Fabulous Free Pattern Friday Giveaway

Well, the day is finally here!!!!!!

Last Friday I announced that I would be giving away this draped jacket. You can see the instructions and last week's post here, http://rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2012/08/fabulous-free-pattern-friday_24.html.

So, who could the winner be...........

It's the ever incredible Miss Shams!!!!!
Oh how I wish I had one for each of you. I guess it's the mom in me, although, I've never been a mom. I'm even this way with my dogs, what one gets the other gets. So, sorry there is only one, but I will have more opportunities to win something in the future. Congratulations Shams!!!
I've decided to take a couple of days off from the blog. I'll return on Sunday evening with my usual Sunday Night Reflections. Next week I have some, at least what I think to be, interesting posts coming up. If you live here in America, have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend, the official last weekend of summer.
Rhonda

Giveaway Deadline Quickly Approaching!

Gooood Morning and just a quick reminder.....

about the little giveaway. Today is the last day to leave a comment on this post, http://www.rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2012/08/fabulous-free-pattern-friday_24.html, if you would like a chance to win the draped jacket. You must leave your comment on the above link by midnight tonight, central standard time.
Good Luck Everyone!!

A Generous Heart

This morning I received this note from Pete, a very generous man with a huge heart. I have tagged with him on rescue flights in the past. Pete loves to fly and will always try to incorporate a rescue whenever he does fly. When funds have been low, he has driven rather than flown. He simply loves rescuing dogs. As I said, he has a huge heart. This story that I have attached was especially touching to me and I thought I would share it.
Dear All:
We've had another successful Pilots N Paws run.
Long story short:
As Karen & I were discussing what to do to celebrate our approaching 10th Wedding Anniversary, Karen learned of an accident and death of a Miami-based long-haul trucker who was going through Rensselaer, IN when he had a diabetic attack and is believed to have died before his truck went off a bridge and crashed (Yikes!)
The only survivor of the wreck was the driver’s traveling companion, a 95 lb American Bull Dog named Bubba. The Driver’s family only had enough money to bring the body of the Driver home.
Karen informed me that Bubba was going to be put to sleep in Rensselaer if someone didn’t do something.
I think anyone who knows me knows exactly what’s going to come out of my mouth next: “I gotta get Bubba!” said in my best Forest Gump voice.
Which of course resulted in me receiving that Tell-Me-Again-Why-I-Married-You!?! stare that all married men are so familiar with.
Less than 48 hours later, on the day of our 10th wedding anniversary, I was landing on runway 18 in Rensselaer to meet Bubba.
And let me tell ya’ 95 lbs of dog, is a whole lot of dog.
I mean he is a sweet heart (maybe drools a little too much) just a love-bug, but a whole lot stronger than I anticipated.
This is Bubba:

And Bubba did not want to go into the crate in the airplane.

Ya'd stick him in one end and he'd get past the crate and pop right out the other end.

There was just no way I was launching with a dog this big & strong who I didn't know; and, we had no idea how he would react in an airplane unless we could get him in a crate and strap that crate down.
The final solution became that Karen had to take the crate apart; and, I had to climb into the back of the baggage compartment with Bubba and get him to sit in the bottom half -

Then, we rebuilt the crate around him.

Then, wouldn't you know it, Bubba didn't want to come out of the plane in Nashville:

So, that was our leg of Bubba's journey to be reunited with his family.

Robert and Ann would be driving him to Columbus, GA for the next leg of his adventure.

That is one big dog:

And the trip to Columbus, GA was pretty much uneventful.

..but... because of Tropical Storm - Isaac, the Miami-based Pilot N Paws pilot who was scheduled to meet up with Robert & Ann couldn't launch. Once again, Bubba was stranded.
The Robert's niece, Karen Drake stepped up to the plate and drove Bubba to Orlando:

Bubba in Orlando:

Where Bubba's family was able to drive up from Miami to be reunited:

And Bubba made it home!
Bubba, we're all very sorry for the month you've had. But, we're also honored to be a part of reuniting you with your family.
Well, as you all know, there is never just one dog in need of rescue.
When the people in the Nashville area heard that Karen was in town, her phone started ringing.
The first dog that needed rescue was a male Pit Bull mix named Liberty who is believed to have been used as a "bait" dog in dog fighting and then just abandoned. And despite everything he had been through, he had NO aggressive tendencies and was just a sweetheart. But, there wouldn't be room for him in the plane going back because we already had a full load then we were told that if we couldn't at least find a foster family for him, he was going to be put to sleep.

