Making dresses for PP!! Now, PPJr too!!
Another Brother, from another mother!!
Sew, can you guess what this post is about?? 3 guesses!!
Some body say sewing??? Ding ding ding! We have a winner!
http://www.purpleslobinrecovery.com/2017/11/some-sewing/
Sewing is some kinda work!!
Yay! I CAN have pix! They just have to be old ones!!
Better old, than none! Right?!
This was my post from Aug. 23, 2016.
Enjoy this blast from the past!!
https://purpleslobinrecovery.wordpress.com/2016/08/23/sewing-suits/
Note: it involves going to a friend’s site too!! You’ll love her too! Just as much as you do me!
I forgot to tell the story of what happened in between Tasty Tuna Two, and Quilting Quagmire,
Okay, so there I was, with no foot on my machine!!
A very important part is missing!
Help me, Bella!!
Ya can’t feed the fabric with no foot!
I looked in my sewing box.
Nope. I looked in the drawer the box was in.
Nope. I looked in the purdy purple jar.
Nope.
Very discouraging!! Aha! Now I remember! XH had found it, and said, “Don’t you need this??” So, he knows where it is!
Nope. He said he handed it to me. {sigh}
Tragedy!
But, then it hit me, I had another Brother!
So, I cannibalized the new one, for the old one! Because the new one was from next door, when my neighbor died (at the MHP), and her daughters didn’t know where the cord was. So, hopefully when I have time to learn the new one, the cord from the old one will fit!!
So, then we had to try to make it fit. My fat fingers got in the way. (Also, I was afraid I’d jab myself with the needle! I have sewn thru my finger before, so my apprehension was well warranted!)
Thankfully, XH made short work of attaching it. At long last, I was ready to sew!! Hip hip, hurray!!
I wonder when , or if!! I will ever find the original foot????
An 8 house post. Brought to you by the letter “M”, and sewing.
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
#11 #12 #13 #14 # 15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20
I had to have a serious talk with Melinda this morning. “Listen here, Melinda, this is beyond ridiculous!! Curtis has been waiting more than 2 years now for Shirley’s quilt! (Since June 2015, to be exact.) You are grounded until future notice. Get over there and sew!”
She wasn’t happy with me, but she knew I was right. So, in a little bit, she texted me these.
Ya happy now?
No, as a matter of fact, I’m not. I won’t be happy till you have it done, and in Curt’s hot little hands! So, get off the phone, and chain yourself to that machine woman!!
So, she did. We’ll see how long it takes her to finish. It’s already 3/4th done, for Pete’s sake! And she doesn’t even have to quilt it! All she has to do is piece the top! (Curtis wisely confiscated the batting, and backing, long ago, figuring it would take her the rest of the decade to do it ALL. Good move, Bubba. You know your procrastinating sister too well.
I try to relax, and read, as the seconds, minutes, and slow, slow hours tick by.
Suddenly…
“YAY!” Melinda shouted, startling me.
“Are you done?? ” I asked, ever hopeful.
“Yes!” “Really? ” I queried suspiciously.
“Well, I’m done with the width….” Back to the machine for you!!
“But I’m hungry! And I need to go potty!” Melinda whined.
“Fine, take a break, but make it snappy!” I growled.
(More hours, and then days go by…..)
“I’m duh-hunnnnn!” Melinda singsonged.
Oh my goodness! Can it be true?? I think I better sit down before I faint!!
“Here it is!” Melinda proudly exclaims.
I pore over every square, and every seam. Well, that didn’t work out very well, did it?
Oopsie! Nobody’s gonna notice 1 teensy mistake, right??
“Yeah, about that….. mistakes happen, when you’re tied to the machine. Makes it hard to maneuver.” Melinda tried to justify. “The important thing is , it’s DUN DUN!!”
All of this was optimistically written last February, before I started de-cluttering so hard.
And today is Tuesday, July 31, 2017.
So, yeah, Melinda if you would just seriously GET IT DONE!! That would be great!
I tried!! Really I did!
Tasty Tuna Two explains what happened…..
.
And here we are on Monday, 8/21. Thankfully, still 2017!
And it really is done!!
Seriously?? YES!! See??
Ain’t it so purdy??
Oh, you mean the top is pieced. Well, yeah, I said it’s done! The whole quilt isn’t done until you have all 3 layers, and they are quilted together.
