Saturday, August 27, 2011

Comfortable and Confident in the Gym

I've been trying to work out more often... I hate going to the local gym... when I saw this article 5 Tips to Feel More Comfortable and Confident in the Gym I figured it would help me.

It dawned on me that I like going to the gym a little further away, because "everyone knows your name" and they push you to go the extra distance. I don't think it is needing to be more comfortable and/or confident in the gym, but rather knowing people who enjoy you and who you want to meet up with to work out.

Off to finish my coffee and head for the gym!
Ciao!
J :)

Free Pattern - Jelly Roll 1600

What is 1,600 inches long when it starts and finishes 48” x 64”? The Jelly Roll 1,600 Quilt!

Heirloom Creations shared their tutorial on how to create a quick quilt using all the strips in a jelly roll sewn together! Just click on their highlighted name and you will be taken to the free instructions. They even had "Jelly Roll Races" at a retreat (check out video below) to see who could finish the sewing the fastest and one woman finished it in 35 minutes (and she was talking as she sewed)!


It is so worth watching! Just so you don't think I speed thru life... there is no way I could do this in 35 minutes!

I have a few (too many) jelly rolls that do not have projects attached to them. I think I will be making a few of these during the hurricane (as long as we have power that is...).

I also caught a video showing how they made the long strip, it is one long strip of binding and Connecting Threads has a great tutorial on how to do this:



Enjoy your coffee :)
Ciao, 
J :)

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Doing a Happy Dance!

A major happy dance...

I've been working on a portrait for the past month... the one below is the 3rd attempt as the 1st two where destroyed (by me). I was not happy with them after I made a few too many mistakes that I could not remove, so they went out in the trash to remove them from my sight.

Hubby didn't even know that he took them out last week... he asked afterwards where it was... he thought I was a little bit nuts for throwing them away... he didn't see what I did to them... I was so upset that I took scissors to one version.

But it is done!!! Yea!!!


Now I only need to frame it up and ship it out! Happy Dance! Off to the art store for a stretch frame.

Enjoy your coffee :)
Ciao,
J :)

Monday, August 22, 2011

Win a NEW Husqvarna Viking Serger ~ Back to School Giveaway!

Win a NEW Husqvarna Viking Serger ~ Back to School Giveaway!

Yep, as I was checking out Sew, Mama, Sew's Blog, I was reading How to win a NEW Husqvarna Viking s21 Serger (retail value $1199)! Yes, that is a Husqvarna Viking, a drool-worthy machine that make sewing a breeze. All I have to do is answer the question "How would your life be better with a serger?"

OMG how would this make my life easier? I would be sewing a lot more clothing, for one, finishing off a lot more edges on a serger, sewing with knits (not one of my Favorite Fabrics mind you). I think that I would need to rehab the kids room into a kids/sewing room and work in there more often than on the dining room table.

I know that there are more things that I would be sewing. There are new curtains to be made, new chair covers to be crafted, new table runners and table cloths to started and completed!

The biggest item is that I would be sitting at my sewing machines much more so than I am right now!

So my answer to this question was...
How would my life be better with a serger? I would be sewing more clothing for myself, my daughter, my daughter-in-law, my granddaughter. I would be redoing the pillows on my furniture. I would be offline and working with a serger much more than I am on my sewing machine. Life would be sweet with a serger.

Inspiration? Or listening to someone else's creative block.

This morning, while on the treadmill, I was checking Twitter for the different Tweets that had come in over night. There are a few that caught my eye, that I did read the background story, but one that was so true to what has been happening in my life that I have to share!

I have enjoyed Mark Lipinski for some time now. Love his style, his fabrics, his rants, and love seeing what he has to say on a regular basis. So today on Twitter and his blog http://www.marklipinski.com/ https://twitter.com/marklipinski/status/105608375571722240 Mark was talking "There are times when picking up a pen, a needle or craft is so unappealing to me that I wonder how and why I got into the arts and crafts in the first place! Am I losing my mojo? Am I a fraud? Can I inspire and teach but not do? Are the millions of dollars of crap I’ve collected and stashed over the years now worthless?"

Ok, so the other day I was drooling over someone else's fabric stash, and today I am wondering if the thousands of dollars of stuff I have in my stash is worthless... A different day, a different tune.

But the reality of all this is that I am looking at being creative from a different lens and maybe I'll be inspired to finish all of the projects I have listed to the left...

Off to the sewing machine once again :)

Hope you have enjoyed your coffee break.
Ciao,
J :)

Sunday, August 21, 2011

A quick peek at another person's studio...

Some days I think I am overwhelmed with the amount of craft supplies that I have, then other days, I think "I don't have enough"... LOL Well, today is one of those "don't have enough" days... I was reading a blog that I check in on about once or twice a month. She was giving a tour of her studio... boy would I love to have that sort of space to spread out and create! The best part was her fabric collection... yep, I was drooling! Check it out at Karen Kay Buckley's Blog  I had a grand old time drooling.

So it is Sunday, washing, vacuuming, and picking up of the apartment. Then back to the sewing machine to try to finish the baby quilt and the thread portrait.

Hope you get a chance to go visit Karen's blog and enjoyed your coffee today.
Ciao,
J :)

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Portrait Quilts

Some times I think I get myself in too deep into projects and I have this push (from me alone) to make it absolutely the greatest thing since sliced bread... Yep, I am doing that again with the thread portrait I am working on this weekend... So what else is new...

