At Present

I am happily now settled back in Washington State.  Each weekend I have tried to spend some time organizing and "moving in the sewing room" - ah, I'm still working at it.  But now when I walk in, I don't want to run right out. 


I've worked hard organizing fabric, and grouping elastics, zippers, buttons and etc. into their group home and then finding the place they go.  I have used up a lot of fabric garment sewing and I find a lot of my cubbies have free space, way to go me.  And honestly, other than my annual July big fabric purchase, I haven't bought that much.


I was delighted when I found out the 365 day quilt challenge is going to re-run in 2017, I wanted to do it last year (SO BAD) but too much was going on with house painting and gardening.  I have 4, yes 4, plastic hampers full of scraps and I want to do the challenge using these up!  I may aim to make two of each block. 

The above are fabrics from a kit I thrifted.  The kit was an ugly quilt, so I'm not surprised it was donated, but the fabrics aren't that bad (probably not what I would normally buy, but what the hay), and I chose a different pattern out of a magazine I liked (as pictured).  I'm also using some of these for the Westerning Women blocks.  I'm making two of each.  I figure as long as I am cutting, I might as well prep two to sew.  I hope to catch up in the final weeks of this year and then be ready to start the 365 day challenge.

My spare time has been spent cutting out a lot of garments.  I do this during A's T.V. time, what I consider my break.  I've been trying to cut out about two patterns a day, but sometimes it is more.  Somehow the cutting makes me feel that I get to sew.  I mean besides pillowcases, new pillows for the couch, Halloween costumes, and the huge stack of potholders I just prepped and pinned together.  Hopefully I finish the potholders by Christmas, well especially the Christmas ones.

I aim to get up a picture of the sewing room.  I now have a machine up on a frame, and I am really excited about it.  I loaded a quilt top from the thrift shop and have been free to accept whatever comes of my first attempt at quilting on a frame.  Then I can attack my half a dozen quilts that are ready to be quilted.

As I have been cleaning up my space and organizing, I am really pleased to finish up and clear out a nice amount of projects that have/had been stalled due to moving, or needed just a bit of finishing.  Several garments, out, done, and in the laundry.

I'm really looking forward to this next year to be a productive one for my sewing.  The room is set up, A is going to be 3, and I want to document my makes. 







Why they should print this in a quilt magazine so advertisers will buy ads.

Pre-lude to, Buy Sewing Machines:

Buy Fabric:  A Comedic Essay

More fabrics than quilts?  Quilty/guilty, Fabric Acquisition Disorder (FAD), compulsive fabric buying when it is one sale; clearly the definition of addict.  I choose well stashed, words will create reality.

Not one to stop anyone from a fabric fix, I encourage myself too much, after all, if you don't by fabric, the store won't be there.

Is there an approved program to insure the stash is busted before you die?  Never sew a quilt with triangles, -don't say?  Just get 'er done, then use that new bundle over there.  What, I was suppose to have a pattern that wanted to be used with that?

Stop the wash, the new fabric is commanding, it was supposed to be located under that pile of fabric over there.  The laundry will fold itself anyway, later, while more fabric is acquired.

"I should have bought all the rest of that green," and other regrets felt your better behaved self as the car pulls away from the store and the airbag light comes on because the front seat is loaded with fabric.  Clearly, had there not been small children involved, and infinite diversion, you bill would have at least had two zeros after it.

Is the dryer done yet?  The new fabric needs to be:  ironed, petted, sorted, filed, lost under another pile for awhile, justified internally in regards to how one should use the excess fabric just acquired, and finally just folded.

Believe, in yourself.  Forgiveness, fabric, they both start with "F".  I can think of "F" words I'd like to say to people who tell me I have too much fabric, or rather that the "sewing collection" is too big.  I would tell them to forgive the fabric up.

Someday, when outside it is below zero degrees and snowing, you have young children still and are pregnant, appreciate the forgiveness of fabric mistakes; these past mistakes will make the quilt, that one more piece you needed to finish a quilt will be there.  THAT is what you'll do with it!

