More pics of stuff

Well, i meant to write yesterday. But we are making a DVD of pics & people's good wishes & thoughts for the wedding anniversary, & i spent most of yesterday afternoon on it. I ended up with 444 pics, but there are many more to scan in. I need to cull these, because some are not necessary. It is a project that will keep me busy.

Here are the other projects i'd been working on. This is an apron. I've had the pattern & material for some time. Actually, i bought an apron like it that i used as a pattern. I made a few changes - added pockets, for example. The problem is that i didn't realize the fabric is 100% cotton, so it will have to be ironed. I look kind of grumpy here. I guess i was, for it didn't turn out as i wanted it. Also, it is not nearly as cute on as i thought it would be. I will know how to do it better the next time, when i have time to do this again.

I was making it for my mother. But i got about half way thru & thought, "What am i DOING??!!! I must be crazy!" You see, my mother is a perfectionist, & near-professional seamstress. And, while i'm somewhat of a perfectionist, i do recognize "good enough."

But, overall, while i was making it i did think it would be good enough. Until i got to the very last line of sewing. It was turning the lining under & top stitching it down. And i discovered that i made the lining a tiny bit too wide, & a tiny bit too short. So, when i did that last line of top stitching the darn thing puckered. What to do? I not only would not give it to my perfectionist mother, i wouldn't give it to anyone.

I am removing the top stitching, to see if there is some way i can "fix it." I'm not sure of this, but i suppose it is worth a try. My sister thinks my mother would be pleased with anything i gave her, but i'm not so sure. She suggested just giving it to her & allowing her to fix it - she is the professional after all - if she finds that she just can't tolerate the imperfection. I'm not so sure about this either.

So now the question is what to do? I don't really have the time to spend trying to make another. I spent all day Saturday on this. I've so many other things to do before we go. I'm tempted just to give it to the church to sell at this week's garage sale.

The other project is the baby blanket i made. I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago. It is an easy pattern, so i was done fairly soon. But i've not made this one in a while. It turned out too wide for its length. The next one i will know better. This is a very soft, off-white soy yarn. I'm including the second pic so that you can see the stitches close up.

It doesn't look very big in the pic, but it is actually large, it is just the proportions are off. So i wouldn't give this to anyone, either. Should it go to the yard sale? I'm donating the rest of my "hope" things, a couple of cute shirts & outfits, tiny socks & mitts.

Yesterday was our "anniversary." Six years ago on 17 May a group of folks i worked with went to see a movie. Actually we went to The Matrix Reloaded, i think. Did i write about this before? Anyway, Joseph, whom i'd known for years & was kind of a friend as well as a coworker, brought Duane along. The rest was history. After the movie we talked for hours & began dating soon after. So, usually on the anniversary of that date we go to a movie. And girls, i would not remember the exact date had not Duane put it on his calendar as "Enter the Matrix." And he is better at remembering it than am i.

Duane proposed on 10 December (2003), & when we were planning a wedding date he said that he wanted to be married either on a 10 or a 17 so that he had fewer numbers to remember!


So, here are some pics of the lilacs that were blooming this weekend. These first two were taken in town, the white lilacs & bigger bushes are not ours.




























This is one of my three lilac bushes. They survived better than i thought. The watering last year helped a lot, for last year they had almost no flowers at all. All three of the lilacs were very broken by the heavy snows last year but they bounced back wonderfully.




This is the scrawniest of the three. It doesn't have many blossoms/flowers on it. But i'm pleased it looks so healthy. It looked pretty pathetic after last winter.













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