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Pink Princess Top

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Title: Bright Pink Princess Top
Fabric: Stashed Poly crepe knit

I liked the orchid one so much that I made another! (Actually I cut this one before the orchid, but the serger thread didn't have to be changed to sew the orchid one.) Unlike the orchid top, I left the shoulders and the hem of this one as-drafted.

This one is made from the third piece of the polyester crepe (they called it boucle) knit that I bought from Denver Fabrics last year. Perhaps you remember the turquoise two piece and the periwinkle dress? This stuff picks *so* bad that I can barely touch it. You can't see it, but I've already pulled the right sleeve of this top in a bad way. Still, the garments are nice and comfortable. I always get compliments on both the dresses, and I expect no less from this top. Once I cut the pick off, you won't see where it was unless you look inside.

Looking at the photo, I see that the sleeves are too long. Funny what a difference fabric makes! Even though I've been sewing all my life, I still have to learn that lesson on every garment.

Oh! and the fluffy pants are nice with this. They don't have much to recommend them fit-wise, visually, or otherwise, but they do look ok with this top!

I solved the low neck problem on this one with a ribbing-style vee neckline finish. This is the one from the Stretch & Sew necklines book, or the Stretch & Sew Guide to Sewing Knits. It's slightly less than one inch wide, but it's enough.

(I'm skeptical of some of these. I don't recall setting Drop Shoulder or Dart override...)

• Garment Type= Blouse
• Style= Classic Blouse
• Closure= No Closure
• Front Neckline= V-Neck
• Back Neckline= Jewel
• Yoke= No Yoke
• Hemline Shape= Curved
• Darts= Armscye Princess
• Upper Back Dart= No Darts
• Sideseam shape= Fitted
• Front Waist Darts= 1
• Back Waist Darts= 1
• Front Neckline Depth= 4.5
• Back Neckline Depth= 0
• Neckline Width= 0.25
• Neckline Point= 0
• Armhole Depth= 0

• Dart Override= -0.25
• Shoulder Dart Position= 0
• Drop Shoulder= 1
• Side/Arm Point=-0.5
• Side/Hip Point=-0.5
• Sleeve Style= Set In
• Sleeve Underarm Seam= Curved
• Sleeve Cap Ease=0.58
• Sleeve Length=23.5
• Sleeve Hem Circumference=8.5
• Sleeve Cap Height= -0.5
• Back Armhole Shape Up=0.8 Clicks
• Collar Style= Collarless
• Chest Ease= 0
• Waist Ease=0
• Hip Ease= 0.5

Sparkly Princess Top

Monday, January 30, 2006

Title: Sparkly Princess Top
Fabric: Orchid rib knit with silver glitter

Let me say up front that I do not like cotton-y rib knits. They grow and keep on growing, and I can never get them small enough. This top was no exception.

I started sewing on Friday evening, having cut the top on Thursday. Problems immediately ensued. First, even though other tops have been fine, this one seemed long on the shoulders. I'll blame that on the rib knit. OK, I can fix it. I took the sleeves out, trimmed the outer edge of the shoulders by about 1/4". Then I put the left sleeve back into the right armhole.

I don't think I can blame that on the rib knit.

I went to bed.

Saturday morning I removed the left sleeve and put each sleeve into its proper armhole.

Next, the body looked too long and I didn't like the curved hem that I had drafted. (Rib knit?) I cut that off and hemmed it straight across. The hem rippled. (Definitely the rib knit!)

I took that out and stitched it again with paper stabilizer. (Why did I not use the tear away???) Getting the paper off pulled some of the stitching way out.

W-a-a-yyy Out. Definitely *not* the rib knit's fault!

I left it. I wanted to wear the thing to my Mom & Dad's house for the weekend. Mom thinks everything I sew is pretty, so I knew she would never notice the gnarly hem.

The final problem was two-fold and had more to do with the tops appearance when worn by *me*--orchid is not a strong enough color for me, and the neckline was too low for my tastes. I solved both those by borrowing Brunhilde's stretch satin tank to wear underneath.

I paired my tops with some black nss pants, silver jewelry and, let me tell you, I was stunning!!!

I know it's true 'cause Mom said so!

Friday Fun: What's Your Japanese Name?

Friday, January 27, 2006

Your Japanese name should be

'Hiroko'

which means "generous child".

You're a very kind person! You're loyal to

your friends and would do almost anything for

them. You're generous and caring.


