November brought 1- Congressional elections; 2 – spectacular color courtesy Mother Nature; 3 – old, new and many-paged books in my reading stack; 4- delightful morning walks, although for about ten days, the temps hovered in the low to mid 30s. 5- birthday celebration: floral bouquet for my 80th birthday trip around the sun and 6 – my great grand nephew, Elias’ 5th. AmaZing! 7 – The photo that shows a doll on my path caused me to think how sad it got lost. 8 – I was intrigued by the painter capturing the autumn scene in watercolors… 9 – I walked to the Franciscan Monastery Saturday and was delighted to see the Koi pond filled with fish.
I am also delighted with this quilt-let, approx 12” x 12.” I made it after my trip to Sisters OR in July. I call it “I Left My Heart in Sisters…” and am embarking on a new and exciting “slow stitching” program.
Stay tuned for December’s magic. And thanks for joining me on my journey.
Sitting on my computer shelf is a quote from Buddha: each morning we are born again; what we do today is what matters most. I’m astonished – too strong a word? – well, maybe amazed – that it is already 4 August. Where does the time go -when you’re having fun … or not? Each day I plan to publish a post and then the next thing I realize, the day is over. So, I tell myself: tomorrow. And here t’is… tomorrow! The question: How did that happen… 24 hours every day, the sun rises/sets … seasons come and go … For sure there is a lovely rhythm to the days of our lives, tho’ sometimes, the days seem to be just one long endless continuum…
Drafting this post has taken me all afternoon – with a few long breaks interspersed: Zoom sessions with storytelling scrapbooking friends and another with a quilting friend – then a walk on a most pleasant afternoon, the last of ? until? The weather forecast for the next nine days and counting: H-O-T! Besides that side activity, I had to connect with Word Press for assistance with the new block editor. I do not like. Currently I’m reading a few assorted other titles, old and I started Anne Lamott’s newest: Dusk, Night, Dawn.
So far, I’m enjoying the change of pace. Deep sigh: I’m still aiming to conquer making Confetti Quilt blocks. Daily, I tell myself: “this is the day” and then, “well, there’s tomorrow … fingers crossed, I hope.” Today I found this fabric remnant from a quilt I made for niece Chris when she left for Rutgers in 2010. I can’t believe it’s been 6 years since she graduated! I think the fabric is a perfect bit of advice for an Unraveled Wednesday. Hope your day’s been less frustrating!
Over these past three days, my plan has been simple: post to blog today… Well, on
+ Unraveled Wednesday, I realized what I was doing not quite right stitching the Confetti Quilt block using the Foundation Paper Piecing technique. Simply put, I was using the full 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper when I only needed the actual block with just about a .25 margin around the outer perimeter. Duh! Smaller + smarter makes all the difference in the world – not that I’ve yet mastered the technique but I am on the right route …
+ 3 on Thursday, my agenda included: several loads of laundry; a long phone conversation with my sister; a two hours’ beak, midday for a a bit of “daily pages” creation; joining Modern Mrs. Darcy’s Book Club session: Find Your Book People (i.e., people in your community who might enjoy chatting on an informal basis about books they read ); and a telephone conference with Norman’s medical team. It is now well past 6 PM, EST – time to prepare a light meal; soon, it will be time to join an 8 PM, EST Zoom session … Whatever happened to the day? Might as well wait til tomorrow to post … and so tomorrow is Today –
+TGIF, This is the week for the annual – 46 years and counting – Outdoor Quilt Show in Sisters, Oregon; last year, ’twas cancelled due to COVID and this year, the week long classes were held virtually. However, the quilts, from quilters near and far will be hung/displayed tomorrow, Saturday, outside on buildings and from trees throughout the Town of Sisters and also virtually*. Visitors – some too from around the globe – are expected to descend on the Town – pop 2K+- on Saturday. Were times different, I might’ve been one; I’d like to have been one. I’ve not been to Sisters since 2017 and frankly, I miss my trips to my favorite spot on the planet. I reserve hope for 2022… and I’m grateful this year’s SOQS is on! Thanks to modern technology, I can at least view the quilts from home. Almost the next best thing to being there! * You too can see the quilts on SOQS day – starting 7 am Pacific Time, just click on the link above and ENJOY!
Cheers~
P.S. This week, in honor of the Quilt Show and in lieu of being in Sisters, I’ve worn T-shirts acquired since 2009. It’s the next best thing to being there. ;-)). Have a great weekend!
