Got a lot done

While it was interesting for me that I had no computer access, I did get a lot done. First on my list was to finish joining the blocks and setting triangles to the Kaledescope quilt. Its amazing how I let go of laying the blocks out, and went for the true random effort. I will take it in to the fabric store this morning and buy material for the first border and talk to her about the other borders and back. I may end up making several trips in to get it done the way I want.

My project list showed Grace's Spring quilt next. She is the eldest Daughter of my Niece who passed after a battle with leukemia. She has a Spring birthday, and her Sisters have either a Summer or Autumn birthday, so I am making their quilts to reflect the seasons of their births. Her quilt was in that clear plastic shoe-box size container so I thought there would be a lot of work to it.

However, much to my surprise, the pinwheel blocks were joined with sashing and cornerstones. The next step to them was to press and pin together two rows, which I did. I can take it to finishing the center for the top and then will need to purchase border, binding and back fabric. This was another scrappy quilt in pinks and yellows and is so very cute.

While my original thought was to give them quilts on their birthdays, I changed my mind about that. Gracie is 12 and the others younger, so kids don't always get the concept that they will get one too on their birthday. They have suffered enough loss for several lifetimes and do not need any more disappointment whether its intentional or not. I decided that I would finish them and send them in one box.

The others are named Summer and Autumn. Summer is ready for quilting and Autumn is ready for piecing. I am not in any hurry to finish Grace's now that its not going out for her birthday.  However, it was really a fun discovery!

Off Line for Awhile

My computer guy is taking my IMac so he can look at why the sound isn't working. I will be off line for a couple of days.

Da Bears

My guess is that my Nephew is not a Chicago Bears fan and that the title for his quilt needs to stay away from that one. Bears in Birch Trees has been a good working title and I am open to it shifting while it gets basted. Its interesting to me what happens when I do that.

It took me a little time to press and re-group. It is laying across my queen size bed, and while I haven't measured it, it seems to be a good size. The dark brown final border is not really showing up in this photo.

I took a close up of the corner for the bears. Its such cute fabric, and it was my hope that it didn't compete with the center stars and I think it did fine. I am leaning toward making this the quilt I try my hand at free motion. The borders are large enough to call for a design.

With the exception of the bears in birch trees fabric, this quilt top is completely from my stash and is a scrappy quilt. I really love how it turned out.

Its one step closer now, and I am glad to have had the time to work on it, which let me release the angst I have about having enough fabric for the Kaleidoscope quilt. I know it will turn out fine.

Waiting

I have pieced as far as possible with the cuts I have. For me to spend time trying to figure out what I need to do next would take me all day. I've decided to go back to the instructor, bring what I have and let her see what I am to do next. Its been several months since we were on the retreat, and hopefully the original bolts will be there if more fabric is needed. There is a small first border framing this middle piece after it is fully joined. I wanted to bring it in when it is at that stage, and lay fabrics against it to see what works and what to bring out from the Kalidescopes. I haven't purchased it yet. 

I did a quick layout for this twin size quilt on my floor this morning, and know the setting triangles and corner triangles are cut. As I figured, I am missing six small triangle pieces for two lower blocks. I looked for them and cannot imagine why they weren't all cut at the same time. There is 22" WOF of the teal, yet I am not sure if it was dedicated to a border. Why this became such a mystery, I do not know. I've looked in the two bins set aside for 2015 projects and there is no extra teal fabric to be found.

I am going to wait before cutting into it. At other times in my life, I would have just pushed forward and let the chips fall where they may. Not with this quilt. It so lovely even unfinished that I do not want to take the chance of it being short of the plan. In this case, I am most willing to follow directions.

Most small businesses are closed on Mondays here in town, including both fabric shops, so I am waiting until Tuesday to go in and ask my questions. Claudia, at 5 Heart Quilts is an excellent teacher, who honestly cares that her students are happy with the quilts they make. Like most business owners, she struggles to make a living selling her merchandise. But at the core of who she is, there is the heart.

I've gotten into the mode of quilting for 2015, and brought out Bears in the Birch Trees.  And just as I figured, some of these quilts are going to be new puzzles for me to solve. The first thing that will happen for each one (that has laid in waiting) is to get it pressed.  Then, if I left notes-to-self, just pick up where I left off. If there are no notes, then I sit and wait with it. This waiting will be a perfect time to remember what energy was going into it. Perfect time to calm myself, regain my center, and remember that I am renewed by the process and able to engage my younger self.

BBT needs borders. Its a square center, and while a lot of quilts work this way, I want to use a technique that extends the top and bottom so that it is rectangular when finished. I left myself a note with measurements for the borders and do have enough fabric for them. Pressing. Waiting.

Found the Missing Pages

Ok, I am still a bit foggy about this, however, the pages thought to be gone are still in the design function of the blog. I feel pretty accomplished that I found them, even though I haven't been able to restore them to the blog as of yet. Well, I haven't tried, and may not bother for a little while.

It got me thinking about what I wrote about the delete button. Computers are just brains, and like the human brain, when something fails, its a matter of re-routing the information. Nothing is really ever lost when you hit the delete key, or try to unsubscribe from something that won't let you go. Memories might fade, but it doesn't take much to be reminded of something and find yourself reliving the adventure as if it was just happening.

