I missed the SAL Update on Sunday, I had done some stitching, but just got buried! My apologies to all of the members of the group.
So what was going on this week? A severe lack of sleep, my studio’s piano recital, which meant having two quilts finished for the seniors, besides the last lessons and program writing, garden transplanting that had to be managed between a 78 degree day and clouds and rain, and wedding dress alterations that have to be finished by tomorrow night, though the dress didn’t get here until Friday.
We are fine here, just in a squeeze at the moment!
The seedling shelves are starting to empty out a bit. Last weekend we transplanted the cabbage, Swiss chard and broccoli. We were able to get them in the ground on a nice cool day with a bit of evening rain. The cabbage is looking very happy, as is the broccoli, the chard not so much. The last two days have been hot (87 yesterday!) so everything is looking a little stressed. We are due for rain tonight and tomorrow so that should help.
The potatoes are starting to show, and the onions and garlic are doing well. The spinach is starting to show, but the lettuce seems to be floating away, there’s a clump on one side of the bed, but hardly anything in the rows. I’ll plant some more this weekend.
A happy potato
Inside, I repotted the tomatoes again, and I can hardly wait to get them in the ground! The peppers have really taken off now, and the tomatillos are up. I have plenty of cucumbers and cantaloupe now, and a nice group of Brussels sprouts. Still no sign of any sweet potato vines though.😒
The parsnips and cauliflower and being hardened off. They will be transplanted on tonight, the start of some cooler, rainy days, ideal for new transplants, since our rain storms seldom yield more than a half inch of precipitation at a time. Saturday, we will finally put some seeds in the ground. I have been out forking the ground next to the potato pits, trying to get the soil deep and loose for the parsnips, carrots and beets.
It does look as though we are done with the frosts, so soon we will be hardening off the warm season stuff and planting the beans.
As you can see below, things still look pretty bland, just the hay mulch covering everything. It is working, though. In spite of a very dry winter, the little bit of moisture we’ve gotten is staying in the soil, so I am encouraged.
Every stitch is progress, I keep telling myself. I am in a slog at the moment, feeling like I’m not getting anywhere, even though I know I am! Last check in I had just finished the center of the medallion.
This time I have half of the flowers around the medallion completed. Then, finally, I think things will speed up with all of those straight lines. Here’s where I am at the moment.
I put this on our queen size bed to get some perspective. The center medallion nearly goes from edge to edge. No wonder I feel like I’m moving so slowly!
I invite you to visit the rest of the group and see what they are up to as well.
This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another. If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.
The view is a bit different from the last update…..
We are finishing off a couple days of winter mix here. Today starts a short warming trend through the,weekend, then another couple days with lows possibly in the teens.🥶 Not quite what we’ve hoped for. The peas and asparagus that have emerged will weather it OK, but not sure about the honey berries which bloomed last week, or the plum trees. The plums have budded, but nothing has popped yet, so they might make it if they hold off during the two warm days before the big freeze Monday/Tuesday. Otherwise it will be another year with no plums; a good crop every 2-3 years is normal here.
Inside, there’s LOTS going on! The seedlings are really doing well under these LED grow lights. They are 12 x 12 pods with tiny LEDs in both red and blue. The results are wonderful, mainly because we don’t have tall leggy seedlings for the most part. You can see the little “trees” on many of the shelves.
The brassicas are still quite leggy, but the cabbage is starting plump out and I have hope that the broccoli will follow suit. I separated the cauliflower from the cabbage, hoping less competition for the light will help it.
I have also removed six canning boxes from under the tomatoes, chard and cabbage and Anaheim chiles, as they were growing into the lights. We will start to harden off the cabbage, broccoli and chard this next week, and put them in the ground after the big frost. We should have enough nicer weather by then for them to get established, since they do handle the cold well.
The tomatoes weathered their transplant into larger containers quite well; we only lost two. There are 76 of them. If they grow well, and the move outside goes well, we may sell or trade some!
My big news, however is the parsnips. I put a package of seeds in a wet remnant of a sheet, folded and placed 8n a plastic bag that has been sitting by a window. Two weeks ago there were some tiny root bits showing. Ten days ago or so, I planted the longest ones to trays, and did another batch last weekend. I now have 81 parsnip seedlings showing in my root trainer planters!! I am so excited! Last year I planted an entire bed and we got 6.
