Slow quilting

It’s been kind of a crazy last couple of months.  My father-in-law passed away in August. Then my sister-in-law and I had our planned trip to New York to celebrate our birthdays.  And it feels like it took us all summer to recover from our kitchen remodel.  (installing the rest of the flooring and putting up door trim & baseboards)  Now the rains have returned and it feels like winter. Well, autumn. But the leaves on the trees aren’t really turning color so much as just falling off.  I just feel like settling in and nesting for the winter.  Knitting, fires in the fireplace, pumpkin goodies and homemade soup.  I don’t have much of desire to quilt.  There are things I need to finish but I just don’t have the enthusiasm to do it.

Last week someone asked me what I was working on.  Not much really.  At first I thought that it may be because it’s been a crazy couple of months.  But the more I think about it I think it might be more than that.  I’m afraid to admit it, but I’m not that inspired by the whole quilting world at the moment.  I’m not that crazy about the celebrity-ness that quilting has taken on.  I read a recent quote from a well-known designer where she called her quilting a “brand”.  Not that I don’t love what people are making and doing. Don’t get me wrong. There are a lot of fabulous things being made.  I’m just not in that same place.

I feel like I need to slow down and find my own voice. Or explore other aspects of quilting rather than quilts that will be made into the next pattern.  (I do have a few patterns that I need to finish and there are a couple of people patiently waiting for me to do that!  Sorry I’m so slow about it!)

I admire people like Folk Fibers whose quilts are hand-dyed and hand quilted, speaking to a past time when there was more of a story to the making of a quilt than the latest hot pattern on the market.  I’m fascinated by ‘slow quilting’, however that might look for me.

In the mean time, I am sewing a stitch or two on the many ongoing projects in my sewing room.  Plus, tomorrow I’m starting a new decade.  It’s a good time to start down a new path, evaluate where I’ve been and where I want to go, and let life be more than just the next project.

There, I said it.  I’m in a slump of sorts. Or at least a crossroads.

Quilt Details:

* The blocks are from my 2011 bee group on Flickr.

* The sashing fabric is an old Amy Butler that was in my stash.

* The binding is an old fabric that I inherited from my hubby’s Aunt Pauline when she passed away several years ago.  I didn’t quite have enough and had to add a dark brown piece at the very end.

* The backing is a seersucker from JoAnn Fabrics that I found on sale. I had wanted a pink denim for the back but couldn’t find anything at the time and this seemed like a good option.

* I intended for this to be our picnic/beach quilt.  I finished quilting it in May but didn’t get the binding finished until August. Now it is September and the rains have returned.  It won’t be until next year that we get to try it out on the beach or for a picnic.

* Finished size after washing approximately 68″ x 70″.

New York birthday girls

Sorry for the long break.  This last month has been a bit crazy.

For a year, my sister-in-law and I have been planning a trip to New York City to celebrate our birthdays and the beginning of a new decade.  Her birthday was in July and mine is next week.  We are the same age.   It was a whirlwind trip and I came home with a cold and thoroughly exhausted.  Even a week is not enough time to see & do everything that was on our wish list.  But it was a great trip.  Here are just a handful of the bajillion photos we took.  And they are some of my favorites.

It is most definitely autumn here.  The rain has returned. And I came home feeling the need to nestle in and wrap up for the winter. Homemade soup. Pumpkin everything. Hot beverages.  Wool sweaters. This is my favorite time of the year.

1. Brooklyn Botanical Garden
2. Brooklyn Botanical Garden
3. Strawberry Fields in Central Park
4.  Skyline from Central Park (I’m not sure which direction we are facing. We got lost in The Ramble)
5.  9/11 Memorial Plaza
6.  St. Patrick’s Cathedral
7.  Bryant Park

Dahlia House

There’s this house in the neighborhood that fills their entire front yard with Dahlias.  Every year I want to get a photo of them because they are so stunning but I can’t bear to drag my big DSLR with me on a power walk.  Thanks to my new smart phone it’s easy to snap a pic as I’m walking by.  When it’s really hot they put umbrellas over them to protect them.  I’m guessing that either they enter them into competitions or are extremely enthusiastic gardeners.  My yard is a shambles by comparison.

Social Media Slump

I finally took the plunge and upgraded to a smart phone.  My previous phone was four years old and didn’t have a qwerty keyboard.  Texting has gotten to be really annoying.  But I am in a technology slump.  It almost makes me want to unplug.  Yet with this new smart phone now there is Instagram as well.  How do you keep up without losing your sanity? (she asks sheepishly. maybe I am now old because it doesn’t interest me much?)

Yesterday while cycling with my hubby to his work (his ride is 10 miles and I ride about half way with him and then turn around and go home)  we saw this hot air balloon coming in for a landing.  And there are certain spots on the trail that are full of this amazing aroma of ripe blackberries.  There are hints of fall in the early mornings now.  I LOVE autumn!  It’s my favorite time of the year. There is one advantage to having a smart phone… it’s so much easier to grab a shot of everyday life without toting my large camera with me.

BTW, I’ve moved all of the social media links over to the navigation panel on the right. They are small icons all grouped together in one spot.

My new sewing space

My, what a difference an extra two feet in the width of a room will make!  I am loving my new sewing room.  It’s a much happier, less crowded place now!

There is less wall space, but the closet added more storage!  I had to get rid of the rolling cart that held my scrap bins (still have the scrap bins, but not on a cart) & the file cabinets underneath my cutting table, but gained the dresser that was in the spare bedroom.  So I guess it all came out even.  Swapping rooms sure made me get rid of some things that we weren’t using & just didn’t need!

It’s time to finish up the Random Sampler blocks hanging on the design wall!

UPDATE:  For those who are interested in my sewing table, here’s the link to a post that I wrote not too long ago. I love the sturdiness of it!