Really just want more creative time?  Buy fabric.  It will feel like creative time, almost, fantasize about it.

Really down because ah, you haven't bought any fabric when your not supposed to, but your studio is in boxes to be moved; buy fabric.  Make a temporary stash on a shelf and screw whether it goes with a project or not.  And when the door to the closet won't shut, admit yourself a hoarder,(full permission is granted to HOARD, remember the Civil War?  Just don't forget needles, they ran out of those), move on, acceptance will make a better fiber artist.

On the night when a full crock-pot would be heaven sent, make peace with eating noodles cause the cook is too tired, and sew that fabric.

Resolved:  quilts will be left in this world.  Kids may remember how much they hated that crock-pot pot roast, and how cool just eating noodles for dinner could be.

And with satisfaction, when all you favorite color is depleted from stash, buy some extra cause mean people have way too much ego, and probably never had a quilt as a child.

The black book is a mega binder of quilty ideas.  And there are books with post-its, and ideas for quilts that haven't made it in the burgeoning mass yet.  These ideas take lots of fabric which is waiting to be purchased.

A smart phone is good for noting fabric requirements, but after years of sleep deprivation, it never hurts to buy three to four yards of a lovely.

There is always noodles, and FAD is way better than drinking or worse, and usually way less expensive than fine shoes.

Buy the way, don't buy crap cause it is cheap.  No one wants to look at it or feel it against their skin when they cuddle a quilt.  Buy quality fabric, so when each child gets their chest full of quilt someday, they will also get to pass those quilts on.  Quilts will endure.  Don't let your qulits get caught with fabric that can't last the years.

And even if the quilt doesn't get sewn, at least others will know you went for the good stuff, and smile.

Give yourself permission not to measure; focus on the delivery of your goal.  We each have our own way. 

And besides, if buying fabric inspires you enough to sew, its worth it.

Fabric awaits ironing, now go checkout that abandoned cart, chances are one of the fabrics will lead you down a path you'd never want to have missed. 

  







2015

This year I look forward to accomplishing more.  Last year I had a very colicky baby boy who is still quite convinced the world will end if his mother happens to be out of sight, so I am quite behind.  If you have ever been through extreme colic you may relate.  It is my hope that separation anxiety will cool somewhat, and I can cross most of these goals off my list.


My year holds a move, and possibly two (one back to Washington, and hopefully another when we buy a house).  Moves are very hard for me for reasons stemming from a childhood remodel.  My childhood house was packed up in boxes, stored away.  And it never came back out.  I wrote a poem about it once.  It was moving.  I will see if I can find it.


I struggle emotionally during these times, and that is on top of just the normal stresses people undergo during a move.  I know the man upstairs is giving me lots of practice in this area for a reason.  Each time the cut feels so painful, with the re-opened wound having to surface and heal again.  Each time I vow and remind myself, "This is ME, I unpack every box, deal with crap, and make a home"  However I chose this path, I chose these stresses because I firmly believed I needed to follow God's prompting in my heart and that involved some extra moving that we were not anticipating.


These moves themselves are as a quilt.  Each neighborhood and location has brought us many gifts we would not have realized if we had lived just in one place only.  I remind myself of this quilt that is made, each place a patch.  Like one of my teammates who chose each place as a tattoo on her leg.  My quilt is more a mental marking. 


Every move I make a vow to banish each and every cardboard box, as just seeing them in the house brings back hard memories for me on a personal level.  The kind of level where you can't quite speak it, it is just a tramatic association; and sort of an unbalancing force that once must rid themselves of quickly and with determination.  I am sure everyone alive has their own "cardboard box" issue.


I am thinking of for once, just unpacking a small portion of our belongings until we purchase a home.  I struggle with this though because of the associations I place when I look at the boxes.  I want to save the boys from boxes in their living space.  So maybe the solution is just packing full the garage for a bit?
 
