I'm A Computer Addict

Peggy Lee...great songstress I remember from the 1950's says it best. And I quote...

"Let me go, let me go, let me go, lover. Let me be, set me free from your spell, lover. You made me weep, cut me deep, I can't sleep, lover. I was cursed from the first day I fell.

"You don't want me but you want me to go on wanting you. How I pray that you'll say that we're through. Please turn me loose. What's the use? Let me go, lover.
Let me go, let me go, let me go!!"

It's a love/hate relationship I'm having here. I can't say "No" to this relationship I'm creating with my computer. I'm now in the middle of creating my very own website!!

And, I'm still quilting. I have two coin quilt tops almost completed and ready to be quilted.

Should I be humming Zippidy Do Dah, Zippidy Day?

I had a sheer bliss dinner. He cooked...well, he purchased. It came in a box and was not very heart healthy...but it was good and I didn't cook!! On the fresh side, he also purchased a bag of salad and enhanced it with cucumber and tomato. On a see-saw, it was a balanced meal. Can I rationalize, or what?

Now, let's move on to multi-tasking. The young folks that I occasionally rub elbows with have much fun putting themselves into a martyr status. You've heard it too. "I'm so busy, I'm so stressed, I can keep adding on?? why??, I can multi-task."

Well, I discovered that I can multi-task too. No, I don't have to hold a child on my hip while stirring grits...nothing that easy. But yesterday I was at my sewing machine busily piecing up another quilt top, when I realized I was already putting another one together in my mind. Now that's taking multi-tasking to a higher level!

My dear sister is so observant. She noticed most of my postings come very early in the morning. Well, to her, I say, that's when I have my most 'deep-thinking' moments!

I look forward to a great day. Yes, it's early morning and I already have a smile on my face. Hope you do too.

More musings later in the morning

My day to exercise...again

For the past several years, I have been so faithful to do my cardio and yoga at my favorite, though expensive, gym. That is, I have been faithful until January, 2009. No explanation for my lack of enthusiasm. Blame it on my time blogging, the weather, life got in the way, whatever.

There has, however, really been a downer for my laziness...my butt has turned to flab and dropped from where it was to closer to the knee. No, I never had buns of steel...too much work...but I did like that my butt cheeks didn't lurch from left to right and right to left with every step I took.

Well, Sunday morning I found myself reaching for the tight spandex pantie instead of my good ole comfortable cotton ones. Age does have its advantages! He still has the option of looking at (victoria secret) pictures to view the teeny tiny itsy bitsy nothing nada bikini ones. But while the spandex keeps the butt from lurching, it pushes the belly fat up the rib cage. I'm being my own judge here, but I'm less than 5 lbs overweight, yet the pushed up belly fat is major uncomfortable, not to mention hugely unsightly.

The sight of all this drove me back to exercise yesterday. Did a 50-minute cardio. Was so exhausted that I did not even get to the weight machines. Yet I wanted instant gratification and according to the scale, there was no weight change and my butt is still lurching. I'll try again today!

I'm So Full of IT - Publishing That Is

IT is something new. IT is sometimes a mistake. IT is usually a challenge. IT is fun. I'm so full of ITs that I'm losing the fear of having an IT.

One of my ITs was publishing my very own blog. IT has been both a challenge and fun....definitely not a mistake.




Another IT has been to get pictures of my fabric cards "Pretty Ladies in Smart Hats" published in a calendar. I used Shutterfly. That service makes it so easy. Hey, just the beginning of my new career!!! I also had another calendar made picturing my thread painted trees. What! I had a coupon to get a free calendar. Well, yes, I had to pay postage. Should have waited until they offered free postage...But, then you know, can't do what you should have done. What the heck.

With this success, I moved on. I had a book published with pics of my sister's children and grandchildren. This is going to be a Valentine Day's surprise, so don't tell!

Marty - Creative Designer and Tom - Director of Photography

P.S. I no longer have the long red fingernails and he no longer has the very trim torso, we no longer work at 'the farm' but we both still have the same peace, or peaceful, or peace-be-with-you-attitude.

