The White Flag of Surrender

      That's what I feel like doing tonight. I surrender until the 26th of December. I can't get beyond the basting point on this one. It's really high thread count pimatex that is hand dyed and I was worried that the safety pin basting method wouldn't stabilize it enough.So I decided to try hand basting it via the Sharon Schamber method. It isn't hard at all and really is seeming to lay nice and flat.

     I don't want to hurry with this one. I am feeling the need to slow down. And enjoy the holidays a bit. So I probably won't have any finished work before Christmas for you. Maybe just some pretty Christmas pictures. I am going to try to  sneak in a visit to the botanical gardens tomorrow. Don't tell my family that-they think I am working like a slave around here.:) No one wants to go with me.

   Just take some time to slow down, my friends!

There was a Goal Set/ #5 Finished

     Wasn't there? I think the number was seven. Well, I think this is five. I had purchased small block kits at a yearly shop hop. Never made it to all the shops so I had miscellaneous blocks sitting in a pile. Once I opened the packages and saw-directions - dreaded directions- I knew I couldn't follow them. So, I started cutting them up and now I have a little improvisational baby quilt.

One donation for March already done! ( Yes, I think all sane people are thinking about March in the month of Christmas.A little absolute insanity for the week before Christmas when I haven't even finished Christmas prep yet....)

                                            
                                                    Sweetness and Light
                                                          37x37, 2010


     I had my family Christmas party this weekend. My brother and sister-in-law  from Indianapolis spent the weekend with us. Lots of busy going on here. My family -minus my sick sister and her sick daughter...

       Yes , I have a whacked header up there. I just really only have a certain amount of competence with Photoshop. I will have to wait until my daughter comes home from her exam today and fixes it. With a lot of eye rolling and little patience for me! :) It really does bug me that I don't know how to do this stuff. Fearless to try  but too foolish to know how to correct some of my mistakes. Oh well. No one will die from my whacked header today. Lesson learned: don't change it until  you have the right thing to replace it with.

      Off to run a few errands. I will baste #6 today and finish it before Christmas leaving number 7 to be done the week after Christmas when I am on vacation. Or so goes the plan.

      Be creative, my friends!

Onward and Forward?Finish #4

     I have spent the past 48 hours trying to move forward. And I am. I keep reminding myself of that.  I have added a computer to our household-for my husband. I have spent hours deleting old files and then getting the data transferred. He has been very patient but is tired of searching for our one and only desktop throughout the house. By the end of the month- or should I say Christmas day- we should have 4-yes four operating and efficient computers. It is a huge deal to us as we have been operating on one for the past few months- limping along- going nowhere fast.( My daughter is taking a graphics design class and is hogging up the time at night.) I am very excited. More than excited.

     I have also spent way too much time(and money) getting my beloved Yukon fixed again. Yesterday. An unexpected and unwelcome start to the week. The Yukon had problems after the decision was made on computers so no looking back. She has 115,000 miles on her and she is mine. This is a sentimental kind of thing. She has been reliable. She is old and very dog friendly , if not a little smelly. But repaired and good to go today.
     Now, back to my quest to finish things. Finish #4: Carnival Ride.

     It's for a table in Vermont. Table art. Carnival Ride, 14x33, 2010 , and it's finished!

     My daughter Hope chose a winner for this last giveaway. She pulled out the name -Lynne- you are the winner. You will love the velvet. And the paints. I'll mail it out tomorrow.

     I want to join in the holiday fun over here. It might totally distract me from this finish thing. Remind me next year not to do this during December. Motivation to finish works- in- process needs to come in November.

Thank you again for stopping in.

Be creative, my friends!

Just Finish It: #3

      It was the start of a series. I have a whole journal full of sketches surrounding this little simple 'L" block. Many ideas -of where to go next. I started on it this summer and the top was done. When I started quilting it , the machine started chewing it up and I kept fighting with the machine. Which led to a new machine. I ripped out bad stitching for about 10 hours and then, left it in a heap in my workbasket. I was left with a stretched out  quilt top that I really didn't want to finish.
     But if I wanted to keep a record of the first in the series, it had to be finished.

