Handmade Letter from the Scrap Basket

I  am long overdue in sending a card to a friend who is enduring chemo. I try to send one every week or so but with the summer bronchitis  I have not been doing my job of making sure her bright outlook remains high.
I rummaged around in my 'waste' basket pulling out fabrics I have been working with lately - scraps - with no plan at all. The pale yellow knit from yesterdays knit shirt success 'wound' itself into a rose sun. Then a house with smoke? (sunny summer day here folks) and windows with some flowers growing in the grass and up high, an airplane.

All of my cards to her feature an airplane. She doesn't have to read the inside, she can just see the airplane and know that my thoughts are circling above her, watching out for her.

 I stitched the denim to some card stock and zigzagged for good measure and took it over to my cutting board where, horror of horrors, I used my fabric rotary thingy to trim the edges tru-er.

Now to find an envelope that fits.

Hand made as well as it was actually just about right to fit my odd-sized card.

This whole project took me about 25 minutes 

including the time to photograph and write this blog post.

And, it took two stamps because it slipped over into the second ounce and it was a bit 3-D.

I Sewed A Shirt That Fits

Thanks to having bronchitis and making bosses want to kill me for staying home, I sewed a t-shirt.

I subscribed to Ottobre  a year ago and was very pleased with the pattern designs. I first subscribed to the kids' patterns and I loved that Ottobre was designing patterns with ready-to-wear in mind as well as the fact that kids play and they wear knits. There is a lot of RTW detailing on the patterns as well as the basics.
I had heard via blogland, primarily Stitches and Seams and Sew-4-Fun, that Ottobre's fit was right on as well.
When I used to sew more garments, I was forever fussing and trimming Simplicity and McCalls (& Buttericks) patterns. They would add 8 inches to the length that I would cut off before I even cut out the pattern. I gave up with the kids because the big 3's patterns were so huge - if you followed the size guidelines on the back of the envelope. I would buy RTW and make a pattern from those pieces.

I  also got blog encouragement from a few sewers out there who were not afraid to take photos of their finished garments on their plus-size bodies.
With Ottobre's t-shirt pattern (#303 Women's best tops), I followed the size guidelines and --IT FIT!!!

This is what the pattern layout look like. A little puzzle to get your juices flowing.

At Sewexpo this year, I bought some Swedish Tracing paper which worked like a charm. You can trace a pattern piece to this, pin them together and pin-fit it without cutting into your fabric. The swedish tracing paper is a light, durable fabric/paper that has a bit of drape to see where you might need to adjust.

This basic T had three main pieces - back, front and short sleeve so it was easy to cut out.

Small print and a huge pattern layout meant I discovered how much seam allowances to add - later. Which worked out.
I planned on serging so I added 1/4" (6mm) to everywhere except the neckline.

If you squint - light yellow fabric with whitish pattern on top -

you can see me cutting 1/4" out from pattern.

The most difficult part of the shirt was the neckline binding. I have got to get one of those coverstitch binders for Christmas. I actually sewed this wrong but it all turned out anyway. I used my serger to attach the binding and then flipped it over and coverstitched it down.

Before pressing it, I thought it looked mighty fine. Like RTW.
Yeah, I know, I'm full of myself.

My bathroom mirror photos turned out the best and not too fat-looking.

There are maybe two things I would differently on this pattern:  maybe hem those sleeves a tad higher and bring that v-neck down an inch. I utilized this yellow micro-fiber performance knit because I bought some knits from Fabric.com in May and this yellow arrived looking a little on the pale side. So I figured, no problemo, if the t-shirt doesn't work out, c'est la vie. Instead, it surprised me with the great fit so now I need to think about embellishments up by the neckline. The yellow is a bit see-thru and it could use some help up there.

An Idea?

Show Wallets

I made these today.
Because I was home sick from work.
It was nice to be at a slower pace today.
I've struggled to ditch this summer bronchitis and my doctor yelled at me for working through it.
I took her advice and I will take tomorrow off as well.  I am undecided about Wednesday.

These little show wallets have three pockets and are perfect for your next airshow. You've already slathered on the sunscreen and all you need - in the crowd- is your cash and cards - just in case you spot something you need to buy.
Or for any other show where there are lots of people and your big purse is in the way. This little show wallet will fit in your pocket. --Leaving your hands free.

I sent a third wallet to Pencil Girl. She and I spotted this wallet pattern at a quilt show last fall. She's got the fair going on all week with her 4-H groups showing garments and food preparation and she needs a little show wallet for tickets, cards and a little cash.

I also cleaned up my sewing room this morning. My daughter moved her large bookcase out and that left some better room - for me. I sorted fabrics and put them away by type and color. Then I cleared off the sewing table of finished and unfinished projects.  Placed my magazine 'keep' pile in the file box. And then spent about an hour tossing the room looking for this pattern for the show wallet. 
I did find the pattern and then had to clean up the room - again.

