Friday’s Child is Loving and Giving

Fifty years ago  our second child was born.  We named her after both her grandmothers – my mother’s first name and The Husband’s mother’s middle name.  She was a happy baby and I found her a lot easier to take care of than her older sister.  To be truthful, 99.9% of that was probably due to the fact that by this time I knew what I was doing .  When our first daughter was born I had never changed a diaper or even taken care of a baby before.  Back in those days, not much thought was given to preparing the new mother for the job ahead.  Thank goodness for the Dr. Spock book that somebody gave me, not sure just when, but certainly not soon enough for Daughter 1’s comfort.
While I was expecting, I decided to learn to sew.  I bought a used White in a cabinet for $40 and made myself some maternity clothes.  Then I decided that the new baby would need her own Christening dress and that it should be entirely hand-sewn, with white-on-white embroidery.  I don’t remember where this idea came from but through the years I’ve been prone to similar crazy ideas from time to time.

This is the pattern I chose.  Then I went to The Emporium in downtown San Francisco and bought batiste and lace, both imported from France.  Those were the days when big department stores sold a full line of fabrics and notions.

Ornate Glass Dome from The Emporium        Photo from Wikipedia

I then proceeded to cut out the fabric and stitch it together by hand.  I used french seams, which are fully enclosed, for most of the garment.  Unfortunately, the set-in sleeves defeated me.  No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t get the gathers to lay properly.   I finally gave up and stitched them in using the machine and then overcast the seam.  I did not do a very good job overcasting the parts where the lace edging and insertions meet the fabric, so now there is a certain amount of fraying in those areas.  Also, the insertion in one area has deteriorated.  The rest of the ensemble includes a long slip and an embroidered bonnet.

 

detail of pintucks

detail of embroidery

Nightgowns Completed

Ready for the girls to try on next time they come down.

I’ve changed my mind about my next project. I have 5 yards of a crinkly polyester in a splashy “vacation” print – has sort of a Mediterranean look. I bought it back in the late eighties when we were all wearing those windbreakers and pants made out of crinkly nylon. I think my plans were to make a jacket. Not interested in that now but the fabric is so light that I think it might be good for a backpack from Butterick 4147. The pattern calls for interfacing so it should be sturdy enough. That would use up a little over a yard and I could use the rest to make supermarket bags from Butterick 5338.

Suddenly our tomatoes are ripening like crazy. Looks like gazpacho this weekend!

Back to Garment Sewing

for a little while anyway. Yesterday and today I worked on the summer nightgowns for the girls. They are all finished except for a bit of topstitching. I busted 4.5 yards of garment fabric making these. That makes a total of 6.25 yards out of the almost 400 yards in my stash. I think my next project will be a shell-type blouse for myself. I have lots of printed rayon for practicing until I get the fit just right. That should take care of several yards right there.

This is the pattern I used, view 2 for both. The copyright date is 1983 but the style is still a good one. It was originally purchased at Beverly Fabrics in San Jose, but not by me. In 1983 my daughters were well past sizes 7-10 and I don’t think I ever visited that particular fabric store anyway. I must have bought it at a yard sale or a thrift shop sometime after my granddaughters were born. Don’t we wish patterns still were priced like this one?

I’m still knitting on the 2009 Anniversary Shawl. I’m on the Clue 5 which is the final clue and have only about 12 rows to go. Of course each row has over 500 stitches which means I can only do a couple of rows in an evening. That’s if what we are watching on TV isn’t overly exciting, causing me to make a mistake which involves counting, ripping back, or, worst of all, frogging to the lifeline. That’s the white line several rows from the bottom – actually it’s unwaxed dental floss. The little green things are 1/4” lengths of drinking straws being used as stitch markers. We really believe in recycling/reusing around here. I use different colors for marking different sections of the pattern.

There is no border on this shawl, and no grafting to be done. So when the final stitch is in, I can block it and it’s finished! Not to count my chickens before the eggs hatch, but this will be the first lace shawl I’ve ever completed. Then I can start finishing up the other three lace wips.

Where Has the Time Gone?

Summer is almost half over and I don’t feel as if I’ve accomplished even a tenth of what I had planned. I don’t know where the hours go.

This sunflower is one of at least a dozen that popped up as volunteers this spring. I don’t remember ever planting sunflowers in the backyard, so they must have come from birdseed. I hate to pull up volunteers if I know what they are, but next year I’m going to have to get ruthless and yank them out as soon as I see them. Most of the plants are single but this one just keeps putting out the blossoms.

The tomatoes are finally starting to produce. Not enough to make Gazpacho yet but I haven’t had to buy tomatoes for over two weeks now. I’m thinking about Panzanella for dinner tomorrow. We have some leftover Pugliese bread from Costco that should be perfect for it. The amazing zucchini plant has now given us at least 5 dozen fruits, ranging from 4-5 inches to “too big for stuffing even.” I haven’t let many get big because this is the absolutely best zucchini I’ve ever grown. The plant came from a nursery in San Carlos and was part of the batch of plants our son gave me for Mother’s Day. The label said it was an heirloom variety called “Romanesco” but it doesn’t look much like the photos I’ve found online.

I planted a six-pack each of lemon cucumbers and Armenian cucumbers. However, the Armenian must have been mislabeled because we now have twelve lemon cucumber plants, each producing what seems like several fruits a day. I swear, you lift up a branch and the cucumbers are growing in clusters, like grapes only a lot bigger. Thank goodness they are so good – we are eating two or three a day and have been able to find takers for the rest.

