Slowing Down

 Most of my posts here are an easy way to post my Project Quilting entries, but this time, I'm taking a moment to self- evaluate how I'm doing in the time of Quarantine.

The good news first:

•   My husband finally gave up on having our spatially challenged son to rebuild the stairs and did it himself. While it's still not safe enough for me to walk them, the structure is there and son can finish them. 
•   We have a plan for the house issues.
• The weather is nice enough for us to enjoy working in the yard, although I am struggling to reclaim certain planting areas and I need to make decisions soon regarding gardening. 
•  I have a new great-nephew, born this month and he's cute as a button. 
• I have enjoyed connecting with family on the phone or via zoom. 

 My concerns:

• I still don't know how my job can restart. While I am lucky enough to be getting unemployment, I am concerned that it will end before my job can restart. 
•  I believe that our government has given up on having a better plan for a response to the Virus and have decided that the deaths are viewed as "acceptable losses" rather than seeing them as US citizens dying needlessly. It will speak to their morals and our morals as a nation forever. 
•  My family has done a good job of social distancing, but as soon as we open up, we are all at risk. 

 So, while the bigger concerns have been swirling around, my day to day activities are how I deal with them. My days generally look like this: I wake up at 4:30 or 5:00 and make coffee, drink coffee and listen to the news while I wake up. I make my house for the day. I've had big quilt projects that I have been meaning to do but never seemed to have the time to do. At first, I was working extremely hard on them, often until 2 in the afternoon. Now that I've had 2 months home, I've done most of those and I'm slowly working on other things. Like, I've collected patriotic fabrics for a few years, so now I'll do one of those. Never high on my list, but here we are. 

 I work on those until 12 or 1 now and then I eat lunch and watch tv. I take a nap. I wake up in time for decide on what dinner will be (with wavering enthusiasm) and then we settle in for a movie of some sort which I may or may not sleep through. Then bed. 

  My hours are so messed up and my enthusiasm for projects have waned somewhat. I'm trying to keep myself busy with projects that are not all that important. I get a level of satisfaction when I've completed a quilt top, especially one I liked designing.

    But, I feel like speaking of the Virus needs to be said in an art quilt and I'm just not there yet. Perhaps because the story isn't finished and I've yet to come to terms with all of what it means. Who made good choices and bad ones? Who did ridiculous things during it and how did it affect us all? Can I live with the choices I've made? What will my choices be going forward? How do I represent my feeling on the insanity I witness? At some point, it will come about. I'm just now starting to allow my thoughts to come. 

  I've gone through so much of my fabric stash, which is a good thing. After this patriotic one, perhaps I'll work on a Fall and then a Halloween one. I have quite a bit of fabric collected for those. I just have to decide what patterns to try for those. I'm just keeping on keeping on. 

   

   

 

Vintage

Totally Vintage

 Project Quilting (quarantine edition) them is " Vintage" this week. 

Most quilters never turn down fabric, even if it's not their style. Especially in the beginning when you aren't sure what kind of quilts you really like to make. As such, you end up with some fabric you aren't sure why you have it. 

 So, this was a chance for me to use some of the reproduction fabrics and some "real" vintage pieces. I think it makes a cute baby quilt with a star pattern I saw online. Some of the fabric included were given to me by a woman in her 80's and she told me the fabric was given to her by her Mother-in-law from dresses she made her daughters. I wasn't clear if she meant her husband's sisters or that Mom made dresses for her granddaughters. Either way makes those pieces older than me.  It feels good to have them find a home in a new piece. 

My nod to the situation is I'm not finishing this piece for now. I want to think about the sorts of backing fabric to use instead of using anything I have at hand. 

I wanted to share a picture of the most vintage toy I own that has a connection to my childhood. 

This was given to my sister, Ann, when she was young by the neighbors whose kids had outgrown it. 

Not only did it survive her childhood, but made it all the way to me, born 14 years later, and a large influx of kids. I have no idea how my of us this guy comforted in the family, but I do remember my brother and I fighting over ownership and Grandma sewing the buttons on for his eyes. I guess I won ownership since I have it and I'll be 60 this year. I'm going to post his picture on my facebook page and ask who remembers him. It will be interested to hear what my siblings will say. 

Floral Challenge

Floral Art Sketch

The Project Quilting Quarantine Challenge this week is Floral.

