Time flies

Fact of life: time flies.
Whether you are having fun or not, time flies.

Sometimes minutes and hours seem to drag on for a lifetime, and still a month can pass (years, even) in the blink of an eye.  How does that work?  I dunno.  I guess it's a science thing.

Haven't yakked (chatted as opposed to upchucked) in the ol' blog for nearly a month.  Yes, I have things to say and I've made bits of progress here and there, but by-and-large May and June have been set aside for other purposes.  Other tasks (chores would be a better descriptive); things which require doing before fun can be had. And so, here we are.

Come the second half of June I have every intention of delivering images and insight on my favorite little postage stamp work-in-progress, as well as a few yummy images at the crazy quilting blog page regarding "Peacock," too.  The hiatus isn't forever, it's just for the time being.  I am so antsy to get back to playing and enjoying my time, stitch by stitch, inch by inch, but until then...

What's under your needle?  What are you working on?

Cat-bite foot - 8/VG H6 - 0

Day 8, and nothing accomplished towards piecing H6.  No long term standing is advised.

Yesterday, the swelling in my foot and lower calf was horrid, but the color was (sort of) better.  Maybe not "better" so much as it was different (color-wise), but it didn't seem worse... to me, that is.

This morning the ankle bones can be felt, even if they can't be seen; and the leg is less swollen going into the foot - and it feels 'pliable'.  I don't know how else to describe it, but it isn't angrily hard and packed like an overstuffed sausage casing.  It feels more like my leg, the way I am used to it having felt for the past 50-something years.  The whole of my foot feels bruised along the top (at the toes) and along the outside from mid-foot to around the back of the ankle.  But (to me) it is markedly better.

I iced the crap out of it yesterday, keeping it raised 75-80% of the day, like a primadonna.  I hate this.  On the plus side: there was some stitching accomplished on the Peacock crazy quilt project.  If you want to see the activity on something, why not peek at the images there? www.bethsmadasahatter.blogspot.com

Hope to have something to brag about/show you for VG later in the week, though.  Until then, tell me what's under your needle?

Drawing to a close

The blogger challenge is drawing to a close; I wonder how many participants found the adventure to be useful/fun/horrific/easy to take part in.  Personally, I have a lot to say, but will keep my thoughts to myself.

Not only is the blogger challenge drawing to a close, but so is 2015.  No news there, right?

Managed to accomplish a good deal on the postage stamp quilt this year, and have desires to finish at least one more block before the year ends.  It could very well be a reality, so no wincing or scoffing out there. [jabbing an Uncle Sam finger in your direction]  In hindsight, I wish I had begun working on it again much sooner in the year... but I didn't, so no what-ifs or tears.  It's just what it is.

Cleaned out an older portion of my stash and have it boxed, ready to send to a new friend in the UK - when I can finally afford the shipping.  She has said she will reimburse the postage costs, but I am counting nickels and pennies until the new job begins.

Used a bunch of scraps to create little experiments here and there.  Liberating and useful attempts at a new way of piecing, but I am so hyper-focused on the postage stamp quilt, I have a hard time making myself do other things away from it.  OCD much?

Work on the current crazy quilting project continues (you can view the progress at www.madasahatter.blogspot.com if you're interested).

Still too many quilt tops (some with backs, some already sandwiched and languishing in 'the pile'), but it's sort of cool to think I could make/finish a quilt right away - if I had the fortitude to walk away from you-know-who.

Three local quilt shops (that I am aware of) closed this year - two of them just over the past six weeks.  It's a shame.  Would I consider opening one?  Yes.  Yes I would... if it weren't for the red tape and MI taxes, you bet I would.

Are my lights on in the sewing area and burning energy that I am not using?  Yes.  So, if humans must set concrete resolutions for themselves for the new year, then I suppose I can task myself with being better at turning the lights on only when I am ready to head to the 'drawing board' and actually work there.  I guess this is my way of drawing this entry to a close, but I'll be back tomorrow... will you?

In the 'Notfernuthin' category

Have you ever had a moment when you felt as though what you did actually meant something?  I mean, "meant something to someone else other than yourself?"  Not just to your friends and family (who we all know love us, but say things to make us feel better) - but we understand their admiration and compliments are maybe not representative of the general population.  Oh, it's appreciated - and well-intentioned, sure - but a little, shall we say... 'suspect' in its objectivity?

That sounded a tidbit harsh (- sorry), but I want to remain unflinchingly honest here.

If you are a creator of some sort, and you put time and energy and creative juices into something, and it comes out at least as well as you planned for it to, you admittedly enjoy receiving positive comments (of some nature) from those who encounter it.  Right?  Let's face it, even though we should be creating for the sake of making ourselves happy, we like the adulation from others to validate the whole thing. [feeling others nodding vigorously in agreement]

So, when I say I like to know that something I make (or do) has a meaning or purpose, or finds a thumb's-up from another person, I am decidedly pleased and do feel completely validated.

