Valerean

I decided to quit Netflix after not watching it all summer, so that's one less monthly subscription. I've long disliked how they kept me from watching everything due to my basic status (I refused to pay more when they got greedy), inserted commercials in everything I could watch, and kept jacking up the price. I can watch Tubi for free, and plenty of content on Youtube as well, so why would I waste my money on them? One subscription I am keeping is Viki, which doesn't overcharge me or bombard me with commercials. Admittedly all their content is Asian, but that's what I like to watch, so we're good there. Onto the rewatch: a few years back I originally watched and reviewed Road Home , and I wanted to give it another go because I really like Jing Bo Ran as an actor, and I thought I would finally settle on whether or not I like this series. Verdict: I do like it. It's grown-up and features realistic, grounded conflicts that you don't expect from Ch...

The Autumn 2026 issue of Art Quilting Studio has arrived on the magazine stands, and I invested in a copy to give myself a little quilting inspiration for fall. Cheryl Lamon's article Fabric Art Using Hexagons certainly gave me a boost; I'm using hexes in my crochet at present, and it might be fun to try the same with fabric (she has instructions on how to make your own that look pretty simple.) Sacred Seams by Kim Alexis Newton showcases the artist's beautiful and intricate portrait works. All those tiny pieces! Carrie Payne's article and project Resurfaced Fabric was one that resonated with me on a couple of levels. I've often repurposed vintage fabric (I am right now, in fact) in my quilting although I've never tried to alter it; going instead with layering and embellishment. I might have to try this one, too. There is a whole lot more in this magazine, so check it out if you get a chance.

I picked up a copy of Red City by Marie Lu after Maxine from Knotty by Maxine recommended it. I knew almost from the beginning that it wouldn't be a happy story, and it wasn't, but the excellent and intricate if very dark world-building kept me absorbed, and the storyline, while pure fantasy, grew more engrossing (and harrowing) with every page. In the universe of this novel alchemy, the ancient, secretive tradition and early branch of natural philosophy with goals of turning base metals into gold, discover cures for disease, and ultimately achieve immortality, is real. This is not the stuff of Harry Potter -- or, it's the Sopranos version. Into this dark and greedy world are dragged two kids: Samantha, whose mother brought her to America from China to give her a chance at a better life, and Ari, a boy taken from India because of his natural charisma and potential talents. The kids are recruited by syndicates that are enemies, but as they befriend each other at ...

Last week my guy and I went to walk Snooky Park in Lady Lake, and then just went wandering. He's got a bad case of cabin fever and is really happy to be out and about. We stopped at one thrift store and two antique stores, and I was able to acquire some fabric pumpkins for my fall decor, a small handmade journal, a mystery bag of jewelry and a picnic basket and a holiday tin bucket for a project on the crochet blog. The little journal is awesome -- small enough to tuck in my purse. The mystery bag had a glitzy black, gold and rhinestone set with earrings, necklace and bracelet. These will be fun to wear on Halloween. Lovely day. :)

Figuring out how to put together hexagons may seem easy, until you lay them out on the floor and realize you're not sure what shape to sew them together in, or how many more you need to crochet, or you're me. This is also a dilemma for quilters making hexiquilts, so I'm posting this here. One of the great things about the internet are the free online tools you can use in a browser to figure out such things, like this one with a hexagon grid generator . Although my blanket won't look exactly like this, it did help me tremendously with figuring out what I did want to do with the layout, and how many hexes I'll need to do my version of it.

As a reward for putting in all the extra hours so I could get three weeks ahead on my work schedule I invested in the Fall 2026 issue of Quilting Arts magazine. This is a lovely issue, with lots of art quilts to admire. Although I'll never be a modern quilter I enjoyed the Art Meets Modern Gallery, especially Rachel Derstine's Rhythm and Flow quilt (on the right) -- such tiny pieces! Noelle Foye's article about Canadian textile artist Lorraine Roy was particularly wonderful, especially in regard to the artist's aesthetic. Her work is awesome. I always like the reader challenges, and this issue's "Into Nature" theme had "Nature's Seascape", a mini quilt by Patricia Caldwell (on the right) that made me sigh. I've never thought of incoporating driftwood pieces and stones as well as beads as quilt elements. Must try that someday soon. This is a terrific issue for anyone needing some quilting art inspiration, highly recommen...

My guy and I went to walk The Mercantile in Altamonte Springs, and I picked up some free doodle art from Durkart , a postcard and a Blind Date with a Book. The proceeds from the latter go to support a pet rescue. Very happy with my blind date -- I love nonfiction, and this wartime era is one I've only read about lightly. We also walked Altamonte Springs Mall, where I stopped by Barnes & Noble to pick up two quilting magazines. Lovely day.

