Where's That Coming From?

I started to feel pressure today about finishing the quilts I plan to send out this year. There are 10 on my list and only one is ready with six more months to finish. Its a silly issue.

When I encounter something I am quilting that halts me in my tracks, I tend to set it down for awhile and move along to something else. I did that when I ran out of thread and was able to work on a few other projects that took colors I could use. No time is really lost, because all of the projects need to be finished.

Some years ago, when I started to look at the pressures of the holidays, the first thing I did was to spread out the spending, and spread out the gifts I planned to make so I wasn't rushed. And it works for me. It surprised me to feel the pressure, and while I know its not necessary to experience it, I still do to some extent. 

The machine needed cleaning. This one is really quite different from my last machine. It doesn't take oil but does collect the same linty gunk and needs to come apart to clean it. Fifteen minutes.

I worked on machine quilting Nick's Golf quilt (no real name here) and trimmed Jacob's Bears in Birch Trees quilt to make the mitered corners fit better and they do! Usually the binding takes 2-3 nights, and it will be done in two. The machine quilting could take days on Nick's. Four bobbins were loaded and the first rows of stitches are working out. I like to check each row on the back to minimize any puckers. Basting usually reduces shifting, but sometimes it happens so I want to catch it if there is an issue.

One of my quilting goals for this year was to learn free motion quilting. However, it has become less important to me because this new machine has a lot of decorative stitches that make the quilts easier to do than my old one did. I am content to use them and forego learning the other process.

I am not sure why I put pressures on myself. I do my best in everything I take on and it is enough.

Herding Cats

Something special happened today. Still working with threads that need to be used, I did another round of piecing with the cats quilt. Once I compared this project to herding cats, it suddenly made me laugh out loud. If you have ever been around those sweet little furballs, you know they have the upper hand in every situation. The term 'cat herding' is an idiom referring to a frustrating attempt to organize or control something that is naturally uncontrollable.  

I am often challenged by my projects when I leave them for too long and have been trying desperately to leave notes on them to myself so I remember what the next steps were. That way, I still think I have control over the process.

Luckily, my paper piecing coach suggested that I could keep going by pinning and joining blocks into their rows. I needed to buy more fabric, and the store in town was going to be closed for a few days. If I stopped on this project too long, it ran the danger of becoming a UFO (unfinished object).

She was right. After the pinning was done, it took more than an hour to join blocks into rows. And I returned to making cat blocks that will edge the top and one side. Its a lot of pinning, piecing, pressing and doing it again. 

I'm not sure if reading her suggestion in an email to me was as good or better than the notes-to-self, but the project was easier to do with her encouragement and is that one step closer to being completed.

I am learning that I cannot leave my projects sit unattended for too long, even with all my notes-to-self.

All my prep work has been paying off as well. The swatch sheet really helped, and then taking the time to alpha-number all the copies REALLY made a difference. It seems like I reduce the mystery factor on a project if I know where I am going with it and what I am doing on it in the moment. I like being reminded that I am a cat person who both needs and resents being herded.

Earthing

With all this perfect southern Cali weather, I have been out in my gardens doing more there than in my studio working on quilts. Weeding is pretty endless right now, and in a short while the main thrust of that work will give way under the hot Summer sun. I come inside, strip and shower and try to re-coup my energy. Being outdoors always makes me feel more alive. And the mornings are coolest and I am energetically fresher to do the hard labor.

The new thing they call being outdoors is "Earthing". I've been doing that all my life and think I named it play or gardening.

Once inside, I took time, yet again, to sort fabrics in my bins. Seems that I just toss pieces out of their smaller containers when I 'shop' through them for my various projects. And then I made a hard copy list to make sure I get all the smaller projects done that need to get shipped out this week. 

