I didn’t know how scrappy-crazy I’ve been in the first half of the year. I’ve made so many scrap quilts and tops in the last six months. It’s a record for me.
It started with the Kona Lows we had in the spring and two little ones being born.
No. 1 The bright scraps are from baby #1’s Great Grandma
No. 2 So many strips to turn into a quilt for baby #2
No. 3 I’m not sure when this happened. I found this quilt top under a pile of fabric.
No. 4 I got tired of strips, so I turned my strips into 2.5″ squares to make this nine-patch quilt top with a scrappy border
And I finished hand-stitching my Hexi pillow top. Now to finish it up.
Remember when I posted more than once every other year. Wow! It’s been almost two years since I’ve been away. I’ve been busy catching up with life, as I officially am a senior citizen. I’m in year two of Medicare. Haha.
It’s pakalana season
I’m not sure what to do with the Chronicles of Princess Hot Flash. It’s probably time to shut it down. Not posting for two years is probably a big sign to close it down. I think I have a few more posts in me. I’ll make a decision after that.
What’s been going on in my life
Life has become more sedate since my mom passed away. I’m trying my best to keep Dad safe and fed. He will turn 98 this July. He is still at it with word finds, solitaire on the iPad, napkin-making from paper towels, and, on occasion, he breaks into a rendition of “Aloha Oe,” which he learned in school many years ago. He had a big fall in February while I was on vacation. My sister and brother-in-law were with him. After a stay in rehab, he’s back with a little more adjustment to his care. He still wants to be as independent as he can.
I went on a winter vacation in February to Yellowstone, Arches, and Canyonlands National Parks. I miss snow, so I dragged three friends with me. We spent three nights at the Snow Lodge in Yellowstone, with snowcoach rides, geyser viewing, wildlife sightings, hiking, stargazing, and snowshoeing. And the best thing was that the park was empty, except for the guests at the Snow Lodge and day visitors on snowmobiles.
Here are a few of my favorites from Yellowstone.
In between the Yellowstone and Arches, we tried our hand at dog sledding. What a great experience. I was standing behind the driver, terrified, and held on for dear life. Eventually got accustomed to the ride. The driver and dogs were fabulous.
I stood behind the driver — I didn’t think I could handle the dogs on my own.
We were off to Utah to Arches and Canyonlands National Park to see the fabulous rock formations. A lot of short walks, rock scrambling, and a couple of longer hikes made up for a stay in Moab. National parks are great in the off-season. The crowds and parking aren’t so crazy.
Me at the Delicate Arch right before sunset
What have I been working on?
This post will be too long if I give you a recap of what I’ve been working on over the last two years. Here are a few of my favorite finished projects.
I looked back at my photos to see what I’ve been working on, and it doesn’t seem like all that. Mostly to get rid of my fabric and yarn stash that could last 3 lifetimes. It doesn’t help that I’m a fabric hoarder these days, especially if it’s vintage and bright. I finished three quilt tops, two baby blankets, and a throw. I need to quilt and bind them off till they are done.
My supervisor, Orange the Cat, is watching me piece together the quilt tops and potholders on my vintage Singer 99K.
I wrote this section when I began this post in November 2025. I included it to show how my projects get done. Haha.
I’ve been giving my hands a rest from knitting and crocheting. They’ve been achy at night, making it hard to sleep. But in the past month, I’ve picked up a couple of old unfinished projects. I picked up my Hemlock Ring Doily Throw that I started in November 2024. I was making good progress and had reached the Feather and Fan chart when I noticed the stitch count was off. Ugh!
Guess what! I frogged (a knitting term for ripping it apart) the whole thing. I just wasn’t in the mood to find the mistake. But I did finish it just in time for our Annual Friends Gathering, and I used it for a door prize.
Hemlock Ring Doily Throw blocked and finished just in time for our Annual Friends Gathering as a door prize
I think I’ve caught you up with life. I hope to do a couple more posts in me. Maybe another hiking one before taking Princess Hot Flash down.
Note: I was trying to get this post done for a while, but life throws curve balls, and things are just a little delayed.
No. 7 started with wanting to make a quilt with a star pattern. I looked through my stash and found what I thought would be enough scraps for a throw. The scraps also gave me an idea of who the quilt was for.
Test star pattern on my tiny design board
Once I tested the star pattern, I realized I may not have enough print scraps for a star-only quilt. I worked up a few sketches and chose the simplest solution.
My solution
I decided on a square of four prints surrounded by pink. I had the pieces mostly cut, and sewing up the blocks was fast. The layout was easy, as I laid it out in my sketch.
On my temporary design wall
After a few mistakes, the blocks are done. One last check to see if I’m good with the placement. I did wonder if it needed a border.
Border or no border?
I decided against the border because it didn’t go well with the backing and binding I planned to use. I found a perfect piece for the backing in my stash. It was large enough that I didn’t need to be stitched together. The backing print had a reddish-purple background that went well with the quilt top. Then, I found an olive green swirl print that worked well with the backing print. Both prints had similar greens that worked well with the quilt top.
Quilt, binding, and backing
My Quilting Pattern, or as I call it, “because I can’t sew that straight.”
I didn’t know what I would do for the quilting. I hate seeing my wobbly stitch lines that should be straight on the quilt. And when I was testing out free motion quilting (which I didn’t do), I did some test quilting with random intersecting circles that I enjoyed. That was my plan.
