Should I Be Worried?

After writing the post about Oscar the Cat and his uncanny ability to predict the state of being or non-being of nursing home residents prior to their passing, I began to think about my own three cats.

I have always said that at least one of our cats in each generation is what I call 'a healing cat'. That cat possesses the unique ability of sensing pain and very carefully places themself upon the spot which hurts and stays there for a very long time. It is extremely comforting and gives one the feeling of being understood and com-passioned.

Because of this, I refer to this ability and to this sharing act as a feline form of therapeutic energy healing and I find it personally precious and delightful to feel this sense of caring from a sweet animal.

However, that being said, after posting about Oscar the Cat and his nursing home duty in Providence (of all places) Rhode Island....and viewing this older photo of my own three cats...should I be worried?

In order to properly assess the gravity of this situation, and not just my supine position on the matter...you should know this. Two of these cats are sisters, the other is the alpha female, and none of them ordinarily get along nor do they enjoy being in close proximity to one another....

Oscar the (Nursing Home) Cat

When Dr. David Dosa M.D. M.P.H. first published an article in the New England Journal of Medicine on Oscar the Cat, little did he realize the furor his article would create. Nor could he possibly predict that Oscar the Steere Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center cat in Providence, R.I. would be nominated as one of the top strangest news stories of 2007.

Oscar, who was adopted by the staff of the nursing home as a young kitten from an animal shelter, seems to have an uncanny ability to predict the impending death of the residents of a facility which treats patients with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other illnesses.

Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work there, said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patients at the nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill. She was convinced of Oscar's talent when he made his 13th correct call.

While observing one patient, Teno said she noticed the woman wasn't eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish tinge, signs that often mean death is near. Oscar wouldn't stay inside the room, however, so Teno thought his streak was broken. Instead, it turned out the doctor's prediction was roughly 10 hours too early. Sure enough, during the patient's final two hours, nurses told Teno that Oscar joined the woman at her bedside.

While some unkindly refer to Oscar as "The Kitty of Death", Doctors say most of the more than 25 people who received a predictably noted last visit from Oscar are so ill they probably never even knew he was there, so patients aren't even aware of his unique ability nor do they appear to be afraid of him.

"I first heard about him from the nurses on the unit," said Dr. David Dosa, also a geriatrician at a Rhode Island Hospital and an assistant professor of medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, R.I. "It came to light that he was spending time with patients as they were becoming terminal." The cat, Dosa says, seems to snap to attention when he senses a patient is about to die."

Dosa tells of Oscar arriving at the room of a woman and curling up beside her for more than an hour, purring and paying attention to the patient as the family arrives and the priest gives last rites, then quietly taking his leave minutes after the woman passes away."As people would pass, the question was always, 'Was Oscar at the bedside?'"And the answer was invariably 'yes.'

"Oscar typically arrives at a dying patient's bedside a few hours before death, Dosa says, but sometimes a half day before. His presence has been a comfort to many family members. And his presence, coupled with a resident's worsening state of health, can help alert the nursing home staff to let family members know the patient may be nearing death.

"I think there are certain chemicals released when some one is dying, and he is smelling and sensing those," says Joan Teno, MD, professor of community health and medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, R.I., who also cares for Steere House residents.

Another possibility: "I think he is following the patterning behavior of the staff," Teno stated, "This is an excellent nursing home. If a dying person is alone, the staff will actually go in so the patient is not alone. They will hold a vigil."Oscar has seen that pattern repeated many times, she says, and may be mimicking it."Animals are intuitive," she says. "We don't give them enough credit."

Most families are grateful for the advance warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure. Most are grateful to be notified and have enough time to gather around their loved one and be able to spend last precious moments together.

Fabric Bags and Birthday Card Envelopes

Our family chooses to only use gift wrap that is reusable. For Christmas, all of my gifts were wrapped in fabric and either self tied with the corners of that fabric or simply wrapped with ribbons, rick rack or cordings.

I am now in the process of adding to my shaped gift bag collection for all occasions. In this case, I made a fabric envelope for a homemade birthday card. I created this one yesterday...just in time for a family birthday party.

The block pattern is actually from Marcia Hohn's collection at Quilter's Cache. She calls this pattern Indian Star. By using busy fish patterned fabrics next to one another, it created a lovely muted effect that I felt was very reminiscent of looking at fish under water.

And it went with the fabric that the actual gifts were wrapped in...and with my theme, as well ;)

The Queen is Dead, Long Live the Queen

In other times and different places, when a king died it was proclaimed 'The King is dead, long live the king." The meaning and intent was to create a line of succession. One had passed on to a new and different kingdom. And a new one was issued into and crowned in this one. And sew it is.

I am grateful to have a lovely new queen. Far lovelier and more graceful than that which I had wished upon a Christmas star for. And though I try to be a simple person with simple needs and wantings, one who makes do and is happy to do so....

I must confess that it is oh so very nice to have a shiny new star gleaming in my little sewing room. I have unwrapped her from her little box and connected her power source and am now learning to push her buttons and test her pedaling powers that be.

I have been known to fuss and fume at my computer console when it seems that all I ask to do, is thwarted and undone...and so it seems it is with me and all things electronic. But I am perservering and teaching this old dog new tricks and I must say it is fun!

shown:
Viking Sapphire 870 Quilt

The Little Engine That Did

This is my Viking 500, who I have referred to as "The Little Engine That Could." In spite of a faulty foot pedal that was temporarily repaired, she still had a mind of her own. When she felt like sewing, she did...her little motor would start sewing and refuse to stop...even when I took my foot off her throttle.When she didn't feel like sewing, she thought of all kinds of clever ways to let me known that...sorry, she just wasn't in the mood.

I loved this little sewing machine and she has served me well, for many, many years...with no competition and no back-up machine other than my serger. But there comes a time, when each of us deserved some well earned rest. And I sew clothing and decorative accessories, as well as quilt. In fact, my sewing years outnumber my quilting ones by 40 years.

Having learned to sew at age 12, and having made all of my own clothes by age 18, sewing was my passion. I sewed for myself, for others, for three children, for gifts, and for school and children's theatre costuming for more than 8 years.

I always said I was not interested in quilting and would never learn to quilt. I made simple whole cloth baby quilts or simple nine patches, and that was it. But when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, I joined with 200 other women and we made 200 quilts in 2 days. I became a community quilter and I never looked back.

Now, it is time to retire my little Viking and bring out my new Christmas Eve/Christmas Day birthday gift of a new sewing machine. It has taken me three days to do this. Letting go of the old is not easy for me, I treasure what I have and make things last as long as I possibly can.

She sewed 50+ clothing and decorative items a year for all of her years and she has quilted for me for the past 8. She kept on going through this holiday season with 50 fabric napkins, 3 aprons, 3 tea cozies and 8 potholders for Christmas gift giving...even when her wires were crossed and her tensions awry.

As I get ready to go into the new year and a new era, I bid farewell to my trusty and loyal little friend and hello to her brand new sister. She won't be put away completely, but as you can see by the size of my little sewing area, she won't be in view side-by-side, either. I shall pass her down to one of my three children or keep her in reserves for my backup. So, today, I honor and thank her...and choose to let her have a rest!

Couching

couching (definition)
In embroidery, decorative stitchwork, and art quilting: couching and laid work are techniques in which yarn or other materials are laid across the surface of the ground fabric and fastened in place with small stitches of the same or a different yarn[1]
couching (origin of word)
French: Coucher, to lay down, to put to bed[2]

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. I am almost wordless. I am, in fact, almost couched.

