My Bags Are Packed & Ready to Go

 

    I may be dating myself here, but do you remember that Peter, Paul & Mary song from the 70s with those lyrics?
   Perhaps I should insert a YouTube video here, to enlighten you?...

    The opening lines of the song are the title of this post.  [If you're not familiar with this folk trio, they also did a version of "Puff the Magic Dragon"-- and if you're not familiar with that song, then...
   a) you're not American OR
   b) I'm way older than you are
How do I remain comfortable with my [older] age, you ask?
   It's pretty simple:
   a) Ignorance is bliss
   b) I don't really feel that old [if you really want to know, I turn 46 next month]

But I [totally] digress...
   My bags are packed, yes. [see top photo above]  They are not traveling far: from the dining room table, to the sewing table [which is against one wall of the dining room].

   I had my first paper-piecing class on Saturday, and yes, I just finished the "prep" for the class today.  Hoping I can catch up during the week, but I assure you, I will not be ahead of the class when we meet next Saturday.
    For reference, here's a photo of the entire quilt/pattern:

Here are my fabric selections for my "H" units (like Mariner's Stars in a circle):

Here's my progress so far:

3 H units = 3/4 of one star
and the last piece on each quadrant needs to be ripped out
b/c I put it on wrong!

The second type of unit for the quilt is the KM unit below:

Here are my fabric selections for the KM units: 

FYI: I ordered all of my fabrics (except a few of the browns) from Jackie's on-line shop, Canton Village Quiltworks.  Jackie is our instructor, and many of you may know her from her shop, her blog, her long-arm quilting work or her publications in a number of popular quilting magazines [noted in the left sidebar of her blog]. She also sponsors many quilting bloggers.  Right now she is offering a wonderful giveaway of Kaffe Fassett Paperweight fat quarters in a variety of colorways.  [I'm actually using the purple and green paperweight in this quilt]. 

 I've accumulated a nice bunch of selvages to add to my growing collection:

It's 10:30am here, and I don't have to pick up the kids til 3pm today, so I have a few hours now to get sewing on my units.  Wish me luck/productivity!!

Have a good day, and happy quilting/sewing to all of you!

Paper Piecing Class!

  Stay-at-Home-Momma (me) spent the whole afternoon today at part 1 (of 3 class sessions) attending a most wonderful paper piecing class at a LQS.  Jackie of Canton Village Quiltworks is our teacher, and we are doing a Judy Niemeyer pattern called Total Eclipse.  (I am showing you Jackie's version below, but you can see Judy Niemeyer's rendition from the cover of the pattern here).

Jackie opted to make her star points all different colors.
Since this is my first Judy Niemeyer pattern, I will be keeping it simple
and making my stars one color.

   It was so much fun to be amongst other quilters!!  There are nine of us in the class, and three of us have blogs (the others were new to me).  I was so busy taking in the information that I didn't get around to getting photos of everyone at work and all the wonderful fabrics they selected, but Jackie's post has lots of wonderful photos [including links to the other bloggers in the group].  I think that I am the only one who opted not to use batiks for this project.  

   I took photos as Jackie demonstrated the steps and techniques, so here is Maria's work-in-progress at the end of the day:

Maria also opted to make the star spikes all different colors.

Don't they look great?!

   I have to confess that I did not arrive at class fully prepared.  [I was the only one-- Oops.]  I received my fabrics (from Jackie's on-line shop) on Wednesday and both Thursday and Friday were busy and filled with commitments and appointments for myself and the kids.  I also underestimated the amount of time I needed to iron and pre-cut my fabrics and cut out the foundation papers.

   Actually, a number of us spent a fair amount of time cutting out the foundation papers (c. 10 pages), and then Jackie proceeded to show us a fast, quick method to cut them out all at once with a rotary cutter!

   Here's the method she showed us:

The class supply list called specifically for flower-head pins.
This is because they lie flat, and once you stack the foundation papers,
mark the corners and insert a few extra pins for stability,
you can simple place your 6"x24" ruler on top of them--
and it will lie flat.
And then you can rotary cut the whole lot at once!
Wish I'd have known!!