I needed to let go of  perfect and finish it.

And it's done.  It will be for a room in my home.

                                                                
                                                                  L Series: #1
                                                                      9x37                                                                      

     It can still be beautiful even though it's not perfect.

     Be creative, my friends.

Another Learning Moment

 

The first snow 2010: December 1

       Late this year.The snow.  Looks silly with the sunshine in my banner....ahhh...it's just the week....
  
       By trying to juggle this new potential career -art and mommyhood- or maybe it's just working at home-I am learning alot about myself. Take for instance Monday night. 260 women to serve punch, cookies, cheese, crackers, fruit, coffee, tea and water. Sounds good. I can help. I am at home. Sure. Well, I did have two wonderful kind generous friends to help. BUT, clearly, I didn't have enough help. I was whooped on Tuesday morning. All went well at a  lovely Christmas gala but really Colleen. Lessons learned this week already:

1.Ok to volunteer but look at the calendar. Don't overcommit. Plan ahead.
2. Learn to delegate. (What was I thinking? )

It's all a blur but it's behind me. :)

I am now on to binding #3.

I am bribing myself to get this done so I can try this:

I bought a few thermofax screens on Etsy which I will tell you about tomorrow. I won't get to try them out today (now that's a realistic statement) but more tomorrow on them. Do you bribe yourself like this? If you get A done, you can play with B? That's also the whole focus part, isn't it? My head hurts from learning so much about myself so early in the morning!

I haven't forgotten I owe you the fourth giveaway. Just haven't had time to think about what it might be!

I will focus for you today.

Be creative, my friends! And breathe if you don't have time to be.

Finish #2:The Beast

     There is something rewarding about just pushing through and making it work even though you don't like the initial design. I pushed even though the colors were not making me happy.The initial design was kind of cheesy. Well really just bad. In the end , I just needed to work through it and do it. I didn't like wasting my hand dyed fabrics.

                                                            L Series # 3 : The Beast
                                                                     21 x 28    

 
Hand dyed fabrics, machine stitched with yellow and blue cotton threads.

I was having difficulty with my bobbin thread tension at first so I see two lines I might re-do.

Quilt # 2 done and three is being basted today.( I finished a doll quilt too this weekend for the Santa Claus girls but that wasn't on the list!) My son calculated I could only work on each top for five days to finish it -if I want to complete all 7 by the end of the year.


Be creative, my friends!

 Giveaway: Post on last Friday's post if you want to win the scissors and thread. I will pick tomorrow.

End of The Week Wrap Up/Another Giveaway

     Winner from last week's giveaway is number 2 : sweet Jeana Marie! I will send you small package if you email me your address Jeana! I know she will put the thread to beautiful use. What she makes is just lovely. My husband, the accountant,  picked the number to make it official.

     I have been working hard and am very happy to be sewing on binding on quilt #2.

I really enjoying handstitching the binding on. Very relaxing and I like to save it for night time when I can sit with the kids and stitch.

The 3rd giveaway is 4 more skeins of hand dyed thread (the pink is perle cotton) , a quarter yard of this owl print and this great pair of scissors. I  like this little Japanese fabric even if it might be too cute for you.. I have a thing for owls way before they became kind of trendy cute. I am in love with this pair of scissors-very sharp and easy on my hands. They really avoid my thumb which is full of arthritis from all those years of massages I did as a physical therapist.  Let me know what part of the process of making a quilt you like the best. Leave a comment on THIS post and I will let you know who is the winner on Tuesday.  I'll forget on the holiday week.

Again, the giveaway is just a little thanks for sharing and listening to me talk on and on the past year! Thanks for being good friends.

Be creative, my friends!