I am making my 2015 goals with all this in mind, and as such trying to be a little kind to myself realizing that probably over half the year will involve deconstruction and reconstruction of the household in addition to three young children to care for.




Goals:
REVIEW GOALS ONCE A MONTH!!


Household:
Go through/organize one drawer/area/shelf/box or container each day I am at home during the week. 


I want to be ready for the movers and have things in order and easy to pack up.  Unlike last time when I was pregnant and puking.


Start using up the pantry and limit myself to buying only what I can use in the time left.


Spend some time each month in the garage analyzing what I can put away or get rid off.  I am thinking 10 min. per week before the move.



Personal:


Take more pictures.  These boys are growing so fast and I need to take time to snap it up.


Edit together some of the snippets of video.


Reduce sugar consumption, be mindful of it and specifically add more plain water.  This will be hard to measure, but my goal here is really being aware of what I am drinking during the day. 


Try to get to the gym once per week(or push the workout into the next week to make up for it), and maintain b-ball games.


Live in the now.  Enjoy where I am while I am there.  Do not worry over the future or dread it or envy it.  Simply do my best each day.  Know that my best is enough.  If nothing changes, nothing changes.




Blog:


Post once a week before move, or at least write down my ideas so I can spring from them when there is some quiet available.  There is so much accomplishment that has yet to be documented.  This next year I want to document what I make.


Use these posts as a way to aid in completion of goals for 2015; ideally posting once a month about goal progress.


Post a video.




Sewing:


-Keep my embroidery machine running as much as possible
-embroider my way through my design library so designs are ready to go into quilts when I have more time, but right now I can at least keep the machine humming...and besides it helps me de-stress and feel like I accomplish something.
-buy embroidery software
-make boys capes
-sew larger tunic size for Roman Soldier costume since studio        will be packed up still around Halloween
-sew 4 things out of Burda Magazines or patterns
-make something to wear on vacation
-make some shorts for the boys out of clothing I need to re-purpose
-sew up all the flannel solid navy and green purchased for boys
-cut some blocks to piece by hand during move
-cut more pieces to use up scraps for snail trail quilt
-sew up the two wild full scrap bags I have in the garage (one done this past month!)use for mindless piecing and save larger scraps for specific things if needed.


Things to finish:
-one WIP per month of any variety
-quilting of rose quilt
-"Sailor's Joy" quilt blocks out of civil war repros
-quilted jacket
-cross stitching A's stocking
-cross stitch on "welcome" sign over vacation
-quilting of star of quilt
-quilt colored bar quilt for Aunt by summer vacation
-make something for me to wear on vacation
-pillows for the family's beds
-work on Mermaid quilt if I ever have large blocks of time

Studio:
-organize one shelf a month til move
-put all knit fabrics/ribbing in a tub and remove from shelf
-file all patterns back
-try to elimate WIPs, reduce WIPs in cube of WIPs
-file fabric thrown up above bookcase

Which do you like the best?

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Awake

I'm here, really.  Starting to come up for air after nine months of super colic boy.  I would like to post some reviews about my new additions to my sewing room.  I am excited to be getting back to machine embroidery again after my hiatus.

Alaska has had some awesome weather this year.  I am enjoying it.  Soon oldest boy goes to school, and I hope to have more time to post every so often.

Seasons

I've always joked that I wanted to "homestead" in Alaska.  I never really thought that I would live there, but I do now.  My vision may have been more along the lines of one room shack filled with books, and fabric, and a sewing machine;  location somewhere in the very, very remote hills.

While in real life, it rolls more like a different house with more bedrooms, and a heated driveway so I don't crash into the neighbors house when I back out.  And lots of things to arrange after the movers left their wake.  Like all the books they shelved with the spines in, and the cords packed in boxes which nested and require a fifteen minute experiment in trying not to feel overwhelmed about unpacking a house, cleaning, organizing, and decorating so pregnant all while trying to mother two little boys amid the waves of morning sickness the third trimester's cruel joke.

