I re-discovered skirts last summer. They are cute and easy to move around in – and often they are more flattering than shorts. I’ve seen so many wonderful cotton quilt fabrics that I wanted to wear that I decided to take the plunge and make one.

I bought this pattern at Creations Quilt Shop in Kerrville, TX last month. I wanted to make skirt A – but I didn’t have enough fabric (I never thought that would happen!) Skirt B requires less of the primary fabric and has a contrasting band of fabric at the hem. I didn’t have enough of a single contrast fabric either – so I thought like a quilter and used 4 different fabrics.

It took about 5 hours to make a lined (I added the lining, the pattern doesn’t call for it) skirt with a zipper. I had to call on skills that I last used 20 years ago and was reminded that a 5/8″ seam allowance is HUGE. The skirt is cute on and swishy which On The Street reporter Bill Cunningham identified as a new trend in a video I watched this morning.

Making this skirt was way more fun that I remember it being. If you’re interested in skirts, you might also enjoy Sew What! Skirts. It’s a good resource.

My husband, Steve, took part in the Relay for Life last night. The funds raised go to the American Cancer Society to fight breast cancer. Several of his friends and colleagues at Austin College have fought breast cancer and one, Shellene Kelley, died a few months ago. The AC team ran in her honor.

Since Steve was the only man on the committee, he was nominated to take part in the men-dressed-as-women lap. There he is, with a determined look on his face, stunning in a Marilyn Monroe-type dress and Hannah Montana wig. He collected money in a lovely silver purse (picked up at Goodwill earlier in the day). You can’t see his feet, but the brown Birkenstock sandals truly completed the outfit.

This wonderful raffle quilt was a project by Meg Hawkey and the girls at Crab Apple Hill. Many quilt designers, Linda and I included, made blocks for the quilt top. Each designer also signed strips of fabric that were made into blocks and used on the quilt back. It was quilted by Debbi Trevino at Village Quiltworks.

The Forget-Me-Not raffle quilt will travel to the Quilt Inc. shows this year and will be raffled off by “Susan G Komen for the Cure” in December. Raffle tickets are available at the Susan G Komen site. Even if you don’t win the quilt, we all win if the funds raised bring a cure for breast cancer closer.

We recovered the chairs in the dining room to go with the new paint. Steve and I bought these chairs in our first year of marriage and that was 31 years ago! Needless to say – it was time for a change.

Steve pulled out the staples that held on the old upholstery. Whoever put this fabric on the chairs intended it to stay there forever.

I really like this fabric and it looks good with the leaf quilt on the wall!

I am a minimalist when it comes to quilt hanging systems. I have used round extension rods (curtain rods) resting on big nails for a very long time. The problem with round rods is that they can sag in the middle if the quilt is heavy. Flat rods work best but they can fall forward when they rest on the nails. It finally occurred to me to drill a hole in each end of the flat rod!

I used tension rods because, once you pull them out to the right length, they stay put (mostly). Use a drill bit that works on metal. If there are sharp edges around the newly drilled hole, file them down (or hammer the sharp edges).

A finish nail through the hole holds the rod in place.

I make my quilt sleeves a little shorter than the quilt so that the ends of the rods and the nails don’t show.

The quilt lays flat on the wall and the rectangular rod doesn’t sag!

I worked in my yard 3 mornings last week. As I said in my last post, it’s been really wet here. We were in drought so I’m not complaining and neither are the plants. We don’t have grass any more – just plants and rocks and mulch. The mulch really helps to keep down the weed population but I still need to work 6-10 hours each spring and fall to get things under control.

We have a huge number of volunteer trees that come up in our yard. If I catch them when they are less that 6″ tall I can usually pull them up by hand. Taller than that and I have to cut them – but saplings cut down grow back. My friend, Laurie, shared her dad’s trick with me a couple of years ago. He “cans” little saplings.

These are my tree canning supplies – empty tin cans, small loppers, and a 4 lb. hammer. Cut the sapling off as close to ground level as you can. Turn a can upside-down on top of what remains of the tiny stump. Whammer the can as far as you can into the ground around the stump. It helps if you do this while the ground is soft.

It’s amazing – the saplings don’t come back! Over time the cans rust out and go away. Below is a can from last year.