What's the big deal. Have an IT day. Here's hoping I do. TaDa...

Jump Start the Day-Go Fabric Shopping

Oh, Woe is me.......I must get out of the house today. I have two quilt tops completed to take over to Quilt 'N Stitch to quilt for me. While there, I definitely have a list of fabrics to be purchased....Need yards of white. I've been seeing so much white used in the quilts of others lately, take a look at A Quilt Is Nice. So delightful and fresh to see so much white.

We have a treasure trove of long arm quilters in or near Monroe (Louisiana, that is). I absolutely love the work of Kathy's Fancy Stitching. She has custom quilted many for me. Kathy has won numerous awards for her art quilts. Her classes/workshops are to ...dye...for.

Also out there is Elaine at Rose Hill Quilt Shop. I see her every month, so is soooo easy for her to do much quilting for me. And, I would never forget Kay Thode and Kathy Spencer. Both of these long arm quilters and teachers have done custom quilting for me and their work is to perfection.

Another great quilt shop is Hannah's Quilts & Crafts. I have not had an opportunity to use her quilting skills, but have seen her work and she has real reason to be proud of her skills and brag . AND, I have even been known to quilt my own. I don't have a long arm but, as I've mentioned before, I have the Bernina QE which is perfect for my quilting and embroidery needs.

So, you can see why I continue to buy, buy, buy, and quilt, quilt, quilt...I told Elaine, at Rose Hill, the other day that I certainly wanted to do my part in helping her pay for that Gammill Statler Stitcher!!!

A new day has dawned. I look forward to a great weekend.

Marty

The Biedenharn Museum & Gardens

I am so excited.....We have the most wonderful museum and gardens right here in our great city...... The Biedenharn Museum and Gardens. For the past four years, they have been undergoing extensive restoration to their buildings. And oh, what a job they have done. History and historical architecture has been preserved. The additional space has allowed The Biedenharn to add the Coca-Cola Museum and a gift shop. I tell you that to say this....Some of my fabric cards were selected to be included in their gift shop.

Here's one of my New Year's Resolution fabric cards. Get it in your face and stop whining.

And, here are two more......"In Color I Dream." And it's companion, "I Dream In Color."

I am thrilled.

Doodles

Merriam-Webster defines Doodle - a verb - to dawdle or trifle.

a noun - an aimless or casual scribble, design or sketch. Also, a minor work.

Wait a minute here.......I don't have time to dawdle or trifle. That's a personal opinion that only I can hold!! I see doodling as freeing up space in the brain for more...well, doodles. I often quilt up and bind my doodles as reminders that my brain was once full. A minor work of art...posh on Merriam-Webster. The moral here, "Don't believe everything you see in print."

Valentine Hearts

Love this Redwork Valentine's Day Freebie project from BIRD BRAIN DESIGNS. Click here to get there!!!

Not sure when I'll have time....but I do like to take advantage of the freebie downloads. They don't stay available forever.

Can you believe it. YES, with the help of a friend, quilter and computer genius, Misty McKeithen, I did it. I can now just enter my online stuff right here and you can just click and be there. Don't have it really fined tuned yet, but boy, what a brain breakthrough. I have begged, borrowed, and yes, even stolen information from several people to get this thing running smoothly. But what's a girl suppose to do when the program is free. (My time, of course, has no value). I'm lovin' it.

Later.....Marty

Wonderful Knit Purse Pattern - A Must Have

This is a must-have knit purse pattern. I found this picture on Interweave Knits webpage. This pattern is in the Winter 2008 issue. Now, you wanna guess what I'll be buying next.

Positano Tote
Silka Burgoyne


Finished Size 17" wide at bottom, 12" high, and 4" deep.
Yarn Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Superwash (100% wool; 200 yd [183 m]/100 g): #SW190 cactus, 5 skeins.
Needles Size 9 (5.5 mm). Size 7 (4.5 mm): set of 2 double-pointed (dpn). Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Notions Stitch holder; tapestry needle; pair of 13" long rattan handles (shown: Fashion Rattan Purse Handle HR-DM12 from UMX; www.umx.info); 4" diameter belt buckle; three 18" × 12" pieces of needlepoint plastic canvas; ½ yd of heavy lining fabric or lighter lining fabric and interfacing; sewing needle and thread; sewing pins; safety pins.
Gauge 16 sts and 32 rows = 4" in charted patt on larger needles with yarn doubled, after blocking.

