Finished skirt and 70's embroidery

I finally finished the random patchwork skirt I've been working on. I got pictures of it and then got it in my Etsy store. I think it turned out really nice. Mildred is having some problems, though. One of her legs is broken, it's actually not her leg, but where her leg fits into the stand. I am going to see if I can glue it in place. I wouldn't be able to brake her down for storage, but that would be ok, she needs to be up most of the time anyway.

I dug out this crewel work butterfly that I bought as a kit at Salvation Army months ago and embroidered. I am going to turn it into a bag tomorrow. I am also going to trace the butterfly and do it in different colors, maybe using pearl cotton. I have a lot of it in several different colors, and it would have to look better that the pink and green that the original is done in.

Grandmothers Flower Garden

I was watching Simply Quilts this morning and the show was about making a Grandmothers Flower Garden quilt. I've never made one because they seem like so much work, but the lady who was the guest used plastic templates and the basting was just catching the corners down. Then after that you whip stitch the pieces together. I made my templates from some coffee can lids and old butter container lids. I punched 2 holes in the center of each template to pin it down while cutting 1/4 inch around it. I did learn that the seam allowance should be 1/4 inch; any smaller and the templates start popping out before every thing is all sewed together. It's important to leave the template in until all the pieces are sewn to it, I popped out the center template in the last picture. This is the greatest take-along project. And it's a really good way to recycle all the plastic lids that seem to accumulate after the containers have melted in the microwave or whatever. Or the yogurt cup lids. I have a ton of 1930's reproduction prints, so I'll make the flowers from those. All I need to do is find enough of a solid to be the outside rings. I'd like to use a pale yellow or blue, but I might have to go with white if I don't have enough of either of those. I also have a skirt to finish for E-bay. I got an e-mail from a girl who wants to buy the Celtic dress but she doesn't get paid til the 30th. She wanted to know if I don't sell it would I save it for her, so I'm going to tell her to bid on it anyway, and if she wins the auction it's ok to wait til the 30th to pay for it.

New top

I finished up the top I was working on, it's another hemp/cotton print one. I redrafted the pattern down to a size small. It turned out quite nice, and I'm pleased with the dyeing, too. This time I used Procion which is far superior to Dylon.

I'm reading Richard Heinberg "The Party's Over", and I may post a commentary later if it's not too depressing. I also have "Powerdown" which is supposed to give some good ideas about what can be done. However, in light of recent news about Saudi oil depletion I'm not real optimistic.

Vintage fabric and GBS II

I bid on and won this pretty vintage paisley on E-bay. I'm going to take it downstairs and maybe combine it with a tone ontone yellow I have and a navy blue. I don't know if it's going to be a skirt and top set or a dress. With it being 2 1/2 yds, there's enough to combine with denim and make a quilt if I wanted to.
After sleeping on it, I'd have to say that last night's show was the best I've seen so far. The boys were really just pumped, there was so much energy. There was a setlist published on the OKP, so I'll just copy it here:

tshialuk girls(Bob whistle intro)
billy peddle
donkey riding
when i'm up
jack hinks
walk on the moon(new)
paddy murphy
no cares (living room version again)
charlie horse
Scolding Wife
How Did
capt kidd
jackey's gin
(added impromtu) general taylor
black rum

ordinary day
here/again
(nameless new song tentatively called 1 2 3 4)
rover
shines right through
Penelope
king
Helmethead w/a nice little comment about chi-town hockey
runaway..with a GREAT sing-a-long before
( sing a long list: I Fought the Law and the Law Won
Summer Nights (yes from Grease!!!)
SWEET DREAMS
Summer of '69
and then... because we were so insanely playing right with them... Bohemian Rhapsody!!!)
Clearest Indication
con free
mari
lukey
encore 1 was bad as i am, excursion and fortune
encore 2 Straight to Hell (GREAT NEW SONG.)