I didn’t get any beans planted this year although we do have some volunteers that sprouted from last year’s crop. I think I might try to get a small batch in next week if I can find the space. The moon is waxing which means it’s a good time to plant beans. I’ve never tried planting by the phases of the moon but I’ve always wanted to experiment with it.

The Husband picked our first apple this evening – no photo because he ate it too quickly. It was an Early Summer Red according to the label. There are several more that look ready, so I’ll probably try one tomorrow.

The Blenheim apricots were very small this year. I think we should have thinned them. Also probably should have pruned them last winter. I checked a book on pruning fruit trees out of the library this week. It appears to have a lot of information on the kinds of trees we are growing, so maybe we can improve our harvests.

Our friends brought us a box of their wonderful Blenheim apricots a couple of weeks ago, so I tried making jam for the first time in many years. This is the first batch. A few days later I found a recipe for Apricot Riesling Jam and decided to try it. I didn’t have any Riesling but I did have 1/2 cup of Grand Marnier so I used that. I got 2 small jars and a bit extra from that batch. We had a little of the extra over some vanilla ice cream the other night and it was pure heaven.

I’ve rearranged my sewing room again and now have room for a cutting table. It’s so nice not to have to use the dining room table when I want to cut something. All this is so that I can make GD1 and GD2 summer nightgowns. I’ve been planning this for weeks and was just about to put it off until next year. But when I asked one of them if that was okay, she said she would really like to have it this year and it didn’t matter that summer is half over, she could wear summer pjs all year, no problem. After that, I couldn’t not make them.

Some quilting has been going on this summer. Big Busted and the twin-size POM are ready to baste. I pieced the back of the POM quilt, so that took longer. I’m going to try the Sharon Schamber method of basting. I’ve read some good reviews on my Yahoo quilting groups. I’ll probably try it on a catnapper first.

Rainy Sunday

After two weeks of above-average temperatures and dry skies, the rains have moved back in. They started Wednesday and have brought us almost two inches so far. This afternoon it really poured for a while, then there was a bit of thunder (didn't see any lightning) and then it was pretty much over. We're supposed to have another day or so of showers, then back to the fine weather.



I've been working sporadically on the Pocket Full of Mysteries Christmas quilts. My feelings are that the lap quilt is just okay but the baby quilt is not a success. I was even thinking about donating it to the animal shelter. Dogs aren't usually particular about color and design, they just want warm and cuddly.
I had both quilts on the design wall when the grandchildren came to visit yesterday and GD2 took one look at them and said, "Oh, Gma, I really love that quilt!" She was looking at the baby quilt and I think it was the elephants that attracted her. She is a real animal-lover.
So I guess I'll hold off on my judgment until they are completely finished. I had planned to donate both to charity but not if they are ugly.


I finished the flannel nightgown for GD1 last week and it has gone home with her. I think it's the first flannel nightgown that she has ever owned. I'm almost finished with the one I am making for GD3 but we haven't seen her, so there's no hurry at this point. I had planned to make the same pattern for GD2, but she was not at all happy when I showed her the fabric - she is one of those people who is always too warm. So she chose a pattern with short sleeves and I'm going to make it in a light cotton knit. I'm making GS a pair of jammies in a cotton knit, so I can work on both together. That will bust another 3 yards of fabric from my stash. Woo hoo!

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I made this side dish for tonight's dinner. It was grated sweet potatoes browned in olive oil and garnished with browned butter with sage and garlic. The recipe is here. This one is definitely a keeper! By the way, this is not my photo - I was so anxious to serve this that I didn't even think of getting the camera.

This is a Farro and Butternut squash salad that I made for Friday night's dinner. It was really good but made way too much for the two of us. That's goat cheese sprinkled over the top. I only used half the butternut squash, so I'm looking for a soup recipe that will use up the remainder. I've been in a "clean 0ut the pantry and freezer" mood lately. I really need to keep better track of what I have so that I don't waste so much.

Closing Days

This is the larger of the two liquidambar trees in our front yard. When we moved here, there were two of the same age but, several years ago we lost the western tree during a bad windstorm. The tree we replaced it with is also a liquidambar but always loses its leaves in November. This one hangs on into January or February and even then doesn't lose all its leaves until the new spring leaves push them off.





The Lisbon lemon also in the front yard was picked clean about a month ago by an elderly couple with a shopping bag. This is the second year that they have been around here. Last winter I first saw them picking oranges from our next-door neighbor's tree; I didn't say anything because he never picks them anyway. Then we noticed that we no longer had any ripe lemons less than six feet from the ground. Now it was a different story because we do use ours. We've been trying to keep any eye out for them this season, but have not been able to catch them in the act. Actually, I'm not sure what I would say if I did catch them. These lemons are almost ready, so there may be another raid soon.

We had a good bit of rain right around Christmas but since the weekend, it's been cool and clear. The baby tomatoes in the greenhouse haven't started ripening yet.

We still have to paint the hallway but have decided to leave it until after New Year's. Meanwhile, I've started my sewing project for the grandchildren: old-fashioned nightgowns for the girls and a pair of pajamas for OJB. I bought the flannel for the girls a few months ago but the knit for the pajamas came from my stash. Two yards busted! I also cut out a kitchen smock for myself - another 3 yards busted. I haven't done a count of how many yards are in my non-quilt fabric stash, but this doesn't even make a dent.

Today is the start of my second year of retirement. I haven't accomplished much of what I had planned to do but hope to do better in 2009.