christmas

christmas...
I have never dreaded Christmas. It has always been my time -- trees in every room, holiday elves hiding around the house, Baby Jesus' birth....but not this year. I dread the thought. dad is sick, very sick, will he live til Christmas? who knows. he made it to his birthday yesterday, 81 years old. my god, 81. but he is sick, wheezing, tired, pretty much confined to his chair. and tired, very tired.and valerie is struggling . I think , Im pretty sure, shes eating well, and not purging, but she and drew are struggling. they moved so fast, they have so much going on, and he is becoming more and more possessive and she is reverting to old behaviors -- flirting, acting immature, and now, a new bonus, drinking daily. my god. she came to the house last nite, make up smeared on her face, so damn sad, so damn scared, and just hugged me for a half hour or so. then got up, straightened her hair and went back to the apartment. i slept on the couch, both phones at my head, just in case. great. christmas. Great.and joe is pregnant. beautiful fiancee who spends money like it is water, and is the most stubborn woman I know -- and he is trying so hard to be strong, and loving, and the "man of the house" and what will I do about mom? and Rose has let Eric back into her life. and george has no idea where to start or what to do. neither do i. i dont remember ever feeling quite this strung out and hopeless. when valerie was in the depths of bulimia, i was terrified. when dad has been sick before i was sad, very sad. but now, between val and dad and joe and rose and mom and george and everything -- i just feel overwhelmed and hopeless. shit. i hate whiny women.and then there is my taresa. who knows if she would even tell me if she was worried or scared about something at this point. I know she senses my fear and pain and doesnt want to burden me. i hope she is ok. i hope she and gregg are as happy as I think they are.this just sucks. and im not sure where any of it is going. im scared, and george keeps telling me I have to be strong and be there for everyone who needs me, im not sure i can.

baby brigade

jake D a dad. my goodness. made him a little quilt, hope he loves it!

man, I love to sew

I sometimes forget how much i love to sew. i spend a lot of time knitting these days, its portable, I can work in the family room ( you know, so I can watch my husband sleep) and with a granddaughter on the way I have lots of excuses to work with yarn, but every now and then the opportunity presents itself to sew, and sew I do!

I have a little shop on Etsy -- mommarocksstash. silly name, but pretty appropriate. anyway,Ive had 2 sales -- woo hoo. one, a sea urchin shaped pillow that sold when we were on hatteras, and just this week -- a custom order for 4 how the grinch stole christmas stockings. I tell myself that someday I will be a ble to make some sort of living selling my things, but Im not getting any younger, so that probably wont happen, but none the less, when someone actually pays me to make something I get pretty worked up.

so I went to the fabric store and the craft store, probably spent more than I will make on the sale, rumaged through my shelves and bins for greens and reds and teal and purple, and set to work. Oh man, fun fun fun. Its like being in the zone -- fabric and texture and threads, the sound of scissors cutting through fabric -- man I love to sew. finished two today, am just pleased as punch with them. Will try to get the other two done this week, I have a million ideas in my head as to how I want them to look, Ill probably end up making some for us.

sometimes i forget the joy of making something from nothing, of seeing it in my head then seeing it in my hands.

someday, maybe, Ill be able to spend hours and hours each day doing this. right now tho, every now and then will have to do.

can you say LAZY???

so, I was putting together a really simple baby bargello. beautiful shades of lilac and lavendar, some white on white hearts. so cute I couldnt stand it. So, I got lazy. didnt pin quite enough, may have made some on the bias cuts...oh my/ sewing the strips together got me a little dizzy. hhhnnnmmmm.............so I added some three dimensional butterflies, next Im going to add some appliqued flowers -------probably a bias cut vine or two. So, this little easy bargello, that I got lazy on , is going to be more work than if I had done a 9 point star. dummy.

I love to quilt

i love to quilt, I love to quilt, I love to quilt!

inspiration

yesterday, sitting at the first baby shower Ive been to in like 20 years where there wasnt a hand quilted gift for the new baby in the bag signed: cindy I felt less than. I should have bucked up and made cheree a quilt, I know her mom was looking for one, I made one for her first grandchild, crazy Bennie's kid, but I just couldnt get moving on this one. Blame it on the marathon of quilts I had to make in the last few weeks, blame it on my renewed obsession for all things knitted, blame it on laziness or worrying about the brca1 gene that my husband has been tested for, but at any rate, there was a boppy and a bib and a couple bobby covers in the bag. and a promise. For the quilt, to be finished when the baby comes, so I can put her name/birthdate/weight on it.

and, at the shower I got some inspiration. Her bedding pattern is covered in lilac butterflies and flowers, and as I sat looking at it I wanted to run home and make a dozen three dimensional butterflies to applique on the quilt ( the one I havent started, but no matter, I will). So, yesterday slipped away, but today I will get up there and make those butterflies! Im already seeing the fabric beads I will make for the bodies, the fused leaves, the gossamer centers. YAY!

I'm back!

could it be?