Oh, well then. The top is done!! I will show off the results to Sis Shirley on Friday, and regain possession of the missing 2 layers. That is if Curtis trusts me enough to return them!! He might decide to keep the top, and teach himself to quilt!
It would probably get done in the same amount of time!
Got up at seven. Got DD1, and babies out the door, for work, and day care, at 7:30. No, I didn’t pack their lunches, or make waffles for breakfast!! The girls get breakfast, and lunch, and DD is on her own!
Read my Bible. At 7:30, approximately, I ate my breakfast of a granola bar, and peach cola, at my desk.
Then chores. After laundry, and dishes, I sat down to sew. Why yes, I was beginning to feel like Cinderella! Why do you ask??
My sewing station, all set up in my room!!
Yes! I was finally gonna finish Shirley’s quilt!! (Don’t faint!)
But alas! What did I find??
A very important part is missing!
Or NOT find would be a better description!! Any seamstress, like Stella, would quickly spy the problem!
I know, I know! What does all this have to do with tasty tuna?? Well, I’m getting to it!
After a quick search of the logical places the foot could be, I was discouraged. So, I sat to grouse to myself. And that reminded me I was hungry!
Now we’re getting to the tasty tuna two part!
I wanted to make my tasty tuna “salad”.
Sadly, no blueberries on the grounds. 😦
But!! Aha! We do have frozen blackberries! Those’ll work!!
Blackberries are purple!
Easy peasy, 3 ingredient tasty tuna “salad”. Can’t get much easier than that!!
Purple tuna, in a purple bowl. What could be any better??
Nuttin’, honey!
All gone, gone!
Then, to finish it off, some yummy crunch.
Yessss!! Home grown goodness!
I looked at my phone, it was only 10:45 am. So what?? I had been working hard for 3 1/2 hours already!!
Now, to go look some more for that invisible foot…..
Stellar Stella was my first commenter ever!
We met on Dana’s A Slob Comes Clean. And fell into “Like” right away!
We had so much in common! (Well, not our ages, she’s still a young woman, and I’m a middle aged woman, but age is only a number!)
We both read ASCC, and comment!!
We are both struggling with housework.
We are both determined to get our houses under control.
We both sew.
We both blog.
We both live in… Oh wait! I live in Fl, and she lives in Australia. So, that would be a difference (BIG DIFFERENCE) then, instead of a similarity, right? Whatever!! We both live in countries that start with “A”. Um, Melinda??? USA doesn’t start with “A”. Well, America does, so there, smarty pants!
We are both photographers. Ahem, again, I must point out the fallacy of your statement. You, my dear, are no photographer. I take pix, ergo, I am a photographer. I didn’t say I was a great one, like Stella, just that I AM one. Ah! Agreed then.
We both ordered Dana’s book, immediately!
We both took pix of ourselves, peeking over the top of the book, without even knowing the other did it! (I thought that was too funny! Just something about that book, I guess!)
(Yeah, hers is better than mine. Can you tell she is a professional photog???)
Alrighty, then. Sounds like y’all just might be long lost twins! Anything else?
Stellar Stella was quoted in Dana’s book!!
Not that I was, or anything, just giving a shout out to my friend!! (But I was quoted in my BBFFJ’s ebook!)
So, that statement should have been: “We are both quoted in books.” Yes, yes, you are so persnickety sometimes!
Okay, I guess that’s all for now. But seriously, go check out Stella’s blog, Purfylle, and you’ll agree with me that she is stellar!!
My neighbor, Jeanette, gave me this jorgeous (hard “J” lol) lighthouse for Christmas. (I know, I know, here it is way into 2017, I’m still bragging yakking about last Christmas! Well, I’m not done with the topic yet! Sorry, not sorry!)
As you can see, I’m proudly displaying it outside. It’s light is solar, so it lights up at night! So very neat! 
She is so jenerous! Last year she gave me these gorgeous pictures, that she colored. She also painted the frames purple. She’s a great friend!
What did I give her? You may ask. Last year, I gave her an ornament that said something about being a good neighbor. (Sorry, I didn’t memorize it!) When I went to visit, the other day, she had it prominently displayed on her tree.
This year I’m planning to give her one of the cross stitch ornaments I made.
As soon as I find it again! When I finished it, I put it in the living room, to wrap. Then PP came over, and poof! It’s gone!
So, the treasure hunt begins!! I sure hope it doesn’t take me as long to find it, as it did to finish making it!