Fun to knit socks and purses AND a completed art quilt

Finally, here is the completed art quilt project from last week. It's 12"x18". How about "High Energy Level." When the shoe fits, wear it!

Now, I'm moving on....I started a sock knit project before Thanksgiving.

Let me digress here. With no knit shop here in Monroe, it was always my quest to scope out yarn shops when I traveled. I have yarn from Kansas City, Olympia (WA), New Orleans and Alexandria, LA. Then finally, the neatest yarn shop opened within a mile of home. Pretty convenient and I was thrilled. Buying yarn locally was sheer bliss. And the shop owner gave lessons so I signed up for socks and took lesson #1. Pictured are my results. Then when it came time to move on to knitting the heel, I went for lesson #2. Well, bless Pat, the store was closed. Sad day for our knitting community. The sign is still out and there seems to be product still in the store, so I continue to be optimistic.

Now, I'm moving on once again. This morning I drug out the pattern and decided I could manage reading instructions on my own. We'll see.














Knitting and felting purses is really fun too. I've completed three to date. Here's two. Both are body hugging flat purses from "Two Old Bags." Great look. Lime green and chocolate brown.....the best.


Later....

Queen Size (Is Good) Scrappy Bed Quilts

It's been a two-quilt night in North Louisiana this past week. Yikes, down in the 20 degree range. But, it's really a two-quilt night for me all year round 'cause the mister likes to keep the temperature set on freeze. And I actually prefer a cold house myself. Isn't it pleasant when two people agree especially when they sleep in the same bed!!

Anyway, as I was saying......but when he has a two-quilt night, that means it must be three quilts for me. AND they feel so cozy. These are my favorites - two queen sized ones and a little lap quilt. All three very scrap happy. I have no fear in mixing fabrics. As a matter of fact, the more color I add, then the more color I can add. It all ADDS up to fun quilts. Click on photo to zoom in for closeup.

More musings later....

NLQG Meeting

Being a member of the North Louisiana Quilt Guild is not only educational and inspirational, it is entertaining and just plain fun. Click here on NLQG, browse around and sign the guest book.

Thanks to all who continue to add quilt blocks to the Marine Comfort Quilts. Our guild has made and mailed over 200 quilt blocks to this organization. Our guild donation quilt was unfolded today. Hats off to the committee of three who spent hundreds of hours piecing and quilting. It is exquisite. "Daisy's In The Cabin" was a selection from Pam Bono Designs. When they are this beautiful, it's really easy to sell all those raffle tickets. Well, yes, the guild has to make money to afford our bi-annual quilt show!


In addition to viewing the fab donation quilt, Kay Thode shared with us a quilt she found in Massachusetts and purchased for a meager $10. Kay did her homework and found that it is a circa 1820's and the pattern is "Mrs. Harris's Colonial Rose." Even though it is somewhat worn, it is a real treasure.














And, Lisa Smith had a wonderful holiday quilt she finished with the help of her great quilter friend, Susanne Walker. Fun, fun show-and-tell.



















We are also really excited to announce that renown teacher and quilter, Margaret J. Miller of MILLER QUILTS will be in Monroe June 5 and 6, 2009, for her "Smashing Sets" workshop. Anticipation is growing as the sun continues to shine on our guild.

Let us all hope that I learn how to link directly to web pages in the very near future. In the meantime, you may laugh AT me or WITH me. Your choice. I'm doing neither at this moment.

Thinking of Spring - Clothes Shopping

Here's the look I want for Spring that I found at Coldwater Creek . This look makes me happy....love it! No, I'm not as young as this young model, but I think this look spans multiple generations. Tsk, Tsk, youngsters, we old folks still keep ourselves young both mentally and physically. And, we aren't quite as deeply in debt as you are. (Just one of my musings that will be occasionally thrown in...for your benefit, of course.)

