New Thread Rack

Leslie is still missing. See right side of page for details.

I was so excited to get my new thread rack made. My dad did 98% of the work and let me glue the dowels in and do a teeny bit of sanding so I could feel like I contributed. Here's a pic:


It holds 100 spools of thread of any size except cones. Tomorrow he will make me another one because I underestimated my thread stash! The thread rack is fairly simple, consisting of 1/4" dowels, some 1/4" plywood for the sides, and some other wood dad had laying about that he cut and sanded and drilled before I even saw it. The dowels are spaced approximately 1-3/4" apart and glued in. The bases are then glued and nailed to the sides. This is meant to be purely functional because I didn't want to wait for the revved up perfectly beautiful version dad would've made on his own. Yay for dads and their ginormous woodshops! Thanks Dad! Dad is also making the new hearth for our pellet stove which he, CaveGurlsDad, and a friend will be installing on Saturday.

A Tale of Rice Bags, Pellet Stoves, and a Finished Birthday Present

To start off...LESLIE IS STILL MISSING....if you know anything at all please call 1-800-the-lost. Thank you.

I started seeing an acupuncturist a couple of weeks ago. He is experienced in both acupuncture and massage therapy which is exactly what I needed. Fortunately for me, he has a patient near me that he sees in her home, so he is willing to come to my home if I book my appointments right after hers ( for all you acupuncture/massage therapists - this is a great idea). Yesterday he came over and when I told him of my hand problems he suggested I use a rice bag on them as moist heat is what I need, and the heating pad is a dry heat. So I started thinking, why put a rice bag on your hand when you could put your hand IN a rice bag? Good idea eh? So I spent most of yesterday working this idea out between naps and such, and I am just about finished. I will post a pic when I have finished the masterpiece.

Before acupuncture, I finally finished brother's pillow cases. Yeah! Something off my plate of must dos. So now there is a pair of them and I am happy I finished with many days to spare...almost feel like I need to make something else so I can be frantic at the last minute as usual, but that was the old me. Now, I am the go slow, don't over do it (ha, Jan just keep your mouth closed and the fabric won't be harmed...) ok, most of the time don't over do it! I am the new 'take care of myself first' me, the relax and try to be as pain-free as possible me.

So the non-family members out there are probably wondering what the heck am I talking about? Well, I am setting up a new blog (my new blog) to chronicle it, but to give you all a brief overview of my fabulous self...I have fibromyalgia, I have a herniated-touching-the-nerve-disk at C5/6 which is at the base of your neck for the non-initiated lucky ones. I also am suffering from some sort of neuropathy which is a major pain (haha) tingly, burning, lighting bolt type of pain. My finger tips are all numb except for right index and most of right thumb. Makes typing correctly an adventure. So, check out my new blog for more on my fabulous self.

Back to the actual title and reason for this post. We're getting a pellet stove. For those not in the know, it is like a wood stove except it burns pellets which are "Pellet fuel is a renewable, clean-burning and cost stable home heating alternative currently used throughout North America. It is a biomass product made of renewable substances – generally recycled wood waste." from pelletheat.org. Very excited about it as our 47 year old (yes, you read it right 47!!) furnace is not even 50% efficient and is heating us out of house and home! The three pallets of pellets arrived today, but the stove will be installed next week. Dad is building a hearth for it and we picked out fabulous travertine tiles for it at Home Depot. I'll post a pic when it's all done.

My Latest Projects

I've always had a hard time making things for my brother. He only likes red and black and is very picky. So when I saw this asian dragon fabric, I just knew I had to get it and make something for him. I decided a robe would be out of the question since he just wears sweats, so I decided to make pillow cases. Here is the first one...
Unfortunately the pattern repeat was about 24 inches or so and I wanted a 31 inch long pillow case. I also was limited with the amount of black fabric I had purchased, not realizing how much I would need (I'm a great planner!) So I added as much red as I could to enable the black to wrap around to the inside and cover up all the seams. After I had this finished, I realized I probably didn't need to do that since I made this entire pillowcase with french seams. Just goes to show, I am not a pillowcase maker! Hopefully the second one won't be such a problem and will go faster. I am just wanting to work on my new jacket (I paid too much money for the fabric but it will be worth it!) I had this denim like jacket pattern I had purchased earlier and when I was at fabric depot last week, I saw the same pattern made up with a variety of gorgeous woven cottons, so I bought what they had and guessed at the yardage (pretty good guesses too), I only had about a half yard too much in total. Maybe I'll make a matching bag! Here is the pattern and a picture of the cut out jacket pieces (half of it anyway)...

So, I am thinking that the pocket fabric is too light, not enough contrast with the two bottom front fabrics. I do have enough of the darker fabric to make pockets so I may do that. Maybe change the cuffs too...I may have to go back to fabric depot and buy a different fabric altogether. We'll see how it all works out.

I just posted a couple of items on Etsy. I have been making things for a couple of months and will be posting them as I can fit it into my busy (ha) schedule.

Ciao for now!

Leslie is still missing!

It has been 2 weeks and 2 days since Leslie went missing. She was last seen by her family on Friday, September 21st, 2007 in Garden Grove, California. She is only 15 years old! The police are NOT looking for her, they have classified her as a runaway, which her family does not believe she would do. She was not in trouble. She was doing well in school. She took NOTHING from home, not her clothes, not her makeup, nothing. Her father's birthday was yesterday and I know if she had left voluntarily, she would have come home or at least called home, for that.

If you have ANY information, please call 1-800-THE LOST (843-5678).

Thank you!