Well, never did find it.
(Update: this post was written Dec. 7. I found the ornament on the very bottom of the tree, in the back, next to the wall, where I couldn’t see it, when I was stripping the tree! On Dec.11, the very night this was published. That scamp, PP!! She knew I’d never look back there!)
So, since I knew where this one was, this is what she got! She liked it, cuz her tree is predominantly red decorations. Good job, Melinda!! Thanks!
Now, my joy is all gone….
Just kiddin!! I still have Jesus!!
IT’S DONE!!!!!
YES I KNOW o sorry, yes I know I was shouting, but it’s done!!!!!
First there was Kim’s kwilt Then Kim’s Kwilt Coming, then Kim’s Kwilt Continued.
And now finally: Kim’s Kwilt is Komplished!!
(I need to show you her pattern that she handed me 9 l-o-n-g years ago.)
All drawn up officially and everything!
After her college graduation passed, with no evidence of a quilt, I think she resigned herself to the fact that she’d never see it in her lifetime. And the only way she’d ever get ANY use outta it, is if her grand kids hurriedly stitched it together for her burial shroud. {These may or may not have been her actual thoughts.}
So we finally have arrived at the grand day!! Her graduation as a Doctor day!! (May 20)
I’m thinking of handing her the quilt, as she walks off stage, instead of the traditional bouquet of flowers. Whaddya think???
Maybe not. Especially since it was still in pieces on that glorious day.
Therefore: I had to default to the flowers.
Proud Mama and Doctor!!
Back to the kwilt:
Blood, sweat, and tears have gone into the making of this historic quilt. It’s the only one of it’s kind, (made by me), and will remain the ONLY one ever made by me! Anybody else asks for a T-shirt quilt, this is gonna be their answer.
That’s my look too!!
Same look, different task
Have I made myself clear?? I think so.
Sashing the final 2 rows together.
Final row being sashed! Yipee!
Preview, after top pieced together.
Top completely pieced together.
For the back, even more blood, sweat, and tears:
Do ya see the problem here?? I forgot to measure twice first!!
But, there were moments of bliss.
This is the finest example of a perfectly matched seam in existence today. Look closely folks, this might be the last one you ever see!!
Here it is Sept 26th, and I just now finished ironing on the letters for her schools. Sad, I know. But remember ALL the months of babysitting I did between May 20, and now??
Okay, on to the really good stuff!! Drum roll please….
Ta-Da!! Here it is in all it’s glory!!
May I present, Kim’s Kwilt Komplished!!!
It was already folded in half, cuz I wanted ya to see my face!
Now the back:
I’m almost having a headache from that lattice pattern spinning!
Finally! Kwilt done-done!
All pressed, folded and ready to ship!
I put much love into every stitch, Kim. I pray it keeps you warm for many years, and brings you many good memories of me, and how much I love you.
(Yes, sadly it’s taken me till Oct. 21st to finally get it all done, but, hey! At least it’s still 2016!! (Only 4 years, 6 months, and 1 day late! But eh, who’s counting??)
(Already over half way thru, and still spitting out those alliterative titles!!)
(Ignore the Hot Pockets. I promise I was NOT paid to sponsor them!!)
No, not darning, as in “Darn it.” Darning as in “darning a sock”. Which was the closest “D” word to sewing, I could come up with!
Yes, dear darlings, we are decluttering the “darning” domain, AKA the sewing room closet.
At first glance, not much here to do!
All that stuff on top shelf is contained, therefore NOT clutter! Oh yeah, the material on the chair needs put in its place, but fabric is NOT clutter!!
Yay! I can play a couple games of solitaire till the clock runs out! 
And…. then, I looked down…..
into the belly of the beast.
Oh NO!!!! The horror!
Yeah, *gulp.* Looks like there possibly is clutter there.
Oh, only possibly??
{Defensively} Well, Kim’s kwilt is the biggest portion of that pile, “sew”……
So, exactly what do you plan to do about it???
I’m going to finish it, of course! 
Any time this decade?? Poor girl has already started her job as a Dr. sans kwilt. It does get cold up there, ya know!! And here it is already September!!
Don’t nag me!! I’ll do it!!
Yeah, uh, huh, that’s what you said 9 years ago!
It’s 3/4 done!! I’ve been kinda busy…
{concedes point} True, you really have. Alright, just get over there, go thru the pile, fold the kwilt neatly, and we’ll go on.
