Summer Blooms and Stitches

 Good Morning!

Summer has been blooming in my scrapatch.

I have been having some ups and downs, 

but life is good.

I have been doing a lot of sitting and crocheting.

I have been carrying my yarn bag and hooks wherever life takes me.

Last fall we had to cut back the big purple clematis

 because it had suffered a lot of winter kill last year. 

It is growing back green and beautiful. 

Life can be like that. 

Sometimes you need to regroup and carry on ...

... and bloom.

 The wall of rhododendrons in our driveway have also bloomed.

My kitties and I finished our Spring Crochet Along Blanket.

I added wide side borders of my own design to make it bed size.

Nutmeg loves this one. 

Then I added the lovely yellow shell edging from the crochet along. 

Cassian helped. 

 Our big boy stray cat has become quite domesticated

and loves this blanket, too.

This is the start of my new crochet along with 

Any Day Crochet on TikTok

More soon! 

I hope you are having and happy and healthy June!

Work Room In Progress

 

This is the progress on the new floor that my hubby and two sons

 were able to make over the weekend.

It is encouraging.

The new maple laminate flooring is reaching into the middle of the dining room.

Cassian is on the rug in the living room,

appreciating that he has run of this part of the house this morning

as the kitties are closed into the back of the house when work is happening.

The real work week has started for my guys

 and the furniture will probably be in these patterns 

until the weekend.

That is a photo on my desktop of me and Mr Scrapatch and our son Matt

 taken a few years ago on the deck of his home in early spring.

So I have my old HP computer up and running.

Very, very s-l-o-w-l-y.

I will be replacing this a component at a time as funds permit, 

starting with the tower.

Under the temporary chair mat that I put down this morning, 

you can just see the edge of the big patch that needed to be filled 

in the old floor where my old computer chair wore grooves in the wood.

This gray chair is a new purchase early this year 

during the big online clearance sales and it is very comfy.

What you cannot see in this photo is my sewing machine 

which is still under wraps and stored in the other room

on its table which is usually under the window.

So I am still doing occasional hand sewing

and dreaming of the quilts I want to make

when I get my sewing corner back.

May you and yours have a happy and safe week!

End of Summer ~ Home Again

 

This is my end of summer

"highway guided by the way the world is tilted"

... quote from this poem

We road tripped from Massachusetts to Indiana and back to visit with our daughter, son-in-law and grand-darling before they sell their house and move another 1000 miles away west.  Those of you who have been following my blog a long time may remember that my son-in-law is career military. Now he is transferred to the US Space Force.

The first two days of the journey were in total rain and there are no photos.

The skies cleared in the evening in western Ohio.

Photos are from the passenger seat ... 

... and one of the deer that visited their backyard.

In Indiana we got off the highway ...

... and enjoyed the backroads.

The mornings were misty in the rolling hills of eastern Ohio on the way home.

Then the skies were blue.

Misty morning mountains hiding behind the fog in West Virginia.

To cloudless blue.

It was a good trip.

It was good to see our girl.

It is good to be home. 

Welcome, Fall! 

Rainy Days and Tuesdays

 

It rained today! 

I  opened the windows and the back door 

and even went out to stand in the nice cool rain. 

I has been in the triple digits with the heat factor for so many days

that the house has been closed up and the air conditioners running night and day.

It has not even cooled off at night. 

A steady healing is now a cause for celebration.

In truth, I have always loved summer rains and in my younger days would take a walk in the rain.

Today I just opened my door and enjoyed. 

Hope the rains that fall on you are gentle and healing. 

Hello, August ~ Back to Blogging

 

Happy August! 

I have been sitting and stitching and enjoying summer.

Mr. Scrapatch has been working all week and catching up on all the projects that need doing around the Scrapatch on the weekends. Here he is yesterday using his portable electric cement mixer to replace cement landing for the back steps.  

The steps and stringers also need replacing,

 so there is a gaping hole off the back porch ...

... and a pile of wood and bags of cement on the deck under the gazebo.

I am very blessed that he can do the work and I can sit and stitch.

Today it is steamy and I am sitting inside working on the crochet shawl for another friend in my monthly lunch group.  When I asked her what color she said any shade of purple.  I was surprised to hear she is a purple person as she does not wear purple or have it in her home decor.  When I thought about it, though, I should not have been surprised as she is a healer by nature and was a nurse for 40 years in a local emergency room. 

Maestro is my crochet helper of the day.

Very helpful.

After I gently removed the WIP from her razor sharp teeth, 

I put it in one of the clear plastic tote bags that I use as project bags for my yarn.

So Maestro expressed herself by chewing on the strap.

I am really happy with this new to me Tunisian Crochet stitch.

More later. 

I plan to be back to blogging on a regular basis now.

