Down Time

First of all, run over to Tonya's blog and have a look at the carving of Medusa on the Grand Palais in Paris. That's pretty much how I feel today. I went over to Darling Daughter's yesterday to watch the baby while big sister went for a healthy child check-up. All went well until DD and Miss M got home. Miss M decided that she wanted Gramma Sue to play with her before I headed for home. I was happy to comply except that Miss M brought down a brand new vinyl ball for us to play with. (At least, I think that was the culprit.) We played for a short while but then I could feel I was in trouble and needed to get out of there. I made it home safely enough, even through falling snow! and a stop for organic foods to replenish my dwindling supplies, but by bedtime I was beginning to feel the effects of the exposure. This morning I felt really pukey. It's beginning to wear off finally so hopefully I'll be more myself this evening for some quality time with my Dear Husband.


Speaking of which, we noted our 24th wedding anniversary this week. Since it fell smack in the middle of the work week we didn't really do anything to celebrate. Not that I could go any of the places most people go to celebrate things like anniversaries anyway. But we did talk about what we might do next year for the big quarter-century mark. Again, no cruises or anything like that. We have come up with some ideas about how we can mark the occasion in a meaningful way though.


I have done very little sewing this week. A tiny bit of intuitive piecing, but nothing else. March's journal quilt has not been started and it's almost April. {sigh} I still have two journal quilts waiting to be embellished too. And we won't even talk about all the other projects on my To Do list!

I decided that I just needed a break after a prolonged period of concentration and productivity. Down time. So I picked up Book 2 of a trilogy I had begun last year. Now I'm more than half way through Book 3. Thank Heaven I can still read paperback books! I suspect that when I've finally finished this 915 page adventure I'll be ready to focus on creative endeavors once again. At least, I hope so :- )

Belated Easter Tidings

It's hard to believe it's been nearly a week since my last post. It's also been longer than usual since I've made the rounds to visit my blog friends. So if any of you have come to check in on me, Happy Easter a little late! And thank you to those who stopped by to wish me a happy Easter :- )

We were expecting DD and the granddaughters here for Saturday night and Sunday morning but plans changed and they arrived earlier. Okay by me! I had some one-on-one time with the littlest one and then we celebrated Miss M's third birthday (even though it's not until later this week).

This little girl's favorite item of clothing is a swimsuit. Any swimsuit. I think she has more in her possession right now than I've had in my whole life! And I was quite a swimmer back in the day!

I have been on something of a buying spree lately. I have not taken pictures of all my purchases but I did want to share these with you just because they are so spring-like and happy:

I'm don't practice the 'paper arts' but I do enjoy brightening up my outgoing mail and the pages of my journals. I've had a package of these sequins before and have used them so often that when I saw these I snatched them off the peg without a second thought. This was one of those rare occasions when I was actually in a store. (I don't spend a lot of time in stores. I can't. There are too many fumes and fragrances. It's not worth the price I have to pay in terms of the effects on my body. I hurry in, grab what I need, and hurry out. I miss browsing.) The rest of my purchases have been made online. Fabric, overstocked calendars at a huge discount (which I bought mostly for the pictures), and a couple of paperback novels to read. It seems like it's been a long time since I've lost myself in a book. I'm looking forward to that. But first I have a quilt to make...

Can You Say Avoidance?

So after that burst of energy at the end of the quilt retreat I haven't really done anything creative. I put a sleeve on a swap quilt (hi Angela!) and put away leftover fabrics and abandonded projects that had accumulated since oh, last fall or so. This is what my work area looked like before I tidied up:

Now keep in mind that this picture was taken while I am between projects. It usually looks much worse! And since the picture was taken I've managed to clutter up the cutting mat with papers and other non-sewing related stuff.

As you look at the picture, there are three piles of assorted fabrics and projects beyond the cutting mat on the left side, before your eyes get to the ironing board and then the closet. Also notice the two smaller piles of fabric on the right side of the picture. The three piles are now more like one and a half and the two little piles are gone altogether. Most of the rest of that stuff lives there permanently (or semi-permanently).

Yesterday was also one of those gray days when it looks for all the world like there was no sky at all. Today we've had a couple of sunbreaks. This little quilt was inspired by days like today. I call it "Ray of Sunshine." It was intuitively pieced and measures about 10" wide by 8" high.

Here's a little closer look:

That bit of shine in the lower right corner is a triangular abalone button and a few abalone chips. The background around the birdbath and yellow bird is all seed stitched in ivory embroidery floss. I had to rework the bead and button embellishments to the left of the birdbath base a couple of times before I could live with it. There's a pewter rabbit running off to the left too but he's pretty hard to see in these pictures.

