Recent animal rescue

Our neighbor kids brought this one home but their mom was allergic and had an asthma attack. So I took it. Wanted to keep it of course, but DH said 3 animals in the house was enough. :-(

I did find a good cat lover home for him. He was such a sweet kitty.

Raggedy Ann Quilt

Five years ago I decided to get a sewing machine and start sewing for the first time since high school. This was my first major project: a raggedy ann quilt for my mom. Here is a picture of her puppy, Xander sitting on the bed...LOL. Anyway, I found some raggedy ann fabric, but I did a lot of drawing on many of the squares. I also had my children draw squares for it. It is a king size. When she came to see me from out of state, I had it on my bed. She came back to my room and said, "where did you get the raggedy ann quilt? " I said, "I made it. It's yours." It was so fun. Most of the squares are 12". It was my first quilt in 15 years so I was afraid to start something with smaller squares. This only took me 2 weeks to complete, so that motivated me to start more complicated quilts.

I survived my first craft fair

I didn't make all that much...sold about 1/3 of the stuff I took. I have listed the rest on ebay. I felt good though, that people might want to buy stuff I design.

art therapy

I've been thinking a lot lately about my sewing as art therapy. I started sewing 5 years ago in an attempt to fill hours that had once only been filled with work. I was a workaholic and I did not know how to do anything else with my time. When forced to resign from my full time job to save my sanity, I looked back in my life to see what I had done for "fun" before work entered. I had to look back to high school. Sewing. I decided to teach myself to make the clothes I could never figure out in Home Ec. I prayed for a sewing machine. A friend gave me one. So I bought some Sewing Patterns for Dummies & sewed Barbie clothes. When I succeeded with that, I bought a pattern for baby doll clothes. Easy. Meanwhile I sewed some straight seams and made my mom a quilt. I am still waiting for her to take a picture of that so I can post it! Anyway, I bought another pattern for Dummies and made myself a dress--out of two pieces...easy. After that I braved Simplicity, McCalls, and Butterick patterns. I can follow any pattern now. I still hate inserting zippers and setting sleeves, but I can do both well...after picking out hundreds of stitches. It's just part of the process. Seam rippers get used as much as sewing machine needles.

I suffer from diagnosed clinical depression. I had been through hundreds of hours of therapy--yes, helpful. One day I was sewing and felt a new feeling that I had not felt. After therapy, you question your feelings and want to label them. I realized it was pleasure. It had been so long since I had felt pleasure...if you have ever been depressed you understand....in sewing, creating, I found healing. I am educated--two college degrees, and have had some classes in couseling...like I said been to therapy forever...but received more healing out of sewing than anything else...art therapy I now find out it is called...I never knew much about it until I started researching it lately. Yes, sewing is my art. Sewing is my therapy.

I see a project before I start it. I don't know how to explain this. I guess artists call it inspiration or getting the muse. "I dream my painting and then paint my dream." said Vincent Van Gogh. I have a simliar process. Each baby quilt I craft is made esp. for that baby...based on what I know of the parents and/or the child. It's hard to sew for those I don't know...why I have not entered craft fairs until this week. I see the clothes I sew in my head before I make them. I usually pick fabric first and then pattern. Or I see a piece of fabric and the picture of the finished project appears in my head and then I try to find a pattern to match it. If I can't, I alter or make it without the pattern. I don't have many UFOs because I need to see completion...I worked so long in a field that didn't provide completion and satisfaction from that completion.

I dream of owning a machine quilter. Now I handquilt, tie, or machine quilt with my standard machine...very difficult with large quilts. This is usually limited to baby quilts. I usually tie the large ones I make. One of these days my garage will be turned into my studio...but my desire is not to turn it into a quilt business, but a form of art therapy.

Log Cabin Tablerunner

I couldn't figure out what to do with these sampler log cabin blocks...and they came together as this table runner. It even has a "theme." Lots of wildlife, fishing, and flowers. Bringing the outdoors right to the center of a table. Colors range from white to yellow to hues of green and blue. Some of the pieces are flannel, but most are quilter's cotton.

When Scraps/Patches take on a life of their own

Ok, so today I sat down to rotary cut some 6" squares for a rag purse and this is what happened! They just refused to be ragged or pursed, instead became a baby quilt top. The darker blue fabric has little red ladybugs all over it. It has always been a favorite...made a raggedy ann costume out of it last October..and here it has surfaced again.

