Valerean

Two years ago I made my first memory quilt out of my old t-shirts. It was also the last time I would even think about making a t-shirt quilt because I struggled so much with the execution. Cotton jersey is a nightmare to sew, even on the machine. My hands didn't want to cooperate so I couldn't do as much embroidery as I wanted to (that was the very first time arthritis kept me from quilting, I think.) The fact that it's become one of my favorite quilts does not tempt me to revisit the experience. I also know I couldn't make this quilt now (or it would take me a year or two.) The old me struggled with the making; the present me would not even try. I can barely hold a needle anymore. So I crochet, and I tell myself that's a reasonable substitution because what else can I do? I crochet well. I crochet a lot. Still, I miss quilting. And I hate that I miss quilting. And then I miss quilting and the me who could do it even more. And then I hate myself a li...

After so many (too many) DNFs it was a pleasure to read a properly-written book, which is absolutely Dear Old Dead by Jane Haddam. I actually took my time reading it because the writing, the story, the characters, the detective and basically every other element of the story were so good. At a charity, church-supported Harlem health center, saintly director and surgeon extraordinaire Dr. Michael Pride is not having a great night. After being arrested on a vice charge for frequenting a notorious gay sex club and having his image splashed all over the papers (keep in mind this novel was published 32 years ago in 1994), Michael is trying to clean up surgically the mess created by an ongoing gang war. Then he receives news that his wealthiest media mogul patron is waiting for him in his office, and goes to face the music -- only to find the mogul dying of strychnine poisoning. It doesn't help that basically everyone at the health center wants the mogul dead, and the poison used...

Last week we stopped by our local no-kill cat shelter with our daughter to make a donation and to visit with the kitties. She attracts all animals and volunteers at a shelter at home, so this was fun for her. I have a hard time not falling in love, as I did with this delicate little princess. She wouldn't hold still for a photo for long but she has sky blue eyes. Just like they do my girl, the cats all love my guy. He won't admit it but he loves visiting the shelter, too. There was one cat named Pepper who was not adoptable, likely for medical reasons, who stayed beside me the whole time I was in her room. She looked pretty banged up and had lost half of her tail. That always breaks my heart, but it's also the reason we go to visit regularly. Some of the kitties have to stay at the shelter as their forever home, and they need as much attention and affection as they can get while they live out their best lives there. If you are able to help out the n...

I've heard countless artists from all corners of the creative world complain about becoming stuck or paralyzed and being unable to produce anything. I'm practically plagued with inspiration; I've never suffered from writer's block, and if a non-writing creative project doesn't work out I go to the next one. My philosophy at this age is "Life is too short. Move on." Not everyone has my mindset, and I get that. Self-doubt is almost as contagious and unpleasant as cyclosporiasis. The creative life is often like walking a tightrope, well, forever. If you struggle with being stuck, try one of my approaches: Aside setting: I want to put this first because to me this really is the most important skill a creator can develop, as long as they don't abuse it. Set things aside. It's okay to do that; sometimes things don't work out. Sometimes the project takes so long it's exhausting you. If you are struggling every single day, and you hat...

While we were out and about on my birthday we stopped at Rockledge Gardens , which is one of the loveliest garden centers I've ever seen. Along with countless plants for purchase, there are all sorts of outbuildings where you can buy gifts, food and fresh vegetables in season. They have amazing landscaping ideas, too. Here's a wall made of pallet wood for displaying potted plants. Isn't that pretty? It's quite a trek covering the center's five acres, but worth every minute. Highly recommended if you're every within driving distance.

My birthday turned out better than I expected; I spent the day with my guy and our daughter in Cocoa Beach, where I stopped by Knit & Stitch and invested in a little Noro and Juniper Moon yarns. My guy gave me a set of lavender and vanilla relaxation products from Bath & Body Works (not pictured) which I'm already using and are amazing. Kat gave these gorgeous silver, abalone and koa wood earrings from Na Hoku. I also stopped by Hello Again Books and splurged on a stack for reading during my vacation. We then went to an Asian buffet and ruined our diets. Honestly, being with my family and having fun in one of my favorite places in Florida made the day perfect. :) I should also mention that my friend B gave me two more books for my birthday, so I have lots of reading to look forward to this month. Thanks, everyone.

I'm officially on vacation! I really worked a lot of overtime to earn three weeks off, too. What do I have planned? Last night I slept 8-1/2 hours catching up after many, many sleepless nights. My guy even walked the dogs for me this morning so I could get in a couple extra hours. This is why he's wonderful. Let's see, other than going along with whatever the family has planned for on my birthday, I'd like to wrap up some projects, like the liner I'm crocheting for this art yarn woven basket I made in June. Still need to get started on the July tote for my calendar project. I want to start using my new project diary to record what I'm doing with, well, everything. I need to replace the missing buttons on my heavy jacket so I can wear that this coming winter. I'd also like to finish this short story, which I'm writing just for pleasure. Not sure if I will, but there's no deadline involved. Mostly I'd like to stop expe...

