Be Glad...while Sober!

We skyped with Emma in California after the kids opened up their Max quilts, wrote letters to him (what we would say to him today) and took pictures in front of the yarn bomb trees.  There are 4 (!) in front yard now.  The tree with lights is the black & white yarn bombed one.

They are all very different-Roxie's has a bunch of "Roxy" brand t-shirts I have saved over the years for her, Sam's includes some of his school shirts, Stewart a GEMS program shirt they were both in, Suzu's foot and hand print hot pink shirt, so they know which one is theirs.

I yarn bombed the red bud tree this morning, after doing a neighbor's tree after she said her little boys had been talking about our yarn and wouldn't mind being yarn-bombed for sobriety....her tree was so big and wide around the trunk that I couldn't reach around it, had to run around wrapping the t-shirts and got dizzy!

We opened birthday presents today, too, (Mom, thanks for the shiny sparkly purple hat!) and my mom's good advice to "Be Glad" is a theme for me, a reminder.  I am glad for these amazing children, their laughter, and support and hugs and tears.  They are stronger, more sensitive to suffering and distress of others having gone through this hard summer of losing a sibling. 

Emma is waiting for their Santas to wake up before she opens her quilt, and I hope she posts a photo, because I forgot to take one of completed quilt before I sent it off to her.

QUILT construction detail:

(these-above and just below-are from Emma's quilt in the making, auditioning position of squares) Smooth out t-shirt on cutting mat, use 12 1/2 clear cutting acrylic cutting square to cut front AND back of t-shirt.  Sandwich a same size flannel square inside; sew X from corner to corner; determine order of blocks and sew generous 1/2 inch seams to FRONT of quilt; clip with scissors to create fringe.  Remember to sew around perimeter to secure/stabilize outside edge of quilt.  They were heavy with just the flannel "batting."

Back of Roxie's quilt, smooth edges on this side, fringe on front which looks better after each washing.

I didn't wash these yet, they still smell like Max a  little.  It was very emotional to make them, surrounded by the memories of him wearing the shirts, thinking of him, missing him, but glad for the project to give the other children a memory to hug.

Today is Hard, but not the fault of friends or family...

She wanted to make sure, after the yarn bombing outside faded, that I had a permanent memory of Max.

They each brought a snippet of t-shirt hems, pink for their only daughter, one of her own shirts.  I tied them together as they sat and signed Max memory books.  These boys were his peers, in his classes at Church.  I taught them in Primary, Sunday School, two of them in seminary.  They sang "Silent Night" for us with 2 guitars in harmony, brought amazing toffee (what carb free diet?) and gave good hugs.

We have been loved, remembered, hugged, and I think I am emotionally just worn out.  So hard to keep a happy-all-the-time face on.  I am sad, missing far away family, including EmmaDean.  Holidays are for gathering, and as grouchy as I can be about crowds and claustrophobic, I crave it.  And chocolate. 

Kids are cleaning Great Grandma Billie's condo, John just walked in the door.  We did all our Santa wrapping last night, so we can go to bed early.

Merry Christmas to all.  Take a family photo tomorrow, and some video to capture the now happening before your eyes. 

Stamp of Approval for Sobriety

The bishop showed up last night with his musically super talented family, sang us a beautiful Christmas hymn, gave us a plate of treats (accepted one in return, Lauren said, "I will take good care of this!") and showed us their t-shirt hems.  Bishop's was from the bottom of a Raven's t-shirt.  Jeannette's from a t-shirt she wore all the time for special education therapy teaching, I am sure there were stories behind the kids' choices, too. 

Lauren brought a white t-shirt hem and when I showed her the black & white tree and a bare trunk, she very seriously did it by herself.  She innocently asked, "What's sobriety?"   And we explained it is obeying the word of wisdom, not doing drugs, or drinking.  She said, "Okay!"

Jeannette tying her's on.

Best.  Gift.  Ever.  Thank you!

Yarn Bombing for Sobriety

Yarn bombing.  Harmless, decorative.  Knitters have decorated bridges, statues...You can google it, a real thing.  My sister told me about the yarn bombing in Pittsburgh on the bridges. 

For me, this is a way to use up the 3 foot high pile of t-shirt scraps leftover after making t-shirt quilts for Christmas.  The shirts came from our son, Maxwell, who passed away this summer.  I couldn't just throw them away.  This has been cathartic, helping me deal with the grief of missing him during the holidays.  I don't want any teenagers to go through what he did.  It started with pot, escalated.  Smoking spice hurt him. 

