Progress!

I finished my little autumn picture and it's ready to frame.  So cute!

I found an old package of 14-count oatmeal Aida cloth that will work for my next project and got it ready to go last night.  It's another Prairie Schooler design.  

I'm doing the big one on the left.  It's been a long, long time since I've done anything bigger than the one I just finished and it's like I'm learning all over again.  Right now I have it on a needlework frame which I'm finding a little awkward to work with.  I'll just keep plugging along and see how it goes.  There's always the hoop option.  

I got D's first pair of boxers made and delivered. He wanted them to be longer than the length on the pattern so I measured him and did a little pattern adjusting which, thankfully, worked out just right.  

I'm started on the second pair and hopefully will get time to work on them today.  I'm substituting for our church secretary while she's on vacation so my stitching time is limited right now.  

And that's it for now!  ♥

Amazingly, I'm Back!

The 4th of July weekend is upon us and it has cooled down from the triple digits to the nineties which seem much cooler in comparison.  We were even able to open all the windows last night, which I love to be able to do.  

I continue to work on my autumn cross stitch picture and here's where I was earlier today:

Isn't that just the cutest house?  As I mentioned in my last post, simple but with details that take it a step above primitive.  

And here are a couple pictures of the completed Christmas tree quilt top.  So glad to finally be done with it! I do like it very much in spite of the fussy nature of all the triangles.  

Of course it still needs to be quilted, but I can wait on that.  Now it's on to making Daniel some new boxers for his jammies.  They're all cut out and ready to go.  

Maybe I'll get going on them tomorrow. That sounds like a good 4th of July project!  Too hot to be outside much and my sewing room is air conditioned.  :-)  

And that's it from the resort today!  ♥

As December Ends

Well, I don't think anyone will be sorry to see this year end.  It's been a strange one for certain.  But then I have to remind myself that almost every generation has strange years.  Black plague? World wars? And on and on.  So, we count our blessings, keep moving forward and remind ourselves of what's truly important. And I'm sure it's not "stuff", but people that count.

We've been inundated with snow today.  Lots and lots of snow, and wind, so it's hard to tell just how much snow has actually fallen.  Dan plowed this early evening and now we've settled in for the night beside the fire. We are supposed to get more snow overnight so we'll see what the morning brings.  I made a big ham and split pea soup for supper in the Instant Pot, just the thing for a wintery day and there's lots left over for the next few days.  

When I was downstairs earlier I realized I didn't take any pictures of the family room to share so here's one:

That's the sewing machine I learned to sew on.  I haven't tried it since bringing it up when we cleared out Mom and Dad's house, but one of these days I will.  I probably need to take it out of the cabinet and have it gone through first, though. 

Happy New Year to one and all!! ♥

Laundry, Cookies, and A Little Sewing

Today was a busy day with household chores mixed with Christmas baking and a little mask making.  I began with washing our sheets, the first load of the day, and then finally remembering to make myself a Christmas mask.  The fabric is a classic Mary Engelbreit design.

I continued with laundry and did a little ironing and then turned to cookie making.  This time I went with the little cookie stamps and made  a traditional shortbread recipe and a brown sugar one.  These have been tradition for thirty years or more.  They smell so good! (So far I've resisted eating one . . .)

Dinner was easy--toasted cheese and tomato basil soup.  And now I'm falling in a heap.  ♥

Etcetera

The last two weeks have vanished in a blink.  What have I done, I ask myself.  Good question! Reading, of course.  Having that Kindle app and taking advantage of two free months of Kindle Unlimited has made me like a kid in a candy store!  One book was very different and also thought provoking given these times.  The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson is an historical novel based on real events.  

I've finally had to make a mask or two.  Most of Dan's consulting work involves workshops and field trips and most have been cancelled due to the virus, but one is taking place this week with all kinds of precautions.  He will need a mask as he teaches so I bit the bullet and made him two out of tan fabric with pine needles on it. Suitable, I thought!  

The weather has been all over the place,  Cold, wet and dreary, hot, sunny and necessitating turning on the AC, and now back to overcast and wet.  Lots of thunder and lightning, too.  As we tell each other, it's still June! Truthfully, given the current events politically and healthwise, I'm hoping for a cool summer to help keep people calm.  