Maybe I said it too many times and the man upstairs heard me.  Maybe my version wasn't big enough and it needed a major overhaul.  Maybe it was as simple as an answered prayer about not having to move with a new baby.  I am overhauling my whole life right now it seems, and right before a baby.  Baby number three who we hope to meet likely just after Thanksgiving.

I just finished reading "1776" and I must say, sometimes reading the struggles of others while you are engaged in your own battle puts things in perspective.  I mean it is not crucial if my fabric sits a little slouched on the shelf until I can clear the cubby it is supposed to be in, or the fact that I haven't sewn in a WHOLE MONTH, and feel so adrift, but still avoid tackling a nasty box of misc. which sits under my sewing card table.  Looking at the bright side, at least my machines are plugged in and I found the telescope for my serger so I can quit having nightmares.

I have never not had a baby quilt ready by this point, so in the morning I tackle that box like a Hessian soldier was trying to invade my homestead, with the gun of persistence that not even old George couldn't help himself to stop to admire.


And though difficulties may pester me it seems now from all angles of life; I will do my best each day.

Scenes from last week:

sewing cubicle

After almost a month without stuff, I think they were shocked to see it all arrive.

Snow on the first day of fall.

 

"Above all Washington never forgot what was at stake

and he never gave up" 

-McCullough p.293

 

On The Fly

What have I been sewing lately?
How about what have I completed?

Pillows for couch = complete with handmade forms stuffed with foam and closed with invisible zippers.
Burp cloths       = Chenille on one side, flannel on the other.  I curved the shape so I could just serge them easily.  Some will be given away (while I was doing them I got a little carried away).
Kid Fleece Sleeping Bags= top edged with satin blanket binding and stitched with a programmed train stitch, will add the zippers today.  I used 1.5yds of Thomas the Train fleece.
Log Cabin blocks        = for a baby boy quilt, blue centers, blues, greens, whites, and naturals.
A simple zippered pouch = used a piece of quilted fabric that came flying at me, edged with leftover lace satin stitched decoratively on by the zipper.
Heavy Duty Fleece P.J. pants as well as flannel ones=  for the boys for winter.  Used a double needle to make the waist stitching, very pleased with effect on the heavy fleece.
Flannel Nightgown      = for me!

Summer winds down, I throw away things and use them up as we will be moving at month's end.  To the northern most city in the U.S.  I imagine days to sew when it is way too cold to venture out.

I bought a new sewing machine.  Five months of hyperemesis gravidarium gives one ample time to research what they really want.  And it took the full time to decide.  I will post on that later as I have not had much of a chance to play.  I am super pleased and excited about it.

I have some zippers to install, and a car seat blanket to make (like on pinterest) and some mending that I should do.  The boys should nap, but are not.  I am excited for what is ahead, a rec room, with a big fat corner where my sewing stuff will all go.  So no more moving machines to sew.  They might all be able to set out in a line!

Sew Expo 2013

detail of paper collage/painting seen at booth

 

I'd never been to sew expo before.  I guess I didn't realize it was so big.  And they had lots of classes.  So this year I jumped in and headed down to look around.  I figured at the very least it would be an opportunity to sit down at all the different sewing/embroidery machines. 

I took six of the classes, and I must say, despite the pitches I took away some meaningful message from each one.  Everyone had their own style of inspiring others.

Highlights:

-Don't be afraid to do things your own way.

-"Don't let me buy anymore fabric" If you don't buy that fabric your not sure what your going to do with it, later you will be missing the said piece needed for what you are working on.  And you would never have that story of how that fabric you bought years ago was just perfect for your current quilt.

-Make sure your using the right materials to make your memories last in your work.

-Take other ideas and make them your sewing ideas.

-Be ready to break down designs to simple forms, master the simple forms separately, then combine them, then expound on them.  Think about machine quilting as an example.

-Pay attention to what works for you and ditch what doesn't.  Whether it be supplies or techniques I found this was a common theme that most all the speakers exemplified in some way.

