Joy in the Process

This past week has been as busy as the one before.  House and Studio are far from clean. Yet dishes have been done just about every night. (okay so we are eating off paper plates but the cooking dishes still have to be done) I even sewed a few evenings.  But mostly I was under the weather.  I have been fighting an asthma flare for a couple of weeks now (19 days).  I have been wiped out most evenings.  Killian, the good boy that he is, has been trying to take care of me despite still being under the weather himself.

We still have 4 baby piggies, the chickens are laying 5-7 eggs a day, the dog and cats are still alive and doing well. All of which has been a big concern to my real life Mowgli, Perigrine. Since she will be in Nevada for awhile, Perigrine is convinced the animals are going to die from lack of attention and care. But Killian and I doing a decent job even if I do say so myself.

As for sewing/quilting, I managed to finish piecing the top of the the tag team quilt. I have decided to name this quilt "Joyfully Scrappy".  I have had the joined rows hanging on the rollers of my long arm in between sewing sessions. Every time I walk out of my bedroom and into my studio, I would see that partial quilt top and it just makes me happy.  It may sound Silly but it does.  I puts me in a better mood for the day and since I have to go through the Studio to get to my bedroom, I walked past it quite often.

I don't know what it is about this top.  Maybe it is because I found a use for fabric squares that I have had for a long time. Maybe it is the pattern and the colors.  May be it is the whole process of making it. I just know that I hated to fold it up today.  But I don't want it draping on the floor. Especially since the dog is following me around and hanging out in what ever room I am in.  I am hoping to get it measured and add the borders this next week.  I also need to do that to Aurora's quilt. I should be ready to start quilting at least one of those next weekend if not both. That is progress.

For the next project I am torn between:

1. Adding on to the sides of my Irish chain quilt to make it more bed friendly
2. Starting a Key hole quilt for Emerson, using some jelly roll strips I've had for a while
3. Doing a layer cake quilt that I have a kit I bought last year.
4. A simple 4 patch quilt using some 5 inch squares that I have on hand

We'll see which jumps onto my work table first.  It may not be any of those. I have plenty of project to choose from. I just don't know which one yet.

What are you working on? Have you got your next one planned?

Empty House Equals More Chores and Less Quilting

This week has been a little weird for me.  Tatianna has been gone for a couple of weeks now. Perigrine left to go help her sister in Nevada for a couple of months and Kim is out of town on business yet again.  It has been down to Killian and me here at the house and it is way too quiet to suit either of us.  Plus we have to do all the chores.  I haven't cooked regularly for the past 10 years and now I am fixing breakfast, packing lunches and making dinner.  Plus doing dishes and Laundry.  I miss my slaves, I mean children. I miss my children.

So with all the wedding stuff and because my slaves (yes I know "children") had a definite lack of incentive, the house is a mess.  Now usually I don't mind living with the mess and just go about doing what I want to do because it is the children's responsibility to take care of it.  But now, Dang it, it is MY responsibility to take care of it. So I am doing a little everyday. Usually I get home before Killian so I change my clothes and start dinner (frozen casseroles have been my friend this week). When Killian gets home we take care of the animals and do other chores (laundry, dishes, cleaning) eat dinner and the settle down for the night. Maybe watch a little TV.  It has been a decent routine so far.  Hopefully we can keep it up. 

Because other things have taken priority, (I know. Sacrilege!!! but the animals and we have to eat) I haven't done much sewing/quilting wise.  I did get my blocks laid out for my quilt top.  I have them stacked up by rows neatly clipped together on the side is to be stitched.   Last week I said I had 80 blocks. Well, I found some more background squares and made up an 81st block so I could do a 9 x 9 lay out.  After laying them out I had 1 block left over. I must have miscounted. So I have an orphan block to add to my collection. 

I managed to get three rows sewn and I have to say I am really loving the look of this quilt top. This quilt is really giving me a lot of pleasure. I think it is partly because it is using up stuff I've had for a really long time. There is something very satisfying about using up what you have. It seems to keep in line with the original spirit of quilting.

This week has been a change and a challenge for me but it also has been a little invigorating.  I am not feeling as overwhelmed by the house and while the improvement is slow, it is happening.  I plan to take some time each evening and work a little on the quilt before bed.  I may make it happen, I may not, but I will always have the weekend to sew. 