The baby shower was fun and the mom-to-be loved the bibs.  I'm thinking of making some more this week before I forget how cute these turned out.  I also have a friend who became a grandma for the first time that I want to send some bibs to.  She can keep them at her house or send them on but either way, I thought she'd have fun opening the package.  

This cool weather has been wonderful for the flower pots and the garden.  Here's the view from my front entryway.

And here's a cute one of Daniel and his friend Crosby at their swimming lessons last winter.  Here's hoping they can soon hit the water once again.  

Happy summer!  ♥

And In the Sewing Room . . .

. . . disaster reigns!!  I started to do a major sort and clean a week or so ago, but then I remembered that I needed to make bibs for an upcoming baby shower.  This couple has decided not to find out what they're having beforehand and I realized that the few bibs I had left in my stash were definitely boy or girl.  As in pink and frilly or blue and all boy.  It's been a long time since I went to a shower where the gender was unknown.  

I pondered designs.  I ransacked my stash of flannel--which ran to mostly pinks and blues.  Hmmm. . .  An already messy sewing room began to look as if a tornado had struck.  

 

I usually start my bib making by cutting a bunch of bib shaped blanks, and so I began.

The grey polka dot and the red polka dot seemed to be good choice for neutral bibs, and I began with the grey. I decided on a lamb theme and began with a Debbie Mumm design from her Baby Oh Baby design set.  

I have about six bibs done now, and plan to keep on stitching until I have a nice pile of them again.  So. Much. Fun!! ♥

A Little Pajama Party

Some time ago, I thought it would be fun to have a dolly pajama party and dress all my dolls in pj's.  Of course, this meant that the dolls had to have pj's to wear.  One thing about a quarantine, or "shelter in place", or whatever you want to call it--plenty of time at home to ponder things that have been put off for various reasons.  So, one day last week I decided to see just what I had in the way of jammies for my girls.  I dug through boxes and drawers of doll clothes and discovered I had more than I thought.  

I think I've mentioned in the past that long about twenty years ago when an internet doll company called iDolls went out of business, I bought a number of dolls and doll clothing in anticipation of gifting future granddaughters. Instead, I have four grandsons and no granddaughters so most of the dolls and clothing just went into storage. I did turn one doll into my version of Amelia Peabody, intrepid archeologist/sleuth from the book series by Elizabeth Peters, and one into Evie Tozer, a character in a favorite Tom Selleck movie, High Road to China. 

As I rooted through the doll clothes, I found perfect outfits for Amelia and Evie, and also a nightgown for another doll.  It also turned out that I had jammies for several other dolls.  That left three to sew for, and now motivated, I began.  

So here are my play dolls, all set for a slumber party. Clemmie is sporting her new jammies and is ready to read Tootle to the assembly.  A few bears have joined the party and everyone is ready for fun.

See little tiny 8" Betsy McCall?  I discovered I had a pattern that included clothes in her size as well as for the bigger 14" Betsy behind her.  With a little trepidation, I decided to give the shorty pj's a try.  Well. Let me just say that I think I could have made several pairs for myself in the time it took to make them.  It has a separate yoke, self fabric ruffle, and puffed sleeves. Oh my goodness.  So much detail in such a tiny little garment.  But I prevailed!!  As long as one doesn't look too closely.  (And the reason there's a bear laying in front of her?  She's still wearing her shoes and socks. Those little shoes are over sixty years old and I could see that the rubber "buttons" were hanging on by a thread and any attempt to unbutton them would surely lead to disaster.  So, what to do?  Hide the shoes.  So I did.) 

And here are Amelia and Evie in their time appropriate sleepwear.  

Amelia Peabody circa 1890

Evie Tozer, circa 1920's

Sweet dreams!!  ♥

Snow!!

Wow!  Winter has arrived!  As I type (I'm old school, I don't think I'll ever use the term key-boarding), Dan is out on the 4-wheeler plowing at least 8" of the white stuff.  It's been coming down heavily as he's plowed so I'm sure it's continuing to pile up.  As this storm winds down sometime later today, another is slated to arrive tomorrow, followed by much colder temperatures.  

Plowed and already turning white again. . .

Brrrr. . .

