Too busy Tuesday

There is so much to include in this posting today, I hardly know where to start! Ok, how about the Creative Prompt projects? I have two to report again as I didn't get last week's done till the day before I did this week's prompt. LOL

KINDNESS was last weeks word. I started doodling again with a dollar bill that was given to a person who in turn helped a person cross the street who then gave flowers to someone. That person then made cookies for her child who then helped another child on the swing set. That child climbed a tree to get a cat out of the tree and on and on it would have gone. I always think of "playing it forward" when I think of kindness.

I also noted that I was disappointed that my creative journal writings and drawings were so lame.

This week's word was SPRING. I decided I was tired of just doodling. I did make the word spring with a springy spring on the letter G though. :) I had my husband snip an Iris flower from the flower bed. They are just coming into bloom now. The daffodils have all gone away already. I used my prisma pencils and drew the flower.

I am much happier with this than I was with the constant doodling. :)

The gigantic king sized Summer Pickle Mystery quilt top is DONE!!! It measures about 100" by 112". I couldn't get a photo of the whole thing in one shot!

I spent the weekend loading it on the table frame. This is the first time I will be using a frame setup.

I think I have it loaded just fine. I started trying to quilt it. I have tension issues. First the thread on top kept breaking. I re-threaded it, tried different brands and thicknesses of threads, played with the tension, all with no luck. I could sew a few inches and the thread would break.
I changed needle sizes and types and cleaned everything out and tried again. I thought "Woo-hoo" as it seemed to be working. Then I discovered the 'thread nestlings' underneath. I gave up and will tackle it again next week on my day off. Yes I am a little discouraged but I am more encouraged! Even though I didn't get very far, I know this is going to be so way cool to use for the big quilts. I had no trouble stippling it and once the tension is fixed I will be able to knock this quilt out a whole lot faster and better than I have ever done with a big quilt before!

Honorable mention goes to the cool summer skirt I made over the weekend too. It is a deep plum-purple and I accidentally discovered I have a shirt that matches it exactly in the back of my closet!!! Life is good. :)

Sneaking in a bit of sewing...

I have a three day weekend coming up. Woohoo! I have been getting a little fabric therapy too. I have been needing a new purse and almost tried making one for myself. When I saw this one for ten bucks though, I had to have it! I will embellish it to personalize it. I need to do it soon, as my old purse isn't going to last much longer. lol I just haven't figured out how to embellish it yet. I have lots of ideas, that involve some freehand embroidery, buttons, beads, fringe, etc. Stay tuned to see what I come up with!

I am making slow and steady progress on the Summer Pickle Mystery Quilt. I have all the columns done and several are joined together. I am not sure if I will get this top together today or not. I have put in a few hours this morning already and have to go to work later, so I may save this for the weekend.

Here is a partial shot:

And here is the other partial shot:

This is a huge king size quilt that will end up over 100" at the narrowest side! I plan to put a two inch border around it before calling the top done. I haven't decided what to use yet for that border though. Decisions, decisions!!!

Touching on Summer

Today is a free day for me, work-wise. I wish I could spend it in the studio! However we need to see the tax man to see if they can find a few deductions for us. It is the first time we've had to have someone else do our taxes for us! They are complicated this year with the two states involved and the house sale and all the other 'stuff' that goes with that.

Anyway, you don't read my blog for tax talk. :) Last week I made this sleeveless summer dress from a simple pattern that I bought months ago. I had this linen dotted material that I found at a ridiculous price last fall to use. There was just enough material to make this dress. In fact there is enough left over to maybe add a pocket to it!

I hate making clothing but I can never find things to buy off the rack at affordable prices these days. I always have issues with fitting things the right way. This actually went together quite fast and I don't think I made too many mistakes. I used a little yellow daisy button at the front neckline to hold down the interfacing behind it. It actually added a nice cutesy touch, don't you think?
As usual, the photo doesn't do it much justice. I know I will wear this at home on the hot summer days of Arkansas though. Oh, and the quilt blocks behind it are the Summer Pickle Mystery Quilt project. I am still plugging away at that too. Maybe we will get home early and I can play in the studio this afternoon for a bit!

