Fiber and Pulp

Progress?

Found these pretty pansies flowering at my doctor's office this afternoon. As you can see, there was some bright sunshine there, too. :)

What have I been doing ... hmm. Well, I saw my orthopedist on Monday afternoon. Actually, I saw a new doctor - Gurtej Singh, MD. I quite liked him. :) Very American man, clearly been here most of his life (no accent:) - not that being American makes or breaks his doctor-ly ability. He put me on a series dose of sterioids for the inflammation in my neck ... gave me a pain killer (which doesn't, far as I can tell) ... and told me I have to go for an MRI. Sigh. Scheduled for next Monday afternoon. I'm not a fan of closed tube mri's - have done that before and sometimes I have to invoke my Lamaze breathing lessons to get through the process (borderline claustrophobia). Shrug. If it helps get at a solution for all this pain, I'll breathe deeply. Grin.

I did a bunch of errands that afternoon, too, and went to Wool Club at Springwater Designs. 

Oh, and went to guild on Monday night. :) Happy voices cheer me up!

Tuesday the electric company sent a man to inspect/oversee our new house panel (of breakers). Another infomercial. :P

I struggled all day Tuesday with not being able to stay awake...didn't get much done other than my temperature blocks for Monday and Tuesday.

Today has been a bit better. Started off slow - had to reschedule a meeting with my last remaining private student from my shop due to a doctor's appointment conflict. :P Went to said doctor's appointment.... and soaked up quite a bit of sunshine along with seeing some pretty pansies. :)

I also managed to do some sewing today. I made a block for my November block of the month drawing for Faithful Circle:

I call this block Spools and Flowers. :)

Made another Arrowhead block, too - eager to get this project on the road (am now halfway done):

I like pink and yellow together. Happy. :)

Heard that I did not get picked in my modern guild's lottery for MidAtlantic Mod retreat next spring so have to try to get an open-enrollment spot. Fingers crossed.

Also got the info on classes for the modern guild retreat later this month. I'm teaching a class so now I have to get my duckies in order. :)

On the whole, a good week. Making headway, at least. 

:) Linda

Recreate

We have been away for the past week, taking a vacation in the Great Smokey Mountains near Gatlinburg, TN. My parents left us a one-week condo/apartment unit there which is one of the few places my husband will go to get away from it all. :) He really is a home body and does not like to travel, so I pay attention to where he is willing to go! We have come to this area every year for the past five or six - each year exploring a different part of the region and lazing about, more or less, in the early fall.

When my parents bought this week (#42), it was the early highlight of autumnal color - guaranteed to be bright and flashing every year. Now, with global warming, it may or may not be color changing time as this week has become more and more the end of summer-ish weather. This year there was little color - just high on the mountain sides the maples were red. I'm not complaining - the weather was glorious while we were there. It rained one day but otherwise there were blue skies, temperatures in the high 50's and warm sunshine. :)

I struggled with myself a bit, mentally, before we went - over whether to use the temperatures in TN for my daily weather quilt or to keep up with what happened at home in MD while we were gone. In the end, I opted for MD as that is where my record centers. :) That meant that I had ten days of sewing to catch up on when I got home. No problem - I sewed up all those blocks yesterday (notice that, as I go along with this project, it gets pared down to essentials:) and today I joined my first five weeks of blocks into a single body. I had been keeping each row separate from the main body of work until the 14 days worth of blocks were completed. 

However, in my usual disorganized way ... I kept mislaying my in-progress rows. Sigh. Today I decided to join the blocks to the main body as I make them (using partial seaming) so I can't lose them (unless I lose them all:). Here is part of how it looks now:

The bottom row shows the last three days of weather (as well as the partial seam to attach the row, at the far right end). I should share the color scale, I guess, but I don't have a photo right now.

Sorry, I got distracted from my discussion of vacation. :) The photo at the top of this post shows the view of one mountain ridge I took when out driving. Hugh encouraged me to go out and do _something_ every day which was a really good thing. :) We went driving through the park several times:

These big rocks are at road level. I probably should have taken a car going by, too - the blocks are house sized. :) I love being in the mountains, they remind me of my childhood. The twisty, windy road through the park is two lanes (one each way) and about 35 mph speed limit. The Little Pigeon River plays twister with the road, crossing back and forth to each side all along the way. It is a scenic, shallow river filled with big rocks that have fallen down the mountain faces. There was more water than in past years running through the river this year - clearly they have had plenty of rain fall in that part of TN, too!

