article from Smithsonian Magazine.

Remember when I said historic, well-preserved crazy quilts can be very expensive? They're not the only ones. Here's a black and gold mourning quilt with amazing embroidery (and a price tag to match.)

Last but not least, here's a video about a stunning historic crazy quilt with the most amazing embroidery:

February Block Finished

The second block for my silk crazy quilt is completed:

This time I deliberately chose colors I don't usually put together in a piece, in hopes of challenging myself to step outside my comfort zone. The red white and blue theme could have been very Americana, but adding some other colors in the embellishments kept it from going all Uncle Sam on me -- and I think that worked well.

I didn't snag any of the silk patches this time, and watched my thread tension to avoid puckering.

Using a rayon embroidery thread for the circular stitching helped keep the fabric flat, too -- I discovered rayon slides easily through silk, although the thread itself tends to twist a lot.

I like how the Paris patch came out best. I love the effect of scattered seed beads condensing around an embellishment:

I didn't let myself look at the January block again until I was finished the February block and then put them side by side for a pic. That was when I noticed that I used the same circular embroidery stitches in the top right patch on both, which made me chuckle:

Second block down, ten to go. Now I'll take a break again until March 1st, when I start block three.

Flipside

I've never been formally trained as a quilter or an embroiderer, which is probably why I never learned that embroidery and quilting are supposed to be two different things. Officially embroidery is meant as a fabric surface embellishment, while quilting's purpose is to hold the three layers of a quilt together.

That said, if you combine the two as I sometimes do, you can end up with this neat effect:

This is the back of my recycled linen quilt. I quilted this piece with the embroidery I did on the front side, which created a negative/mirror effect on the backing.

I never thought much about how the stitching would look on the back of the quilt, either. I just chose an indigo linen remnant to serve as the backing, and hoped the stitches would look cool.

The back of the quilt became just as interesting as the front. I particularly liked it when the embroidery stitches created a different pattern on the flipside:

When you create, don't be afraid to break the rules, ignore them, or just do what pleases you. Sometimes the results can be wonderful.

Ric Rac Roses

I'm always looking for new ways to get creative with my materials, and this video shows you an easy method to make a beautiful rose out of good old ordinary ric rac (the first part shows the leaves, so I started it at the ric rac transformation point.)

Almost There

More progress on block two of the silk crazy quilt:

This patch came out just as I saw it in my head, which is pretty rare:

Another day or two and I should be done.

La Vida (Almost) Vegana

I've had to supplement my vegan diet with a few non-vegan foods in order to combat my bone issues (thank you, osteoarthritis, for adding new problems atop the old.) I also have moderate atherosclerosis, so I can't take calcium supplements. Instead I drink two 16 oz. glasses of fat-free milk every day. This gives me 1200 mg of calcium that my body is more likely to add to my bones rather than my already clogged blood vessels. I have to take pills to help me digest the lactose in the milk, of which I'm intolerant, but that's been an issue since childhood.

Sadly drinking milk is not a treat -- I've hated the smell and the taste of it since I was a kid. Basically I hold my nose and drink it as fast as I can, like cough syrup. The things we do for the body in old age.

Aside from the fat-free milk, I still avoid all dairy and egg products products, or use vegan alternatives. Here are three I've found that are actually very good, and hardly different from the real deal.

I love bagels, and Thomas's has some varieties that are vegan, like their whole wheat. Not having cream cheese to put on top of my bagels, however, was a pain until I started testing some of vegan alternatives. Daiya had one that was okay, but Kite Hill is better -- and tastes almost exactly like the real deal.

Most vegan cheese alternatives aren't all that great, and they can be expensive, so I don't invest in them very often. When I make homemade pizza, however, I use Violife mozzarella shreds to top my slices. They have a different texture, but they do taste just like the real cheese.

Not being able to use mayo to make my favorite homemade salad dressing limited me to using vinaigrette, until I discovered Vegenaise. It is exactly like real mayo in taste and consistency.

Inspiration and Then Some

While hunting around online for free quilt patterns I stumbled across Quilting Inspiration, a ten-year-old blog about quilts with a pretty amazing free pattern archive.

