A Craft Fairy Delivery

Whenever I have opined on the blog about not being able to find craft supplies, a package invariably shows up a few days later. I took up embroidery and not long after that, UPS delivered a box full of my mother’s DMC thread collection and books. (She used to do cross-stitch; some of those supplies have been passed on to DD#2.) Another time, I got a shipment of elastic and fabric. This past weekend, a box came bearing these:

I believe I am set for ribbon now. Thank you, mom. At least your craft room is getting cleaned out.

Tuesday was errand day, so I didn’t get much sewing done. I did put together the last Lark Tee before I left for town. I dropped the jacket off at the quilt store, went to Costco, and picked up a three-yard length of royal blue double-brushed poly from the Mystery Fabric rack at Walmart. That’s going to be the muslin fabric for a waterfall jacket (McCalls 6084). If the muslin turns out well, I’ll have a royal blue waterfall jacket. The style is similar to that A Little Somethin’ Jacket I made on Monday, but out of a knit and much closer fitting. I have a black one that is just about worn out and also needs to be remade.

[As I was getting dressed for church on Sunday, I thought to myself how nice it is to have a closet full of clothing that coordinates, in colors that I like to wear.]

After lunch, I cut the fabric for a couple more serger class samples, but I need thread before I can start putting those together. I’ll pick up some of the thread on my next trip to town. I put in a big order with Wonderfil for the rest. One of the class samples is another version of that half apron I made last week. Now that I have ribbon, I’m going to experiment with adding ribbon to the flatlock seams. The second project may end up being a class next spring, but I need to find out if it works, first, and that means making up the pattern.

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We had a very productive day here yesterday at Chez Schuster-Szabo. I did a deep clean of the foyer and my office and ran the air scrubber most of the day. I need to do the kitchen (again) and the laundry room and then I’ll start working on the upstairs. That air scrubber definitely has cut down the amount of dust circulating in the house.

While I was working inside, the husband and his crew were working outside. They had a day off between jobs (very unusual) so he had the guys working here. Two of them split and stacked wood and the other two helped the husband replace the plastic on the greenhouse:

The original plastic lasted 10 years. The new plastic is reinforced, and the husband also ordered some shade cloth to keep it a bit cooler in there in mid-summer. He got a smaller piece of shade cloth for the chicken yard, too. We’re getting everything battened down because a cold front is coming through on Friday and snow is in the forecast for the whole week after that. Nothing like falling off a cliff into winter.

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The husband has a business credit card that gets Amazon reward points. The reward points are mine to spend as part of my “salary” for being the construction company bookkeeper. We had a hefty balance, so I ordered myself a nice Arrow cabinet for my Bernina serger with a custom insert to make the machine sit flush with the table. I prefer flatbed machines and all of mine are set up that way.

I’ve got a pile of stuff to take to the thrift store on my next trip to town. I’m also going to check and see if any of the stores will take fabric scraps for recycling. I’ve sorted out what I can either pass on, use in my classes, or turn into scrap quilts, but I still have quite a bit left, especially garment fabrics. I hate to send them to the landfill if they can be recycled. One store does package up bales of clothing that isn’t saleable, so I’ll start with them. (Yes, I know, I could make dog beds to donate to the animal shelter, but there are only so many hours in the day.)