Calm Again, Finally

The wind finally stopped blowing after more than 48 hours. It’s -8F (air temp) right now, but a heat wave is coming in and it will be in the 30s starting tomorrow. (That wasn’t sarcasm.) One distinct advantage of subzero temps is that town was blessedly deserted yesterday morning. I got all of my errands run in record time, although I decided not to go to sewing. I am teaching all day today and I didn’t want to overdo the people-ing. I am great at faking extraversion, but only to a point. Also, the husband was here being a shiny toy.

I came home and gathered up my class supplies. Today’s class is the Jalie Renee Pants. I have four students, which will be plenty for one session. The tricky part about teaching these clothing classes is that we spend more time making a muslin than we do making the actual garment. A clothing class isn’t like a quilting class where everyone makes the same thing without modification. I’ve got lots of leftover ponte and interlock fabrics, and what I had the students do last time was make a bike shorts version of the pattern so we could get the fit right in the upper part of the pants. Sometimes the darts are necessary and sometimes they are not. (On the last pair I made, I forgot the darts and decided they weren’t really required. Ponte is very forgiving.) The crotch length is plenty long enough for me without modification—which is unusual—but for some people, it might be too long and need to be adjusted. Once the fit is good in the waist and hips, we can address the length.

I spent an hour working on the Ravenwood pattern and completed the front of the bag.

I still have a long, long way to go on this project. The inside of the bag has several pockets.

I also put together one of the Laundry Day Tees. I’m running up a bunch of tops and then will have one long coverstitch hemming session for them.

One of the baby quilts is quilted and waiting to be bound. I would love to show you a photo of it but I want these to be a surprise. I am quite happy with the way the first one turned out. It’s a combination of rulerwork and free motion quilting.

The plan for this weekend is (hopefully) to finish binding the Sunbonnet Sue quilt, hem a few tops, and make that New Look 6555 top so the store can use it as a display sample for the class in May. Anything beyond that will be a bonus.

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We had a good group at choir practice Wednesday night considering the weather. With me singing alto on the acapella pieces, we had almost a double quartet. Steve had to carry the bass line by himself, but he’s more than capable. Finding music for our group is not easy. We are all accomplished musicians and good singers, but we’re small. The anthem arrangements for Easter Sunday are so frustrating as most of them call for trumpets and/or organ, a full chorus, and have complicated orchestral accompaniments.

Yesterday morning, I organized my piano music for Lent and Easter. I like to keep favorite arrangements in alphabetical order in notebooks. I pulled some older ones and replaced them with newer ones. I’ve got a fair bit of practicing to do before Easter, though.