Case in point:
For the second time this year, something I have made (or am in the process of making) has been featured in a very public way before a group of like-minded creators (quilters).  When I found one of my photos of an unstitched blocks from VGS as the banner image for an online group, I was astounded.  At least the administrator for the group said she "admires" my design work.

Earlier in the year, she posted another image from my current crazy quilt project as the banner image.  That one she said was "exquisite", and that it added "class" to the group.  The whole of the group is not the least bit effusive, so it garnered not much n the way of comments, but I was pleased that it should be given so prominent a position by someone - and to receive unsolicited praise.

The fact is that she chose to look through my work of her own accord and select some of it to lead with, well... it meant something.

[happy sigh]

Busy little bee

I've been busily dyeing silk ribbon, and have found a way to 'antique' the colors after the color is where I want it.  There aren't enough hours in the day any more to get much of it (or anything else of value) done before I (quite literally) drop dead at the end of a day, and very little time at the start of the day - before heading into the 'job' I've been able to land lately.

Suffice to say, I am dog-tired and bone weary much of the time, and still desire to stitch and piece blocks every free moment.  If I can manage a shower after a grimy, sweat-filled day, it's usually a struggle (directly after) to manage enough energy to brush my teeth and mount the stairs to bed.  Grabbing a needle is a rare opportunity these days.  Although, I do get a bit done here and there on Karl's school days!  A few hours a week, but it is a Godsend.

The last few hours of good stitching time were spent filling in the missing back row of petals on a large sunflower-like beauty.  There are only three more to finish, then I can be free of that monster.

Some days it's like wrestling a starfish

What are you working on?

By the way. . .
This will be the last crazy quilting post here on True North.  I may slip a photo in every now and then, but for real updates on CQ projects current or otherwise, please visit www.MadAsAHatter.blogspot.com.  Thanks!

Gee. Really?!

It doesn't seem likely that a whole month slipped by and I published nary a word or photo in the ol' blog...but here we are.  May was 'one of those months', I suppose.

I can admit to acquiring a part time job in an outdoor garden center for the summer, and it began (sort of) on the second of May, but the actual work didn't begin until later.  Long, stupid story (they - the employer - are not so together and on the ball in many areas), but once they stuck me on the schedule, my hours went from zero to 100 in the blink of an eye.

I have had the majority of long shifts in the worst parts of the hottest and wettest days, so by the time I manage to scrape myself out of the car and lumber into, and out of, the shower, I am a piece of drained goo.  Grateful for the work, goodness knows; loving the work with the plants and most of the customers (remember, it's still the same little stuck-up town of 'Thurston Howells' for the most part) and being outdoors with fewer restrictions in space and bawdiness...  I have managed to endear myself with the clientele, and have had many folks positively comment to the online machine or management staff - and it's found its way to my ears.  That makes me feel good - especially to know I haven't lost my touch and work ethic.

Still, all things being equal (what a stupid phrase), I would much rather be working in Change Management or Administrative.  The prospect of m a y b e becoming a regular PT cashier after the garden center closes mid-August is abhorrently depressing.

ALL of that simply means, once I am home, and cleaned up, and fed, and ready to have my moments of quiet with a needle and thread...I can't keep my eyes open long enough to take a stitch these days!  Although, I have managed to fill in some gaps here and there on "Peacock".  So, if you've managed to stay with me and read this far, here's an old peek at a little filler.

What are you working on?

P.S. - You will find this entry also at MadAsAHatter.blogspot.com.
Remember, this will be the new spot for my CQ work. 

Happy accidents

 
This little pixie...er, excuse me, this fairy was supposed to be the top of a chain/vine of flowers down a long seam, but no one thought my reticulated petals and upward-facing center portion looked right.  So, I began to see the petals as a skirt, and stitched a body among the leaves-now-turned-wings, and the flower now-turned-tutu.

My only regret is not having 2mm silk ribbon to wrap the threads for smoother arms and legs.  But the two-toned ribbon I used for the hair and face worked out rather well.

P.S. - Don't forget, this post can also be found at MadAsAHatter.blogspot.com
Very soon, the crazy quilt work will only be featured there.  Thanks for looking in!

A brief update

I mentioned a little while back that I intended to move my CQ work to a different blog, since I had a few questions come at me asking if I could separate my CQ work from my traditional block work.

Huh.

Well, I subscribe to (and read) a number of blogs where the bloggers (quilters, artists, whathaveyou) post about all manner of quilty subjects in that one space, and I don't have an issue with the change in gears (so to speak).  So when I was broached with the query ("could [I] separate [my] subject matter?") I honestly felt like saying "no"...but I didn't.

