Author: agilejack

I got up early this morning and headed out to play pickleball before it got too hot (It got up to 100 again today!). Apparently I wasn’t the only one who had that thought because there were a lot of people there! I was on the court at about 9:00 and played until 11:30. I had so much fun, but I’m really wiped out tonight.

It was hot by the time I got home at noon so I sat in my living room for awhile after lunch and saw an Instagram post from a local quilt store… they had gotten a new shipment of Australian Aboriginal fabrics and the picture showed some really fun colors. So I hopped back in the car and headed out.

Score! And it looks like there are some pinks and teals in there… hmmm. Wonder what I’ll do with those.

While I was at the store I heard a woman say, “Look at that cute dog collage!” And when I looked up, this is what I saw.

I said, “THAT’S MY DOG!!!” This is a collage portrait of my Skeeter (who is now living with my friend on Vashon Island, WA) made by a woman named Rosemary Burris, an amazing fabric collage artist. The picture of Skeeter was taken on her birthday by a friend of mine who is a wonderful photographer. You can check out Rosemary’s work here.

Once I got home I hit my sewing room and whipped up another bucket bag. I chose this mauve-ish color and paired it with a fun sheep fabric I’ve had for some time. The pink noses of the sheep match the mauve fabric perfectly!

Look at how cute that sheep fabric is!

Here’s some images of the finished bag.

The temperature had dropped enough by 8 pm that we were able to get out for a 2. 5 mile walk. My boys were so bored today! They really don’t get much activity on days when it’s this hot.

When we got back from our walk I hit my sewing room again to whip up another one of these quick bags. I decided to use some striped denim that I’ve had for a couple years and combined it with this amazing fabric.

I bought this fabric a few years ago with no specific project in mind. I just knew that I loved it and wanted some in my stash. Here’s a better picture.

Isn’t that gorgeous?!?!?!? I just love it.

Here’s the finished bag.

Holy cow! I just love this one. And with that special lining fabric, this one will be staying with me and I will be happy every time I use it.

Here’s some more photos.

And I have to admit that I’m kind of liking these fabric handles. They seem really appropriate for these casual and functional bags.

I’ve had a couple people ask for clarification on how I made the handles.

The handles are made by wrapping fabric around nylon webbing. I cut a length of nylon webbing to 27 inches. Then I cut a piece of the fabric 27 inches by 3 inches. Next I folded over 1/4 inch along the length of the fabric and pressed it.

Then I wrapped the fabric around the nylon, making sure that the folded and pressed edge lined up with the edge of the webbing. Then I topstitched it along each edge, and another line of stitching down the center.

Here’s the finished denim strap that shows the three lines of stitching.

I didn’t use my walking foot on the mauve strap and that was a mistake. It turned out a little wonky. I did use my walking foot on the denim one and everything stayed in place much better. So if you have a walking foot, I recommend using it for this step.

I struggled a little getting the snaps put on the mauve bag. I knew I needed a block of wood to provide a solid surface for pounding. I was using a mouse trap (a new one!) that was in my cupboard and it was breaking apart. So I texted a friend and asked if her husband had some blocks of wood. He put some out for me and I walked over and picked up a lovely block of wood.

I used this to apply the snaps on the denim bag and I got such a nice finish! This will stay in my tool box.

100 degrees again tomorrow, then 93 Tuesday. After that the temps drop down into the 80s. I’m about done with all this hot weather. And so are Bender and Rico.

It was pretty hot today. I took Rico for his herding lesson this morning at 11. He did such a good job, but boy does he get hot!

We have to be sure and give him lots of breaks when he’s working the sheep so he can run 100 yards away to take a dunk in the stock tank.

While we were up in Washington for Rico’s lesson, I decided to stop at a quilt store called Fiddlesticks. I was there a couple months ago and saw some really cool muslin that is dyed and has wrinkles and creases, and is heavier than a typical quilting cotton. I didn’t buy any at the time because I had no idea what I’d do with it. But I loved it and think about it occasionally. So today I bought a bunch of half yards.

It reminds me of waxed canvas, but not quite as heavy. I think it will make some fun utilitarian bags lined with some bright prints.

I bought a full yard of this one because it’s my favorite color.

