Bells and Whistles

 Maybe stupidity and despair might be a better title, but then folks would panic thinking someone got injured or died and none of those things happened. What did happen is that I took a perfectly good pattern and a rather nice clearance fabric, put the two together and goofed it up beyond belief. The fabric was woven which was one of the contributing factors since there is no "wrong" side and of course it was bright. It eat up any and all markings like crazy. So, I made the left side into a right side, attached all the right side plackets and such and started in on the left side which was really the right side piece. Let's just say after a lightweight woven is sewn and serged it's very hard to take apart. Can be done, but once some of those plackets distort, it's going to be a battle and this design counts on those curved plackets to provide interest. I paid $4. per yard for the fabric. I used 3 yards. If I had more fabric I would have gone for it, but nothing more than a few 3" scraps remain I was that tight on it. It sits hidden on a shelf in a ball. We may only need a short break from each other. We'll see.

But wait, there have been other more pleasing projects finished. In fact the Sewing Workshop San Diego jacket loves being made into a vest.



 This is my version in plain black linen. It should make a wonderful basic wardrobe piece don't you think? And there's more...Cindie, weaver extraordinaire (and just plain old nice and generous too!), sent me a little piece of a sample she had woven on her new mega multi shaft AVL loom when I had asked.



 It had been sitting around waiting for just the right moment.  Thank you Cindie, your lovely little woven hearts have turned this vest into something very special in a number of ways.



The state of the ranch report reads hot, dry and dusty.



 I'm ready to go out and do a rain dance. Now wouldn't THAT be entertaining! Well don't hold your breath. I suspect this Boston born 50 something transplant couldn't produce much more than a little spit and some tears of laughter. Oh if getting rain where that simple though....

The new fancy TOMCAT mouse trap has scored a fresh mouse two nights in a row. Not bad. The catch and release program is still in full swing. I'm wondering just how many mice are hanging out in Castle Runamuck. Robin has shown interest (doesn't he look interested?),



although it is unclear whether it is Mickey he is after or the peanut butter on a little biscuit bait!

It should be a quieter week than last and with the heat and smoke coming from fires in California, that's probably a good thing.

Parting shot: 6 in 1.