It's amazing what a little bit of time and imagination can bring forth!
Monday, June 11, 2007
Fat Eights
Ever wonder what to do with half of a fat quarter? or Wonder what it was? Well, a little bit of information for those who don't know. A fat eighth is half of a fat quarter. A fat quarter is actually a piece of fabric 9" x 11". A fat eighth is a piece that is cut in half from that. I signed up for a challenge using fat 8ths and it has been great! I received 4 fat 8ths from four other participants, I signed up for 2 groups so I actually got 8 of them! I had to come up with patterns to use, and fabric from my stash to make 12 inch blocks to return to them. It was a great learning experience! I had a blast and it was so much fun! 
First Fat 8th group All Paper Pieced Patterns from Carol Doak 
Second Fat 8th Group all Paper Pieced Patterns from Carol Doak
It's amazing what a little bit of time and imagination can bring forth!
It's amazing what a little bit of time and imagination can bring forth!
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Crazy Days aren't always Mondays!
Yep! You heard me right! I know it's not Monday, but have you ever felt like all the days in a week were Monday? This week feels like every morning that I've woke up has been a Monday. The longer the day has gone, the more it has felt like a Monday. By the time the day has ended, it sure has felt like the next day should be Tuesday, or even maybe Sunday. I wake in the morning, knowing full well what day it is, and have a sense of deja vu that I'm starting all over again!
Ever have days like that? I've felt this week has gone round in circles, back and forth round and round again! I can't seem to get anything done. I started the week with 3 hours in a doctors office, have gained some ground since then, but...the rest of the things that normally happen in the day, have repeated and repeated all week long. No matter what I've tried to do to change them, they keep on keeping on! I'm still trying to figure out what part of "NO" others don't understand. What I wouldn't give for about 3 weeks of being able to do nothing but sit and sew, cut and sew, cut and sew, I could get many things accomplished, started and finished that I want to. Do you think that will ever happen?? I'm really wondering if it will in this lifetime.. and if it does what I'm going to have to do to make it happen!
I'm seriously considering escaping to Timbuktu, or another place like that. Maybe an exotic island someplace uninhabited by anyone under the age of 30? The occasional visitor under this age would be great, but not more than once a month, or maybe once a year! Two legged mammals under this age definitely inhibit the creative processes! Make me think irrationally, now... I can't honestly say that... I don't need an irrational thought process to spend irrational amounts on fabric, or anything else for that matter!
I have been trying very hard to get my granddaughter's lovely quilt finished for her birthday. It's beautiful, she knows its hers, how she knows this I will never know. She's not old enough to realize this! But she takes it when I'm not looking and covers up with the top! Her antics are what is making it hard to get anything done. She has now figured out that any scrap piece of fabric, or larger can be used to cover herself, the dog, the cat or her doll baby up. So I am constanty hunting down the last piece that I know I had for the last block I am working on! oops... where was she last... I know that is where that fabric went to!
The Center of my granddaughter's Quilt
Ever have days like that? I've felt this week has gone round in circles, back and forth round and round again! I can't seem to get anything done. I started the week with 3 hours in a doctors office, have gained some ground since then, but...the rest of the things that normally happen in the day, have repeated and repeated all week long. No matter what I've tried to do to change them, they keep on keeping on! I'm still trying to figure out what part of "NO" others don't understand. What I wouldn't give for about 3 weeks of being able to do nothing but sit and sew, cut and sew, cut and sew, I could get many things accomplished, started and finished that I want to. Do you think that will ever happen?? I'm really wondering if it will in this lifetime.. and if it does what I'm going to have to do to make it happen!
I'm seriously considering escaping to Timbuktu, or another place like that. Maybe an exotic island someplace uninhabited by anyone under the age of 30? The occasional visitor under this age would be great, but not more than once a month, or maybe once a year! Two legged mammals under this age definitely inhibit the creative processes! Make me think irrationally, now... I can't honestly say that... I don't need an irrational thought process to spend irrational amounts on fabric, or anything else for that matter!
I have been trying very hard to get my granddaughter's lovely quilt finished for her birthday. It's beautiful, she knows its hers, how she knows this I will never know. She's not old enough to realize this! But she takes it when I'm not looking and covers up with the top! Her antics are what is making it hard to get anything done. She has now figured out that any scrap piece of fabric, or larger can be used to cover herself, the dog, the cat or her doll baby up. So I am constanty hunting down the last piece that I know I had for the last block I am working on! oops... where was she last... I know that is where that fabric went to!