As I sit warmly inside, I've found this to be perfect knitting weather.  I'm currently working on a doll sweater set for my American Girl doll.  I've finished the front and back, and am alternating between the sleeves (almost done) and the scarf.  With this weather, the doll is in need of some warmth.  :-)

Oh, and I need to show another potholder.  I found the snowman fabric and matching snowflake design in my stash.  I had no idea it was there, but then I remembered back and realized I'd bought them to make a table runner.  Well, potholders seemed to be a better idea.  I was only able to make three because of the amount of the snowman cut, but they turned out so cute!  I gave two away, and still have this one.

The red/white stripe was just the perfect choice for the bias tape and was leftover from a pillowcase project from last year.  I love puttering in my sewing room and knitting in my living room! ♥

End of June?!?

Hmmm, how did June fly by so quickly?  Here it is the last day, and so in a valiant effort to improve my blogging I'm going to see if I can come up with a few coherent things to share.  

I haven't made any new dresses for my dolls, but I did make an effort to take Ann Estelle's blue dress and make it suitable for Easter.  I was thinking I would add lace and ribbons, but when I searched among my findings, I found a wire-edged dusty blue organdy ribbon that just seemed to say use me.  So I did.  

I loved using it to tie around her head and then just cut a piece to tie around her waist.  It's not stitched on, so I can still make changes to the dress if I get inspired later on.  Meanwhile, AE felt quite stylish for Easter.  

Another thing I forgot to share was Ann's Mother's Day gift.  

A plethora of new cloth napkins, which she knows I love, and my new favorite mug filled with lemoncello almonds from Costco.  I had never tasted the almonds before and let me tell you, it was love at first bite!  Mmmm...

And that's it for now!!  ♥

It Snowed, I Sewed

And the snow came down!! And down!!  We got up to another four inches yesterday morning and it continued to snow throughout the morning adding another couple. This was the lacy view out our bedroom window:

So what's a girl to do when she's caught up on her housework (miracle!!) and has leftovers for dinner? Why she sews, of course.  My longtime pal, Kathy, and I have been in conversation about our dolls this past week and she tipped me off to a free pattern on the internet for my 10" Tonner Ann Estelle doll.  I made a test run of it on Tuesday and it turned out to be a good fit.  It's a sleeveless dress so here's Ann Estelle modeling it with her white sweater turned back into a cardigan:

I learned a few things as I made the blue dress, so yesterday I headed straight down to my sewing room (see paragraph above) and decided to make another.  I rooted around in my stash of doll fabrics and came up with a odd shaped scrap someone gave me years ago. Would it be enough?  Yes! By making the skirt a little less full and shorter, I decided I could squeeze out a dress that would be perfect for the 4th of July.  And here's AE modeling it for you all.  I think she'll need red sandals to really set it off.

This pattern has many possibilities and I'm looking forward to trying out some more ideas.  Meanwhile, I'm perusing adorable shoes in AE's size (which, unfortunately are not cheap!) because cute dresses need cute shoes.  

I have yet to get started cutting and stitching on the Snowy Day quilt, but maybe today?  ♥

Soggy Sunday

It's foggy and wet.  It's trying hard to snow but the temperature is just at the edge of freezing so it's what we call "snain".  I'm sure not far from here it's piling up, but here at the resort, it's a good day to snuggle in and drink something warm.  Maybe under a quilt!

I'm trying to muster up enough creativity to head to my sewing room and start something, anything! I found a cute winter quilt pattern at the BH&G We All Quilt website and think I'd like to make one.  I'm hoping I'll hike myself downstairs when I'm done here and start pulling fabric for it.  Here's a picture from the website:

Pretty cute, huh?  Here's a link to the pattern (click here).  There are lots of other cute patterns to choose from, too.

The other cute thing I found on the web today were these scissors:

I'm finding them irresistible and am ordering a pair pronto.  I use small scissors like these all the time and really need a pair next to each machine.  Here's a link for them (click here). 

So, now that I've put my purchases and project in print, I guess I'd better get busy!  ♥

I've Been Stitchin'

I'm not really in the mood to blog, but I decided I need to or it will be weeks ... again.  Dan has been super busy with his consulting so I've had long days with time on my hands.  I have enjoyed watching some quilting videos online and have ordered a few things to feed the habit.  One thing doesn't necessarily have to do with quilting, but it does sometimes figure in.  I have many types of stabilizer for machine embroidery and every time I need to use some, I've had to pick through a whole shelf of them (an upgrade from the basket I used to keep them in).  I noticed a clever over-the-door hanger just for stabilizer in an email from Nancy's Notions and I decided to order one.