Along with all the patterns for quilts, quilted gifts, table runners, redwork embroidery, tote bags etc., they have links to free online tutorials and also post pics of beautiful quilts they see at the big shows. They also link to just about every other quilter online, as you can see in this post about quilts made from unwanted/used clothing.

Looks like all of the freebies they offer are in .pdf download, but if you're looking for a holiday-themed pattern you probably won't find as many choices anywhere else.

Off with Oliver

I'm spending the day with this gorgeous man. See you tomorrow.

Wishing You

Happy Valentine's Day. Here's a very short story I wrote for you all as a little prezzie: Speed. :)

Progress

I'm making progress on the second block for the silk crazy quilt:

Beading the teapot in the center patch took three days (I double-stitched every bead to give it extra hold) but I think it was worth it:

I'm a bit of a seed bead addict, I admit, but I love the effect:

I was hoping to avoid an Americana feel to the color theme, which I think I have. Stay tuned to see the finished block.

Another Proud Mama Moment

UCF gave my daughter their distinguished undergraduate researcher for this month, and they put up this pic of her on their research website page:

She's so cute when she's being a scientist.

28 Years Ago

Spring cleaning is turning up all kinds of old treasures, including what is probably the only good picture I ever took, circa 1992. The baby is my son, Mike, who is Oliver's dad:

My two-toned hair (which I did not first brush before we sat for the pics) was actually all dark red; the lighting in the studio was very weird.

Pushing Boundaries

I've been looking at the works of modern embroidery artists for inspiration, and found this article over at My Modern Met that showcases some of the more radical stitch artists out there (I love the gal who embroiders cars.) I'm also a big fan of Junko Oki's work (see Googled images here) because her stitching is so organic and natural, as if the thread grew into the pieces she makes. The white and rose panel up there from the recycled linen quilt was an homage to her.

Pushing the boundaries of my own embroidery skills isn't something I do often, mainly because I'm fairly limited as to the stitches I can execute well. Now and then I come up with a fun way to use traditional stitches, as with this tornado of feather stitching:

I have tried reproducing my original sketches and photographs with stitching, too. From an old drawing of mine came this:

Confidence and vision are the two things you need to push your creative boundaries, and this applies to everything you do, not just embroidery. I've always begun my own endeavors with the mindset of "How can I be different and yet true to myself?" There's nothing wrong with imitating another artist's methods or stule, because we're all inspired by each other (unless you're stealing their art or copyrighted works, in which case, no no no.) Yet I think as individuals we all bring something unique to our creative works: ourselves. I know I've achieved something when I produce a piece that provokes a reaction of "I've never seen anything like that." That's exactly what I want to hear. :)

Stitch Love

February is National Embroidery Month, so I thought I'd share some pics from my stitching archives. Personally I started my embroidering journey with cross stitch, and I still have the very first piece I designed forty years ago:

Thanks to two surgeries on my stitching hand, which left me with only 20% use of it, I never finished that one. I gave up embroidery for a long time while I learned to use my other hand, and that's when I started to quilt. Embellishing quilted pieces with beading, which probably isn't considered embroidery, helped me develop fine motor skills with the hand that still worked. Here's the abstract beaded golden swan ATC from the year I made 1000 trading cards:

As I got more confident I tried to do more with my embellishing, and started (carefully) trying to do freehand hand embroidery. My Pearl girl Victorian crazy tote was the first of that phase:

My first large-scale, self-designed embroidery project was the recycled linen quilt:

While it technically doesn't have a lot of embroidery (just a bit of feather stitching here and there), I'll finish up with the Zen Garden quilt, which I think shows I've grown as a stitcher:

Embroidery isn't a dying art (yet) but most youngsters don't seem to have the patience for it. I wish I had more skill, but I'm happy that I'm still able to do what I do. While the arthritis is eroding what I can do with hand work, I've probably got a few more years left to play. Embroidering the silk crazy quilt blocks this year should let me show off the best of my stitching while I can still do it.