Yup, Sometimes it Snows Here

Yesterday was a rainy day, and we were completely locked in by clouds. If you've never been in a cloud before, it is (a) damp, and (b) grey. Later, it got cold, and it snowed. When we went to sleep, it was still snowing. This morning, we awoke to sunlight streaming through breaks in the cloud cover, and the snow melting loudly. That may seem strange, but when you live on the side of a mountain, snow actually can melt loudly! The sounds were running water and chunks of snow falling off trees and rooftops. Also, there were deer out back, so I took some photos. In the first photo, you can see a hint of mountain top peaking out from a break in the clouds. Cool. It was warm enough that I sat taking photos on the balcony (railing included in photo), in jeans and a tee-shirt. I love it here! So does Bean - she REALLY wanted to be let out, but as she came to us declawed, we are keeping her an indoor kitty. Plus, the coyotes probably think she would make a tasty snack.

Saturday morning deer in the snow. 

Bean likes deer, too. She probably thinks they would taste good. 

A Stupid Stupid Stupid Thing

As the title suggests, I have just done a really stupid thing. Over the past few months I have been doing a lot of hand finishing, including stitching down bindings, beading, couching yarn, etc. The other day, I was able to proudly show DH the new callus that had developed on the pad of my middle finger - the one I use to aim the needle with. I even bragged that the callus would make hand stitching easier, and that he wouldn't hear me cursing in pain any more, as I could no longer stab myself with the needle in that spot (newer, improved super tough Quilter's skin).

Apparently, the bragging and self congratulations cursed me. Today, I was absently picking at a bit of rough skin, and managed to rip off the callus without even realizing what I was doing! Not only that, but I ripped of enough skin that my needle guiding finger is now not even usable for typing! There is an open wound where I once had a proud and handy callus! Let me tell you, snacking on nachos is not fun with a raw fingertip. Aargh!

Now I have to choose - either cover the finger with rubber cement and get on with finishing the current projects (all of which are in the hand sewing stage), or start something more fingertip friendly. Or, smack myself soundly and call myself an idiot. With a sore finger. Sigh.

DH and his new lawnmower. No, he wouldn't pose for a picture. 

Playing with the Straight & Narrow

I couldn't sleep last night, so instead I played with ideas for the QuiltArt Straight & Narrow Challenge. The new threads I recently purchased were calling to me, as was some Marjorie Lee Bevis pebble style marbled fabric, so I played around a bit and came up with this silliness - 8 Squares & Some Wiggles.

The piece is 8" wide x 40" long, and I plan to mount it on a wooden frame (have left an extra 6" all the way around it for wrapping around the frame). I used some Sari silk yarn to edge it, and to add a little more drama. Mostly I'm just having fun being quilt liberated - the squares were fused on, the free motion quilting has pointy bits, and the yarn was machine couched. Hah! I just broke three of my (old) quilting rules!

If DH likes it, I may make a few more in a similar vein, and place them as a clustered piece. However, if it is too bright for him (quite possible), it may end up in a closet. Gotta say, it really doesn't fit in with our decor - but if it is to be viewed as art, not decor, anything goes, right? Sigh. Oh well, it was fun to make, no matter where it ends up.

8 Squares & Some Wiggles. 

Detail - coloured squares are 2"x2". 

My studio - workstation area. The quilt in process on my design wall is something I dreamed up, and am calling "Not Askew". I used the quilt as you go method (stitch & flip), and now regret that (as my FMQuilting has vastly improved since I started that quilt). However, I absolutely love the colours and the fabrics, so will finish stitching it together. It may end up hanging in my studio permanently, as a reminder of lessons learned. And, I will most likely make it again, 'cause I absolutely love the way the Not Askew blocks look together. And because I'm drawn to things with squares. And bright colours on black. And regular block arrangements that look irregular. Etc.  

Ahh, the Stupidity (aka Phantom Hair Panic)

I truly, truly, truly am an idiot. This morning confirms it. Okay, the details...

