Valerean

Hurricane Ian brought a day of high winds and a ton of rain to my neighborhood, but otherwise didn't do half the damage Irma did back in 2017. I think it moved just far enough south to spare us in the final hours before the core of the storm reached us (plus being on the clean side really does make a difference.) We lost power for a while, but only for hours (versus the usual days or weeks.) While I was waiting for the storm to hit I decided to piece the blocks for my next quilt. I got them all done before the power went out. The veggie gardens got a little flattened by the winds, but we're hopeful they'll come back. Some of our neighbors were not so lucky. We have a big clean up to do tomorrow, and power and internet may continue to be spotty as the power crews start repairing the damage, but all in all I am very relieved.

Now that fall has arrived I'm starting to plan things for the holidays (my motto this year is keep it very, very simple), but I'm really not ready for it to be October the day after tomorrow. Time has dragged quite a bit over the course of the pandemic, but for the last year I've stayed busy with work and my art, and that seems to keep me from watching the calendar. It feels as if yesterday it was July. How can it be October? Things are going quite well at the day job. I should finish up my current novel series next week, and then take some time off to think about the next one. Our holidays will be quiet with just the two of us, but I have a couple of birthdays before the end of the year for which to make gifts. I've finished one and have to start the second now. I'm only making one Christmas gift for Katherine, and I'll make a meal and a cake for my guy as we've agreed not to buy anything for each other (hopefully he sticks to that.) I have thr

I meant to set this project aside a few days ago and get back to quilting, but I seem to be obsessed with finishing projects before starting new ones lately. Anyway, here's my crocheted V-stitch wrap, 32" X 68", made entirely from one skein of Lionbrand Mandala bonus pack acrylic yarn. I didn't use a pattern; this was a way my grandmother taught me to crochet wraps and blankets so I just remembered it. This was all the yarn I had left, so luckily I picked a good project for using up the material. On the plus side the yarn was nearly 100% free of snags and snarls from the factory, had no knots, and felt nice to work with. I thought the color blocking effect was pretty. The shift in colors also helped keep me from getting tired of it. On the downside some of the dye transferred in small splotches here and there between the different shades. Not much, or often, but enough to be noticeable. The yarn seemed a tad on the thin side for worsted-weight, probably

This is the track of Hurricane Ian as of 9/26, and from what we're seeing combined with much past experience this storm will likely be a lot like Irma was in 2017, maybe a little worse. We're on the dirty side, which means an increased threat of tornadoes if the track holds (we did get side-swiped by one with Irma, too.) I expect our power and internet to be out for a week or more. So that's the bad news. On the plus side, well, we've been here/done this lots of times. We will be very careful, not take any risks at all and ride it out like we always do. I've scheduled about a week and a half of posts to publish on the blog during my absence, but I won't be able to moderate comments for a while. I'll post how we made out as soon as power and broadband are restored. Until then, send good thoughts our way. :)

I don't often buy paper or cardboard goods from the thrift store because you can't really clean them. I invested in this hat box because other than the unpleasant thrift-store odor it was in pristine condition. All I needed to do was get rid of the smell, and that just required a trick my grandmother taught me. Dried lavender will erase almost any smell if you let it sit with what you're deodorizing in an enclosed space. Since the hat box came with a lid I just lined in with some paper towels, added a layer of lavender, covered it up and let it sit for two weeks undisturbed (I added the little square wicker box on top of the lavender because it was a bit smelly, too.) My hat box smells only a little of lavender now, and not at all like the thrift store.

I've been trying to think of something to make my kid for the holidays and her birthday (end of December) that isn't just sending her $$$. I'll do that, but it's tough being away from home at Christmas without any gifts under the tree. So now I'm seeing if I remember how to crochet a wrap with a V-stitch. Since I've taken an interested in crochet again I'm kind of blown away by how many different yarns there are on the market. Lionbrand has these beautiful skeins of worsted-weight layered in colors, which is what I'm using for my practice piece. I invested in a few more to make some holiday gifts, and slippers for myself when JoAnn put them on sale for 40% off. Chunky yarns had their own aisle at JoAnn when I went to look, mostly chenille (which I generally avoid because of the flying fluff) but some in other materials I've never seen. It's pretty cool to see how yarns have evolved over the last couple of years.

As of yesterday Tropical Depression Nine looks to be heading our way, so this weekend I'll be checking our supplies and (if the projected path holds) get started on preparing for the worst. I have about a week of posts already in the queue to publish, but if the blog goes static it will be because of power outtages. As always don't worry, my guy and I are hurricane veterans. I'll come back online as soon as I can to let you know how we made out.

