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.

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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...

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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.

Thread Playing

It was a good day to play around with thread cut offs, frazzled threads and frazzled me, couldn't have been a better mix. I've been wanting to try the fusing technique I've been seeing on so many mixed media blogs. What If I found out that I really did save all this for a reason?

I fused the thread scraps between tulle with fusible web

Cut that into strips as a takeoff from the last CQR block I did .... (sorry about the clarity above)

and came up with the greatest pieces of color and texture to use. I loove it!! This batch will go on a whole cloth block but I did ask myself... What If I pieced a block as normal, cut these strips into shapes ie. scallops, flowers or ric rac shapes and embellish the seams that way?

The hoop worked well holding the strips firm (something I knew I had to improve upon from the last one I made)

The 101 Crazy Quilt Blocks book by Linda Causee is offering up some ideas for the strip layout and we'll see how it goes considering the lengths I have to work with. This is a fun one...

Cooking Up Crazy

What If the the CQ block strips weren't constructed to the best advantage for cording purposes because the foundation fabric kept wanting to peak out?

What IF I took bias binding and edged them that way?

What if I borrowed Judes idea for the floral motifs at the strip intersection?

What If I take today, work on the "black" block and simmer some more CQR thoughts?

And What If fall has arrived as if someone had flipped a switch and put autumn in the air?

More What If from a Special Scrap Block

What If I take the leftovers from the block I made from Allies class packs she was offering on her site, see this post from way back when and cut it into strips to make the crazy block outline? Couch it down with some saved up shoe laces and cording. (I knew I was saving that funny little sawed off block for something.)

The CQR collaborators are growing over at Judes What If blog and I'm learning lots from reading all the imaginative thought and what's fueling these concepts. Do see Judes side bar for links. Some great ideas to expound upon in future projects.

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 ????

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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.

What If.... Mojo Going On

Lots of little stitches going on...lots of thoughts going into each... and the weirdest kind of crazy quilting I've ever done. Progresses being made but I'm not there yet.

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One of the garden spots chosen and cleared by side of garage..... I'm thinking herbs and flowers.

This spot here is where the sun shines best... I see vegies going wild here next year. Much prep work necessary still but we've done well clearing out this whole area and lots to the left. Knowing where the sun shines is half the battle to planning a plot. (This pic is mid evening)

My camera battery is showing signs of quitting and my camera is one thing I won't live without. Also my Premarin RX is ready for pick up tomorrow, I have been taking 1 every 2-3 days to conserve them , not a good time to stop taking them all together. Looks like a trip to town is in order... yipee!

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Thank you to everyone who has been dropping by and leaving support and wishes. You all mean more to me than you will ever know!!!! I

What If Ya Try and Work It Out on a Block?

Here's the pile of "to do's" but

theres nothing like undertaking something else...

especially something like this, giving these babies up... there's never a good time, a right time, a strong time and honest to God, I'm hooked and very afraid. To put my cigarette addiction out on the internet is like walking naked onto a stage, but there it is.... I did it..... and I'm mourning them before I even quit!

It's also becoming clear to me that I'm mourning more than that... my family and friends miles away, my life in the city, the cultural socialization and urban stimulation left behind. The North is a harsh place and I'm not on vacation anymore. 17 miles to town is no joke, the "Family Dollar" is not Macys, there's no such thing as pizza delivery and a good library book is intraloan with a 2 week wait. No one wears a skirt, the closest fabric store is 40 miles away and when its dark, its scary dark... you can't see your hand in front of your face. I wake up sometimes and wonder just where I'm at. Honestly it's good, I wouldn't change it ( maybe the library) but I'm still dealing with the sad around the edges. There's other things too, but a another story, another time....

So what if I put it all in one basket... one block... one goal... one redemption... one cigarette... one sorrow... instead of trying to carry the world on my shoulders... just deal with my losses one stitch at a time? Especailly this cigarette thing, what if I work it out on this black block ?

Vintage Crazy Quilt View 4 and a "What If"

Block number 4 has a mish mash of patches, very simple and quite bare compared to others. Many curves on this one.

I think this fish going for the line is comical.

All of the fans seem to keep the same stitch technique throughout the blades.

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I took this pic last weekend down at Roxys camp. This giant box was left over from a crate of river rock that K had put on his house front, the pallet ending up in her fire pit. Now I don't know if I'm turning into some sort of pyromaniac or what, but these fires are getting intriguing. I especially took this one as it made me think of Jude from Spirit Cloth and her other blog What If where other cloth lovers are joining in with "what iffing" and discovering unconventional concepts and ideas. The box, when it took fire, looked like a form of eyelet to me as the ribs of it burned. Paula Hewiits Eyelet , Judith, Threadspiders Eyelet, Jeanneherself Eyelet and Aceys Eyelet are a few more examples of what "eyed" been seeing.

The irony is that today, Jude posted a "What If" call for the redesign / refashioning of CQ blocks, What If We Get Crazy and here, Redefining Crazy Quilting . I think I'm ready to do alittle What Iffing myself with the CQ concept and couldn't help but get alittle excited when I read her thoughts ( or did she channel mine?? too spooky) Hhhhhhmmmm, this could get fun around here. Maybe this'll light my fire! Nothing else seems to be working lately...

Are you tired of the vintageCQ yet?? Hang on, a few more to go and we're almost done...