Friday Furball – loosey goosey

Dancing with the stars

I won’t post without at least one picture, and I haven’t had a decent picture to post in such a long time… Since New Year’s I’ve been sewing blocks that just don’t work, taking pictures that I just delete. It’s been a little frustrating, spinning my wheels without getting any traction. I have been working, just not productively. Lately I’ve been productive, but I haven’t had any internet time. Tonight, we’re good.

I’ve been working on some sawtooth stars for a lap quilt. It was going to be a Christmas present, but now it’s going to be a whenever-I-finish-it present. The blocks are 11-inch so it won’t take too many to make up the finished quilt. Of course, toss it on the floor and you have instant cats! (By the way, those are my green socks at the bottom of the picture).

How many of us DIDN’T make New Years Resolutions? I look at Resolutions as more like a To Do List. I try and complete my To Do Lists, but if I don’t, I don’t beat myself up over it.

My quilting resolutions included:

1. Finish Plan B quilt
2. Make wedding quilt for newlywed relative
3. Finish Christmas Tree skirt
4. Be ready for Farmers Market - photos, sewing,
5. Prepare for musical concerts
6. Make beautiful things for myself

I began the Christmas Tree Skit about two years ago. For the Farmers Market, I’m thinking bags, catnip mice and whatever else takes my fancy. As for the musical concerts – last year one of my neighbour/friends and I got together with our old recorders and did a couple of local Christmas concerts. Man, it’s been a billion years since I’ve played a musical instrument, but it’s like riding a bicycle. You never forget. She plays Soprano and Tenor, I play Soprano and Alto so it works out nicely as we switch back and forth and here and there. It doesn’t have anything to do with quilting directly, but it was sort of the highlight of my creative year for 2012.

And as a challenge to ourselves this year, my neighbour/friend/quilting partner and I decided that we’d do a New York Beauty this year. Something we’ve talked about for years, but haven’t done yet. Bucket List. We’re on it.

Until next time,

Friday Furball – Ol’ Blue Eyes is Back

Heeeeere’s Frankie. Actually, he’s never left. I see him (and feed him) just about every day. Just about all growed up.

Finite space

That would be a way to describe my sewing area. Mess would be another way. I used to have such a tidy little space when I first began quilting. All of my fabric fit into my cute little cube drawers. I don’t buy that much, honest! How did all of these piles of fabric accumulate? I don’t have enough drawer space anymore for it all.

I’ve been at loose ends so far this year with my quilting, and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s the mess. I know what I want to make, but I keep changing my mind about the fabrics. Then I change my mind about the blocks. I decide on the blocks, and then I have to go through the entire process of picking out fabrics again. I finally make something and I’m not happy, so I change my mind again!

And throughout it all I’m looking at this mess and it doesn’t encourage me to spend a lot of time at my sewing machine. Not to mention I’ve temporarily lost the chair for my sewing machine to another project. Sheesh!

I did a bit of cleaning after I took these pictures and now I can at least stand at my cutting mat without having to take advanced yoga classes first. I need to do a lot more putting away, but first I need somewhere to put it. When I can afford it, I will buy another cube shelf. Until then, I’ll have to think of something else – alternatives that I don’t really like, such as boxes, but it’s either that or not do any sewing for the next three months. And that would be most unpleasant.

Tomorrow is the first New Moon of 2013. The Sun and Moon cozy up together at 21 Capricorn – which is a pretty good sign for cleaning up! Capricorn likes everything nice and tidy – everything in its place. With labels! Maybe it will be just what some of us need to get sweeping! I mean, look at this beautiful fabric. It breaks my heart to see it sitting in bags and messy piles, unappreciated and without a drawer of its own. Capricorn is an earth sign, just like Taurus and Virgo. The earth signs are materialistic – no pun intended, really – and tends to collect items of value. If you are making a quilt or anything else under the influence of this New Moon, it will last forever. It may become a family heirloom. It will certainly be good enough to sell. Blacks, browns, dark grays are the colours of Capricorn. I’ve seen some beautiful patchwork quilts made only of those colours.

I’d better quit now before I talk myself into picking out fabrics for a new colour scheme! Until next time,

The Friday Furball – Black and white

No, not Rusty or Ginger this week. I received a lovely Christmas present just after Christmas, from me to me! :-) I found this fabric while searching for another, which I found at the same place. KickAss Country Store in Manitoba has an awesome collection of cat fabric and cat quilt/wall hanging patterns. And great customer service. I’ve had them listed here on the sidebar under ‘favourite on line stores’ for some time now.

In other news, I’m still working on Christmas presents. They’ll be done when they’re done! Here are the first two blocks of a lap quilt. The pattern is one of Wendy Sheppard's and was featured in Quilt World Dec. 2012. Progress is slow but steady.

Until next time,

Ready or not, 2013 is here

We made it through another year, and here we stand on top of the hill watching the sun rise on a brand new years of possibilities.

I did a quick little chart yesterday for the New Year to see if anything stood out. I’m not any good at predictions. There are plenty of astrologers who are, but I’m not, and I don’t need to be. This is a personal interest of mine, not a professional one. But I have a insatiable curiosity, so I had to look.

Jan. 1, 2013 has a well integrated chart – everyone is included in several positive and negative aspects, with the positive ones outweighing the rest. Looks like it’s going to be a rough and tumble year of changes, but we’re heading in the right direction. Change can be an uncomfortable thing for people at the best of times, but it looks like many of them will be welcomed. There is a lot of activity in the cadent houses of the chart that show us to be flexible and adaptable to changes.

Saturn in the Second House show money and other resources will be highlighted. A square to Mars in the Fourth House indicates that the family home will suffer from poor banking policies. However, both Saturn and Mars are well-supported by other planets and we may actually see some positive banking reforms start to take place. Jupiter in the Ninth House is the subject of several aspects, both good and bad. On the bad side are special interest groups trying to manipulate the areas represented by Jupiter such as religion, international affairs and even legal matters. However, Jupiter is also involved in two major trines – positive energy – that will not only give those areas strength, but will also lead to reforms in those areas in a very surprising, and possibly brilliant, way.

In general, I’d say that the outlook for 2013 is positive. We may start the year at opposite ends of the playing field, but it looks like this will be a year of working out differences and coming up with new and unusual solutions.

I was hoping to get some sewing done today, but my computer starting giving me problems this morning so I spent most of the day cleaning up my hard drive. We  invest so much of our daily lives in our computers – family pictures, emails to friends, files of legal documents, etc. – that it pays to put in a little extra time to keep them running well.

The first two pictures were taken in mid-December as I and a few other birders tromped around the area, making records of any birds we saw for the annual Christmas Bird Count. The temperature was mild, but it looked very Christmassy. The last picture is Rusty and Ginger enjoying their Christmas present – piles of paper packing from a box that came in the mail (which was also part of their “present” but not shown in the picture). Can you see Rusty? Ginger is looking straight at him.

Take care and hope you all have a great 2013!

Until next time,