Sunday, February 21, 2010

Lazy Day Sunday

Zlaty won! Send me your snail mail info and I'll send your block kit asap.

I've worked my butt off getting my work project done. What a job! Work is really getting in the way of my quilting. Lucky for me, I'll have next month off to veg and play in my sewing room.

Speaking of which...when does a sewing room become a studio? I've seen most folks refer to their quilting area as a studio. The distinction is lost on me. oh well

The weather today has gone up to 48! Yay! Maybe some of this snow will go away. My front lawn still looks like a glacier. Had someone come out and shovel the roof but my gutters came down anyway. Took some of the trim down with it, along with the back porch light and parts of my deck. What a pain! The insurance guy came out today today to take pictures.

Not much to show today. So here are some pictures of my kitties playing in the bathtub.

Jan didn't get to my sewing room while she was here, so I will be in there organizing next month. Lucky me. I may have another Mariner Compass block kit to give away. You folks might be tired of them by now. It's one of my favorite blocks. I'll keep ya'll posted.

ttfn :) Yuki

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Lee you won!

I don't have contact information for you. Send me an email with your snail mail and I'll send you a Mariner Compass block kit.

Not much quilting going on here. Just work, work, work!

Here's a picture of Simba & Silas. One minute they are licking each other being friendly and the next, they are rolling on the floor scrappin'. Kids!

Leave a comment, say hello to be entered into this week's drawing. Another Mariner Compass block kit.

ttfn :) Yuki

Monday, February 15, 2010

Happy late Valentine's Day

Hope ya'll had a fun day. I went shopping and got a purple tote bag and a matching purple camera bag. Yay! I love purple.

Jan finally went home yesterday. boo hoo She said her flight home was packed. It was so nice to have her here. Not just for shoveling snow. She cooks, too! That big pile of snow on the left hides my truck. She dug it out. Not too many friends would do that.

Jan and I had dinner with my sister, Ruth, a couple times while she was here. Ruth has not seen Jan since, Jan went off to see the world back in 1973? maybe. It was fun reminiscing about when we were young & cute. LOL Jan is one of those people that just picks up where she left off. The 3 of us, hanging out enjoying a meal felt like no time had passed.

We've spent more than the usual amount of time indoors due to snow. Here is Simba helping me brush my teeth. Is he a cutie or what! I am so tired of all this snow. Ice dams on the back of the house that have caused water leaks. I have water stains on the ceiling in my kitchen and the breakfast nook. My gutters look like they are about to fall off. I'll have to give the insurance company a call and see what they will cover. One of the trees in the backyard has been knocked over. I had planned to have it taken down this summer. Half of the tree looks like it was dying. I guess it will just have to look ugly for a while.

I haven't been doing as much sewing as I would like. I'm working on a tough deadline. This job thing is really getting in the way of my quilting. The orchids in my office are doing well, so it's not too dull here.

Orchids are supposed make you prosperous. I'm still waiting.

Snowflake wasn't consent to choose just one name. She chose 2. Lee & Loris, you both will be getting block kits! Send me your snail mail info and I'll get those kits in the mail, assuming the snow doesn't start piling up again.

Snowflake likes this game.

Ok, since I really don't have anything quilty to show you, Here is another Mariners Compass block kit to give away.

Just leave a comment, say Hello and I'll have Snowflake chose a winner.


ttfn :) Yuki

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Snow_mageddon in Maryland

First things first. I had to wake Snowflake in her basket to do the choosing for the giveaway.

She heard Jan cooking in the kitchen and ran out to see what was going on. She was much more interested in the piece of onion that had dropped on the floor.

Silas couldn't figure out what all the commotion was about and decided to help Snowflake choose. Silas chose Joyful Quilter. So be sure to send me your snail mail info so that I can mail your package out, just as soon as we can get out.

We got a TON of Snow! This was the view from my front door Saturday morning. (The date & time on the picture is wrong.) One of my friends who lives about 10 minutes away said it was 3 feet. She lost power Friday and just got it back this afternoon. Can you imagine, no power for 2.5 days with a blizzard blowing? Luckily she has a gas fireplace and a gas stove.

Some of the flower containers on my deck had broken off. I opened the back door to get a better look and Simba took a flying leap into the snow. He seemed to be having fun but Jan rescued him anyway.

Jan & I had a sew in and watched episodes of the Tudors. I finished all the unsewing and have started going fowards again. Yay!

Jan has really been a good sport. Wednesday it snowed, so she was not able to go out to the Smithsonian as she had planned. The snow had cleared enough by evening, so that we were able to go out. We had tickets to the Kennedy Center to see Shear Madness.

I've know Jan longer than anyone. We used to run around together in our 20's. I used to be envious of Jan. She had a small waist and wore hip hugger jeans and little bitty tops. I had a thing for high heel shoes, the kind that people called "f***me shoes". Then she joined the service and saw the world. Mom used to say we were "bad girls". "Girls, just want to have fun".

Here we are at the KenCen. Now, we are fumpy old ladies wearing sensible shoes.

When I was a teen, I used to go to a friends house and we would close the drapes and listen to rock & roll. We thought we were really doing something scandalous! Is that silly or what.

Jan is supposed to leave Wed but we have more snow predicted!

This week's giveaway is another Mariner Compass block.

Leave a message, say hello and your name will be entered in the drawing. Snowflake has fallen down on the job today, but one of the Mainers will be up to the task.

ttfn :) Yuki in Snow_mageddon, Md.


Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Give Away This Week

This is a picture of the give away for this week. This is another Mariner Compass block. The pattern is paper pieced and the fabric is from Jinny Beyer's line for RJR. The colors look pretty true on my computer so I hope this will show an accurate presentation on your computer.



