Thursday, June 2, 2011

Busy as a Sloth

I have been getting some of the smaller projects done. Now, you may think that I am doing this to brag about all of the stuff that I am able to do with small children constantly underfoot; but the truth is that I have been wanting to clear out all of this small stuff to make room for my bigger projects. It is very stressful to look around a sewing area only to see 20 projects in various stages of completion; and these are not even counting my UFO stash. Sooooooo, get rid of the ones that you can get rid of quicker. Put them in a big pile in the back yard and throw a match on them and watch them burn, baby, burn...only kidding...sort of.

I had time somewhere between McKenna's 2am fit of hysterics and my 4am sleepy-time head bob to get this quilt top done (see picture above) It is only the size of a fat quarter; but it was one of those projects that I needed to purge from my sewing area. It is one of Lori Smith's Fat Quarter Quilting quilts from her Cherries, Chocolates, and Cream pattern packets, and it is also a shop sample. So nice to get it out of the way. I cannot work in a mess, it drives me crazy to do so. You have to remember that many times, small projects have just as much ''ingredients'' as large projects. So the more of those babies that you can get done, the cleaner your work area is and the happier a quilter you are. Plus, if you're not as stinkin' honest as I, you can show a picture of a small one and say it is a king size...almost no one will know.

I would like to get truckin' on those Texas blocks tonight and some flowers on McKenna's gown. This is, of course, if I get to the post office, grocery store, and coffee shop without getting lost.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

My Daughter

Tomorrow, I get to pick my daughter up from the airport. She will be visiting me for the month of June. I am pretty excited to have her here for an entire month. Since she lives with her father in another state, I don't get to see her as often as I would like. I normally get to see her in the summertime, or at vacation time during the school year. So, not very often, and not for very long. So this is a real treat. Alannah is the oldest of my offspring. Her father is my ex-husband (we all have one of those, right?).

9 times out of 10, when I tell people that I am not the custodial parent of my daughter, I get weird looks. I get people asking me what I have done wrong as a mother to not have custody of her. I get people who ask me how I could just give her up, or those who say ''I love MY children too much to ever give them up.'' You see, you have to be a totally dysfunctional mother to not have custody of your children. You must have been in prison. You must have been a drug addict. You must have not loved your children enough. Maybe you abused them. The truth is much less dramatic. The truth is that my heart has ached every single day since the day that I had to watch her little waving hand from the back seat of a car bound for another state.

My ex-husband and I moved from our home state of North Dakota to Colorado; and when things fell apart with us, we separated there. He had planned on moving back home at that point; and I could not, for reasons that few people would understand. My family lives in North Dakota. His family lives in North Dakota. I felt that if Alannah was living with her father (who also loves her very, very much) There would be family there for her in addition to her father. Family that could take care of her in an emergency. You see, I would have been a completely selfish person if I fought for custody of her at that point, because I had no family living with me in Colorado. If something happened to me there, there would have been nobody to take care of her. The schools in Colorado are not nearly as well-grounded as the ones in North Dakota (which is kind of proven with the Columbine incident). The crime in Colorado is much higher. I could go on and on with my reasons for ''letting go''. What kind of parent would hoard their children from their exes in selfish disdain, without putting the child's best interest in place. I love her so much that I just couldn't do that to her.

I cried myself to sleep, I don't know how many times, missing her. She will never, never know how much of a loss I have had, or how much I think of her, or love her. I have told people that it is almost similar to giving ones child up for adoption. It is so painful. And yet, she is so much better for it. Here she is 15 years old now. In a few years, she will be off to college. She is a smart and beautiful young lady; and I am so very proud of how she has grown.

I am really looking forward to all of the times that we will have together in the future. I have missed so many of her 'firsts' but I refuse to let that crush me in our times ahead.

I found a beautiful quote that defines my sentiments: Enjoy the little things in life; for one day, you may look back and realize that they were the big things.

To me this means that if you simply take care of the times that you DO have, those will be the times that will mean the most. Those will be the ones that will really matter. I may not know what day it was that her molars broke through her gums, but I have many wonderful experiences to cherish. I keep them in my heart, along with her, since she never really left me after all.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Checking In

Well, since I haven't gotten too many things done recently, I decided to inundate you with a plethora of projects that I have been working on...diligently. As you can tell, I also have not had any time to read, so whenever I am in the sanctuary of the powder room (powdering), I read a little from the dictionary. I can usually get one word in before I see fingers sliding under the door and frantic banging and carrying-on happening on the other side. The interruptions are usually very important things like ''McKenna is playing with my Trios! She is destroying my castle!'' Get used to it kid; she destroyed my castle months ago.

So, I will start with the telling of the first project: I was very excited to do a recent gift swap where the participants got to make a little basket-type bag, then send it off to another participant. I was very lucky to get a wonderful, crafty gal in the Netherlands named Dorien, who has a wonderful blog called Just Do. Go check her out, and tell her ''that crazy Monica sent me''. Anyway, I started working on the bag that I was going to send out way before I even received my swap partner information. (btw, I am sure that quilting is one of the only places you will find ''swap partners'' being talked about without any dirty-minded intent). She loves bright colors, so I was even more motivated to continue on.