Thank you!
Why, there was clutter in them thar hills! DUH!
Yeah, all this was hiding under the quilt. Put away the clothes.
Looky here! A family pic, definitely not clutter!
Even at 40 cents it’s not a bargain if it becomes clutter. And I had 3, that I didn’t use on St. Patrick’s Day, so away they go….
Now see, this is what’s bad about clutter! Ya forget what ya have! PP will be excited to dress up as a ballerina!
Oh man, here’s the squares for Shirley’s quilt that aren’t even
sewn into strips yet. Yikes!
Good news! These are empty boxes to recycle!!
I’d never even looked in this drawers. And there I was with no
stapler, now I have 2! eye roll This one is unnecessary
clutter.
I have better uses for that drawer. Like this:
Looks so much better, than just in a bag hanging around!! And safer too, cuz now I won’t lose track of them!
Ah! Looks good!! And no horror either! 
Declutterathon Darning Done!
Queen Anne’s Day 13: https://minimalistsometimes.com/2016/09/17/21-13-pc-cables-overflow/
Queen Anne’s other Ladies-in-Waiting:
Grace, at The CFO MOM Blog
Jen, at The Hidden Hoarder
Barb, at Decluttering The Stuff
Today I’m gonna dash right thru this little session. I’m decluttering the rat’s nest beside my bed.
The compulsory roll of tp, In case you don’t make it to the potty???? NO!! ICK!! It’s for my nose!! I guess I could do without the used wads. That would be nice!
The trash is a no-brainer, and possibly I don’t need 3 deodorants, at once anyway!! The pills are necessary, and the back scratcher, and the book. But the book doesn’t need to be there, you never read in bed anymore. And you do have such a lovely not crammed bookshelf, right over there! {helpfully points}
The necklace can be banished, probably the fabric scrap too. But what about the french fry?? Won’t PP notice that’s missing?? Probably not till she makes burgers!
Okay, I’ve documented the mess, time {See what I did there??} for the decluttering to begin!!
Timer set: 15 minutes. GO!
And she’s off to the races!
Huff, puff, blow down the clutter!
Almost done! When is that timer gonna ding?? This is the longest 15 minutes of my life, without any fame, even!
*Looks at timer.* 
Let me guess. {crossly} You don’t have to guess, you know what I did! Moving on!
Good thing I did this! I had 2 sets of duplicate bottles!! Clutter be gone! 
3 expired supplements. Not good, Melinda. I know, I know. Well, I won’t be taking those anymore. Wonder if that’s why your tongue turned green??
Aha! I wondered where the key to my heart went. Cute.
2 more pairs of scissors?? When you already have 2 pairs in your office, not 6 feet away?? But the big ones are sewing scissors! Very necessary!! And you couldn’t put them in your sewing room, not even 3 feet away, because?????? Never mind, back to their respective places now.
Wow, this Declutterathon is certainly turning out to be lucrative!! Thanks, Queen Anne!! It really does pay to clean your house!
Just exactly how many finger, and toe nails do you have anyway? This is the fourth pair we’ve found! To the bathroom cabinet they go.
So slobby sewing supplies. Sent to sewing supply space.
The third phone we’ve found! Maybe you need to add hoarder somewhere in your name??
Yummy! Chocolate scented dog Sister sent me! Not clutter at all!! I agree! Chocolate is one of the basic food groups! Ya NEVER get rid of chocolate!
Since when do TV trays have 8 legs?? Ya know, I never even noticed that 2nd one was there! *eye roll* Why am I not surprised??
To be sent to the shed shortly.
{Update: it’s been banished.}
Look what else I found. 
What?? Doesn’t everyone use their pill organizer as a safe deposit box??
Time for the big reveal! Feast your eyes on this!
So, so pretty! 
There, doesn’t that look so much better?
Yes, I admit it does. And look! 
I even upgraded to real tissues!
My, my! We are going all out!!
And the Declutterathon dash is done for this day.
Queen Anne’s Day 11: https://minimalistsometimes.com/2016/09/15/21-11-random-stuff
Queen Anne’s other Ladies-in-Waiting:
Grace, at The CFO MOM Blog
Jen, at The Hidden Hoarder
Barb, at Decluttering The Stuff
purpleslobinrecovery 
What an awesome first post! You just put it out there right from the start.