Which Japanese name fits you best? [females, 9 results + absolutely stunning ANIME pictures!]
brought to you by Quizilla

What's my style?

Thursday, January 26, 2006

At the library yesterday I picked up Before You Put That On : 365 Daily Style Tips for Her by Lloyd Boston. It's laid out with a section of tips for each day of the year, loosely tied to the season.

Seems to me that most of these style books dole out common sense tips, if you only took the time to think about it. For example, they all say "Buy the best you can afford and take good care of it." They say "Put most of your money in classic and only some in trendy." They all say "Good posture and a fit body are the foundation of an attractive personal style."

Lloyd says "A seamless flesh-tone bra is your best friend." He's right!

I'm enjoying reading it, even though I've only read through January. If nothing else, perhaps it will remind me to take more care in my appearance and not just on the days I expect to see someone important.

"Dress up, Make UP, Fix UP, GO UP!"

Rugrats PJs

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Title: Rugrats Summer PJs
Fabric: Printed Rugrats knit acquired in a silent auction last December

This is the second piece of the Rugrats knit that I've used so far. The first went for the Sprout's princess top muslin. That one was slightly misprinted and the figures were smaller than this--a good muslin sacrifice. There is one more cherry pink one with the larger figures to go.

When I started to cut this, I was planning to make a simple long-sleeved tee to wear on weekends. I quickly realized that there was a bit too much for that, and I could get some cute warm-weather pjs out of the piece.

DB Scarf

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Title: Diamond Blossom Scarf from Iris Schreier's Modular Knits
Fabric: Artyarns Supermerino #111

You may have noticed that there hasn't been much knitting going on at this blog lately. The problem, mostly, has been that I'm spending my lunch hour riding the recumbent bicycle over at the Physical Activities Center rather than sitting on a bench in a quiet corner.

Bicycle riding isn't very conducive to knitting. On the bench outside last fall, I could eat a few bites of my lunch, listen to my book and knit, as desired. Not now. Just about the time I would pick up the needles, the fancy bike at the center would demand that I put my hands on the sensors so that it could check my heart rate.

The other problem is that I have not enjoyed knitting this diamond blossom scarf. Unlike the other modular knits I've made, this one just doesn't flow for me. My brain will not wrap around the process so that I can peacefully knit without referring to the pattern each time there is a new section to work.

So, I don't pick it up.

I'm never sure if I stopped at a place where I must count something, or slip-knit-pass, or just knit...

Being mostly a one-project woman, I'm bound to finish this before moving on. The ball of yarn is almost gone, and I've sworn to not buy another. That's why I started this in the first place--there was more than 1/2 a ball of yarn left from the last scarf. When this ball is done, the scarf is done and I am free to move on!

Diana's Design, Princess Top

Monday, January 23, 2006

Title: Diana's Design, Princess Top
Fabric: Stashed black stretch velvet corduroy

OK. I'm a copycat. I can't help myself. I see something gorgeous, and I've gotta make one too. So it was with this lovely top that the Sprout is modeling.

A fellow PMB-user made a top like this for her daughter and posted about it to the PMB boards. Her daughter, Diana, had designed the top, and they were working on a stretch-velvet version of it. Even in interlock, it was so pretty! I could just imagine the Sprout in something similar. I didn't know if she would like it, but it was worth a try.

My Saturday plans to attend meetings in Atlanta were squelched by a sudden bout of tummy trouble, so I spent the morning drafting a muslin of this top. I sacrificed part of the purple Rugrats fabric to test. The Sprout was dubious. The Rugrats scattered over the purple pique knit were not very appealing to her.

She tried it on anyway, and liked it! (Hey Mikey!)

When the Rugrats muslin was pronounced a winner, I proceeded to this version you see here. I'll get the exact settings up later, basically, it's a classic blouse, no ease, no closure, armscye princess, 28 inches long.

"You're only as creative as your ability to borrow other people's ideas."

Cell Phone Purses and Weekends

Friday, January 20, 2006

The Sprout has claimed the red plaid cell phone purse. I had been promising to make her one, but she wanted a plain one--no embroidery, no striped strap. She's always liked that bit of plaid, so the new one was perfect for her. I don't mind giving it away--it'll give me a chance to make more, right?

I really like the lanyard attached underneath the hook & loop. It makes the key much easier to get to. I may try to retrofit the Scrollwork purse to the same "specs."