Life is about adapting and growing when presented with new challenges.  I feel like this week has been a growth week for me. 

How has your week gone?

Why Have a Design Wall?

Finally the last of the wedding celebrations are over. No more wedding preparations and no more scheduled wedding events. Don't get me wrong it has been a joyous time for all if us, especially Tatianna and Zack (the Newlyweds) But the last 5 weekends have been tied up with wedding events. showers, bachelorette parties, bachelor parties, wedding travels, and receptions. It has been a whirl wind of celebrations and I am about partied out.  Time for life to get back to normal. Or at least some semblance of what passes for normal.

This past week I was able to sew a little.  I got all of the little 4 inch squares turned into 4 patch blocks.  It feels good to be sewing again and really good to be at the block stage with this quilt. Next step laying it out on a design wall. 

Before I got my 4 patches sewn, I decided I was really going to need to lay the blocks out. You see this is a very random and scrappy quilt. So I will need to make sure that the colors are evenly dispersed and the pattern flow is good.

As many of you know, a year and a half ago I made myself a design wall that I wasn't too happy with. (too flimsy)  I did a little research on the google machine to see how others made their design walls.  I am thinking I want it to be at least 72" x 72".  Several had smallish design walls.  Basically the size of a block. I didn't see any sense in a design wall that would be block size.

Then I started turning my squares in 4 patch blocks. I now realize that I have something in common with Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilts.  I am direction-ally challenged.  The four patch block is supposed to look like the top picture.

I started matching up the squares into 2 patch sets and wasn't paying attention to which way the white part of the block was going. So I had sewn about 130 sets and was kind of auditioning them to how they would look together.  That's when I realized what I had been doing. Because I had a block that went together like this. (middle picture) While this is a really neat pattern (and I will probably do it one day) it is not the pattern I was going for. 

As you all know this is not the first time I have done this. I did it when I pieced the ribbon dance quilts as well.

So I finish sewing the 2 square sets and about 1/3 of my sets are going the wrong way.  Fortunately I discovered it before I had sewn any of the sets into the four patches. Even better, before I ripped the stitching out of the 50 sets, I realized that I just needed to match the sets up on the vertical axis and then rotate them to get the look I wanted.  I did end up taking apart one of the sets but ripping out one seam sure beats ripping out 50 seams.

This got me to thinking about that block size design wall.  I realized that if I had a visual of the block in sight, I may not have sewn so many sets together in the wrong direction.  So maybe a small design wall isn't such a bad idea.  One of the "make your own" design walls was made with dowels, pvc clamps, and batting.  It just so happens that I have a small (10" x 16") pvc style needle work frame.  I also have scraps of batting.  Now I have a block size design wall.

Next up - a large design wall. I am currently toying with wood panels, hinges and wheels.  I wish I could get my husband to design it.  He usually comes up with a very workable idea. But his work schedule keeps him busy and out of town a lot these days. I am probably on my own. In the mean time I will lay out the fabric for my design wall on my bed and work from that. Making do with what you have isn't a bad thing.

What tools would you benefit from having?  What have you created to meet one of your needs?

Non-Quilting Crafting

I can't believe it has been 4 weeks already. Wow, time really does go faster the older you get. Tatianna is getting married in less than a week and moving away. Okay, it is only 2 hours away, but that is too far for my quilting buddy to go. Out of five daughters, only one, Tatianna, likes to quilt.  I think it is because she is very precise in how she does things and that is an advantage when quilting. Also she loves putting together puzzles and quilting is kinda of like putting together a fabric puzzle. Tatianna has always encouraged me in all my crafting and she pushes me in my quilting journey.  It will be hard having her not be right here.

I have done nothing when it comes to quilting or sewing in the past 4 weeks. I have been crafting though. I have been using some of my other skills to make things for the wedding.  First, it was the bridesmaids jewelry.  The bridesmaids are wearing blue dresses and red accessories.  So red jewelry. I did not have an abundance of red beads therefore I needed to buy some.  I found 3 sizes of the same bead online at Wish.com. The price was right and the delivery was faster than I expected. I already had silver bead caps, stringing materials, earring wires, and clasps. Bonus points for using from my stash. I came up with a simple pattern and made three sets over the course of a week.  I am pleased with the results.

