A Foggy Day in Boston

It was a foggy, rainy morning when my mother, sister, niece, best friend and I headed to Boston for the New England Spring Flower Show. And despite that pouring, driving rain...we had fun!

Here are the highlights:

My cousin Mike (a Boston cop) made it down to see us just before our bus left (don't you love that green sweatshirt that Jess is wearing - it was bought by her sweet and loving aunt for her 13th birthday!)

Mike, my sister Dina, Me and Jess in front of the Cheers Indian in Faneuil Hall

Jess got to celebrate her 13th birthday at an Irish pub, much to her delight!

Flower Show favs:

Juli having a good time

Betcha can't tell that these three are family (or related to me for that matter)!

So I know I'm behind in my Mini Quilt Monday. No excuses, I'm just a slacker, that's all! My hope is to have 3 to share with you by next Monday (St. Paddy's Day - whoo hoo!).

Happy Wednesday!

Boston Bound

This weekend, I am Boston bound - looking for that bit of spring pick-me-up at the New England Flower Show and some shopping with my mother, my sister, my friend Juli and a bus load of other people.

I will, as always, take a ton of pictures. Here are some of last year's treats:

Mmmmm....green grass, sweet scents and bright colors to perk up even the most winter-depressed soul! After yesterday's snow, sleet and ice storm coupled with a crazed work week, this is a most needed trip!

And in honor of my trip to Boston and St. Paddy's Day looming 'round the corner, a little Dropkick Murphy's for your listening pleasure:

I'm Shipping up to Boston

For Boston

and my all time fav - Boys on the Docks

Until the next time I get a moment to breathe...

Introducing....Squeaky Squeaky

Do you remember when I went thrift shopping, I picked up that book from the 1970's on soft toys and how I had "an idea brewing in my brain with regard to the stuffed animals, something that needs a little more thinking on and a little more research on"?

Well, the thinking and researching are done. I present to you a new Etsy shop dedicated to squeaky dog toys...Squeaky Squeaky!!When I first picked up the soft toy book, I thought, "these are so cute - they'd make great dog toys" and it inspired me. I checked out the dog toy situation on Etsy (of which there are a few) but didn't see anything like what I had in mind. I looked for squeakers and found some for 23¢ each and then created a prototype for my Sadie. I thought if Sadie liked them, maybe other dogs would, too. I used funky cotton fabric, cotton thread and polyester fiberfill, then satin stitch the seams for added strength. I'm starting off small, as you can see, with snakes, but I have ideas for other animals mapped out; things like frogs, ladybugs, octopi. I've hand drawn all the patterns, so no copyright infringement on the book - it just served as inspiration. And every toy gets the Sadie Stamp of Approval!

Oh, Nymmy liked Sadie's snake so much, that I had to make another that has a sack of catnip in it for him and Tallulah to share (I use the word "share" very loosely - the two fight over it)! Who knows, maybe I'll expand into catnip toys and Squeaky Squeaky will not only be for the funky dog, but for the cool cat, too!

Mini-Quilt Monday

I call this "Patience is a Virtue." I know I've mentioned this before here, but my patience level is seriously lacking. If something looks terribly complicated or requires me to read directions, I tend to avoid it. Not out of fear, but out of a short attention span and a mood that swings to the easily frustrated. It is for these reasons that I have avoided making triangles in my quilts...oh, and because you have to iron every. freakin'. seam! But back a few months ago, Mum gave me a Triangulations CD for quilters. It teachs you the easy way to make half and quarter square triangles. You want to talk about easy peasy? WOW! Yes I did have to iron every single flippin' seam, but you know...it was worth it! This little block came out so flat. It's beautiful!

Yes, I know that not all of my triangles and diamonds show perfectly, but hey, it's the first time I've ever done it...and I really don't recommend making super teeny tiny 1" square triangles your first time out - they were a bitch to stitch (and even more of a bitch to iron, unless you have a small iron meant primarily for quilting).
"Patience is a Virtue" was born out slowing down, reading directions and ironing every seam, with my blood and spit going into every corner of this little block, literally - I kinda cut the knuckle of my thumb with the rotary cutter (don't ask, I'm a whiz a cutting myself with scissors and cutters or stabbing myself with needles and pins). It bled like crazy, to the point where I had to stop what I was doing and get a band-aid!

Anyhoo, happy Monday!

