Making one post work for two...

Not sewing related at all...although I did wear something I made...

We spent last weekend at the ol' stompin' ground, celebrating my In-Law's 70th wedding anniversary.

Rather than re-write the post and re-load the photo...I'll just link it up to the Other Blog.

;-)

Feeling...sacreligious?

The first sewing publication I subscribed to was Sew News, back in the 80's, when it was a large format, newsprint deal.  Before long, I had discovered and subscribed to the Sewing Update Newsletter, the Serger Update Newsletter (anybody remember those?  I still have mine in binders...) and the creme-de-la-creme of sewing publications, Threads Magazine.  My first copy was issue number 37, from October 1991.

The Update Newsletters eventually closed down; I don't remember if I subscribed to the end or just until I decided I had to pick amongst the subscriptions.  Sew News changed formats...and dumbed down its content to the point that it was like reading a women's magazine that had crafty discussions.  I didn't save those, but I do have a folder full of articles that I cut out of them. I gave it another go a few years back when I won a subscription in an online contest, but I was disappointed to see it no longer was a monthly publication.  And, while the content had improved somewhat...it still seemed more basic than creative and it didn't really seem worth the expense.

But Threads has rolled on and on.  Not too long after I subscribed, (maybe a year?) they altered their focus a bit from all-things-fiberly to strictly sewing.  I missed the interesting articles on making buttons from polymer clay and felting wool into hats, but since I wasn't likely to really use that (although I do have some aging Fimo somewhere...) it wasn't tragic.

But today I got this in the mail:

I haven't renewed yet.  I'm dithering.

The content has dropped over the years; those first issues were over 100 pages; this potentially last one has 82.  The quality of info has kind of vacillated; it's better now than it has been.  The decline in the printed product is a reflection of the times more than anything else, I think.  I mean, we haven't had a daily newspaper in these parts in years...it's all online.

And, to be honest, that's my biggest beef.  I'm a print subscriber, but I have to fork over more dough if I want to see the online content they call 'Insider'.  Maybe it's just me wishing for a perfect world, but it seems to me that the print subscribers should have access to the online content.  I don't even click most Threads links I see on social media anymore...what's the point if it's likely to be 'Insider only'?

And...then there's the fact that I'm simply not sewing as much.  It just doesn't seem justifiable to keep up the subscription so I can flip through it, smile at the end page story and put it on the shelf.

Maybe 27 years' worth (that's 162 magazines, all stashed in custom slipcovers) is enough.  Maybe.

Or maybe I'll put a check in the  mail next week...lol.  Can I really pull that plug?  Do I really want to?  Do I have good reasons not to?

Hm, hm and hm.

Butterick 5925 - slightly modified

This is just a fun top.  It's swingy and comfy and I may make more.  Maybe with cap sleeves, maybe with the ones in the actual envelope.

I need to find some largish scraps that kinda sorta go together and do the color blocking shown on the envelope.

Because I can always use more fun tops.

Another choir top...

I'm slowly sewing through the fabric in...next up was the medium blue bamboo/lycra jersey.  Since the decision came down that we were not going to change our colors for June, I had a little more time to get the blue in use.

I bought 2 1/2 yards, with the intention of making a Pamela's Patterns Cool cardi and a shell top.  But, try as I might, I was about 4" short of having enough fabric for both the cardi and the top.  I didn't re-measure the fabric after I pre-washed it but I really think it shrank up a good bit, just based on how much I had hanging off the end of the cutting table.

But whatever.  The fabric feels great on...but the serger didn't like sewing it.  I had LOTS of skipped stiches, and it kinda fed through unevenly.

I am seriously thinking about taking the serger in for a check up.

But, I just did a narrow zig-zag on the serging to catch the missed stitches so, it's ugly on the inside, but I won't tell.

Anyway, I ended up making another Butterick 5925 ... the Katherine Tilton tunic-y T top w/ pocket gores in the sideseams.  Only I borrowed a cap sleeve from another pattern ...summer and all.  And I cut my own neckband, just because I don't care for the floppy neckbands the Tiltons seem to love on their knit tops.  To each her own...

The hanger shot is pretty boring, but it's very comfy.  Ugly seams and all.

Maybe a photo of it on tomorrow....

I need to find the scraps from the light blue top and see if I can patchwork up a little top from the leftovers.  I'm SURE I kept them...even though there wasn't much.  I'm just NOT sure what I did with them, lol.

