Finally Organized!

I realized last week that I am finished - finally! - organizing the new studio. It has taken me about four months, due to everything going on around here, but it's done. While I still have to go through magazines, filing, and sort out some small containers, I can use the space and know where to find what I need. With the holidays approaching, it is just in time.

Even though it still looks messy due to the paper and containers that need to be processed, I thought you would like to see the new space. It includes not only my sewing studio, but all of my art and needlework supplies and doll-making materials. To my delight, I finally have a design wall. I was also able to fit in my books. All of this is a real blessing, since I no longer have to go to different levels or rooms to access needed items.

In the process of organization, too, I was able to identify the WIP's I am interested in pursuing, cull patterns and books that no longer work for me, and set up projects so that I am more likely to get them done. It bodes well, and I am looking forward to a creative and productive season. I hope you have one, too.

Until next time, I wish you peace.

Projects and Plans

The grandchildren are still in town, so we have had a couple of additional visits and hope to have two more before they fly back home. Grandpa wants to fish with them, again, and have their catch for lunch, if possible. We were able to meet up with many family members for lunch and a visit to a petting zoo (at the restaurant complex), where the kids got to feed the goats and llamas. A trip to the regular zoo, which has been put off twice due to the weather, looks like it will finally happen.

Our own yard continues to provide constant sightings of a variety of wildlife. The fledgling birds are beginning to learn to eat seeds. The new generation of squirrels is fighting over territory, and I am learning more about the way various species communicate.

On another note, I am carrying on with writing my mother's story. Earlier this year, one of my cousins' children gave me a wonderful gift. She had been sending me pictures from her mother's collection and included two of my maternal great-grandmother. Since I had heard stories about her sitting in her rocking chair and greeting the children but had never seen a picture of her, I was overwhelmed not only to see her for the first time, but also to have a picture of her in that chair.

I am persisting in my work on the studio, too. The new project cases are set up, and I have been putting away fabric that had been stashed for a project that changed. Some of the pieces I hadn't seen in years, and I am delighted with how beautiful they are. My hope is to be done sorting things out by the end of this month so that I can get to work on Christmas gifts.

I hope you enjoy the season and, as always . . .

Until next time, I wish you peace.

Celebrations, Visits & Living Life

It has been quite a year, so far. The wedding was beautiful. Everything fell into place, and the weather cooperated. The wedding party was composed of all the attendants the bride and groom had hoped for, including the grandchildren as flower girl and ring bearer.

Since then, we have had a few visits with the grandchildren, including a few days while their parents were in town when they stayed with us. Grandpa got to have them help him feed the birds and there was the obligatory fishing trip. We are looking forward to another couple of visits before they return home with their other grandmother.

The garden has been going through its paces. We have milkweed growing and hope to entice some monarchs to our yard. The lilies, both day and tiger, have been blooming profusely. In addition, we have a volunteer trumpet creeper that is blooming and will, we hope, attract the hummingbirds. (We do have feeders, but the volunteer is a nice addition.) The gooseberry bush produced an enormous amount of berries. The cherry tree was also prolific. Now the raspberry bush is beginning to set fruit.

I have slowly been putting my studio to rights. I've made some progress since the picture above, but not enough to call it done. One thing I am trying to organize is specific projects with the hope that it will help me to tackle them sooner. In addition, I have been thinking more lately about mending, both to take care of items and get more use out of them.

I've been reading a lot about the latter at pages instituted by Jen Gale. She has a blog at My Make Do and Mend Life. She had a Facebook page associated with a decision she had made to blog about mending for an entire month. While I was unable to fully participate in mending during that time -- it was right in the middle of the preparations for the wedding -- I did follow it and was able to contribute some, I hope, helpful tips. Now, I am thinking more about the issue, especially in light of my continued interest in downsizing and not having more than I need. I expect I will talk more about the subject in future posts. For now, it seems enough that I have finally gotten back to the blog.

I hope you are having a wonderful season. Until next time, I wish you peace and all good.

Informal survey

Japanese Dreams - framed quilt

Butterfly brooch (about 2 12" wing tip to wing tip)

Butterfly pincushion (The ruler is not attached.)

Table topper

Table runner

Baby quilt - butterflies

Priority quilt (Approximately 8 1/2" x 11")

Baby quilt - stars

Bookshelf quilt (about 4' long)

I am going to really put myself out there this time. Each of the items above is a piece I have designed and created. I am curious to know if you would be interested in purchasing anything similar to any of these pieces, and if so, what you would consider an appropriate price for it. If you would, please respond in the comments with identification of any piece and a price range. If you would not, please let me know why not. Thank you, in advance, for your help.

Until next time, I wish you peace.

Goal Setting and Other Thoughts

These lovely quilts were in the space where our family celebration was held.

