Something to show for my time!

      In my little group of art quilters, we have all pretty much identified ourselves as process people- those who do things for the sake of trying something new, or just to pass some time playing- and product people- those who need to have a finished object from their time.  I am a product person.  I can't bear the thought of spending time on a project and having nothing to show for it.  I know this is contradicting my last post- where I was playing with my random strips.  But if you go back and look, I did make a block- and it is growing into a product.
So it is no surprise, I'm sure, to know that I record all of my projects each year.  Since today is the end of a year, I got out my little journal (thanks, Maura!) and tallied things up. 

The grand total for projects which reached some level of completion this year was 84!!!  I was stunned.  It had felt like I didn't do very much this year, believe it or not.

It breaks down like this:
Wall quilts ( all finished!): 22- including the 12 calendar quilts
Other quilts and quilt related items: 15  This includes blocks for a swap, the raffle quilt, comfort quilt tops I pieced and the ArtCGirlz round robin project, among others
Quilt tops: 4 Some had been only block for over 2 years!
Garments: 10- includes 4 pairs of boxer shorts which take about an hour each
Accessories: 5- purses and such
knitted items: 12 - only 3 pairs of socks this year!
Miscellaneous projects: 16 This includes beaded bracelets, the sunflowers for the Guild quilt show, some household items and the sock kitty!
When I looked back on it, I decided my favorite project(s) of the year was the round robin!  It was hard for me to decide what to do to a couple of them, but on each one, I tried to stretch a bit technique wise.

 On Lori's, I added the leaves with rubber stamps, then did a little thread work to enhance the texture of the tree as well as the leaves.








On Elaine's. I did threadwork flowers on soluble stabilizer, which I had never done before.  I was extremely pleased with the way my addition to this piece turned out!

 On Chris's I added dragonflies to what became a little wetland scene.  Using angelina fibers for the wings, all of this one was done by hand!







I had a hard time with Susan's because these are really not my colors.  The one on the left had a tree hiding in the lines of the hand dyed fabric.  I cleared it up a bit. (sorry the picture isn't closer) The other was inspired by a Chagall painting, which she said her daughter would like.  I had never done fusible with organza before.I liked how you can't tell which figure should be the one in front.

Mary Ellen's was the hardest for me.  None of my original idea was something I felt I could do well.  So I had to live with this for a few days before I decided there needed to be a mist in the woods to reflect the glow from the moon.  I fused netting to create this.  It's a delicate fabric and I hope she didn't curse me too often when she finished it for the quilt show!




It's kind of odd that these were my favorites for the year, since all of these were "process" pieces!  Maybe Kathi is rubbing off on me!

For the Green thoughts this time, I will ask each of you who to go to this website and learn about the regulations New York state is proposing for hydrofracturing.  They are no regulations at all for someone like me who has discovered evidence suggesting they will be drilling right across the street from me if New York approves the process.  Frankly, I am scared to death that they will!  If you live in NY please use the comment link before January 11 to let them know we do not accept that this process is safe for us in any way! The short term gains cannot be enough to offset the long term damage we will all suffer!

I am grateful for:
Time spent with those dearest to me ( you know who you are, I hope!)
My husband who takes very good care of me
Sunshine in winter
A little girl to play Barbies with
The cookies are almost gone (time to get on the treadmill- not that I'm grateful for that)

It's beginning to look....

I wonder how many of you heard the resounding "HOORAY, I'm DONE!!!!" last week when I finished the December calendar quilt.  I am pleased with these quilts, and will enjoy them for years to come, but I will not miss the monthly deadline I set for myself for all of the past year to get them all finished each month.


I changed the December one a bit.  I've never really been a red and green person for my own holiday decorations.  I prefer blue, and snowflakes.
I found this great piece of blue in my stash, and then remembered the gold star buttons!  It's quilted with  a silver metallic silk thread.  Lots of holiday sparkle!











So then I started looking around the studio, at the mess mostly.  There sat a Christmas quilt top I had hoped to have finished last year.  It's a Scrap Therapy pattern. I made this top when I taught this pattern as a class several years ago.  I doubt it will be finished before this Christmas passes.  I don't have an incentive to get it done since I don't know who I'd give it to anyway.













There were quite a few leftovers from this top, so I laid them all out and decided they look pretty good all by themselves.  I'm not sure what it's for, but it might look nice under the plants for the holidays!The read around it is the backing, but the binding will be that color.

There were a six blocks leftover, and I thought they'd make a cute baby block. I wish I knew a baby who might like it.

These pretty boys are my most recent batch of foster kittens.  They went to the shelter the day before Thanksgiving, so they would be there for "Black Cat Friday"  Two of them have found forever homes already!  I spent some time at the shelter this week to help out.  So much love just waiting for someone to give it a good home.