I especially liked the Tshialuk/Billy Peddle opening sequence, it's really good, and from that moment on it was pretty plain we were going to be in for a great show. The sing-a-long was great too, the audience was so into Bohemian Rhapsody, Sean remarked that they never expected the audience to just go with that and sing it all. I always enjoy Helmethead, when we saw them last year you could tell Bob was a bit tired, but not this time. There was a moment when the audience sang Happy Birthday to the band when Alan noted that they were 14 years old earlier in the week. The encores were great, Excursion/Fortune is always one of my favorites, and as Chris remarked, they "tore up MariMac". There were so many high points, it was like the show was just one long high point! Chris was impressed enough to say he'll go with us again when they come. He said he doesn't like a lot of thier original stuff, but the traditional was really good. I have to say that I like both. We met a grandmother, mom and daughter there, the grandmother was from near Placentia. We talked to them for a bit and Sio gave the daughter her e-mail address, she had remembered her camera and was taking pics. She said she would send some to Sio if they were any good. It really was a great show, I wish I was going to be in Minn. tonight for the real St. Pats day celebration!

Great Big Sea

I just wanted to say what a great show! They opened with Tishialuk Girls/Billy Peddle which kicked, and then did so many other great tunes I can't even remember. They played 2 sets and the show was about 2 and 1/2 hours. Chris stayed upstairs in the balcony, and Sio and I went down to the main floor and she weasled us up pretty close to the stage. My hands still hurt feom all the clapping. They did Excursion Round the Bay, Lukey, I'm a Rover, General Taylor, Scolding Wife, Ordinary Day, Penelope, Run Run Away, Helmethead, Old Black Rum, Drink 'er Up, which I don't think I've ever heard live before, and a couple of new songs, and a medley of stuff which were just covers, and eneded in the audience singing Bohemian Rhapsody. It was just a kick ass show and I hope some one over on OKP posts a set list. Ok time for bed.

New dress and GBS

I finished this dress this last night and listed it this morning. I like the colors, and I made it bigger, which I hope helps it sell. Not every one is skinny.

GBS is tonight! I'm very excited!

Oil depletion

A troubling article in an Australian paper this morning: http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/oil-companies-running-hard-to-stand-still/2007/03/15/1173722655422.html

The Dyeing Season has Begun

Sio wanted to go up to Woodfield last night to Blicks Arts and Crafts, they were having a clearance sale. She doesn't like to drive on the expressway, so John said he'd take her. I went along and broke my nothing new rule to buy dyes. I knew I was going to buy them eventually, I had originally planned on buying them from Dharma Trading and having them shipped, but this was ok. There will be some things I need that I will have to buy new, underwear is one, dyes are another. I will continue to look for plants I can use, actually I'm kind of anxious to try the natural dyes on some of the hemp fabric I have, but here in Northern Illinois there aren't any plants to look for yet. It's been warm but only for the last couple of days. I'm figuring in April I can start again. This year I'm going to try mulberries, I know where 2 trees are.

That being said, I dyed a 3/4 yd. piece of hemp a pretty turquoise. I put in a bit of fuschia to tone it down a bit, and after it was dyed I threw in a hemp scrap and some cotton scraps. I left them all in for various lengths of time, the hemp scrap is the greenish one. I'm pretty happy with the results, and I'll probably use the big piece of hemp for another top. The small pieces will go in the scrap bag. They are all still damp in the pictures. I'm also posting pictures of Albert, he's such a handsome fellow.