This week I discovered Kite Hill's everything plant-based cream cheese (what a mouthful!) which will brighten my breakfasts quite a bit. Used sparingly, it's quite good on bagels. Vegan cream cheese alternatives tend to taste a little chalky, so if you want to try this one only use a little. Breakfast is a particularly challenging meal for me. I eat a banana in the morning, but nearly all the other foods considered acceptable for the first meal of the day aren't on my diet list. Cold and hot cereals contain too much sugar. Bacon, eggs, and sausage are likewise out. Sometimes I'll have waffles or pancakes, but they're heavy. I get easily tired of toast and sugar-free jelly. I've been thinking about trying to make my own crepes, but often I don't have the energy to cook right after I wake up. So to have a product that works nicely with bagels is great. :)

I honestly can't remember the last time I crocheted something. Maybe five years ago? I made some slippers for myself, if I recall. Anyway, my fingers are really stiffening up, and one of my old PT exercises was doing crochet, so I hauled out and dusted off my hooks, got out the scrap yarn box and went to work. If you're wondering why the slippers look pretty good it's because it seems I still have the muscle memory. My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was about five years old, and I actively crocheted up until the quilting bug bit me in my late thirties. Need to work on my flower embellishments, though. These flowers look a bit squashed. :)

I did not actually finish the last Mary Balogh novel I bought, and that's 75% because I put it somewhere and forgot where, and 25% me not needing to finish the book so much that I'd look for it. I will read it when I find it. Due to this misstep I did sit down and read Remember Love in one day. While it's the start of a new series for the author, I probably won't read any books that follow it, either, because after fifty pages or so I basically skimmed. This is a tepid romance, with a conflict so easily resolved you can't really even call it a conflict. It's also extremely lukewarm as far as conflicts go. About the first third of the book is a set-up of characters for the new series, and the rest is just very compentent writing about characters who are nice people caught in that ho-hum situation, which derails their tepid romance, and six years later they pick up the pieces and nicely resolve it. It's a nice book. I like the author. But she's

I'm currently pouring over Helen Parrott's Mark Making ~ Fresh Inspiration for Quilt and Fiber Artists , which may be one of the most different inspiration/guidebooks I've found about textile art. So fresh definitely applies. Very few inspiration books I've read align with my own stitching and surface design process, so it was neat to find another maker who seems to take some of the same paths I do with my work. Ms. Parrott's is far more sophisticated (and very intricate). Yet everything I'm reading resonates with me on multiple levels, from sketching stitch designs to taking inspiration from patterns in nature and the world around us. I think plenty of quilters and textile artists can learn a lot from this book, too. There are techniques for both hand and machine stitching, and ideas that would work for anyone at almost any skill level. Although the author provides plenty of insight, this isn't really a step-by-step how to. It's more

I haven't done a pet post in a while. The puppies turned a year old at the end of May. We've given them free run of the house day and night, and leave them loose when we leave the house to run errands. I've left out their crates with the doors open (these are their safe places, and they like to nap in them.) Beau likes to keep an eye on me whenever I'm working while Shadow occasionally patrols the house. These days Shadow rarely sits still for a photo; he's become a little more aggressive, too. He'll bark at anything he doesn't like, which is everyone except me and my guy. Beau is more calm and a Mama's boy, but he's just as protective. We let them loose in the backyard now, as they're property-line trained, but keep them on leads everywhere else. Anything that falls on the floors is theirs, so I'm pretty careful about policing the floors and watching myself. I've lost a couple spools of thread that fell off the table wh

I'm ready to start the next quilt, which will be a lap-size made from these remnants and bolt ends. For the patchwork I'm using Atkinson Design's Yellow Brick Road pattern. I've made a lot of quilts with this pattern, which is easy, fat quarter friendly, and has simple directions. It took me all of one day to cut all the fabric (not my favorite part of quilting) but I only have to measure two different sizes of strips before I sew them together and cut the subsets to make the blocks. I'm also saving all the scraps to make a bag for the quilt after I finish it. Stayed tuned to see my progress.

My fall house decor is on its last legs, so I'm making some new things. While at the thrift store hunting for some containers I spotted these two rose gold metal containers in near pristine condition. I've seen similar cups and vases at Target selling for $15.00 to $25.00 each; the two were $3.99 for both. I'm not really a fake flower person, but I do like autumn leaves and pumpkins. The containers will also work with some winter faux foilage for Christmas. Plus the dogs can't smash metal vases. :)

Finished the beach bag. With this project I tried different ways to anchor the raw edges of the fabric elements and prevent or at least slow the inevitable fraying. Although I was very tempted to add the usual mountain of beads I restricted myself to a few seed bead bubbles for my button fish, some crystal montees for a little sparkle, and some abalone. I had a Picasso moment here with the shell bits. Like all my projects it is imperfect, slightly crooked here and there and not entirely as I imagined it. I think I might change the lining fabric in the future. But as always it was fun, and I feel ready to start on my holiday gift quilts now.

Still working on the beach bag. I found a card of vintage fish buttons, so small they had to be for baby garments, and incorporated them as an embellishment. I don't know why I think fish buttons are so cute, but I'm allowed. I should have this wrapped up and reassembled in another day or two; just have to find the right lining fabric and add a few more stitches here and there.

Now that summer's brutal heat is on the way out my guy is working on planting for fall. Here we have cucumber already sprouting, and two types of onions. We managed to save two pepper plants, but the one tomato we thought might survive is probably toast. The parsley also went to herb heaven, but we still have chives and oregano. Our pole beans and radishes have sprouted, too. My guy added two long beds on either side of the boxes and planted corn in one of them. In the other we're hoping to grow some things from the seeds you sent, Maria. We've also got a container prepped for your watermelon seeds. Mom's grapefruit tree is loaded with fruit, but we probably won't be able to eat these until next year. I'm glad we planted fruit trees on our property, and I hope the next owners of our house will keep them. Long after we're gone these grapefruit will brighten the breakfasts of others. Dad's orange tree didn't flower this year