Now if I could just find the perfect shoes. Bet I can! Husband dear is still sleeping, so I can just keep wish list dream shopping.

Internet Technology Break Through

Hello, one and all....We have the most wonderful little green tree frogs here in Louisiana. They even allow husband dear to seek them out for photo shoots. His shoots are so extensive that he had to make a computer album entitled "Tree Frogs." Is he not just a wee bit obsessive??

Well, I thought of those tree frogs yesterday (after having a mental breakthrough). For the size of their little bodies, they can make the biggest frog leaps I have ever witnessed. And you know what, for the size of my brain, I made just as big a leap as any frog. I'm still smiling about my success in stretching my learning curve. Drum roll please.....

Yes, I learned how to copy and paste. Evidence my enhanced sidebar: Ads, blogroll, logos of fiber and quilt groups where I am registered. I can now get pictures from the web and publish within my blog....See the Horn Quilting Cabinet. This is like the one I bought last year. I also added the 5-drawer storage unit.

I have limited space, so the drop down feature on this cabinet perfectly fits in. When working on a large project, I can expand the working surface, then just let it back down when project is finished. Now, if I could afford a light box, I would be in hog heaven. Now that's a good ole southern place to be!

TaDa for now with lots of hugs to you,

Marty (I'm the one still smiling)

Imperfect World, Imperfect Brain

My world is imperfect. Ok, that's life. I accept it. Is my brain not perfect, or is it dead? I suppose I must accept that also. I have spent the past 3 hours trying (without success) to master 'copy and paste.' I know it can be done....I can see all of your blogs and see the Etsy logos, the Amazon logos, the books posted (using isbn), the online sources that you just click on (and you get there). I have done about enough research as I have access to, tried every method the internet tutorials have and have still failed miserably. Now, I have to ask myself, "Is this worth it?" If you never see another blog from me, you'll know that I decided that I don't have enough hours in the day and my life is too short for this anguish. I'm not really a heavy drinker, so I'll just go get a glass of wine to lower my blood pressure.

See ya..........

One step forward -quilting and binding

I've made progress. It's quilted. I used the free motion Karen McTavish technique. It's trimmed and ready to be bound. But, I don't have enough fabric of the two bindings I prefer, so will have to go with the black stripe.
Just ride this train with me to the end.

I usually put quilts on the sewing room floor to take pictures of. Oops, got a little too much information in this picture. Check out the painted toenails...time for a spa pedicure!!

Art Quilt in Progress..w/my favorite greens

Remember the other day I mentioned that I wanted to use some of my favorite greens in a project. Well, today I cut a few slices off some of them, rummaged around in my scrap pile for other fabrics to mingle in and voila, here is an art quilt work-in-progress. I even patched together some of my greens for the backing and hanging sleeve. I really couldn't tell which was top and bottom of this one until I found those little batik triangles and placed them as windmills. Now, it seems to have more direction and makes more sense (to me anyway). I think the name of this one will be "High Energy Level." Agree? I'll post this one with final dimensions, etc. when completed.

When working with such small pieces of fabric, my favorite tools are Pellon Wonder Under and the applique pressing sheet.

Hugs for now.

Gotta love cats and needlepoint

Here is one of my favorite needle point pillows I completed a while back. Also a favorite of cats Tigger and Agador. They are having no trouble snoozing...even with a giant rabbit watching over their slumber party. I cherish this little picture since both are now in cat heaven. They both were just little starving alley cats when they wandered into my life. I brought them in, fattened them up and loved them dearly. A musing from my past. Cherish each moment.

My Favorite Greens (Fabric, that is)

It's been a busy day around here. Big trip to Wal-Mart. Dearest and I have really worked hard at coming up with dinner menus for the week then making only one shopping trip. Hoping this will save us money as some of my readings indicate. It will at least save time away from the grocery. Happy day.