Last time, when I left the quilt retreat exhausted, I thought I simply gathered up my things to go home. As was said in my previous post, I was so surprised to find that I had pinned the remaining four Kaleidoscopes individually, and more so, one just had four sections to completion. Another was pieced so that it could go to the sewing machine. These two are complete.

The third one was at the stage of piecing so that half of it is finished. The other half and the fourth Kaleidoscope need back ground triangles cut, which is the project for tomorrow. I want to lay out what I have, and make sure I have the setting triangles cut before going back to the fabric for six more background triangles to finish these.

Again, this is all a memory thing. I can only hope that the next quilts have been left in as good enough order for me to just step into the process again without too much heartache.

My gifts are packaged and ready to ship out on Monday. I even baked a homey batch of Oatmeal Raisin cookies. Today was filled with unexpected treats.

From Where I Left It

Effective, creative living takes practice and work. Learning how to live happily is a matter of acquiring certain skills. While our past can be powerful, our new, becoming self is without the strength of personal history. That younger self cannot gain power if it doesn't do the work.

The Kaleidoscope quilt is on the top of my to do list, so when I pulled it out from on top of the first bin, of course it needed to be pressed. Pressing gave me the opportunity to remember where I had left off, and to sort the pieces so that I could figure them out. 

For some reason, the pattern book seemed to be written in the Ferengi language, and of course, I couldn't read it. Luckily, there were pictures to follow.

After pressing, and looking at the pattern book, pictures in it showed me that it would take 11 of the kaleidoscope blocks to make up the twin size quilt.

When I left the retreat from sheer exhaustion, I had the good sense to pin the parts needed for each block together. There are seven completed blocks, one was partially pieced, and three were pinned. The partially pieced one is in four parts and just needs to be joined. It really helped me figure out the next steps. Everything is cut, but is unidentified. 

The theory of having a new, younger self for this project makes sense. When a person is not experienced and tries to tackle a new project, they feel confused and inept and are challenged with taking the next step.

My quilting always takes on a spiritual component. Somehow, there is an energetic relationship between my intentions and the person I make the quilt for. In this case, the quilt goes to my younger Son. Some people lift our hearts in very special ways, and our relationships are based on many things. I remember selecting the fabrics for it based on what I think he would like. 

There is a real pleasure for me as I work with a quilt from start to finish. Thing is, all the quilts I plan to complete in 2015 are going to go through this process. They were started and are in various stages, which means that if I left off working on them, I can only hope I left myself a note, and hope that I can pick up the work where I left it.

We all experience the interruptions of our life in some way. I had several days of immobility after finishing up everything for 2014. I couldn't go forward, even though I knew that if this was to be hand quilted and it would take time, work on it was all blocked. I actually looked for more things to do and kept avoiding the 2015 projects. 

I had to become my own guide, my own parent, my own teacher, my own counselor. This younger self has been a surprise to me, as well as a sweet gift. To think that she, my younger self, even exists is a powerful gift to my spirit.

To Blog or To Quilt; That is my Question

I went onto the title page here to make some corrections, and accidentally deleted the top bar that gave information about me, about my swaps and tips I had collected. It was a surprise for me to see it suddenly gone. There was no seam ripper to make a correction on the blog like there is on a block or quilt. 

When a person hits the delete key, gone is gone.

I spent time trying to fix it for awhile, and then wondered what I was doing and why I was spending precious moments with it when it really doesn't matter. This blog was created to make a record of my quilting progress, as well as a record for my spiritual journey. Its not meant to generate large numbers of readers, and in fact, I haven't checked the stats on it for months.

A few people use the private email function to make comments and some of my closer friends and family members email me privately any way. I honestly don't expect folks to read this daily the way I expect me to keep my commitment to writing on it daily.

All my gift-making and gift-buying for this season is completed. There are a couple of Quilt Block swaps left to finish. It took a couple of days to wrap everything and get things ready for shipping. A few boxes and some cards go out each day just to keep me from holding up the line at the PO.

I am really committed to a few things for 2015: One is to finish quilts listed on the side bar; the second thing is to write here daily; and the third thing is to make small projects each month so they are ready for the next Winter Solstice.

My goals are pretty simple compared to what they have been in my lifetime. I've learned to settle down and settle in. 

Another thing I did was to 'unfriend' some folks on my Facebook page. Most of them were friends of friends of friends and people I have never met, never will meet and have nothing in common with. I kept family members even if they had those same qualities. Family is different. We share a history in ways that often do not need explanation or reason. I am enjoying those relationships immensely. 

Therefore, I plan to get back to quilting later this morning, starting with the Kaleidoscope quilt. It needs a gentle pressing and I need to read the pattern and see where I left off. This may be one I hand quilt, so I really need to get on with it, finish the top, add batting so it can be basted and do it. It will require almost full attention for the hand quilting.

I've gone through all my quilting magazines, narrowing down patterns I might like for a quilt I plan to create for my Daughter-In-Law for her birthday in November. They can either get tossed or put back on the shelf. The tossers are just that. I am not interested, never plan to work with any of the patterns and don't need them taking up space on my shelves.