All that creasing and wrinkling isn’t printed on. It’s from the dyeing process. I just love it.

It was hot enough today that I spent the remainder of the day in the house until later in the evening. So I dug in and finished up this quick little bag made from Svetlana Sotek’s tutorial that I shared yesterday.

Here’s the finished bag.

That denim is doing funny things on my computer! If you’re seeing the odd wood grain like pattern to the fabric, it’s an optical illusion! It’s basic denim.

I went back and forth on where to put the tag… above the snap, below the snap, off to one side. Here’s what I decided on.

Here’s the lining and I really like it! I love the little peeks you get of the lining as the bag moves.

This bag worked up really quickly. I could probably easily whip out a couple of them in the evening after work. It’s not fancy, but it’s generous in size and should be very functional.

I think it might have taken as much time to get the snaps on as it took to make the rest of the bag! I used some scrap fabric to successfully install some snaps before I tried them on the actual bag.

The snaps didn’t come with any instructions so I looked up a couple YouTube videos to see if they could help me figure it out. Once I got the right pieces ready for each side and had the right tools ready to go, it worked really well and quick. And I just love the metal hardware. Let’s see if I can remember what goes with what the next time.

Since I haven’t yet received the biothane I ordered for handles, I made this handle by wrapping a strip of the denim around a piece of white nylon webbing that I bought several years ago to make leashes covered in fabric.

It worked really well, I just folded over and pressed one long edge of the denim strip. Then I wrapped it around the webbing and top stitched two lines along each edge.

I really like the way this interfacing makes the denim feel. It’s sturdy and has some substance to it, but it’s still flexible and not stiff.

I actually cut my interfacing pieces to 18×18 and fused them onto the back of the denim and then cut the denim.

I did it this way because the denim is 50 inches wide and I can’t get the full width on my cutting mat. Rather than wrestling with all that bulk and trying to cut it straight, I just did it this way and it worked well.

This bag would be a great bag to take with you on a day of fabric shopping! It’s comfy on your shoulder and would nicely hold everything you bought that you couldn’t live without.

I’ll definitely whip up a few more of these.

Bender and Rico had a pretty boring day today. it was so hot that they didn’t get outside after Rico’s lesson. So we got out for a walk around 8:00 tonight. It was really nice out.

Coyote sightings tonight = zero.

When we got home I let the dogs out into the back yard, forgetting that the sprinkler was running, and Bender came in a few minutes later soaking wet!

He can’t help himself. He just loves water!

I did manage to pick my sad little apple crop yesterday. Here’s the entire crop.

I have my first load in the dehydrator. I’ll load it up again tomorrow.

I’ll probably only get three loads in the dehydrator. Last year I probably did a dozen loads. Everyone is having terrible apple crops this year. I’m glad I still have some dried apples left over from last year.

It’s supposed to hit 100 degrees here in Portland tomorrow. I’m planning on getting up and playing pickleball in the morning before it gets hot. Then I will probably hunker down in the house and make a couple bags.

I’m not completely out of my creative slump but I’m making some progress. So I’ve been thinking about my next project and buying stuff I think I’ll need for the direction I’m going.

I bought this book several years ago and just love the stuff that’s in it.

I’ve followed this woman on Instagram for a few years. The stuff she makes is relatively simple, or maybe she just makes it look simple. But it’s all really nicely made and she has lovely taste in fabrics… although she tends to use a lot of neutrals. But I find her stuff really attractive.

Here’s a couple of bag patterns that are in this book. Simple. Incredibly well made. Impeccable.

I bought another bag pattern from her that wasn’t in the book. It’s similar to the one with the blue print above. I’ve never made it but want to.

Earlier this week she posted a link to a YouTube tutorial she did for a very simple tote bag. I decided that I’m going to make one just to see how it feels when it’s done. Here’s her tutorial.

I’m going to make it out of some denim I have on hand and will line it with a piece of fabric a friend of mine gave me a few months ago.

She said she uses the Pellon SF101 fused to the outer body of the bag. It’s a woven fusible interfacing. It should be a little more rigid and structured than the non woven fusible interfacing I use in my Frankenbags. So I bought some online today and picked it up at the store this evening. I think I might use it on the outer bag and the lining because I like that extra structure.

