TheaM quilts

migrating in blogdom

2010-06-07T05:16:00.000-07:00

It has been over a month since I posted on this blog - that's because I've started a NEW blog called "GrannyGoodStuff" so please come to visit me there...

http://grannygoodstuff.blogspot.com/

see you soon!

Thea

May Flowers from April Showers

2010-05-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

My garden is in full bloom at last - and I'm enjoying every growing thing in the garden... along with the dandelions and the thistles, etc.

Here are some pics of my little beauties...

This is the white bleeding heart that we planted to mark Sam's grave last year:

Looking good this year - last year it was a really thin, but is now filling out well in spite of the poor soil in this spot....

Here is the snow in summer that I will be planting - honest, really I will!

the phlox are trying their best to be a ground cover.....

and the azalea is now in full bloom - in spite of the HUGE pile of snow that was weighing it down last winter

and the Huchera (coral bells) is about to burst into bloom, but I grow it for this stunning foliage:

and I grow Lamb's Ears for the foliage, too....

now if I could only get these Red Hot Pokers to bloom!

is there a flower spike hiding in that leaf cluster somewhere? I sure hope so!

All these flowers are giving me ideas for quilts, so I'll be in the studio if you need me.

Dancing Girls are (almost!) ready for the Stage

2010-04-26T03:35:00.000-07:00

This is my next project, after I make a party doll and a few postcards....

Just a quick note early on a very rainy Monday morning to let you know that the Dancing Girls are ready for their debut performance ( meaning: I'm almost done with the binding ) and as soon as the sleeve and label are applied, I'll have another pic to post, but in the meanwhile, if you want to see them kicking up their heels, check it out on my grannygoodstuff post from last week. I hope this link works:

http://grannygoodstuff.blogspot.com/

Still so much to learn about this blogging stuff, but at least it is easier than writing Fortran!

and when the rain stops, I can go out and play in mud! .... um, I mean, plant some flowers!

World's Biggest Hexi Challenge on display in Brisbane

2010-03-31T07:55:00.000-07:00

Later this Spring I will be teaching a class in English Paper Piecing - also known affectionately as 'hexi' piecing. I'm still working on the class sample, but stumbled upon this impressive example while trying to catch up on the blogs today and just HAD to share this hexi eye candy - very impressive effort by the world's hexigon quilters - proof positive that paper piecing is alive and flourishing.

They can't get it all in one picture anymore... so for more info, here's a link to the website:

http://worldsbiggesthexagonquilt.blogspot.com/2010/03/craftexpo-brisbane.html

I'll try to post again soon - I'm either out enjoying the sunshine or sewing up a storm in the studio.

Linda M Poole

2010-03-21T05:08:00.000-07:00

My friend, Linda M Poole, has a new line of fabric featuring seahorses on her blog - check it out!
She has a wonderful blog, and I love her 'color' goodies.

It's all about the Challenges

2010-03-18T03:38:00.000-07:00

Life is a series of challenges. How we deal with those challenges defines us.

The FAT group is having a 3 day challenge this week - today is day 3 - I have not seen what the last day of this challenge will bring, but I'm looking forward to seeing it.

First - here is my effort for day 1:

and here is the result for day 2:

so now I'm going to find out what to do with these little 4" quilted shapes of denim, batting, paint and thread....

...and I made a crown!

Enjoy your challenges, however they find you, however you navigate them.

Now if I could just find a way to enjoy paying taxes.... hmmm.

Spring is flirting with me....

2010-03-11T08:59:00.000-08:00

The birds are singing, the sun is shining, and I'm in my flip-flops!
Working on this little ditty - Mexican Star - started last weekend at the QCE Quilt Retreat:

I'm also working on a calendar quilt (another Pat Sloan challenge!) and that is going well:
almost as tall as me!

Must get back to the studio!
Drop me a line.... I'd love to hear from you!

March is National Craft Month - loving the sparkle in this star!

