Grieving with Gratitude

As I've been decluttering my studio, I've been coming across some UFOs (unfinished objects for you non-quilters).  In the past I would have just let them languish - too guilty to throw out, but not interesting enough to finish.  But now I view them as mindless sewing. I started opening the drawers in my plastic storage towers.  One was filled with red, white and blue fabric.  This was perfect to make a veteran's quilt for our quilt guild's charitable projects.

Some of the pieces were pieced.  Some of the fabric was cut.  

There were lots of setting triangles - large ones.

I had no recollection of my initial plan.  I can't even remember when I started this.  I don't own any of this type of fabric any more. So, I knew I had to use what was in that drawer.  The paper pieced flying geese strips were the start of my playing and I added the setting triangles.

It really became one big puzzle.  I really enjoyed the process.  The large setting triangles were used to lengthen the quilt to make it more of a lap size quilt. But if you notice, there is a hole in the center of the quilt.  I am probably the only person that decided to create a quilt from the outside in.

A pinwheel block filled the space pretty well.  

Finished the top measures  42"x63" and now I will pass it off to another quilt guild member to quilt. (Thank you Cindy.)  It might be another bunch of years if I was to quilt it.

My first outing without Bailey and without Henry was to check out a new quilt shop with my dear friend, Joyce Hughes.  Joyce lives quite far away.  She wanted to visit me and I didn't have the heart to make her drive all the way to my house.  A meet up at  Stitch Central was a great compromise.

 I did have to put on my big girl panties to walk out the door and leave Bailey behind. 

It's a very quaint shop in an historic building.  The woodwork and beams are so beautiful.  The fabric is located upstairs in the loft.

On the main floor is yarn and embroidery supplies and the two nicest owners ever.

I did buy some very cute fabric that I'm planning on using for a book blog tour.  Look for it in March.

Speaking of friends, I have been over whelmed with cards and emails and phone calls.  They all mean so much to me with their love and support.  In the beginning, I just couldn't leave the house.  Staying at home, or cocooning was my security zone.  I was so grateful for visits from friends.  Being home alone all day makes for a very long day.

The vacation hold has been lifted from my Etsy shop.  Every day I accomplish more and more.  I am now ready to start packaging and shipping.  I will be offering a special discount in my next newsletter, so sit tight for a day or two. If you're not a subscriber, make sure you sign up now, by clicking HERE. 

Grieving with Gratitude

I have changed the focus of my blog to encompass my journey of learning how to be a widow.  Honestly I will be treating this like the journal of my life moving forward.  It may be hard for you to read.  I know it will be hard for me to write, but I am doing this to help myself and anyone else who finds themselves in the position of loss.  You know that quilting will be instrumental to this journey.

It has been 1 month since I lost my partner.  It's still hard to be creative.  The ideas get jumbled up in my head.  I spent a good deal of time decluttering my house, including my studio.  So many things were put off, thinking one of us would get to it.  The explosion of Mini Mosaics consumed the productive part of our day.  We spent so much time in and out of doctor's offices, in and out of hospitals, in and out of Philadelphia.  I am so grateful that we explored every avenue and never gave up trying to extend his life.  There are no regrets, no what ifs.

I have been working on mindless sewing projects.  I made drawstring bags for a Jewish charity in Rochester.  As I cleaned my studio, I came across some partly finished projects that were perfect to work on.  The first was this wedge quilt wallhanging made with fabric that I hand dyed. I think I made it about 3 years ago.  I had 3 other blocks.  If memory serves me correctly, I was going to make a 4 block quilt, but decided it would be too large.  I did a circular quilting pattern with my walking foot.  It was perfect for my lack of creativity.  The walking foot kind of became a metaphor for moving ahead, putting one foot in front of the other.

Through all of this, so far, my sparks of joy have been Bailey and Henry. Henry got me to leave the house to go to Disney on Ice or the movies or to see the lighted trees in Rose Tree Park or  just to pick him up.

 

Bailey became my security blanket.  I took her with me wherever I could.  I thought she would be just as lonely as I was if I left her home alone. What a wonderful companion.

I Get Around

Day #4 of the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge.  I'm trying my hardest to do this, so I'm keeping short and sweet.  It is amazing when I look at the statistics about how many people have read my blog these past 3 days versus how many people were reading them 2 months ago.  It's a bit depressing, but I'll keep trying to regain your interest.

I have visited lots of quilt guilds this past year.  Almost all of them I  have driven to (and I  am starting to enjoy the driving) and then I flew to Florida.  The Program Chair picked me up at the airport and she recognized me right away!

