Fallow Time

I don't think I've gone almost two months without posting since I started blogging in 2005.  It has been a fallow time for me creatively- not only was the muse not communicating, I didn't even miss her much.  I'm hoping that is changing- I do have some significant happenings on the horizon.

A few months back I signed up for Weeks Ringle's Designing Modern Quilts class on Craftsy.  I've taken several others, but hers is heads above the rest.  It is not a project based class, but one with real meat for those who want to do their own design work.  She made one point that has really spoken to me recently- you need the space, emotionally and mentally, to design.  I just haven't felt that I have that space for the last couple of months.  I'm still trying to figure out what I need to do to regain it, but in the meantime, I'm trying to at least show up in the studio.  I have the next week off from work- it would be nice to accomplish a few things!

On the family front, we had a lovely Christmas with more family here than we've had for a number of years.  Michelle was beside herself- it was really fun experiencing Christmas through the eyes of a child again.  Here she's modeling one of her new outfits, including those cute pink cowgirl boots!

The girl does like her bling!!

I did do a little bit of dyeing a few weeks ago.  When we got our first big snow storm, I couldn't resist doing some snow dyeing.  Instead of starting with white fabric, I decided to try overdyeing some dogs.  I was really happy with the results- I like them much better than other fabric I've dyed this way.  It also helped me get rid of most of the dyes I've had sitting in my small frig since early last fall.

 

I also got a quilty Christmas present- a small sewing/embroidery machine.  It is nice and lightweight, perfect for sewing on the road.  And the embroidery module looks like it will be a lot of fun!

 

It fits nicely where my serger sits- so I will just swap them out, depending on what I'm working on.  Once I'd done some samples on the embroidery, I decided to add a design to the corner squares on Michelle's pink quilt.  For a small machine, it really does a lovely embroidery.

 

On the backing, I embroidered her name.  No question who this quilt belongs to!

 I've also started quilting my Tangled Textiles piece, hopefully I will get it done tomorrow.  The reveal on those pieces will be in January- so no pictures until then.

On another front, my art quilt group will be part of a show at the Woodbury Art Museum, opening January 14.  The museum is connected with Utah Valley University, although not located on campus.  It will be up until early March, and I'm excited to have a chance to show some of my work closer to home.  If you are in the area, come take a look!

 

2014 is looking to be a year full of changes for us.  We should be empty nesters by summer- Shannon has been accepted into a nursing program in Grand Junction, Colorado, and will be moving by April. She's already started the process to get her massage therapy license in Colorado so she can make the move.  Sean is in the last two months of his degree program.  He has no idea where they could land, but we are all hoping he gets a job in his new field shortly after graduation.  Change is definitely in the air!

 

It's All About the Food

Because that's pretty much all I did this weekend, play in the kitchen!  We had our family party with DH's sisters and their families today.  We supplied scalloped potatoes and salad, one sister supplied a ham.  Another brought pies- and I had to make cupcakes!!

And, just for the heck of it, I also made cookies and bread, although it wasn't out for consumption at the party.

The bread is a Christmas stollen I make every year.  It's a yummy sweet yeast bread full of almonds, dried cherries, apicots, and blueberries.  Not the traditional fruit, but it's what I like.  I got an early Christmas present of an electric cookie press, so I had to try it out making lemon butter cookies.

I ended up making three kinds of cupcakes.  Gingerbread, because Jaden specifically requested them (and he doesn't request my food very often!).  I also made tiramisu cupcakes, and lemon blackberry cupcakes.  The last ones were the biggest hit.

They all tasted fantastic, but I definitely need practice with the decorating tips.  Fortunately drizzled blackberry puree and cocoa powder can cover a multitude of sins.

We did an inexpensive gift exchange- I ended up with kitchen towels and a fabric bread bowl.  Seems fitting, somehow, doesn't it?

We drank, ate,  played games and just enjoyed the time together.  A lovely way to end the weekend!

Wishing You the Blessings of Christmas

 

Merry Christmas, may it be filled the joys of family and the love of the Savior!

Quiet before the Storm

I'm not referring to the weather, although it does look gray, gloomy and menacing outside.  It is the hour before the family start arriving for our annual Christmas party.  The house is clean (smells of Pinesol, even), the salad that is my contribution is ready, and Christmas music is on the stereo.  It is my rather eclectic mix, to be sure- to DJ's chagrin.  I have everything from Transiberian Orchestra to medieval Christmas carols, and lots in between.  I can only take so much of the stuff you hear all day on the radio this time of year.

