The green on the sides is just the olfa board. Lila was watching me the whole time I was setting up this photo. She's happy to be inside now that nights are in the 40's. During the summer we hardly see her at all.
Q: What kind of cat does a quilter own?
A: A calico of course. :D
When working with 12" blocks, aren't a lot of quilts 4x6? If I were making that size I'd be done by now... But this is a good study in perseverance.
When I was five years old I attended Blue Birds... the forerunner to Brownies. We stood in a group at the opening of the meeting and recited the Blue Bird motto which included, "I will try to finish what I begin..." I don't remember anything else from that motto, but there it is, impressed on my mind at a tender young age.
I've been making quilts since my youngest son was just a twinkle in my eye; he's now 24. I've made a lot of quilts - bed quilts, wallhangings, placemats, baby quilts, lap quilts, donation quilts, the list goes on and on. And still I find I learn something from every single one I make. This one has already spoken to me twice. Originally I was going to use my teal, jade and aqua fabrics that I've been collecting since the early 90's when they first came out. I thought I'd do a jade with teal and then a teal with jade sort of thing, the combinations would be easy and I could be systematic. Having a system emerge always makes the construction of a quilt go faster. But that plan didn't work and I bogged down. Then I added clear blue and worked with less jade and I started liking it again.
After about 15 blocks it went blah again, I considered making it into a lap quilt, putting borders on it and calling it done. But I listened to the inner voice telling me to stick with it, see where it goes, try to make it work... and you don't want *another* UFO. So I listened to what the quilt was saying, it told me the colors were too close in value, it was all medium and therefore low contrast. Well that helped identify the problem... I really like HIGH contrast. But high contrast wasn't suitable for the original vision of this quilt. I introduced some light-mediums in among the medium-mediums and this is where it is now.
Sometimes quilts evolve beyond your original vision for them and you listen to what the quilt says it needs. Other times you just make minor adjustments along the way and you find you can keep working. I think this one is the latter.
I'm passed the half-way mark, 27/48 blocks, it's getting easier. But I remember why I don't make many King or Queen sized bedquilts. There are too many other ideas calling to me. It's hard to stay focused. :D
It seems I really don't want to have to count or plan with this quilt... but at some point I had to figure out how many of these little rows of light and dark squares pieced into strips I need to make. So looking at a thumbnail of the quilt-to-be, I counted the rows in the columns - 35 and mulitplied by the number of columns in the proposed quilt - 7 and got my total - 245. Well I'd pieced 325, so then I counted the strips into groups of 25 each, put them on safety pins and put the 'left overs' in another basket - maybe they'll be Starter dough for another quilt... The groups of 25 are what this picture shows. I thought it was cool how they fan out and you can sorta see the colors and get an idea what the quilt's going to look like.
In the next few days I hope to add a picture of the EQ draft. That'll give you a better idea where I'm going with this puppy. AND a picture of the break-out solids (for me) that I purchased at Beverly's for the sashing and border.
More later...
I thought about the belief that we all just sprung from some cosmic ooze and all the insects, plants, mammals, birds and humanity on this earth just sort of *happened*. How can someone that believes that look at some of these natural wonders and not see the hand of a Master creator?
DH and I walked the Gabrielli Winery road the other day and saw this little guy.
He couldn't have been more than seven inches long and about as big around as a pencil. He was so still (why are snakes always 'he?') we thought he was dead. But then he waved his little black tongue at us. It was so cute... I loved the little black stripe across his eyes, like a racoon's mask. It was hard to tell if it was a Western Rattlesnake; he didn't have a rattle, hadn't grown one yet perhaps? We left him alone and went on our way.
This morning I was walking the Mill Creek road by my office and came across this one:
Again, the one I saw was tiny... only as big around as my pinky finger. I didn't know it was a California King snake until I Googled it. Unfortunately he was dead, not stiff yet, but he had definitely expired. Should've have played in the road, I guess.
