Lone Starburst finish...

Seems I've been making my Lone Starburst blocks for quilt a while! In fact, I think I made the first one last Summer when Anna Maria Horner's Field Study line was released.

After that first one, I decided to go a bit simpler and use 2 prints for the inner star and a coordinating solid for the outline of the star.

The blocks are paper pieced and as paper piecing tends to be - some slow sewing.
And on the very last block and last few pieces, I found myself short by about an inch with no solid fabric left. That required and online order and more waiting for fabric to arrive...

When the time came to put the blocks together, I tried several scenarios, unhappy with anything I came up with. An internet search of the block found only a couple of finished quilts - lots of pillows, but few quilts.

It took a few weeks of mulling before this setting came to mind. And the slow process paid off - I couldn't be happier with the quilt!

There was no way I was going to get rid of that original block, so it's pieced into the backing.

My final dilemma was how to bind it. I wanted to use a Field Study print, but didn't have enough of any one of them to work. More mulling and a scrappy Field Study binding was the answer.

Thanks so much to Anna from Six White Horses for the fantastic block pattern. You can find it for free here: Lone Starburst.

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Update

Here they are .....couple of updates to things you wanted to know, or things I thought you wanted to know.


1. MRI.  

No results yet.
Don't you just love waiting for things like this????   I refuse to get wound up about it.  It'll shine when it shines.

2. Not having to tie on to the AVL.

The AVL has this "sticky beam" which I had never seen before.  I'd heard of it, but couldn't really
wrap my brain around it.
Well, it works.  It really does.  It is similar to sandpaper, kind of.   So when I got the 8/2 cotton threaded through the reed, I just pulled the threads over the sticky beam, pressed them down to make sure all the threads were touching it, and cranked it tight.  Then I just started weaving.
O.M.G.    You bet!!!!
 What a treat to not have to tie on.
I'm sold.

The other thing about the AVL is that there is no brake release.  The tension is terrific, and you just advance when you need to.  The tension stays the same.  It's really unbelievable.

 Now I have to admit, that this towel made me wonder if I still have all my marbles.  Red and orange?

Not sure about it, not sure at all.  It was so intense, it was over the top.  It tired me out.

 I only did ONE of them, and started weaving with bright white. Ah, sweet relief.
This felt like a cool breeze.

The BEST news is my hot tub got fixed today, and my neck is sccccrrreaming for it.
I will sleep well tonight.

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The Winner is.....

For the weavers out there ( the rest of you can skip this paragraph in red)...........I wound my warp in red, it was supposed to be 480 threads, 12 sections at 40 threads each.  But I put too much on each spool, and only wound up with 38 spools.
So I wound the 12, but that left me 24 threads short. 
I looked at the spools, and they looked like they had enough on them, so in a moment of "brain fog", I took 12 threads off, and wound 24 threads onto one section.
WRONG.  If you look at the picture in the previous post, you can see that those 24 threads spread out, and that section is NOT LEVEL with the others.  This means that that will cause big tension problems throughout the warp, and I knew I'd screwed up as SOON as I did it.  I called my friend Chris and she concurred. WRONG.
So I'll just SKIP that section entirely, and my towels will be 24 threads narrower.
Weavers can laugh at my silliness.......it's ok.  I'm learning all the time.

I don't blame you all for lusting after my AVL.  I love it more every time I use it.  Today I finished threading it, and decided to try something I have read about  another AVL owner doing.  I brought the threads right over the sticky beam, did NOT tie on, and started weaving.......yahoo!!!!!  heart be STILL.  
This is pale yellow on a red warp.  I am presently pegging a new pattern, but I don't know.....I am still loving this one.

  Oh, yeah, a GIVEAWAY......well, the random.org selected #4, so that means Denise at Autumn Sky is our winner............pick a color, girl.  And happy dish toweling!  Congratulations!!!

We had a combo birthday/pesto making  party at my house.

Can I just say our kitchen was a freaking mess.

 We made 24 small bags, each big enough for a pesto pasta dinner.
All the basil came from my little garden at the studio.
Yeehaw.

 

 The smell of garlic was lovely, if you like garlic, and I do.

 

Pesto, anyone??

 

My youngest soon to be a first time Momma herself, was busy making puff pastry with 

chocolate filling.

 

My girls and their children make my heart sing.
I am a lucky woman.

I better get back to pegging my dobby bars for my next pattern.

These pictures are making me hungry. 

 

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Inspiration from my new book!

My books arrived on my doorstep last week! You should start seeing them in your shops soon!

I've always wanted my blog to be a space of inspiration. I'm excited to show you many of the quilts made in alternate colors and fabrics. Hope you enjoy seeing them all up close! I've asked a few of my favorite bloggers to review the book and we'll be sharing that too.

And of course, I'm always working on something new - so expect some new show-and-tells between book posts!

No Christmas book would be complete without a tree skirt and some Christmas stockings. So let's start with those...

The stockings are super simple. The book has 4 different patchwork options for the cuff and each stocking is fully lined.

The tree skirt was inspired by a traditional star block - known as both Rising Sun and Christmas Star. The good news is that there are no set-in pieces!

Last Christmas I made one for my daughter using solids and a bright holiday print...

This is one of my favorite projects. A simple wreath design that can be hung on the wall or used as a table topper...

I want to make this again! Can you see it in Fall colors or solids?