2010-03-02T03:58:00.000-08:00

I've been increasingly interested in using up the supplies I already have on hand - including using some rather unusual "raw" materials in ways I've never tried before.

Recently, I participated in a "Going Green" charm challenge - I looked around the house for something I had on hand that lent itself to recycling, and remembered that pile of holey socks in the bottom of my closet - AHA! I remembered how well the painted batting scraps worked a few weeks ago, and applied the same 'painting' method to a square of tube sock cut across the foot - no toes, no cuff, no heel, just foot. This worked out even better than hoped - although the sock fabric did absorb a LOT of paint!
Once dry (which took a while, even with the assist of the hair dryer) I layered the sock wrong side up and added a scrap of batting and a scrap of 'backing' fabric - then quilted a star shape, added a little more paint to the 'highlights' and came up with this:

I also dismantled a bracelet and 're-purposed' the beads and wire - and I'm really pleased and encouraged by this result - I love the sparkle in this star.

Tell me what you have crafted lately. I love getting comments - what's yours?

Quilt Show Deadlines

2010-03-01T07:33:00.000-08:00

No matter how many reminders I put in my calendar to send them off well in advance, it seems that I'm always rushing to get my entry forms and pics submitted to quilt shows right up to the last minute!

Today I'm prepping these two little wall hangings for the Three Rivers Quilt Show coming up in April. Check it out at: http://www.threeriversquilters.org/quiltshow.html

So I'm off to the Post Office!

Check back tomorrow - and rest assured there will be NO MORE pictures of snow.
Yes, I may be in denial, but I think everyone must be pretty darned tired of snow by now - where ever they are!

quilting, quilting, more quilting while cheering on Olympians!

2010-02-27T19:00:00.000-08:00

Pat Sloan issued a challenge to her peeps - to finish a quilt during the Olympics - read more about it on her "Death by Quilting" website, blog, etcs:
http://www.deathbyquilting.com/
http://quiltmashup.com/
http://patsloan.typepad.com/pat_sloans_corner/

Pat is an amazing talented, full of energy and ideas kind of person - I love her! she's such a quilt enabler!

While I'd like to be doing nothing BUT quilting, there are other obligations a quilter must attend to, and those things have taken a lot of my time this week. You know - eat, sleep, shovel snow, and sew on and sew on!
Here is what I've been working on:

can you guess where this was taken? Not much of a challenge, huh? This quilt is getting big - and I've run out of places to pose big quilts for their progress cameos, so bear with me! Until the weather warms up enough to put them outside, at least!

These blocks are from Pat Sloan's Turkey Tracks Block Swap last October - only one of these is mine, the rest came from swap participants, who all did wonderful blocks, as you can see! I received six blocks, but only know three of the names.

I put the sashes on yesterday and then sewed the rows together and added the first red borders today. Another border will be added, and then it will be a twin/large throw size. This is an excellent way to make seven 12" blocks into a twin size quilt. The only tough part is calculating the size of those setting triangles. I'll put this one on the HQ16 to quilt it - as soon as the weather (i.e. basement!) warms up a bit.

Tomorrow is the last day of February - Are you ready for March? It comes in like a LION, remember?

snow removal done well!

2010-02-17T10:14:00.000-08:00

I was ironing fusible fleece to some muslin in my studio this morning when I heard what I thought was a bulldozer coming down the street outside - since I don't have a window that looks directly out onto the street, I came rushing downstairs to see what was going on - hoping that nobody had a collapsed roof, etc. and this is what I saw:

and the best part was, they were removing the additional 6" of snow we had last night as well as the accumulation of snow piles between cars all the way to the sidewalks!

Every time the big dump truck was full, it went away and came back empty a few minutes later, and again the little snow blower vehicle would follow the truck along the street and "blow" the snow up onto the dump truck! This is wonderful! We can park again - at least for today!