Sewers Block! and movie watching

With how much I screwed up everything I tried to work on in the past 2 days, I finally put all sewing projects aside and just stayed away from them. I was talking to Carla and she laughed at me and said I had sewers block! I felt like I had forgotten everything I've ever learned above the level of simple sewing, because I just kept screwing things up. I'm happy to say that today it has been a different story. I got my applique done in about 30 minutes and am ready to start sewing dress panels together. I also listed the skirt and bag for the person who is buying them from me.
I watched the End of Suburbia last night. I saw it awhile back, when I first started thinking about the repercussions of PO. It is an excellent movie that every one should watch. There are some really viable things that can be done, although as several people in the movie say, it has to be a communal solution. One person alone really won't make a difference. And that's the hard part because a lot of people don't know and don't want to know that they are living a lifestyle that will have to change, whether they want it to or not. Matt Simmons, who wrote Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy; says every one has to watch the way they use energy. And there are lots of small things that everyone can do that will add up to a big thing! Turn off stuff. If it's not being used turn it off. Walk or bike, and if it's too far to walk or bike to, then take a bus, or if you must drive, consolidate trips. Buy local, including food, whenever you can. (The food one is going to be tough, right now at the end of winter it's pretty impossible. So many of our fresh fruits and veggies come from so far away. However, as is pointed out in the movie, the age of the 3000 mile Caesar salad is coming to an end). One thing I've been talking about forever is a garden. I don't know if Oakbrook has community garden spots but Villa Park does, and I could use mom's address. The ironic thing is that I would have to be driven to the garden spots everyday because I live far enough away to make walking pretty impossible. I could maybe bike, I'd have to do a lot of riding around here first just to get used to it again. Anyway, growing fresh food for John and I would be a good thing, and healthy, too.
Then of course there is the buying only if you need it and then only buying new if there is no other way to get what ever it is that's needed. I think it's really important for people to start doing these things now, because if we don't do them now on our own, I'm afraid they will be harder to do later when it's no longer a choice to use less energy, it will be regulated instead. It's always easier to change because we want to rather than because we have to.
Another thing that I'm watching is the housing market which has tanked so badly in the last couple of years. I don't pretend to understand economics, but I've read several people who have said that if it doesn't pick up then we will end up in a recession, and that if oil production truly has peaked it will be a recession that we never come out of. J H Kunstler, who wrote The Long Emergency (another excellent book, and who has a sometimes excellent weekly blog which I am going to add a link to), writes about the US housing driven economy fairly often, and it actually makes a lot of sense to me. He also holds out a lot of hope for the future if we can relearn the way we do things. He thinks we'll have to relearn how to do everything on a local level again, and that we will have to learn to depend on our waterways and a rebuilt rail system that would run on electricity. But the car dependent suburbs will become the slums of the future. They are not close enough to any urban centers, and in most cases they haven't been built in a way which makes community building feasible. It's been suggested that maybe some of the malls could be turned into multi-use buildings, but most of the land that could be used to grow food has been turned into parking lots. Anyway, it's a lot to think about.

Celtic Applique

I have this picture of a 2 headed Celtic snake which would look excellent on a bag appliqued in 2 colors, I'm not sure exactly how I am going to accomplish this, but I think I am about to give it a try. Bias tape comes to mind, but I'm not sure I like that. Maybe I'll try 2 different fabrics and just cut at the intersections to entwine them together. They will be fused down and then satin stitched over the cuts. I don't know how it will end up looking, but I'm going to give it a try and see how it works.

I was working on a small Irish chain wall hanging and I kept screwing it up so I put it on the side but I might go back to it today. I kept putting one of the pieces on the side on the wrong way, I did it about 3 or 4 times so I finally gave up. It's made with a shamrock print, a white on white and another green print. If I get it done today I'll post a picture.