My first tailored suit

No, not the first one I have owned. It's the first one I've sewn! It is unlined, and the fabric is a black and white plaid boucle'. The front of the jacket is held together with two small white ribbon ties. I have yet to insert the shoulder pads. The skirt is an a-line with a slight gather, side zipper, and wide waistband. The jacket is my most difficult sewing project to date as it had 18 pieces! However, there is a satisfaction in tailoring one's own jacket. It took several attempts and alterations to get it to fit perfectly, but I did it.

A new invention

I'm sure you've heard of "taggies." This is a quilt with taggies...what should I call it? A quaggie? a twilt??? The taggies are little ribbons sewn on the edges so babies can chew on them. This quilt is a lesson in various textures for a baby boy. The close up shows it is a rag quilt...made out of scraps of fleece. I machine quilted-in-the-ditch.

Pink and Purple Baby Quilt

I am working on this baby quilt for my mom's coworker. It is pink, purple, with some orange. The fabric has a floral or butterfly pattern. Has four inch squares with a four inch border.

Patchwork Pillow

I made this patchwork pillow for a friend's little girl's preschool naptime. It is 10 x 12.

Grounded

Ok so I've grounded myself from the fabric stores in an attempt to save money and finish some projects! I still have not put the batting and backing on the taffy(brown, pink, blue pinwheel) quilt even though I bought the stuff. I have done nothing else on the vegetable quilt. It has been the busier summer in years. Remy the puppy does take time. He expects a walk at least twice a day. :-) I can't complain. It certainly isn't hurting me to get off the couch or away from the computer. I directed Vacation Bible School in June & received fabric store gift cards and thought yeah now time to quilt. Not. Church camp came next along with a trip to the ER because of an allergic reaction to a fire ant sting. This was my second experience with fire ants. Anyone who knows me if I start to turn red in the face and swell and start panting, stab me with my Epi-Pen!

House invaded by Puppy

Sorry cat lovers, but the blog will have to include some puppy stuff now that one has moved into my house. His name is Remy & the cats hate him.

Vegetable Garden Quilt

This is the first completed block in a new quilt adventure. I am using a Garden Quilt pattern from a Better Homes and Gardens Book. This is an ear of corn. It is pieced...the yellow of the corn is actually a corn print. The next row will be appliqued yellow bell peppers.

Princess Marie & Eeyore move into a new house

No, I have not given the cats away. They took up residence in the Barbie house yesterday. This is not posed! Eeyore is in the bottom. She always shuts her eyes in the flash so she blends into the shadows. Princess Marie, however, is a ham as usual.

Crocheted Backpack

Why haven't I been posting quilt stuff? I've been busy working on other projects. This is a crocheted backpack/purse, lined, that I recently completed for my daughter's teacher.

My Amazing Garage Sale Find

Saturday the family & I were out garage sale-ing and look what I found! I bought this quilt for $1.50! Stamped on the back, "Oklahoma Quilters Guild," I am sure it is handmade. It looks like a baby quilt--it has written on the back "MONKEYS" with a permanent marker. The quilt measures 33 inches by 34 inches. Nine ninepatch blocks nestled in light blue solid sashing...with tiny hands stitches....I am going to sew a sleeve on the back and hang it.

What you've all been waiting for: My first feminist rant

OK so I just sat through a conference where ALL men sat in the front. ALL men spoke.
The one woman who was given the mic was escorted to the platform (a custom I loathe).

One woman was applauded for her homemaking skills.

No, this was not a homemaking conference.

Meanwhile I came home early to work on Homeroom Mom stuff. I know. I am a walking irony.

My very very first quilt

This is the quilt I mentioned two posts below. My mom & I made this quilt when I was 5 & 6. I colored the iron-on transfers with paint in tubes (popular in the 70s I don't remember what it is called)

You can see the signature and date on one of the squares. Another shows a closeup on the patches upon patches I have done over the years to hold the quilt together. Other than coloring, I remember tying the knots as it was stretched across the living room floor. I also remember my mom waking us up in the middle of the night a few months later as she was working on another quilt. She had popped her toenail off as she moved furniture to tie another quilt. We had to get up and go with she and dad to the ER.

Aunt Linda's Quilt

I mentioned in the previous post the quilt I received on my fourth birthday from my Aunt Linda. Here it is...patched and worn, yet still in use! I can't count how many times I lay sick underneath of it, counting the patches, or marveling at the nine patch blocks. Quilts do something for the self esteem of children. No one else in the world had a quilt exactly like mine: it was made for me. I love to do the same for the children I know, as you can see by reading my blog.

