'Tis the Season

It's been a year since I posted anything here.   What a year!   In many ways..
Last January I had a shoulder replacement and that kept me from doing many things I love to do---i.e. Quilting, driving, traveling, lifting, moving freely in general for about 5 months.  However, the right shoulder is 95% better----3 fingers are still numb on right hand, but I'm hoping that soon that will be gone.  The numbness feels funny, but the fingers work well.

So '"Tis the Season' and you know I love making Christmas cards.    I began making cards, and decided to expand my repertoire beyond Christmas to all occasions.  Above you see some of my wicked cat cards and a birthday card.

Hmmmm.   I wanted to post some other pieces I've worked on over the past few months, but this was the only one from recent photos ( I have hundreds).

SPC PIECEMAKERS 8th Annual Show

Ruth Elizabeth at 89 was ACCEPTED for the WV Cultural Center Quilt Exhibit.   ALLELUIA!

In the meantime I was busy busy busy completing several projects for the ST. Peter Claver 8th Annual Quilt Exhibit.   Here are my entries for this year:

Crazy Patch placemats and coasters were made for doorprizes for annual show.

"JOE ARTIST"  another finally finished quilt that has languished  on and off my machine for past two years.  It was originally for my grandson Jordan 's graduation from HS.   He'll be graduating from college in another year.

"Scrappy Lap" Quilt

"NASSAU NICE"  was what I named the mystery quilt we did at retreat this year because of the island colors.

DIVERSE DIVA was submitted for our BW Challenge this year.

Ruth Elizabeth at 89

         It is done finally.   I'm not the world's best photographer and I'm definitely not a fan of the new Photos appplication.   With IPhoto I had a tilt option to fix  things like the above, not so with Photos.   I think Photos is a step backwards instead of forwards---don't know why apple changed.  The editing tools were better on IPhoto too in my opinion.
      The portrait quilt sits on another quilt which frames it.(not crookedly either), a technique I learned from Jean Wells ( Winter 2010-2011 International lQuilt Festival: Quilt Scene).  I've submitted it for an upcoming show.  Should hear something soon.

A pic of final piece and frame, but though I edited out surrounding stuff, it still shows here.

Back to BLOG

Getting ready for 2nd Annual Quilt Retreat in 100+ year old house in Tazwell, VA.  Childhood home of Helen Galligan. 

Last year was the SPC Piecemaker's first retreat.   We had so much fun and this year the plans are underway for another fabulous time of shopping at local quilt stores in the surrounding counties, mystery quilt making, food and fun.

I thought the hiatus was over back in December or early January, but it wasn't.

      It's not that I haven't been working, I have.    But I've sort of flitted from this project to that one, not finishing anything.

I made an affirmation to proclaim every day to help me get going:   I have abundant time, energy, creativity, and love to plan, process through and complete what I need to do.

As if to support my creative needs now, I picked up a Science of Mind magazine and read  in the affirmations for the month of February 2015 this:   There is always enough talent, time and resources to succeed in all that I do.  I  looked around me to see who wrote that?

Woo  woo or no woo woo I felt spoken to.   So I began writing out a day by day progress report  to see where my time was going and what i was doing when i was doing.

one day. i worked on a BOM, for one of the quilt guilds i belong to;  another day i spent cutting out blocks for a give away quilt; another day was given to gathering fabrics for redoing the face of a portrait  i'm working on; one whole very cold day i made valentine cards from scraps of fabric; every Thursday i meet with an embroidery  group of four or five machine embroidery quilters;  and every Sunday, our Piecemakers group meets at the church and  we quilt. And I do have a life beyond my quilting studio that places many demands upon me.  So I begin to see why I'm feeling frustrated--why I have allowed the UFOs to grow up around me.  someitimes I feel like I'm in a horror movie and the unfinishsed pile takes on life and begins to tighten and swirl around me while laughing evilly.

Today, I received a newsletter in my email from Dena Cranes' QuiltEd Online.   Somehow, I'd missed a few copies of this newsletter, because she'd written a series of 7 articles so far titled "Time saving tips for Quilters." 

It was something I needed to hear.   Again I thought the universe was blessing me.  So here I am at this blog writing tonight , after such a long hiatus, feeling as though the ground is shifting under my feet again and I'm finding the road back to my beloved work.

WHERE HAVE I BEEN? NOWHERE. WHAT HAVE I DONE? NOTHING

Well that's not technically true, but it feels true, emotionally.  

Creative Quilters Annual Retreat

Piecemakers 1st Annual Retreat

 I attended some retreats with fellow quilters from my community.

    

Paducah--saw Eleanor Burns                         

Attended SAQA--and met new AA quilters  

TWO NATIONAL QUILT CONFERENCES (see above    

Trip to Nassau

Where I was inspired to make notecards of days and nights in Nassau

And I made these blocks which are stackked neatly in my studio waiting for me to get back to them.

and finished this Biblical Sampler

And with four other quilters made this donation quilt for local  theater group

And started this portrait of my friend ( 90 years young)

But I haven't finished much of anything.

Out of the Desert

That's what it feels like ---like I'm coming out of the desert.  Not that I have not been busy, but as for publishing things and sharing what I'm doing, it's been a dry spell.   BUT I did come to my blog and look at what other quilters I follow are doing, even though it seemed that I had nothing to say.   I've done a little here and a little there, but I've accumulated more WIPs than finished products.   So unlike me.

So to share some of what 's been going on I just sat down today and decided to start.

Before Decluttering and Organizing

After decluttering my studio

This took me the whole month of January and part of February.   I picked up a book from the crafts section of  One Hundred Zeroes which list free and inexpensive books for Kindle; it was titled Declutter Your Life. Since then I've read at least 20 books about decluttering your life and have begun a transformation on my whole house.  (hmmmm maybe that's why I haven't finished much).   It's made a difference though and amazingly I can find things now.   Alleluia!

QAYG CHRISTMAS TABLE RUNNER

START AT BOTTOM.     FOR SOME REASON I COULD NOT  PLACE IMAGES IN CORRECT ORDER.

Added a backing to top and flipped, then hemmed opening. VOILA!

Quilted the top and batting of each block  and joined them at seams

Chose some gold metallic fabric and some stars from Christmas fabric.

                                                       

Found some old Christmas circular blocks .

Christmas Cards 2013

Could not find Angel fabric this year

Card stock frames need another type glue.

South Africa cards

Thank-You Cards to South African Friends and Companions

Close up of one card