Another year passes

I'm on vacation this week also, and have been enjoying the relaxing times I have spent at home with DH. I have not been sewing as much as I had expected, because my DH got a new video game for Christmas that I am enjoying watching unfold, probably as much as he is enjoying playing it. I have been doing a lot of thinking about the past year and am really looking forward to 2009.
I have decided to do another year of weekly quilts, but I have decided to challenge myself again with changing the size and continuing to do them in themed groups by month. The size for 2009 is 8 inches by 5 inches, landscape orientation. I have a theme already for January.
I got great presents for Christmas from the DearHusband, and he was even so thoughtful as to wrap my gifts in fabric! Plenty of things with which to make art this year, and some more Nohohon Zoku (Hidamari No Tami) for my office. I have the best collection of these now.
I have been doing plenty of Japanese culture research for some quilt themes this year. I love the idea of nengajo, New Year's postcards that are supposed to arrive on Jan 1. This year is the year of the cow (or Ox), and it's also the sign of my birth year too. I love some of the holidays and traditions of Japan.
Anyways, have a great New Years celebration, be safe, and see you again in 2009, with a lovely giveaway!

2008's Resolutions

Looking back at my 2008 resolutions, I did some things well, and others... not so well. But here's a quick rundown of how I did.

1. Continue the weekly quilt series. This time, each month will have a theme.
***Done and in the bag! I completed the entire year! Yay!

2. Start a new monthly series where the works are larger, 8.5 x 11 inches, vertical orientation.
***Well, after June, I go so busy traveling for work, only one project could be continued, and that was the weekly themes. So, after 6 months of faithful service, this one was retired. Boo hiss!

3. Enter my quilts into competitions. (3 quilts are started for entry into shows)
***Well, one was entered, and did not jury in. The other 2 never got finished. I love both ideas, and will still continue them, but with traveling over 21,000 miles for work, I think I can safely say "I did not have time". I have given this topic the most thought in 2008, and I am not sure if entering shows is right for me just yet. I'll try my hand at a few magazine entry contests first.

4. "use it up!" I buy so much personal care products that I have too much. This year, I am not allowed to buy more until I use up all of what I have on hand. Except fabric and art supplies... I can never have too much.
***I completed this one, and I have never been more happy to go and buy shampoo. I hoard soap and shampoo from hotels, and that kept me from buying any this year. I have the driest skin and crispiest hair you ever saw, and I won't ever feel bad for buying (and using until it's gone) a good bar of soap or bottle of shampoo. I still, however, have tons of bottles of lotion and handcreme that I could bathe in and still not use up. That will be for next year. This idea is going to be modified into a whole eco-thing for me next year.

5. Write more letters. Keep in touch with distant friends and family. Who doesn't love to get a letter?
***I did very well on this mostly.... and again, traveling got a bit in the way, but I still love to give and recieve paper mail, so I plan to continue this into 2009.

6. See the bottom of the blog for the obligatory weight loss one...
***UGH. This SUCKED. I failed miserably at controlling my weight, and it's spiralling out of control. A doctor's visit will again be in order in 2009 to get this under control for good.

7. Blog more!
***Well, I added the "B.W.O." link to the right because I should not feel "obligated" to blog. For me, that takes the fun and the life right out of it. I know it's a great way to keep in touch with my friends, so I do want to make updates when I can. I love to show off my artwork, and this is how I do so, so I have been trying to do that more. I will happily blog into 2009, and hope to post my resolutions soon!

December's weekly theme- GEARS

What a theme I picked to end the year....

These little gears were a real pain in the you-know-what to cut out. I designed about 4 gears total, because more would have killed me. The cramping in my hand over cutting the templates, and then the fused fabric, totally sucked.

On the other hand, they look somewhat as I intended. These are ideas for a larger design I plan to do for my dining room, which happens to be a golden yellow with black furniture. I wanted a more "steampunk" look to them, but I will need more flourishes and "lace" to go with the gears in the larger work to pull that off. In the end I am happy with it. This does complete "year two" of the weekly quilts. I'll post more on a look back at whatI learned in doing them in my next post.

The rest of November's themed weekly quilts

November slipped away from me, but because I went to West River on retreat with the Baltimore Heritage Quilt Guild, I did get a ton of sewing done. I also did keep up with the weeklies, and here they are...

