creativeness

I feel very content today with the return of a little bit of creativeness. I had a doctor's appointment this morning and then had to go wait for a prescription so I didn't get to my sewing room until about 1:30. I needed to iron and hem pants for my husband before I could get to the fun stuff. Since I had to change the thread for that, I figured it was a good time to change over the machine to free motion mode. I only spent about a half hour or so on this, but it was enough to feel like I did something satisfying today. I put the first bit of thread onto my moth.

In the fall I  moved my machine in front of the window as in winter I'm searching for a much sun as  I can get. Here is a bit of my view. Today a flock of gross beaks flew into the apple tree just outside the kitchen window.

I was aching all over  this afternoon, probably due to my infection, so finally by 3:30 I had a snack and took a Tylenol. I'm glad I did because it enabled me to go snow shoeing with Gord after he got home from work. We left at 4:45 and as we returned around 5:30, the moon and the first stars were out in the sky. It was beautiful!

Excuses

I had 2 posts in one day and then I've fallen off for 4 days! I can offer lots of excuses. I'm still dragging for one, and I don't want to be boring with the details, but I did get a call from my doctor who wants to see me tomorrow. It seems one of my tests results showed an infection. That could definitely explain my exhaustion.
Then , I seem to have misplaced or lost the little camera that I like to drag around with me and have missed a few photo ops.
Yesterday, I went to my first UFO day of the year. Since it was snowing, I didn't feel like hauling my sewing machine with all the paraphernalia. I took the bag from my closet with my Mariner's Compass quilt that I've been working to to finish hand quilting for a few winters. I do a bit in the winter and in the spring I stuff it away again. Here is one of the sections I worked on yesterday. I'm using perle cotton to quilt the corner areas where there is only fabric with no piecing.

This is what we woke up to yesterday morning as seen from my kitchen window. Today we had that much more again. It's been snowing since Friday night. My husband is going out now to do some snow blowing and we may go for some snow shoeing a little later. I find it quite difficult in fresh snow; however, I do feel the need for a little fresh air.

I worked again last night to do 4 more squares on this quilt. I cannot believe how much fabric there was in that kit just for a bag. I have enough made now to add another row which would make it 4 squares by 5 squares, but I also think I have enough fabric to do the 10 more squares required to go to  5 by 6 squares. I thought I was finished but I think I should try to use all the fabric so I may keep going. The picture really doesn't do the colors justice. While they're not really my colors, They are very pretty.  The neutrals are really more golden and creamy. They show up very grayed even though I've photographed it at different times and in different lights.

I probably won't get to any more today because my husband, Gord, may come back into my sewing room to work on the baseboards. If  that is the case, I may do more hand quilting or possibly move my machine to to the dining table to machine quilt another quilt that I have on the go. I've shown it before, and likely will again as I'm machine quilting each square separately. I never do these things all in one sitting either due to arthritis. I call it my Winter quilt. Each one of my friends did a block.

These next few weeks are going to be very busy ones with lots of appointments and tests. Everything just seems to come at once. This week I have 2 doctor's appointments, a mammogram, physio, a hair cut and an appointment at the bank. The quilting girsl are also meeting and I have one last drawing lesson with my 2 friends.  So those are my excuses for the next little while.

some days are just like that

There are  some days when I get up and I just cannot clear my head nor get going. Today was one of those days. Usually a little exercise gets the metabolism going and I can shake it off, but nit today even after I went for a gentle swim and sauna at the spa. The good news is that the back is better.
I came home from the spa and had lunch. When I still felt the same after that, I gave up and took to the sofa with my knitting and a book.
This is why I feel quite good to say that I put together these 4 little blocks to-night that eventually will become a quarter of the larger block. I feel like i did something today!

I have not often strip pieced such small pieces together and I'm finding that the ends of the seams are often ending narrower than the rest. Sometimes I have to flip it around and resew the end of the seam form the other direction to make it straight. Has anyone had this problem and if so, are there any suggestions?
I'm going now to put my jammies on and see what I can find to watch while I knit.

more painting

I didn't touch my sewing machine today. I met friends for coffee/tea and did a few errands. My back is improving although I still couldn't stand straight enough to go for a walk. Instead I put in a half hour on the indoor bike. Besides that I had enough time to do a wash, make a vegetarian casserole and paint the moth onto fabric. I opted for the heavier cotton and I did use the Derwent Inltense pencils. I really live the color, especially when you brush with it water. The colors come alive. I will be backing this with stabilizer to do some thread painting, so the blurriness and bleeding will either be cut away or covered by stitching.

