Donation Quilt

At our guild September meeting, we did a strip swap where all of us had to buy a yard of fabric and cut it into 2 1/2 in strips for an exchange.  Most of the guild members will do nothing with it but I figure since we need to make donation quilts that I would put together a baby quilt from those strips.  Here it is:

Add a 3 in border and I'm done!

Last Winter / Praises to the Seam Ripper

Last winter I decided to start using up my scraps and I would just sew them together and later cut them up into squares.  At the time, I really really liked how it was turning out.  I took it out again yesterday and tried putting borders on it and all of a sudden I decided I did NOT like it this way.  So today is seam ripper day and I will take it all apart.  I think I might put a border around each square and try again.  I am not sure what color to use because I tried black and it was just too dark.  Any ideas??

Sorry picture is so bad...something about the sun coming in !!  LOL

Bored?? Make Felted Soap

It has been three weeks since my hip replacement and while I am getting better quickly, it is still a slow process.  I am making progress every day and for this I am thankful.  I noticed that I am somewhat bored yet I still have the concentration of a flea, so today I got creative and took down my box of roving and my bar of Dove soap and went to town.

Dove Soap

Roving

Side one

Side 2

Not bad for my first try!  I didn't have anymore soap in my house otherwise I would have gotten even more creative.  Let's see what tomorrow brings creatively!

Work in Progress

One of my side projects (pre hip surgery) was to take my old garden rake and make it into a necklace/electronic cord hanger.  When I found this project on Pinterest, it was for a necklace hanger but I keep all my electronic devices cords in my bathroom hanging from a sconce and decided this project would work for my cords.

I took the rake, sanded it well (I had no clue it was a yellow rake), painted it and now its waiting to go up on the wall.  Meanwhile, in my bathroom, I have taken most of the wallpaper down and stain glassed two areas under my mirror.

It all started one day while sitting on the toilet and the wallpaper next to me was peeling.  I have lived in this house for over 6 years and never liked or changed the ugly wallpaper in my bathroom.  So I started peeling the paper and then a day later as i was looking in the mirror, I realized that what I peeled off looked like my last boyfriend.  Tall, big bell, long torso, short legs and small ass.   In person, he was better looking and tall.  Remember he is my ex boyfriend.

This lead to more peeling and other doings in my bathroom.

I still don't have it on the wall because I need to finish taking the paper down and paint the room.  I think I might paint it a sage green.

Then I decided to stain glass part of my wall by the mirror.  This still isn't finished as I need to grout it and then it's done!  Just a small set back...

I completed the stain glass at both sides of the mirror.  I, obviously just don't have a picture of it.

I'm still here!

It's been a long while since my last post and all I can say is I have been taking care of myself physically.  I now have my new hip and am recovering well.  It's not like I haven't been crafting, sewing or being creative.  I just have had a different focus:  a more selfish focus.

I have expanded out some to where I am about to try batiking fabric scraps.  I am gathering all the equipment while I am recuperating and in two or three weeks I will make my first attempt.  I am excited about it as I am so into using up all my scraps and batiking will help me use up my muslin scraps.

Here are a few pics of what I have been doing the past few months.

 I am making this one for my dog sitter.  One of my dear friends took Chuck during my recuperation.

This one is for my friend who has been my nurse, my babysitter and dear friend who helped me thru the rough times.

This is some knitting projects I finished up on:  a draw string bag, an adult hat and a baby hat.

And this is my boy:  who I am missing and ready to get him back home!

Thank you to everyone for your help and support thru this!  Words can't express my appreciation!

Hippity Hop

       I am going for hip replacement in two weeks.  I have had trouble walking, lots of pain, depression and overall it just plain ol' sucks.  I know about depression so I am trying and struggling to stay on top of it. I know to keep busy and when I finally got rid of some "male" excess baggage, it was amazing how some of my creativity came back despite the pain and depression.

I have a friend, D, who has been taking care and checking up on me since I came back from Alaska in mid August.  Since I have no family local, she will be taking me to the hospital and keeping an eye on me and my house.  Thank you, D.....you have been my life jacket, nurse maid and babysitter.  You don't know how much I appreciate all you have done for me.  It is difficulty for me to take gifts, show weakness and to be sad, in pain and depressed in front of people.

I have S, who will be taking care of my dog for almost two weeks.  S and I have been friends for a very very long time.  While she is a nurse, I do NOT want her to be my nurse during this.  She has supported me mentally for the past 12 years or more.  She and her dog, will be good doggie mom's while I heal.  Her bedside manner just isn't what I need and she lives 1 1/2 hours from me.  Sorry S!

I decided the way to return their generosity and to keep myself from driving myself crazy:  I am making them both a quilt.  I have enjoyed making both of them although they won't be finished in the two weeks I have left.  The top to S's quilt might be finished today or this week but D's won't.  The lady in the local quilt store recommended the pattern for D's quilt because it takes a lot of sitting down work that I can do while recuperating!

Here's S's quilt:
                                                                       

                                                                        From this:

                                                                        To this:



For D's quilt, you work each 15 x 15 inch square separately.  At first, it was hard to sew each piece but as I was told:  the more you do, the easier it is to do.  I agree, now!   I am working on each square separately but plan on leaving a few to cut while I am home recuperating.  D will not get her quilt before Thanksgiving....or maybe her birthday which is is mid November.  I won't have to send hers out to get it quilted which is a bonus.  So far, I love each of the three squares that I have done on her quilt.  It's been fun....

Two totally different quilts and I am having fun doing both!!!

Wow!!!  I have been thinking about this blog for a long time and haven't posted anything to it in a long time.  Today, I will post and hopefully continue to post for a while.

A lot has been going on but I am not going to try to write about all of that.  One major thing is that I spent two months in Anchorage Alaska teaching Montessori preschool for the summer.  It was the best experience I have had in a long time!!!  I have always wanted to be in Alaska and without much money, a job was definitely the way to go.  Last year sometime, I told my two children that I wanted to celebrate my 60th birthday by us renting  house in AK and everyone coming to visit.  I don't think that is in the cards because I have made arrangements to teach summers there for the next few summers.  So next year, my 60th will be in Alaska but I wont have to worry about my kids (age 29 and 23) arranging for a house!

When I got back, my house was a mess with mold and mildew,  I found out that I need a new hip and I broke up with a BF of 3 years.  Now that the dust is settling from all that, I am sewing and knitting again mostly because I am having difficulty walking.

I have arranged for caregiving when I get my hip and I am feverishly making quilts to give to my caregivers.

Here is what I am working on:

                                                              This is the patttern

                                                       These are some of the fabrics!