Curiosity and the Things We Do

Good morning, superfriends!

The things we do.... oh, yes.  The things we do.  Historically speaking, a lot of the projects I've tackled are done because someone else tells me I can't.  Or that it would look silly/stupid/blah blah blah.  If I disagree, I am likely to follow through and see what it looks like.  I have a double streak of stubborn and curious that runs through all that I am. 

I have never seen an inverted Double Wedding Ring, as previously mentioned.  Even I wasn't sure it was a good idea!  Especially since I don't necessarily care for dwr quilts (I am lazy - I am NOT typing the full double wedding ring again and again!  It's my blog, I can do what I want!).  But.  Because I am stubborn, I decided that I would make at least one ring of an inverted dwr.

So here it is.  In the admittedly less-than-ideal light of the dining room.  It's not half bad!  I still can't see myself working on a full-out, bed sized dwr quilt.  But if I ever were to, it would be the inverted variety.  I am pleased with it, and that is ultimately why I do the things I do - to make myself happy.  Particularly when it comes to quilting and sewing.

Last night was also the start of doll-making.  I have most of a doll put together.  Tonight her head will go on her, and I will start figuring out costuming for her.  She may skip the hair - because if I can get a hat on her, it will completely cover up her hair anyway. 

I've been musing more on the things I do and why I do them - not the obvious, like jobs and such.  These are the "other" things - the things that most people would consider a little odd/offbeat.  Strangely, quilting falls into that category.  I don't understand that, but I come from a crafting family.  My sister sews, my mother used to sew and embroider, my father works in wood... and we were always offered the opportunity to play with all sorts of crafts.  Drawing, coloring, making little red clay pots at our grandparents' house... even dyeing with beets.  In an old iron pot outside.   Sewing doll clothes with scrap fabric at my great-aunt's house, sitting in the living room.

It was never a big deal - it was a part of life.  We were given the chance to explore our world, wherever that world happened to be.  We weren't rich, not with two teachers for parents, but we took road trips, and we learned things wherever we were.  My parents encouraged curiosity and thinking.  We went to the zoo a lot, and learned about animals.  We went to libraries - not just the closest one to us, but to several different ones.  Despite always having overdue books, I always had library books.  We were encouraged to read.  We learned about other places and other times, and learned to tell good writing from bad.  We went to museums - my hometown of San Antonio has a fair number, and we went to a lot of them.  I still have favorites.  We learned about art and saw things we wouldn't have otherwise.

All of that combined to create in me a passion for creating.  I cannot draw to save my life, and most of my crafting skills do not produce exactly what I have in my mind.  But it's not going to discourage me from trying.  Because above all, we learned not to quit.  We were instilled with that love of learning - maybe not in school, maybe not traditional learning - but we learned to hang on to the curiosity.  That has carried me far, and tinges everything that I do now.  While others may say 'it can't be done,' my family is in the back of my mind saying 'go for it.  give it a shot.'

As far as the rest - the stilt-walking, the sewing of costuming, the writing, the ren faire... and anything else that I decide to take up - it's curiosity that drives me.  That, and the desire to learn.  As long as I live, I hope to be learning.  If I can pass that on to others, it makes it all worth the effort.  Strangely, looking back, I don't see that my parents "worked" at getting us to learn the things they taught us.  They just lived their lives, and we saw them doing and enjoying.  And it's still the case - they are still learning, and showing us the way. 

So here's to curiosity.  Maybe I'll build on the dwr and call it curiosity.  Just because I want to see what happens with it. 

S

Monday. I think. Yes.... yes, it is.

Needless to say, my days are obviously a little messed up right now.  I spent the weekend down with a migraine.  Hooray.  I missed work on Friday, and that threw my whole weekend off.

But.  All is not lost, superfriends!  (*shrug*  I dunno... I just type this stuff).  I managed to get my second AAQI quilt finished.  I will send it off after Christmas, I suspect, since mailing things will be touch-and-go until then!  And that way maybe I can finish the next one I've got planned, too!

Here it is! -------->  (duh).  What doesn't show so well in this pic is the quilting.  I need to get a better up-close shot.  The quilted clouds show up pretty well, but the quilted trees do not.  Yup.  I quilted rows of trees into my city.  It seemed appropriate, for a quilt called "I Remember Trees Here." 

So, two down. 

And making more hexes recently.  Managed to get the pattern enlarged ridiculously, so I can have HUGE hexes!  I am working on a test one tonight.  We'll see how far I get with it.  I have Plans (yup, with a capital Puh).

And in even more fabulous news, my mother is improving all the time.  Talked to her today - she is doing much better - feels much better, and sees much better now.  She went to the doctor today and he was pleasantly surprised at how much better her vision was.  That's a good thing!  Of course, now my dad has the flu, so he's miserable.  They finished up their remodeling, and are taking time to relax and heal up.