Germinating parsnip seedsParsnips seedlings
As for the other seedlings, I have replanted trays that didn’t sprout, but things are looking quite good at the moment. Now we wait and see if the weather will cooperate so that we can get them out when they need to go. This Solar Minimum is quite a challenge to work with! I’m keeping track for me below!
I have started my next project, but just barely! A wedding dress keeps distracting me! So, here is my first installment of the stocking for my soon to be son-in-love.
I also want to let the folks on Blogger know that for some reason my comments are not saving. I cant figure out the problem is. I’ll try again and use my laptop!
I have posted any knitting for awhile, but I have been knitting! I finished those red socks for DH, they look really good I think. Now I’m on a pair of plain old steel gray (man colors you know). We went to Runnings last weekend and I turned the heel and did the gusset… guess I need to go to Menards or Runnings more often!
I have been knitting on the mohair cardigan most evenings. I got to the sleeve decreases last night. I need to decide whether to add two more balls of yarn and keep going, or just work one section at a time. Any thoughts? I need to work on the pattern too. It didn’t show a front view, and the pattern was written for a v front, and I want a jewel neck, so I need to get that shaping figured out, time for some research.
It’s very light and very squishy. I’ve been saving photos of embroidery that I like. I have a couple of patterns that I like, but that won’t be happening for a long time. This or the sock will be going to the courthouse with me, so that I don’t scream with boredom during all the waiting during jury selection. So far I’ve been excused, and a trial cancelled. The next round is Tuesday, so we’ll see what happens next.
Last but not least, Orkney is patiently waiting. I have to change colors again, and just didn’t dig them out, but now I’m ready so maybe I’ll take it down stairs for some evening knitting. I have figured out how to do the armhole decreases as a steek, so on we go,
I have two more sets of socks still to work on, and I need to pick out another blanket square to do. I have no clue how many of those I have actually done, probably not very many. I’ve just been throwing them in a bag with the yarn.
The garden season has officially started at our house! True, we did plant some onions, peas and spinach before the last big snow two weeks ago, but only the onions were a serious planting. The spinach and peas were a hopeful experiment. This weekend we planted the seed potatoes we held back last fall. They were sprouting in the basement so it was time to get them in the ground!
Happily, the garlic planted last fall is now showing through the hay mulch, and the seed onions are also greening up. There might be some spinach sprouting, but no sign of the peas. I checked that bed earlier this week and it is bone dry. Hopefully the rain/sleet/snow we’ve had in the last 24 hours will help the situation. Good news is that the peas are fine, just dry, so they haven’t rotted. They may still sprout.
Inside is where the action is!
So far I have:
Tomatoes
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Anaheim peppers
Jalepenos
Bell peppers
Canteloupe
Cucumbers
Cabbage
Swiss Chard
Sweet potatoes
Parsnips
Not everything is up; still waiting on the cantaloupe, cucumbers, parsnips, sweet potatoes and bell peppers. Tuesday we did the first transplant of the tomatoes into larger pots, and we only lost two, so there are 50 little guys growing in trays now. Yesterday I planted my germinated parsnips…48 little seeds with root tails went into long, skinny germination trays. I am very encouraged! Last year we direct sowed a whole row and got six to sprout, so this is looking quite hopeful! I’m hoping to see something poking up in 4-5 days.
Anaheim chilesCabbage going wildTomatoes settling in to their new pots
We’ll be indoors for several weeks yet. It looks like we can start hardening the brassicas in a couple of weeks, but will have to watch them carefully if we move them out doors before May 10. It does look like we might have a real spring this year, or at least not have any May blizzards!
My daughter won this piece of fabric, but is no longer in love with it, so I decided to sew it myself. I wanted to do some experimentation with fitting on a sheath before starting in on my dress for Girl #1’s wedding, so thought I’d start with this simple, straight forward pattern, Butterick 4386. It’s out of print, but easy to find on Etsy and eBay.
I started with a muslin, and decided to cut the shoulders as an 8 and then widen things out to a 12 and see how that went. The dress is semi-fitted, so I left it as is, though it seems like it could use about a half inch out of the waist. I can always adjust the side seams, so for now I left it.
I used an irregular plaid from Pendleton, it is a light weight three-season wool twill, and drapes beautifully. I opted for a full lining, so remade the dress with some polyester from JoAnns, and joined them at the neckline. I didn’t interface, just under stitched and turned. The sleeves are attached to the dress at the hem, with a 1/2 inch ease in the hem. I tacked at the shoulder seam and at the underarm, and stitched the facing to the zipper. The hem is free hanging.
