Frustration

Last night I cut out 10 red and green blocks, all ready to be put together. I am trying to psych myself up to start sewing on them, but I must admit that I'm finding it difficult. I tried squaring up the blocks, only to discover that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get them to come out the same size. They are as close to square as I can get them. Oh, well--when I get these 10 done I will put the sashing strips on them and see if that doesn't even them all out.

I have been watching both Create on cable and QNN (Quilter's News Network) on the computer, sometimes at the same time. On some days, I can watch one Fons and Porter episode on QNN, then turn around and watch them on Create in a different episode. But today, just as I was all set to watch an episode I had been wanting to see, QNN was having "technical difficulties." How frustrating! And the episode on Create wasn't interesting to me at all. What a bummer.

I have been buying past issues of Love of Quilting, the Fons and Porter magazine, on eBay. I'm trying to complete my collection so that I have all the sections of the bi-monthly series quilts.
I have subscribed to most of the quilting magazines at one time or another. I only subscribe to three now: Love of Quilting, McCall's Quilting, and Quiltmaker. All three of these are magazines that concentrate on patterns and instructions, without all the articles that tend to clutter other magazines like QNM. I like these three for their clear step-by-step instructions, alternate color schemes for most quilts, and readers' tips. Quiltmaker also gives quilting designs for each quilt.

I have clear preferences in quilt patterns. I don't mind being a little challenged, but I don't want to do a quilt that frustrates me more than it challenges me. Quilting should be relaxing, not raise my blood pressure. I also want something that I can feel proud of. This is why I don't enter any quilt shows. I don't want someone examining a quilt that I am very pleased with and telling me every little thing that's wrong with it. If I did that, I would feel like throwing the quilt in the trash afterwards. I much prefer enjoying my own work, warts and all.

Maybe that's why I feel frustrated with these red and green blocks. No matter how well my points match, no matter how they might even out with sashing, I know they aren't really square or all the same size. I know I will never feel completely thrilled with the resulting quilt. But I will finish it and pass it down to my descendants, and hope they don't know any better.

Little Accomplishments

Well, the weather has warmed up slightly--it got up to about 60 degrees today, and was sunny for the first time in two weeks. I had a busy day--I had ten chores on my list and accomplished all of them. Tomorrow's list is short but more intensive--going through the receipts in preparation for doing our taxes.

I've been a little headachy all day, whether from the weather change or from reconciling our bank statement, I'm not sure. Our budget took a big hit at Christmas, and we should have known better. I did try to cut back on gifts, but I feel so guilty if I don't think I've given enough. Next year I'll try to do better.

I put together a door prize for my quilt group. Each member is to bring one to the next meeting to provide adequate door prizes for the next year. Mine has fabric, two great magazines, and a quilt notion or two. It's supposed to equal at least ten dollars--mine is probably worth a bit more than that but is made up of extra things I had here that are still in new condition.

Productivity

I finished the second bunny today. I took off the legs because I thought I had sewn them on too low on the body; I resewed them, made the dress pieces, and attached the ears. It's nice to have them both finished. Pink bunny has a higher forehead, and the patches on her feet are set higher, but who cares? She's still cute.

I found magnetic jewelry clasps at Michaels, similar to the ones that are being shown on TV. The ones I bought come in silver or gold, 6 to a package, for less than $3 a package. Much less than the ones on TV, even though I had to buy packages of jump rings to attach to them. I'd been wanting to find some, I have several necklaces that are almost impossible for me to put on by myself.

My next project to work on is the Christmas quilt. I need to make about 18-20 more blocks, which I hope to have finished by next weekend. I decided that instead of 36 blocks, I want to have 42, so the quilt will fold up and over the pillows leaving plenty of room to tuck in at the bottom.

I also have a couple of large wallhangings or lap quilts that need to be finished. These will certainly qualify for my quilt group's UFO contest, as will the Christmas quilt, since I started it last fall. The bunnies don't count, as I got them started in January.