In case the UPS guy is looking for our house, it's behind this mountain of snow:

it's not a big house to begin with, but it looks even smaller now! and do you see the icicles hanging from the porch - and from my neighbor's roof? Icicleville - that's where we live!
I'm going back to my studio and sew until it all melts... or bedtime, which ever comes first.

I'm going to add a few embellishments to this today...

and do a little machine applique too.

I'm going to hang up the snow shovel for today

Cheerie bye for now.

Lestoil or More Toil, that is the question....

2010-02-10T05:10:00.000-08:00

The unmistakable odor of LESTOIL hit my nose this morning... it was coming from under the kitchen sink! I thought perhaps I had been sloppy when I used the Lestoil to clean the kitchen floor last time, so I poked around trying to find the source, and sure enough it did leak, but not the way I suspected! It turns out the bottom of the bottle had cracked, and leaked a whole puddle of LESTOIL under the bottle and it's surrounding bottles - into a mess that I cannot describe in words, so here's the picture:

I thought I could just wipe it up and put everything back under the sink.... but that didn't work out so well, since the LESTOIL had dissolved the paint - it just doesn't seem to have a bottom anymore - the wood is so saturated that it continues to leach out of the wood under where the paint was....

very penetrating stuff!

So, instead of playing in the snow (with a shovel, of course) this morning I am coping with this mess:

So, if any of my deadlines are missed this week, you know why. I looks as though we may have to replace the kitchen cabinet (and hopefully NOT the floor UNDER the cabinet!) to completely purge the odor, since I don't think I'll ever be able to completely suck all that LESTOIL out of the base of this cabinet.

If you have a suggestion for how to get LESTOIL out of the wood, please - by all means!

Because I'd love to get back to the studio and do more sewing, or painting, or even tidying up my fabric stash!

a snowy, sewy weekend

2010-02-08T04:57:00.000-08:00

Good Morning Snowbunnies -

We've made it through the 4th worst snow storm of all recorded time (for Pgh, PA, at least) and so far, so good!
Actually, I spent the day in the sewing studio with a bunch of little square friends.....

getting ready for a block swap!

We had about 16 to 18" here in Greensburg, just east of Pgh, and dh spent a LOT of the weekend digging the cars out so we could fulfill work and social needs with the help of an angel with a snow blower - and I made it to teach the first of a four part quilting class to very appreciate newbie quilters.
... so, how was your weekend? have you made a new friend lately?

lots and lots of squares

2010-02-03T16:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I spent the day cutting up 5 yards of fabric into squares. Today I sewed half of the little squares to the corners of the big squares. This evening I'm snipping threads and clipping corners. Mindlessly seaming endless corners. Looking forward to what they will look like when they get together with all the other squares from the FB Quilters Block Swap.

And, I'm almost done putting the binding on this little beauty:

Tomorrow I'll be teaching, so watch for another post over the weekend. Let me hear from you - don't be shy!

is it painting? or just messing with paint?

2010-01-28T06:34:00.000-08:00

What's that you say? Where have you been all week? Oh, you don't care? Well, I'll tell you anyway....
It's another cold snowy morning in SW PA - so I've been making messes at the 'painting salon' in the basement and turned out some very colorful batting scraps to use in an upcoming Fiber Art Trade/Challenge:

and yesterday I went to play with friends - with paintsticks and stencils and inkie goodies,

and the day before that, I was quilting on this:

which I'm hoping to finish today.

and then I'll be serving the "World Famous FPC Spaghetti Dinner" at the church tonight... so come on over - it's all you can eat! Includes beverage, salad, bread and dessert for only $6! Such a DEAL! and I'll be your server, and you don't have to tip me! how easy is that?

Monday already - where did the weekend go?

