I received an email today informing me that I have been chosen to be one of nine quilters for the Back to School project from Quiltmaker Magazine!
Free fabric.
Oh, I am in heaven!
SO excited. It made my day.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Monday, July 8, 2013
How is it that fabric makes one happy?
The past few weeks/months have been a bit stressful to say the least. Living with the ever-present stress of pending budget cuts, and the flip-flopping of, do I have a job next year or do I NOT have a job? One day, it looks pretty good and then the next, it isn't looking too pretty. To top it all off, I also managed to blow my transmission in my van coming back from singing at a friend's wedding during all of this roller coaster of unknown. I only have a half-time job. I can't afford to fix it.
Last Monday, I found out with certainty that I had officially been laid off from my School District due to the continually declining Oregon economy. This is the second time that I have been laid off by this District, the first time in 2009 when I was still a probationary teacher, but this time, I was contracted, and yet I was still the only Music Teacher in the District to lose their job, once again. Oh how lucky I am.
I now have to spend my beloved Summer break endlessly searching for the ever-so-scarce Music positions in my local area, filling out application after application, hoping beyond hope that my cover letter may catch a glance from someone in charge of setting up interviews. Then if I am lucky enough to perhaps receive an interview, I try my best and hope I was good enough. So far, I have not been blessed - 10 applications, 3 interviews, 5 rejections, 5 unknown and still pending.
With all of this happening around me, I find that all I want to do is touch fabric. Cut it, sew it back together, move it, place it into patterns, sew it together some more, layer it with other fabric and batting, quilt it together, sew it some more. All I want to do is CREATE and create with fabric specifically. Fabric makes me happy.
I recently read an article that said that creative people are HAPPY people. I would have to agree. I began creating when I was a wee little child. I seems as though I always had to be creating something with my hands. My parents saw that I needed to do this and provided me with my own space in which I could instantly create. It was my "creative corner". I loved being creative! As I got older (around 11-12 maybe), my corner was moved to the 3rd floor of our house. I could have more privacy here and leave my things out without having to clean up for visitors. It was at that age that my mother sent me to my grandmother's house for a few days, and she taught me how to sew. We made a dress together. She made me cut it out from the pattern and sew it together all by myself using her machine. She did end up helping me put in the zipper.
I now have my grandmother's machine. It is my workhorse. I use it for all my straight stitch and zig-zag work. Whenever I use it, I am reminded of my grandmother and that time I spent at her home when I was 12. I loved that dress and enjoyed wearing it throughout my middle school years. It has since disappeared, but my grandmother had saved some scraps. I do have those.
My current project is a scrap quilt with 9 patches and 4 patches.
I must go work on it some more now. I feel a need to be Happy. :)
Last Monday, I found out with certainty that I had officially been laid off from my School District due to the continually declining Oregon economy. This is the second time that I have been laid off by this District, the first time in 2009 when I was still a probationary teacher, but this time, I was contracted, and yet I was still the only Music Teacher in the District to lose their job, once again. Oh how lucky I am.
I now have to spend my beloved Summer break endlessly searching for the ever-so-scarce Music positions in my local area, filling out application after application, hoping beyond hope that my cover letter may catch a glance from someone in charge of setting up interviews. Then if I am lucky enough to perhaps receive an interview, I try my best and hope I was good enough. So far, I have not been blessed - 10 applications, 3 interviews, 5 rejections, 5 unknown and still pending.
With all of this happening around me, I find that all I want to do is touch fabric. Cut it, sew it back together, move it, place it into patterns, sew it together some more, layer it with other fabric and batting, quilt it together, sew it some more. All I want to do is CREATE and create with fabric specifically. Fabric makes me happy.
