Author Archives: ginnyscraftbasket

Spring? Really?

Well spring supposedly arrived last month. And it did for a while.

My crocus, daffodils forsythia and tulips all took their turns making an appearance. We spent time outdoors doing some spring clean up and getting excited about planting and enjoying our backyard again. Then Mother Nature decided to do a bit of bait and switch and send some chilly temps back to visit. There were even a few snowflakes sighted and even some hail. A few more warm days arrived and then poof!, we woke up to temperature of 39 this morning. Really?! Sigh I think we are on the weather roller coaster.

Looking ahead, I do see some warmer days in the near future. At least that is what the weather guessers are saying. I hope so. I am ready to spend some time sitting outside, soaking in some Vitamin D and listening to the birds singing their lovely songs. In the meantime, I’ll keep busy in my sewing room, take a trip to the library and choose a couple good books to read, watch some Yankee games and maybe watch a couple movies. Spring, and eventually summer will arrive. I have faith.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, my snowmen friends are reminding me that it is 8 months until Christmas.

Hope you are having a good day. Be well. Stay safe.

Bye for now.

Ginny

Quilters Stand For Ukraine

We are all horrified at what is happening across the globe to the Ukrainian people. The images of the destruction, the families being torn apart as men are escorting their families to borders to flee to safety and then turning back to defend and fight for their country will be forever seared into my mind and onto my heart.

I was feeling so many emotions…..heartbreak, horror, helplessness and so much anger. I needed to channel all those emotions into something positive and useful. Pat Sloan designed this block and made the block pattern available for quilters to make either a single block to use as a wallhanging as I did or a tabletopper. She also had instructions for making a full quilt. She offered this as a free pattern but provided a link to donate to help the Ukrainian relief effort. I donated to the relief effort, downloaded the pattern and spent the weekend putting this wallhanging together in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. If you are a quilter and would like to make one of these blocks (or even a quilt) here is the link to Pat’s You Tube posting about the Quilters Stand for Ukraine block.

Bonnie Hunter is also doing something similar and designing a Hearts of Hope quilt. Here is the link to her post about the sew along. I will be gathering my blue, yellow and neutral scraps while I await her introductory post next Friday, 3/18.

I just thought I’d share just a couple of the fundraising efforts I have come across within the quilting community that I follow. I am sure there are many, many others happening. Just be careful as you hear of organizations soliciting funds for Ukrainian relief. Sadly there will be bad players crawling out of wherever they usually reside to take advantage of the situation and line their own pockets.

Stay well.

Bye for now.

Ginny

Spring is here

When we returned from our trip to California to greet our new grandson, this forsythia was blooming the best I’ve ever seen it. After this crazy, insane year, I think it knew that I needed to see that normal things were indeed going to happen again. And yes, they are. After being fully vaccinated, we were able to take that trip out to Cali. Precautions still being taken of course (will masks be the new wardrobe accent indefinitely?)

So, a new grandson, spring blooms, vaccines — hope springs eternal as they say. Just who are “they”, btw?

I just wanted to pop in here to say hi. Haven’t been here in quite a while. I wish you all a Happy Spring. Can’t wait for summer and some beach time.

Stay well. Bye for now. See you soon.

Ginny

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February has arrived

Having barely any snow all winter last year was quite disappointing for me but Mother Nature decided to make up for that with a good amount arriving yesterday.

We decided to not fight the winds yesterday and we put off shoveling until today.  The clearing off went a lot more smoothly than I thought it would.  While we had quite a bit more snow yesterday than we had in our first snowfall a couple months ago, it was actually a lot easier to shovel since we didn’t have the icy sleet that we had in the first storm.   Now I am not saying that my muscles aren’t feeling it but overall,  it went easier than I expected.

So what did I do yesterday while the snow was falling and I wasn’t shoveling?   Well, thanks to my sweet generous hubby, I got to set up the new addition to my sewing machine family that arrived a couple weeks ago.

Meet my  Babylock Jazz II.  I’ve had my eye on her for a few months but it was out of stock all over.  She isn’t a computerized machine.  She does have 28 built in stitches and needle up/down capability but the selling point for me is her large (12″) harp area.   That will make working with larger projects a lot easier.  No more wrestling the fabric through a smaller 7-8″ harp.   I thought that the machine would be back in stock after the holidays.  Well, unbeknownst to me, hubby kept checking the website too and lo and behold, it was available and he snagged it.  He didn’t tell me that he did and actually when I checked,  it was still listed as out of stock.  Boy was I surprised when it showed up on our doorstep!