Then I did the bride's jewelry.  These had to be white for the temple wedding. Tatianna being an old soul wanted a real cameo. I was able to find a white carved shell cameo at Fire Mountain Gems. I set it in a sterling silver bezel. I then strung white fresh water pearls inserting a crystal rondell every four pearls. I placed the cameo in the center of the necklace.  I made pearl earrings to match. They will pair nicely with the silver chain maille/veil her father made.


With the jewelry done it was onto the flowers.  We decided that the bridesmaids would have a ball of flowers that hangs from their wrists instead of bouquets. I have made corsages and boutonnieres before. I have done some arrangements but truthfully not any bouquets or flower balls.  Of course these are going to be silk flowers since I need to do them ahead of time. I bought ten red rose bush arrangements and cut them up. I took some Styrofoam balls covered them in Spanish Moss and started stabbing red roses into them.  The balls turned out a little bigger than I planned but I think they are cute. A red ribbon inserted into the ball lets them hang from the girls' wrists.

The bouquet was a little harder.  At Hobby Lobby, I found two different bouquet forms. The one would use could be combined with a frilled cone to bouquet a finished edge.  It would have been a traditional bouquet with a rounded top and a handle the went straight down.  Tatianna liked the other form. It was angled so the top of the bouquet pointed away from the bride that way. that way it was more visible. Plus she wanted all the wedding colors in her bouquet.

I chose white roses but was having a hard time finding small red and blue flowers for the accent flowers.  I knew I should have bought them before memorial day. But No! I had to wait until after the Fourth of July to buy them.  I ended up with some small red carnation looking flowers and blue hydrangea looking flowers.  I had to dismantle the hydrangea flowers to get small enough blooms. I took the white accent from the flower bushes and cut them in half to get the right size of filler flowers. I went with a simple ribbon bow. The end results speak for themselves.  Hopefully I will be able to add a couple of pictures in tiny frames on chain to finish it off.

That left corsages and boutonnieres.  I managed to get the boutonnieres done as well. They are simple roses with a little white accent and leaves.  The corsages will be more of a challenge.  I will be using the same flowers as I used in the bouquets and they aren't quite what I am used to working with.  But I will make it happen.

My granddaughter Aurora (age 4) reminded me last night that she needs flowers and jewelry because she's going to be the flower girl. Also that Emerson (her brother, age 2) needs a boutonniere and a tie. I am going to have to make Emerson a bow tie since we can't find a little tie. The ones I bought are too big.  So Five days left to get all of that done. I need a nap just thinking about it.

I am ready to get back to quilting.  In fact I recently watched the Quilt Path videos on You Tube and am anxious to practice what I learned. But I need to get through this wedding and reception first. The reception will be the following Saturday and I need to decorate a cake and cook for that. Which means I will probably watch the videos again over the next couple weeks. Because It will be that long before I get a quilt ready to go on Millie. At least I have an idea of how I can improve what I am doing.

Well I better close and get back to work on wedding stuff.  What have you been up too?

Stopping Places and Starting Points

This past week went by way too fast. I swear it was just June 24th yesterday and here it is July 1st.  While work could have been better, Home went fairly well.  I did manage to keep busy after work doing some cleaning, sewing some blocks and a very little bit of Swedish weaving. 

I manged to sew 100 more blocks so I now have 250 of them done. I have about 80 more that I can do. I am using 4 inch squares I bought online 15 years ago. When I finish up these particular squares, I will sew them into whatever size quilt I can.

This project I am doing a little differently that previous projects and it is really helping to keep me enthused.  I am sewing the blocks in groups.  Basically, I am chain piecing 50 at a time. When I have those 50 chain pieced, I am trimming the corners and pressing all 50 blocks.  Then instead of putting them aside, like I usually do, I am squaring them up.  I find this gives me a nice stopping place.  I find I like having a logical stopping place for things.

I am one of those people who has a hard time putting a book down. If I am not going to finish it in that reading I have to end on a chapter.  My husband, however, can set the book down with a paragraph left to read. That is just wrong. Finish already! There is something not right about setting a book aside when you can finish it in less than 10 minutes. If I only have 1 chapter left to read I need to go on and finish it. A logical stopping place, it turns out, is pretty essential to my frame of mind.

That being said, I had to be out of the house for several hours on Saturday. Knowing that I wanted to have a productive day, I made some plans. I had a project to do out in the rock shop, but that wasn't going to keep me busy for 4 hours so I took the Swedish weaving out with me. 

