Chasing my tail...

Peeks of a new project... a tutorial in the works perhaps
The neighborhood is getting some closure (I'm a-gonna quilt it, yes I am!),
Afternoon sun shining, shining those winter blahs away.

1. Untitled, 2. Robin red breast, 3. More Ideas Than Time, 4. DSCN1107, 5. I Aspire, 6. naturally dyed silk yarns rainbow, 7. Everything Will Be OK, 8. i've been papercutting, 9. Untitled

and these... I am just getting LOST on flickr so much lately. The eye candy there has been eating up time that I could be using for my beauty sleep.

At the end of a week, I wonder where all the time in the days goes to. The children, our home, take up a lot of it, but also the back of my mind is processing something, some kind of change of self, of my sense of my self. A shift in how I have been thinking of things, of time, and of what I am capable of. It isn't just one thing, but a bunch of things that have occurred over the past year(s). Seeing the children growing and striving, mortality, doing things that I have thought were REALLY scary... these are all changing me. They probably have always been changing me, but I feel like I am coming up to one of those HUGE developmental jumps that kids have, like when you learn to walk or talk. It feels kind of weird, kinda good, but also weird. I wonder what it will be, and who I will be.

I read a quote today on a "new to me" blog and I like it, I like a lot.

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." ~Theodore Roosevelt

It resonates with where I am today and truthfully how I want to live. The last few months have been "interesting", a contrast in sorrow and wonderfulness. I have been trying to just see what the day will bring, and also to make myself available to the opportunities that might come along. It is kinda working. The less tightly I am squeezing something, the more I am able to see how it is able to unfurl, and then what to make of it.

Well, it makes sense to me.

Be careful of what you find on flickr... a picture of a collection of red objects could change the way you look at the world, or not

JMB

Moments... January 12, 2011

Painting helper
Lots of circles on the snack table
Beauty in a cup.

What a wonderful Wednesday to find in my camera!! :)

JMB

The world is vast and wide...

1. Flickr Dreaming (otherwise known as day dreaming), 2. cropped, 3. the walking foot is on :: cue the celestial chorus, 4. Work in progress- Batboy card, 5. hi., 6. corners :: simple fixes, 7. moon set19jan11 IMG_8236, 8. Charming Triangles Quilt Top, 9. {Lettering}, 10. 1.18.11, 11. Bird on a "wire"for spotty. Hope you like it!, 12. mid century neighborhood, 13. Untitled, 14. Sewing Machine Cover, 15. Untitled, 16. time machine, 17. DSC_0840, 18. 80s BatWing Sweater, 19. My mountain, 20. Carving stamps, 21. New Flickr, second call, 22. Untitled, 23. Sneak Peek for ruthiequilts........, 24. Improv block, 25. Mom's Monkey Socks

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

I went to flickr this morning, like I do many mornings. The scrolling "contacts" section on the bottom TOTALLY caught my eye. Here are a few of the lovelies..... there were so many, I got lost.

Some weeks I realize, I can post a whole bunch, others I can't. It is just funny to me how that works out. Hmmmmmm

On a side note I am taking suggestions on how to play with one child while all three children are home. Sometimes one child wants to play something that is just not age appropriate for all of them or the other 2 just don't want to play it. Is there a secret that I am not getting?? I am finding that some games and activities just are not happening around here and I think that we would like to have them happen. Hmmmmmm

JMB

Note to EMQG members!!

Hi guys,

We have hit a bump in the road!! Our Webs.com site is broken right now. I am not sure why, but the people at Webs.com think that it has to do with Comcast. I am making a master email list to get info out to you in the interim. We can also post discussion on our flickr group... the solution might be in moving off of Webs.com. I don't know. hmmmmm

BUT

We will get to meet this week @ EWEB @ 6:30 (gavel @ 7:00). Even without computers we can still quilt and get together! Hooray!

JMB

Simple Gifts

I listened to the most amazing song this morning. Brenda Dayne gifted it to me.
It reminded me of earlier this week when I took a walk around the yard with my camera.

Have a wonderful weekend!

JMB

For $3.99 you could change your morning, for $2.98 more change your day!

Just a quick post... I always want to blog when I have a ZILLION other things that I am supposed to be doing...