I have so many projects that I'd like to start, but I'm forcing myself to finish some old ones first. I want to do a couple of table runners from patterns by Gudrun Erla, I saw her demonstrate them on QNN and they look so easy! They're quilt-as-you-go, so once you finish piecing them, all you have to do is add the binding. I also saw an episode of Fons and Porter that showed how to do a block called Brave New World. It looks simple as well, and I have lots of green and blue scraps that need to get used.

I have been buying old issues of BH&G Holiday Crafts. They not only have quilting and sewing patterns in them, but painting patterns and stuffed toys as well. I think I have some in the storage unit, but I have no idea which issues or where to find them. I pick them up on eBay when I can get them for a reasonable price.

I'm feeling pretty productive. I don't work fast, but I prefer to take my time and enjoy the process.

Feeling better...

Here it is Thursday already, and I'm finally feeling like doing something! I've got the bunny's ears put together, its' face on, and the dress pieces ready to gather onto the body; but I can't go any further until I get some 1" buttons to attach the limbs to the body. I haven't felt like getting out in the cold, except to go to the mailbox. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be able to get to JoAnn to get the buttons.

We're supposed to have another week of cold weather at least. Having the furnace on in the house doesn't help my cold. I'll be so glad when the temperature is back in the 60's--at least then we can wear sweaters and turn the furnace off. We're lucky not to have to deal with the icy roads that other parts of the country are having to deal with.

Still sick

I'm still really sick--I've been in bed for most of the last two days. My eyes are swollen, my nose is sore, I'm sneezing like crazy, and a cold front just went through. It's about 34 degrees tonight, and I won't be going anywhere for a few days. This is the worst cold I've had in years. My DH insists that there is no such thing as the common cold, just allergy attacks. Could've fooled me! My son brought me a milkshake tonight from Whataburger, which really feels great on my throat. I'd like to be able to work on that second bunny, but I won't push myself until I feel better.

I did get on EQ6 this afternoon and put together my Christmas quilt on the computer, figuring out that I need 36 blocks at 12" x 12" and 3" sashing and cornerstones, plus two 3" borders and an 8" border before the binding to finish out at a good King sized quilt. I need to make around 12 more blocks, and come up with the fabrics for the cornerstones and borders and backing. I will pay a friend to machine quilt it for me, probably this summer.

Blehhh

Yesterday the weather was so nice that I turned off the A/C and opened a window. Now I'm paying for it. My allergies have attacked with a vengeance. Headache, stuffed up nose, body aches, and sore palate; in fact I'm miserable. I hope this is short-lived; I hate being sick!

Bunny finished

I finished one of the bunnies today. I didn't follow the pattern exactly, but I like it better this way. I may add a ribbon bow around her neck, but otherwise I'm done. I discovered why the bunnies were put in the auction, I think--when both bunnies were cut out of the fur fabric the last piece (the ears of the other bunny) was too long for the remaining piece of fur. I guess that the original maker got frustrated with it and gave up. I think I can make it work by piecing the ears at the base where they are sewn to the head anyway. The clothing fabric is missing for the second rabbit, but I measured the first set before gathering the pieces and will use fabric from my stash.

The clothes were supposed to be left with raw edges, but I finished the edges because the fabric was fraying. The eyelash yarn made cute ear hair and head hair. The bunny is fully jointed, but it's not really meant to be played with, just looked at.

Our 27" TV stopped working this afternoon. I was hoping it was just the cable box, but no such luck. It will be a couple of weeks before we can take it in for repair, but thank goodness we have a smaller set that we will use until then.

Bunnies and Blocks

I finished the fifth and sixth lessons in EQ6 today. These lessons were harder, and I think I understand 90 percent of them. I will try to repeat them in the next few days and see if I can fully grasp what that last 10 percent means. I am having fun just playing with the program, and I know I'll get a lot of use out of it.

