Sewing, Snow, and Stuff

Tags

clothing, Columbia Point, FNWF, Healthy and Happy: SSWD, Oregon, Portland, quilting, Richland, sewing, travel, Washington

From today’s walk:  14F and enough wind to make the snow “fall” horizontally.  😦

Hello all, and I hope January is treating you well!

I’ve got some frosty pictures to show you, as well as some news, and, most importantly, sewing!

I participated in Friday Night With Friends last night, and did some work on another colorblocked fleece pullover.  Do you remember the wild flowered fleece remnant I got from SCRAP?  It’s now become this:

It’s hard to see here, but I’ve put in a black zipper which I took out of a cheap and nasty waist pack.  I like the long zipper pull on it. 

I’m using an old pattern (dated 1994), also from SCRAP, which should win some sort of award for least promising cover photos ever.

Don’t bother fitting–just make everything as large as possible!

The line drawings, though, show that this is a nice basic pullover that’s perfect for colorblocking (i.e., not a lot of seams to complicate matters).

The fit on this thing is SUPER weird, though.  It’s designed to fit some sort of busty linebacker, as far as I can tell.  In order to get those slightly-dropped shoulders, I had to bring the sleeves up a full three inches.  I also had to narrow the sleeves by 4″ so they wouldn’t be massive.  I took in the side seams, but I’ve still got all this room for the huge bust that I don’t have, and it’s now too tight at the hips.  More work to be done there, needless to say.

And I can use all the fleece I can get.  It has been SO COLD and SO SNOWY here–pretty unusual winter for us this year.  I haven’t taken many photos because it’s been way too damn cold to go outside much, but here’s another one from this afternoon.

I’m starting to understand why “snowbirds” here travel south in the winter, while these obviously-not-very-bright geese and I stay here for some reason.

Partner and I took a trip to Portland last month and apparently brought the bad weather with us.  It was a bit warmer than at home, which meant the snow had thawed halfway and had the usual Portland rain on top of it. 

BRRRR . . . I had packed for typical Portland weather, not this, so I wound up wearing many, many layers at a time.

Always looking for color.

A small part of the large stained glass window in the fire station near the waterfront Saturday Market.

In other news, you remember the sew-along that I was doing with the Sew-Alongs and Sewing Contests Facebook group, right?  Well, I won!  The prize package consisted of several indie patterns, plus a gift certificate for some fabric–WOOT!  And I’ve also been asked to run a 2-week sew-along in the group, to be announced tomorrow.  That should be super fun and get me to FINALLY use some fabric I’ve had forever.  Stay tuned for more on that.

I plan to focus more on quilting than clothing this year, though.  I didn’t feel inclined to do any sort of wrap-up post at the end of the year, but I did look through what I’d made in 2016 and realized I managed to not finish a single quilt!   I’ve been missing quilting and I want to get back to it.  I’ve pulled out my blocks for the RSC 2015 quilt and I would like to finish that up–it’s way past time that I finally made a queen-size quilt for our bed.  In addition to that, I’ve got a commission to make a simple baby quilt for a friend of my sister’s, and my niece will need one for her baby that’s due this summer.

So that’s the plan for the moment.  I’m really glad I don’t have to actually stick to these plans that I make, as they’re constantly evolving, but that’s the plan right now.  Until it isn’t.  Which could happen at any moment.

Anyway, I hope you’re enjoying your January and keeping your feet warm (currently my number one goal).

STH

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Make-A-List Monday 12-28-15

Tags

cats, Make-A-List Monday, Oregon, Portland, sewing, travel, Wood Memorial Park

Another shot of Wood Memorial Park in Portland, OR

(Make-A-List Monday is an idea that I borrowed from Sarah Craig over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and I thank her for inspiring me to try it!)

Busy week!

How did I do on my goals?

1.  Make food gifts.

Done, though I also decided to cut back on the number of things I gifted.  There were so many sweets around that it seemed a little bit excessive to make more as gifts.  (It’s currently three days after Xmas and we’ve still got cake, Sticky Toffee Pudding, and various types of candy in the house, so I think I made the right choice.)

2.  Make two final sewn gifts. 

Done!  Used the leftover fabric from the famous cycling jacket to make a new messenger bag for my partner.

As you can see, the cats are quite excited about the project.

I used this tutorial and sized the bag up a bit.  Partner wanted no internal pockets, just the one under the flap on the front, and a little bit of hook-and-loop tape as a fastener.  Quick and easy.  Love the lining fabric–that was from the stash.

I’m a little bit tempted to make one for me with all those cool pockets she has in the tutorial (read:  OH LOOK A SHINY OBJECT).

I also made a fabric box to hold a bag of homemade granola to give to my mother.  Forgot to get a picture of that one–hey, I finished it at 9:00 p.m. on Xmas eve, and I was very ready for bed by that point–but here’s a picture of the other homemade gifts I made.  The only one you haven’t seen before is the trash bag on the left, which was for my honey’s new car.  I really need to make one of these for me!

