Today I was reminded of why I have always had the rule about no drinks but water near a quilt-in-progress. I was extremely lucky for someone who broke her own rule.
Today's near catastrophe happened while I was doing hand-stitching during the day with only music in the background (I was not even singing along!!!!). I am attaching the binding to a quilt with extra loft poly batting, using dark thread with a border on the front side that is off-white and needed to be focused. I had no distractions and did not see the near-train wreck coming. What was I thinking???? I was drinking a red drink that seems to stain anything that gets within a drop of it. I picked up my bottle--and low-behold--the lid was not real secure on the stupid soft sided bottle. (I know, kids ---- bottles are inanimate objects so the stupid part was on me.) The drink squirted out and all over my hands and my t-shirt. The amazing thing is that not ONE DROP got on the quilt. Must consider it a miracle of sorts because it is one I am putting together for Dad.
What did I take away from this? Remember that I make rules for a reason! Also, gray t-shirts stain but don't show as badly as white ones.
I have always been very strict with myself and my friends about any type of food or drink, including water, in my studio. That will never change. With the coming of warm drink season, I am going to have to monitor myself and be vigilant, especially as I work on Dad's projects for the bazaar because there is no time and no way to recreate all the embroidered blocks in such a short time. I have quite a few table runners, wall hangings, and small quilts at the binding stage. The hand-stitching part of binding is mainly done in my comfy chair in the evenings when I am spending time with Kevin and some times it is almost too tempting to snuggle under the WIP and also enjoy some cocoa.
Guess I better hid my coaster!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
October 5: Very Productive Day
Spent a good part of the day in the studio. I made bindings for 6 table runners and 2 lap quilts. Then I used my Bernina to quilt two more table runners I followed that up with attaching the bindings on all of the table runners and made a sweet little wall hanging with the embroidered bear blocks that were too big for the little baby quilt.
We are trying hard to get more exercise into our lives so I put on a thick hoodie and my windbreaker and we headed for the walking path as soon as Kevin came home from school. Did the 2 mile version again today. Did not take the camera, but didn't see the skunk or any clouds so it all worked out. It felt great to get out there and walk (some of our best talks happen while we are out there), and I knew dinner was waiting in the crockpot so I could truly enjoy without having to think about how long it was going to take to get dinner on the table.
As I tell you often, we are blessed to have this opportunity and plan to take full advantage of that fact as often as possible.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
October 4: Memory Lane
I met my neighbor Jean yesterday. We talked about our grandchildren, the Fairfax Fire and Rescue, the weather, and life in general. She told me that today is one of her favorites because she goes to the senior citizens' luncheon at the fire and rescue. She found out that I was a quilter and passed on two books that I paged through today. One brought back the nightmare memories of creating clothing based on body image - a clothing class I was actually required to take as part of my first bachelor's core class. I was average size in those days and was still hoping for a real chest. We did all kinds of work with our silhouettes, tape measures, and pattern pieces. I absolutely hated my body by the end of that course!!! Fortunately as I looked through this book I just laughed and actually said aloud that I knew why I quilt rather than make clothing.
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| copyright 1989 |
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| from the1989 Better Homes and Gardens Creative American Quilts, pg 13 |
The second book, Better Homes and Gardens Creative American Quilting (pictured) is from 1989. Quilting has come a long way since then but some parts never change. My mom made a few and also left behind a few UFOs that were all cut out with scissors and had notebook paper pattern pieces, but she really did not inspire me to quilt as much as to love the process of creating things. When I really got interested in quilting more than a baby quilt, I watched Fons and Porter on public television as often as possible. I even bought a number of their full seasons on DVD and years of their magazine. This photo is also from the book. Remember all the vests they wore in their shows? We were all younger back then, but they are still creating and so am I. The book is one worth paging through and there are some very interesting bits of information worth reading. Thought some of you would like the trip down memory lane with me.
October 4: One Done .................Millions to Go
Monday, October 3, 2011
October 3: Productive Day with a Two Mile Walk
I have been busy today. I did the laundry and quilted. Obviously, the quilting was the fun part, but we do love clean clothes. Kevin had the opportunity to go to a real wood mill and purchase rough cut wood for several projects.
Dinner was composed of leftovers that really were as good the second time around. We followed it up with a two mile walk on the walking trail here in town. It was very misty and the damp seemed to send a bit of a chill through us both, but we are trying to get back in the swing of things.
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These photos are not perfect, but they really do seem fairly similar to what we saw. Wonder if this is like the mist on the moors of Scotland. Quite a unique vision. |
Once were were home again, we started off our quiet time doing a video chat with Zoe, Jamie, and Henry. I had done one earlier today with Dean, Bryson, and Anna, so my Grandma fix has been satisfied. Then we watched, Ever After: A Cinderella Story while Kevin worked on recreating his address book (a causality of the computer problems) and I hand stitched most of the binding on a small quilt.
Another great day here in Vermont.
October 2: Slow but satisfying Sunday
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| I already had the lil' Twister, so we purchased this book, 4 charm packs, and a yard of backing width fabric. |
We started off in the rain, so we actually took the truck to church. Then Kevin headed for school to do some of his "homework" and I headed to my studio to take care of some more table runners for Dad's bazaar. I ended up playing for quite a while with the fabrics we purchased on Saturday.