It's easy to see what types of stabilizer I have and I no longer will have to spend precious sewing minutes searching for the one I need.  Plus, the hanger is out of sight and I had an empty shelf!

I have an AccuQuilt Go! cutter which hasn't been used as much as it should be.  I watched a few videos and was inspired to buy a BOB (block on board) die for making shoo fly blocks.  It came on Tuesday and yesterday I decided to give it a try and sew a test block. I picked a pink fat quarter and after searching through various other FQs decided on a yellow print that included pink.  Well.  After making the first one, it was so cute I used up the rest of those quarters and made two more. I decided these three were too cute to waste and I spent some time plowing through my fat quarter stash and came up with several more fabrics that would work.  I'm thinking a baby quilt or small lap quilt.

I know it's a poor picture because the sun is hitting the back row but you get the idea.  I love that the pieces come out of the Go! so perfectly and by putting the two colors together with right sides together I can start right in stitching and chain piece.  (Some of the pieces for the next three blocks can be seen in the bottom of the above picture.)

Here's a picture of the die.  It's called a BOB, block on board, because all the pieces needed for the block are on one die.  

I'm having fun!  And, gasp! I'm working on another quilt when I haven't finished the Yellow Brick Road baby quilt I was working on last week.  I am one of those weird quilters who always finishes a quilt before I start another one, but really, the top is done (see below) so technically I'm sorta done with it.  I'll just quilt these one after the other and be done with both lickety split!

And now to head down to my sewing room and crank out (literally!) a few more blocks! ♥

Stitchin'

Ever since Dan put the new lift in my sewing cabinet I've been like a woman with a whole new persepective on sewing.  I think it's because it's so easy to switch between embroidery and regular sewing.  Whatever, I've been having fun in my sewing room and that makes me smile.

A couple of quilters I have followed for years did a "24 Days of Christmas" on Instagram (no, I'm not on there, but I can view) and they inspired me no end.  Each day of December they posted pictures of quilts and other stitcheries in Christmas vignettes.  I got new ideas for my own decorating and ideas for new projects, so to my sewing room I went.

First up was this simple little quilt for our bedroom dresser.  I used fabrics from the Christmas quilt I made a couple of years ago.  

Next up, I decided it was time to get a tree skirt made! After forty-four years of marriage, I needed to do this. I had purchased more of the Through the Winter Woods fabric to make the skirt in the book by the same name, but then discovered the skirt was huge--like six feet across which is much too large for where our tree sits.  I had thought of trying to scale the pattern down, but it had so many pieces it just seemed to be too much to contemplate so I did nothing.  Until this week when I decided I had to prevail and get with the program.  I looked through my books and patterns and found Happy Holidays by Atkinson Designs.  Right there on the front was a tree skirt that would work perfectly.  

I used the Winter Woods fabrics and a few scraps from other projects and got the top done Saturday. As usual, Terry Atkinson's directions were perfect (her methods are genius--I don't know how she figures out such clever ways to cut and sew) and a top made of equilateral triangles came together perfectly.

I just finished quilting it and now will get to the binding. Stay tuned for a final viewing!  ♥

Knock Knock! It's Me!

Well, hey there!  Yes, it's me.  And it's December.  The house is all decorated and the cards are sent. I'm enjoying the season and puttering away with little projects.  And I finished a big one!

I finally quilted the big Through the Winter Woods quilt I started last winter (seen here and here) over Thanksgiving and then got the binding on over the next week.  Ann and Eric and boys were here for Thanksgiving and Ann was able to quilt a top she made years ago, so we congratulated ourselves over our accomplishments.  Two big buffalos down!

Another big yahoo took place this last weekend.  When I got my humongous Bernina 830 a few years ago, I knew it was too heavy to use with the lift in my sewing cabinet so Dan locked it into position so I could have the bed of the machine even with the cabinet top and built a box to lift it up when I wanted to embroider.  It worked, but it was a chore to lift that 45 pound machine in and out, so I often didn't. I'd put off embroidering or I'd muddle along sewing without having the machine even with the cabinet top.  Last summer I wondered if it would be possible to order just a heavy duty lift and after checking the internet, found one.  We ordered it and it's been in a box under a table in my sewing room. Until Saturday.  Can I just say I am thrilled?  It has rejuvenated my sewing mojo and I'm one happy sewer.

