Month: May 2026

Dying for the First Time

I think the first time I actually dyed something was a towel in high school. We were supposed to use strips of black towel for mutes in our saxophones, and me being the only girl, I was elected to do the dying of the towel for the rest of the group. Why did we not collectively buy a black towel and cut it up, you ask? Good question. I have no idea.

But! Today is the first time I have dyed items that I would like to turn out well.

I got my instructions from the Rit website, and noticed that Rit probably doesn’t employ a copy editor.

How does one stir “slowly and continuously” AND stir “off and on”? “Continuously” voids the “off,” and “off” voids “continuously,” so which is it?

I didn’t have a big enough pot, so I boiled water and put it in a 5 gallon bucket in the sink.

The results seem well. The gray shirt is now blue, and the white underwear I made is now a lighter shade of blue.

I may have had too many items in at once; the dye on the underwear is not as uniform as the dye on the shirt.

Still! A good result. Next: my linen pants will become brown. (She says confidently)

Shapes of Fabric Skirt Class, Module One

I invested in the online Shapes of Fabric Skirt Pattern Class, where I am learning to draft ALL the skirt patterns.

Module One was to create a basic skirt pattern block that fits your (or someone else’s) body perfectly. Here is mine:

When I went to buy tag board to trace my final block, I found that Fred Meyer did not have any white tagboard. I brought home the black, and used one of my white pens. I like the effect.

I added my current measurements (in centimeters) to the block. Because my weight tends to shift, this is a way to have an easy reference telling me if the block will still work.

Module two will have me drafting half size skirts in a variety of patterns. And the half-size skirt is based on a standard skirt pattern block, which is much smaller than my skirt block. This will be speedier and save on fabric.

May 2026 Movie Quiz Returns

A great showing at the first Movie Quiz at the Cinemagic Theater: 130 points! Ten points more than the 120 I consider the acceptable threshold for our team.

For this new venue, we are going with a new name. This month’s name: Quiz my Bump, a takeoff of a line from Project Hail Mary. Going forward, we will incorporate the word Battleship into other movie titles.

Favorite team names this time:

The Rambo Connection; Lee Cronin’s Michael; Trivia Newton John; the Boerne Colonoscopy; Palm H’or Douveres; The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and Grogu; the Male Gays; Wet for Dreyfuss; I’m Feeling a Little Swoozie Kurtz Here; See You Linklater

Postcard from Capitol Reef National Park and SKS: Good Vibes

Laurie reports that they almost skipped Capitol Reef (a park I’ve not heard of!) but they are glad they didn’t because they ended up really liking it.

Sara sends good vibes from Boise, where she got the postcard (it came in a set) at a Hallmark Store near her mom’s house.

She also remarks that she doesn’t see Hallmark stores as much anymore.

Indeed. I had to google to find out where the closest Hallmark stores to me are. The answer: two in Vancouver, one in Hillsboro, and one at Clackamas Town Center.

There were two within throwing distance growing up in Boise. One at Overland Park Plaza, and one at Hillcrest Plaza. I spent a lot of time in both.

Skirt Pattern Class Module 1

I’ve been interested in the Shapes of Fabric’s pattern drafting information for a year or so now. She offered an async online course for pattern drafting, and I signed up.

Here is the result from modual 1.

In this module, we had to draft our own skirt block so we could make a skirt that fit us, and then draft a basic skirt block. You can see my test basic skirt above, and my pattern below.

Next I will transfer basic block (minus the seam allowances) to some tagboard, and module 1 will be complete.

I’m looking forward to module 2, where we practice pattern drafting by working on half-size skirt blocks.

Postcard from Zion National Park

Burt and Laurie are visiting national parks on their vacation, and this was their first visit.

Laurie reports that they purchased a National Park Passport. “You know how I get about passports!” she says.

I do, as I believe they have completed their third McMenamin’s Passport.

Also, I made this Zentangle.

Fun Squares visit the Happy Hoppers

There has been square dancing drama, and a new square dance group has come into my life: Fun Squares. On this night, we visited the Happy Hoppers in Vancouver for their anniversary dance. We elected to wear polka dots, and, as you can see, look great.

It was a big turnout and a crowded floor and some good dancing.