Thứ Tư, 20 tháng 2, 2013

WIP - Lone Starburst


Linking up with Lee today at Freshly Pieced

This may be the year of paper piecing for me! I'm working on getting some projects ready for a retreat in March. The Lone Starburst block has been on my to-do list since the moment I laid eyes on her. Yes, this is a time-consuming block. It has 56 pieces! And takes me about an hour and a half per block. But so worth it! I'm using mainly Field Study scraps and a solid for the outer border.


Three blocks done...


The remaining are cut out, packed and ready to go!


(And don't think this is going to be a subdued quilt ~ pops of orange coming!)


 Rene's bee block also done...


And some major time spent this week quilting my FMF quilt. This is almost done and oh so pretty :)


Hope you're having a great week and spending some time with some yummy fabric    . . . Cindy

Thứ Ba, 19 tháng 2, 2013

Take heed.

Life is full of lessons.  It doesn't matter how old you are, or how smart you think you are.
Be prepared to keep on learning life's little lessons.
So ..... first lesson for today:

Do NOT leave a bran muffin, even in a ZIP LOCK bag, on the counter in a house with FOUR cats.
Someone is going to have NO problem with the litter box soon.  Just sayin.

 Lesson #2 for today:
Do not suppose that the cat will RESPECT your hard work.  Ever.


As I was batching my sizable Handwoven collection into years, using the stairs to put them in order, Jinksie sat quietly watching me.  I figured that as long as I was there, and didn't walk away, she would not DARE to gallop down over them.
WRONG.
Real wrong.


Lesson #3 for today:

When someone orders something out of the box, something new, something that you have not thought to make before........beware.  They may have just come up with a NEW product, and something else to keep stocked on the shelves.
Introducing:   Bench Pads.


Although I must admit, I kind of like it.



 Lesson #4 for today:

 All those things you used to think were desperately important............they weren't.



Only THIS VERY MOMENT matters at all.


( A Weaver's Book of 8 Shaft Patterns, Carol Strickler. #149.  Page 34)

Thứ Hai, 18 tháng 2, 2013

Be still my heart.

I am so in love with this pattern.
When I am weaving it, I enter the "zone".  Have you been there??
It's a marvelous place.  There is no headache, there is no worry.
It is heaven here on earth.
Everyone should go there from time to time.

While I am throwing the shuttle, my feet are dancing across the treadles.
8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1, then 8,7,6,5,6,7,8,7,6,5,6,7,8, then 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8...............and repeat.
And magically, this design appears before me, and angels sing.
I kid you not.



Weaving centers me, and brings me serenity like nothing else I know.
Or have ever known.


I am only saddened that I only have a short warp on this loom, but I am not done with point twill........so I will tie another warp on as soon as it's done.
I am so into it, and it feels so good. 


Can you tell???



And I love that I can change the whole look with another color weft.
Here it is with brown.

 I like this treasuring every day gig.  It makes the "zone" more reachable.
 And that  has the potential to be life changing.
Hallelujah.
And Amen.

Trip Around the World quilt

Not sure where last week went?! But I did manage to finish quilting and bind my Trip Around the World quilt!




 I used the gorgeous Notting Hill line by Joel Dewberry in the red, teal and yellow color way.


The plaid in this line is beautiful and made the perfect binding...


 And here's a better view of the modern take on a traditional pattern inspired by Rachel's quilt.


What else have  been up to?
Some major cleaning of the sewing room! On the floor playing with fabric - which always inspires new ideas! 
I've got a couple more UFO's to finish up and I'm readying some new projects to take on retreat in a few weeks. Here's one..


. . .  Cindy

Chủ Nhật, 17 tháng 2, 2013

A little point twill and some renovations.

 My head told me, about 5 a.m., that it was cold and gray and gloomy.   I didn't even have to open the blinds to see if that was correct.
I knew it was.
But I held on to the vision of my "waiting warp" and kept moving forward.
Some raisin toast and tea and Motrin.
And a little attitude thrown in for good measure.
Hell, yes.  I can do it.



Just recently, I spent my tax money on insulation.  The taxes will wait a bit.  I was sick of being cold at the studio.  I did some research, and all the "old house" gurus said: insulate the floors, and the attic, and stop all cold air everywhere by blocking up all the places it comes in.

So for a week, L and I heard pounding and commotion beneath us as we wove.  The floors are almost done.  I had to stop when my money ran out, and will continue again when I can.  But almost the entire ceiling in the cellar is insulated, and the difference is very apparent.  It is an old dirt floor basement, with stone walls.  While my worker bee was down there, he caulked up all the places in the stone that let air in, and he built an insulated "inside" door to the hatchway outside.  It's even warmer down there.
I want him to finish that, and then as money allows, insulate the attic.  I believe it's money well spent.


Then I have this other idea brewing in my head.   It's kind of in preparation for the day when I live at the studio.  Someday.
There is a small half bath off the kitchen, which in itself is really not appropriate in my book.  I do not like bathrooms off the kitchen.   Not.



And the kitchen is small, and not very efficient.
Right next to the kitchen is the old dining room, which of course is a "loom room" at present.   It is a little dark.  The windows face west, and I built the porch on that side, so the room never gets much light during the day.
That's the bathroom door with the blue Restroom sign.......see the dining room to the right.....how dark it is?




So..........I say MOVE the bathroom.  Yup.   I want to do that first.  And I have the perfect place for it.
Eventually, this wall from the doorway on the right, moving left, would be gone.

Originally the kitchen used to be on the other end of the house.
Here.