Today I have a headache again for some reason. {sigh} I have made a list of all the projects I either have in the works or want to start. It's not as long or as intimidating a list as I feared it might be. In spite of that I still can't seem to generate the energy necessary to start working on any of them. Maybe if I do some laundry...

Tired But Happy

I'm delighted to report that my teaching gig went very well :- )

This teaching opportunity is a sort of combination retreat/quilt class for a group of ladies who either work at a local hospital or are related to someone who works at that hospital. One of the ER nurses is the organizer of this event every year. (She's one of those petite women who have more energy than a pro football player!) Last month I wasn't feeling well even before I arrived at the retreat. One of the ladies had stopped at the mall earlier in the day, tried out a new hand lotion in the department store there, and then came to the retreat. There were other scents in the room too, and between them all I was useless in less than an hour. Fortunately I had chosen a very simple pattern for them to make and was able to give the more experineced quilters directions as to how they should proceed. I prayed myself home, went to bed, and checked in with them about noon the next day. They had done fine without me. (I'm not sure whether that's good or bad!)

I was concerned this month because I felt I really needed to be there to guide them through the project this time. We made sure to remind them of my chemical issues on the supply list; that was something I'd forgotten to do last time. Overall I felt stronger this time too. There was one farily significant hitch though: a first-time quilter brought in a big, brand new, cutting mat. Of course no-one else could smell anything but I could feel the fumes off-gassing from the mat going up my nose and into my sinus cavities right through two layers of carbon filters. I had to work very hard to give coherent directions as they began cutting into their fabric. I also made a poor choice when it came to doing my demonstration of the technique we were using. Nothinig insurmountable, but not what I would have done had I been unaffected by fumes.

Once they got started on their projects things went well and I was able to go home and go to bed early. When I arrived the next morning I found they had removed the new cutting mat from the building- hurray! There were still other fragrances in the air but nothing so bad that I couldn't stick around and see them to the completion of their quilt tops. I did not haul the camera to the retreat with me - although I did think of it! - so you won't get to see pictures of the tops they created but, trust me, they were wonderful. One was all in green and black and shamrock prints. Another was done in lovely spring colors. One was blue and yellow florals, one in very 'country' colors and prints. Let's see... there was also a cat theme and one in bright clear colors for a baby.

The blocks you see below that have the patches of yellow in them are the ones I made at the retreat. I was so happy to have made it through the retreat successfully that when I got home yesterday I cut and sewed up a second batch of blocks.


My original intention was to use the demonstration blocks to make another preemie quilt. Now I have a toddler size quilt to donate instead!

This top is actually very bright in person. I don't seem to have adjusted the colors correctly when I cropped the photo. The stripe I used for the border was one of the fabrics the newest quilter was using in her quilt. I just fell in love with it (with a lot of her choices actually!) when I saw it. At one point on Saturday two of the ladies made a run to the nearest quilt shop for more fabric so I had them bring some back for me too ;- ) Then I had to send my Dear Husband out later in the day for even more of the stripe so I would have enough to go around this quilt in the direction I wanted it to go!

I have very little energy today but I couldn't be happier with the way the weekend went. Well, I'd be happier if I didn't have to cope with these chemical issues but you know what I mean. I have a fabric picked out to back this top; it's one my mother bought and gave me years ago. I was surprised at how well it coordinates with the colors in the blocks. Mom is no longer with us so it means a lot to me to be able to include her in this project. Because she was a knitter I didn't often have a chance to 'collaborate' with her!

Bead Journal Project for March

I've been so involved in other projects this month that I've hardly given the journal quilt for March a thought. We're rapidly approaching the half-way point of the month, however, and those other projects are either done or very close to being done. It's time to think about the BJP for March!

One of the things my friend C~ shared with me when she was here recently were some fat quarters of African prints she'd picked up for a quilt she wants to make. I have two stacks of African prints on my shelves, also collected for at least one quilt sometime in the future. Her fabrics got my juices flowing so I pawed through mine to reacquaint myself with them. The ones that caught my eye as I fondled them all featured birds. I pulled them out and thought some more...


They all seem to be variations on a theme: chickens.

Hmm. Easter falls on March 23 this year. Chickens, eggs, Easter... hmm...

Spring arrives officially on the 20th of this month according to the calendar. Well, I'm no spring chicken anymore... By jove, I think I've got it! Now all I have to do is "make it work!"