Instead, I have created another blog page, but have only managed to post to it two times.  Yup, you guessed it; I still post the majority of my brilliant prose and interesting photos here.  But, I may begin to add more of the strictly CQ work to www.bethsmadasahatter as the year progresses, and less of the CQ work here.  In any event, I'll let you know when I do, and I'll make it easy to get to.

Thanks for looking in : )

Not leaps and bounds

The progress on VGS is non-existent, and the forward momentum on "Peacock" comes - at best - in fits and starts.  Goodness knows I would like to MOVE on both projects and see great advances made, but it isn't practical.

A l t h o u g h, with the lack of decent jobs to find and apply to currently, perhaps my time would be better spent in a deep dark hole, needles and thread at the ready, and a good lamp beaming over my shoulder. The results achieved on the quilts would be astronomical - and it would never show as anything different in the job outcome.  [sigh]  I suppose I am simply feeling defeated and useless.  Hard to shake that cloud.

Anyhow, the image provided today shows the first joined quarter panels making up one of four 'Dresden-style' blocks.  There are seams to finish, seams to start and finish, seams that need touching up (now that the assembling has happened), and on and on, but it made me feel a little less lackluster to have made this dent in "Peacock".  More another time.

What are you up to?

Huh

For some reason, I find myself thinking I should have gone with only the green of the vine and one shade of blue all over.  
Oh well, the cost of silk ribbon is too dear to take it all out to chase my wild hair at this point.


Or. . .is it "wild hare"?

Fear and loathing

I know, I know.  What a strange title for a blog article about quilting.

Eh.

I am loathing my fear over moving forward;
over simply making a decision and sticking with it;
over the fear of committing to what I have already stitched and leaving it.

Case in point:
I am totally thinking about removing the decorative lighter blue center line on the lowest blue flower - too futzy.  And, I am truly pacing the floor over the size of the 'white', slightly left-facing flower to the lower left.  Yes, really.  The last two flowers, well...I-i-i-i--i--i---i guess I'm ok with.

I guess.

See, initially all of the flowers were going to be petite, simple little petal flowers.  Maybe a small seed bead in the center. Somehow I managed to become enamoured with the idea of a little more dimensionality to the flowers, and it exploded from there.  So, yes.  I think it may be totally worth pulling the flowers off - and the extra stitch detail on the one blue flower - and just going back to the original thought.

Please, somebody weigh in with a suggestion or comment.  Thanks.

Quilt yoga

Lessons learned from making a quilt.  As a respected and seriously talented (and prize-winning quilter has said), "We learn something from every quilt we make"...(I say) even if it is something we may have to learn over and over again.

This made me begin to wonder what I have learned over the decades and taken for granted.

Mostly I have learned to relax and enjoy the process (or processes - since there are many to every aspect and step in creating a quilt).

- I have learned to stand up and move away for a few moments (or hours) when tired or bored with a repetitious portion.
- I have acquired the ability to look at - and love - the thing I am creating with less critical eyes.  Knowing that nobody else will ever view it in as harsh a light as I will cast when disappointed with some little piece of the magnificent whole.
- I have learned to expect the unexpected; to cherish learning something new from somebody else; and to set expectations at a more achievable and less lofty realm.  It's always much more fun to surpass a goal than to never attain it.

Currently I am re-learning to stretch my abilities, test boundaries, and to trust my intuitions and my mind's creative eye.  This was a part of my current 'quilt yoga' experience

.

Okay, I fixed it

Not entirely certain how yesterday's entry became so fouled up.  Sentence fragments floating all over the place, mucking up the content.  I had a hard time understanding me, and I wrote it!

[smacking forehead]

Anyhow, the fix is in and "Changed my mind" reads intelligently now.  Sorry about the brain twister.

Oh, and I did rework that first petal (three times, but I am now content!), and it looks pretty good, too.  Not only that, but I added another three full petals, and am currently weaving a fifth.  That will be complete tonight, and then tomorrow I hope to use the entire day to finish it off.

Thinking about having my head examined because I am toying with the notion of adding another layer behind it all.  Yup, another layer.  Before I begin, though, I will mull it over a bit and give myself a break from that task.  Thankfully, this quilt isn't Rome, and it doesn't need to be built in a day.

What are you up too?

Changed my mind

...but knot for the first time.

Get it?  "Knot" for the . . . heh.
I crack me up.

Yeah, I 'un-wove' this petal - and I'm itching to get back to 'reweaving' it using my second color choice, as I can't quickly set my hands on the palest of pale blue #5 Perle cotton.  And YES, I am refusing to use #8 as the alternative - even though I do possess a nearly full ball of DMC in the perfect color (in an eight).  Wah.

