Latest Skirt - Religious Poetry Meets Ransom Note

 Here is my Ransom Note Meets Religious Poetry skirt!  The line along the hem is "All things counter, original, spare, strange," which is is from a poem by the 19th century monk Gerald Manley Hopkins.  (I'll include the whole poem at the end of this post.

 

 

The letters were cut from T-shirts and appliqued on the ruffle, which was then sewn to the skirt.

The skirt was made from other T-shirts and features a pocket and an elastic waist.

 

 

 

 

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Here are some photos from making it:

 

This project represents some growth for me as a maker because I generally only pick fast and easy projects, ones without repetitive tasks or fussy details.   (For me, applique is repetitive and fussy.)  But I asked myself: Why chose projects that as are close as possible to instant gratification?  Why rush to the finish line instead of enjoying the process?  So I decided to give myself permission to set it aside and come back to it if I wanted to.  (I didn't want to.)   I let myself tackle something more involved.  And it's one of the favorite things I've ever made.  :)

 

Pied Beauty

by Gerald Manley Hopkins 

Glory be to God for dappled things—

For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;

For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;

Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;

And àll tràdes, their gear and tackle and trim.

 

All things counter, original, spare, strange;

Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)

With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

Praise him. 

Happy Shakespeare's Probable Birthday!

Happy Easter!

 He is risen!

Wishing you all the joy of this glorious day! 

The Savior Is Born!

 “O, loving wisdom of our God!
When all was sin and shame,
A second Adam to the fight
And to the rescue came.
O, wisest love! That flesh and blood
Which did in Adam fail,
Should strive afresh against the foe,
Should strive and should prevail!
And that a higher gift than grace should flesh and blood refine;
God’s presence and His very self and essence all-divine.”
— St. John Henry Newman 

 Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas! 

How to Wrap Unwieldly Gifts

 The fabric and ribbons were from my stash.  My gifts for Mom are usually from the silent auction at our church's fall festival, and they are inevitably weird shapes and big.  I finally wised up and made these cloth gift bags last year.  Much easier, more environmentally friendly, and less fragile than wrapping paper.  Mom gave them back after she opened them, so I can use them again this year. 😊 

Two garden items... :)

On the right is the garden catalog which has recently arrived. It's time to start planning the garden!

On the left, is my garden notebook where I keep track of what we plant and our harvest, along with what we spend and what we are going to do differently next year. Our first garden in our new home was 2011. And now the notebook is full. I wonder how many total pounds of produce that represents?

Frugal tip: If it is broken, what do you have to lose trying to fix it?

My husband fixed our VCR! I know, it's kind of amazing that we still have one. But we also have a bunch of VHS tapes, and we've never gotten around to getting DVDs of all of them.

Basically, he just opened it up, cleaned it, and it worked! Your mileage may vary. But since it was already broken, he didn't have much to lose.  Movie night tonight!