A Crazy Weekend

Last weekend we had a blast once again in Koblenz.  It was a small gathering but we definitely went crazy.  

So I thought I’d share my crazy quilt with you.   I swore I’d never make a crazy.  I think what turned me off were how dark they can often be and having seen so many contemporary crazies that were so full your eye couldn’t take it all in - ever.   What changed my mind?  One of my student/friends in Koblenz showed a crazy she did.  There was no turning back after that.  I’ve always embroidered since I was a kid so  . . . never say never.   

I started with a plan. I wanted mine to be simpler, lighter and symbolic.  It was important that this quilt turned out to be bright, fresh and cheerful.  This was to be no mourning quilt as many crazies were, but rather a celebration!  The spring green and magenta should make sure that it never becomes somber.  The rose and ivory will keep it sot.  Later I added teal and sapphire in the hopes it will add a sense of sophistication.   Of course I can’t help adding a bit of periwinkle too . . . my plan keeps morphing but I’m still happy with the result.  I’ve nearly finished four blocks.  I’m alphabetizing them as I go.  Each block gets a monogram.  Blocks B and D still need some work, A is pretty much done and C is nearly there too.

When I started it, I chose to write a journal alongside it . . . I was surprised to open it in class and find that I had started the quilt in 2003.  August to be exact.  

My first entry reads as follows:

Block “A”  The antique lace was

purchased from a rummage sale and the buttons are a few from my growing collection.  

I would like to experiment more with raised Brazilian embroidery - the cast-on rose.  The row of daisies are in honor of a friend’s yellow lab (aptly named Daisy) that we’re dog-sitting the weekend that I started this quilt.  The peacock is my own rendition  and I want to include more to represent our business.  I plan to include more beads, but will keep them simple so they don’t overpower or make the quilt too heavy.

Just a few of the stitches I showed this weekend included:

1. • Chain Stitch and Lazy Daisy stitch 
2. • Cast-on Rose
3. • Poinsettia or Edelweiß flower (next to letter D)
4. •Woven Heart (the one shown here is only half finished.     It’s a basic darning stitch, but is quite nice to use for simple shapes.

Note for those who are truly shocked . . . The pink looks really vicious here but it’s not nearly so neon.  In real life it’s much more of a raspberry-ish magenta.

I think my favorite motif all weekend was this one of beads and knots.  It was just something fanciful that I added to as I went along.

The nice thing is that I’m very relaxed about finishing this quilt.    It does not have to happen tomorrow or even next year.  I only work on it when the mood takes me there.  And I don't stress about it in the meantime. this could take me the rest of my life.

I envision this being a quilt I work on for many years to come, journalling and adding things that are appropriate to my life at that time.   Essentially this will be my journal quilt.

A journal of my crazy life!

Here’s to your history of quilting,     Jovita

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Updating Goals

I am determined that 2008 will be a year of accomplishment.  There’s so much inspiration out there, so much energy - now just to capture it.  Use it as fuel and burn on!My day, the first “working” day of this new year, started with a tidy.  Not deep, but enough that I can could sweep my half of the studio, clear off my sewing area.
A new day - another year!  I always have a to do list going.  Usually I loose it, make a new one, find it and loose the other.  But lately, I’ve taken to keeping one binder on my desk and each week I re-write my to do list.  Check things off, re-prioritize, make notes of progress.
I also cleaned off my design way and hung projects I need and want to work on.  Plus a few things just for inspiration.  It felt good, really good. 

This year’s goals?
• Rest More
• Spend time with Friends
• Update blog often
• Sew every day!
• Keep on Task

I wish you the most wonderful start to 2008.
May this year find you creative, productive and expressive!

Jovita

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They say time flies when you’re having fun . . . personally I would attest to it flying regardless if I was having fun, working hard or just about anytime.

I really can’t believe it’s December, and we’re nearly half-way through with that already.  I think I’m a little thrown off because we celebrated a 2nd Thanksgiving on December 1st when Axel’s family came for the weekend.  I know I promised pictures, but alas while I was carrying out dish after dish from the kitchen, my husband forgot to pick up the camera.  I did make the most awesome apple pie I have to brag, and once again the Broccoli Salad was the biggest hit.   Unfortunately this crowd was so big it required a turkey that filled the whole oven, leaving no room for sweet potatoes.  I was the only one who missed them.  

After dinner I put the “kids” (aged nearly 12 to nearly 16) to work cutting out their gingerbread houses.  Finally!  I’ve been wanting to do houses with them for 10 years, since I first met them.   It was nice, they are now old enough that they needed almost no supervision and my german is good enough that I could still explain what it was all about.  

Of course, I still went wrong buying some of the candies.   In the hunt for hard candies to crush 

for the windows, how was I supposed to know they had a soft center.  What a gooey mess!  It worked pretty well, doing it in stages.  Cut out and baked after lunch.  

Then we had a “left-overs” dinner which they all thought was a hoot - turkey, cream cheese and cranberry sauce on one sandwich?  They all swore they weren’t hungry but thank goodness I had made a portion curried chicken sandwich filler just in case our turkey didn’t 

stretch far enough.  This is the first Thanksgiving I’ve hosted where we’ve had nearly no leftovers.  

Sunday morning we headed out first to our little market - I swear it’s the smallest village market ever.  I let the kids each pick out a type of candy to add to the M&Ms and other things I had bought.  I thought Annika’s woodpile at the back of her house was pretty ingenious.  

I was quite sad when they pulled away . . . at least I had made too much pie . . .

I’ve also begun teaching my first classes in Belgium. Three very fun ladies have all decided they want to make an Amish 9 Patch quilt like the one that hangs over our fireplace.  I’ve taught this class many times in Germany so it should be a whizz once I brush up on a few Flemish words to describe the use of color, etc.    Oh yeah, I need to adjust measurements again.  Phew!  We have it easy in the States - stick with a scant 1/4” and your good.  In Germany some ladies sew with 1/4” and some with a .75 cm seam allowance.  It gets most interesting when they try to cut with a metric ruler and then sew with a 1/4” seam.  In Belgium, it’s only metric, but a 0.5 cm seam allowance.  They like to keep me on my toes . . .

Sew - from the sewing machine, what has materialized in the last month . . . I’m sure it has to be more than I can see on my design wall.  

After throwing a total tantrum while working on the Stars Galore Houses, I started cutting out a quilt I want to to use as my sample for a class in January.  I have an iris print and have collected various greens and purples.  For some reason

I've never been able to picture squares or rectangles with this iris print so I'm doing a tumbling block pattern.  But some of the diamonds will be squewed pieced blocks like shoo fly, etc.  It will be a challenge but beautiful when I'm done.  The really bad thing is that I cut all my diamonds too big the other day and now have to go back and trim them all.  They were supposed to be 4-1/2" but I cut them 6-1/2".  Better too big than too small but still annoying.  Aha - so I thought.  It turned out they were supposed to be 5”

 - thank goodness I checked again.  

You’ve heard of “Measure Twice, Cuss Once,” right?

Well I’m headed back to the sewing machine . . . just counted 150 diamonds out of  400 needed.

I hope this finds you happily sewing!                 

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