In this photo, Jackie is actually rotary cutting the template plastic,
but I forgot to pull out my camera when she was rotary cutting the
stack of foundation papers.

   Jackie also showed us how to quickly cut out our fabrics and template pieces for the stars. (Again, stack the pre-cut fabrics with the paper template page on top, and use a large-sized rotary cutter).

Placing paper clips so that one falls on each template piece,
and then slice the whole stack of fabric underneath.
Judy Niemeyer's patterns tell you the order in which to cut the lines.
Very clever (and time-saving!)

   Once we had our star pieces cut out,  Jackie demonstrated how to organize the fabrics so that we could chain-piece the quarter stars.  (Again, making it quicker/easier/more efficient).

For beginners/first-timers (like me), Jackie recommends marking pencil lines on the back side of the
foundation papers to make sure that your fabric is lined up correctly.

   It looked so easy when she showed the process, and then when I sat down at my machine, I was completely confused.  But I sat next to Sally, who was very helpful (as was Jackie)--Thank you, Sally, if you are reading this!--  and I [eventually] got it!!  Sally is one of the other bloggers in the class and you can visit her blog, Grendelskin here (Sally has already done some homework and completed a whole circle!)   Barbara's blog, A Corgi to Quilt by, is here.

   Let me present to you my very first star point(s)...  Ta da!

Here's the first one-- it looks so lonely.

Here's my first set at the end of 3 hours.
Not quite as impressive as Maria's set, above, but I have all week to catch up!!
(We'll see what excuses I come up with by next Saturday--
surely, I will not be ahead of the class).

   Stay tuned-- I will be working on this during the week, and we meet again next Saturday.  

   Have a good weekend!

Prep Time

   This Saturday (2 days from now), I am taking this class:

    It meets for three consecutive Saturday afternoons, for three hours each time.
I've been wanting to take a quilt class that I was interested in that fit into my schedule (evenings are not good with young kids and a husband that often works late).  I've always wanted to do paper-piecing, and it wasn't something I wanted to try from a book or a tutorial.  Lucky for me, this opportunity presented itself.

    It looks pretty complicated to me with all those pointy stars and curves-- which I have so well avoided up to this point.  [I did try doing a Star of Bethlehem once and realized when I tried to assemble the parts that NOTHING matched up-- I am not exaggerating-- I learned the hard way that diamonds are forever not for beginners.]  But I have been assured that this class is appropriate for someone who is an advanced beginner.

    I organized a few of the supplies on the list.  This will be my first time using Microtex needles.  [I've selected cotton quilting fabrics, but I think most people use Batiks for this kind of thing].  The class is being taught by Jackie of Canton Village Quiltworks.

   I also ordered most of my fabrics (on sale!) from Jackie's on-line shop and they arrived today.  

   Here they are, in all of their beautiful array:

   The fabrics towards the back are intended to be the darker, nighttime sky fabrics, and those in the front will be points for the stars (some light stars on dark; some dark on light).  I need a total of four dark/nighttime sky fabrics and more for the stars, but I will "shop" for those amongst my existing stash.  At the moment, my stepson is sleeping in our guest bedroom, which is where I keep my stash, so the fabric selection will have to continue later.

   In a follow-up to the origami cranes that I posted yesterday, I forgot to share these buttons I found at the local knitting shop

   Not sure yet where I'll use them, but I'm sure that I will find a special place.
The sunlight is streaming in the windows again today, so I'll close with a shot of the chakra cranes [before I pack them up to gift] hanging on our front door with the light hitting some of the crystals.

Hope you have a peaceful day!

Today's Work

   Today hasn't been about quilting.  But I have been "crafting" so to speak.

   I've been making these whenever I can.

   It takes me less than ten minutes to fold each one, and the process is very calming and grounding for me.  Now that I've accumulated a little collection, I've been adding beads to some, and hope to make some chains or mobiles using twigs or driftwood.

I particularly like these papers, but they are thicker and harder to work with to achieve accuracy

   After I finished grad school in 1994 (with a degree in Environmental Education), I worked a seasonal job at the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin.  (About an hour north of Madison, WI).  It was the most amazing and inspiring experience ever to work with these beautiful creatures-- all 15 species from around the world-- including endangered Whooping Cranes, Siberian Cranes and Red-crowned Cranes (the latter native to Japan).