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Having a talk with your brain.

As crazy as it sounds, it's what I had to do.
I had to talk turkey to  this head of mine.
 (it went something like this)

OK,like knock it off.  Enough already.  What the hell??
Life is too short, and here you are, spending every waking minute pounding and being miserable.
Wasting my time, and YOURS.
Look, it's been two years already.  Two surgeries.   A wicked  long list of days that  were barely manageable.
Aren't you tired of it???
How about this???
You settle down, and take a breath.
Maybe just have a melt down or two a day, NOT ALL DAY.
We can do this, me and you.  I just know it.
I really think you should consider the alternative.
Remember the trip to Great Neck? The hospital?  The operating room?  Oh, those harsh lights, and then nothing, only to awaken to even more pain?
C'mon HEAD, work with me here.  I'll try to be better to you.  You try to be better to me.  That's how great relationships work.
And to be honest, I can't do this without you.



Towels are done.  Drawing is tomorrow evening.  Maybe I will even get the results of my MRI tomorrow?  Maybe it will be good news.
Good grief, sometimes I annoy myself with such optimism, but hey, what's the alternative?

Here are the colors I have for you to peruse, so if you WIN, you will be ready.


These are lavender and turquoise.

 

 Royal blue.

 

Turquoise.

 Country RED.

Black anyone??

 

Pastels.

 

 Another purple, a little darker.

And the next warp is on the AVL, ready to rip.

I made a mistake on this.  All you weavers probably know what it is.  I knew it the minute I did it.
And I am going to work around it. See if you can tell what it is.

And yes, I've cleaned my desk, thank you.


Yesterday and today have been a little easier.  Maybe my head is listening?  Or not.  But I'm grateful for the break, whatever the reason.  I'll take it.  Who knows what tomorrow might bring.

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MRI GIVEAWAY

OK, that was a little tongue in cheek, but seriously,  don't we need a giveaway????
 The towels are just about off the loom...........it will happen tomorrow morning if all goes well.
So I think a TOWEL would be a splendid giveaway, don't you??

And all you have to do is be a follower, and comment.
Geesh.  Easy Peasy.

I so appreciate all your support, it just makes me sit up and take notice.  There's no room in my life for feeling sorry for myself, as much as lately it has occurred to me.
This is no doubt a bump in the road, a slipped stitch, a missed thread.
And it's ok.  It already IS.  There is not one bit of grumbling that will change it.

I guess I thought I would live out my later years with looms and cats, and long walks with my dog.
I anticipated BORING, but in a beautiful uncomplicated, simplistic way.
But just like someone driving the wrong way on a busy highway, no one really expects it.
Suddenly, it's there.
That's my life.  Derailed, as it were.
Headaches, surgeries, recoveries.  Then do it all over again.
And maybe again.

I have thought that maybe I could drug myself to the point that I didn't care if I had a cement block on my face, but then I decided that my weaving might not be what I want it to be, so I threw that idea out.
Then I thought maybe I could use MIND CONTROL to get through it.  I am still working on that one.
I can't even think about having NO PAIN to begin with.  What a concept that would be.

The other side of this is my lack of tolerance for all things ridiculous, you know those things that would normally not even make you blink.  I don't have any space in my head for them.   I simply go away mentally and emotionally.  Can't handle them, don't want to, actually refuse to.
I guess that's my coping mechanism right now.
But I dream of driving away.  Is that so bad????

One thing that helps...........mindless weaving........maybe that is why I am so in love with the AVL.........two treadles, no thinking....just the rhythmic cycling of the dobby,  throwing the shuttle, and watching the pattern take shape before my eyes.  Oh, my head still hurts, but I go to my happy, happy, happy place, and that monster that keeps returning to me like a bad penny just doesn't have so much hold over me.

Could I weave 24/7 perhaps???  Now that's an idea. I will draw the name for the towel on Monday night, August 19th.

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Imagine

Warning:  Pictures unrelated to text.

Just thought I should tell you.

In my alternate life,
 I wake up one morning, without a headache.

At first, I just sense something is different, but it's such a shock, I can't identify what has changed.
Then it hits me.  My headache is gone.
Two years.
And it's gone.

I make my coffee and sit on my corner of the sofa.  I don't fire up my lap top.  I don't pick up the newspaper (truth is I never read the newspaper).
I just stare straight ahead.  My mind is whirling, and at the same time, it's blank.

Eventually, I get up and start my day.  But it's hard to concentrate.  I want to believe this is true.
But I wonder.  Is it a fluke?  Is it a pause in the action, only to return times ten?
Is it real?
Is it possible?
I am delirious.  I am scared.  I am confused.

Suddenly, I remember what my life used to be like.  Without a headache.
How foolish I was, to have taken this for granted.
How lucky I was, to go through my days with nothing pressing behind my eyes.
 I had it made.
I didn't know.   I had no idea.

 Two years of a headache, two surgeries, headache returned.............now if that's not an education, I don't know what is.

I know now that life is tenuous.  It can't be trusted.  Change is the only thing you can really depend on.  People change.  Times change.  The weather changes.
Feelings change.  Intentions, too.  We get older.  Accidents happen.  Good health doesn't last.
Youth doesn't either.
Today is all we own.  And it's gone before we know it.
Every day that we embrace is a day no one can ever take away from us.

 In this life.
Tomorrow: another MRI.

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