January's Blues

This past week was a continuance to "avoid" the larger projects on my January list, choosing a couple of little projects that can be started and finished in a relatively short time.  It all started as I was purging those blue bits.....
First thing accomplished was a label that wasn't required then it was if you know what I mean.  I used a very pale blue scrap to make the label for the Nicaraguan Horse quilt using 2- 7" rectangles which finished off that remnant.  
It was printed onto the fabric after being adhered to freezer paper, colored with markers to make the cupcake paper area striped with a neon yellow and bright aqua blue to pronounce it a bit.  Then the shapes were stacked wrong sides together, outlined stitched, turned outside right and ultimately stitched onto the quilt back.  
It turned out cute, but I never grabbed a photo before the quilt was turned in.  Anyways, it looked sort of like this:    

These blues will make a nice blend for a quilt I have in mind but can't share here.
 It would give away the surprise I have in mind.

Second attempt of using blues came with making half square triangle (HST) units.  I plan to do that each month when Angela at So Scrapper calls for the next months' color focus with the RBSC.   I'm amazed by all the blue leftovers in my scrap bin as I normally don't gravitate to that color.  

This month was able to get 40 HST units made.  All the muslin squares are cut and the center line was marked diagonally with a pencil, (did that part during my local quilt guild meeting).






While sorting and purging, I found some larger pieces. Thinking, "Oh that piece looks big enough to make a bag", "oh that one too", now what compliments them I wondered then wandered off.  (lol... Did someone say "Squirrel?)




Then I found some larger remnants tucked away in the scrap bin.  Since I won a couple of different more modern fabrics in recent years past,  I had placed them in there to be used for zippered bags or snap bags.   So what was realized?   

Snappy Bags!

Used hair rubber bands to make the pull tabs.
Color is perfect.

The star fabric now houses the wind able rechargeable flashlight with it's multitudes of adapters for different phones it can also charge in case of an emergency.  Much nicer than the plastic package it came in if I do say so myself.

It will also store nicely in the nightstand drawer
and not get the flashlight lens scratched, another plus.

After finding another larger blue scrap that coordinated nicely with that beach/hotel print gave me to think of a bag for drink containers while at a water park, pool or beach where you can't bring a cooler.  So a HUGE Snap Bag was finished out of those.  

Happened to have a nice red/white woven ribbon
to make these pull tabs.

The size of this photo is not relevant since
this baby can hold a stack of six cans.
Will keep it cool enough without the weight
and bulkiness of a cooler besides fit in a beach bag!

There are 2 more blue projects I'd like to finish up before the end of the month.  Will share those  if they're  realized.  

TTFN,

Jane 

  

Quilt Show entry #4 - All because of Trudy

My friend Trudy is a remarkable soul.  Her Birthday is today and I feel privileged to have her as a friend and a mentor.  This quilt otherwise known as Dragonfly Carnival, my fourth submission for our quilt show is the result of this friendship and came to be all because of Trudy.   I will hang it with love for all to see. 

 

To explain, here's a short narrative of this wall hanging.  I think it was in 2010 our circle of friends quilting group gathered at Trudy's house on Lake Champlain to work on a Ricky Timms' style Convergence wall hanging.  Yes, she's very hospitable and gracious that way.  We all brought fabric to work on and Trudy was teaching us since she had made several of these already.  Yes, she's an excellent teacher, so wise and can read people intuitively.   My fabrics wouldn't work well enough and Trudy gave me some of her Ricky Timms fabric to make mine, yes she is that generous and she had just returned from another of Ricky Timms conferences with another friend Cathy.   So we sewed, laughed and shared our day each making most of this.  Now during that time in my life I was still trying to "work with " all the medicines I need to take for the spinal cord injury and my brain was and still can be in a fog at times.  Not too many troubles though with sewing on it this that day and like all other days it came to an end. 

Life goes on... you know the drill.  Anyway, fast forward to the next year and while at a quilting retreat in Odgensburg I brought my wall hanging to work on since it languished as a UFO. Thankfully, I was sitting next to Trudy.   I assembled the center top and knew something was wrong with it but truly couldn't figure it out.  I pondered for about half an hour and  finally mentioned that I knew something was wrong it but with the Rx's and health issues I was just going to let it be and continue on with it having it represent the struggles I was dealing with.    She also noticed something amiss but didn't say anything and asked if she could look at it to figure it out.  Yep, she's that kind of person that knows yet doesn't force herself on you until asked.  Well she found the err in the construction and kindly offered her insight.  Being receptive to it, we ripped out the problem and I continued on sewing it together and being much happier now it proceeded.  Another weekend of sharing wonderful times with close friends.  That brings it to the next year when I finally made the time to lay out the fabrics to align colors best so it could be finished with the borders.  I know, I'm a slow stitcher and finisher but that truly is okay with me.  It was sewed all together and there it sat again while I  dreamt on about it.  There it was as a top, now what to quilt on it? 