A Quick One

      Can't stay and chat today. The whole focus thing is really hard for me. I much prefer the chatting and stopping to see how you are.

The basting on the beast.

The beast is being quilted. I am getting some weird u-turns where instead I would like crisp square corners. I don't know what I am doing differently but it seemed a good place to stop.

Just a little lack of focus...and a distraction last night. See how hard this focus is for me?

That pile of jean scraps from last January will be made into bags-I don't want to buy wrapping paper for the few gifts I will give this year. I like that it is reversible. But it's kind of boring. I like the size but the straps could be shorter. The recycled market bag . At least my lack of focus was productive.:)

Be creative, my friends.

Looking Ahead

     I went upstairs to work this weekend and I reached "it". "It" is my acceptable limit of the number of pieces sitting in my workbasket. Works in process or, quite bluntly, works unfinished. I get so excited about trying something new, that I just don't finish things. I didn't even start a list of finished quilts in 2010. That's another topic called neglecting the blog and how it looks. But one feeds into the other. So, a list and it might even be added to . Accountability. Why I decide this during the holidays each year, I have no idea. Ah yes, the list.

Works in process
1. Loving Lucy
2. The L series -#1
3. The L series- #2
4. The L series-  # 3
5. Australian scrap quilt
6. Red/Blue quilt
7. Charity quilts-2
8. Crinkle quilt
9. Silk Quilt
10. The Moon
11. Joy

Impressive, isn't it ? But I  know you have a similar place where you peek into with horror every once in awhile. Or maybe not. If you are very good about finishing things, don't tell me please.

Goal: By the end of the year have 7 done, photographed and entered into a page type format on my blog.

Plan: Lots of machine quilting needs to be done. FOCUS. With a clear vision of the goal.

Another goal-shoot in manual rather than auto mode-bear with me.

                                                            
                                                                      Joy, 2010
                                                                         8.5x13

One done , 6 more to go.

Off to volutnteer and pack shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child this week. Posts will be lighter but still there.

Be creative, my friends!

Stitch Sampler #2 and a Giveaway

    
           Stitch Sampler #2, November 2010
      acrylic on cotton, hand-dyed embroidery thread
       machine quilted and hand embroidered

       You must be sleeping or just not reading until I have a picture of a completed quilt. :) I do the same thing
and just look for the pictures! I have been carrying a few hand pieces with me and finally just sat here in the sun and finished it!  It should be turned so it hangs vertically but you could see the stitching better this way. I just keep trying new things.

    I am having a giveaway. Check last Friday's post and leave a comment. I'll pick on Friday otherwise, I have a new sketchbook.

    Be creative, my friends!

Free Friday Inspiration

     I do love the end of the week. And as promised , I  have a giveaway for you. It's a thank you for being faithful friends for the past year while I learned to blog . You have inspired me. So now to pass the inspiration back, or to let you inspire someone else, I have some freebies for you.  On each Friday for the next four weeks, I will announce a give away. You need only to comment and let me know about one creative thing that you did in the past week. Maybe it was taking a great photo of your kids. Or you finished the binding on a quilt. Or a painting in a journal.  Or drew a sketch of something you intend to make. You certainly know what creative is!

    On the following Friday, I will announce the winner and the next giveaway. The giveaway is something that inspired or prompted me to do something creative.

     For this week, it's a small journal, a Pitt pen and case for your pencils. I started using a journal about a year ago and can't live without it in my backpack or purse. It goes where I go. Just like my camera, phone and car keys.

     So leave a comment and let me know one creative thing that you did this past week. I'll start. I finished a small stitch sampler on linen in which I practiced four of Leah Day's  machine quilting fillers: etch n sketch, flame, bamboo and checkerboard. Small so I could actually accomplish something! A little imperfect work of the week.

                                                               Work of the Week #9
                                                      
    Be creative, my friends. Leave a comment on this post and I will enter you in this week's giveaway.

