Get out your patchwork and patchouli: Phish is back in town after 5 long years!! (And by town I mean East Troy, Wisconsin, not Chi). So when I was a Phish follower in high school I made my own patchwork skirt. It was just large panels sewn together for a long skirt. Back then I had the help of my mom’s sewing machine and expertise.  Since I’ve been excited for this reunion for awhile now, I decided to make a new patchwork skirt.  Except this time it would consist of small square patches.

So I went to JoAnn Fabrics and picked out some awesome fabric, some thread, some needles, and an essential tomato shaped pin cushion.

Mind you, I do not own a sewing machine.  I do however own a lot of free time.  So I decided I would sew the entire skirt by hand (since I wanted to make a short skirt and not a long one).  I cut out 4×4 inch patches, vaguely arranged them into some sort of pattern, and got to work.  Below is my photo diary of the long process (if I added up all the hours of the days it took me I would estimate around 25 – 30 hours from cutting, pinning, sewing, yelling at Klinker, etc):

Cut up patches

Laying out strips

Progress

MANY hours later

Ready for dancin'!

Lots of thread

 I cannot begin to tell you how much thread I used.  My god.  But it is complete and I am quite happy with it.  It is not perfect by any means but I’m not a professional sewer…  I have a bunch leftover fabric as I grossly overestimated the amount I would need.  Maybe I will make little catnip pouches to thank Klinker for biting and tangling all the string I was trying to use.

Pet Peeve of the Day: Fake people

More awesome websites:

http://icanhascheezburger.com:  If you’ve read my blog before, you know I love cats and silliness.  They are combined here and…

here: http://www.stuffonmycat.com.

E-bates.  (http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=Gj5sziZo9JOdrfJceZJHPA%3D%3D):  If you shop online as much as I do, I recommend you use this site.  They have virtually every store you need to shop at, and you get cash back on your purchases.  Why wouldn’t you shop here???

http://fromtheroad.phish.com/: Get immediately updated setlists!

http://www.uncommongoods.com: I like unique, random shit.  I find it here.

http://chicago.craigslist.org:  This is where I lust after new kittens and jobs.  And where I wonder why no one will buy my t.v.!!!!

http://www.amazon.com: I made the mistake of looking up a TuPac album on here.  “My Recommendations” has made me live to regret that ever since.  Despite Amazon not realizing I’m not hardcore into “Gangster Rap,” I still respect them for trying.  The book recommendations– those are usually spot on and that’s all that counts!

Pet Peeve of the Day: Umbrellas on sunny days

Quote of the Day: “I think that this exact thing happened to me just last year” –Phish

Perhaps it is because I was just in sunny Arizona that I don’t mind the snow we had yesterday.  Or, maybe it’s because I’ve lived in Chicago for 26 years and have come to welcome any sort of weather at any given time.  They say if you don’t like the weather in Chicago, wait a minute.  Or something like that.  So I wonder why people are so outraged that we had a snowfall when it’s almost April.  If you just moved here, fine, you are excused.  But if you have lived here for at least a year you should know how it goes.  If you don’t like seasons, move somewhere that doesn’t have them. 

I love Chicago and its weather.  I like the possibility of a 70 degree day in December or a snow-filled spring day.  The sheer anomaly of such days is what makes this an exciting place to live.  Just when you think the weather has turned, Mother Nature lets you know she’s still in charge.  It’s like, just when you think we have finally been absolved of public corruption, my boy Patrick Fitzgerald indicts someone else.

So my point is, Chicago keeps us on our toes.  I personally enjoy the unknowing.  I love the snowy days as much as I enjoy the sunny ones.  And while I would love to be basking in the sun right now, I know those days will be here someday and I will have to patiently wait, thus making them all the more sunnier.  I never swap out my winter clothes for my summer clothes before May.  If you have hopes of doing so, perhaps Chicago and its senseless seasons are not for you. 

Pet Peeve of the Day: People who feed pigeons

Quote of the Day: “Give me a paper and pen so I can write about my life of sin –  a couple of bottles of gin, in case I don’t get in –  tell all my people I’m a rider” –Tupac