In other news, Number Two Son, AKA The Actor,  has found himself an apartment in Jacksonville, Fl, so My Sweet Babboo and I will be heading south with a vanload of his stuff shortly.  I haven't been to Florida since...2004?  Probably going to go a little more frequently now.  He seems to be doing well in his job.  They did their summer day camp event last week, which seems to have been a success.  Their children's ministry is very similar to ours, so he's fitting right in.

Lotsa road trips on the docket for this summer, as well as the final push to the remodeled-gym-turned-sanctuary.  Official first service is August 5.

It's gonna be a busy, busy summer....

Top Number 4

Crazy.  One tablecloth and four tops is all that I've managed so far this year.  Where has my sewing time gone? 

This is the lighter blue knit that arrived in the last indulgence.  In a modified Hot Patterns LaStrada top, after church last Sunday:

I pretty seriously hacked that pattern, fit-wise, but it's been brought to heel. One of these days I'll get it written up for Pattern Review.
  This is not my best color,  but with a topper over it it's not bad.

We went straight from a long, lingering winter to a full-on summer in about a week.  I'm finding myself looking for cool tops...the A/C in the old school building that is now our church is taking a while to get up to speed.

It's a long weekend; maybe I'll get some sewing done.
Or maybe I'll do another project that 's urgent.

Or maybe I'll make ice cream and hang out with family.

We'll see.

Bailed again

...but I did finish something, lol.  I realize that, since I had a MOUNTAIN of laundry to do, I wasn't going to be able to focus on cleaning out the sewing nook as the laundry would be in the way.

So I sewed instead.

From the Gorgeous Fabrics re-start...a One-Yard shirt:

This was my second choice on the fabric; the first choice literally sold out the order before mine.

But, hey, it's a T-shirt, right?  So long as the colors work, it's good. 

Vogue 9057. tweaked a bit.

It's not perfect; I didn't want to put a dart in it and skew up the graphics so I just eased the side in.  Only I didn't run the easing out far enough so it's kinda bunchy.  But so long as I put a vest or topper on...no one would be the wiser.  Dunno if I will try that trick again or not.

Got a sky-blue top cut out...an altered-up Hot Patterns La Strada T.  If I can just keep one thing in the pipeline to work on a bit...maybe I'll see some progress....

Old habits are hard to break...

Well, that and nothing in my closet fits.  Sugar binge  + schedule change that made the routine 2 mile daily walk nigh impossible and...well, I'm pulling stuff out of my closet saying 'I can't wear that...I can't wear that...I can't wear that...'.  Stuff that I could get away with last year I can NOT pull off this year.

So, despite my determination to make the choir wardrobe work w/ accessories, defaulting to sewing it is.  And, sometimes, that means a visit to the local neighborhood online webstore.

This time, it was Fabric.com, in search of gray and hydrangea blues for May's choir wardrobe.

Two bamboo/lycra knits  for tops/ cardis and a 3-yard piece of chambray gray Brussels Washer Linen for some nice relaxed fit floppy pants.  I'll look like a tree trunk but I'll be comfy.

7 more yards in.  I gotta get to the sewing machines....

But I'm gonna see if I can manage to get the sewing room cleaned out this weekend.  Maybe.  I will likely be scheduling it around a viewing of  'Infinity War'...just so I can talk to my kids, who saw the movie on opening day but are refusing to discuss it until I've seen it.  I expect it to be bodaciously depressing, because I know people die, but I need to just see it and get it over with.

I'll be going with the Actor, and I might even skip choir practice to make sure we do it, because...drum roll...the youngster has actually been offered a REAL JOB, with, like, benefits and insurance and everything, as part of the Children's Ministry team at New Life Christian Fellowship Church...in Jacksonville, Florida. (Backstory Here, on the other blog, if you're interested).  He's gonna leave the week after Mother's Day.  So my time with him is limited, and next week is his birthday, and friends are throwing him a goodby party...and ...and... anyway, it's looking like Thursday might be the only chance.  The Flute Player says she can't sit through it again.

But seeing it Thursday  would leave ALL DAY Friday and ALL DAY Saturday and Sunday afternoon/evening for dejunking cleaning and reorganizing the sewing nook.  I *might* be able to get it done....maybe with an eye to moving it to a vacated bedroom, when it actually is vacated...