This is the front of the bag. I used ''stack and whack'' blocks that were in a scrap bag from one of my ''scrap angels''. I used jumbo ric-rac for the stems, and I adapted a vase pattern to my liking and added reverse applique elements to the front. The bright colored fabric on the bottom and handles is an old Robert Kaufman fabric that I have been hoarding for 'that special project'.

I added a pocket of bright fabric to the back, as well as the inside.

This was so much fun to do. I loved the bag so much, that I think that I may have to make a reasonable facsimile for myself sometime very soon.

I also have been working on McKenna's baptismal gown. I am really hoping to get this baby done sometime before she starts driving. This is what its looking like so far (not pressed, don't judge).

I know that it is very hard to see right now, because it is cream on cream applique, but it will come to life here in the next few days. I am currently adding flowers that have spiritual meaning such as the columbines that are shown above. Tonight I will be drafting some myrtles to add.

Next, I am doing a shop sample for the Quilt Across Texas shop hop in September. I want to get this top done in the next couple of days, so I will have to get busy. I am using a pattern by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. called 'George' for inspiration, but I am adapting the size of everything. Here is what it looks like so far:
The next thing I have going on is a quilt to use up some Moda Turnovers that I have. It is a pattern called ''Asterisk'' from Quiltmaker Magazine issue 133 (May/June 2010). I am not in a hurry to get this one done, it is just one that I am using as a ''leader, ender'' project. This is what 4 blocks look like:
Finally, I have a finished project to show! (even if it is the size of a notebook page). This was a leader-ender project that I just finished to be a mug rug, or wall hanging or whatever the person it is for decides to do with it. I am thinking that I might put it on Etsy so that I can figure out how that darn website works. It will be an experience. But then, I shouldn't be scared a bit. I do have children after all.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

I Am Quilting...I Swear!


I need to get to ''done'' on a project. A few of these projects are nowhere close to being completed. Not anytime in the next few years. Others are projects that are impressive and will get done soon, but I am not allowed to show you pictures of them; such as the block that I am making for the Austin Area Quilt Guild's raffle quilt. There is supposed to be an unveiling of it a long time from today, so sometime the future you will all be wondering how I get all of these fabulous things done.

Here is my secret:

1) stockpile finished projects and only use your camera once a year to take pictures of them.
2) sign up for tons of small projects. ''Hey, look at this kick-ass seam ripper case that I made!''
3) give your stuff to other people to finish, then take credit for getting it done . (well, I did put the binding on...)
4) start giving yourself credit for pulling fabric off of the shelf for a project. Sometimes, it takes me an 8 hour day to pull a stack of fabric for a project. 7 hours of it is spent cleaning, cooking, washing kids, and putting out small fires. 1 hour spent hiding behind my sewing desk with chocolate and a quilting book.
5) Pull out projects that you finished years ago, then ''re-post'' them. No one remembers (or cares?) about the quilt you finished in 1992. Go ahead, technically, it's almost vintage.
6) and now, I am going to start posting blocks that I finished, even if they are a nine patch. Like I said a few posts back, a nine patch is quite an accomplishment to me these days.

It is now 12:30 in the morning. I have a fresh pot of coffee. I am going into my sewing room.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Let Me Tell You (x3)



I think that it is time for a new post; would you not agree? I have a few tidbits of information to share today. First, I have become totally spoiled by my ''secret'' mug rug swap giver. Christine provided me with a stack of fat quarters (a big huge stack! \0/), a beautiful card and note, and two very wonderful mug rugs. She hand quilted one of them (love it!). I love so much about these. The colors on the one under my mug is colorful and matches my sewing room perfectly; so that one will have a new home next to my machine. The other one, with the tiny, tiny paper pieced tea cup shall sit next to my green laptop on my desk; again, matching perfectly. I think that she came to Texas and snooped in my windows to make sure that she coordinated them exactly. (just kidding Christine, we all know you are way more normal than I am.)

The next bit of news is that I got another shop sample done, but the picture didn't turn out very well, and I am way too lazy at this point to drive to the quilt store to take a better picture of it. Never look back, I say...unless there is a cute butt involved. The pattern is called Snapshot, and the Fabric is from Moda's Sandy Gervais called Lovely. I used a panel, cutting the circles in half, then using those as the focus print in the pattern. Here it is:


Last, I have my new replacement 2011 Chevy Equinox. I sure did miss my car. I did not realize how much I loved that car until she was totaled. My friends are telling me that I need to give her a name so that she will stick around longer. So she is now called ''Natasha''. A beautiful but mean babushka with a protective and durable outer shell. She needs a good ol' North Dakota car quilt in the back though, as a Christianing. I wouldn't dare bust a bottle of champagne on her butt when it could go well in my cup, on my mug rug.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

I love IKEA!



This is how the corner of my sewing room looked before I replaced the bookshelf.

And this is how it looks now:

I am a firm believer in utilizing wall space for storage, and visual impact, especially when you are trying to store things in a sewing room. I have so many more books on my shelves now, with plenty of space above those to stow other sewing supplies away. The key is to get narrower shelves so that the weight of the books will not bow the individual shelves over time. It also helps to keep your books together in groups such as: applique, scrap quilting, how-to, quilting designs, etc, etc. remember to keep the books low and lighter things up high. As you can see, you don't have to be afraid to build those shelves almost up to the ceiling. I promise it won't look terrible.

So that is my before/after for the day...now I just have to go ''fix'' the other 3 corners of the room...see y'all tomorrow!