Im tired of quilting?!? temporary Im sure, but last week was ridiculous, had to do the attic window quilt, then my daughter in law to be called with " do you have any ideas for a baby shower gift?" "Sure, Ill make a quilt, when is the shower?" "Sunday" "SUNDAY????", so that was a marathon -- whole cloth quilt with appliqued hearts, sleepy/awake baby doll in matching fabric and 8 fabric blocks in a little bag, then on Wednesday an invitation arrives for a cousins shower on, you guessed it -- Saturday. So, for that a whole cloth ( I know, easy, but I was in a hurry here) with cut away fleece hearts and crazy lace at the top.

so, Im tired. been spending the last 2 days cleaning up the mess -- I am not a neat sewer on a good day, but last week I was like a whirling dervish!

Still have one more to finish for this weekend -- what is it with all these babies? and the oldest daughter called and said that the recipient of the green string quilt was happy -- but for today, and probably tomorrow, Im just sorting fabrics.

fabric scraps

has it really been since April that I posted on this blog? I surely havent been idle with my threads and fabrics, so i have to wonder why Ive not been writing. oh well, Im back , scraps on the mind. I have recently finished 2 string quilts. For some reason I love making them. one was for cousin connies granddaughter, all pinks . the other is for a friend of my oldest daughters. Taresa usually picks intricate patterns for the quilts I make for her, but this time she said "I like those string quilts you do, make one of those please?"

No problem!

and now i am working on a attic window baby quilt for a friend of my other daughter. the daddy of this baby is a sports nut so I am placing sports pix in the windows. Ill probably do 9 windows in the middle and then border it with different polka dot fabrics. should be pretty.

and, I just got a remake request from an old friend. i made her daughter (now 4) a quilt covered in purple flannel stars when she was pregnant. apparently this is "THE BLANKET" and is starting to show its age. so, I am lucky enough to have some of the fabric left -- see, there is a reason to keep the stash -- and will be putting another one together for her before school starts again.

In between I made youngest daughter 3 pretty summer dresses, a few pillows and various other little pieces. I love sewing!!!

and Im knitting.. oh my am I knitting.....

hooker red

got moms quilted bag done today, and my dear husband, never at a loss for words, said " hhmm, hooker red." gotta love him. I toil over a quilted purse , imagining mom showing it off at church, and he comes up with hooker red.

men.

autumn sunset

this quilt has been hanging in my bedroom for years. I keep looking at it in the morning and thinking I should make another one using this woven technique. but , I have so many things I want to try....we'll see.

picture in?

there she is.

baby string

the baby string quilt for Connies granddaughter is officially done! not a minute too soon, the invitation for the shower came today. can you say cutting it close???

OH NO!

My new quilting arts came and that can only mean trouble. I have it sitting here next to me, but I cant open it. I have too many projects to do and too many things started. and when I look in there its nothing but trouble.

connies quilt is all finished except for the border which i will put on tomorrow. next I guess will be the string for taresa's friend, and I am excited to try the "tile" technique I saw in one of my magaxines -- Im going to make my wizard of oz quilt with this technique -- it will be fun I think. Ive also decided to make mom a memory quilt with a photo of her and dad in the center. I think she will be surprised -- Ill have to get on it quickly to finish it before their 60th. anniversary....

my stitching

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/slideshow/423915695PfUIhK

save the tatas

ok, had my mamogram today. looked good -- they will put it through the magic machine later, but i am doing the healthy breast dance and reminding all of you to get your mamogram

yes. it is a quilting day, I feel it coming on.... there is a green string to work on, a wizard of oz to start ( last fabric finally arrived) and my cathedral window to continue.


plus, my moms red quilted bag,

and my daughters spring dresses.

wonderful wonderful. the sun is shining and Im gonna open the studio windows and let loose!

strings everywere

finished the top of cousin connies pink string quilt, my oldest was home for Easter , saw it on the sewing studio floor and asked me to make one " in baby greens" for her husbands bosses wife. strings are everywhere in my studio and the stray threads are stuck to everything.

the only problem is i hate doing the same things too many times in a row -- tried hard to talk her into another kind -- like grandmas attic or snowballs or whatever, but NO, she wants a baby green string quilt.

and she shall have it!

personality flaws

in the quilt that is my life I confound myself sometimes. I consider my self pretty social. I love people, I love to talk and listen and laugh and dance and play. I enjoy the people I work with and want to be part of the social activities at work. yet, when they have the weekly happy hours, I rarely go. i skip parties that I had every intention of attending -- and Im not sure why. am I becoming recluse like my mom? or do i just like being home? or do I hate the way i feel when I have a couple drinks -- my nite is shot. I dont know...really dont know.

and I love chatting with quilters and knitters, but I dont join a quilting guild. i am just too weird --

a little quiltin goin on

so, here are two of the most current quilts. a baby bargello for ashley at work, and the beginning of a string quilt for my cousins baby. im not a traditional quilter as such, but every now and then I go back to the roots and put together something very geometrical. I like these two...

how'd I end up here?

i cant take the insanity at quiltblog.com anymore. I know my quilts will be seen by less people here, but jesus, its work there to add a picture, and then they disappear! anyway, its march, spring and all so I guess its time to make a new start. I am a quilter and a fabric artist, a knitter, and a sewer of clothes and bags. so, never know what might turn up here...

how