I spent Friday and Saturday wandering up and down the isles and took three classes each day.  I did sometimes feel a bit out of place as part of the younger crowd in a demo of largely the Baby Boomer age group.  I think perhaps they just didn't market to the younger crowd, or else they couldn't get away from the kids?  

Sew Expo as defined by husband, "A bunch of women walking around wearing vests with big bags full of shit, buying a bunch of crap they will never use".  Yes well, it was funny the way he said it anyway.

Like the idea of making a raw edge pattern with scraps

purchases

I bought some trims and some hand marblized fabric.  So I did behave myself.  I enjoyed sew expo, especially since I got a break from the boys to walk around and see it.  I must say that it was inspiring to see a specialized community come together for an event like this.  It was a good experience for motivating all us artist sewers out there to get going and create.




  

Cutting out garments

For the past week, I have been cutting out garments. 
Winter is good for laying out lots of yardage on your extended dining table.

I've cut out nightgowns and p.j. pants, some waffle shirts, and a jacket out of silk.  I have a laundry basket now full of garments stacked all cut out and ready to go, and I found that if you fold all the pieces on themselves, then tie with a ribbon (like a package) you can layer all the tied packets, together with their patterns, and then I will just pull one off the top when I go to sew and all the instructions are there, and the pattern picture reminds me what I cut out.

This beats the alternative which is two small boys snatching the pieces and spreading them all over the room for you to pick up!  Ah well, and it is also much better than the trash bag I used to group that pieces from the last garment I cut out.

The weather has been ideal for doing stuff around the house, and I am getting a jump on my spring cleaning.  You can only clean so long before it is time for fun, so we cut out Valentine's Day hearts and taped them up on the wall, I taped, little boy put them on the wall.

I have been checking out embroidery designs on the web (love these line type designs), making chicken noodle soup, and in general staying inside out of the rain.  It surely helps one get to the bottom of the laundry pile as well.

I've been trying to learn to use Lightroom 4.  So far, I'm operational, but there is so much more to learn.  Thank God for YouTube, or it would be going a lot slower.  It does make a lot of your really bad photos look almost passable, which is nice.  And maybe eventually I will get them organized.

My machines are due back soon from service, so hopefully I can get all those packages of ready cut garments sewn up!

Pics

Winter Inspiration

"You can make something useful, functional, and fabulous from absolutely nothing, so save your money for purchases that you cannont make, such as vintage beaded fabric..."

 -pg. 92 Where Women Create Book of Organization by Jo Packham

 

Funny how life throws one pieces in order that seems ludicrious.  Like winning an auction for embroidery thread, and THEN your machine refusing to embroider.  This all could make sense, if only humans could see the future, but we write our story every single day, without heeding the possibilities of the next day.

 

So I hit upon thoughts of how to use embroidery thread without a embroidery machine.  Decorative stitches.  Yes, and I use those on hems, and neckline, and omit the lace on nightgowns which actually should have lace as it seems so everywhere right now.

 

If one could pintuck the present and the future, I think they would still find themselves confused.  I read books on sewing and I find myself thinking. 

1) Reading the book on organization should help you.

2) I'm glad I only just read about that project, now I    don't have to do it!

3) There are always techniques that seem obvious but you haven't done, and lightning hits, e.g. folding and then serging the fold, and triming against the seam.  Where was I all this time? 

 

I have been engrossed in a studio redo, and inbetween that my sewing has largely been comprised of mending.  Sheets, jacket zippers, etc.  I have completed some nightgowns and flannel p.j. pants.  However, nothing lately that speaks to my soul.

 

For my sons quilt, of course I pick a block that takes an hour to complete, and I mean an HOUR of stitching and ironing all ready cut out pieces.  Sailor's joy, yes, but I was not expecting it to take that long.  It is done in Civil War repros and yellows/blues with poision green backgrounds.  That said, I am improving my technique vastly with inset Y seams.  Maybe that will serve me in the future.

 

My Christmas present was some cubbies for the sewing room, and also some glass for my camera.  I have the cubbies in and almost filled, but they still need to be arranged neatily. 