The lone runner, an unsustainable future and an experiment

I was walking to work the other day, and as very often happens, I saw a person running. Not really a big deal, but when ever I see runners it makes me think that I am not exercising at all, I only kind of watch my diet, and all in all I live a relatively unhealthy life style that will eventually come back to get me. It probably already has, I just am not really feeling the effects yet. This time though, I thought about the contemplative time that you probably get from running. Usually, it seems to me, runners run alone. Yeah I do see the whole Willowbrook track team out at the same time, and occasionally I see pairs of runners, but basically running seems to be a solitary endeavour. I only know 2 people that run; my boss and Jimmy, and they both run alone. I don't know about Mr. Skeen, I've worked with the man for nearly 5 years, and I guess I know him as well as you know someone you work with, although I think he obviously is determined and disciplined or he wouldn't run the way he does. But Jimmy I know better; I don't see him as much as I did at one time, but I read his blog, I've seen some of his plays, Jimmy is pretty introspective as well as being determined and I'll even say disciplined, at least when it comes to running. (Carla might say that's the only thing he disciplined about). How many of his ideas, his thoughts about things, his creativity, comes from that whole process of being in a solitary world when running? That in and of itself is enough to make me think that maybe this is something I should consider doing, health benefits would just be an added bonus. I know when I walk to work (which hasn't been enough, although that's about to change), it gives me time to think about things that I might not if I were riding in the car. It's something to consider.
Speaking of reading Jimmy's blog, he and Carla were just in LA. He wrote, and Carla mentioned to me, that they were stuck on the free way and both of them commented on how it made them think that this life we are living is not sustainable. Now I have to admit that for awhile there I stuck my head into the sand as far as peak oil is concerned. After thinking about all the possible repercussions and scenarios, it just became overwhelming. I couldn't deal with it anymore, at it's very worst it's a fate that is scarier than anything else I've ever read about. I wanted it to not be true which is why I turned to John and had him read some of the stuff I'd been reading. He's my reality check, if I'm flipping out about nothing he'll let me know. Well, instead of telling me to stop flipping out, he first talked about it as a problem, and then as the repercussions started sinking in he stopped talking about it too. He told me he didn't want to think about it because it was too big. Well, I have taken my head out of the sand and really tried to think about what I can do, which brings me to the experiment. Now I have thought of this before, and I know there are other people who actually are doing it. I am making a commitment to make do with what I have, if I need something to buy it used if I can, and only after I cannot get it any other way, will I go buy it new. And if I have to buy it new, I'll do my damnedest to try and find it manufactured here in the US. Melissa pointed out that buying American is probably not part of the answer, and I agree with that, but it does go back to my belief that the hemorrhaging of manufacturing jobs overseas and the resultant shrinking of the middle class in this country is a bad thing, and it's my little token resistance to that. I'm also going to walk to work always unless it is dangerously cold, or really dark. Since the weather is probably not going to get that cold anymore this spring (although it's been so weird, it might, which is another subject), it should cut my rides down to about 2. It will be a moot point soon, anyway, because another thing I have to do is leave Hancock. I can't in good conscience, work for a company that imports and sells goods cheaply as a result of cheap labor and cheap transportation when energy is becoming such a problem. Not to mention the fact that most of those countries probably don't have pollution controls in place so they are also guilty in the changing climate. It's kind of too bad, because lately I've really started to enjoy working there again. I look forward to going to work, I really like the people I work with; I like having Joanie around a lot of the time, it's just been fun.On the other hand, though, sometimes I want to scream at the women who can't make up their minds between the blue or green 99 cent a yd. fabric. I just want to tell them to go get in their SUV's and go home, that the way of life they are living is already entering it's death throes and they should spend what time they have left thinking about what they can save for their kids and grandkids. Yeah, it's definitely past time for me to start walking the walk. So let's see how I do.

Birthday!

Today is my birthday, and the girls got me an incredible costuming resource. I don't have the camera working (I didn't charge the batteries again!),so I can't take a picture, but this is a link to the book at Amazon:
The Complete Costume History / Vollstandige Kostumgeschichte / Le Costume Historique
I've only looked through a fraction of it, it's huge and will take me awhile to get through but I really like it. I'd heard of it from the historical costume sites which I sometimes visit, but I never thought I'd actually have a copy of my own. It covers history as well as folk costumes up to the time the book was written, plus it also shows accesories, home furnishings and interiors, and just lots more. It's a great reference. Thank you Melissa and Siobhan!

I got the bells for the elephant so I am going to do the applique today and if I'm lucky I'll get the whole bag done. I'd like to get it in the mail by Friday if I can.

Custom Orders and Carbon Leaf

I've been working on an order that I got from someone who saw my elephant bag on E-bay. She's also interested in a skirt in my Etsy store, so it will be a nice sale for me. I realized that I don't have anymore of the gold bells I used on the other elephant bag, so it will mean a trip to Hobby Lobby which is always fun.
Today is the 4th, and in 12 days I will be at the Riviera seeing Great Big Sea with Chris and Sio. They always put on a great show, and I look forward to seeing them so much. They are the ultimate having a good time family band. The first time I saw them though, I saw them with a band from Va. called Carbon Leaf. While Carbon Leaf definitely can hold their own when it comes to the traditional Celtic sound, where I think they really shine is in their own music. Unlike GBS, who, when it comes to their own songs, belong solidly in the category of pop music, Carbon Leaf stays much more in the folk realm, although not at all in the traditional Celtic sense, much more in their own southern mountain music way. While I think GBS will be remembered for the wonderful way they take traditional music and put a modern spin on it, Carbon Leaf should be recognized and remembered for the lyrical and very often introspective original songs they've written. One Prairie Outpost, The Boxer, Toy Soldiers, and Shine are just a few that come to mind. For me they are just the perfect level of in-between traditional music and more electric modern music. It's hard to jump from Foo Fighters or Flyleaf to Capercaillie or the Irish Descendants or Gaelic Storm or even GBS. Carbon Leaf is a nice transition, and they have a lot of talent and a lot to say.

