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.

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 →

Dolly and Me

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I was never a doll girl—at least, to the best of my memory. There were dolls in my childhood life, but they were never something I couldn’t live without or something that I spent time playing with. I’d rather play with this toy where you had a square green plastic plate with holes in it, a whole bunch of flowers (I especially remember the daffodils, which we didn’t have in Florida), and a planting tool with which you pushed the base of the flowers into the holes in the green square. I wish I could remember the name of that … Continue reading →

A Pretty Top for a Pretty Girl

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When Butterick 5954 was released last fall, I ordered it as soon as it went on ClubBMV sale. In fact, I ordered two (one in each size) so I could make one for a friend. And that friend is … DearGrandDaughter. For Christmas, Ridley had asked for a Christmas party dress for one of her American Girl dolls. As I was nosing through my stash, I saw a lovely purple velour knit in a sort of paisley print. I believe I bought the fabric from fashionfabricsclub.com about 12 years ago. Simultaneously, I saw a pattern on eBay for pants, skirt, … Continue reading →

Fleece: an antidote for sub-freezing temps

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If you’ve read the newpapers or watched television or opened up Weather.Com in the recent week, you know that—along with the rest of the northern and eastern half of the Continental United States—we have been quaking in our long underwear. My son recently moved into a new-to-him, old-in-the-world-of-insulation house and has asked me for insulated drapes for windows. As he was moving in and getting settled, he decided to paint a few of the rooms that were the most color-challenged. The Jazzman helped out, and the project involved taking Miss Ridley to the paint store and asking her what colors … Continue reading →