Marty's Fiber Musings: August 2012

From the Outside In: My Head

This is the one I call Toes Cat....well, because in the summer when I have on sandals or flips, he licks my toes! He's a neighbor's cat who is so gentle, so well-fed and groomed and he loves to come for a visit. He got caught in the rain this morning so stuck around awhile to figure out what might be going on.....in my head!

What was I thinking this morning when I responded to my sister's email question about what was going on with us. I gave her the usual 'nothing much' then decided that truthfully, there was a lot going on (in my head). I've been desperately trying to loose a pound without having to manage my calorie intake or having to exercise. So, here's my method:

First rule is to do your #1 before weighing in.
Second, goes without saying, don't weigh before doing your #2.
It's okay to shower while waiting on #2, but don't weigh with your hair wet. If you've ever picked up a bucket of water, you know how much water can weigh.
It's a wise choice to leave off deodorant.
And by all means, skip the hand and body lotion, and very definitely body powder!
Step on and off the scales very quickly....when the numbers change, they almost always go higher.

One day last week, when I caught the scales in a favorable mood, I weighed slightly less and in all my nakedness, feeling pretty sassy, skipped down the hall to ask HuMAn if my outfit made me look fat.

I won't make that mistake again! Didn't get a thing done the rest of the morning. TeeHee ~
Pull your blinds before you weigh.

Hoping for you a joyous weekend.

Marty

Just a sneak peak ~

of what I do on rainy days!

Converging Corners

I started with my square....any size will do, from 2" up to 5" would be a good start using Malka Dubrawsky's hand dyed fabric and a little off the shelf fabric I had in my scrap pile.

Followed FITF instructions.....that's short for Film In The Fridge, who has a great sewalong blog post on how to start to finish a converging corners quilt block to set in a most delightful quilt layout,

in courthouse steps fashion, I sewed the white sashing around my Malka D.....square to complete round #1.

And that is the end of that sentence. Did I get a little long-winded? And is my punctuation correct?

Don't EVEN answer those questions!

Round #2 and 3:

Finished one!

finished another converging corners block...on a roll now!

They will all be trimmed to

12 1/2" square.

Beginning of block 3....of 20!

You'll need to skip on over to Film In The Fridge to see the converging corners layout.

And I'll continue to sew.

Glenn Bowie Lyricist/Poet...words into songs

Viewing lyrics for EVERYTHING IS LOVE ( Nathan T Senner , Glenn Bowie ) by GLENN BOWIE LYRICIST / POET.

EVERYTHING IS LOVE
Love finds love, kindness finds kindness
There’s one thing we all have
One thing that binds us
We all have a heart, it can love forever
We all have a heart, and it can bring us together

We all have the same needs, to love and be loved
Inside our hearts we find
Things that we never dreamed of
Love can move mountains
A gift we all have within
But you have to give it away, for love to begin

Love is everything, everything is love
Take my hand and I’ll show you the way
Love is everything

Love finds love, compassion finds compassion
We all began the same way
And we all once were children
Now there’s people in need
Won’t you open up your heart
With love as our guide
I’ll show you where to start

Love is everything, everything is love
Take my hand and I’ll show you the way
Love is everything

Love is everything, everything is love
Take my hand and I’ll show you the way
Love is everything

All they need is
You can give it
We can rise above

Things we dream of, there inside us
Everything is love.

Things we dream of, there inside us
Everything is love.
Everything is love.
© Lyrics by Glenn Bowie , Music written and performed by Nathan T Senner

Feeling a little blue today ~

In blue gingham

Don't leave yet! There's no need to feel bad 'cause I'm feeling a little blue today ~

Surrounded by painted fabric

and blue stripes

Just a hint of blue in Alfred's collar and leash....just enough to distinguish him from 'the girls'

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival poster 2011 features Jimmy Buffet....

in orange with blue accents makes this poster feel alive. I can just hear 'havana day dreamin'

A quilt and it's stuffed rabbit ready for nap time.

Christie is genius at scouting out vintage quilt blocks at garage sales.