   All of my photos at the time are on film, and I do have the negatives [somewhere in the depths of our basement], so one of these days I will have to print up a little album for myself of my time there.  There are some beautiful photos on the link to their website above.
   As a gift for a friend who is an acupuncturist, I made a small chain of cranes using the colors of the chakras.

  It is a very sunny day here today, but I couldn't find a window with sunlight that showed the crystal beads glistening in the light, which makes it look prettier.
   Although the sunlight is streaming in our house today (I love having southern exposure), we are experiencing our first cold snap of the season.  The temp is in the 20s (I think), but with the windchill factor it is colder.  Yesterday was very blustery and I was out doing errands-- my fingertips were numb half the day.  [It might have helped if I remembered to bring my gloves.  I did make sure the kids had hats and gloves, though].  I was holding my fingers next to the heating vent to thaw them out!
   But we certainly can't complain about the weather here in the northeast/New England)-- it has been an exceptionally mild winter.  Last year we had many large snowstorms with feet/meters of snow accumulation.
   Oh my-- I've just caught a glimpse of the time and will have to get the kids from school soon.  With any luck, I will get some quilting time in later.
    Hope you're all having a good day and keeping warm!
1/23/12:  linking up with Sew Darn Crafty Party

Transition Day

   Well, vacation is officially over.  And it was wonderful-- but I'm ready for the schedule/routine to return-- and I think the kids are, too. Today was their first day back at school.  We managed to get my daughter to school [a half-hour tardy] and with a fair amount of yelling on my part (I'm working on that).  I knew it was going to be difficult, but advanced knowledge did not prevent it from happening.  But I'm trying not to be rigid and inflexible with my kids, the way my parents were with me, and so if we're late, we're late.  It's not the worst thing in life.
   [End of my justification]

A couple of Wee Updates...
{Do I sound British here?  I'm trying to.  For those of you who haven't already figured it out, I'm kind of a Brit-wannabe-- in a closet kind of way.}  It has even been suggested to me, by one of the true "Brits"- you know who you are J.-  that there are some other American wannabes, too-- and it might be fun for us to start our own sort of "Brit Wannabe" group-- {hint, hint,  Rhonda/Quilter in the Gap-- don't know if you even read me, but maybe I'll cc: you a copy of this post}.

Update #1:  The Hubster's "non-iPad" case (quoted from Helen of Archie the Wonder Dog blog-- thank you, Helen,  for giving it just the right name!)

loading up the "Non-iPad " case
putting the stuff in from this zippered pouch (on right):
portable disk drives and some cable

and some stuff from this case--
Me: "What's in that case, Honey?"
Answer: "Cabling and stuff that I bring to work"

adding headphones

Posed shot:
Hubster as he puts the "non-iPad" case
into his leather messenger work bag

View of pull-out drawer in front of Hubster's desktop,
allegedly for the keyboard--
What is all this stuff??
I can identify a cordless phone on the left-- and that's the best I can do--
The Hubster [and maybe you, too] can identify the rest
Idea:
Perhaps I should do a giveaway on: Who can identify this??
I'll put it in the thought bank!

Update #2:  The Cuisinart [dust-prevention] Cover...

   Working on it in fits and starts, but not yet complete-- here's my Process [since I took the Process Pledge, see Button in sidebar]

I LOOOOVE these fabrics

quilting the cover

   V.  proud of myself now: I'm thinking like a quilter!  I didn't just piece the whole thing together--I started in the middle/top so that each side would be facing "up" when draped over the Cuisinart!!  Brilliant!!  {Little steps...}

Okay, so there are my 2 updates, but I think that's good enough for today.  

For those of you who have been reading me regularly, here's a question:

   - Can you tell this medication is making me a little more chatty?

   - I have a sense of humor now (but is it bordering on obnoxious?-- I'm not sure yet-- all I know is that I'm cracking myself up-- and it's been a long, long time since I've done that.)

Okay, time for bed now-- G'night and sweet dreams!

