School is finished for the year! That feels sooo good. We got halfway through Sonlight’s Core 5 (Eastern Hemisphere) over the year, which is what I expected, given our workload. We won’t need to buy another core in the fall. But anyway, we are rethinking our school priorities. With all we do now and are beginning to add to our lives, we’re talking about working harder at the basics (Bible, math, reading, writing and science). A literature-rich curriculum like Sonlight is fantastic, but it doesn’t float everyone’s boat and it also takes time away from learning and developing the life of self-sufficiency that we feel compelled to pursue. Well, more on that in the future, as we think and plan more.
So I have this week of relative freedom. The fencing and schooling has taken all my extra time for a good two months, what with researching it and now putting it up every spare minute. This week, during the daytime, I have high goals for getting some other projects crossed off my list.
- quilt for a friend — add one row of blocks, then quilt it and bind it
- cotton summer t-shirts for Jeff
- split up that aloe vera plant
- plant buckwheat and sunflower microgreens
- informal dresses for the girls and I
That’s just my list for this week. I will start with that quilt this afternoon. I would like to give it to my friend on Wednesday. Are you making any plans for summer projects? I would love to hear what you’re planning!
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Oooooo!!!! A fellow quilter! You must photograph and post pictures!
I can’t wait to see!
Blessings!
Lacy
I just recently finished sewing summer pajamas for the kids. Four pairs for each of them, and then I dyed them all using a low water immersion technique which makes some beautiful patterns! The only sad mistake was that I made the shirts a bit short for my boy, so his belly button sticks out of the pjs! I’m glad to know that I am not the only mama that makes mistakes, and next time I will not cut out all four shirts before trying one on him! The kids love them though and my daughter thinks that it is so cool that she has so many nightgowns to wear now, I have a hard time making her wear clothes!
Hillery, what an accomplishment! I’m not surprised that your daughter is thrilled! I have never heard of low-water immersion dyeing. Could you tell me more about it? Did you start with muslin?
I need to make summer pjs soon. When I wittle down this list, I’ll make another.
I have made similar mistakes for Mikah’s clothes in the past. The thing about boys is that they don’t care!
It is encouraging to me also to hear that I’m not the only mistake-maker.
Have a great day! Love, Wardeh
Wardeh, I have done several dying techiques in the past, batik, immersion, painting, tie-dye, etc. But this one is new for me and I love it. I made the kids pajamas out of some voile that I got on sell. But I also dyed a knit shirt using the same technique and it turned out well. I used Procion dyes that I had left over from college. Here is a website that I used to get started. http://www.pburch.net/dyeing/lowwaterimmersion.shtml. The only thing I would add to this, is that after you do all of the steps, then you would pour out the dye bath, and rinse the material in cold water before washing in the machine. I also pre-rinse in cold water before I wash the newly dyed clothes in warm or hot water by themselves. Have fun! This would be something fun to do with the kids, as they are old enough.
Thank you, Hillery! I think my kids would enjoy it. I appreciate the extra advice to add the pre-rinse and post-rinse in cold water. Love, Wardeh