2010-01-25T10:39:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I joined an online yahoo group called QuiltersFleaMarket - hoping to post some things for sale as I de-cluttered my sewing studio and storage space.... so okay, I haven't posted anything yet, but for any of my newbie friends who are looking to BUY things for their studios, including books, sewing machines, etc. this is a goldmine!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/QuiltersFleaMarket/

Today I rec'd two wonderful packages in the mail - a box of Aurifil thread:

and a Fiber Art PostCard:

the picture doesn't do it justice - it looks like a treasure map - complete with little treasures made from silk, paper, and brass! ...and doesn't my stove top make a good background?

Sometime last weekend I managed to start my 'calendar quilt' with a strip for each day of the year... here's January, so far:

I can see why they need to be trimmed at the end of the month...

And the quilt rack is attached to the dining room wall:

complete with the dragonfly quilt I made some time ago.... and yes - this is hand applique - and free-hand machine quilted, with dozens of tiny little crystals on those orange flower petals.

So - it was a productive weekend, which explains why it is a blur in my memory!

Hope yours was a good weekend, too.

Sweethearts Rock, and sewing in general rocks my world!

2010-01-23T15:49:00.000-08:00

Hello again,

I've been sewing again....

this little dittie will be mailed on Monday to my swap partner, and I'll be looking forward to the one she is going to send to me! Whoohooo, what fun! I love swaps!

Here's a close up:

those are not X's, they are BOWS!!!

Today I worked on my 'calendar quilt' adding 24 pieces to my strip so far this year.

Beautiful day today - hope yours was, too!

quilting progress

2010-01-20T05:26:00.000-08:00

Good Morning (or Evening, or whatever...)
I've been spending a bit of time listening to online radio while I quilt - what fun!
Watch for a pic of my 'Sweethearts Rock' quiltlet coming soon....
Enjoy your day, whatever it brings.

red, red, red up!

2010-01-16T07:08:00.000-08:00

I love to get into the red stash and play - it's invigorating!

This is part of my red stash - sooo pretty!

I'm going to spend the rest of the morning cutting some up.
gotta go now...

fiber art attempt

2010-01-15T07:54:00.000-08:00

So, I recently joined a Fiber Art Traders group - I think I may be overqualified for a group with the initials FAT, but that remains to be seen...

Here's my first efforts at being artistic in the group - it reminds me of that old song "The Sun Shines Out of Your Shoes" by Petula Clark. Have to smile, ya' know?

the other one was just for practice - these are only 4" x 6" so I had to get my sea legs under me before I got serious.

So now that I know that I'm not really a doodler by nature, do you think I should give it up or keep trying? Let me know, before I make a fool of myself!
Thanks!

Pat Sloan's Calendar Quilt Challenge

2010-01-14T14:05:00.000-08:00

busy day in PA

2010-01-14T04:15:00.000-08:00

You may not believe this, but it is only 6AM, and I’ve been awake for 2 hours already! I think this is a sign of aging – or it could have been that the paper carrier was just extra noisy this morning. Just as well that I’m up, tho, cause I have a busy day ahead of me and need to get moving.

I’ve been reminded that there hasn’t been a post on my blog yet and its now TWO WEEKS into the NEW YEAR – so here’s what’s up: I had a lovely post that I thought I had saved, but it is nowhere to be found…. Lost in cyberspace somewhere, pics and all.

First – the Studio part of the sorting adventure took a ton more effort than the yarn sorting, and it’s still not done! There is floor space showing, and the furniture is in place, but the sorting out uncovered yet another 8 boxes of fabric that I had completely forgotten about! How could that possibly happen?

Also uncovered – a LOT of ‘almost finished’ UFO’s – very tempting to just drop everything and finish a few of those, but I’m doing my best to restrain myself. I did have to put the sorting on hold while meeting a couple of deadlines, one of which is this coming Monday!

Other stuff: an almost finished knit scarf, a pincushion, a jar of buttons and a bunch of small gift bags!

AND – I’ve been putting a LOT of my energy into shoveling snow – it snowed here for 11 of the first 12 days of this year – enough already! It’s amazing how long it takes to recover from just an hour of shoveling snow…

Today is supposed to be pleasant, so I’m going out to spend some time with friends and do a couple of errands.

I know a lot of us leave our purses in the shopping cart while we are reading labels, reaching for frozen dinners, etc. - but this habit is an open invitation to purse snatchers, so when you are shopping, consider taking just your wallet and keys in your pocket – or maybe wearing one of those mini-messenger bags with just the necessities. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

And finally - please leave a comment to let me know you are reading this… don’t be a stranger! Let’s be friends. I’ve made friends in Australia, Belgium, and Cyprus just this month!

Another use for selvages

2009-12-31T06:34:00.000-08:00

The yarn sorting party was successful - and if there is anyone out there who would like scraps of polyester rug yarn - it's yours for the asking! But ask soon, it is going out with the trash on Sunday!
The guest bed is now up on risers, and about 90% of the yarn is now under the bed, stored in covered bins, with a selvage retrieval system that I conjured up out of available materials - namely, empty gift wrap tubes and strips of selvages. See pic...

No, I'm not going to show you the yarn itself. Although I do wish I had taken pics of what was in each box - might pull the bins out just for that purpose - it would be easier than writing it all down!

and here's the stash UNDER the bed! Notice the selvages wrapped around the boxes - that's my retrieval system - the strip of selvage goes through a tube at the back of the pile, so I can pull out the whole stack at once without crawling under the bed! nifty, I think...

This the is resulting floor space where those boxes had been:
Still a long ways to go before anyone comes to call... but a major improvement from my perspective - I haven't seen that floor in months!

the bed/quilt storage facility - almost uncluttered! wooot-wooot!!

Here's Traci working on the new floor plan for the sewing studio.

On a sad note, today I'm closing the "Quilters Closet, Etc." shop at Craftique downtown - it was just not going to make it through the bleak winter months. That merchandise will still be available, however, in my new "GrannyGoodStuff" boutique on ETSY. It's not quite open yet, but watch for it next week.
Although it's hard to believe this is the last day of 2009, I'm looking forward to 2010 with high hopes and positive expectations.
I hope your New Year celebration is safe, healthy and joyous.

yarn sorting

2009-12-30T13:41:00.000-08:00

Hello again,
We had a wonderful Christmas with a little trip thrown in and ended up driving through some nasty blowing snow on the way home, but things are getting back to normal, so I'll be posting more often again.
Today is sort the yarn day - Traci (DD) is helping me find, sort, and repack my yarn stash - it was just taking up a bit too much of the guest room, so I'm taking a short break.
Now, I know lots of quilters are also knitters/crocheters and have yarn stashes - mine goes back several decades - so we are sorting into what will and will not felt when washed, with a sub-category for 'embellishment' fibers.
So as we have the room nearly covered in boxes of yarn, Traci says to me: "Mom - your are one of the few people in the UNIVERSE who could to fill a TARDIS to the point where it WOULD NOT MOVE."
I'm not sure, but I get the impression she thinks I have a lot of yarn...
She likes it when I knit for her, tho - she found several skeins that she showed an interest in... which I will do in exchange for her able-bodied skillful assistance.
She says my knitted gifts are tangible proof of my motherly love and devotion... and could I knit another pair of wrist warmers?

A Cute Christmas Story...