We all should remember (well, I should say “I”) that my test quilting was done on small pieces of scrap versus a quilt the size of a throw. Thank goodness it wasn’t a bigger blanket.
testquilting #7randomNot as easy as I thought it would be
Tah Dah! Here it is. I thought I would have more control of the swirls, but the quilt’s size made a big difference from the test I did. A bit of ripping out and starting over again was involved. It’s been done for a while and has been with its new owner. I hope she likes it or finds someone who does.
The quilting on the backing looks even crazier than the front.
I need to work on my quilting skills, which means more quilting. Next in my queue is a throw for a friend of a friend who gave me some 70s prints from her mom. I just have to get my sewing room back up to working order. I moved my machines inside, but I still need to set them up to make my quilting more efficient.
I started a post the other day about my holiday baking. I couldn’t finish it. I was not feeling it. I decided to dump that post and start a new one about what I made in 2023.
I like doing these wrap-ups at the end of the year. It’s a great way to look back at what I accomplished. It does surprise me how much I got done.
Being a full-time caregiver sometimes feels like I’m a waitress or maid to my parents. This is the reason for my projects. It gives me purpose and keeps my sanity from the stress of caring for loved ones with dementia.
Here’s my rundown of all of my mades.
Stitching
I picked up stitching in 2022 as a way to quiet my brain. It really works. I do it in the morning with my cup of coffee.
Left to right: coaster made with machine and hand quilting, scrappy trivet, scrappy bowl
Lei-making
My beautiful pakalana plants were so fruitful in their second year. I made my ten girlfriends each a (at least three strands) pakalana lei for their birthday. Pakalana is seasonal, so the birthday leis were always a surprise as most of them arrived long after their birthday.
Many stages of leimaking
Quilting
I took on a commission in 2022 to create a quilt with the fabric provided. I could do any pattern, but it needed to be as big as possible. I got stuck for several months after finishing the quilt top. I made no move moment on this quilt. I decided to rework my workroom, which was the key to getting me going again. Now I’m on quilt #7. I got the bug.
All my scrappy quilts. One was commission piece plus seven for donation or gifts.
Knitting
My knitting has been the back seat to my quilting; I have only finished a few items this year.
Left to right, top to bottom: Grandma Nancy’s shawl; Blocking Boneyard and Grandma Nancy’s Shawls in the sun; mitts for a friend; Orange loves to help; Zabutons to throw pillows; Zig zag pillow; February hat; Zick zack scarf
Finishing up
These are the partially finished projects that were gifted to me that I finished up this year. On Instagram, there’s a group called Loose Ends, that finishes up projects for the loved one. I guess this is my own Loose Ends project. I tried to return the finished project to the giver, or I gifted the project to someone special.
Left to right: This Hawaiian quilt pillow only needed quilting one little corner. I turned it into a pillow by adding an envelope back and binding it in some gifted fabric (in the perfect prints and color), then I made a pillow insert to finish off; I got three embroidered panels she made while recuperating from broken ankles. I turned one of the panels into Komebukuro (rice bag in Japanese) to hold her next project.
I’m stopping here or at this rate, I’ll never publish this before the end of 2024. I hope I have another productive crafty year. Happy New Year!
I started this post last night while lying in bed after my dad woke me up at 2am. I heard someone in the kitchen moving around, and I got up to see who it was. I expect to see my mom as her dementia has been fussing with her internal clock, and she wakes up at all hours in the early morning. But instead, I found my dad in a state. He asked me what was going on. I didn’t understand what he was talking about. He said why did I wake him up. I told him I didn’t do that. I was sleeping. I take it he didn’t believe me and went back to his room mad at me.
Well, this just added to my bad mom day, and going back to sleep took a while. I tried to compose this post in my head but refused to get up and start writing on my computer.
Mom’s day reminderMom and Orange taking a nap
Besides composing my post in my head, I started to think about how things are probably changing in my life. I think my parents (my mom, for sure) are entering a new phase of dementia. Mom has changed at a rapid speed, and I think she is now in the middle stage. My dad has been stable for quite a while, but I think Mom’s changes have stressed my dad to have this episode last night.
I have appointments for my parent to join an adult daycare group two days a week. I hope it’s not too late for my mom. My hope was the added stimulation of people and activities would help my parent’s dementia or at least slow it down. I also looked forward to having time for myself. I should stay positive that they are okay to join. It is so hard to see her change so quickly.
I’m trying to keep myself busy so I don’t get into a caregivers funk. It is really hard not to let it get to you. I’m do a lot of handwork, it some how keeps the anxiety a bay for me. I’m working on quilt #6, making a pouch for my double points, and knitting on the Noro scarf. Here’s some pictures of my progress.
hand stitching bindingattaching bindingcutting bindingquilt backquilt top
Quilt #6 for a friend
getting ready to hand quiltMamo print, batting, denimMamo print
Zipper pouch for my double point needles. Using a Mamo print scrap with denim for the rest of the pouch. Quilting the scap as a Hawaiian quilt patch.
Noro scarf still goingMy little helper
I’m still working on my Noro scarf. I’m kind of feeling like it is endless. I’m aiming for the end of the year to finish it up.
I guess that’s it for now. I probably could on and on. But I’ll stop here for now. I need to run out and do some errands while the caregiver is here.
Princess Hot Flash 