Slow Stitching 2025 - Week 2

I have added symbols on my loose family tree circles.

Dad is the closest circle in blue with a green dot.

Mom is the next circle with the blue dot then I added a heart between them.

I have several aunts on Mom's side that I am close to.

Next are my siblings and I am close to all my sisters.

Next are the grandkids of which I am close to a couple of the girls.

Next is the great grandkids of which I am close to one of them.

So nice to have strong women in my family circle. 

Sewing Project - Repair my Bedspread

My Mom made me a bedspread 16 or more years ago.  She asked me what I wanted and I wanted bright and fun fabric.  She often used second hand fabric and I recognize fabric from Dad's shirts and other garments she made along the way.  I really loved the quilt. Nice and thin but heavy.

It has started to wear and I needed to address the damage before it was too late to save the bedspread.  She is no longer here and I have improved my sewing skills so it is all good. 

The damage is on the top and bottom edges. I do rotate the quilt regularly which explains why both edges are affected.  It is where I handled it a the top when I am in bed.

The front pieces were damaged as well as the backing and in some place even the binding was showing wear.

There were a couple of places where the fabric was ripped or very thin.

I zigzagged the large holes to stablize the fabric.  This will be covered by the fabric I am going to add.

For the hole I place a tiny piece of blue fabric under the hold and used he blanket stitch to finished off the edges all the way around.

There was one polygram piece that was just too thin to really repair so I chose to applique a full piece over it.

It took a bit to find a piece that was bold enough in pattern to match the rest.  The zigzag piece is the replacement and I cut it to be exactly the same size as the other.

I hand stitched small stitches along all the edges with sewing polyester thread.

I was hoping for poly cotton fabric when I went shopping but only found polyester fabric. It was the right color and there was enough and the price of $2 was right so it came home with me.

After washing the fabric, I set out to design a way to cover the damage without it looking to much like that is what I did.

I cut the band 8 inches tall. The fabric was 70" inches wide so I cut 3 strips to have enough to cover the width of the bedspread 2 times (top and bottom).

Once I had sewn the 3 pieces together I cut it in half.  I aligned it 2.5 inches away from the edge on the back side and stitched it down.  I also made a seam in the binding of the quilt along which I was gong to fold. I iron the remaining fabric to the front of the bedspread.  Then I fold up the edge to have the band measure 3.5 inches. I pinned it very carefully and then top stitched it down.  I folded the fabric in on the edges and top stitch those at the same time.

For a while before I started this project I thought I would add additional stitching to the band but I don't think it needs it.

More stitching would make it stiffer and that is where I handle it all the time so I don't think that would feel nice.

It took the better part of the day but the quilt will now last another 10 years.  

Super happy with the end product.

I washed it and put it back on the bed.  Wonderful!

Sewing Project - TV Chair Outfit - Blanket

This is my TV chair with its new outfit.

I received this chair from my aunt as a gift this summer and it reclines to bring a footstool.  I loved it.

I have been using the fleece blanket I had on the couch but it is too big and get caught in footstool when I get up and close it.

I wanted a new blanket, a new cover for the cushion I have been using and an updated head rest cover.

There is still a remote control holder to come but I have not decided and designed it.

I was grateful for the work I had done this summer when I found the great fabric. You can check out this post. 

I went shopping for fabric last week.  I found an large IKEA duvet cover in 100% cotton for a steal of a deal in mustard yellow, white and warm yellow. Then, a warm grey small fleece blanket in a good color.

I decided that the blanket had to be shorter and narrower than the one I had been using.  I spread the grey fleece blanket (50 x 50 inches) and decided I could cut some off the side (10 inches) to make it narrower.  The chair is 33 inches wide so 40 inches wide would be good. 

This was perfect because I had decided that I wanted a footwell on the back side where I could tuck my feet so the blanket would not let my feet get cold.

I first lined my yellow front with some white 100% cotton fabric. The final size is 61 inches tall by 42 inches wide. I created an envelope, turned it inside out and top stitched all the way around.

I stitched the grey fleece blanket to the back of the yellow one with a wavy stitch along the top and bottom edge leaving the fringe hang off the bottom.  

You can see here that the fringe is hidden on the back of the blanket. 

I used the bit left over of the fleece to create a grey fold over at the top where my hands are going to be touching a lot.  This will keep the white and yellow edge cleaner.

I then pinned the 10 inches x 40 inch piece of grey fleece at the bottom and sewed it on the back white side of the blanket. I sewed 2 additional seams to create a narrower footwell in the center of the blanket.

Now that I had the bottom and top edges stitched together I needed to work on the middle.  I decided that I would quilt around the squares on the front of the blanket in the top, middle and bottom rows.

I used yellow thread on the top and grey thread on the bottom so it would neaten up the look of the blanket on both side.

I sewed around the squares on the outside of the square so I was always sewing on the yellow fabric with the yellow thead.

Once I was done,  I later realized that I had sewed over my footwell on the quilting of the squares on the bottom row.  I did have to unravel some and redo it making sure that my footwell was free.

