Experimenting with Free Motion Quilting

Lately the tail is wagging the dog a little as far as the blog is concerned. I enjoy posting tutorials and printables: things that other people can share and replicate. At the same time, when I am focused on those things it is hard to enjoy big, complicated, or un-photogenic projects. I am still doing some, but they just stress me out and receive low priority treatment!

So let me tell you about this project. It is neither complex nor ugly, but it is big. What possessed me that last year right in the middle of packing boxes I started sewing a quilt top? It was very simple and it only took me a few days to make the twin size top. It is made with this tutorial called Value Quilts  because you sort everything into lights and darks. You step away and it magically turns the clashy fabrics into something greater than the sum of the parts. I heard about the concept from Wise Craft.  It showed up last November in this picture as a curtain cum stained glass window in our empty apartment, but other than that it's been shuffled around from town to town and room to room waiting for me to quilt it.
I have done free motion stitching before, but with lines to guide me.

Here I am allowing the prints to tell me what they want to be. There are quite a few solids. I don't have a modern quilt stash, I have just received other people's old stashes and make what I can of them. So with the solids I just have some fun and see what happens.

I am about half way done. I really enjoy the childishness of these needle drawings which are clumsy and naive in a way I really can't be with a pen and paper anymore. I am allowing myself to get really caught up in the tiny detail because I feel like it is helping me fine tune my skills a little bit.

When I zone out and don't plan too hard, a quilting style of my own feels like it is starting to try to emerge. The square above feels like a good example of that.
I look forward to getting it done, but I am also enjoying the process.

Grief with Moving

Most people don’t start their lives over in new places with new people too often if at all. Those who do are tired, so it’s not a huge surprise to me that no one talks much about the fatigue of it all, except maybe for helping a child adjust to a new school. I just want to sleep. No matter how positive the changes, the first year is exhausting in every way because it doesn’t just take a lot of energy to learn new places and get settled, it is the work of grief. Constructive, but fatiguing. 

I woke on this beautiful morning and I could hardly breathe. Every likelihood that a fulfilling and wonderful day lay ahead but I wondered if I was sick. I wondered why I was sad. Grief is the last emotion I expected to be waiting  on the pillow when I opened my eyes, but the perfect weather and promise of the morning make it safe enough to acknowledge a sorrow inherent to my lifestyle. I have moved a lot: Not internationally, but 22 times to 5 different states and more towns, far enough that I haven’t been able to stay in real contact with the people I have known. It’s starting to catch up with me. 

I grieve. 

Don’t ask me where I am from. I am the child of a thousand stories and no place at all.   

I grieve not knowing -knowing- where I am. 

I grieve

for the settled feeling I think others must have. 

I grieve

leaving the places we poured ourselves into

and that when a stranger sees that place she will never see the pieces of me 

preserved 

there like a fly in amber.  

I grieve when the things that help me remember break in another dropped cardboard box.

I grieve

for all the homes I have left just after I made them, and  

for the home places of my grandparents and great grandparents which my children will never know, 

the relatives they will never meet, 

the stories they will never hear 

in the extended families I never quite belonged to. 

I grieve 

the roots I don’t have,

and almost every church I left behind.

I grieve

being the new friend, 

always feeling like the last to arrive 

and the first to leave a place. 

for the shorthand looks between friends that compress meaning and memory into a new moment because I have that with my sister 

and she is not here. 

I grieve because my eyes are those of an outsider. 

I grieve not being the dearest friend of another woman, and the many who have been dearest to me.

I grieve 

not knowing how to dress every morning because I don’t understand this weather. 

I grieve for the fear of returning to a place that forgot me. 

I grieve not belonging in the new place either.  

I grieve the unfamiliar flora,

and not knowing the new names.

I grieve forgetting the old names,

and when I find myself in another chain restaurant because 

a new menu feels like too much, I grieve.

I grieve the strain of starting over with 

new grocery stores, 

new gas stations, 

new gardens, 

new churches, 

new libraries, 

new neighbors, 

new friends, 

new babysitters, 

new doctors.

I grieve the life I have missed while I was trying to get my bearings. 