I worked on some of the smaller practice pieces that will become the most simple of mug rugs, They give me an opportunity to try new decorative stitches on my new machine and to practice those tricksy mitered binding corners. Sometimes all I have is a 1/3 of a yard of fabric and its possible to get four rectangular pieces out of it to make into the mug rugs. What I've done is to pull many of them into one small bin so when I need a quick practice project or even a quick gift, I know what is in my stash.

Last month, on my paper crafting day, I pulled pages out of some periodicals that were stiff enough to make into simple tri-fold envelopes. They work for mailing out a lot of small things and are considered a form of 'happy mail'. I was able to fill them with a variety of swap items, just sealing them with 1" wide tape. 

I spent more time thinking about the Pay It Forward and Random Acts of Kindness principles. It surprises me how sometimes I can be generous and other times my heart isn't as open. I'm not sure what that means yet because I am still pondering my own soul and have not reached any conclusions about my personal behaviors.

May the Fourth Be With You

I worked on and finished one of my Pay It Forward projects. No photos of the last ones I am doing in case the recipients read the blog. The whole concept of paying it forward or those random acts of kindness is something many of my friends and family do without 'signing up' for it. Its a shared value and one I am proud of to participate in.

For awhile, I was almost shocked when no one took me up on the offer I made on Facebook. I thought that was my widest connection, but know, too, that a post can get buried on a feed so it doesn't always show up. Then, too, some folks tell me that they took me up on it years ago, and want to give others the chance. 

I wonder about the RAK's or radical acts of kindness and if this is where I want my energy to lean into.

PIF is important to me because I feel like a person who has known and knows great privilege in this world. It feels good to give back in ways that I can, such as making something in the fabric arts. They are tangible items that are truly made with my love, and my best efforts.

Being kind seems different from the act of paying it forward. RAK's would require that I be out and about and I am not at this stage of my life. Oh, I see and feel and hear the change in me as I relate to store clerks or people who shop there at the same time I might. 

These days, I project a nicety that I never showed (or didn't have) when I was younger. Sometimes I wonder who I have become with all this Minnesota Nice because I haven't lived there for over 15 years. It is radical, edgy and yet state of the art to send and receive this kind of energy into the world. As my Niece Amanda used to say, "I do my part by simply smiling." Sometimes a smile is enough.

prayer flags

Prayer, like prayer flags, takes practice. In the beginning, my prayer was more structured, and the prayer flags I made needed to be 'fancy'.  As I evolved spiritually, I began to see that I could pray anywhere and any time. There is something in it for me when I take the steps to create an altar, setting on it specific items, working with seasonal colors and lighting candles. I like fire.

Since joining swapbot groups that exchanged prayer flags, I've started hanging them in my backyard between two trees. I can see them from the studio, and I brush one of my hands across them when I go outdoors. These have come to me from all over the world and have been made with a variety of intentions.

'Rules' are that fabric is cut 12" x 6", and then folded over 3" in back to make a channel to hang on a rope. Ends are left to fray in the breezes and when they come apart or fall, legend says the prayers are answered. I started including ties so the rope would not need to come down each time. I also was making one to send and one to keep each month so my rope of prayer flags had some color and content. Its taken off in swapbot and am now a participant in more than a couple of groups who exchange them. 

Its giving me a chance to focus my intentions and send them out into the universe. May is all about the blooming of flowers, and about the celebration of our creativity, whether or not we are Mothers. Creating a prayer flag starts with the intention and selection of fabrics. Prayer flags are activated in wind by the element of Air. 

Its a relatively new prayer form for me because I am usually inspired and guided by fire, either in candles or my fireplace. Fire-directed prayer has always been hot and fast and passionate. I've always believed that a person could join in on candle-magick-prayers by envisioning the flame and seeing the wick. Air-directed prayer requires patience. Winds here in Tehachapi are often quite fierce and I am learning to appreciate the color of the flags and the movement that happens.

Its a new way to visualize prayers being answered. Candles burn down quickly where the fraying and fading of these flags takes more visual time. Also, the flags can be personal for the person receiving them and energetically directed to the entire world. As of yet, I have not found a way to make them for a specific reason and want to think about that.

In the past, I have purchased prayer flags either individually or on a rope to hang as a group. These are Goddess flags printed for the phases of the Moon. However, now I see that buying prayer isn't the same. Its easy, and it may be pretty, but like prayer, its gotta be personal or its not as real.

Folks in these swaps get it and know that the simplicity of the art comes through. Would a recipient of a plain prayer flag get the impact of its energy? I am not sure I get it yet and need to keep working with it as an art form and as a prayer form.

Use What We Have

Arthur Ashe, Jr. who was the #1 World Professional tennis player in the 1970's, said that we should "Start where we are. Use what we have. Do what we can". If you remember, his life was changed after contacting HIV from a blood transfusion. He became a spokesperson for AIDS awareness and changed how we view this dreadful disease. Its just a good reminder that life is short and most of the time we have more than what we need within us.

A number of times, I've been asked about my personal health and well-being, and I am probably as healthy as one can be for my age, my experiences and choices.

My attitude towards conservation has always been one of awareness towards resources. I believe in recycling, in repurposing and reusing whenever I can. And I have learned that eventually, we all cross the rainbow bridge and leave behind a lot of material possessions that someone has to deal with.

I am committed to shopping from my closets. I have been holding off going to the fabric store until the weekend. It is so easy to buy more rather than to make use of the odds and ends or scraps. 

One of the quilts I am making is for a PayItForward project that will go to a long-time family friend this year. Rob doesn't read my blog, so I feel ok sharing this before he gets the quilt. (Not every PIF I make is a quilt.) I spent the day piecing the back from Lee's estate fabrics, and found myself saying, "Oh this is so nice, I should save it for...." For what? If not now, when? I had measured the top and pulled out some larger pieces to use for the back. Lee tended to purchase 1 1/3 yards most of the time when she saw something she liked.

Most of my time was spent calculating to get these pieces to match with the front sizing. I started with the largest piece and then used the calculator to help me figure out how to do the borders. There are many apps out to help with this and I use:
http://www.quiltersparadiseesc.com 

Then of course, I was able to finish a few spools of thread that had been almost used up on other projects. They take up space and dry out after awhile. And I have enough of the stripe to make binding for it. It was a lot of measuring, cutting, pinning, piecing, and pressing. Its a lovely backing and presents a completely different look from the top. 

Best of all, its a scrap quilt.

Exercising While Quilting

Got outside in my South garden and dug up weeds and raked clay soil. When the sprinklers go on again, it will be like working with hardened cement. The particular weeds I am removing form this deep root system and also have a plant matter canopy that is incredibly tight, suffocating other plants out. I let it go too long and made more work for myself. I dug out the stepping stones and will replace them. 

Inside, I found a couple of spools of brown thread for machine quilting, so I loaded 6 bobbins. As it happened, there is still some of it left after doing all the quilting, so it had been a good day to try out more of the machine stitches. This quilt is for the youngest of my Nephews. I finished his Brother's last year but didn't want to rush this one just to be done, so held them both back to go out together this year. I've been told that its best to give everyone in the house a quilt at the same time (if the plan is that they all get one). It was a solid day of working on it, with enough breaks in between for healthy reasons.

My new machine stitches are much more clearly marked and when the quilting stitches are selected, the machine automatically handles the feed dogs. Its so smooth.

Quilting can be quite sedentary if a person isn't aware. Time slips away, as they say, when you are having fun. I found this link ten-exercises-for-quilters and do most of them regularly.

The last two, 'gripping' and 'thumb stretch' are new to me and I want to make them part of my regular quilting practice. The article says that repetitive movements put us at risk for developing certain wrist problems, so it is recommended to release muscle tension. Doing them made me realize just how stiff my hands were getting. This movement takes care of both at once in the flex extension.

I've seen folks set up work stations so they don't have to get up and down. However, I need to be in motion and sitting too long just doesn't work for me.