SO I have talked before about dealing with S.A.D. in the dark Oregon winters. This year it hasn't been so bad. I am cutting my fabric more, I have more projects going on, AND every week or so I have been getting one of the $3.99 bunches of flowers at Trader Joes. I think seeing the pretty colors in the kitchen window is a pick-me-up ALL DAY LONG (if you think about it you walk by the kitchen window A LOT in a day.) The mum types stay prettiest the longest, but I like them all.
(The "i love you" boggle letters were made my friend Emily, she is so crafty. The Matryoshka doll is actually a set of measuring cups I have been wanting to show you, I got them in S.F. this past summer.... she is so cute!)Today, my friend T.J. ALSO had some delicious chocolates to share with me. I am not a big chocolate buyer, if some one gives me some, I will eat them but I just don't get that excited about chocolate. THESE, my friend, are my new FAVORITE. They are perfect, smooth, and terrific. AND isn't dark chocolate supposed to up the mood??

Go forth and be happy!

JMB

P.S.

A little tip:

I have collected a bunch of small little bottles that I put my flowers in. They are so cute, but tend to grow algae in the bottom, periodically. Today I tried the whole "uncooked rice and water slurry" in the dirty bottles and shook it really hard in each of them.... Voila' no more algae. I had read it before, but never tried it. SO GREAT!

little girls...

I have been asking myself "How did we get to THIS from THIS in just one year?"

I don't know and I am amazed.

JMB

Pillow time!

This is going to be my year of using my fabric. No, I am not making any grand "use only the stash" commitment, but I want to enjoy my beautiful fabrics EVERYDAY so I am going to make things for my home to USE them. Here is my first finished project of 2011. I love it.
Yesterday I was able to spend most of the day sewing and quilting ALONE! I spied this sheet at an estate sale about a month ago. There was a tiny glimmer of turquoise in a back closet and I snapped it up as fast as I could (there was a flat AND fitted queen (maybe a full, but it is so huge.) I clutched it close under one arm as I walked through the rest of the sale. I kept thinking that someone would stop me and tell me that they were theirs first. That is how much I love them. SO MUCH! The fabric is very soft and worn in some spot, so it is perfect to add some color to a quilted project.
I thought that a fully quilted pillow would feel nice so I practiced some free-motion alphabets on it. It was my first larger quilting project on my new sewing table (my machine now sits flush with the table) and it was FABULOUS!! No more catching on the small detachable quilting surface of my Bernina! I just had to share. The colors really do perk up the sun/family room in our home.

Speaking of color, I am compelled to share pics of these 3 skeins that I found today on flicker (here, here, and here). I challenge you to look at those and not feel inspired to make a quilt or other project from those color combinations. SO BEAUTIFUL!

A few weeks ago someone asked me how I found great stuff on flickr, as it is such a HUGE site. I have found a few great swap groups and then from those I found people whose pieces I liked... then I went and checked out their favorites. Here are a few groups that I really like:

Doll Quilt Swap

Fat Quarterly inspiration

Colors

Collaborative quilting

Enjoy some color today!!

JMB

Hey... hey you!

Sometimes do you feel like you are:

*missing the joke and perhaps it is on you

*a half hour late to the party and everyone has already introduced themselves

*staging holiday photos because you forgot to take them in the midst of the hubbub

*finally figuring out all those apps you downloaded can do cool stuff

Well, I am:

*still laughing, because the joke IS on me and it is really funny

*still showing up at the party, even if I am late

*still trying to take the pictures I want, because in 15 years I will just be so happy to see her rearranging the ornaments again, and again, and ... again

*still thinking that playing with pocketbooth and shakeit is cool and fun
*still totally crushing on these colors even though EVERYONE is going on and on about "What is coming next?" (I found the FQ set for sale on at Fat Quarter shop... I have never bought a whole pack, it felt VERY indulgent. I was so lucky to get the pieces with the selvage!) What Anna Maria does with color makes my eyeballs pop out!
This new year is going to be eventful. I know that to be true. It will be unexpected. It will be bittersweet but also wonderful.

eventful

unexpected

bittersweet

wonderful

We will be alright.

Happy New Year friends! (a week late, but I still am showing up!)

JMB