All the Things I am (not)

My friend Ruth posted a lovely message (with a million links) about how blogs can make us feel bad....and how to nip that in the bud.  She challenged us to write a similar type of entry glorying in our less than perfect selves with all our mess and bother.  I don't think anyone reading my blog/FB would get down on their mothering etc, since I am not sure that too many people actually read it, and besides, it is not as if I post about the organic homemade popsicles my perfectly coiffed, fashionable children are eating while using polite language to describe all of their fun extra-curricular activities.  hehehe okay that visual just cracked me up.  THAT is the first thing: Most of what I do is purely for my own entertainment.  And I despise popsicles.

I won't number these because they are all nested.....like the last two.  Besides, that kind of order requires a certain level of parallel structure that I really think I am incapable of managing.

I can't blow my nose.  Seriously.  Well, that isn't really true.  I have developed a system to get my sinuses clear, but the whole use a Kleenex?  Nope.  It makes my ears plug up.....and I always get mucus everywhere.  (Here is a nested one:  My kids say mucus.  We are geeks.  sigh!  At least it makes everyone else laugh. heh!)  I remember when I was little fighting with my mom over blowing my nose, and I suspect my rejection of it is due to the ear thing, but I can't be sure.  So as a corollary, I am also a sniffer.  I also can't sneeze only once.  It has to be like 27 times in a row.  (That really happened once.)  And my last nose related thing: I do NOT like it when people touch my nose.  This was tricky last week when my boy went through a touch noses phase.....

My housekeeper had to sneak in to my office to clean while I was in the States.  She is the greatest lady, but I often wonder what she thinks about me.  I am incapable of keeping my house clean, and what is more, I don't want to do it.  I guess the truth of the matter is: I am capable, I just won't.  Part of the issue is that I like having stuff OUT.  Especially true in my office, but not only there.  I really don't like having to go get my "eating" book.  When I sit down to eat, I want my book on the table.  I KNOW the table is not a great storage place, but if I always want it when I sit down?!?!  Did I mention that I almost always read while I eat?  Even when my children are at the table....sad, I know.  My daughter also reads at the table.

(This is all linked but seemed like the paragraph is getting too long to read easily online! hahaha)
Back to the issue of having things OUT, my husband is always buying storage systems for me.  He is alarmed by the stacks of fabric everywhere in my office.  He thinks that it is because there isn't someplace else for it to be.  There is:  it is on the floor....where I want it. heheh  A Large part of my creative process involves seeing things over a period of time.  Fabrics are often stacked in coordinating groups based on color, while my "storage" is by fiber.  This means that if I put it AWAY I can't use it as a palette to inspire me.  I also never know when the need is going to strike me and I will start work on it.  Having said that, I must admit that I have one palette that has been gathered and waiting since Hawaii...so more than 3 years.

I have no tolerance for pretending to be animals.  I like to believe that I am the kind of person who wants her children to be creative, but this is a creativity I can not abide.  The boy is a dog these days.  argh.  It is especially irritating when he tells me that dogs don't use the bathroom.  I usually point out that they also don't talk and he had better get in the bathroom. 1....2.....3.....4.  Penalty.

In my house we count to 4 when people are on their way to getting in trouble.  It is my favorite number, but it is getting a bit over-used of late.  We also have a penalty rather than a time-out.  It sounds more ominous.  But then I start getting worried that people will think I am going to beat my children when I ask them if they need a penalty.  And I do ask them.....and the boy usually answers yes.

And the last thing for today?  I can not manage to call to make a reservation for childcare.  I am incapable of making a phone call at the appointed half-hour.  sigh!  All the other things on my list are all things I have made my peace with.  They are a part of who I am, but this one drives me nuts.  I am trying to make a change, to exercise.  (because I find I make too many apocalypse jokes about me and exercise so something has to change.)  I signed the boy up.   I even paid already, and I simply can not get my act together at 5 p.m. to call for a reservation.  It doesn't help that the class I want to attend is the only one it fills up for.  I want to think of myself as a person who can make this happen.  I am not sure I can.  sigh!  If you are reading this around 5 p.m.  can you give me a call and tell me to go make a reservation?  please.

So take Ruth's dare and tell us all about the stuff under your bed or the junk in your trunk (hah) or whatever.  Be happy. k.

"Not a Wallflower"

When I started with Cursed Quilt we did a little block.  The fancy version of this block is the pocket on the bag featured here.  I decided to use the same block simplified as an example of how different a block can look based on fabric placement.  Of course what do you do with 2 mostly coordinating blocks?  Why make a quilt of course.

I decided (almost as soon as the blocks were finished) that I needed to make a quilt for S and that this palette would be a good transitional one for my girl....you know, not too little girly but still fun and lively for my eventual teen.  The black sashing goes a long way towards that effect I think.

