I'm A Winner!

A couple of weeks ago, Darling Petunia held a giveaway of a nightgown she made but whose pattern was too large for her to enjoy. Enter me and my busty bust and promise of a cookie for her winner choosing kitty. Not only does this nightie fit me like she made it for me personally, but the sweet pink prints are soothing and the crisp cotton feels delicious against the skin on these humid summer nights.

Thanks Darling Petunia!

More fabric for the Stash

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary

Crafting Things That Grow

Finally, I can show some more completed projects. First, my hanging strawberry garden. I got the idea from some lovely person on Craftster and I got the cans from my local mexican restaurant. Only one or two strawberries yet but these are ever-bearing varieties so I still have hope to see at least a small crop this year.

These bushes were already here when we moved to H-Town. At this writing, I cannot for the life of me remember what their variety is, I just know that it is a very old variety and that it has not been in circulation for several decades. The first one makes huge, lovely blooms that smell delicious and are as big as a grapefruit when open. The second is a similar hybrid that I apparently cut wrong the first summer because now it mostly produces the tearoses and very few of the big creamy blooms. Wish I knew how to remedy the situation.




Here I have learned an important lesson on the use of potting soil. One should not have to weed her container garden this much.






Some tomatoes in the ground, some peppers in barrels. Yes, I did notice that the pepper on the left is receiving less sun and is thus being dwarfed by the one on the right. Since shooting the photo, I have remedied that problem.









And, dum dah dah DUM! The piece de resistance! I have to give credit to, of all people, Martha Stewart for giving me this idea. She has the most lovely ginormous garden at her Turkey Hill home where she uses raised garden beds. On her website, she extols their use, claiming that the soil heats more rapidly in the morning thus yielding bigger harvests. In addition, they are supposed to be easier to weed and be less prone to animal pests. I cannot attest to any of that just yet but I can say that raised beds look prettier to me and that I was so incredibly proud of myself for having built them all by myself.

I found the lumber at roadside one sunny garbage day morning and hauled it all home. Mr. P schooled me in the finer points of using the circular saw. I made my measurements, then cuts and then really gave my powertool loving friends a boner when I pre-drilled the holes before securing the wood with galvanized screws. After assembly, I dug out a slight trench in the existing soil in the shape of the box and then kind of buried about an inch of the laid down container. Several bags of topsoil along with some compost from my evergrowing heaps and I was ready to plant.
















(L) A zucchini hill between two compost hoops.
(R) Chili pepper plant barely 8 inches tall, loaded with green babies!

Finally, something worth sharing.

I'm a singer. Mostly, these days, I sing at church and funerals and weddings. Lately I have been asked to do some things at funerals that are well beyond my comfort zone. Most recently, it was to sing with two unknown singers with no practice for a funeral service. I tried to advise the bereaved against it but she couldn't get past how good we sound on a Sunday. She just would not or could not believe that a whole host of clunkers comes out before the sound is magnificent. Just throw some musically inclined people together and magic is going to happen, right? Wrong.

I find the same to be true with crafting. I haven't been posting much lately because most of my recent projects have been lame-o failures. Some have been useful but not really so attractive, i.e. the enormous tent-like swing nightgown I made from the 80's style peaches t-shirt material. Some I just haven't photographed as of yet due to the pestilence and flooding that has ripped through the area, i.e. my new raised garden beds that were fashioned from garbage-picked 2x6's from someone's old deck.

Today I finally hit a pretty note with this sundress I made for my daughter.

This began as a remnant that Miss R. picked out for 50 cents at Joann. I also found a pair of white shoelaces in my great grandma's sewing box that are now living a new life as the straps. I'm particularly proud of this because I have not ever had a good result with stretch knits before and because I was finally able to make something happen with the Bernina Artista that has been loaned to me. I used the machine's overlock feature on the hems, side seams and arm holes. I was having some trouble with the hems for some reason but I still think it came out pretty well for a total novice.

Recycled

When I Said Random, I Meant It, a.k.a. A Springy Burst of Work

I have been trying to build up a good stash of material to play with when the mood strikes. While I know I can whip up a mean Halloween costume, sewing other kinds of things is iffy at best for me and I hate to pay full price for fabric only to make very expensive rags. In order to accomplish this good stash, I've been frequenting the thrift store and buying up their stock of fabrics. The following have been my recent hauls. Some are totally hilarious but were too cheap to pass up. All of them were purchased for under two dollars, most of them had more than 5 yards.







In addition, I have been saving various items that would normally go into the trash or recycle bin and trying to breathe new life into them. This item used to be an oatmeal cannister. I removed the paper label to reveal plain uncorrugated brown cardboard. I then painted it with white acrylic paint and a sponge-on-a-stick (my new favorite tool) and let it dry overnight. I then used a textural stencil kit to place the leafy design on it. I'm still not sure what it is going to be useful for but it did make me happy.



The last item was inspired by some crafty people on Craftster. I found a great tutorial for fabric flowers and was up half the night trying to make it work for me. I had little luck until this afternoon when I decided to try again. Again, I have no idea at this time what to use this for, but it is pretty and made me smile and feel springy even though it is gray outside.