About The Right Way

School is out for the summer so now it's pouring rain and chilly.  Aside from the fact that a good soaking is nice before the summer heat moves in, it's a bummer if you're either a school age kid or the mother of a school age kid.  I remember being both the kid and the mother and it's kind of depressing as summer should mean sun all the time.  And we'll eventually get lots of sun, just not today.

And then there was thunder and it began to hail.  I'm still in the midst of planting flower pots, but I'm thinking it won't get done today.

My mom tells me that life goes faster and faster as one gets older.  Up until now, I believed her.  About three weeks ago I caught a cold that turned into an ear infection.  While it wasn't as painful as it might have been, the days between feeling terrible and feeling better went very slowly.  Sweet Husband will very likely agree  that I was pretty cranky.  By that I mean that I took lots of naps, interrupted by a lot of whining.  There are no pictures of this because nobody wants to see that.  I am, however, on the mend and feeling much better.  After the first few days,  I spent time quilting the Wedding Ring quilt for my son and almost-daughter-in-law.  I've been working on it since January and while I'm ready to be finished with it, I still like it.  I seldom have projects that last this long, so I'm getting pretty antsy to move on to something new.  The wedding is a month away and the quilt will be ready!

A few months ago, someone watched me working on some embroidery and informed me that I was doing it backwards.  It was a friendly comment more than a criticism, but I spent the next 20 minutes trying to figure out how to do it "right.''  I think I figured it out, but the truth is it looks better the way I always do it and went back to what was comfortable for me.  This brings up an interesting point that I try to stress when I teach:  There is more than one way to do things; it's up to you to find the way that works for you.

I do hand appliqué from time to time.  I've learned the hard way not to set unrealistic deadlines for that sort of thing. With had work, it takes as long as it takes.  I've taken several classes on hand appliqué over the years and my way of doing it incorporates skills and approaches that are a mixture of at least three of these classes.  My personalized way of doing it is the right way for me and that's the important thing.  My point is simply this:  Be open to new ways of doing things, but don't be a slave to the "right way of doing things" police.  Your way may evolve over time and become the new "right way."  Also, be sensitive to the way you critique or offer help to others.  "It's interesting how you do that backwards," may not be the perfect opening line.

Here's a bit of what's stitched backwards.  Who knew?

WORRY LESS.  QUILT MORE.

Candy

Come Back April, I'm Not Finished Yet

If anyone knows what happened to April, tell it to call me; I want it back.  I wouldn't be so adamant if I felt as though I'd gotten a lot done.  Mostly it was just piles of little junk:  an appointment here, a little retail therapy there, daily trips to the grocery store for that one thing I don't have.  Also, pulled a few weeds and planted a couple of things.  And worked on the wedding quilt a bit almost every day.  The top will be finished this week.

There were some fun highlights.  I enjoyed a weekend quilt retreat with members of my quilt guild and an evening with my small quilt group, Quilters on the Edge, which is always fun.  I took a two day workshop with Helene Knott, which cracked open my imagination.

It doesn't look like much now, but I have such plans for it!

I also took a one-day workshop with Gina Rossi Armfield. ( Look up noexcusesart.com) I'm a big proponent of going outside your usual arty place to stretch the imagination.  It's fun and I always meet interesting people at her classes.  No artist is losing sleep over my dabbling in art, but I have a great time playing with my art toys.

Nature was very busy.  The back of the house went from this . . .

to this in about a week.

The tulips were lovely for about three weeks

and then there was a hailstorm.

These hardy souls survived, but their brighter brethren bit the dust.

I also got some happy surprises - The Morning Glories and Hydrangeas that I thought lost the battle with the guys who rebuilt our deck last fall are back!  It seems they were tougher than I gave them credit for.

I'm planning to teach "Mother Goes Mod" at Let's Quilt in West Linn on May 16th.  This one is kind of off my beaten track, but I really love it.

These quilts are made of the same block with only minimal changes.  I do like it when I can make that happen.

And then there's coffee art.  We had breakfast at St. Honore in Lake Oswego and Sweet Husband's latte came looking like this:

I think it's so neat to create from coffee and steamed milk and do it so fast that the coffee's still hot!

Our new website in under construction, but you can go there and see where we're headed at www.mobquilts.com

For all you mother's, Have a Great Mother's Day!

Candy

And Now For Spring

It's finally spring.  I know this because:
1.  The calendar says so.
2.  The neighborhood is alive with the sound of pressure washers.
3.  The sun came out and the ice cream truck came by.

Somebody's johnny-on-the-spot.  I've never heard the ice cream man before May.

My first tulip of the season bloomed a couple of days ago

.

 There are lots more buds and I'm looking forward to a bright garden.

