In Search of a Finish

 

When I saw this on Instagram, I nodded my head in agreement. Since diving into quilting, I've often had more than one quilt project going at a time, pretty much for the reason she states. But on second thought, I decided I agreed only up to a point. While I've not had multiple knitting or embroidery projects going at one time, the ones in progress do add to list of things I could work on, and at some point I think the overall number of choices can become overwhelming, frustrating, and even depressing. That's kind of the point I'm at, I think, especially after unearthing so much during my search through bins. Over the weekend I could feel it building until it became clear: I needed a finish to feel better.

And so I chose the Joy Banner. You know, the one draped over my sewing chair waiting for threads to be buried and a label. I'd been viewing it as a daunting task, one I didn't want to do but couldn't escape. But there was a bookbinding video I wanted to watch which was an hour long, and because it was the last in a 4-part series, I was pretty sure I could follow along while burying threads, looking up when I knew there was something to see. The burying went more quickly than I anticipated with it nearly done by the end of the video. It only took ten or so minutes on another day to complete the task.

Now for the label. For years, I meticulously printed out my labels and hand stitched them to the back of quilts. Then there were some that really didn't need the printed label and I was fine with inking the info on cloth by hand. Next step was deciding some labels didn't need to be hand stitched in place but could be fused there. And that is what this banner would get. I didn't get the spacing quite right but the banner is going no place except up on my wall. Trimmed and fused in place, I now had that much needed finish and feeling better about myself.

I also spent some time over the weekend, rooting around in those bins again. I'd opened up that Stack-n-Whack quilt top to be dazzled by it, and wanted to find that possible border fabric I'd bought that now I wanted to use as a backing. You can see it at the top of the quilt, and that it would not work as a border. But it will be great as the backing. There's no question; this will be the next project to finish.

I'd searched my blog for posts about making it but could find none. How could that be? Fortunately, I'd pinned a note onto the top that explained everything and made me wonder how I could have so little memory of where I was living and the studio I was working in when I completed it. I only remembered working on it at the same time and with the same fabrics as the blocks for St. Hilary's Star which I finished after moving to Idaho in 2006. This note tells me I finished the top in 2003 (!), the star blocks at least partially done and set aside too, two years before I started my blog. The note also tells me the name which I'd forgotten: Venetian Tiles which is the name of the pattern in the book Stack-n-Whackier Quilts by Bethany S. Reynolds. My version uses only 4 blocks rather than the nine in the original - probably because of the fabric I had on hand. Finding the book took scanning my bookshelf then having another look through the closet where I found it resting flat on a shelf. I think I had plans to make at least one more quilt from it as I looked at fabric in the big bin and rolled onto a cardboard tube. I surely must have purchased her first book where I would have learned her technique and made my first Stack-n-Whack quilts but at this point, I can't find it. Anyway, I'm very excited to see things coming together for a finish of this quilt.

As long as I was lifting flat folds of fabric used in those two quilts out of the big bins, I thought one of them might work to finish out two of the Mariner Compass sample blocks I'd unearthed. I think pillows will be the best bet for these and I like this leafy print in the right teal blue for it. The other compass has already been set into a square using the same fabric as the background fabric but I think using this fabric for the back of the pillow will work well.

The yellow in the compass is actually more golden like the print in the batik on the left

Finally, I felt it time to take that last Mariner Compass and find a fabric to set it into. This one I plan to finish as something to hang on the wall, maybe even stretch over a canvas frame, and give to that great niece and her new husband as a wedding gift. That dark fabric on the right is a very mottled batik that should fit the bill nicely. I think it will be more interesting than a solid black (lord knows where the black fabric used in the compass might be by now). But you know, you have to try a lot of things, even outrageous things, to find the right fit. A lot of prints and batiks got auditioned before the mottled one stepped in and said, "Hey - don't you think I'm the one?" Be honest, doesn't your fabric talk to you too?

I've certainly got my work cut out for me during my daytime slot for creative endeavors. In the meantime, the evening knitting of the socks is coming along, be it slowly. One more section of increases on this one before the run to the top, at which point I'll switch back to the other sock to knit its increases. Each round begins at center back, and that orange marker reminds me when I've gotten there.

