Going bananas

OK -- we talked about comments the other day and how the power of suggestion, even in your mind, will trigger things. Well, where did this comment come from? 

The mystery of the internet, for sure! 

I have a favor to ask all of you, particularly those who live close to me or are on the Pony Express. You could always send the items via mail, but I don't want people to incur costs. 

A local group of sewists meets at the library several times a month—maybe even once a week—to make medicine dolls. These dolls help hospitalized children prepare for surgery or other major procedures. I guess all major procedures in a hospital are surgical, but I digress. The medical team will demonstrate using the doll what procedures will happen and where they will be done. The children get to keep the dolls. 

Here is a photo of the dolls this group makes. The one on the right has a hospital gown. How adorable!

Medical dolls

Here are some others. The kids can add faces or clothing using markers. That's one pretty fancy hospital gown—that's for the divas! 

Some of the completed dolls

Anyway, the group needs supplies, and since we are all in the process of decluttering our stashes and sewing stuff, I offered to spread the word. What do they need? 

• Dolls: need fabrics 13" x 15" with the same fabric front and back in flesh tones. Flesh tones in shades from white to black and all shades of brown - probably best with shades of brown. 
• Gowns: need 11" x 10.5" pieces in bright, kid-friendly fabrics. I'm not cutting these to size; I'm donating yardage, and the group can cut themselves. But this is the MINIMUM size needed. NO scraps - they cannot use pieces smaller than listed. 
• Polyester fibrefil: LOTS 
• Note: The dolls are laundered for the safety of the sick children, so the fabric and fiberfill need to be washable. 

If you can help with any of the above, that would be awesome. Guess what I'm doing. I'm going through Diane's stash and looking for brights. I don't think there were any flesh tones or solids, but if you have muslin or other solid or even tone-on-tone flesh-colored fabrics and are close -- please think of this group. I could kick myself because I recently gave away two bags of polyester fiberfill to someone making crochet toys. Oh well --- it is what it is!!!

I know I have pieces in my stash that would be perfect for those gowns. They are too small for pillowcases, but they might work for this. More sorting! 

Thanks for your help. You can email me directly at elainetheriault@gmail.com if you have something to donate. 

And now, onto our regular programming! I have been puttering in Studio B, but the results are not quite as dramatic as the previous day. I have one event later this afternoon, so I can finish something. My goal is to clear off this section of the cutting table. 

Stuff to clear off the cutting table

I've already trimmed and put away several hourglass blocks and half-square triangles I found under the cutting table's debris field. 

The container of hourglass blocks - sorted by size, of course!

Then, when I was in the stash room looking for something, I spotted a roll of tracing paper on a shelf. That went into a bag for Sheridan College. And then I glanced up at this shelf, and OH BOY -- some of that has to go. 

What's on the top shelf?

The top shelf - the ENTIRE top shelf is devoted to wool roving and felting stuff. I haven't touched any of it in years. I'm going to say twenty years. Shame on me! If I get a chance today, I will pull it all down and sort through it. I want to keep some of the roving because I can use it on the embroidery machine. The rest of it will be donated to the college. The felting machine is packed up and ready to go, so if I can do that top shelf, then I think I have everything they can use set aside, and I could make a trip to get it out of the house! Oh, I said I would not do that until the rest of the stuff was dealt with. But opportunity knocks! 

The mystery of things getting lost. I have been looking for my large collection of flower-making templates for several weeks. Do you think I could find them? They were NOT where I thought they were. Then, when looking for something else yesterday, I found the bag of templates. Where? On that cart where my "current" projects are stored. Good grief—there's so much to do and so little time. 

I found the templates but couldn't find the plain napkins I bought at the thrift store for decorative stitching. 

My bag of flower-making templates

No worries about the napkins. Later today, I'll pop into the thrift store and pick up a couple. There are always tons of solid napkins there. 

Also, while in the stash room, I spotted this giant orange clothespin. It's now securing the end of the quilt covering the serger. 

Added bonus to the serger cover

I think getting rid of the fabric in the stash room will be easy. It's all the other crap that has to be addressed, and I'll work through it slowly. But I must accelerate the plan if my goal is to finish in 20 years! I keep saying 20 years - it's just a number! Remember, I'm staying in the house, and if DH can't make the stairs - he's gone! 

I've mentioned this before, but it's crazy. I shopped for bananas yesterday. Why are there so many single ones? Do people pick up a bunch and pull off one, or are those loose bananas in the box? I should email my nephew, who is the assistant manager of a grocery store. I bet he knows. So I buy from the singles. I think they should give us a discount if we purchase single bananas. 

Lots of single bananas

Several days ago, we had the largest snowfall we've had all winter. And this is how the girls handle it. They are so different—just like DH and me!

Murphy is out there laying in the snow with her bare tummy and embracing it. 

Snow, snow, beautiful snow

Lexi? She's on the couch!

MOM - I don't want to get my feet wet!

When they went for a walk, Murphy tramped through the snow, so she came in covered in snowballs. 

Mom - I don't feel anything! 

At one point, she had to lie on the snow bank to cool off. 

Mom - I LOVE snow!

Lexi? She walked on the sidewalk to stay clean. It's almost like it's beneath her princess dog status to do anything messy! 

Mom - I'm not walking in the snow! 

Sigh - she's the one who should be tramping through the snow since it doesn't stick to her fur!!!

They have fun together outside, but I wish they would stay longer. Again - Murphy is lying in the snow while Lexi is on guard. That's a switch. 

Mom - I'm doing a good job guarding Murphy while she rests

And I laughed when I saw Murphy trying to bury her bone in the snowbank. Good luck with that, Murphy. At least the snow is gentler on her nose than dirt!

Mom - I NEED to bury this bone

But anything to get covered in snow is right up her alley. 

Moom - can you see me? I'm covered with snow

And who came to visit? Little Bear! OK, so it looks like a white dog. It was on the fence post outside the office window. 

A snow dog!

Can you tell me why Murphy was trying to put my slippers on? She is like a bull in a china shop and has no self-awareness—not about what's on her feet, the length of her leash, or anything else. She just wants to go! 

Mom - what do you mean I'm standing on your slipper

And here was a pretty picture - snow on a giant orange Christmas bauble.

 

Snow on an orange bauble

I now have several glorious free hours ahead of me, and I desperately need to answer and send emails. I also have samples to continue making, more tidying, a quilt to quilt, and potentially a little sewing. It will be a whirlwind day, but I'm much more in control, which makes me much more productive!

Let me know if you can help with the fabrics and fiberfill. The group and the hospitalized children would certainly appreciate it!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!