Friday, November 12, 2010

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.

14 comments:

Linda said...

Oh my goodness Linda...
I'm glad you found your fabric. Love the baskets. That was one craft I always wanted to learn but never had the chance. I'm doing a fabric swap right now with Ariane. Sometimes we have so many fabrics is nice to change up.

Marj said...

I would love to be in a Bee with other bloggers and it would be fun to start it off with a block swap. Please let me know if you are serious about the Bee starting in January.

Needled Mom said...

What a day!!! Glad that you did finally find the fabric.

Your baskets are lovely. I am glad that you shared them with us.

New carpet?? Last time we did that I said that I would move out before I did that again!! What a nightmare. Good luck.

I have only joined a no sew block swap in the past. I've never been a part of a bee. It sounds interesting.

Vesuviusmama said...

I'm glad you found the fabric! That can be SO frustrating! And just think how CLEAN your rooms will be with the new carpet and everything moved back in just so!

Wendy said...

Wow, can I ever relate to the quote you started with. I really need to finish something so I can feel like I'm making progress with all these things swirling in my head.

I love baskets. I have several in my sewing room. One with books, another with magazines, another with yarn & my crochet projects (that never get finished), and one large one with a current sewing project in it. They are awesome!

Finally, I am very interested in a swap or a bee or both. I'm so new to this virtual quilting world I don't have any specific ideas to help with. But count me in!

Unknown said...

on a positive note after all the packing, moving around and unpacking you'll find fabrics and books you forgot about its existence

I would love to join your group in January about Blocks swap or bee beginning

The hexis are really cute!

thanks for the tips about the giveaways
Gina

Megan Harmeyer said...

I'm glad you found your fabric. I hate when days go like that. Mine was like that after about 3 pm. Hope the weekend is better - tell Kristen hi for me!

Joanna said...

I love the ornament. The fabric looks great. The baskets are beautiful and aren't you talented!

I don't know what a bee is, but I'm game for either the swap or the bee. Maybe by January I'll be looking for something to do:)

Charity said...

I sure hope your day has improved. I think I would be extatic(sp?) about new carpet. There will be no new carpet here until the dogs are gone.

Enjoy your time with your daughter.

Seams to Sew and Quilt said...

Sorry you had such a bad day. I'm jealous your getting new carpet. It may seem like a lot of work moving everything out but in the end you will see it was worth it. Glad you found the lost fabric. Hope tomorrow is a better day for you.

QuiltSue said...

I'm glad you found your fabric. At least it wasn't in the fridge!

Sammy said...

Happy that you found your fabric. I love these baskets. Myself, I am looking for a particular Christmas fabric in my stash, no luck so far.

Love,

-Samya :-)

Ariane said...

Wow! Linda I love your baskets. They are gorgeous!! Your quilt top is beautiful, and your little hexagon ornament is so cute. Love it!!

sunny said...

I'm a couple of days behind, so I hope things are going better by now! I love the large hexie, and I may try one of those. I would be interested in learning more about the sway or the bee. Not sure how a bee works, but sign me up, anyway! As for baskets, I sold Longaberger baskets for several years, and have quite a collection, but my favorite baskets include a Nantucket Lightship basket purchased on Nantucket, and 2 sweetgrass baskets purchased in Charleston. And I absolutely love any quilt basket pattern!

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