Finished!!!

I finally finished this customer quilt. The dark fabric is a nice teal batik.This is a traditional Hawaiian design,hand appliqued and machine quilted in the traditional echo method.It belongs to my best customer Penny.I know it is very special to her. She was working on it as therapy during an ongoing personal health challenge. I suppose it symbolizes her overcoming that situation.This type of applique requires a level of patience and skill which, in itself, is quite an accomplishment! Hat's off to Penny!!!

NEXT!!!!!!!!!!

Tax preparer before the Gin& Xanex flight...
Well kids......I finally did it!
I quit my job Tuesday.It's OK really!!
My tax professional gave me permission.
(Thanks Mom!!)
So.....let's make a list of the things I won't miss!
1. Wearing a blue hair bonnet.(sexy!)
2. Dried out ,cracking skin on my hands.
3.Puree'd meat of any variety.
4.Chunks of food schrapnel on my person.
5.Melanie, queen bitch and mental abuser.
6.Improper verbage.(have tooken,ain't got)
7.Daily wearing of support hose.
8.Coming home with wet shirt,pants,grundies.
9.Making less than 200 a week.
10.Cleaning and changing the oil in the deep fryer twice a month.
11.Emptying the garbage cans.
12. Taking out the garbage and recycling.
13. Having to scream just to be heard.
14. Cuts on my hands from stainless steel pans.
15. The daily downward spiral into negative mental self-imagery.(LOSER!!!!!)
16. Physical and mental exhaustion resulting from #15
17. Feelings of hopelessness resulting from #15 and #16
THINGS I WILL MISS.........
1.Tegan
2.Kathy
3.Bacon ,Bacon,Bacon
4.That deeelish lemon custard layer cake thing.
5.Feeling intellectually superior on a daily basis.

Let's just say that I have been enjoying my newfound freedom immensely!!.I have been discovering new blogs with even more inspirational content.Which in turn leads to new ideas and possibilities for the future.I took a short roadtrip with a fellow long-armer today and we tossed around some ideas for our up and coming dog-and-pony-show for the quilt guild circuit.Not to mention ideas for saleable goods and educational opportunities and offerings.

I guess I could say that this job gave me the thing I needed to get back on the right track.
Motivation!!!To get out and focus on what makes me inspired and energized.It's amazing how much energy that job took out of me and how much I have now without it sucking me dry.

This also prompts me to remind everyone to listen to the good advice your tax preparer may give you.Especially if it's your mom!!

Laporte County Fair Darling and ramblings......

I love this pic of this goat!!!
2 years ago we were there eating fried cheese and perusing the various animal barns..( cause they MISS ME if I don't come to visit every year..) and I was playing with my new digital camera." Miss Thing "here was obviously ready for her close up!! I went back the next year hoping to find the owner so I could send them a potrait but alas...So she remains a mystery.

Seems i've been in a funk lately(still!) I worked myself into a rightous fit of mad most of the day
at work. I was ready to walk at the slightest off color comment or glance.
Could have just been low blood sugar.HUH! Or maybe the fact that my job(HATE! HATE!HATE!IT!!!) is making me feel like a moron.(cause I am,cause I'm still doing it) I did work on my new knitting project briefly at lunch .......but .........How bout that full moon? Well, now THAT sure as hell doesn't help but makes better sense of things. For today anyway!
I stopped by the house-with-the-cats on the way home and treated them to some DELISH FISH leftovers...and when I pushed in the brake to put the ol truck in R....the pedal went all the way to the floor! And as you all know ,as they say in these here parts, THAT AINT GOOD!

So.........Poor Dougie Fresh will be starting his vacation with an early haul- my -ass- to- work and then to the auto parts store.I still can't believe he doesn't curse the day he met me and my never ending lawnmower/house/vehicle /pet repair predicaments.

I have been inspired almost daily( BIG HUGE YEEEEAY!) by the creative people out there sharing and blogging .I think back to the time when there wasn't this internet option .And it was a dark time indeed. How did you find people to connect with, talk shop with?It was so exciting when and IF you did and hopefully they didn't think you were a freak because you were just too excited beyond words and hoped your head didn't explode in their face because you could hardly contain yourself!!

