Always in Stitches

Derby Day ‘07

2007-05-05T08:46:00.000-05:00

I just love the first Saturday in May! Kentucky Derby Day! And this year promises to be quite the event: A little ceremony in the winner’s circle between the 6th and 7th races to honor last years ill-fated winner, Barbaro, the Queen in attendance along with all the other celebrities, all the ladies in the requisite grand hat, and of course the horses. All I need now is my Mint Julep.Horse

Spring Fever

2007-05-02T05:58:00.000-05:00

With the change of the season here it has become increasingly difficult to stay inside. This sort of weather just begs for a road trip. So my friend Judy and I set out. Destination: Judy’s Quilt and Sew in Hampshire, IL. Now I have to admit that I have known about the existence of this shop for several years, but somehow I have just never managed to get out there. I guess that is the danger

The Void

2007-04-22T09:39:00.000-05:00

Spring has returned to the greater Chicagoland area and with it my creative energy. In my last post I talked about being back from the void, in some ways that was truer than you could know. In reality I had been working on and in a black hole. In the past I have not cared for those times when I can’t make anything, but I am learning that it is part of the process, and the energy will return,

More Good News

2007-04-19T06:12:00.000-05:00

Yesterday in my mailbox I got some more good news. Yep that’s right Ami has managed to get out another article about the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative. This one is in the current (Summer 2007) issue of American Quilter, which is published by AQS. The article is very well written and features pictures of five quilts from the exhibit. One of the featured quits happens to be mine. Ok I will

Back From the Void

2007-04-15T10:31:00.000-05:00

Yes I admit that I have seemingly gone missing of late. The demands of life have a way of intruding on art. So Ami’s email announcing that there will be a book produced for the Alzheimer’s: Forgetting Piece by Piece exhibit was just the kick in the pants that I have been needing to get back. She has graciously sent a copy of the cover of the book, which is due out in June. So I want to

Moving Along

2007-03-02T06:08:00.000-06:00

I can see progress this week, and it is a truly wonderful feeling. I am starting to get some long-term projects completed and I am looking forward to starting some new work… finally. In fact the fabric has been cut, the paint gathered and tomorrow I have promised myself a little painting session. Another bit of good news came in the mail. Ami Simms sent me a copy of the Alumni magazine for

Way leads to Way

2007-02-18T13:06:00.000-06:00

Lately I have been talking about making changes. Part of the reason that I haven’t posted in a couple of weeks is because I have been experimenting and making changes with my daily schedule, trying something for a few days and seeing how it works and either discarding the idea entirely, making minor adjustments, or discovering that the new way is quite welcome.What I find most amazing is that as

Walking the Path

2007-02-04T08:26:00.000-06:00

As I promised in my last post here is a photo of a new piece. It was mostly finished towards the end of December, but it still needed some blocking and it still is in want of a title and the requisite label. I have no idea what to call it. This piece is a bit of a departure for me and mostly made itself without any input from me. I think that is the part I like most about making something.

On the Path

2007-01-28T06:50:00.000-06:00

If you are like me, the problem with deciding to change some parts of your life is that they don’t happen nearly fast enough and some things must be placed on the back burner. So here we are with the end of January quickly approaching and I feel like I have been a huge procrastinator. Luckily, I ran across this article on procrastination this morning that woke me up. The line that hit me

Optical Optimist

2007-01-14T08:37:00.000-06:00

2007 has toppled in like a toddler who is unsteady yet on his feet bringing with it a state of trepidation. So far the New Year has seen the death of a family member and the requisite funeral, transmission issues with my car that sent it to the garage for the better part of a week and a host of other annoyances at every turn. But ever the optimist I choose to believe that we are just

Happy New Year

2007-01-01T07:41:00.000-06:00

The champagne bottles have all been upended in the pursuit of marking the passage of one year into another. Auld Lang Syne was dutifully sung, and the merry makers of a few hours ago are quietly slumbering in various and some unusual locations around the house. Yet try as I would I was not able to sleep for more than a couple of short hours. This day holds too much promise for me and I

It’s a Wrap

2006-12-30T07:52:00.000-06:00

Here we are in the final hours of the year, and I am anxiously awaiting the New Year. There is nothing like the feeling that I get at this time of the year, a whole new vista lies before me, and anything is possible. All that I have to do is set my mind to it. After all that is how I managed to get through the last couple of weeks of pre-holiday madness. Now I just need to apply the same