So.  Life is about to get different.   Again.

The Arcadia Green Top

 I actually finished it week before last, but we  had some tasks that pulled us out of choir last Sunday so I didn't wear it until today.

Vogue 9057; I added a front seam and topstitched it just to give the solid fabric some visual interest.  The sleeve length was determined solely by the amount of fabric I had; that was as long as I could make 'em.  Which, given the fact that spring is very slow to get in gear this year, is just fine.

That's the first time I made that view; I kinda like it and may use it again.  The only tricky bit is mitering the front corners;  I don't know if the instructions are to miter them or not; I didn't look. LOL.  Mitering corners is just what I do.

All in all, I'll call the experiment a guarded success.  It took two tries, but I did get something the right color.  I may very well try it again if I have a hard-to-match color....and I used a white knit that was just too grayish (literally, it looked like it had been washed with dark colors and took some dye) to use as it was, so just finding a purpose for that was good.

 I kinda like that green.  It's fresh and springy.  

30 Years...

The Artist turned 30 today.

Just doesn't seem possible.

But, you know...he's a pretty cool dude.  I'm kinda proud of him.

Enabled.

Well, in the last post I invited enabling with regard to fabric used for those really soft, really stretchy, really expensive leggings sold by direct sales.  If you're on facebook, you've probably been added to at least two groups by folks selling said leggings.  My daughter bought me a pair for Christmas and, while they are super comfortable, the print on them is, well, a cartoon character and more PJ/loungewear than I'm really good with wearing in public.  So I was looking for some more, um, useable prints.

Nurse Bennett corrected my misconception that the leggings fabric was cotton -- it's actually a double-brushed polyester -- and put me on to Cali Fabrics...an online vendor I was not acquainted with.  I went to the site and poked around a bit.  I settled on two prints for the double-brushed poly jersey, and a rayon/lycra jersey in a dark dusty rose color that I'm always short on when it comes up in the choir rotation.

They arrived  yesterday.  I was very impressed with the packaging; they were double-wrapped in plastic, well protected against any USPS foibles.  The prints were lovely and the cuts generous:

I was surprised that the abstract had a bit of the rose color in it; it didn't show in the little swatch on the website.

But...the floral print is too thin for leggings. It's going to make a wonderful flouncy shirt, I think. The abstract is a bit thicker; not as thick as my Lul@R03 leggings but I think it's substantial enough to work.  And, because I had to order in whole yards and it was generously cut, I'll have enough for a T shirt as well.

I'm on Cali Fabrics' mailing list now.  Sigh.  Another opportunity to, um, exercise my willpower.

Giving in to temptation...

The arcadia green top is in progress...I would make better time on it but for some reason the kitty has decided that the chair in front of the sewing machine is the perfect chair for me to hold her and pet her and scratch her chin and ears while she purrs loudly.

So my progress has been somewhat delayed.

But I have actually succumbed to the siren song of the internet fabric sources...and two orders have arrived since the start of the year.

Just two.  Really.

First was a sale, the second was, well, an indulgence, plain and simple.

Up first, two pieces from EmmaOneSock...

I have a t-shirt made from the sparkly gray; I didn't realize it was the same fabric until I got it home and compared it.  I got some for a cardigan...guess I'll end up with a twin set.  The green knit is darker and blue-er than it looks in the photo.  That's mostly for the next time we get assigned dark green for Choir.  We got surprised with it for Christmas a year ago and I had NONE.  Now I have a couple of pieces...this is a four-way-stretch rayon/lycra; I've also got a ponte that I picked up last year.  That ought to be enough to get me by, should it come up again.

And, you know, I had to show some support for the  Gorgeous Fabrics re-launch.   The two bottom pieces are rayon/nylon/lycra ponte, very, very nice.   I aim to make Sewing Workshop Helix Pants from them, but that could change.  The top pieces is a crepe-y ITY knit; it's a substitution, the print that I wanted sold out just before my order popped up.  But that's ok, it's just going to be a t-shirt, so it'll work as well as the first choice.  It's really nice...not slick like other ITY jerseys I've gotten in the past.

So, my yards in has surpassed yards out.  I'm done buying for a bit.

Unless I come across some really nice cotton/lycra knits...like what is used in the leggings sold by direct sale in multitudes of Facebook groups.  I got a pair for Christmas...still haven't got a black top to wear with them, but it's coming...and I'd LOVE to find knit like that.