So, Saturday night I just had to embroider something. The new lift worked perfectly and up popped my machine, ready for the embroidery unit.  I dug out my huge jumbo hoop, found a piece of Osnaburg and began a one color Christmas wreath I've been wanting to make for several years.  I didn't even know what I would do with it, but I decided the time had come to stitch it and stitch I would.  I toyed with several colors and went with my favorite dark red.  When I was done, I decided to make it into a pillow with fabrics left from the Winter Woods quilt.  Several hours and five presser feet later, I was done.  Here's a photo of the quilt and the pillow.

Five presser feet?  Yup!  The quarter inch foot for the seams, an all purpose foot for the zigzaging the Osnaburg edges, the ruffler for the ruffle, the buttonhole foot and the button sew-on foot for the closure on the pillow back. And oh yeah--the embroidery foot for the design.  Guess that's six! ♥

There Is Life in the Sewing Room!

Yes, dear readers, there has been activity of late in my sewing room.  I am working on the last of the Laundry Basket Quilts (Edyta Sitar's designs) Trio tablerunners. (Click here to see the pattern and here to see pictures of the first two.)

This one has the same one hundred fifty-six pieces in the border, but thankfully the center is just a cut of a border fabric.  

All the sections are ready now to be joined to the center piece.  I just have to cut it and then stitch the sections on.  If I get myself jolted into action today I could have it done in an hour or so.  

There was also much action last Thursday when long-time friend and former neighbor, Cyndie, joined me and we spent the afternoon making ten big round tablecloths for her son's wedding rehearsal dinner this week.  Cyndie used my serger to stitch fabric sections together; I pressed, folded, and using a newspaper template we made, cut the rounded edge which Cyndie then hemmed, again using the serger.  We had quite the assembly line going, along with much fun jabbering.  We finished in under four hours and were quite pleased with ourselves.  :-)

Cyndie insisted on a picture of me stitching, so I did do one hem.  Some of the completed tableclothes are seen heaped on my not yet quilted Through the Winter Woods quilt.  

Well, that runner isn't going to finish itself, so I think I'll take myself downstairs and see if I can get some work done on it.  ♥

Tuesday, Choose-day

When our kids were growing up, we came up with the idea of Tuesday, Choose-day.  It probably started one Tuesday when we were all groggy at breakfast and we decided it would be wonderful if there was a day when we could choose to stay home and do whatever we wanted. We even came up with a name for it. From then on, everyone once in a while, we'd be eating breakfast on a Tuesday and say, "Hey, it's Tuesday, Choose-day. Too bad we didn't remember and stay in bed.  Oh well, guess we're up and ready, so off we go!"

So today is Tuesday, and here it is, after ten and I'm still in my jammies.  I declare it to be Tuesday, Choose-day!  Oh, don't worry--I'll get in the shower soon, but for now, I'm choosing relaxation and rejuvenation.  And Tuesdays truly work because it's the one day week after week that I don't have other things to do or places to be.

Meanwhile, pardon me while I shout, "Glory hallelujah!" because yesterday I finally faced a buffalo and got the last border on the Through the Winter Woods quilt!!  

I hate doing borders and this one had three.  Borders can be fraught with peril because they're long seams and if not done correctly, the edges can get wavy.  And with this one, wavy times three.  So, I procrastinated. And procrastinated. Which means, since I'm a weird quilter in that I only have one quilt going at a time, that I wasn't getting anything else done in the sewing room. Anyway, now it's ready to be quilted.  

I did make some bibs last week, however, when I discovered that I had just one girl bib left. There was a church shower Saturday morning for a baby girl who will arrive in a couple of weeks and of course bibs are my traditional gift.  (I will note here that I have at least a dozen boy bibs, but now that people know what they're having ahead of time, they are truly boy bibs and wouldn't work for a girl at all.)  I hadn't embroidered for I don't know how long, and so I oiled and cleaned my machine, picked out some designs and began.  Success! Here are a couple:

Sharp eyes may notice the knitted green baby blanket underneath.  I finished it some time ago, and actually blocked it!  

I love the blocking squares I bought because they can be joined into different shapes--long for scarves and square for things like this blanket.  So many great helps available for crafters these day! 

