Busy Times Means Handwork

Taking care of my best friend has been the focus of my days for a week or so now.  Bogie was due for a shot when I noticed a lump on his leg.  At first, I thought it was an infected dew claw.  My fabulous vet didn't buy that story.  He took one look and announced "malignant tumor, let's get it out right away."  The next day, we denied Bo his breakfast (he hates that part) so he could go in for surgery.  Doc did a great job removing the pre-malignant tumor, 2 fatty Lypomas, 2 skin tags and giving the needed shot.  At about 2, my husband got a call stating "Bo says he is ready to go home now."When my husband got there, Bo was howling (and had been since he woke up). 
The receptionist was on the phone when my husband arrived and began howling back to our baby.  Bogie endeared several of the vet assistants to him with his pitiful pleas.  One of them actually crawled into the cage with Bo to try to soothe him.  I was very touched when a mutual friend shared that bit of info with me.
He is recovering well and was back to jumping around in no time.
With my very busy babysitting, chauffeur and Bo's surgery recovery, I have not been able to focus on a large project.  Therefore, I have been doing handwork.  I've got to block of the months I've been working on for a client.  They got more attention this past week, one block done for each.  I bought a little carrying case that all the pieces and sharp stuff goes into and it makes it so easy to just sew for 15 minutes while at the vet's office.  I can sew longer periods of time while the child naps but as soon as I hear him wake up, everything gets thrown in box and clasped shut real quick before I go get him from the crib.  I really like this new little system I've worked out.  It is hard to keep track of hourly time though when doing 10-15 minute stints.
Time to go make blueberry coffee cake for the blacksmiths.  Have a great week!

Here is the finished quilt I teased you all with in last week's blog.  I was given about 50 ties to make this quilt with.   I was told that I could do whatever I wanted as long as it was masculine and large enough to fit on a bed top.  I settled on the Windmill patter which is a variation of the pinwheel.  Do you see the signed Cal Ripkin Jr tie in the lower corner hiding behind the aloe plant?  I choose to showcase several of the ties with character or importance.
In order to get it large enough for a bed spread, I went to my silk stash.  This is a bag of silk fabrics I inherited when I was a teenager from a rather famous Taos,NM artist.  So, 20 years later, some gorgeous brown silks from the bag made their way into this quilt as sashing.  The windmills were actually kind of static so I arranged the sashing in step-ladder style to move the eye across the quilt.  
Once it was all quilted with free motion pinwheels and ribbon-cable sashing, it looked better than I had envisioned.  This is pretty rare for me.  I love this quilt!  Now comes the time I hope the client loves what I did too.
It's another windy day here in the mountains.  The boys are out blacksmithing anyway.  They haven't built a shop yet so last time I looked, they had hooked up a steel plate in the vice on several logs to create a wind block for the forge.  Hmmmm, those boys.  I suppose I should make them stew for lunch if I want to be really nice.  At the moment, I should be doing my sales taxes for the year.  I might just enjoy a day off in between quilt projects though.  COOKING AND CLEANING, HERE I COME!
HAVE A QUILTERIFIC AND CRAFTASTIC WEEK!

Remebrance Quilts

Quilts almost always tell some type of story.  Sometimes, however, the story makes the quilt.  It is really quite special for me when I get asked to create these "Remembrance Quilts".  They are so unique as well, they would have to be as they tell the story of someone or event that should be remembered.
The quilt pictured to the right here --------------> was the Christmas gift I created for an accomplished runner.  For this quilt, I was given her cross-country and track or marathon t-shirts.  All the teams she she called hers and all the competitions she ran are here in this quilt for her to remember.  They aren't in a box somewhere at the bottom of the closet anymore.  This quilt in now in her college dorm room screaming to world that this girl loves to run!
   

Another silk tie quilt is about to be born.  In this photo, you can see how I am chain-piecing these Windmill blocks.  My awesome husband once again fused the interfacing to the ties and cut all pieces for me.
(Note:  Choose the lightest weight non-woven fusible interfacing that is made for sewing into clothing.)  This quilt is going to the grandson the Johns Hopkins graduate.  This was a great tie collection with a lot of character and what I started dorkily calling "NovelTies".  I did some special pieced blocks out of some of the ties and then we made 56 windmill blocks.  It was a touch small for a bed so I added sashing strips in beautiful brown silks and then borders.  I finished the top yesterday and am going to quilt today.  I must say, I think this quilt is gorgeous! It turned out so much better than I had imagined and that is really rare!  I am so excited to quilt it today.  Here is the Hopkins Block, tune in next week for photos of the finished quilt.

We have a lot of tree clean up to do this week.  They came through and cleared 5' each side of the power lines on our property last Wed.  Now, I know this was a necessary thing and we kept all the logs to make furniture or such out of.  The Lorax in me though is so very sad at this tree death.  These were even healthy trees without signs of pine beetle. So, while I quilt today, I think Sid and friends will be cleaning up all this mess.  At least the professionals took down the giant tree with a rotten core that was going to fall on my studio and long-arm!

That's all of a catch up for now, I have to get to quilting.  Happy New Year and Happy Quilting!

Twas the Week Before Christmas...

Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house, no one is safe, especially that louse!  Just kidding!  After last weeks blog, my mood this week is shameful.  I have been busier than usual though as I picked up a babysitting gig.  I have been discovering that how one uses words really affects how they make you feel.  Last year, I didn't "have to go to work", I "got to go to work".  You see how one makes it feel like a problem and one makes it feel like a privilege?
Therefore, I am not babysitting, I get to hang out with my new friend Miles twice a week.  He is a really great kid and I think he will help me remember how to just play.  The ability to play is something I completely forgot how to do.  All the stuff I did for play/hobbies have become my means of work.  And I do a lot of work but am very stressed.  Crawling on the floor and playing ball or cars or just making noise laughing is so good for my soul!!!!  When I got home after the second day, a jealous husband asked if he could pay me $10/hr to play ball with him.  Maybe I should, it was fun when he taught me to play lacrosse a few years ago.  Later though, right now he is template cutting pinwheel pieces out of silk ties for me.  Isn't he great?
What a great week we have:  Happy Channukah, Solstice, and Merry Christmas!
Let light, love, and laughter abound!

Giddy-Up and Go Time

Today is the day I decided to wrap up and box all of the presents to be sent out.  My goal is to get them in the mail tomorrow which would be ahead of time for me.  I trained my family members years ago that Christmas is mid-January in my necks of the woods.  I've been slowly returning to my Holiday Duties (as I see them) for a few years now.  I remember calling my mom 4 years ago and asking if the family would understand if I just didn't do Christmas that year.  You see, my husband had just broke his neck (C2) and was in a halo and I just couldn't face getting everything taken care of.  My mom said of course the family would understand.
Well, I've been getting back into the swing of things ever since.  This time of year is really a reminder to hold those family members dear.  It is not about the purchased gifts, it is about LOVE!  Love for everything - love for all humans, animals, plants, rocks, light, laughter.  Love for those close to you and love for strangers.  Every holiday season, the people of Boulder get uglier and meaner while doing their shopping.  It is horrible and builds in tension each day until Christmas is over.  For years now, my husband & I jokingly refer to this phenomena as the "Christmas Spirit".  Honestly though, it is quite sad.  I believe it happens because everyone wants to make everybody else happy for the holiday.  News Flash:  Angry people aren't happy!  Instead of fighting for and/or over that "perfect gift" (i.e.- whatever is popular and expensive), invest some time or love instead.  Love is much more rewarding and definitely the longest lasting man-made item out there.
Good luck to all in the next few weeks.  Share smiles with strangers and maybe they will pass them on too.  

Quilting Companions

 I wanted to show you the quilt I did last week with Sid's help, but it is a Christmas present for a client's adult daughter.  I don't think she'd see it here, but I would hate to ruin a surprise for anyone.  I'll post photos after the holidays of this really cool t-shirt quilt.  I have Sid working for me again this weekend.  We have begun another silk tie memory quilt.  This one is going to be in a windmill pattern.  For some reason, I like doing traditional patterns with these beautiful silks. Sid and I have created many wonderful quilts together both traditional and non-traditional styles.  The quilt pictured here really captures both of our talents. 

            We are very proud of this quilt named "Kundalini".  It was made several years ago as a commissioned piece by someone who liked our seed of life quilts.  This client used the word Kundalini when describing what they wanted.  I did a touch of research and discovered that fire and snakes were associated with Kundalini energy.  The client thought it was wonderful and so we created the quilt you see here.
All of the fabrics were dyed by Sid and I did everything else.  I am fond of saying that my quilts are a series of mistakes.  I learn incredible things when I allow myself to make mistakes.
The lesson this quilt taught me was about bias tape.  I had made my own and used bias tape for years.  Then we got this brilliant idea to dye the snake fabric on the bias and cut it 2 1/2" wide.  This looked great! What I learned is that bias tape over a certain width will not lay flat in curves!  After an hour of freaking out,  I decided to methodically pleat the inner curves and sew them down.  This solved the main problem and gave the snakes such LIFE!  It really looks like the snakes are moving and writhing around in the knot work.  You can view other quilts we've made using the Seed of Life pattern at our website, www.mountainjoyquilts.com.
Well, it's truffle time.  I must dip and package many of these chocolaty delights to send to all my loved ones.  Sometimes, I think it's a cop-out to send truffles every year.  I know they are looked forward too though with great anticipation and I might even get in trouble if I don't send them.
We all need a yearly overdose of chocolate, don't we?  Happy quilting and creating!

Thanksgiving Time

I've been doing a lot of hand applique this past week. I have been doing a block of the month for a client. I began it last year and discovered I really enjoy doing hand applique in the middle of winter. It is a great way to still be working while not moving 5' from the wood stove. I started on it earlier than expected this year thanks to last week's power outage.
The devastation of wind-downed trees is quite sad and impressive. I am always in awe at the raw power of mother nature when in a mood. We did lose several trees on our property. Out back, the top of huge Blue Spruce came down and took out a Ponderosa pine and large aspen.
I've got Sid arranging another quilt for me at the moment. Our brains work quite differently and we try to use that to our advantage. He excels at creating chaos while I still try to find some kind of order even in a crazy quilt. This quilt is a memory t-shirt quilt for a woman to give her daughter for Christmas. The daughter is quite an accomplished runner with lots of track shirts. Sid is composing the crazy quilt look for the top and then he'll dye the backing too. I get to sit here and write to you folks about it. At some point, he'll announce he's done and go outside to blacksmith. That's when I'll get up and sew it all together into a top.
It is the time of year to remember how blessed we all are. I am continually thankful for all those who have helped me get this far in life. I am thankful for all those that love me and accept my love in return. I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving week!