I also did some other online shopping this week. First, I bought some 1/2 inch metal snaps and some rivets.

That’s a lot of snaps and a lot of rivets! I’m guessing they may last me the rest of my life. I really like snaps. That click when they’re all nestled together is so satisfying. And I love the finished look that rivets give an item. So expect some rivets in my future. There’s just something about the look that the metal hardware brings to a bag that I love.

I also spent some time looking at various types of straps and webbing to use for bag handles. I couldn’t make myself pull the trigger on any of these because they don’t feel very high end to me. And I want something that feels a little nicer. Also, I’m hesitant to buy webbing online because you just have no idea how it feels, how substantial it is, or what the actual color is.

So I had an idea… biothane. If you’re not a dog person, you may not have any idea what biothane is. It’s a synthetic leather type material that’s used for dog leashes and harnesses. It’s also commonly used for horse bridles and lead lines. It’s water proof and cleans easily with soap and water. It should hold up really well to washing.

It’s a lovely material. It’s soft and pliable and comfortable in your hand. And it’s really durable. I have a feeling it will make really nice bag handles. At least I hope so since I just bought 100 feet of it! You can buy it in any color in the rainbow but I went with the brown to mimic the feel and look of leather.

I’m guessing I’ll probably use this with more practical fabrics, like denim and maybe some canvas, and not with KFC fabrics for this type of tote. But you never know. If I like it I might have to end up buying it in every color they have!

The snaps and rivets should be here tomorrow. The biothane won’t be here for a week or so. I might just use some black nylon webbing I have on hand for this first one. Maybe wrap the webbing with some of the denim. I probably won’t be able to wait until the biothane delivered.

I had an idea the other day for a fabric combo for a Frankenbag that I’m going to make for a friend. She loves teal and pink together. So this fabric came to mind immediately.

My friend also loves Aboriginal fabrics. So I’m going to dig into my stash this weekend and see if I can find a combo of some KFC fabrics and Aboriginal fabrics that will work with the pink and teal color way. It might really be fun. Or it might really be awful. I’m going to hope for really fun! I’m planning on doing more of the curved blocks I did a few months ago, like in this bag.

In fact….. just picture this bag but in pinks and teals instead of purples and greens. It will definitely be bold. It will be interesting to see what fabric combo I land on.

We’ve had lovely weather this week but it’s getting hot again this weekend. We’re supposed to hit 100 again on Sunday. So it looks like I’ll be spending Sunday at home… but I might get out early and play some pickleball before it gets hot.

Rico has his regular herding lesson tomorrow morning.

I might actually do the tune up on my Featherweight tomorrow! A friend of mine said it should take an hour or so. That sounds like a good project for a hot weekend. I’m itching to get going on making a lap quilt for my friend who gave me the machine!

It was another beautiful day here in Portland. I’m loving the weather now that it’s cooled down a little. It was so nice that Bender and Rico were content to hang out in the back yard all day as I worked.

We had a nice 3.5 mile walk after dinner. We all needed it because we didn’t get an afternoon walk today. The weather was just perfect.

Last night we saw a coyote near the end of our walk. It was a REAL coyote this time… not one of those yellow lab coyotes. It was standing right in the middle of the road about three blocks away from my house. By the time I got my phone out to get a photo, it had moved into the yard on the corner.

That’s a really terrible photo, but I swear that little gray smear is the coyote as it ran up that hill. Although I’m not particularly scared of coyotes as it’s really unlikely one would come after us with two big dogs, there’s something really creepy about seeing them in the dark!

We took our walk a little earlier tonight so were home before it got dark so there wasn’t much worry about coyotes.

Once we got home I hit my sewing room to finish up the blue birthday bag. I didn’t have much left to do so it didn’t take very long. (I’m adding the link to my Frankenbag tutorial here as I get comments on nearly every post asking me for it.)

I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It’s definitely a totally different feel than the dark bag I finished a few days ago.

The back side actually is different from the front side. Honest.

I just love that blue ferns fabric for the lining. It seems more periwinkle to me than my photos show. It’s a gorgeous blue… and I’m not typically a blue person.

On this bag the white zippers are perfect!

Here’s some detail for your perusal.

