Neglected Blog... but don't give up...

February CQJP

Tucked in ,9 degrees outside

January CQJP

Time has a way of making itself scarce... I feel like a chick sitting on an egg... wanting to run off but knowing I have to wait for "natures course". Not sure about all this technology yet... how much of it do I want vs how much do  I need.... FB, blog, groups, when does it all get to be redundant and lose the luster. The older I get the more I realize I "need" to pick my passion!

Ya gotta love what the camera does..(. rose colored glasses ... makes me think of  this..)

C'Mon Spring, I'm counting on you early, things are sure gonna change up

Peace and Hope to All

for on this day a Child is born....



Lets Adjust the Wonky

They are square per my re-pinning for "storage"



Nothing Rhymes With Orange

I made up a cover for 2012's notes, thoughts, plans, lists, etc... basic 9x12 blank drawing book...

no chach here... simplicity is the mantra of this new year.( PS. I did not do this embroidery, I got it at a garage sale when I was downstate)

Got my blocks pinned to another piece of flannel to keep track of placement and picked....

 this block to start on first.

Yahoo says Tangerine Tango is the hot color of the year, we'll see. I need the boost this time of year anyway. The book "Color Healing" ( one of my favorite books and one I'll be referring to throughout) says orange is linked to the warmth of sun and fire. Put ORANGE  into your life when there is a feeling of bleakness and boredom, particularly when there is a sense that time is really dragging, when there is a resentment of changes in familiar routine and an obsessive need to have things in their" proper" place, overseriousness and being unable to see humor and playfullness in life,  fear of experiencing pleasure through the senses and an inability to let go of the past. Also problems with blocked experiences in life such as decrease in personal creativity.

Well, if orange can help me with all that, then I'm ready !!!!!  but not too ready ... this is one of the split blocks, obviously I'm not that ready for that full blown orange block in upper right. ; )

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Now I need quit aquarium gazing

and having Luke pull my chain by begging me to go in and out and in and out and in and out and.....

ORTS and Blocks

 The subject of ORTS has come up on line. I didn't keep this years but found a good place for some I've saved from the past. They go real good in glass bottom lamps.

 I was lucky enough to start sewing up my blocks over Thanksgiving holiday for CQ2012. Here's part of the green mess. I  joined up in a study group called Tuesday Stitchers that was formed by Debra Spincic as a platform for the CQ project. A step in the right direction for staying focused and accountable for the new year. The Tues Stitcher blog is also a place for some of the followers of TAST (Take a Stitch Tuesday), being hosted  by Sharon Boggon of PinTangle in 2012.

I've been able to  pare down everything to basics with my move... what I have left will be more than I'll use a lifetime anyway. 2 tubs of fancies, about 25 books and these shelves/baby tubs ARE IT ! There were a few pangs of regret as I bagged things up to give away, quilt books that gathered dust and fabs I'd never use but what a load off. What was I thinking when I bought/collected all that stuff??? This new sewing table is turning out to be the berries and so is the open space that doesn't clutter me and my mind up ( like they're 2 different things). I'm pretty happy with the way my blocks have come out, I'll post them soon.

Happy Friday!

Ya Gotta Start Somewhere

How does one go about kick starting an old neglected blog? Here goes...

My Greenhouse 2011

The old blog Crazy Here and Now represented parts of my life that have since fell apart. A 20 year marriage, a home I put my heart and soul in, the changes that happened in my family nucleus with the loss of my dad and the sugar coating I put on it all to make it better than it really was. Towards the end of the last posts over there, things were messy and I couldn't even write about it. I did import the old stuff over here so I wouldn't lose it but it's all in archive mode on side bar. After 14 months the dust has settled enough for it to be archived in my daily life as well. Life is for the living and I survived. I've missed blogging but believe me, I've spared you a big dark shadow.

So, now you know and here I am... bigger, better and stronger than ever!

Moving Onward

I have shut down the old blog and started a new one here.. the past few months have not been easy ones but it's time to move on in a new direction... a more authentic one. I hope some of you will follow me over here as I get back on my feet with blogging.

