40 Bags in 40 days!

Love this idea! 40-bags-in-40-days-2015

With all the transitions in our house over the past few years, kids back and forth, moving to their adult life and the like...it is time for some streamlining of everything! Plus I am not too fond of giving up chocolate for lent! haha!

My targets will be the ridiculous collection of books we have all over, taming the paper in the office and getting the clothing to people who can use it. (let's not talk about the sewing room though) ‪#‎40bagsin40days

Finis!

Barn Stars ....bound

 

And hung in the foyer.

 

On to the next mini quilt!

TQG February- Molas!

We had an interesting presentation at the Night Chapter meeting of the Tidewater  Quilters Guild last night, “Molas in a New Light,” by Lola McCracken Lola shared her mola collection and gave a short lecture on the Kuna Indigenous people in the San Blas Islands, Panama.

 

The mola forms part of the traditional costume of a Kuna woman, two mola panels being incorporated as front and back panels in a blouse. Molas are handmade using a reverse applique technique. Several layers (usually two to seven) of different-coloured cloth (usually cotton) are sewn together; the design is then formed by cutting away parts of each layer. The edges of the layers are then turned under and sewn down. Often, the stitches are nearly invisible. This is achieved by using a thread the same color as the layer being sewn, sewing blind stitches, and sewing tiny stitches. The finest molas have extremely fine stitching, made using tiny needles.

 

The fiber artistry of a mola reflects the traditional oral (non-literate) Kuna culture and represents themes of Kuna life and history. Mola art developed when Kuna women were encouraged to cover their traditionally painted bare upper torso by missionaries who were offended by their toplessness! 

 

The quality of a mola is determined by such factors as

• the number of layers
• fineness of the stitching
• evenness and width of cutouts
• addition of details such as zigzag borders, lattice-work or embroidery
• general artistic merit of the design and color combination.

When Kuna women tire of a particular blouse, they disassemble it and sell the molas to collectors.

 

Molas are often sold in pairs, the pair consisting of the back and front panels of a blouse. The two molas are usually two variations on a theme. Matched molas complement each other and should be displayed or used together for the greatest impact.

 

To appeal to the tourist market, modern molas may represent non-traditional themes, like the caduceus above.

After Lola's talk, we had a demo on reverse applique. Fun!

Making Progress

 

Got the Barn Stars all pieced while watching the John Adams series on HBO Go. It has a bit of wonk, but overall I think its a decent job on a quilt with tiny pieces AND I achieved the goal of finishing the January quilt before picking up the February pack. Or at least I will have finished once this crosshatch quilting is completed!

 

Couldn't stay inside all day though, as we had a delightful break in the winter weather with highs between 65 and 70. We took a ride to the beach house to do some maintenance (I think half the light bulbs were burned out) After quick work of bulb changing, filter changing and spreading some pre-emergent weed stuff....we were off to the beach to enjoy the calm ocean, and gorgeous clear sky with other beach lovers. There was one surfer in the water, though there were no waves. When he got out of the water, he returned to his van which bore a striking resemblance to the "Mystery Machine," of Scooby Do fame!

The sunset by the sound was really pretty....

 

All in all a terrific weekend!

Barn Stars in the Little Green Schoolhouse

 

Took a day off to hang out with my quilting buddies at the beach and work on my Barn Stars quilt for January. I was thinking smaller quilt (20 x 20) faster completion....not so much. Got about 5 blocks stitched between talking, admiring other's work and eating!

 

They are cute little blocks made from little bitty pieces!

 

One of the girls finished a convergence quilt that she called, "Out of This World," by appliqueing a large "undiscovered" planet. Lots of color on this!

 Another friend was working on a really detailed crazy quilt. She has everything but the kitchen sink sewn on there and it is really fun to look at.

 

We sew in the Wanchese Community Building, which long ago served as the schoolhouse for the fishing village. There is a great sense of nostalgia and history in there.

 

 

Checked out my beach on the way home....the fishing pier is quiet with only the birds hanging around. There were some wet-suited surfers out there braving the chilly temps. Diehards.

