Monday, June 22, 2009

Putting it all Together

Posted by Strlady at 5:34 AM 2 comments
So my weekend was not just quilty but also productive on a every day life level.
Saturday was a bit of a bust on the quilting front since I was out getting a present for my Dad who was in San Antonio playing the role of a tourist. He wanted some Blu-ray movies and I had to go out and hunt a few titles. I also had to go and get the radio of my new car adjusted so that the steering wheel controls would work (I just bought myself a 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe that has A/C!!! Yeah Me!!). I also had a few library books that needed to be returned and I had to get to the post office to mail out a paperback book to a swap I owed (I am going paperless for the most part so I have been putting most of my paperback romances up on Paperbackswap.com to get rid of them)

When I finally got home I setup my workstation for my quilty weekend and loafed around a while.

Real work started on Sunday.. I had decided to work on my rag quilt which promised to give me the immediate gratification of getting it finished. I started off with my blocks all quilted (I had done this a few weeks ago) so it was just a matter of sewing them together and then cutting up the seams to get them raggedy after washing.



I used little post it tabs (you can see it on the below picture - it's fushia) on the first block of each row to keep the rows in order. I found it to be a time saver because I don't have to keep going back to look at my block placement and wonder if that was the color alignment I found to be the most agreeable.



When I finally got all the pieces together I still was not finished but I was able to see how big it was and how it would look.



I spent about an hour clipping the seams between the blocks and by the end I had grooves in my fingers. I think this was the worst part of the project. I think I would need to get some special scissors if I decide to make more of them. I then shook the heck out of it, banged it against the doors and threw it in the wash.



An here is the final product. The quilt ended up being about 62" x 78". It's a very nice size. The backing is made out of flannel which is a sweet treat to cuddle under it.



While this was washing, I decided to pick up my room (the fringing of the quilt caused lots of threads to fall all over the place) and took on a task I had been putting aside for a few years. I had a corner of my room that had my quilting accessories piled in a hap hazard mess that made my room look shabbby regard less of how much cleaning took place. I decided to find the pile of nothings a new home in my closet. I also shredded a ton of old bills that did not fit into my filing cabinet and I can finially see the rug in that corner of the room.

This was done just in time to welcome my daughter back home (she arrives on Tuesday).

Not too bad for a weekend! How was your weekend???

Thursday, June 18, 2009

The Potential for a Quilty Weekend

Posted by Strlady at 11:03 AM 1 comments
So I'm putting my jealousy for those going to VQF aside and am determined to have a quilty weekend of my own. My parents (who are visiting from Puerto Rico) and my sister/housemate are heading down to San Antonio for the weekend leaving the house to me. I'm thinking this is a great opportunity to put together the Rag quilt I have been working on since all it needs is to put the quilted blocks together and throw it in the wash to make it raggedy

I have a few other projects I want to tackle like the Pinwheel and Posies quilt I had started for Alba but has now become a 'just because' piece since Alba recieved her quilt last Xmas. I also have a few other UFO's in my backstash as well as a few Kits I would like to start.

I'm debating whether to start a new project or work on one that has lost it's appeal. Some of those kits are great weekend projects and I'm all about instant gratification but I thik if I add a few more hours on some of my existing projects I might see more substantial results and get the piece closer to finish.

Oh what to do, what to do?

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Feeling a bit jealous

Posted by Strlady at 11:53 AM 1 comments
I admit it! I am feeling a bit jealous of all those heading to Vermont this weekend. I was checking facebook yesterday and saw that Joanna is going on a road trip to the Vermont Quilt Festival this weekend and I turned green.

VQF was the first Festival I ever went to and I returned every year. I took many classes there with renowned teachers (Fons & Porter, Alex Anderson, Ami Simms, Jeanna Kimball, etc). I really learned alot in those classes and met interesting quilters when I stayed in the housing facilities.

Earlier this year I had told my sister, Brenda that Harriet Hargrave would be teaching there for the festival and that I would have loved to go. I forgot that it was this weekend, until Joanna posted.

Well for all those that are in the East Coast, don't miss out on an excellent show! And for those that already have the road trip planned...

Enjoy and take lots of pictures!!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Celebrating Life

Posted by Strlady at 11:16 AM 1 comments
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending my daughter's College graduation. She graduated with honors from RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) with a degree in Marketing and a minor in Japanese.



I cannot express how proud I am of her, not just for reaching the end of that journey but because of how full of experiences that journey was. I went to college and before I became a mother, I really didn't do much except go to classes and parties and scrape the barrel with my grades. I did get a degree (Math w/ a minor in computer science) but I would have liked to do so much more with the experience. I know she will not have those regrets.

When we first went to visit the school she comented on how much fun the tour guide was having. She said she would like to do that and from her second year on she did just that. She became an orientation assitant the first year she was eligible and did it every subsequent year. She joined clubs and a co-ed fraternity. She fulfilled a life long dream studying abroad in Japan, she was recognized for ther leadership initiatives and was a McNair Scholar. She also fell in love and became engaged to be married.


I know she will always cherish the years she was at RIT and know she packed as much life into those years as she could. That is what I am most proud of and I celebrate her life and what she has made of it.



My sister, Brenda recently talked about the graduation on her blog (Pumpkin Patch Primitive Quilt Shoppe) and she talked about how she changed her diapers and babysat for her but she minimized what that meant for me. I was a single parent and would not have been able to get my own college degree without those days that she 'babysat' for me.

When my daughter was just a few months old I found myself without a support system and I had to choose either to stay in college by sending my baby to be raised by grandparents, or to give up my studies and raise her myself. Well, Brenda, a senior in college herself, rearranged her classes so that she would be free half of the day to care for my baby. I would go to classes in the morning and she would go in the afternoon. When she graduated and move to the states, I shortly followed and she opened her home to me and my child so I could continue to go to school in Massachusetts. When I had my own place she would drive an hour and 45 minutes after a night shift to babysit so I could go and study for finals or meet with study groups. If it was tough at times it would have been much more without the support I recieved from my sister.

Today she has a child of her own (he is wearing the graduate hat in the above picture - He was very excited about Dre's graduation!). Gene Paul is 13 and is autistic. My sister juggles being a mother and a teacher (Gene Paul is home schooled) as well as a business owner without much assistance and with an attitude that won't falter.


Today, I also celebrate her life. She turns 44 today and is one of the most caring, giving and strongest women I will ever meet in my life.

Happy Birthday Sis!! May you get many more 'extra' years!
 

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