My daughter recently spent a week away from Korea where she is teaching to visit Vietnam over Christmas. Her blog can be found in my sidebar. I thought I would share a couple of her photos. It has been quite an experience and eye opener for her to see how other people live.

luna moth

Wow! This is 2 posts in one day. It will be a short one this time. I did a very quick preliminary sketch of a luna moth just before supper with my watercolor pencils. It could use a little more detail but I will save that for the fabric. I've not done too many painted add-ons to a hanging other than dragonflies bees. Those I've done with needle lace on tulle. I plan to paint the moth but I'm not really sure what kind of fabric to use. I've traced it onto a cotton batiste to try with my Derwent Inktennse pencils. I guess if that doesn't work, I'll try a heavier cotton. I'm wondering if I should stitch a thin wire around the wings or not. Perhaps some interfacing underneath before I thread paint would do the trick. We shall see. It has been some time since I worked on the mystic houses hanging. Once I finish the moth I will take it out and audition it on the hanging.

holiday over

My husband went back to work this morning in a snowstorm. While I'm happy to see some snow, I don't like it when he has to drive to work. So, I'm stuck in the house which I don't really mind. Monday is often my housework day, but I'm forcefully spared from that too. Yesterday, I pulled my back as I bent over to pick up something. I'm managing it with heat, ice and a few Tylenol back pain pills that I had in the house. They really do help take the edge off. This morning, I managed very slowly to change my bed but I can't vacuum. Oh darn!
Yesterday, I was still able to make orange flax muffins and cauliflower curry soup using a heated belt that has a very long electrical cord. I'm able to maneuver all around the kitchen with it on. You can tell this hasn't been the first time I've done this. I must say though that it has been a couple of years. The yoga has really helped my back a lot.

 The soup was delicious and came from this magazine.
I don't find it helps to lay down--the back just gets stiffer. I'm able to do a little sewing in short periods. I've now got 3 rows of 4 blocks randomly put up on the wall. I'm still finding the color is a little off here, even though I tried taking the photo a few different ways. Perhaps next time if it's sunny out that will help.

I'm going now to grab some lunch and perhaps I'll knit for a while this afternoon. I'm making some yoga socks right now for myself. I gave the first pair that I made to the yoga teacher. They have no heels or toes.

Happy New Year's!

The sun just came out and it is quite mild here on this first day of 2011. I have not listened to the weather but I am hoping that  we do not get rain which would ruin all our beautiful snow. My husband and I spent a quiet night at home last night. At supper, we pulled out the very old (like 30 years) fondue pot which we haven't used in a while and cooked some shrimp, assorted vegetables and one shelled pre-cooked lobster. I fell asleep after supper while reading on my favorite Christmas present--the Kindle. We then watched a repeat of Wild Hogs on TV and I spent the last half hour of 2010 doing this:

I have started a new quilt using a pattern form this book. The fabric kit for an appliqued tote bag was sent to me by my aunt last summer when I wasn't feeling well. It was so soft and pretty and there seemed to be such an ample amount that I thought it would make a lovely baby or lap quilt. These are the first pieces ready to sew.

 I have some blocks up on my design wall but it will be rearranged once I get more blocks done. The picture doesn't do it justice. I will try better for the next one.
Also, I usually don't make New year's resolutions and I won't this year either. I don't like to set myself  rigid plans. I do, however, like to make intentions. I have noticed in reading many other blogs that mine are very similar. I would like to:
1. exercise as much as I can to improve my health.
2. spend more time in quiet contemplation and meditation
3. appreciate family
4. be creative whenever I can
My interest often tends to fluctuate between drawing, painting, art quilting and traditional quilting. I would like to continue to develop my 'voice' in art quilting but I also don't want to feel guilty when the urge hits to do some traditional piecing. It is very soothing and gratifying. I am not very good at measuring, cutting and planning, so it is often quite a challenge to figure it all out. I am absorbed in this particular quilt right now and soon I will be working on my printed wall hanging again. I'm thinking about painting a luna moth on fabric and the urge will hit me to do it one day.
The only thing that I don't enjoy is the machine quilting. I have several that need to be done now. I can do the smaller ones myself but must wait until I can afford to send out the larger ones. I absolutely hate basting as well.