Button Sunday

Lynne arrived for a visit last Tuesday and stayed until today. I will miss her SO much. We had a lot of fun running errands and cooking and eating. One of our outings was to Jo-Ann’s for fabrics and things. While she did some hand sewing on a couple of quilts she’d brought with her, we talked and talked about the Neverending Saga, what’s left to tell of the stories, and whether I could get it all done in only two more novels, bringing the total number to eight. It remains to be seen, but we sure did laugh a lot–and maybe also teared up a time or two, because we do love these characters so much, and they go through some stuff before the series closes.

I’d mentioned a while back that I wanted to use a Vogue pattern to create about twenty shirts for my male Mattel dolls. (I shared a photo of the first one I sewed on September 23; the doll on the right in the photo below is wearing it.) I did another shirt while Lynne was here, and then between us, we cut out the patterns for eighteen more. She also gave me a ton of pointers and suggested some sewing products I could pick up to make my sewing a little easier.

I didn’t like the collar on that first shirt at all–too large. I tried making it smaller on the shirt on the left and thought it was much better. Lynne modified the pattern piece to make it easier for when we cut the fabric for the rest of the shirts. (I’m betting that first shirt will bother me so much that I’ll tear out the collar and replace it.) If you look closely, you may also see on the newer shirt the tiny blue buttons from the supply I ordered from an Etsy seller because I thought they’d be much better for doll clothes. They’re perfect!

Lynne also helped me go through all the Christmas bins that have been sitting in the office since May, when Lindsey and Tom purged and reorganized the Lean To (the storage space on our property). Since we don’t have a garage, in addition to storing stuff, it’s where all the yard equipment and supplies are, along with other random items helpful to homeowners. It also provides Tom workspace for fix-it projects. I’d wanted to reorganize and purge our Christmas decorations before we put the bins back in the Lean To.

As seen from outside, the Lean To is through those double doors and is about seven feet wide. I think I talked about the space but never showed the photo of it after they finished. Everything is so tidy and easy to find and manage, because Lindsey is an organizing wizard.

Looking in from the outside.

Some of the Christmas bins.

Writers’ stock of Timothy James Beck, Cochrane & Lambert, and Cochrane novels. Anyone need something to read?

Now all the Christmas stuff is back out there; Lynne took a few things she liked to add to her own holiday collection; I set aside some ornaments to donate to Goodwill; and my office space is back to normal.

Thank you Lynne and Minute for sharing a great mini-staycation with us! The Hall dogs have looked around for you both a few times today.

And now I sew. And write. A LOT of writing.