What To Do With A Funk

Have you ever had the realization that you were just spinning your wheels (mentally) in your studio and literally couldn't figure out what to do next? Well, that's how a few days this week have been for me. I had finished--ahead of time--all of the projects that I had planned to work on while in Charleston and I still have four or five weeks left until we go back to Hendersonville. What to do?

Well . . .one of the things I had thought about doing was entering one of the fabric manufacturer's quilt challenges. I ordered the fabric and then thought about what to do with it. I spent the better part of two days drawing a design. I really liked what I came up with. The only problem was that it didn't go at all with the fabric I had to use. So, back to square one with that thought. The other thing was that I had planned (and still do plan) on using the drawing as the center of a larger quilt; however, the fabric that I want to use is in Hendersonville. So THAT will have to wait.

So, now I'm spinning in circles as to what to do next. Several other projects that could be worked on are also in "you know where." I could, as a last resort, do housework, but that held little appeal. Finally, I decided that I would make a scrap quilt because, heaven knows, I do have lots of scraps--probably enough for 20 quilts. Of course, once you decide to make a scrap quilt, you then have to decide which scrap quilt to make. And that entailed looking at pattern after pattern, rejecting each one because, by this time, my brain was really frizzing. I then remembered that I had won some templates this year from Marti Michell (and she is a GREAT sponsor for many quilt show prizes). Among then was the template for the Tumbling Blocks. At last an Ah-Hah moment. I began sifting through my wrinkled, scrunched and torn scraps and chose lights, mediums and darks. I ironed and cut them and began to piece them. Gradually, my funk died away and I began to feel centered once again. I'm not creating a great piece of art; rather, I am recycling my quilt history--remembering the stories that are embedded in each remnant of fabric. Maybe I'll figure out what to do with that fabric challenge fabric--and maybe I won't. But, for now, I'm happily working away on a pleasant project.

One final piece. I also completed another unfinished project last week from a class I took with Carol Taylor. I call it Life As I Know It. It seems there's no straight and narrow in my personal environment!

Just Keepin' On Keepin' On

Well, it's been a while since I posted anything here. I spent the last few weeks getting ready for surgery--getting everything done that I could ahead of time because I wouldn't be able to lift more than five pounds for a while afterwards. And then, I had the surgery (breast reduction, for those who are curious). It went without any hitch--no pain to speak of and no problems except an allergy to the antibiotic. Most of my work frenzy beforehand went into the quilting of Swamp Hibiscus. I even got it blocked--which would have been impossible for me to do right now. SO . . .here it is. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. I tried something a little different on this one by using some thread painting on the centers of all the flowers. so NOW, I have to figure out what I'm going to work on next!

I also finished another unfinished project this past week. I did the center of this quilt several years ago and then it just kind of sat around. I added the checkerboard and border and called it a day. I call it Sunflower Afternoon. It reminds me of some of the wonderful sunflowers that I have grown in the past--ones that tower over you as you stand in the garden and have seed heads that are as large as a dinner plate. And then, in the fall when the heads have dried and hang their heads downward, along come the chickadees and tufted titmice who dangle upside down and feast on the overabundance of sunflower seeds. Now, that's entertainment!

Nothing more to report on just now. I'm working on another unfinished wallhanging and, hopefully will finish in the next day or so.

Happy New Year

Well, Christmas has come and gone and I hope that it was a good one for everyone. Each year, we try to do at least one thing with a Christmas theme and so this year we went to see the gingerbread houses in Asheville at the Grove Park Inn. To say that they were wonderful would be a gross understatement. When you look at this particular house--with a scene inside--it's just really hard to think about the hours and patience that it took to complete it. And everything on it has to be edible. This other house struck my eye because it was so funky. Neither of these were the Best of Show but they sure were great. I used to make gingerbread houses for my grandchildren every year and they would decorate them and it was loads of fun. We have taken them to see this show in Asheville a couple of years and I think they appreciated the effort that went into them after working on their own.

Another thing I do whenever I go to the Grove Park Inn (which is a work of art in itself) is to take my camera and photograph wall hangings and china that they have displayed all around . I almost always come away with new element idea for a quilt.

