Flu bug and angels

I have the flu.  It's running rampant through Kentucky right now and probably other places too.  I should still be in bed.  I've been sleeping off and on, day and night, since Wednesday afternoon. 

The battery in the smoke detector decided, last night, that it would start to die.  Which meant every 3 minutes it beeped a warning.  After a couple of hours of listening to the beep I decided to go ahead get up and change it even though I felt miserable.  I keep spare rechargeable batteries all the time for different things. 

Well, since I'm up anyway, I decided to take some chicken soup out of the freezer to eat.  Yup, for breakfast.  Chicken soup is good for the flu or a cold.  It will give me strength and help me sleep.  While I wait for the soup I'll fill you in on what I did before the flu bug got me.

Saturday was Ladybug's birthday party at Puzzles Fun Dome.  That's where I must have gotten the flu.  There were lots of kids (with runny noses) zipping around all over the place. 

I spent most of Sunday with the online class videos.  By golly..... I think I'm learning it!  I was doubtful before and now I'm just thrilled. 

Monday I had an appointment which lasted all day.  Actually it was supposed to be a seminar about saving money on utilities.  I knew more than they did so I was bored all day.   As payment for attending I get a portion of my utility bill paid each month for a year.  Not a lot but I'll take it anyway.  Gotta save money whenever I can.

Tuesday I had another appointment.  My annual PAP test.  I was taken to a room that was freezing cold, told to remove all my clothing, then given what looked like a paper towel to cover up with.  Geese!  It was up to me to choose whether to cover the top or bottom half of myself.  When the doctor came in I was covered by my coat and shivering.

When I got home, I started cutting apart the clothing for the two memory quilts I'm making.  There's three bags of clothing to make two queen size.  

I finished cutting the seams out of the clothing of one bag.  I need to buy a bolt of stabilizer before I start the piecing.  The other two bags will get done when I feel better.

Wednesday I finished the quilting on the quilt that's still on the machine.  When I finished it I was already starting to feel yucky so I left it there.  I'll take it off this weekend and take more photos.... if I feel better.

I also had two bags of inherited PIGS brought to me.  PIGS are projects in garbage (or grocery) sacks.  Some people call them UFOs too.  These were given to me to use for charity quilts.

So what did I get in the bags?  Well, there is this candlewick top.  The fabric is quite thin.  I'm thinking maybe I should take it apart and put stabilizer on the back of each square.  If I can work the cost into my budget?  The blocks don't look like they were cut all the same so squaring up the blocks should help too.

There is a lot of age damage to the PIGS.  Like this set of embroidery blocks.  I'm not sure what the brown stuff is.  I should wash these before piecing them together.  If the brown doesn't come out, maybe I can tea dye them. 

There's this set of painted ladies.  A couple of completed ones but the rest are not finished.  The paint is really stiff.  I don't know what kind of paint it was so I can't duplicate the original work to finish the blocks.  I'm thinking maybe I can finish these with my Tusaniko inks.  I'll check to be sure the original paint is permanent before putting more work into these.

These are appliqued by hand.  Enough for a whole quilt.... or two.  I'm thinking maybe some really pretty background quilting in the white area.  The fabric on these is really thin too. 

Hmm.... embroidery block kits.  But look at the staining.  I'm not sure how I will finish these.  I haven't done any hand embroidery in years.  I don't know if the stains will come out so I'm not sure I want to put a lot of hand work into completing these.  I can't wash them first because the design will disappear.  

These quilt blocks appear to be from a block swap or a guild.  A couple of the blocks have signatures on them.  These are also stained.  I think I can wash them before piecing together. 

Another hand applique top.  This will have to be taken apart, washed, and squared up.  I believe I can take this top apart and make two tops by alternating with plain blocks. 

There are three Dresden plate quilts started.  These should be fairly easy to complete.

There are a couple of nine patch quilts with large blocks started.  The pieces are cut, just not sewn together.

Here's another complete top.  It has me puzzled about what to do with it as well.  It has candlewick blocks alternating with yellow blocks.

I was surprised to find every one of the yellow blocks have a pattern drawn on them.  All different like the white blocks.  Hmm... were the drawings intended to be the quilting design?  An applique design?  More candlewick? 

This is where I will let the angels whisper in my ear.  What?  You don't know about the angels?  Let me explain.  When I get clothing quilts or Pigs I never know exactly what the person (passed away) would want.  Clothing quilt designs are, of course, first chosen by the one who brings me the clothing.  I then put individuality to each one.  Inherited pigs are sometimes easy and sometimes difficult to figure out.  When I'm completing either a Pig or a clothing quilt I feel as if an angel whispers in my ear..... "do it this way"..... and I usually listen.  The recipient is always happy because I listen to the angels. 

Hmm... there are those who don't believe in angels.  I do.  I have sons who have passed away.  I choose to believe that...... There is a land where those who have loved and lost will meet to love again.  I choose to believe my sons and I are only separated until I see them again in that land. 

Ok, my chicken soup is ready to eat.  Then it's back in bed for me. A couple more days of rest and I should be back to my old self again.

Portraits in fabric

I had some time for a ME project so I loaded this cheater panel on the machine yesterday.  It was given to me in a bunch of fabric a couple of years ago.  It's now ready to become a charity quilt for next Christmas. 

A simple feather around the outside.

Meandering stars in the background.