Beyond a couple of meetings this Saturday, I'm planning to make some tee shirts from the same draft as the Mock wrap. These won't have the mock-wrap and the assymetrical hem--one of that style is enough. I'll use the mock wrap neckline again, but not just now. I'm making these next ones from some Rugrats knit that came home with me from a silent auction last December.

I think it would be fun to have a couple of Rugrats tees. They should be quite the conversation-starter.

Mock-wrap Top

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Title: Mock-wrap Top
Fabric: Stashed black slinky

The Scrollwork Pants wanted something a little different to go with them--a little flashier than my usual plain tee or button front shirt. I had a small piece of slinky in stash that looked really good with the flocking on the pants so I designed this mock-wrap to go with it.

The mock-wrap is much better for me than a standard wrap top. No gaposis to deal with, and the neckline comes up nice and high. My neck gets cold in winter, so higher is better!

Too bad you can't tell much about the finished top from the photo. The black slinky soaks up all the light and hides everything! Thankfully I do enjoy wearing it for much the same reasons. ;)

I don't particularly enjoy sewing slinky, since it is so slippery. That fact helped me decide to use lettuce-edges for the hems. Also, it has a lettuce-edged ruffle along the mock wrap. I cut a 2 3/8" cross-grain strip and sewed its right side to the wrong side of the neckline. I flipped it over, stitched it down and lettuced the raw edge.

The ruffle wants to flip up around the back neck, so I'm planning to work on that a little bit more. Otherwise I'm pretty happy with the top and it looks great with the pants.

• Garment Type= Blouse
• Style= Classic Blouse
• Closure= No Closure
• Front Neckline= Jewel
• Back Neckline= Jewel
• Yoke= No Yoke
• Hemline Shape= V-front
• Darts= No Darts
• Upper Back Dart= Shoulder
• Sideseam shape= Fitted
• Front Neckline Depth= 0.5
• Back Neckline Depth= 0
• Neckline Width= 0.25
• Neckline Point= 0
• Armhole Depth= 0
• Side/Arm Point=-0.5
• Side/Hip Point=-0.5

• Sleeve Style= Set In
• Sleeve Underarm Seam= Curved
• Sleeve Cap Ease=0.55
• Sleeve Length=23.5
• Sleeve Hem Circumference=7.5
• Sleeve Cap Height= -0.25
• Back Armhole Shape Up=0.8 Clicks
• Collar Style= No collar
• Chest Ease= 1
• Waist Ease=1
• Hip Ease= 1

Cell Phone Purses: The Next Generation

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

My goal when I made the first two cell phone purses was to make new ones to match my clothing. Each time I made new pants, I planned to make a matching purse. Well, this is the first time I have actually done that. (I can't fuss much, "Scrollwork" is one of only a handful of non-muslin pants I've made since the cell phone purse-making began last September.)

While I was on a roll, I made a second purse from a bit of plaid I found in the stash bins. I was out of the nice key clips that I used before, so I used the little cheap lanyards. On the scroll one, I tied it onto the handle. For the plaid, I used a bit of braid to sew it in under the hook and loop closure.

The only other design change was to make these 1/2 inch taller (4x6.5") and to add the little closure over the top. Occasionally my phone will fall out of the other one when I use the key.

I wear one of these practically every day now--even at home. I'm always upstairs when I hear the cell phone ringing downstairs. With these little purses, there's no running on stairs!

A Fitting Pair of Trousers

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Title: Scrollwork Tapered Slacks
Fabric: Printed Suedecloth with flocked scrolling from JoAnn's
Interfacing: So-sheer in black

I've given up on the slim cut legs in PMB, at least for now. I made three muslins over the long weekend, and was disatisfied with all three. It seemed that no matter how I lengthed the CD, the back was too short, the front bagged, the legs pulled when I walked, and flashing arrows pointed to my poochy belly.

My best slim-leg test came with shortening the CD some and using wild cut. I still had a baggy, too wide front. I believe this means that the CF seam is too slanted. It makes a dart that opens up to a lot of fabric at the front crotch.

In Armstrong's Patternmaking for Fashion Design Fourth edition my problem is illustrated in a section about correcting the draft. I should be able to fix it by tilting the CF seam inward, pivoting at the CF waist point. I want to experiment with this, but only when I think I've got things as good as they can possibly be without using PE.

You *can* change the slant of this seam slightly by increasing the number of darts across the front, but it's not enough.

