Unprecedented

I didn't post yesterday because I completely forgot I even had a Diary! Bizarre. Just as well really because I didn't procrastinate at all - I spent the whole day doing stuff that had to be done. And today will be much the same, because what has to be done is right under my nose.

Or my feet, to be precise:



Yep, it's practically March and we're just now getting the first real snow of winter. Time to shovel!

Heart-o-meter week 4

February is almost gone, and with it the sort of midwinter misery that only seasonal chocolate can alleviate, but let's take one last look anyway at my favourite love tunes on YouTube:

The Love Shack:
Arbitrarily-timed view count for February 23, 2010: 1,006,401, up from 969,404 last week

Affairs of the Heart:
Arbitrarily-timed view count for February 23, 2010: 7, 890, up from 7,795 last week


I know I shouldn't be surprised that The Love Shack wins, but I really did think that post-Valentine's wistfulness, related to dwindling chocolate supplies, would drive more than 95 people toward Affairs of the Heart. Maybe it drove them out the door to buy more sweets, instead?

A young friend and I listened to Affairs of the Heart together recently and discussed what it might possibly be about. I asked what feelings you get when you listen to it.

"Joy," my friend said.

"The joy of love?" I asked.

"The joy of being alive," my friend told me. And I have to agree. I guess the video just needs more dancing.

Embroidering things

Embroidering: it's what writers are supposed do, right?

Maybe not literally but... I can't help it! I really like blanket stitch!

Yep. I actually enjoy taking out a length of embroidery satin and threading a needle and painstakingly working my way across an unfinished edge of something or other at what I hope will be (and never is) regular intervals. Since I finished the 2009 Christmas Mitten Extravaganza, I find myself sewing things out of felted wool leftovers pretty much for an excuse to do more of it. It's kinda like meditation except you have something to hold in your hand and look at afterward.

My favourite shade is a bright salmon pink I found in a discount pile at the local fabric chain store. It's a weird colour but surprisingly matchy for a lot of my felted sweaters and the projects emerging from them.

Like for example the bottom of a pair of sleeves I turned into fingerless gloves last month:


The colours are perfect together, yes? And the gloves - so useful in a house with no insulation.

How to make a child-sized art bag

Last week I made a birthday gift for friend turning 6; she's a very hip 6, so I thought another bag of art supplies was in order. This time I did a messenger style bag and, since the supplies included fabric markers, I decided to include a part she could draw on.

First though, I had to cut out pieces. In the main fabric, cut:

1 strip 5" x 39.5", for the strap

1 piece 10" (or 12") x 26", for the bag

2 pieces 6.5" x 10" each, for interior pockets.


And then - pull out a freshly ironed man's shirt, in my case acquired after the collar and cuffs had gotten a bit too worn for wear. The object of your interest: the buttony stuff down the front.

Line up the 10" (or 12") end of the bag piece against three of the buttonholes - this is easier if you've already cut off the collar - and when they are centred, snip into the buttonhole band at each end to mark the place.


Then lift the buttonhole fold a little to cut neatly along the underside of it.


After that, turn to the button band and cut between the buttons such that you have a clean run of 2 buttons on three different pieces - because mistakes happen, and you know that child is going to need backup canvasses. I cut mine about 6" long.


And then you're off to the sewing machine.

Folding right side to right side, turn over the tops of the bag and pockets twice, as narrow as you can, to hide the cut edge. Then press them and stitch them down.

Also right side to right side, run a seam down the length of the strap, turn it inside out, press it, and fold the ends up inside the strap before pressing them as well.

And finally, fold each of the pocket pieces wrong side to wrong side, stitch a 1/8" seam down each of their sides, fold them back so that the right sides face the right sides, and stitch a 1/4" seam to hide that cut edge.

Here is a summary of those steps:


Pin the pockets to the top of the wrong sides of the bag piece, and at the same time pin the buttonhole strip (preferably the side with the raw edge where it was cut from the shirt) along the right side of one of them and topstitch those into place. Stitch only the top of the buttonhole band; leave the bottom open so it's easier to use.


Had I planned the sizing better on my bag, I might not have had to fold in the ends of the strap so they were out of the way of the buttonholes before I stitched them down, ahem. This is where the 12" wide bag piece comes in handy.


Now the clever part: Take those button band pieces and fold in the sides and bottom, double, on the button side of the fabric. Press, pin, and stitch down.


Especially if you do the 12" width, you can fit in quite a few nice art things.


Your last step is to tuck two of the white squares into one of the pockets with a note explaining how to use the fabric markers to customize the bag, and then button the third onto the front of the bag - buttons facing inward.


I love this bag and I really think I need one in my size, don't you?

When water meets winter

My neighbour's outside tap burst the other day, right after they left town for a bit. Guess what happens when you get Niagara Falls spraying against your house overnight in subzero temperatures?


And you don't want to know what icicles formed a few inches from the tap when the water's primary obstacle froze big enough to block it from the my wall. (well, you do, but I didn't get a picture of that.) Suffice it to say it took their plumbers an hour or so to chip down the resulting ice sculpture.

A party waiting to happen

I completely forgot to tell you about my haul from last week's outing:


Yes, I did! I did find at last a supply of my favourite hot chocolate! plus a supply of my new favourite triple chocolate pecan toffee bark thing that is just... mmph. Fabulush.

Heart-o-meter week 3

Now that Valentine's Day (though hopefully not Valentine-related chocolate supplies) has passed, let's see how my favourite love tunes are doing with their YouTube views:

The Love Shack:
Arbitrarily-timed view count for February 17, 2010: 969,404, up from 930,743 last week

Affairs of the Heart:
Arbitrarily-timed view count for February 17, 2010: 7,795, up from 7,683 last week

Yep, the Love Shack is still leading.


You know it's the chocolate driving this week, right? All that sugar - people just want to dance it off. Me included!