Focus, Focus Part 7, Memories of Martha

My cozy sewing space.

In the summer and when it is very cold in the winter I sew in the living room. This gives me the added benefit of air conditioning in the Summer and not having to heat the studio in the Winter. It also keeps me in range of the television so I can watch a movie or TV show, usually in my studio I listen to music. So sewing in the living room gives me a little variety as well. 

I love to spend a day sewing and enjoying some of my favorite shows, shows like Bones, Masterpiece theater, Boston Legal, and old repeats of Julia Child cooking shows. I don't really watch when I am sewing, it's more listening really, some how it is comforting to hear Julia explain a recipe or converse with another chef. It makes me think on my mother when  I was young my mother would have her favorite soaps on and be sewing away,  I also remember her watching Betty Feezer  and writing out Betty's full recipes in piles steno books.  My mom loved to collect recipes, she had boxes and boxes of them. I wonder what ever happened to those books and boxes? My mom had the nicest penmanship, something I am still striving to achieve, even today. So there it is another benefit to sewing upstairs in the living room, remembering Mom. Of course, she really is never far from me, she is for the most part, the voice in my head and the reason I crave sewing and creating art.



This is my mother, Martha! The frame is one of the last things she

made, which makes it all the more special.

 

I am constantly saying to myself, " Ma would have loved this" or "Ma would think I'm nuts". Yes, unfortunately, I called my mother "Ma", I tried several more genteel versions like "Mom" or " Mother" I even called her "Martha" for a time, but none of it felt right....she was just plain old "Ma" to me. In my heart though she will always be my Mom.

 

Now focus, let's get back to the quilt shall we?



A stack of 9 patches in process.

I was watching Eleanor Burns make a quilt from her book Quilt Through The Seasons, you know the one with trees and cardinals while I finished up these 9 patch bits and pieces. It's satisfying to see them pile up and up, to the iron I go.



This is my pressing area in my kitchen. The pressing surface is a

project I taught in one of my classes, we also made them at a guild

meeting.

 

These pressing surfaces are very handy, I have several in different sizes. I believe I got the idea from an old Fons and Porter, Love of Quilting magazine. It makes a wonderfully portable and stable pressing surface. If you open it up there is a cutting mat on one side and a piece of felt on the other. I think I would put sand paper on the other surface instead of felt if I were to do it again. It works out perfectly in my kitchen when I am sewing upstairs in the living room.

 

This is a pile of left over squares, I hope I can make use of them
in the half and quarter blocks.

When I originally cut my squares I was planning each block as I went. I soon tired of that and just started cutting 6 - 2 3/4" squares from my 6" strips. This made the cutting go much faster and more enjoyable, but left me with a bunch of left over squares. I did make a few make do blocks, and I am hoping to use the majority of the other left over squares to make the half and quarter blocks. What is left after that I can make half square triangles or make four patches, we shall see.



two make do blocks



I think the few make do blocks will add a bit of authenticity to the quilt and make it more interesting in the process. I have also made the blocks from Jo Morton, Judie Rothermel, and other reproduction fabrics, though I have to admit that a few more modern pieces found their way in and so far I am okay with that.









two more make do blocks

In this make do block the brown fabric is a Fig Tree Quilts print, definitely modern. Sometimes I just can't resist using a fabric, I suppose, I could just call it another more modern form of making do.

Well good bye for now, I am off to my day job. Hope to be with you again soon.

Focus, Focus part 6 ... Cutting it down to make it more manageable!

In the last 2 days I have been diligently working on the 9 patch project. I have made another dozen or so blocks and selected the rest of the fabric for the remaining blocks. I always love to explore my stash, I constantly find something I have forgotten I had. Occasionally, I find several cuts of the same fabric in different piles. One cut may be in the blue pile or the Jo Morton Collection and another maybe in another colorway all together. I often find that I have purchased a fabric multiple times and those are the fabrics I have trouble cutting and using. Silly I know, but what can I say?

Fabrics I have selected for the last 23 or so blocks.

I then cut 6" strips off of those fabrics to make them more manageable. Whatever fabric is leftover after cutting, will find its way into other scrappy or small quilt.

The 6" strips I have cut from the fabrics I picked.

I really like having the left overs around when I am cutting charm patches or have to cut a bunch of small pieces, it just seems to make the process more enjoyable and keeps the rest of the fat quarter or 1/2 yard with straight cuts instead of with chunks removed.



This is a stack of Jo Morton 6" strips.

