Sewing Summary For May

 I'm here for the sewing progress summary for the month of May 2024.

After looking at monogram designs on Pinterest for ideas, I came up with this version for hand embroidery.

Letter 'D' monogram.

I made a set of 6 monogrammed handkerchiefs for my friend's birthday.

This is what the underside of my embroidery looks like.

I took a close up picture of the flower. I used bullion knots for the petals.

I finished my sling bag! I am very happy with the results.

Front View

There is a pocket on the back that is perfect for my phone. I put a calculator on the pocket to demonstrate.

Back View

I added a loop at the top so that I can easily scoop the bag up with one finger if my hands are full.

I attached some beads to the zipper pull tab to make it easier to grasp the zipper.

I finished this bag for my oldest son. I was done it time for his birthday.

Now my 9 year old and my 6 year old both have a sling bag!

Both boy's bags side by side.

I have one more sling bag in my roster to make. I should be able to show you my last finished bag at the end of June. I already have the pieces prepared and ready for assembly.

See you June!

Happy sewing!

All Creatures Small

 Toad, Dragonfly, and Robin Eggs

We caught this lumpy little toad this month. We were able to take a few close up pictures and then turn him loose.

I believe this is and American Toad. In our area it could be a Fowler's Toad or American Toad and from what I have learned about the distinguishing features, I believe this is an American Toad.

Toad's eyes are so pretty. They look like they have glittering specks of gold in them.

I read that people long ago thought toads had jewels in their heads. I don't know who or when but I can see why they thought that.

Toads dig into the ground moving backwards with a specialized claw on their back feet. They burrow about 3 feet under the ground to hibernate. 

Toads are carnivores. Their diets contains crickets flies, slugs, worms, and basically any moving bug. Their prey has to be caught live. It is the movement that attracts their attention.

Toads tend to be more active at night and shelter during the day.

Toads can live about 10 years in the wild if they avoid predation and hazards. In captivity toads have lived past 30 years! I have read that they make good pets. They are easy to take care of and handle. They seem to have a certain level of character, too.

Bye Mr. Toad. Have a good life!

My son caught this amazing dragon fly on a chilly day at the park last month. 

It's colors were so brilliant and it's wings were so intricate.

My son was gentle with the dragon fly. Once we were done observing the little guy he was released and zipped away. What an amazing creature!

This year a robin couple built their nest in a lilac bush in our yard. The nest is so close to the ground. I was surprised that they chose that nesting spot. The children were able to watch the robins at work from the living room window.

Now the female is sitting on eggs. It will be exciting once they hatch!

Spring is a wonderful time of year! Seeing creation testify of God greatness is wonderful, too!

Transplanting Tomatoes and Peppers

 

My winter sowing milk jugs worked out great for my tomatoes and peppers this year.

I need to get them in the ground, but before I do I transplanted them into individual pots.

I knew that separating the plants was going to cause considerable root damage. I decided to separate them and put them into individual containers before I put them in the ground.

I just cut the tomatoes apart with the sharp edge of my dough scraper. It was pretty ruthless. I chopped them apart and put each section in a styrofoam cup.

I added more soil to cover the stem by an inch or so. That way the plant can put out more roots.

I ended up with 33 tomato plants and 12 bell peppers. They are doing well, praise the Lord. I am looking forward to getting them in the garden. 

New Sewing Projects!

 March and April Sewing Report 

I have been making these over the shoulder sling bags. I have made a couple for other people. Right now I am finishing my own sling bag for myself. I am really eager to get it done and start using it!

I have been making my own iron on interfacing for these bags because I had a bunch of heavy grade iron on adhesive. I iron the adhesive onto the interface material (flannel in this picture), then I peel the paper backing off and iron the flannel interfacing to the outer bag material. The only problem that I have run into by doing this is that my sewing machine won't stitch through the fabric with the adhesive. I have had to do most of the sewing by hand, which is kind of a pain, but it has been nice to have a portable handiwork project to take on car trips, or to the park, or just to have something to work on while I sit at the table helping my boys with homeschool.

The instructions call for finishing all the seams on the inside of the bag with a seam tape. I used bias tape because that is what I have on hand.

I really like how the interior of the bags turn out so trim and orderly due to the seam tape.

I am following a bag tutorial on a YouTube video to make these sling bags.

I looked for a long time trying to find the right pattern for what I wanted to make. I spent a lot of time on Pinterest. Finally I came across this video tutorial. The finished product was exactly what I was going for. I am grateful for this free tutorial.

This is the first bag that I made. It was a birthday present for one of my sons. I have to finish another one this month for my son who has a birthday in May.

I have this wildlife print that is perfect for the boys' sling bags. These bags would make excellent 'snack and tract' bags for door to door soul winning. 

Last summer we did go out door to door soul winning with our church on Saturday mornings. Since we moved it is going to be hard to do that with the church group this year. But when I was doing soul winning with my boys last year I got the idea to make these pouches for them. And now it is coming to fruition. 

Total Solar Eclipse 2024

 

On April 8, 2024 we witnessed the total solar eclipse. Since that time I have watched video accounts of other people's total solar eclipse experiences. 

Each time I watch one of these videos I am brought back, in my mind, to that place of awe and wonder induced by standing in the Moon's shadow. 

The awe and wonder of gazing into the black hole where the Sun should be and seeing the ethereal glowing halo of the Sun's corona. 

The awe and wonder of feeling so small in God's giant universe.

The awe and wonder that I felt standing in the eerie darkness, yet beautiful light.

And I feel loved, so loved, by God as he displays his greatness in the heavens.