City Scape

2006-12-14T17:12:00.000-06:00

Please tell me that today is Friday! Well it feels like it ought to be. This has turned out to be a long week and even though I have been busy, I haven’t been able to pursue the things that I really wanted to. Perhaps I will get that chance over the weekend. I have my fingers crossed. I have been dreaming a lot lately about living in a loft downtown. I used to work downtown and I miss the

Extremes

2006-12-09T08:50:00.000-06:00

We have been hit with an Artic blast and it has gotten a bit chilly out. That is good news because that means that it is wonderful weather to stay inside and create, and on Thursday I put the last stitches in the binding of a new piece. I would love to show you pictures of it, but I have discovered that the cord on my digital camera has a short and won’t work. So now I have to venture out

Reality Surpassing the Dream

2006-12-02T06:44:00.000-06:00

The Universe is trying to tell me something. Lately I keep running into the phrase “Dream Big”. This morning reality hit me with something that got me thinking that perhaps my “big dreams” are not big enough. One of my emails this morning mentioned that Bonnie McCaffery had posted a new Vidcast with scenes from the International Quilt Festival

Vying for Vim, Vigor and Verve

2006-11-25T07:02:00.000-06:00

Today I am just plain tired and yet I have this need to get some work done. Of course there is that list I keep that is prodding my forwards. That silly list seems to talk to me. “Look here” it begins. “Do you see items six through ten? Do you know how long they have been on this list? You are planning on doing something about this aren’t

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-23T07:15:00.000-06:00

What a beautiful thanksgiving morning it is here. I know that you will all be taking a moment to think of the things that you are thankful for this year. I am thankful today because I will get to spend some time with my sewing machine. While it is not what some would wish for on this day, I know that it will make me extremely happy. And that is what I wish for all of my friends… one thing

Challenges

2006-11-19T07:29:00.000-06:00

Today my feet are once more planted firmly upon the ground. I truly cherish the few days that I was able to soar among the clouds. Having a piece of my work included in the book has been indescribable. But now it is time to taxi that little plane into the hanger and start planning for the next sojourn into the clouds. I had promise you all a

It’s Here!

2006-11-14T18:00:00.000-06:00

I have been standing next to the mailbox impatiently shifting from one foot to the other waiting for the postman to deliver my new book. Now I remember what it felt like when I was a kid waiting for Santa to show up. Last evening when I came home the postman had finally delivered my package! I could hardly wait to get in the house and rip it out of the packaging. I flipped to the back of

Energy

2006-11-11T05:33:00.000-06:00

This morning I have felt quite lethargic. I slept in. That is if you can call the eye-popping state of wakefulness that assaulted me at 4:30. Maybe I should have tried to go back to sleep, but I know that rarely works for me and so I have been dragging myself around the house. The first order of business was to make the coffee. I am on cup number three and I am still waiting for the

Endurance

2006-11-09T04:59:00.000-06:00

I had begun this post last night but then just seamed to run out of steam. But then 4 am every morning makes for an early wake up call and when you add all of the activities that I have been trying to squeeze into a day I guess that is to be expected. The Houston quilt show is now a fete accompli and I can now post my 2006 Journal quilts. I must

Superb Sunday

2006-11-05T17:43:00.000-06:00

Much to my surprise today has ended up being very productive. So far I have managed to get two loads of dishes in and out of the dishwasher and scrubbed the counters and cabinets, I have finished six loads of laundry, loaded a quilt on the machine, did some fabric painting, went grocery shopping-a task I normally loath, replaced a button that fell off my blouse, got caught up on reading all of

Two Fer

2006-11-01T17:38:00.000-06:00

Well finally! I have been trying for hours to get these two pictures to upload to Blogger. I suppose that this is just one more example of the fact that persistence pays off. There are lots of things going on in the quilt world. The 2006 Winners in Quilts: A World of Beauty have been announced and you can see pictures of them at the IQA link. How I wish I were Houston bound this week, but