I usually get myself a birthday gift every year, but this one was the #65 milestone, so I wanted something especially fun. I invested in a Blind Date with a Book gift box from Fama Collections . Book gift boxes aren't for everyone, but I love them. I've gotten several over the years, particularly when I needed cheering up. This assortment of treats and little luxuries along with a mystery book is just perfect. I thought I'd let the Universe pick my read so I specified any genre. Let's see what I'll be reading. Ah, New Adult. Been a while since I was one. :) Should be fun.

I decided to tea dye the drawstring cotton bag I wanted to use for the project in the Summer issue of GreenCraft. This is because I like the color tea dyeing produces versus using coffee; it's warmer and looks more vintage. I have my own method of dyeing which I've used for lace and small bits of linen. The formula is pretty simple: boiling water + four tea bags + glass container in which to soak the bag in the tea. For darker color you use more tea bags. I wanted only a light dye so I let it soak for about an hour before I took it out. I then gave the bag a quick handwash. This isn't strictly necessary but I prefer to remove any remaining tea from the bag. Here is the tea dyed bag next to one that was not dyed. Note the shrinkage. Now that I have the bag done, I can give the project a go. :)

The Summer 2026 issue of GreenCraft magazine just came out, and it's just as amazing as every other issue for ideas on how to upcycle, repurpose and reuse things that might otherwise end up in the trash. Amy Camuglia's wearable art project is right up my alley -- I have so many fabric scraps they fill a bin, and a smaller stitch project is better for me these days. She turns her pieces into unique pendants and brooches. I've also been feeling the itch to make some assemblage jewelry, and Jenny Youg's Beauty in the Lost & Found details how to add antique objects as well as unusual chains to create memorable pieces. The one project I am absolutely going to try is Christen Hammons' A New Spin on an Old Bag , for which I can use some of the eleven drawstring bags I still have on hand (I had to buy a dozen to make my nephew's bag of money housewarming gift.) The issue also has a neat article on how to dye using natural botanicals, which I...

I'm taking the day off today to be a good sport. See you tomorrow. :)

Like Christmas, I'd be happier skipping my birthday every year. I hate birthday surprises, I don't want gifts, and it's never a happy day for me. I don't know how old I really am (based on biological landmarks I might be a year or two older than they say) or on which date I was actually born; I believe my adoptive mother picked the day I was handed over to her as my birthday. Anyway, this year I began looking back on what I did for my birthday in the past, like visiting Tarpon Springs. Lovely people, terrible aquarium, great seafood. My guy decided we should go there. I went to Busch Gardens for the first time on my birthday one year because my daughter loves it. I am not a theme park person, but it made her happy. I did enjoy taking photos of the animals. I generally spend my birthday away from home because my family thinks I should go some place spectacular or exotic and have fun all day, usually doing what they like to do. I like staying home ...

Living in the country means you never know what you might encounter along the way when you're out walking. Last week I spotted this across the street while I was walking Beau, and the glint of gold in the sunlight made me get my camera to bring with me on Shadow's walk. These are two golden silk orb weaver (Trichonephila clavipes), also known as banana spiders. These little guys are everywhere now; they build their webs at night and tear them down just after sunrise. Two of them had spun webs that together reached at least ten feet across and maybe seven or eight feet high, and I've never seen two of them so close to each other. The only reason I saw these was that I got up early that day walked the dogs about two hours earlier than usual. Nature is awesome. :)

The July tote for my calendar project is focused on vintage as a theme, and will incorporate the old fabrics that I love: feedsacks, cutter quilt pieces, embroidered linens and such. Working with antique textiles is such a pleasure. I'm starting with a genuine vintage feedsack as the background fabric, and a canvas tote for the foundation. I also invested in some vintage textiles from my favorite Etsy seller to serve as the fabric elements of my design. The problem with the canvas tote is that it has some staining on one handle, so I have to wash it first. After laundering I realized that the tote shrank quite a bit, and I won't be able to use the entire front panel of the feedsack as I wanted to. Easy fix: I will batt and back both sides of the feedsack and that will serve as the tote's background and the foundation. Stay tuned to the blog to see how I put this one together.

After the double DNF of June, I did very much want to enjoy Sandra Balzo's Dead Ends . One of my blind dates with a book, it promised a cozy mystery that would be maybe more interesting than the Pokemon brain the last book gave me. That's when the Universe decided to remind me that interesting is often used in Chinese curses. The book was either 1) not edited by anyone, 2) was not edited by a professional editor with an understanding of industry standards in regard to formatting, or 3) the author insisted on STETing the incorrectly formatted text and the frequent absence of other things like dialogue tags so you know who is speaking. This lack of correct formatting and dropping of tags make the text basically unreadable. If you're not sure why, tell me who is speaking the third sentence on this page. Is it the character above the paragraph, or the character below (who is also unnamed because there is no dialogue tag there, either.) I don't know what ha...