Here are some photos from my travels. 

Can you tell that the workshop was in a firehouse? 

Sometimes I  get to visit quilt shops - Kay's in Ft Myers, FL

My schedule slows down during the Winter.  My  last workshop fro the year is this Saturday at Blue House Fabrics in Warminster, MD - SOLD OUT!

I start traveling and teaching again at the end of March 2019.  We usually head to Key West but 2019 will be another year where we're staying up North.  I'm looking forward to time in my studio to stir my creative juices and maybe learning how to use my 2 year old longarm! I've just hired someone to plow my driveway - so bring it on!

Repurpose an Outgrown Coat

My friend has this adorable little girl who has a wardrobe that Kim K. would envy! Here she is about 5 years ago in this gorgeous fluffy coat.   Check out those zebra striped boots!

They both loved this coat and even  though it no longer fit, couldn't part with it.  So we did some surgery.  I cut and trimmed and sewed and stuffed and transformed it into a pillow!




It was so soft and great to snuggle with.  My friend was very happy, indeed.

This is Day #3 of the 31 day Bloggers Challenge.  I am trying to determine if blogging is still relevant with IG and FB.  I'm willing to give it a try.  To see other bloggers who are participating, visit HERE.

Addicted To Machine Embroidery

Day #2 of the 31 Day Blog Challenge.

I enjoy embroidering names on gifts.  I have been tied up with my Mini Mosaics for quite a while and have little time to do any machine embroidery.  My DIL's birthday is soon and she loves white monogrammed towels.  I bought the towels a few weeks ago and finally set up my machine to embroider.  But, as usual, there was no cooperation.  The tension was a mess and I knew it was time to bring my machine to the dealer to  be adjusted and cleaned.

As soon as I arrived home, I set to monogramming the towels.  It worked like a charm.  Four towels done in an afternoon.  I have to wait until after her birthday to share.  But I can show you the subsequent projects.

My favorite baby gift is an embroidered hooded towel.  I'm told so often that the child uses it for years and years later. They don't outgrow them. Moms love them.  

 A few kids' gifts:

And a bag made with Henry.  He was mesmerized by the stitching.

I haven't put my machine away yet - thinking about what I can hoop next!

I cannot believe that is has been over 2 1/2 months since I wrote a blog post.  Even before that my posts were intermittent over the past year.  It is so easy to post on Instagram and then have it automatically post to FB.  The drawback to that is there are lots of photos but very little background information, including info about my inspiration and process.  

Recently, Chereyl Sleboda (aka Muppin) offered up a Blogging challenge to get us lapsed bloggers into the habit of blogging again.  Today is my first day.  The commitment is to post daily for 31 days.  My posts may be short and sweet, but maybe it will get me going again.

You can head to  www.muppin.com to see who else is participating in this challenge and maybe find some new blogs to follow.

As a heads up, a lot has happened since my last blog post on 9/11/2018.  I'll have lots to post but I know they won't be in chronological order.  Tomorrow I'll write about my current addiction to machine embroidery.

Thanks for reading and sticking with me and welcome any new followers.

Jelly Roll Rug Tips

After finishing up my commissions and developing my new patterns, I needed to do some fun sewing.  I had bought a Jelly Roll of fabric by Cherry Blossoms and I have been intrigued by these Jelly Roll rugs that are being posted all over instagram.  I watched a bunch of Youtube videos for tips and decided to take the plunge.

I bought the pattern and the recommended  stripped batting from Oh Sew Sally, an on line store. The rolls of batting are hard to find and you need 2 of them.

I started working on the rug with my DIL over Labor Day weekend with my DIL.  She was using an orange batik jelly roll that I brought back from Bali for her. The biggest challenge is that everything wants to twist.  Avoiding this was my challenge.

The first step is to sew all the strips together as if you were making binding.  I didn't change the order of the  strips from the Jelly Roll, but next time I think I would. 

A tip that I saw several times was to stack of these strips and either place them on your lap or the table in front of your machine.  Encasing the batting in the strips is very well explained in the pattern.  To keep the batting from twisting, I used my paper towel holder.

And these are all balls .  As I rolled mine, I untwisted the tube.

I was too busy to put the rug together while we were at the lake and I'm glad I waited until I got home where my sewing machine is recessed in a table.  The table supported the weight and I was able to fold and roll the rug as it got larger.

The rug ends up a little wonky and wavy no matter how carefully you stitch.  A good steaming at the end flattens it out.

I have read that people wash them in the washing machine with great success. 

 I can't wait to make another.