Working It Out

2006-10-28T08:34:00.000-05:00

I had set aside some time during the week to get a post up here, but wouldn’t you know, when I was ready Blogger wasn’t. Somehow I just didn’t seem to get back to it until now. Isn’t that the way it goes? This week I haven’t been doing much sewing, unless of course you count the black crocheted scarf that I am almost done with. If you have been reading for a while you will remember that I

Something Out of Nothing

2006-10-22T06:28:00.000-05:00

Ever have one of those days where for every one thing that you attempt you discover that there is a bunch of steps that you have to go thought to get the one thing done? I had one of those days yesterday. My intent was to put a post on the blog of the April 2005 Journal quilt. I sat down at the computer with my requisite cup of coffee and lots of ideas of things that I wanted to say. Then I

Ideas, Time and the Inevitable Wait

2006-10-18T16:02:00.000-05:00

You know I just hate it when you wait around for something and then find out that whatever it was that you were waiting for isn’t what you wanted. Case in point. My machine was at the doctors for tune up and to fix the bobbin winder. Of course I was in the middle of a project and thought that I had to have my machine to do the next part. So I

February 2005 Journal Quilt

2006-10-15T09:36:00.000-05:00

I am really happy today because yesterday I was able to pick up my baby from her stay at the doctors…. And she is all better. Of course someone tried to tempt me into a new purchase. I took a good look at the new Brother QC-1000. It is a nice looking machine and if I had a spare $1,500 lying around she would have come home with me, but as it is I will just have to add her to the list of

My Babies Are Home

2006-10-12T07:08:00.000-05:00

I forgot to mention that my 2005 Journal Quilts arrived home last week. It is the funniest thing to open the package of returning quilts every year… It is almost like Christmas… I am never sure what I will find in there. It seems like while they are gone I forget all about them. But when I see them it is like greeting an old friend that you have somehow lost track of and suddenly see them in

Woe Is Me

2006-10-09T09:57:00.000-05:00

I sat down to do some sewing on Friday and realized that my bobbin was empty. So I slapped a empty bobbin in the bobbin winder, ran the thread around to get it started, hit the start button and... NOTHING happened!Waaaaaa!!! Off she went to the shop. While she is there she will get a good cleaning and a checkup, something that she needed anyway. But now I will be without her for a whole week

Brain Profile

2006-10-05T12:29:00.000-05:00

I really don’t like the silly online tests, mostly because they never really strike me as being believable. But this one was a little different. If this is true it might explain a little bit about me. For instance why I like math so much, why I like everything neat and tidy and why even given all of those obstacles I still have to create something.You Are 50% Left Brained, 50% Right

Leaf Postcard

2006-10-02T08:42:00.000-05:00

Since Vickyth asked, I figured there must be some more of you out there who have been wondering how I did the green and purple leaves. So here is a little behind the scenes look at what I did. I do apologize because the purple and green leaf postcard is truly one of a kind. The background fabric that I used was just a scrap and it was barely bigger than the 4” x 6” needed for the postcards.

Exhale

2006-09-30T09:22:00.000-05:00

The last two weeks have just been a flurry of activity. The good news is that my Journal Quilts for 2006 are safely in Houston for the show. My plan is that after the start of the show I will start posting pictures and a bit of a story about each one of them here on the blog for you all to see. Heaven knows that I have talked about them enough here that I think you all deserve to see them.

Progress

2006-09-10T18:40:00.000-05:00

I am happy to report that the August Journal quilt is finished, and the cartoon for my September Journal quilt is done too! On top of that I have the sleeve and its label done that the final five have to be attached to for display. If I keep up at this pace I just might be able to get these done and off to Houston before the deadline.I am off, back to the grindstone.All our progress is an

Busy, Busy, Busy

2006-09-06T15:28:00.000-05:00

Holiday weekends always seem to mess me up.But things keep moving along. The “Alzheimer’s: Forgetting Piece by Piece” exhibit will be at the Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza XIII in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania this weekend. The dates are September 7-10, so if you are in the area, please stop by and take a look. Also the CD’s for the exhibit are now for sale on Ami’s web site.I have

My First Sewing Machine

2006-08-26T07:51:00.000-05:00

The brainwashing started when I was a little over a month old. Oh wait it can’t be brainwashing when you are that young can it? What’s the word that they use when they trick little goslings into believing that a dog is their mother? I have it, imprinting. OK so I didn’t quite believe that the sewing machine was my mother, but I sure do like them. All joking aside there is a reasonable