I've been meaning to try this technique for awhile so this was a great week to try it. I used A light colored Cherrywood fat quarter as my top fabric. It's a fabulous fabric to sew with and to paint on. I looked at several photos I took of a messy garden and sketched several elements from those photos into a composition. I used a frixion pen on the fabric. I sandwiched it with some black batting pieces I had and black backing fabric. I used black thread and free motion quilted the sketch onto the fabric. I ended up with this.

I used fabric medium and watercolor paint to color the piece. It got very intense and bled quite a bit. I liked the effect but I wasn't sure how to control the edges. I sprayed some water to encourage the spread. Then I added salt to the whole piece and let it dry. I used pink Himalayan Salt, cause I had a bag of it handy, but you can use any salt. It pulls the water towards it and thus, the paint, so the end result is a mottled look I really like. 

 After it dried and I brushed all the salt off,(Outside and with a good brush) I realized I wanted a few more flowers but lighter, so I used a lighter thread, instead of black, to sketch in a few more. I used Inktense pencils with fabric medium to bring out some more spots of color that I lost from bleeding before. I've never actually made a quilt with a rounded top , but always wanted to try it. It's roughly 13 x 20.  

Overall, I liked this project. I got to do some techniques I had wanted to try and I like the overall feel of the piece, like it's a watercolor sketch. I'd forgotten just how much I like the effects of salt. I really liked the whole piece as a great little project. 

Small escapes during Coronavirus-19

Social Distancing

It's been a bit more than 3 weeks of social distancing for me. At first, the days were moving so slowly and I kept thinking I needed to be highly productive every day. Now, I'm settling into a pattern of life and I'm not quite as driven. I can spend a week at a time indoors but then I need to step out a bit. I am sheltering in a rural area and can easily spend some outdoor time without encountering anyone. I celebrated the super moon by spending quite a bit of time at the lake. 

 I've been waking up very early  and taking pictures of the dawn. I don't know why I am waking up so early every day. 

 I enjoy watching dawn every day. 

 Just for variety, I went to the lake for sunset. The sky was mostly cloudless, but also fewer contrails. It's Spring, which means lots of rain and the lake is flooded. I miss being able to walk along the shore. 

I've been enjoying the wild life out my window. Some are quicker than others. I've missed photos of the groundhog and fox, but this little guy is a frequent visitor.

 I am not sure how long we'll be social distancing and unable to go to work. It sounds bleak. I understand the social distancing means we don't overwhelm the hospitals, but at some point, are we supposed to get it? Are we just delaying the day? Can we really survive like this long enough to get a vaccine?That's over a year. If we do get it, and survive, are we immune? The jury is still out on that. Not sure if our government even knows or has some sort of overall plan. 

Life after Project Quilting- Think Big

Social Distancing

   I sit at home, day after day, listening to the news from New York which is so far away from my location. I hear it's bad there and here cases are slowly creeping up, one here and there in towns nearby and finally, one in our county. I'm trying to do my best by staying home and keeping away from anyone but my husband and son. 

  All three of us are out of work and have applied for unemployment. For many people who are trying to navigate unemployment for the first time, it's maddening. There is a disconnect between what the news is saying is coming and reality. No money is coming. We are all just waiting through the filing week, the waiting week, the week we should be getting money (but it could be 10 days?) and none of it shows the increased amount the congress spoke about. No big cash amount, no unemployment and no paychecks. None of it reflects the years of loyalty to a company and how often the job came first. It's been shockingly easy for employers to just drop you to save themselves. The lifeline for small businesses is just as chaotic and will be weeks before it all shakes out, if ever. The wheels are turning very slowly, folks. 

  Our state hasn't even declared a state-wide emergency, despite a marked increase in cases. While my family is  social distancing, we do have to shop occasionally and no one is distancing themselves there. I don't feel like enough people are taking it seriously and ever time we go out to shop, we are in danger. 

 

I have been trying to keep myself occupied with quilting. I have been making one small house block a day. My husband likens it to a prisoner making hash marks on the wall. He's not wrong. It's a diary entry of sorts. 

I've been finishing some ongoing quilts and quilt tops. Finished the Cherrywood Challenge, finished a quilt about bees. I made this one for the challenge, "Big". I do not have any batting or backing fabrics, nor do I have a longarm, so I'm not in a position to finish this one.  Even though the "rules" are to finish it, that's my concession to the Social distancing of the moment. This was a layer cake I won last year from PQ. I added a lot of white (and a few darker pieces) to make it more modern, which is not the sort of quilting I normally do. 