Anyone found a source?  I give you permission to be an enabler...lol...

Arcadia Green: Attempt 2. Maybe.

So I had to do a little creative hunting to get the second dye batch.  Between Wednesday night last week and Saturday afternoon, Hobby Lobby completely shifted stuff around and the whole notions wall, including the shelf w/ the dyes, had moved.  I finally had to ask an employee...and it turned out she was working right in front of them.

And the aquamarine, of which an entire bottle is required in the mix for Arcadia Green, was out of stock.  Bummer. I bought some emerald green and a dusky blue, mostly because that's all they had, to see if I could approximate it.  I was plenty nervous about it, but didn't know what else to do.

But I had to pick up some milk, and, wouldn't you know, Publix had a decent selection of Rit dye.  Including Aquamarine.

So I mixed up another dye batch, intending to leave it in longer.  But this time I also put in a chunk of the 'too-gray' white cotton lycra knit.  One way or another, I was gonna get Arcadia Green.

I agitated it for 45 minutes instead of the prescribed 30, and when I pulled the fabric out of the dryer...the rayon/lycra was still too yellow, and I thought the cotton/lycra was too light.

But when I put the Pantone color swatch against it (the top one on the card)...it's about spot on.  Funny...the color on the choir facebook page looks darker.  And it's a dead match for the aqua post-it notepad.

Y'all, we wore this color three or four years ago and called it 'Lucite Green'.  Wore it two or three years before that and called it 'Seafoam'.  Sometime in the past, we just called it Mint Green.

So maybe I have  a couple of pieces somewhere that will do.  And I can make up a Jalie T from the cotton/lycra.  The Rayon...I'll put that back for another day.  Or another dye bath.  I honestly don't know if the yellowish cast to the original fabric is what is giving the yellowed results or if it's just not taking that dye due to fiber content.

BUT...wouldn't you know...yesterday I got slammed with a nasty sinus infection that sent me to the Dr this morning for antibiotics and had me napping under warm facial compresses all afternoon.  I may not have a singing voice this weekend anyway.  And I don't feel much like sewing.

Arcadia Green Attempt One: Fail

According to a Google Search on Arcadia Green, it is Pantone 16-5533.

So I had a standard against which to check my dye results.

Which were abysmal.

Granted, the color rendering in the photo isn't spot on, it really is slightly less yellow, but still.  Not gonna work.

The gluey dots applied along the selvage for, I suppose, stabilization took the color just fine.  But the rest of the yardage...not so much.  It is *supposed* to be a rayon/lycra blend but now I'm wondering if that's quite accurate.

So, I will try again, and I will leave the fabric in the bath for a bit longer with less yellow in the mix.

And I'll throw in a second piece...if I can't get past mint green on the first one I should still get something useful.

But first I gotta make another run to Hobby Lobby for some more Aquamarine dye.

And maybe I'll check my bead stash to see if I have some Arcadia green beads so I can just make a chunky necklace.  If it weren't Easter Weekend, for which we have services spanning three days, I'd make do like I did this month (I will have worn the same top 3 out of 4 Sundays...)  But there's not a chance to do laundry between Saturday night and Sunday morning and the stage is HOT, so...

I'll try again this evening.

A little weekend project...

So, the choir will be wearing something called 'Arcadia Green', along with black and gray, for April.

But Easter Weekend services start Friday night...with April colors.

And I have ONE thing in my wardrobe that is close to the right color...kind of a dark mint green to my eye.

I did peruse my usual suppliers but didn't find anything that really looked right.

Then I got a wild notion and did a search for Rit Dye Color charts...and found

Rit Dye formula for Arcadia Green: 
1 Bottle Aquamarine
1⁄4 Cup Teal
1 Tablespoon Lemon Yellow
3 Gallons water

So.  

Now, I have several pieces of white fabric that I have ordered online through the years.  Some are...thinner...than I had anticipated, so they will be undies, someday.

Others were kinda off on the color.  Too gray, too yellow...

Anyway, I pulled the 'too yellow' piece; I have about 2 1/2 yards or so.

It's gonna go in the dye bath tomorrow.

If it works...I might keep that little trick in mind for the too-gray piece next time an oddball color comes up.

Workwear 35

Because, you know, if you get multiple compliments on an outfit it's worth a post, right?

Specially when there's been precious little sewing happening...

