Sheilajeanne

Last night, I got as far as tracing the design I want on the side of the tote. I also have the tote bag in the picture, which I made previously from a Tandy kit. It's not a small bag - it's 13" tall. I popped all the stuff I'm planning to carry into it, and the binder actually sticks up above the top of the bag! I'm very glad I tested out this tote bag, because it gives me a better idea of what dimensions I'm going to need for the new one, and it's going to have to be bigger than I thought! I'm now wondering if I have a big enough piece of leather to make it the way I planned. I also looked at all the pieces of leather I have in my storage cupboard, and decided that buying a new piece of leather just for this project ain't an option... I really need to buckle down and do some of the projects I've been putting off for far too long! Stay tuned...

A good Canadian joke: Two priests died at the same time, and met Peter at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter said, "I'd like to let you guys in now, but our computer's down, and we can't get it fixed right away. You will have to go back to Earth for about a week, but you can't go back as priests. What will it be?" The first priest says, "I've always wanted to be an eagle, flying high over the mountains!" "So be it," says Peter, and off flies the first priest. The second priest mulls it over for a minute, then says, "Will any of this week count towards my salvation?" "No" says St. Pete, "I told you, the computer's down, and there's no way we can keep track of what you are doing." "In that case," says the second priest, "I've always wanted to be a stud!" "So be it!" says St. Peter, and the second priest disappears. A week goes by, the computer gets fixed, and the Lord tells St. Peter to recall the two priests. "Will you have any trouble locating them?" he asks. "The first one should be easy," says St. Peter. "He's somewhere over the Rockies, flying with the eagles. But the second one could prove to be more difficult." "Why?" asks the Lord. "He's on a snow tire, somewhere in Saskatchewan!" Bet you didn't see that one coming!

Kgg, since I changed computers, I'm having a problem with the snipping tool. It insists on saving any pictures I snip as a png file instead of a .jpg. My old version of Snip n'Sketch always saved them as jpgs. I haven't figured a way around this yet, and it's a real PITA! How old is your snipping tool? Do you have that problem too? I'm desperate enough that I'm thinking of trying to transfer my old Snip n'Sketch program from my old computer! I may have downloaded Fusion 360 at one time, but never got around to figuring out how to use it. It looked kind of intimidating...

Yup, that would certainly make it bombproof, kgg! But I'd thought of making the flaps that attach to the gussets decorative by having the gussets a darker color - probably chocolate brown with the rest of the bag being a much lighter brown. Kgg, what app do you have for making such good sketches?? As you can see, Yours Truly is back in the dark ages when it comes to that! Okay, I was in a hurry, and couldn't even be bothered to use a ruler - just freehanded the whole thing... I probably could have done it using Paint, but it would have taken MUCH longer!

Toxo, this is going to hold a 2 inch binder, a number of Duo-tang folders with the worship song lyrics, my Bible, the book we're studying and maybe my tablet computer or cell phone. The tote Bland shows above is very much like what I'm planning to build, except there will be some carving on the outside. Since I will also be carrying my guitar case, purse and music stand, I want straps that are long enough to go over my shoulder. So, briefcase-style is not what I'm looking for.

After a long hiatus, I recently began to play worship music for our church once again. I found this really cool pattern that I'd love to put on a tote bag for carrying my music binder and the folders with the lyrics in them. The binder is big, rather heavy, and has pointy edges on it. I plan to make the front and back of the tote out of the same piece of leather, then hold it together with gussets. I'm just wondering what the best way is to make sure the gussets are strong. Is it better to stitch them on the inside or outside? I have also thought of adding a flap at the bottom which extends out sideways on each side of the main part of the bag. I will bring this up and sew it over the lower part of the gusset to reinforce the bottom seam, so there's no outer seam at the bottom of the bag. What think you? Here's a (very rough) sketch:

Lovely! And your 'turquoise' concho is very realistic! Well done! Now, c'mon you know you have to show us YOUR feather, no matter how bad you think it is compared to the Master's!

I see no reason to do basket weave. It's repetitive, it's boring, and I know I'll have trouble with keeping everything in a straight line. Plus, it's not creative. I much prefer figure carving. Now, THAT'S creative! Kudos to you who like doing it and can do it well. I know it's not easy. It would be a boring world if we all liked the same things!

How Canadians measure things...this REALLY is true, especially for us older folk, who had to switch systems sometime in the late 1960's! I have NO IDEA how tall I am in metres and centimeters, and have yet to see an oven manufactured in Canada that uses Celsius for temperature - that's probably because they're made in the U.S.A.! Measuring spoons often have both imperial and metric measurements on them, but no one pays attention to them, unless they were born elsewhere. Having been a nurse, I do know that your standard shot glass/medication cup is 30 ml. and that an I.V. bag holds a litre, unless you add something to it.