Heels Turned

The zippered pouch with Hmong applique holds crochet needles and knitting accessories

I must admit I've lost enthusiasm for the split nine-patch project since failing to find that piece of batik I planned to use for a moon. And I still needed to clear space on the worktable in order to go ahead with finishing the Stack n Whack top. So my mind has been occupied instead on knitting: projects in the queue and the project on my needles. I hunkered down over the instructions for turning the heel, knowing I would have to concentrate to get it right this time, and I can report that I think I managed better, not seeing any holes that will need closing up later. Yeah!!!! Now I'm moving up the leg, first with some rounds in pattern to establish it and then changing the stockinette stitches to ribbing to match the ribbing on the instep. I honestly don't know how some knitters knock out socks so fast; these will take even longer than my last pair as I am making them kneehighs. But I really like working on both socks in the pair at the same time, alternating between them as I move through different sections.

I use cardstock for the covers, using a photo from her website

Clearing a space on the table meant catching up some things I wanted to add to my gratitude journal and gathering up printouts from some of Angela Walters' machine quilting series. Sometimes I think I like organizing more than I like actually making things; I'd found a stack of these printouts buried on the floor with a panel I'd bought in order to practice stitches from her "Fillers" series. Well, they won't do me any good there, and I'd thought that as I collected more and more printouts from her series, I should "bind" them using the Arc Notebook System as I had with my Handmade Books printouts. As much as I enjoy binding books, I have yet to run across one that will do what this system does. It works a bit like a spiral binding except that you can add and remove pages at will. It requires a special punch which I decided to invest in plus the plastic discs that hold the pages, and I have not regretted that purchase. Now that I have these organized and at my fingertips, it would not be a bad idea to get that panel out and layer it up. It would make a great warm-up piece; just doing one small section before starting a session on the Stack n Whack quilt.

I don't know about you, but I am having a terrible time adjust to the time change. That, and all the disturbing news bombarding us on a daily basis here in the states is enough to make me want to hide away with my knitting and quilting and reading or just curl up on the couch. Snuggled under a quilt, eyes shut, has always made me feel safe - the ultimate escape, But it's not the only thing, which is why I was gladdened to run across what I share with you below. Hang in there, fellow "hobbyists" and artists! We have a built-in safety feature. 💖

  

New Project & Some Visitors

Lattice Overlay - Ohio circa 1925 - 74" x 78"

In 1995, I made my first of several treks to Paducah, KY for the American Quilt Society annual show. Big event covering many venues, one of which showcased antique quilts from the Hamilton collection. That is where I was mesmerized by the above quilt and its faint grid pattern superimposed over the dark angled lines. Whether it was intentional or the result of fading, I noted that it made the quilt look out of focus as you looked at it. At the time, I wasn't familiar with the block that created this effect but later learned it was a variation of the split nine-patch.

At some point, I worked up the block color scheme in my Electric Quilt software, and printed out some reference examples (top of photo) as well as doing a small drawing of two blocks with slightly different color schemes on the graph paper (lower right). Later, friend Judi came up with the two quilt patterns she hoped she could sell along with our hand-dyed fabric, and it too used this block pattern. I even taught some classes of how to make those quilts, making up sample blocks showing how they would look with traditional quilt fabric as well as batiks (the 4 blocks on the left). Patterns, class handouts, sample blocks and my previous printouts; these all went into a file for when I might eventually get around to reproducing that antique quilt.

I went through quite a faze of. making and teaching Mariner Compass blocks using Judy Mathieson's method. She included instructions for how to "set in" the round block into a bigger piece of fabric, eliminating piecing four sections of background fabric together. It requires cutting away a hole in the center which leaves you with a a very large circle of fabric to use on something else. Well, I had one of those in a darkish purple batik and I got the idea that it would make a lovely moon with a tree placed over it. And what if I took those batik sample blocks and made more for the background? Yes, I've been thinking about this for some time! This will be my realignment into piecing again.