I only have three hyacinths.  They have the most intoxicating scent of spring.  I go out every day and take a big whiff of them.  My neighbors must surely wonder about me.

Next fall I'll plant more hyacinths and some daffodils.  I'll put it on my calendar for fall so I don't forget like I usually do.

There are some other signs of spring, like the re-flowering of nurseries.

And of course our ever-changing spring weather.  Don't like what it's doing now?  Give it ten minutes.

I took these over about a half hour's time.

 A sunny morning clouded over like this.

And then it rained so hard, I'm surprised there were petals left on Tulips.

The rain only lasted about five minutes. 

 And then the sun broke through.

I'm not sure if this brilliant shade of green only happens in the early spring or if I just get used to it as other plants leaf out.  I'd really hate to think I take it for granted.

Work on the Wedding Quilt continues.  I've assigned myself a realistic goal for each day taking into consideration that this is not the only item on my to-do list.  I'm making progress and not freaking out and that is definite progress.

If you've looked at the website in the last couple of weeks, you know that it's down.  The new and improved website will be up soon.  I'm getting professional help (for the website), and am excited to have one that I can handle.  I like to think that I can learn most anything, but I want to spend my time on the things that I love to do.  It makes more sense to spend time quilting.

Speaking of quilting, there's a new pattern I'm working on called "Margaritas and Daquiris."  Like "Pink Lemonade" it's a quick and easy one for summer.  Pictures next time.

Quilt Because It's Fun!

Candy

Going Wild

"It's always something."
                    -Rosanne Rosannadanna

Truer words were never spoken.  Just when you think you're all organized and you have a plan, that little "something" sneaks in and teaches us to be flexible.  This is what we like to call the "learning moment."  I used to think that I would get older and wiser and I would get life under control.  Got older and the wiser part is that nothing is ever really "under control."  It seems that the really important thing is keeping a sense of humor.  Life is a bit like the weather on a spring day in the Pacific Northwest - in ten minutes it will be something different.  So we dress in layers (or make sure we have Plan B) and always have some rain boots in the trunk.  This, my friends, is real life.

Today actually turns out to be wild life Thursday.  Too bad it didn't happen yesterday.  Wild life Wednesday actually sounds a lot cooler.  Early this morning I went in the laundry room to feed the dogs.  There was a little mouse running around in the laundry sink.  I was startled and naturally screamed.  The mouse freaked out and hid in the drain.  He's actually kind of a cute little guy, but he cannot stay there.  Sweet Husband promised to take care of it.  He doesn't want me to look at it, feel sorry about getting rid of it or even think about what that means.  I do feel sorry for the mouse, but he cannot be running around the house, pooping every ten seconds.  Ella and Toby are completely oblivious.  If it doesn't run up and kick 'em in the shins, they really don't care.  Oh, and also - not taking a picture of the mouse.

My other wild life moment was over before I could pick up the camera.  I was checking email and a squirrel peeked in the window at me.  The window was open so there was only a screen and about 18 inches between us.  Since the window is on the second floor, he must have crawled up the side of the house.  I said hi and then he left.  Maybe he'll come by for a longer chat sometime.

The tulips in my garden are growing well, but not ready to bloom for a bit.  So I bought a couple of bunches at the grocery store just to liven the kitchen up a little.  They looked very pretty when I first put them out, but are so much more interesting as they get past their prime.

They got a little wild and crazy as I seem to as I age.  I like my tulip quilts . . .

but I think I need one more like this:

Not quite so sedate.

The pattern for Mother Goes Mod is almost finished, but the website is down.  If I understood the whys and wherefores,  I would be a computer wizard instead of the redhead with the sewing machine, and a huge stash.  So here's the thing.  A new website is on the way.  If you (or anyone you've ever heard of) is interested in buying a pattern, please email me at motheronabroomstick@gmail.com and we can make that happen pretty darn quick.  In the meantime, think of me as I put together a new website that WORKS.

Quilt more, worry less.
Candy

Surviving the Last Weeks of Winter

A typical Northwest winter pretty much looks like this.

And this:

In spite of that, my tulips are just peeking up, promising some bright color for spring.  We had lots of snow and ice a couple of weeks ago and I was surprised to see some little tulip leaves when it melted.  I should've known.  Dutch winters are generally more intense than winter here.

Went skiing in Utah last week.  Getting out of Dodge for a few days in mid-winter seems to be good for my attitude.  Sometimes winter seems endless.

Could this be a quilt?  I would have to live about 6 lives to follow up on all the good quilt ideas I have. It seems that every picture or fruit or flower could be a great quilt.

I do't think I've ever seen such massive icicles.

And here's an idea for a fence that would never have occurred to me.