Patchy panels

Just a short demo on foundation pieced patchy panels. I cut a piece of prewashed muslin to a tiny bit bigger than the size I want, in this case I cut it 7 1/2" x 45", I'll trim it down to 7"x43" after I've done all the patching.

Lay a patch down at one end of the muslin, right side up. I usually pin the first one down.

For the second row, I've sewn 2 pieces of fabric together to make a strip. Lay it down on top of the 1st piece, right sides together, and sew it down through all the layers.

The 3rd pic shows the 2nd strip flipped down and pressed in place. And I just keep adding pieces til my muslin foundation is covered. I don't worry if some of the pieces hang off the edge, because I'll trim them when I'm finished.

Sometimes I make little blocks of patches and then sew them to the foundation, like in the last 2 pictures.

This is one of the best ways to get rid of scraps, and I really enjoy the whole process of making random patchwork. It's a lot of fun.

Celebrations!

John and I had our 30th wedding anniversary on the 26th, and we had a wonderful time. The kids decided to make us dinner instead of giving us money to go out, and it was the sweetest thing. Melissa couldn't be here, but she helped to pay for it, and Chris and Sio cooked. They made steak, lobster tails, baked potatoes and Sio found a recipe for really delicious cornbread. It really was a wonderful dinner and I think we have really thoughtful kids. They know what we like, and dinner cooked for us is so much nicer than going out.

John and I went to the casino for our own little celebration, I broke even and he lost $60. It was a lot of fun, too, and we haven't been in months and months, maybe even a year. But for me the best part was the gift I got from John. After losing my wedding ring and being without for years, he bought me a new one. It is the greatest gift, ever! He also bought me a watch, which is something I wanted and was going to eventually buy my self. I bought him dual channel memory for his computer, which is ok, but not nearly as nice as what I got.

I also did a little more sewing, I made this top from hand dyed hemp and a pretty cotton print I got at work and listed it in my Etsy store. It's made from a vintage pattern from 1973 that I got on E-bay. I owned a copy of this pattern back in 1973, I guess it goes to show that things go in and out of fashion all the time.

I sold the elephant bag, but the dress didn't sell so it's now in my Etsy store.

Wrap Skirt

Well, I just finished this wrap skirt and I think it is so amazing! I did it like I would do foundation piecing if I were making a quilt. It has taken the major part of my free time for the last 3 days, but it is really cute. I'm not sure if I should list it on E-bay or not, I really need to get some major $$'s for it, at the very minimum, $80, just because of the work involved.

I also dyed some hemp to go with a piece of cotton I have, I am going to make a top for my Etsy store. Holly and I each had a sale from there so that was nice. I have 6 people watching the elephant bag on e-bay, and 2 watching my dress.

Rainbo stars!

Well, I made this dress yesterday and today. If I were much younger I would keep it. Since I'm not it's headed for E-bay.

Elephant bag

I finished the elephant bag yesterday. Siobhan says the random patchwork takes away from the elephant; she might be right, there does seem to be a lot going on. Still, I think it's ok.

I have about 5 yds of hemp and I am going to dye some today for a top. I have a vintage pattern I got on e-bay that is the same as one I had when I was a teenager. It's kind of cool to use those patterns again, although now I wish we had kept them in the first place, then I wouldn't have to be searching for them. I'm also going to move some more stuff downstairs and start the rainbo stars dress. I don't have to work today so I get to go to the quilt show, too. This is the only time I will have been able to actually go and just sit and watch. I've always worked them before.

Quilt Picture

Ok, here it is, the finished quilt! It has some issues, I am not the best machine quilter, but it will have to do. I actually have 3 more tops to practice on, so I think I am going to start a new one soon. There's a 4 patch with black and tan checked homespun alternate blocks and border, I made it several years ago, at least 5, and I think I am going to do it next. The original was quilted in an allover fan pattern, and with all those curves I should get pretty good at free motion. But first, I am making a bag with the elephant applique and revamping my Etsy store. I made the random patchwork panels yesterday, so I really am more than half way done, they take the longest. I also am going to make the rainbo dress I picked fabric out for, and start moving some of my bins downstairs. This move is going so slowly, although if Irene comes to stay with us for a bit while her house is in the market I'll have to speed it up.
I was at JoAnn the other night and I bought a cute cotton with teeny red roses on it, I think I might take some time to make Chatty a cute new dress, too.