I have started thinking of what I am going to do for my brother's 50th birthday quilt. I have done picture quilts for two other siblings, but I have yet to receive any pictures of my younger brother, his friends, and in-laws to start transferring them onto fabric... I had to wait so long last time that I presented a half done top, took it back, and finished it after their birthday. I want to get out of that habit. So, I think I am going to do a fabric Portrait wall hanging instead. I don't know if I'll just do my brother, or him and his wife, or his family. I need to pin it down real soon as to what I am going to do as there are too many other things going on at this time to let it slip by and not get anything done.

I really am having a great time playing with the portraits I have been doing of late.

A present for a cousin (who is holding the pillow) this past March.

Back to sewing :)

Hope you enjoyed your coffee break today.
Ciao,
J :)

Friday, August 19, 2011

Ah Friday :)

Friday has arrived and the weather is typical August warmth. I spent over an hour at the gym this morning and am just finishing off my 2nd cup of coffee for the morning.

I have so many projects that I need to finish, but there are 3 major ones that I need to finish within the next three weeks. So, I guess that means I need to gear up and finish one a week. The 1st is a thread portrait that I have been fighting with for the past three weeks. I am on my 3rd version as I have destroyed the 1st two. I am much happier with the one I am working on right now and will need to post pictures as I finish up.

The 2nd need to finish quilt is a double wedding ring for my niece and her husband. They saw part of the top last year at their wedding, but their anniversary is the beginning of October and I still need to finish the borders and get it to the quilter to have it quilted.

The 3rd item are two baby quilts... I totally made one of them too small and now am adding borders after the fact, but I need to get them done!

Ah well back to the sewing machine to work on the portrait :)

Hope you have a happy day and enjoyed your coffee break.
Ciao,
J :)

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Someone else in a Big Time Funk...

One of the blogs I follow had a perfect statement today... She has been in a funk, yea, I do know the funk that she speaks of, being totally overwhelmed, not wanting to do anything, can't start anything, can't finish anything that has already been started... everything overwhelms to even think of doing anything.

Yes, that is where I have been for awhile now... I really do not like this overwhelming feeling and I need to "get over it" as soon as possible.

So, I think I am going to follow Rachel's suggestion from p.s.i quilt http://www.psiquilt.com/2011/08/funk.html With that thought in mind I am also blogging to tell you that I'm gonna leave this funk behind! Nope, I don't like it anymore! This is not fun and it is not helping those around me to be in this unproductive funk! If you ask my hubby, he'll say that it is about time as I have been very hard on myself of late...

With that being said... I need to stretch my creative thoughts and do some fabric/sewing/quilting/art therapy!!! The tough part about all this is that I had been working on an art project that I totally screwed up due directly to my being in my funk... so it is back to the beginning and we start anew! Maybe I can figure out how to post some pictures of what I am up to...

Hope you have had time for coffee while reading... Speaking of which, maybe I should go for a walk to my local Starbucks... just a thought... :)

Ciao
J :)

Friday, August 12, 2011

Ah Friday...

It is truly amazing how ones view of a particular day of the week. If your work week is such that you work Monday thru Friday, you are looking forward to the end of the week and Friday is a wonderful day of the week.

Not working, my view of any particular day is due to the 'check in' days that I have. So on Sunday, I check in with the online Unemployment office in Massachusetts, on Monday I check in with a few 'headhunters' I am working with, then head for over to pick up my child and go to the gym. On Wednesday and Friday it is off to pick up my child and over to the gym for an hour or so.

As I said, it is one's view from your own lens of life how you view a day of the week. The reason for todays thought came from someone at the gym saying how the 'week fly's by' and they forgot what day of the week it is. It did get me to thinking...

Hope you have enjoyed your coffee...
Ciao,
J :)

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Other peoples comments...

This morning, while looking for positions to apply to, I came across a comment on a Blog I follow... The Blog was talking about how Social Media is the 'wave of the future/present' and had some pictures to show what they felt it meant

The comment was as follows:
"How does social media work for people that others dislike? How does it work for the person who was the disliked kid in school, in jobs, in social life? How does it work for the person who the more people know about the less they like, the person who has learned that it is better to keep a low profile?"

They are all interesting comments, but if one is a non social person, both in person as well as online, I have a few questions that I would need to have answered to try to understand them. They would be:
    Do you have a job? (You need to interact with others in order to work)
    Do you use the computer?
    Do you have friends?
    Are you married/engaged/separated? (You need to meet others to have these statuses)
    Do you have an email address?
    Do you receive email/mail?

When I started to think about it, the blogger is truly on the right path, social media is and has been a way of life for a long time, it's just morphed thru the Internet and the different social media outlets.

Hope you have enjoyed today's rant along with your coffee. :)
J

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Sorry... I have been among the missing

To say that I have forgotten to post is an understatement.

I have been working at trying to find a permanent job for the past year. I did work for about two and a half months, but that did not last. So I have been trying since January of this year. I have hit a wall... that one that you don't want to do anything. Unfortunately this also applies to my sewing/quilting/crafts and I have so many to work on!

Still, I keep trying, up until this past week I had not had an interview since April 1st. Yes, I do wish that was a joke, but it has taken close to 3 months for me to even be called and invited. It does not help that along the way I have put back on any and all weight that I had lost and even 'found' some more... Not a good thing... if you know what I mean :)

Today it is off to the MFA to see the glass exhibit before it closes this weekend... so away I go :)

Thanks for stopping by :)
J