After a wonderful, and very happy, very fun Christmas Eve birthday and then, Christmas Day, I am feeling like being couched. The gifts were opened with delight and great appreciation, the wonderful meals eaten and enjoyed, the cookies and candies and other delights created and then rapidly disappeared.

The staging has begun for all that then follows. Boxing Day, which is celebrated on December 26, while celebrated with a different intent, elsewhere.... here in America, is all about flattening out the Christmas boxes and putting them away;)

It is about ribbons and bows and tissue papers....or in my case fabric and twine...being folded up again. And it is about the great Christmas Clean-up Caper, the mystery that leads one down endless pathways of the great put-away campaign.

It is about a few last Christmas visits from family and friends and a few last holiday phone calls that were greatly appreciated. And then the best part of all, I shall lay myself down upon fabric and attach myself with my layer of quilts and I shall be couched with a good Christmas gift book :)

shown above:
a community quilter, previously couched

Kwanzaa

The week-long holiday known as Kwanzaa (alternative spellings: Kwanza, Kwaanza) begins today, December 26 and continues to January 1. This seven days celebration was created in 1966, by Ron Karenga, the leader of the black nationalist U.S. Organization.

Originally, Ron Karenga (later known as Dr. Maulana Karenga) publicly stated that the holiday celebration was "was chosen to give a Black alternative to the existing {Christian} holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society." Proponents vehemently deny the original openly anti-Christian beginnings and stress the importance of Kwanzaa's current more universally open beliefs.

Today, many African-American families celebrate Kwanzaa along with Christmas and New Year's. Frequently, both Christmas trees and kinaras, the traditional candle holder symbolic of African-American roots, share space in kwanzaa celebrating households. To them, Kwanzaa is an opportunity to incorporate elements of their particular ethnic heritage into holiday observances and celebrations of Christmas

The name Kwanzaa derives from the Swahili phrase "matunda ya kwanza", meaning "first fruits". The choice of Swahili, an East African language, reflects its status as a symbol of Pan-Africanism, and was also an outgrowth of the black movement and its beliefs in the 1960s. As Kwanzaa gained mainstream adherents, Karenga altered his position so as not to alienate practicing Christians and thereby uniting those African-Americans who chose to celebrate both holidays.

The more unifying positive elements are "The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa", or Nguzo Saba (originally Nguzu Saba - "The Seven Principles of Blackness"), which Karenga said "is a communitarian African philosophy" consisting of what he believed was "the best of African thought and practice in constant exchange with the world."

These seven principles comprise Kawaida, Swahili term for tradition and reason:
Umoja (oo-MO-jah) Unity, Kujichagulia (koo-gee-cha-goo-LEE-yah) Self-Determination, Ujima (oo-GEE-mah) Collective Work and Cin action for communal improvement, Imani, (ee-MAH-nee) Faith in tradition, the self and their successful unification.

shown above:
In 1997, the first Kwanzaa stamp was issued by the United States Postal Service on October 22 at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles, California. In 2004 a second Kwanzaa stamp, created by artist Daniel Minter was issued which has seven figures in colorful robes symbolizing the seven principles of Kwanzaa.

Happy Christmas

The true meaning of Christmas is the story of a journey, and of a search. It is the story for the search for the true meaning of the home that we seek within and the journey to find that home.

When Joseph and his wife Mary, traveled across many lands to seek refuge and finally found one in Bethlehem, their search symbolized the journey that we all go on during the holy or healing days of our own hearts. The days and the nights, when we seek a refuge of acceptance and caring and the nurturing and the love we all seek in a place that we can call 'home.'

I wish for each and every one of you, the true magic of this holy season. Happy Christmas from my happy heart and my welcome home, to all of yours.

The Sweetest Joy

It is evening here in Salem, Oregon. The house is filled with candlelight as Christmas carols play softly in the background. I am here on the computer, my family is gathered inches away playing a board game.

Shouts of laughter or consternation burst forth as each is either successful or not in their gaming pursuits. One of our three cats bats playfully at a Christmas stocking hanging from our loft railings, the other two nap contentedly. We have shared several pizzas, eaten pretzels and chips, apples and oranges, candies and cookies. It feels lovely and I am filled with gratitudes.

Today, my daughter baked me some birthday cupcakes for tomorrow and tried her version of Rachael Ray's 5 Minute Fudge. Some dear friends stopped by unexpectedly for a nice, long visit and I happily finished the last of the gift wrapping. It was a day of sweet things, of friendship, of the comforts of heart and home, family and fun.

As my Kathy Schmitz Christmas fabric for Moda proclaims "Follow Your Heart", "The Sweetest Joy", and Peace Abides". That is how it feels here in Salem, the city of Peace, tonight. I wish you all the sweetest joys, the most heartfelt of blessings, and the hope that peace fill your hearts and homes during this holiday season.

Winter Solstice: Darkness and Light

From ancient times, the winter season has been seen as part of balance of nature...a time where the balance point changes between the darkness and the light. With the shortening of the day and daylight, comes an increase in the lengthening of the night and darkness. It is a natural time for letting go of all that which seems dark within one's life, and a time for making choices to bring in the light. Throughout history, in all of the world's cultures, through belief systems, festivals, traditions and practices, the changes in the cycles of birth, death and rebirth have been intrinsically and symbolically honored. From this honoring comes our holidays...our 'holy days.'

When we walk between the veils of one season and the next or one change or one emotion and the next, or even one 'holy day' and the next, we find ourselves always balancing our emotions...balancing the dark emotions, the very ones which create power and change, or the light emotions, the ones which bring in joy and abundance. One of hardest of the darker emotions is that of sorrow, grief and loss. Today, I am recognizing and honoring the gift that the darkness brings in as I honor the sadness of many as they face, or as they remember loss.

Winter Solstice falls on December 21 (Northern Hemisphere) or December 22 (Southern Hemisphere) and is the moment when the earth is at a point in its orbit where one hemisphere is most inclined away from the sun. Solstice is of a Latin borrowing and means 'sun stand', referring to the appearance that the sun's noontime elevation stops in its progress. It is both the shortest day and the longest night of the year. Many cultures the world over perform solstice ceremonies. At their root is the ancient fear that the failing light would never return unless humans intervened with some vigil or celebration.

Many ancient cultures built astronomical observatories...tombs, temples, or cairns, to align with the solstices and equinoxes. Structures such as those at Stonehenge or Newgrange are illuminated by the winter solstice sunrise. A shaft of sunlight shines through the Newgrange chamber and lights up its chamber for 17 minutes from dawn of the 19th to the 23rd of December. The light illuminates intricate carvings of spirals, eyes and solar shapes. Hundreds of other megalithic structures throughout Europe are oriented in similar ways.

The celebration of "Yule/Jul/Joulu" or winter festival, is at the time of greatest darkness and the longest night of the year. In pre-Christian times, Germanic tribes celebrated Yule from the late December to early January. Thus, the terms Yule and Christmas came to be used interchangeably in many countries. The Winter Solstice has always been associated with the birth of a divine king in many different cultures, long before the rise of Christianity. Since the Sun is considered to represent the male divinity in many pagan traditions, this time is celebrated as the return of the sun god where he is reborn of the goddess. Other cultures have similar beliefs and associations.Many cultures celebrate or celebrated a holiday near (within a few days) the winter solstice... Yalda, Saturnalia, Christmas, Karachun, Hanukkah, Festivus, and Kwanzaa.