I have tried it out for several days and it works really well. Nice to have a bespoke blanket just the way I wanted it.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I finally found American White Pelicans at Beaumaris Lake.  There were at least a dozen in a couple of groups. 

They were getting along with the Canada Geese which there were somewhere around 50 of them on the water.  Thanks goodness it is a big pond.

I enjoyed an evening walk instead of my usual early morning walk. I walked from 8 to 9 pm.  It was a very nice temperature so there were loads of people on the path.

This shot was great because the reflection of the main pelican is good and you can see the reflection of the one next to him and the orange tip of its bill. The light is really good.  

The field blueberries were on sale this week.  My sister and I have been on the look out. She had often found them in her neck of the woods but with a call the regular supplier no they did not get any this year.

She called to say that one of the large supermarkets had them on sale.  I had my supper and headed out in hopes that there was supply on the shelf.  There was!

I bought enough to put 5 regular bags in the freezer and eat some fresh for a few days.

Thanks sister!

I am working on a bit of an update on the living room.

Now that I have another chair added to the mix I thought the rocking chair at minimum needed a wash and the buttons replaced.

I purchased the chair second hand back in 2016.  I had washed the covers then and as you can see it is white.

I gave it the covers a good scrub and a bit of bleach on the stains and it turned out really well.

I search my stash for buttons and choose these shell button which have a grey undertone.

It is nice to have that project done.

I am working of new cushions for the living room.  Trying to work in the ivory, deep moss green and the yellow chair colors along with the navy on the dining room table which sits in front of the balcony window.

A solution appeared!

I dropped the car at the dealership for its regular maintenance and I headed out to Fabricland to get thread and zippers for cushions I had planned.  I had purchased several different fabrics that I thought would work for the new green chair. Well, check out this upholstery fabric I found at the fabric store. It includes all the colors I would have wanted - grey, mustard, ivory, navy, warm green, and yellow in a heavier synthetic fabric. It will match all the chairs, include the navy, will last longer than cotton, and it was on sale for $5 a meter.  

I said YES!

 

I dropped off a bag of blankets to the rep for  Project Linus.  The blankets were made my 2 of my sisters.  I have not gotten back to making quilts as most of my fabric is still in storage and I believe will remain there for another while.

It was great to connect with this lady that I have been meeting for the last 5 years at least.

Project Linus provides blankets to people in emergency situations.  They are handed out by paramedics, police officers and fire fighters.  Those who need them get to keep them.

The book this week was T is for Trepass by Sue Grafton.  It was nice to have a visit with Kinsey Milhone again.  This story deals with a vulnerable senior who needs help after a fall.  There is no close family and a couple of the neighbours care but are not family. 

Someone is hired to provide care for Gus who lives next door to Kinsey and Henry Pitt.  He is known to be testy with the neighborhood kids and all around grumpy old man.  Solana Rojas was hired and Kinsey was asked as a private investigator to check out her references for the family.  Just the basics was requested.

Solana is a career criminal and has stolen an identity to get this work.  She is treating Gus very badly and has started liquidating his assets. She is restricting the neighbour's access to visit.  Kinsey is getting suspicious and eventually takes action to rescue Gus from his caregiver and saves his life.

I have to say having had ailing parents this story hit too close to home at the beginning of the story.  Generally, Kinsey deals with murders which is much removed from my world and is easier to accept in a fictional text.

My aunt invited me over to watch te movie, Avatar - The Way of Water.  We had stir fry for supper with blueberries and raspberries with yogurt for dessert. Yummy! A walk through her garden before we settled down for the movie. Only then did we discover it was over 3 hours long. It going to be a late drive home.

I watched the first movie (2009) - Avatar as soon as it came to theaters in my area. On a big screen with friends it was really great.

In this movie I found the war outweighed the family dynamics and values of the movie.  It is set up to have a third movie and I am not sure that I would watch the next one because it will be all out war.

It was a beautiful movie to watch!

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I spent several hours on Sunday taking pictures at the local lakes.  

These geese in flight was taken at Lois Hole Centennial Park.  My first time there this spring.  The water levels are decent but not a lot of ducks.

The black birds were in good numbers and the geese were making their presence known with much honking.

There were a few skirmishes among them and furious protection of nests.  Goslings should be around very soon.

It was a great morning with beautiful weather.

On Monday, I took a trip north to visit Mom and take her to medical appointments.  

I stayed overnight at my sister's place and we went Tuesday morning to final the details for Dad's funeral next week.   He passed away May 12th in his sleep as he had wished.

I stopped at the honey farmers and picked up a pail of honey.  I have purchased my honey from these folks for years.  We had a bit of a visit and caught up on life.  I guess the winter has been hard on the beehives and some have been lost to temperatures.  Very distressing for the farmers.

I use mostly only honey for sweetening.  In my tea always.

Another book finished this week.  The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley.  This is my third book by this author and I just loved it.

It is set in Scotland.  In the spring of 1708, an invading Jacobite fleet of French and Scottish soldiers nearly succeeded in landing the exiled James Stewart in Scotland to reclaim his crown.

