Earth Day

A reminder that today is Earth Day. Renew-Reuse-Recycle! Our new solar panel system on our house is one way our family is Earth conscious… plus there are financial benefits as well. Same goes for recycling, composting, etc.

Tonight on PBS NOVA is a show worth watching- NPR’s “Car Talk” hosts, Tom and Ray, are doing a show on alternative fuel sources for cars, plus newer technologies which are also earth friendly. My DH is still interested in actually converting a car. He has been interested in this ever since he read the book, “From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank” by Joshua Tickell:

Since gas prices here in California are the highest in the US, one station I passed the other day was charging over $4 per gallon, this topic is most relevant.

Enjoy your day! Regards, Carla

Biodiesel and Creativity

Since today is Earthday, I thought I would share about my engineer DH’s biodiesel car conversion project and how that relates to creativity. Faithful readers might remember the post where my car was totalled while parked on a public street. I negotiated a fair settlement and am now looking for a used diesel car for my husband to convert into a car able to run on biodiesel or even french fry oil. A project like this makes sense- especially in a state with gas prices over $3 per gallon.

This means that yes, we will scout out a restaurant looking to dispose of their used oil, then process it into usable fuel. Since the byproduct of this process is soap- learning soapmaking skills is in my near future. LOL I can see chicken shaped Carla soaps and other interesting visual soaps that look and smell good.

Reuse- it is no secret that I love to shop at the thrift stores and hunt for items to be remade or reused. My previous sweater posts are an example. I also have been searching for sweaters to wash, then take apart and reuse the yarn in my freeform crochet projects.

Speaking of crochet, Shelley asks how I prepare the fabric strips for my fabric crochet bags. Let me dig up my pictures, so I can post visual instructions for Shelley and anyone else interested.

Fabric Crochet Preparation:

My preference is to use hand dyed fabrics or even batiks. Why? Because the color is saturated on both sides to give a rich color. Here’s a yummy picture:

Basically, I find fabrics I like (or even old clothes), then I cut them into strips. My local quilt store saves me all their fabric trimmings, so don’t be afraid to ask your local store.

Here’s how I join the fabric strips, by holding 2 fabrics together and making a slice through both, then threading the back fabric through and pulling tight:

The fabric used in my title header was completed a bit differently with cutting it double width (btw, the width you cut is a personal preference- experiment) and ironing it in half to get the more saturated spring color. Here’s a visual:

Here’s the finished project:

Have a good Day! Regards, Carla