Of Spring, Of Snow, Of Bleach and a No

The poor little flowers will be in for a surprise!

Pipe dream? Sunshine? Warm Breezes? It seems that is true. I just heard on the news that we will be having a wee bit of a snow shower here and there. It is MAY! Will someone please wake Mother Nature and tell her to get to work!

Precious time in the studio, my activity journal and my tea. I have so many UFO's that need attention and I thought I would share, just a few.

8 or 9 years ago I finished cross-stitching this March project. It was to be one of the pear series. 

This is a free series of patterns from Samplers and Santas, HERE!
I didn't care for how it turned out, so I tucked it away in a drawer and on the studio clean out found it there, forgotten, forlorn, neglected.

Fortunately the original pattern was with it. I traced a cutting line. 

I have no stuffing so I sliced up some leftover batting scraps. In my haste, I forgot to press the interfacing on the back, I stitched it up too large, filled it and clipped it closed. What a lumpy little specimen it is. It niggled me all night, today I will remove the stuffing, take it all apart and re-do it correctly.

I did manage to test the marking pens, the ones that are heat removable. They work beautifully! I took some photos, they turned out poorly, I will re-do those too.  Do you see a trend here, maybe the day was a bit of a waste? I did learn from the experience, of course, so we will call it a draw!

 

The old girl got oil and lube, she is purring like a kitten she is. This machine is a workhorse. When you use the shiny new model so much you forget just how hardy these old machines really are. It does take a bit of a refresher course to remember where the button is to turn on the light and to remember that the pressure foot does not stop mid-way to pivot and the needle stops where it wants most of the time. After that, we are good to go. I have kept this machine out because I sew up a mask or two while the big girls is doing some embroidery. It works well. We all get along.

I think I have two or three more masks cut out, I will work on them and then I am done for a while. This is one of the most tedious and boring exercises I know. I so applaud those who are still stitching away in the hundreds and I heard of a lady yesterday who is at 1500! My word, that woman is a saint!

• I'm tired, you know what I mean? Just plain tired. I sleep poorly, I seem to be repeating the same cleaning activities over and over. Well, not just seem to, I am. Disinfectants be darned, tomorrow I am not going to smell like bleach. I am just not!
• I took a leap and prepared my Summer clothes for wear. What was I thinking?
• Tuesdays are for our Quilt Gathering Group, it seems like ages since we have been together. Let's hope this is over soon.  

Who doesn't want a little cottage to go have a good think? or a nap?