love volume progress

love volume progress, a photo by greeneyedsilversmith on Flickr.

i joined the low volume quilt along that lauraj and chickenfoot are hosting... it's lovely. it's soothing. it's just what i need.  so far, i have 7 complete blocks and lots more to go..

projects as of late

i know i haven't posted much in the last few months... but life has gotten in the way and taken a few turns i wasn't expecting.  and for now, i'm trying to deal with these turns as best i can.  it's not over - far from it - and in the meantime, i am trying to keep myself busy, my mind occupied and take it day by day with my little redhead.

i had started drawing again in april when this all started.  i finished one that i had waiting for a couple years, got superstitious about finishing, was encouraged to complete it, but in the end, my fears came true.  so, it hangs on my wall and makes me sad.

  

the next drawing has a great start and i was trucking away at it each night for a month or so instead of working with fabric.

there is quite a bit more to it now - this was just the beginnings as it was taking shape.  a god portion of the final outline above has been completed.  this one was supposed to be a good time-suck and take my mind off the problems at hand.  now, i just don't have the energy to work on it more than a moment at a time.  there are tears on the page and even a tiny drop of vino on the bottom.

i pulled out the fabric in may again.  made a dress for myself.  then i brought out the quilting bee blocks that i needed to catch up on.  i'm all good now... just have 4 more days to complete and mail the second block needed for june.  i got the new list from the navy for their QOV request.  11 QOVs!!!  and with a priority list.  drats... i need to get working on those again as well...i should... but time and money are about to get very very tight for me.  luckily, i'm getting at least one box of moda's "just one star" block challenge blocks and they'll help with both time and expenses.

i joined the low volume quilt along this month hosted by some of my best flickr friends.  i wasn't sure how i'd do it - so little color usage, but i'm challenging myself to it with as little bold color as possible for me.

from this potential stash, i eliminated a few fabrics from the mix.  the kitchen print in the front left, the brown/tan print and red print in the back right are going away.  i'm still not sure about the lush since it may get cut up in not pleasing ways and a couple others just haven't been touched as of yet, but might tonight or tomorrow.  i thought and thought about a design.  had no idea what to do.  searched my books, the moda bake shop, magazines, etc., for inspiration.

finally, i decided on a postage stamp quilt.

i have one block complete for my test.  there are lots of strips cut, patches started and ideas brewing.

i think it's calming and tranquil, don't you?  i hope it is.  i know it'll be a while before it's completed, but my intentions right now are to mix mostly these low volume postage stamp blocks with blocks from BeeFF members during my month in august.  i think i'll have them make me star blocks with low volume backgrounds and the stars be either aqua or sea green colors, then i'll have a soothing bed of stars to cover me and hopefully allow me to sleep again.

etsy store now open

hey everyone (if anyone still reads this)... i know i've been absent lately, but i've got all sorts of reasons for it.  life has gotten in the way enormously.  i'll explain later when i have the strength.

BUT.... i have finally opened an etsy store.  so far, there isn't a lot, but i'm adding throughout the week, so keep checking back.  there si fabric, patterns, purse handles to make your own collection, yarn, etc.  i'll be adding some other things such as relief prints and some jewelry later to round out the variety.

come visit and see if there's anything you like!

time to catch up

i'm way behind on my postings here, but the last few months have been extremely busy and crazy - both at work and at home. we've had sick people in the house, sick animals, surgery, visiting MIL, spring break (during which there was sick me, surgery for hubby and visiting MIL), and insanity at the office. i'd like to say it's calming a little, but not really!

since the winter, i've been piecing away at a QOV that is also going to a quilt show. my first show quilt!! it's gorgeous and it was so hard to mail it off to never see it in the show or ever again. i can show you a little sneak peek of the finished quilt...

i'll show you the full quilt later after the show starts in may. i'm not sure if the show coordinators have a rule about it or not, so i don't want to make them upset with me. tia - my online flickr/bloggy world/quilting friend was my partner on this QOV. she did the beautiful longarm quilting and i couldn't be more thankful for the work she did on it. her quilting style only increased the beauty of the quilt that much more.

i also joined in the current round of the doll quilt swap on flickr. this is my second round to participate in and it's fun. the swap is a secret one - only our swap mamas know who are partners are after telling each one of us who we have. then we're all kept guessing over the 2 months of design and sewing and posting pictures. i sent my little quilt off to it's new owner earlier this week and she should receive it any day.

our rules for this round were to choose one of five block patterns (or more if you wanted) and that we had to use a solid fabric other than white/cream/ecru. i chose the churn dash block and you can see that i've got six different solids for a lovely rainbow of color. they even match the striped binding. :) usually, you see a solid black fabric to set off brightly colored prints, so i enjoyed doing the reverse idea. this little quilt is also loved in my house and was difficult to say goodbye to. maybe i'll make a bigger one for me later.

and lastly, i'm making the effort to get my rear in gear and join the art community again. it's been too long since i've done a proper show and completed one of my illustrations. in the next week, my submission package for a show in quebec will be done and off to the museum. it's all highlighting drawing - pencil, graphite, charcoal, conte - just as long as it's a drawing. right up my alley! here's crossing my fingers that they select one of my pieces to hang in their show this summer.