And I think, "The Almighty God cares for tiny, tiny me. He pays attention to me. He takes care of me. He wants fellowship with me. He loves me!" 

And the tears roll down my cheeks. It was so beautiful! The eclipse was so beautiful. The fact the God wants to show us this stunning display and has orchestrated it for our viewing is also a thing of beauty. 

We had a wonderful eclipse day. We were at a very large park complex in West Frankfort, IL. There were nice playgrounds, mature shade trees, a fishing pond, several baseball diamonds, and some big open fields and a marshy wild life area bordered by woods.

We set up our grill, picnic table, and chairs in a secluded section in the back of the park. We put our tent up, too, just to have a place to relax for some of the children.

The weather was perfect: sunny and 76°F. We played on the playground equipment before the eclipse started. We rushed back over to our camp to witness first contact. It as so exciting. The eclipse was happening! We watched the shadows change. Mr. In the Midwest grilled our pork steaks. We lay on our picnic blanket and observed the Sun shrinking away through our solar filter glasses. 

 Slowly, slowly the Moon over took the Sun. The Sun looked like a golden cookie that someone had taken a bite out of. Then the Sun looked like a packman. Then the Sun looked like a crescent, then a banana, and then a tiny sliver. When the Sun was down to only about 5% showing the anticipation really became intense. The light was dim and bright at the same time. The air was cooler. The evening birds started to make their calls. A planet appeared.

And then everything went dark. Off came our glasses! We had 4 minutes and 7-8 glorious seconds to witness the beautiful corona and look around at the 360° sunset at the horizon. There were shouts and whistles and laughter. The diamond ring was my favorite part. My two year old didn't care for the Sun going out. He said, "Go home." He meant that he wanted to go home. I held him, pointing to the shimmering ring in the sky and said, "Isn't it pretty?" 

And just like that, it was over. The first hair of Sun slipped out and we had to put our solar filter glasses back on.

We ate our lunch and had a happy time watching the Moon edge it's way off of the Sun. It seemed to go a lot faster getting off of the Sun than it had gone covering the Sun.

I am left with overwhelming gratitude. God is so good to me!

Psalms 97:6 

The heavens declare his righteousness, 

and all the people see his glory.

You can read about my 2017 total solar eclipse experience HERE. I wrote a lengthy journal style post for that eclipse.

Spring Woods!

We went for a walk in the woods at a nature preserve yesterday. This nature preserve is special because of the expansive carpet of blue bells on the forest floor in early spring. This was my first time visiting this preserve. The blue bells were like nothing I had ever seen before. They were everywhere!

There were a few other flowers blooming, too.

Spring Beauty 

Flox

Woodland Violet

Creeping Buttercup

I, also, saw a bunch of Prairie Trillium (the ones with burgundy petals and mottled leaves), and one early White Trout Lilly. Mayapples had popped up already. It was a little early yet for Toothwart, Hepatica, Wild Geranium, Yellow Trout Lilly, and Great White Trillium.

I saw some Red Admiral butterflies, a tiny copper butterfly, and a few sulfur butterflies. We heard some very loud tree frogs. The oak trees were all bare still. The buckeye trees were leafing out. There was a flowering tree that I will have to look up. It has five petaled white flowers in clusters. It was growing in the under canopy. It had reddish brown bark and the trunks and branches were delicate in character and finely featured.

We had a wonderful day in a beautiful place with delightful weather! I hope you are having a wonderful day, too. :)

Violet...…...Jelly?

Last Saturday, my children and I started picking all the violets that we could find. There are so many this time of year. Initially I thought we should add the violets to a salad for color. We just kept picking more and more violets. Pretty soon we had far too many violets for a salad.

I told my children that violets could be made into jelly and one time in my youth a friend of mine had given me a violet jelly recipe. I had followed the recipe and made violet jelly once. The really neat thing I had remembered about making violet jelly was how the violets made a purple tea that turned pink when the lemon juice was added. In fact, I still had the recipe.

That story pretty much sealed the deal for what to do with all our violets. My children wanted to see what violet jelly was like. We just had to make some.

Well, the jelly was a big failure. I tried to make it without pectin. I cooked it too long. It cooled into a solid mass of hard candy. I re-melted the mass, added water, jarred it again. Now it is the consistency and color of honey. All the beautiful violet color cooked out. It really does taste like honey, too. 

So, I guess what we actually made is bee-less honey.

Not bad. We will enjoy it on toast. And we had fun during the process. It's a win!

Now what I want to try is making pink lemonade out of violet tea. Wouldn't that be cool!

Jonquil by Henry Beer |Poem

 

Look what Mr. in the Mid-west brought me
last week! :)

The Jonquil

The Jonquil is a charming flower

Which blooms in April's sun and shower;

It blooms quite early in the spring

When blossoms burst, and songbirds sing.

Few flowers share with it in fame;

It has such sweet and varied names;

In former days, as well as ours,

The folks called them Easter flowers.

But Jonquil is the polished name,

By men of higher rank and fame.

The common people call it still

The lovely, cheerful Daffodil.

Then, when recedes the winter's cold,

We see them break the frosty mold

And raise their heads to welcome spring,

While birds their springtime carols sing.

Their blossoms, trumpetlike, proclaim

The glory due that worthy Name,

Who at the time the Jonquils bloom

Arose triumphant from the tomb.

The Jonquil blossoms fill the air

With fragrance sweet, yet mild and rare;

Where'er they bloom, it is a thrill

To see the golden Daffodils.

They take their place in Nature's plan

When in the spring they bloom again.

By Henry Beer

My Garden of Verse

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