The Quiet of a Sunday Morning

Every week, I create a list of things to do (sometimes two depending on where I am and what needs to be done) and most of the stuff on these lists get done on the weekend. So by the end of Sunday, everything (or almost everything) is done and crossed off the list...only then I start to think, what did I do for me, to make me feel as though I enjoyed my weekend? I cleaned the kitchen, the living room, the bathroom, vacuumed and did dishes - which makes me feel better, 'cause my house is clean, but not really for me and it wasn't relaxing. I washed, dried, folded and ironed laundry - which I had to do if I didn't want to go to work naked during the coming week...but again, not really for me. I lugged wood into the garage and into the house - another must if I wanted to keep my butt warm, but what did I do that was enjoyable?

So this week, I made a conscious effort to check everything off the list by last night. Laundry, dishes, vacuuming, wood, bathroom, living room, dining room, kitchen...all done and cleaned! I woke up at 7:30 (slept in for two hours - whoo hoo!!) and took Sadie on a leisurely Sunday morning walk. I made cinnamon buns for breakfast (something I haven't done in sooooo long). I sat at my recently cleaned off (and cleaned out under) kitchen table with it's bright and cheery table cloth. I ate cinnamon buns and yogurt, drank tea and flipped through a magazine with a little Damien Rice playing...even the animals left me alone until I finished my breakfast (something unheard of in this house, what with the moochy cats and dog that I have!).

I have the day to myself. I created Week 4 of my mini-quilts last night (as you will see tomorrow or right now if you go to flickr). There is absolutely nothing that needs my immediate attention today. I can do whatever I want - draw, or read. I could paint, or go for a drive or plan my garden for the coming season. Or I could do nothing at all. My options are endless right now.

What will I do with myself?

A Lazy Friday and $40 Worth of Thread

I love lazy Fridays.

Lazy Fridays when both your bosses decided to take the day off. Where no meetings are scheduled and you're basically caught up on the majority of your work.

Lazy snowy Fridays when someone brings in apple cake, blueberry cake and carrot cake, prompting a spontaneous coffee klatch at 9 am.

A lazy Friday where Lucinda's dulcet tones waft from my computer (inspired by a Maine native's blog post), over the sound of Vladmir Putin's final address (in Russian) as our Ukrainian intern listens in.

A lazy Friday that invites you to leave work for lunch, to hit Barnes and Noble for two books and a comforting Chai tea, to spend $40 on thread. (Yes, you read right folks...forty dollars on THREAD! I've never spent that much on thread alone!)

Oh lazy Fridays, you undo me.

PS I love you - Nellie Mckay

I've fallin' in love with this song

Mini-Quilt Monday....er...Tuesday

So I'm a day late...no surprise there. Since I missed last week, I made up for it this week. And without further ado, here's the latest in the mini-quilt project:

"Color Play"

Made with batik swatches and exploring light, medium and dark in fabric color

"What's Black & White and Red All Over?"

(obviously a play on the old newspaper joke). Again, batiks. I proved to myself that I can make a tiny log cabin block from 2"x3" swatches.

The Shelf

I've had this unpainted shelf for about 2 years now, not quite knowing what I wanted to do with it. Finally, I decided that I needed it in the kitchen and that it should be barn red. I started painting it a few days ago and just couldn't decide what kind of a detail or design I should paint on it. I started with a brown vine and white berries...but that looked so boring. I needed inspiration, so I headed here (which I tend to do often) to wander through Anahata Katkin's art. I remembered something I saw on her blog back a while ago that I loved and hit her flickr page to track it down.

This is it - I just loved it, stared at it and wondered, "Can I paint something this colorful and funky and actually make it look good? No patterns, no real design, just making it up as I go?"

Obviously it looks nothing like Anahata's work, but she was my inspiration. Her work screams "Be not afraid of bright colors that you wouldn't ordinarily think go together" and "Don't be afraid to get messy!" I was sideloading and overloading colors so that orange showed through turquoise and pink and by the end of it, every color on my palette had every other color mixed into it.

It was creative abandon!

SNOW DAY!!!!

NO WORK TODAY! NO WORK TODAY! NO WORK TODAY!
My office is closed!

and I have the day to do WHATEVER. I. WANT!

WHOO-HOO! YIPPIE! DOIN' THE HAPPY DANCE!

A Thrifty Sort of Day - the books

I love thrifted books, especially the crafty ones from the 70's - this one was a must (and at $1.99, how could I resist?)