Postcards for ACS

2006-08-18T10:50:00.000-05:00

They are done and ready to mail! These little buggers were fun to make and once again all the makings have come from my scrap box.The pansies were bits from some kit type fabric that you were supposed to cut out and fuse to a T-shirt or a sweatshirt. Really not the type of thing that “I” would ever wear, but fused to some pretty leftover fabric and beaded, they look perfect. Hmm, maybe I will

Gone Fishing

2006-08-13T12:11:00.000-05:00

Well isn’t that the sign they always put up in the window of those quaint little shops whenever the proprietor wants to close up and take care of other business?Truth is, it isn’t all that far from reality. I have been fishing. In my scrap box that is. And I did catch at least one fish! I have been working on some postcards for Virginia’s FFAC that will be on sale at the IQF show in Houston

Book Report

2006-07-31T13:30:00.000-05:00

Where has the time gone this week? Well to be honest, I really do know. I have been doing some reading this week. That seems like a benign enough statement, but for me that is like an addict saying they have had “some” of their drug of choice. Oh geeze, here we go: “My name is Linda and I am addicted to reading.” Anyway, since my reading list

Sunset

2006-07-22T14:18:00.000-05:00

Here is something for your viewing pleasure. It’s just a small piece that I started and completed in the last couple of days. This one is called “Sunset”.Long list of things that need doing today, so that is all for now. The more I want to get something done, the less I call it work. —Richard Bach

Rollercoaster

2006-07-18T09:57:00.000-05:00

The last week has been the time for wild rollercoaster rides. Normally I love a wild rollercoaster, but the one that I have been on lately I could just as well have done without. At least those wild rides move you forward at a breakneck sped. And so I have been getting some things done nonetheless. First thing is that I have rearranged my

Toil and Trouble

2006-07-11T10:11:00.000-05:00

Round about the cauldron go;In the poisoned entrails throw.Toad, that under cold stoneDays and nights hast thirty-oneSweltered venom sleeping got,Boil thou first i' the charmed pot.Double, double toil and trouble;Fire burn, and cauldron bubble. Eye of newt and toe of frog,Wool of bat and tongue of dog.Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,Lizard's

Happy 4th of July

2006-07-04T08:19:00.000-05:00

Let me start off by wishing you all a very happy July 4!Second, I want to encourage you to surf over to Ami’s site and look at the great quilts in the auction. There are 19 quilts up for auction this month and I know there is one there that you will just have to bid on.Next on the list is to thank you all for the kind comments and emails and even a few phone calls, telling my how much you like

No Way Out

2006-06-25T12:10:00.000-05:00

After “Nevilyn” was accepted to the “Alzheimer’s: Forgetting Piece by Piece” exhibit that is being run by Ami Simms, I felt compelled to make another piece. This one is called “No Way Out”. It will be on its way to Ami in the next few days. Please take a moment to surf over to Ami’s site. Her auction runs monthly and the next one will be July

The Eyes Have It

2006-06-21T09:07:00.000-05:00

This week has been filled with piles of paperwork and a plethora of phone calls. Still, I have managed to get a little work done. The cartoon for my June Journal Quilt is finished and I am ready to start construction. I have a solid idea for yet another project with a deadline and I put paint to fabric to start my current piece. So now you know what a work in progress can look like. I am quite

Good News

2006-06-14T08:56:00.000-05:00

I got an email that contained some good news the other day. “Nevilyn” has been accepted into Ami Simms’ “Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece by Piece” exhibit. You can read about it here. There is also a list of venues where you will be able to view the exhibit.Other than that I have spent the last week tying up loose ends,

Nevilyn

2006-06-06T08:13:00.000-05:00

This was my project this weekend. I started it on Friday and mostly finished it up on Monday. No, I didn’t cut all of those squares this weekend. A couple of years ago a bunch of friends and I swapped out 1.5” squares. I think at the time I had it in mind to make a postage stamp quilt. So thankfully part of my work was already done before I

Picture This

2006-05-30T08:18:00.000-05:00

Good news all around this morning. I got an email in the last few days that said the postcard I sent out to Tucson has sold. WOW! That really made my day. Whoever you are… Thank you. This just encourages me to do more. Ok I know you all want to see pictures, so with out any further ado…. This is my friend’s quilt. Jon was brave enough to