Easter CQ and Memories

Remember that block from this post here ? It's all dressed up for Easter now

I was inspired by the Victorian panoramic eggs that have the scenes inside





The pic above is from D.Blumchens Co, if you're not in the mood for Easter, you will be after a visit there

Confectionery Artists Guild of Orlando has a great page in place with these beautiful sugared eggs and how to make them....hmmm , maybe an idea for next year. And here's another site, Sugar Eggs that customizes these little gems with names and dates if you're not quite inclined to make your own..

I just loooooove these and remember the one and only Easter I ever got one

Anyway I had to fish into the wool/felt box to find a pale pink back for "The Egg" before I stuffed it and came across some of last years booty from the big city. This will turn into another springy post of its own, I'm sure

basket on the kitchen counter

Now for the flashback.... this is sis and I before church back in 1969. Grandma S made my sisters coat and my coat including a lined linen dress... I was so proud of that outfit

it was chilly but I had to show off the dress

and again for Easter in 1970... alittle shorter in the arms and the knees... and more demurely worn than by the little brat a year before... who only knew then what the 70's would bring

I think this was '71... with the coconut bunny cake my mom and I made together. Good memories, spring in the air and all the Hopes that Easter brings makes this my all time favorite holiday.

Wishing that this years big bunny is good to you , too

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I don't know whose blog or what site I saved this photo from but it's for sure NOT mine but I loved the idea. My bras would only be good for seed starting, not growing plants, LOL

HAPPY SPRING !

Big Quartzite Falls Part 2

The river really starts to flow here... down to the Big Fall. I can't believe I'm walkng in with no snow boots so early this year. See Quartzite Falls Part #1 for the beginning of my walk down the river.

Come summer , I'll share the idyllic pool of fern and moss found at the bottom of these gem veined falls but for now it's all about a power wash.

PS. You can turn the music down at bottom before viewing...

Little Quartzite Falls Part 1

March 16th... spring is coming and the snow off Mount Arvon is melting..... please check link to BIG Quartzite Falls part #2 for the real deal... I'm dreaming tank tops and vegetables, stitching on porch swings, green vistas and aqua waters early this year

PS. You can turn the music down at the bottom before viewing...

My Take on a Dorothy Bond Stitch

Page 60, bottom set ...

working my way up this seam of teensy pine stitches...and now finished, aching for another seam just like this to lose myself in.... finding great pleasure in these minute stitches after the basics are hashed out. While working it, all BS gives way. This is the stitching I crave at present. Most people don't understand why I put this much of my hand to something that is 10" x 10". Obviously, they've never prayed with a needle... so many of mine have been answered this way

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shaggy bull... from todays ride through Elo

Feeling quite bullish myself lately. I hacked down my blog feeder and rid it of all things that don't pertain directly to what my interests are. The past 2 years I've bombarded myself with ideas. Those " One day I'd love to do this" and " Isn't this cool?" kind of blogs. Let's get real here, there's only one of me... I'm done with knitting, crochet and mixed media .... done with looking at tatting, needlepoint and cross stitch, too. Necessary "house cleaning" for where I'm headed.

Aunt Jane of Kentucky...

by Eliza Calvert Hall , the the story of a Southern quilter

My Grandma S gave me this book when I was 11 or 12. This is my original copy dated 1906. It's now available online through Harvard Edu here. I'm sure you'll enjoy the chapter entitled " Aunt Janes Album".

Here's an exerpt from it...

"How much piecin' a quilt is like livin' a life. Many a time I've set and listened to Parson Page preachin' about predestination and free will and I said to myself, if I could just get up there in the pulpit with one of my quilts, I could make life a heap plainer than Parson's making it with his big words. "You see, to make a quilt, you start out with just so much calico. You'll go to the store and pick it out, n' buy it, but the neighbors give you a piece here and a piece there and you'll find you'll have a piece left over every time you cut out a dress and you just take whatever happens to come. That's predestination. "But when it comes to cutting the quilt, why, you're free to choose your own pattern. You give the same kind of pieces to two persons and one'll make a nice patch quilt and the other one'll make a wild goose chase. There'll be two quilts made of the same kind of pieces, but just as different as can be. That's the way of living. "The Lord sends us the pieces, we can cut 'em out and put them together pretty much to suit ourselves. There's a heap more in the cutting out and the sewing than there is in the calico." –Eliza Calvert Hall, 1898

While fishing around for info on Eliza, I found this sweet poem....

