December TIF

I thought I'd go ahead and post this photo so at least all the pics of this challenge were together in one place. I was able to finish this before the ball dropped .

TIF Challenge and Weather Watching

This is my completed piece for November. I could have souped it up alittle more but have to declare it finished for now.

I waited patiently to get the info for Decembers TIF.. I made up this block last night and got some threads together. It can ride around with me in alittle tin for when I can pull it out. After making it, I cleaned up my table, put the sew machine away and stashed stuff in the closet. I can say that I've more or less stuck to the Challenge and have something to show for each month. I wasn't going to quit this far in. My only unfinished one is Augusts"balance" block, and it's 98 % done.... I'm hoping I'll be able to get this one done before months end and saying Taaa-dahh to this.


I've packed a bag with some things to work on, some books, alarm clock, photos, camera cable, etc. Now it's on to clothes which I hate doing at any time. It's something I always over think when packing wearables. I'm watching the weather diligently and it looks like the week ahead has some precarious moments involving substantial snow amounts. I'm trying not to get worked up about it but I do dread winter travel up here around the Great Lakes. It blows, literally and figuritively, LOL


Felon is going to the vet in the morning to have a cyst like tumor removed from his front elbow. Once he's safely back home, I'll feel better for going.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I never meant to sound like such a downer in my other post. I was thinking outloud It's hard going but it's only temporary. The important thing is being around and nearer the family right now, especially for Christmas. I didn't think that I 'd have such difficulties coming north when we did and when I'm honest with myself despite everything, I see how much I put the cart before the horse in doing so.Hence, my best made plans not always wisest. My husband is in a whole different place with his life and I'm truly thankful that he's supporting me to go back and do this. ......... The phone just rang and the nursing home said that their sending my dad to the hospital for some testing and DX for all the pain he's in..... hello intuition.... I'm freaking listening, see?

Have a good week all...

Busy With Blocks

the Cabin at 24 X 26

My math skills stink and I had to tweak as I went and there's plenty of those little places that need thread and stitches on them immediatly to tame them down

I still haven't gotten my other machine fixed yet but I'm more than thankful to have this one

These oblong blocks were a pain ... trying to keep the patches from having that stacked up look on the ends

I love playing with fabric and picking out what bounces off of the previous patch... I can loose hours doing it...

and of course you know I needed more blocks to add to all my other blocks...had to feed my addiction!

an ornament block... I see a manger or a camping tent... maybe a birdhouse

an Obama block for history ... yes, that's black in there with the Democratic blue

then the November TIF block pieced with threads to use above

and this made up as a joke for my husband. Our Detroit Lions are the worst team in the NFL , not able to pull off 1 win so far this year. Rumor has it, we my go all the way with ZERO for the season. We are razzed unmercifully by everyone but the games themselves have now become comedies.

After the piecing frenzy, I cleaned up the whole mess and organized everything upstairs that needed it. I started a new St Vincent bag and remade my to do list. I put things away that I KNOW I'm not going to get to and made the things I want to work on, more accessible.

I'm looking forward to some changes in the "near future" so I got out this clock that I'd brought home from my mom and dads earlier this year. I put it on my sewing table as a reminder of how precious time is... time and what I do with it. I really need to work on how I spend it

November TIF and Hermitage...

Sharon is such a pusher of the mind and didn't fail this month with the challenge posted here. Looking around I found several sites which led me to believe that the field of "typography" is wide open and mostly associated with perception via the eye of the beholder. Well , I'm the be-holder for the next month, so I chose this...

When I purchased Carole Samples CQ Templates (which I'm wanting to work more with, along with her Treasury of CQ Stitches book) , she had enclosed a cross stitch stencil as well as 2 monogram stencils of my initials. These turned out to be the perfect base of this months block. Thanks again Carole


I was amazed with myself at what I was able to accomplish yesterday when I put my mind to it. This will be the center motif. It was easy to stitch on the muslin which I had backed with fusible interfacing but the color will definitley clash. I debated using a Kool Aid dye and still may. I'm sure it will color the blue and green stitches... at best an over dyed effect, should I dare?? If you have any input dyeing this at this stage, please let me know what you think. I'll probably piece this up tomorrow and then it will be too late. A thinking woman would have dyed it before stitching but you should know me by now, LOL