Finally Finished!

The quilt is finally finished! I am going to see if I can get a good picture of it when John comes home, maybe at the store where the lighting is better. Then I will post it.
For the rest of the day I have a bunch of catch up stuff to do, plus I am going to move a bit more stuff into the basement. I have a nice little sewing area organized down there now, and I want to improve on it.

Quilt progress

I haven't posted in awhile because I've been busy with the Heritage quilt, and moving my sewing area into the basement. I start quilting today, I'll try and get some pics up layer of both the quilt and the sewing nook. Chris and I cleaned the back closet out in the basement on Saturday, and I found my elephant collection, I set them up on the back of the bar. Since we don't drink much or do a lot of entertaining that would involve using a bar, I've incorporated it into the sewing area too. The fridge down there works and I am going to keep juice and pop in it so I don't have to keep running up and down the stairs.

Quilt Blocks

I'm almost done with the blocks for the quilt top. I was a bit worried about getting them to all square up to the same size, but after talking to Joan at work, who is putting the show together, I realized that I don't have to be. I can do strips in between the blocks that is different than the actual fabric I am using to frame each individual block. I'm starting to think twice about the fabric I chose for the border, it's a wave print, in blues, white and a bit of grey. I'm not sure, I'm going to look again and see if we have something that's better. Anyway, I want to finish the blocks up today and maybe start assembling the whole thing. I have cleared off the big table in the basement to quilt on, I'll probably just back it with white muslin, I have lots of it on hand and it's cheap.Plus, you won't ever see the back of this quilt, it will be hanging against a wall. I'll get some pictures up later.

Baby Dress

I stopped working on the quilt long enough to make this custom baby dress, I think it's really cute. It's supposed to go to a person who bought a skirt from me on E-bay, I sent her the pics.
If she doesn't want it I'm sure it will sell.

Newfoundland Heritage Quilt

I started the quilt for the quilt show. I printed up some of the blocks on Thursday, and started assembling them today. I think they look pretty good. Our scanner isn't working so I can't scan any more pics, but I'm going over to Chris and Richards tomorrow, and I can use his. I have a lot of pictures, my problem is which ones I want to use. I am using 5 different shades of blues/aquas for the sashing, and changing the sashing sizes block to block, just so they all equal around 12 inches long. I will probably have the width be about 11 inches or so. Anyway, I'm posting some of the blocks here. When they are all done I want to lay them out on the big cutting table at work so I can arange them the way I want. Now that I am finally working on it, I'm pretty excited.

Elephants and Great Big Sea

I made this elephant applique, he was inspired from the book John got me for Christmas. I think it turned out quite nice, I'm not sure what I'll use it for yet.
Great Big Sea will be here the 16th of March, Siobhan and I are going for sure and Chris said he wanted to go, too. They are at the Riv, and the tickets are general admission so I want to get there really early so we are up front. This show should really kick ass, since it's the day before St. Paddy's Day. It's a Friday, too, so that's even better. Last year they were here during the week.
I am going to spend the rest of today putting blocks together for the Nfld. heritage quilt I am making for the quilt show.

First Etsy Sale

I had my first Etsy sale yesterday, I sold a little eyelet trimmed strip skirt. I also sold the corduroy skirt on E-bay; I made more money yesterday here at home than I did at work. I'd like to do that every day. I am planning a dress which I am going to put on E-bay; if it doesn't sell there then I'll put it in the Etsy store. I also have a pair of pants I am going to work on. I ordered 3 ydds of cotton/hemp blend from Hemp Traders, and I also ordered their $5/lb scrap bag. I can't wait til it gets here.

New Bag

I made this backpack as a proto type for bags to sell. I like it, I need something bigger anyway. With a couple of changes it will make a great backpack.