After looking at everything in the file, I decided I needed to scan my original photo of the antique quilt and print it bigger so I could study all those subtle lighter colors that produced the grid. Stare and think and look at notes before I finally figured out what was different from the split nine-patch quilts I'd been making from Judi's pattern. If you look at those batik blocks, you will see that the center square is dark fabric. But as I studied this larger view of the antique quilt, I suddenly saw it - these blocks had light center squares which is how you get that grid effect. Talk about tunnel vision even though all my notes from before I made Judi's version were right there. Now everything else in the file made sense. And sorry, batik sample blocks, you will not be going into this  quilt!

As for my visitors, last week I spotted a duck pair swimming and feeding in the swales along my walk. Late February seems too early for them to appear; then again, it's been a very mild winter. I'm wondering if this is the same pair I saw last year. The female was gobbling away, head under the water, with the male seemingly standing guard like before, but this time he did more dipping of his own head to feed. I found the post where I talked about them and it is from March 5, mentioning a warming trend, so maybe they aren't here too early.

Then there are the deer. They usually amble through the bushes in the greenbelt behind my place, occasionally popping out to look around and perhaps browse. I've seen the mother and two young ones from last fall recently, looking good and healthy. So when I saw a couple of deer again last week, I thought it was the same ones. But my, these look a little bigger, stockier, and there were only two. Oh well, good and healthy. 

Slowly making their way, browsing on the new shoots of grass.

One ambled over to this scrubby pine by the corner of the house for a nibble.  

What a beauty. 

And it just kept coming, right up to my deck, and sniffed around. Sorry, nothing there, not even grass. But by now I was getting a good look - have never seen them get this close to the house - and could see how "bulky" this one was, like there was a real layer of fat under that fur.

As it turned to leave, I noticed the tail. Wait - I've been seeing white tail deer - that wide tail brown on top, white underneath, but this tail is totally different. These are NOT my usual deer visitors. A quick google gave me the answer. My visitors are Mule deer, which besides the different tail, are slightly larger with darker fur than white tail deer which explains what I was noting in their body bulk.. Welcome to the neighborhood. 

Finishing Up The Collage Class

I've just finished the bonus class included in the free Collage Breakthrough series taught by Catherine Rains. Essentially, it was a repeat of lesson 4 but using magazine pages rather than scrapbook papers and your own papers made with a variety of methods using paint. For me it was a lesson in not being drawn to images on the page, which is the way I usually decide to add a paper to the bin, but to the blocks of colors in it. A well chosen ad, perhaps even large enough to spread across facing pages, would already have colors that work well together, and include a variety of values and textures. Printed on heavier paper would be a bonus as magazine pages can be quite thin which would complicate the gluing process. I pulled several pages from articles in our local Sandpoint magazine (couldn't find ads that met the bill) and decided on this one, because it seems to have the most variety of values with both quiet and patterned places. 

Again, we were to randomly cut a variety of rectangular pieces or other shapes from the page to be sorted into values and then quiet or patterned. I realized I could quickly do this using this Fiskar cutter. True confession, there weren't enough pieces for me to feel it necessary to do the sorting, just spread them out on the table somewhat grouped. This particular page was a challenge in terms of delineating values as there really wasn't really light areas and some of the dark areas were very close to some pieces I deemed medium. But as I worked through placements, I could tell I was getting better at it, but had to constantly remind myself about the suggestion (rule) to group not only different values next to each other but place two patterned and a quiet together or two quiet with a pattern.

I liked leaving the spacing between pieces on this one with the different spacers, both narrow and blocky, across pieces. I also liked that some of the randomly cut pieces showed discernible parts of the mammoths. It didn't make any sense to me to just think of the pieces as swatches of color. This collage tells a bit of a story I think. One downside of working with magazine pages though is the glare from the overhead light, which is why this picture of the final product is taken on the slant. I had to keep looking from the side as I worked to see what the piece I was placing looked like.

So that's that, or so I thought. My intention was to whisk the leftover pieces of magazine into the trash and clear the table of all this collage stuff. I turned the page so I could glue in the bonus class directions and the picture of Kat's demo piece only to have that facing blank page and the few mammoth pieces calling out to be used to make one more. I think I want to dispense with the boundary of a square and do my collaging to fill the entire page. I laid a few pieces out and yes, it's just like quilting and you can never quit working with the scraps!