Oof. That photo of my tag is pretty blurry.

Oh, and this is a good time to point out that I’ve started sewing my tags on by machine rather than by hand. I just set my machine for a zig zag stitch with a zero stitch length. I like the way it looks.

I went and played pickleball last night… the first time in nearly two weeks. The hot weather had kept me home. It was fun but I felt like I played like crap. I definitely felt pretty rusty. I’m going to play again tomorrow night and am hoping I’ll be a little more in the groove.

I’m happy that my shoulder was not irritated by playing! That’s some good news. But I did ice it last night and will put ice on it again tonight just to be sure.

There was one photo from my brunch with my friend Anne on Sunday that I forgot to share… and I love this photo. That’s me with Finley. She’s my friend’s youngest dog. She’s a pistol and she has a soft spot for me. She had me covered in mud after jumping in the pool and then jumping in my lap…. thirty or forty times!

She’s a Pyrenean Shepherd. You can read a little about the breed here.

The last thing I’ll share tonight is this mammoth strawberry that I picked yesterday! Look at that gorgeous thing!!!

Now if I could just grow more than one at a time…

But before I get into that, let’s talk about something good today.

First of all… it was cooler today and it was fantastic! I think it only got up to about 87 degrees. I did take the dogs for a walk before work and it was so nice we walked for 3.5 miles! That’s the first time in more than a week that we’ve been able to do a walk that long. It was a great way to start our day.

Now for the other stuff…

I had to run to the post office tonight, only to find that I couldn’t accomplish what I went there for.

I have other post offices I can go to but I find that when one machine is out of order, they are often ALL out of order. I’ll give it another try tomorrow night.

Now some good stuff. When I got home I took the boys for our evening walk. We actually started at 8:30… the earliest evening walk we’ve had in over a week. It was really nice outside.

When we got home I hit my sewing room to work on the lining and pockets for the blue bag I started this weekend. I did end up getting the slip pocket, zipper pocket and zipper placket completed.

That’s the good news. Now comes the shit balls part…

As I was sewing the slip pocket on to one side of the lining I noticed that the top hem of the pocket was at the bottom of the bag. I had already sewn a line of stitching, so decided that it would just have to be that way and I kept going… topstitching two lines of stitching all the way around the pocket, with two vertical lines up the center to divide the pocket.

Once it was all sewn together, I realized my mistake.

I sewed the pocket on upside down, so that the opening is at the bottom. I had actually positioned the pocket correctly, I just sewed around the sides and top instead of the sides and bottom. So once I got all the other pieces finished I sat down with my seam ripper.

That’s a lot of stitches to pick out!

I know this probably comes as a huge surprise, but using my seam ripper is not my favorite part of the creative process.

Luckily, it all came out much easier than I thought it would and I got the pocket sewn on the correct way before I called it quits… I didn’t want to keep going and make an even bigger mistake.

Here’s some detail to enjoy.

Isn’t that blue ferns fabric pretty!

And speaking of pretty fabric, today I received a small order that I placed a few days ago.

Most of this is stuff that I tend to use over and over again and it was all on sale. Then there are two pieces that I just love and wanted more of… the spiral shells in the foreground just because it’s so magnificent and I just used a piece for a bag lining. It’s one I definitely want to have in my stash.

The one in the upper left is Philip Jacobs’ Dorothy in his original color way. I’ve wanted a couple of yards of that but the store where I bought it is out.

I had my first tomato harvest today and ate them with my big salad for dinner. They were so good! The first home grown tomatoes of the summer are always very special to me!

I’m also really happy that the crocosmia plants that I picked up in a neighborhood “free” pile are blooming!

I also have some onions blooming. These were red onions that I had in the house a couple months ago that started growing, so I just stuck them into one of my planters to see what they would do.

I met my friend Anne yesterday morning to go on a quest for local peaches. And we found some. Along with a bunch of other fruits and veggies. Luckily, we bought them from a farm stand that also serves strawberry and black berry milk shakes!

So of course we had to take time to enjoy one.

After the farm store we stopped in at a nursery on the way back and picked up some plants and some fertilizer. They had some really gorgeous hanging baskets.

That first one mush have been almost five feet across!