When DH and I were vacationing in Kaua'i a few years ago, I was wading in the wonderfully lukewarm waters of Hanalei bay. The water was sooo clear. Frank said, "Watch out. That looks like a snake." I was immediately intrigued. That wasn't a really bright reaction, but that's usually how I react when someone points out a snake, curious and without fear. So I stepped closer to the shape in the shallows and sure enough, it was easy to tell it was a snake as he swam *away* from me. He was smarter about the encounter than I was apparently.
They may be strange, or poisionous and therefore to be avoided, but I still think they're beautiful. The patterns on their backs, the way the scales lay in overlapping rows. The touch of the Master creator at work.
Left: Last year's Anise
Right: This year's Anise
I like to pinch off the tiny dried seeds and crunch them between my teeth. For such a small granule, you get a lot of licorice flavor.
These are all considered 'weeds', which I guess means they aren't valued by some people. But I think they have a beauty all their own.
This one is a shrub along the walk-way at work, so it is watered. But I love the way the leaves are turning purple on the end of each stalk.
~ One is often closest to God in a garden ~
Well sometimes all the world seems like a garden if you just look.
This bouquet lasted a long time, and I love the look of our Double X quilt in the background.
I've admired sunflower block patterns for years, maybe one day I'll make a full-size quilt of their cheerful circles. In the meantime I had to try at least one...
Then there was this jacket I made:
And this Rebecca Barker Quiltscape jigsaw puzzle I just *had* to have.
Hmmm... I see a theme here.
~Happiness is homemade~
One yard each of coordinating flannel, layered right sides together, round the corners if you like; I traced the lid from a whip topping container. Sew 7/8's of the way around, leaving an opening to turn. Turn right side out, press and top stitch with your favorite pattern stitch in a coordinating, or contrasting colored thread. Total time: One hour each. And I got the fabric off the Freebees table at guild. How cool is that?
I've sewn on point quilt settings before, but this was new to me. I couldn't believe how much trial and error there was for the first row. Each row went together a little faster though. And it was so exciting to see my piecing plan come together in real life.
You may remember I posted a request for more of the repeat border print. Thank you to all of you who looked in your stashes. But as it turned out, *no* one had more. Well necessity is the mother of invention as they say... I had enough to use border fabric in an alternate A-B-A layout and I like it better, not as static. Now all it needs is the outside border(s) and it's off the UFO Tops list! But there it sits, while I burn my way through Snail's Trail blocks and my current leader and ender.
Who says life is boring? They need a hobby!
Still and all I love going. We get out of town, wind our way up through the Willits grade and turn west. This hwy takes us through many different types of natural environments, from scrub oak to redwood forest to seaside. The temperature gradually drops and the air becomes fresher and cooler. The drive over in the convertible is almost as refreshing as laying on the shore listening to the sea birds and surf. 
This little guy was extremely patient with the tourists. The sign said, "Please do not disturb the seals. Keep pets on a leash. Wildlife are sensitive to human voices and pet noise." But did the humans pay any attention?? No, several people were seen with their dogs off the leash, standing on the shore barking away at the seals. So annoying. Humans are amazing sometimes.
This is DH and I, after he'd explored the photo opportunities and I'd had my nap in the sun. It's sooo amazing to lay on the sun warmed sand, breathe the highly ionized air, and drift off with the sound of the waves swishing and slipping away in the background. I was completely toasty and he was chilled, with hands like ice from being out in the wind with his camera. He thawed out though once he got out of the wind.
This is looking east at Lake MacKerriker. I liked the different grasses and bullrushes growing along the shore.
We had lunch at our favorite Ft Bragg resturant and this time I opted for something besides their beer battered Fish and Chips. It was hard deciding what to have - I was so hungry it *all* looked good. But as I always say, hunger is a great flavor enhancer. :D
We headed home shortly thereafter. It had been a lovely day and a very nice way to celebrate our anniversary. Thanks for the memories drhrt.
Turns out it was a dollar a drawer!
With that tucked over by the cashier's table I went around the large fifth wheel for sale and found the boxes and barrels of fabric. Yes... *barrels* There were four large barrels full of plastic bags of fabric. I started with the cardboard boxes on the table... found an empty one and quickly sifted through the first box, moving it to the empty one. There was that air among the shoppers like we had to grab and go before the good stuff got taken by someone else, so I was moving pretty fast, deciding what I wanted and setting it in a pile under my arm - lest it should be snagged by someone else!