Valentine's Chatty

Ok, I had to do this. I bought the fabric and spent one morning making this sweet little outfit for Chatty. When I put the Christmas stuff away I realized that she had nothing except Christmas clothes. So I dressed her for Valentine's Day. She's the only one that has a Valentines outfit. If I have time I might make one of the other dolls one too.
I didn't start my other bag because I need a piece of black corduroy and it turns out I have every color in the world except black.Siobhan, Chris and I are going out later today and I'll get some at JoAnn's. We don't have any at work either, plus it isn't on sale there and it is at JoAnn. In the meantime I am almost finished with a crocheted bag that I started the other day to use up some of the cotton yarn. I am going to line it and then list it on Etsy.
On a stranger note, there was a murder here in Oakbrook Terrace on Christmas Eve, mom heard about it and told me. Well my boss said he heard that the last murder here was in 1979, and when he drove me home the other night he asked where 16th street was. 16th street is the one that runs along the woods and wetlands that Sio and I pick berries in and look for dye plants. Well, turns out that back in 1979 those woods are where they found the body of the person that was murdered. It's kind of eerie, I kind of feel like we shouldn't go back there. John said that the body being left there is different than if the murder had actually taken place there, and I guess he's right, but I still feel as if it's kind of an intrusion. I don't go back there by myself much, anyway, and I don't go into the woods alone, mostly if I'm alone I just go right in the field inside the fence or over by the other townhouses where all the sumac grows. Anyway, it's just kind of eeirie and I wish he hadn't told me.

The World's Greatest Rock Band

Every once in awhile I go into an all Zep all the time mode, and I think I am in it now. I'm not sure what happens to get me there either; earlier I was listening to Yonder Mounain String Band. I downloaded some Flyleaf, Chris, Jeremy and Lindsay do a cover of one of their songs, which is quite good. Maybe that reminded me that there will never be another rock band, in my opinion, that has the stature of Zep. Without them rock music today would look very different. So I just put my Zep playlist in Winamp and have been listening to it. They are as good today as they were 38 years ago. Holy Shit, I can't believe that Zep I is almost 40 years old! Wow, that's just amazing! And there are kids still listening to them! There was a kid learning how to play guitar in the store not long ago and he had on a Zep t-shirt, he and his mom both said they are their favorite band. You can still buy Zep t-shirts at the store where Sio buys her clothes. Anyway, some time ago I saw a pair of pants somewhere, (I don't remember if it was on E-bay, or on a website) that had the ZOSO symbol up one leg. I save the picture, they are made from black corduroy, with ZOSO appliqued in a silver grey corduroy. I was thinking about doing something somewhat similar, but I want to use all 4 of the symbols. I could applique them all except Plant's feather, I would either embroider the whole feather, or at least the detail. I might do them on the flap of a messenger bag instead of pants. I have been thinking about doing something ever since I saw those pants, but I don't want to copy them, so a bag or a hoodie would be cool. I worked on enlarging the symbols tonight and got them to the right sizes. Tomorrow I'll pick out fabrics and start it before I go to work. I will probably not be able to sell it, I told John yesterday that I need a new bag, I guess this will be it.

Etsy Shop

I opened a shop on Etsy this morning. I only have 2 things in it right now, but I have a few things to list later on. I am going to list some of the pillows that never sold on E-bay and then bags as I make them. It's a lot cheaper than E-bay, it's only 20 cents to list an item, and then a 3% fee if you sell it. The store is free.It costs me over $1 everytime I list something on E-bay, and if I want to open a store it's $20 or $25 a month, I can't remember which, the fees over there keep going up. Anyway, at 20 cents I can afford to list a lot of things, so I'm going to. If I end up not selling anything, at least it hasn't cost me an arm and a leg like E-bay can.