 When I start a new project all I have to do is pick the fabrics that I want to use, layer, give a quick press, and Ta Da! I have a stack of fabrics all the same width and can easily whack off a bunch of pieces in no time. I find 6" to be a good size to use with most of my projects, as I make many small projects.

I hope this tip makes your projects more enjoyable.  I love to play with my fabric, don't you?

I love books!

I LOVE BOOKS! So therefore I love libraries and book stores. I was sorry to hear of Borders bookstore having to liquidate its inventory the other day and it made me think. What are the futures of my favorite hangouts? I would be nearly devastated if my local Barnes and Noble closed or something happened to any of the area libraries, I frequent 3 at present!


After all it begs the question, should I invest in an E-reader? I mean, just in case all books spontaneously disappear!  If so which one? I am leaning towards the NOOK by Barnes and Noble in case you were wondering, but I really love to see piles of books on a table waiting for me to pick them up and enjoy a moment or two. How will that work when all I have is a NOOK and digital files? While I do have to admit, I am running out of space in my smallish home for books and fabric and a NOOK would be much more portable than a 1000 page hardcover novel and would be much less likely to leave a mark when it falls in my face upon my falling asleep. I still long to look through shelves of books to find new treasures or to find a copy of a history or quilt book at Amazon for just a few cents. It just isn't the same downloading a book as opposed to receiving one in the mail. For that matter what is the future of the mail system...oh don't start that again! That my friend is a subject for another day or not.







LIKE



Sarah always puts things in perspective for me!



This is a wonderful story of a woman and the journey she and her garden have made over 3 decades!

I found an interest in the RSN (Royal School of Needlework during all the excitement about the Royal Wedding!
This would never do as an ereader selection.

This one I have just started and is a wonderful story of a Dad and his daughter and the promise they made to each other.

These are just a few of the books I have waiting for me and I am sure there are so many more eagerly awaiting my finding them on the shelves of my local bookstore or library. 

Yes, here too I have to practice Focus, Focus!

Focus, Focus Part 5 - Don't you love Sundays?

I love Sundays, they are slow moving no pressure days or should be! Around here things are generally pretty quiet. I start the day with Sunday Morning, a news show that actually has something decent to say. While I am listening more then watching that I am usually putting the house in order or working in the studio. This is my no guilt day, so that means no paperwork, bill paying, running errands, no gotta dos unless they happen to be what I wanna do.

Today I opted for playing in the studio, browsing some books, and posting some vacation pics on Facebook!

Here are yet more squares for the 9 patch quilt featured in Focus, Focus project.



All in all I am feeling very good about this exercise. To understand why I have taken this pledge all one would have to do is look in my studio or for that matter anywhere in my life. Everywhere there are bits and pieces of unfinished processes and I have come to realize that I need to practice completing the process. Be it the unfinished bathroom that is still sinkless after > 6 months, the multiple journals that have been started to chronicle something or other, the dozens of quilt projects, the trim that is missing in my daughter's room, and the list goes on and on. In short I have become "an unfinisher" and what's worse it is dragging on my sense of peace and focus, so thus "Focus, Focus" was born! A project that I am adamant to finish - completely - from conception to binding and labeling! There done! To spur me on to do the same in all areas of my life or at least most. I know my neighbors will thank me if I can follow through with mowing the lawn,  keeping my garden, and finishing the Iris bed in the front yard.

In short I have to realize, while, yes I can do anything! I cannot do it all at once for I am only one person and I surely would be much happier finishing a few of these projects! After all, we don't visualize these projects forever unfinished. That means saying "NO" a whole lot more to those who would love to have me join the guild, work a few more hours, check out this new shop or craft, and most of all to myself who is forever saying oh it is just a small project, oh it is just 6 more hours a week, oh it will be so nice to finish this new project! It means building up my determination and shifting my priorities to the here and now, not what could or will be! In short - "GET A CLUE, JOANNE" this may seem harsh, but I think that a good lot of our society should "GET A CLUE"! Oops, I almost referred to our government as an example! ;-)

So please, if you are feeling at odds with the world, just take a moment to Focus, Focus and be present in the right here and now and see if it makes a difference in your life. After all how many toys do we need, how many activities to make us feel whole - not what society says, but what you say makes you feel whole! Take a moment and think about it, won't you?

Focus, Focus Part 4

Well greetings from a very hot Mainiac! At last check the thermometer out the kitchen window read 100 degrees. YUCK! Not too bad inside though, I managed to run the AC for only a few hours in the livingroom and close off the rest of the house. I hope we didn't tax the power grid too much.

I have in the mean time accomplished my goal and then some! Yippee!