I do think these exercises in paper have really helped improve my eye for thinking value first, which is something I've always struggled with in my quilting. Too enticed by the pretty fabric. The work with the magazine pages in particular pointed out to me how quickly I fell into old habits of not even thinking about it. I think I also learned a lot about working with and arranging odd shapes. That lesson with the floating triads was my favorite and I'm planning on doing it some more using fabric scraps in this sketchbook. I do think I can use that knowledge now when designing art quilts. It's another place where I've struggled; I'm thinking of a particular piece I've never been able to resolve that I may be able to now. So, very happy to say this was not a waste of my time. 

A Broken Promise

Collection of papers including some from sample packs of Khadi papers

Not long ago, I made a promise to myself that I would quit being lured into spending a lot of time on free classes All those hours watching Sketchbook Revival videos over several years were the prime culprit - mostly enjoyable but not always useful to me personally, yet I felt obligated to watch them all. And then there have been the Laly Mille freebees, just couldn't stay away because collage and art journalling are things I'd like to master better. Most recently I think was the "year of light" taster on FB - not unlike the Sketchbook Revival series but an absolute slew of artists, but this time I was more prudent about which videos I watched and did not actually do any of the lessons, just took notes and printed off info. That's it, I thought, no more falling into the trap of signing up for classes just because they were free. However, in a weak moment in December, I followed a recommendation that came via e-mail to sign up for Catherine Rains Collage Breakthrough FREE multi-session class running for a couple of weeks in January. The thought was I could always opt out if I got into January and felt too short on time or stressed to do it, but it did sound like a good opportunity to learn more about collage which I still struggles with. 

I print out instructions to add to sketchbook

This is not exactly quilt-related as my previous post might have implied I'd be realigning to, but perhaps quilt-adjacent. After watching the welcome video, I could see Kat was presenting a different more structured approach, incorporating design principles a step at a time and in small formats with the emphasis of ending up with individual collages that were also cohesive with each other. Pick two colors from a cool palette or two colors from a warm palette to work with on all collages throughout the series. Separate your piles of papers into patterned and quiet papers, then each one of those stacks into light medium dark values. Just that exercise alone was instructional. Then start small with 2 inch penciled in squares to fill with just two pieces of chosen paper - one "quiet", one patterned - of different values, using a glue stick.

auditioning placements, temporarily taped in place

I'm working in a Mixed Media Sketchbook a made back in July of 2023. That's one of the problems with being in the book club - so many of those projects produce blank books that sit on the shelf waiting for a purpose. So it is pretty delightful to finally put it to use. It's designed with spacers between the signatures to allow it to expand as layers of collage are added to the pages. As the squares increase in size to 3 inches, I had to work over the center of the signature but it wasn't too bad. And now we are picking three papers that go together, one dark, one medium, one light, either two quiets and one patterned or two patterned and one quiet. All the while, you consider how each trio works with what's in the squares beside and above/below, and trying not to put the same orientation of the pieces as are in adjacent squares. Kat suggested maybe wait to glue down pieces in a square until all squares are composed in order to give the option of changing your mind as you go. These little pieces do scatter quite easily so I found it very helpful to use removable scotch tape to hold them together and to the spot they may reside in.

Compare to in-progress pic to note changes I made

Although Kat kept correcting herself whenever she said "rules" rather than "suggestions" or "recommendations" (heaven forbid anyone feel constrained . . .), I'm a strong proponent of learning rules first, and I am grateful for these simple ones she put forth that provide some structure. I so often let all that fabric I get out to work with overwhelm me and I do not always make the best choices when putting together a quilt be it traditional or art. I think I can use what I've learned here to make better fabric choices. I also like filling the squares in a sketchbook. With fresh eyes the next day, I could study what I'd done and what perhaps didn't work so well, While choosing pairings, I noticed how easy it would be to go monochromatic even though I had two colors (blue and green) in my piles - had to keep reminding myself to grab some green now and then which I could see made the grid groupings more interesting. When I moved on to choosing three papers, I sometimes caught myself choosing all patterns or a value too similar to another as I gravitated towards ones I really liked. Making a switch did make for a better coupling, one where I could instantly say, Yes, I really love that - which Kat encouraged, that intuitive instinctive knowledge over too much brain thinking.