Stop and smell the roses

Well, at least smell the daffodils.

This is the third bouquet I've picked from the thousands that are growing on our property here. This spring is like a treasure hunt. Every few weeks finds something new growing in the flower beds! Have I mentioned lately that I really love our new place?
With the job having gone full time, and errand running or naps taking up the rest of my time, STUDIO time is almost non-existent right now. I did manage to sew five big blocks, on the Summer Pickle Mystery Quilt. I have about 40 more to sew together before assembling them into rows and finishing the top. I might get this done before summer!
I hope everyone has a great day today! It has warmed up here and is supposed to rain. Rain makes more things grow and bloom. That leads to more treasure hunting on the property. :D

"Beginnings"

As you may have noticed, I am participating in a creative prompt project with Jaye leading the way! (see Clara the cow on your right) The idea is to commit to once a week, entering something in your personal creative journal. A creative journal can be anything you want it to be. A word is posted once a week and you draw, write, or create whatever you want to in your journal. It can be quilt related or not. You can even write about the word using more words. You can make a collage. You can just doodle. You don't even have to address the actual word that is given for that week!

The whole idea is to get you to do something, anything, once per week to see how this project develops and how it affects you to use your personal journal to express things.

I did my response to "Beginnings" last night. I have just found out that work is going to promote me to one of the management positions. This means going full time and managing other employees. It is quite appropriate that "Beginnings" is the first word for my creative art journal, as this is a whole new beginning phase of my life!
This drawing depicts many of the emotions of the moment. I am scared that I won't be "good enough" at this new position at work. There is a lot of new things to learn and a lot of pressure to perform 'right' in the job. I also have a lot of things to fix that have not been addressed in months. I know I can do it, I just hope I can do it good enough for my own personal standards of achievement.

On the other hand, I am sad. I am making a change in my life that I have never wanted to make. I am mourning the loss of my free time and of my 'old job' of being a full time homemaker and quilter. At age 54 I am having to work at a full time job in order to make ends meet. I have a lot of personal 'mind-work' to do in order to make this all work without going bonkers in the process. I was so spoiled in my "past" life!!!

Having the journal to draw a picture of the thoughts, rather than to write the words of those thoughts, has been liberating in a way. I can't explain it. I just feel it.

QUILTING UPDATES:
I am continuing to work on the hexagon quilt. I have 11 more flowers done. I need a total of 173 flowers and 14 half-flowers. I have 98 flowers and one half-flower done. I have 13 half-flowers and 75 full flowers to make before I have enough to finish the quilt top.

Progress is flying along on the Pickle Summer Mystery quilt. I am now joining larger pieces into larger blocks. This is the point I like best in quilting as it feels like I might actually get this thing done someday soon! lol
Here are just a few of the blocks up on the design wall:

And here is a closeup of the ones on the left:

I have today off before beginning the new job tomorrow. I hope to sew more on the pickle quilt, practice music for an upcoming performance this summer, and relax later tonight watching TV while hand sewing on the hexy quilt.

I hope everyone has a smurfy Sunday!!!

Leap Frog

At 2pm today I FINALLY finished trimming the triangle squares for the Summer Pickle Mystery Quilt-2008. The photos don't match how enormous the pile looks in real life though!

Even at this angle, you can't really tell there are several HUNDRED squares!!!

The process must have made me crazy or something. I have these projects waiting to be worked on:

In the foreground you see some red felt and a heart block that I hope to make into a Valentine. Behind it are three objects that I hope to make into something else. And finally you see the green frog.

Why do I say I am crazy from cutting out all those triangle-squares? Because the frog now looks like this:

euuuuuuuuuuuuuu, frog vomit!

Plugging away at 'stuff'

Here is a fleece shirt that I plan to remake. I want to lengthen the sleeves and put a matching collar on it:

I am ironing out hexagon papers to make more hexagons with. I have a whole bin of used papers. I need 84 more hexagon flowers to complete my quilt!

Here is the 2008 Summer Pickle Mystery quilt progress. I have two layout ideas for it, this one is the first:

And this second one is probably the one I will go with:

We are expecting to be iced in tomorrow here in Arkansas. Brrrrrrrrrr, it is cold outside!!!