2009-12-14T13:41:00.000-08:00

It was the day after Christmas at a church in San Francisco. The pastor of a church was looking over the creche when he noticed that the baby Jesus was missing from among the figures. He hurried outside and saw a little boy with a red wagon, and in the wagon was the figure of the little infant Jesus. So he walked up to the boy and said, "Well, where did you get your passenger, my fine friend?"
The little boy replied, "I got Him at church."
"And why did you take Him?"
The boy explained, "Well, about a week before Christmas I prayed to the little Lord Jesus and I told Him if He would bring me a red wagon for Christmas I would give Him a ride around the block in it."
An Early MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!

graph paper solution

2009-12-14T03:38:00.000-08:00

I want to share a link for all kinds of graph paper - http://incompetech.com
there is a ton of other stuff on this website, but I was looking for hexagon graph paper and this website has a graph paper generator that will produce a pdf file in any size grid you need for whatever you need any kind of graph paper for in metric or inches. There's also circle, perspective, tiles, tumbling blocks, etc. What a find!
There is a mesmerizing assortment of goodies on this site, so don't say I didn't warn you.

Quilter's Night Before Christmas

2009-12-08T03:25:00.000-08:00

My friend Cheryl sent me this little ditty:

Twas the night before Christmas, I'm glued to the tree.
I'm wondering what Santa brought just for me.
Could it be fat quarters or a pattern or lace?
Or a quilt kit, I said, with a smile on my face.
And that's when I heard him,
"Hi Santa," I said
"You know....good little girls should be in their beds ".
"I know I should Santa, and now I've got caught.
But I was just so excited to see what you brought."
"Well, let's take a look in this room where you work."
He shook his head quickly, And left with a jerk.
I heard him exclaim as he put it in gear.
"You've got enough stuff, I'll see you next year!"

~Author Unknown

Christmas projects

2009-12-07T04:02:00.000-08:00

I have a little quilt as you go wall hanging up, a dozen fabric candy canes, and a new flannel pillow done this past week - today I'll be baking cookies! Yum - the best part of the holidays!

Here's a picture of my projects:

The directions for all of these projects were included in the recent Cross Country Designers Blog Hop sponsored by 12 quilt designers, including Gudrun (the quilt) Pat Sloan (the pillow) and the Candy Canes were offered by Miss Rosie's on day 10. All of the projects included in the Blog Hop were quick easy holiday patterns and one participant even managed to get all 12 projects done by the end of the Hop - impressive work from bro3ther!

The designers even gave away prizes for those who commented on their blogs on 'their' days and there was a Grand Prize (which yours truly received, amazing!) which I just HAD to spread out and photograph for posterity:

An amazing and very generous assortment of goodies, patterns, books, tools, fabrics, and kits - I'm still stunned that I won all this just for making comments! and the blog hop itself was so inspirational with all the holiday traditions, memories, old pics, etc., and even a blast from the past - it was so much fun, it was worth getting up extra early every morning just to read them all!

If you would like to see more Christmas quilts, check out my friend's blog:
http://www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com/

I'm off to the kitchen to bake cookies now - merry merry time!

best of plans

2009-12-02T07:02:00.000-08:00

I made a trip around town yesterday - tried to combine as many errands as possible to conserve energy, fuel, etc. The errands were accomplished, but included standing in line far more than anticipated, so I didn't get back in time to sew up the candy canes, pillow, etc. that I had hoped to get to yesterday.
So TODAY I will attempt those fabric candy canes again! and if I get those done, I'll go on to the pillow triangles.
I also want to share a blog with you today - Geta does the most amazing trapunto - scroll down the page to see her blog link - it is very impressive - AND would you believe, she GIVES HER WORK AWAY!!!! Sign up for this month's giveaway on her blog today - and good luck!

quilting small for the holidays

2009-12-01T06:43:00.000-08:00

This is the first time I've tried making the 'INCHIE' quilts - which, if you haven't heard of them before, are exactly one inch square quilts - admittedly stiff, but quilts for sure - they are made with a satin stitch edge and then embellished with beads, ribbons, or what-have-you.
The first attempt took several tries, and I almost gave up as it was getting soooo time consuming, but then I just cut out a couple dozen pieces and kept trying until I found the stitch length/width x thread x needle combination x machine speed that worked, and suddenly it got a lot easier... now I'm thinking I might just do a lot more of these. For info on INCHIES, see http://inchiequilts.com/2009/12/01/the-daily-inchie-20091201/ which shows you a different inchie idea every day.
Other small projects I have finished so far include a pair of donut ornaments, a small Christmas tree wall hanging (from the blog hop pattern by Gudrun of GE Designs)
http://gudrun.typepad.com/.a/6a00e008d7b1248834012875650316970c-popup
and I hope to work on the fabric candy canes and Pat Sloan's pillow today.
No major projects in the works until after the new year. This is enough sewing fun for now, it's time to take inventory of my UFO's and see how many I can finish before New Year's Eve!
Hugs to all.

