Wednesday, September 20, 2017

HODGEPODGE


Wednesday again already and time for the HODGEPODGE.  Click on the picture below and join the others.  Soo many thanks to Joyce for this party every Wednesday..





1.  What's something you'd rate a 10/10?  Tell us why....Hmmm goodness off the top of my head I can't think of just one thing that really stands out.   I'll come back to this and will let myself dwell on it a bit.   Ok, I am all done so I am back to this.  For me, there are MANY things I'd rate a perfect 10. Maybe I am just easy to please, lol.  Let's see....first off, I'd rate my Bernina 580 sewing machine a perfect 10.  I love it!  It does everything I need it to do with little effort and no problems. Though the embroidery attachment only gets an 8!  lol.  I wish it would accommodate the much bigger hoops.  I'd rate the job my hubby did on our ceramic floors a full ten as well!  They are better than new and so far seem to be holding up just perfectly!  How grateful I am for this. (I have a "weird" thing for flooring). And I'd rate the summer and fall gluten free soups from Panera Bread a perfect 10 too, lol.  I love soup and since going gluten free it is hard to find good ones.  But these are REALLY good.  Guess I will stop with these.  Though Sunday's message was also a 10!  lol  Sooo good and soo much wisdom and truth in it.  OK, now I'll stop.  Told you, I can be kind of easy to please.

2.  What job would you be terrible at?  What makes you think so?  HMM...again I think I may be putting too much thought into these.  There are jobs I think I might have been OK at when I was younger, but now with my age and physical limitations I wouldn't even attempt, lol   But one thing I have never been able to do well is anything artistic.  So I guess I'd be terrible at being an artist.  I can barely draw a stick man or make a believable circle.  I really admire people who can paint or sketch. I'd also can't begin to carry a tune so good thing I never attempted a singing career either, lol.  I am also quite bad at math (which can make quilting tricky sometimes) so I would be terrible as an accountant, or a math teacher.  Should I go on?  Guess this will do for now.  lol

3.  When did you last take a fall?  What's something you're falling for (in a good way) these days? Well, it has been at least 4 years since I have taken a fall.  But then I am SUPER careful because with my arthritis I have all over (especially in my knees) it could just be a catastrophe if I were to fall.  I hold onto rails, watch carefully where I step, and take my time.    Last time I fell I was hurrying up my neighbors driveway as I had dropped our hose off of our porch watering our porch plants, and it was shooting water all over her car! (yes, we are that close together, lol)  My feet were bare and the driveway was HOT so I was moving as quickly as my body would allow me.  Next thing I knew I tripped over the hose and found myself falling completely to the ground.  And on concrete! And right on my poor knees! I was not sure how I'd ever get up without something to hold onto to (I wasn't close enough to her car yet!) and I was all wet to boot!  Somehow I managed to push myself up (funny what you can do when you have to! lol) and thankfully was not hurt much besides my pride.

Something I am falling for in a good way is a whole new way of sewing with knits.  I have been considering getting a serger since soo much of what I sew these days is done with knits, but I discovered a foot recently I had that came with my sewing machine that I had never used that is used just for this.  It is a wonder!!  So I am falling sooo in love with this "new to me" sewing foot!  lol

4.  According to the Travel Channel, here are some of America's best fall festivals...National Apple Harvest Festival (near Arendtsville, PA, close to Gettysburg) Harvest on the Harbor (Portland, Maine) German Village Festival (Columbus, Ohio), Wellfleet Oyster Fest (Cape Cod) and Wine and Chile Fiesta (Santa Fe, NM)  Have you ever been to any of the festivals listed/  Which one appeals to you most?  Does your hometown have any sort of fall celebration, and if so will you make it a point to attend?  I have not been to any of these festivals, but the first one, National Harvest Festival close to Gettysburg, instantly caught my attention for some reason. Probably because Gettysburg is on my bucket list.  Out city does not really have any festival that I am aware of anyway, so no we don't plan on attending any.  At our old house we lived near an old downtown area that did a fall festival every year that we attended MANY times.  It was always fun. But no desire to do that these days.

5.  What is your goodbye message to summer?  Goodbye to you summer of 2017!  You were full of good memories of family gatherings, an awesome fourth of July celebration, a couple of good beach trips, and lazy days.  Not to terribly hot either.

6.  Insert your own random thought... 37 years ago I made my mom a stitchery.  That's what they called them in those days.  I don't know if they even sell them anymore and if they do what they are called.  It is basically a picture done in hand embroidery stitches.  My neighbor was into them at the time and taught me how to do the stitches, and we sat side by side stitching while our babies played all those years ago.  Well, anyway, I gave it to my mom for Christmas after having it professionally framed and it hung in her home for years and years.  When she passed away it came back to me and I hung it in our utility room.  Well, when we recently re-did our bedroom I had an empty wall spot and went looking through our home for something that I might hang there and came upon it.  However as I REALLY looked at it I realized that it was not only dirty (no glass on the frame....a definite mistake on my part! but at 25 what do you know?  lol) and it was just browned from age.  I decided to take the frame apart and paint it, (the same green as the accent wall) and then figure out some way to "clean" the stitchery.  I started with taking it to the dry cleaners.  Not only did this NOT do a thing, it actually made it a little worse as now I had some of the blue thread bleed onto the canvas too.  Soo then I went and got that product Retro Clean which I had used to take the yellow out of the old quilt that had been made by my great, great grandmother, and put it to soak for a couple of days. It had worked sooo well on the quilt I was really quite hopeful. Well, it kind of helped, but not really.  It was STILL browning and now a lot of the bright orange had faded from the yarn as well.  Sooooo my next step was straight bleach.  I started by just dipping my finger in a little bit of straight bleach and rubbing it around on little areas, and by the time I had finished I was dumping full cap-fulls of bleach onto the brown spots.  Finally I got some results!  After working on it for over an hour I put it into my washing machine on HOT water, and super delicate wash.  I figured if it ruined it at this point, it was ruined anyway.  Well......it actually came out pretty good!  It is NOT the same vibrant colors that it was in its originality, (but then we all fade a little through the years don't we? lol") I have not re-framed it....though I did paint it....as I intend to put glass in it this time.