Grieving and Stitching

“A feeling of pleasure or solace can be so hard to find when you are in the depths of your grief. Sometimes it's the little things that help get you through the day. You may think your comforts sound ridiculous to others, but there is nothing ridiculous about finding one little thing to help you feel good in the midst of pain and sorrow!”
― Elizabeth Berrien, Creative Grieving: A Hip Chick's Path from Loss to Hope 

 

 

I have been struggling over the last two weeks. Flooded with memories, tearful at times, and at others smiling at the thought of good times shared. This loss has hit me so hard. I have had a genuinely difficult time focusing on much of anything for more than a few minutes, which has made work exceeding difficult. The loss of my friends is still so unbelievable to me. I think I am really still in shock, and so so sad.

 

This weekend, I spent some quiet time with friends...I took some fabrics to be cut... a couple of Valentine's projects.

 

 

Cut out all the little tiny pieces of this "Barn Stars" quilt from Collection 2 of Kim’s Simple Whatnots Club (running January through June of 2015) featuring six little quilts plus a bonus quilt, and stitched from her Heritage Hollow line of quilting fabrics. The quilt will finish at 20 x 20 inches.

 

The colors are pretty...the smallest piece is 1 inch by 1 inch....definitely smaller than anything I have previously sewed. It's what peer pressure will get you into!

 

I also watched a little Villanova basketball while stitching Clue 2 of Gyleen's Bricks, Cobblestones and Pebbles. Check out her website here Colorful Stitches and her Facebook group at Gyleen's Bricks, Cobblestones and Pebbles

 

Clue 1 was the center that used 64 blocks from stash. I was able to pull 64 different blues from my stash, and not use all the options. (hanging my head in stash shame now)

 

While this disorganized cutting and piecing may not be my usual approach, it seems to be the one that is working with my scatteredness and sorrow. So I guess this is what I will do now.

Life-Loss-Grief

heart-bro-ken [hahrt-broh-kuh n]
adjective
1.crushed with sorrow or grief.

On January 5, my friends, Steven and Peggy pictured center and right, below were killed in a car crash in Miami on the way to the airport after a cruise on Monday. Their son who was also in the car survived. They were friends for 30+ years through births, deaths, everything. My baking buddy every year for 30 years. I can't imagine my world without them in it. I am heartbroken. I will miss them, their live and friendship all the days of my life.

 

 

We laid them to rest yesterday, I gave the eulogy at their funeral....some parts here.....

"I can’t imagine the rest of my life without them. I am filled with unspeakable grief that washes over me in great waves, and makes me feel like I will never stop crying. That grief alternates with raging anger, that makes me want to rip and tear things apart. I want an answer from the universe as to why this event was necessary now, at this time. They weren’t sick, they weren’t old, and they weren’t bad. They certainly weren’t finished with life, and we weren’t finished with them. They were our Steven and Peggy, like peanut butter and jelly they went together, each with their own unique flavor, but together making something wonderful, comforting, constant and familiar."

Steven, Peggy and Stevie came to help me open my quilt shop in North Carolina and Peggy spent the first dollar in my shop. They came the night before and helped me set up the shop even though I know they thought I was crazy.

 

 In 2002, for Peggy's 40th birthday I made her this quilt....

 

I gave it to her at her 40th birthday party, and brought some fabric markers so the party goers could make their well wishes on the back of the quilt.

 

"Happy Birthday to my "old" friend. A quilt in honor of your 40th. A quilt inspired by September 11th tragedy, the quilt pattern is called, "At Home in My Heart." We've seen a lot of life changes in our lives, almost 20 years. Here's to the next 20" Love Di"

 

"I guess the thing that really stays with me about them, is that they were fully present in my life.  No matter where I lived, no matter who I was married to, no matter how much I weighed or what new thing I was into, no matter what, they were fully in relationship with me. The cheered my successes, grieved with me, they gave of themselves over and over. I can honestly tell you we never had an argument in the entire 34 years. We were always in love with each other, loving, caring….and that is really what I will miss the most. That true and steady friendship, that complete and total acceptance that go to in a crisis and go to in joy thing that we had for all these years. I will always hear Steven say, “love you Big D,” and Peggy…”love ya chickie,” with her little giggle. So today is goodbye to our earthly relationship, but you will both live forever in my heart."