Being sober needs to be a choice.  A decision.  A want these yarn bombing trees to spread all over the city, and maybe it will help somebody else know that being sober matters.  Drugs hurt you.  Be safe.

 "Yarn Bomb a Tree in Support of Sobriety this Holiday Season!"
First tree, with brightest of Max's t-shirts.

More of his t-shirts:  black, white, & gray version, with Christmas white lights.

I took fliers over to the middle school craft fair and talked it up. 

And two families from the fair stopped to help.

The added blue yarn is scrap yarn.  They took pictures of their teenagers committing to be sober over the holidays.  I gave them each a big ball of Max t-shirt yarn to go home and bomb their trees.

Got permission from neighbor across the street to bomb her tree!

A view of both the trees in our yard.

Quick tutorial for cutting t-shirts into "yarn" here:

It is easy to cut off the bottom hem, and use the main body of t-shirt, but you can cut spirals from the sleeves, every part of the t-shirt.  Cut about 1.5 inch strips.

Tie a square knot to attach one strip to another.  Roll into a ball inside to make easier to pass around the trunk and branches outside in the cold!

Extending a Quilt: Twin-to-Full Size

 Reversible quilt with new borders to make it big enough for a BIG GIRL bed!

A client bought a reversible comforter set, CIRCO brand, twin size, along with matching lamp, sheets, pillows...the whole investment package.  Then she found out her granddaughter was getting a big girl FULL size bed, and the twin was just too small. 

I auditioned many possibilities, adding borders, cutting off edge of quilt and inserting extension, ruffles, but finally settled for dissecting a thrifted scalloped-edge quilt, adding pom-pom yarn fringe on lighter side, and serious, but soft, velvet ribbon to hide join seam.

Cheating?  No, up-cycling!  I can't take credit for the great quilting, just the mash up!

Money Weakness Problem:  I hate/dis-like horribly/dread/ figuring out how much to charge a client.  Always.  When it is paint or fabric, it goes something like this:

New soft green full-size sheets @ Ollie's $19.99
Pom-pom yarn:  $3.99
velvet ribbon 10 yds @ Ollie's $2.99
thrifted king size scallop quilt:  $14.99
purple king-size suede-like bed ruffle as part of audition:  $6.99
24 inches of bias tape
thread to match

$48.95= close to cost of original quilt in bag from Target investment.  (It would have been CHEAPER TO JUST BUY A NEW, BIGGER SIZE QUILT instead of hiring me to sew...)

Not counting time/sewing labor.  Three-ish hours.  More like six hours.  Not counting the time I was thinking about it.

Here is my dilemma:  how do you charge fairly for sewing?  We work for pennies an hour, when you take out materials.  I learned years ago it was cheaper to thrift shop than sew clothing when you factor in pattern, fabric, additional specialty supplies.

If I deduct off for unused materials:  I can use center of quilt (the borderless one, now) as an art quilt and possibly sell or do a commission piece.  The purple suede bed ruffle is still awesome fabric for another project.  So subtract half of big scallop quilt and bed ruffle only takes away $14.

$ 35.00 for materials
$15.00 labor at $2.50/hour (cough, less, cough)

Charge $50.00????

I know what John would say.  This is why I never give a first impression paint quote.  I force myself to tell them I will get back with them after I talk to my financial manager (John).  Because I always low-ball it, out of some skewed pride.  I want people to like me, be pleased.  John reminds me how horrible they would feel if they found out I undercharged and cheated myself and family finances.  He always tells me to at lease double it, whatever figure I come up with on my own.

$150.00  (And she will never ask me to sew for her again!   

But $75.00, I could ask for that with a straight face, feel dignified, and worth it.  This is a stinking cute quilt!  Made by an artist.  An original.  So I should talk myself up to $90.00 which is close enough to $100.00

Maybe it is just a pride thing:  I want clients to automatically value my work and out of their own heart tip me above what I charge....?  And again, I can hear John rolling his eyes but diplomatically saying "They can't read your mind."

A couple of months ago a financial adviser's wife had a baby while I worked for him.  I made them dinner one night and gave them a library film ("Saving Mr. Banks") to watch, mini-date at home.  He neglected to turn in the DVD on time when he said he would (and I say they were sort of busy), and the overdue fine racked up to $12.00.  Which John thinks the financial adviser should pay him.  And I can see the reasoning, but I still feel bad asking for $.  Again, John reminds me of how badly the guy would feel if he found out.  John says it is a way to keep people honest.

Have I gone on long enough about this weakness of mine?

Take home message:  tip generously.  Pay your obligations.  And don't work for free, like I tend to.  Be rightfully proud of your good work, and honestly charge what it is worth.

