One Thing Leads to Another

My quilting olympics is going very well. Of course, I don't have funky, totally unfair tie-breaking rules to deal with. If two people get the same score they should share the medal or do a tie-breaking back flip or something.

Anyway, I've managed to do some needleturn every night since the olympics started. And I'm getting better at those outside points. I think I've figured out a way to turn the corner that works for me, and they aren't coming out lumpy or weird anymore. It has also given me a chance to experiment with different threads for applique. I'm loving the silk. I like it so much, I want to try quilting with silk thread. And I just happen to have some old silk remnants that would be perfect for such an experiment. I will never have to worry about running out of things to do as long as one project leads to another.

On an unrelated note, why oh why did the current issue of Craft magazine have to be about weaving? This is the kind of temptation I don't need. Now, when no one is looking, I sneak peaks at looms online. Somebody stop me. I actually had a loom when I was kid. My grandparents gave me a plastic table top loom and I would make squares of fabric. It was fun. I never turned them into anything. But when you are a kid people let you just make stuff without it having to be anything. Maybe that's what grabbed my attention. It takes me back to when process was more important than outcome. I wonder if my mom still has that loom?

She Sticks the Landing

I decided to join Quilting Olympics. I know I have other things I should be doing. But I really wanted to do some applique. So I whipped up some 4 patch blocks at world record pace, and cut some squares to applique to the blocks. I'm doing needle turn applique to attach the squares. By the time I'm done, I will have perfected outside points which is the goal of this exercise.

Go team needle-turn.

Let the Games Begin - But Give Me a Minute First

The Olympics are about to start and I am woefully unprepared with hand projects to work on during my must-see events. I'm a little bit of a summer olympic nut. It's weird if you know me because I'm not much of a sports fan. But I get into the Olympics. I must watch gymnastics, diving, swimming, and track and field. Maybe some tennis and basketball. And some bicycling. And maybe some synchronized swimming. You get the picture.

But I've been preoccupied with other things and neglected to get my hand work together. It's not that I don't have hand projects. There are a few projects waiting to be pieced or quilted. But I don't have the right batting, or the right thread, or a clue about how to quilt something. I might have to pick up a UFO.

I have done some quilting on the cityscape. I have most of the wig shop quilted. Sorry, no pictures. I'm too lazy to get the camera out plus there are loose threads all over the top. There's a project right there. Schnoobie said there are no wig stores in her town and it made be laugh because there was one on every block in the neighborhood where I grew up. Seriously. They are like Starbucks. They didn't just sell hair and wigs you know. You could get jewelry, clothes, toys - pretty much anything made in China - in those places.

Which brings us back the Olympics. In addition to not preparing any hand work projects, I just realized that we are also out of ice cream. We are so unprepared.

5 Days of Solitude (Almost)

The vacation is coming along nicely, thank you very much. Apart from the telemarketers and the ants that are trying to eat our relatively new air conditioner, it has been ideal. I even gave up worrying about the germs that were threatening to put the whole household out of commission.

I spent the last few days working on a city scape. It's like a landscape but for city girls. I've been wanting to do something like this for a while now - but who has the time? So it was like my own self-directed art quilt camp. And I have been learning a lot.

All of the piecing, fusing and zig-zag stitching is done. And I'm pretty happy with the outcome so far. Naturally there are flaws, but they have taught me valuable lessons, so I choose to look at them as learning opportunities. I'm moving on to the quilting next. Hopefully the ants won't carry us away in the night.

A Day Spent Quilting

I got to spend the whole day quilting. Right now, I can't think of a better way to spend my vacation.

I did some piecing and I quilted the water quilt which now has it's official title. I don't actually put the names of quilts out there until they are done or mostly done. That way I'm sure they actually are what I decided to name them. Anyway, this quilt is named "Middle Passage Mediations". I'll take a non-blurry picture soon.

The fabric is hand dyed. And it is machine pieced and quilted.

I even quilted a ship on it.

I don't really have too much to say about what's going on with this quilt. Or I have so much to say that I don't know where to start. I'm not sure which is true. Suffice it to say, I think every person has something in his or her consciousness that sort of haunts them. It is useful to process these things and meditate on why they grip you. I think it might also be useful to get them out of your head an up on a wall where you can gain some perspective. That's all I have to say about that for now.

Update on the Blair Witch. I've managed to stay one step ahead of her with hand sanitizer and mentholated vaporizers. It seems like she's not going to get my vacation. But I've seen enough scary movies to know that as soon as you let you guard down, something crawls out of the TV and gets you. And yes, I know those are two different movies. Risk is everywhere.

The Best Laid Plans

Yipee! I have the whole week off. I don't really say yippee, but I'm not convinced that I can spell yay. Anyway. I have the whole week off. I really need a vacation. My brain is functioning so poorly that I can't even come up with a proper metaphor to describe how much I need a vacation. That's how bad it is. So I'm off. And the plan is to spend the week making quilts and doing other arty type stuff in attempt to reboot my brain. I'm really looking forward to it.

Of course you realize that my vacation is like those kids that go off into the woods all happy and ready for a nice camping trip not realizing the Blair Witch is behind a bush waiting to wreak havoc. It started with my son coming home with a very low grade fever and a runny nose. Now he's coughing and sneezing on everything. And since my husband is helpless against baby germs, he's gone down too. How will it end? Will we all get away in the nick of time? Or will the whole family be left standing in the corner waiting to be taken out? Stay tuned.

Tell the people at Intownquilters I love them and I'm so sorry.

Proof Of Life

I’ve been a big slacker about keeping things updated around here. And since Kyra was nice enough to give me a shout out on her blog, people have been stopping by. I kind of feel the way I do when I have visitors and realize that I haven’t dusted in a while. It happens to me more than you’d expect.

I have managed to get bits and pieces of things done in between everything else. But I’m not going to show you the whole picture because nothing is at the showing it to people stage. But I think I need to show some proof of creative life.

The water quilt top is done and I’ve dreamed about how to quilt it. I even have backing fabric. But not the right thread. Who has time for quilting anyway?

I pulled a bunch of scraps out of my scrap bin. From time to time, I get to piece them together. I have no idea where this is going. I’m just sewing stuff together.

I’m drafting a pattern for a quilt. It is based on stuff from my sketchbook. I get a minute here and there to ink the pattern.

I’m making favors for a birthday party. There is extreme danger for me anytime I go near the scrapbook section. There is so much in there for quilting and journaling. Forget about actually making scrapbooks. So far, I’ve managed to keep it to what I need for the project.

So at least I’ve managed to do a little bit of something every day. I’ve taken enough piano lessons and art classes to know that you have to practice everyday – even if you only get a few minutes. Everything doesn’t have to be a masterpiece. You just have to keep working.