And I have been sewing- the stockings I started last year are done and hanging by the fireplace!

 

I am dressed, and admittedly feeling rather pleased with the new skinnier me- even found some jeans that fit great and show it off!  If I have to hit my sixth decade shortly, I can do it looking good.

I have also been doing some preliminary work on my last IT! piece.  I've done some playing in PSE with the filters, and done some sketching.  Still haven't decided which direction I'll go, but I'm not stressing- I'll have time off the week between Christmas and New Year's, and the reveal isn't until mid-January.  Plenty of time to think and ponder before jumping in with the fabric.

If there's one advantage to getting older, it's learning that the holidays aren't worth stressing out over.  I do the best I can with the time and budget I have, and just try to enjoy the season.  It sure beats the alternative!

December Dash

Yes, it's begun- and it's at least some of the reason I haven't posted much lately.  But so far, I've managed to keep my equilibrium and notd become hysterical over what I'm not getting done, since there is always some of that with our schedules.

I have sent two boxes off- and it's actually fiber related.  I finished Christmas stockings for both sons and their families/significant others, and shipped them Friday.   The box that went to Chicago also had a completed memory quilt made for my son's girlfriend.  They've seen the picture, and said they love them both.

The stockings are based on ones my mother and aunt made for our families when I was a kid.  They just glued the felt pieces on the stockings.  I'm guessing that glue no longer exists, because the one I found (specifically for felt, mind you) was clearly not going to hold the pieces on.  So I stitched around them too, and quite liked the effect it gave.  I also did some beading, another thing my mother did not do!

I realized I forgot to post our last photo for the Interpret This challenge- so here it is.

 

This will be a pleasure to work on in the midst of winter!  I love all the greens, and it has such a serence atmosphere about it.  I've decided I want to get back to trying to abstract, so I've been running ideas through my head.  The December pieces won't be posted until mid-January thankfully- so I have time to sketch, maybe even play with my watercolors to come up with a design.

And I'm thinking about what I want to accomplish with my art in 2011.  The Interpret This group will be ending, but I will be working with three other members during the year.  The way we are setting it up, we'll each be working from our own choice of inspiration, and are only committing to four pieces.  I'm glad I've kept up with the monthly pieces for a year, but I knew I couldn't do it again.  I want the time to be able to put more thought into my work, and with my schedule I need more than a month.  I also want time to finish some UFO's that have been taking up too much space in the studio for too long.

And, what would the holidays be without baking?  With me watching calories, I won't be doing a lot of traditional baking.  But I am trying some revised recipes that I can eat guilt free.  I just took a cheesecake out of the oven- it's intended for a work party tomorrow.  It uses nonfat yogurt chee.se and Splenda instead of cream cheese and sugar.  If it works, I'll post the recipe- it came out to less than 200 calories per serving!

Christmas

is officially here at our household.  The tree is up, the decorations are on the fireplace and walls- I think I just have to dig out the Christmas music CD's.  Best of all, it was a gorgeous weekend- warm enough that I could be outside cleaning my car without a coat.  We'll see how long that lasts!!

I am starting to make plans for my fiber work next year.  Fewer pieces, more focused and cohesive.  I'm thinking I will start with one design strategy and stick with it through the year.  I'm hoping to sprinkle some UFO's and pieces requested by family in there too- that should help the brain cells recuperate!  And, I'm taking a weeklong dyeing workshop from Carol Soderlund in August.

Probably the best bit going on in my life right now is the weight loss- it continues, and I feel like I've made changes in my eating that I can stick with.  I'm down a pant size, and those aren't tight.  It feels really good, and it's nice to have clothes shopping be fun again!

Back from the Holidays

I haven't been hiding, but I got a lovely surprise Christmas Eve- my brother flew in from Reno to spend Christmas with us. He left today, and I wanted to spend every possible minute with him. We went to a camera shop in my ongoing photography education, visited an art exhibit in Orem, and just had fun catching up.

I do have some pictures to post, and I have actually gotten some work done- some quilting, some Christmas goodies I will be sending off to my two sons. But that will have to wait until this weekend. I hope your holidays were full of family, fun, and good cheer, and that the New Year brings good to all- including lots of good creativity!