Zero, Zip, Nada, Nothing

     That's what my dad would say when he didn't get anything done at work. I am afraid I could say the same for this week. I had a project up on my design wall and I made 16 blocks for it and then ten more. I played with it. I moved it around. I slept on the idea. I put some of it together. That was kind of delusional. Desperate. Then I cut it up more after I sewed some of the blocks together. I just didn't like it.It was a disaster. And it was big. A big ugly disaster and I am even showing it to you. Oh well...my husband said-I guess that's the good part of being an aspiring artist- you can start over again. Well, I guess so but I was pretty frustrated. I feel like at this point there should be some predictibilty in what I want to do...Ha-ha. Maybe I could go to work as  fabric cutter or ironing lady. It could be my new profession. It is a very humbling process. I am not using this- I hated the blue and green line through it which I didn't strip piece but cut each piece individually. Not even smart. I will salvage some pieces-for what-just to make myself feel better?  Oh well.

    
     My natural dyeing attempt was kind of a bust, too. But that was absolutely my fault. Always read the directions first! It's in the washer and I will show it to you next post so you can see and avoid my mistakes. I loved the frozen flower petals I did earlier- a warm butter yellow. Yum.

     I went to our West Michigan Fiber Arts group on Monday night and our talented Gail Myrrhorodosky gave a great presentaion on the process of creating one of her pieces. Lots of yarn and fibers stitched down with tulle, solvy and aquamagic. That was a privilege.
 
     So 20+ hours later, I am back to work. Today I will use a pattern for a very pink baby quilt. Safe, isn't it?  And I am ok with it.

    Or maybe I should just tackle some works in process. Or carve a pumpkin with the kids.

     I love this. Intrigued by white. Must focus though.

Be creative, my friends. For me. I am not this week.

#2 in the L Series

     That is a really lame title. But my tired little brain can't think of anything else. I was having sewing machine issues so went to newly bought -used machine-but that was having problems too! But my very dear local dealer replaced it with another used machine and this one is sewing just perfectly for me-at this minute. So I just can't think of a catchy name for this series right now.

     I am continuing blocks with a "L" theme and this time I went much larger.

     The actual sewing together of this one was very challenging for me. Oh alright, that was a polite way of saying it was driving me crazy at one point yesterday. A construction nightmare. I haven't done inset seams before. Just sewn by hand but not machine. Until this week. And I heard a very distinctive voice, say to a workshop participant this spring-"At this point you should be able to figure it out. I am not going to tell you how to sew it together. You have to find your own way." Over and over, I repeated those words.:)

So.that is what I did.

Figured it out.  One seam and one piece at a time. I ripped it some seams out SEVERAL times until the top was done.

     And it's not necessarily any wonder- design wise. But I just feel accomplished because I didn't give up. Hand dyed fabrics look pretty outside, don't they? It measures about 32 x 60 unquilted. How does it fit as part of this series? Well...I did follow the "L" motif but I should have played with my original easy design before I jumped into this one. Or maybe not. Maybe it's an improvisational series.

     Next, I am moving back to machine quilting these last two pieces. I need to add finished pieces to my tally for 2010.

     Happy Sewing, my friends!

The Beginning Work

     It is very quiet here. Drinking my coffee and enjoying the peace, the ticking of the clock and the hum of the refrigerator. Not quite wanting my day to start without them -but it already has -at 6am.  Missing them but relieved for the peace. Always kind of a push pull kind of thing isn't it? Not quite wanting to start the list of things that is already there and wondering how it will all fit in. And then wondering where the art piece will fit in today.

 And wondering what to share of what I am doing. I did finish the memory quilt. A big yeah! I also pieced the first in my series/study.

