This has been a full week of staying indoors and watching it rain. Each day has provided me with a short span of time to wander round on the porches with a cup of tea or bottle of water in hand and check out or deadhead my flowers. I'm continuing to battle with the critters but I'm hoping I'm starting to win a little bit. The remainder of the time we have spent indoors reading, watching television, and watching the raindrops fall. You know, these are really some of my favorite kinds of days!
- What I've Been Reading -
I've been reading through the notes and minutes from past Cemetery Association meetings. Not only have I been learning more about what the Mister's ancestors did within this community, but I've also learned a lot about the other people I've come to know who leave here. I've learned a lot about who is related to whom and what the originators of the community cemetery really seemed to have in mind as they were developing this little patch of the earth. I am astounded that the cemetery was begun as a family space back in the 1840s but there are so many recent developments that have only been in place for the past twenty years or so. The Mister's family started things off with their own family but later included many other close-by families in the development. I've been reading and learning about how the current record-keeping system was put into place and how the Mister's family has continually managed groundskeeping, tree trimming, and lots more. It has really been a window to this small community.
Then, the other day the Mister showed me a photo that was posted on social media and told me it was a photograph of his barber's son. Interestingly, his barber is the son of a guy we had a connection to because his father was in the dairy business when we were both growing up. I commented on the family resemblance of the young man to his ancestors and we quickly moved on to converse about something else.
Ironically, the same photo popped up in my social media feed a couple of days later. The young man, Carter, was being introduced as a local construction company was highlighting an employee of the week on social media. I clicked on the photo to read more about the young man and noticed that the company website showed a building that looked familiar. That building turned out to be the local Catholic school that was built a couple of years ago located right down the road from our house.
I dug a little deeper by clicking on the Who We Are tab at the top of the webpage and recognized the owner of the company. He was a former student! I remember him well and also recall teaching several other members of his extended family.
It is so interesting what we can learn when we take a pause and read a little bit about what is going on in the world around us. Oftentimes we find out that we have multiple connections and really do live in a small world after all.
- What I've Been Working On -
I took a risk this week and tried something new with my new sewing machine. One of the things featured in the Embroidery Design Guide is an applique option. There are a few built in examples of small appliques. I tried a little daisy-like flower. I had read the Operation Manual when I first brought the machine home but I didn't use it for applique, yet, so that operation instruction just floated away in my brain somewhere. I had been seeing some examples of a combination of applique and embroidery and thought I'd like to create something for one of the grandchildren using that technique. So, I dove in and gave the simple example a try.
The operation of the machine is such that the operator just threads the machine, touches a button, and watches it do it's thing. I am always fascinated by what it can turn out. In this particular case, I saw that it would stitch an outline of the design. First it did the blossom and stopped. Then, it did the leaves and stopped. A close look at the photo below shows the outline of the blossom stitched in red on the navy checked fabric.
Then, stitch a second outline. Finally, it would stitch a zigzag around the design. I figured that the first stitching sequence must be to outline where the design would be placed on the project like the photo above shows. So, taking some scraps of fabric out of one of my bins, I gave it a try. Stitching the outline of the design onto the fabric shows me what size and the location for the design.
After it stitched the placement outline stitch for the blossom, it would stitch a placement outline for the leaves. I cut a small rectangle of green and affixed it atop that outline stitching and pressed the go button. It then stitched another outline around the leaves. So, I took the hoop off and carefully trimmed the fabric as close to the stitching as possible and reattached the hoop. Next, it stitched the zigzag stitch around the outside of the leaves and then added the stem. The photo above shows how it looked when that was complete.
I layered the red print fabric on the navy check and added a little scrap of yellow right to the center. After pressing the go button, an outline stitch was added to form the center. So, I removed the hoop, trimmed the yellow fabric, and reattached the hoop.
This time, the machine stitched around the blossom petals. Again, I removed the hoop and this time I trimmed the red fabric before reattaching the hoop.
This time the machine zigzagged around the yellow center circle before doing the same around the flower blossom.
Notice that I changed thread colors to have green stitching on the green fabric and red on the flower blossom and center portions.
Finally, I changed the thread color one more time and upon pushing the go button, the machine stitched to add the details to the little flower. After I had watched and guessed one time, I followed the exact steps described and it took less than ten minutes to gather fabric, stitch, change threads, and complete the project. That night, I took the Operation Manual upstairs with me and read through it all again. I took the time to really examine the drawings and images that are included. The applique and embroidery technique was broken down into such simple steps that made what I was sewing even more simple than I thought.
The learning curve here is a big one for me but I am really enjoying taking risks and trying new things with this machine. This is one of those cases where I needed to work through the steps, revisit the information I had available, and try it all again. As a teacher, I remember seeing this happen for my students quite frequently.
Now, if I could figure out a simple, no-fail way to get the fabric in the hoop straight and taut. That remains to be the most frustrating part of each and every project I've attempted.
- What I've Been Loving -
As I have been practicing and learning with my new sewing machine, I have tried to create items that could actually be useful as well as beautiful. I've practiced monogramming cup towels and hand towels and beach towels. I've practiced on scraps of fabric that I am turning into pot holders or placemats. I'm sort of applying that waste not want not philosophy. I was chatting with my daughter the other day about different projects and how-tos and sharing what I'm learning because she is an expert in my mind. She has created and crafted such items and sold them. So, she has far more experience than me with this sort of project. I mentioned how I've expanded the size of some things and shrunk the size of others and how I've customized some of the pre-set designs that came with my machine and I think I am ready to venture out and try out some other designs. She suggested a couple of options I might want to look into.
Well that sent me W-A-Y down the rabbit hole into embroidery designs. I've looked at cottage shops on etsy and corporate connections from manufacturers. I've looked at flowers and fruits and vegetables and animals and all sorts of athletic sports themes. I've seen stitching on clothing and bags and caps and linens and wreath sashes and so many more beautiful projects. I think a person is only limited by their own imagination when it comes to these creations and I have really been loving looking at the different ideas, combinations, applications.
Maybe I have been a bit distracted and haven't turned out much in the way of completed projects lately, but it has all been time well spent, I think. My ankle's Achilles tendonitis is improving, my inspiration collections has grown, and my creative thinking has sort of gone into overdrive. I think our weather forecast for the next few days is rain, rain, and more rain. So, I am anticipating plenty of time for more browsing or maybe even giving some of the ideas a try.
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