Summer is over now (sob) and Autumn has arrived. What do I like about it? Not much. Okay, what do I have to look forward to? Halloween. Halloween was a lot of fun last year, thanks to the costuming of my thrifted stuffies, and really, I've always liked it. I'm planning to make more pumpkins that I could turn into Jack-o-lanterns, but I'm also looking for a fun Halloween sewing project to make as well. I like how the skies turn beautiful this time of year, and the cooler temps allow me and my guy to spend more time outdoors. That will help me avoid all the pumpkin spice things. We don't get a lot of autumn leaves here in the humid sub-tropical zone of Central Florida, but my little Japanese miniature maple does turn red some years. It looks like Nature and Halloween are going to have to carry me through this season. Could be worse -- could be Christmas. :)

I had the latest tea-stained bag to turn into something, and I could have easily used the sewing machine for that once I'd picked it apart. I have accepted that the machine is going to be my primary way to sew going forward. Yet I'm also choosing to do a little manual sewing now and then when my hands are up to it, so I thought, this time I'll hand stitch. I think I can still make small projects like this without hours and hours of stitching, and it helps me spiritually to reconnect with my past self. The finished bag. Nothing special, really, unless you're me. :)

Seeking Persephone is a short four-part historical British romance series based on a novel written by an American romance author. Yes, you may cringe. It has a somewhat sparse production (likely to save money) and a storyline that is not particularly historically accurate or even remotely plausible (my opinion, of course.) Given my upbringing I found the whole thing gruesomely fascinating, and spent a couple of hours being very grateful I escaped my past while watching it. The author, screenwriter (or perhaps both) follow in the LDS footsteps of Twilight's Stephanie Meyer, which makes it safe for any tween to watch. The lead female is purchased (yes, literally) by a Duke who has a bit of scarring on his face and no right ear to speak of. He pays over $100,000.00 pounds for this girl, a penniless female with absolutely no prospects whatsoever, once again affirming that you can have any woman you want if you throw enough cash at her family -- which still happens today, just...

When you're wired differently you see things from an uncommon perspective. It's why people like me are unable to join in groups and behave like others, and why we're often made to suffer because of it. The herd demands uniformity and obedience to their demands, and from their persepctive when you don't fit in or obey them, you have to be corrected and punished. The tragedy is that you're really no different from anyone in the herd, except that you don't need or want to be part of the herd. You're fine on your own. Your crime, if you want to call it that, is that through your independence you make the herd see that the herd isn't necessary. That is in their view unforgivable. I came to the realization that I've tolerated the herd's bullying for much of my life because I regarded myself as defective -- as missing something important that everyone else has. This need to herd, to be part of something bigger and (questionably) better than ...

Since my attempt to actually coffee stain something failed, I'm going to try to stain the same bag with tea, since that seems to work better for me. Recycling tip: when your black tea bags expire, don't throw them away. Save them in a jaw and label it for tea-staining. I didn't leave the bag soaking in tea for long -- about an hour -- but the difference is remarkable. No more coffee staining for me. :)

Once I put together and machine quilted both panels of my calendar project's September tote, it was time to make handles and assemble it. I sewed together more of the vintage fabric strips for the handles, and then sewed them and the panels into a tote. This is the first quilted project I've ever made entirely by machine. This also represents basically all the quilting I can do going forward, because hand quilting has become impossible for me. I need a lot more practice with quilting by machine (I might look into an online course, too, if they have one with captions), but I'm happy with what I was able to do, particularly under so much pressure at the moment as a family caregiver.

Once I had all the strips for my calendar project's September tote sewn into blocks, it was time to sew them into panels, batt and back them, and machine quilt the patchwork. Here's one panel, completely finished. The machine quilting was a bit hairy for me, probably because just before I started working on it I had to deal with yet another drama situation. Lesson learned: never try to machine quilt when you're distracted and upset. The backing (this pink fabric came from the thrifted bundle.) It's absolutely not perfect, but I learned a lot from doing it.

I began sewing together the strips I made from 10" squares from the vintage fabric basket, and I didn't follow a pattern. To keep my stress level manageable I want to stick to a simple improv of the rail fence patchwork scheme (here's a free tutorial for a rainbow version.) I thought four strips would make a square, but I actually needed five per block. This is roughly what one panel of my calendar project's September tote will look like. I am hoping to make this tote entirely by machine. I finished sewing together all eight blocks and switched them around until I liked the placement. Next up is sewing them together to make two panels, and then batting and backing them for the machine quilting.

Since my daughter left a little of her cold brew coffee (which we don't drink) behind when she left, I decided it was the perfect time to try coffee staining. I soaked my muslin bag in the cold brew for about three hours. It came out looking dirty (I neglected to take a pic) so I tossed it in the washer with some things I laundered on cold/delicate with regular detergent. Here is the stained bag (right) next to an untreated bag. It shrank, and all the coffee staining came out in the wash, so that was a complete fail. I didn't care for how this sort of staining looked, so in a way it was a win for me.

I took all the 10" vintage fabric squares out of my basket and sorted them into print types. Basically I have 29 geometric, butterfly, floral and other type prints. That's plenty for a tote, and perhaps enough for a small quilt as well. I decided not to get too ambitious, and cut all the squares into 2-1/2 strips. I then had to sort them according to their value, light to dark (didn't take a picture of that.) I randomly put together four strips out of all the piles, which I plan to sew together into blocks, and then turn the blocks into my September tote for my calendar project, and (possibly) a quilt top. Stay tuned to the blog to see how that goes. :)