Over the next few days, much of my awake time is committed to Zoom: confabs with friends who are spread out around the US, CA and the world. I know shareholders – and I’m not one – are delighted with the technology’s performance over this past year, 365+ days and counting . Since 31 January 2020…. I’ve connected with family and friends, made new friends, traveled to areas of the world I’d never get to under any other circumstances, attended conferences, celebrated weddings, birthdays, participated in graduation events, several scheduled just this past week … The list goes on.
In April, 2020, I discovered and joined a weekly, M-F, 12 N to 12:45 pm, give or take a few minutes, scrapbooking in a 3 x5 and/or 4 x 6 small stitched journal…sometimes I went small and sometimes I also ventured big – e.g., 7×9. The session, brought to us by rukristin, owner and founder of The Awesome Ladies Project, is very informal and friendly. We talk, exchange ideas and information, solve the world’s problems, have fun and engage with our own individual creativity. Yes, we learn that indeed we are creative! Today, I stopped to take inventory of my year’s worth of Daily Pages and I was impressed. NOT every book or page I began was completed – and that’s OK. I continue to experiment, play, learn and enjoy this break in the day and the camaraderie among us.
If you are a scrapbooker, you are probably quite familiar with Shimelle. She offers a variety of interesting techniques for capturing memories into scrapbook pages, stories. Her current offering, “Half and Half,” provides ideas and techniques for using 2 pieces of card stock to tell one story. I scrapbooked the story of my nephew’s changing voice during puberty. Loved the story. Love the scrapbooked rendition.
Finally, I am learning and practicing a new quilting technique – foundation paper piecing – with several friends – one is local and the other, lives in Washington state. Thanks to Zoom, we can both show and tell! A preview coming soon…
Fabrics selected and loosely organized by color – ROYGBIV …
Patterns for each block printed on paper designed specially for foundation paper printing …
Morning Glory Studio – aka my sewing room – organized. Touching and putting things away was a great tactile experience that infused me with creative energy and the desire to actually spend time there – now that I have restored outer order. Gretchen Rubin is right: “outer order is indeed inner calm.”
I’m also gathering all sorts of ideas – fiction titles – for summer reading. Last week I received Stacy Abrams’ While Justice Sleeps and a friend surprised me by sending The Great Circle! That was a delightful treat.
Not much else to share. I’m still wearing my mask when I go out among the crowds or for a walk. Joining Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday.
Tree quilt block #1 for Australia done! Background not included. I will begin the second, using different fabrics and design.
Wishing loads of love, congrats and many more years of happiness to this young lady, my grand niece Kayla, who celebrates her 19th birthday today. This photo was taken 7 years ago and despite the words on the shirt, she – the total antithesis of difficult! – is now in her first year of college.
Winding up Fever this week, going this afternoon to see “Just Mercy” and joining Kat and friends for Unraveled Wednesday.
My plan for today included beginning a tree block to send to Australia and that entailed finding fabrics – my favorite part of quilting: mixing and matching fabrics with the end in mind. I chose from my stash fabrics to make two blocks…and I cut the pieces for one. I looked up and realized the afternoon was rapidly disappearing, the temp had risen to 40° – we started out mid 20s – and I had time before sunset to go for a walk… So, out I went.
captured this lovely picture of the sky just before sunset. Arriving home, I planned to stitch and wound up ordering groceries from Whole Foods, instead. We have been talking about trying the service someday and today turned out to be it.
I’m probably half way through Fever and plan to go see Just Mercy next Wednesday with a friend. Joining Kat and friends for another Unraveled Wednesday.
One of my quilting friends made this adorable Christmas Countdown quilted calendar for the little boys; I’m eager to give it to them but probably won’t til Thanksgiving… Elias will be two! the day before! Hardly seems possible.
We’re getting new exterior doors, both front and back – at ruinous cost I might add; hopefully, installed before Christmas and the cold weather.
We’re all pumped about the Nationals’ playing in the World Series… even Hazel is ready to cheer the team on: Go Nats Go!
I’ve been playin, er uh, practicing the Continental knit stitch… I do like it and may be able to re-program my fingers and my brain.
Norman made chili today; the aroma has been enticing me all afternoon. Time to fix a salad. Hmmm, wonder if we have any Jiffy cornbread mix… that would be good, too.
I am now “real!” My new driver’s license did arrive a couple weeks ago; today I stopped by the library to renew my library card. Showed my real ID/license and library card; a computer key was pushed and voila, my card was renewed. I didn’t have to fill out a single form.
Fall’s colors are finally showing up in the trees; especially vivid today against grey skies; reminds me of the first autumn I ever spent in Washington DC – I was here for a weekend conference; never then did I think I’d wind up living here. Never.
Morning Glory Studio 