Getting back to normal

I know I have been away for a bit. I know I said I would run a giveaway last week, but life intervened. I've been dealing with a family crisis for a couple of weeks now, both in a "hands-on, getting things taken care of" way, and a "why can't I think about anything else" kind of way.
I did take some time to go to Judy Coates Perez's wonderful Fiesta Ornaments class this past weekend, and it was great fun. You can read about it on both Judy's blog, and my friend Catherine's blog too. I really like taking classes with my friends, and Judy is a great teacher.

I plan to run the giveaway next week, just in time for the holiday spirit, of which I could use some. The tree is up, but not decorated other than lights, and I don't have much energy to get it done.

Tonight I spent hours winding a box full of tangled embroidery threads onto floss card bobbins... Just could not do much else that required thinking. I also spent an hour cleaning my studio, which has not really recovered from the weekend class supply "grab" and coming back from Baltimore. I did finally remove the suitcase out of the room... Shows how behind I am on everything.

For something quilty, the above is a custom Spencerian script that was made of my name and turned into a rubber stamp. It was made by Victorian Trading Co., whom I love and have been using to slowly decorate my front "parlor". I plan to use the stamp on the labels of my quilts using permanent stamp pad ink.

My next few posts will show all the STUFF I have made lately, I think you'll like it.

Tuesday night is Guild Night!

I love guild night. I can't wait to see my quilt-y friends, and we all get to show off what we have been doing. December's meeting means that there will be showing of gifts for others before they get wrapped up and sent away.

Well, that was before the weather intervened... I ended up running the meeting (I'm Vice President), and we had fewer folks turn out than usual. However, our speaker was fantastic! We had Judy Coates Perez as our special guest and she had a very nice presentation on how she makes her painted quilts. One of the perks of Chicago area living is the cool Chicago quilt artists! (Of which, I hope I am included one day) Both Judy and Robbi Eklow had the snowiest nights to come to our guild meeting, so I am wondering if local artists have some kind of "winter mojo".

Here's a picture of Judy and I after her talk. I can't wait to take her Fiesta Ornaments class this weekend. That's "Primordial Sea" in the background, it's beautiful, and all painted on silk!
I'll post my show and tell later this evening, I hope. I didn't post this picture last night because I had to shovel the driveway after closing up the meeting. A late night, but so worth it!

Air Freshener Cozy Holiday Trees!

How cute is this? My Air Freshener Cozy (Renuzit brand) pattern done up for the Holidays! On the main page of my blog is the link to the tutorial on how to make these. I'm happy to email you the pattern, but can't link to it, because the bandwidth makes my website go all funky. Check out the tutorial, and just make them in green for the season! These are going to be gifts for my friends this year. Happy Holidays!

And the Winner is....

First, I must tell you that I appreciate each an every comment I received. I was overwhelmed by the number of responses. I also want to thank Sew Mama Sew for the incredible opportunity for the exposure to all of you nice people. I also want to say thanks for all of the comments on my previous posts and about my work in general. Thank you!!


Naomi S. Adams! She was commenter #87!!!!!!!! (I did not count the deleted comment)


Now, do not despair if you did not win, because there's a SECOND CHANCE!

Next week, I will be hosting another giveaway. It will have at least an ATC and a bouquet of Yo flowers. I will not be pre publicizing the giveaway on any other blog, and you'll have to remember to come here to sign up! In fact, now would be a great time to subscribe to my blog and follow along with my fabric and quilting adventures! I hope to see many of you back in that giveaway and down the road as we adventure along on our crafty paths!

The drawing will happen tomorrow at 10 AM CST

Wow, you guys are so amazing! Keep posting on the Give away post from yesterday to be included. I will take comments until Thursday midnight Central time, and the drawing will be held Friday at 10am CST. (Only one entry per person will be allowed.) You will have to check back to see if you are the winner!

It's Blog Give-Away Day!!!

Welcome to my Give Away!
I'm giving away an original design handmade mixed media fabric Artist Trading Card, a mini Yo flower bouquet, and a mini pack of beautiful Cherrywood fabric to one lucky winner!
Leave me a comment on this posting today through midnight. If you are new to my blog, please say so in the comment, I love new readers!!! Also, please say where you are from.
Come back bright and early Thursday to see if you are the winner, who will be picked randomly from the comments! Log in when you leave your comment so I can find out who you are. I will ship internationally for this prize! Have fun!
EDIT: I will be extending the drawing to Midnight Thursday Dec 4th for international readers!