Friday Stresses & Ideas

Sometimes it seems your ever-increasing list of things to do can leave you feeling totally undone.

 ~Susan Mitchell and Catherine Christie, I'd Kill for a Cookie

Yesterday I had one of those days that just went steadily downhill from the time I got up.  Well, that's not true, it went downhill after about 10:00 am.  My downhill slide started out by not being able to find the left over fabric I know I had, and continued when it took an hour to upload one picture on a site because I had to downsize it, and then to the stupid laptop running slow and then it proceeded to get stuck in its shutdown mode (and I couldn't open the battery compartment to reverse its little brain), and finally I opened the Coffeemate Pumpkin Spice to have part of the lid break and now it leaks.  It was just one of those days!  So I figured that I better stop sewing right then and there because I was afraid that next I might run over my finger with the needle or sew everything together wrong.  I'm getting a little anxious because we are getting carpet installed on Monday and that means moving everything out of 3 rooms into 1 1/2 rooms - this includes boxing up all of my sewing supplies, fabrics, books, etc.  I am lucky to have my daughter coming to help us but it still is stressing my nerves.  Then the thought of having to put it all back is enough to cause nightmares. Arghhhhhhhh!!!!!!

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Basket that I have made

Yes, I was once a basket weaver.  I thoroughly enjoyed working with reeds and creating shapes.  The photo shows a few of the baskets I made.  Unfortunately, I had to quit weaving baskets because ALS has left me just a little too weak and the large repetitive motion needed is not possible for me anymore.  Here's a little basket info:  1) The basket is one of humankind's oldest art forms, and it is certainly an ethnic and cultural icon filled with myth and motif, religion and symbolism, and decoration as well as usefulness.  2) The craft of basketry gave rise to pottery making because baskets were used as molds for some of the earliest pots.  3) Before "paper or plastic", baskets were a major way people transported goods.  4) An interesting fact about the age-old craft of basket making is that, while many other crafts have become mechanized, no one has ever invented a machine that can make baskets. They are still handmade, even in Taiwan.  Do you have a favorite basket in your home?

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IDEA?

I'm thinking about starting either a block swap or a bee beginning in January.  Would you be interested?  Leave me a comment if you would like to participate and include which group sounds more interesting. If you are interested, what kind of bee or swap would you like to see formed?  Who knows, maybe I will start both.  Neither would be started until the start of the New Year so don't worry about it being one more thing that has to be completed before Christmas.  But I am looking for ideas!  If you would rather email, that would be great too.

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My plan for yesterday was to complete the quilt top that I have been working on from Cheryl's Sew Along.  I did get all of the blocks in rows and the sashing done..............

Cheryl's quilt called for zigzag sashing but I knew that if I didn't take the KISS approach (keep it simple, stupid) that it would probably end up as another UFQ (unfinished quilt) - I saw that on another blog and thought that was better than UFO.  I am happy with the way it looked.  Well, here is where my day started going down hill.  I tried to find the left over scraps and pieces that I know I have some place so that I could make borders.  I have looked in all of the usual places and also in the places where fabric has no place being :(  I pulled out bags, I moved boxes, I even looked under the dog bed.  I'm hoping it will show itself when we are moving things out. 

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A little while ago I joined the International Friendship Quilters.  I decided to participate in the Framed Hexagon Block Exchange.  This is different than the hexies we make for flowers.  The block is made by cutting one large hexagon from one fabric and cutting a smaller hexagon - one each - from a contrasting fabric and from batting / wadding. Place the smaller hexagons in the center and fold the edges over twice and stitch! That's all! And your mitered corners happen naturally!  I enjoyed making this one but I'm not sure that I will continue.  There is no long term commitment for this, you can swap one or continue swapping for as long as you would like.

This is the one I made for Susan A.  Instead of sewing the binding by hand I used one of my decorative stitches.  The binding is the same fabric as the back and has lots of gold and silver sparkle in it as does the center cardinal fabric.

This shows some of the sparkle and you can see the decorative stitching better.

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GIVEAWAYS

Petit Design Co is having a scrappy giveaway.  This ends November 15th.

LaVieEnRosie is having a giveaway too.  She is giving away An issue of 100 Blocks, a Layer Cake and a Miss Rosie's project bag. Hurry, this one ends tonight!

Anna Lena Land is also have a scrappy giveaway.  This one is for 3 yards of scraps.  This ends November 17th.

Patrick Lose is giving away one of books "A Patrick Lose Christmas" and a fat quarter bundle of Patrick's Santinesque Stripe fabric collection for Robert Kaufman Fabrics. You must enter on or before Thanksgiving, November 25th.

Ting Tong and Things is giving away four fat quarters from the studio of Heather Ross and a cute little pincushion that she made.  This giveaway ends November 28th at 9:00 pm EST.

And my giveaway for my "80th Post Celebration Giveaway!"  Check it out as the days are passing by quickly.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

I hope that your weekend will not be as full of labor as mine will be.  I sometimes wonder if I would be better off just moving instead of putting in new carpet - but the thought of moving sends me into that nightmare area again.  I will try to remember to breathe, to remember that I will be happy when it is done, to enjoy the whole process.  Now who am I kidding.......I can feel the headache starting now.

Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow.

 ~Douglas Pagels, These Are the Gifts I'd Like to Give to You

Have a wonderful weekend and take a slide on your favorite color!!

P.S.  I found the missing fabric this morning exactly where it should have been - in a plastic container where I keep all of my current projects.  Another case of shaking my head and laughing.