I Remembered the Password!!!

I couldn't get back in here because I'd forgotten the password once blogspot got to be part of Google. I don't do Google. I've worked for Microsoft for far too long to do anything Google. But I like Blogspot better than our Windows Live blogs. I think Anyway, I'll try to pick this up and do some more here. Maybe I'll try out Windows Live blogging, too. See which one I prefer.

I tried to do one on Wordpress recently, but the project it was for got cancelled. My step-daughter, Mariah, and I were going to attempt a bonding thing that involved doing a "cook-the-book" on baking. Then it turns out that Mariah has SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) and sweets are particularly bad for her. So no more baking for us. Which is too bad because I was going great there for a while. I made an awesome red velvet cake and was ready for the next challenge! I will keep on baking by myself anyways when she's not around (it's not nice to have stuff available that she can't eat without having horrible cramps), but not as much. I want to learn to do pie better.

In fact, I think I'll use this post to make a list of things I want to learn in the next year:

1. Improve my quilt piecing.
2. Do more applique.
3. Do Art Quilting.
4. Learn Free-Motion Quilting.
5. Get really good at pie dough.
6. Can a lot of jams/jellies/salsas.
7. Improve my creativity.
8. Complete 2-3 large size quilts and many more small quilts.

That ought to be a good start. In the meantime, I have some other personal goals:

1. Lose weight (as much as I can since I'm in no danger of losing too much.)
2. Get a new blue badge PM job.
3. Strengthen my family and relationship with my husband.
4. Read more non-fiction and deepen my knowledge.
5. Spend more time with family.
6. Work on getting over my fear of flying.

The top 3 are the most important to me. The rest are icing on the cake. For the artistic goals, I'd say 4, 5, and 8 are the ones that I'd like most to complete. Completing them will help with the others anyway.

A few weeks ago I did a very quick (3 hours from concept to completion) Mug Rug sort of quilt. I sort of used the Reversible Quilt method. Basically I got a piece of batting, a backing, and then sewed strips at somewhat wonky angles. Each time I sewed a strip down it was essentially quilting the back. I put this together for a co-worker who was leaving. She's a very bright, cheerful, sunny person and her office was filled with bright, sunny, cheerful things, so I tried to make a bright, sunny, cheerful mug rug. Here's the front and the back:

There was cat fur all over the seat of the chair on which I took the picture, so I was using tape the next day to blot cat fur off of it. Every quilt piece I work on seems to be covered with car fur. And our cat is a shorthair! But she sheds more than any cat I've ever had. And my craft room is her favorite place to hang out. And throw up hairballs. :( Bad kitty!

Quilter's Anonymous

I went to the Quilter's Anonymous Quilt Show in Monroe on Sunday. It's the first quilt show I've ever been to and I loved it! They had around 500 quilts on display. I went hoping to feel inspired and to get a better idea of what it is that attracts me in quilting. I think it did accomplish that. Here are the kinds of things that attract me in quilts:

1. Color. Especially batik and hand dyes. Also beads & threads.
2. Applique. All kinds.
3. Creative applications rather than beautifully pieced or quilted traditional pieces.
4. Whimsy, but not silly.

I think my favorite quilt from the 500 was one in a special exhibition of japanese quilts. It wasn't particularly Japanese, though. It was covered with dragonflies of all different shapes & sizes, going everywhere and appearing to be coming out of a pile of leaves at the bottom. It was a bit chaotic, but filled with so much interest and fun (especially finding all the dragonflies and separating them from the leaves!) that it just really pulled me in and kept me searching for more dragonflies!

There was another Japanese quilt that I didn't entirely get, but I loved the beautiful hand embroidery and silk ribbon embroidery on it. I also enjoyed the display of the featured artist and got some tips from her on learning to machine quilt (reduce your max speed by half and then floor the pedal). She had a quilt of 2 trees with machine quilted branches and twigs that was stunning. I liked her handmade-looking jacket, too! It was turquoise and covered with square patches in various colors that had been sewn on.

It was inspiring, but daunting, too. Most of these people are SO good at piecing, appliqueing, quilting, and just everything they do. There were very few quilts that made me feel like I could get in there and compete. I don't do well at all compared to these. But what a wonderful thing that so many people can make such beauty! I have to keep working at it and improving my skills. Practice, practice, practice!