And look at this gorgeous cone flower they had! COLOR!!!

On the way back to Anne’s place we stopped and got some take out eggs Benedict. We ate them in the shade of a big tree surrounded by hot dogs.

Rico and I felt obligated to give Brody the pug some love and attention after our brunch.

Did I mention it was HOT?

I have some Frankenbags to share with you tonight. It’s been a while so I have a few!

First up is this one made by Lisa Kerns from British Columbia, Canada. She said she found making this bag fun and creative. I love her very scrappy approach and all that bright color. And look! A Zipper placket!

This next bag was made by Beverly Rose. I love her combo of blues, purples and pinks. And her swirly quilting is a lovely touch.

This bag was made by Jane Bers. Here’s what she said about making this bag:

“I loved doing it and using scraps from a batik quilt I made 10 years ago! Plus a paper pieced block for the front! I knew those scraps would be put to good use some day!!  I am officially hooked on making this bag and my friends and relatives will be getting them for Xmas.”

I’m a big fan of batiks and these fall colors make me think of my mom who loved colors like this.

Next up is this made by Rachel Snee. Here’s what she said: “I finally got around to making my first Frankenbag, starting with an experimental improv skull block I made.  It’s for my daughter who loves pink and green, and she’s very happy with it.”

That skull is pretty damned amazing for being improv! Nice job!

This next bag comes from Margaret Douglas. It’s a fun and scrappy bag. I love the black and whites and all that color!

These bags were made by Janice Quinn. She said she’s having a lot of fun making these bags. She started simple to get the hang of it and has taken off since then! She plans on making a lot more in the next few months. The last photo shows her next bag in process. Of course I love all of her bright color and I love that she’s learning as she goes!

Thanks to everyone for submitting photos!

I remembered yesterday that a friend’s birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks and I decided that I should dig in and make a Frankenbag for her gift. She loves blue so I pulled my blue scraps and selected some medium and lighter tones.

I started out making two sixteen patch blocks and then built from there. Here’s the two panels completed.

The panels went together really quickly. I guess that’s one of the benefits of being stuck in the house on a Saturday because it’s just too damned hot outside.

I used a light gray thread for the quilting and it just takes on the color of whatever it’s over. It’s sort of magic.

Once I got the panels done I spent a few minutes and tried some different fabrics for the lining and pockets. This was a no go.

I decided to go with something a little more understated because I think my friend would like that better. The outer bag is crazy enough. So here’s what I landed on.

I managed to get the handles made and get the outer bag constructed before I wrapped it up for the night.

Here’s the outer bag with the lining and pocket fabrics.

I started my day today with my first fresh local peaches of the season. They were pretty good!

I’m meeting a friend tomorrow morning and we’re going to head to a farm store and buy a box of peaches each. I go through a lot of peaches this time of year. You have to eat a lot during the short season!

Thanks to Pam for thinking of my dogs and sending some loopy balls. They arrived in the mail today and they were a hit!

It was a nice way to add some excitement to their boring hot day.

100 degrees again tomorrow and then it will start cooling off a little. It will be nice to not be stuck in the house all day!

Tonight I finished the dark Frankenbag I’ve been working on for far too long. This is the first one I’ve made since May! The last one was made while I was at home with Covid.

I’ve made so many of these I think I could make one in my sleep. That would be a great way to get a lot more accomplished! I could do the stuff I don’t like doing while I’m sleeping!

Here’s the other side of the bag.

And I just LOVE that red spiral shells fabric for the lining and zipper placket. It’s so gorgeous!

Here’s some more photos with some detail.

Oh! Don’t forget the tag!

I remembered after I took these photos that I wanted to add some zipper pulls. So I whipped some up using the black faux leather strips I have.

The zipper pulls are a nice little detail.

I laughed as I was putting this together tonight at the point I had added the zipper plackets to the lining. I had a moment of panic because it felt like I had totally screwed it up! It gets me every time. And then I realize that it’s perfectly correct.

We have a few more hot days on tap. Today was another 100 degree day. Tomorrow will get up to 100 again. Sunday will be a lovely and cool 99 degrees. Then it will cool off to the low 80s and mid 70s for a few days. I’m looking forward to the cooler temps.