This is a picture of the coordinating block I made for Mother Goes Mod.  Both blocks will be in one pattern.

Here's one way to put them together.

Same basic block as the original, but just different enough to change the look, even with the same fabrics.

Work on the wedding quilt continues.  This week I'm making 84 of these:

Then I'll make 84 of these:

I might have some extra time to work on it as I'm trying not to expose the world to the neat chest cold that's going around and found me.  Oddly, people don't like it when the person next to them in line coughs up a lung.  So I shall attempt to keep my cooties to myself.  The biggest issue (besides my personal whining) with a cold is keeping the dogs out of the kleenex.  Ella likes to pull a box off of a table or desk, pull a couple hundred out and then shred them to atomic particles.  She has a basket full of toys and a bunch of tennis balls in the back yard.  What could be so fascinating about kleenex?  And do I really want to know?

Steer clear of the coughing people and
Quilt On!

Candy

Time Flies When You're Quilting

Would someone like to tell me how it got to be February already?  One minute I was putting away Christmas decorations, and all of a sudden, January is history.  I'm pretty sure that one reason is that everything takes about twice as long to accomplish as I think it should.  Take, for instance, just a couple of errands. Let's get gas, pick up a couple of things at Target (across the street from the gas station with "reasonably" priced diesel) and a half dozen things at Safeway (on the way home).  Forty-five minutes should do it, but let's get real and schedule an hour.  Two hours later, I'm home.  I didn't do anything I wasn't planning to do with the possible exception of checking out some new sweaters at Target and thinking of a couple of grocery items I hadn't put on the list.  This, my friends, is real life.

And in that same vein, it's currently 20 degrees and snowing here.  Now this would be about SOP if I were writing from Chicago, Boston or Portland, Maine.  However, in Portland, Oregon, this is big news.  It's breezy, so the snow is doing more blowing around than piling up, and with a quarter of an INCH on the ground, the local schools are letting the kids out early.

  For those of you falling on the floor with laughter, I have to say that it's pretty hilly around here and the thought of a school bus sliding around would make any mother's blood run cold.  Also, while we have some snow-clearing equipment,  snow is rare enough here to make having enough plows, etc. for a serious storm unrealistic.  So we'll make a pot of tea and hunker down with the sewing machine for a few days and dream of leaves and bright colored flowers.

Ella and Toby like to go out about every five minutes when it's snowing.  They stay out about 30 seconds and then want back in.

We like to call this "snow face."  As soon as it melts, she wants to go do it again.

I've decided to add a second block option to my "Mother Goes Mod" pattern.  I was inspired when I was cleaning out a drawer with patterns in it and found a couple of old garment patterns.  They always had multiple views of the same basic dress (or pants, or skirt) so that the seamstress could make it hers.

Seems to me that quilters should have the same opportunity.  So I'm giving it a shot and this quilt seemed like the perfect place to start.

Also putting in some time everyday on "The Wedding Quilt."  I do NOT want to be in a hurry at the end.  Making 194 of these.

And then a couple  million of some other pieces.


The cool thing about quilters is they're never bored.  If they can't decide what to do next, they can always look at patterns or quilt magazines or rearrange the stash.  And sometimes even clean up the studio.  Okay, the cleaning up part isn't always that fun.  The good part is that I always find a UFO or a piece of fabric that I've forgotten about that inspires me again.

Candy

Why Do We Quilt?

Why do we quilt?  Believe it or not, there are people on this planet ho have no clue why we do what we do.  We take perfectly innocent hunks of lovely fabric, cut them up into little (or not so little) pieces and sew them together to look different from the original fabrics and then attach them to batting and more fabric.  We decorate with them, sleep under them and give them away as symbols of love.  We can decorate, stay warm and express feelings in many other ways that are faster, cheaper and more efficient and yet millions of us make quilts.

And we don't just make quilts.  We go to shows, join guilds, make other quilters our friends, shop, compete, help each other, inspire each other and generally create a quilting life. We take classes, collect fabric, push out of our comfort zones, offer comfort, express ourselves and perhaps obsess a little bit, all around an activity originally developed to keep our ancestors warm.

It's something to think about.  The why is a little different for each of us.  I love the colors, the challenges and the possibilities.  I love the feeling of seeing a vision come to fruition and sharing the fun with others.

What's your "why?"


To those of you surviving another blast of winter weather, there is hope for spring.

These little babies are coming up in  my yard.  We're having very nice weather; please think of us next summer when the drought talk starts.

I've started a Wedding Quilt for my son and his fiancé.  Since the wedding is in July, I'm working hard at it so I won't be putting on the binding the day before the wedding.  The plan is to put some time in on it every day.  So far, so good.

Candy