HERE IT WAS...THE LIGHT WAS SOO BRIGHT WHEN I TOOK THIS THAT IT DOESN'T LOOK AS BAD AS IT REALLY WAS

THIS IS JUST SO YOU CAN SEE HOW VIBRANT THE YARN COLORS WERE

HERE IT IS BEGINNING TO SOAK AND YOU CAN SEE HERE MUCH BETTER HOW MUCH IT HAD BROWNED AND NEAR THE BOTTOM WHERE THE BLUE HAD BLED

HERE IT IS NOW....NO BROWN OR BLUE, BUT NO BRIGHT ORANGE EITHER...LOL

I JUST LAID THE GREEN FRAME ON IT SO YOU CAN GET THE IDEA.  IT STILL NEEDS TO BE PRESSED AND STRETCHED ONTO THE CANVAS, AND I NEED TO GET SOME GLASS FOR THE FRAME



I AM GOING TO PUT IT ON THAT SMALL WALL THERE BY THE LITTLE TREE.  THE COLORS SHOULD ALL GO PRETTY WELL I THINK.


Hope you are all having a good week!  Busy trying to get the sewing done I need to do by a week from this Friday when Melody and her family will be here for the wedding.  I am almost finished with the Halloween pj's, and I want to make Sam a hoodie for his birthday too.  The silk flower for the flower girl dress arrived yesterday....finally....I was starting to panic, guess it went to the wrong address.  Anyway, I REALLY like how it looks on the dress.  Let me show you...

IT FINISHED IT OFF JUST RIGHT I THINK....I DO STILL NEED TO GET A HOOK AND EYE FOR THE BACK, BUT THEN IT'S ALL DONE.  CAN'T WAIT TO SEE IT ON HER!
CLAIRE HAS A REAL LOVE FOR KITTIES RIGHT NOW SO KNEW THIS FABRIC WOULD WORK FOR HER!

AND BOTH SAM AND LUKE ARE REALLY INTO SNAKES RIGHT NOW, SO ANOTHER PERFECT CHOICE.  I GOT THESE KNITS FROM JOANNE'S WHICH IS A FIRST FOR THEM TO CARRY SEASONAL KNITS LIKE THESE.  THEY ARE NICE TO WORK WITH, BUT NOT NEARLY AS NICE AS THE SPECIALTY SHOPS.  WHAT CAN I SAY, I'VE GOTTEN SPOILED BY THEM, LOL, JUST WISH THEY WERE NOT SOO PRICEY!
Hope you all enjoy the rest of your week!  Blessings to you all!  Debbie




8 comments:

  1. What a beautiful piece of embroidery! I like the more subdued colors and think it will be perfect in your chosen spot. What a keepsake. I have a counted cross-stitch piece that my daughter did for me some 24 years ago that I have framed and hanging in one of my guest rooms. It is a true treasure. Good to visit with you today.

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  2. OH Deb, the embroidery is absolutely beautiful, I can understand you trying to save it, for several reasons, its beauty, and because it was a gift to your mom, I can imagine the times she walked by it and thought of you.
    I must disagree, to me you are a wonderful artist, I so envy your ability to create so many beautiful treasures1 Thank you for sharing your Hodgepodge thoughts and for visiting, it would be so wonderful to meet and visit friends here in blogland have a blessed day,
    Sue

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  3. That embroidery is darling...I like it both ways. Some people actually age their work on purpose so that's what the browning looked like to me. The cleaned version looks muted and dreamy.

    The flower does perfectly complete the dress. Claire will be darling in it. And all the children will love their pjs.

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  4. Yes, the embroidery is lovely and hats off to you for not giving up. This was a fun HP and it's always fun reading everyone's answers. Happy mid week!!!!

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  5. Well you are a wonderful seamstress which is a form of art I'd say. I used to do cross stitch but haven't in years. I'd definitely need some kind of super magnifier to try it now : ) Have a great day!

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  6. Oh Debbie, Debbie, Debbie! But you ARE artistic! Your sewing abilities. Your decorating. Your writing. You need to pay attention. You're terrifically talented.

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  7. I was thinking along the same line as Nonnie when I read your answer to #1! You definitely have an artistic bent, friend! ("Art" is more than drawing.)

    What a beautiful flower girl dress. Can't wait to see it on the flower girl!

    It was a great idea to restore the embroidery that you did for your mom. It will look lovely in your room and inspire warm memories too.

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  8. Debbie, I was also into the "stitchery" back then...I think it was maybe called "crewel". It sure it a beautiful piece, even before you cleaned it. I actually think the fading of the colors somewhat softened it up a bit and it will look great when you get it back in it's frame! And when you said you were not artistic, I have to beg to differ with you...you are most definitely an artist when it comes to those darling outfits! Art does not have to be about brushes and paint!

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I am so glad that you would take the time to comment on my thoughts and feelings, it is such a blessing to me!