Aren't they just divine set in blue.

Judy made a pillow, then two more just for grins!

The buffet is always open!

Changing the Subject:

“If you happen to read fairy tales, you will observe that one idea runs from one end of them to the other--the idea that peace and happiness can only exist on some condition. This idea, which is the core of ethics, is the core of the nursery-tales.”

G. K. Chesterton

:Because I'm Instruction Challenged!

I bought this pattern three years ago and don't why it's taken me so long to get this table runner made. Well, actually I do know why: I'm instruction challenged! The pattern Point Setta by quilt designer Lisa Maki of Crooked Nickel Quilt Designs has four full pages of instructions and her table runner pictured on the pattern cover has at least five fabrics, plus a border! For one little table runner! Oh, My! So, while I loved Lisa's design, I just couldn't go the limit.

So now, three years later, I decided to overcome my fear of instruction overwhelm and make do with what was on hand....and that was two fabrics! One for the 5" squares and one for the 1" (-) sashing strips. I left the border off completely!

Kaffe Fassett fabrics are so exuberantly full of design, I decided I would cut this one fabric into the required 5" squares, then place each square in a different order on the Pellon quilter's grid to make my table runner look as though it is a multi-fabric table runner.

So, here we go, step-by-step:

Precision piecing made easy with Pellon Quilter's grid....fusible.

Cut to desired length and width, then place the 5" squares inside the grid, leaving a 1" grid open between each square. With Teflon applique pressing sheet, press the squares down, then add the sashing in the remaining open 1" grid and press down.

Flip your fused piece over and following the grid lines, sew 1/4" inside each side of the sashing.

Add batting and backing.....and quilt as desired. I quilted inside each sashing strip. This seemed adequate for the table runner.

My dining room is small, but full of color, so this table runner just made itself at home!

This makes me so proud: Let's all sing and dance with them ~

The Echinacea and I had a session:

Just before I trashed the deceased bouquet, I invited a few of the stems to allow me a photography session. They reluctantly agreed.

My original picture taken with a Canon PowerShot SX30...not the photographer's dream, but certainly my work horse. Set on manual, ISO 400.

And following are alterations using Photoshop Elements 7. What fun I had duplicating, cloning, erasing, moving, texturizing, saving:

the morning.

I used the clone stamp to even out the background and erase the shadows created during the photography session with the Echinacea purpura....

more commonly called purple coneflowers.

With a Kim Klassen texture "Water Stained Frame" (I think)....doesn't matter, all of her textures are just

works of art and a delightful addition to a photo.

With Kim Klassen's texture "Take Heart"

Using Photoshop shortcuts,

Control J to duplicate.

Control T to free transform (move) to create the background coneflower shadow effect.

Save.

Add Text

May I, Please?

Just for a minute

I promise not to hurt it

and I'll give it right back

May I? Please.

The outage didn't include lunch!

Entergy Company called the other day to tell us they were planning an outage for us. It was to start on Monday morning and last for several hours. They gave us no more specifics than that but we knew the outage wasn't going to include a picnic lunch! But being good spirited as we often are, the HuMAn and I decided to make the most of this planned outage and head out this morning.

Sure enough, the lights went out around 7:30 this morning, so out the back door I headed....and the HuMaN decided he would scratch off the items we needed from Walmart and gather the fixings for dinner tonight. I was okay with that....I would rather be here than there.

I watched the Entergy guys work out on the high lines and knew we were still out inside the house, so on I worked, snipping the high growth and pulling weeds until I realized the meaning of the Paul Simon song, 'the nearer your destination you are, you are slip sliding away.' About midway through the azalea hedge row, my back began to ache, but I kept snipping and sure enough, my desire to finish kept sliding away.....and I kept snipping, but desire kept sliding away the nearer the end of the hedge row I got, the more my desire to finish slid away.

