Double Hems and Mash Ups

So yesterday, I started to write up a post about Bootie Mash Ups. Unfortunately, most of the links that worked last night don't work this morning. If they get their account up and running, I'll go ahead and post it. I've considered doing it now anyway, but it seemed a little mean, teasing you with something you may or may not be able to get to. I've got many of the songs downloaded, but am not sure how to get them to you.

Just so I don't leave you with nothing, I've put up a little (OK, fairly detailed, but easy to follow) pictorial tutorial about how to do double hems on a corner without it getting all fat and bunched up.

This will be extra relevant tomorrow for a post about fabric grocery and produce bags, but also helpful if you want to make a bunch of fabric napkins. This is geared to people with minimal sewing skills. When I started sewing, I had a hard time finding stuff for real beginners.


Added Note- I took this picture from a better angle to show how really flat the corner seam is. Ooooooh, flat.

So, there you go.

OK, I am going to add a video explanation of Mash Ups because it makes me laugh.


I don't know who this lady is (and I'm sure it's a joke), but I hope to be like this as I age.

Added Note- Just found this, more of Sue's stuff. She is awesome!




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Related Posts-
More Mash Ups and Happy Birthday
Mash Ups

Good Thoughts

Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people's approval
and you will be their prisoner.
Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.


Lao-Tzu
(Translated by Stephen Mitchell)

A Few Random Things About Me- 16 thru 20

So, this is officially my 100th post. When I paged back through all my posts, I was shocked at how much I've written since starting this blog. (Though, I'm sure anyone who knows me is not at all surprised.)

Today, I'm going to add to the 8452 things about me with a theme... why I talk the way I do.

20- I over-explain most concepts to our kids (and I guess to adults, too). I am constantly asking, "Does that make sense?" and, "Do you have any questions?" This is because, as a child myself, I formed some strange opinions of the world when left to my own devices (see 19 thru 16). There is so much room for misinterpretation when one person communicates with another.

19- I used to think that trolls (you know, the fuzzy-haired, toy kind) lived in my Grandma's toilet. I thought this because she always brought them out when we took baths over there, but never at any other time. When I looked, I couldn't find where she kept them. She also had a very strict rule that you needed to keep the toilet lid closed. I assumed it was to keep them from escaping. I pictured their home to be some sort of vast, plumbing, tunnel system through which they could visit various bathrooms. I was terrified of using her toilet.  Obviously.

18- I used to think that you needed to go to the doctor to get pregnant. My mom had explained that babies were made when sperm from a man got together with an egg from a woman, but she left out the mechanics of the transfer. I assumed that the doctor always needed to help.

17- I used to think that your heart moved around in your chest, sort of like the moon moving around the earth. I thought this because whenever the doctor listened to my chest, he listened in several different spots. And he would always tell me that he was listening to my heart. If a doctor didn't know where my heart was, it was most likely because it wasn't always in the same place.

16- Once when I was 3 or 4, I thought I was dying. Literally. I'd had regular stomachaches and the doctor told us that I had a very early ulcer. The thing is, our neighbor's husband had died of a bleeding ulcer. No one thought to tell me that what I had was very different. Needless to say, my stomachaches got much worse for awhile. I have no idea how long I believed this, but eventually (several months? Less than a year?) I realized that I wasn't going to die anytime soon. My mom felt horrible when I finally told her about it. This right here, is the main reason that it can take me an hour to answer the simplest of questions.

And, for clarifications sake (see, told you), I was less than 4 years old when I formulated all of these opinions.

And I no longer believe in any of them... except the trolls. :)

Headbands and Charity

Joey and I just completed a bunch of headbands. I found the pattern at Altered Cloth and, really, it was a very simple project, which is why I decided to make 9 of them. Also, there's a decent amount of stretch to them, so they fit both of our heads, which is handy.





The reason for the headbands is that Jenny, Aurora and I have signed up for St. Baldrick's, an event that raises money to fight childhood cancer. We have all been growing our hair out since last summer in preparation for this. And, personally, my hair is getting a little out of control and in need of something to keep it out of my face.

This is how it works, all three of us will shave our head on March 14th (though we're not sure we'd be willing to do it for less than $500 each in donations... Hint, Hint). So, if you want to support a great cause as well as see lovely pictures of me with no hair, CLICK HERE and make me do it! We'll also be donating the hair they cut off to Locks of Love.



As it gets closer to March, I'll be doing a drawing in conjunction with this. Probably something like guessing how much all that hair weighs or the total length or something.

And, for a little behind-the-scenes action, here is a 'Making Of' collage.



Cause, you know, a photo that great requires some extensive set up. ;)

Whole Lotta Readin Goin On

I read the following book meme over at Aimee's blog and thought I'd try it myself. My only problem was choosing one book. So I didn't. (I don't follow rules very well.)

If you're interested in doing it, consider yourself tagged.

1. Grab your nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 3 sentences on your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag 5 different people.