I did manage to do some local economy boosting while we were there. I visited the Smokey Mountain Spinnery again and bought some lovely dark (barn) red tweedy yarn to make a scarf. As usual, I had to admire the fairy garden in their front yard:

The sheep in their pen never fail to make me giggle. :) 

I also went to a new-to-me shop, The Pattern Hutch, which specializes in wool applique and punchneedle embroidery along with some (300?) fabric bolts. The lady who owns the shop was very helpful and friendly. She told me that most of her business comes from tourists and visitors to the area, not the local population ... and that she has been in business for 22 years. Has to be doing something right, eh? :) I bought a punch needle pattern, a yard of weaver's cloth which is apparently the usual background fabric for working punchneedle designs, and a wool applique kit. Here is the progress I managed to make on the punch needle project:

I am enjoying this technique. I had done it long ago (late 70's?) but not since. I am still feeling my way toward familiarity with the methods. And having fun with it - I love the texture of the raised nappy stitches. :) The piece is a small (5"x7"?) picture of coneflowers. I'm using the vintage floss my friend Barbara gave me from her grandmother's sewing basket - brands I've never used before, mostly. They are working beautifully! I am thinking this little embroidery will end up on a nice zipper pouch when it is finished (don't hold your breath:).

I had taken two kits of fabric mosaic patterns I bought from Cheryl Lynch at the PA quilt show last month along to work, too. I did manage to make one of them:

This bee looks pretty, um, chunky to me ... that's how the mosaic thing works. Here's a close up:

The background squares are 3/8" on a side. The non-square bits I snipped down with my scissors to fit. This piece still needs to be sandwiched and quilted - around each little tessera (bit of mosaic) - to complete the project. I chose the bee because it reminds me of my Dad who was a beekeeper (among many other things:) like his father before him.

Hugh and I also went shopping/strolling at a mountain-top mall called Ober Gatlinburg one afternoon. We visited a puzzle shop where I bought birthday gifts for my brother Kevin (who shares a November birth date with me:) and Hugh. There was a nice outfitters shop there, too, where I bought warm gloves for Skip (who has misplaced his) and me (gloves that fit! my hands are wider than usual but have shorter fingers). Nice outing with a great view from the parking lot that overlooked the town:

Everything was green and lush there - clearly it has been a good year for the trees. :) You can just see the brown areas on each edge of the photo where the town spreads around. Not easy to take long distance photos of landscapes with a camera phone that wants to focus on the nearby objects.

There were lots of great autumn/Halloween decorations all over town. I had a giggle when I saw this figure at this mountain top mall and had to take a pic:

With Hugh (6 feet tall) for scale. :)

Friday, our driving-home-day, it rained continuously all the way home. Cold, cold rain and low 50 degrees. Unpleasant. The trip went smoothly until we got about halfway between Hagerstown and Frederick, MD on I70. Then all came to a screeching halt. By then it was rush hour and there had been not one but two accidents on the highway. We did not get home until 9 p.m. (rather than the 6:30 we expected). Sigh. We were all happy to trundle into the house and hunker down in the warmth by that time.

Other than sewing and unpacking, I have done very little (oh, and sleep) this weekend. Typical after-vacation slump. :) Tomorrow I have an appointment with my orthopedist to look into my neck pains (sure hope there is some fix 'cause I am getting testy with waking up at night) ... and my monthly wool club meeting at Springwater Designs ... and, of course, the weekly Monday night guild meeting.

:) Linda

Traveling

Yesterday we drove south from Columbia (MD) all the way to Gatlinburg, TN, nestled into a narrow valley of the Great Smokey Mountains through which flows the Little Pigeon River. We had beautiful weather for the trip - bright sunshine, gentle winds and high wispy clouds the whole way. We left at about 8:30 in the morning and arrived at our (vacation) condo around 6:30 in the evening, just before sunset. 

The resort where we stay was partially destroyed by the wildfire that struck this area in November 2016. Rebuilding is going on everywhere including here at the apartment complex. Good to know that the insurance companies and banks feel this area is still economically viable. 🙂

Today it rained a fair bit in the morning (most of which I slept through as usual🙂). Hugh and I decided to go grocery shopping in the early afternoon as our unit has a full kitchen. We always share cooking duties around between the three if us (they know not to expect me to provide it all).

I spent a couple of hours this evening trying to remember how to do punchneedle embroidery correctly. I haven’t done any since the early 80’s but I enjoyed it back then. Recently I bought a new needle and am practicing on some vintage stamped linens my friend Barbara shared. She also passed along a fat sandwich bag full of embroidery floss skeins, three strands of which fit nicely into the smallest size punch needle. 

The results of my punching so far are not up to my usual production standards so I won’t share any pitiful photos here. Grin! Maybe by week’s end my bits will be looking better? 

It is supposed to be sunny but colder (50’s) tomorrow. I am hoping to get some outdoor time in the park!

🙂 Linda

Behinder!

I am feeling very White Rabbit-ish today. :) I just realized that it has been twelve days since I last posted to this blog. Talk about getting behind!! :P

Hmm, where to start.

