A Stitch In Time

 So here were are, nearing the end of November. I'm finally over whatever I've had for the last 60+ days. I still have a cough now and then. My biggest problem is fatigue. Because I was waking up off and on during the night and coughing, my sleep patterns (always dicey) are skewed. I've tried for a week to get back on track but after a single night of great sleep, I woke at 5 a.m. with only five hrs sleep. I had to go back to bed by 9 a.m. and slept 3 hrs. or I would have passed out in the chair. 

I still haven't made it to my aunt's for a visit. The plans are still out there. Just not a definate date when I can go. It isn't a good idea to drive sleepy. I'd like to say by December 1st. 

Anyone ever find themselves not caring for food? I don't mean not hungry. No. I get hungry but I can't seem to find anything that I want to eat. I'm sort of looking forward to my sister and I going to Golden Corral for Thanksgiving. They have great food and lots of veggies. It sounds wonderful. We'll see if the appeal holds.

I had to get a new sewing machine. I was working on something and my old one just stopped. It is at least 10 yrs old and I've had problems with if for several  years. It reached the point that I had to have it serviced every year and that's just silly. The old machines, I could service myself. Twenty yrs ago you could even change your own belts. Now, it is all computers. I got a great deal on a Janome and this is the quietest machine I've ever used! I've used it for several days to do minor repairs. That's the easiest way to get familiar with a machine. No. They're not all alike. It's just like driving a car. If you've driven a truck for 10 yrs and now you get a Mercedes, you're going to find a lot of bells and whistles. You have to figure out where the keys go. LOL, for real!

Anyway, I like the machine. I just hope it holds up better than my last two Singers. I doubt I'll ever buy another Singer. I did check on the Brother machines but they were very cheaply made and when I compare reviews across several sites, I didn't want to take the risk. The machine I bought is a $900 machine but I got it for a third of that on a sale. So great deal. It's odd, actually. I've bought everyone of my the machines I've owned (4) on sale at good prices. All but one were good machines. 

By the way, were you aware you could buy sewing machines at Home Depot? Yeah. That's a thing. And no, that's now where I got the machine. When I was shopping for the machine, I Googled and that came up. They actually had some good prices. 

Now, I'm off to the shower. I need a hot one and to consider getting to bed earlier. Have a lovely Thanksgiving if you celebrate the holiday.

#ACraftyWench, #Janome, #Stitches, #Sewing 

A Bag in Hand

 I don't think I posted an update on the Peacock bag but here is the finished product. I've been using it now for over a month and I'm quite pleased with it. 

Is it perfect? No. There are still things I want to correct. I used velcro as a closure behind the straps on the inside. It is effective, but not enough, and I simply don't like that. I will eventually put a button or a magnet on it. 

The inside is still not to my liking. I have a purse insert in it and that works, but things still get lost at the bottom. They're easier to find since the inside lining is white, but I have to take everything out to locate missing items. A real pain. 

I'm going to make another one but again, I need to work out on paper what I need to do. I have to say the cotton fabric is easy to work up and is washable. So that's a plus. These were fat quarters from JoAnn fabrics. I made straps from nylon webbing I found on Amazon. A package of 4 rolls of different colors was cheaper than buying one set of readymade handbag straps. 

My goal was to make some things to sell, but I've been sick off and on for months, so it hasn't happened. Oh well. Plans. 

Just wanted to share with my friends who read regularly. 

Peacock Bag Update

 

May I Say....

We're now in May. April wasn't much of a month. Gas and other things have skyrocketed and made it impossible to do anything other than survive. And there are those who are worse off than I. 

I went to Ohio and stayed with Sarah for a week. I had a pleasant time visiting with her when she had time for me. The Sarah I knew is gone and I don't know who she is now. I'll leave it at that. 

I've done crafty stuff in the last few months. I made an Easter outfit for Madilyn, Sarah's little sister. The skirt is a circle skirt of an appliqued fabric I had in my stash. I took some appliques off the scrap material and put them on her shirt to match. With her pink boots, she looked adorable. 

I'm really proud of the whole thing. Did it all with no pattern. I like that I still have this talent. Click photos to view larger size. I want to do a couple of more using some of the tons of fabric I have and would love to make one for Sarah but don't know if she'd wear it.

I also made a handbag from fat quarters. I saw this on
YouTube and liked it. So I made one for myself. I learned some things from it. Either the instructions and measurements were off or I did something wrong. You won't see the problem, but there is one. However, I've gone over it several times. I cut out a new pattern, changing the measurements a bit and will make a second bag to see if that fixes the problem. I'll let you know how that goes. 

There are a few more projects I want to do as well, but I'm having so much fatigue and difficulty focusing that I can't finish the most basic tasks some days.

Sarah is supposed to come for 7 weeks mid-June. Becca and I want to do some projects on the house and with Sarah here, it might actually be easier to finish them.

I've been cat sitting Becca's white cat, Gabi. She was here for three days and now she doesn't want to leave. When Becca comes in, she runs and hides. We don't know for sure what to do. She loves to play with my cats and I think she is lonely being an only cat. I have to tell you this is how animals always act around me. They all almost always like me. I remember Daddy telling me to stay away from his brother-in-law's dog because it was bad. Daddy was in the pasture at their house and looked up. He saw me standing with that dog and the dog sitting next to me.I was rubbing his head. Daddy yelled at me to get away from him because he'd eat me up. The dog and I just looked at each other. I think I wandered away, and the dog followed me. He never bothered me. 

I still need a riding mower to cut the yard. The $200 a month to hire someone is killing me. I need the money and would let the mess just grow up if the city wouldn't fine me for it. I'm going to shop around next week to see if some place has financing to buy one. Surely the payment wouldn't be as bad.

So, tomorrow is Mother's day. I'd rather sleep in. Don't think anyone cares if I'm their mother. I have my reason.

It is time for bed; I think. Today I did laundry all day and changed my sheets. I love clean, crispy sheets. If I had enough cotton sheets and didn't mind doing laundry, I'd change them every day. 

Happy Mother's Day to you mothers. I hope your children treasure you. My Mama was wonderful. I wish she were still here.