photo meme.

2009-11-25T12:44:00.000-08:00

My friend, Pam posted this challenge/invitation on her blog, so I'm responding...

Tag. you're it! Let me know and I'll come check out your photos too!

here are the rules:
*open your first photo folder
*scroll down to the 10th picture
(if you don't have 10 in that one, then go to the next folder that does)
*post that photo and the story behind that photo on your blog
*tag 5 friends to do the same

Last summer, we went to Jonesborough, TN to visit my SIL, and do a little antique shopping and then we all went on to the Knoxville quilt show.... but when we arrived in Jonesborough, there was an event that stopped us in our tracks - a long line of Model T's (and a few similar, but not technically T's) lined the main street of Jonesborough - they were having a rally - all of these cars were in good working order, mind you - and it took us the best part of the morning to inspect them all before they drove away! Seriously - there were at least 100 or more.

We love to visit historic Jonesborough, (check their website at)

http://www.historicjonesborough.com

and always try to take in a tall tale or two at the International Storytelling Center - seen just behind that handsome devil conducting the 'auto inspection' in this photo.

It was a beautiful morning, and a lovely memory!

Avoiding the Sorting Detour

2009-11-23T03:30:00.000-08:00

They say sorting is easy - four boxes labeled KEEP HERE, TOSS, RECYCLE, KEEP ELSEWHERE - but if you are an easily distracted, creative person - then everything you touch becomes a detour. That detour can often take the rest of the day to get back on track - so today, I'm trying to stay on track - conquer just one little mess with a short deadline, and then give myself a little 'quilting time' reward.
So, here I go - straight for the finish line - no distractions. I have ONE HOUR to accomplish this.

Finding lost quilty stuff...

2009-11-20T08:50:00.000-08:00

One of the issues I have to deal with as I proceed with this re-org is what to do with all the stuff - some of it hasn't been seen in so long I forgot long ago why I had it - but some turns out to be things I have been looking for - those "I know I already have a spool of blue thread here SOMEWHERE!!!" kinds of things.
Today I found the fabric I bought for the seats of the dining room chairs - I didn't have enough to do all four chairs - my math isn't my strongest talent, and I had bought half what I needed the first time - so I went back and bought the second half - but that second half disappeared as it came in the front door, so those seat cushions have been waiting patiently on the work table for that home dec fabric to turn up and (drum roll, please) I can now finish those seat cushions!
I'll have to figure out how to post pics when I get them done - because that will call for a major photo event in the dining room!

My Studio Re-Organization

2009-11-19T06:58:00.000-08:00

I've decided to concentrate on a major studio re-do. The current set up is just not efficient anymore - even if it were tidy (which it certainly is NOT) it would still need improvement - and I think I FINALLY have an idea of how I'd like to improve it... so I may not get quite as much sewing done between now and the holidays, but the goal is to have this reorganized (and TIDY) by the first of the year. Yeah, I don't expect this to happen overnight - it took years for it to get this bad, and it won't get better overnight, even with the help of Tinkerbell AND my Fairy Godmother!
I realized yesterday that there is a STACK of six boxes in the corner that I have NO IDEA of the contents! It's been so long since I saw the top of my ironing board that I'd forgotten it was there until I found myself picking up the results of the avalanche that fell off when I bumped it.
So here's a 'before' pic - this was taken a couple of years ago - before it got as bad as it is now!
I'm not sure I want to post a pic of it in its current state - the evidence might be used against me in a 'court of quilt law'!
I know that I get a lot more accomplished in a tidy space - so that's the goal - get re-organized and STAY TIDY! That's me, the future tidy person....