Christmas, like all holy or holidays, is a special time of remembrance of both the birth of the new, divining power, and the symbols of home and family. It is a time when we can most acutely feel the greatest darkness or the brightest light...a time of giving, of receiving, or for some a time of loss of light and a feeling of going into the dark.

This is a deep time and a sacred space, a time and a symbol for all of us about being lost, facing those emotions and feeling the sadness, the yearning, and the grief that such loss brings into our lives. Such is the sadness, the loss and the acceptance of the dark into our lives that each of us is asked to face at different times. Knowing that the dark will eventually find its way back into the light again is also the knowledge of the power of this holy time in our own lives.

Holiday Happenings in My Happiness Haven

The maniacal, magical, merriment of my holiday happiness continues. As Finn as said, we are all Heading into the Christmas Countdown... All but one of the children are home and the last is on her way. The holiday goodies came out and were displayed upon my quickly serged Christmas counter cloth and a feast was had by all. The old stories retold, and new ones shared and all the Christmas hopes and plan's are being plotted and planned. It's definitely beginning to feel a lot like Christmas... :)

The little limping Viking 500 is like the "Little Engine That Could". She's still chugging up hill with such a determined expression to her humming while the dependable serger is Serging Ahead Towards Christmas at high speed and full throttle!

Su Bee thought it was a weather system coming in from the North but she finally figured that it was smoke from my sweat shop. She's all excited 'cuz we're only days away from Christmas Eve, a full moon, AND my (ahem) birthday and as she says "OMG - I wanna play!!!" So Su Bee, and all of the rest of your wonderful wonky women, if you decided not to do any Christmas sewing this year...it's not too late to burn the midnight oil, get your motors running,

Erin said that she was "thrilled that I am "so happy!" You bet I am, at least I can still sew, the house is all decorated, I don't have to do too awful much baking and cooking and all of the main gifts are bought or made. The cats are sleeping around our noble fir and not climbing her limbs like some years. My homemade fabric hearts and tied heartstrings are staying put and all over blog land I can feel Christmas spirit and good cheer.

Angie has her Charlie Brown tree all decorated (ok, so she went over to the dark side of artifice this year) but it sure is pretty. And she begged some info on my All Tied Up With Heartstrings strip pieced hearts for her own last minute gifts. So I know some of you, are still sewing!

I have now completed these three completed 'Tea For Two' sets shown above and am working on two more that can be given later on. Everyone gets a teapot and two little cups plus a tea cozy, hotpads and cloth napkins. Add to that A Short Cut Through Time: Daisy Kingdom apron set for another gift and I'm on a roll.

Now Debi of Debi Quilts, in on a 'jelly roll' roll and is stacking them up like lovely little gifts just ready to be opened up and enjoyed with great anticipation. Debi is a talented quilter with a wonderfully giving heart. She sews from stash with dibs and dabs too and endlessly feels for and gives to others. And when she brings out her fabric and gets quilting, her quilts are a sight to behold. She's made so many, and still has scraps to spare, so she's filling up a friend's B & B with them, now!

Speaking of 'on roll'. You should see the beautiful quilts that Quiltdivajulie has been making for Ami Simms and Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Now, I completed all 6 of my little fabric art post cards for the "Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts" project, and they've all arrived but they missed the December auction and by the time they're number comes up who knows if anyone will remember to bid on them. I'm my own mother's daughter and yes, we do make jokes about memory loss with Alzheimer's.

Speaking of memory loss, I've totally loss track of how many cloth napkins and potholders I've made for Christmas. They're easy and they're fun. They're my 'one size fits all' gift for any and all occasions. I think people may wonder about me sometimes, I keep making them and giving them away. But potholders are one of those things most people truly use. And I haven't met anyone yet who didn't have at least one whose stuffings were coming out and had burned spots.

So, if you haven't felt like sewing for Christmas, come and join in the fun.Make a little fabric ornament, hem some napkins or create a potholder! You still have at least 5 more days 'til Christmas. ;)

Holiday Happiness in My Sewing Haven

The maniacal, magical, merriment of my holiday happiness continues. As Finn as said, we are all Heading into the Christmas countdown... All but one of the children are home and the last is on her way. The holiday goodies came out and were displayed upon my quickly serged Christmas counter cloth and a feast was had by all. The old stories retold, and new ones shared and all the Christmas hopes and plan's are being plotted and planned. It's definitely beginning to feel a lot like Christmas... :)

The little limping Viking 500 is like the "Little Engine That Could". She's still chugging up hill with such a determined expression to her humming while the dependable serger is Serging Ahead Towards Christmas at high speed and full throttle!

Su Bee thought it was a weather system coming in from the North but she finally figured t that it was smoke from my sweat shop. She's all excited 'cuz we're only days away from Christmas Eve, a full moon, AND my (ahem) birthday and as she says "OMG - I wanna play!!!"

So Su Bee, and all of the rest of your wonderful wonky women, if you decided not to do any Christmas sewing this year...it's not too late to burn the midnight oil, get your motors running, and head on down the highway to fun and frolic.

Angie has her Charlie Brown tree all decorated (ok, so she went over to the dark side of artifice this year, but if you check out her site, it sure is pretty.) And she begged some info on my All Tied Up With Heartstrings strip pieced hearts for her own last minute gifts.

I have now completed these three completed 'Tea For Two' sets shown above and am working on two more. Everyone gets a teapot and two little cups plus a tea cozy, hotpads and cloth napkins. Add to that A Short Cut Through Time: Daisy Kingdom apron set for another gift and I'm on a roll.

Now Debi of Debi Quilts, in on a 'jelly roll' roll and is stacking them up like lovely little gifts just ready to be opened up and enjoyed with great anticipation. Debi is a talented quilter with a wonderfully giving heart. She sews from stash with dibs and dabs too and endlessly feels for and gives to others. And when she brings out her fabric and gets quilting, her quilts are a sight to behold. She's made so many, and still has scraps to spare, so she's filling up a friend's B & B with them, now!

Speaking of 'on roll'. You should see the beautiful quilts that Quiltdivajulie has been making for Ami Simms and Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Now, I completed all 6 of my little fabric art post cards for the "Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts" project, and they've all arrived but they missed the December auction and by the time they're number comes up who knows if anyone will remember to bid on them. I'm my own mother's daughter and yes, we do make jokes about memory loss with Alzheimer's.

Speaking of memory loss, I've totally loss track of how many cloth napkins and potholders I've made for Christmas. They're easy and they're fun. They're my 'one size fits all' gift for any and all occasions. I think people may wonder about me sometimes, I keep making them and giving them away. But potholders are one of those things most people truly use. And I haven't met anyone yet who didn't have at least one whose stuffings were coming out and had burned spots.

So, if you haven't felt like sewing for Christmas, come and join in the fun.Make a little fabric ornament, hem some napkins or create a potholder! You still have at least 5 more days 'til Christmas. ;)

Christmas, Stockings, Reindeer, Joy

This beloved little sign made by a dear, dear friend says it all: Christmas, stockings, reindeer, joy. Well, maybe not the reindeer, I think we're still waiting on them! Hurry Christmas, hurry fast...oh wait, may not Christmas just yet...I still have mountains of sewing to do first thing this morning! Well may not mountains...but at least one very big mole hill. And if you read my post on Warning: I am in the Sewing Room Today ...big moles are a big problem.

