First pair of pants - Ever!

Pirate pants, for my favorite pirate:

The shirt says "pirates rule." And, I guess they do, since I made the pants first, even though what I'm really wanting to get to is a smocked dress. Lord only knows when I'll get to it, but when I do rest assured their will be pics.

(Who knows why this whole post is underlined? Not me!)

I sew need a deadline

My whirligig blocks are multiplying at an abysmally slow rate. My last two quilts were finished in about two weeks time, but now that I'm working on something just for me, it is taking months. Interesting. So, I've taken a challenge presented by Jacquie at Tallgrass Prairie Studio: Spring to Finish. May 31 is the deadline to get your work done.

Perhaps the difference with the former two projects is that I was working toward a hard and fast birthday deadline. If so, this should be just the thing. I really miss my creative time in the sewing room, and now I have an excuse to get this quilt done. It looks so fabulous in my mind's eye - even the back is going to be amazing - that I really want to get the fabric cut and sewn.

I can't imagine that you found my blog without seeing Jackie's first, but if you've never experienced Tallgrass Prairie Studio you should check it out. She makes amazing quilts not too much like the ones your grandmother sewed at all. She inspires me.

While you were sleeping

My Grandmother tells me that she suffered from insomnia, even as a child. Everyone in her family learned to wear slippers when they got up at night, because they were likely to land their bare feet upon freshly mopped flooring. An unpleasant feeling I suppose. She just felt the need to be useful, I suppose, even if everyone else was sleeping.

At 1 am I went looking for something to help me sleep. At 2 am I gave up and went upstairs to sew. I took this old torn, much brighter than the picture shows, orange towel:

Added some funky vintage fabric I got at an estate sale:

And made this funky little mat to go under the dishrack:

I've wanted something like this for a long time. It should soak up the dripy-drips while dishes dry, and it definitely brightens up the room. It will make me smile when I'm washing dishes. Can't beet that :)

Project of the day

I have 9 quilt blocks so far. I really think this is going to turn out great.

Today, no time for quilt blocks, but I did make this little household necessity:

I used this tutorial at Crazy Mom Quilts. This time last year, check writing was so rare that I didn't keep a check book or even a register. But now, with kids in school, it seems we write checks quite frequently, so it seemed time to have a real way to keep up with them. Even though it is kind of an odious task, at least I'll smile when I see my pretty checkbook. You can make one, too. It took me about 3o minutes from start to finish.

Maybe it wasn't the first block?

I found another whirligig tutorial at Quilting on Turtle Hill, and made a block from it. Here are the two side by side:

The first is from yesterday, the second is from this morning. Which one do you like better? Can you even tell a difference (besides the fabric)? There is a bit more angle to the whirl in the second one. Maybe, I'm nit-picking, but I think the second one has a bit more movement. And movement is what I'm after in this next quilt.

I have to say, Man, I love the internet. I'm learning so much from quilting and design blogs, that would have taken me years or decades to discover otherwise. Without a local quilting mentor, I would have really floundered and probably given up. But thanks to all the wise women willing to share, I think I'm making considerable progress with my art. So, THANKS!

Yesterday Jewel felt a bit cuddly when I needed to be up and about. She got so cuddly while I was holding her that I thought the sling might be the thing. So here we are:

She was quite happy to ride around with me while I did my chores.

What a difference a day makes

Just a little time to sew and everything seems better. Is anyone else like that? Whatever the caes, this is the first block of the the new quilt.

I got to sew, today!

I haven't had a second of my own for the last few weeks. But today, I found a few minutes that I used to sew this.

This is a just a practice block (done with scraps) before I start cutting into my fabulous new stash for the next quilt. This is a whirligig block. I used this tutorial over at Bitty Bird Quilts.

Even though I haven't been at the sewing machine, I've been mulling the next quilt over in my mind. I think it will alternate whirligig blocks with plain blocks, some of which I will applique. In my head, at least, it looks fabulous!

Now I just need a few hours to get started. It might be awhile, as Mr. Waitress is heading out of town next week.

dealing with anger

********I very nearly removed this post. It isn't crafty, it isn't happy, it isn't anything a mother aspires to, but I decided to leave it, because I think so many if not most of us, have days like this. And, maybe it helps to know you aren't the only mother feeling this way. If it just leaves you thinking what a horrible mother/woman I am . . . well, I'm willing to take that risk. *********

Today is one of those days that just isn't going the way I want it to, and I can't stop being angry about it. Do you ever have days like that?

I don't know if good parenting skills are inborn, taught or personally developed. Probably some mixture of all three. Some days I do great, I roll with the punches, I make homemade soup and feed 8 more people than I expected, and still get the laundry done. Some days, like today, I feel like I am defeated before I even begin. Like around every corner, or with each next step is a new obstacle. I get angry because the day isn't going like I planned. Angry about things that are completely out of my control.

How can I manage this? How do you? I'm re-reading Buddhism for Mothers. But I need to do something more than read. I need an active way of changing my response to the world. Gotta run, more people to attend to . . .

Quilt's I'll never forget

Last night was the February gathering of the local quilt guild. We had a speaker, Mavis Rosbach, of Quiltbird Studio. She gave a presentation titled "Three quilts you've probably never heard of, but I hope you'll never forget." Three fascinating stories. I'll tell you the first one now.

The first was about Elizabeth Gurney Fry.

A well-to-do British woman in the 1700s who decided not to live a life of leisure, but rather one dedicated to others. She trained some of the nurses who went with Florence Nightingale to aid the soldiers in the Crimean War, but she is better known for her work to improve prison conditions. Elizabeth worried especially for the welfare of women prisoners, and worked tirelessly to improve their lives. One of her most interesting and innovative, even ingenious projects involved teaching female prisoners to quilt. She gave them the supplies they needed to make a quilt when they set sail for the penal colony now known as Australia. The hope was that they would use the four months at sea to sew a quilt that they could sell upon arrival. Giving them a bit of dignity and a means to support themselves in this new land. One quilt survives to do this day, called the Rajah quilt, named for the ship the women sailed to their new home.