Two more sessions to go as we move up to four inch squares and make a final single collage at five inches as we continue to work with the papers originally chosen and learning how to use even the smallest scraps that we've been encouraged to save. This has been fun and educational and can be done with fabric scraps as well which I would like to try. But just like when I'm surrounded by fabrics and cutoff pieces when constructing a quilt, my table is a mess of piles of paper that I will be glad to clear away soon, making room for a "real" project.

Wrapping Up, On To 2026

I made one last push of completing something before December was over and finished knitting the replacement sleeve for the eyelet cardigan. However, I couldn't quite make myself actually remove the offending sleeve and stitch in the new one before New Year's day. When I did get around to it, it was much more difficult to remove the whip stitching than I anticipated and a lot of picking and tugging managed to make my thumb joints cry out in rebellion. I had to take several days off to rest them before adding on the new sleeve, and then another few days before I fixed the places along the side seam where I hadn't caught enough of the knitted edge in to hide a run of knit stitches. But that's all done now, the sweater soaked, blocked and drying. I'd tried it on before wetting it and was a little disappointed in how it looked on me - not as long in the sleeves or body as I'd anticipated, not the slouchy casual sweater I saw hanging behind the counter at the yarn store. But as I was laying it out to dry and taking some measurements, I realized it had grown quite a bit, measurements in all directions more like I was expecting. The blocking is suppose to relax things, soften them up and this really needed that. Hoping it will be more the sweater I envisioned once dry.

Pushing me along to finish the cardigan was my antsy-ness to start on another pair of socks. I bought this yarn the same day as I saw that cardigan and got the pattern for it, and have worked on the cardigan for the better part of the year, even though I'd wanted to dive into this luscious blue yarn with hints of purple and teal. But while I'm ok with having more than one quilting project going at a time, I've always worked on just one knitting project at a time, so there was much incentive to finish the cardigan so I could start these. I'm using the same pattern as I used for the grey wool socks and hoping there is enough yarn that I can make these knee high. I've rolled it into two balls so I can knit on each sock until its ball runs out, and checked the gauge last evening. It's a thinner yarn than the grey of the other socks and I'm experimenting with increasing the size of the needles so as to match the gauge. Gotta tell ya, going from heavy worsted yarn worked on average size 8 needles to fine fingering yarn on needles the size of bamboo skewers is quite the transition. But at least, off and running in the new year!

Speaking of things knitted, I've had a lovely warm lambswool cardigan bought a very long time ago that I pull out to wear around the house with a turtleneck or flannel shirt once the weather gets wintry. And the last time I went to put it on, sometime before Christmas, I noticed to my surprise and dismay, that I'd worn some holes in the elbow regions. But I can mend that fairly seamlessly I think, and have searched my yarns and crewel threads for one that is a close match to the deep cranberry of the sweater. I believe I was wearing this when I was still working at a paying job, which would make it at least 35 years old, so I guess it has actually held up pretty well. No way I am going to ditch it now - mending on the way!

So here it is, the new year, so I was surprised by a late Christmas package arriving on Saturday and delighted by its contents: a "bento box" of specialty teas and these Amy Tan books. Oh my goodness, the Chronicles has such beautiful drawings on every spread, and Amy's writing about her nature excursions and observations in her backyard strike a chord. The journal is just blank pages with room to note day, time, location, weather so that you can draw your own bird observations, and is prefaced with Amy's suggestions for supplies and procedures. Not sure how much I'll use that as in MY backyard, the birds flit so fast among the trees I often can't figure out what they are and I'm not interested in putting up feeders. I do have the occasional humming bird dip into my deck flowers but they too are so swift that I can't even get a photo of one. We'll see . . . 