See, I have my heart (and brain) set on a thick weave for this flower.
Am I wrong?
Should I have gone with a size eight?

Oh, I don't know.

I trekked out yesterday with the intention of buying ONLY that darned light, light, lighter-than-light blue in a skein of #5, but of course - the local stores were a complete letdown.  Only guilt prevented me from driving another 27 miles (one way) and back to stop into a real LQS to obtain the perfect thing.

Rats!  Crap!  Darn it all!  I should know by now to always follow my heart - it is tied directly to my instincts.  Ah, well.

I do know, though, that the variegated was absolutely wrong for it, so it was the right thing to undo.

Frustration is . . .

Somewhere in this house is an overabundant supply of Caron Watercolours.

Where?
I do not know, and I spent entirely too much time yesterday looking for them.

Did I become distracted and begin other little tasks during the search?
You bet I did (who doesn't?) - I even managed to clean out a corner and sort through (and toss out) some papers I had saved to read for "another time," a small stack of quilting catalogs, and some old receipts.

Did that provide at least a sense of accomplishment?
No, oddly enough, that was not satisfying in the least.

I completed French-knotting the portion of a sunflower I want to create on my latest project, and I would like to move on to weaving the petals using one of my Caron Perle cottons.

However, it looks as though I am going to have to 'forgehdaboudit' and use something else instead.  Not an easy thought.  My heart and my brain were settled on a 'toothy' Perle cotton with which to make those petals, so an alternate must be found and decided upon.

Ugh.

You know...the sad/odd/unfortunate/strange/probably true part of this whole thing?  Most likely, I don't have a Watercolour in my stash of 'unfindables' that would fit the requirements, anyway.  But it would still be nice to find the silly things.

I know you know what I'm saying.

Appreciatively speaking

Finding it truly odd that I have several more friends on that facebook thing. . . not because they want to be friends so much as they want to follow the progress on my latest CQ project.

Ha! My handwork is more popular than I am.

Thank you for appreciating my work.  I appreciate that. 

[sigh]

Managed to finish laying out the last quarter panel for the final Dresden, and have only the blue corners to decide on and baste in place!  (you can't see it, but I am doing cartwheels and handstands)  Those are not critical mass sorts of issues, though - the blue corners, not the handstands - so I am taking a little mental holiday from that end of it.

Yes, it still needs doing, as does some basting and over-edge stitching to keep everything delicate from fraying during the embroidery work, but I am reveling in the short term accomplishments.  I'm also taking my time sorting through the scraps from the build phase of this top, and thinking I may have the opportunity to add some of them into the border - although I am still deciding if there will even be a border.

Ah, indecisiveness.

I feel liberated - to a point.  There's still a LOT of stitching to get moving on, but the feather is coming along (what a huge lesson it's been).  I can now freely begin to apply colors anywhere and everywhere to balance it out and fill it all in.  The real fun is under way!  Soon enough I'll have to add the corners, and I'll let you know when that happens.

What are you doing with your needle and thread?

Satin stitch

But I'm thinking I may need to buy a vowel ('satin' is
a-l-m-o-s-t correct).

SO much satin stitching completed with so much more to go - and then all of the loose bits on that covert feather to stitch out.

Oh, my-lanta!  I will be a peafowl feather expert by the end of the week.

Happy, happy, happy

And a little feh.

Now have three full Dresdens ready for stitching - yea! There's only one more quarter panel to make for the full set of four, and then I can stitch in all earnestness.

I've been holding back on the embroidery a bit due to proximity of colors, etc, and in wanting to keep everything balanced overall. The only way to accomplish that was to stitch piecemeal while continuously referencing adjoining segments...but it's became a hassle in so many ways. Not the least of which would prove that every time I'd look over the arrangements of the quarter pieces (for color selection on a new row of stitching), I would become disenchanted with some portion of the entire configuration, tear them asunder, and then rework all of the Dresden pieces thinking I could mix them and match them better.

But I couldn't. Most times I ended up - unintentionally - with the same quarter pieces together. There's your sign.

I was like a crack-addled monkey playing a never-ending game of "what if?"  Very anti-progress.

Well, I'm happy to report that I may be able to actually finish the layout tomorrow, and begin to 'fly' on the embroidery. Truly, the exciting bit of it all means I will be able to put all of the materials away and reclaim a bunch of lost space on the dining table, several chairs, and the use of the entire ironing board again.

The stitching phase will last the next several months (I am estimating), during which time I will decide if I still want to add a very groovy border, or leave it as is with just the four Dresden blocks. Time will tell, so stay tuned.

I'm adding a little 'bling' to the thing

'nuff said.