I recently read an article that said that creative people are HAPPY people. I would have to agree. I began creating when I was a wee little child. I seems as though I always had to be creating something with my hands. My parents saw that I needed to do this and provided me with my own space in which I could instantly create. It was my "creative corner". I loved being creative! As I got older (around 11-12 maybe), my corner was moved to the 3rd floor of our house. I could have more privacy here and leave my things out without having to clean up for visitors. It was at that age that my mother sent me to my grandmother's house for a few days, and she taught me how to sew. We made a dress together. She made me cut it out from the pattern and sew it together all by myself using her machine. She did end up helping me put in the zipper.
I now have my grandmother's machine. It is my workhorse. I use it for all my straight stitch and zig-zag work. Whenever I use it, I am reminded of my grandmother and that time I spent at her home when I was 12. I loved that dress and enjoyed wearing it throughout my middle school years. It has since disappeared, but my grandmother had saved some scraps. I do have those.
My current project is a scrap quilt with 9 patches and 4 patches.
I must go work on it some more now. I feel a need to be Happy. :)
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Finishing Touches
I am proud to be finishing up my second quilt in a week. Last week, I finished my Heart Crazy Quilt for my step-daughter.
And this weekend, I am finishing the binding on a bird quilt for my step-son, Heron.
I am anxious to finish more. My husband challenged me to finish up my UFOs. Next up is my Log Cabin Broken Star Quilt which I blog about on my Quilting Habit page. I have decided to make it just a little smaller than I originally planned, but it is ready for binding.
I have plans for another quilt to start from scratch for my other step-son and my 2 sons as well. My plan is to have a finished quilt for all 5 of my kids by Christmas. I have one already about 1/2 done for my oldest son, but will have to come up with an idea for my 15 year old son.
I'll be busy, but happy. :) I love to create, and I love to quilt.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
It's for the Birds Blog Hop - My Turn!!!
Time for the It's for the Birds Blog Hop - Yippie!
I have been excited about this one because I had a specific project in mind to do and this gives me a reason to DO IT. To explain, I shall have to start at the beginning...
I had won some fabrics designed by Amy Bradley
during the It's All About Me Blog Hop for my Mama Z bag, (here is a link to that entry) and one of the bundles of Amy's fabric had birds on it. As I opened the package on the dining room table, my 16 year old step-son Heron (yes, that is his name, just like the bird), was Oooing and Awwing over the fabric. He loves to sing and in fact sings ALL the time (we often have to remind him that there are others in the room that may not want to hear him singing at that time), and some of the fabrics have musical notes on them.
He REALLY liked them and thought all of the fabrics were really cool. As I was examining the fabrics and laying them out on the table, Heron quietly mumbled in a sheepish tone, "I'd kinda like a quilt with birds on it." His nickname is Birdman for obvious reasons, and even though he was a bit sheepish about his Bird Quilt request, I was listening.
Along came the announcement for this Blog Hop. I was so excited! It gave me a reason to get this quilt made for my step-son. I have made it in secret and have decided that it will either be a birthday present for him in August, or a Christmas present.
In designing this quilt, I decided to start with H blocks since his name is Heron. I debated whether or not to actually put a Heron on the quilt, but decided against it as it would not go well with the adorable multi-colored birds in Amy's fabrics.
I wanted to feature this cute white fabric which had the singing birds on it, so I added a square in a square block.
This blue "birds on a wire" fabric was just so adorable, that I wanted to let as much of the birds be seen, so I cut 6" squares and added them to the over-all design.
In order to get the most out of my "bird" fabric, I calculated how many blocks I could get out the fat quarters, using every last scrap that I could. I decided to go with a layout of 4 x 5 12" blocks consisting of 4 six inch blocks in each.
I had to add a few mismatched blocks here and there to complete the layout, but I really liked the look of how random it was, so I actually ended up adding a few more in the mix.
I concentrated on using colored fabrics from my stash to compliment the colors that Amy's birds were in her fabrics.
The border is made of birdhouses that I simply made up as I went along. Didn't bother using patterns, I'm kinda a miss-matched kind of girl, so I just MADE them, again, using fabrics from my stash and a ripped sheet that I chose to "up-cycle".
