Been a Long Time

Wow, it has been a long time since I've posted. Back in June we still had a kid in the house, and life was a bit different. Now with both of our kids out on their own, we are adjusting to a different life-style!

What is nice is that it gives me more time to make art or craft or whatever it is at the moment. I've been working on several art quilts, along with some quilts with my own patterns. I will post when they are done, or when I get around to doing the photography. That really seems to be the problem some days.

I did finally finish the Double Wedding Ring quilt. The first time I've done such a traditional pattern. And the first time I hand-pieced a quilt top, well, at least 95% of it is hand pieced. I did machine piece the border as I felt it needed some stability at that point. And even though the tradition is to hand-quilt, sorry, I sent it out to my friend, Mike, the golfing, surfing, quilter! I LOVE his work. He is just such a fabulous quilter, and a really great person on top of it all. If you ever want him to quilt something for you, let me know and I'll send his info out to you.

The wedding for which the Wedding Ring quilt was made was also a great experience. A beautiful day on the Monterey Bay, at one of our lighthouses, with the sea mist hanging over us all and mother nature all around us. The reception was fabulous, danced way too much for this old body, but had so much fun with my husband, kids, and their friends!

So, in between watching the SF Giants games, hand quilting some art pieces, and creating in the studio and doing actual work for money, life is good. Actually life is Great! The paralegal work I do is just enough to keep my right brain engaged so that my left brain can breathe. Or is it vice-versa? Whichever, both sides of the old brain are engaged and chugging on. Now back to quilting my latest piece.

Peace to all.

Sewing, Quilting, Sewing

Last week, after years of debate with myself, I ordered and had delivered a new sewing machine. And I am in LOVE!

I've always sewn on Kenmore machines. I still have my grandmother's machine, in the cabinet, and it still works great. I have old Kenmores and fairly new Kenmores. They just work and work. But I wanted more and I wanted FAST and I wanted a deeper throat to help with quilting. So...

The Janome 6500P was the winner. And am I happy! No, I'm not making any money saying that I love this machine. It's just, with so many choices out there, and so many price ranges, I feel this was an excellent choice. It's fast, quiet, and has millions of features (not really) that I'll never use, but I am HAPPY.

I've been working on a new quilt. This one evolved because I couldn't toss out the left over fabric from a back of a wall quilt that I just finished. So I thought, huh, why not just make a bunch of half square triangles and see what happens. So, I made a bunch of half square triangles, and while they look nice, they were BORING.

So now what. Well, when in doubt I go back to my old stand by: slice and dice! I slice the blocks, add strips, slice and strip again, and, VIOLA, now I love my blocks. I'm almost done with the slicing and dicing and will be putting them up on the design wall. I'll send out a photo when I'm done...I am really excited about this one!

So keep on sewing, quilting, and sewing. And, yes, I am still the Nurse to my dear husband. In a few months I should be able to put this behind me too!

Taking Life as it Comes

Who would have known that the day following my last post my life would change? It comes that fast and without warning!

I was up in my sewing room, taking a break from cleaning house for our Father's Day Dinner, listening to my husband singing at the top of his lungs as he mopped the kitchen floor when his singing stopped and all I could hear were what sounded like the whimperings of an injured animal. I ran downstairs (well, run isn't exactly what I did, but I was fast) and found my husband sprawled out on the back steps, trying to catch his breath. He had missed a step and wrenched his knee.

After a trip to the local Urgent Care medical facility, he was put in a leg brace, followed two weeks later by major surgery to his knee. So now I am nurse, care provider, entertainer, cook, driver, and handywoman, most of which I do willingly. But my term of employment in these tasks will last up to 6 months!!! Golly. Will I survive?

I did buy a new sewing machine, to compensate for my home-bound life, and am really enjoying it. Well, it only got here yesterday so I haven't had much time on it, but so far all is great! I do get sewing and quilting done in-between my chores. We shall see what this life changing event brings.

I know that I am never given more than I can handle, and that this all happened for some reason. I keep an open mind. But boy oh boy. Life can give us challenges. This is minor compared to those challenges that many of you have had.

And I will keep an open mind.

And keep stitching up a storm!