These guys and....
these guys were truly the selling point (check out that funky green crab, isn't he the best?)
And the hippy handbook...
I had to have this book (and for $2.99, why not?)
Ever wanted to make a Mexican Peasant Blouse? Here you go...
Ever wanted to live in a commune? Good tips to remember...
The handwriting can get a bit sketchy and there are no chapters, but it's very freeing to skip from one subject to the next with no lead in or relation to the last thing you read.
This is my absolute favorite page:
And there you have it, some of my thrifty book finds. I have an idea brewing in my brain with regard to the stuffed animals, something that needs a little more thinking on and a little more research on, but once I've got it figured out...I'll be sure to share!

Now I realized this morning that I never did my mini quilt over the weekend. I was just so busy, that I never got around to it and I was more in a painting mood (pictures to come); so this weekend, I will make 2 and show them off next Monday (those and the funky shelf that was inspired by Anahata's art...more on that later, too).

Blogger hates me

I've been trying for 2 days to upload photos and Blogger has been very....cranky, you could say. It nicely allows me to select all the photos I wish to upload...then it freezes in mid upload. To that I say, "BASTARD!" (which is, by far and away, one of my favorites words).

And that is where we sit today - with a really great post about two of the books I found on my thrifting trip in the queue but no pictures to accompany it....well actually, the pictures are the post...I've got nothing written so far. So it's a really great post in the mental queue!

Maybe tonight Blogger will show me some photo uploadin' love!

A Thrifty Sort of Day

A few weeks ago, a good friend from high school and I met up again for the first time (to have breakfast) in more than 10 years. When we went off to college, we drifted apart. Then, out of the blue, she emailed me (via myspace) and come to find out, she worked for the State, too, and lived all of a 1/2 hour from me! So today, we decided to hit Rockland for a bit of thrifting.

We visited several little shops downtown (The Grasshopper Shop is one of my fav's)
I found this at a wonderful little consignment shop for $25!
Check out the detail
At Goodwill, I found this sweater (it's an L.L. Bean) for $2.50
and this one for $4.99!
These two scarves are from Mace's, which sells India inspired clothing. They were total bargains ($6 each!)

I also found several books at Goodwill that I will share with you as soon as I scan some pages. I was very excited to find them. One is a how to in making soft toys ($1.99), one is a Halloween book ($.99), one is The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Divakaruni ($1.99) and the last one blew me away. It's called Living on the Earth, published in 1970 by Alicia Bay Laurel. It's handwritten and hand-drawn (very reminiscent of Sark's books, only sans the color). It's a hippie life handbook...and it's freakin' great! I love it!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow!

Wasn't that a Bugs Bunny cartoon?

Nearly 17" of hair chopped from my head. No more struggling with it at night, whenever I roll over. No more wet hair getting whipping up under my armpits as I brush it. No more 20 minute blow drying sessions, just to get it remotely dry. No more mega shampoo and conditioner use. No more long hair clogging up the drain. No more static hair across my face driving me absolutely insane after I take off a winter hat. No more French braids catching on shirt or coat tags. No more ponytail holders, no more big clips, no more hair sticks. No more dry, split ends!

Goodbye crazy, long ass hair...hello cute and flippy "do"!

I hope your Friday is full of change and you're having a great hair day!

Mini-Quilt Monday

Here it is - the first Mini-Quilt Monday! Whoo-hoo! And as promised, the first of 52 mini quilts:

I'm calling this first one "Blanket of Stars" (which I neglected to write on the back of it), inspired by a quilt idea I had 3 years ago while listening to the Counting Crows song, Mrs. Potter's Lullabye. The whole song has great imagery but when I heard "When I see you a blanket of stars covers me in my bed", all I could picture was this deep blue quilt covered in various sized stars...so I made it in mini with one size star. This has taught me that I need to practice my free-motion to get my thread lines a little better looking and less all over the place. It also make me realize that I enjoy beadwork!

Now, Belém asked a very good question: "Isn't 4" going to be too small?" I thought so too at first, but in the end, if my calculations are correct (and god knows they probably aren't - I'm very adept at screwing up my measurements!) and if I stitched all these mini quilts into one, the finished quilt would be 133" square or roughly 11' square, give or take (26 four inch blocks across and down with a 1" sashing between each block and a 2" border - does 133" sound right?). 52 blocks, plus the binding, the sashing and the backing...all using scraps. It might not use up all of my scraps, but I think it will use a fair amount.

