On the Right Track

My dad's recent attempts to eliminate some unwanted valleys in our back yard revealed that we have some intruders:



Apparently the intruders had no sense of direction, made several trips to the birdfeeder, and had a distinctive waddle.

I love our neighborhood ducks! They're definitely one of the perks of living by the water.

The Pink of Perfection

The Wedgwood Princess

After a long stint stuffed away into the sewing room closet, my linen princess-seamed blouse finally reached completion! I had gotten so frustrated with it that I had put it out of sight (though not always out of mind...). Imagine my chagrin when I found that the only real adjustment that I had to make was to remove the ties I had placed in the front bodice seams. Voila!

 The fabric I used was a lovely Wedgwood linen (okay, it's more like slate than Wedgwood, but "Wedgwood" sounds so much nicer!) that I rescued from an outdated thrifted dress. Linen is so beautiful, but I do find it a bit difficult to work with -- somehow I always end up with lots of ease.

I used the bodice of McCall's 3571 as my base, although my blouse hardly resembles the pattern -- no "V" in the back, longer all the way 'round, side zipper instead of buttons. The biggest change I made was to add "petal" sleeves, I look I love but had never tried before.

I decided I wanted a V-neck, so a thrifted curtain sample (honestly, what makes Wal-Mart think to donate their old curtain samples?) served as an almost-free embroidered inset.

I do love projects that turn out just right without any fuss, but I think I have a special place in my heart for all of my rescued "disaster" projects.

Climb Every Mountain

Perseverence is an important quality. Especially if you're a roly poly.

 

Mountains to climb, new worlds to discover -- the possibilities are endless! This dogged little fellow was intent on climbing our "sand dune," which was at least 18" tall. But when you're less than half an inch tall, that's quite an adventure. I was amused by the mini avalanches that this little guy created. His tiny feet would dislodge two, three, sometimes even four grains of sand at one time! After progressing about two inches, there was a bit of a mishap:

Sometimes it's a disadvantage to having a ball shape as your defense mechanism. But he didn't seem to mind regressing farther in two seconds that he had gained in two minutes. He unrolled himself and tried again. There are times when I feel a bit like a roly poly; that I lose more ground in a moment than I have gained in a week, a month, or a year. It's nice to know that even though I often fail in one kind of perseverance, the other kind won't fail me: per-se-ver-ance  [pur-suh-veer-uhns] noun

1. Steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

2. Theology. continuance in a state of grace to the end, leading to eternal salvation.

Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins

For our church's annual Easter brunch, I decided to pull out a favorite muffin recipe that I hadn't used in a while.

Oatmeal-Applesauce Muffins 

 ~ 1 cup Quick Oats 

~ 1 cup all purpose flour 

~ 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 

~ 2 tsp. baking powder 

~ 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 

~ 1/4 tsp. baking soda 

~ 1/4 tsp. salt 

~ 3/4 cup applesauce 

~ 1/3 cup vegetable oil 

~ 1 egg 

~ 1 tsp. vanilla extract 

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease or paper line 12 (2 1/2") muffin cups. 
2. Combine oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.
3. Combine applesauce, oil, egg, and vanilla in separate bowl. Add all at once to oat mixture, stirring just until moistened. 
4.  Divide evenly among prepared muffin cups. 
5. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until tester inserted in center comes out clean. Makes 12.

Pretty frugal, pretty healthy (for muffins, anyway!), and entirely delicious!

An Unexpected Easter Outfit

Most of the outfits that I sew aren't exactly "unexpected." Usually I plan them -- it's kind of hard to make a garment without some planning, I suppose! But my Easter outfit was a sort of surprise.

The turquoise fabric is one of my incredible finds at Denver Fabrics (which we visited this past summer). I think it's a tencel blend, but all I know is that it is insanely soft, it was insanely cheap, and somehow there was insanely enough of it to make a skirt and shell (I think it was 1 3/4 yds. of 60" fabric). The skirt is out-of-print Butterick 3262 (a simple A-line pattern), and the shell is my version of McCall's 3571. On Friday I finished up the shell, which is made from a delightful (but expensive, even on sale) embroidered voile from JoAnn's. I had started on it several months ago, planning on a tunic. I used Simplicity 9620 as a base. But it just wasn't working! I brainstormed some ideas and came up with an empire waist blouse. The skirt I had completed about a week ago, and the shell was cut out but not sewn. On Friday afternoon, right after I finished the white blouse, I started thinking how nice it would be to wear it to a play the next evening, and how much nicer it would be to have that shell finished to wear with it... So I ended up with a new outfit for Resurrection Sunday! And three fewer projects in my "to-sew" bin. Aah, the satisfaction!

Words of Wisdom From Writers

Good writing can be defined as

having something to say and saying it well.

When one has nothing to say,

one should remain silent.

Silence is always beautiful at such times.

~ Edward Abbey ~

Enough said!

Little Miss Sunshine