There have been rumblings for the last year or so that I have been living in my loungewear when at work in my studio. I don’t deny it. The only embarrassment I feel is when someone drops in, which rarely happens (maybe once in 2012). But this morning I was enjoying a cup of tea and happened to look down and this is what I saw:
PS: This was not some quirky act of deliberation: When I took the socks out of the drawer, I thought they matched (didn’t have my glasses on…) Sadly, I am not changing them…
I was putting on mascara the other day and could not find my eyelashes!! They seem to have virtually disappeared in the last few years. What’s that all about?? I think I’m going to invest in this product:
It’s over! My fear of stippling is over! No, I’m not talking about stippling by engraving or painting – it’s stippling in quilting that had me stumped.
Stippling is a method of doing ‘random’ quilting. If you know me at all, you will know that I do not function in a ‘random’ manner – lists, lists, lists are my modus operandi. Logic, order, sequence (did you notice that was in alphabetical order…)
You are no doubt wondering how I overcame my fear, yes?
random stippling
Leah Day, the force behind the Free Motion Quilting Project
She showed me how to do ‘random’ stippling in ROWS!
Rows! Nice orderly rows of random stippling (I know it is a bit of a dichotomy)
I now find ‘random’ stippling as beautiful to look at as ‘random’ bales of hay – sooooo relaxing
random bales of hay
Have a random kind of day! and thank you, Leah Day!
PS: Last poll indicated that 25% of you feel you do not need the power invested in Lucky Charms, 25% love them and 25% have tried them but prefer another cereal. Here is today’s poll:
Always on a quest to try new things, I lately tried a cereal that I had never had before.
It is a frosted toasted oat cereal with marshmallows: only 110 calories per serving, whole grain with 7 vitamins and minerals and an excellent source of iron (according to the nutritional label on the package).
Not only does this cereal rival the attributes nutritionally of my favourite cereal Weetabix, its consumption also enables you with the powers of flight, speed, luck and invisibility as well as the abilities to control time, make things float, bring things to life and travel from place to place.
Should you not be satisfied with all of the aforementioned items, there is also a gameboard on the back of the package. Really, how can you go wrong with this charming little product??
Run out and get yourself a box, folks!
According to the last poll, 60% of you do not think Christmas decorating has gone too far, 20% say it has and 20% don’t care. Don’t forget to do today’s poll.
So I’m down in the workshop again – it is my new retreat. I have more UFO’s than I can count. A UFO to a quilter is not an Unidentified Flying Object: it is an UnFinished Object – a remnant of something you started but never seem to finish. Yep, more than I can count. Look at one of my workshop stations – I have 4 work stations ( OK, 5 if you count the kitchen table upstairs LOL) Each station looks much like the first – covered with UFO’s.
The Workshop - Station 1
Because there is so much joy for me in taking on a new project, learning a new technique, etc., I start more than I finish. Some people get the joy when they complete a project: well, I do too but it is secondary to starting one. Hence, many UFO’s.
In an attempt to make room for more fabric (tee hee), I have set a new goal for myself: Start one project, finish two UFO’s.
Let’s see how it goes today. I have 2 little tote bags to finish today. Not sure what decade they were started in… They are laying there on the work station for all to see – for me to see. Can’t start anything new – must finish these first. You see how I am procrastinating. I even started this blog post in order to avoid finishing the tote bags.
Time is now 12 noon. I’ll let you know when they are finished.
This is impressive! I finished the bags at 1:15 p.m and would have finished much sooner but I was distracted by the search for a bottle in which to put my spray starch. This lead to a cleanup of the area where I poured the spray starch into the new bottle. I also added extra embellishments to the tote bags in the way of embroidery. (see 2nd picture)
Completed Totes
Embroidery Detail
It is a great day! Now I get to start a new project.
BTW – results of the last poll showed that 20% of you prefer to sleep under a blanket, 60% under a comforter/duvet and 20% under something else… don’t forget to do today’s poll.
It’s been months since my last post – some of you may have been wondering where I have been. The truth is I have joined a cult. Oh, do not be alarmed. The fact is that many of you out there also may be members of a cult and not even know it. Almost everyone is vulnerable.
Ask yourself these questions:
do you have secret knowledge that you share with one or more persons?
do you share a secret message, word or greeting with these same people?
have you spent vast sums of money on items related to this body of knowledge that you share?
do you suffer from poor nutrition or sleep deprivation?
You see, you have probably answered yes to one of more of these questions. It is likely you belong to a cult too. Take a long hard look at your own behaviours before you begin to criticize mine….
A couple of years ago, my brother suggested that my sister and I belonged to a cult – the cult of Weight Watchers. It was all we talked about; we had secret diet plans and spent many dollars on the WW programme – but finally we were able to de-programme ourselves (without an intervention, I might add) and we broke free.
But as I said, we are all vulnerable. I have again joined a cult – the cult of quilting. Oh, there is no official name for this sect but believe me, I am ‘sew’ into it.
I was pretty busy last week – it was the week of my sister’s retirement party and I had to give a speech about her. It occurred to me that I never had an official retirement party but some would argue that every day is a party for me…
I have said for years that at some point you have to retire because you need all the time in a day just to maintain your body. Most of the time I think I do a pretty good job at that – maintaining, that is. I mean, I don’t expect miracles. I just want to look good for my age – Ok – maybe I want to look great for my age. Every day I look in the mirror and I think to myself – not bad, I’m doing OK.
But every once in a while, I get a wakeup call…when I look in the mirror, it’s face forward. Some of the pics that came in from the retirement party were IN PROFILE! Apparently I am not doing as well as I thought I was – LOL
So a word of advice to friends and family – when taking pictures of your venerable senior friends, try not to take a profile shot – those of us over 60 would prefer to live in the state of denial rather than seeing the grizzly details, thank you very much.
BTW – results from the poll about who should be in charge of Canadian Tire Money:
No, it’s not because I want you to notice the green pedi and silver toe rings – but what do you think? too kinky for 60? well, who cares: I do what my head tells me…
Anyway, the reason I’m telling you to look down is so you can save money – I’ve noticed that more and more people are just leaving the coins on the ground when they walk by – pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters: it all adds up – and don’t just look on the ground – check out the floor of cars when you get in – you never know what you might find!
For instance, last weekend when I got into my sister’s car, I saw some Canadian Tire money on the passenger seat floor. It was only 5 cents but I picked it up anyway – both my sister and brother-in-law tried to claim it but hey, finders-keepers. For those of you who don’t know what Canadian Tire money is, it is virtual gold (in a Canadian Tire store) and I’m telling you it is next to impossible for a woman to get her hands on it – men hoard it and won’t share! So I scored big!
I Didn't Expect to Get Here This Soon 