I had a spot where the fabrics did not quite meet together, so, (considering that I live in a suburb of Portland, OR), to quote the skit from the show Portlandia, I "put a bird on it". I picked up the blue fabric and simply free-handedly cut a bird out of it, sewed it on, and gave it thread details.
Here is the entire quilt.
The back of the quilt consisted of solids that I had in my stash.
I quilted by machine in yellow thread using a simple meandering stitch all over. I completed one or two strips at a time to avoid too much bulk and it being too heavy to maneuver with my machine. I think the back makes for a pretty cool modern-looking quilt all on it's own.
I am pretty proud of myself for completing this Bird Quilt. I love the fact that I did not have to purchase anything to complete it and simply used what I already had. Makes me want to see how much more I can make and finish just using that which I already have here at home. I think my next project that I would like to start is a "modern" style quilt because I have never done one, and I think it might be pretty cool to do so. I have another step-son that would need a quilt too... hmm...
Thanks for stopping by! A BIG thank you to Madame Samm and to Mary for putting this Hop together.
Please visit our other Bloggers today:
I have been excited about this one because I had a specific project in mind to do and this gives me a reason to DO IT. To explain, I shall have to start at the beginning...
I had won some fabrics designed by Amy Bradley
Along came the announcement for this Blog Hop. I was so excited! It gave me a reason to get this quilt made for my step-son. I have made it in secret and have decided that it will either be a birthday present for him in August, or a Christmas present.
In designing this quilt, I decided to start with H blocks since his name is Heron. I debated whether or not to actually put a Heron on the quilt, but decided against it as it would not go well with the adorable multi-colored birds in Amy's fabrics.
I wanted to feature this cute white fabric which had the singing birds on it, so I added a square in a square block.
This blue "birds on a wire" fabric was just so adorable, that I wanted to let as much of the birds be seen, so I cut 6" squares and added them to the over-all design.
In order to get the most out of my "bird" fabric, I calculated how many blocks I could get out the fat quarters, using every last scrap that I could. I decided to go with a layout of 4 x 5 12" blocks consisting of 4 six inch blocks in each.
I had to add a few mismatched blocks here and there to complete the layout, but I really liked the look of how random it was, so I actually ended up adding a few more in the mix.
I concentrated on using colored fabrics from my stash to compliment the colors that Amy's birds were in her fabrics.
The border is made of birdhouses that I simply made up as I went along. Didn't bother using patterns, I'm kinda a miss-matched kind of girl, so I just MADE them, again, using fabrics from my stash and a ripped sheet that I chose to "up-cycle".
I had a spot where the fabrics did not quite meet together, so, (considering that I live in a suburb of Portland, OR), to quote the skit from the show Portlandia, I "put a bird on it". I picked up the blue fabric and simply free-handedly cut a bird out of it, sewed it on, and gave it thread details.
Here is the entire quilt.
The back of the quilt consisted of solids that I had in my stash.
I quilted by machine in yellow thread using a simple meandering stitch all over. I completed one or two strips at a time to avoid too much bulk and it being too heavy to maneuver with my machine. I think the back makes for a pretty cool modern-looking quilt all on it's own.
I am pretty proud of myself for completing this Bird Quilt. I love the fact that I did not have to purchase anything to complete it and simply used what I already had. Makes me want to see how much more I can make and finish just using that which I already have here at home. I think my next project that I would like to start is a "modern" style quilt because I have never done one, and I think it might be pretty cool to do so. I have another step-son that would need a quilt too... hmm...
Thanks for stopping by! A BIG thank you to Madame Samm and to Mary for putting this Hop together.
Please visit our other Bloggers today:
Thursday, May 9
Have a very Tweet day!
Lavonna ZWB
Monday, May 6, 2013
It's for the Birds Blog Hop
New Blog Hop - It's for the Birds! I am scheduled for Thursday. Enjoy these hoppers over the next few days:
Tuesday, May 7
Wednesday, May 8
Thursday, May 9
http://Ipiece2-Mary.blogspot.