 

My thread is arranged and sorted by color in drawers now, which I have found works the best for me in my small space.  It blocks the dust, and if you need a green, you can pull out a whole drawer take it with you wherever and find the right one.

 

I ponder my goals for a new year.

 

1) Mermaid art quilt on my design wall, IS coming together this year (then I can use all that thread I just bought).  It

 

2) My son's quilt.  I made him a duvet cover, but know he needs his big boy bed quilt.  It will come together easy once all the block are done, and I will send it out to be hand quilted.

 

3) Quilt some quilts already! I am a sewist who loves to quilt, but just seem to sew more than quilt.  I was halfway through the micro-stipling before I blew up my machine again, so I think I am at a machine crossroads.

 

4)  More embroideries...

 

5)  Print some pictures on fabrics and get my son to paint on fabric more.

 

6)  Finish the quilt for my couch and make some pillows to go with

 

7)  Try to blog once a month

 

 

It has been a mild winter here.  The boys are constant entertainment.  My oldest helped me sort the embroidery thread, and he wanted only to open all the new in plastic ones (so like me) and he snuck a couple but I made him stop.  He helped me "finish the job," and I love it.  He really likes his quilt.  I took a pause on it over the holidays and am resuming this week.

 

Life is full, and I am expectant that this new year will bring sewing adventures that stretch my creative talent and widen my ambitions.

 

 

 

 



Thoughts On Micro-Stippling

I'm micro stippling this quilt because the fabric begs for it, really, it does, and that is the only reason.  Pictures will follow next time, sorry.  I'm "micro-ing" the inner square of the Irish chain like quilt and leaving the house, which I fussy cut to be in the center of the square, free, to sort of puff out.  I may or may not trapunto.

The result is really more pleasing than I thought I could produce.  I seem to be keeping a very even look.  I'm managing to get about 1 1/5 diamonds done in a day and that is a rather large area of a freakin' huge quilt.  It does however make the quilt real flat, and the thread is a quilting thread weight, so that is part of it, but I did that because it is intended to receive actual use as a bed quilt. 

I'm sure this will remedy somewhat with the gorgeous texture I know it will have after I wash it.  And yes, this quilt needs to be washed after about 6-8 years sitting waiting for me to muster the courage to do it justice.  I am glad I waited now, because I have a lot more skill at machine quilting then I would have even just a year ago.  Partly due to watching You-tube, partly from just getting some more quilts through.  So I am just really proud of myself to be finishing it at last.

Micro-stippling is great for getting the frustration out that builds up when you care for two very young kids.  You can kinda just get mad at the empty space on the quilt and declare it will be destroyed with your meanders.  It harms nobody, and pleases the thread companies, and at the end of the game one may actually finished the UFO that has haunted them on the shelf for years.  Plus, it is something that actually shows, and it stays, read does not need to be re-wiped or moped again in a hour.

Micro-Stippling also is not great for people that like to finish all at once.  It is best done in small, do-able chunks, so as not to leave your shoulders and thumbs/forefingers about to fall off.  I'll admit to a couple mornings being super sore from it, ah, wait or was that lifting my 30lb. 1 year old?  Yes, 1, no longer a baby.  Awww.

I finally filled a bunch of bobbins up.  I'm using blendable variegated thread, but two different brands and two different color ways on top and bottom.  I have been changing my needle extremely frequently and using micro-tex sharps. 

I am also attacking, (since I'm on the subject) my bags of scraps in vacuum bags in the garage.  Every morning when I start the wash, I grab a few handfuls and bring them in to get ironed and cut out in strips, squares, or templates as appropriate.  This should create quite the scrap quilt.  And satisfaction that what previously took up a whole lotta room, will have been gone through.  Plus, I will have a quilt all cut and be ready to just sit down and piece it.  Yes, sometime in the future when I have some time to sit down and piece.  I guess one steals those moments while the dishes wait, and the kids watch Mighty Machines.  Sometimes I too, feel like I'm working hard doing mighty things, with my might machine.