First I had to pickle the chain mail veil that my husband is making for Tatianna's wedding. It is going to be so awesome. That took all of an hour from set up to clean up. 

Then I read for a little bit. My friend introduced me to a great author, Andy Andrews.  He writes self help books that don't read like self help books.  When you get done reading them you feel pretty good about yourself and encouraged and empowered to do better. I am actually feeling brave enough to get some quilts ready to sell on Etsy.

After reading to a stopping point where I needed to ponder what I read, I settled in to do some Swedish weaving. I do enjoy Swedish weaving but it is a time consuming endeavor. I managed to get 6 lines done before having to take my son to the ER. He is fine but his ankle is messed up. He hyper flexed it on both sides and bruised some cartilage. He is going to be on crutches for the week at least.  It was time to clean up and put things away by the time we got home from the ER. But I couldn't let that Swedish weaving alone. You see the pattern is in 3 sections, each section being about 9 lines.  I only had part of a section done. Apparently I need to finish a section or it will weigh on my mind until I finish it.  Who knew? Well, apparently my husband did because when I mentioned it to him, he just nodded and said yeah that was something I did.

I also realized that I not only have to have a logical stopping point, but if the project is not finished I have to get things set-up to start again.  So the for the quilt blocks, I have to have the next group ready to go and the machine threaded and maybe a spare bobbin ready.  For the Swedish weaving I have to have the bodkin threaded with the next strand and tucked into the starting point. For reading, I have to have the place marked and it set by my bed (or in my purse, if traveling). 

I occasionally joke about being slightly OCD because I like things done a certain way and in a certain order. I have to have my studio set up in a fashion that makes sense to me.  Dishes are done in a certain order.  Projects are stored neatly in bins and stacked on a shelf. Clutter does make me crazy in my work space. But I didn't realize how much I am a creature of habits until recently. These little quirks affect my happiness so I might as well indulge them. Who needs to be stressed out over the little things.

What are some of the quirks you have when creating?

Being Productive Equals Being Enthused

So I had a truly enjoyable time in California.  The people at the California plant made me feel welcomed and of value. While I'm not sure how much of an expert I am they sure treated me like I was one.  That made for a very enjoyable work experience.  Plus I felt like we got some real work done.

There is not really a whole lot to do in Gustine and Santa Nella California. So I spent my evenings in the hotel room.  Fortunately I had planned for this and had my Swedish weaving project ready to go. I should point out that I am not really a needle work person.  It just takes too long to finish a project. But I always forget that before I start a project. Then project drags on for years.

Feathers To and Fro

Anyway I spent the evenings and early mornings (because my body didn't want to adapt to Pacific time) stitching away. In the four days, I was able to get one pattern repeat done.  Over this weekend I was able to get a 1/3 of the next repeat done. This project is going to take 7 pattern repeats to complete. It won't be done anytime soon.  But as I have a few minutes here and there I will work on it. I have it at the ready in a basket hanging on my project shelf. I am really happy with how it is looking and I love the colors.

Thursday, I got off work a little early and went to a couple of quilt shops.  I drove to Los Banos but despite my calling and asking about the hours the day before it was closed.  I then used the google machine to see where else close by I could find a shop. Google listed Cloth and Quilts in Hilmar, CA.  I headed that way. I was about a mile away when I spotted Cabin Quilts also in Hilmar.  It was a fairly small store with a lot of personality. It was very welcoming. I mentioned that I was heading to a different shop when I spotted them.  They said I needed to visit the other shop because it was bigger. They even gave me directions to it.  They told me the other shop had a lot more in the way of books and rulers as well as a bigger fabric selection. After purchasing a few fat quarter bundles and a small jelly roll. I headed over to Cloth and Quilts. When they found out I was visiting the area and looking for quilt shops, they made sure to tell me about Cabin Quilts. They stated that Cabin Quilts cater to more drop in sewing and often had kits made for people to just get going. Both stores offer long Arm services. Cloth and Quilts offers rental time of their long arms. The two stores have a very symbiotic relationship and often refer customers to the other store. They both offer different services and seem to help each other grow.  As a result their customers are the winners. I did make purchases at both stores but didn't break the bank. I was pleased to see the two stores working together.