So, you actually had a poltergeist?? Wow! It was around 15 C. yesterday morning, and the s**w was completely gone. Then, temperatures plummeted, wind began to blow, and by afternoon we were back to the deep freeze. It fell to -8 last night, and we've got about an inch (sorry, raised with the British system, so, I mix my measurements!) of the white stuff. Currently the sun is trying to shine, but the snow is still coming down. Yeah, I think this meme about sums up our CRAZY weather!!

Oh, that's great news! Yes, keep us posted, and of course, we'll want PHOTOS!! :D

LOL!

Sup, sometimes when tooling, I find there's a tool or two I don't have, but often I will have one that's similar enough it won't make a huge difference in the project. Check your tools and see if you could possibly use substitutes for some of them. Let's not forget, Al Stohlman made some of his tools out of nails and bits of steel, so it's not so much having exactly the right tool as being skilled at using it.

Even when I took classes at Tandy, you were only expected to have the basic tools that they sold in their beginner's kit. They even provided the sponges for moistening your project! (Buying one of their kits was a prerequisite for getting the free classes.) One of the projects, a maple leaf, required a petal lifter. Our instructor provided that tool, though he only had one of them, and he kept a careful eye on it to make sure it didn't disappear! I guess theft is a big concern for Tandy, especially with the more expensive tools, but who's going to steal a granite slab or a poundo board?

Well, his wife might have something to say about that...

Or until you buy a new one!

TomE, that's possible. He's wearing this particular halter in quite a few photos. He was well known for his fiery disposition! https://www.racingmuseum.org/hall-of-fame/horse/man-o-war-ky#:~:text=“He fought like a tiger,could be handled with safety.”

That's supposed to be 'we did a lot of riding without stirrups OVER trotting poles.'

Mulesaw, our first jumps were over cavaletti, which sit about 12" off the ground. So, not very scary. And in preparation for jumping, we did a lot of riding without stirrups and trotting poles. The horse stretching out over the poles helps prepare for jumping and riding without stirrups develops strong thigh muscles, so your knees stay in the right place over a jump. One person asked me how I would manage to stay on my horse when it refused a fence and ducked its head. It was from all those hours riding without stirrups! Yes, the browband would make the halter more secure. You've got two straps securing it, one in front of the ears and one behind, plus the throat latch. The design of that halter is very similar to a bridle, actually, with the bit attached to the cheek pieces.

Mulesaw, yeah, the halter in that picture is pretty much the one you see most horses wearing. I have some pictures of Man O'War, though, where he is wearing a very different halter. It actually has a bit attached to it to help keep him under control! It's a bit hard to see the details, but it has both a brow band and a strap behind the poll. BTW, he's 20 years old in this picture and still looks like a million bucks! One of my all-time favourite horses, for sure! Riders sometimes use neck straps when learning to jump, but I've rarely seen them except in pictures. My instructor had us do it the old military way: drop the reins on the horse's neck, and stretch your arms out like a bird! It teaches you a secure seat, and prevents you from interfering with the horse's mouth.

I have never seen a halter with the straps going through the noseband like that. I wonder if they did it that way because it was too hard to find hardware that was strong enough? Also, the poll strap does look like it would have trouble fitting behind the horse's ears. Here's a picture of Secretariat and one of his sons, so you can see a more common design for a stallion's halter: The round ring connecting the pieces together allows the poll strap to find a comfortable position behind the ears.

This one family had bought a fridge with an icemaker, one of the fancy ones where you could acess both ice and cold water from the front of the fridge. After they'd had it awhile, and the weather got really hot, the wife was complaining about the kids leaving a mess on the floor when they got a cold drink. Sometimes there were even a few ice cubes on the floor. The kids kept denying it, and things were getting rather tense. Then, one day she came into the kitchen and caught the REAL culprit in the act. Their dog had figured out how to activate the mechanism to get himself a nice, cold drink!

Leather that is on sale at Tandy is sometimes the stuff that didn't sell because it had flaws. There were a bunch of belt blanks on sale once, and the reason was obvious if you looked at them - they all had wrinkles in them. When Tandy puts high quality shoulders or sides on sale for a good price, they sell very fast. I've often arrived on the 3rd day of a sale, and found all the ones remaining had flaws of some sort. That's why you need to shop in person, and shop early!

Frodo, you look like you're ready for Halloween, or to star in a horror movie! YIKES!! I'm keeping to the far side of the street if you're wearing that. But if it does the job of keeping your face warm, well...okay...I guess! What's with the clip at the bottom? To keep you from losing it when you take it off?

Makes me glad I replaced my computer before it totally stopped co-operating with me. It was just getting really slooooow. When I first logged in in the morning, it would take a good 4 or 5 minutes of refreshing the screen before it would actually connect with a website. Then it would be fine for the rest of the day.