While I am still getting ready for my nuclear family gathering at Christmas, the larger family party is over and my thoughts are turning to doing my year-end inventory and goal setting exercises. To help myself do that this year, I have been working with Gail McMeekin's book The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women: A Portable Mentor. She presents a series of "challenges" to get you to think about your creative process and work towards making a list of goals.

In addition, I have been trying to be more aware of the things that capture my attention. I was reminded of Ragfinery by this video VTV at WWU's video. It, in turn, has reminded me to add recycling/upcycling to the list of items I want to be sure to include in my goals.

On another note, we are still dealing with above normal temperatures, and with a minor blip toward normal ones over next weekend, are supposed to continue to have them for the next couple of weeks. I find it truly disturbing. At the same time, I am happy that an accord has been reached in Paris on climate change. You can read more about that here: Nations Approve Landmark Climate Accord in Paris.

Until next time, I wish you peace.

(Note: I provide links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply affiliation by me with any site.)

Creating & Questioning

Making progress on Christmas gifts. Can't show much, but here are a few hints on some of them. Our large family get together is the second Saturday of December, so I have lots to do.

As a result of a class offering at the local community college, I have also been thinking about business niches. I know that I said that I was going to simply create for myself and for gifts, but the idea still stirs questions. Primarily, I find myself asking what I love most to create.

Since my next post will likely be after Thanksgiving, I hope you have a wonderful holiday, if you celebrate it, and offer my thanks for your interest in my blog.

Until next time, I wish you peace.

Inspiring Creativity

It has been hard to get myself into the studio lately. While I have made a few forays, looking over potential projects, I haven't spent much time there. In some ways, I have been experiencing creative burnout. Alisa Burke has a helpful post about the issue: Coping with Creative Burnout. Some of the things I have been doing correspond to actions she discusses, like focusing on something different and having fun.

I have been spending a lot of time with family, as well as researching and writing the book I've been working on. Trips out to local nature areas are sure to provide inspiration for future work, too. Fall has certainly arrived and is making its mark on the foliage, albeit slowly. 

Another way to look at things came up just yesterday and today with two references to the "which dog are you feeding?" story. The first was in the new movie, Tomorrowland, which we watched last night. The second is in Roz Stendahl's blog post: Which Dog Are You Feeding? While the movie uses the story to attempt to redirect our attitudes towards making changes for the health of the planet, Roz uses it as a tool for achieving artistic goals. In both cases, of course, the story is about looking at things in a positive light. Roz's idea was a revelation, however, and something I will need to think more about. Inspiration, it would seem, is coming from unexpected areas.

I'm off to think, enjoy life, and see what's next. Until next time, I wish you peace and all good things.

(Note: I provide links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply affiliation by me with any site.)

A Break from the Studio

Our elder son and his family have come in for a visit, which means we get to spend some time with the grandchildren, too. Since we hadn't seen them in person for two years, it was wonderful to get those first hugs and experience the excitement of bouncing five-year-olds. Though it can wreck havoc when they are swinging things around - even soft stuffed animals.

Since our son has missed the family Christmas parties for the last four years, we are also having a summer family get-together. Most of the people will not be able to make it, but there should still be between 25 and 30 of us. There will also be other little ones, potentially even the newest baby. I expect it will be a wonderful day.

Preparations and logistics associated with their visit have meant that I have not had much time to do anything creative, but the break is definitely worth it. There will be time after they have gone to get back to the studio.

I wish you wonderful days, and 

Peace

Playing the Blues

We took some time out earlier this week to go on a boat trip on Lake Michigan. It was an exhausting day, but made for some great memories and pictures.

I didn't know cormorants hung out around Lake Michigan.

The weather gave us some unusual cloud formations.

The combination of the boat wake and sky introduced us to yet another variety of blues.

By the end of the day, only one cormorant was hanging out with a flock of seagulls.

The experience also gives new meaning to the term "blue planet."

I hope you have had a relaxing experience this week. Until next time, as usual, I wish you peace.

AAQI Reminder

I read an article recently about a man, whose background was in engineering, who is now struggling with Alzheimer’s. He and his wife had suspected it might happen, since several members of his family had battled the disease.

In addition, there have been a number of reports this summer of elderly people losing their way while driving to familiar places. Often they have been missing for days or more, creating heartbreak and fear among their loved ones and putting themselves in grave danger.

So, it was a blessing to receive the following information from Ami Simms this morning. I hope that you will also do what you can to support AAQI.

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative has just funded two more research grants!

The official press release is here: http://www.alzquilts.org/aaaw1foralre.html

And, the blog post is here: http://aaqiupdate.wordpress.com/2013/09/08/aaqi-funds-two-more-research-studies/

Snag anything you like for your blog from either sources.

What's on the horizon?

Well, bidders in the September auction just raised $3,154 for the AAQI. We will continue to fund grants until we have no more money!