Friday, May 10
Monday, May 13
Tuesday, May 14
Wednesday, May 15
Thursday, April 11, 2013
April Showers Blog Hop - My Turn!
It is my day for the April Showers Blog Hop and my opportunity to share with you my Mug Rug.
A BIG thank you to Madame Samm for her organization, to Erin for being our cheerleader as well as our sponsors, Fabri-Quilt.
And now to the Mug Rug ~
Since I live within the Northern part of the Willamette Valley of Oregon, we can get plenty of April Showers. When challenged with the theme of this Blog Hop, I wanted to truly have my project represent the state from which I live. Oregonians rarely use umbrellas. Why? I think it is because we are a very proud people. We like to be tougher than the raindrops. It rains here, no duh. That is why everything here is so green. :) Since rain is a pretty normal thing here, it can change from rain to sun in an instant, and you can often get both of them at the same time in your front yard, followed by hail and a rainbow, or all four at the same time! I wanted my project to represent the fact that I am an Oregonian.
I went in search of inspiration online and found the following quote:
"Anyone who thinks sunshine is pure happiness, has never danced in the rain."
I then went in search of the right photo. I found this:
I put it all together, and it looks like this:
I printed off the picture onto printable fabric. I had never used this stuff before, so I learned a lot in the process. It is not really embroidery friendly and I ended up breaking 2 needles while trying to embroider the quote onto it. Note to self: you may not want to embroider directly onto printable fabric next time and come up with a different option next time you use it.
I felt this quote and photo was so very appropriate for my life right now. There have been some recent changes in our lives as of late that would not necessarily be considered "sunshiney moments", but more rather "rainy" kind of things to happen. Instead of hiding from the rain, or avoiding the rain, I prefer to choose to dance instead. Why complain about the rain? There are so many benefits of rain that we would not have unless the rain comes. I would rather celebrate that.
So, I will shed my umbrella and DANCE in the rain. How about you, won't you join me?
Please enjoy the other bloggers today:
A BIG thank you to Madame Samm for her organization, to Erin for being our cheerleader as well as our sponsors, Fabri-Quilt.
And now to the Mug Rug ~
Since I live within the Northern part of the Willamette Valley of Oregon, we can get plenty of April Showers. When challenged with the theme of this Blog Hop, I wanted to truly have my project represent the state from which I live. Oregonians rarely use umbrellas. Why? I think it is because we are a very proud people. We like to be tougher than the raindrops. It rains here, no duh. That is why everything here is so green. :) Since rain is a pretty normal thing here, it can change from rain to sun in an instant, and you can often get both of them at the same time in your front yard, followed by hail and a rainbow, or all four at the same time! I wanted my project to represent the fact that I am an Oregonian.
I went in search of inspiration online and found the following quote:
"Anyone who thinks sunshine is pure happiness, has never danced in the rain."
I then went in search of the right photo. I found this:
I put it all together, and it looks like this:
I printed off the picture onto printable fabric. I had never used this stuff before, so I learned a lot in the process. It is not really embroidery friendly and I ended up breaking 2 needles while trying to embroider the quote onto it. Note to self: you may not want to embroider directly onto printable fabric next time and come up with a different option next time you use it.
I felt this quote and photo was so very appropriate for my life right now. There have been some recent changes in our lives as of late that would not necessarily be considered "sunshiney moments", but more rather "rainy" kind of things to happen. Instead of hiding from the rain, or avoiding the rain, I prefer to choose to dance instead. Why complain about the rain? There are so many benefits of rain that we would not have unless the rain comes. I would rather celebrate that.
So, I will shed my umbrella and DANCE in the rain. How about you, won't you join me?
Please enjoy the other bloggers today:
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Winner of last giveaway and NEW blog Hop!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)