Rubber Ball Protection Services

My tail may say Yes yes, but my lips say No no! Jack takes ball guarding seriously.



Now I can get very stern and he'll let his ball go grudgingly, if I don't he holds and growls complete with lip action and steely glare. The tail wags but in all honesty, he just wants to keep his prize and I can respect that in a house where toys are shared among 7 other siblings. We're talking terriers here, not Golden Retrievers.

So leaving the growly dog lie, we can move on to the latest sewing make. A Merchant & Mills Top 64 which is perfect for showcasing some handwoven fabric.



This is a tried and true pattern for me. I certainly wasn't going to waste my wee bit of woven cloth on a pattern I hadn't fully tested and adjusted. I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.



 This will get a lot of wear and why shouldn't it?  Everything is serged and top stitched. I had originally bought a piece of silk/linen fabric, but the shine from the silk bothered me with this piece. This cotton blend damask fabric had a better weight and surface. I like the matte of it and the patterning works well with the twill.

Jack, the one and only photo bomber! With ball!

I did not hem this fabric since the lower edge is the selvage and they were pretty nice on this piece, but I did do split side seams since they did not match due to the way the pattern curves the hem. It worked well and added another level of interest to the garments.

Before we leave the sewing salon there is one more make, a cami top using the modified Mississippi Ave dress.

This was a save from another pattern cut. I didn't like the way it was going together and decided to save it all by re cutting  this beautiful cotton shirting into the Miss. Ave top. I wear these little cotton tops under everything in the winter and in summer of course they are sheer and cool.

There are some new patterns being cut and tested. Next post I'll have at least one done and can give a thumbs up or down.

In the studio I'm still playing on Nora's warp.



I had a lot of fun with these flowers. The fiber is a linen paper ( shifu ) from Habu and on one of the test lengths I am planning to weave with it in a towel and see how it holds up. Why not?



I did a little inlay and then I wanted to see what plain weave inlay did on the rose path background. Not much, don't bother with this. Once this warp is off, a special warp is going on. This will be an open threading to make loose lacy squares. I want to do the paper flowers but in the warp I want to use some beautiful Habu stainless steel and linen thread I've been saving.

Nick broke Monday afternoon right after I started weaving my quilt squares summer and winter towels.



The rivet that holds the steel arm that attaches jack to lamm failed. And Gene would have you know it was a bear to fix. There was a lot of muttering and unhappiness under that beast of a loom
but he's up and running. Thank you Gene, you are a real loom saver!

I saw the fox last night, he was getting his eggs. The mate was waiting out in the shadows of the driveway. It's that time of year. I believe he shares. They were two dark figures against the white snow trotting off together for a nights adventure. And more snow today!

And then there is the raccoon. Now I was worried about her with all the snow we had. That was until I went into the tack room one morning and undid the bungied lid to the grain bucket and there she was, trapped inside. Scared the bejeebers out of both of us. I left the lid off and backed out of the tack room and waited while she scurried out. Tracks tell me she has been a regular visitor now to the barn and got caught a second time in the  grain bin. I heard her this time and was ready. I also banged on the side of the barrel to scare her.  We have beefed up bin security. No repeat performance so far. Raccoons are too dang smart for their own good!

Parting shot: Dear sweet Smoochie. He's our resident senior now at 14.