Since I have been working on quilting my summer hibiscus quilt for the last few weeks, I really have nothing new to post. So I thought I'd post a quilt that I recently finished (about 6 months ago) that was an unfinished project from a class I took several years ago with Barbara Olson. She does a lot of quilts with a cosmic theme and these she called cosmic spirals. I really love her work. I finished the spirals almost right away and then did the black and white border and THEN, it sat. I got inspired a few months back and finally finished it and it hangs over the fireplace in our house in Hendersonville.

So that's all for now. I hope that everyone has a truly Happy New Year and that this year will be full of many blessings for each of us. May we be kind to those around us and appreciate our neighbors and may the creative muse overtake us and send us to places we never dreamed exisited.

Approaching the Finish Line

I have two more unfinished projects to report. The first one is a second version of a basket quilt that I did for a challenge in our splinter group. The one I made originally was needleturn applique and the basket design was the same as in this one--which is fused and machine appliqued. On this one, I added an oval frame and the corner scrolls, plus a different colorway. I redid the outside border before I started quilting and was a lot happier with the final product. Anyway. it is now quilted--after at least two years!

The second quilt I just finished is for the silent auction at the Cobblestone Quilt Show in March. It consists of needleturn applique blocks that were "leftovers" from other projects. It, too, is now quilted. If I keep going at this rate, I'm going to have to actually start something new because there won't being any unfinished projects left!

Another thing I've been working on is knitting. I have resisted taking up knitting again because I know that it can eat into your time that would maybe be better spent on quilting but it's COLD here in Hendersonville and I needed hats and scarves--and, wouldn't you know, there's a WONDERFUL knit shop here in town. SO . . .I've been buying yarn (and also needles to replace the ones I gave away years ago) and finding excuses to watch t.v. so I can keep warm outside. And, now, my husband has complimented me and says if I have time, MAYBE I could make him a sleeveless pullover sweater. How could I turn down someone who has so lovingly and generously supported me in all of my quilting endeavors? Never!

It's a Topper!

This will be my final posting of the my work in progress on Swamp Hibiscus. The border and blanket stitching are done and now it's on to piecing the back, pinning and THEN quilting. I leave for Hendersonville tomorrow for (I hope) 2 weeks and so the pinning will have to wait until I come back to Charleston where I have a big enough floor to lay it out on (yes, I STILL get down on the floor to pin). I'm really pleased with how it's turned out and now my general nervousness will set in about just how to proceed with the quilting. I know it will work out, but . . .

One thing I've been doing while spending more time than I had planned on in Charleston is finishing up some of my unfinished projects. This is one that I started about four years ago at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival. It was a needleturn applique class with Linda Cantrell. One of the unique "twists" in this class was that you ironed all of the applique pieces onto freezer paper, ironed under the raw edges and then glued the entire piece onto the background fabric. You cut away the backing as you go. It's kind of tough in the beginning because there is so much stiffness to the work, but you get the reward of seeing the entire piece from the start. I actually have had the entire piece finished for years, but just added the borders. I'll be taking it with me to the mountains and will quilt it up there. It won't take long and will make a nice Christmas present for someone.

That's it for now. Hope things are going well with everyone.

The View

Whew! I just realized how long it has been since I last posted anything. This has been a hard few weeks dealing with a very weak and ill mother-in-law with little time left for anything else. One thing that is a comfort to us when we have to deal with life's unpleasant happenings is the view from our window. We drink our coffee every morning looking out at this beautiful bit of our environment and read our meditations and somehow find some kind of center to maintain our balance in this world. I was so disappointed that I didn't get to see the fall color this year; however, even I--a mountain girl--had to admit that that golden hue of the marsh grass looks pretty darn good. As we were sitting and looking out this morning, fish were literally jumping all over the place! And they were BIG! We were discussing the various ways we could cook them if only we had a fishing license (not really). I saw my neighbor shortly afterwards and he said he caught 16 fish in about 15 minutes. The only thing was . . .they were mullet, not the bass I had been envisioning. Oh well--he threw them back into the drink, but we all had a little excitement.