I bought a bag of 2 unfinished stuffed bunnies in the silent auction at my quilt group Monday night. One is mostly done, the other is maybe a quarter done. I paid $3 for the bag, all instructions and patterns included. I had to buy buttons for the noses and eyes, and they call for jute rope for hair--I substituted eyelash yarn so they would be washable. I can probably finish them in 2-3 weeks.


I mentioned the Christmas quilt blocks I have been working on. Here is a picture of some of them. I'm happy with these; I've not done a lot of traditional piecing, prefering to do paper piecing or applique blocks. These are all 12" blocks, but I haven't laid them out to see how many blocks I need. I used several different reds and greens, but one background fabric.

I have a lot to work on! But it is all the kind of stuff I enjoy doing, so it should be easy. We'll see!

UFO's

The sun is shining outside, and its 62 degrees. A beautiful day in the neighborhood! I've just finished lesson 4 on EQ6. I have a quilt group meeting to go to tonight and I'm taking it for show and tell. I haven't been able to do any sewing for awhile, although I did do about 25 green-and-red quilt blocks in the weeks before Christmas. I intend to make enough for a king-sized quilt and hopefully have it done by next Christmas! They are traditional pieced blocks done with holiday fabrics on a cream-on-white background. I found the patterns in different places on the net, all for 12" blocks. Some I like and some I'm not really happy with, but I can use them as orphan blocks somewhere else. I will print out some more patterns from EQ6 when I'm finished with lessons 5 and 6. I have lots of fabric left over, since I save all but the smallest scrap (and agonize over whether I should keep those 1" x 2" pieces!)

I would also like to do an applique Christmas quilt someday, using the large designs that were popular in red blocks during the early 1900's, although I would use machine applique instead of hand-applique. I started a wall-hanging about 4 years ago of old-world Santas in hand applique, I only got half of them finished. I suppose I could mix them with traditional pieced blocks to finish up the wall-hanging, but they're in storage right now anyway, and would take some searching through boxes and bins to find them. They're mostly rectangular blocks, maybe 6" x 8" and 8" x 10".

My quilt group has a contest to see who can finish the most UFO's (unfinished objects) in the next year. For each project I finish that was started before 2007, I get a ticket. The more tickets I get, the more chances to win a prize. The prize winner didn't necessarily finish the most projects, but that person gets a prize, too. I finished only two projects for last years' contest, I hope to do better this year.

I will try to post some pictures of my quilt blocks in a day or so.

Back to Normal

My holiday funk seems to be lifting, and I'm ready to get on with things.

I've been playing with my EQ6. I was a little intimidated by what appeared to be a very complicated program, but when I started the tutorial lessons I discovered that I already knew how to use the buttons because they're mostly the same as the buttons in other programs that I already use. This program is very user friendly, almost intuitive. The lessons are a little long for my taste, but each lesson covers several actions. Because the program can do so much, there are 6 lessons that take you through just about anything you would want to accomplish with it. I am very happy with it.

I've also been practicing my OES stuff. I felt like a fish out of water Tuesday, always an uncomfortable experience; I am trying to make up for my poor performance (caused by the new shoes) by working hard on my studying. DH helps me practice every day; having been a Mason for awhile, he is familiar enough with Lodge etiquette that he can answer most of my questions. I am so glad that we are doing this together.

I haven't been able to practice painting, but I will try to do some tonight after DH goes to bed.
I prefer to have no one else around when I practice, not because I'm ashamed of my work or anything--I just prefer to have no interruptions. I have to spread supplies and equipment all over the card table, which tends to get in everyone's way.

Monty has always received a dog cookie when he comes inside after doing his business. He runs to the jar and does a little "cookie dance." Then he learned to do a cookie dance for everyone who came into the room, hoping they would think it had been forgotten. We caught on to his little lies pretty quick--"No, Daddy didn't give me a cookie." Now he does a cookie dance anytime anyone comes inside. "You're back--you were gone so long--I need a cookie." He seldom fools anyone into giving him another one, but he figures it's worth a try. He's already going outside so many times a day that he is beginning to resemble a pot-bellied pig.

