Steam Punk Quilt

My Steam Punk quilt is finished! It's a beautiful Summer evening here and I thought I'd take it out for a little photo shoot.

The combination of machine and hand quilting gave this quilt a wonderful drape. The hand-quilting is limited to 2 concentric circles on each block.

The pattern is by Jen Kingwell Designs.

It's been a wonderful Summer project!

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Minutiae.

Saturday at the studio.  Sometimes Saturdays are quiet.  Today wasn't.

But it was still good.

Lots of company.

Good friends, good conversation.

In between, I worked on my towels. Ah, yes, still addicted.

My bff came and worked on placemats.

 I think she was having fun.

Maybe she is making coats for her recently shorn goats and sheep.

The apple tree in the back yard is dropping huge apples by the dozens.  It smells like

vinegar, but Mr. Woodchuck is getting fat as a hog out there.

He ran off with a huge smashed apple in his mouth.....I bet he was taking it home to the kids.

I found some 10/2 variegated in my stash, and two of these towels are sold before they are even finished.

They are quite fetching, if I do say so myself.  And I do.

 

 The cloth storage system on the AVL is working like a charm, and I am PLEASED.

 In fact, the AVL itself is a joy to weave on, and it makes me very happy.
It's good to be happy.
Or as Phil says on Duck Dynasty which has to be about the happiest thing I've seen on TV in a long time........"happy, happy, happy."

Outside, the little black cat that has been sneaking around is looking to come up on the porch to eat, if he can sneak by Next, who is adamant that he not do it.

Um, I think it's safe now.

Geesh, Louise.  Put some shade on it.

 

 

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#kinderhook2013

Tell a non-quilter that you're going on a quilt retreat and they give you quite a puzzled look. Most think of praying when they hear the word retreat. And although there are plenty of prayers uttered {my grandmother always taught me to say a prayer before cutting}, if you've ever been on a quilt retreat you know just how amazing and restorative they can be.

We sew drinking our coffee in the morning until sipping our wine at night. In between there's yummy food, tears of laughter {often over the same old jokes} and tears of sadness as we experience the safe place to share our struggles. I've been retreating with the same group of friends for many years now and though not biologically, they are truly my sisters. My heart is filled with gratitude for each and every one of them.

And yes, I got some fun sewing done!

A fat quarter pack of Nordika transformed into a Garden Lattice quilt from my new book...

The July Lucky Stars block...

A new pincushion using this tutorial... 

home for my awesome, new "Little House" pins available here and here...

Four more "Fresh" blocks, giving me a total of 5... {pattern from Simply Retro}

Nine blocks to add to my Flying Geese Redbird Bee quilt...

And a final Good-bye to Kinderhook Lodge. You were fun!!

More pics from this year's retreat on Instagram... #kinderhook2013

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Ouch.

Yesterday and today were tough.   My head has been fairly vibrating.
Is it the weather?  More scar tissue?  Stress? 
I have no clue.
I do know that Alleve, Motrin, and even a Hydrocodone in desperation do not  touch it.

I stayed home all morning, made some blueberry muffins, and just puttered around trying to take my mind off it.  Then I managed to get to the studio where I tried out some new black 8/2 that I just got in the mail from the Georgia Yarn Company  Check out the web site,  if you like what you see, and you order, tell Michael that I sent you.

I personally think my headache could be some kind of occipital neuralgia, caused by the trauma of the surgery.
No, I have not called my doctor yet.
1.  He will say to give it some more time.
2.  He will order an MRI, and he might as well tell me to go sit in a car bomb in Beirut.
3.  I don't know that I want to hear any bad news right now, about anything.

I am straddling a fence, and it is very, very uncomfortable, about as uncomfortable as you might imagine a fence would be in delicate places.

A few hospital admissions ago, my mother expressed her concern that she needed 24/7 care, after she almost fell three times, and I caught her all three, she said that she thought it was time to go to the "Stanton".  That's the nursing home where she went after her hip replacement seven years ago.  It is within walking distance of my house.
So we applied.  And jumped through all the hoops that they make you jump through.  And we got on the waiting list.
And she changed her mind.
For days she barely spoke to me.
Then she cried.
Then she inferred that I was a lousy daughter, not so much in words, but what mother can't tell her daughter VOLUMES without saying one thing.
Ah, yes.
She is speaking to me again, but we avoid that subject.
She is waiting for IT to happen.
I am just trying to get through one day at a time.

 

 On the one hand, I want to take care of her while she is here.  I want to be the best daughter.  I want her to know that I love her so, so much.  I want to make whatever sacrifice I have to make, to do what SHE thinks is the right thing.  I want to make her last weeks/months, whatever she has, comfortable.

On the other hand, I want to be free of the responsibility that hovers over me around the clock.
I don't want to be a nurse anymore, especially in my own home.
I want to be able to spend quality time with her, while someone else does the nursing care and keeps track of her bowel movements and her medications, and her mental status.
I just want her to be my mother.
I don't want to be hers.
Ah, the emotional turmoil.
The guilt.
The pain.
No wonder my head aches.

And no, the pictures do not have anything to do with the text. 
They are just what I love, balancing out what I don't.
It's just life.
Between the headache and the fence, a rock and a hard place, there is still joy.

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Lucky.

If I didn't have to sleep, I would have a lot more towels woven.
Sigh.

 They are dark on one side, and light on the other.   I am smitten.
And I am a fool for blue and white, too.

My kids will tell you that I am definitely a geek at heart.

I love my MAC PRO.

I love my iPhone.

I like to be proficient in all the newest gadgets.

