The last minute

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Remember when you would wait until the last minute to do your science project?  Book report?  Plan your Halloween costume?  Tell your parents that you were going somewhere?  Or needed a ride?  Had to take a snack to school?  Buy a gift?  Or card?

We all did that as kids.  And some of us still do it.

Everything takes more time than we think it does.

At the beginning of the school year my daughter said she wanted me to make box bags for the twins Pre-K teachers.  As a Christmas gift?  No.  As an end-of-the-school-year gift?  No.

Well, when?

I was at my daughter’s house last week helping her build something.  I’ll post pictures once it’s finished.  Anyway, while she was cutting the plywood, I asked her again about the box bags and when the end of school was and what colors/fabric did she want me to make box bags.

I didn’t know if these were to be for personal use and filled with personal goodies or for school use filled with school related goodies.  It makes a difference when choosing the fabric.

Box-bag-TA-003

The bags were for school related goodies and she wanted them for Teacher Appreciation Day.  Which was yesterday.

The fabric was purchased Friday and washed that evening.  I was too tired to think about cutting and sewing.  Saturday was spent cleaning out the garage but I managed to get all the pieces of fabric and fusible fleece cut.  I dug out the directions on Sunday and made one bag.  Monday evening I had a hair appointment which involved color so I didn’t have time to finish the second bag until last evening.

The teacher’s names were machine embroidered on the strap.

Box-bag-TA-001

And my daughter’s tag was sewn in the seam.

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I like them.  I just hate waiting until the last minute to make something as there is always a glitch.  Like sewing the strap in upside down and having to redo it.

But they are finished and on the way to my daughter to fill with goodies.  I hope the teachers like them and use them.

Box-bag-TA-002

Do you still wait until the last minute to do something?  Do your kids?

Over and under

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Alas, in my quest to remember to take before and after pictures I did remember to take an almost before picture of my kitchen stool.

Kitchen-stool-001

I bought this stool when we moved into our first house almost 37 years ago.  The wood was unfinished and since those kitchen cabinets were a dark walnut stain, I stained the stool to match.

The seat was a woven material that looked like rush.  It was actually paper!

Kitchen-stool-003

The paper/rush rubbed against the stool frame on the edges and eventually cut through making the seat a bit of a risk when sitting.  All my grandchildren loved to undo the seat so I would have to hide it when they came to our house.

My plan to repair the seat involved cotton webbing.  Only the local Joann’s store didn’t have two colors of cotton webbing so I used nylon webbing in Paprika and Steel Grey.  I had two 50% off coupons and used them both.

Kitchen-stool-002

Then the fun began.

First I cut off the original seat and stapled the grey webbing to the rung underneath.  Here’s the website I used as reference. and tightly wrapped the webbing for the warp.  When the top was covered, I again stapled the webbing underneath.  I seared the cut ends of the nylon by holding a flame close to the edge to melt it so it wouldn’t fray.

I inserted a thick pad of batting between the top and bottom to give the seat some stability as I didn’t have any foam.

Then I attached the paprika webbing to the stool and wove the weft over and under.  Over and under.  Over and under.  Over and under until I got to the end.  Then I wrapped this piece of webbing around the rung and repeated the over and under on the bottom of the seat until all the weaving was finished.  The paprika end was seared and stapled.

The finished stool.

Kitchen-stool-005

 

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I can’t decide

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I can’t decide if it’s an age thing, excitement, or that I’m just tired but I can’t remember to take before and/or after pictures.

I purchased the cutest patterns from Little Cotton Rabbits  and actually made one of the boy rabbits.  I gave it to our one-year old grandson. He loved it as much as a one-year old can.  I only finished the shorts for the rabbit but though it didn’t matter if the rabbit was fully clothed or not.  The Shirt is currently on the needles right now.  Do I have a picture of the finished rabbit?  No.  I will see if my daughter will take a photo and send it to me.

The twins loved the boy rabbit and one wanted a girl rabbit and the other one wanted a girl fox.  Both were specific with the colors they wanted so once I get them made, I hope I will remember to take pictures for show and tell.

I’m still without a computer and am using Mr. Aitch’s computer right now.   Sorry about that.

Hindsight

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I saw it coming and I wasn’t proactive.  My computer is dead.

Kaput.

I didn’t back it up before I accidentally turned it off Sunday evening.  I had been leaving it on 24/7 until I backed it up and then by habit, I turned it off.  I realized it as soon as I clicked “shut down” and by then it was too late.  My only hope is that I can take it somewhere to have the hard drive copied so I don’t lose all my knitting patterns, downloads, documents, and most importantly, all my photos.

Until I get a new computer, I will be posting from my iPad.  And if you have tried to post with any type of tablet, you know how difficult that can be.

I’ll try to post at least once a week as I have  a few things I want to tell you.  Some yarny things.  Some more culture.  Some neither.

TTFN