$10.00 Angel Wing

Front hallway.  Wire star kids made two years ago.  Paper mache angel wing is something I have been eyeballing on Pintrist.  Even though Mormon angels don't have "wings" this great article in the ENSIGN explains why symbolic angel wings are ok...

Why Are Angels Depicted with Wings?

Though we know through the Prophet Joseph Smith that “an angel of God never has wings” (History of the Church, 3:392), most depictions of them show them with wings, and some scriptures describe them as having wings. Why?

Wings represent “power, to move, to act” (D&C 77:4). Prophets who described angels as having wings (see, for instance, Isaiah 6:2) may have referred to wings in order to communicate these ideas figuratively.

TUTORIAL for wing:
-big big box
-saw knife or favorite crafting scissors
-duct tape
-1 zip tie (or other hanging method for back)
-2 rolls toilet paper
-paper towels
-3 big bottles of Elmer's white school glue
-warm tap water
-3 cups flour
-white paint, brush
-patient family willing to give up eating at dinning room table....

Cut out wing shape.  I looked through Pintrist angel wing tutorials, liked the half circle (where it would fit onto shoulder blades...) and high arch, long sweeping feathers to the floor.  I am not a bird/feather expert, but knew the feathers should point down, and started cutting cardboard, taping on with duct tape, layering as I went.  All the little spiny small feathers didn't show up much after paper mache layer, so I would concentrate on big ones, 8-10 inches long for mine.  DON'T worry about matching, variation nice.

Mix flour with water until goopy and add white glue.  Then I took the cardboard center out of toilet paper roll and soaked it into water flour glue mixture.  Where it disintegrated, but was a great sculpting wet mess.  Smooth onto cardboard feathers, using fingers to push around soggy stuff, drawing lines with fingers for details....Should have had a video of this.

After I had almost everything covered I used dry sheets of toilet paper (2nd roll) to soak up some of wetness and they did this great feathery looking thing.  It is all about texture!

When it was completely dry,  I used a zip tie and duct tape to create a hanger on back (it is very lightweight, like a piece of cardboard!) and dry brushed some white paint over areas where cardboard was showing through.

Next time I do this, I would spend more time on edges, mold goop around towards the back to make better presentation from sides.  Looking straight on, it is fine.  And I had it supported by paint cans and glue bottles around the edges, and the weight of the wet end feathers curled the cardboard as it dried.  So it does not lie flat against the wall.  Could not put it at top of stairs where I originally wanted to hang it, or we would run into it as it curves out from wall.

Total cost:  duct tape, paint, flour on hand, plus price of 1.5 rolls of toilet paper, 3 bottles of Elmer's glue, less than $10.00

Concrete Countertops

Dry, cured, layers and layers of sealant and top coat of protection.  LOVE them!  So much better than original tile squares and the horrible grout that was so hard to clean!  Yes, you can see my trowel marks, but it is flat!

Not perfect (inside corner by sink was hard to sand).  I will report back how they hold up to heavy family use and 12 daily seminary teenagers eating breakfast and slamming their homework books down on them.

Book Group Friends

Can you guess the book?  80's.  Host had Cheetos in comic-book paper cones.  A vinyl record cake stand.  And she made us mixed tape cupcakes.

Black eye-liner makeup all the way around the eyes, big big hair, pastels, popped polo collars, side ponytails.  So far with three meetings, this book group has dressed up with the book themes.  For silly fun.  "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell.

This was last month on way to The Night Circus, a 2011 fantasy novel by Erin Morgenstern.

All black with red, and circus treats popcorn, lemonade and chocolate (no chocolate mice).
Next month's book:  (Even though all of us but one has read it, we will re-read)

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows  

The first month we met at my home, no photo, really it was just the organize-and-figure-out-what-we-want-to-read meeting, "Beekeeper's Apprentice" by Laurie King, my offering (with honey treats to eat) but only half the group read it, not really a discussion.  BUT we learned how interested we all were in the film rights of the books we are reading, how we would cast them, the visual elements, characters.  And it has sort of clicked "dressing up"  --not cosplay serious-- but playing with the book themes. 

Two hours of talking about the book, how it relates to our lives, what good lessons we can take from them.  Serious therapy, small group of friends meeting and talking.  And hugs.  I needed the hugs this week.

Open meeting, all others welcome to join us.  January 9th at JB's home, 10:30 Friday am. Dress:  WWII British!

Happy Butterfly Birthday!

(photo credit EmmaDean)
Thankful for this sweet girl in our family!