The floral fabric was purchased on a Dongdaemun trip with Darsha.  We saw it and absolutely had to buy some.  I believe the baby blanket Darsha made (with the purple) belongs to Carolyn, sometime poster on the Cursed Quilt Blog. :)  I made Darsha give me all of what she had left over...and you will see why at the end of this post.

So this was the plan:  I would make pairs of blocks, one purple, one green.  Each block I chose has a little square in the center on point.  You can interpret this all sorts of ways....each one has a diamond in it's heart...I like the idea of imprinting my someday teenage girl with the idea (at least subconsciously) of keeping a little "square" in your center. heheh  You also don't have to be just exactly like your friends to go together. etc.  You get the idea.  You can see some of the pairs in the picture.  Most of these blocks come from the fabulous site "Quilter's Cache" which features the work of Marcia Hohn and is one of the best block collections I have ever seen!  I modified most of them to fit my needs, but she deserves the credit for all the inspiration.

The main central panel is my first ever applique' piece.  I was very pleased with myself, even if all those curves and inward points was perhaps not the BEST idea I have ever had for a first project.  I even gave the flowers on the panel a bit of a trapunto effect (a thin layer of batting between the applique' and the panel to puff it up a bit.....a tiny bit.  I wasn't THAT ambitious!)  That turned out to be quite hard to quilt through, although the effect is kind of interesting.  If you look closely at the pic of grandma you can kind of see the puff on the green one...)

Once I had it constructed (in March or April) it sat around.  I am too chicken to try to machine a piece this large but have absolutely no place to put a quilt on (frames) in this house (that wouldn't involve crawling under it to get in and out of the house!)  Luckily I planned to spend a good part of the summer at "Grandma's House."  Grandma being my dear mother Jean Johansen Hunt.  She is an experienced quilter and works very quickly so I knew we could get it done during the trip.  Perhaps it wasn't what SHE was hoping to do during our visit but..... hehehe.  My own "Grandma Hunt" (Phyllis P. Delange Hunt) was an insanely fast quilter.  I used to be amazed at how much she could do in a day when she lived in our "back yard" one year.


The hand quilting plan was simple for the blocks: stitch in the ditch.  My mom quilted ALL the blocks themselves.....while she did that I did about 7 inches of the sashing!  sigh! 

While the quilt was on I realized that the "name" of this quilt was "Not a Wallflower."  And as such, the sashing was going to have to be quilted in flowers.  I decided to try to make them individuals so I drew them all by "hand."  That said, there are a few repeats.  My tools for the drafting of these flowers included every size of plate and bowl my mom's cupboards had to offer, an advil bottle, the bottom of the thread spool and my own thimble.  The first few that I drew aren't much to look at....I even contemplated picking the quilting out on one that I really don't like anymore.  After a while I got the hang of them though and they are very interesting.  Of course, as you may expect, the more "interesting" a hand quilting is, the trickier it is.  The effect was more than I could have hoped for though, so it was all worth it....wasn't it Mom?!?! hehehe

Many of the flower designs are supposed to echo the styles of the floral fabric.  There are also a few hearts sprinkled throughout to echo the other black and white print used, and the applique'd hearts on the corner blocks (which are sadly not visible in any pics.)  Most of the flowers are too large for the space so their edges are all tucked underneath as you can see in the picture.  I teally like that effect.  After we started quilting, I realized I should have planned the center so that the sashing and central panel could be continuous in the hand quilting....but the planning of THAT would probably been the demise of the design and it would never have been quilted. :)

I still haven't figured out how to tag this one.  I wanted to do a long embroidery on the binding but my machine is in desperate need of servicing so I had to give it up or risk more swearing than perhaps is good for my soul.  This is what I WANT on the tag:

"Not a Wallflower"
Spring and Summer 2010
for Senneth Anne Hartvigsen
Designed by Kimberly Hunt Hartvigsen (her mother)
Quilted by Jean Johansen Hunt (her grandmother)

You can see that is a mouthful....pageful? most of the binding?  I think I will probably make some more printer fabric and just print a tag so it will be small and attach it on the back.

You can see in the top pic that I made S some matching pillowcases.  This last pic was taken after that project was completed.  This represents ALL the floral fabric there is left.  ALL.  I had to piece together some of the triangles to get the pillowcase border I wanted!  The other pillowcase  has the backing fabric and black on the edge.  (That is the green and turquoise floral you can see bits of.  This was purchased at the quilt shop in Lyons, CO where mom likes to shop sometimes.  Not the cheapest place around, but when you NEED something wonderful they always seem to have it.  We had several options picked out and this is the one S liked best.)

SO there, I actually finished a thing.  Hah!  As you can see, it has even made it on the bed, although it is still too hot to sleep with it I think.  The binding was ALL attached during the days off from school for the typhoon "Kompasu."  How is THAT for a story?  Now go sew something. k.