There were at least a dozen sets of partially pieced blocks, no finished sets that I could find, wonky piecework, bulky stitches, ghastly color combinations. It was really interesting. However these three blocks didn't seem to be from the same seamstress and the fabrics are much older than the 70s and 80s calicos most of the projects were pieced from.
So I *dug* through bin, box and barrel after barrel of fabric. This women didn't throw *anything* away. Old pajamas, cut out blouse fabric never made, faded curtains and aprons, remnants of old sheets. She obviously loved fabric, but considering how much of it was there, not much of it called my name. I bought two aprons in fairly good repair because the fabric could pass for 30s prints.
And some of the 80s calicos were just ugly enough to be fun. I pulled out cut aways and remnants, got 'em home, washed 'em up and call them calico crumbs.
After I unpacked all the barrels I moved to the knitting, embroidery and book table. Just couldn't resist some of the old tyme publications and projects. That feed sack is a neat, quality muslin. Don't know what I'll do with it yet, but it called to me. Unfortunately the quilt book doesn't have a date on it, but it has that Kansas City Star look to it.
A funky aqua and red (!?) print feed sack.
And then I cruised the rest of the sale, the kitchen drawer, the baking corner, the living room bric-a-brac, the bathroom goo-gaws. It's amazing how similar these collections look after awhile. I was aware of the fact that I was just transfering items from her collections to my collections and that was a bit scary. I mean... the adult daughters were trying to liquidate their deceased mothers' entire personal inventory. Someday my adult sons will probably have to do the same. At least I have *finished* quilts and tops in my stash. :D
I couldn't resist the bric-a-brac, even though I have so much of it of my own already.
And I wanted this cute little six unit muffin tin. Made fresh blueberry muffins Saturday morning to christen it.
In the summer of '03 I was between jobs and pieced this little lap quilt for fun and amusement. The whole idea was for it to be a great place for me to practice my free-motion quilting skills. But it just sat. I found a job and other projects called to me louder than this one for a long time. It's amazing how little time it really does take to free-motion quilt a quilt. I of course am my own worst critic, but when I stand back and look at it through the view finder of the camera, I pretty much like what I see. Not too shabby; as they say.
I've been trimming cut-aways into two inch squares for over ten years. I put them in neat little stacks in a shoebox that lives on my shelf. It's another mindless thing I really enjoy; cutting. I get my fabric fix, I get to play with color and if I ever use all those squares? All the better. 
I recently decided to jump into a new project and started sewing those two inch squares into pairs of light and dark and then pairs of pairs. I have a pattern in mind, but I just sewed 'mindlessly' for *days*. It was great. In my mind I thought the strip of five ended with a light square on each end and I didn't have very many lights already cut in my shoebox stash... so I cut lights for over a week. The little stacks of light squares were adding up nicely. Then I looked at a picture of the pattern I had in mind and found the rows have a dark square on each end. :D Well back to the cutting table.
After several days and weeks of this mindless sewing and cutting I decided it was time to actually *plan* a little. How many strips were there in each column and how many columns were in the overall quilt? Well when I did the math I found I needed 1264 total squares. But by that time I had about 3200 squares stacked up in neat little rows in my shoebox. eek! Enough for two quilts!
So is this about the zen of cutting, mindless sewing or making this quilt? *shrug* I don't know... I don't really care. :D
When people give me a hard time about what I do, which seems to happen on a pretty regular basis, I smile and say: "Hey, I'm not hurting anyone and it keeps me off the streets at night." That almost always gets a laugh. My co-workers love to see my work, but many of them say, "Are you insane?" or, "You have way too much TIME on your hands!" or, "How did you ever get into this hobby?" Does anyone ask tole painters that question? Does anyone look askance at an artist in fine oils and say, "How lonnng did THAT take you?" What is it about patchwork quilts that doesn't garner the respect of other hobbies? Is it because it's considered a 'craft' and not an 'art'?
Whatever. As Bonnie said. "I love making traditional scrap quilts and I don't apologize." I *like* it!