I grieve because there is nothing to hold me to this place 

but my own reluctance to leave. 

I am unbounded by history, habit, love, or necessity, and for now the freedom feels like loss. 

Best Laid Plans

When I decided to take a blog break this winter I was living in the dark in a new town and new state with 1,500 sq ft worth of belongings packed into 400 sq ft of basement apartment. While there are definitely greater hardships in life, and they weren’t unhappy months, the atmosphere dried up my creativity. As there was not enough light to take a good picture on a regular basis, I was reduced to dusting off old ones from the files. 

I thought I would work on the new blog space I am going to move this to, but it turned out that I had lost my compass on that too, so I didn’t get it done. Now we are installed in our new house, albeit under kitchen renovation, and despite the craziness of construction, a minor auto accident two weeks ago, and a trip to the hospital for me this week, I feel like perspective and creativity and beauty are once more accessible. Hallelujah.

And what beauty! This floral extravaganza happened in my yard to my surprise and delight. My friends from arid places will understand my gob stopped amazement at this bounty. I get excited about clover blossoms, so this is. 

Wow. 

And the fragrance.

Yeah. 

So I am back. I have moved house but not site. 

That is fine for now.

A Break From Blogging

Hello friends!

Well, I need a little break again for a couple of reasons: I am trying to move this operation to a shiny new self-hosted site. 

Blogger, you have served me well, I will bid a fond adieu when the time comes. 

While I have been laboring at making the changes I will need, I lost my Google juice, i.e. my higher standing with the search engines, and some of my regular readership dropped off too, so hits are at a low ebb. Plus, this place has been run down ever since my template was lost. Bah. 
I don't know what I am doing building a website, so it is slow and time consuming. I have less time to work on networking or making fabulous things to share with you. With that in mind, it seems like a good moment to take a little hiatus from writing to do some coding and get my feet under me. 

The second reason I need a break is also a huge bonus: I have tried to do several tutorials lately and I just don’t have enough light in this hobbit hole to take good clear pictures most days. The tutorials have flopped hard. Also, I have been using a lot of old, irrelevant photos from other houses, much like I am today, just because I can't seem to get pretty images right now. That is about to change, my friends! 

By the time I am ready to get back to work my family should be installed in a nice, bright, hilltop house overlooking downtown Wilmington, and I will have a studio again. There will be plenty of light for pictures, and inspiration around every corner- or so I imagine. 

We can still keep in touch through Facebook and Pinterest. You can bet that with more time behind the computer and less at the craft table I am going to have more online goodies to share. Just click the links here or in the sidebar to “Like” and add me to your Facebook feed or subscribe to my boards on Pinterest.    

Time Saving Furniture Moves

Our sojourn in the apartment which shall hereafter be affectionately termed “the Hobbit Hole” is giving me new respect for the power actual physical space has over my habits and determination.  All the good intentions and energy I can muster may have kept me from being as deeply ploughed under a crushing burden of housework as I might have been, but buried is buried. There has been no time for kicking back, for sewing, or even for stopping! I believe that creativity is one of my main purposes in life, but my creativity has been subsumed by the necessity of keeping a house running. Obviously this setup needs rethinking. Although I haven’t solved all of the problems yet, I have addressed a few to begin with. Maybe you have some similar struggles to address in your home.

One problem was laundry piling up in the master bedroom. Our sleeping quarters were arranged to allow for maximum storage in our bedroom cum U-Store-It Unit. That’s how the bed came to separate the closet from the dresser, and the dresser from the laundry hamper. I have to admit that leaving little piles of clothes around is a bad habit of mine, but since it was even more difficult than usual to put things away, the space around the dresser behind the barricade of the bed became a tide pool of sorts, attracting a microcosm of our wardrobes. It broke even Daniel’s tidy habits of putting his clothes away! Having a dirty bedroom is the beginning of the end for my self-respect and motivation for the day. Solution: I rearranged the bedroom furniture so that all activities related to robing and disrobing were as close together and easy to access as possible. Forget Feng Shui, this is life and death! 