I lost my glasses sometime last Friday (frown) and have looked in every possible place for them. I think they're out in the woods...They were the pair prior to my last RX. Well I got out my newest glasses and WOW, COULD I SEE! EVERYTHING CAME IN CLEAR AS A BELL. I loved my old specs because I could see fairly well close up but still wear them without tripping... it's leading me to believe that I'm now (another frown) at the bifocal stage. But I'm loving this new "look" on life and being able to read without holding things at arms length. I started the "New Mercies" book by Sandra Dallas. A slow take off so far, I hope it improves. I see she has a new one coming out next year, Prayers for Sale.


Rox gave me a set of curtains that she needs shortened... the cafe part hemmed up to make another valance. I was looking at the discounted price... way to go Roxanne!! (That's 17.83 not 12.83)

mini vacation begin....

October TIF

I think this is the last of my "slice and dice" blocks. It was extremely relaxing working around the pieces with a simple running stitch.... the biggest reason why I choose to create anything... the mindful peace of relaxation. October TIF guide is here.

In addition to my workspace at this post here my most favorite workspace resides in this tin.... any place is my workspace as long as I have this. You know what they say, " The world is my oyster" and it is when you practice a portable hand craft.

Still one TIF behind... Augusts and I don't know why I'm dragging my feet.

Heading Down the Road

Just popped in to say I'm heading south and should be back in 10 days or so. I may be able to get online for a bit while gone and hoping to have lots of pics to show and a story or 2 of my adventure upon return... I'm traveling by bus (first time since I was about 15) and am packing light. A few magazines, 1 good book and 2 small projects. Have a great week all!

PS... I thought I would of had this done, but not, so this is where the "Balance" block leaves off for now, don't ask me what I've been doing besides... obviously not this

Jane

31 Days Hath October

More plans than usual this month are spurring me on to get things going while I can. I want to remember these colors for the leafless autumn days ahead so I pieced and dissected a CQ block in a what iffing kind of way...colors for the sun to infuse through the bare branches. We are at peak right now. Lots of winter preparations around the house and a trip to Detroit are in the works so I'm sure this month will fly by.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had posted photos of a block I also pieced for the Octobers TIF.. Looking at what I'd made here made me ill so I deleted it. I'll have to rethink it and try again. It was hideous, the colors putrid and not a good portrayal at all of what I feel about my workspace.. a great concept for this month too BTW, Thanks Sharon. Here are my spaces... sorry if you've seen any of these pics before...

The main "station" in the loft bedroom, where machine sewing, cutting and prep get done. Storage resides here as well in a closet, a cedar chest and under bed. (There's also a 1/2 bath up here so I could stay indefinately LOL)

The bar in the kitchen is another great place to spread out (we have no kitchen table, for good or bad)

but the best space to hand stitch is in the living room , if you can find a spot before a dog does. My space is pretty personal to me and more deserving of something different for this months project than the pathetic CQ block aforementioned. So much for trying to force something...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I 'd found this bag at Vinnies for $1... it has pockets for photos in the side.I'd used it in the boat this summer and liked how it kept contents dry... so I timtexed some batiks for the see through insets and have a real sturdy waterproof tote now. I'll be using this on my trip.

I also wanted to share these photos I took last weekend... the first is on the way to the marina. This spot is less than a mile from Superior and one of the prettiest places for its river of ferns and jungle-ish feel.

and this would be the last fall bouquet... frost advisory for this Thursday night.

next post will have Augs TIF block finished, ... am adding beads and snagables now.

Check List... September TIF

I got the brainy idea of running with this block and getting the September Take It Further out of it. I used the colors Sharon chose by way of the floss. A check mark is what I like to see most on any list and with luck, by months end I'll have been able to mark off several things that I've been planning to do.
Back tracking to August today and working on the Balance block along with a few other things

Taken from Yahoo Image files
one of course being football... Lions against the Packers at Ford Field Detroit.