To help get my mind off tedium and into inspiration, I pulled out some of my favorite greens (fabric that is). Now, how can I incorporate some, or all, of this into a work of art? I'll keep you posted.

xxxooo......Marty

Quilt Guild Meeting - NLQG

Wow, did we have a fun North Louisiana Quilter's Guild meeting yesterday. I am vice-president of our chapter...which means I am responsible for getting great programs each month. Yesterday truly was a great program. Dorothy Williams is a member of our chapter AND is a member and circuit teacher of Gulf States Quilting Association. She is also a Bernina fashion designer and modeled her designer garment at the 2002 Houston International Quilt Show.

Dorothy will be teaching "Flowers Go South" at the GSQA seminar in Baton Rouge in March and she gave us a wonderful preview of her flowers: Fuchsia, Forsythia, Hydrangea, Wild Rose, Wisteria and Pansy. Her six-block sampler quilt is exquisite.

Dorothy's tools: pinking shears, fabric paint pens, acrylic paint, template plastic, embroidery floss, pearls and beads. Most of these items, she says, can be purchased at Hobby Lobby. She also loves to incorporate Dupioni silk and batik fabric. Dorothy found a great array of batiks in the BATIKS GALORE booth in Houston this past year.

Fill your heart with sunshine and flowers.

Art Quilts Displayed

Such a pretty day out today, and what did we do....cleaned house. It just had to be done. I'm not quite ready to publish my messy sewing room yet, but will share how I display some of my art quilts around the house. Here is the master's room. Or, so he thinks.

"At Piece With Time" (almost) Completed Quilt

Boy has my Bernina been whirring this morning. I purchased the Quilter's Edition several years ago and it has been perfect for my quilting and embroidery needs.

Yes, it's still raining here. Is this why Louisiana is known for its marshlands???

Did get the binding sewn onto my quilt I named "It's almost pink and brown." Loved the Henry Glass fabric we used in this quilt that was a block-of-the-month quilt at Quilt 'N Stitch, our local quilt shop. "At Piece with Time" by Steiner & Frankenberger is the book we used and it is just a joy to read....a story behind every block. And has great pictures. Also a pattern to do a travel journal, baby quilt, baby doll and doll quilt. I did make the doll quilt for one of my favorite nieces last year as part of her Christmas gift. But, I have to tell you, the instructions in this book were the hardest I have ever had to follow. And, you know how costly these pretty quilt books are...well, we received along with the book, corrections to six (repeat. 6) pages. Not a good thing in my view.

Anyway, if it continues to rain, I just may have the binding completed by Thursday to take to our North Louisiana Quilt Guild meeting for the Show and Tell segment. Not only do I love showing off my work, but always enjoy seeing the beautiful works of chapter members. What a treat.

Finished Quilt -a play on Turning 20 Quilt Pattern

Such a dreary day here, but never mind, at least I finished binding one of my latest quilts. I still hand stitch on my bindings for the neatest look. I enjoyed mixing the Moda fabrics with other fabrics I had in my stash. My camera and lighting never gives justice to the colors. These are just the softest pinks, green, blues and yellows. Inner border is an orangy, rosy, red color to pull out the roses in the green outer border. The long arm quilting was done by friend, Elaine Dubois of Rose Hill Quilt Shop here in Louisiana. She has one of those fancy Gammill Statler Stitchers. Envy.

All of my quilts are for sale.

Fabric Art Cards

Ruby Suzanne, another thread art design in my series "Pretty Ladies in Smart Hats." Also available in my Etsy shop MartysFiberMusings.etsy.com

"Collette", another one of my original design, thread art. Very simply, I machine stitch little snippets of fabric onto a heavy Peltex stabilizer, then free-motion machine stitch their little face/hat portrait. All available on Etsy shop. I'll figure out how to link the shop to the blog one day. soon, I hope. LOL

Her name is Olivia. Most of my pretty ladies have good ole Southern names. Just enjoy the moment. These art cards are perfectly at home in one of those little artist's easels. Also very pretty framed. I've done both.

Here is some of my thread-art - this is the "Pretty Ladies in Smart Hats" series. Her name is Peaches. Some of my work is listed in my Etsy shop. Click on MartyFiberMusings on the Etsy logo on the sidebar to take a look at my shop.