Author Archives: Jan

About Jan

Musician and geek and Juris Doctor; lover of fine art and fine craft; mother and grandmother and significant other and friend. Passionate about sewing.

The ultimate in creativity

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An extremely rare photo of me with my two sons. On your left/my right is the one we call Scott (his friends call him T.J.; his work colleagues call him Terry), who was born in 1973. On your right/my left is Tyler (also known as Tyger, Ty-Bye, and Daddy), who was born in 1975. Tyler and I gave a recital yesterday at Christ Church Episcopal in Warren, OH. The title was “Showtunes and Hymntunes.” We had a great time, and the performance was warmly received by the audience. Scott came from Dallas for the performance. I only see him once … Continue reading →

Really?

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About two months ago my son suggested we do a recital together. He is a “mercenary Episcopalian,” the paid singer/soloist at a nearby Episcopal church. He agreed to do this recital as part of their Sunday afternoon concert series, and the offering to be taken would benefit the church’s music program. Unfortunately, the only date open coincided with the final performance in the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus’s four-concert series of the Mozart Requiem. (It also ended up coinciding with the launch of a new website for Kent State, for which Tyler had much responsibility. Can you say “stress”?) Concert week … Continue reading →

Good vs. Bad

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A month ago I bought StyleArc Patterns’ Sunny Top. To me it looked cute, easy, and chic. At the time the pattern arrived, we were still knee-deep in snow, and a sweater knit I had bought from Gorgeous Fabrics several years ago was begging to be released from my stash. I could picture it as Sunny, paired with dark brown leggings as the perfect excuse for a pair of brown low-heeled booties. Last week I was able to carve a couple of hours out of campaign work and sewed up Sunny in my brown and rust sweater knit. Easy. Quick. … Continue reading →

WIP-Safety Scarf

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The Jazzman is on his annual golf outing to Florida with four of his best golfing buddies. I both look forward to and dread this week every year. “Look forward to” because it’s a time I answer to no one but the cats. I can stay in my jammies all day. I can eat breakfast for all three meals. I can spend the entire time in my sewing room. Or in bed, for that matter. “Dread” because—wait for it—I’m afraid of the dark. Yep. Me. Sixty-something woman who has covered a lot of ground in her life. Afraid of the … Continue reading →

Preteen Playdate

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Last Sunday when my son popped by for a minute with my grandkids in tow, my grandson said, “Grandma, can I come over next weekend and sew a wallet? I made a wallet for myself out of paper but it’s falling apart.” The most special thing to me about this exchange is that he didn’t say—to his mom or his dad or his grandma—”can you buy me a wallet?” He said, “I want to make a wallet.” Such an activity was within his realm of possibilities! In preparation, I started searching the internet and came upon Allisa Jacobs’ blog and … Continue reading →

Antiquities

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The previous owner of my house was a 92-year-old woman who had fallen and moved to a nursing home. She had never married, never had children, and her nephews were charged with selling her house. The nephews were all in their 50s and 60s and had no use for her possessions. Most of her things stayed in the house when I bought it. This was convenient for me, as I had gotten rid of many of my possessions in Tucson before I moved, knowing I would be living with my son and daughter-in-law for at least a year. The sofa … Continue reading →

Measure Once, Cut Twice

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No, wait. That’s not right. I think it was supposed to be “Measure Twice, Cut Once.” Oops. Back in November, when I had just returned from ten days in Europe and we had started this never-ending winter, DS told me that DGS needed some draperies on his bedroom windows in the new rental house. There were sheers on the windows, but nothing that afforded any privacy. Being the good grandma that I am, I measured both windows and wrote the measurements down in the Notes app on my iPhone. A few days later, I snuck into Jo-Ann Fabrics on Saturday … Continue reading →

Where Does the Time Go?

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It’s been twelve days since I last posted. Here we are, almost to the end of January. The swift passage of time seems impossible and unbelievable. Where have I been? What have I been doing? My friend, who is the Jazzman’s closest cousin’s wife (did you follow that?), is running for the Ohio State House of Representatives in District 58, and she asked me to be her campaign treasurer. I’ve been very busy with those duties. Then, coincidentally, she needed her website built. That’s one of the hats I wear in my other life—website administration. My son agreed to take … Continue reading →