DD#2 is coming home from college today and I have to hide every speck of evidence from Santa's workshop and all the GIP's, too! I am worse than maniacal when it comes to Christmas secrets. I used to say I could work for the CIA, I tried so hard and was usually so superbly good at destroying evidence, hiding links, swallowing all paper trail Christmas lists, and having visual clues burst into flame a moment's notice.

So, DD#1, #1, DS, D #anyone from my family...you know, the ones who never, ever come and read here...well, if you're reading this now, your eyes are about to burst into flames, so sign off NOW. And don't say I didn't warn you, I just did! And you know how you always say I imagine things and they never happen...remember that afterwards I always point out to you when they finally do! Because they always do. Now go away and stay away for the rest of the week. End of the mother speech. Merry Christmas.

So, one of the above is the one who asked for a certain sewed item for Christmas and she started the whole melange of sewing madness, which then turned into serging insanity which then spawned clones in quadruples. Now, I am inundated with 5 dozen cloth dinner napkins, 6 half started potential aprons and 14 hotpads, a not even figured out yet tablerunner and half a dozen other accessories that all have to be finished with a sewing machine that either sews on her own (no foot pedal pressure necessary) or refuses to sew totally (foot pressure fruitless). I have been serging ahead with full steam and a happy and brave heart, none the less.

I'm in Full Magic Madness Mode now and I just discovered there is a Full Moon on my birthday...Christmas Eve. I am so delighted you can't imagine. I am donning DD#2 purple velvet cape, and slinking off to some secret sewing. See you when the fabric pheromones wear off and the full moon finally comes out ;)

Serging Ahead Towards Christmas!

Ever since I posted about the Battle of the Sewing Machines, my serger has been winning the sewing (as Atet calls hers) Progress from Santa's Sweat Shop. My poor little Viking sews and no-sews depending on her pedaling power and I'm pressing down on her too hard as it is! My serger was called to the front of the battle lines and is charging ahead at full speed. And like a true champion, she is rising up to a position of importance and is happily whirring away!

I was thoroughly delighted to see that other quilter's are maniacally sniffing fabric pheromones and posting Warning: I am in the Sewing Room Today. Knowing that others sew as much as they quilt and have over extended themselves to the point of their 'to do' lists curling up into gigantic rolls to rival Santa's own, somehow makes me feel like I belong to a group of powerful women. Face it ladies, you have to be a bit obsessive-compulsive to be a quilter in the first place...and since we all like to be winners, it's a little too easy to go off the deep end ;)

It is such fun to read all of your blogs and see your Christmas GIP's (gifts in progress), WIPs, Quips, Lips, and discover new Tips. Being surrounded by fabric, batting, threads, multiple pairs of scissors and an abundance of bobbins,buttons and bows, truly feels like Christmas. And as I 'serge' forward with gifts that needed to be finished and mailed in a hurry, it's comforting to know that I'm not alone.

I went Postal on Saturday and got all of these (and many more) in the mail bound for Alaska. I took the easy way out on some gifts and did a lot of 'no-sews' rather than 'no-shows.' Using Debbie Mumm fleece, I cut out on the 'lines' and made a dozen fleece scarves for some of my Alaskan kin for family photo opportunities, as well a dozens and dozens of cloth napkins for holiday dinners. Wrapped with a big...or even a little...fabric bow, they make a great gift that is both replenishable, recyclable and potentially renewable :) And, they used up all of my leftover 1/2's of Fat Christmas Q's!

I'm now officially done with lots of other gifts that can't be shown yet, and still working to finish more today and tomorrow. I literally tripped over gifts entering the bedroom in pitch darkness and utter exhaustion late last night and it was an 'oh no and aha moment.' Good to know I'd accomplished so much...and sad to know that I'd already forgotten it all.

But that's kind of how holidays are. As Paul Harvey says...name your favorite gift from last Christmas. If you can't, then you're just reminded that it's not really the gift that matters...but the love we show by the simple giving of any gift...and the caring and the sharing we create throughout the whole year and not just at Christmas!

Now, having said that...I'm off to sew more gifts to give. Remember, I do belong to the club of obsessive-compulsive maniacal women!

Rachel Ray's 5 Minute Fudge Christmas Wreath Ring Recipe

If you caught Rachel Ray's repeat appearance on Oprah this week, then you watched her make her amazing 5 minute wreath and spoon it into a simple cake pan with a tin can in the center and suddenly create a Christmas Wreath Ring that took 5 minutes to make and about 1 hour to chill. The recipe is as follows:

Rachel Ray's 5 Minute Christmas Fudge

Ingredients:
1 12 ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate morsels (white or dark)
1 cup butterscotch morsels
1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk (save the can)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts or large peanuts
1/2 cup currants or raisins
8 inch cake pan, lightly greased with softened butter
*Use a cake pan with a center opening if you have one. Otherwise use a regular round cake pan and place a plastic wrapped can (saved aside from the milk above) to create a center opening in the fudge wreath.
Candied red and green cherries
*for optional garnish

Directions:
1. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan with softened butter. Pour the chocolate and butterscotch chips, condensed milk and vanilla into a medium saucepan. Put the pan on the stove and turn the heat to low.
2. Cover the empty condensed-milk can with plastic wrap and put it in the center of the round cake pan.
3. Stir the chips and milk until they melt together, about 3 minutes. Remove from stove and stir in the nuts and raisins. Scoop the fudge into the cake pan all around the plastic-covered can in the center to form a wreath or ring shape.
*As Rachel says: "Let it be all bumpy and funky on top. Keep pushing the can back to the center if the fudge moves it away from there."
4. Cut the red cherries in half with scissors and the green cherries into quarters. Use the green pieces to make leaves and the red to make holly berries. Decorate the fudge with several groups of holly berry sprigs made from the cherries and garnish with walnuts between the sprigs. (The fudge looks good left plain, too!)
5. Put the fudge in the fridge and chill until firm (about 1 hour.) Remove the can from the center, then loosen the sides and bottom of the fudge with a spatula.
*If you are serving it, cut the fudge into thin slices.
*If you are giving it as a gift, wrap the entire wreath up into stiff decorated cellophane and tie with a big bow!
*If you can resist eating it all in one occasion..yes, I've frozen it and yes, it was still delicious!


*If you want to share it with others or use as your holiday gift..make smaller ones into tiny fluted tart or bundt pans. Makes awesome gifts. Wrap in cellophane and add a bow!

All Tied Up With Heartstrings

As I was decorating our Christmas tree this year, I couldn't help but notice how many of my decorations are made of fabric. I have always loved making my own decorations (for all of the different holidays) but Christmas is my absolute favorite.

Sometime in the 90's I switched from my bright traditional Christmas colors and went to a darker, more woodsy version. I began collecting home crafted ornaments made out of wood or metal and I added fabric, dried flowers and raffia. I've loved this cozy look and kept it for more than a decade now.

Even before I knew what string quilting was, I did strip piecing. I didn't know that it was called string or strip quilting, I just called it "patchwork" or "patchwork quilting" like most of us did early on. My little strip pieced and quilted heart ornaments (shown here) were made during this period and I made dozens and dozens of them. Simply decorated with buttons and ribbons for tying and hanging, they had a cozy look to our tree that I dearly love.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Our Lady of Guadalupe (Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe or Virgen de Guadalupe) is a 16th century Roman Catholic icon depicting an apparition of the Virgin Mary. It is Mexico's most beloved religious and cultural image.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is known in Mexico as "La Virgen Morena", which means "The brown-skinned Virgin". Our Lady of Guadalupe's feast day is celebrated on December 12, commemorating the account of her appearances to Juan Diego on the hill of Tepeyac near Mexico City from December 9 through December 12, 1531.

