Failures

I have been thinking about Failures lately.  I thought I would bring the subject up today because I have been sewing on a fairly small project for the last few hours and now that I have come to the last "turn" before the finish line, I realize IT is a FAILURE....

Well, I guess that of course depends on each persons' opinion whether or not it has turned out to be a failure.   I got a stack of upholstery fabric samples a few weeks back -- for FREE.  I have been thinking about what to do with them. 

I do have another project on the go, and it is turning out to be quite fine, so like many quilters I thought I would start on this other idea.  I knew it would only take a couple of hours to put it together, then it would be back to the QUILT project I am doing.

So, I pulled out the upholstery samples and cut them into 5" squares -- the idea being, to make SPLIT NINE PATCH blocks.  I like this block because it can look so complicated and random yet is just one step beyond the basic 9 patch block.

I got the nine patch blocks done.  I made 5 of them and then cut those 5 nine patches into 4s.  

 I then resewed nine of the sections together and came up with the 20 inch square piece you see in the photo above.

Now when I got this piece together, it seemed to me that by using the samples that belonged to one "collection" nothing about it was pleasing to my eye.  The fabrics were too close in colour and they did not "land" together very well.

This was not a particularly easy fabric to sew with, it is a slippery poly but yet heavier than dress weight.  I feel like the idea of it was good, but something about the fabric and its colours just does not please me.  Maybe it will please someone elses eyes?

Now, the thing I have come recently to realize about failure is that it more often than not is actually a GOOD thing!  So many of our teachers, and that includes our parents, show disappointment at failures, whether it is failure of a test or a project or a relationship.  Now, I have, I am sure failed in things many more times than I have succeeded and most of those failures get hidden away if at all possible.  But without those failures I realize that I would not have learned that something did not work and not only that it did not work, but WHY it did not work! 

So yes, failing at something can be the best way to learn to SUCCEED at it!  I wish that someone had told me that it was okay to fail a long time ago.  I often work at a project and throw it away or hide it until the guilt of failure eases and i can take the next step in using that failure as a learning experience and a way to Success.

I surely don't know at this point if this small project will progress into anything else, but it has taught me, that even if some things appear like they belong, well, maybe they are not the optimal choice...

Have a great weekend, EVERYONE -- Autumn is upon us!

Odd Bits

Hellow Happy Readers!   I sure do hope everyone is enjoying these first fresh days of autumn!

Many of us are well into harvest, even if that harvest is only three tomato plants in containers in the back yard. Well, I do have chocolat mint and strawberry plants, too. I am so excited about my tomatoes! I have hundreds! Tho they are only cherry tomatoes, they have been so very successful this year!

In one of the containers that I had a strawberry plant in, up popped a bit of a different "weed" between the strawberry leaves.  It didn't look like the usual garden weeds, so I thought I would leave it and see what it might turn into.   Turns out to be a sunflower!  We have birdfeeders in our backyard so I suspect a black sunflower seed was picked up and dropped by the chickadees that frequent our feeders.  And the seed has grown...  I don't think it will have time to ripen tho...  It is very pretty.

I also planted from seeds I got from a friend,  calendula.  They really have alot of rather ugly foliage, but I like the flowers of this plant very much.  These were not very successful because really I got a pot full of long green leaves and only about 6 flowers developed.  Hmmm... not sure why, tho.  Maybe too many seeds/plants in one pot?  Maybe too dry?  Even though I only have a few flowers, they go to seed easily so I will pick the seed heads off soon and have seeds to start and try again next spring.
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Halloween is coming on quickly and it never hurts to plan ahead, especially if you are one who really goes "whole hog" with Halloween and all it entails.

I found an interesting spiderweb cake in a jar, that would be an extra neat treat, if you have the time and oh so impressive for the little ones in your family.

Check out the Chocolate Spider Web Cake in a Jar at http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/2011/09/halloween-cake-in-a-jar.html

And are you planning to carve a pumpkin?  Here is a page where you can print out a template to use on your pumpkin...
A nice variety...  http://www.myhomeideas.com/holidays/9-jack-o-lantern-templates-10000001850864/index.html

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And then, of course there is WALTER....

Tomorrow is his big day at the Vet's.  He is going to get "the operation"....

He will be feeling a bit sore for a few days and I suspect he will be napping more than usual...

In a few days he will be back to being the whirling black devil in this house.

Antique Pineapple Stitch - Revisited

I have been working on figuring out how to use this crochet stitch.  I rediscovered it a couple weeks back and because it is a one way stitch it really cannot be used in the usual back and forth crochet designs.

First I thought I would try using it anyway, in a back and forth design with a row of single crochet in each alternate row.   By doing that, though, the effect of the stitch is lost.

Working in the round, was the best answer it turn out.  I started out using a self striping yarn, but withing a couple of inches realized that the colour changes are the highlight of the design and not the actual crochet stitch.