I discovered one of the ladies' rooms at the new-to-us church building in which I work has a MIRROR. So, if I can figure out how to do it better, there might be more workwear posts...

This is a pair of RTW gray jeans, a Vogue 9057 top from olive knit (purportedly rayon/lycra but, well, I kinda doubt that it has much rayon...) and a gorgeous silk/wool blend scarf from Novica.

That just happened to match the green in the top dead on.

In all honesty, I think the scarf was the attraction, rather than the outfit as a whole, but it's worth documenting because it works.

I really like that Vogue pattern, too.  Maybe more of them will show up someday...

Not the week after all..

I have a long, skinny laundry room that really was just a closed off side of the garage.  The sewing nook is on the far end; past the sink, the washer and dryer and clothes rack.

The area at the bottom of the steps down from the main floor of the house was a horrible, horrible mess.  I think stuff got dropped there when we moved in and never moved.  No, I didn't take a 'before' photo of that...it really and truly was too embarrassing.

But that's the only bit of the laundry/sewing room that got cleaned.  My hubby came down with a nasty sinus infection which turned into bronchitis that had him coughing so hard he was actually whooping to get his breath back.  I was scared that he'd somehow contracted whooping cough.  But, no, he was just coughing really bad from the bronchitis.  He's had a z-pack and is better...but not completely back to normal.

So, anyway, he didn't go on his camping trip.   And I didn't get to the sewing nook.  Now I'm trying to decide if I want to just piecemeal the cleaning or wait for another clear weekend.  Problem is, I want to haul everything out of the room into the den, which is a bad idea if there are other people around.

The kids have been hosting a movie night every Sunday, watching all the Marvel movies in order to prepare for the premier happening at the end of next month.  So I don't think I can spread out the sewing room contents for an extended period.  At least not until the end of April.

So maybe I'll just suck it up and keep sewing in the chaos a bit longer.  You can see just a wee bit of it in the background of that photo...We'll see.  I still need a long black top to wear with those Tigger leggings...

Meantime, the bottom of the stairs looks SO MUCH BETTER....

No pics...but at least something's done!

The Princess gave me leggings for Christmas...you know, the direct-sales, super soft,  a Facebook group for every rep trendy leggings.

They are printed w/ Tigger all over them.

Black, white, yellow, orange.

I didn't have a single thing I could wear them with. Not being of the 'Leggings are pants' mindset, I needed a nice long top that coordinated.

So I finally pulled out a chunk of black jersey knit last week and cut out a top I've been wanting to make for a while; Butterick 5925 , one of Katherine Tilton's loose designs.  Not the one with the pocket-bags-below-the  hem;  that just looks weird.  But the other one, with the pockets in the godets.

I traced it off last week, did my usual raise-and-shorten the shoulders and cut it out.  Took a couple of sewing sessions, but I finished it last night.

And tried it on with the leggings today.

It's a cute, comfy top...but it's about 4" too short to wear over leggings, I've decided.  As My Sweet Babboo agreed (he thought it was about 6" too short), I will be pulling out another piece of black knit for a different style at some point.

'Cause, you know, if someone gives you something cute and trendy, you  ought to make an effort to wear it.

I don't know if I'll get a photo of the latest top; it's black, it will be hard to photograph.  I'll probably wait and take a picture the next time I make it up out of wacky knit print remnants.  At least the seams will show up, lol.

I have made next-to-no progress on the sewing room clean up; My Sweet Baboo came down with a nasty respiratory infection and missed his camping trip.  So I had somewhat of a distraction when I had planned to be home alone cleaning.  We'll see if I can get it done in the next three days. Or at least well started.

Gonna take a social media break; maybe that will help focus! :-)

Steeling my nerve....It's Time...

After a  crazy couple of months getting ourselves moved into a facility-in-renovation and getting enough of it functional to hold Sunday and Wednesday services, our leadership has done an amazing thing:  Everybody on staff is getting a week off.  Not all at once; we've been split into 4 groups, with  1/4 getting a break so 3/4 of the staff is on hand over 4 weeks.

My turn is next week; I've got enough hours in this week that I can leave around noon tomorrow; offices are always closed on Friday.

And my hubby has a camping event this weekend.

So.

This is the weekend I tackle the sewing room.

I'm ready for some order.

I can do this.

Um.  Yeah.

I'll post before and after when it's done, lol.

Loss of a Landmark...