Now, Carrie McClelland hopes to turn that story into her next bestselling novel. Settling herself in a small cottage in the shadow of Slains Castle, she creates a heroine named for one of her own ancestors Sophie and starts to write.

She seems to be very connected to Sophia. She writes then when researching discovered that what she has written is true.  How can that be?  Ancestral memory from Sophia maybe. 

The owner of the cottage she is renting has 2 sons who take an interest in the woman writer who moved into the cottage in winter.  One is a history professor in Aberdeen who visited his Dad most weekends.  These two connect over their common interest in the past.  This was a very good book and I would recommend it.

On Thursday, I dropped off another 10 blankets for Project Linus.  

These blankets were all made by my sister as I have not sewn a blanket since my health issues in 2020.  

Now with trying to sell my place I cannot have the place uprooted with a big project as it must be tidy most of the time.

I send these off with blessings to those who receive them in their time of need and distress.  May they be comforted by a warm blanket.

With a bit of rain the flowers have just opened up.

This was taken in my neighborhood.  They have a beautiful front lawn filled with red and yellow tulips.

It is a blessing to have such neighbors.

It is so uplifting to see flowers blooming, blue Alberta skies, and the temperatures rise.

We had a full day of rain yesterday which I am sure bring more green and spring flowers.

Have a great week.

Sylvia's Simple Shots

I captured this Nuthatch near the bird feeder which is along the stairs that lead to the river valley.

As you can see in the photo there was a bit of snow coming down.

I have been busy with family commitments that last few weeks and it was so cold I was hibernating.

It has warmed up amazingly in the last week and I have been able to have a couple of outside visits with folks I have not seen in months.

I finished this book a couple weeks ago. Revenge of the Middle Aged Woman by Elizabeth Buchan.

It is a story of reinvention of one's self after what as thought to be permanent is not.  She handled the challenges with grace and poise and won out in the end.

I found it encouraging that we can all turn a corner and see what is up ahead if we don't get too bogged down in the stuff of today.

I'm changing up my exercise routine a little bit to ensure I don't get too bored.  I have an MP3 player that I have used for pace when I walked on the thread mill.  I chose music with good rhythm and that I loved. 

I have started using that music instead of the music on the DVD.  I just mute the TV and do the movements which I have pretty much memorized the last few months.  I have been able to push myself into more than 1 mile with this music! 

The CD that I used are under the MP3 player.

I visited my sister this week.  We cooked hotdogs outside on the fire.  Love those!

She shared a cool find with me in these cones of polyester thread.  She found them second hand for a wonderful price.  I have been using cones with the holder I got for Christmas and it makes it less tedious to always be changing thread from spools. It ensures you have enough to finish a project.

This is the book I finished most recently.  Another reinventing your life book - Rise and Shine - Anna Quindlen. 

An early morning TV show host says something after an interview but is not aware that her mike is still live.   This ruins her career and she escaped to a hot tropical clime to recharge and make plans to move forward. 

Her sister is worried about her, her son is wondering where she is but he is away at college so a bit out of touch, and her husband told her that he is leaving her. 

With a break from the rat race pace of life in New York she finds a way to recover.  She is called back to New York when her son suffers an injury and she needs to step in to heal the relationship and the wrong that has been done.

 

A few goodies for the car.
 

 The USB stick holds all my favorite music which I can play in the car.

I added a wrap to the car blanket so it stays small and contained. 

I got some floor liners to protect the carpet in my car.  The are nice plastic and easily cleaned.

It was late last night when I was photographing my entry for Flickr Macro Monday.  The challenge is "Motion Blur" which means capturing movement during a long exposure.  You can see in the image on the right that I was able to capture the movement of the second hand. You can find my submission on my Flickr Photostream (SMDPics). 

I am sharing with Angie who hosts Mosaic Monday #121 and

Mersad who hosts Through Me Lens #280.

Have a good week!

Sewing - Car Blanket

I decided to make a new blanket for the car.  In case of emergency it would be good to have a good blanket with me. 

I was out on Monday so I went to the thrift store to purchase what I thought I needed.  I bought the navy fleece blanket and the black cotton sheet for the other side.

The fleece blanket is really too small for an emergency blanket so I googled and generally these blankets are 60"W x 84"T.  The old blanket I had in the car was that size so I decided that I would use it as a base.  It was the first bedspread I made in my twenties.  It was threadbare and very worn.  It would work well as a substrate for the fleece.  

The navy fleece would do the bottom half so I went into my stash of fabric and found a piece of white which would do nicely.  I stitched the 2 pieces of fleece to the old blanket. I did just lines on the navy but I decided to be more creative with the quilting on the white.

 

 

I did random geometric shapes.  Circles, triangles, zigzags, etc.  Some quilted the white to the base and others were added when I quilted that to the black backing.  

The back is a cotton sheet in black from IKEA.  I cut it generous in size.  That was fortunate because I was able self bind the edges by bring the black to the front and sewing it down. 

It was trimmed to 1.5 inches then folded over to the front and sewn down.

 

The final size: 59" x 75" inches.

This is a really nice substantial blanket which will be great for the car.