First I cut some more squares!

Then I sewed and I sewed until I had not just 12 new blocks, but 24 new blocks!

Some of these new blocks I liked a little more than the others... like these three cuties...

I am all pretty and bright!

Me I am just charming, aren't I?

I am just stunning with my red paisley! Thanks Judy and Jo!

Now for tomorrow's goal I am not sure...hmmm.... I think I will have to cut many, many more squares, as I am out at this time. As for more blocks we will have to see! Perhaps another cool dozen?

With the original 14 and today's 24 that is 38, that leaves 39 more if my math is correct. Yes, this project is moving along just fine! Yes, yes it is.

Oh my stars it's HOT! Focus, focus...I'm melting....

I don't ever remember when it was over 100 degrees here in my part of Maine! Holy crap, but, I am still determined to get somewhere on my Focus, Focus project....my goal for today is 12 blocks more finished!

Wish me luck, more later, Joanne

I'm Off (maybe in more ways than one)

Poised an ready to do battle with the forces of the unfocused!
(he, he, he)



Focus, Focus Part 3



Here is the third installment of the progress on my practice in focus, a 9-patch quilt from the latest issue of Quilt Almanac. I spent a couple hours selecting and cutting fabrics for the patches and had a hard time stopping. It's so satisfying to see those piles of squares grow.

Eventually, I did stop cutting little squares to piece them together into 9-patches. Here are 14 of the darlings, I love to see finished blocks pile up as well. Of course, I couldn't resist...

..laying a couple background strips along side one of the finished blocks. Yes, yes I think this will do? Don't you?

I have to confess that I did allow myself to get a bit distracted. A friend and I made a quick trip to one of our favorite quilt shops in Jefferson called Country Creations. My mission was to find the fourth fabric from the left a 2007 Thimbleberries black and gold,  it is the perfect center for my Dresden Plate block. I was so happy to get an extra yard!

Of course after I found the fabric I came looking for I took a stroll around the charming little shop, which takes up one bay of a large 2 car garage at the owner's home. Now don't get the wrong idea, in this tiny space there are more samples, fabric, and knowledge then you can shake a stick at. Yesterday, Lou was on duty and it is always a treat to spend an hour or two swapping quilting ideas with her. All the ladies at Country Creations are like quilting buddies you have had with you for a long time, so welcoming and willing to share their ideas and projects you can't help but be inspired! During my stroll around the shop, at least twice to see it all, I found four Jo Morton fabrics. I was happy to see these older pieces of Jo Morton ephemera since I had didn't have them yet in my collection.

A sixth piece of fabric by Whimsicals came from another shop in Gardiner, Mystic Maine Quilts, I can always count on Roxy to order just the tools, books, and machine parts I need in a hurry, on this particular occasion it was #11 milliners for applique. All I do is send and email with the description and item # and a few days later I get an email back saying it is in! It may not be instant gratification, but it beats running round trying to find an item. I would much rather spend my time shopping looking at fabrics and samples, then to chase around looking for this needle or that. Wouldn't you?

We are very fortunate here in central Maine to have a great variety of quilt shops that provide a full spectrum of quilting needs. I'll save all those others for another day, have a wonderful day and enjoy what ever you decide to do.



Focus, Focus Part 2



Thirty-seven 2 3/4 strips of background...

One hundred seventy 2 3/4" x 7 1/4" background strips....

10 - 2 3/4" x 9 1/2" background strips....

And finally the scraps and Ta Da.... Step 1 complete!

Later!!! Focus, Focus!!!



My newest start! A exercise of focus...

This magazine has been calling my name since it appeared on the news stand or more accurately at Barnes and Noble. For what seems like forever. I have picked it up and perused the 9-patch quilt saying "I can figure that out on my own, I don't need the magazine". Then I would say to myself "self, you have dozens of  9-patch patterns, what is so special about this one?"  Well let me tell you why this  particular  9-patch quilt has been singing its siren song to me. For a long, long time I have been admiring 9-patch quilts, but wasn't inspired to move in any particular direction. Then this particular quilt caught my attention with its blue setting fabric and that adorable little zig it does, it also helps that this is particular gem is a copy of an(a) antique quilt. That my friend, is enough to draw me in, I am hooked!

It also helps that I have 4 1/2 yards of this fabric that was just screaming "use me, use me"! So off we go. Now I am hoping to follow this project, like I always hope to with all the others, start to finish in a pretty straight forward fashion.  However, I hope not to, ooh-ohh, I want to do this or that...just use it as an exercise in focus, focus. Wish me well! I will update soon...