 
A similar hitch was coming up with the microwave consuming most of the counter top in the tiny galley kitchen. Every time I needed to load the dishwasher or roll out some dough there was an hour– no kidding, I timed it– of kitchen tetris before I could be productive in there. I was sorely tempted toward cooking the ship’s galley way, with canned goods and worm-eaten ships biscuit, or better yet, resorting to takeout! I may have succumbed to that last one. Banishing the microwave to an Elfa shelf unit away from the action has saved my sanity and our finances! I will probably always hate doing dishes, but now I don’t hate my life, so that’s progress. 

Finally, my sewing machine was stashed in a dark, unwelcoming spot. I brought it forward into the prime real estate under the living room window– a place where I feel happy– and sent the stroller to lurk in the gloom. I still haven’t had time to sew yet, but I have done other projects and If it doesn’t bear good fruit, I will try something else. 
  

 Most women feel like we have to balance our day to day responsibilities against our callings. It's all hard enough without fighting the furniture too! I hope this inspires you to evaluate a few simple structural changes that could free you up to be more... well, more of whatever you are!

November in Pictures

A Big Move

Please forgive my silence, and allow me to explain! Labor Day feels like years ago, but it was then that we understood that a cross-country move from Texas to Delaware was brewing and we have been working on it ever since. We have arrived at our destination, but if you have ever made a life changing move, you know that’s the easy part!

For instance, our belongings are still on a van line slated to arrive 3 weeks after we packed the last box! Three. Weeks.
Three weeks from when we last slept in our own beds.
Three weeks from the last time I had a functional kitchen.
Four weeks from when we started living out of suitcases.

Although we have lurked in parks, churches, and libraries, I haven’t met any other families. Where are they? At the very next church we visit I will be asking every usher or Sunday school teacher who greets us to introduce us to other couples with kids. I will attempt not to look wild-eyed when I ask! Whether this is just the normal stage she is in, or her stage is heightened by loneliness, Thacia constantly plays with her imaginary friends. This does not worry me, but I do wish I could bring some new flesh and blood friends into her life. While I am at it I will be looking out for friends of my own.

There was no last minute panic with packing. Our boxes were all taped and our car was packed about an hour before the moving truck arrived. It was a long day of waiting! We all went and watched pewee football one last time at the stadium behind our house. It was about 3 pm before we were able to pull out, not knowing how far we would get. Our next door neighbor gave us a gift certificate to eat out, and we used it for dinner that night. We had planned on going to Dallas at the most, but as the girls fell asleep in the car when the sun set, I urged us to push on so we could rest more during daylight hours.

 
We made it to Sulfur Springs, TX near the Texas/ Arkansas border. Sorry about the photos. We only used phones on our trip!

In Memphis, TN we ate at a cute restaurant called Beauty Shop on the hipster side of town.  

We stayed with friends in Knoxville, TN. Thacia had her first sleepover. We settled in with one of Daniel’s aunts for a few days in the DC area while we found an apartment. We saw Daniel’s sister for the first time in over a year. I lost my IKEA virginity. 

We found all but 4 states in the license plate game. I went to a Goodwill Outlet for the first time. The girls got their first coats.

Our first long-haul move as a married couple with children feels a bit like a first childbirth. You know it will be hard so you prepare. You don’t really know what for, so you spend effort and energy planning for the wrong things. We were pretty focused on keeping the car ride comfy, but it did not dawn on us how long it might be before the rest of our belongings arrived. I would have packed more/other things to bring with us. No one told me how tired I would be. I have circles under my eyes, which has previously only happened to me right after childbirth. 

3 things I miss that are on the truck: Radio Flyer Classic Walker Wagon for Damaris, formal shoes, the double BOB running stroller. 

3 things that are getting me through: A $2.99 frying pan from IKEA, an electric griddle I brought with us, Jane Eyre.

Life was really beautiful at our home in Texas. Even though I know that this is absolutely the right thing for us to do, I still miss our routines, I still miss our friends. It feels like I have lost IQ points in the shell-shock of learning new grocery stores. Our marriage feels different as we literally negotiate new territory. Yesterday evening we went walking at a state park (unfortunately sans camera) and it was overwhelmingly beautiful, but I got the feeling I didn’t even know what I was looking at! The truth is, I didn’t. None of the plant life is the same here. It feels like the culture is the same way too, I don’t know what am looking at yet. We are just gazing around with wide eyes trying to assimilate what we are seeing and trying to remember that God is the same and we are the same regardless of our geographic location.