It's a hard season to be green, frankly.  So many holiday parties where the hostess just isn't able or willing to provide reusable tableware for her guests, or the office party caterer uses disposables.  Not to mention the blatant consumerism- where we are all somewhat compelled to buy things we just don't need.
So make one small change for the planet if you can.  Reuse some gift wrap, or use the Sunday funnies!  Cut down on the number of lights you hang outside.  The world only needs one Griswold Family!  :-)  Instead of cheap bows, add a gift to the outside of your package with fun shoelaces, hair accessories, dried flowers, a necktie...
Or just bring your own plate to the office party!  There is no act too small when it comes to saving the planet we inhabit!
There are a few more ideas to be found, if you wish to look here, or here. 

I am grateful for:
Thanksgiving- my favorite holiday!
Hot turkey sandwiches.  (not the only reason I live Thanksgiving)
Sewing days.
The dedicated folks at the animal shelter (some are there 5 or 6 days a week)
Running out of color ink on the last page of pictures I needed to print.

What I've been doing instead of sewing and a quilt show preview

 These are my newest foster children.  They are all boys and very hard to tell apart.  I gave them all names that rhyme with black- Jack, Mack Zack and Max.  I actually call Mack "Sirius Black"- after the Harry Potter character. He is always escaping from the "nursery".  Sirius is the one with the shortest tail.

 They are perhaps the most affectionate kittens I've had.  They aren't happy unless they are climbing all over me, pushing in front of each other to be cuddled.

 This is my step-grandson, Jake.  He is in basic training right now.  We are all very proud of him!
This was taken at the going away party his parents had  for him last weekend.

This weekend we dug post holes for the lean-to in back of the new garage.  The apparatus behind me is a power auger.  It works great until it hits one of the many rocks inhabiting the lower levels of the ground around our house.  The rocks to the left (below) are the ones Al has already dug out of some of the holes. 

 Here are a few of the pieces I have entered in the Museum Quilt Guild's "Stitches in Time 2012"

There are over 200 pieces entered this year. I'm excited, as always now that show time has arrived!  Even though I have seen many of the pieces at show and tell, I am still amazed and awestruck at the talent on display at these shows!

 

These are a few of the pieces I am selling at the Guild Boutique- where members sell handmade items.  I always buy more than I sell!









Sorry as always about the spacing.  I can never get things to go where I want therm.

It's fall- and the leaves are suddenly dropping from the trees.  This year, mow them and leave them to nourish your lawn rather than raking them to the curb and sending them to the landfill!  Sorry if this one's a rerun, but if I get just one more person to do it every year, I'm happy to repeat myself!

I am grateful for:
Having time to enjoy being mauled by kittens.
A warm day to get outside and pick up the toys from the garden.
Good football games- even when I didn't care who won!
A good joke to share.
My machine and I are getting along very well today.

Just plain miserable!

This summer has been brutal for a person (me) who is not a summer lover.  I like spring- once the mud is gone.  Once the temperature goes over 80, I am uncomfortable. Over 85, I'm miserable. I'm not sure the daytime high has been under 85 very often this summer.  It's a wonder I haven't been arrested.  That's how miserable I am.











Apparently this succulent plant has a different opinion.  It lives on the screen porch every summer, and has never blossomed before. Not the most impressive blossom, but interesting in its own way!

I did manage to spend enough time in the sewing room- on the second floor where it gets much too hot to work by 2 pm most days- this week to finish the portrait quilt I started last year in a class at the Museum Quilt Guild.  (still need to get the chalk washed off- sorry)

This is my husband and my older son.  Guy was about 10 months old here.  I was working full time and this picture was tacked up above my work station.  I can't recall what was happening when this was taken. Our house at the time had one big room- living and dining room.  The couch sort of divided the space. I was probably folding laundry at the table when the men peeked over the couch to say "Hi Mommy!"- the name I gave this piece.
Now I have to find a picture of Lucas to do....

My green tip this time is to remind you the local farmers have been working hard to get fresh produce grown for us in western NY.  There are farmer's markets everywhere, nearly every day of the week- and roadside stands.  Don't buy fruit that has to be transported across the country, using valuable resources and producing tons of greenhouse gases, when you can get it fresh off the tree! 

I am grateful for:
Sewing time
Great authors and the talented people who perform them on audiobooks
Sleeping with the windows open enjoying fresh cool air
Frozen desserts
My grill has a burner so I don't have to use the stove at all on hot days!

Just because!

I haven't had much time to sew this week. So I thought I'd stick a pretty picture at the top just to inspire. This was taken in October on the day we set up the quilt show.

Last weekend, we had an early Thanksgiving with my stepson and his family. We have missed out on holidays with them over the years because they have too many families to try and squeeze in. But we managed to find a day we could work with this year. It was a really GREAT day- and well worth all the work I had to do! (and all the sewing I couldn't do :-) I was a dunderhead, though, and didn't take any pictures to share. Must be old age!
Monday I had another Dr appt. Just a check up and another look at my hip ( bursitis) and wrist ( not sure yet- more testing to come) When I got back home, it was nice enough outside to get the lights on the tree out front. We won't light them until the first of December, but it's nice to get them up when it's 60 instead of 30!

Back inside I decided I didn't want to get involved in anything big in the sewing room, so I pulled an old project off the wall. I took a class with Betty Alderman a few years ago, because I wanted to make this project. ( I'd had the pattern for a while!) Betty used to have her own website, but it's not there anymore. I think you can still find small pictures of her patterns, though. This one is called "Butterfly Bright."




I stopped at the point where the pattern said outline all the applique shapes with buttonhole stitch or a zigzag, since that takes time and I wanted to get something else done. But for right now I am happy to have a project where I can focus on that needle and the shape in front of me and think of nothing for a while. That's the therapeutic part of sewing for me!






I have been pondering how to quilt the "Candy Kisses" quilt, and found this design in a book I was leafing through. A GREAT way to audition quilting designs is with a sheet of clear acetate or vinyl and dry erase markers. Just be very careful, since the ink doesn't erase from fabric!

I think it needs something else, so I doodled some fillers in the open spaces.

















I'm leaning toward this one (the lower one)
Kay thinks it needs swirly black quilting in the border, so we'll see what it looks like when I get to that. ( I never plan that far ahead)











I am grateful for:
Family gatherings!
Glazed ham, candied sweet potatoes and dutch apple pie!
The warm days we just had, and reading on the porch one more time.
A day to let myself not feel so good (and feeling better today!)
The new Harry Potter movie comes out tomorrow!

Headed to Portland, OR

Well, the time has come at last. Guy has moved out of his apartment in Ithaca and tomorrow we leave for Portland, OR, where he is relocating. I decided to tag along on the trip because I loved seeing the country last year when we drove to Seattle. It will be a bittersweet trip, to be sure.
Lucas will be caring for things at home while we're away. It has to be something he can do easily, so I moved all the outdoor potted plants to the back side of the house near the hose, so he can keep them watered. Hubby said this looks like a jungle.
Most of the flowers were planted from seedlings I grew in the house last spring, so I am hoping they will still be pretty when I return. (heck, I'll be happy if they're alive. No offense to Lucas, but the heat has really left them in sad shape) I'd like to think he'll water the flower beds, too. Hey, a Mom can dream, right? :-)


I also moved all the indoor plants to a central location so he can easily water them at least once while I'm gone. Last time I went away and he was in charge one of the tropical plants set up blossoms. Maybe he can work his magic again! This reminds me of the day my friends Jackie and Diane helped me move the plants to this house- they were astounded that one person could have this many houseplants!




It has been years since we have had a nice family picture made, and I imagine it will be a while before we get another chance now. So I set the timer - and even got Guy to not look miserable (he hates having pictures taken).

We're making it a sort of an adventure, rather than just driving straight out. I'll post pictures when I can. And when I get back, you can bet I'll be getting back to the sewing room! I never thought I'd see the day when my sewing machine had dust on it!!!

I am grateful for:
A whole week with the family together!
Rain!
Girlfriends.
Cool nights- just made for snuggling.
Frozen cookie dough to put in my ice cream.

Birthday Party

On Sunday we had a pig roast for all our friends and family. The weather cooperated by giving us a slight break from the triple H weather we'd had earlier in the week. It was really hubby's birthday, but it was intended to celebrate the fact that I'm 50 at the end of the month. We'll be traveling and this date worked best for the rest of the family, so I sort of borrowed his day this year.


Sadly, I didn't think to take many pictures, but my good friend Kathi was kind enough to share hers! (THANKS again!!!)

This is hubby, cooking the pig.














Since we don't have a lot of trees, we got a tent!













I'm so glad Melanie "crashed" the party!













My "oldest" friends- since grade school for most of us.












I make quilts to use as samples for the classes that I teach, which means they pile up pretty fast around here. I decided to find homes for a few of them. One recipient was so happy with the gift that she returned the favor with a gift of her own, a wonderful "Maruca" bag, called "the Sparrow". I usually carry little bags I make, but this one was SO perfect, I couldn't wait to move right into it! (Thanks, Jo Ann!!)









I am grateful for:
The old editor is still available here.
My hubby doing as much as he did for the party.
My friend Jen came to the party (hadn't seen her in a long time)
Nice long naps
my flowers put on a pretty nice show for the party.