The solution was simple. We just walked the streets of Franklin, TN with him until we found him a foster:
We walked him from one end of town to the other seeing if anyone would like to take him in. At a very nice pizza joint named, "The Mellow Mushroom" the hostess, a young woman named Rose accepted the challenge of fostering Liberty and saved him from his date with the needle.
Sunday - time for the ride home.
Well, originally we were going to be bringing one dog back to a rescue here in Chicago. Then two. And by the time Sunday came along, 12 dogs showed up needing to be delivered to a better life.
This little guy was named Tux:

And all these puppies:

And we even had one pregnant female who looked ready to pop. I had a very serious talk with her and made it very clear that she was not allowed to deliver until after we landed in Chicago.
Even with all the bad weather in Chicago on Sunday, we made it through with a relatively uneventful flight.
We unloaded 12 dogs in Chicago and handed them off to two separate rescues: the Herding Breed Rescue and A Heart for Animals. 

Tux went off to be fostered by one of my neighbors who promptly changed his name to "Otis:"

This female beagle went off to be fostered by my Mother In Law:

The six puppies all pooped on themselves and were covered in poop by the time we landed:

And the very pregnant female kept her end of the bargain and didn't pop during the flight. Her puppies will go to families in the Chicago area once they are old enough.

And all the puppies in the back of the van. I'm sure they'll be cleaned off quickly. I'm sure the rescue will have no trouble placing these guys with nice families.
Over all, a pretty successful day! :)

Hope all is well.

Sincerely,

Pete

Thank you Pete and Karen for your generosity.

PilotsnPaws is a rescue organization that connects pilots who are willing to donate their time as well as all expenses to rescue animals.

I'll be back later today with another story.

Rhonda

Sunday Night Reflections

There are two kinds of tired. There's good tired and there's bad tired. Ironically enough, bad tired can be a day that you won, but you won other peoples battles, you lived other peoples days, other peoples agendas, other peoples dreams. And when it was all over, there was very little of you in there. When you laid down to sleep, somehow you toss and turn, you don't settle easy.
Good tired on the other hand can be a day that you lost. But you know that you fought your own battles, you chased your own dreams, you lived your own day and when you laid down to sleep, you settle easy, you sleep the sleep of the just and you can say, "Take me away."
                                                                                   Harry Chapin
                                                                           

Sunday Brunch

Today's recipe is coming a little late in the day. I made fig preserves, my favorite. It makes my day when I go to the market and I see that the fresh figs are in season.

Fig preserves are so easy to make, they just take a bit of patience.
The recipe;
Fig Preserves
4 cups of whole figs
2 cups of sugar
1 lemon sliced into rings, take out the seeds
1 cup of water
pinch of salt
Yields about 4 pint jars

Wash the figs well. Drain and cut the stem off. Combine figs with remaining ingredients and place over fire. Bring to a boil and lower heat to the low setting.  

Cook over low flame until mixture begins to thicken. This can take up to 3 hours. Cooking time depends on the fruit. Some figs are a little more juicy, others are less. Be sure to stir often so that the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

If you use the purple figs, they will become a beautiful golden brown once they have cooked and thickened.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and sterilize jars in boiling water. Be sure to put the lids in as well. Lids should be new. Drain jars and dry. Fill jars with figs, leaving a little room at the top. Place hot lids on jars and screw tight. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 to 15 minutes. If you would rather not process the jars, you can freeze the preserves for later use, or store in the refrigerator for up to one month.  

YUM!!

Hope your Sunday is or has been lovely.

Rhonda

Sleeves On Saturdays

A few weeks ago I received a message from Felisha and she had attached this picture.

She said that she really liked the sleeve and would like to know how to draft it. It's a lot like a kimono sleeve, but the bodice is fitted. Since I am not able to see it in person, all I could do is study the photograph and try to interpret what I see.