Color threads on the back.

This is the next quilt to go on the machine.  It will just barely fit and has several issues.  The most visual issue is the friendly borders.  You can see in the bottom of the photo that one side is larger than the other.  This is from not measuring and cutting the borders before putting them on.  I do so many quilts like this that it's no longer a problem.  It's just something I must work with carefully to make the quilt come out square.  When this one is finished I'm going to put it on my helpful hints blog as a step by step tutorial.  I already have one or two posts about friendly borders but one more won't hurt.

Anyone who has been reading my blog for a long while will know how much I want to be a portrait artist.  I don't really care if I ever, ever earn money from it.  I simply want to fulfill a lifelong dream of learning how to do people.  For me, art is more about the creation than about the selling.  Learning to do realistic people is on my bucket list.

  I've bought DVDs and taken classes but I still am not doing what I want to do.  I've written about my desire several times but I can't find those posts right now to make links.  I've taken classes at an art school but I wasn't able to continue.  It cost more than I could afford.

About four or five years ago I saw some portraits done with fabric.  Fantastic!  I wouldn't have to learn to draw people.  I could use the computer to help me create portraits using what I have in my stash.  I bought books of several different artists trying to learn the techniques.  I bought DVDs too but found both books and DVDs didn't teach what I needed to know.   

I bought photoshop element software and tried my best to learn it.  I have difficulty with comprehension and remembering.  I often have to do things backward just to learn.  I remember how things are done by repeatedly doing the steps over and over again.  When I stop doing those steps, I forget.  I buy DVDs so that when my memory fades I need only to rewatch them to remember.  With books I can go back and read again.

I took a class at a local fabric store to learn to do a portrait with fabric.  I had to leave before the class was over because I didn't want to be riding a bus home after dark in my neighborhood.  It was a class about using the fabric but not about creating the pattern.  I've long since forgotten what I did learn in that class. 

Then I found Margaret Bucklew of Chiseled in Cloth.  Check out her site.  She's fantastic!  Anyway, she had online classes.  I tried to sign up only to find out my computer couldn't handle the videos.  So I waited until I could get the right stuff for my computer and tried signing up again.  Oops!  Before I could click the "pay" button to confirm.... the empty class suddenly filled up.  A guild someplace had signed up as a group.  I was just seconds away from being in the class.  They clicked pay before I did.  So, I waited again.  Several months.  I tried signing up again and found it full once more.  I waited a few more months.  Next time I wanted to sign up, Margaret was taking a teaching break.  I waited a few more months. 

Well, I finally got signed up for a class yesterday.  It's only taken a little over three years.  What's great about Margaret's class is that she teaches how to create the pattern as well as use the fabric.  This is what I need to learn if I'm going to create grand kid portraits.  The class starts February 5th providing there are two more people to join the class.  If the class is not full she won't teach it.  I'm praying someone signs up because I'm not sure I will try again.  It may be something that will never happen and be time to let go of that dream.

What I'm worried about is.... will I be able to remember what I learn if I'm not able to create portraits regularly.  Will I have a problem remembering how to create the patterns a few weeks, months, or years from now?  As I said, I only remember how to do things by continually doing them over and over again.  I worry that problems such as dealing with my mother or a busy quilting schedule will prevent me from creating regular enough to remember the steps.  I keep asking Margaret if she will be selling the classes on DVD but so far she's not planning on it. 

I guess if I actually do forget the steps later; then, it would be the time finally to let go of that dream..... sigh.  

Even if you aren't interested in doing portraits or want to take a class please go check out Margaret's site.  She has free stuff for quilters and pantograph designs too.  She has really nice video poetry on her site.   The poetry will bring tears to your eyes and provoke you to deep thoughts.  I especially loved a video poem about old falling down barns. 

Ok, time to get started on that quilt.  It's going to take several days to finish it. 

First quilts this year

I hope everyone had a great time over the holidays and you are staying safe, warm, and happy.

It's said that whatever you do on the first of the year, that's what you will be doing for the whole year.  Well, I spent the day quilting, organizing, and cleaning.  It was also my birthday.  Here's the first two quilts of this year. 

I did a swag design on the border and line dancing on the blocks.  This is a backward pieced quilt I made several months ago.  Hmm.... maybe more than a year ago?  It's now ready to be bound and put away for charity next Christmas.  As Kathi would tell me.... done is good.

Here's the next quilt finished, ready to be bound and put away for charity. 

I did a curling feather design on the outside border and le lace on the inside border.

Here's another view of the feather.

I did a line danced butterfly on the blocks. 

I've been cleaning, organizing, cooking premade meals to freeze, and writing posts on my hints blog over the last month.  I've really enjoyed my time away from a quilting schedule.  I feel refreshed and ready for a new year.  I've started a year long house clean out journey.  I plan to clear out some of my STUFF every week until there's room for furniture again.  I'm hoping that by this time next year enough will be cleaned out that I actually feel I'm living in a home rather than one large quilting studio or in a garage.

My mother is still in the hospital in Indiana.  She grows more feeble everyday yet thinks nothing is wrong.  Both a blessing and a curse.  A blessing that she doesn't recognize how serious her health is and a curse because she says I've put her in prison and I won't help her get out.

Today I plan to clean my design walls and start clearing out some of the clutter in the studio.  After that I'll probably put the first customer quilt on the machine.