Fidget Quilt

Recently I learned about Fidget Quilts.

Simple lap quilts with do dads added,

which are appealing to the fingers of dementia patients 

as well as victims of stroke and head injuries.

I was so excited I got out my stash and whipped up this top:

Then I added some texture with beads and fringe and crochet.

A little ribbon and bias tape.

And of course tied it using buttons.

I am going to give it to my mother. 

I hope it will occupy her fingers.

I cannot imagine what it must be like to forget how to crochet.

It isn't the best work I have ever done and I like to hand quilt but I had a deadline

and imagine she won't mind.

New blue tropical blouse

Finished this blouse yesterday.

I try really hard to keep saturdays mostly for me.

Sometimes I just nap and read.

Sometimes I sew.

I try to sew as normally I enjoy it and find it relaxing,

plus I often end up with something to wear.

I love this fabric.

Most tropical prints are green based and green is not often a good color for me.

So this fabric was a treat to find but took me a year to make the time to sew it.

Now more than ever I am dreaming/wishing for a new sewing machine.

I need one that makes good button holes!

I want one that does some embroidery!

Mine is over 40 years old and while it has the cams for the decorative stitches,

it is so out of whack that I cannot use them.

Yes, taking it in for adjustments might fix that.

But it has never made good buttonholes.

I decided after this project that a new machine has gone from the realm of want

to the realm of need.

Does anyone have a machine that they love or hate?

Any suggestions?

Plarn Day

Yesterday was the first Remembrance Run locally, hosted by the Coast Guard.

It was an incredible tribute to fallen Coasties

and a terrific fundraiser for those spouses and children.

My family and many friends were happy to join them  and look forward to next year!

One of my daughter's friends, who remembers my late husband, even flew in from Chicago for the weekend to join us in this event.

Knowing we like to craft she mentioned wanting to learn to crochet using plastic bags to make mats to donate to the homeless to go under their bedding.  

Makes great sense to form a moisture barrier and the materials are free.

Well, I had heard of this and even filed away some directions and patterns for bags so today before her flight left I went over to my daughter's house and taught her how to crochet.

Here are the plastic bags being cut into strips...

Here you can see where the strips, which of course are actually loops now

are knotted together to form plastic yarn or plarn.

The plarn has then been wound into a ball and the lesson began.

She is a very quick study!

Meg got a great start to her first mat and we sent her off to security assuring her they would allow a large ball of plarn and a plastic crochet hook!  

(I sure hope we were right)

What fun!

I got to 'hook' a new crocheter, try out a 'new' material, and who knows how many homeless will benefit all from one fun filled couple of hours!

So what did you do for Armed Forces Day/weekend?

Accessories

After I finished the latest outfit here,

I decided I needed a bracelet to match and had been wanting to try out one I had seen so...

I bought some dark green beads but the holes were too small.

I went back and bought some light green beads that worked just fine.

The bracelet was so fun once I got the hang of it that I just had to make a couple more.

At that point they just called out for some earrings to match.

That involved getting out some jewelry findings and tools that I had to pack away

a couple of years ago when I closed my jewelry business.   Long story short version, I had to clean the garage to get to the boxes I needed!

Fortunately we have been enjoying the very best (read - record breaking low temperatures) weather in our area so it was actually a pleasant job and I am enjoying the results of that as much as I am the new jewelry!  

Inexpensive beads, leather lacing and buttonhole thread combined with some buttons from the old button jar and bits and pieces from the jewelry supply boxes and I have some fun new accessories to wear with my new outfit.

  (The blue set will work well with the next top set I am making)

These have been a long time in the works with other projects intervening but worth the wait.

Getting popular

I had another visitor on the fence this afternoon.

I haven't seen many cats in quite awhile but all these birds and squirrels are very fascinating.

She is a pretty thing but my dog really was not amused and definitely not intimidated!

I am enjoying all my company this spring.

Visitor

My dog was making a rather concerned sounding woof at the living room window so I came in to see what he was up to and saw this fellow on the back fence.

I think my dog was a bit intimidated by a bird that even our brave squirrels had run from.

Isn't he a handsome guy though?

He only stayed long enough for me to snap a couple of photos.  I am so glad!

Where do they go?

Ever wonder where the bugs and critters go when the weather gets bad?

Well, this pretty little fellow has been in this same spot next to my front door all day.

Poor thing is probably too cold to fly!

I have not seen Lucky but then again I did not stay out long enough to look very hard.

What crazy weather this year.

Spring

It is really feeling and looking like spring around here.

I am loving these poppies that I planted this year.

I was most surprised to discover that it would produce multiple colors

for blooms on the same plant.

Tonight we had a spring thunderstorm with another one coming along behind it by a few hours.

Some areas are getting golf ball size hail.

I hope we won't as it will not be good for my garden.

The Pea Pod Fairy

I think the pea pod fairy must have come last night.

I swear over night these pods appeared!

So cool.  

I will have to get my little granddaughter over to pick them soon 

as she just loves picking things in the garden!

I am just doing a little container gardening this year.

I don't need much and am not up to doing too much work in the yard.

The carrots are doing well and the lettuce is needing to be thinned.

This tomato plant is already blooming,

while the other one is not as large.

The smaller one just came up on it's own

so I am not sure how well it will do.

And then there is the Bay tree that I repotted.

I got it from a cutting at a class several years ago.

Obviously it is quite hardy

because it has been neglected when I had to be out of town.

I am sure enjoying my yard this year.  

And so glad the Pea Pod Fairy came!

National Quilting Day

I celebrated National Quilting Day not by quilting

but at least I was sewing, or more accurately,

serging.

I have had the pansy fabric waiting to be made into cloth napkins for several months.

The gingerbread was leftover from an apron. 

I like to make my napkins double thickness so I lined two of them with red,

and the other two with blue.

The gold ones are for my daughter and are a single layer.

This is a quick project and a great way to use up scraps

 but more importantly so much fun to use!

I have several quilts I want to work on

and hope to finish up a number of these other projects

so that I can get started on some of those.