So here I am, happily puttering away on my Choose-day.  Time to make the bed and get in the shower.  And I just may choose to clean out the freezer!  It actually sounds like a fun thing to do today!  ♥ 

A Tiny Little Decorating Project

As it's about time to change seasonal decorating, I came to the realization that my little flag decoration would soon be coming down and I would again be left with a blank spot next to the front door. This was unthinkable! And so I headed down to my newly organized sewing room and began to pull books from my stash, looking for just the right new thing.  I finally found what I thought would work and was able to go right to my bin of ziplock bags full of scraps, all sorted by color!! Super yay for organization!!  

A few fabric tryouts and some tracing, cutting and ironing, and I had my little top. 

At first, I thought I'd make a small quilted hanging, but as I looked at it I realized it would just look bulky. It's quite primitive and I decided what it needed was to be framed with a simple black frame.  Hmmm, where to get a simple black frame?  I called in my Sweetie and described my dilemma, knowing full well he would volunteer to make one.  

He's made the pieces and hopefully he'll have time tomorrow to put it together.  (If you think retired people, or in his case semi-retired, have lots of spare time, I suggest you think again.)  I told him I would be glad to paint it.  ♥

And...It's Done!

That old song, "Heaven, I'm in heaven..."  probably from some musical, keeps running through my head.  It took me a few days, but I have order, lovely, blissful order in my sewing room!!  I combed through every piece of fabric I owned--yardage, fat quarters, and scraps, and I was ruthless.  I have bags and bags of things to take to the Hope Center (click here to read about) and my trusty Explorer is full of them.  

And the closet itself?  Have a look:

Now, I know must quilters would scoff at my "stash", but I can assure you that there is a lot of fabric on those shelves, and of course, there will be more to be purchased in the future.  It is so lovely to be able to walk into the closet and see exactly what's on each shelf.  I have sections for colors, sections for Christmas, one for fall, one for Kansas Troubles fabrics, and so on. I even have a section for fabrics to make more of those little Dresses for Africa (I was inspired to do them again after watching the video of the ninety-nine-year-old lady from Iowa who makes a dress a day and hopes to make her 1000th dress on her 100th birthday next May).  

Another section of the closet, which didn't need revamping, is a series of small shelves on the left side where I have books and magazines:

(Also on those shelves is the complete Magnum, P.I. series, courtesy of my Sweetie, and the complete Scarecrow and Mrs. King series, courtesy of my adorable daughter.  Love to watch them while I stitch.)

My sewing room seems even bigger and so much fresher! I even dusted now that there are cleared-off tables. (And we all know how rare that is for me!)  Now I'm ready for a new project.  ♥

A Little Organization, Please!

My longtime friend and pal, Kathy (all the way back to kindergarten!), and I email regularly as well as keep up via our blogs.  We've been discussing quilting stashes recently and mulling over purchases and possible additions.  I mentioned to her the other day that I really needed to sort out my sewing room closet, although I confess I really wasn't planning to do anything except contemplate sorting.  Until yesterday. 

For some strange reason, I found myself in my sewing room and I opened the closet doors and shockingly began to pull things out.  Dan happened along and I told him what I was up to.  He said, would more shelves help? Well, of course they would, but he has little time these days and I wanted closure on this project within a day or so.  He measured, we talked, and he said that rather than build the shelves from scratch and paint them, he could buy pre-painted boards and some brackets and get this project done that very afternoon.   Pre-painted boards? Who knew?!?  (Obviously not me.)

So, with my blessing, he headed out for the builder's supply and I attacked the closet with a vengeance. Here are some before pictures (don't judge!)

 

And how did the renovating turn out?

I so blessed to have such a wonderful, huge closet (with a light in it!) to start with, and now I have space, space, space thanks to my sweetie!  Today I have begun to put things back and it's an archeological dig.  So many wonderful fabrics that had been buried, some not so wonderful ones that will go bye-bye (I'll donate to the local Hope Center), and if you can believe it, I even found a piece of fabric I bought to make a maternity top back in the '70's!!  (Yeah, I saved it.)  

It's taking me a while to sort, and I have all kinds of plans for how to organize, but we'll see how that works in the space.  A section for Kansas Troubles, a section for Christmas, sections for colors (blue, green, red, etc.), flannels, and so on.  I'll keep you posted!  ♥