Little of this

Sitting looking out the window with my cuppa tea, where I have spent so much time the past two and a half years.   Waiting/hoping/praying for my headache to "dial down", so I can get on with my day.

If nothing else, my plans for NEXT winter are becoming clearer.

Heat to my neck, just me and my lap top.....anything else would require me to move my head, and that is not something I want to do right now.

So........

Let me share a couple of things with you.......that I was introduced to on my travels south.

One, was the BUTTER BELL.   Oh, my, I love this thing, because there is nothing worse than butter that is hard as a rock.

Every couple of days, you change the water.......about an inch or so.

Here's what mine looks like.

Here's what mine looks like when DH has a go at it.  

PLEASE, someone save me!

Another find worth mentioning is usually the only reason I ever go to Red Lobster.

They are super simple, and absolutely the bomb.  Unfortunately, I found them in Walmart, not my favorite place.  I'm sure other grocery stores will have them soon.


One more thing, that I have not acquired yet, but will.

Tomodachi.

The sharpest, coolest knives, EVER.

You can get all this stuff on Amazon, by the way.


Some other things I loved in the south.............field peas........pecans..........fresh, fresh fruit.......a strange sandwich made with a croissant, egg, cheese, then dipped and finished like french toast....they called it a "crusher".  It looked nothing like a croissant, and BEGGED for syrup.

But mostly, I am missing the blue skies, the warmth, the sun, the lack of a headache. 
And you just can't find that on Amazon.

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Perfect Union...

Almost wordless today...

Pattern, Perfect Union, in the Feb. issue of American Patchwork and Quilting. Fabric: mostly Rapture from Art Gallery Fabrics.

I'm thinking maybe it will bring Spring!

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Life changes

Sorry I have been so absent.   I guess I am (once again) going through life changes. 
They just keep coming, don't they?   And somehow, the more I am thinking things through, the less I have been inclined to blog.

I swear my brain got rebooted, and I am still trying to sort it all out.

After having only two serious headaches over 8 weeks in the SOUTH, I have had 5 days of serious headaches in 8 days.  Hear me sigh?
I think it is safe to say that my head does not like WINTER in the frozen northeast.

It is one thing to decide to make changes in your life.   We all do it.
But then there come those times, when  change is not entirely a matter of choice.   All those factors that you didn't ever have to take into consideration before, suddenly make change inevitable. 
And you're standing there, looking totally confused, saying whiskeytangofoxtrot?

And 

I have decided that most of my "issues" with my life right now are all related to the concept of "too much".

Too much snow.

Oh, yes,  I know it will be gone.  April is almost here.  And I know that long, wintry winters are not my favorite thing.

 

Too much cold.   My neck HATES the cold.

Warm weather will come, and I just have to figure out how to avoid this deep freeze in my life.

But that involves a lot of change that is just not that simple.  It makes my head spin.

Too much stuff.

Everywhere I look....too. much. stuff.   I want to go through every closet, every book shelf, every nook and cranny......I want to divest myself of everything that I do not need.  I want to be minimalist.

The word "extraneous" keeps tripping through my brain

It seems like every negative in my life is the result of "too much".

When I jump on the scale.........too much food.

When I reconcile my bank account............too much money spent, too many bills.

When I feel anxious or indecisive..........too many choices.

When I feel overwhelmed.........too much to do.

It's the story of my life really.   I have always felt this "never enough" monster nagging at me.

My history of poor choices in men..............again, "too much" baggage.

That song keeps playing in my mind......"Happy"

Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof

 Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth

 Clap along if you know what happiness is to you

 Clap along if you feel like that’s what you wanna do

I think I know what happiness is to me.
I think I know what I want to do.

And it doesn't involve "too much" of anything.  It's simpler, it's uncomplicated.
It's almost Thoreau.
Now I just have to get there.

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Another Mini!

It was a fun retreat! I made progress on several projects and will be finishing those up soon.

I did get my mini Spools quilt done on the day I got home. My original plan was to make it short and wide with two rows of four blocks. There really is something aesthetically pleasing about an odd number of blocks. When I got home I ripped it apart, made another block and set it together just like the pattern 3 x 3.

It quilted up quickly with organic, wavy lines. It's now bound and hanging in the sewing room!

And I'm keeping up with the weekly duo of blocks for the Layer Cake Sampler QAL. Block 7...

Block 8...