Off Topic

I have been reading a book by Thom Hartmann called Screwed: The Undeclared War on the Middle Class and What We Can Do About It. It's actually a really good book.When it comes to politics, I realize that I am not as informed as Melissa and Gregory, or John. But I really think Hartmann is right on track. He makes the argument that without a strong middle class there can not be true democracy. Instead there is what he calls a "corporatocracy", which is dressed up as democracy, but which is not really democracy at all. When the situation is such that a person can only run a succesful political campaign when funded by more money than most people have or ever will have, it's no longer a government chosen by the people, for the people. It's a government chosen by big business. Actually he goes so far as to compare it with Mussolini's Italy, and quotes the Encyclopedia Italiana which said "Fascism should more appropriatly be called corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power." That's more and more what we seem to have today.I haven't gotten to the what we should do about it part yet, but I have some ideas of my own already. Now I have always been a proponent of restrictions on big business. I think that businesses should be taxed to the hilt once they have made a certain amount of money.At one time I believed they should be nationalized after they had grown past a certain point, I'm not sure that's the way to go anymore.I also think that the hemmorahging of good paying American manufacturing jobs overseas has to be stopped dead, and if you choose to manufacture offshore than you have to pay a price. Now I am a good Democrat, I voted for Bill Clinton, but NAFTA was a bad thing. I think if you are going to take your jobs somewhere else then you better be prepared to pay a high price to import your goods back into the country. And I mean high, impose all kinds of tariffs and duties on them. I know that Americans are pretty much spoiled, we want $10 jeans at Wal-Mart and a job that pays $20 an hour. Well, that just doesn't work. We have to pay a price, too, and part of that is paying more for goods so that our friends and family members can be guaranteed a living wage. We need to look back to a time not so long ago when we were the biggest manufacturer of goods in the world, when we had a strong middle class that made a decent wage and could afford to buy the goods we manufactured right here in this country.I think businesses believe that people won't ever be willing to do that, but I don't know about that. I think this last election for the first time in a long time people were saying "Ok, things need to change". We are Americans, push us too far and we might be having another tea party.
Another thing I think we need to do is reform the tax system. There can be no tax breaks for the very wealthy. None. Period.If you make over certain amount of money than you are going to be taxed big time. NOBODY and I mean NOBODY needs billions,or even a billion, dollars to live. Sorry, you will be giving that back to society, whether you want to or not. And you'll be glad, and say thank you that you live in a country that allows you to make lots of money in the first place and if you aren't then get the fuck out. Tha's how I feel about that.
And the other thing that I think is really important, and that I can directly do something about, is to clean up the way political campaigns are run, better known as Campaign Finance Reform. Illinois does not have publically funded state elections; some states do. John and I were talking about it and he heard someone say that it has to start at the grass roots, and be changed state by state. Once enough states have adopted public funding for thier campaigns, it will begin t0 change at the Federal level. I think that's right. I don't really know that much about state legislation but I'm going to find out. There must be someone I can write to, and I'm sure there is at least one group in the area I can join. If campaigns are funded by the people than it just seems like more of the elected officials would really be the peoples choice and not big business. And it would address the argument of people not voting because they feel that they are just voting for one scoundrel bought by corporate money instead of another. They still might not vote, but at least they couldn't use that as an excuse. But I think more of them would vote, because it trully would be there choices who are running.

New E-bay stuff

I put the drawstring in the skirt waistband this morning, and I really do like this skirt. The applique came out really well; I almost screwed it up with all the twists and turns. The pictures are a little dark, I'll take more for E-bay.I hope this sells, I've had 89 people look at the GD pants so far, but no bids. Maybe the colors are too light for winter.
The blue patchwork bag I did kind of like paper piecing, I sewed single patches and groups of patches right to each other and onto med. weight non fusible interfacing at the same time. The strap is hemp, it's not quite finished yet. This turned out pretty well, too, I am going to make another one in browns.

Memory Quilt

I forgot to mention that I have committed to making a memory quilt for the quilt show at work this year. It is scheduled for sometime in mid-Feb, I don't remember the exact date. I've decided to do a kind of Nfld. heritage thing. There are some pics of people; I have mom and dad, Nan and her daughters, my great grandmother, etc. I am also including some place pictures; Bull Cove, Brigus (historic and modern), the Newfie Hotel (where mom worked), etc., as well as some more general pics, I have a picture of Indian Harbour, Labrador; some unknown fishermen squid jigging; the Kyle and the sealing fleet in St. John's Harbour from about 1907. The reason I am including it is because the SS Southern Cross is one of the ships in the picture, and when she was lost in I think 1914, my great grandmother became a widow. I had some other older pics scanned before but I seem to have lost them from my hard drive, I am going to go over and get then from mom again, probably on Thursday; we're supposed to go out to lunch. I've been thinking of doing something like this for a long time so I'm pretty excited about it.