And now it's time to announce my yearly Resolution Word, one that came to me as I worked on the Joy Banner: Realign. Day after day, I was surprised at how smoothly that project went because I'd been away from that kind of sewing for so long and my memory reminded me of how rusty and fumble fingered I'd been on the last few. Not so now, no hesitation as I moved through the process from one step and skill to the next. At some point I felt a subtle shift inside, hard to explain but basically a feeling that if this was going so well, I should keep going, get back to doing this kind of work. Thus the idea of "realign", and upon checking the definition, I found this one that captures my feeling: To put back into proper order. I have no lack of sewing projects waiting in the wings but they partially wait because I've expanded my interests to include so many other types of crafts and art. I enjoy them all but I can't shake that feeling that the proper order of my time spent needs to move the sewing/quilting up the ranks. And after a year of feeling so low on energy, so many draggy days and a real effort to get things done in spite of my good and helpful resolution word(s) of last year (see below), I'm experiencing a drive and energy going into January that's been missing for awhile. I surely hope it lasts. Happy New Year!

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Previous Resolution Word Posts:

• 2008 - Freedom
  2009 - Calm
  2010 - Focus
  2011 - Refocus
  2012 - Balance & Harmony
  2013 - Perseverance
  2014 - Explore
  2015 - Fearless
  2016 - Light
  2017 - Endure 
  2018 - Refresh
  
  2019 - Wing It!  
  2020 - Go! 
  2021 - Finish 
  2022 - More 
  2023 - Continue
  2024 - Organize  
  2025 - Resist Less/Fear Less 

 

If In Need Of Encouragment

Blue Heron by Ellen Anne Eddy

I just read a wonderful post by quilt artist Ellen Anne Eddy and thought some of you might enjoy it too. Not to mention that it features many of her beautiful and quite different quilts. She certainly has a style all her own. Words of wisdom about tackling tasks (where are my big girl panties?) You can read it here.

I can relate a bit. That dye session for my friend looming before me was intimidating. As Ellen says of her own intimidating task, "So it sat in the corner. And I became afraid of it. I made a myth of it." I too had to reach a point where I had to find my big girl panties. And I'm having to do it again because I am not done and have ventured now into experimenting with greens and oranges, some with recipes, some without, some with dye powders that may have lost their potency. I am more comfortable when I can depend on the results. Case in point: my friend asked for teal which I assumed she meant teal green (some refer to a teal blue but not me) and I have a perfect recipe for that. Yet look at the fabric soaking in the bin pictured above. Does anything about that look green to you? I honestly don't know what happened.

She also keeps emphasizing she want some lime green. No problem. Again I have a recipe for what we named Key Lime and I mixed two leftover dyes that gave me exactly that. Then I started doubting myself. What if my idea of lime green isn't hers? When I googled lime green, these popped up, just as I suspected, more than one idea of what it is. At least my dye trial is in the ballpark.

I went back to the recipe to try again, doing two different amounts of dye solution with a fat quarter in each bag, and waiting a bit before adding another fat quarter in each bag (the dye solution activates once it hits the soda ash solution and gradually weakens over the first 30 minutes or so meaning fabric added later will come out lighter or perhaps really different). Pretty happy with the way this looks so far - gotta be her idea of lime green in there somewhere! However, I may overdye one of the darker fat quarters with a little blue to see if I can get something like teal green. May also take one of the fat quarters that was supposed to be teal green and overdye it with some yellow. Nothing to lose. 

Ellen again: "There’s no can’t like won’t, Sometimes we build myths about our work. “It’s so good.” “It’s no good.” “It will never lie flat” Almost all of that is irrelevant. I won’t know if it’s good for some while after I finish it. I need to stop the negativity and just step into the task". In between these dye sessions, I've had lunch with said friend, handing over with some trepidation the fabric done so far, and she loved it, said it was just what she was looking for. Whew! Exactly the encouragement I need to continue with this task. I am enjoying getting back into dyeing and trying a few experiments. Still fighting those intimidation demons (it's one thing to disappoint yourself, something entirely different to disappoint someone else) but spurred on by Ellen's words and the pleased expression on my friend's face..

A Zentangle, An Idea & Something To Read

This is what I decided to do with that last panel of my Be Well Zentangle book. I'm not totally pleased with what I did down the center, did not come out exactly as I envisioned it in my head, but I've always like the Holliebaugh tangle which gives that over and under effect and filling the open spaces with small circles always appeals to me. The quotation is one from a book of quotations I started when following the now defunct Box of Crayons that posted what it called Great Works Quotations. It seemed quite appropriate as zentangling is meant to slow you down.