It measures about 36 by 36 and I am not going to quilt it yet. I might add another to it but the next in the series...My parameters for the study: play with one block or motif and manipulate it as many times as I can stand it. Don't need to necessarily like the outcome but just work the motif. Each piece will be individually cut freehand with the rotary cutter-just like this one. Looks like floor tile to me ... oops I said no criticizing it , didn't I? I will show you these along my way.

Also, I am on Work of the Week #2. Parameters on this project:

     1. 4 per month measuring 8x12.
     2. I will start with surface design techniques.
     3. Again, I don't need to like it, just experiment.
     4. Start with a plain white "canvas".
     5. No starting it over-finish what you start with.
     6. I may or may not show you them.

That's it. I will document on the back what I liked and what worked.

This is actually the back which I liked more than the front-the way the paint seeped through the quilting lines.
The front was painted AFTER I did the quilting lines with some Jaquard paints I had in my drawer.

Odd I know . I am not a painter and don't like the colors or my paintstrokes...oops again...what I do like...what I do like....

I LOVED stitching first and applying color second. Positive is better and makes me feel like I learned something. I guess I need to work on critiquing rather than criticizing my work. That might be the most painful part of this process. Ongoing and forever I guess. Critique rather than criticize.

Off to weed, shop, drive and go to a cross country meet. After I put my hands on some fabric for awhile!

Happy Sewing, my friends!

So What's Next?

     My oldest daughter left this weekend for college. The other two kids start school after Labor Day. As we have spent time shopping for school supplies, I became increasingly and foolishly jealous of my kids purchases. New pens, new pencils, new crayons and a new year at school. But then, I realized it wasn't necessarily the new loot but the fresh start I was jealous of . They begin a new year as if the previous year wasn't there and they get to start all over again. Learn new things, try new things and do the work.

      I am a wannabee art quilter right now- so why couldn't I do the same thing? A fresh start but not just jumping from one thing to another. I am doing the learning new things and the trying new things but I have no specific plan or purpose. So to give myself some goals for the rest of the year, I need a little more structure.

1. I am going to work in a series for 6 pieces at least 3x3. I will work in a simple motif or block that I started working on in Vermont. Series sounds- scary -but more serious.  I think I need to learn to manipulate this little block until I have it how I want it. It's just a little "L" so how scary can that be? Why that size? It's just big enough I can feel I am working on my machine quilting. Not big enough to be overwhelmed.

2. Then I am also going to work smaller. 8x10 is the next size I have chosen. After being introduced to the work of Jeanne Williamson by Paula, I have been really inspired.

 I picked Jeanne's book, The Uncommon Quilter in the library after Paula mentioned her name and I was amazed after reading it.  She made a quilt a week  this size for seven years-365 to be exact. A perseverant and talented artist. I am going to try to work through some of the techniques she has outlined in this great book. The only thing I bought for it is a new box of crayons. The rest will be found objects or things I already have. I am very excited to do this.

     So there is my fresh start and new box of crayons for the new  school year! Just like that I have returned to school.

Happy Summer, my friends-for a few more weeks!


  

Just Having Fun

    The last five days have been beautiful-in the 70's and for the most part sunny. We did a few projects around the house and then decided to go to Burlington on Friday. It was really windy on Lake Champlain. Also visited art galleries, took in a baseball game and just people watched on the mall in the city. Great times.

     I am just about to pack the rest of my sewing supplies up but wanted to give you a peek at what I have been doing. I owe you a few that were promised last week.

I had just small strips of this fabric and chose to do long strip pieces-really pretty Australian fabric pack that I bought at the Vermont Quilt Festival.

Then I decided to make one of my previous tops bigger. Don't know if I like it or it needs to be even larger.

And then this one which is in the process of being pieced. I am FINALLY processing the idea of a moitf from my last Crow class. Ok that took long enough.

I am 20 minutes away from my house right now-so I apologize for this picture-can't re-take it here at the coffee shop. I really like the feel of this and imagine it to be about 5x6 when it is done. So that's what I have been working on. Very scattered and unrelated. Just felt like working along with the summer instead of being scheduled and pre-planned.

