Thứ Bảy, 14 tháng 4, 2012

Come on along.

Day trips are good.  Honest.
My BFF and I planned this one, which we both  looked forward to all week.

We stop at all yarn and fiber related shops.  That's a given.
We love back roads.
And we love to investigate.
As we were coming out of a 'sweet' little yarn shop, we saw this down the street.

A place that deals in salvage.


For me, it's like a blast from the past.  I grew up with 'salvage'.  It was just a normal everyday part of my life.  My father scoured the countryside, filled up a big barn like structure that he attached to OUR HOUSE, and sold it for a second income.  He already worked as a painter in the paper mill.
The building grew and grew.  Every year or so, he would make it bigger, and every year, it would seem to almost groan with the piles of goods he packed into it.


This felt like home to me, except that it was much more organized than my father's stuff.


My father never advertised.  People just came.  Word of mouth, he said, was the best advertisement of all.
We never sat down to a meal that wasn't interrupted.
"Somebody's here."    I can still hear the sing song way my father said that.
Like:  can ya' believe it?  some one is here at dinner time........again?

And one of the most intriguing and dear memories I have of my father, is riding in the truck with him, looking for treasures.
Oh, yeah, plastic fish and church pews.....right up my Dad's alley.


No one appeared while we wandered around.  There was an office, and I guess whoever was in charge figured we would holler if we needed them.  It wasn't like anything in here would have been small enough to be carried out unnoticed.


Someone fixing up an old house could be in heaven right here.
There was every possible fixture you could ever want.


Even though most of the people who remember me growing up are gone, in my head, I am still 'Morty Cooper's daughter'.  
And finally, that's ok.


Funny, how weaving is to me, what salvage was to him.


Now here's a tub that's long enough for me.....hallelujah.
They usually aren't.


Walk with me.......check out this awesome stash of STUFF.








And they even have an UPSTAIRS.


Be still my heart......I love posts and columns.






So don't say I never take you anywhere......cause I do.
This is the building from the outside.
It's a brute.


I wanted one of each of everything in there.
Back to weaving tomorrow.


Thứ Sáu, 13 tháng 4, 2012

A little thank-you

It didn't go 100% smoothly, but was able to redirect my domain name to this blog. My original website is now down and you should find everything here!

Some of you have noticed that I changed my blog header a couple of months ago. I've added information about my classes here in addition to a new tab for Free Patterns. I'll be adding to that in the coming weeks with some links to the tutorials I've posted here on the blog. You may also see I've freshened up the side bar and added both a search feature and a labels feature.

Jenna from q.a.designs helped with the design work and the installation. She's the best!

I have a little give-away just to thank you all for reading and commenting! Have you seen these pin cushions? I found the perfect dishes to make them! And no I'm not sending you the dish to make one - I'm making one for you. You can even tell me what color you want. I'll also send you this cute bundle from Fabric Nosherie - mostly Curios Nature by Parson Gray.
So head on over and leave a comment - I'll draw a winner on Wednesday! Thanks for being part of my quilty life!!

Blog Housekeeping...

I'm making some technical changes around here! I'll be closing down my website since Apple is discontinuing their web hosting in a couple of months. The good news is that everything will be in one place - here on the blog.

I'll be redirecting the URL www.hyacinthquiltdesigns.com

I believe the URL www.hyacinthquiltdesigns.blogspot.com will still work also.

Just to be sure I'm posting a give-away later today after all the technical work is complete - want to make sure you can still find me in your readers!

And a little fireplace mantel Spring cleaning (rearranging)



Thứ Năm, 12 tháng 4, 2012

What moves me.

Here's my new warp, for the Cranbrook, and double binding rugs.
Do you like the colors???


Lois took this picture without my knowing it......I am inside the loom, threading it. I think she may have been getting some perverse pleasure out of me crouched down inside it.



This wasn't actually that bad, what really hurt was tying the treadles up, which required me to crawl under the loom MANY times.
This is where I mutter under my breath about being too old for this crap.

But when I actually sit down to weave, and  I throw that first shuttle full of fabric, the pain will be a memory.  And I will be smiling.