I kind of like the thought that I don't have to come up with something big - I can whip up a 4" block in no time with these mini-practices and they're very inspiring! I came up with 2 new ideas for quilted wall hangings based on the one I did yesterday. Plus it makes me think small, when normally I think a little too big with quilts.

Alright, lunch break is over - now I have to get back to work.

Practice Makes Perfect

How often have we heard this? How often do we do it? The sad thing is its undeniably true...and we still don't take the time to practice - whether it's drawing, painting, paper craft, sewing, quilting, fabric dying, etc. Boning up on technique is essential, because the more you do it, the more you learn and the better the result of your finished piece, right?

Well I have an idea – a challenge for myself (and anyone else intrigued by this). As anyone who quilts and sews knows, you always end up with fabric scraps (lots of scraps!) and sometimes you can use them for fussy little things in quilts, but if you’re anything like me and my mother, you end up with a bucket or bag (or both) full of odds and ends and strips, and it just keeps growing with every project you do. My idea, my challenge, is to take those scraps and complete a 4” mini quilt a week for a year.

Creating these mini quilts will help me practice making traditional quilt blocks, practice free motion quilting, hand embroidery, embellishing with found objects, dying commercial fabric in small pieces to produce new designs, painting on fabric…all the things that I’ve been wanting to play with but haven’t taken the time to do. On the back of each mini quilt, I’ll create a label with the date, the technique I used and any thoughts. At the end of the year, I’ll have 52 completed mini quilts that I will stitch together to create a journal quilt (using a quilt as you go technique). Yes, I know that is going to be one big ass quilt, so it may end up as two smaller pieces to be hung in my upstairs hallway…I’m not sure, but I’ve got a year to figure it out.

I’ve been brainstorming for sometime now about what to do with my scraps, just because they’re growing exponentially. And you NEVER toss out your scraps! I still have scraps from the first quilt I made 9 years ago (it was a very plain, very simple, man’s quilt made for my ex as a Christmas gift – I loved that quilt…it was so warm and the fabric I found for the backing was a super soft sheeting material. I was always stealing it off the bed to wrap up in. I kick myself for not taking it when we broke up – god only knows where it is now). Wow, that was a tangent – anyhoo, I want my scraps to do something more than just take up space.

I’ve been looking for a challenge (other than the challenges of everyday life), something artistic and I’ve always wanted to do something like Lisa’s “Drawing a Day” project. This morning, I was flipping through my Quilting Arts magazine and read an article about eco-friendly journal quilting techniques and the author mentioned recycling her scraps into her journal quilts and the inspirational lightning bolt struck my brain – here was the solution to my overabundant scrap problem! And by creating only 4” quilts, it’s not time consuming, it’s instant gratification, it uses up the things I already have (recycling some stuff) and its practice!

My self imposed rules:

1. No going into the stash because “oooh, a piece of that purple would be just right!” No no no! I can only use my scraps.
2. No going out and buying any embellishments. I have beads. I have buttons. I have charms and fibers and other stuff in the crafting closet already that will be used.
3. The sashing and binding (which will come at the very end) must be made of scraps…again, no buying new fabric or digging into the stash just to make the sashing or binding uniform. The idea is to transcend uniformity.
4. The only things I will be allowed to buy for this project are threads and batting…because I’m severely lacking in my thread box and I have no batting in the house…wait, I have old blankets…okay, so no buying batting; I’ll recycle blankets. So just thread.

Okay, that’s all for rules – I don’t want to limit myself too much.

Wish me luck! I’ll be sure to share my weekly mini quilt (Mini-quilt Mondays? Hmmm…I like).

Happy Friday, folks!

Project: Recycled Sweatshirt Jacket

So I saw this pattern in the last Keepsake Quilting catalog and it inspired me. Why couldn't I take an old pullover sweatshirt and make it new? With only the dismantled sweatshirt as my guide, I jumped into the process of recycling clothing - which I actually love to do, with shirts and pants that no longer fit or have holes, but this added a whole new dimension. When I adjust shirts and pants, they still look like the original...this looks like something completely new!