My poor dogs are so bored. They just don’t get enough activity when it’s this hot. We got a two-mile walk before work this morning and another two-mile walk at 10 o’clock tonight. And there were a lot of hours of inactivity in between.

I started out our walk tonight by heading to the park that’s a few blocks away from my house because it’s cooler there. It feels like the temps drop by at least five degrees when I hit the park. We were almost out of the park when I saw what I thought was a coyote about 50 yards in front of us. It ran in the opposite direction. I got a crazy chill up my neck and all over my face. And then I saw it again and it was closer this time! But my dogs didn’t seem to react to it. Then I realized it was a yellow lab and not a coyote at all! Yellow labs are not nearly as scary in the dark as coyotes. I finally saw the person standing out on the grass with the dog. Phew!

Bender and Rico didn’t think this was exciting at all.

It was another hot day here… nearly 100. I got up early and took the dogs for a walk before work. I cleaned and refilled the dogs’ wading pool this afternoon. They appreciated the effort.

We waited until almost 9 pm to start our walk this evening. And it was still about 84 degrees at that time, but it felt hotter.

We only walked a little over two miles because we were all hot. It felt so good to get back in the air conditioned house.

The black zippers I ordered arrived today (holy cow that was fast!) so once we got home from our walk I hit my sewing room and got a little bit done on the black Frankenbag I’m working on.

I got the slip pocket made and sewn onto the lining. I got the opening for the zipper pocket made in the other side of the lining. And I got the zipper placket made… well, almost.

Once I got to the point where I put my zipper foot on my machine, I started getting tangles on the bottom of my work.

I tried for 10 minutes to figure out what the issue was and didn’t get it solved. I was too tired to keep working at it.

Here’s what I got done.

I got one side of the zipper placket sewn before my machine went haywire.

I just love these pieces as they’re assembled, especially when they’re made from such a gorgeous piece of fabric!

And I just LOVE the detail on these zipper pockets. I can’t believe I was so afraid of making these for so long! I think I could make them in my sleep now!

I’d be happier, however, if I had been able to finish the stitching.

And… I’m glad I ordered black zippers. A white or off white zipper in this bag would have looked pretty awful.

Here’s the pieces in progress.

Fingers crossed my machine will be working correctly tomorrow night… but I’m guessing it won’t be.

I had thought that all the hand sewing I’ve been doing on my English paper pieced hexis would bother my hands. Nope.

My hands are fine. My shoulder is not.

About a week ago I was feeling an occasional twinge of pain in my right shoulder. Today I woke up and it was quite sore. I’ve been icing it all day and taking Advil. It doesn’t feel much better tonight.

Ironically, two days ago I changed how I was stitching the hexis together after watching a Tula Pink tutorial on how she does it. I really like her method and found it a lot easier to take small and consistent bites of the fabrics in my stitches. Tula said she likes her method because it’s ergonomically better. I’m guessing it’s just a coincidence that I started feeling the pain today. I sort of had a feeling it was coming.

So I’ll be off hexis for a while until my shoulder feels better. And when I can get back to them I’ll have to pace myself. So it’s either good timing or bad. It’s bad timing because I had an idea for what to do with the hexis today. It’s bad timing because I won’t be able to execute it any time soon. The good news is that it won’t take a ton of hexis.

Here’s the two that I was able to finish yesterday. They might be my last for a while. I’m up to 17 of the little units made so far.

My stitches look so much better with Tula’s method!

Here’s my idea for these beauties. It combines half string and half plain blocks. Strings would be sewn onto half of a solid color 10 inch square. Hexis would be appliqued on the solid squares that are formed when the blocks come together. I have an idea for how to pull this off. I’ll share more about that if I ever get to the point where I actually execute it.

Here’s the idea with one block outlined in red.

Wow! That’s a rough drawing! There’s a reason I don’t do drawing in my spare time!

Since I’m off hexis I actually hit my sewing room tonight to work on the black KFC Frankenbag I started a few weeks ago. I got the lining, pockets and zipper placket cut and got the interfacing fused on.

OMG! That shell fabric is so amazing!

I stopped at this point because I decided this bag needs black zippers and I don’t have any black metal zippers on hand. So I’m going to put this on hold until they are delivered. I will order them tonight. Details like that are very important to me.