As soon as I finish quilting my BST I will post it, and prob a tutorial for it, too.  It's an easy one.  VERY easy.  And hopefully I will soon get Little Moo FINALLY finished.  I'm close to being able to bind it.  I had hoped to tonight, but I am coughing a lot so I will head to bed when I am done with this post. BST is next in the rotation when Little Moo is done - so there is method in the disconnected sentences above.  Gotta finish Little Moo before I can put BST in the hoop and quilt by hand.

So that's me for the night.  I am taking my kitten and going to bed now.

Have a good night!
S

When did it get to be Tuesday???

Wow, how the time slips into the past....

Long weekend.  The day before Thanksgiving, my dad called and said my mom was in the hospital with chest pains.  That was the longest drive ever.  Normally, it's 4.5 hours.  This time, because of stress and traffic, it took almost 7.  I think.  Something like that?  6 maybe.  *shrug*  The long and short of it is: she's getting better.  Strong heart.  An artery clogged, but treatable with meds.  But it was a weekend of in and out of the hospital.  And I had to come back and come to work.  We did manage to eke out a little Thanksgiving - it was just weird.  This was already going to be the smallest Thanksgiving for our family EVER, and Mom in the hospital just made it weirder.  My sister and I made most of the meal, and it turned out pretty good.  But we definitely missed having Mom at the table!

She's doing much better now.  My dad just texted me to say that they are going to go out to lunch, so she's getting better all the time.  And that's good news.  So now my days can slow down and I can take a look around.

So here's what I have been doing today.  Hickory Nuts.  Why?  Why not.  I think I will wind up turning these into either tree ornaments (with a little more decoration on them), or string them together for a little colorful bunting.  I am not quite certain yet, obviously enough.  All I wanted to do was see how it all went together!  Pretty easy, neh?  Needless to say, they go together quick.  I will decide more firmly what I want to do with them later on.  Maybe tomorrow.  Or this weekend.  So much still to do!

On the "What I did this weekend" front...  I managed to finish everything but the binding on the Wonky Stars, pick a quilting motif for Crazy Diamonds, finish BST's top and get batting and backing.  I hope to pin it tonight and I can show a pic then.  I am a little more excited about it now that I can see what it looks like almost completely done. 

For this week, I intend to finish the binding on Wonky Stars, quilt BST, finish quilting my second AAQI quilt, and get started again on Little Moo.  Not too much, right?  We've hit the slower part of the month at work now, so I am hopeful.

And coming up again - First Monday Trade Days.  I love First Monday.  I've been going since I was very very small (I was a short child), and still look forward to it.  Of course, it's changed a lot over the years, but it's still an amazing place.  And this time we're totally tracking the brisket tacos down.  Those were amazing!!!  If I can remember, I'll take pics to post.  It's... huge is an understatement.  Fruge comes closer, but still doesn't quite catch it. 

In passing.  The next time I decide to make decorations for my work cube, and measure to cover the inside of the cube to sew up a cute little runner... someone remind me that binding 15' x 1' is... tedious, monotonous, and very much a marathon!!!!  Sheesh....

Shay

Quilting, old style

I have a handful of quilts made by other members of my family.  My sister made me one, my great-aunt made me one, and so forth... Quilting has been a hobby for female family members for generations - and more than a hobby before that. It was  a way of making nice looking, warm bed covers.  These quilts were and are beautiful.  And exceedingly utile.  They had a purpose, and that purpose was to be used.  They were used.  Loved, used, stained, washed, hung up to dry, used in grass as picnic blankets... it in no way denigrates their beauty.

The quilt made by my great-aunt is not made in colors I care for.  But it was made with love, with Gingher scissors and an old sewing machine that was so well-used that it flat out wore out.  It was in a cabinet, but the hinges that held it in place broke.  Instead of getting it fixed, she 'fixed' it herself with two knives wedged into the back to support the machine.  Neither knife is in great shape now, but they still support that old machine!

And the quilt she made for me is still in a place of pride.  It will be shown to the class at the beginning quilter class at the Anvil on Saturday.   It wasn't made with all the fancy tools I have at my disposal.  It was made with an old machine (not even a vintage Singer, oh the horror! [whatever]), with scissors, not a rotary cutter, with any old thread she had lying around.  It was made to be used.

Ultimately, isn't that the origin of quilts?  They are made to be used and loved.  I have no objection to wall quilts, or art quilts, or any of the other kinds of quilts that don't lay on the bed.  But somehow the heart of quilting still beats in those who worked with the simple tools - the things that everyone who sews have: scissors, thread, machine (or their own hands!).  Of the bed quilts I have made, none have used a rotary cutter.  I've never mastered that particular skill.  My machine is newer, but it's still nothing super fancy - I don't need fancy!  And thread.  Fabric from whatever doesn't run away fast enough to escape.  They aren't necessarily traditional quilts, the quilts I make, but neither are they wild and crazy multi-media quilts.  They are just... quilts.   Made to be used, and loved, and dragged around.  Old style, I guess.  Not vintage.  Not antique.  Just old-style.

Shay