3.  Figure out walking feet and darning feet so that Santa can bring them for me.

Done, but not actually until today!  I realized a couple of days before Xmas that I had everybody else’s presents underway except for mine.  😛

I wasn’t at all sure what kind to get for my machine, but Sewing Parts Online offered a reasonably-priced walking foot and darning foot that are guaranteed to fit.  Sold.

4.  After Xmas, make muslin of the Willara tunic.

Done!  Actually, I’ve got the muslin done AND the final version about halfway there.  There were complications–do I even need to say that at this point?–but I really like it so far.

Okay, goals for this week:

1.  Finish the Willara tunic.  I still need to bind the neckline, hand sew the armholes (it’s a long story), and hem the sleeves.
2.  Make fabric box #3 for the Finish-Along.
3.  Make my sewing weights for the Finish-Along.
4.  Make my windowsill pads for the Finish-Along.
5.  Do end-of-year blog posts (this will be a bigger job than it should be because I am a very large dork and have managed to mess up the photos on most of my old posts, so I’m going to have to sort that out first).  😦

This is probably too much, but I’ll see what I can do.

Have a great week, everybody!

STH

ETA:  I have linked this post up at Finish It Up Friday (yeah, it’s on Monday–just roll with it, is my advice) at crazy mom quilts.

Sunday Sevens 12-27-15

Tags

cats, cooking, Cool Cottons, Oregon, Oregon Zoo, Portland, recipe, Sunday Sevens, travel, Wood Memorial Park

Thanks go to Natalie at Threads and Bobbins for coming up with Sunday Sevens, a sort-of-weekly series in which we share some pictures of what we’ve been up to.

Here’s what’s been happening here over the last couple of weeks.

It has been COLD and occasionally snowy here–a real winter, as opposed to what we had last year–and the whole family has been enjoying sitting by the fire in the mornings.

(Not shown:  the wrestling match that followed this sweet moment by about 30 seconds.)

Last weekend, we were in Portland so that my partner could do the Solstice Ride on Saturday night–13 1/2 hours of cold, rain, and wind on brightly lit and decorated bikes.  I expected him to sleep through most of Sunday after all that hard work, but he got up and went to lunch with me, and then we took a walk through another one of Portland’s amazing parks, Wood Memorial.

It looks a bit soggy here, because by that point, there had been 19 straight days of rain in the area.

That evening, we went to the ZooLights event at the Oregon Zoo.  Spectacular, but so crowded, cold, and wet!

On Monday morning, we headed to Cool Cottons to use my gift certificate from my mother.  SO MANY BEAUTIFUL THINGS–we especially loved all the sciencey fabrics!–but I had my heart set on dark, intensely colored fabric for a dress.  The one on the left is for a shirt for my honey.

Another gift–my partner’s sister knitted us socks and cowls.  These are mine; his are a beautiful blue heathery wool.

I tried my hand at making a traditional Christmas cake this year (a.k.a., fruitcake).  Verdict:  partner loved it and said it gave him flashbacks to childhood Christmases spent at his grandparents’ house in Scotland.  Personally, it was too much concentrated sugar for me; as dried fruit desserts go, I much preferred the Ecclefechan Tart I made for Thanksgiving.

The other new recipe I tried for Xmas dinner was Yorkshire Pudding, a special request from my honey.  They were easy to make and tasty, but I did manage to set off several smoke alarms in the house in the process of making them, and then had to clean the oven the next day.

Hmmm . . . not sure that one will get made again. 

We’ve had such a fun couple of weeks here, I’m a bit sorry to say goodbye to the Xmas season.  Time to finish up the last few projects of 2015, though, and look ahead to the new year.

STH

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Sunday Sevens 10-25-15

Tags

2015 FAL, Columbia Park, Kennewick, Oregon, Oregon Zoo, Portland, sewing, Sunday Sevens, Washington

Sunday Sevens is a series in which we post some pictures from our week and show a little bit of what we’ve been up to.  See Natalie from Threads and Bobbins for more info.

A bit late to the party after a fun weekend in Portland.

Preparations for my mother’s new carpet continue.  I brought her some boxes this week so that she could start packing some things up.  I’m also hoping she might donate a few things, as her three-bedroom house is jam-packed full of stuff.

So far, she’s donated this jar, a throw, and an unused set of sheets.

Three down, ten million to go.

More thinking about sewing than actual sewing this week, but I did do some darning on my honey’s jeans; they were in excellent condition except for tears at the inner corners of both back pockets.

Saving usable clothing from the landfill feels like a big ol’ win.

And I got the super-sized snaps onto my fleece jacket!  For those following along at home, that’s two finishes toward my goal of ten by the end of the year.

Took a walk with my mother to the fishing pond at the far end of Columbia Park.