And then the house was a two family for different generations of the same family. So another kitchen, the one I have now, was created.
The old kitchen had a huge pantry, which I use for fabric storage.
Here.
 And I think it would make a smashing place for the bathroom.  It measures 5' 8" x 9'.



My big concern is  the built ins.   I want to save part of them.  I think that if we tried to move them, they wouldn't make the move well.  Tearing them out would probably include breaking them.

Then, at some point, when I was ready to live there, having dragged DH there by his hair........ok, maybe not his hair..............I would open up the kitchen.
I envision this wall being gone.



And there being an island here, with room to work on one side, and places to sit on the other, and lots of storage underneath.
The island would be right about where that cupboard is.....looking at it from the other side.


This would also really brighten up the dining room, letting light in from the kitchen (that has never known a dreary daytime moment ever)

I do anguish a bit over changing the old house.  But then again, I think that as well as the previous THREE owners since 1790, I am part of its history, too.  And I think that I am only contemplating what others have before me: making the house functional.
Because back when the house was built, there were no bathrooms.  Both bathrooms in this house were added on later.
It would also be better for heat......the dining room is always the coolest room, and this way the heat from the pellet stove would have a better flow there.

Now who wants to move all that fabric up to the loft???


Back to my warp.........I am having too much fun.  Somebody better stop me.

Thứ Bảy, 16 tháng 2, 2013

Moving on to March

I spent a quiet few hours at the studio, threading my 8 harness Baby Wolf for point twill dish towels.
It was  guaranteed to require lots of heat to my neck when I was finished. But I knew that.
And it's done, and I am ready to weave more dish towels on it.



I love when February is over.  The anticipation of spring is palpable.  March can be as crappy as it wants to be, but we know that the ground is warming up, the days are getting longer, the birds are singing different songs, and SOON, very soon, being outside will be such joy.



I don't know about you, but I always get antsy in the spring.  This is the time of year I want to move the furniture, tear down a wall or two, add something on somewhere , in general change things up.
I'm not sure if you could call it spring fever, but somehow the time is ripe with possibilities.

Over the winter, I have done a lot of thinking about this year, wanting it to be so much better than last year.  If my head cooperates, I plan on doing some hiking, and a whole lot of kayaking.  I can barely wait.   I have a list of ponds that are calling out to me, and many evenings find me poring over google maps of the Adirondacks.
I am not going to work SEVEN days a week all through the most wonderful weather.  Nor am I going to work SIX.
I am going to really concentrate on putting value and substance into my "days off"..............and I am really going to take those days OFF, and not just talk about them.



I don't know how long this life is for.  We never do.  It's a game of cards, and you just don't ever really know what hand will be dealt to you next.
I found that out the hard way.

I have many times gone over that day hiking with my daughter and two of my grands.  August 11, 2011.
It was a beautiful day, and we hiked for a long time.  When we got down to the lake, I took that fateful last photo, of my grandson in the water.  Then I took my camera off, and set it down, and put my right foot (with Teva on) into the water.
It was over in a nano second.  I don't remember flying through the air, I only remember the pain in my head when I hit, and the sudden realization that this was not good, in fact, this was REALLY bad.
And right then, my life changed direction, forever.
I'm not complaining.  It is what it is.   I could have died from the impact.  I didn't.   I'm here.
I am just making commentary on how quickly, how unexpectedly, and how profoundly, your life can change at any given moment.
We are always hearing advice about living in the now.  Some of us will.   Some of us won't.
And regardless of what we do, time will go racing ahead anyway.

Personally, I am trying to pay attention.
Every.  Day.

 There is no way to tell when the next "nano second" will occur.

And for all of you who have worried about my continuing headache, I got an answer from the doctor.
It's MRI time.
I can't tell you how much I dread getting another MRI.  But I will do it, just to know.



Thứ Năm, 14 tháng 2, 2013

A Valentine Gift for the WINNER.

Evenings in February are pretty uneventful at my house. 
Roy is usually snuggled up in his blankie.  DH in his recliner.
I am usually knitting up a storm, or playing on my laptop.



When I announced my crazy giveaway,  the first comment (by Tyches Minder)
was this:  
God how I love the blog world. Not that long ago, someone left with their mother's treasured, but useful-to-only-a-rare-few hobby materials would be stuck and those things would end up gathering dust in an attic somewhere. Now, with one post on your blog, they will find the perfect home. How great is that?


I agree, it is great.  I have met so many wonderful people via blogging.  It has enriched my life in so many ways.
Just the other day I was over at Chronicles of a Country Girl and I read about her new flash bounce.  And because I always hate taking inside photos with a flash, and the way they turn out, I took Kate's advice, and ordered one straight away.


Roy didn't mind being the subject of my experimentation, and look how great it turned out.  With a FLASH????   And it was so reasonable.  Ay yi yi.
Seriously.
Thanks, Kate.


 You can read all about it HERE   where Kate explains it ALL.

She makes me want to really learn all about my camera. Kind of.
 Actually, I usually just subscribe to dumb luck.  It doesn't always work, but when it does, it works well.
Even upside down.


Sydney says: O.M.G.  
                      You're embarrassing me.


OK, enough fooling around.  We got us a winner here. 
All the hooking wool, the frame, the book, all of it.......now belongs to ................KAM/Kristin!!!!!
So, congratulations Kristin, I just need your address, and I will let you know how much shipping is to get your stuff to you.  You can email me at ragrugs@crazyasaloom.com

I love it when someone wins a giveaway!!
Happy Valentines Day to all my blogger friends.