The Virgin of Guadalupe is a cultural symbol of significant importance to the Mexican identity.
Some historians speculate that the icon was meant to syncretically represent both the Virgin Mary and the indigenous Mexican goddess Tonantzin, providing a way for 16th century Spaniards to gain converts among the indigenous population of early Mexico.

According to the story generally accepted by Catholics, Juan Diego was walking between his village and Tolpetlac, near Mexico City), where the Catholic mission was headquartered, on Saturday December 9, 1531. Along the way, on Tepeyac Hill, the Virgin Mary appeared, speaking to him in his native Nahuatl language. She called him Juanito, the dimunitive form of his name.

"Juanito, my son, where are you going?" "Noble lady", he murmured, I am on my way to the church in Tlatelolco to hear Mass." The lady smiled and said:"Know for certain, dearest of my sons, that I am the perfect and perpetual Virgin Mary, Mother of the True God, through whom everything lives, the Lord of all things, who is Master of Heaven and Earth. I ardently desire a teocalli (temple) to be built for me where I will show and offer all my love, my compassion, my help and my protection to the people. I am your merciful Mother, the Mother of all who live united in this land, and of all mankind, of all those who love me, of those who cry to me, of those who have confidence in me."

She continued by saying: "Here I will hear their weeping and their sorrows, and will remedy and alleviated their sufferings, necessities and misfortunes. Therefore, in order to realise my intentions, go to the house of the Bishop of Mexico City and tell him that I sent you and that it is my desire to have a teocalli built here. Tell him all that you have seen and heard. Be assured that I shall be very grateful and will reward you for doing diligently what I have asked of you. Now that you have heard my words, my son, go and do everything as best you can."

When Juan Diego spoke to the Spanish bishop, Juan de Zumárraga, the bishop did not believe him, asking for a miraculous sign. The Virgin told Juan Diego to gather flowers from a hill, even though it was winter, when no plants bloom. He found Castilian roses and presented these to the bishop. When the roses fell from his tilma (a kind of apron) an icon of the Virgin remained imprinted on the cloth.

Thereafter, Spanish missionaries used the story of her appearance to help convert millions of indigenous people in what had been the Aztec Empire. Our Lady of Guadalupe is deeply important to the faith of Catholics in Mexico and the rest of Latin America, and she has been recognised as patron saint of Mexico City since 1737.

Science Fair Project: Fraudulent Chain Letter

Science Fair Project: E-mail hoax!
In the years before computers, chain letters were common and were sent by U.S. mail and required a stamp. This limited the extent to which chain letters were passed on, because sending them involved time to type the letters and money for stamps.

Today, with the click of a button, a message can be forwarded to hundreds of people at no apparent cost to the sender. If each of us sends the letter on to only ten other people (most send to huge mailing lists), by the ninth resending there is an ending result in a billion e-mail messages. This unecessary hoax clogs our networks and interfs with the receiving of legitimate e-mail messages. If you also factor in the time lost reading and deleting all these messages and you see a real cost to organizations and individuals from these seemingly innocuous messages. If you unwittingly participate in one of them, it takes even more time to copy and paste and find suitable forwarding email addresses. And then when you do find out that it was a hoax, there is the added cost of worrying about it and wondering if your name ends up being used inappropriately, somehow.

Chain letters that ask you to send money are illegal under current Postal and Federal Trade Commission regulations. Even those that offer an inexpensive report or disk that people sell to you to get your money are also illegal pyramid schemes. The others are a waste of time and energy and often just clog up all of our mailboxes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
List of some of the chain letters (listed their online scam name) that are still circulating (some for many years) on the Internet. This is just a random selection, it is by no means, all of the current hoaxes or scams.
- Hawaiian Good Luck Totem
- Everything You Never Wanted
- McDonalds vs. Taco Bell
- World Record Hoax
- Cool Video Hoax
- Tweety Bird Wish
- Mrs. Ary's 2nd Grade Class
- Helping Kids With School Project Chain
- Send a Report Pyramid
- Make Money Fast Pyramid
- Make A Loan Pyramid
- Old Lady With A Box Hoax
- Little Girl Song - Candle Memorial Chain
- Tweedie Bird Chain
- Amy's Ghost Chain
- Second Buddylist Chain
- Angel Tag Chain
- Spooky Message Chain
- Incredible Walking Man Chain
- Irish Friendship Wish Chain
**Science Fair Project Chain**
- PayPal Chain

Science Fair Project Chain
This chain letter began on the Internet in March of 2004. The basic premise was that a science teacher was requesting (of special friends that were most likely to help with the project) to do a simple name and numerically based online project that simply involved adding your name to a list of names and then copying the text of the letter and mailing it to 10 more of your own online friends. The persuasion was that it was helping out a student, you were specially selected as someone who would most likely be willing to help, and that eventually something magical, and most likely 'scientific' would happen as a result.

In reality, it is simply an endless circuitous chain letter that has been self perpetuated for the past 4 years. There is no master list of names, as they migrate and mutate in a non-stop fashion. If this were truly a Science Fair project, there would be a way to send information back to the "student" doing the project and some kind of an ending date so it is not forwarded forever.

The text of chain letters often changes along the way, but the gist of it is something like this :
"Copy and paste this letter into a new email (PLEASE do NOT hit "Forward"), then read the list of names. If your name is on the list, put a star * next to it. If not, then add your name (in alphabetical order, put no star.) Send it to ten people and send it back to the person who sent it to you. Put your name in the subject box! You'll see what happens - it's kind of cool! Please keep this going. Don't MESS it up, please! "

And then a huge list of names follows. I deliberately did not chose to paste and copy my list and expose all of you good hearted bloggers who got 'caught' by this hoax. So, this is an 'old' list.

Aaron* Alan Amanda Andrew Ann Annettee Brad Carmella Carol Cheryl Cindy Daron Dave Deanna Debi Dianna* Donna Frank Hank Helen* Irene* Jacob Joe John Judy Julia Julie Kandy Kathie Kay Kina Laura* Linda*** Liz Lynn Mary* Mary Jo Martha Maureen Melissa Micheal Nancy Nita Pat Patty* Paula Phil Rickey Rusty Sandy Stacie Stephanie Susan Susie Tamara Tammy Tina Tirrell* Tracie Verlann Von Yolanda Val Cheryl....

The list of names is usually followed by some fake name of either a teacher or an administrator at the fictitious school. Like memes and urban legends, chain letters by their very nature, change and mutate along the way.

The reason I am writing about this:
A good hearted, well meaning person in our blogging circle sent it to me, as one of her own 10 people. On the list I was sent were primarily people from our own blogging circle expanded from another blogging circle. So, that told me that some of my online friends had already unwittingly participated in this hoax.

It seemed prudent during this busy season, to not have endless others participate in this attempt to trick all of us into a senseless chain of forwarding. If you already participated, nothing too terrible will happen. It just wastes time!

But don't feel bad, I had already copied and pasted the text and was scouring my own address book for 10 names when I suddenly realized it was fake and that was because there was no ending, no place to send the final results and also some misprinted text boxes at the bottom of the letter...html errors kind of thing.

So, I researched it online in the hoax web pages and sure enough, there it was...listed as an ongoing hoax! So, I almost fell for it myself! It is easy to want to help someone else, especially during this time of year! And that is the primary reason we fall for chain letters. We know the last sender and we are encouraged by their participation to 'help them out'.