1940 census is here!!

i'm a bit of a nut when it comes to geneaology... i love digging into my family's past and finding out more about my ancestors. as a kid, my parents would take us to the local geneaology library and try to find out more about my mom's side of the family. specifically, the bauer side and we tried to find the connection between our direct lineage to the artists ferdinand and franz bauer. there were some stories... no one knew for sure and we still don't.

but in a day where we didn't have desktop computers and the internet, it was time consuming and difficult. it was books and microfiche only. and even then, we were limited. what an amazing journey we've come on with the internet and all our family history coming out at our fingertips. i know i use it constantly.

last year while i was recovering from shoulder surgery, i couldn't do much. but i COULD use a mouse. so lots of clicking and i started my ancestry.com subscription up again and started digging around there, the LDS online library, rootsweb, lots and lots of searches for city information and history, asking family members still alive who might know things, etc. it was an obsession. it still is. so much, that i've started a tree for my husband and one for my son and his dad's side of the family included. i have 3 trees i work on weekly (if not daily).

on monday, the 1940 census was released! 72 years of waiting has past and we're able to look at the images and find our family if we know where they were that year. i know parts of mine, but i have to wait until it's searchable to find others. by tomorrow, ancestry.com will have all pages uploaded so you can view it and they're clearer than what's put out for a limited-time free release from the national archives.

how amazing is it that we've come so far in the search and discovery of our roots? it's still really difficult for families such as mine, where our family has only been in the united states for about 100-150 years and finding the german records from here is not quite as easy. my husband's family has been since the early early days of our country and he's got an amazing history so far. senators and governors and people whom cities were named after. all things he had no idea about.

are you going to look for your family on the new census? i am.

goodness... it's been a while blog...

i'm still here, just been absent for a little while. not sure why really. burnt out maybe? probably. and now that i'm trying to do a post, blogger seems to be having all sorts of issues with photos and such. sigh.

there has been sewing and quilting going on still. i slowed down so much this fall after picking up after shoulder surgery. i want to draw. i miss it terribly, but i know i have a few obligations to finish before i should pick up the pencils. such as finishing the binding on a QOV and making two presentation cases so i can ship them off to D.C. this coming week. getting them cleared out would ease the weight on my shoulders drastically.

my challenge QOV is with tia to be longarm quilted. she's the other half to my team and what she does to it will be magnificent i'm sure. hopefully she'll work on it this week and then i can finish it while i'm home with snappy for surgery in 2 weeks. it has to be in salt lake city soon after, so i need to get that going as well.

yesterday, this adorable campfire cake was baked.

by this adorable redhead. and he (we) took first place at the blue and gold banquet for the "cubbiest" themed dessert.

and then snappy finished up his woodbadge requirements last month and was "beaded" last night during the banquet. we're all proud of both of my guys!!

so you see that scouts and family have been some of the main focuses of my days lately. all good reasons. we've all been a little sick (i have another cold coming), and replacing front doors and trim, working waaaaay too much and trying to relax a little.

i'll do a post soon of some of the quilting and other things i've done soon. i won't go so long next time.

2012 is here and so am i!!

hi everyone... the new year has arrived (i know i'm a little late in that posting...) and i'm back in my studio. there's a slight struggle with finding the energy and motivation to do work other than knitting, but no doubt it will return soon. at least, there's hope for that...

yesterday, i put together a mosaic of my quilty items done last year despite the shoulder surgery and months of physical therapy. even though the pictures show 3 quilt tops in the mix, there's actually only one of these that did not become a fully quilted quilt: the red cross quilt. everything else has gone to it's rightful owner or put into use in the house.

in addition to these 10 quilts, i made 3 QOVs for the navy during 2011 and i made a skirt for myself. not too bad considering all that went on during the year.

but... i'm back to sewing and finishing things! i vow to have a more productive year, yet still take time for myself. my illustrations, printmaking and jewelry have all taken quite a backseat to quilting the last few years and it's more than past time to start working on those again. my shoulder was deemed "beautiful" last week by my surgeon at my 1 year check-up and it doesn't give me as much trouble as it was. time to get my pencils out and finish up some long awaited drawings.

i joined the "Bee FF 2012" quilting bee on flickr this month. there are some truly talented women in this group and i'm honored to have been asked to join this round. secretly, i've been wishing for a spot with them and i got it without trying! for january, we're all making liberated baskets in the style of gwen marston from her book "collaborative quilting." this is going to be a fun quilt!!

also finished up last night - a QOV!

earlier in the week, i finished binding a replacement QOV for the one with the red dye bleed. the regional coordinator was gracious enough to send me one that was nearly finished and just beautiful, but they didn't have any requests for navy-themed quilts. when she found out i had a direct contact and a need for a new one... it came right to me. the above HST QOV is the last one for the previous request of 12 quilts that the navy gave me in 2010. i had so hoped to have finished out that request much earlier and feel bad that some of these guys have waited so long. but this one will go to a longarm quilter soon enough and then shipped to D.C. hopefully next month.

during the holidays, i started knitting quite a bit. i made 2 scarves for gifts, a baby blanket for a dear friend's baby born just after christmas, worked a little on a WIP shawl from a few years ago and am 3/4 done on my first knit-in-the-round cowl scarf. on our christmas visit to kansas, my MIL, her friend and i went to a local yarn shop and i picked up some beautiful alpaca, cotton/linen blend and lace weight yarns. i'm looking forward to working with them later.

got to run! my 8-5 job beckons me to concentrate solely on it for a little while...