The more I look at it, the more of a NFL stadium style jacket look it has...I don't like stadium jackets (no offense to anyone who does), so I'm thinking it needs a bit of tailoring, some darts maybe to give it shape, etc. But I need to consult my sewing advisor (Mum) before I do anything with it.
Despite that whole stadium jacket thing, I am quite proud of myself. I took my time, I ripped out any mistakes and fixed them rather than saying screw it and leaving them (which I have been known to do...often...because I'm too lazy to fix it).
The arms made me want to scream, though! I finally got them on and remotely, kinda sorta looking the same (though one is a little bigger than the other).
I was very happy with the collar and the front trim - it was much easier than I thought. And to personalize it, I added my own label! I probably should have done a lining, since the inside is, uh...raw seam ugly, but I'm not that advanced in my sewing yet.
So that's what's new from the sewing room. I think with the next one, I'll play a little more, definitely add darts before I finish it, maybe make the front a little funkier (like with the pattern that inspired me) and make it a little more artistic...I'm very drawn to circles and circular patterns right now - like this and this and this. But the next will be in blue (I already have the fabric picked out).

6 things you don't know about me...

I've been tagged by Cathy to do a meme and think of 6 things to share about what makes me...well...me:

1. I don't like patterns - you know, like sewing patterns - because I have a hard time reading/interpreting them and I always screw it up...or bring it to my mother and whine, "I don't get it! Show me" or "MUM!! Fix it?" (yeah, I'm a big baby, I know). I'm a very visual learner - if I can't picture it in my head, I get frustrated and I don't want to do it and it will take me six years to ever come back to it and try it again. Patterns I'm currently avoiding: the wrap around shirt pattern that I started three years ago...actually, any shirt pattern and possibly the jacket pattern that I'm attempting now if the sleeves don't start behaving!

2. When I get into an elevator, I always try to stand near the panel of numbers and away from the door. Why? Because in the movies, if ever there is a gun battle, the people standing near the doors get riddled with bullets. Now I don't ever expect to be in an elevator when there is a gun battle going on, but this is the way my brain thinks (and its better to be safe than sorry).

3. & 4. I get cravings for certain kinds of foods, eat them constantly, get sick of them and then can't eat them again for months, sometimes years, because the site of that kind of food makes me feel ill. One summer when I was in high school, I developed this thing for frozen burritos; ate them all summer long and to this day I can't stand the site of them (for more than just the obvious reason that they're a frozen processed food) - it's like that stomach sinking quivery feeling that you associate with that time when you got drunk and violently ill on tequila, remembering how you started the evening in someone's apartment downing shots and then somehow ended up at the bar that all your friends and boyfriend worked at, with a pitcher of tequila sunrise in your hand (lots of tequila, very little sunrise) and you were pretty sure that it wasn't the first pitcher...and then there's a big blank space where memories should be, but aren't...and then you remember being in the back of the coat check room with your head in a 5 gallon bucket, lined with a trash bag, letting loose, with a good friend of your boyfriend (that you've never met but heard many stories about) watching over you. Oh tequila, you will never be my friend again.

5. Cleaning the caps of acrylic paint relaxes me. No, seriously. If you've ever used acrylic paint, you know how it dries on the inside of the flip top lid and underneath (when you twist off the cap). I love to dig that dried (semi-dried) paint out with a stylus - I don't know why, but it appeals to my anal retentive, mildly OCD side.

6. I associate people and places with smells and/or songs:
** my Dad = chapstick (the original with the black label) and Eddie Rabbit's "I Love a Rainy Night"
** my Gram = bacon, eggs and toast (because her house often smelled like breakfast to me) and any Newfie music
** my Ma = any home cooked meal (roast beef, esp.) and anything on the oldies station
** my brother = clean laundry and anything by Warren Zevon or Mark Knopfler
** the Maine Legislature = crappy coffee and popcorn and local school choruses
** my old roommates from my third year at University = Bob Marley "No Woman, No Cry" (this was always the last song The Social Club played at closing time. The boys and I would leave whomever we were dancing with and the four of us would dance all together in a circle, singing this song at the top of our lungs) and Tim Horton's coffee.
** Juliana = Green Forest or Ocean incense and Concrete Blonde's "Darkening of the Light"

There...6 things I bet you never knew about me. I'm going to be that terrible fence-sitter type and tag anyone who wishes to play along!

And hopefully, I'll remeber to start taking pictures again. I don't think I've used my camera in 2 weeks - how sad is that?

I NEED SPACE!

I live in a 3 bedroom house and feel like I have no space!

I feel trapped and cluttered and confined and constantly in de/con-struction! This needs flooring, that needs sheet rock, that whole room needs to be demolished!

I want a space with lots of shelves and nooks and crannies and hidey-holes for all of my stuff - my fabric, my paper, my beads, my threads, paints, charms, fibers, pens!

I want this studio!