Buyer beware is now sender beware, as well ;)

Battle of the Sewing Machines

"The Battle of the Sewing Machines" was composed and arranged by F. Hyde for the piano, and was published in 1874 by Wm. A. Pond & Co. of 547 Broadway, N.Y., N.Y.

The lithograph by R. Teller of 120 Wooster St., N.Y., N.Y., illustrates a "battle" of sewing machines. The Remington "army" is marching towards the fleeing Singer, Howe, Succor, Weed, and Willcox & Gibbs sewing machines. The soldiers are riding the Remington treadle machines like horses and are carrying Remington rifles.

The Remington No. 2 sewing machine had just come out to market in June 1874. The family treadle machine with a drop-leaf table and two drawers would have cost $75.00.

On the top left of the sheet music, a woman is pictured sewing on a Remington machine in the Remington office at Madison Square, New York. In the right box is featured the Remington Works of Ilion, N.Y.

The music consists of 11 pages, with such subtitles as: "Howe the battle began"; "Advent of all the best machines"; "Song of the Sewing Machine Man: 'How Can I Leave Thee'"; "Triumph of the Remington Sewing Machine," and "Home Sweet Home."

National Museum of American History
Object ID: 1991.0130.01

Division: Division of Home and Community Life

Subject(s): Advertising, Industry & Manufacturing, Engineering, Building, and Architecture, Music & Musical Instruments, Art, Textiles

Note:
I got a real kick out of finding this and imagining this 'battle'. In my sewing room, there is a battle going on between myself and my aging but well loved Viking whose foot pedal sews on her own, and fails to sew when my foot asks her to. Then, there is my relatively new Babylock serger who has to 'take up the slack' and do all of the sewing that my Viking is being so obstinate about doing! Nevertheless, the manic Christmas sewing is in full swing....just wish I had "Howe the Battle Begun", Song of the Sewing Machine Man: 'How Can I Leave Thee'"; "Triumph of the Remington Sewing Machine etc. Now that would be battle hymns to truly sew by!

Piecing Together the Memories of My Heart

This treadle belonged to my Finnish grandmother. She immigrated to Alaska in 1901, as did my grandfather. Each came separately, not yet having met, on ships to Ellis Island, then trains across the U.S. and then on a barges up to Juneau.

They each settled on Douglas Island, where they met, married and raised 9 children. My grandfather was a gold miner in the Treadwell Mine...at one time the richest site of gold ore in Alaska. I was born in Louisiana to a Cajun French mother who married her Alaskan pen pal during World War 2. We then moved to Alaska which was my father's home and it was there that our family lived, and I grew up.

We were a pioneer family in all meanings of the word. Every thing we ordered and bought, had to come up on barges...and that took several long months. We ordered from Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Wards or we learned to make do, or to create from what we did have. My family were fishermen, hunters, and carpenters. But they were also artists and photographers and dreamers. We learned to appreciate natural beauty as well as all that we could create by hand.

This machine belonged to my grandmother and when I was a young girl and decided to teach myself to sew, I started first with this machine. I was fascinated by its magic and wanted some of that magic for myself. I started teaching myself, first how to make it 'go' and then figuring out how the magic worked to create seams. I never dreamed that someday the magic machine would follow me to Oregon on another barge and be such a treasure to me! My little snowman reminds me of 'home' and creates memories for me of all of my white Christmases...with or without real snow.

I always sew homemade gifts at Christmas time. It is something that I do for myself and for the memories of a life spent creating gifts from the simplest of things and almost always handmade. I learned if I wanted something new to wear, I had to sew it for myself, if I needed a gift for someone, I had to learn how to create it.

I do that and live that, still. Gifts from the heart, to me, are gifts created from the belief that I can do it, I can make it, I can be it. The true magic of Christmas is always one of belief. Magic, belief and memories...we imagine what we will and we create it from our hearts.

shown:
my vintage sewing machine, old fashioned memories, and some Christmas boxes from Alaska that have arrived in the mail :)

A Christmas Tree Hat

Crochet a Christmas Tree Hat with directions provided by one of those Internet crafters, known only as Debbie G.

The Internet is filled with pilfered patterns passed down from blog to blog until after a while we aren't sure who created them or who wrote about them in the first place. But on the days when you need to write a good 'filler post' or just something different to read about, or say...crochet...sit back grab some yarn and a crochet hook and make someone you love a little seasonal gift.

Materials List:
Red Heart Soft (or any Super Soft) 4ply yarn
1 sk green, white, red, yellow, and any other color for decorations
Size G hook
Yarn Needle
Finished Size: One size fits all
Gauge: None

Notes:
Add wine glass Christmas charms, fuzzy pom poms and other miniature decorations. Make a long sc strand and use it for the garland, or make up your own. If you like, you could also add a star on the top.

The Pattern
CAP: With green;
Rnd 1...ch 4, 7dcs in 4th ch from hook, join, do not turn.
Rnd 2...ch 2, dc in joining, (dc in next st, 2dcs in next st) 3 times, dc in last, join, do not turn.
Rnd 3...ch 2, dc in joining, (dc in next 2sts, 2dcs in next st) 3 times, dc to end, join, do not turn.
Rnd 4...ch 2, dc in joining, (dc in next 3sts, 2dcs in next st) 3 times, dc to end, join, do not turn.
Rnd 5...ch 2, dc in joining, (dc in next 4sts, 2dcs in next st) 3 times, dc to end, join, do not turn.
Rnd 6...ch 2, dc in joining, (dc in next 5sts, 2dcs in next st) 3 times, dc to end, join, do not turn.
Rnd 7...ch 2, dc in joining, (dc in next 2sts, 2dcs in next st) 8 times, dc to end, join, do not turn.
Rnd 8 - 23...ch 2, dc in joining, (dc in next 10sts, 2dcs in next st) 3 times, dc to end, join, do not turn, fasten off green.
Rnd 24 & 25... With White, ch 2, dc in joining, dc in all sts.
Fasten off
Finishing: Weave in ends.

GARLAND:
With size G hook, chain about 200. Glue or sew where desired.
Make a yellow Pompom for the top of "tree", or make a star.
Star
Materials: Scraps of glitter yarn (cotton or acrylic) Crochet hook size E
Ch 2
Round 1: Work 5 sc in the second ch from hook; join with a sl st to the first sc
Round 2: (Ch 4, sc in the 2nd ch from hook, hdc in the next ch, dc in the next ch, sl st in the next sc in the ring) 5 times; fasten off.
Finishing: Weave in ends and sew to top of tree.

P.S
Looking at the hat, and not being able to tell from the pattern, I'm not sure if this is meant for a human head, your pet cat or as a table topper. Any thoughts?

My Sunbonnet Sue Christmas Stockings

Sunbonnet Sue, her brother Sam, and all of their variations, live on and on.... in sewing as well as in quilting and craft. I made these Christmas stockings 21 years ago. Making the first two for DD#1 and DS#1 and then 10 years later, creating and adding the third stocking after the birth of DD#2.

I remember how I frantically searched through all of my old stash remnants, hoping to find leftover pieces from the original fabrics and prints. Oh, how happy I was (I can still remember it) when I found the original muslin, most of the early prints, and even the old patterns I had drawn on newsprint.

Applique was my craft of love back then. I used to applique anything and everything in sight. One Christmas I appliqued my entire extended family's names on a sweatshirt each. I remember mailing 21 of them up to Alaska....all made within two weeks of frantic sewing and applique. My brothers and SIL's and all of my little nieces and nephews proudly posed for a group photo after receiving them, and I still have and still love that photo today. That old photo has aged, yellow-oranging like most old photos from that era, as bit by bit they begin to disappear. But the memories of them and those wonderful times live on.