Tomorrow I'm going to go to Wally-World to look for some sensible shoes. Maybe to Catherine's for another black skirt--how often can you wear crushed velvet before people start to notice? I normally don't wear skirts or dresses, but OES requires skirts. My wardrobe really needed a boost anyway.

Time to paint.

Initiation

Tonight my husband and I were initiated into the Order of the Eastern Star. (That's us above.)
Our sons are Senior DeMolays; my husband is a Master Mason (York Rite,) a Senior DeMolay, is in National Sojourners and the Heroes of '76. This was a natural progression of our family involvement in Masonic organizations. I told him I would join OES if he would, so we did.

Of course I bought a new pair of 3" heels to wear. Very pretty. Did I mention that I have heel spurs on both feet? The ceremony is a lengthy one--I nearly passed out from the pain. Why do women subject ourselves to that? I didn't own a pair of dress shoes until I bought these. I live in sneakers and flats. This weekend I will go find a pair of sensible shoes to wear, the 3" heels will go back in the closet to be worn only when really dressy shoes are required.

It was a lovely ceremony, though. I'll leave it at that. I met some very nice people, and I think I will enjoy being a member.

I am ready for tomorrow's mail delivery, finally! I'm hoping my EQ6 will arrive. Does Priority mail include holidays when they figure 3-4 days delivery?

To Sus in Spokane: Thanks for your comments. Send us a picture of your ornament dolls, if you can--I'd like to see them.

Welcome 2007!

Well, I took about a week off from blogging to just breathe. The holidays were rough on me--more stressful than they should have been. I am beginning to understand why my FIL doesn't want to celebrate Christmas anymore.

Santa was pretty good to me, though. A new toaster oven that I really needed, a bottle of Beautiful by Estee Lauder, new slippers, 5 different salsas from my son and DIL(yum!), and cash from my MIL and my DH that I used to buy myself Electric Quilt 6 software. I'm looking forward to playing with it. It designs quilts and quilt blocks of all types on the computer, then allows you to print out the patterns and instructions. I was psyching myself up to buy EQ5, then realized that usually when I spend a lot on a software program, they'll put out the upgrade the next week. So I did a search for EQ6, and sure enough, it had just come out.

I also received some really nice magnets that my granddaughters customized for me. The photo is above. Aren't they beautiful? What a cool idea! I just love them--every time I open the fridge I think of them.

I wasn't going to make a list of resolutions, but maybe by publishing them here, I'll have more incentive to keep them. So here goes:
1. I will continue to lose weight, no matter how small the loss or how long it takes to lose each pound. Seeing the scale go down is worth it. I have lost 22 pounds during the last 4 months and have kept it off, even through the holidays (I can't promise that it didn't bounce up and down a pound or two.)
2. I will practice painting more often, trying to get to the point that I can make some extra spending cash with it by next Christmas.
3. I will get more involved with some of my outside groups. I'd like to host at least two Red Hat Society meetings this year. I may not be as involved in my quilt group as I had been, mainly because the meetings are at night. With my DH having been ill, and probably more to come, I don't like being away from home at night anymore. Besides, my eyes are starting to show their age, and driving at night is a little more stressful than it used to be.
4. I would like to do some traveling with DH this year. Just short trips over a weekend, according to what our health will allow. We've reached a point where all the things we were going to do "someday" better get done soon, or we won't be able to do them. My siblings will have a reunion next year sometime (2008,) and I'd like to be there this time. I've missed too many, mostly due to budget constraints.
5. I will keep up this blog, although I may go a few days without posting; I think it is a good way to express my feelings, and my family can get to know the "inside me."
6. I will do as much as I can toward making the kitchen/dining area work for me. It needs new flooring, more cabinets, more pantry space, and maybe a dishwasher. Then maybe I can finally get a dining table and chairs! Oh, if only!

I think 6 is enough. They all seem do-able, and not too difficult to keep up with. #6 may be the most difficult to accomplish, but worth a try.