So now I'm cranked and ready to start dyeing again!!I want to begin with something I can use in my knitting...hopefully sell at the quilt show in June.....I've got a ton of ideas,been researching wholesale dyeable yarn sources but no $ for implementation.It's the proverbial catch 22.And it's been messin with my serenity.So less blogs cause I don't want to bum anyone out.Positive people...... Im tryin to stay POSITIVE!!!

So go ahead and send cash or checks or chocolate or cheddar chex mix (the 4 C's!) to help support this" Struggling Artists Midlife Crisis Fund".For every donation received you will get a !Free!!!!!!!Flaming-Bag-O-Cat-Poo Kit!!!!! NO Muss NO Fuss!!!!!!!!!Just Light and Toss.... on the overpaid elected government officials doorstep of Your Choice!!!! Act Now!!!
You must be 18 or older ...Size,color and quantity may vary..
freshness Not guaranteed....One offer per household per day please...

Is it Any Wonder????

QUILT FROM TOKYO QUILT FEST





Today I had to take the just finished -under-the-wire- Russian Quilt to the Post Office.( No this isnt it! See previous post"From Russia with Love") Since I had to work and the P.O. is just across the street I took it to work and planned on shipping it during one of my breaks.One creative co-worker in particular I knew would be interested .So I brought it to show her and she did seem to enjoy seeing it. Now I have to ask you...how often do you get to see a handcrafted item from Russia?? In person? At your work? Now I know these weren't the usual audience of quilt guild members.And I know this is Monday morning at 8:00 am. I didn't bring it because I have to have attention brought to every stinking thing I create or quilt.There were 3 positive responses. One asked me more questions and actually knew what a long-arm was!The rest of the groups response was akin to any reaction associated with...... oh say......a lint roller.(But not the waay cool big paint roller ones!)

Is it any wonder I search the internet daily just to visit the sites of the people doing, making,teaching, musing creating and inspiring through sharing their passion?

Today on the "Fibermania!" site Melody was singing the praises of connecting with her students.That's it in a nutshell. Connecting and sharing =inspiration.

I know I have to be in the same proximity of these co-workers. I do try to make the best out of it everyday.Today was the realization of what I knew I previously suspected but tried to ignore.

I still gotta get out of there!

More from the "In Progress Department"

This close up is what my friend Vickie was working on while we were in Shipshe. She blows me away with her accuracy, attention to detail,color and design choices.Unlike myself she gets them SQUARE and FLAT!! As do most of the other quilt makers in our renegade group....with the exception of one red-headed stepchild.


.......................and another..............by that stepchild......also known as "Liberated Quilmaking"!!
Gotta love Gwen Marston!!!

"Black" ( sheets of empty canvas)

This in progress top has been entitled " Black". Our quilt guild had proposed creating a quilt category for our show for quilts inspired by songs. Who else would name a quilt after a "Pearl Jam" song???? Well how 'bout "Pearl Jan"?
Come on!!
You know you want to too! Gotta keep the quilt ladies guessin!!
.....She lived on a curve in the road...in an old tar paper shack.......

Is it SPRING yet?

It happens every year... right around this time. Usually I could blame it on the lack of sunlight,but this year has been very unusual. Instead of counting the days without it....I've lost track of how many days we've actually had sunny blue skies.Im not complaining..I wish winters around here were always like this.

I feel like I'm stuck in this major rut!

Maybe its just cabin fever.I'm even tired of being in my studio. I haven't been out much...work does not count!! My first clue was when I drove over to Mich City to the Hob Lob to meet a new client and pick up a quilt top. It was like I had been set free!! I went to Meijer and poked around at the yarn( shah!) and found the generic dayrunner calendar stuff I was looking for...and then just to make sure I went to Office Max to get the other size I needed....That was last week. I certainly havent been as productive as I would like. Poking around on the internet ,researching undyed yarn suppliers, art quilt bloggers in Florida.....I did some updating of my website but I'm still in the template mode.And I was sick yesterday.