Hope you and yours are having a good summer!

A Beautiful Day

 

I voted.

It is a cold day here with the temperature at freezing, 

mostly bright sun and clouds.

When we stepped out of the polls,

we stepped into the biting, blinding, blowing whiteout

of a driving snow squall.

I have looked at clouds from

Both Sides Now

"Well something's lost, but something's gained In living every day."

~

May your day be filled with good health, good people, good times,

thankfulness,

peace,

and

wonder.

Winter Comes Early

 

Winter has come early to my quilty corner.

This is what greeted me when I opened my back door this morning. 

It is still snowing.

Mr Scrapatch ventured out to put seed in the feeders before he left for work

and this was the snowy path that greeted him.

This is a photo he took of his Saint Francis statute on the way to the shed for the birdseed.

The leaves are still on the oak trees, just starting to change and drop.

I took this one of the snow on the last of my coral rose buds 

that were getting ready to open. 

I am still hoping they will bloom.

Nutmeg was amazed by the snow and sat in the doorway 

watching the birds fly in to feast on the feeders. 

This is the winter wonderland in the front of the house 

that my hubby took as he left to work.

He arrived safely though he said the commute was not much fun.

I am snug inside and thankful today.

This is my favorite winter herbal tea.  

TeeKanne Forest Fruits Tea Bags

It is getting difficult to find as it may have been discontinued. 

I have about a half a box left and am hoping to find more.

My daughter originally found it in a small shop that specialized in German foods.

This box was the last of her own supply and she sent it to me last year.

I may have found some on Amazon, but when I tried to buy some there last year

it never arrived and I had to get my cash back. 

If you know where I might purchase it, please let me know. 

I like to add a little orange juice, a splash of lemon juice, 

a teaspoon of honey and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

mmmmmmm!

Really warms me up on a cold wintery day.

We have three inches now outside my kitchen window.

I am staying in today.

All the lights are on to light me gray and wintery sewing corner.

I am happy and blessed.

May you and yours be safe and well today. 

<3 

Mask Making ~ Adding a Wired Nose Tab

 

This is my prototype for a Mask with a Wired Nose Guard.

I designed this as I sewed and made adjustments along the way.

These are the materials I used:

Front Piece ... 6.5" by 9.5" of  focus fabric 

Back  Piece ...  6.5" by 9.5" of antimicrobial polycotton fabric

Filter Piece ... 6.5" by 8" Mountain Mist polypropolyne fabric

Neck Piece ... 3" by 5" focus fabric

Nose Guard Piece ... 5" square focus fabric

Nose Guard Wire ... 5" plastic coated craft wire

Neck Elastic Pieces ... two 5" pieces and two 6.5" pieces

Sewing Steps: 

I folded and sewed tube for the back of the neck piece

and folded and pressed in the edges 

and inserted the elastics in the side openings

and top-stitched around the back tab.

To make the nose guard, 

I used a needle nose plier to turn in the cut edges and the wire

and I pressed the 5" square in half.

I folded the triangle right sides together and sewed a partial seam,

starting at one corner and ending and back stitching 

so I could make a pocket for the wire.

I turned right side out and turned the open edges in and pressed.

Then I inserted the nose wire with the curve towards the top point 

and the ends toward the long fold.

Then I carefully topstitched around the edges to close the opening. 

I stay-stitched the noseguatrd pocket with a 1/8" seam

to the top center front of the mask,

taking care not to catch the wire inside with my stitches.

Then I inserted the elastic in the sides and top stitched all around.

closing the ends and securing the elastic.

I layered my mask materials with the filter fabric centered over 

the triangle nose guard on the back of the front fabric

and I placed this on top of the antimicrobial back fabric, front sides together,

and made a tube by sewing the top and bottom seams.

Then I turned the tube right side out and pressed only the open ends in,

being careful not to apply the hot iron to the middle as the heat will melt the 

polypropylene filter fabric. 

I pressed the triangle for the nose guard upward before I sewed. 

Then I folded the triangle downward and topstitched a short line of stitches

in the middle to keep the nose wire in place.

This is the front of my mask before I added the pleats.

Then I added the side pleats to shape the mask.

This is my completed mask.

It is very breathable and comfortable to wear.

It can be pulled down around the neck and worn as a accent scarf

when not in use.

I like to put it on before I go out and wear in down in the car or when I am alone in the back yard and pull it up when I am with others.

Wearing a mask has become second nature to me,

an essential garment and pretty to wear.

I hope you find this tutorial helpful.

For Links to Materials and a more complete sewing tutorial Click Here

Below is a link to a more detailed photo tutorial with the neck straps

Free Tutorial for Masks with Neck Straps Posted Here

If you have any questions, please email me at

scrapatches@gmail.com

Have a Happy Day!