Not exactly heaven, but close. Very close.
Isn't that where it is, after all, in our heads????





Thứ Tư, 11 tháng 4, 2012

Mom who?


When your kids are all grown up, your role as a parent takes a back seat.  You still are one, and always will be.  But truth be told, they have their own lives.  They don't need your advice, their schedules are busy, you are no longer the center of their world.
Thank God they have children.


They love their Mimi, and their Mimi loves them.


They spend time at the studio with me, amusing themselves while I work.  I got the Cranbrook threaded and an order sent out.
Then we took Roy for a walk.
Or should I say a run????
See Roy down in the corner??


Roy loves everybody, but he gets really excited when there are kids around.


They make me smile.

Have I told you that Roy does not like the water???  
This is as close as he will get, and he is looking nervous about it.


Not so with these two..... water is like a magnet to them.


Your comments brought tears to my eyes.  I can not tell you how much it means to me that you think I make a difference.
HH does wear me down, and there are days when it makes me question EVERYTHING.  It makes me feel vulnerable, and emotional.
But I really don't want to stop blogging.   I love talking to you, I love hearing from you.  I keep telling myself that 'pain is inevitable, suffering is optional'.
And I try not to get into the 'suffering' mode.  There is always so very much to be thankful for.
I guess I just get discouraged at times, and to be honest, maybe feel a little sorry for myself, although I detest that.

Kids have a way of  keeping  me on track.  They see joy everywhere, and their energy is inspiring.

HH be damned.




Thứ Ba, 10 tháng 4, 2012

Another Dresden Block

I finished up my little Dresden quilt!

This one's machine appliquéd with a little tiny stitch.

The quilting was done with a new-to-me thread called Invisafil.

One of our local shop owners talked me into trying it for machine quilting and I'm pretty pleased with the results. It's super fine - 100 weight polyester - and I like how the stitching line barely shows. I was sewing from light to dark fabrics, which can make it hard to choose thread color. This worked great with no machine problems at all ( although I did lower my upper tension as instructed). Let me know if any of you have tried it!

HH and me.

Can I just tell you that I am in severe danger of doing damage to the ice cream truck that idles in front of my house, trying to lure in young children? All the while playing that annoying little song.   Ah, the edge of my nerves.
I have decided to give my headache a name........being tired of referring to it as 'my headache'.  It has been more faithful than any lover, husband, child, parent.  It has been my constant companion, as no other has ever been.
So it deserves a name.
I have decided on HH.
 Since I am H.
 Short for Hilary's headache/Hilary's hell/Hilary's honey/Hilary's hindrance.....well, we could go on.
But let's not.
I was wondering, though, how long one can have a serious 24/7 headache, before one starts eyeing bridges with longing.

So today, I stuck it out until 2 ish........and we wove a big rug on the Toika, getting that loom ready for an order.

It was an easy weave, since we picked the colors, without worrying about a particular person liking it.
Someone will love it, don't you think???
It's a happy rug.  We need happy.


I managed to come home and take Roy for a walk, before I gave in.
God, I am stubborn.
I am thankful for that.  Where would I be if I weren't???


Doing a lot of soul searching lately.   Like DH said, when someone near you dies, your mortality becomes very real, not just a passing thought.
So I ask myself, again, does this path diminish, or enlarge, me???
I ask myself that every day.

I have also asked myself if blogging is something that is worthwhile, do I want to continue, or not?  Sometimes I feel that I must be boring you all to tears, if you're out there at all.  I guess HH makes me question just about everything.
I don't want what I write  to be about anything other than what matters to ME.  And I don't want to have to 'edit' it, just in case someone might read it and get all offended.
It's MY blog.
Is that selfish?  Maybe.
Or maybe it's time to retire it.

I find myself thinking of that dock, on a wilderness pond.  Silence, other than the sounds of birds, and the whisper of the breeze in the pines.
I'm not sure what is up with this longing I have for simplicity, but it doesn't seem to want to go away.
Maybe it's the change that's in the wind.
But I know in my heart, that there's serenity to be had.  I know, because I have had it.
It just seems now to have disappeared, and it is just out of reach.