I had brought my Swamp Hibiscus quilt back to Charleston with me to work on while I was here and when it came time to do the blanket stitiching around my applique, I was in trouble. I had used my Bernina up in the mountains to do much of it and neither of the machines I have here in Charleston have a blanket stitch that even comes close to the quality of the Bernina one (at least in my opinion). One of the machines is quite expensive but it just didn't measure up.

So . . .I asked my daughter-in-law (to whom I had given my Bernina 200) if I could borrow it long enough to do the stitching. She, of course, said yes and I trotted home with it. I started sewing and was just about overwhelmed with how much I missed that machine (I gave it away because I wasn't getting good service from the dealer). Since we have a good dealer in Hendersonville, my sweet husband said that I must get another one like the 200 (I don't know the model number now). Although I thought it was pretty great of him to say that, I really thought it came under the category of trying to make yourself feel better when you're under family stress and I felt I had him at a disadvantage (would that be WRONG? I would have to say probably.)

Anyway, when I told my daughter-in-law just how much I had enjoyed using my old friend and that I hoped to get another one sometime, she immediately told me to keep it, that she really didn't have the time to use it (she's going to college). I was really overwhelmed by her kindness and wanted to do something for her. I have packed up my other top-of-the-line machine and it will be hers when she is ready for it. But I also wanted to do something immediate and offered to quilt one of her unfinished projects. This is the one she chose--a project from a Myrtle Beach Quilt Party weekend. I really enjoyed doing it because it was something where I could sit down at my Juki and go almost into automatic and listen to books on tape. I was pleased with how it turned out and I think she was, too.

And so, I have had a wonderful reunion with my Bernina 200. I know that other machine owners could say just as many wonderful things about their own particular brand of machines--it's just a matter about what suits our own needs and ease of operation. I like the heft of the Bernina presser feet and I like the way certain stitches stitch and I like some of the features that are unique to the Bernina and I am used to. And, I am almost finished with my Swamp Hibscus quilt top and will post it soon.

Moving Right Along

Thought I'd post the next completed step of my Swamp Hibicus quilt. I finished the borders today and now I have to decide what to put on top of the border fabric.

The little "squiggles" on the upper right border are just pieces of fabric placed to think about color and shape. After I decide on what to put there--and actually PUT it there--I'll be finished. And then on to the quilting! I took the picture of the swamp hibiscus over a year ago and have been thinking about it ever since. It is such a beautiful and delicate flower; and yet, unlike the typical hibiscus that one buys at Lowe's, it dies down in the winter and regenerates in the spring. As well as seeing the in Charleston, I saw several huge plants at the Arboretum in Asheville this summer, so I'm hopeful that I can have a plant in my yard in Hendersonville.

The beautiful Angel's Trumpet (which will be a quilt some day--hopefully sooner than later) that we had in our yard in Hendersonville was full of buds the last time we were there, but the weather was so cool that the new flowers were very hesitant to break out from their protective covering. So when we came back to Charleston, we loaded it onto the back of the truck (COVERED back of the truck) and brought it with us. Once it hit the sun and warmth of Charleston, the flowers just jumped out and shouted for joy. The Angel's Trumpet is a night-scented flower, so we placed it by an entrance to the house. When you walk by it in the evening, the odor just envelopes you. I love it--although it COULD be called over-powering. . .

On a different note, I've been taking pictures of everything in our house. I saw a piece on the television that addressed the issue of insurance coverage in case of loss. They advised video-taping household contents (I don't have a video camera) or taking digital pictures. They also suggested taking photos of the contents of drawers, the point being that we don't remember EVERYTHING that we own and the pictures serve as an aid to remember and, at the same time, prove to the insurance company that we actually had what we say we had. I have 3 more rooms to do and then the cd's will go into the lock box in the bank. I'll have to admit that I didn't do any house cleaning before I took the pictures. Now there's firm, provable evidence that I'm a lousy housekeeper! Oh well. (And I don't think I'll be posting any of THOSE pictures.)