After setting her up and getting my Pfaff all packed up and ready to go to get serviced, I did a bit of inventory of my kits and panels so I do have a lot of choices as to what I will choose as my first project.  If you are looking for a machine with a larger harp area, check out the Jazz II.   I am looking forward to working with her and learning about her idiosyncrasies as all machines have them.   One thing that is touted is that it sews fast.  I may stay in the slow lane until I get a good feel for controlling that speed.

And this happens to be Groundhogs Day.  Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, so he says six more weeks of winter.  Four other local groundhogs disagreed with him and said there would be an early spring.  I guess we will just have to see which way it will go.   Either way, I will be having some fun times in my sewing room, especially with a new grandbaby expected in the spring.   I see a baby quilt on my To Do list.

I hope 2021 is off to a positive start for you all.   Stay well.

Bye for now.  See you soon.

Ginny

Reflections on 2020

We made it!  2020 is gone.  Woohoo.  Everyone is glad to see it go.  And I am with them on that for the most part as far as the virus goes.  But I challenged myself to look back on this year and look for the positive.   And there were a number of good things to reflect back on.

With travel being eliminated, we had much more time to work in and enjoy our gardens.   We grew more veggies, herbs and flowers, many different than what we usually grew because of what was or was not available online.   We are actually getting our list ready now to get our order in early this year.

TV was even more of a vast wasteland than usual so I turned to books to occupy myself in the evenings and I must say that even though I have always enjoyed reading,  spending more time delving into the content on my bookshelves, kindle and downloads from the library renewed my love of the pastime.

I also did some exploring of podcasts to listen to and You Tube channels to check out and I came across one called The Last Homely House.  It is a lady named Kate in Northumberland  in the UK.   She has such a soft, calming way of speaking.  It is like my Mr. Rogers.  She shares about her life on her little plot of land with her cats, her hens, her sewing and crafting.   It’s quite a different lifestyle than mine is and I feel as if I have taken a little trip across the pond each time I watch one of her videos.   Take a little trip of your own and check it out here.

Grocery shopping was one of the biggest challenges at the beginning of this crazy time.  I am eternally grateful to family and friends who made sure that we were able to stay safely at home and not venture out to the grocery stores.    And after Instacart deliveries became a lot more accessible, there was still the challenge of not being able to get just want you would choose if you were doing the shopping.  That did make meal prep different but it led to us trying new recipes and using different ingredients in our regular menu items.   We discovered new ways of making old favorites and therefore expanding our meal choices.   And we did a lot more meal prep together and we both really enjoyed that.

When we had days of nice weather and once summer set in, we did a lot more walking around the neighborhood,  spent time walking on the boardwalk and on really warm days, just relaxing on the beach. We discovered some new, wonderful places where social distancing could be achieved that were perfect for taking nice walks.   I was very grateful that we were able to get out and about and get some exercise and fresh air.  I know it helped keep us in good health….. both physically and mentally. 

I spent a good deal of time in my sewing room.  Of course, a very large portion of that time was spent in making masks.  But while I wish that the situation didn’t make it necessary to wear these new fashion accessories,  I was very happy to have something helpful and useful to contribute.

Overall, this was a year of slowing down.   And, yes, it cannot be denied that it was a year of great pain and loss for so many.   While I would not want to live through this type of year again, I will go forward into 2021 taking the lessons I learned with me.   I urge you all to take time reflect back on this very unexpected year and pack up the positives that came out of it and take them with you as you journey into this new year.  And if you are so inclined, share one or two down in the comments.  There may be some things that you have packed in your bag of positives that I have overlooked that I can add to mine.

And so as we head into this next year, here is a toast to Health, Happiness and Peace for all of us.

Oh, one more thing before I go…….  Just a little reminder 

Just 358 days ’til Christmas

Be well.  Stay safe.  Bye for now.

Ginny

A Holiday Season like no other

Below is a post that went up on my other site last week.  Thought I’d share it here too. 

Yes, I am still here but just haven’t posted.   Haven’t had too much to share but  with the holiday season here, I thought I would just check in.