This morning I was checking things out in the bathroom mirror. You know the drill: is my nose still in the middle, do I still have two eyes, are my ears still attached, is the dry skin next to my mouth getting better, etc. And, while still doing the close up inspection, I noticed a HONKIN' HUGE HAIR! In a NOT ACCEPTABLE place! There, growing out of a (tiny) mole on my left cheek, was a wiry ginger hair! Excessive use of exclamation points aside, I was in "Holy C@#p! How long has that been there?" land.

So, in a panic, I reached for my trusty tweezers, and proceeded to undergo an emergency face-hair-ectomy. I grasped and I grabbed, I cursed and I moaned, but I just couldn't get the bugger! Frustrated by two futile minutes of unsuccessful tweezing, I tossed the tweezers into the corner, leaned back for a deep breath, then went in again for another look.

And, low and behold, realized that for the past few minutes I had been (a) in a major panic about, and (b) mangling my face with tweezers over . . . a stray hair from my head, growing where it is supposed to grow, that just happened to have been slept on at an odd angle and was sticking out sideways. A little dab of gel or a hairpin, and all could be saved.

Apparently it is time for NEW GLASSES!

Just thought I'd share this. This is a slush formation on the driver side wheel of our car. It formed while we were driving from our home town to a nearby center (1.5 hour drive). The temperature was a bit below freezing, but the roads were wet from use, and there was freezing rain for the entire trip. Who knew that slush could be so funky! Note the gentle curves of the ice spines - curved in the direction the wheel was spinning. 

Fractured Creativity

Okay fellow Artful Quilters Webring members, and other creative types - here is a question for you. How many of you suffer regularly from days of fractured creativity? You probably know what I mean - those days when you pick up a project, work for half an hour, get distracted by something else, find yourself pulling fabric and embellishments for a new project that hasn't gelled in your head yet, work on some WIPs, drop everything to zone out at the computer, etc.

I had one of those days today, and am very frustrated. I hate getting nothing productive done! What I have noticed, however, is that those days really seem to be more common when I am close to completeing a project that I have spent quite a bit of effort on. Could I be suffering from separation anxiety? Or is it just procrastination? Aargh!

On the positive side, those are usually the days when email gets answered, the house gets tidied up (somewhat - not too much - gotta keep DH's expectations of cleanliness good and low, don't want to set a clean precedent), and a nice dinner gets made, usually with dessert.

These are also days that are generally followed by insomnia, which I both enjoy (get lots of net surfing done and find cool stuff) and dislike (can't sleep, can't get comfortable, grumpy the next morning). Ah, the addled brain of a creative person on a fractured day.

I have been ordered to Blog this, so here it is. This is a sample of my current Doin' it with the Dogs Down. On the left (the red and black areas) I was using 60 weight Bottom Line on top - I wanted the quilting to be consistent all over, but not to be a feature in the black and red areas. The heavier quilting is 40 weight Rainbows - it glows, but I couldn't capture that in a photo. Boy, has my FMQ improved! It's fun to do, too. 

Doin' It with the Dogs Down

Had a great evening of free motion quilting last night - DH was watching Zatoichi (Japanese film - remake of old B&W television series - rent it if you like martial arts movies and grand scale tap dancing - really fun) and I was doin' it with the dogs down. I must say, my G'nome is getting better and better - must be the great new varigated poly threads I'm feeding it! Sadly, they don't show up well on photos taken by a putz like me, so I won't be posting a picture yet - but Caryl Bryer Fallert look out! Yeah, right. Tee hee.

It's a Great Day here in Allergy Season

I spent a big chunk of yesterday in the yard with Darling Husband - he looked so adorable pulling dandelions that I had to join him. I hand thatched the grass for a few minutes, but decided that was too hard on my Quilting Hands, and had to stop (yes, I am a wimp). He then assigned me the oh so fun job of rooting out and removing the rotting onions and carrots from the garden. We bought the house last year in the autumn, but apparently the family that lived here previously had left earlier in the summer, and we did not know that there were root veggies lurking amongst the weeds in the garden patch. Gotta love picking mushy onions.

Anyway, after a bit of effort we turned over a patch of garden, now ready for the planting of raspberry canes (or whatever else DH wants). Today we are both suffering a bit with itchy eyes, headaches, and general malaise. Who knew that after years of not suffering from allergies, I would finally join the ranks of red-eyed and sneezy. Bummer.