Guild Meeting

2009-11-17T04:59:00.000-08:00

Last night was the monthly meeting of Quilt Company East. The guest speaker was Eleanor Levie (Ellie) of Skinny Quilts and Tablerunners fame - she showed us samples of totes, table runners, and small quilts from several outstanding designers in addition to her own. She also presented a slide show of museum quilts by earlier quilters who were more adventurous than their peers and took a stab at doing something 'outside the box'. Ellie gave a wonderful, inspiring presentation and I'm so glad to have been there.
QCE is a quild that does a LOT of 'outside the box' quilts - an amazing bunch of talent for such a small room - there is always something at 'show & tell' that makes the late night worth the long drive.

Thanksgiving prep

2009-11-12T05:03:00.000-08:00

It's time to finalize the plans for Thanksgiving - the menu, the schedule, the headcount, the seating arrangements, or maybe the restaurant reservations!

My very favorite Thanksgiving restaurant has been closed for several years, so we went shopping for a new alternative - last year, we went to an 'all you can eat buffet' for Thanksgiving - it was great - everyone had their favorites, there were no leftovers, and no cleanup - I highly recommend it. Admittedly, it was not as much fun as the time we spent Thanksgiving with my brother and his family in San Diego....

I had just started to have hot flashes that year.... and had not yet realized that wine increased the 'power surges' so my beloved S-I-L and I were having a glass (or two) while we prepped the turkey, peeled potatoes, etc. and along with having the most fun I've ever had in a kitchen - I had ice pops stuffed in my clothes to help counter the 'power surges'.... it's possible we had a little more fun due to the fact that the turkey wasn't done until 8PM, so we had plenty of time for wine and finished the bottle off well before the food was ready to serve.
Good times, good family, good wine! Great combination.

AUTUMN has Arrived with a Howl

2009-10-07T08:39:00.000-07:00

The upstairs studio has a window a/c unit that howls and whistles when the winter winds blow - so this week's major goal will be to get that a/c OUT of the window and into storage for the winter.
We are having gusty winds up to 40+ mph today, and it sounds as though the upstairs is being haunted by banshees!

I've been working on the exchange blocks for Pat Sloan's Turkey Tracks exchange - these aren't due yet, but it feels so good to have them done!

The fabrics for the NEXT Pat Sloan challenge - the Gobble Gobble fabrics - have arrived in today's mail, and I can hardly wait to dig into this glorious bundle! These fabrics are by Sandy Gervais, who does yummy fall colors with a folk art attitude. First, a pumpkin, then some X blocks, then maybe a couple of trees. a crow?...... where will this take me?
check my FaceBook album pages and see!

not working isn't what it used to be...

2009-09-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

now that my unemployment claim is proceeding into the "Extended Benefit" phase, I will be required to search for work at least twice per week and be able to provide proof of those searches, and I can no longer file an online claim, it will have to be written, paper forms, requiring stamps, and a trip to the UC Claim office.
All this will have to wait until Tuesday, as this is the Labor Day weekend.

Race for the Cure quilt progress

2009-07-03T08:23:00.000-07:00

The 'Race for the Cure' quilt is on the frame - about 3/4ths quilted - coming along nicely.

Hope to finish the quilting this weekend - since it's raining anyway....

Sam, the little dog with a big heart

2009-05-20T05:15:00.000-07:00

Some days are harder than others, it's all part of the grieving process, I know.. but today I really miss Sam - he died over a year ago, so it is getting easier, but some days are still tough being without him. He was a one-in-a-million kind of dog - always alert, always there, totally unafraid, completely committed. I wish I could be more like him.