Like those photos, my early decorations had lots of yellow and even orange amidst all of the other bright colors. My children's early Christmas's were all bright red, bright grass green, a dark true blue, and vibrant sunshine yellow. My early Christmas trees all had a gigantic yoyo garland strung round and round. All of my scraps saved and put to good use in creating something new to love and to use. Every other bit of Christmas was home made. I used those colors and those decorations for almost two decades.

We'd moved to the "country" 30 years ago and I can still remember as I made these how I created the designs so all of the 'sunbonnets' could be working on kind of a "Christmas down at the farm" kind of theme. DD#1 watered holly, *DS in *2, drove a tractor through the Christmas tree growing farm and finally, DD*3, in her fancy hat, carried a little basket of the holly with all of her brother's trees around her.

I have new colors now, new decorations and an expanded family with the addition of a DIL. These stockings are no longer hung by the fireplace with care, but now hang from garlands looped across our loft railings. It was never "out with the old and in with the new"...but it was a new way to create a set of combined traditions as we merged one family's traditions with an other's. Like the fabric in these stockings, I had to hunt to remember and find, patch together to create, and then merge and blend to create anew.

The three little "Sunbonnet Sues" stockings look down into the living room now. They greet everyone who enters and they give them a place to rest their eyes and reclaim their memories of Christmases, past. They are a reminder to all of us, how much we have always loved Christmas, working and playing together, and how all of those memories of distant times are still carried in our hearts. They remind me with every single glance, of just how much I used to love and still love, through better and worse, Christmas and sewing gifts at Christmas time.

And they remind my children and fill them....just as these stockings used to be filled...with all of the wonderful memories, through years and now even decades of years, of Christmases past, Christmas now, and Christmases still to come. We still have stockings, we still have stocking stuffers, but the why's and the how's are just blended together now.

All that we make, and all that we do, lives on. Those wonderful times, and places, and people and yes, even things, make up the true fabric of our lives. And like these appliqued patchwork stockings, even the broken places can be mended. We can create a new and even stronger memory of where we have been, what we have accomplished and what we still hope to do. We never truly ever lose anything or anybody. We were always a part of them, and they of us, in the patchwork quilt of our lives.

In bits and in pieces, through good times and even bad, the scraps and the trimmings, the pieces and the patches, are all part of who we have been, are now, and perhaps even show us who we are yet to become.

Sunbonnet Sue: Free Quilt Patterns

Warning: I am in the Sewing Room Today

I am in my sewing room today. Hopefully, I am sewing. If I am not sewing, then I am thinking about sewing. I have been thinking about sewing for a very long time now. Days in fact.

I thought about sewing on Monday, when my sewing machine meander stitched for 45 minutes, apparently without my input. It looked great on top. I'd show you a picture, but since it takes 75 minutes to unsew 45 minutes of sewing, I forgot to take a picture.

I also forgot to take a picture of what the cats did to the fabric scattered all over the family room floor.The primarily black fabric that now could be described as the black fabric with the alpaca finish. You know, that black fabric that has been loved to pieces by 3 cats when your mind was elsewhere.I decided I won't be making that project this year. Or perhaps, any year, but definitely not this year.

I will also not be making the quilt I was trying to finish. Since I meander, as well as digress, my quilting is either stitch out of the ditch or meandering. My sewing machine doesn't want to do either one right now. She still sews, don't get me wrong. She's not on strike, she's simply on a little Christmas break.

I went into my sewing room. And I began to sniff my fabric. The pheronomes came in. Don't Bother Me, I am Sniffing Fabric Pheronomes Today They surged in, in fact. Or perhaps, they flashed in. Yes, I was all powered up. After all, I am a woman well over the hill of 50 and I am allowed to surge and to flash.

In fact, if you look up "woman at 50", in the search engine you will find:1. Chionepithelioma in a Woman, aged 50 vascular moles in utero in woman at 50. Apparently, that is like being pregnant and having a huge stomach to show for it, but not truly being pregnant because it's truly a mole. A mole???? That's just what I said.
2. Attack of the 50' Woman :a sci fi movie from 1958.
3. Kappa Delta Alumnae Neighborhood , a 50 year old woman who is awe inspiring enough to have been given an award for it.
4. An article from the Journal of American Medicine Does This Woman Have Osteoporosis?
And finally, last but not least, there's me.
5. With Heart and Hands, A Quilting Journey: String Quilting ..... ( Warning: Woman Over 50 With a Rotary Cutter). I am a danger to myself and to others. I am over 50, on a power surge high, not sleeping and ...
with-heart-and-hands.blogspot.com/2007/03/string... - 68k - Similar

And yes, that is definitely me. Check me out. Because the other me, she's in the sewing room today. Her stomach is feeling distended, she feels like attacking somebody, she definitely wishes she felt inspired, and with all of the hunching over and unstitching, osteoporosis is probably setting in as we speak. I am still sniffing fabric today, I have a rotary cutter, I am on power surge high and...well you know: Read my Warning Disclaimer!

Seriously, I am a threat? Thank heavens this was a mistake. AOL surely you have bigger fish to fry than little ole me? Yum, something smells good..is it fish frying? Oh, wait...I am in my sewing room today and all of this fabric sure smells fine!

The Perils of Pauline: The Sewing Machine

The Sewing Machine song, as sung by Betty Hutton, is in the opening scene in a 1940’s musical, "The Perils of Pauline". Sadly, the heroine of this film doesn't love her sewing machine...it's a source of hardwork and toil, not hobby and pleasure.

We all those days when things aren't going well, and we can't honestly say that we love our sewing machines. But in earlier times, sewing machines were not for pleasure and hobby but means of earning a living...and a hard one at that.

The term 'sweatshop' came from these places of employment where garment manufacturing took place after the second Industrial Revolution, where sweatshop production of inexpensive clothing displaced members of the tailors guild and replaced them with lower-skilled workers performing "piece work" at lower wages for each piece of a garment or even for each seam, in inferior conditions.

This trend was acceleration by the advent of a practical, foot-powered sewing machine in 1846. It took the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in 1911, in New York City to galvanize awareness of working conditions and change public perception to improve working condtions even to much better place that heroine Pearl White finds herself in the movie "The Perils of Pauline" where she sings about her plight of being 'chained' to a life of toil at her sewing machine....

The Sewing Machine
Music Written By: Frank Loesser
Lyrics Written By: Frank Loesser
Current Publisher: Famous Music Corp.
Featured in:Perils of Pauline, The (1947)

Ohhh the sewing machine, the sewing machine
A girl’s best friend
If I didn’t have my sewing machine
I’d a come to no good end
But a bobbin a bobbin and peddle a peddle
And wheel the wheel by day
So by night I feel so weary that I never get out to play

Ohhh the sewing machine, the sewing machine
A friend in need
If I didn’t having my sewing machine
A wicked life I’d lead
But a bobbin a bobbin and peddle a peddle
And dream about romance
So by night I feel so weary that I never get out to dance

Ohhh the sewing machine, the sewing machine
Me pride and joy
If I didn’t having me sewing machine
I’d a married James McCoy
But a bobbin a bobbin and peddle a peddle
And that’s the end of Jim
‘Cause by night I get so weary I don’t even look good to him

shown above:
Poster from "The Perils of Pauline" 1947
which featured the Sewing Machine song
Music Written By: Frank Loesser
Lyrics Written By: Frank Loesser
Current Publisher: Famous Music Corp.