Frog Season

2006-05-26T08:01:00.000-05:00

Yes it is frog season here. I can tell because I am knee-deep, knee-deep in projects. I haven’t forgotten to post but I want to show you pictures! Right now nothing is quite done enough for pictures. If you will hold on just a couple more days I promise I will post about a half a dozen pictures. That is right, I am busy working on a half dozen

Laundry List

2006-05-17T08:35:00.000-05:00

I can’t believe that I haven’t posted in a week. But I guess it is because I have been busy with my long list of to-do, trying to get them ta-done. So I thought that I would share some of that list with you. With the help of a soldering iron, April’s Journal quilt is now officially finished. Just need to get a couple of pictures taken. May’s

Rolling Right Along

2006-05-10T07:43:00.000-05:00

Well the last few days have been very busy indeed. Thanks to everyone for the kind comments about my hands. They are on their way to Michigan as we speak. I am really excited that Karey has picked up this exhibit and it will now be seen in Houston! If you haven’t got your hand done you still have time, the due date isn’t until the 15th and Barb has said that she will accept them even if they

Derby Day

2006-05-06T07:38:00.000-05:00

In honor of the Kentucky Derby, which will be run a little later today I have pulled out a picture of an old quilt. This one is called Fox Hunt and was created in 2004. This picture is one that I took of it hanging at a show so it is not of the best quality. The really good pictures of it are on slides that I have yet to convert to digital format. Se la vie. So whether you are rooting for a

Creative Hands

2006-05-04T08:56:00.000-05:00

Here is what I have been working on over the last couple of days. A set of creative hands destined for the Creative Spirit Center in Midland Michigan. I started the project with a scan of my own hands. Then I set to work making my hands. I have to tell you they ended up being so much like my own hands that at times it was kinda creepy. But I now know what it is like to hold my own hand. <

Time Off

2006-05-01T08:24:00.000-05:00

I decided this weekend was time for some time off and some instant gratification. No quilting projects. Instead I picked up my crochet hook and a bit of yarn and in two evenings of mindless work I finished another scarf. This one measures 98 x 6”. Now I guess I have to get back to work. Man is so made that he can only find relaxation from one

A Few Good Days

2006-04-27T08:37:00.000-05:00

Ever had one of those days were everything went smoothly? You know the kind of day where anything you attempted came out better than you imagined, the last bit of glue in the bottle magically stretched itself to be just enough to finish your project, that one special item that you have to have and can’t remember where you put, appears in the first place that you look. Then suddenly you are done

StarBurst Delite Redux

2006-04-21T08:08:00.000-05:00

I am not really sure where the time has gone this week. Something about a holiday always seems to get my schedule off track. And Easter just seems to go on and on for weeks. Anyway, I have managed to load and quilt the next in the series. That process alone seemed to take all week. For some reason that I don’t really remember, I made up a second

Binding Bane

2006-04-13T08:18:00.000-05:00

I have been working my fingers to the bone…quite literally. Seems that all I have done in the last week is sew bindings, sew bindings, and sew bindings. And when I am done sewing bindings I get the incredible pleasure of sewing sleeves. Can you tell that I am not particularly enamored with doing bindings? Truth is, I detest doing bindings. While I was doing is mind-numbing work I had plenty

Trouble in Paradise

2006-04-10T06:49:00.000-05:00

The binding is done and I need to put the sleeve on, but I can’t figure out which way it is supposed to hang. Help! I went to the big IQA show in Rosemont on Friday. Boy did I have a blast! I kept running into people that I know but haven't seen in ages, I got to meet some people face to face that I had only previously known on-line and I even made some new friends. Oh! And I

Cooking With Gas

2006-04-06T07:58:00.000-05:00

It is amazing what can happen when I am allowed to work! I had planned to spend some quality time with the monster downstairs and I finally got my opportunity. So, here is what I have managed to get done in the last couple of days. This piece is a pre-printed panel that was lying around. It was obvious that some of the quilting lines will never wash out, but it made a good practice piece. I

