Trumped

It's been a while since I sat down to put pen to paper.  My last quilt was the graduation quilt for my niece Caroline.  Since that time she has gone to college, graduated, gotten engaged to a young man who owns a cattle ranch and is basically living her dream.  Her little sister graduated and I put together a colorful quilt for her.  This quilt I secretly named, "Trumped".  You see it was during the time before the election, and the Donald was campaigning.  I was busy putting together this lovely lap quilt.  My son stopped by and I proudly held up the completed quilt top for him to look at.  He said, "is that a swastika?".   I looked down and my quilt and back at my son and uttered a 4-letter word.  Several times.  I don't know that it was a true swastika but it certainly resembled one.   My son snapped a photo and texted it to his wife and she responded with, "is that a swastika?"   He responded with, "my mom is saying a lot of really bad words" to which she replied, "it's a very nice swastika".
Again, my most used tool, the seam ripper, came out of the drawer and we went to work.  The quilt was finished in record time and presented to a very happy graduate. 

If I would just slow down and pay attention.

These pretzels are making me thirsty!

Seinfeld fans will immediately recognize the quote, "these pretzels are making me thirsty!"  This has nothing to do with quilting or crafting, but I guess it does refer to my tv habit. I have not finished the big 8" square quilt.  I did take the pieces from another quilt, a block of the month, that I did not finish, and assembled a table runner.  I need to back and bind this piece.  The big news is that I did complete a small photo quilt as a graduation gift for my great-niece.  I designed it myself.  Simple blocks, with centers fussy cut out of some fabric with crazy farm animals at a party.  She is going to major in agriculture and wants to own a cattle farm.  She raises pigs, sheep and goats.  I had a hard time finding the farm animal fabric I imagined in my mind, so I found this whimsical fabric and fussy cut the critters out.  After those blocks were assembled I moved on to the photo squares.  I gathered pictures of her with her family, as Citrus Fair queen at the local fair, with her farm animals, and wearing her prom dress.  Once those blocks were assembled I put the quilt together using 4-H print fabric to make borders.  I wanted to back the quilt with pink camo fabric, which I was unable to find.  My daughter was able to find some pink fabric that had a similar look, and I was able to finally assemble the quilt and bind it before graduation. Of course I did some quilting on the piece and decided I did not like the way it looked.  So out came the seam ripper.  I spent one Saturday sewing and one Sunday tearin gout everything I had sewn.  Then came the binding.  I made the binding from fabric my creative daughter found, and sewed it on, realized it was not wide enough and spent the next hour or so with my friend the seam ripper taking it off.  New binding and I was back in business.   Not only did Caroline love it, her sister squealed with delight, and I relaized I have 3 years before I have to make one for her, too. 
It's amazing how wonderful it feels to complete a project.      

And this weekend I pulled out one of my dog earred magazines and started making a purse/bag that I have been thinking about making for months.  I have it nearly done.  I already know I need to redo the strap and make it longer. 
One of the most useful things I learned when I took my first quilt class so many years ago was how to properly use a seam ripper.  That is currently my favorite tool of choice.
Sew on friends.  Sew on.

2013 - the year to finish big

I've decided there are several things that keep me from finishing my projects. The computer (Facebook is evil) and TV (TV is evil). I first of all must say I am not a prolific FB poster, but I am a stalker. One of those quiet people who just views what other people post, and then makes my silent judgements. I do not like FB. I don't like the drama (those people get blocked), the games (those apps get blocked), the political fear mongering posts (deleted), and the bad grammar and spelling are enough to make me cry. I find that I get easily annoyed when I am on FB and yet I can't turn it off. I have excuses for not quitting. "but I have my relatives and how will I ever find them again (whinny sounding voice)" And TV - I turn on the TV and sit and stare at the screen. I watch the same movies over and over. I love to watch Jurassic Park, Anaconda, Arachnophobia,.....those kinds of movies that I can really not pay attention to because I have seen them so many times. Or Monk marathons. Those days are the best. So this year I thought it was time to finish some of those projects I have piled up around. First of all I have decided my little craft area is just too small. When I need to sew I have to go to the kitchen. Yesterday I pulled out the sewing machine and the strip quilt that I cut out several years ago. I decided it was time to put together a quilt top. I managed to sew it all together and lay it across my bed and I did not like it. So off to the kitchen counter I went where I cut the strips into completed square strips. After assembly I had a queen sized quilt top that is 8" squares and very pretty, although I wish I had used Hydrangea and bird fabric instead of the green and butterflies. But it will do. Now I measured it and my next stop will be for backing and batting. BTW I used a pattern out of a magazine for the strip quilt when I started the project (it's long gone - probably one I passed on to someone else) and as usual it called for a lot more fabric than I actually needed. Do I hoard the left overs or pass them on? I think I am going to give them to the senior center for their little craft store. Someone else might want the larger pieces I have left over. With the quilt top finished and being the largest quilt I have ever assembled, I can't imagine how I am going to quilt the piece. I will have to do some research. I have a regular sewing machine. It's going to be a chore, unless I were to pay someone else to do it. But I won't do that, I will figure a way to do it myself. My son just moved out and my daughter is planning to leave. This will leave us with two bedrooms! One will be a guest room, which I will set up for guests. The other will be a work area for my husband and I. We shall share this room. He can have his arrow making gear and whatever else he needs in there, and I can have a sewing area. I have big plans for this year, lets see if I can get them done. So for all of you out there ready to finish a project let's get busy! 2013 will be a productive year!

New Year and New Goals ?