I have a million things I could be doing....just stuck in a Funk....
I have to get this Russian quilt done....tomorrow!
Ok!!!! Im going to fight Funk with Funk... tomorrow I am going to find a radio station that will get me movin...there's got to be something on Sirius radio.....Funky Funky but Chic...!
Funky But Funky But Alright alright alright alright!!!!! that's it !! I'm on the right track now!!

From Russia with Love!!

Check this out!! This quilt top was made in Georgia, Russia by a group of 10 women.
This group is being taught and mentored by Karen Musgrave of Naperville, IL. She has been over there to teach and help gain grants and help these women to create native Georgian art they can sell for income. Living conditions over there are quite challenging. They have electricity or gas or water for only a few hours a week.Employment opportunities are sparse if at all and not for a fair wage for sure.She has since made several friends there and you can read about her travels at http://www.quiltalliance.org click on the Center for the Quilt , weblog and the Georgia entry.
The man
in the image is a bishop from the 10th or 11th century( nobody can remember exactly who he is)
and the lettering is the old Georgian alphabet.I am very honored to have the opportunity to be part of this global collaboration!!The quilt will be on exhibit at the traveling Quilt National Exhibit in Bloomingdale, IL in July!! First it will be shown at the Pride of the Prairie quilt guild show on March 10 and 11 also in Illinois..... in a chicago suburb I'm not exactly sure of ...more details later.....now on to the quilting!!!!!!!!

Shipshewana 2006

Well another fun and productive retreat we had. Lots of inspiration. Now I really want to attempt something other than my typical big block thing. Thanks guys. Mostly I made some design decisions I had been hemming and hawing about.It's also the tought part.Now that I know what its going to look like I tend to lose interest.Our quilt guild is having our show this June so I need to get these sewn together and quilted (DUH!) for our show. The more examples I have the better chance I have of getting more business.It's a theory.
We stayed at the Farmstead Inn, which has many options for conventions and in our case sewing marathons. And a pool!
Lolly's has opened their new shop in the bigger and better Davis Mercantile which is a must see. Huge wooden beams and a very large tree trunk smack dab in the middle of the center staircase. And JO JO's pretzels. Instead of dinner.
We stopped in to say hello to Rebecca Haarer at her shop of course. Then on to next door where I snagged a cool old quilt top and some vintage red striped sack fabric.Almost bought the black velvet riding cap with the bow but decided it wouldn't go with my not so formal carhartt coat.But no matter!
Yoder's was our first stop of course. Who knew I would find some comfy winter clog slip ons along with my obligatory fabric purchase????
We have booked our quilting retreat next year to coincide with the" 30% off if you wear your PJ's" sale at Lolly's next year.Sorry but that's not even a challenge.Go ahead! Give me a discount for not getting dressed!!How bout an extra fat quarter if I don't comb my hair? hahahahahahahah

1969

Whoops! All I wanted to do was post a small pic near the profile title. help please.

Meowy Christmas

B'Olivia doing her " Love you long time" thing

LOVE THIS GUY IN THE HAT!The girls are diggin him too.....Santa Baby!............

So........this is my second attempt . so far sew good.
This is the extent of my Holiday decorating.And now since I've had this card( Meredith Parmelee Stone,Getty Images) on my desk for more than a week, I can't get the Jose' Feliciano song out of my head. Thanks Mom! again.


Snarf and Mama playing hard to get.( whatever! we were NAPPING!)

Howdy Hi! December 20,2005

Hey!! I' ve decided to try another site for my blog because my previous host has been messin with my serenity. I have been trying to get a real website up and running but they haven't sent me the CD after I've requested it 3 TIMES. This computer was custom built for maximum gaming fun. So for some reason it wont download the free software.Plus it seems all the COOL Art Quilt and Knit bloggers use this site so I'm jumpin on the wagon too. And I think I might learn a few things with this format. Seems a bit more complicated for the not so computer savvy. But so far SEW GOOD!!! Stay tuned ..............