Pin basted the second of DH's home office window coverings last night - will quilt today. These are fun to quilt, as they are only about three feet wide (easy to manage with my Janome 6500 - nicknamed G'nome), and have a polyester batt which is really easy to machine quilt. The only black batting I could find at the time was poly, and he insisted on black as the window coverings were requested primarily to block light - he is tired of fighting computer screen glare. Will post photos once they are hung up.

Abstract Challenge group theme for this month is Your Theme Song. Am playing with Natalie Merchant's "Motherland". Also working on Straight & Narrow Challenge Round 2. Also putting final touches on purse pattern for selling in stores & online. And, it is the last week to submit taxes in Canada - I have a busy week ahead of me. Aargh.

So, back to the trenches, itchy eyes and all.

The Green Light

I started a new small (10" x 8") piece today, and it might be the false and misdirected start of the beginning of a series. It was based on the last lines of F. Scott Fitzgerald's great American novel, The Great Gatsby.

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eludes us then, but that's no matter- tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther..... And one fine morning- "

Originally I was planning to call this piece "Gatsby the Goldfish and that elusive Green Light." On further consideration, however, I had to admit to myself that the only reason I even knew those lines was because of John Irving's The Hotel New Hampshire, which is hands down my most treasured and often re-read book. One of my favorite parts is when Lilly expresses her grief and frustration, crying "There's always going to be an It--and It is going to elude us, every time. ... He's going to keep going after it and it's always going to get away. Oh, damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

Okay, not properly quoted (it has been a while since high school and proper use of quotations), but you get the idea. So now, I think maybe it is time to start on a small works series based on The Hotel New Hampshire. I will have to decide where to begin, though, as there are so many poignant moments and amusing scenarios to choose from. But no more Asian style fabrics - they clash with the barely functioning American family theme of the book.

Anyway, here is the false start, along with the thoughts that went with it. It will likely end up in my scrap pile, or worked into another piece later down the line.

The threadpainting doesn't show up well here (I suck at picture taking), but you get the jist. Commerical quilting fabrics, 100% cotton, appliqued by machine, and free motion quilted with polyester & rayon threads. Not bound - fabrics wrapped to back and covered with a finishing fabric.  

Gatsby is on the left, Nick is peeking in from the top (observation, as always), and that's Daisy's tail you see just out of Gatsby's reach. Even Quilters use literary references upon occasion. 

Bean Everywhere, Eaten Everything

A recent violent gastrointestinal illness by my intrepid feline Studio Assistant, Bean (scroll down for photos) has had its source traced to her new habit of eating fusible interfacing. Yuck. All of the (obviously yummy) offending material has been removed to a safe place out of her reach, and she is expected to recover soon. The only longterm effect of her dietary digression is that I can now use her to quickly determine which interfacing is fusible when faced with confusion about unmarked pieces, as she only licks the coated ones.

So now that you know me . . .

Okay, I have introduced myself (somewhat), and a few of the many people that feature in my daily life. There are others, and I love them too. However, I don't have photos of them doing anything embarassing, so they don't get a photo posted!

Back to my reason for Blogging - quilting. I am having fun working on Dear Hubby's most recent request (other than ice cream and a glass of scotch), which is a two piece window covering for his home office. Have completely quilted one of the panels, and had fun with my new Rainbows thread and Bottom Line in the bobbin. You can quilt for a heck of a long time with 60 weight in the bobbin! Have to sandwich the other panel yet, which has been put on hold until I can pick up more Spot Shot to remove the remnants of Bean's latest hurking session (middle of my layout & basting area). I guess she figured I needed a break from pin basting.

Am also currently working on a few other projects:
- Chris & Rhea's wedding quilt,
- finalizing the pattern for the small purse I just designed (to be in stores soon - or at least available in a few places)
- ignoring the Trauma Quilt in the hope that it will go away or at least become less traumatic
- embellishing a reversible wall hanging to make it even more desirable to cats that like to chew on beads / eat attached fibers
- hand couching yarn to my silk couch throw (my first foray into working with silk)
- etc. etc.

Mostly I am working on procrastinating. And Blogging. Fun.