I can only imagine maybe one more post from here. We have another dairy show which takes up two days and then the big packing up and driving home. Oh and maybe we can squeeze in a trip to Shelburne Farms where there is a quilt exhibit....I am never bored. Have you noticed?

Hope you are having fun this summer.

Happy Summer,my friends!

The Softness of Silk

     My husband, Marc, came back yesterday to spend the next five days with us. He came early enough in the day that we were able to take a day trip and enjoy some of the pretty countryside here.I love choosing new places to check out here. The weather has been especially nice and I took some great pictures which I hope to show you tomorrow. So nice to have him here ...

     I finished a little silk piece on Tuesday. I had picked up a package of silk scraps at the Vermont Quilt Show in June at this booth and could have spent hours in there searching through her bags of treasures.It is called Delectable Mountain and is located in Brattleboro, VT. If I take a trip that far south, I will definitely check the store out. She had lots of merchandise. This is what I have left over-

     I loved working with the silk pieces and I did it entirely piece by piece without thinking of design on a design wall. Just laying it out on my table next to me and choosing another piece to add.  No agonizing over what would come next. and I was done with it in an afternoon. And I love it. It's nothing fancy as far as design is concerned and I could critique for you. But I am just going to enjoy it. I love it.

I will hand stitch this piece and it seems like a good project for the ride home next week. The edges fray like crazy so I need to sandwich it as soon as possible. I will use silk thread and hand dyed embroidery floss for the hand stitching. Any suggestions for me  for those of you who have used silk before?

   

Off to help out with a kids golf tournament. Having trouble with this...so hope it publishes. 

Happy Summer, my friends!

Freedom 2010

Happy 4th of July my friends. Hope you enjoy the freedoms that we have here in America. I pieced this little flag this week and it's not yet quilted. Ever since Robin Ferrier did a flag about a year ago, I have wanted to do one too. Super easy and just what I needed to get going again. Freedom 2010-22x28 unquilted.

                                                  

Happy 4th of July, my friends!

The Finish Fairy

     I am dreaming of the fairy that is going to get me off my duff , wave her magic wand  and  sprinkle lots of magic dust and then I will finish something wonderful. And then I will write this amazing blog post and have a million followers. Hah..my dream continues and ....I am amazingly productive, daringly creative and thin.

    But in my real life, I have just been trying to catch up. And keep up. And no matter how hard I was trying to dig out, I couldn't make any headway. I have big gardens and they just needed to be thinned out and replanted. Nothing got done last fall because of my silly foot. And kids just needed to be kids and have a million kids over hanging a million wet towels all over the place. But the garden is ok for now.  The kids have settled down a bit into summer and need less to just be and relax into summer laziness.

    So the finish fairy and I had a date this morning and at 7:56 am a finish was born.

                                                      
                                     Lisa's Quilt: 42x52

     I used hand dyed cottons, commercial batiks, hand dyed silk ribbon, embroidery and machine quilting in this quilt. It is a commission that has been around for way too long. I really had trouble with this one. And it came down to the fact I just don't like browns -it was hard for me. (and me procrastinating) A lot of stalls along the way waiting for our schedules to coincide for approval. (and me procrastinating) But once I got past that and did exactly what my friend wanted, it came together. She is happy with it and will be excited to have it. Actually-when she saw it last week she said it rocks. And her being happy with it is the only thing that  mattered. Because it's hers.

     I learned quite a bit from this process. 1. I was able to work with a color that was not my favorite. 2. I always underestimate how long it actually takes to complete a quilt from start to finish. 3. As long as they stay true to what I like design wise, I can do a commission and be satisfied with my results. And get paid for it.

  
      My yardwork is done too and now I am just going to enjoy a cup of coffee in my rocking chair on the porch. I can't tell you how good I feel that this is DONE.

Happy Sewing, my friends!