On a little side not, I was just reading Knitmachinequeen's blog, http://smokingneedlesknitting.blogspot.com/. She made a comment, "Reality shows are getting dumber and dumber..if that is even possible." I agree, but as I was putting this post together, I thought, we could do a show called Stump The Seamstress. Sadly, I think the viewership would be quite low. Hey, it's an idea!

Okay, so back to our sleeve. I have decided to do this as a two part post. If you look at the picture above, the sleeve is elongated under the arm so we will first draft a basic elongated sleeve and then in the second post I'll draw in the style lines for the sleeve which makes this one very dramatic. 

The Elongated Sleeve

Begin with your front and back bodice. The elongated sleeve can be done on a blouse, dress, jacket or coat.

Measure down 2 1/2" on the side seam of the bodice.

Draw in a line from upper part of the armhole opening as you see above and blend it to the dropped points on the side seams.

The final pattern for the bodice.

 Take your sleeve and draw in a squared line at the bicep as you see above.

On a separate piece of paper, draw in a vertical line. Draw in a line that you will label bicep line. 2 1/2" above the bicep line, draw in the line labeled guide line in the picture above. 

Fold your original sleeve as well as your paper in half. Match the sleeve to the paper, making sure that the bicep line on your sleeve lays directly over the bicep line on your paper. Trace the sleeve cap of your original sleeve to the guide line and trace the underarm seam of your sleeve as well. You can see this has been done in the picture below. 

Now, take your sleeve and pivot the sleeve at the guide line until the underarm hits the guideline as you see below. 

I am showing you the same step in the picture below, just a much closer picture. You can see that the point of the underarm hits the guideline exactly.

 Draw in the lower portion of the sleeve cap. You can see the line in the picture below.

 On your guide line, measure over 2 1/2" from the tip of your drawn in sleeve cap. This is the red dot below.

 The traced line of our sleeve cap is a little too severe, so draw in a nice curved line as you see below.

From the red dot, draw a straight line to approximately your elbow line on your sleeve. Just about the midpoint of your sleeve will be fine.

The straight line under the arm is also a little too severe, so give that line a bit of a curve as you see in the picture below.

Now, cut out your sleeve. You can see in the picture below that when you cut the sleeve cap, you will cut on the curved line that you drew in and cut all the way to the red dot on the guide line.

 From that point, cut down to the wrist of your sleeve.

 Unfold your sleeve and it will look like the sleeve pictured above.

The final pattern.

Elongated sleeves are easy to sew, very easy to set in to the garment, and they are easy to wear as well since they have added room under the arm. 

As I said above, I will do the next post on the style lines of the sleeve that Felisha sent to me.

Hope you are enjoying your Saturday!

Fabulous Free Pattern Friday

Happy Friday Everyone!!! Aren't Fridays just the best?!

You may remember this piece from a past Fabulous Free Pattern Friday post. I think it is about the easiest piece you can do. You can find the original post here, and the follow up post here.

The back is shown in the picture below.

I'm including the original instructions in this post. Since I originally posted this piece, so many new people have joined the blog (so HAPPY to have you!). 

And to celebrate all the new followers, I thought I would do a little give away today. Always a fun thing to do. When I posted this, one follower commented, "LOVE this! I had 3 yards of beautiful silk chiffon awaiting the right project, and this is it. Turned out beautifully. Thank you!!!" And Kitty, who
has become a friend commented, "I just finished this. I saw your post early this morning and remembered a piece of fabric I had for some time and didn't know what to do with it. Kind of polyester/chiffon. It turned out great! Thanks so much. Goes with me on my next cruise (whenever that happens to be)!" Kitty just came back from a cruise. I'm need to ask her if she took it with her.

Here's the piece that will go to one lucky follower. It isn't silk, just a polyester chiffon, but it is a great example of how a border print will work with this design.

As you can see the piece is just one big rectangle.

In the above picture you can see that there is an opening in the center. Look at the top left hand corner and you can see the opening for the arm.

This is a little better picture of the arm opening.

Okay, so if you would like to have this piece, leave a message on this post. You must be a follower. I feel it is only fair to all those who do follow. You can become a follower and then leave a post, so don't feel left out. You may leave a message until midnight central standard time August 30th (Thursday). I'll announce the winner next Friday, August 31st. I'll ship it anywhere so all are invited to take a chance.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

Rhonda