Saw this on the news last night....logged on today to find that the fire had re-ignited overnight and there is literally nothing but a portion of a shell left.

I've been to Sir's irregularly...it is a 45-minute to an hour drive away...and the stock varied greatly; one visit would yield very little worth bringing home while a visit in 2007 saw me hauling home nearly 50 yards of deals; a good bit of which is still in the bins.  It was THE place to go to find costuming fabric; especially after the deterioration of the fabric department at Wal-Mart.

It was a place that still SMELLED like I remember fabric stores smelling as a kid.  The good ones.  With real fabric.

It was a family business; who knows if they'll try to rebuild/restock.

I can hope, but given the current status of the retail fabric business...I fear they're gone for good.

Glad I have a stash....

A Rather Inauspicious Start to 2018

Sometimes, the urge to MAKE SOMETHING just gets irresistible...

Even in the midst of the crazy...hubby out of town, the church, which is also my place of employment, moving into a new facility that's still in the midst of renovation...packing, moving, unpacking, cleaning, cleaning, cleaning...lol.

Last year, I bought about 4 pieces of fabric to make tablecloths.  I love using upholstery cottons; they're usually treated w/ a stain resistant finish and they're drapey and washable...what's not to love?

Oh, yeah.  They're usually only about 52" wide...and my round table on the porch is about 55" around.

But I came up with a plan.   

1. Buy extra length.
2. Straighten one edge; measure off 62" and pull a thread and cut.
3.  Split the remnant in half lengthwise
4.  Remove all selvedges
5. Match the cut pieces to the center of the long piece; sew the seam and then serge it.
6.  Fold carefully into quarters
7.  Mark an arc 31" from the fold point
8.  Cut on the marked arc to get a circle
9. Use the serger to roll the edge.
10.  Fray check the tail and trim after dry.

Simple, no?  It really doesn't take long.

And the Sewing Urge hit, so I thought I'd sew up one of the pieces of tablecloth fabric.

But I had a problem with this particular piece of fabric....

The first time I made a circle table cloth, I didn't pay any attention to the placement of the motifs on the center line.  As a result, the large motif is slightly off center vertically.  It's not terribly wrong, but it bugs me.  So this time, I picked out the prominent motif and measured out of the center 31" on both sides.

Unfortunately, I had a fairly sizeable chunk on the end that I would otherwise have just evened up to square.  Which meant that, after I matched up the long end to the sides and folded it into quarters, the extension quit about an inch too soon.

Sigh.  I guess I'll just have a slightly short drop on the cloth.  I didn't want the off-center motif thing going on again.

So I folded it up into quarters, with the shortest side up, and made the arc 30" instead of 31" from the center.

And it sat there for about a week before I could get to it again.

When I had a chance, I trotted upstairs and cut along the marked arc.
Gave the remnant a tug but it didn't seem to move right.  Oh, the rotary cutter didn't get all the way through the layers.  Not unusual, just give it a quick little slice.

But that slice seemed awfully thick.  Did it really not go all the way through?

No! Gasp!  I had looked at the thing cockeyed and for some reason CUT UP THE PIECED SEAM .

I'm still not sure what crossed my wires, but I had a 6" gash on either side.

I don't often cry when sewing, but I confess to shedding a few tears at that point.  I really, really liked the fabric.

But, it's either fix it or consign it to tote bags, so I scooped up the circle and went to the sewing machine, where I zig-zagged those gashes shut.  They're on the drop...they won't be noticed...right?

Someone's gotta look close to see it.  One is right on the seamline, the other is just off a bit.

But, whilst suturing the gashes, I noticed that I DIDN'T have the shortest side of the matched pieces up.  There was a healthy divot missing off of one end of the arc.

No!!!

What to do, what to do...

Y'all, I unpicked the seam a bit, whacked a square of the remnant (it was a trick to get my brain around matching that on two sides) and pieced it in.

It's not invisible, but it's not very noticeable, and, given the patching already done, perfectly serviceable.

In hind sight, it probably would have worked better, matching wise, to have put one of the smaller motifs in the center.  It would have at least still been balanced.  But...it is what it is, and it'll do.

And I just realized I'd knocked it about an inch off center before I took that last pic.  Oh, well.  You get the idea.

But, given how hard I tried to ruin that, lol, I'm kind of skeered to tackle anything else until I've gotten my calm back, lol.