Just about the time my desire had completely slid away, hallelujah, the lights came back on. About that same time the HuMAn pulled into the driveway, forcing me to perk up enough to finish the job since I really, really didn't want to put groceries away. I love it when things go as planned!

and just for fun.......a couple of my face sketches

Thoughts flying in and out of my head:

You may call me "bird"

What's in a word? Like:

Proponent
Implore
Missive
Obscure
Clemency

Some words nagged at me this morning....I guess because I seldom see them used. Wonder why?

Put together: While I am not a proponent of one wasting one's time, I do implore you not to agree to or sign any missive without first reading and understanding the obscure language within. Won't you have clemency on the writer of this post.

Or, put another way: I hate to to see you waste time reading, but you really don't want to sign that piece of paper that may be giving away your rights along with the rights of your first born child! Have mercy on ignorance.

Smile for the camera and don't cross to the other side of the street when you see me coming!

A Must Watch Video:

Just a delightful way to make a quick quilt: Compliments of Missouri Star Quilt Company and 3 Dudes Quilting....a storefront in Phoenix.

Just sit back for a few minutes and enjoy.

What are you reading today?

In Minnesota

Source

In Ohio

Source

What I'm Lovin' Today:

RUGS

RUGS RUGS RUGS RUGS

RUGS

RUGSRUGS RUGS

RUGS

Source: Sadie and Stella

Design Ideas for Rugs: To Make: For Me!

Oh, and another idea from Tatertots and Jello....house reveal in Salt Lake City.....

And while Jane is talking about artist block........I thought both her collage journey examples of how not to block creativity would make great rugs. What do you think?

I Don't Do White.....

Finished my rug and auditioned it here and here:

under my office chair....no!

then in front of my vintage kitchen cupboard that I use to store my quilting fabric, but no...no
again.

I ultimately decided it's 24" x 36' size got too lost in my sewing/art studio so moved it to my not so white little tiny bathroom. Now, my quilt on a rug, made here, is at home.

And, speaking of home: Did I say that I don't do white! It's an older home, built in the 1950's.....so, as you can imagine, the bathroom tiles are the colors of the '50's. Not wanting (not having the money) to spend mega bucks on bathroom redo's we opted to live with the pink in one bathroom and the green in another and tan in the other. We love it !(&?. and love living with it.

I call the pink bathroom mine.....and because of it's teeny size, I can take all the liberties I want with it. My original liberty was to replace the broken commode lid with one made of oak....straight out of the Lowe's bath department, added a neutral big stripe wallpaper, then began to jazz it up a bit with my Jazz Festival poster, then my cross stitch and needle point framed pieces, then more and more! From there, I added orange bath towels, so by the time I got my pojagi inspired shower curtain finished last month, I new exactly where it would hang. Instead of tedious grommets, I found the clip rings in the drapery hardware department at Lowe's. So easy!

Continuing to add the rug just made sense! Agree?

Check It Out: It's Free

Handcrafted Inspirations Volume 2: Stamptington & Company. Check it out.......this e-book is free!

source: Roben-Marie Smith

Quilt On A Rug?

- Yes, you're reading correctly....and a first class rug it is. Dianne Springer of Scrap-O-Lator Quilts & More fame taught a class today on how to make her quilt on a rug. You can make one too because in her book, she cleverly included some delightful no-sewing projects.....and they all revolve around what else but SCRAPS. Quilt On A Rug instructions start on page 45.

Here's my first quilt on a rug after construction stage one. It's definitely in the raw stage now, but after stage one dries, I'll move on to stage two, then stage three and it's done. I like to think this is a great use of batik scraps! And I'll show you the finished rug when finished!

And Hannah's after construction stage one - using Kaffe Fasset fabric scraps she found in her shop in Choudrant, Louisiana. (Hannah also has an online shop).

Both of our rugs will finish out at 24" x 36".

And Dianne is sitting on top of the world - I mean - her 8' x 10' she's just starting....in black and white....with a tasty border of green - probably lime! Yes, that's a big rug, but she places her big ones on the floor of her quilt show booths and displays them in classes she teaches. See her busy schedule on her Threads From My Head.....a blog. You'll be glad you did 'cause Dianne vends at most major quilt shows around the country.