Puttering with Purpose

Since finishing the drunkard's path plaid quilt top, I've been getting a few odd jobs done around the house.  We woke up to snow on the ground a few days ago, which has since melted, but it's back in the forecast now as a possibility for the next couple days.  Before things got too cold and cruddy, it was time to get a few odds and ends done.

It's coming...it's coming...it's heeeere!

I finally painted around the basement windows (one primer coat + one coat of enamel = one more coat than I anticipated having to paint, but it's done).  Then I debated whether to put up curtains on those windows or leave them bare.  They're just your typical narrow basement windows near the ceiling and they don't let in a lot of light, but what light they do let in, especially in the winter, I don't think I want to obscure in any way.  Still, cute curtains in the sewing room might be nice, eventually.

Guard Pheasant says he doesn't need any stinkin' curtains.

I woke up Monday morning looking out some very dirty bedroom windows as the morning sunlight filtered in.  That seemed like a task for the "honey-do" list, as Norm's been off this week, but as it ended up, we collaborated and washed every window in the house straight away Monday morning.  I must officially be an old fart, because the resulting sense of accomplishment made me incredibly happy.

An interesting gluten-free beer I tried recently.  FYI, beer also makes you happy.

Next up is cleaning the light fixtures in the bathroom and ceiling fans.  I can hardly wait.

Recently, I found a cute red quilted jacket* at the thrift store which actually fit my long monkey arms.  For eight bucks, I bought it.  It was perfect for fall, light but warm enough for more brisk days.

(*Norm called it an "old lady" jacket on first seeing it, probably because it reminded him of what our grandmas wore in the 1960s, but I pointed out that it was a classic, if not current style.  Plus it was red.  He ultimately came around to my point of view, or maybe he just resolved to keep his mouth shut on further comment, but either way, I WIN.)

Trouble was, every time I walked into or out of a store in the coat, it set off the security alarm.  (And do you  know, not a single person ever stopped me?  I paused and waited for a while, but when no one came to pat me down or check my bags, I left; one other time, the clerk who had checked me out in line just waved me through.)

It didn't dawn on me that it might be the coat until about the third time it happened.  Norm was along with me and said he'd had a pair of jeans that did that and he finally turned them inside out and found a little wire coil hidden along the seam.  That was the anti-theft thingie, apparently.  He snipped that out and never had a problem after.  So he said when we got home, he'd give my coat a going over.

I saw nothing that looked suspicious myself, but he felt one of the labels sewn into the side seam with the washing instructions, and there was a slight thickness to it.  We cut the "label" out, snipped it open, and sure enough, there was the security tag.  Mystery solved!  Now I wonder if whoever donated the coat had had the same problem?

In other news, I got new glasses, which was no small feat seeing as most trending styles are reminiscent of what I used to wear in seventh grade, or the cat-eyes my grandma wore, or the safety glasses my dad used to have to wear.  Nevertheless, I came away with something that didn't make me look too much like Velma from Scooby Doo.

Well, okay, maybe a little.  Ruh-ro.  But hey, they're navy blue, which matches my eyes!

Sewing-wise, I puttered in the sewing room too, putting away the rest of the thrifted shirt stash and generally cleaning up the mess of scraps, etc. 

This led to me experimenting with an idea for the curved shirt tails I'd cut off the shirts.  What if I overlapped them and then gathered the edge?  Might it not make a cute scalloped ruffle for, say, an apron or curtains?

Maybe.  I'm filing the idea away under "try again when you've forgotten that gathering ruffles is kind of a P.I.T.A."

Soon enough, my attention was grabbed by a small stack of corduroy scraps next to some odd flannel pieces.  I had been thinking of cutting the corduroy into long strips for a sort of 1600-type quilt that I would tie and use as a lap quilt.  One of my coworkers had gifted me the corduroy scraps.  But the flannel seemed to be wanting to play, too, so I started making half-square triangles.

First I lined them all up by color in long rows, but that seemed a little lot too OCD for me, so I started mixing them up, random like.

And then I proceeded to sew those babies together—as you do when you are procrastinating on other things.  I'm looking at you, "Tea Towel Challenge Quilt 2014."  All in good time, my pretty, all in good time.

Not sure if the corduroy/flannel diversion will end up being a small wall quilt more or less as it is, or if I want to add a border or two, or if it may be the start of a medallion type quilt.  It's a humble beginning, and I'm okay with that.

Because you know I'm all about that base (and bass...I really am a sucker for a good bass line).


P.S. - I like this version more than the original!