Having New Eyes

Placemats - All 8 of Them!

 I wonder how many of you have a problem with repetitive tasks, the way I do?  Even when I mow the lawn, I never follow the same pattern twice in a row.  If I make a 9 patch quilt, it'll be the last 9 patch I make for at least 5 years, and usually much longer!  When I'm trying a new recipe, I not only have trouble following the recipe as instructed, I have trouble even making the same thing again, causing Chuck to often say that everytime I made something he liked, I threw away the recipe.  *grin*

Do you remember that I traveled to Virginia in December 2012?  I stayed with a super nice couple for several days, and then they surprised me with the keys to their vacation home in Myrtle Beach so that I could extend my vacation, rent free, for a few more days!  When I got home, I decided right away that I'd make a gift for them as a thank you, and decided on a set of 8 placemats using a heron image that I purchased from an online site.  EIGHT!  That's a lot of the same thing to make, and though it has taken me 3 months to complete them, I am finished!  I'm sure that Ray and Donna are seriously wondering about my character, since I haven't returned their key to them, lol.  Let me share my process with you...

After printing the image onto fabric, I had eight, 8x10 pieces of fabric.  Placemats definitely need to be bigger than than, so a border was in order. (poetry in action).  Above are the fabrics I pulled out of my stash to test visually in planning my border.

Here is what I ended up with:

Now the fun began.  I used fusible batting, and sandwiched my layers.  I selected my threads to coordinate with the fabrics, and started by free motion quilting the herons, and the sun behind...

Just doing EIGHT of them seemed to take forever, because I kept leaving them alone, sometimes for days at a time, but eventually I finished the herons, and suns.  Notice, instead of letting the border determine where the image ended, I used thread painting to to extend, or "finish" the image.  This also eliminated the 'boxy' look that the border created when it cut off the image.

 What to quilt next?  I figured that I'd do the trees next, and since the image had trees that were different colors, I decided to take advantage of that and quilt with different colors, the paler thread representing distant trees, a medium value for the middle trees, and a dark value thread for the closest.

I generally used the printed image for my direction, with the liberty to add branches, or not quilt branches.  You might just be able to imagine why the trees alone took me a month or so!

There was only one thing left of the image itself to quilt, and that was the grass.  Though it is represented by several colors, just like the trees, I didn't think that I needed to go through the same process for the grass.  I also was aware of the fact that the grass quilting would take care of the bottom border, and that I didn't want to clutter up the image with too many colors, so I wanted to use the same color thread for all of the borders, and background.  I settled for an icy blue color.  I quilted the grass like the rest, continueing the image from the center into the borders, not really bothering to strive for realism but rather impressionism.

the left and top borders I freely quilted, kind of showing the breezes and air currents...

In the last, right, border, I just had fun.

 

Here's a short video of what the free motion fun looks like...

Where To Put All My Finished Quilts?

I'm not talking about bed quilts, but about the stack of small to large wall art quilts that don't like to be folded but take up so much space!  There is a door off my Playroom, that leads to a small basement, where many things are stored, but I don't really want to stuff my art into cardboard boxes and put them on shelves in the basement, where they'll not only develop creases, but they'll be fair game for any mice that might try to move in.  It's amazing the damage a mouse family can do before you discover and deal with them!

One of the first things Clint built, before I'd even gotten home from my summer travels, was a large (may I use the word capacious?) storage space taking advantage of the unused head space in the stairway to the basement.  ALL of my batting, quilts kits, a roll of painters canvas, and fabric samples I got for free from an interior decorator, fit in it.  The first picture is what it looked like in August 2012.

Next is the picture I just took, at the end of March, 2013...

Guess what?  There's a LOT more unused space in that stairwell, and after tossing ideas around for a few days, Clint came up with a system where I can hang all of my wall quilts and table runners, out of the way, and hanging straight! In the picture below, you can see the structure (please excuse my poor photography!)

 

Clint basically secured 1x4's at each end of the existing space, and drilled holes for the plastic coated wire.  He interrupted Ron's work on the drywall work in the guest wing to help with tightening the wire and securing it...

I went to Ace Hardware to find some rings, hooks and pvc pipe. 

I then, ALMOST without any help, cut the various plastic tubes I'd purchased to lengths that would reach the whole length of the space above the stairs.  AND drilled the holes for the hooks.

 

I also bought one of those long handled grippie things that you can reach stuff on the top shelf of the kitchen with and now, I've hung all of my wall quilts in a place that rarely gets disturbed, and can access any of them easily.  Great job, Clint!

Integrity

Integrity.  I once participated in a series of conference calls where the participants were asked to define integrity.  Can you?  We use the word all the time, but what does it mean? Being good?  Having morals? Perhaps being honest?  If I have integrity, is it simply that I never lie?  Perhaps I never hurt anyone? 

"the state of being whole, entire, undiminished" is the most specific definition that captures the meaning of the word integrity.  The conclusion we were brought to in the series of calls was that a person of integrity does what he/she says.  Have you ever thought about how important it is to do what we say? I hadn't, until that day when 15 or so participants in the call were challenged to think about it.   I've endeavored, often unsuccessfully, to keep my word ever since that call and have discovered how rare it is, not only in my own life, but in others.  I realized that "keeping my word" is a lot more than just keeping promises - it's adhering to the words that come out of my mouth.  The Bible has A LOT to say about our unruly tongues, but the verse that really sticks out to me, at least currently, is Psalm 34:13 ..."Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit".  All I can say is wow.  What a goal to reach for!

so why the sermon on integrity?  I've been at the wrong end of several business situations, where the retailer hasn't shown me much integrity.  Winter is over, the chance of having overnight freezing temps is dwindling rapidly, which is testified to by the robins, the little tree frogs, and the daffodils, all loudly welcoming warmer weather.  I ordered a woodstove for the new great room, in October 2012.  Do I have it yet?

The Wittus woodstoves company has answered most of my phone calls in the last 5 months, with a variety of justifications for why I still don't have my stove, and a series of promises as to when I could expect it.  I love Wittus stoves.  They are beautiful and contemporary and colorful.  But the honest truth is that if I had known that I would go through this runaround before I'd ordered my stove, I wouldn't have chosen the Wittus company.  period. To date, I can expect my stove in June.  This is a good example of a lack of integrity.

Another example of a company exercising a lack of integrity is the local Hyla air filter/vac company.  I purchased a very expensive Hyla vac from a local company, and at the end of the presentation, in early March, as they packed up they discovered that the manual wasn't in their briefcase.  The man promised to either drop it off himself within 24 hours or have his subordinate do so.  A month later, I still don't have the manual, and am not sure of the purpose of some of the attachments I have!  Yes, I called the office, and received apologies.  I didn't receive a manual, though.

Having been abused in this fashion by companies lacking integrity, I can FEEL how important it is that I exercise integrity.  James 3:2 says "For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body." While I may not reach this lofty goal until Jesus brings me into heaven, it sure looks like a great goal to strive for, every single day!

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