I just don't feel up to my normal quilting. Mindlessly sewing pieces is the best I can do right now. I'm just trying to keep going without adding to my husband's feelings and I'm sure he's doing the same for me. 

 I've been trying to just keep busy and upbeat, but it's getting harder. Be well, people. 

Project Quilting 11-6

Vibrant and Vivacious

This is the last challenge for Project Quilting this year and I'm going to miss it. Things have gotten so scary in the world since even our last challenge because of the Corona Virus that has become a global epidemic. The United States has become so complacent about other epidemics that have not quite reached our shores that, now that one has, it is just rippling through our country with dire warnings and one cold stark reality after another. 

  My husband's job is threatened. My job is threatened and we are not even in a risky area. We do, however, depend on the tourist dollar and while his job can withstand a disaster in one or another part of the country, this all encompassing nation-wide shut down does threaten it. My job depends heavily on the tourists coming. We all have so much fear, because of the uncertainty of getting sick, meeting our bills and feeding ourselves. Luckily, I don't have school age children. 

  Being an introvert, I would be fine staying at home. I feel like I have plenty of projects I could do while I sheltered at home. Speaking of Projects...

 It's been a year since I made this top. I have a quilt guild friend who has a long arm and, since I wasn't in a hurry to get it back, she could take her time and do it when she was in the mood. She has finished it and we need to make arrangements for me to get it from her. I'm excited to see what she did, since she had fun doing her own thing. I used years worth of scraps on this quilt top and I was really sick and tired of seeing them all here hanging around so, after I finished this quilt, I donated all the scraps I had left to the guild. OOPS!
I thought maybe for this challenge, I could make a pillow to go along with that quilt, but I had already gotten rid of any similar fabrics. Not to say I don't have other choices of fabrics that are just as bright. So, I made a Dresden Plate flower pillow from other bright fabrics. Some of it came from PQ and some from my husband buying me fabric as he drove by Handcock's in Paducah without really knowing what he was doing. (He did great!) and some pieces I bought in Houston.   I did have the same background fabric  I used on the quilt and the same center, so it should work ok with the Quilt when I get it back. I have a lot of binding in my future if I have to shelter in place ever.

Listening to the news is so scary and yet, so many of us just aren't getting clear answers. Things are changing every day and it's hard to make plans when things are changing so swiftly. For now, I continue to go to work and clean the stores in anticipation for opening (last we heard) March 28. After that, we are unclear if we are unable to open. 

 I am a quilter and an artist and I have many, many more ideas than I can ever do with the time I have. I can keep myself occupied easily with all my projects. I know you can too. As long as we have a sense of wonder and exploration to try new things, to wonder, "what if".. to experiment and plan and dream. We will get through this and be wiser for it. Good Luck!

    

Project Quilting 11-5

Give it Away

This in National Quilting Month and so many quilting groups around the country are celebrating the event in many different ways. Quilters, as a whole, are such generous people. My own small guild have groups who focus on Quilts of Valor and My Very Own. Then, of course, we have people who do so many quilts for family and friends, and many sew for Quilt Day boutique, which benefits the guild. I have done a bit for Quilt day, but many of mine got to friends and family. I especially love making baby quilts. BUT...

This week, I am back to work and I am exhausted every night. I knew I couldn't make a bigger project. I've been playing around with making these bags made with the ruler closings. I've made a larger one for the last challenge, but I wanted to try a smaller one. 

 I had this interesting fabric I picked up from Market several years ago with the alarm clocks. I liked the gear fabrics to go with the clocks. I've been holding onto some iron on vinyl coating for some time and I thought it would be a good time to try using that. 

 

I felt like it really didn't adhere to the fabric as well as I thought it would. I applied it with my iron, but I wonder if using a heat press would have been a better choice. I'll try that another time. 

I forgot to put the small triangle of fabric for a pull handle, so I added these decorative buttons instead. One says , "Sun rise" the other says, "sun set". 

Because I've been waking up early, I have been enjoying the sunrise from my home. Every morning it's been a beautiful show, but some more brilliant than others. This one had such soft pinks and a brilliant yellow on a cloudless morning where the colors just blended from one to the next. 

I like giving gifts randomly. In that vein, I gave my little bag to a co-worker. She was funny. Her first comment was, "you're so crafty". She has a great laugh and loves little gifts like this. It's fun to work with her. I am the second youngest person in my shop at 59. It's been a real blessing to work with a variety of older people every day.