I started out with the intention of making just one block to honor my promise to check it out but I got hooked into making all nine that could be made with one charm pack. I made nine blocks --- nine-patch with a 3 inch border blocks measuring about 14" x 14", and then I cut and restitched them into 9 1/2 " by 9 1/2" blocks. There seemed to be quite a bit of waste with this but I was not willing to save the leftovers that are all bias cut. Here are four of the blocks so you can start to envision it. We have decided to make a queen size to use during the spring and summer. The most amazing part is that this design is so far from what I usually do. Kevin does not like the look of batiks, but we both agreed that this one feels a little like Monet inspired ---Not the design but the way the colors play together.
You will not be seeing any more of this during October or maybe even November because I have a plan and want to stick to it. Today I am going to finish this post and then I am going to be quilting a few of the little quilts I have made from Dad's embroidered blocks. Kevin helped me pin two and I will do a simple diagonal through the not embroidered blocks. Then tonight I am hoping to have him help me pin two others so I will have plenty of binding to do for the remainder of this week's evenings.
Special Note about changing size: not clothes but ring size
Saturday night my hands were rather cold. As I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, my rings simply slipped off my finger as I reached down. It made me feel a little sad although I am delighted to be getting into better shape. I put them on the table and thought about them all night. (Cold hands are something that I experience more often as I am changing size so I did not want to take the chance of losing something so precious to me.)
Guess what we did after lunch? Kevin decided we were going to Burlington and purchasing me a new band. He would have bought more, but I told him that once I was at the size I wanted to be for life I would rather have our original bands re-sized. Did not know that changing my ring one full size would be what was needed, but I now have my original band and then the smaller plain band on and everything is staying in place. My eternity band is tucked in a safe place waiting for resizing in the future. Can you even see the difference? My wedding ring is on the left and is very thin on one side because I am left handed and have worn it for 35+ years. The change was just one size, but then maybe I had been strangling my finger for years???
Guess this proves we are on a second honeymoon since he knew not being able to wear my ring was making me so sad.
October1: Sightseeing in the Rain
Just like every weekend, we made plans to do some sightseeing, run a few errands, and just enjoy our time together. In order to acheive our maximum time for fun, we did all our errands on Friday night. Kevin's computer is working so much better than the past few days. I have backing and batting for a number of the quilts I am doing for my FIL. I, also, purchased fabric to finish 3 other tops that I designed to incorporate with more of my FIL's embroidered blocks. We purchased a new washer that we will probably leave here for other students to use, AND I bought a 4 quart crockpot. We also celebrated Keivn's last day as an active duty Naval officer by going out for dinner! The colds made the tasks a little more challenging but I am impressed with just how well we managed.
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The Fall Foliage and Studio Weekend
We left the apartment at 7:40 and headed to southern Vermont. It was raining, but we were determined to see whatever we could and visit at least 3 studios of professional furniture makers. The photos that follow will be captioned to help you see the sights as we did. We only wish that we could share them the way we truly saw them.
The rain was with us most of the day, but I am sharing those shots just the same. Want you to feel like you were there.
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| The mist on the nountains is really something to see. There is no way that my little digital will ever capture it, but trust me it is something to see. |
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| This was our first studio stop. I am giving you two shots so you can see just how big the place is. http://www.gasperetti.com/ |
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| As you can see we did have a few sightings and a few moments without rain. |
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| This studio was smaller, but the studio was what he needed to do the furniture making he is geared for. He did say the next time he built he would raise the roof three feet to accomidate larger peices in his upstairs gallery. Personally, I really like the furniture he has created, especially the dinning chairs with lumbar support. http://www.williamlaberge.com/ |
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| Dorset Custom Furniture offered both furniture and artwork. The studio size is comparible to the second one but definitely has its own personality. http://doresetcustomfurniture.blogspot.com/ |
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| Found these leaves on the ground near one of the studios. Wanted to share a little of the color we did see. |
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| We traveled on a few gravel roads. We actually saw a porcupine crossing the road, but I did not have the camera out at the time. As we travelled we also saw a live 2-hump camel, an alpaca, some "Texas" longhorn cattle, horses, hawks, and more chickens running the yards of one small town. Not even going to try and list the roadkill! |
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| Do you remember what I told you the white bags were? They are much larger than trash bags. |
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| There are numerous creeks and rivers in Vermont, and they all seem to be moving fairly fast. They make such a distinctive sound. I could enjoy living near one. |
Kevin seemd to have a different plan for me, although he did say that he knew I already had a lot of works in progress. He wanted to see what the Stone Chip charm pack would look like sewn up. We kept going back to it, so I agreed that we could buy some now and play to see if we liked it enough to make a queen size later this year. More on the fabric and our decisions in the next few posts.
Once we got back to our area, we headed over to the school for a Mexican potluck. I was the only one that brought meat. All the other recipes were vegan. Apparently many of the students and staff are vegans or more vegan than carnivore. The tamales were my favorite and is another on the list of recipes to obtain from Connie (Did you take the hint, Connie?). Kevin really enjoyed all of it. Not aiming to become a vegan myself, but I am learning that I can enjoy all different types of foods. Good evening of fun, as well.
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