We spent the weekend in Portland; on Saturday, my partner went off on a bike ride with his buddies, and I went to the Oregon Zoo.

Here’s an eagle for ya (another one is behind the trunk of the tree).

Isn’t this a beautiful place?

And a cheetah:

And (slightly less majestic) Naked Mole Rats sleeping in a heap.

And, just for fun, a couple of bonus pictures of the fall colors from the drive back home on Sunday.

This is at the Starbuck’s in Hood River, OR.

And a tree farm near the Oregon-Washington border:

Have a great week, everybody.

STH

Sunday Sevens, 03-08-15

Tags

C Bar, Chamna Nature Preserve, Oregon, Portland, Richland, sewing, Sunday Sevens, travel, Washington

I was such a Domestic Goddess this week, I even impressed myself–made chicken stock and vegetable stock, froze garlic and jalapenos for future use, made a new batch of moisturizer . . . .

Let’s just forget about this little incident, shall we?

Yeah, blender shopping needs to happen soon.

On Monday, I took a walk at Chamna Nature Preserve; every time I go these days, I see more green.

Bonus mysterious urban ruin for Natalie:

My pattern collection outgrew the shoe boxes it was in, so I cleared some space in my sewing room dresser for it.  Which then got me started working on a hand applique UFO project from a class some time ago (cause the stuff in that drawer had to go somewhere).

These are all my clothing patterns; my bag patterns are still in shoe boxes for now, but I dream of the day when I finish enough of my UFOs to get the bag patterns in the dresser, too!

The vintage (1998) pattern I ordered from Etsy finally came!  This is what I’m going to use to replicate the Kelly skirt with a pattern that’s actually in my size.  This one has the button front and pockets; all I’ll have to do is turn the front pleats the other way to make a box pleat.  This length is better for me, too.

No plans to work on this one right away, so it’s going in the pattern stash for now.

Another 1998 pattern; this one I bought when it came out.  I’m contemplating making the red jumper on the pattern envelope in a solid black, so that I have something to wear my VAST collection of necklaces and pendants with.  Almost got some ponte at Joann’s, but I was nervous that it might not be weighty enough for this style.  Hmmm . . . .

On Saturday morning, my honey and I headed to Portland for some “us” time before the frenzy of the cycling season really gets going.  We walked around, shopped a little bit, and both took lots of pictures.  Then we saw Ladysmith Black Mambazo–what a fun show!

On Sunday, we had a wonderful brunch at C Bar in southeast Portland, including this Pulled Pork Breakfast Burrito.  Pork, sauteed red peppers and onions, scrambled egg, potatoes–seriously delicious!  I need to try making this at home soon.

We are home again now and had our barbecued hot dogs (70F is close enough to summer for the Official BBQ Opening Day, I’ve decided), salad, and twice-baked potatoes for dinner.  Now it’s time for exercise, then to bed.

Have a wonderful week, all.

STH

Photography 101, Weekend One: Experiments with Composition

Tags

Columbia Gorge, Mt. Hood, Oregon, photo101, Portland, travel

Some shots from the weekend’s trip to Portland, OR:

Sunday Sevens 02-15-15

Tags

cats, Chamna Nature Preserve, Columbia River, cooking, Oregon, Portland, randonneuring, recipe, sewing, Sunday Sevens, travel

Just a quick one, then I need to get some sleep–busy day today!

Took a walk with my mother on Tuesday in Columbia Park.  So happy to see the sun again–it’s been a while.

Bonus shot of geese because GEESE:

I’ve been working (slowly) on finishing my partner’s vest this week, but I’m having a terrible time getting motivated to do it.  I am the worst at actually finishing things.  😦

Lately all I’ve wanted to eat are things in the category of “saucy chicken on rice.”  The latest entry in this category:  Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken.  Great dish to make when you REALLY want takeout, but also REALLY want to eat a little healthier than that.  Not at all quick, but not bad nutrition-wise if you serve it with brown rice and stir-fried veg, as I did.

Plumbing woes.  Less said about that, the better.

From another walk, this time on Thursday by myself at Chamna Nature Preserve.  I love all the textures and colors in this picture.

I’m craving spring vegetables, so this plate of veg was my contribution to Sunday’s get-together in Portland to discuss Paris-Brest-Paris plans.  I also made Green Goddess Dressing to dip the veg in and it was SO GOOD–so fresh and herby.

I also learned a new trick:  when homemade mayo breaks, put an egg yolk or two plus a teaspoon of cold water into a bowl (or blender), then pour the broken mayo into the bowl very slowly while beating.  It saved my dressing!

Shot of Columbia Gorge on the way to Portland this morning.  Beautiful, beautiful day once we got out of the freezing fog at our house.

Bonus shot of that lovely blue sky:

Okay, so it’s Sunday Nines.  Whatever.  😉

Have a great week and hang in there–spring is coming.

STH