I skipped that problem and moved on. A problem I knew I had was not enough room for my derriere. (It's large in relation to my thighs.) Bigger legs would give it somewhere to go. I increased the crotch extension by 1/2 inch and In PE, I started monkeying around with the legs (remember the "shift"?). Observation of some old drafts showed me that the tapered legs put more fabric on the outer leg. That's when I tried the tapered draft and I like it very much.

With the Wild Cut, I had to lower the back waist 1/2 inch, the sides 3/4 inch and the front 1 inch to get the waist right. Now that I'm happy with that, I want to make another pair before I work on the baggy front. Really though, I like these. They hang from the fullest place both front and back. This picture makes it look like there's something folding to point at the upper hip, but I can't see it in the mirror. It may be the shading of the fabric.

I've been saving them each time under a style named "Developing". When I'm happy with that, I'll make them my defaults!

• Garment Type= Pants
• Style= Slacks
• Waistline=Waistband
• Darts= Darts
• Front Waist Dart= 2
• Back Waist Dart= 2
• Closure=Front Zipper
• Leg Style= Tapered
• Front Crotch Curve=Round
• Back Crotch Curve=Round
• Back Crotch= Wild Cut
• Inseam Length=30
• Hem Circumference=18
• Waistband Width=1.25
• Knee Width=0
• Front Dart Length=3.5

• Back Dart Length=5
• Front Dart Position=3.5
• Back Dart Position=3.5
• Sideseam Movement=-0.5
• Center Front Waist Drop=1
• Center Back Waist Drop=0
• Sideseam Waist Drop=0.5
• Front Crotch Extension=-0.25
• Back Crotch Extension=0.5
• Front Crotch Break=0
• Back Crotch Break=0
• Hip Shape=0
• Low Waist Circumference=27.5
• Waist Ease= 0
• Hip Ease= 2
• Crotch Ease=.25

• Curved the back inner leg slightly
• Removed outer front dart
• Joined the fly to the center front
• Lengthened the waistband to accommodate the fly shield

Normally, I use the fly from the Reader's Digest sewing book. In the interest of time, I decided to make a cut-on fly. I still used the topstitching and fly shield from the Reader's Digest, as closely as possible anyway.

I mentioned under Pattern Editor that I removed the outer front dart. I gave myself 0 waist ease in the settings to allow me to draft with 2 darts but only sew one. This makes the CF seam straighter. I suppose it also makes for less fabric over the abdomen, which I need, but I don't seem to miss it.

Placemat Purses

Monday, January 16, 2006

Saturday was our American Sewing Guild neighborhood group meeting and we made the placemat purses from a recent Threads--this one, page 50. It was in the "Quick to Make" feature. Cute, huh? Mine's the striped one with the fringe in the fuzzy close-up. The leader said that it was addictive--she brought 5 or 6 that she had made. They are so cute and easy, I can see why you'd want to keep on making them.

One of the ladies had the exact placemat shown at the beginning of the Threads article and it turned out gorgeous! I bought three placemats at the local TJ Maxx--the blue/yellow stripe, the Valentine's Day one, and a St Paddy's day one. A visitor used the Valentine's Day mat--you can see it in the photo. Really cute.

The St Paddy's day mat didn't work for this method. The design on that one extended down the long edge and would only show on the back of the finished purse. The Sprout likes it, so I'll get back to JoAnn's today and get some green cord or something for a strap and make it a different way.

You oughta try this one.

My New Pet

Sunday, January 15, 2006

I can't repeat what my Aunt 'Nette used to say about her choice of pets, but let's just say this cute little piglet would have suited her fine!

Girls Nite Out

Friday, January 13, 2006

Last night was Girls Nite Out for my women's group. We all met to see Chronicles of Narnia, which I found to be a delightful movie and worth the $7.50. Those talking beavers just amazed me! Now that I think about it, we could have put the money for just two of those tickets together and bought the DVD in a few months. Wouldn't that be a fun Girls nite out? Meet at someone's house, watch a DVD and eat popcorn?

I think I'll suggest it. We saw previews for a couple of other animated movies that looked pretty awesome and could be candidates for such a party a few months from now.

Wonder if anybody has a big screen and surround sound.

This weekend is ASG neighborhood group, and we are making placemat purses. That promises to be a good time, too, but I've yet to procure a placemat. After that, I'm planning to make another pants muslin.

My wardrobe needs pants. Bigger pants.