I have more than one purse or tote bag pattern bought over the years but never made - something always on my to-do list. Yet when a picture of this bag from Charlie's Aunt Vintage Inspired Sewing Patterns by Emma Brennan showed up on my Facebook feed, my immediate reaction was that this might be the perfect thing to show off that wildebeest pelt. Options might be to use the pelt where the wool plaid is shown in the picture - front and back - or just use it in that angled insert and a pocket on the back. And gee, that 2 inch wood button I just bought might work perfectly here too.

Finally, you might enjoy a post by Kelly Rae Roberts titled The Gift of Aging As an Artist. It made me feel so much better about about how my artistic life has changed as I've aged. She speaks from the viewpoint of someone who makes a living with her art, which is something I never have, but still, I find myself nodding along as I read through this.

Turns out, aging as an artist is such a gift. I can feel myself letting go of the chase for relevance and instead tuning into resonance. 

What do you think? Are you aging gracefully or still feeling the need to push and be out there?

Pillows. Zentangles & a Quick Booklet

I was doing a scan of things stacked along one side of the garage and spotted this bag with the lace ruffle sticking out the top. What's in there? I move to this location in 2012, leaving some boxes unpacked in this area along with some other things I ran out of steam to deal with. I more or less know what's in them all and why I've not done anything about them in all this time but this bag did puzzle me, even when I realized there were pillows in there.

No immediate recognition nor memory of why they would have been relegated here and together. And then I remembered. I made these to use on a rocking chair I've always had in my bedroom. One for the seat, one for the back. The one for the seat which has hand quilting is the same block as in this exchange block quilt made prior to 2000 while I'm pretty sure the one for the back which has no quilting at all was made from leftover half-square triangle blocks or pieces trimmed off in the making of the block for the seat pillow. No wonder I was having a hard time remembering them! That exchange block quilt was always close by, either on a cedar chest in the bedroom or draped over the back of the rocking chair. In the new location, the cedar chest with quilt on top just fit in the new bedroom but there wasn't room for the rocking chair in either my bedroom or any place else - it has languished in the garage because I really don't want to get rid of it, always found it comfortable for knitting and other handwork. I'm forever a "some day maybe" sort of person. And that explains why these pillows had too been relegated to the garage. I think I'm going to have to do something about that.

In the meantime, the current pillow project is a bit stalled. When I went to Walmart to get a pillow form and maybe some buttons, they only had one size of pillow form and it wasn't the size I needed. Well, I've made pillow forms in the past so I guess I can do it again. And while I didn't score on any buttons, at least they had this fiber fill for stuffing a form. 

Speaking of buttons, it was driving me crazy trying to remember where the souvenir wood buttons might have disappeared to so I took another look in the drawer where I knew they should be. And I did find them in there, no longer along the side of the drawer but shimmied in between a stack of fabric. But there aren't enough, I didn't want to try mixing in other buttons and I think I'd rather save these for a cardigan sweater anyway. But it eases my mind to have put my finger on their whereabouts. I've cut the big rectangle of fabric for the pillow and can worry about the buttons later, so why can't I move on to the next step? Relatively easy enough to press in the folds along the sides of the pillow base.  Easy enough to cut a couple of squares of muslin, seam all around leaving an opening and stuff away. Should be easy enough to layer the block for a little quilting before attaching it to the pillow base.  Yet with each of the little road bumps I've encountered, I'm finding it more difficult to get with it to get this pillow made. That's the thing I've found about dealing with my auto-immune syndrome: the fatigue that often accompanies it can make even the smallest routine task feel like an insurmountable mountain. And that's sort of where I'm at right now. I know it will pass, and making this pillow right away is not important. 

Zentangling continues at a leisurely pace as it does NOT feel like an insurmountable mountain but something I can do sitting down and is relaxing as I follow instructions. Closer and closer to finishing the Be Well series.