Binding

This is how I did my binding last time.  Yup, rolled around a Dixie cup and the little scrap triangles stuffed inside the cup.  Nice, neat, and because the cup is waxed it removes really neat if you want.

I went on a binge ordering bobbins because I reached the point where I was unwinding bobbins by hand just to use them again because I was out.  So lets just say I am stocked up for awhile.  I like to wind a lot at a time of the same thread, especially piecing thread.  And then of course I am always using the opposite machine of what I already have a bobbin in such color wound for.

So here is the quilt that I bound with this binding:

Made as a house warming gift for Aunt Laura my sister-in-law.  The sage green exactly matches her wall, and I made the quilt before I saw the wall so it is happenstance.

Lesson learned quilting this quilt is that let yourself be free when you machine quilt.  The quilting went so fast, I was ultra relaxed about it and just did what came into my head, some loop de loops, some swirls, I just went with the fabric.

All the fabrics are from stash, even the backing was on-hand, so it felt really good to know that a whole quilt came out of my collection, and no it is not now just sitting on the shelf collecting dust, but out doing good service in the world.

Flannel "Gee's Bend" Quilt

"Mamma I'll help you bind it!"

Just fun to work with extra hi-loft! Warm, flannely, and the perfect project for Feb. to make me feel like I actually do accomplish something. I bound it in navy satin blanket binding because that's what I had and I wanted to finish.

It is amazing the transition from top, to quilted top. This quilt has simple fastly done quilting, and yet it took a, "I'm not sure I'm gonna pull this one off quilt" to a love it!

Just the right size for two little boys to fight over!

Christmas Sewing

Image: Of A Winter Beachwalk

The challenge of sewing with out either of my sewing machines, has become translated in the question of -What can I serge????

After some much needed time to myself, I made a runner which I serged with a rolled edge and some coordinating napkins. I have also been randomly serging scraps from the flannel bag aiming for another quilt for the boys room. One I want to tie with floss or yarn because when was the last time I have ever done that?

The serger is great for instant gratification. You can eliminate turning right side out if you want to. The feeling of just humming along puts one at ease and your stresses slide away tumbled beneath the threads of the loopers and the needles.

I think about the freedom sewing gives one to create the things their mind envisions. These kinds of creations can be achieved so speedily with the serger and I am so thankful for mine.

I bought some roses to lift the mood as the temperatures here reach down below freezing heartily. "Rosy Outlook", I kid you not their label read. I tried fabric, I tried walking around the nursery filling my paper sack with paperwhites to force for Christmas.

What it was that really cheered me up from the gloom that sneaks in with the tiredness new babies can cause mothers; was just about five minutes at my serger and coming out with a table runner ready for Christmas and it it not yet December.

I'm starting early this year. Last year it was so late when we got a tree due to friends and so many things going on. This year it is about being early and more prepared so things are ready and I can rest and enjoy.

I also finished cross stitching a stocking for my son, and have started on one for baby. I am so proud of the results I am producing on linen, that seems like a major victory after my first attempt seeming so difficult.
It is really true that once you start evolving to work with good materials you don't want to go back to what you were doing before.
The red tug heads out to meet a tanker, pushing past the grey water out to the sun behind the cottony clouds. I sit on the sofa and think about how nice it feels just to sit for awhile and watch the sea not sure which direction it would like to go.

My Sewing Machines Are At The Doctor

What does a girl do without her sewing machines? I wouldn't know, I'm facing new territory with them both in for redo at the same time! It's a hard feeling, knowing that you cannot sew. Thank God for repairmen. And yes it was way overdue.

I was free motion quilting, everything going along smashingly, and whack, it just died, stopped, hand wheel seized. Well the goal of finishing the quilt by Thanksgiving, is likely toast. Ah well, there is a method to all of this.

