a gift of time and memories.

We are back.  I would say that the holiday did not go as planned.  That is not a bad thing.  The weather on the mountain was very wet, wild, and wooly.  It had been under flood conditions for days as we got up there.  We actually spent Sunday night with my parents and then stayed. 

We spent the four days before Christmas preparing for my family and some of their friends to descend on my parents.  I helped decorate the tree.  We helped wrap all the presents.  I helped with shopping for prezzies.  I baked and cooked for Christmas dinner.  I helped make lefse with my Dad.  I experimented with sour cream raisin pie, trying to recreate a thirty year old memory and I am very close.  It was a Christmas of experiences, laughter, love, and memories.  It was what I always hope for Christmas to be and so lovely when it happens. 

Which is why I spend so much of my time at my sewing machine in December making gifts.  I usually cannot be their but I can give something I have made.  One request I received was for linen hand towels.

I started out with a piece of linen 18 inches by 30 inches.  I did some research and found that is the largest size of hand towel.  I then hemmed each side.  The biggest problem was just finding some nice linen.  A weight that would wash and wear well.

Then, folded, rolled, and tied.  Into a box and shipped.  I actually have a lot more sewing to do to finish prezzies but I find everyone enjoys to have the holiday extended.  Surprises in the mail.  I got to do my favorite part with my parents, the preparation. 

That is a gift.

pajama top for a bear

Koda Bear had helped me pick out fabric for all the Christmas pajamas that I am making.  I found a nice sale.  Most of his were red choices but this one.  This one was about the hedgehogs.  He has a stuffed hedgehog that he really likes to sleep with.  The pajamas are a theme.  

The request was for a pajama top with ninja sleeves.  I did take a picture of the sleeves to prove that they really are ninja sleeves but a small person was moving much.  A very blurry picture.  I used the coat pattern in Carefree Clothes for Girls to make the pajama top.  I had to modify the front.  I modified the neck but I will not have to next time. 

There is room for growth which is a good thing.  This top has become a favorite.  Now it is time for pants.

working on a tree

I have recipes to share but I will admit that I am so tired that I do not have the concentration to write them down.  Believe me when I say I can bake and cook when I can barely stand but write about it?  That is much harder.  

Because of the tired, I am going to write about the tree I am making.  I had seen the Ikea Christmas tree fabric panel from a year or so ago.  I kept my eyes open and finally found one.  I probably payed more then the original price but I will use it for years. 

And because I do not seem to like to do anything the easy way.  I am piecing the back and making it into a quilted wall hanging.

It will be neutrals with an emphasis on white, silver, grey, and natural.  Koda Bear is helping with the pins, cutting, and the fly wheel.  That is what he does until planes or cars or Star Wars action figures grab his attention.  At least it is not either one of my button boxes.  I got teased because when we were cleaning, another button box was found.  I got looked at and the comment was made "you know most people now do not have even one button box let alone two!"  That is my life.

At this point, the piecing is almost two-thirds done.  Koda Bear will be four this weekend so there will be cake and presents to make but maybe I will get more of this done.  

More energy.  More concentration.  Less tired!  Wahoo!

does not want to get it dirty

Koda Bear is back!  It is so nice having the small mister around.  The small thing does not really fit though because he is tall.  That is alright.  I just accept that he will be taller then me and I will be the shortest in the family.  Grandma just has to keep up and make bread.  He just seemed to eat only the bread I had made yesterday.  It is yummy!

I got a request for short sleeve shirts so my Beloved was destroying all of his.  What was nice was now becoming a work shirt, work shirts were being thrown out.  That is the process.  Work shirts are usually so ragged and dirty when they are done that they do not even make good rags.  I went through my stash and said, here are choices for shirts for you.  He made choices.  And I put it together.

It has been hanging there for about five days now.  I asked him if he did not like it.  He said he liked but did not want to get it dirty.  I do not know if this is success or failure.  Makes me sigh.  I am making more shirts though so at some point he will wear one of them.  They have been requested.

Maybe if Koda Bear and my Beloved matched?  Hmmm....  Probably would not work to get either one of them to wear the shirts.  Oh well.

NEEDED an orange dress

I felt like I needed an orange dress in my life.  But I had an orange dress.  An orange linen dress but it was not the shape I really wanted.  And the fabric was starting to go so I did not feel like it was the most presentable dress to wear out of the house.  The fabric was showing a lot of wear.  Kind of a fuzz and change of color.

So . . . I took my orange linen dress and turned it inside out.  The inside of the dress was much less worn so I fitted my simple sheath pattern to it.  The sleeves were a little bit shorter then I was thinking and the dress was a tad shorter but I have another orange dress.

A simple sheath dress was made.  I got a complement on the "t-shirt" dress on our trip to Alaska.  I do not really think of it as a t-shirt dress but I can see it.  It is as comfortable as a t-shirt.

I have another three linen dresses that are showing similar wear.  Just not nice enough to wear out of the house.  But if I turn the inside out and use a bit of sewing, they will be.  The fabric will have another life.  The only thing I may have to purchase is thread.  And I will get teased.  I have friends who tease me that my clothes never die, they just are reincarnated.  Maybe, eventually, unless it is shredded, this dress will turn into a quilt.

By the way, shredded has happened.