The October online auction features quilts from "Alzheimer's Illustrated: From Heartbreak to Hope" as does the December online auction. The November auction is the Celebrity Invitational Quilt Auction and then of course we will be making noise in the exhibit area at International Quilt Festival in Houston, October 30-November 3. We hope to offer more than 2,500 quilts. If things go as planned, we may reach the $1,000,000 mark in funds raised for research in Houston.

Please invite your readers to join support us by purchasing a small quilt online: http://www.alzquilts.org/quiltsforsale.html

Until next time, I wish you peace and all good.

Living with Joy

Years ago I maintained a very large garden, growing vegetables, fruit, flowers, and herbs. It was during a time in my life when I was a SAHM and had begun building the business, making, at the time, primarily useful items and some dolls. In the intervening years, I went back to get my degrees and ended up working full time until I retired. Also, during those years, my allergies got so bad that I could no longer work the garden. There are some leftovers of my gardening years, however, and yesterday evening I took the chance of an allergic reaction and went out to take pictures.

 

 

apple blossoms

 

lilac bushes

 

hosta

 

 

rose bush

 

 

lilac close up

 

 

even closer

 

 

When I graduated with my MA, my brother and his wife gifted us with two beautiful bushes. One of them has done well, since it gets full sun. The other sits unhappily in the shade of the fruit trees (pictured below). I want to have it replanted elsewhere, but do not remember what it is or know when the best time is to uproot it. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

 

 

One of the reasons I decided to go out to take the photos is that I lost a cousin, suddenly, last month. She and I were born in the same year, and so far as anyone knew, she not only did not have any health issues, but was doing everything right to stay healthy. I had expected she would outlive me by many years. While my first reaction, after concern for her family, was to dwell on the probability of death, it finally hit me that what I really need to do is live with joy. None of us knows how much time we have, but we need to make the most of whatever there is.

 

That spurred me to make some decisions about my creative work. I have several things in process, now, and hope to share them, soon. One is a new art doll prototype. I have also been designing some prayer flags. Perhaps of more significance are the decisions I have been making about priorities and incorporating more time for items I have started or have materials to make for family members. At any rate, it has had the result of kick-starting my creativity, again.

 

I hope that you will find ways to live with joy.

 

Until next time, I wish you peace.

 

What is your perspective?

While our yard resembled a swamp yesterday, we were among the fortunate in our region of northern Illinois. We didn't have any flooding or have to contend with detours for flooded streets to the places we were going. The birds found our yard a veritable overflowing pantry, as the ground was too wet for the hiding residents like worms and bugs.

 

 

 

Of course, there was also some of the usual feed provided by the humans around here.

 

Of course, there is the question of how the ground nesting birds handled the situation, but for the most part, the birds took advantage of what was, for humans, a real mess.

 

Recently, we began trying to identify how many different types of birds frequent our yard. The list is growing quite impressive, and new ones seem to come all the time. The most recent we've identified is a fox sparrow. Larger than the typical sparrows we see, it has an unusual trait of jumping forward and back to clear clutter away from its food.

 

 

We had quite a scare with the first one that visited, however, as it hit our sliding glass door and was in bad shape for hours. Eventually, it was able to fly away. Over the next few days, we began to see more of them.



 

Another frequent spring visitor to our yard is the Northern Flicker. Seeing it pounding the ground with its beak (since it is a type of "woodpecker") is truly unusual. Another ground feeder is the Brown Thrasher, which also attacks the ground for food, but without the velocity of the Flicker. The Thrasher normally visits only for a rare few days and is generally camera shy.

As I write this, my husband is watching a World News special report on the hunt for the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing. The news of this last week has been devastating in so many areas of the country: Boston, Texas, and the Midwest. It is difficult to handle. At the same time, I am inclined to think about the outrush of support given by so many people in these situations. While there are a few people who perpetrate violence, I believe we need to remember that the majority of people in the world are caring individuals who would do everything they could to assist and comfort those in need.

I invite you to consider your perspective. Do you look at the good or focus only the bad? I know that my perspective can affect my health. Does that happen to you?

As always, until next time, I wish you peace and all good.

Studio Reorganization Question

I have been busy reorganizing the studio since we switched out a bureau. We purchased two bookcases to replace it. Like these:

Now, I have to decide what method to use to store fat quarters. I have been folding 1/2 yard and up fabrics and stacking those.

The shelves are 11 inches deep and 11, 14-1/2 or 16 inches high, so I am reluctant to simply stack the fat quarters. I want to have easy access and need to be able to easily determine the color range/theme. Does anyone have any suggestions? What works best for you?

As far as I can tell, my options include baskets, bins, plastic shoe boxes, CD cases, boxes of various sorts, and trying to fold the fabric to fit. Are you using one or more of these options? Do you have a preference, if you are?

I appreciate any help you can give me.