I am now elbow deep into knitting the mohair cardigan, and am seriously contemplating some embroidery to dress it up a bit more. I’ve seen some vintage cardigans with small, delicate embroidery and that seems like a good fit. I’m only at the dreaming stage as I’ve not yet reached the cast off point for the underarms. I’ll do a knitting post early this week, and share details on several projects.
Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings published a quilt along several years ago called the Magic of Christmas. I printed all the blocks, thinking that someday I would attempt the quilt. The blocks are all 6 inches finished and there are LOTS of half square triangles involved.
Lisa eventually took her instructions and published a book, so the patterns are no longer on her blog, but can be purchased. These blocks are a little bit daunting, Primitive Gatherings sells triangle papers, so she cuts triangles to size in her directions, but recommends you buy the papers. I have decided to try piecing without them, and after the initial try, I’ve been able to sew my blocks accurately.
I am using part of an old white sheet and red poly/cotton for this project. The sheet was lying unused in the linen closet (wrong bed size) and the red was the rest of a bold left over from my days as the Suzuki School uniform manager. Since it will be a wall hanging, I decided to use up stuff I had. I starched HEAVILY, and that has been very helpful.
These are all 6 inches finished; some have tons of pieces (81 is the highest number so far), and take some serious patience. Measuring seams is necessary to keep things correct, but the slow sewing is worth it. So, far all my ripping has happened in small bits, and when I finally get there, the blocks have measured at 6 1/2 inches.
I’ve been working slowly, cutting 2 or 3 blocks at a time, and sewing them in between other things. (I’ve been in a real sewing mood lately!) I am now up to Block 12, so nearly half way there, and still having fun.
I finished a long standing project yesterday, so long, it probably qualifies as a UFO! Last fall I deconstructed an XL Pendleton shirt and hung the pieces in the closet, so they would be ready when I was inspired. That took awhile! Truthfully, I wasn’t very motivated, because I knew I would probably have to take the collar apart.
This week I took out those pieces and finally started the process of cutting it down from an XL to a S, and it was much less painful than I thought! I started by putting a seam in the center of the back yoke, using my tried and true McCalls 7365, which I’ve had for 30 years now. It is a traditional men’s shirt with button down collar and sleeve packets, very much in the style of the Sir Pendleton model.
Using the pattern pieces, I was able to cut a smaller front and back, utilizing the existing button placket and front facing as well as the pocket, which saved a lot of time! The plaid had been well matched to start with, so it wasn’t difficult to line things up properly, and most of the trimming came off the sides.
The sleeves were another pleasant surprise. The length stayed the same, and the width didn’t change until about 3 inches above the cuff, so I could have actually left those intact. It was a small matter to trim the sleeve, resew the seam and reattach the 4-5 inches I had ripped out. I was able to leave the sleeve placket alone, which was another huge time saver. In the end, the sleeve head was trimmed by an inch on the front, and maybe 2 on the back, graduating to about 3 inches above the cuff.
Last but not least was the collar, which is what had kept me from starting the process in the first place. I knew that it would be about 2 inches too big, and wasn’t sure if I’d have to cut a new collar, collar band and the accompanying facings in order to finish the shirt. The pieces left over were pretty small, but I think I could have eeked out a new collar if absolutely necessary. I figured that I could use different material for the collar band and both facing if I had to, but decided to try slashing the collar first.
Again, I used my pattern pieces as a guide, and cut the collar in half, then removed a half inch on each side. Next, I opened up the collar band facing and the under collar, sewing the collar and collar bands as two separate seams. I then graded the seams and pressed them in opposite directions. I trimmed the under collar and band facing, pressed under 1/4 inch on one side, and hand stitched them into place.
As you can see, the side that doesn’t show is much lumpier than the one that does. That accomplished, I smoothed the hemlines at the side seams and moved the collar buttons. DH immediately put it on, and the only thing he wants changed are to move the cuff buttons in 1/4 inch.
All in all, it was quite successful. With that off my list, I have muslined a sheath dress I have been thinking about for quite a long time, and who knows, I may even finish it this week!
Have you ever tried altering something (fabric or not) and it turned out to be much easier than you expected? This experience certainly showed me that I could have finished this much sooner had I quit worrying about what might be, and just dig in and see what actually was!