Here's something I recently ran across that I found quick and easy and required absolutely no tools or supplies except a group of same size envelops. Karen Abend shared this method of making a pocket booklet in one of her e-letters and since I had a stack of these brown envelops sitting on my work table (and wasn't getting much else productive done it seemed), I decided to give it a try. The glue on the flap when moistened is what holds the flap in place when slipped inside the opening of another envelop.

It works remarkably well, and I'm probably going to add four or more envelops to mine. Karen tried different media to sketch on the right hand side envelop and says all worked well. I'm really not one for using pockets in my books and am not sure what I would stick in mine, but this might be fun to take on a trip to hold things like receipts, ticket stubs and other travel ephemeral while making a quick sketch of locations where they were collected. How might you use something like this?

 

 

A Little Uplifting Please

I have to admit that the craziness we are living through is starting to wear me down. I don't have Democratic representation which makes it even worse and don't have much faith that my e-mails will break through the Trump loyalty that does represent me. But we persevere, and it was rather helpful to run across the above a few days ago. Helen Hallows who is in the UK included it in her recent substack post on Slow Growth, not referencing anything political but her own energy drain as a business owner and artist and subsequent creative block, saying "I’m accepting that maybe encouragement isn’t always a ‘you can do it’ pep talk. Perhaps like me you’re not in your best place right now. Perhaps the encouragement is to stay small and curled up for a while longer." Yeah, that's the point I have reached in general, and a death in the family is also contributing to the feeling this past week so this was just the kind of encouragement I needed. I think this link will get you to the free part of her post.

However, there's the cardigan sweater waiting for me during various parts of the day when I take a seat and watch a little TV. I've nearly used up the first skein of yarn as I've knit about 8 inches up the back. It's a good distraction. And I've been organizing and straightening things up here and there, post tax preparation and post last studio project. Still thinking about those orphan blocks and have just about talked myself into making a really big tote bag with those two blue and muslin blocks. The many skeins of yarn needed for that sweater are hanging out in the brown paper bag I brought them home in. As pieces of the sweater are finished, they'll need to wait somewhere and I don't like the idea of them going back in that bag, yet all my cloth totes are actually a little small to hold them. Looks like I have a project to attend to.

New Project and a Little Local Art

I saw a sample of this cardigan pattern hanging in my local yarn shop and was immediately smitten by it, couldn't take my eyes off it. The owner took pity on me and printed off the directions from an on-line site. I envisioned wearing it around the house when I needed a little extra warmth and those eyelet stitch panels really caught my eye. I almost immediately went over to my other local yarn shop to buy yarn for it - that same inexpensive mill end wool/mohair yarn by Brown Sheep Company that I made the lavender sweater with, that comes in the worsted weight that this pattern requires. I've been itching to start on it but wouldn't allow myself until The Simple Thing scarf was done which, frankly, I was getting a little bored with as it only required using the knit stitch on every row. This cardigan would be more of a challenge and require more of my attention which I was ready for.

I've knit lace patterns before where you do yarn overs between decreases to create the openwork and I was kind of expecting the same here. But no, it is called Eyelet Cardigan and it does indeed create eyelets while staying very firm. Also of interest, you might notice that the knit stitches angle across the panels on either side of a central seed stitch panel - the left side angling to the left, the right side angling to the right. I hadn't seen anything but the front of the sample cardigan and didn't notice this detail which surely was on the front panels as well. I do have to pay attention while I knit but can still watch tv while I do it as long as the program doesn't require me to do constant watching. I'm pleased.

As for the local art, on a recent trip to the library, I was greeted by a new display in the foyer, some pretty impressive gradeschool art. This signage explains the van Gogh inspirations. What a cool idea! Click on the pic for a readable size.

The same applies to these pics, where clicking on any of them will give you a larger picture so you can see which grade is responsible. This first group is kindergarten through 3rd grade.

I was so impressed with what those kindergarten kids did with those sunflowers. On close inspection I spotted some pencil lines outlining petals so this may have been more like a coloring book exercise but with paint but boy, they seemed to have done a great job.

And here are the fourth through sixth grade efforts. Apologies for the reflections on the glass case, could not get an angle that would not show them. These kids must be so excited to have their work displayed here. Bravo!