New Beginning

I know this blog has had more new beginnings than the run of Doctor Who, but I'm going to give it one more go. Basically, I listen to podcasts while I walk, and would love to join the podcast community, but am not sure how feasible it is to make the leap. So, the blog will become my new podcast substitute, and we'll see how it goes this time. Pam from Hip to be a Square records on Fridays, so maybe I should commit to Thursdays with occasional Monday bonuses? We'll see how it goes. Let's see, the niece of a handful of posts ago is now 2 1/2. She's still beautiful, and also wicked smart, strong-willed (family trait) and hilarious. I'm now an apprentice in the SCA. Ok, everybody knows what a knight is. In the SCA, a knight is a peer, it's the highest rank someone can reach without having been king or queen. Knights, as one would expect, receive their peerages for being really good at fighting, and also chivalrous behavior and good character. There are two other orders that are the equivalent of knighthood, the laurel for arts, and the pelican for service. Knights take squires, people they believe have potential that they personally mentor and sponsor. Laurels take apprentices and Pelicans take proteges. So, basically, I'm a squire to a knight who was knighted for arts and crafts. What I am working on now: 1. I'm working on a commissioned quilt for a friend in Memphis. I'm using the Parasols pattern by Fig Tree and Co. It's a nice pattern, the blocks are cool-looking, but they're kind of tricky, and they use that sew and flip method of making half-square triangles, so all the blocks have all these flaps of fabric hanging off the back, and it's really tricky to line the squares up to make those half-square triangles. So this one has been slow-going. I wanted to have it finished by now, instead, I just have the blocks almost done. I'm going to deviate from the pattern some and add sashing between the blocks. I'm afraid with my less-than-perfectly-square blocks, if I just sew the blocks together, the quilt itself won't be square. 2. I've picked up a couple of projects I started and put down. One is a sock I started knitting, the other is an embroidered Elizabethan coif. Think Pilgrim girl cap, but embroidered all over. The pattern is really cool, it's curling vines with different flowers and stuff in the middle of the curls. Cause the Elizabethans had strawberry/pea/rose/carnation vines, didn't you know that? It makes total sense. 3. I'm fixing a dress I almost finished a while ago. It needs to be adjusted a little in the shoulders, and the sleeves need to be taken off and re-done. I used too big a seam allowance on the French seams, so the sleeves were too tight, and I had trouble moving my arms. Now that I have a Juki sewing machine with an overlock stitch, I've been overlocking the seams, instead of doing French seams. That doesn't take up as much room, and it should fix the problem. Ok, so, Thursday, another update.