I have been considering getting a fast stitching machine, a 15-1600spm'er. I have yes been thinking on this lots lately. Hopefully my machines didn't hear me and and one decided to die or give up, or just got plain tired of making me happy. As if to say - oh you don't really want me, well, I'll show you!

Sewing machines have distinct personalities; some, one can live with, and some, one cannot. They have temperaments and little sticky stupid hills they want to die on to, and sometimes seem so much like people it is scary.

A sane person would use the time to clean the studio, rearrange, or maybe even cut fabric for a new quilt. I, the philosopher, will think on machines of course.

Do I want to get to know someone new? I imagine tackling a new machine is like dating again after a divorce, and a woman maybe just gets to the point where she just cannot handle men for a while. Or perhaps more like whiney kids, whom you love, but you're just not sure you want to be around them for the rest of the afternoon. So you dole out a fruit strips and pray that Thomas the Train can give you enough break just to gain your balance.

Or maybe the excitement of a new gadget just takes over? For such a creative type, I do love my machines. Strange. I keep waiting for that machine without buttons, some sort of holographic morph out of Star Trek (which yes I would never watch but my husband makes me) and I tell myself, yes that is when I will buy a new machine. A buttonless machine.

And maybe the man upstairs has other plans. I know the tool appears just as the teacher, when one is ready, when one demands good tools. We cling to old hairdryers yes don't we, when their are ceramic/inoic blasts of blissful dryers out there that give us the hairstyle of dreams, so why does sentiment cling like fuzz to the bobbin case of our insanity. Ah yeah?

I like using thread, I was doing so great, emptying spools on this quilt, and now perhaps I need time to think on its completion, and being machineless will give me that space.

Mmmm

When machine quilting a quilt sometime you just need an "M,M" break. My son loves MM's. And I suppose they do help ease the nervousness that arises with a blank surface to coat. I'm going fast and broad and a lot more spaced out on this one, and that sounds bad, but I really do mean the quilting style.

And as in potty training, just maybe those MM's will help with discipline. Yes, they do, and also the Thanksgiving deadline I have set. This throw quilt is purely made from stash, and a little wacky, but the tones and colors go.

With young children around who dump out toys as fast as you pick them up, and smear the floor to look worse than before you have just mopped it; I take a deep breath and am thankful that there is quilting to make one feel as if they have actually put down some sort of accomplishment for the day.

I've noticed as I quilt more quilts, I am learning to just go with the fabric. To loosen up and enjoy the way the fabric leads the needle into a free-form type pattern.

Speaking of dumping, I put baby (D de) in the toy wheelbarrow to shoot a pic, and brother comes over and dumps him out! No harm no foul, but it did make for some cute pics. I think being two years old is all about dumping out everything one can, and so maybe I should take a cue, because the only thing I dump out seems to be clean laundry.

During our "ride bike" session this afternoon I noticed the trees have lost most all there leaves. Poof! Just in the span of a flu, and they are almost all down. I was supposed to have the flu during the rain, not the sunshine as happened.

Winter is so near, but I am grateful for these last sunny days. Warm enough still to throw off the Crocs and dip toes in the water, yes, you heard right, even way up in the great North. Kids don't care, they just wear there shoes in, and sometimes I suppose we all just should, they dry anyway.

I think young children have a lot to teach about quilting:

Walk right into things

Throw a tantrum if things don't go your way

Dump everything out until you find what your looking for

Make up funny names so things don't get dull


Laugh like crazy when you mess up and it's just plain funny

Throw it in the garbage can, I mean, will you even miss it?

And diapers, sometimes, yes even those I imagine could be handy.

The MM's are gone. I feel better. I feel like I accomplished something that actually shows.

Some Small Good

The last of the sunny days peak out from winter which seems to loom so close to fall. Two boys grow, the elder picks flowers, small tender presents to rest on a baby's fist. Sickness has visited, and after a week of sick children, I too grace the couch while in my mind ideas flower, and doing the dishes looks so promising, because it means you are well enough to do them again. Oh to ride bikes again and search the neighborhood for flowers to give to mom!