I should calculate how many of these little squares I’ve cut out. I’m thinking it’s somewhere around 400!

A couple of weeks ago I ordered a tune up kit for the Featherweight my friend gave me. It arrived last week. So now I need to set some time aside to dig into that and get that little machine ready to start using. the kit comes with a big maintenance manual with everythign you need to know about keeping your Featherweight in good operating condition, it include an LED light bulb, a new belt, oil, oil dispenser, and a bunch of other stuff. The Featherweights were designed to be easy to maintain. So I’m hoping it will be easy to get her ready to go.

I also ordered some bobbins and a quarter inch foot so I can easily keep my 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Our heat wave is continuing. It was almost 100 again today. I had an early meeting so wasn’t able to take the dogs for a walk before work. We did get out for early morning walks on Monday and Tuesday. We got a two mile walk in after it got dark tonight.

We walked last night at 10 pm and it was still really hot. I guess it’s good news that it’s a little cooler tonight. A few more days and then we’ll get some cooler weather.

All this heat means that my boys aren’t getting the daily activity they’re accustomed to. And they are booooooored.

It’s too hot to even toss the toy for them in the back yard. It’s very sad.

I went to Costco last night to stock up on some stuff I needed and found this great dog bed. Bender was on it the second I got it out of the package.

And later in the evening… audible snoring!

I took a minute this afternoon to walk out and check on my apple tree. The apples that I DO have are damned big!!!

There just doesn’t appear to be very many of them. I can’t see more than a few dozen. I usually dry most of the apples this tree produces and I do manage to make a few batches of apple sauce for the freezer if I have enough. With what I can see on this tree I doubt I’ll get more than four or five dehydrators full. It will be another week or two before these are ready to pick.

I spent all day Saturday and Sunday at a sheep herding clinic (seminar) down in Molalla, Oregon. That was the main event of my weekend.

When I got there Saturday morning at 9 am it was cloudy and there was a light mist falling. The pastures were wet and it was cool. I was not anticipating that weather at all and was really happy that I had left a light rain coat and my rubber herding boots in my car. I was quite a sight in my capris pants and knee-high muddy boots! Amazingly, everyone at the clinic was dressed about the same! It did eventually clear up and was a gorgeous day. I was happy to be in the glorious outdoors with dogs and sheep.

When it wasn’t my turn to work Rico at the clinic I kept my hands busy thread basting my hexis.

That’s only some of what I got basted on Saturday. I managed to get almost 120 of them thread basted over the two days of the clinic.

I managed to get three sets of hexis sewn together over the weekend and I have to say… it’s much easier to sew together the ones that have been thread basted. So count me as a convert to thread basting!

It seems odd to see the threads on the front of these sets.

I’m glad I had the hexis to count as accomplishments because the clinic was a bit of a bust. You always take a chance when you pay for a clinic and this one just didn’t pay off. Rico did some nice work on Saturday but I can’t say that I learned anything that I hadn’t already learned from my existing trainers. Sunday, Rico was really fired up and sort of lost his head. It was a bit of a mess. We were both spent by the end of the weekend.

I did manage to get the boys out for a forest walk before we headed home on Saturday and we all needed it.

Nothing like being out in the woods all by ourselves to rejuvenate! And we had the obligatory posing session.

The wild flowers that we saw on our last walk here were all gone and there was a new collection. I don’t know what this little purple bloom is but they were everywhere.

And thistles. Amazing how something so pretty can be so nasty.

And look at this gorgeous little columbine. This was the only one of these that I saw.

And this light and airy bloom hanging from a small bushy tree.

I was really happy to see the berries coming on. I didn’t eat any because I wasn’t positive what they were. These were both very low to the ground. They just might have been peed on.

And this… I can’t tell you how happy THIS makes me…

A few more days and I’ll be eating home grown tomatoes!

I got up early this morning to take the dogs for a walk before work and before it got too hot. I took them for their evening walk at 8:30. It almost hit 100 degrees here today. We’ve got a hot week on tap. I’m planning on getting to bed early tonight… well, early for me… so we can get another early walk before work tomorrow.

I’m going to stitch on some hexis as I wait for my Advil PM to kick in.