I guess a computerized loom would be interesting.

But I am loving the simplicity of this dobby loom.   I can get a rhythm going without any electricity.

I love the click click click of the dobby bars.

I have several looms that I am very fond of, but this one might top them all.

I will be sending a newsletter out as soon as I get a stack of these made.  They are 100% cotton, and they are "big dish towels".  I am raising the price a bit, to $28 each, or 2 for $50.  I am telling you all this because I like to give my blog followers first dibs.  You can just send me an email with TOWEL in the title, and I will put you on my list.

After the blue, I will have some in red, and some in black.

Lois is still working on rugs from the upholstery fabric, and they will be on my web site today.

You might wonder why I seem to be in a good mood, in spite of having a daily headache still.
It's not that complicated, really.
Yes, my head hurts.  But compared to how it hurt before the first surgery, when I envisioned my life being over, or compared to how it hurt when I woke up from that first surgery.............well, there is no comparison.  It would be like comparing a pencil sketch to a BLACK MAGIC MARKER drawing.
It's all in the perspective.
When I walk Roy on our 3 mile loop, and I feel strong and alive, I remember when I came home after the first head repair, and I was too weak to walk down the street alone, and it took me months to walk that route again.
Yes, it's better.

If you think about it, your life is always "better" than it could be.
It could always be worse.

 I am grateful, profoundly grateful, for my life.

For my family, for my friends.

I'm a lucky girl.

Watch this guy, he says it all.

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S.A.E.

Ack.  Life can be so hard sometimes.
I really could not do it other than ONE DAY AT A TIME.
Even thinking about it any other way is impossible for me.

My head will be the death of me probably.  It's hard to explain it.  I am sure there is someone in the world who has a similar experience.  I just don't know them.
My headache is different these days.  I still have it. Every. Day.
Amazing, right?  A headache every day since October 2011.
I can't believe it myself.
Then I think about what they did, TWICE, when they were banging around inside my head.

I try to understand it, figure it out, come to terms with it.  It's become such a big part of my story, I
honestly can't imagine my life any other way.

In the course of a day, my headache changes 7-10 times, from "barely there", to a fist in the temple, to a smasher.
Last week, on one particularly horrible day, I texted my friend who also had surgery for Chiari, without the neck fusion.  She said years later, she still has bad days.  She says you just have to "Scrap All Expectations".
That may have to be my "go to" motto.  On days that just don't cut it, when nothing seems to work, I may have to S.A.E.
Acceptance.
I don't think that stress helps.  And taking care of my mother, trying to figure out what's best for her, and me, and DH, is enough to give anyone a headache.
Dreaming of a pond in Maine, going to sleep listening to the loons calling, that's my "go to" dream.

I am also doing some craniosacral therapy, hoping that it might help to settle my head down after the trauma that it has suffered.

In the meantime, I am amusing myself  with the (new to me) AVL folding dobby loom.
With its new sectional beam, it is finally operational.

This is the first of MANY dish towels.  In fact, the AVL is going to be my designated towel loom.

 I had a couple of threading errors, which you might see if you look close, but after two towels, I fixed them.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this.  I even went BACK to the studio after dinner, to play with it some more.

 And tomorrow is another day.

To me, the trick is to NOT keep thinking about the parts of life that hurt.  There is no point.
Instead, I do this.
I weave.
I am so grateful for it, I can't even tell you.

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Surprises all around.

Oh, yikes.  You all make me feel so TALENTED, going on about my chenille baby blanket.
You are all too kind.
Here's the deal. 

 I made it in two days......in my spare time.  It was really not a big job at all.

It's an easy, easy project.  I bought my chenille squares a few years back, but you can find them on Ebay, and on Etsy.  They are usually sold in batches, of 20 to 36.  My squares were only 4" squares, but they come in 6" squares.  I used 121 of the 4" squares.  I simply strip sewed them together........yup, that easy.
Then I had some natural, cotton batting, and I bought some dainty cotton fabric for the backing, put the three together, and used some 8/2 cotton to tie the three together in random places.

So cheap, it's not, but gorgeous, and pretty darn easy, it's both of those.
I may buy some more and make another one........maybe I'll make a QUEEN size one.
Now there's a thought.


 Got the sectional beam on the AVL, wound and ready.

 

It was half threaded when I left the studio today.  I can't wait to get it up and running.  I am doing 16 harness twill dish towels.   Someone asked me: "Aren't you sick of dish towels, yet?"

The answer is no.

I have mentioned before how I have made so many dear friends through this blog.

It's a gift that keeps on making me happy.

The other day, a package came.

It had a return address, but didn't say from WHO at that return address.

I opened it to find a beautiful and familiar photograph, put on canvas.

 

 I knew right away it was of Sand Beach in Acadia, one of my favorite places.

So I googled the address, and found it was a business that puts photos on canvas.  Hmm.  Then the light bulb went off.
Who else loves Maine as much as I do?

Why Kate, over at Chronicles of a Country Girl that's who.

So I toddled on over to her blog, and typed in Easy Canvas Prints in the little search window up on the left.  And just as I suspected, there was an old post of hers recommending them.
Who knew?
I did, that's who.
I put the picture in the back bedroom, the biggest one, in the studio, my favorite bedroom.  I weave in there sometimes, on my Macomber.  And now I can look up and see Sand Beach, and wish I was there.
Thanks, Kate.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE it.

In case you're all wondering what L is up to these days, she's weaving on the Cranbrook.

 She is continuing what I started, weaving beautiful rugs out of all that upsholstery fabric we cut up and sewed together.

Sydney says:

Could I get a little attention around here?

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