Yea! It's Saturday!

I just love Saturdays! Even though I'm retired and every day is a weekend day, I still just love Friday afternoons and Saturdays. I guess over 40 years of working a 5 day week and taking Saturdays and Sundays off is a hard habit to shake. However, unlike the years when I had a job, I don't have to cram all the housework, grocery shopping, cooking, and laundry into 2 days like I did for all those years.  Now, I can simply enjoy these weekend days and put off those household chores until another day. Yea!

So, today, I spent time in the sewing room making potholders for my friend. She asked me to make up 6 pairs of potholders for her and I have 3 pair done so far.  These potholders have a couple of slots on the tops to put your fingers in in order to grip the hot item more securely.  I love how they turn out but it's a lot of stitching through multiple layers of fabric and batting. I'm using scraps from my stash which I'm happy to do, and will get reimbursed for the heat resistant batting used in them.  Tomorrow I'll tackle the remaining six.

I also am working on some doll clothes that a friend and I talked about. One of her groups is providing Christmas gifts to the family of a local military veteran and Kathy called to see if I had any clothes for a 14" doll, which I don't. I do, however, have quite a few outfits for an 18" doll and I'd planned on getting a doll at Target or someplace and giving it and a complete wardrobe to a charity this year. So I suggested to Kathy that we split the cost of a doll and I'd provide the wardrobe as a complete gift.  

Dress with a handknitted cardigan sweater

Puff sleeve dress

White lacy nightgown

Four piece corduroy set--slacks, skirt, blouse, jacket

Jeans with a red Tee shirt

Camisole and panties

Fleece coat with ribbon trim

So, she's getting the doll and I chose the above items for the wardrobe dept except for a fleece coat and a set of underwear which I have to make up.  I need to get some lace for the undies and ribbon trim for the coat, so I came upstairs from the basement sewing room to make a run to the local store and look at what I saw out the window! It's snowing like a sun of a gun!  Well, I'm not going out in that mess--I can wait a day or two to get the lace and trim, and besides, the gift doesn't have to be ready until the 17th.  Snow!  It's so pretty to look at, especially during the holidays when there are all the lit up houses, but not so easy to navigate on the roads.  Humbug!

Yesterday, while it was NOT snowing, I took this quilt to the county historical society.  Earlier in the Fall, they contacted me and asked if I would make them a quilt to raffle off during their February "Snow Ball" fundraiser event, and of course, I said yes. They chose the design from a book of patterns I shared with them and since this was a really scrappy quilt, I was able to make a bit of a dent in my scrap stash (but there's still a large pile left!) and only had to purchase backing and border fabric.  I normally don't use much black in my quilts but I really like how this one looks.  I may have to make another one to keep here at the house!  The donated quilt is throw size but I can see making one bed sized for us to use.  

I want to share something that happened with that black border.  In the center of the quilt I simply did diagonal straight line stitching and then filled in somewhat with a free motion leaf and vine motif.  For the border, I used a stencil and Pounce to mark the design and stitched it in black thread so it's very subtle.  I had a very hard time getting the Pounce out! I've used heat in the past, but this time, it didn't get rid of the white marks.  Then I spritzed it with water and still, no luck.  Finally I traced each line with an orange-based stain remover and a Q tip, and when I checked it in the morning, it was all dry and most of the white markings were gone or very faint.  I didn't want to wash the quilt, but I'm sure all the markings will come out in the first wash. I've never had this problem with Pounce before and I hope I never have it again.  Maybe I need to find a better marking technique for these dark fabrics.

It's getting late and it's dark outside, so I'm going to do something about dinner and then settle down for the evening.