I need bigger blocks of time to sew. Each day is begun with a plan, and I try to stick to it to earn a little time at the end to sew. Junk mail, junk phone calls, and junk TV are junked.
It is false to think that talent is something that one either has or doesn't have. Skill and aesthetic judgment need to be learned, and experience is a grand teacher. Take a class or read a book, but follow through by actually making what you have learned to make. Repeat what pleases you and abandon what doesn't. Reflect. Create new problems and solve them. Practice your craft and you'll be delighted to find that your achievements have grown into a well-developed talent. - from "Time and Talent" by Nancy Breland
March is the month of serendipity, of luck, of looking over four-leaf clovers, of being delighted to find that we have some "achievements growing into talent" when we least expect it! We may have a project turn out well even when our confidence was not so high, or pull out an idea for rescuing an abandoned project and happily saying, "I meant to do that!"
In February, Twins' Mom donated art supplies to a teacher, was complimented on her cards by a friend for whom she's making new cards. Nancy finished the purple knitting, found the blue yarn she needed, and now has both a pink and a blue-and-red project going. KittyKatt cut out the fabric for a red gingham tablecloth and is doing the hand-sewing. It will go with her kitchen curtains. Costumelady made 2 stoles with satin backs for her church rector and deacon, using their favorite stoles as patterns. Harriet appliqued to finish one unit, pieced to finish another for the last few portions of a quilt top.
blessed reminded us that being creative is a joy.
I haven't been able to do any lately and seeing you work gives me joy!
enjoy your work today!!!
I'm thinking of more organization for crafting and, in the same room, genealogical books, etc. I had it looking pretty good when dd was here last fall and used the day bed in that room, but I did some stashing and dashing. I'd like to get the treadmill, which is folded up against one wall, moved out and gone. Our storage room is adjacent but I'd rather not put it in there to have to deal with another day.
The ribbon shares I've been purchasing are a couple or three yards of each ribbon/trim in a catalog. Those add up, I'd love for them to be more organized so I can find colors. I have full rolls of some ribbons also. The ribbon shares I have put on a spool then into a spice jar, need to order more jars/spoons if I'm continuing that so called system.
I haven't completely filled my new cabinet either.
I've been challenging myself making more difficult "fun fold" cards more recently too.
(And the genealogy books, I can't find anything right now!)
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better [wo]man. Ben Franklin
This month I'm planning to finish the tablecloth I'm hand sewing. And maybe start the second one? (That may be too ambitious - if the weather drastically improves, I'll be out in my garden and there's a lot to do this time of year).
Twins', I hope you have a good time pondering the different card folds that present challenges. About storage and attractiveness - sometimes we are so remarkably imaginative and artistic that we leave behind some chaotic evidence. So did Da Vinci.
Kittykatt, planning the garden is creativity, and later, photography of the garden is creative, too. You have managed some lovely photos of your flowers. During the first summer we spent here, my photos slowly got better through the season, because I got used to the sun/shade patterns and found the best times of day. (An excuse for sending photos by email to my children, too, lol, captioned with funny phrases.)
Nancy, have fun switching over to crochet in teal! (speaking of gardens, are you going to try any more cutting projects to root your own tomatoes? I thought that was a cool addition to your garden plans.)
I really s-p-r-e-a-d out across the bar in the den and cut the batting and backing for the bottom and top thirds of the quilt to shape. The bottom third is basted with curved safety pins, ready for quilting. The other parts are folded together and waiting until I get to their basting. I'm hoping the pins are all I'll need for basting. Brainstorming how I'm going to mark for quilting designs.
The mistake I made in the center of the quilt top is mended. ( ̲̅:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅[̲̅ ̲̅]̲̅:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅) At the last minute before cutting the mending piece, it dawned on me to keep the grain lines exactly the same. So, I adjusted to that rather than to what looked pretty in the fabric's design, and it made a lot of difference in a nearly invisible mend. The objective was to call NO attention, lol. Even in the morning light, it looks ordinary. Yay for ordinary.
Tentatively decided on a cotton thread that is actually made for quilting by machine and comes in rather a large spool of 1,200 yards. So, I'm waiting until it arrives (and of course it's late) to make absolutely sure there's no problem with the spool size on this machine. If it's okay, I'll be willing to buy another color, too. (using both blue and white would be nice in this quilt - the blue is a versatile color, so as long as the machine likes the spool, I'll be fine with the larger quantity.)
The grandkids brought in the mail, so we opened the thread package together and... .. the color is dark gray???. Sigh. That is not at all the order I made. It's going back. And I'm back to square one. Checked the relatively close WMart and Michael's and they don't have anything in stock that's worth driving there for, only available for order. So, I ordered again for Friday and no sooner had I done that than there's already a change telling me to expect thread on Saturday instead. Sigh. I went back to plan "A" of a single color on regular-sized spools and ordered one in "white linen" and one in "natural white" in slightly different weights. I'll probably like both fine but can see which is a favorite. They won't go to waste, and I'll learn what I like.
Also reminding myself that I have other things I can be doing that will still move the quilt along.
It's just frustrating that something as small and ordinary as wanting to use cotton thread could be a problem. I need a physical sewing shop! (so does everybody)
Got a fun new color of pastel yarn for future projects.
Also a cone of beige & pastel yarn for dish cloths maybe to use in the summer
when smaller projects are better.
Happy for you for your finish, Nancy. I agree with trying to get larger projects done while it's still cool. Or projects that are going to be very warm to work.
Quilting the layers today. The first day of a long haul. But that's okay.
The quilting looks nice, especially on the reverse of this first block. Markings with the purple air-erasable marker (Dritz) stayed visible untll I was finished today. But then, I didn't try to do too much. Just getting the hang of it right now.
This old machine does struggle a bit with so many layers. And it is small, with a narrow throat space so that I'm really rolling the sandwich up. But it works. One change I might make if I do this again sometime is to plan to divide into more than 3 sections - 4 or 5 would be easier at this stage. I was trying to keep from having so much hand sewing to do to stitch the batting and backing together later. I guess then I'll be glad for how I did it. Always a trade-off.
The templates are just drafted on paper and glued to cardboard to cut out, so no expense in the quilting designs. Just simple, but looks like I want.
With planting season a month out still I'll be considering the tomato starts with a cutting.
I have restarted the teal project and it's going well now.
I have a dish cloth 1/4 th of the way done now.
I need to add a diff color to the red white and blue project.
is mended. ( ̲̅:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅[̲̅ ̲̅]̲̅:̲̅:̲̅:̲̅) At the last minute before cutting the mending piece, it dawned on me to keep the grain lines exactly the same. So, I adjusted to that rather than to what looked pretty in the fabric's design, and it made a lot of difference in a nearly invisible mend. The objective was to call NO attention, lol. Even in the morning light, it looks ordinary. Yay for ordinary.
It's going back. And I'm back to square one. Checked the relatively close WMart and Michael's and they don't have anything in stock that's worth driving there for, only available for order. So, I ordered again for Friday and no sooner had I done that than there's already a change telling me to expect thread on Saturday instead. Sigh. I went back to plan "A" of a single color on regular-sized spools and ordered one in "white linen" and one in "natural white" in slightly different weights. I'll probably like both fine but can see which is a favorite. They won't go to waste, and I'll learn what I like. 
But that's okay.