Craft fair season didn’t happen here this year so I didn’t do too much as far as crafting/sewing new items.  Not that I didn’t spend time with my sewing machines.   Along with masks, masks, and more masks,  I had some orders for a few other things that kept me busy.   I did add two new items to my products though.  I just couldn’t resist making these two cuties.    

We decorated the outside and inside of the house right after Thanksgiving.  Some people aren’t doing much as far as decorating goes this year.  But we sort of felt that, like the song says, “We need a little Christmas, right this very minute”.   Things will be very different this year but the lights, decor and music have always been highlights of the season for me. I wasn’t about to let covid take that away from me too.

And since I am spending a good bit of time each day in my sewing room, I also have a little tree in there.  This year I decided to decorate it with some items I have had for years that were just sitting in a jar and a tin.

   The wooden beads are leftover from the 90’s for some wooden crafts that I was doing at that time and the tin had some spools of thread that have been around for as long as I can remember.   They are wooden spools and I believe they were from my grandmother.   Of course, it wasn’t usable thread at this point but I wanted to use them for something.   I got out some red and white baker’s twine that I had and set to work putting them together to make a strand of garland for my little tree.    

It definitely brings a smile to my face.       

I hope all is well with you and yours and that your Thanksgiving Day was nice.  Even with all the nonsense going on this year,  I know that our family still has so much to be very thankful for.

Be well.  Stay safe.  See you soon.

Bye for now.

Ginny

Just a quick note to say I’m moving

Well, no not physically moving.   I am just moving this blog over to WordPress.net   I have  actually been working on the site for a while.    I will be opening a shop there.   While I was doing the craft and holiday fairs, I figured I was busy enough with all of that.  But now that I will not be doing the fairs, I have a bit more time on my hands so I thought I would go down the e-commerce road.

There are craft fairs being scheduled here in the area but I am not so sure that when the time comes  they will actually happen.  And, even if they did, it really would not be prudent for hubby and I to be out in large crowds.   We have been taking precautions to keep ourselves healthy and flu season would probably not be the best time to start expanding our “bubble”.

I will miss the fun and excitement of the fairs and sharing our products in person.  Doing it online will certainly be a different experience and we will see how it goes.  I hope to be out there doing some spring and summer fairs  next year.

If you would like to keep up with what I’ve been up to in my sewing room, my gardens, what books I’ve been reading  and just generally what’s happening in my neck of the woods, just head on over to ginnyscraftbasket.net 

I have moved most of the blog posts from here over to the new site and there is a form on the site to get onto my e-mail list so you will get a notification when I put a new blog post up and, of course, when I open up the shop.

I hope you had a good summer despite everything.   Besides the pandemic, 2020 has definitely been beating us up.  Fires in the west, a derecho in the middle of the country, two storms at once bearing down on the Gulf and Isaias wreaking havoc as it made it’s way across the east.  Sheesh!   It certainly has been a memorable year….. or maybe we would like to not remember a lot of it.

Can you believe it is Labor Day weekend!  And lest you forget, my little snow friends would like to remind you .  We have less than 4 months ’til Christmas.

 

I’d better get into the workshop.

I hope you are all well.   See you soon.

Bye for now.

Ginny

Rainy Friday

So what does one do when a tropical storm is coming for a short visit to bring a bunch of rain and wind?  Well, one does not go to the beach to see how high the waves are nor do you get to go out and play and enjoy your gardens.   So,  what was calling my name?   My sewing room.  No, not to sew but to clean up and rearrange things.   I have been reading the book Love Your Creative Space by Lilo Bowman and decided that I needed to love my space a little more.

Earlier in the week hubby helped me measure out the space in the room and  the furniture and storage pieces.   I used graph paper and figured out where things could be more efficiently located then checked the measurements of the space to see if things would work.

Here are some before pictures:

Yup, it was pretty messy and disorganized.  There had been a few different projects happening in the room and I didn’t quite keep up with tidying up after finishing.  So I set to work.   The large pieces like my sewing machines and the cutting table stayed where they were but small storage cubes, a bookcase  and bins and books were moved about…. or removed from the room completely.

And here we are after things were done:

One of the things I needed to set up was a small  pressing mat next to my Featherweight machine so that when I am sewing there I don’t have to get up and walk across the room to the iron that is set up close to my Pfaff.   I moved a small storage cabinet and put a pressing mat on top with my small travel iron.