Taking Space/Making Space

Neutral belongings and activities take up space in your life to the exclusion of meaningful things, so Daniel and I put together a great big barn sale this weekend.

The intent was to sell everything we don't like or don't need.

Some things I couldn't help keeping, like our trash can that is an awkward size in which bags don't fit! Some things I couldn't resist saving, like slivers of broken mirror I want to cover something in.

We got rained out a little. Not everything sold, and some things will be going on Craig's list. Absence sometimes makes chaos, like how the absence of dressers are now making our wardrobes chaotic.



When I get everything back in order will I feel relieved? Clean? New? Will I sense the possibilities?

How To: Make Advent Cinnamon Ornaments

Life is exciting in the little rock house these days. We moved our bed from the tent out back to the living room two weeks ago, because I was sick. That six and a half month saga is closed! Since then we have been sandblasting walls, framing, and generally preparing for a barn-raising, or more accurately, a bedroom drywalling, our church’s diaconate is throwing for us.
I have been sewing, but not as much as I ought to. The wind was somewhat taken out of my sails when I couldn’t get up and running by the end of November as I was hoping. However, I did get financial things accomplished, and I have an Etsy store, there’s just nothing in it yet. So don’t look for me, just wait. 

I’m loving the start of this Christmas season. We are listening to Blackmore's Night's Christmas album, and drinking hot apple cider.

In preparation for Advent, I made these (inedible) fragrant cinnamon cookies as a nightly devotional. This week is the Hope/Prophecy week of advent, so each little ornament has a verse on that subject attached, and its shape has something to do with the verse for the day.

Cinnamon Ornaments

¼ cup flour
3 T cinnamon
2 T applesauce

Blend well, roll ¼ “ flat. Cut shapes with cookie cutters or a knife. Use a drinking straw to make the hole at the top. Bake on a cinnamon dusted cookie sheet at 325 for 30 min turning once. You can use more cinnamon for darker cookies. Sometimes I also use nutmeg.

Lost: Beloved Nikon Coolpix l4

I look for my camera every day.

We lost it back in the beginning of June, soon after we moved. Perhaps it got sick of taking before pictures, and took a vacation until we are ready for afters. I prefer to think of it as an abduction through no will of its own. The four friends who were over to help with the house that fateful day would never have taken it, but they would have mindlessly put it in a box or drawer out of harm's way.

I find myself asking anxious questions: "Should I have purchased a flourescent camera case? Should I have gotten one of those beeper tags from the home shopping network?" (No, and No.)

I find myself looking in the same old spots I searched the day before, and the day before that as if it will somehow magically appear. Friday, Daniel said we wouldn't leave for the pumpkin patch until we by-golly found the camera. After we searched through every open box in the barn we gave up and left anyway. Every once in a while, like last night, I think of a new ("new") place to search and I am relieved, not because I found it, but because I haven't run out of places to look. Hope springs eternal.

I had been wanting an upgrade, but this isn't the timing I was hoping for. I am saving my birthday and Christmas pennies for a Mac book. That's a lie, actually. No one gives you money for your birthday after a certain age, which I have, in fact, passed. I am saving my own pennies.

In any case, go home. Treasure your shuttered friend. Tell it how much you love it, and how lucky you are to be together. Wipe its little lense tenderly. For me.

Nesting

This week we will move to our new house! Like the birds that have been using our mailbox, I am nesting. We picked up paint and a new bathroom sink this weekend!

Potentially House-Proud

This is the house we are trying to buy. We visited on Monday, our first view without the realtors, developer, and other entourage. It is 100 years old, teeny-tiny, and the original ranch house on the property. Thank goodness someone is history-minded enough to save it! My husband is inspecting drainage here.



This bathtub is sitting by the yard. It gives me the giggles, but really it's private enough that I suppose you could take a bath on the lawn!




This is the barn. It's HUGE. This is the short side. It's full of junk. Hooray! I love junk!