Wanted: Fitting Fairy

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Once I put the waistband on the Fluffy pants, they didn't look so bad. I did scoop the entire lower crotch downward another 1/4 inch. I also sewed the waistband lower by 3/8" on the front tapering to the back. They are certainly wearable, particularly after this bell--uh, tummy shrinks back down.

There are photos, but still in the camera... I don't know if I would show them to you anyway. There are definite wrinkles pointing to the pound cake just below my belly button.

What Lisa said in her comment yesterday about the Threads pants fitting article intrigues me. She said (referring to the Threads article) "The author says to scoop the curve, but continue all the way up to the waist..then add that bit back on at the outseam. So you scoop the back, but keep the total circumference the same."

Thinking about that upside down and backward, it would be the same as (in PMB) adding some to the back crotch extension and the same amount to the crotch depth. Ultimately you are making more "body space", while keeping adequate fabric to cover the body.

Fluffy Pants

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

I'm just not sure about my new pants drafts. Last night I sewed up the Fluffy Pants, and honestly, they feel tight!

The idea of continuing to drop the crotch depth in PMB until you get the adequate crotch length seems ok, and the pattern pieces look good. In fact, I've been trying to get my front crotch seam to look like that for years, but I'm already at 11.5 crotch depth and need more. Normally I would "scoop" the back for it, but since the crotch depth is so low, and the legs are narrow (which is nice!), there's not much to scoop. It's like the "fattest" part of the hip doesn't go down far enough. (I think that hip adjustment tool is what I need...)

I got the Fluffy Pants sewn up last night, but it was late and Mr H was hollering that it was time to go to bed. The final analysis with attempted scooping will have to wait for tonight.

Ewe's not Fat....

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Yesterday I took my measurements in preparation for the next PMB pants test and found that the Christmas feasting has done its work. Several of my measurements had to be increased a bit to accommodate the winter fluff. Could it plump up my bony wrists? Fatten up my scrawny ankles??? Make my feet wide enough to actually find shoes?????

No. Of course not.

It gave me a much more pronounced tummy. I now have something of a high hip. My cholesterol has undoubtedly soared to new heights. Geeezzzzz...

What good is all that?

It's a new challenge, right? The point of it is to keep your fitting skills honed and make it so that you *need* new clothes. Fluff up, make new clothes. Slim down, make new clothes.

OK. I can answer that challenge. The sewing room is cleaned. My fluffy pants are cut. Tonight I'll thread up the machines and get sewing!

Bead knitted ornament

Monday, January 09, 2006

It took a while, but I finally finished the bead knitted ornament from BagLady Press. Looking back, I first posted about it on December 1. I suppose a month isn't that bad, considering that it was December, and how *many* beads I had to string for this thing.

It seemed as if I would barely begin knitting, and I would have to stop and string 40K more beads. Definitly not a quick knit. It was easy, though, and the finished ball is quite lovely. (There's another image over in the Gallery, if you want to see that.)

There will not be a tree full of these at my house next year.

Any more bead/ed knitting at my house will be like this from FluffyKnitterDeb.

Outstanding (!) Projects

Friday, January 06, 2006

Two projects that have been on my list for far too long are now done! Yay! One is the bead-knitted Christmas ornament, which I will show you next week. The other is this UMW banner that we made for a district meeting tomorrow. It names our unit on the left and our three circles on the right.

I'm very pleased with it. If I had the hoop for mounting it already, I'd be even more pleased...

This banner was actually pretty easy because it is so small--a bit more than 40 inches in diameter. We designed it a few months ago, and did most of the work then. We drew the design on Wonder Under (or something like that) and adhered that to the felt. Then we cut out the felt parts and adhered them together. My Simplicity SE3 produced the lettering. This past Monday I stitched everything down and all that is left is to attach it to the hula-hoop, which someone else is spray-painting black. (We decided that the beads and the lurid blue stripes had to go...)

I have visions of using black electrical tape at 6:30am tomorrow to attach the hoop to the back of the banner.

All this banner work has me wondering about a different kind of sewing machine. My Bernina is wonderful, but it's not designed to accommodate the masses of thick fabrics that banners are made of. It would be nice if I had a machine with an extra-high presser foot and lots more room between the needle and the right-hand side of the machine. If it ran faster, that would be good, too.

Some sort of upholstery machine might do the job.

Another View of Paradise

Thursday, January 05, 2006

One of Mr H's Christmas presents bore the jingle

Early to bed, early to rise. Fish all day and make up lies.