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It will work perfectly!   I also moved my precuts into four storage cubes that are now right next to each other.   A much more logical and efficient idea.

By evening I was ready for some relaxing time with some hand sewing.   I had finished putting the flag wall  hanging together, the quilting was done and it was time to hand stitch the binding down.  This morning it got hung up on the kitchen fireplace wall.

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I will enjoy it there for the rest of the summer.  Now I need to figure out what I want to put up there for the fall months.   Time to look through my newly organized patterns and quilt books.

That’s what I have been busy with.  What have you been up to?   Are you venturing out more or still staying close to home?   We have been out and about a bit more but just to places that are open air (like the farm stand) or visiting with family, mostly staying outdoors.  And, of course, taking walks.  I hope we get to make a trip to the beach this coming week.   Masks are either on or with us to be used if necessary.

Be well.  Stay safe and healthy.

See you soon.  Bye for now.

Ginny

Happy Independence Day!

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This year will be very different than years past for sure but I hope you have a safe and happy 4th of July.   I spent a little time working on this flag wallhanging that has been sitting in my “kits” bin for a few years.  wp-1593878617259.jpg   I talked about doing it in this post a few years ago and had it in my  to do basket but somehow it jumped back into the kits bin.   But now the fabric has been cut and two rows are done with seven more to go.  While it won’t be on the wall for today’s celebration, it will be up there later this week and will be there for the rest of the summer.

While I was sewing, hubby got the grill  going and the ribs are smoking. Most of the rest of the day will be spent enjoying the flowers in our garden while listening to music and the sounds coming from our neighbors yards as they are home celebrating too.

Whatever you are doing today,  make it the best day you can.    Happy 4th everyone.

Bye for now.   See you soon.

Ginny

Summer has arrived!

And along with that, our first trip to the beach.

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We headed down there early and it was wonderful to sit there and listen to the sound of the waves breaking on the shore and breath in the scent of the salt water.  It was so peaceful.   I have been waiting so long to be able to enjoy “our” beach again.

There are other signs of summer too.  One of them being my petunias just exploding with color in their tub.  wp-1593035558279.jpg

They certainly  are loving the warmer days and the sunshine. Summer sun  The lightning bugs have arrived and they are putting  on a beautiful twinkling show for us in the evening after dinner as we are doing some porch sitting.   They are just too quick for me to get a picture of them.  I love when I first start seeing them appear.  Then I know that summer is really here.

Another thing that said “summertime” to me was hearing that there actually may be baseball played this year.   Hopefully next month.   I have missed watching the Yankees.  Let’s hope that all the talks and plans that are happening keep moving forward and we get to spend some time cheering on our teams and yelling at the umps…. and the managers too when they don’t make the moves we think would be the way to go.  Here’s hoping that soon I will be saying “Let’s Go Yankees!”  NY Yankees

As far as activity in my sewing room goes,  I have still been working on masks and think I will be for a while.   I can foresee the demand for them going back up as we get into fall and schools open.  I have also gotten back to work on the log cabin quilt and the borders have been added.  Just need to get the binding on now.

I also did get to a project I had been wanting to get to.   I got this quilt rack a couple years ago on one of our trips to Connecticut at an antique store.  Not sure how antique it actually is but it was what I needed.  However, it was not the nicest color.   It was sort of a mustardy brown.   Not anymore…….  wp-1593035521440.jpg  I like it so much more now that it is painted white.   The colors of whatever quilts I put on it will show up much better.  Right now it is holding a Double Irish Chain quilt that I made back in the 90’s.  I was pretty new at quilt making so I tied it.  I guess I did OK because it is still together and it has had quite a bit of use in its’ 20+ years.  The blue quilt is actually a signature quilt that was made for me by my fellow teachers, teachers aides and administrative staff when I left California.   Whenever I sit and snuggle under it,  so many great memories of my preschool teaching years run through my mind.   I was so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with so many great people there.    I also sit and wonder what all those little people that I had the privilege of having in my classes have done in their lives.   I treasure all those memories.

What has been keeping you all busy?   What keeps you from going stir crazy in the “stay at home” period of our lives.

I hope you are enjoying your summer.   And just in case you need a reminder……. my snowmen pals are telling me that we’ve got six months ’til Christmas. 

Be well.  Bye for now.  See you soon.

Ginny