A Treasure

by Mildred Hatfield

It's more than a coverlet, More than a spread, This beautiful quilt That graces my bed.
It's laughter and sorrow, It's pleasure and pain, It's small bits and pieces Of sunshine and rain.
It's a bright panorama Of scraps of my life- It's moments of glory, It's moments of strife.
It's a story I cherish Of days that have been, It's a door I can open To live them again.
Yes, it's more than a cover, This much-treasured quilt, It's parts pieced together Of the life I have built.

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Felon cooling off

the begininings of spring

The Mr Has Picked the Winner

Thank you gals for entering to win the Ocean Song Mermaid fabric and pattern.

Odds were good with only 10

and drawn from the bowl.......

Dan pulled the the slip with Anita from Florida on it. I don't know Anita but her blog is full of colorful quilts. You can find her at Margret Marys Place. I'll be having another giveaway with Crazy Quilt items in the next 6 weeks or so, if you're interested in that, do visit again. Give aways are always fun to do.

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This was looking East the other evening at about 5:30... the moon gaining momentum for being Full tonight

The same evening about an hour later in the Western sky.... It's hard to catch sunsets here being so deep in the woods... horizons obscured but this red sky at night was NOT a "sailors delight" the next morn. Just like March... "Coming in like a lion and out like a lamb" ? Who made that one up?

Welcome March any way!

End of February GIVE AWAY

February has been a busy month and I'm so happy to see March arriving next week, so as promised, here goes...

Just leave a comment here, blog site or email address in comment box necessary to enter... comments must be posted by midnight, USA Eastern time, Saturday, February 27 . Recipient will be picked and announced on Sunday, February 28 . (Barring any issues with my ISP that day, Newtons Law, LOL) 1 entry per person

Everyone is welcome no matter where you live

Please, help me out by taking this off my hands and instigating my spring cleaning!!!
See preceeding posts for more photos of finished quilt and block designs.



One pattern from H.D. Designs and 6 panels of Laurel Burch Ocean Songs Mermaid Fabric

GOOD LUCK and THANKS FOR VISITING!

Jane

Making Crazy Quilters One Block at a Time

My stomach has been in knots ever since I was approached to hold this class. How could I ? I've never taken a quilting class in my life... how could I remotely act like I knew what I was doing and instruct another on anything fabric related? These gals go to retreats and shop classes, their show and tell quilts are phenom, they're seasoned in lingo and techniques. What could I share? So what joy to find out that if your heart is in your subject, you're a mirror of what you love and you can't go wrong. Many thanks go to the wonderful gals, too!

Lots of samples, history and CQ books piqued everyones interest. I also made little folders with block diagrams, stitch samples and finished block photos for them to take home.

Plenty of fancy fabric scraps got the fun going ( this was the end of the pile which thankfully, I had none to take home... I may win the war of spring cleaning yet)

Roselyn and her " bedspread block" ... LOL

Joanne working a tricky long piece

back to the scrap pile

creativity chaos





Asenath's block in the works, 8"





Ros's block working towards18" ish for a pillow top





Joannes block, 12"





Sues block, 6"







It was a gorgeous day weatherwise with lots of things happening in town. Alot of ladies flitted in and out besides the ones who participated.Of course I forgot to bring the camera out until 1:30, but this is the jest of it. I had a blast and all my "butterflies" are gone , especially after receiving this email...



Jane, Thank you so much for the class on Sat. Even though I was late my DIL really was interested. She gathered the fabric and really took to that process. When she saw all the samples it inspired her! We went back to my house and used her 'new' machine and she completed a 9" block. We made a pillow out of it and she took it back to MN along with her packet of instructions and was so pleased. It was the perfect teaching tool for her learn her machine. I made sure she changed the bobbin several times as well as the top thread. She even used a fancy machine stitch to embellish the pillow. Thanks again it taught a version of the method of crazy quilting in an unexpected way. Julie





It was alot of fun and now we're cooking up an embellishment get together, minus the jitters I might add!