July TIF is done ... finally

Keeping with the color and the theme is tricky with these challenges... and the subject of a half way mark with this one totally eluded me. That was until Roxannes summer kitchen got to the half way finished mark and she chose yellow as her paint color. Ta-dah.... it's always easier to finish something with a goal and purpose in mind, isn't it?
Anyway there's a gas station in town called "Dicks Pump and Munch" and I thought I'd add a few words to comically play off the Pump and Munch by writing Roxys Pub, Scrub and Grub. It was fun to be able to christen her new kitchen with a little wallhanging and at the same time get the month done.

Never Iron Velvet ??

Alittle more of the what if.... take a seam, crazy applique over it with ironed circles ?

Let a little straddling sun shine down on it ?

Lay a cut out motif over a seam ?

This What Iffing is not for the faint of heart.. First, not to let what others are doing influence the sense of your own process. Everyone is coming up with some great concepts of CQR and it's hard to not let it influence me. Second, I'm really stymied and its taking some deep thought to break the norm embedded in me. Theres still plenty of seams left for craziness though. This next "think phase" and the ideas evolving have lead to thoughts of another type of construction. What If I take some of that birch bark from the last post and put an if to that ????

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This would be Julys TIF that languished in my hand this weekend... shameful really, the progression of this one... the half way mark may well be July of '09. There really is no 1/2 way ideal to this one, not even from the beginning. Just the color palette. The half way may just have to come about from where the block will ultimately end up ???

This would be another pile to be dealt with today... and oh how it multiplies .The Sue Henry book, Murder at Five Finger Light is pretty good.The new Keepsake Quilting catalogue holds a great idea for a pattern that grabbed me and the never ending notes, drawings and magazine ripouts overfloweth. I'm also involved in reading the chapters of Deuteronomy and getting my head full of the fact that "Theres no new thing under the sun". A balm or a bane at this point in my life, Im not really sure.

Pieced... Now onto Embellishing...

Here's what I came up with using the fabric from the last post. (10" on finishing)

Some of these beads and buttons will probably find a place or two or three.

Threads up for consideration... ( and of course the colors not reading true to life)

Julys block is still staring me in the face, still being silent about itself and where it wants to go.

I'm working out some ideas in my head regarding this blog. I'm feeling kind of stale and repetitive with it and I'm hoping to change it up some, make it a tad more interesting... for you and me both. Change is in the air.... and balance has me thinking about it.

The Birthing of Another CQ Block

Playing with fabric this morning and enjoying these few hours of "totally alone" time I get on Wednesdays. This is how I start putting my blocks together, pulling fabric that may or may not go together, both color and texture wise. I mix cottons with fancies and try to mix every other piece to give it some sense of movement. This is one of my most absolute favorite parts of a crazy quilting. Back to play, I'll post later what I came up with.

PS.. This is for August TIF.

(Thanks Paula Hewitt for the teal silk, the rust floral and Japanese blue print.)

TIF Challenge Work and a Few Pics

This is what I came up with for Junes Challenge. Stories about wolves have been around for a long time... Little Red Riding Hood, the Three Little Pigs, Aesops Fables... the current story is that the population of the Grey Wolf has made such a comeback here in the Upper Peninsula that they are tabled to be removed from the Endangered Specie list. Link to DNR Survey Numbers. They'll still be protected but the numbers are large enough that they can hold their own ground. Just like my stash, it's holding it's own ground. In the midst of some projects I think that it says, "I'll huff and I'll puff and take over your house if you let me".

Here's the block that I pieced with the colors chosen for Julys TIF. I got as close to the apple-greenish color as I could, not a color I had on hand and the lavender pink comes out way darker on the block than the sample. It's all a guesstimate that I try to replicate as close a s possible and another color combo I wouldn't have worked on my own... another reason why I like working the palette. I have no clue as of yet where this is going but a half way mark kind of leads me to the idea of cutting this up, we'll see.

This little guy spent his day on my log chair, his lower body taking on the camo effect of the wood.

Wonder what carrying your house on your back all day feels like ??

We had a scheduled power outage last week and decided to take the bigger boat out on the bay for the day. We did a little rock hounding at Snug Harbor.

D in his element here.

The front flower bed is beginning to fill out and you can see in the background that the wood shed attached to the garage is filling up. D has turned into a log junkie, always scouting and scavenging new sources.

Now I wait for the satellite guy. He's already called and said he's off his schedule.... what's new ???

Till the next time...