I'm also giving away the scissors shown in this picture.

The colors of the fabric in this photo do not look as good but the colors on the scissors look fine. I don't get it. Anyway, leave a comment, say hello and some lucky winner will be chosen by Snowflake.

Last night was more un-sewing. I can't believe I'm doing this. I have never taken this much sewing out before in my WHOLE LIFE! I can't stand it. I hate un-sewing.

I used to be a very type A person about everything. Everything had it's place and it had better well be there. Everything had to be clean. My crystal sparkled. My desk was neat. Then I discovered quilting.

I used to make my own clothes. I have been sewing since I was 11, which was a very, very long time ago. I was good, even if I do say so myself. I had to learn how to sew. My Mom used to make my clothes. In an effort to be thrifty, she bought 10 yards of black plaid fabric. She made me a black plaid dress, a black plaid skirt, a black plaid blouse, black plaid pants...you get the idea. It was hideous. I had to learn how to sew, to avoid being embarrassed to death. The first dress I made was an orange & white stripe shift with short sleeves and 4 inch slits up the sides. The first time I wore it to school, I got so many compliments, I was hooked on sewing.

There was a lady who lived across the street who had a "real job" at an airline. When I was a kid, women stayed home with the kids. She found out that I sewed. She brought over a ton of fabrics and Vogue patterns. I had never seen a Vogue pattern before. I didn't even know how to pronounce Vogue. She asked me how much I would charge to make these clothes. Not knowing any better, I told her $2 a piece.

I was a dumb kid at 12. I used to watch Man from Uncle and was in love with Illian Kuriakin. When my sister told me that the US had a secret service organization, I told her she was lying. I was as naive as they come.

I sewed for this lady for about 3 years. I learned a lot from those Vogue patterns. This lady was the perfect model. She was tall and wore a perfect size 12 Vogue pattern back in those days. She required very little altering.

I loved making clothes. I loved the couture finishes that the Vogue patterns included. I loved making those nice French seams. I loved that Hong Kong finish on the seams of unlined jackets. I loved hand sewing those little gold chains on the inside hems of the Channel knock off jackets. I loved the rustle of taffeta. Everything about those clothes was perfection.

I, on the other hand was always short with curves. There are not many clothes in the store that will fit this shape. I enjoyed making my own clothes. I had things that were unique and for the most part fit. One of the hardest things to do in sewing is fitting yourself. By the time you are in front of the mirror all pinned together, everything shifts.

When I discovered quilting, it was such a relief of sorts. I could satisfy my desire for perfection in those quarter inch seams. I could satisfy my love of color by putting together fabrics that "don't go together" and then they do. Of course, this meant that I could be sloppy in my "real life". The vacuuming didn't always get done. Dishes piled up in the sink. You could write in the dust on my coffee table. I didn't care. I was in my own little world in my sewing room. Where pieces of fabric would come together in harmony. Everything was right in the world. Didn't I tell you that quilting was good therapy?

Oh, well. I'm optimistic that when these pastel pieces get sewn back together, these piles will be a long lost memory.

So since I am doing so much quilting, I am wearing store bought clothes. Thank goodness for spandex. It helps everything fit and life is good.

Here is a picture of my boy Silas again, playing in the tub.

Don't forget to leave a comment for the drawing. Snowflake likes playing with the bits of paper with the names on them. She just doesn't like having to give them up.

ttfn :) Yuki

Retail Therapy is Good For You and Good for the Economy, Too!

I posted this on another blog but feel it's worth repeating here. I'm trying to de-clutter and de-stash as some folks call it. I have a ton of UFO's that I want to finish, plus use up some of the stash that I already have. But at the same time, trying to keep all things in perspective. Ok, so here goes:

I've done the math. A visit to the shrink costs about $150 for an hour. You see a shrink about once a week. More if you are really bad off. That's about $600 a month. If you are lucky enough to have good insurance, they might cover about %40. So that leaves $360 out of your pocket.

How do you feel after visiting the shrink? Sometimes better, sometimes worse.

If I go to the fabric shop I always feel better even if I don't buy anything.

I get a break from my problems and when I am on my way home, I find new solutions to my issues and feel good.

If I manage to find something I like, I think about all the things I will make from that fabric. The inspiration makes me feel good and I'm not thinking about my problems. Problems will always be there. Getting a respite from them is important. Getting some distance from them, helps resolve them or find new approaches to deal with them.

Quilting is very good therapy and much cheaper than a shrink. Plus you meet nice people, visit new and exciting places looking for fabrics and in the end you get to have nice quilts.

A post wouldn't be complete without a picture of one of my little buddies. This is Silas. He likes to play in the bathtub. I turn on the water just a tiny little bit and he is just fascinated. He tries to catch the water as it goes down the drain. He just cracks me up.

ttfn :) Yuki

Monday, February 1, 2010

Snowflake Chooses





Snowflake had great fun sniffing through the bits of paper. It was a challenge to snatch the piece from her mouth. She chose Marj! So Marj pop me an email with your snail mail info and I will get your package in the mail Tuesday.






As you can probably tell Snowflake likes these blocks. I keep looking at these blocks and something looks "off". I woke the other morning at 3:33am and decided that I'm taking these blocks apart and re-working this. Do you do this?

Last night was a lot of unsewing.

This week's giveaway will be another Mariners Compass block. I have found a pile of very cute scissors. As I am in the process of de-cluttering, I will include a pair of scissors.

I will post a picture later as I am working on a tough deadline.

ttfn :) Yuki