More Lonestar designs

Here are some other lonestar color or design configurations I'm considering...

I like the gold/orange ones... they remind me of little suns burning bright, but I really like the animal skin star too.... oh I just don't know which one to pick...

I leave for my retreat in four days... One of those days is reserved for playing D&D, one is for mah jong, which leaves me really just one day to pack and plan everything left to do... oh my, time is flying all of a sudden!  I think one of the hardest things to do before a retreat is make sure nothing gets forgotten.  I must make a checklist so I'm sure to bring everything I need... It would be horrid to get to the retreat and be missing important notions or machine parts.  I once went to a quilting class and found I'd left my foot pedal home!  Can't have a repeat of that fiasco!

Lonestar Color Play

So I'm back to quilting again...  no more maudlin meanderings for the time being.  I've been experimenting with color and placement with lonestars and came up with this:

I thought it was interesting because even though it's constructed like any other lonestar, it looks very different - has something of the look of a faux feathered star.  Please, if you read this, let me know what you think.  I'd really appreciate any comments before I start cutting and sewing.

I've also been working on a squirrel quilt, featuring the most adorable squirrels and crows, both of which I love because my neighborhood is full of them.  The quilt is a BOM from Bunny Hill Designs, and not in my usual colors - all browns and reds and lilacs.  I usually work in brighter colors, but I decided to step outside my comfort zone for this one and use their colorations.  I will post some pictures soon - but I'd actually have to take some first.

Well, I've been having some problems with a fuzzy spot in the middle of my vision lately, so I'm off to the opthamologist... gotta run.

Quiet days...

Not sure why I'm so busy but feel like I'm not DOING anything productive.  Maybe it's just depression... maybe it's because Mercury is in retrograde... who knows... I've done so many things but I have nothing physical to show for all the hustle and bustle.  I've got four background blocks made for my next quilt project - I have to do the applique on the blocks, and since it's a BOM, I'm stuck at four til the May block comes out.  It's a very cute quilt with squirrels on it... I just love squirrels, they're so cute.  But lately I feel like I've been living the squirrels' motto - Live fast, die young, leave a flat patch of fur on the highway... I've been rushing around from activity to activity, not watching where I'm going, lol... or really paying attention to where I've been...

My friend Ellen sent me a picture of the two of us when we were in college... Makes me feel very happy to look at it - such a good time in my life, when there was no depression and I felt hopeful and alive and the world was a vibrant and glowing place.  Where did that young lady go?   I'm not sure if any of her is still here with me now... that makes me a little sad.  How do I reconnect with who I was?... with me... I do feel a sense of disconnect with the world - that's part of the toll of depression... ah well... I guess it's a little late to be who I was, or who I could have been.  I am who I am now.

Now this is getting maudlin... sorry but it's late at night and I guess I'm feeling a little melodramatic... better to express it here than keep it bottled up inside...

On another random note, I am getting ready for another retreat.  This one is in Ramona for 4 days of sewing and comaraderie.  There are 8 of us going (possibly 7, as one person has a family emergency that may prevent her from joining us).   Anyway, I'm looking forward to going and having some fun away from home...

Changing gears again... I really thought that with my son gone from the house that my husband and I would have more time to spend with each other, but it seems like we are both so busy with work and hobbies and other activities that we rarely have time for each other... I need to do something about that... and soon!  Maybe I'll ambush him on Friday night after work... He can stand one night away from his radio... (or not - if any of you reading this know any ham radio operators, you know what I mean)...

Signing off for the night... omg... I can't believe I wrote this stuff on my blog, but wth not... it's mine after all... Next time I'll try to keep it more quilty...

Old Friends

I had this long post written about depression and losing touch with old friends.  I think I'll just say - it's so wonderful to rediscover friendships from the past.  I love you Ellen and Julie - thanks for being in my life then and now.  Hooray for Facebook!

On a more quilty note, I am finally working on my Native Americans quilt again... here are the blocks - I am sashing them in preparation to putting them all together into one quilt (there's one more that I apparently don't have a picture of yet.  But six total... considering putting in an eagle as well to make 7, but not sure how big I want this quilt to be... we'll see)...

Time for change

Even though I don't do Spring Cleaning at home, I thought it was time for a change here, so my blog has a whole new look.  Hope you like it.  It's much more 'quilty' than the old look, and maybe easier on the eyes as well.  Happy Spring!  Happy Quilting! 

I'm off for my Thursday mah jongg game...  (yes I do do other things besides quilting).

Done with the design...

I finally finished the design and pattern for a quilt for my guild.  The quilt looks like this:

I can't claim the design is all that original - it's 'just another chain quilt'.  I got the idea from 'Sandi's Mindless Sewing Challenge' on Stashbusters, but hers was made with 9 patches and squares.  I saw it in American Patchwork and Quilting done with 2 1/2" strips, but I didn't like their method of construction, so I did a little re-designing and came up with a different size and construction that I liked better.  (Credit where credit is due, not claiming it's FULLY original).  I will give out my version of the pattern to my fellow guild members for free, so I'm not making any money off it either.  I hope they like it.

I think it will look lovely done with floral fabrics - what a delightful way to welcome spring.  Totally appropriate since our strip exchange this season was for floral fabrics.  I can't wait to see what people do with it.  I'm sure they will think of original ways to put this together, so each quilt will be unique.

On a sour note, someone posted a not very nice comment to one of my blog posts... I edited the post because obviously it was misunderstood.  Still, unpleasant to read that someone thought I was being nasty and mean, when that wasn't what I meant.  Still, I can see how that could have been read into what I wrote, so I changed the posting.  Can't please everyone, I guess.  Probably will offend someone else now, but we'll see.

On an up-note, I finished half of my folk art cat quilt yesterday... I had to sash and connect the blocks in order to do the applique that extends out into the sashing.

 I love making this quilt - you can see the entire quilt at folk art cats - SO adorable... I hope mine comes out half as cute.  I just love kitties!

Empty Nest

I am now officially among the ranks of the empty nesters... My 25 year old son moved out of the house yesterday and into his own place.  It's only a rented room in west LA, but he's moved and I'm elated and sad at the same time.  He's still in the air on tottery wings and I'm breathless to see if he'll fly.  I'm thrilled the nest is empty - my husband and I have this huge house to ourselves...  OMG, my husband and I have this huge house to ourselves... what the hell are we going to do with it all? 

That's not hard to answer - I'm getting a new sewing room!  (hence the elation).  I can envision it now - all cleaned out, my sewing table, ironing board and design wall all in one room.. maybe even a cutting table if I can eke out a little more space.  New paint on the walls.  Maybe a small quilt or two hanging where there's room. 

And yet the house seemed so empty this morning... and I felt... strangely out of sorts and at odds with the world.  Who am I now and what is my place in the world?  It's time to re-define myself and come to terms with a new me.

I went to the mall with a friend today.  First time I've stepped inside a shopping mall in years.  I tend to avoid them.  I get all the shopping therapy I need in quilt shops.  Nothing much has changed over time.  More kiosks maybe.  Despite my lack of recent mall experience, I felt jaded and uninterested in most of the shops.  I did buy a case for my not-so-new cell phone.


THEN, we went to a couple of quilt shops (I was very good and only bought 1/4 yd each of 6 different solids that I absolutely needed to finish a quilt I'm working on, and some more aurifil for piecing), and lunch. 

Haven't finished any quilts lately but I did send a couple of fabric postcards that I finished up.  Here's a picture of one of them (they're both essentially the same)... puffy paint and crystals on inkjet printed fabric.  The theme was 'bright and funky'.  Hope the recipients like them: