A few years ago I bought a beautiful yarn-dyed plaid from Keepsake Quilting - without any particular plan for it in mind - and recently decided it was just the thing for an autumn skirt.
It has golden leaves all over it!
I wanted to use up every bit to showcase it, so I just cut two rectangles, made big pleats and put in a zipper and a waistband; but when I tried it on, realized that a big full skirt tends to look much better on real skinny girls. So, I took it apart and cut the pieces into the fullest a-line I could get out of it.
I'm halfway done with the waistband, and then all it will need is a hem. I hope I can finish it today.
I forgot to photograph my book, but I've been reading Stillmeadow Sampler by Gladys Taber, which somebody dropped off at the library. It's very pleasant reading, and I've posted a few quotes from it here lately. In view of our visit last week from Hurricane Sandy, this passage caught my eye yesterday:
"A hurricane is preceded by a strange stuffy smell in the air. Nobody has ever mentioned this, as far as I know, but it is as if the whole air were shut up in a small space...Now when the sky takes on a greenish tinge and the air gets that funny smell, we mobilize. Fill pails, fill teakettles. Wash lamp chimneys, trim wicks. Lug in enough wood for a siege. Get out all the candles in the house. Make coffee. Stack bath towels for handy mopping when something gives way...Then we sit it out.
Hurricanes can strike us all, one way or another. Even those who are outside the natural hurricane belt may be subject to hurricanes of the spirit, the heart. And there is only one way to meet any kind of hurricane: batten down, ride it out, face it with courage."
Can you imagine not knowing ahead of time that such a storm is on the way? Anyhow, this book, published in 1959, is full of interesting details of a life much more in tune with nature than in our present day.
Thank you, Elizabeth!
Hi! I found you through needle and thREAD. What a neat book. I love the last part "And there is only one way to meet any kind of hurricane: batten down, ride it out, face it with courage."
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your skirt! I tried to make a full skirt not long ago and decided full skirts only look good on children :o). ~ Liz
Thanks! In fact, the skirt looks very well - a-lines are much more flattering.
DeleteThe book is very enjoyable. I was going to read it and let it go, but I believe I'll keep it.