Posts

Basting a quilt and other random bits

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Quilt sandwich on the work table! Sometimes getting it there feels like a battle, haha.   WOO HOO! I am SO HAPPY (*like really happy*) to have the Warm Hearted quilt basted! Half of the perimeter is secured, a slow process that I'm doing at my work table instead of with the quilt splayed out on the guest bed. Easier on my back to not lean over awkwardly, if not as pleasant on my right shoulder, but.... And....it's basted! Every half heart has a safety pin, for which I needed to pull out the back-up pins. Definitely no shifting for this project, and how satisfying it will be to remove said pins as each heart is quilted!   Having begun that process truly gives me peace, as well as the giddy thrill of anticipation of hand-quilting all those gorgeous HEARTS!!! How cool will that be, oh goodness! Very cool. Super Cool. TRULY COOL!!! And on this cloudy, rainy day, Warm Hearts are the coolest thing around, lol. Every time I see this quilt, I feel such joy; this is steeped in happine...
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Getting ahead of myself

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All I need to do is baste the above quilt. How I deal with the edges will appear another day. Isn't that often the way we work? Stressing out about this or that when truthfully all we need to focus on is one small detail. I realized that this morning, as in truly grasping it with all gears. LOL. And of course, as these things go, my laptop just notified me the battery is SUPER LOW. So I've plugged it in, and will continue this as soon as possible.... Okay, I've eaten breakfast and am ensconced at my office machine. Probably the laptop is fully charged by now, hah, but as I was saying, we freak out or worry or over-analyze this, that, or some other and if all we'd done in the first place is to deal with the initial step, voila! All our anxieties would be gone. That sounds SO SIMPLE. So EASY. So, so, so.... So something, ahem. What in our human natures seems to crave drama, fretting, over-analyzing. Why can we live and let live? Why, why, why.... Why's as deep a subje...
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Reducing the noise

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Jupiter on the far left, Venus below it, while Mercury is just able to be viewed below and to the right of Venus. From last night on Woodley Island, Eureka, California. Last night my husband and I went to Woodley Island in Eureka, where the marina resides, as well as a great view of the western skies; I wanted to see Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury, and from our house that isn't possible, too many trees. From the marina, the vista was expansive, the recent sunset's warm orange glow like a balm, other than keeping Mercury hidden until around nine thirty. By then that tiny planet could be spotted, and in the photo at top you can see it, albeit faintly. Jupiter and Venus are prominent, as well as the Fisherman sculpture at the bottom left corner, commemorating those local lost at sea. Yet I didn't gaze at the stars much from outside; it was windy and chilly, so mostly I remained in the car, extremely grateful for the clear night in which to view stars. Those same clear skies greet...
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Home and not so far away

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The state of my work table, and all the totes I someday need to deal with, as I told my daughter this weekend I would attempt to use all my fabric before, well.... I'm back after a lovely weekend spent with family in the San Francisco Bay Area. Events were celebrated, the weather was marvelous, in that it wasn't hot, ha ha. And of course hanging out with beloveds is PHENOMENAL, also altering, in that my granddaughters aren't tiny, my own daughter not a girl, and my son-in-law the master of half-caff almond milk lattes, among his other genial attributes. I am blessed for such a grand collection of humans in my realm, and while we all wish to live closer to another, we're in the same state, and we get together as often as possible. Driving home yesterday, I breathed deeply after crossing the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, because in achieving that feat without any traffic incidents meant I was halfway home, though not halfway in actual distance. Still many miles to go, some ...
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The planes of now and later

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Warm Hearted quilt in its full glory. Tomorrow I'm heading out for a few days with family in the SF Bay Area. My suitcase is mostly packed, a few things with those chickens to accomplish, like cleaning out the coop today, lol. From my bedroom I could hear one of them making a racket, so I trekked outside to find Ruthie in a grumpy mood, probably because Owl was in Box #6. Ruthie, at times a broody hen, croaks the loudest, not a cluck exactly, more like the caw of an angry crow. I hope she behaves while I'm away and doesn't cause my husband too much fuss. I'm SO GLAD I denoted what I planned at the top of the quilt. An upside-down view of it. Two days ago I had big ambitions for my Warm Hearted quilt, since the back was finished. Big because on Thursday I'm leaving; what did I think I was going to accomplish in three days amid preparing for a trip, chickens to look after, etc, etc, etc. This morning I put the EPP part of this project on my work table while the back w...
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The need for texture

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Skies, fabrics, etc.... My right shoulder is BETTER! It's not to the point where I'm hand sewing like previously, but it doesn't hurt when I do hand stitch. Every other night. For about an hour. Which is approximately a quarter of the time I used to hand sew, but I'll take it. Very slowly beats not at all, and as I have several EPP projects, not to mention Kawandi, I wish to complete, hand sewing will truly exemplify SLOW STITCHING on a grand scale. Lol. A few days ago, while figuring out the next round of my Peace Around the World quilt , I played with some fun squares, turning an extra swan into the center of yet another coaster. I have So. Many. Coasters! Yet I love the brevity, experimenting with different fabrics, as well as adding a layer of Insulbrite to make them more heat-resistant. It kinda works, but it's not perfect. Guess I'll need to try it again, hahahah. What I DID LOVE were how woven fabrics worked amid regular cotton prints. I love how green me...
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A quilt back for the win!

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Colour does the heavy lifting in these six-inch squares with splashes of low volume to add sparkle. Despite two broody hens, one of which is a NEW BROODY HEN (ahem), I finished a definite quilt back this afternoon. It will be the back because the front is an EPP heart beauty, and this brightly coloured extravaganza will complement that warm-hued top just FINE. Life right now feels very....interesting, in a slightly overcast, marine layer sort of way. Revisions I wanted to do this week didn't happen. An extra broody hen wasn't in the plan. Completing this quilt top, however, was a goal, and I met it, and feel good about it. Certainly a win! Today my husband and I walked along Samoa Beach at low tide. The sand was packed and sturdy, the waves were loud, the wind blowy. I thought about how this setting could be incorporated into Noth's next storyline in The Enran Chronicles , as well as what looked like a driftwood forest there on the sand. Pondering that idea lifted my spirit...
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