Why I started quilting

My aunt Linda made me a quilt when I was 4. Patched and worn, it still keeps one of my children warm at night. I colored some pictures with fabric paint at age 5, and my mother cut up some old clothes and we made our first quilt together. It is even more worn than the other since we used old fabric as a start. I have patched it and patched it...but it is still well-loved and on the bed of my other child. I loved to sew as a child. My mom's machine broke when I was 11 or 12, and we did not have the money to buy another. I hand-sewed dolls and doll clothes until I was 12 or 13. My dad was a pastor, and one of the older ladies of our congregation took me under her wing when I was 13 and decided to teach me to quilt. She taught me hand-applique with polyester as it did not ravel on the edges. I worked on it for a while, but alas! boys began to hold more of my attention than quilting. The day before we moved to a new church when I was 15, she helped me sew my small pile of appliqued blocks to other plain blocks to make a quilt top. Using a sheet purchased at Dollar General with my hard-earned summer job money (picking vegetables in 100 degree heat), she taught me how to pin-baste the front to the back with safety pins. She gave me a lap hoop and said, "You can finish this in a month if you work on it every night." LOL!! I was 15 and had a boyfriend. I did not sit around sewing every night. This is quilt you see below that took me 15 years to hand quilt! I did not make another full quilt for 15 years...but now I take on smaller projects or hand-tie a huge quilt...My dream is to own a long armed quilting machine, but that is in the future.

A little more progress on the pinwheel

I made some progress today. Still not sure about the design.

I tried a few more color combinations...added white with brown that reminds me of chocolate and vanilla ice cream. I could call the quilt neopolitan but for the blue. What flavor is light blue? Can't be blueberry. Maybe "blue rasberry." Or maybe the blue stands for ice??? I am trying to think of a clever title for the quilt...any suggestions?


As usual Princess Marie sits on the pieces. She doesn't like it when I go on a cleaning binge like today. All of this is now put away and she has nothing but a smooth table to lie on. She prefers the mess, but alas my husband does not.

I'm not a Quilt Shop Quilter

Ok so today I visited a real quilt shop for the first time. Yes, I've been quilting forever, and yes I've been to quilt shows....but as for a formal quilt shop where they teach classes, etc...first time.

It is a beautiful shop boasting 5,000 bolts of fabric. I was disappointed. Why?

1. Fabric is $8.00-$10.00 a yard!!! I think I'm paying a lot if I splurge on $4.00 a yard!
2. Everything looked too perfect...every example looked factory-made even though I know they sew them in the work room right there. You sure wouldn't find my rag quilts made out of worn out jeans hanging in those displays.
3. I asked about classes...since I have never taken a formal class, they said I had to start with a beginning class...using a rotary cutter and sewing a 1/4" seam. I said I was sure I could do that...see I don't want to pay $50 to learn how to do something I have been doing for 5 years (rotary cutters at least...I've been sewing for 15).

In conclusion I will continue to shop at Jo-ann and Hancock clearance racks (esp. $1.00 a yard).
I will continue to quilt in my own non-perfect, homemade-looking way...and no, that shop does not know the definition of scrappy!!!! They do things well, don't get me wrong, but it's just not for me.

Chocolate & Taffy Pinwheels

This brown color reminded me of chocolate...so I mixed it with 2 pastels in a pinwheel block: pink & teal. So far no idea how far I'll go with these in size...the dream is a queen size for my bed, but we shall see.

Completely hand quilted lap quilt!

Yes, you saw this quilt below...I posted it when I had finished everything but the binding. It is lapquilt size...I machine pieced the blocks, but it is 100% handquilted...recently finished the binding. The backing is an interesting linen black/white.

Dog Jacket

I made this doggie jacket for a very special one-year-old's birthday. One of his first words was "dog" and he loves to imitate the dog sniffing. The jacket is cotton, lined. The buttons are also little dogs. The lining has tiny dog prints all over it. Ok, I know it's not a quilt, but this is what I have been working on...and if it is two layers with some quilting on it, it qualifies as a quilt in quiltquatastrophes!!!

A Crazy Project

A pile of random blocks attempt to become a quilt. Princess Marie MUST jump in front of the camera as soon as I get it out. She is such a ham.








Eeyore attempts to hold down her favorite square.









...As I type this, Princess Marie has fallen alseep on her favorite square. I few Dresdon blocks, some different sized log cabin blocks and even a strip of flying geese have tried to sneak their ways into this quilt. I'm still in the arranging and rearranging part of this...and it makes me think of life...I had all these plans laid out for the future...and well, circumstances have turned my life out different than I expected. Yet God and the companions that hold me down can turn my life into something beautiful...even if it isn't all neat and lined up perfectly.