So I switched to solid colour yarn.  A turquoise acrylic.  And a chunky grey acrylic.

One of my favourite things about this stitch is that each side looks so different from the otherside.  Because of the different textures created it makes any item reversible!

With the grey, I have done a chunky cowl.   It will make the winterwinds practically negligible!

And combined with a toque or slouchy hat --- well, WARM can look quite stylish, can't it?

As the ease and working this stitch progressed, so did my creativity.  After a few false starts and adjustments I created a toque/slouchy hat to go along with the cowl.  Both in that turquoise acrylic.

And there is more than one way to wear the cowl -- I made it extra wide and even alone it makes its own scarf and head cover combined!

(My stryofoam model got a bump on her nose, caused by Walter the rambunctious kitten)

These items and more will appear later today in my etsy shop.   My fingers are working on making a few more cowl and hat sets for the shop, too -- as time permits!

*refer to the original post Antique Pineapple Stitch for the link to the instructions of how to make this interesting stitch.

Scott's Birthday

It is only 3 weeks and my youngest son will turn 34 years old.   Now, I am not the kind of person to give 'things' or to go and hunt up gifts for occasions.  I give presents when I feel like it and that can happen on any day, or at any time.  Around our house tho, we like to have a cake and ice cream and maybe even jello -- the traditional (well for us anyway) birthday cake with two layers and icing.

This time though I was thinking cheesecake.  Scott does love cheesecake -- and so do I.  As to the father in this family, it really doesn't matter what he likes, cause he's not the baker and if he doesn't want any, well more for me and Scott.

So, I went looking for cheesecake recipes on the internet.   Here are a few that look to be interesting and perhaps I will have to test them out over the next weeks, until I settle on one for the birthday Day... 

What an excuse to have cheesecake!

So first I came upon

http://permanentposies.com/2011/09/crockpot-cheesecake-with-caramel-sauce/

Which seems to me the easiest and perhaps the most interesting experiment, simply because it is done in a crockpot...

Then cheesecake in a crockpot lead me to the blog that it was adapted from

http://kedarhower.blogspot.com/2011/08/crockpot-peanut-butter-cheesecake.html

I am not quite sure about peanut butter cheesecake though.  The father of this family does love peanut butter above all else, but we are not making a cheesecake for him, are we?

So the Peanut Butter cheesecake says it was adapted from  this crockpot cheesecake recipe....

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/07/crockpot-cheesecake-recipe.html

I remember when Scott was a little boy, we used to make a 'cheesecake' with whipping cream and jello in a premade graham pie crust that was no cook and the whole family gobbled it up -- back in those days we had to of course share with older son, Neil, who was not a cheesecake fiend but of course would not refuse it, either....

Hmmmmmmm....  Did I say it was three weeks to Scott's birthday?  Perhaps a cheesecake every weeks up to his birthday would be an interesting birthday concept.  Scott and I love cheesecake.  We are going to be SO fat, or well, fatter by the time his birthday rolls around on the 24th of this month...

1982

I will try to take photos to post reviews of these cheesecakes as I get them made....

Hot, Hot, Hot!

I love when I am able to be impulsive!  Without thinking too much and considering the what ifs or where-to-for's  I joined my cousins and aunty on a 4 day trip to Las Vegas!

We stayed at one of the newest hotels, The Vdara.  Luxurious Comfort and Fabulous style!

Our first night we went to see the Beatles Love - cirque du soliel.   I was so amazed and enthralled my eyes did not know what to watch at any given moment.  The agility and athletics of the performers was stunning!  Seeing cirque du soliel on tv is no indication of what one experiences in a live performance!

I so enjoyed myself!

Everything was bigger than life, even a Gelato Shop at the Bellagio had a marshmallow train that if real one could get in and go for a ride.

The newest shopping experience - The Crystals - in Vegas was a dream come true for a person looking to renew their wardrobe -- I spent nothing, but looked at shoes in Stella McCartneys store and diamonds at Tiffany & Co.

I did not stick to the Vegas strip, I wanted to see what the surrounding landscape was like, so booked a bus tour to Hoover Dam.  Gee, it was hot out there!  The landscape and hills, where like watching one of John Wayne's western movies.  The cactus, and few flowers, the flat salt plains, and the high hard red rocks.  I loved it all and dreamed of visiting that house up top of that hill... 

The Hoover Dam tho impressive was the destination of the bus tour but being somewhat of a nature feind, I enjoyed most the ride to and from the dam, and was not so enarmoured of the engineering feat that the dam was to so many others...  I liked the weeds and the rocks!

One special meal, now and then -- yum, yum, yum! at a Food Network Celebrity's restaurant in the Bellagio, where I was served a wonderful 'comfort' food meal -- meatloaf and mashed potatoes that were just fabulous along with a glass of Zinfandahl wine...

What a special week that was!