Watch a clip and listen to the song at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=999ph8iRT4o

And as we all "bobbin a bobbin" and "peddle a peddle", no matter how hard a time we think we're having...let's remember those sweatshops. Now, back to work, girls...we have work to do ;)

Don't Bother Me, I am Sniffing Fabric Pheronomes Today

Storms are pounding Oregon today and we've already lost our tallest and most beloved willow tree...the ones all of our kids swung on as children. For consolation....I'll be in the sewing room today...sniffing fabric.

The 'scientific' research article to the positive effects of such practices has been making the rounds of the textile blogs, but I've since lost its original linking. The textile scientist may have already succumbed to her obsessive needs to purchase, touch, smell and hoard fabric and be lost in a stash pile somewhere. So, consider that thought as my official disclaimer on the missing scientifically medical one that I should be providing: Never the less, here's my evidence and I'm sticking with it!

Scientific Study Reveals Hypnotizing Effect

A recent study has indicated that fabric gives off certain pheromones, that actually hypnotize women and cause them to purchase ungodly amounts of fabric.

When stored in large quantities in enclosed spaces, the pheromones cause memory loss and induce the nesting syndrome. This is similar to the one that squirrels have before the onset of winter. They need to stock pile and store in order to perpetuate their species and not face a population loss due to their own kind being cut up into pieces and mixed with others. Sound tests have also revealed that these fabrics emit a very high-pitched sound, heard only by a select few of breed of women known as 'Quilters'.

When played backwards on an LP, the sounds are heard as chants 'buy me, cut me, sew me!" In order to overcome the so-called 'feeding frenzy effect' that these fabrics cause, one must wear a face mask when entering a storage facility and use ear plugs to avoid being pulled into their grip.
Studies have also indicated that aliens have inhabited the earth, helping to spread the effect that these fabrics have on the human population. They are called "Fabric Store Clerks." FSCs look down on shoppers with ear plugs and gas masks and do their very best to discourage the wearing of either of them an the instead urge us to "buy this, cut this, sew this."

It's also been a common experience that these same pheromones cause a pathological need to secret these fabric purchases away when taking them home ... or at least blend them into the existing stash... and when asked by a significant other if the fabric is new, the reply is "I've had it for a while".

Please don't bother me. I am sniffing fabric today. No ear plugs, no gas plug, just a happy and contented expression on my face.

shown:
my art print by Barbara LaVallee titled 'Kuspuks by the Yard' As the sign says "Fabric For Sale". Oh? Is that what I'm sniffing?

Knit a Santa Motorcycle Helmet Cover

I found this pattern on a craft forum at Craftster and thought it was hilarious. For those of you who knit, or who ride motorcycles...or know someone who does....a Santa motorcycle helmet cover. Who wouldn't love to see a Santa on a motorcycle wearing such a cheerful hat? I know that I certainly would get a kick out of it!

Supplies needed:
Yarn for hat: Red and white 8 ply acrylic yarn (worsted weight)
Yarn for beard: White chunky or 'thick and thin' yarn
Needles: 6mm straight

Instructions:
1. White Brim - A white long rectangle (looks like a little scarf)
CO 20st with 2 white yarns held together. You might need more or less stitches depending on how tall you want the brim. Knit with 2 yarns in garter stitch until the desired length, stretching it around the helmet where the white brim is meant to sit and knit till it fits very, very tightly around the circumference. Cast off.

2. Red Hat
Using 2 red yarns held together, pick up stitches along the length of your white long rectangle. I picked up one stitch per row. Knit in stocking stitch till the work measures about 15cm. K2G at the start and end of row. Repeat decrease every 4th row until you're left with 10 st. Leave a very long tail and cut yarn. Using a tapestry needle, thread the long tail through every other st on needle and back through remaining stitches. Pull yarn tightly.

3. Finishing hat
Using the long tail, sew the edges together. I used a mattress stitch seam. Make a large white pom pom and attach to the pointy tip of hat. Hat done!

4. Beard - Long white rectangle in loop stitch
CO about 80st with chunky white yarn. Using the loop stitch, knit till desired length. Good instructions for loop stitch here:
Knit till desired height for your helmet - measure just below the visor till the bottom edge of helmet. Cast off.

5. Finishing beard
Put the hat onto the helmet and wrap the beard around the front. Sew one end with white yarn onto the Santa hat. Stretch the beard tightly over and sew on the other end. Beard done!

6. Safety features - Non-slip rubber backing
Using non-slip rubber backing that you use under rugs, cut a 5cm strip according to the circumference of your helmet. Seam up end with regular thread or use sewing machine. Now you've got a non-slip "belt". Sew using regular sewing thread to the underside of the white brim on 8 equally spaced out points. Make sure you stretch the hat as you figure out where you need to sew the strip to. Cut a 15 x 7cm rectangle from the non-slip rubber backing and sew on to the underside of the beard. Sew it on in the middle top part of the beard, just under the bottom edge of visor. Put the Santa hat on to helmet. Fold the pointy red tip to the back of the helmet till it touches the hat and sew in place. (This prevents the tip from flying around while you're riding.)

The designer of the hat pattern would love photos of any finished projects. Email her at: salihan@gmail.com.

For other free hat patterns, check out these links:
Free Knitting Pattern Hats Link Directory
Rolled Brim Knitted Hat Patterns
Free Knit Alpine Hat, Helmet Hat, Andean Earflap Hat, Army Girl Hat, Knit Earband, Knit Headband, Free Hat Pdf Links
Hindu Aum (Om) Flat Knitted Hat Pattern
SpongeBob Squarepants Hat Pattern

Advent and Advent Calendars

"Scatter joy."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Violette commented recently that when her children came 'home' again, they reached for old, familiar things instead of the nicer, newer ones purchased or set out for the occasion. It reminded me of my own children. And how much they still treasure the holiday linkings to their childhood.

Nothing is stronger than the joy through the many years of our well worn, but beloved Advent Calendar. It is machine appliqued, felt on felt, and the little ornaments attach with velcro. Over the years, it has become fingered and worn. Its little pocket has been repeatedly stretched from little hands reaching into it to claim an ornament to place upon the tree.

We added items day by day, instead of taking them off or opening them as with some advent calendars. My children would do a round robin...one for you, one for me...selecting their ornaments ahead of time, then choosing again from their own stash for each new day. Many, many years there were tears...as the elf went first, or the little snowman, or whatever the favorite for that year might have been. They loved their favorites so dearly, and sometimes children love the same exact things just as intensely. Next year,you can choose first! would always be the promise.

I look at its age spots now, and they are like my own...battle scars and memories of all of its years. All of the tracking of the days, and all of the remembrances of a life well and lovingly lived. Not without wounds and challenges, those are all part of the memories, part of our strengths and our history of a life where each of us did our best at the time.

We live our days, all days, the best we can. We dream large and we fill ourselves and others up with hope and then we just try our best with faith. But sometimes, like this calendar, we live only day by day, and sometimes the special time or the special season must come to an end. Then, we begin again.

We have to find new reasons to share, or to celebrate, or just to find joy in each and every new day. If each of us can find something to look forward, something special to achieve and feel good about, and maybe someway to share than joy with another...then that day was not lived in vain.

"Scatter joy." Spread the little seeds, nurture them and watch them grow...through this advent season and all the days of our lives.