Spring Break

2006-04-02T09:34:00.000-05:00

Spring Break and other people’s agendas have had a negative effect on my list of things to do this week. They don’t seem so to understand that this is not play or even work that I need to do. Somehow this thing I do, transcends those nice descriptive words. There seems to be some forceful hand planted firmly between my shoulder blades. It drives me forward. Driven. There is a word. I seem

All Sewn Up

2006-03-27T10:15:00.000-06:00

I have been sewing and working all week, and yet all I have to show you today is this tiny 4 x 6 postcard. How can that be? You know I had to ask myself that same question. The answer is sometimes there is just a lot of clean up work that has to get done for something to really be DONE! Number one on the list for last week was writing out some details on a previously completed piece, and

Saddling Up

2006-03-21T11:01:00.000-06:00

There was a big monster sleeping in my studio. For the last eighteen months or so I have known it was there and I had gotten very good at ignoring the fact that it really did exist. To be honest, that monster in there was rather scary to me. Lately, I would sneak a peek in there and try to determine just what I was going to do. You know deep down inside I just knew that the day would come

Travel Challenge

2006-03-16T09:27:00.000-06:00

There it is. I said that I had an idea Sunday morning for the travel challenge. The idea was to make a travel poster type piece about the place where you live. While I had several ideas, I was not inclined to use any of them. This one at least had some potential so I set to work. Monday night I drew up the cartoon, Tuesday I painted all the

Hi Ho

2006-03-12T09:08:00.000-06:00

This is the piece that I have been working on the past few days. I am pretty happy with it overall and I even thought I knew how I wanted to quilt it. Then I ran into major interference. The “muse” didn’t like it. Of course Miss Muse would offer nothing constructive on how she thought it might be better, just that snide little “I don’t like it”. So I tossed it into the contemplation

Bump in the Road

2006-03-07T12:40:00.000-06:00

Well two family funerals last week managed to flat out stop the creative juices. But today I have my hands back on fabric. Granted some of that fabric is actually LAUNDRY, but some of the fabric I am touching is looking and acting like it wants to be made into a quilt. I wonder if anyone would notice if a few articles went “missing”? In the last year there seems to have been an increase in the number of family and friends who have had to battle cancer. This last week the number that have succumbed to this disease rose to four. Sending flowers

2006-02-25T12:00:00.000-06:00

Life seems to have intruded upon my creative time this week and that really stinks. The good news is that January and February journal quilts are done, pictures have been taken and I have easily made my submission deadline (March 1). Once again I apologize that I can’t post those pictures here just now. You all will have to wait until the first

Tiny Voices and More Tiny Beads

2006-02-19T07:37:00.000-06:00

I have been remiss in posting, mostly because I have been working. Here is the update. January’s journal quilt is nearly done. All the paint is dry and I just need to finish up some of the hand stitching with the pretty floss colors that I found. This one was tedious but not too difficult. It has shaped up pretty much the way I thought it would

Paint Dries Slowly

2006-02-13T06:28:00.000-06:00

Work is progressing on the two journal quilts. But somewhere in my addled brain I had forgotten that paint dries slowly. My “technique” with painting on fabric is that I work by wetting the fabric itself and cut the paint with a little water as well… wet into wet. I also tend to add a little color, let it dry and then go back in and add more color and repeat the process until the magic moment

Through with the Flu

2006-02-10T05:01:00.000-06:00

First I want to say a great big THANK YOU to everyone who has taken the time to look at this new blog. And for those of you who have left comments, well thank you hardly seems like enough. It means so much to know that I am not out here talking to myself. You know I hear that they put people in nice padded rooms when they talk to themselves.

2006-02-05T16:51:00.000-06:00

Tiny Little Things In the last couple of days I have been attempting to push forward with my work while at the same time trying to finish off some things that have been languishing. Getting back to work after the last year is akin to walking a tightrope. Pushing too hard to get something/anything done seems only to result in a huge ball of

2006-02-01T15:19:00.000-06:00

A blog! Well here we go with the first post. You know I have been intending to start this for quite some time now. But 2005 was just so overwhelming on so many levels. It even seemed to have consumed some of 2006. Or maybe I am just on Chinese New Year. Hey! I like that idea. I am not a month behind; I am just on a different calendar than most of you. Anyway the whole idea behind this

2006-02-01T15:16:00.000-06:00

May 2005