 

 

 

 

Ahhh, finally inspiration came, dragonflies! A spirited symbol that  she and I both admire. Off again on my merry way until the time to quilt the borders and there it sat. So I registered this wall hanging in June for the October quilt show to push me to get 'er done and stop this dalliance.

 

 

The above photo shows a dragonfly head that I wasn't super happy with and was working on.  It looked like a derriere(or breasts) with eyeballs stuck on it!   What's that phrase I use lately?  oh yea,  "perfectionism is a very crippling agent to creativity".  Anyway I progressed along with the deadline looming ever closer.  The next photo  shows a couple of the dragonflies and you can click on any of the images to get a better glimpse of the details if you wish.

 

Next came the finishing touches, piping and binding on it.  Here's where I shared a peek about it in a September post.   

 

 

The label was made when I was feeling silly I guess, it really stretched out my artist's skills, lol.

 

So here she is- the fourth quilt show entry and it's all because of Trudy- the Dragonfly Carnival.

. 

 

Thanks my dear friend and Happy Birthday!  I Love you loads!

Jane

Labels Limit Us

In my email this am, another synchronistic thought for me to culminate:

Labels limit us

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be."
-- Lao Tzu

How do you define yourself, to yourself and others? Are you first and foremost a husband/wife? A mother/father? A bus driver, dentist, musician ... ? A Christian, Muslim, Jew ...? A nag, joker, dreamer ...?

Be aware that any label puts limits on you. Today, experience how it feels to let go of the labels to rest in ‘I am.’ Feel the freedom, the spaciousness, the infinite potential of simply being.

"With every breath, the possibility of a new aspect of self arises."
-- Wayne Muller

"As long as I am this or that, I am not all things."
--Meister Eckhart

 

 

This newsletter comes from The Inner Journey.  It's a posting that arrives and always seems to have a  profound message that synchronizes with occurances and happenings in my life.   Recently I found myself turning into a shrew with my DH and while seeing myself doing it, I couldn't stop.  Knowing that it was not flattering to me but also knowing that it was the catalyst needed to get some neglected things done around  here.  Well, I did get the help I required and then thought why did I martyrize myslef and ask for help sooner.  He accomplished all the items I ranted and raved about in a 45 minute time slot and here they've needed attention for over a year.  The phone in my sewing room didn't work, the C/D radio in my sewing room didn't work, I needed the tables out of the garage to layer a current WIP.......  Lesson to self, ask for help in the correct manner. 

 

 

Oh no, another thought just came to me,

what if that nagging shrew is suppsoe to be the real me?  

EEEKS!  That's not what I want to be or who I identify myself with. 

 

well if you are interested in receiving posts like this, you can find it here at Higher Awareness.

Such is life, I'll be better now...anyways,  at least for a while. 

 

Jane

A Good Start

2012 is off to a great start. 

I was able to finish another knitted dish rag  ends sewn in and all blocked.  The 2 youngest grand children were here since day care had a Holiday today.  After the cloth dried I recruited them to pull off the pins from the blocking board. They do enjoy these little chores.  After wards the Little one loves to wind cords so I gave him the snippet ball of yarn left over.  He played with that for at least an hour if not more.  Here are PGD#1 and PGS#3 ages 6 and 3.  She lost two teeth during Christmas Vacation.  They both spent the night at Meme and Popi's too.  Reaffirms why women should have children when they are younger.  Boy were we pooped getting up several times through out the night.

As for getting to the drawn #5 UFO, not yet.  I actually finally did put a label on  a quilt that was in the show back in October.  Label and bury the quilting threads on the backing of it has been on my list that still needed to be finished. 

Label ~ CHECK, did last night

Bury threads ~ NEXT!

The Label was made in that software program QUILT ALBUM.  That was the first reason I delayed in finishing the quilt.  Found some time to play around just before the Holidays and made a label with the pertinent data I wanted and printed it out on a prepared purchased fabric.   Boy that stuff was slippery when I started sewing borders around it.  Seemed like every edge was a bias one and thank goodness it was only for the back of the quilt. 

Note to self....if you ever do a photo collage quilt,  print one picture then test the results before you print every thing out.  Removing the paper was a chore and not as easy as I thought it would be.   

Well thanks for stopping by .  I do appreciate all the suggestions and comments.  May you 2012 be all that you desire.

JANE