I love the new year. I like the thought of a clean slate. I find myself busier than ever - tidying things up, organizing, cleaning, and making resolutions and goals that I will never achieve. Then comes the reality that I have failed. This year was no different. It started with the removal of all things Christmas - except for the tree - the day after Christmas. The tree came down New Years Day. However I did make a resolution to not make any resolutions. So with that I am ready to take on the new year. I will be 50 in 6 days. I need to do something BIG while I am still in my 40's.
I had wanted to take a birthday trip to Monterey to see the Monarch Butterflies, go whale watching and visit the aquarium. However with my husband's shoulder recovering from surgery, and the lack of spare cash as a result of the injury, I have decided to let that plan go for a while. I don't even know what I want.

So with my almost clean house, and my clean slate I begin the new year with a clear conscience. I am going to let go of some of my unfinished projects and relax more this year. We will see where it takes me.

The Bucket List

While all of my friends are making their "bucket lists" I have created a list of instructions for my family.
Things you CAN NOT do if I die
1. If I die suddenly, say in a car accident, you CAN NOT put flowers and a cross on the side of the road.
2. You can not advertise my memorial service on the electronic marquee at the Citrus Fair
3. Please do not list my cats as survivors in my obituary (especially by name)
4. If you don't want my craft stuff please burn it. Don't donate it to Goodwill.

#4 came about when we started collecting Owl "stuff" to hand out at our Soroptimist meetings. There was a needle punch owl in a frame. Debbie gave it to one of the members, and she in turn donated it to our end of year auction. During the auction she said some old woman had made this and when she died her kids just donated it to goodwill (very likely). We all laughed at her description and her comments about if she dies and her kids don't want her stuff.....and I thought OH NO! This could be so true. I have so much crap that only means something to me. I am a collector.
I Can Make That! and so there are the piles. Pin cushions, jewelry, greeting cards, quilts, hats, all in various states of progress or planning, and if I were to fall off the face of the earth tomorrow I am pretty sure there is nothing there that anyone else would care to have!

So I started thining it out. I cleaned and organized and packaged up some of it and sold it, and donated some of it to goodwill (it's okay if I do it...but not if someone else does it for me) and then I have the rest of the piles left. There is for example that bag of 50 ties to make hats with. I am not yet ready to part with those. My son needed a tie the other day and I drug that out and he looked at me like I had lost my mind. Maybe I have.

My sister had my dads jewelry making kits and she went through them and then asked me did I want them and I said yes please. I came home one day and here on the porch were 3 boxes. One of them was a large fishing tackle box. I spent a lot of time sorting through his stuff. I bagged some of it up and sold it. I kept some. The fun part was when I got this brilliant idea to share all of his rocks. His grandkids called him Pop. So I purchased some small bottles and sorted rocks and filled the jars with them. Then I made labels - "Pop's Rocks" and each grandchild got a jar of Pop's rocks for Christmas in 2009.
Maybe I should make my own jars for my stuff - Mom's Marbles......buttons, threads, glitter, rocks, odd pieces of jewelry.....:)

I have to go finish some of my projects now.....

Hot Hot Hot

We went right from winter to summer. whatever happened to spring? It was 105 yesterday. When Debbie and I went for our walk, it was still nearly 90. Too hot for walking in the sun. As we were tooling along I realized Debbie was at least a step or two behind me. So I slowed down. Everytime I slowed down, she did too. We were dragging in the heat.
I reread my posts, pledged to write daily, and wondered if I ever finished those Halloween projects. I think I did, but I am not sure. The Block of the Month sits unfinished, too. And it's been 9 months since I decided to make a hat and bought a bag of ties. I sold several of them in my booth.
I've been thinking about giving my booth up completely. While Debbie is expanding to 2 booths, I am thinking about packing it in! I enjoy it, but think of all the free time I would have if I wasn't hauling crap around - buying it, cleaning it, pricing it, hauling it to the store, arranging it, rearranging it. And I'm barely breaking even! I could go back to just selling my greeting cards on commission and making the same amount of money. So I thought about this and decided perhaps I would wait until after the holidays. Or at least the end of February, because December through February are usually good months. Then I could give it all up. Have a big sale - keep the stuff I like, and move on to finishing my quilting projects.

It's the toilet paper!

I was reading a recent issue of Good Housekeeping and came across a consumer test they did for toilet paper. The toilet paper I have been using was tested and the results were interesting. The paper does not break down very well. It now occurs to me this could be contributing to our ongoing septic issues. At this writing I have switched from Charmin Ultra soft to Kirkland (from Costco) and things are working very well.

Debbie, my business partner, and I have divorced. We were sharing a booth at Antiques and Uniques and we decided due to space issues (I think she was taking up too much space, and she thinks I was taking up too much space) we decided to strike out on our own. Debbie got a space on the isle. Prime real estate! Antiques and Uniques is not really just an antique store as the name might indicate. The business owner has a variety of mechandise, new and used - glasswares, jewelry, furnitue - a little bit of everything. It's a great place to find a gift. Part of the store is stocked by mall vendors - we rent "booths" and we stock them with our merchandise. You might find antiques, hand made items, clothing - a wide variety of merchcandise. In my booth you will find my hand made jewelry, my hand made greeting cards featuring my Trailer Trash line, and various second hand items - glass wares, stuffed animals, craft items, men's ties - whatever happens to catch my eye when I am out shopping for merchandise. Right now I have a variety of Easter decorations, along with a beautiful punch bowl, a selection of gravy boats, glassware, and beannie babies just to name a few of my items.

My Easter cards are on display in the front of the store. Soon my Mother's Day cards will be in stock, and I am hoping to create some new and unusual jewelry.
Stop by Antiques and Uniques in Cloverdale and check it out! There's something for everyone.

PS - I haven't finished the Block of the Month Quilt - although I did make a bit more progress since my last posting.