Be back soon!

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The jury may be in.

Back in the frozen northeast.  Just in time for a furious snow storm, followed by freezing rain that has encased the world in ICE.
Everyone is saying ENOUGH ALREADY.
I can't even process it.

I refuse to put a picture of this winter wonderland on my blog......(hear the sneer).......I would rather see one of my friend's screen porch in the late afternoon sun.......you know, GEORGIA, where I think winter is usually more simple.
 Yeah, they had an ice storm, in 3 or 4 days, they were back to NOTHING on the ground.  The temps were moderate........not to them.........but to me, oh yeah.

But here's the clincher.  We got back Monday.   We were gone for 8 weeks.........we stopped in Virginia, then stayed a week in Georgia, went to Florida, stayed several weeks, came back to Georgia for about 10 days, then to Tennessee for 2, back to Virginia, and home.  
I had TWO BAD HEADACHES in that whole time.......all the rest were not even worth the mention.

NOW, I have been back for 4 days.......and I have had TWO BAD HEADACHES.
It has to be the weather.  Otherwise, I just don't understand it.

I was happy to get back to the studio, I missed being there so much.   I must say that the concept of being "on vacay" for 8 weeks, did not really suit me.   I have to rethink going someplace warmer next year.  It is obvious that I need to get away from this frigid north if I don't want to suffer all winter long, but I need to have a different plan.
I need to take a loom, or two.

I guess under other circumstances, I could just move to Georgia.  I grew quite fond of it.
And while I suppose it is possible that I could move my studio, my children, my grandchildren, and my friends, are here. 
I can't leave them, don't want to.  That's non negotiable.
There ain't no sunshine worth that.

While on my travels, I got a chance to meet some of my blog followers, and fellow weavers, when I went to Tennessee.   I got to spend a few hours with some of the Tuesday Weavers at the Appalachian Craft Center in Norris, TN.   What a fantastic group!!!!   I so enjoyed meeting them in real time, I only wish I lived closer.  It makes a weaver's heart beat fast, just to be around all those looms, and people who love them. 

Eat your heart out, Ellen DeGeneres...........

I didn't realize what a tan I had until I saw this.

Thanks, ladies.   I hope to see you all again, on a Tuesday this time.

Hmm......maybe a rental in Tennessee is in my future.

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It starts with a block...

Tomorrow I head off on my Spring Quilt Retreat! Even though I mentioned in my last post that I have many irons in the fire - a retreat necessitated some new projects. So this week I cut out some quilts and made a few test blocks - just to be sure I don't get there and have everything cut wrong! That might be a problem!

Here's a peek inside my box of fabric...

A quilt called "Perfect Union" found in the Feb '14 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting. The prep for this was quite a challenge. The blocks create diagonal rows of warm colored crosses in one direction and cool color backgrounds going in the opposite direction. I think I've sorted my pieces correctly, but we'll see in the end...

A traditional block I've always wanted to use for a quilt - the Churn Dash. This will be scrappy, but with a limited color palette of aqua, teal, cream and soft pink.

You may have noticed, I've jumped on the bandwagon of mini quilt makers! They've been a nice addition to the sewing room walls and it seems fitting to have a mini-spools.

My blocks for this week in the Layer Cake Sampler QAL. Block 5...

Block 6...

And speaking of blocks, I sewed my Alphabet blocks together today. I was tickled with how quickly it went with no block arranging to do!

I plan on having a fun week and I'm wishing the same for all of you!!! Hopefully I'll get some shots posted on Instagram as we sew!

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Sewing time...

I never work on one project at a time, but lately I've felt pulled in so many directions wondering what to work on during my sewing time. Seems I have a lot of irons in the fire. Here are a few.

Last week's Layer Cake QAL Block 3...

And 4...

My Redbird Bee Traveling quilt blocks...

Inspired by the block variations in the book 500 quilt blocks, each person will make a different variation of this block. I'm providing colored pencils and sketches of the block for experimentation. I won't see the finished blocks for a year, then I'm hoping to come up with an alternate block or a pieced setting to bring them all together!

Continuing with my ABCs...

And making some progress...

A Dresden I made for a class last week. I machine quilted the background first, then machine appliquéd the Dresden to the background. It was a quick and easy way to make a wall hanging or pillow!

I'm also getting a few projects ready for a retreat next week! So many quilts and ideas! A really good problem!!

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