Now he carries a camera in the boat in case he needs to prove something later! I don't think he caught any Stripers on this particular day, but he did see something I found astonishing:

I had no idea there were eagles on the lake, and had only seen a bird swooping into the water for a fish on television.

Looks like this one had about the same luck as Mr H that day.

Green Surprises

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

I've been very surprised by the number of fabrics that match the Double G. After all, it is lime green and I never have green clothing to wear--not even on St Paddy's day! For that holiday I usually have to settle for something olive.

Of course, I made the Shimmer Blouse to go with the Double G, but the Never say Never shirt matches it, too. Then I found a Christmas print which could be a vest. Last night, a sweaterknit from one of the stash bins started yelling that it, too, would match the Double G.

All right!

After my next pants test, I think I'll look more closely at that sweater knit. Wrap tops are still fairly popular, so I may go back and try to draft something like Folkwear's Thai Blouse again. I drafted (and sewed) it a couple of years ago, but the sleeves were too tight, and the fabric I chose was scratchy. A sweater knit might be just right.

If I can't work out the Folkwear knock-off, there always the good ole Copycat to play with! That would be great with long sleeves. I know because I've already seen one this season.

I could call it Copycat Squared.

Bored sewing...

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Presenting the first 6 of 12 squares to make the Century Quilt! These nicely aged fabrics were part of one of those "Block-of-the-month" quilts at my local JoAnn Fabrics in 2000. I had collected them all with the finishing kit, but had never had the impetus to sew any of them together.

Lest the title of this mislead you, this is *not* boring sewing. This is nerve-wracking, and quite stressful sewing. I just meant that I was bored enough to actually work on it last week while waiting for the next Striper Report.

Apparently the blocks start with the easiest one and progress. The directions were good, for the most part, and I felt that I learned a little more with each successive block.

There is plenty of fabric in each kit to make the prescribed block. That didn't stop me from being stressed over it on each and every block. When I found a mistake in the directions for one of the blocks, I had to check each bit even more meticulously from then on. Imagine making a mistake and not being able to find a suitable fabric to replace it???

The mistake said to cut a 4 1/2 inch square, and then make two triangles. When it came time to sew those triangles on, they were too small. Fortunately there was enough of that fabric to cut a 4 7/8 inch square and make two triangles from it. When I compared the rotary/machine sewing directions to the hand-piecing directions, I knew for sure that a mistake had been made in the printed directions.

Besides these six, there are two (more difficult) pieced blocks and 4 applique blocks left to do. I skipped over the four applique blocks because I had forgotten to bring my freezer paper and colored thread. The applique blocks are lovely, but I really think I need to do those at home.

In front of a real TV with cable.

Back from the bank of Paradise ;)

Monday, January 02, 2006

Just in case you were wondering, this is what paradise looks like at sunrise. That's what Mr H thinks, at any rate. This is the view from the back door of our "cabin" (really a double wide mobile home) on Soap Creek. The sunrises and sunsets were spectacular most days. This particular one I enjoyed with my parents over some delicious dark coffee. We were delighted that the camera captured the beautiful colors so well. I have several more photos like this that are just begging to be enlarged.

I actually had a nice time, despite being able to pack only a single machine. There was really just *one* day that I thought I would go mad if I didn't get back home.

Home is where your stuff is. Definitely.

Various members of my family were there to entertain me from Monday until Wednesday. After that, my chief distractions were cooking and working on the Sprout's quilt top, there being no cable or satellite television to watch. The TV did get a few broadcast channels, but not very clearly.

Daytime network television is not worth watching, in case you did not know.

Finally I decided to spend some time touring around the east side of the state, which was most enjoyable. That area is flush with historical points of interest, besides being beautiful. I managed to get out for a few hours on two separate days--by myself, Mr H was busy catching stripers.

Lincolnton, near where we stayed, is a very nice little town. The people were very friendly and helpful. The day I went to the library for a little Internet relief, the librarian made me feel right at home.

The next day I visited Washington, Georgia and looked up the Robert Toombs house. When I went downtown to take my courthouse photo, I was captivated by the lovely Fitzpatrick Hotel there. Perhaps you'd like to see a couple more photos... I'll get back to sewing soon enough.

The Robert Toombs
House in Washington, Georgia

Inside the Fitzpatrick Hotel, beautifully
decorated for Christmas.

Oh, I almost forgot! Happy New Year!