Here is the label on the quilt:

I have really not done justice to Mrs. Fry, but you can learn more here.

Loose ends, old and new

Here is the heart block for the quilt guild. We meet this coming Tuesday. I'm happy to have something to bring to the meeting.

And here is the fabric I'm using for the next project (It was a birthday present from my Grandmother. )

It's from the Attitude Girls by Mary Engelbreit for Moda Fabrics. I've always been a fan of Mary Engelbreit, and used to really follow her work. I thought I'd outgrown her, but when I saw these fabrics I had a stroke of inspiration . . . We'll see if I can sew into the quilt the image I have in my mind. That's what I love about quilting, afterall.

Lastly, the smallest member of the family is having a little tummy trouble. Here is her dinner plate for tonight. I was hoping to find something she could eat and make her, and you, smile:

I love this guy

Another quote from G. K. Chesterton about Mothering:

How can it be a large career to tell other people about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone and narrow to be everything to someone? No, a woman’s function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute.
G.K. Chesterton, ”The Emancipation of Domesticity”, What’s Wrong with the World (1910)

I'm thinking I might need to read this book. Once again I found this on Solstice Letters. I haven't exactly figured out that blog, but it is full of great quotes.

To learn new things

In January I joined the local quilt guild. I think I was one of maybe four ladies who don't get the senior citizen discount, but that just let me know there was enough experience in the room to help me learn something. And that is what I want. I've cobbled together my quilting skills over the years starting with the sewing my Grandmother taught me and then adding to it with the internet and a few books.

At the meeting they handed out instructions for a quilt block with the idea that everyone makes a block, brings it to the next meeting and then they raffle the blocks off to a few people who then have most of what they need to make a quilt top. I hope they do this every time. Since this blocks incorporates a couple of things I've never done before it is a good way to learn new skills.

This is what I have so far. Sort of a basket weave. It will attach to two appliqued semicircles to the sides to make a heart shape. At the top of the photo you can see another one of these blocks. I had to do it twice to get the pieces to line up. The second time worked out fine. So, you see, I am learning something. Maybe I'll use the first one to make a potholder.

The disappointing news for me, is that the fabric bundle I'd decided to buy to make my next quilt with is out of stock. Hmmm . . . . what to sew?

Where I've been all this time . . .

I found this great quote from G. K. Chesterton over on a new-to-me blog, solstice letters (my first embedded link!):

Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

So much of my life is repetitive and monotonous. I didn't think anyone, anywhere would want to read about how many diapers I changed today, or how I washed the same laundry I washed just last week. As much as I'd like to, I don't always have creative projects on the cutting board or in the sewing machine. Sometimes my life is about kissing boo-boos and cleaning bottoms or a myriad of other surfaces. I sometimes have to remind myself that boo-boo kissing is a legitimate line of work. That although they may not realize it, everyone in the house is grateful for a clean potty to pee/poop/barf in. That just being present for my children is important in and of itself.

Then I read this quote, and I think there are mothers all over the world who feel just like me. And maybe just commiserating and celebrating our work here, on the internet, might be enough to help us keep our own daisies growing.

By the skin of my teeth

I pulled the warm quilt from the dryer with just enough time to tuck it into a tissue paper filled bag and head to Grandma's.

In one day

In one day I: finished marking a quilt, basted it, and quilted the entire thing. I also took out the garbage for pick-up (blessing upon the person who invented trash pick-up), washed, dried and folded two loads of laundry, and cooked dinner for my husband, myself, my sister and five kids.

So, if there are any typos in this post, please pardon me. I'm a little tired.

I can only hope the stitching will hold up for more than two washes. I'm a little nervous . . .

as promised

This is the first quilt I've truely done from start to finish with patterns. On my other three there have always been significant parts that I either made up or I outright just flew (sewed) by the seat of my pants.

For the

quilting I'm using a heart pattern. Now, I'm not normally a heart kind of girl, but this quilt is for my Grandma. The woman who taught me to sew in the first place. So, for her, I'll do hearts.

If you look closely, you can see glasses I'm having to wear to get all this fine detail work done without headaches. I really hate them.

Here is a slightly more close-up view. I'm hoping to finish the marking for the quilting lines and get it basted before this evening. Ambitious, I'm afraid.

Scaredy cat

There is nothing like taking the 326 piece quilt top you've just finished piecing together and drawing all over the top of it with a blue marker! (Photos to follow)

Given the sporadic nature of my posts, low readership shouldn't be surprising. But, I am thrilled to discover there is someone reading this pitiful, directionless, and sporadic blog - and she isn't even related to me! So, thanks, Meghan.

My latest . . .

Well, blogger adds things in weird order sometimes. Here is the back of my most recent quilt. I did some straight line stitching alternating with free motion quilting:

Here is the front of the quilt. I must add that my husband greatly objected to these photos. He wanted to take them outdoors in the daylight in a more interesting setting. I however, just wanted pictures. Of course, now, I wish I had headed his advice. For your sake. Anyway, I think it turned out pretty well. Considering this was only my third quilt, and only the second one that was actually quilted (the first I tied). I'm well on my way to the fourth quilt. Maybe I'll get some photos of it posted, soon.

I don't know how big my readership is. I suspect it is zero - or one if you count me. I feel so ambiguous about this blog. On one hand I want it to be on par with one of the many amazing craft blogs I read. On the other hand, I'm just not that disciplined, and often find myself exhausted with other obligations. Time will tell I suppose.