When last I wrote, I was anticipating attending the bat mitzvah of a friend's daughter, Rachel. That was a complete, unmitigated disaster on my part. Major sighes! I wrote in my calendar that the services were supposed to start at 6 p.m. They were really supposed to begin at 5 - which I found out at 4:45 p.m. Rush, rush to drive to the temple ... and could not figure out where to go when I got there. So, I drove to the fire station hall where the party was to be ... and found no one there, either. I finally gave up in disgust (with myself) and went home. So, so stupid! 

The next day I came down with some kind of intestinal virus that kept me down for several days (four or five). Ick. I am also suffering with a flare-up of the pinched nerve issue in my neck; I've been waking up at night in pain and have been avoiding much sewing so as not to set it off. Sigh.

I finally recovered (from the virus but not the nerve pain) and managed to go to guild last Thursday (felt wonderful to get outside and see real faces!:). Saturday past (the 13th) I attended a quilting class with Melanie Tuazon through the Baltimore modern guild. She was teaching how to use curved piecing in quilt making. Even though I know how (and have taught the same) I did manage to learn something new - to use glue stick to baste my curved seams. Worked like a charm! Gluesticks are my new best friend lately. :)

I also found her approach to improv piecing curves exciting. I ended up doing that in class - I had started thinking I would make something like her fingerprint design ... but I got so excited making curves I kind of segued into extra-curviness. LOL.

I bought the four fat quarters I used on this project at the shop (Springwater Designs, where the class was held) that morning and had fun playing with them. Melanie was a delightful teacher - very approachable and informative. I did enjoy the class quite a bit. I am thinking I will try to do more improv with curves. Because I did not want to carry my machine (too heavy, might upset my neck), I hand pieced the work. No big deal for me but Melanie seemed surprised that I would do it.

I think I ought to teach hand piecing to the guild some time - it really is useful to know how and isn't difficult at all. Face it, if a western-migrating woman could do it while walking beside a Conestoga, how hard can it be? :)

The next day was the Baltimore modern guild meeting and Melanie gave a trunk show/lecture. If you'd like to see some of that, I refer you to the guild's October meeting blog I just finished posting. :) Since I am still the 'communications' chairperson, I took minutes and photos at both the board and general meeting. Fun to have some idea what is going on. :)

Sunday evening I was inspired to make my class bit shown above into a zipper pouch. I'd been trying to clean off the mess on and around my computer desk for several days and one of the items I unearthed in that process was my bead loom. I decided that it needed a keeping pouch so making that was (I thought) an achieve-able goal. :)

Here is how it went:

The loom is fairly long (14" or so?) so first I added some improv pieced leftovers from my curves to each end of the little piece (maybe 10" x 12"?).

Then I folded the piece in half and quilted it with simple straight horizontal lines. One side is shown above ...

... and the other side show here.

Then I made a fabric zipper panel and sewed it onto a clear vinyl piece (scavenged from a sheet bag). I really wanted to be able to see my bead loom inside the pouch so I could remember what it was. :) I need storage containers I can see into - even with a printed label on the side, I'm too visual to keep track of stuff without seeing it. :)

Here is how the pouch looked finished and full of my junk.

I may have to replace the binding on it someday (did not do a great job) ... but it works well for now and NOW I know where my loom is (living with the big bead storage box). :)

I also started working on an idea for the Michael Miller fabric challenge ... but that is not developing quite how I expected so I don't know if it will get finished. :)

OH, my books came from C&T Publishing. Talk about a Christmas-like experience!! $200 bought me eight new books!

One was an ebook (out of print in paper; photo courtesy of ctpub.com):

My grandson O will be 4 years old next month and is getting dextrous enough to play with one of these. I had fun making a big one for my kids years ago (wonder if my daughter still has it?:).

I adore Judith Montano's work and this stitch book is delightful. I have already been using it to make new-to-me stitches on my modern crazy quilt. :)

This is another embroidery book that I highly recommend. Such lovely eye candy as well as useful instructions. :)

 

I have looked at this one several times and finally bit  - I love NYBeauty blocks. :)

I am always drawn to curved designs. This 'book' surprised me, though. It is actually a collection of foundation papers to make the quilt illustrated. I _thought_ it was a history-of-design book that would show several different versions. No matter, it will get sewn I think. Talk about complex!

This is the second title I have personally seen on this theme (or maybe the third) - using four repeats of a single fussy cut design to create a square image. This book has a great additional section on different ways to layout your pretty squares that appeals to me. I find this kind of fussy cutting tres fun! :)

I have long enjoyed making single-patch designs. This one is a sort of remake of a great reference text. Great ideas.

I love doing wool applique and there are some very attractive designs in this book - I won't be making mine in the 'country' browns shown, but that's ok. Lotta room in the world for different ideas. :)

Today I had lunch with four other members of my former staff from Seminole Sampler. So great to see them and catch up!

Tomorrow I am supposed to attend the monthly meeting of Village Quilters in Ellicott City. Looking forward to that!

Friday, Skip and I are going off for our annual week in the Great Smokey Mountains (Gatlinburg, TN). So looking forward to some outdoor time!

:) Linda

Gobsmacked

Yesterday and today have been awful for my sleeping problem - did not wake up today until 3 p.m. Major boo!hiss! Sigh. I decided to take some action and I hope it will be helpful. I ordered a new light therapy fixture for myself. Had done some research a while ago, reading reviews, etc. The therapy unit I have now I bought about 25 years ago (and it was expensive back then). There has been quite a bit of research since then so I'm thinking a new unit will be better. I also have to figure out a 'best practice' way to use it (right now I have the light sitting beside my computer monitor and it shines in my eyes whenever I am sitting at the computer; maybe I need to do some clock/time light dosage?). Fingers crossed that this helps 'cause I am SO OVER too much sleep. Grump.

The picture above shows the one additional Anita's Arrowhead block I made this afternoon (yes, back to blue fabrics:). This blue flowery print is one of my favorites ... really like how this block came out. :)

I got an email today that left me absolutely startled - from C&T Publishing, saying I had won a $200 gift certificate for books! I actually wrote them back asking if it was a scam. LOL! Nope, real deal. I guess signing up for assorted blog give aways works out some times? :) It took me a couple of hours to go through their catalog and choose books - they all had to be ordered in the same lot to use the coupon completely. $200 buys a LOT of books. I"ll share what I got when they arrive (soon, please?:).

I made three day's worth of temperature blocks - one more day and I will have finished a strip of 14 for the top of my fall/winter quilt. Progress, steady progress. :)

Otherwise, it has been a quiet day. Skip got a text notice about a failure on the spacecraft this evening as he was playing a video game ... but, after a phone consultation, he did not have to go back into work. Whew! I hope they get things ironed out.

Tomorrow evening is the bat mitzvah of the daughter of a Sew & Tell friend. I am planning to go ... haven't been to a party (much less a church session) in ages. :)

Linda

Highlights

This has been a pretty quiet week for me. Well, Monday was the monthly meeting of Mimi's Grad Class at Bear's Paw quilt shop in Towson. That was, as always, boisterous fun. :) Lots of beautiful sew and tell and plenty of laughter. Also shopping - I bought some ribbon for sashing my 'modern boro' handwork piece ... and some lovely fabric (shown below) that I could not resist. It was designed by Alison Glass and the colors make my heart sing. I don't know if you can see the color of the dots clearly - you might have to click to make the photo bigger. They vary from medium gray to a heart-piercing blue. Hmmmm. :)

The print shown above is one of those 'bookpaper' fabrics, so called because they look like the marbled hand-made papers commonly used in really fine quality books with lovely leather covers. That particular blue print (I think it looks a bit like bird wings:) I bought to be the backing for my temperature quilt. Last weekend I finished assembling the top and now I need to get it off to be long-armed.

I have done a little bit of sewing this week (other than my temperature blocks). I made two more Anita's Arrowhead blocks to bring my total up to 12. Half a block away from being 50% finished (I am aiming for a sofa quilt of 5 by 5 blocks, each 12" square).

I consciously worked not to make another blue block this time. :) Because of the bias outside edges, I am starching the fabric squares to make these blocks pretty heavily. I have to say I do like the crisp finish that gives them. :)

While I was at Springwater Designs buying the blue 'wingprint' fabric for my backing, I picked up a copy of the newest issue of Simply Moderne magazine:

I really like the quilt shown on the cover. I might have to squirrel off and make one of those (in my own colors, of course:). Here are some more things in this issue that I am tempted to make:

I have made double wedding ring style blocks before - and been bored before I could sew more than nine of them. :) I really like the contrast between the curvilinear rings and the background squares and lines in this design. Tempting. :)

This one is half hexes alternating with equilateral (60 degree) triangles. I think you could really get some fun color stuff going with this design. 

This one has fun shapes and I like the diagonal motion. Maybe that glorious gold-and-blue print would work well in the 'background' spaces, shown in black and white stripes above? Day dreams are free and less work than sewing it all up!

Other than that, it has been peaceful this week. I've been out walking twice (once only to my mailbox and back, but it counts:) ... and eaten out twice ... and read a bit (I'm working on book 6 or maybe 7 in the Twenty Sided Sorceress series). I got a dialog box on my iPhone yesterday that my screen time is up by 30% this week - not good, I guess. Gotta do more and dream less.

:) Linda