December Wrap-up

   Like many of you, December was all about gift-making for the holidays.  I really enjoyed working on these smaller projects-- lots of mug rugs, little notepad and  mini-journal covers and cell-phone cases/tissue cozies.  I worked with some great fabrics and discovered that I am now addicted to fussy-cutting.

In order to give proper credit to those who are due, here are the tutorials that I used:

#s 1,2 &3:  from this magazine (2010 issue):

#4: Zig Zag mug rug tutorial by Jenna at Sew Happy Geek

#5: 'time for tea' mug rug tutorial by Nova at A Cuppa and a Catch-up

# 9: iPod/Camera Cozy tutorial by Rebecca at the Sew, Mama, Sew! blog
       [Note:  I altered the size a little to make it slightly smaller.  Also, this site is an excellent source of all kinds of tutorials]

   There were actually many more items that I made, just in the nick of time to give away, that I didn't get photos of, so these are just some highlights.
   And today I'm going to cut into some of this:

   For some reason, I am just completely enamored with this chicken-and-egg fabric (and the fabrics that I picked out to go with it).  The plan is to use them to make a cover for our Cuisinart mixer (which sits out on our kitchen counter and gathers dust) and to make a set of matching curtains for some open shelves in our kitchen (that also gather dust easily).  Hopefully, I'll have something to post this week.
   Happy Quilting/Sewing to all of you!

Happy 2012

   Well, what do you think of my [blog's] new look??  For the New Year, I wanted to customize my header to include some photos of my favorite makes.  I've made several attempts over the last few days, without much luck (and with much interruption from the kids and their friends and cousins, who are on holiday break and spending lots of time at our house).
   Everyone here stayed up 'til midnight (except for me and my son), and this afternoon, they are now napping.   (Shhhhh!!! Be very, very quiet!)  I've had a little time to re-work the design of my blog-- (to a level that I am satisfied with)-- and before this, I even did some sewing!  Woo hoo-- its a good day :0)
   What did you do for New Year's Eve? 
   We stayed in.  My daughter had a friend sleepover, and we had a bunch of healthy (and unhealthy) appetizers followed by a nice home-cooked meal.  We watched the festivities on TV from the warmth and comfort of our home.  I was exhausted (and becoming increasingly grouchy), so at 9:30 pm, I went to bed.  But my internal clock somehow magically woke me up at 11:56pm and  I was able to join everyone to see the final countdown and kiss The Hubster at midnight.  The ball at Times Square got stuck halfway, but there was enough fanfare with the video screens that it went unnoticed by some.
   In quilting news, I attempted to resurrect the iPad case I've been working on for my husband (see last post, here).  Since I had to expand it, I also had to buy a new zipper.

this is my attempt to "expand" the size of my Hubster's iPad case--
I added extra strips along the sides and bottom

   It's still not quite big enough for his iPad, but I'm content with how it came out and with the fact that I have now done two zippers!!
   Here's the "new" version:

it's a little more rectangular than the first try

   And there's still a few more things about zippers that I need to learn....

not a perfect corner--
maybe if I trimmed the end of the zipper down before turning?
I'll have to read up on this

I can live with this corner

   So I ironed and turned it this morning-- and then realized it was still too small for the iPad--  and told my husband he had a new cell phone case.  I'm done with it-- he can use it for what ever he wants.  (papers? rubbish?)

   I hope you all had a happy and enjoyable New Year's celebration.  

   I'm feeling optimistic for 2012--  a BIG-- but cautious--Yaaay!! 

Head's up-- here's where I start talking about the Postpartum/Depression related stuff...

  I started a new medication about three weeks ago, and my daily tearfulness has subsided, I've become much more "chatty" and feeling like I can tackle [and less overwhelmed by] my ambitious and exciting list of quilting/sewing projects for 2012.   And I'm more playful/silly with my children!  For me, this is huge-- to be feeling like I'm moving toward "normalcy" and "functional"--and I am so, so grateful.  It's been a long, slow and difficult journey through this most recent episode of depression.  (If it were up to me, I'd write "Depression" with a capital "D". ) 

   I have learned that as time goes on, each "episode" of depression Depression gets more and more difficult-- and I am so glad that I did not know this beforehand.  

   So with cautious optimism, I am looking forward to all that 2012 will bring.