Friday I headed home.  I didn't get in until late (11:30 pm) but the flights were uneventful and I read two books on the way home.  Saturday I was so proud of myself. I unpacked my suitcases and put everything up including my quilt store purchases. I didn't just pile things up. I also went through the mail and took care of it right away. Then I finished squaring up the blocks I made before I left. After that I sewed 50 more blocks all of which are pressed and squared up as well.

I am finding that I am more eager to work on things, even excited. I have even kept up working on the studio.  I also have had a few epiphanies but I'll save those are for another time.

Are you staying productive? What are you working on?

Different Actions Equal Better Attitudes

They say you can't expect a different outcome if you keep doing the same thing. This blog is about just that.

Well, it has been a month since I last posted. Back then I posted about the disaster that is my studio.  And quite honestly it got worse.  I have been rather busy at work with the big audit and all that entailed.  But I did manage to do a little sewing and a little cleaning.  To be truthful I did most of it this last week.

So the first week of June was the big audit. While it was only 3 days long, they were very long days for me.  Then Thursday and Friday required some catch up and consequently were just as long. But this past week was different.

When I got home from work on Monday, despite putting in a long day, instead of flopping on my bed, I changed my clothes and started working.  I cleared off my desk and put some things away, and started sewing. I got 50 - 4 inch blocks sewn.

Tuesday, I was off due to a pulmonologist appointment that was in the middle of the day. I got up at my usual time instead of sleeping in, even though I really wanted too.  This gave me the time to press and square up those 50 blocks. I even picked up some stuff and put some things away.  I realized that I needed a couple of storage bins though I am loathe to add to the growing collection. After my appointment I picked up a couple of sweater sized storage bins. I only wanted one but had to get 4. I could have gotten another large bin but I had convinced my self that I was not going to buy another bin just to fill it up with more fabric. Despite less than encouraging news from the pulmonologist, when I got home I started putting fabric that was stacked up away. This led me to start cleaning out things under the long arm. I got about half of the storage under the long arm straightened up.  I swept stuff up a little as well.

Wednesday, I was back at work. I put in a 9 hour day and was tired but instead of my usual resting up to do it all over the next day, I changed my clothes and got to work.  I swept up stuff and put some more stuff away.  It wasn't a lot but it was progress.

On Thursday I gave in and bought another big bin.  I filled it up with the fabric I had stacked up for the past year.  I emptied a few boxes and moved the presents for my brother off the long arm.  I then sewed 50 more blocks.

Friday was scheduled to be a travel day for me. But my flight wasn't until the late afternoon. I got up and got to work. I pressed the blocks and even squared up a few. But mostly I cleaned. I swept and cleaned behind the long arm, I cleaned the window sills and I even cleaned the air conditioner. I wet swiffered the floor and put some more stuff away. I emptied boxes and filled the other 3 sweater size bins. I am far from being done but I sure am happy with myself for what I did get done.

Today finds me in Bakersfield,California. I got in late Friday night and I am spending the weekend with my husband before heading up to Gustine, California. This next week I will be working at the company's California plant. So I won't be able to do anything in the studio. But I did prepare some monk's cloth and plan to so some Swedish weaving in the evenings after work. You see I have 6 pieces of monk's cloth that I had for the past 12 years. I wanted to do swedish weaving but never got around to prepping the cloth. I went ahead and got all the pieces, serged and washed. So I when I want to, I can just pull it out and start working on it.  I am hoping that next weekend I will be back on track with getting the studio together and quilting. In the mean time, I am being productive in my down time.

I am much happier and I am really enjoying the progress I am making in my studio.  I know I am far from being where I need to be but lots of things have happened by me just putting in a few minutes after work. One, I found my Quilt path thumb drive so I can start reading about how to really use the computer system on the long arm. Two, I got a good look at all of the fat quarters I have. I really need to get to work using them. Three, I found some patterns that I could use some of those fat quarters for.  I am actually thinking about getting some things made and put up for sale on Etsy.  I am once again inspired. I am feeling optimistic. I still feel like I am drowning in my possessions, but I feel like there is a way to the surface again. Once again I feel like I can get things done.  Am I still tired? Yes! Yes I am. But I feel like I am accomplishing something and that is everything.

Different Actions - I didn't flop on my bed. I did something besides watch TV. I kept moving.
Better Attitudes - I am not as grumpy. I have more patience. I feel like creating. I am encouraged.

How is your struggle going?