I just grabbed a handful of the ones closest to my bed...

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
There is no troublesome action to contend with; the subject just has to close its eyes and think of England, to paraphrase Queen Victoria. I think unsure writers also feel the passive voice somehow lends their work authority, perhaps even a quality of majesty. If you find instruction manuals and lawyers' torts majestic, I guess it does.

The Intellectual Devotional by David S. Kidder and Noah D. Oppenheim
Einstein's second paper provided some of the first empirical evidence for the existence of atoms. Before 1905, the idea of an atom as the smallest unit of matter was regarded as a useful theoretical concept. Einstein described the movement of particles suspended in liquid, called Brownian motion, and proved that matter must have an underlying structure.

Keep Chickens! By Barbara Kilarski
Breed: Leghorn, Feather Colors: White or dark red, Eggshell Color: White, Hen Body Weirght: 5 lb (2.3 kg), Comments: Great layer. Friendly disposition.

Four-Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman
Chemicals miss the elegance. They were conceived in an age of hubris by minds that ignored the marvelous balances of the natural system. They have persevered in an age of awareness through the aggressive marketing of large industrial concerns.

Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver
"There's a hundred ways to love someone," her voice tells Cash. "All that matters is that you stay here in the same room." He wakes with his chest so full it might burst. He wonders whether he has had a heart attack, or is simply dying of loneliness.

Solar Water Heating by Bob Ramlow
When selecting your system I caution you to always plan for the worst case scenario. Situations have a way of constantly changing, and what might be OK now, may not be in a couple of years. Remember that a properly installed solar water heater usually lasts decades.

Cheesemaking Made Easy by Ricki Carroll & Robert Carroll
Lactose- The sugar naturally present in milk. Lactose can constitute up to 5 percent of the total weight of milk. Mesophilic Cheese Starter Culture- A blend of lactic acid-producing bacteria which is used to produce cheeses when the cooking temperature is 102 degrees F or lower.

The Organic Home Garden by Patrick Lima
Strong and peppery, with a mustardy bite, arugula has become an acquired taste for many. A recent cookbook suggests getting acquainted with it by tossing "a little to start with in your next salad." The next recipe, which I mean to try once I get past the salad stage, starts with "4 cups fresh arugula leaves" as a base for a pesto sauce.

Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom by Christiane Northrup, M.D.
Therefore, a dietary approach that balances eicosanoids is the backbone for treatment of cramps and many other health problems. In order to steer the body away from excess production of prostaglandin F2 alpha (series 2 eicosanoids) and into the prostaglandin E series (series 1 eicosanoids, the ones that don't produce cramps), a woman must have enough of the right kinds of essential fatty acids.

As you can see, my reading list, like my blog, is all over the place.

Math Basics

I've explained to Joey how much easier math is when you have all the basic operations memorized. It's like being able to sight read a large number of words. And the only way to get good at either of these things is practice. (As you can tell, we don't unschool around here... not yet anyway.)

And, not surprisingly, anytime I ask her to practice her math facts she balks.

Until we started playing with these...



You can do this with regular dice, but you'll only get practice with 1 thru 6. These are role playing dice for Dungeons and Dragons. I'm guessing you can get them at comic book shops.

We've come up with a couple of games and I'm sure there are many more to be discovered.

Game 1- Each person takes two dice and, on the count of three, they toss them. As fast as they can, each person shouts out the sum of the dice (or the product or difference, depending on the game). You can make it more difficult by tossing 3 (or 4) dice each.

Game 2- One person rolls two dice where the other person can't see. Then they say, "The sum of these dice is X and the product is XX." The second person then figures out what the two dice are or, to make it slightly more difficult, they figure out the difference between them.

Tricot du Coeur

Back in November, I joined up with Tricot du coeur as both a sponsor and a participant.


(This is a sample of what I'm donating as a sponsor, though I haven't finished what I'm donating as a participant.)

Tricot du coeur is working to make blankets for Victory Junction, which provides a camp environment for kids with chronic medical conditions, such as arthritis, asthma, cancer, epilepsy, hemophilia, immunology deficiencies/HIV, sickle cell disease, spina bifida, gastrointestinal disease, heart disease, kidney disease, liver disease, neurological disease, skin disease, burn survivors, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, autism, craniofacial anomalies, physical disabilities, kids on vents, transverse myelitis.

The kids get to take home the blankets at the end of their time at the camp, so Victory Junction obviously needs many of them. They could use either quilts or afghans (quilted or crocheted). The necessary dimensions are here. They also ask that the blankets be made in bright colors and from yarn that can easily go through the washing machine.

If you want to qualify to win some super prizes, leave a comment over at Tricot du coeur, make one blanket (or 5) and send it to...

Blanket Project
2505 Caralea Valley Drive
Concord, NC, 28027

The shipping due date is March 30th. My guess is that you should include your name and email in the package so they can contact you about the prizes.