Re-boot?

So, my mom found my defunct blog last week. She just recently became a "convert to the dark side", as my eldest daughter likes to call those of us who enjoy the internet and social media. That discovery, of course, got me thinking about starting again. Over this past year I haven't found tranquility. Nor have I done as much crafting as I would like. But, whatever this life is, I'll take it, so I guess there is a certain equanimity in that. I'll be back with updates on the items I did finish over the past year as well as my ongoing organization project using some of Julie Morgenstern's methods.

I love Christmas...even if it makes me crazy

Not a wall hanging

Just a brief insanity update. This weekend I finished the top of what was supposed to be a Christmas wall hanging and obviously has morphed into a Christmas throw. The fabric is "Yuletide Magic" by Benartex and I love it. I bought it this summer in Anchorage and didn't think anyone here had it. I finally found a bit by accident at Material Girls. They even had the panel so I got one to cut up and make individual wall hangings out of the blocks. Not sure what I'll do with the large quilt. Me? Mom?

I've also begun an extravaganza of Christmas bowls. I got these three finished over the weekend and some others started. The basic idea comes from Fast, Fun & Easy Fabric Bowls by Linda Johansen. I'm getting to use that bolt of Timtex I've had hanging around for several years. I searched all over town for some Sewer's Aid to help with my metalic threads and came up empty. Am I the only person who has trouble with metalics? Of course, I have some somewhere in the house, I just don't know where exactly. Biggest problem (aside from the Sewer's Aid search): choosing the fabric and thread combinations. Just sew already! I also ended up spending a lot of time working with Lynneva on her element project which took away from my productivity. Damn you Manny Manganese! For those wondering if I used my "snow day" to work on these, the answer is, sadly, no. Today was a bust in the creativity department.

The real reason I don't get anything done

Ziggy "helps"

Nested trays

No, not Ziggy, but he sure looks cute. I had hoped to title this post "an orgy of creativity". Unfortunately, the only orgy to be found this weekend was an orgy of pies. Not quite the same thing. So what is the real reason I don't get anything done? I don't prioritize my projects over other activities. The to-do list for this weekend included cooking for Thanksgiving, entertaining for Thanksgiving, cleaning house, decorating, helping Lynneva with homework project, cleaning the quilt room, and then getting to my projects: completing a dress for Jeanetta, start knitting a shawl for a Christmas present, start a holiday jacket for myself, and make some proto-type trays as possible Christmas gifts. By Sunday I realized that I could continue to slog through my household chore items or ignore the mess and make something. I chose the nested trays.

The trays un-nested

I love using fabric to create everyday usable items. I plan on using these trays to organize my jewelry collection. I can't seem to put anything away in a jewelry box so maybe trays laid out on my dresser will help (currently I just have piles on the dresser). I hope other people will also find these useful and cute. For this trio I used fabric from a Moda Layer Cake of "Terrain" by Kate Spain purchased this summer at Blue Ribbon and a couple of solids I had laying around. Because the Moda fabric squares were precut to 10" that was the max size I could make so the smaller ones were scaled down by 1" each. I would like to try some larger sizes.

Corner detail

My machine is very quiet after its tune-up and I look forward to sewing more this week as I continue to prioritize projects over non-essentials such as laundry and dishes. If I begin to look raggedy at work you will know why.

Do I get to count the zombie cupcakes?

Crows feast on maggoty zombie flesh.

The costume that started it all.

This weekend marked the beginning of our family's, no, my girls' and my Halloween obsession. No doubt my husband would be just as happy to never see another pumpkin. So, we spent quite a bit of time at Jo-Ann's and Michael's on Saturday. I ended up ordering a Halloween costume pattern online because we couldn't find what Jeanetta wanted here in town. I'll be mostly winging it on Lynneva's sea monster.  I'm going as a sea witch, or sea weed, whatever fits. We got into the habit of making costumes in 2007 when I went as Rita Skeeter. The girls got such a kick out of it that we have made something every year since.

The cousins and their zombie fare.

So far we have created a small graveyard (I spent two days trying to get Ziggy to pee on a gravestone for a picture, but no luck yet) and made our first round of zombie cupcakes from the book Zombie Cupcakes by Zilly Rosen. I had my niece and nephew over and thought they would make a nice activity for the kids while I sewed downstairs. Yeah, right. Zombie cupcakes require a great deal of adult supervision. If anyone is wondering, fondant and the fondant/gum paste mix required are easy and surprisingly tasty. Italian meringue buttercream is a pain in the ass to make and tastes like whipped sugar and fat. Yuck. We'll be making a traditional buttercream or cream cheese frosting next time. Our favorites so far are the eye poppers and crows.


I did manage to complete one UFO in all the chaos. This technique comes from "Transformations: From Crafty Silk Flower to Sheer Sensation" by Peggy Holt in the Quilting Arts Fall 2006 Issue. I completed it except for the binding a year or two ago in a Quilting Arts class with Corlis Taylor. I decided to use a satin stitch instead of binding to get a more organic wavy border. This piece is low contrast, but is actually more interesting than this photo shows. I plan on doing more with this technique next weekend. Wish me luck!

The Sensation of Moving, While Standing Still *

It is not a good sign when you end your weekend more tired and stressed than when you started it, especially when your goal is to be more tranquil and equanimous. This was one of those weekends where I probably would have been better off resting and cleaning than quilting: resting because I always need more rest and cleaning because a messy house (the state my house is in most of the time) stresses me out.

On the surface the weekend looked like a perfect time to work on projects. My girls stayed over at their grandparents for a night, James was in the Fort for work, and I was feeling inspired by Bad Girls. I got to have some delicious Indian food, a glass of decent Cabernet, and dark chocolate. I listened to Mahler's Symphony No. 6. And, I did get something done. I did a bit of quilting on my coat and I started a couple of the Watershed School quilted logo wall-hangings.

So what's the problem? It seemed like I was going, going, going all weekend long and I don't have much to show for it. The coat is a long-term project that I expect to take a lot of time, but the wall-hangings should be very quick and I had hoped to get them completed instead of just set up. Add that to the messy house, missing a day of yoga, drudgery shopping (as opposed to the fun kind), and an upcoming week filled with a seemingly endless list of little, but necessary tasks and I feel like the treadmill of my life has taken me for a ride with no end in sight, but no change of scenery either.

* I took this title from a1989 article of the same name by Sidney Mintz. Mintz, an anthropologist and oral historian was remarking on the changes in anthropological ideas about representation that labeled him too friendly to his subject in the 1960s and not friendly enough in the 1980s. It's all in your perspective. Does that mean if I change my perspective I'll feel like I got a lot done? Probably, but this melancholy gal is going to wallow in her misery for a little while longer.