Fifty Licks

Oh My.

My daughter, who is always looking out after her mommy, has found another winner.
Fifty Licks Coconut Lemon Saffron Sorbet.

You can  buy it here. I am putting the word out to my local Thriftway in hopes they will carry it.

"An alluring blend of coconut milk and lemon, infused with saffron, cardamom and star anise"

I have no problem with any of the ingredients and my husband likes it too. My other ice cream is from Coconut Bliss. It's delicious and also difficult for me to find to buy. My local Fred Meyer's carries it sometimes but more often than not, is out of the Dark Chocolate - my fave. Whole Foods still carries the Coconut Bliss line.

I will say this about Fifty-licks: The lemony taste outweighs the coconut and is super creamy.

Both of these ice creams are made locally. Coconut Bliss in Eugene and Fifty Licks right here in Portland.

I see a trip into Portland in my immediate future.

***2012 update. Well - the ice cream is no longer available at Whole Foods. Only on a food cart kinda randomly placed around Portland and the facebook page just tells you to twitter. Yes - that was a grumble. And a whine. I need to figure out how to make this.
Only five ingredients - how hard could it be?

Clear Lake Fish for Dinner

 

We are blessed with tasty fish in the Pacific Northwest.
Chinook & Coho Salmon, Halibut, Cutthroat Trout (land-locked Salmon) and Rainbow Trout. While there are both Rainbow and Cutthroat in Clear Lake, we caught only Rainbows.
I tend to be simple in my prep of local-caught fish using butter and lemon as my mainstays as they do not disguise the fish but rather enhance it.

I fill the cavity with butter and sliced lemons and sprinkle just a bit of pepper on top.
(Which is crazy when you think about it because we don't eat the skins. . . )

I think I baked them at 350' for about 25 minutes - maybe it was 20. See that lovely pink flesh on the large one. Fish are done when a fork flakes the meat away.

Served with fresh lettuces from my garden, the fish were stripped to the bone in about ten minutes.

 We pick through and give the skins and some meat to the dogs
and bury the fish bones deep in  the garden.

My edible peapods were left untended for one too many days and I shelled that whole big mixing bowl and gained a quart-size bag of peas for the freezer.There is a reason why no one shells peas anymore. It took a long movie in time.

Elusive Hummingbirds

Taking a photo of Hummingbirds is all about LUCK.
Don't have it.
Tried.

Everytime I go outside to lie in wait with my camera, the Hummingbirds hide.
There are several around. They suck my feeder dry in two days. They feast on my flowers.
But not for my camera.

This was through my house window.

 I had to write - look left -because the blackish blob in the middle 

is the hummingbird turning his back.
(Plus - I haven't figured out how to draw a line around an object in Photoshop.)

Camouflaged by a leaf.

My best shot.

The flower they love is called Lychnis. It blooms bright red-orange just in time for the fourth. Hummingbirds just slurp up the nectar from these blossoms.

When I lie in wait below the feeder, this is what I end up taking photos of:

 Beautiful foxgloves beside the feeder.

Rusty keeps throwing his ball at me if I sit on the grass. He looks so hopeful.

Clear Lake

Happy 4th of July everyone!

My husband and I drove down to Clear Lake today. We could have driven down to my brother's place at Rockaway Beach but our daughter was taking some friends down there and it was agreed that we could possibly cramp her style. Whatever.
So- we came up with an alternate plan of fishing Clear Lake. Just a couple of hours away, it turned out to be a particularly beautiful summer day. This lake is just past Detroit Reservoir - just on the other side of the mountains.
Gorgeous views of the Three Sisters and Three-Fingered Jack were our gift. That's about when I recalled - oh,oh - the camera. I had forgotten to even think about it as we drove up Hwy 22 through the forest with the river alongside us. When we reached Detroit Dam and the reservoir opened out - we were still enjoying the drive. But when the mountains appeared, that's when I remembered the camera.
But if we had brought the camera, we would not have been entertained all day with the pair of eagles fishing for their nestlings. It would have been hotter than 75' (just perfect!). And -- this is the big one -- we would not have caught any fish. Isn't that the way?

Clear Lake has a campground which we have stayed in many times. The especial times we have had there are part of our family time. This lake is special to me because there are no motorboats allowed - no jet-skis, no noise other than oarlocks creaking as you row you boat.
Not to mention the ducks dive bombing each other over presumed territory infringement.

There were other women rowing, besides me,who preferred to row looking ahead.
Trust me - you get a lot of practice and it doesn't take long to find your mojo.

We fished using Powerbait in neon yellow/pink. We caught our limit of both fish and sunburns.