Philosophy Friday: I'm the one in charge here

Memorial Day weekend is traditionally when our owner group goes up to our rental cabins at Huntington Lake to open them up and get them ready for the fifteen-week rental season, which should start a week from tomorrow. Last year we lost the first rental week due to snow. Someone told us that was a once-in-fifteen-years type of thing. They were wrong.

So what we should be doing: painting, cleaning the cabins, hanging the curtains, plumbing maintenance, etc. Not happening.

George and Cheri drove up yesterday to see just how close they could get to the cabins. Their progress was blocked by the snow plow. And the water hasn't been turned on yet either, which is a big turn-off for me, because no shower, no potty? No me...

Mark has some plans for projects around the house. This is what I will be working on, the Amy Butler Weekender bag. Which probably won't be completed in one single weekend. Thirteen steps, each with a gazillion sub-steps...

Mark and I have been taping and watching the final episodes of Oprah for the last month. We have been sporadic viewers. But these final episodes have been interesting, especially as she looks back over the last twenty-five years. And remember. She and Mark are "tight" since they both started their careers in the same year.

Last night we watched her final episode, where she stood on stage and talked about what she has learned over the past twenty-five years, what her guests, audience, and viewers have taught her. I watched it again this morning to jot down some of the best parts:

*Find you passion. Whatever you are supposed to be doing, embrace the life that is calling you and carry it forward.

I'm working on finding my passion. I know creativity is an essential part of my life.

*People make bad choices, blaming everybody else but themselves for the state of their lives.

This one really hit home. Choices and consequences. Choices and consequences.

*When you know better, you do better.

Keep on learning. Keep the spark of knowledge burning.

*Nobody but you is responsible for your life. You are responsible for the energy you create for yourself and the energy you bring to others.

We have the choice to be happy, to love, to forgive. We can't control what other people do for us or to us. But we can make good choices because we have that capacity, and our life is our responsibility.

Except when Mother Nature decides to take charge...

More info on interfacing (than you might have wanted to know...)

I hope you have all ordered your copy of The Bag Making Bible by now. Yesterday I mentioned my confusion about interfacing, which is one of the major things that keeps me from plunging into bag making. Interfacing, interlining, different weights, fusible, nonfusible, fleece. Ack!

Lisa has a lot of information on interfacing. She has information on every component of bag making that  you can think of.

In fact, that is why I love this book so much (from her blog post of 9/13):

"My bag making book is written more with a focus on bag making techniques. Before I sat down and did any writing I looked through as many of the other bag making books that I could get my mitts on. On reading them I noticed that none of these books concentrated on how to make the various parts of a bag. They were more likely to be 'how to make 20-30 bag designs'. I wanted to do something completely different to the other bag books so I wrote about how to construct the different parts of a bag; like how to do/how to understand linings, pockets, handles, structure, piping, interfacing and stuff like that."

I buy probably 95 percent of my fabric from my favorite online retailers. Then I use my 40% coupon to buy the non-fun but necessary stuff from Joann's. Here's the thing about interfacing. At least at my local Joann's, it is behind the counter so you have to tell the clerk what you want (lightweight, medium, nonwoven, etc.) and hope they are well-versed in interfacing knowledge. What I really want to do is go behind the counter and feel everything for myself. Barring that, I would like to have a stack of bolts brought to me so I can be the judge of what I want. Not a good idea when you have a line of people behind you with their little pull-off number in their hands, waiting for their turn, and you are standing there saying, "Hmmm... which is better? A or B? 1 or 2?" You know, kind of like when you are getting your eyes tested for glasses...

Lisa also has an online shop where she stocks all the components necessary to make fabulous bags, so of course, she has all the interfacing, etc. She lives in the UK, and while I certainly wouldn't be opposed to ordering from her shop, I started a little google search to see if I could find something comparable here in the US. She stocks a brand called Vilene. In searching a little further, it looks like Vilene and Pellon are quite similar. And then I found this on Amy Butler's website:  a comparison chart. And you would be amazed at how excited I was to find that. Apparently I'm very easily excitable...

Amy wrote the foreword for Lisa's book, and aside from Amy and Lisa ringing my doorbell one morning and saying, "Oh, you're sewing the Fashionista bag today? Well, here you go. This is the interfacing that you will need for that project," and handing me a nice little package tied in a pretty ribbon (and then me fainting from the excitement of Amy and Lisa at my front door), this comparison chart is exactly what I'm looking for.

What kinds of things keep you from starting projects you really would like to attempt?

 pillow available from Raindrops23

Do tell....

And speaking of Amy Butler...winners...and another giveaway

First of all, the winners of Amy's Temple Flowers 1/2-yard cuts are:

That Girl, who said: Oh how pretty! I would incorporate this fabric into the pieced backing for my daughter's new bed quilt!

and I Love Baby Quilts, who said: Is it too late? I'd love to win! Love AB.

If you each send me your address, I'll get that fabric on its way.

So, speaking of Amy Butler, in the midst of organizing patterns, I realized that I loved this pattern.

Yes, I loved it so much that I bought it twice. I know. Seriously. Patterns are expensive! So. You know the drill. Leave a comment by Friday noon Pacific time. What else will I find in all this organization? Only time will tell...

Amy Butler giveaway

Although I love gray and rainy weather, it has been raining pretty much for a whole week and today even I am feeling a bit "under the weather." So I have been taking some time to de-stash (more on that later) and reorganize my fabric. Actually it just needs to get off the floor in my sewing room and office and into a space of its own.

In the midst of all this reorganization, guess what I found? Some Amy Butler fabric from a couple of her early lines, now out of print: Temple Flowers and Gypsy Caravan. This fabulous fabric is in all different sizes. I got it so long ago that it is entirely possible it was part of a kit that I decided against making. Who knows? Anyway, I got this pattern last week from Craft Hope, designed by Kate Conklin. Just perfect for showcasing these gems of Amy Butler greatness, don't you think?

I have some Kona cotton in "ash" on its way, a very light gray, and I'm thinking that might be the perfect background for these cheery florals.

What about you? Do you need some flowers to give you a little feeling of spring? I found a little over a yard of this piece of Temple Flowers, so guess what? I'm giving it away! A half-yard cut each to two people.

Leave a comment for one chance to win a half yard and tell me what ideas you have. If you want to increase your chances, become a follower, or let me know that you already follow this blog. I'll pick a winner on Wednesday morning.

In the meantime, I'm off to see what other forgotten fabric treasures may be buried around here...