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Saving My Sanity
This past few weeks have been ones of total chaos and insanity! I have tried everything I could think of to gain a little ground to keep going on an even keel. I wanted a to maintain a tad bit of sanity in an otherwise insane environment! It suddenly dawned on me that I had all of the tools at my fingertips. I had been through enough Psychology classes and done enough studies in college to know that what I needed most was a few minutes of meditation now and again to keep the peace I so desperately needed!
In thinking on this, I often have a minute or two of quite time. Well, once in a while anyway! So what made me think I couldn't relax in that short amount of time? I had gotten caught up in the chaos at hand and just couldn't get off the merry-go-round! There was a way I could recollect my thoughts and bring myself back into a calm state of being with only a short time frame! I just hadn't thought hard enough and remembered all of the things I had learned in college!
1. If I sat in a place where I was alone, with nothing blocking me, nothing that could destract me from the goal at hand I could accomplish what I needed to do. I needed to sit without my legs crossed, outstretched, with my hands resting on my legs. As relaxed as possible.
2. I needed to become aware of my body, from my toes to my head. Wriggling my body starting from the tips of my toes, and progressing upwards towards my head. Moving each body part, gently, relaxingly.
3. Closing my eyes, breathing deeply and gently. Relaxing as I breath, feeling the air that I breath traveling into my body, to all the parts of my body, reaching deep down to my toes, my legs and feet, my fingertips and the ends of each hair on my head. Thinking that the air is a way of cleansing the tension from my body, taking away the stress, helping me to relax.
4. As the air goes out of my body, I think of all the stress going out with it, seeing it as a black shapeless image leaving my stressfree body. I take another deep breath in and relax.
I can do this as often as I need to throughout the day. Any spare moment that I have can be used to relieve the stress that I have allowed to build up from the demands that I have allowed to be put on me! I do this alot, I have a very hard time saying NO to anyone, including my family. I love them very much and just can't say no, even when I know that it is unhealthy, and irresponsible on my part and theirs. I've also found that certain types of music as well as listening to books on audio are a great form of relaxation for me. I can listen to a book and sew or quilt to my hearts content and get more done in a days time than I normally would. So look out library! I've found a new outlet for my bottled up stress! and heaven help the checkbook if I use up my stash!
In thinking on this, I often have a minute or two of quite time. Well, once in a while anyway! So what made me think I couldn't relax in that short amount of time? I had gotten caught up in the chaos at hand and just couldn't get off the merry-go-round! There was a way I could recollect my thoughts and bring myself back into a calm state of being with only a short time frame! I just hadn't thought hard enough and remembered all of the things I had learned in college!
1. If I sat in a place where I was alone, with nothing blocking me, nothing that could destract me from the goal at hand I could accomplish what I needed to do. I needed to sit without my legs crossed, outstretched, with my hands resting on my legs. As relaxed as possible.
2. I needed to become aware of my body, from my toes to my head. Wriggling my body starting from the tips of my toes, and progressing upwards towards my head. Moving each body part, gently, relaxingly.
3. Closing my eyes, breathing deeply and gently. Relaxing as I breath, feeling the air that I breath traveling into my body, to all the parts of my body, reaching deep down to my toes, my legs and feet, my fingertips and the ends of each hair on my head. Thinking that the air is a way of cleansing the tension from my body, taking away the stress, helping me to relax.
4. As the air goes out of my body, I think of all the stress going out with it, seeing it as a black shapeless image leaving my stressfree body. I take another deep breath in and relax.
I can do this as often as I need to throughout the day. Any spare moment that I have can be used to relieve the stress that I have allowed to build up from the demands that I have allowed to be put on me! I do this alot, I have a very hard time saying NO to anyone, including my family. I love them very much and just can't say no, even when I know that it is unhealthy, and irresponsible on my part and theirs. I've also found that certain types of music as well as listening to books on audio are a great form of relaxation for me. I can listen to a book and sew or quilt to my hearts content and get more done in a days time than I normally would. So look out library! I've found a new outlet for my bottled up stress! and heaven help the checkbook if I use up my stash!
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