Quilt Therapy

I’ve told you before that I’m a lazy quilter, right?  If there’s a simpler way to do something, I’m gonna be the first one doing it.  Strip quilting was my forte, before it was popular.  I can run fabric through a sewing machine faster n’ anybody’s business!  I think, what I like most, is that when you chain-piece your blocks, they are more likely to all come out the same – seam allowances, pressing, etc.  It’s a fabric assembly line at its best.

But sometimes, there’s the template challenges.  I hate templates.  I don’t like working with them for quilting, and I don’t like sewing the pieces together, in hopes that I end that Y seam exactly where it needs to end, so I can meet the other fabric with it.  It wastes time, in my opinion!  Time that could be spent on quilting many other things!

So, I started a technique that I call the Sew N’Slash Quilting Technique. 

And it’s SEW simple!  You sew fabric together, then you cut them so that they resemble what you would get if you were using templates!  The hardest part?  Stopping yourself from having so much fun!

Take a look at this block,  affectionately called a Shoo-Fly Block in the Cotton Spice way:

I designed this block for a Cotton Spice BOM challenge, but for some reason, the challenge never really took off and my block and instructions were never posted.

Shame on Cotton Spice – they should know better than to forget my block!  Because really?  The only thing I forget is my kids’ names and what I did, oh, say 5 minutes ago {grin}.

Now, look at what a quilt could look like, if you made 16 of these blocks:

Isn’t that a stunning quilt?  The layers and depth of colors makes for such grand eye-candy!

Want to make one?  Go ahead, try it!  I think my instructions are quite specific on how you, too, can enjoy some Sew N’Slash quilting! 

Click Here for the Block Instructions.

Phydeaux chased her first skunk the other night.

Phydeaux got sprayed by her first skunk the other night.

Phydeaux got her first bath in tomato juice the other morning.

But, thankfully, the old wive’s tale is TRUE – washing a dog in tomato juice really DOES take the skunk stink out of them!

One of the biggest questions I get, from men and women alike, is how in the world did I get started working from home.

Know what?  It just happened.  Well, I mean, staying home was intentional on my part – but, most of my work fell in my lap, and I was smart enough to see a good thing when I had it!

Before we had children, my husband and I decided that one of us would always be home, to raise the kids.  I honestly didn’t care which one of us stayed home, but both of us working outside of the home was not an option for us.  Our future children needed the stability of at least one parent, always.  My personal reasonings were because my folks died at such a young age that if I inherited their genes, I wouldn’t live to see my children grow up – and I wanted to give them all that I could, before that time potentially occurred.  For my husband, it had more to do with who was parenting the kids – giving them the core values that we held ourselves up to.  That should only come from a child’s parents.

After nearly 13 years of working from home, I have a little experience under my belt.  Blood, sweat and tears, too.  My passion has always been about choice – everyone should have and exercise their own choice about earning a living.  I’ve been involved with www.HBWM.com since 1999, because they promote the work-at-home lifestyle.  It’s all about taking your life as you want to – choosing to raise your own children, or working from home. 

You can see a number of articles I’ve written about this topic:

• Be Clear about Your Goals
• Being Successful at ANY Job Requires Passion
• Call Me: Telephone Tips for Working at Home
• Constructing a Business
• Financing Your Dreams
• Make Time for Your Heart and Make a Difference
• My Dirty Little Secret: I’m a Saleswoman!
• Successful Adventure
• Summer Work Hours
• When Times are Lean

There are, of course, pros and cons to working from home.  Here’s my short-list of things to consider, if this is the type of lifestyle you seek:

Pros

• Home and available for children and husband, at all times
• Don’t have to have a work wardrobe
• Can do laundry and run the dishwasher during the day, instead of cramming it all into the evening hours
• Can schedule my work around my family
• Way lower fuel and eating out budget
• Freedom to choose

Cons

• You’re home, so friends & family think you’re available all the time
• Interruptions are constant
• Your income is not always constant
• Being responsible to a family and a business is a lot on your shoulders, at times
• Not seeing & working with others, on a daily basis, can be a challenge if you’re a people-person

The biggest thing to consider, if you want to work from home, is how you’re going to balance your life.  When we moved back to Texas 2 years ago, we made the decision to move my office into an out-building, so that I could “leave” the house for work and not be bothered by the home issues, while I was trying to get things done.  This has been an excellent move, on our part, save for the fact that I like to work late at night when the house is quiet….so, I have to drive up the hill to get to my shed.  But, it also means that when I’m home, I can be the mom … and when I’m in my shed, I can be the small business owner.  I *can* do both, as long as we all realize the limitations and opportunities we have for making the most of our time.

My husband is doing a fabulous job of being Mr. Mom, and I’m enjoying my work moreso now than I ever have before.  But, it’s a daily devotion, if you will, to make sure we all have what we need from each other, while keeping the computer running to pay the rent.  And it’s something we’ll have to work on daily, as long as I choose to work at home.

I know I’m a little (?) retentive, but I can’t believe Flat Stanley came all the way from the frozen plains of Nebraska, without so much as a coat!  Or blanket!  Or … dare I say it?  Not even a QUILT?!

Yeah, I had to say it, hehe.

Well, I just took matters into my own hands, and before long, Flat Stanley had a very special, personalized quilt – just his size!

And because, I’m just kinda an over-the-top kinda gal, I went way overboard and put together a book, to send back to Nebraska with Flat Stanley.  Here’s the cover, and an entry on one of our pages:

It’s Aunt Tammy’s turn with Flat Stanley, first.  I can’t believe that he came all the way from the snow and cold of Nebraska, without a blanket!  Since my favorite thing to do, when I’m not being the mom or working, is to quilt, I sat down with Flat Stanley and made him his very own quilt, with his name, even!

I think he likes it, because he’s jumping on it like the kids jump on their beds!

And here he is, later in the afternoon, snuggling into his quilt for a little afternoon nap. 

In Texas, we call our nap a siesta.  Do you know that’s the Spanish word for nap?  We LOVE to take siesta’s in our house!

Flat Stanley then helped me work on the computer.  It was kind of a boring day for him, but tomorrow should be more fun!

If you’ve had Flat Stanley visit you, let me hear from you in the comments!  I’d love to hear what you did with him, and how much fun you had!

I love progressive weekends!  Although, that type of progress usually means I have to get up before the chickens, and I usually don’t like to do that {grin} … but, sometimes, it doesn’t matter what I like!

DH and DD#1 escaped on Saturday for a weekend confirmation retreat….and MIL left me, too….which means I had the three little ones all to myself!  Saturday didn’t start off lovely, but it did eventually get up to 80 here in the hills, so it was extremely spring-like and just a beautiful day all around.

I spent Saturday morning cleaning house.  May be a bummer for some but since I’m on a high-dose of steroids for my skin, I could actually clean without having to worry about blistering any – so, I had at it! 

After that, it was time for some quilting.  Ahhhh, just put me in my sewing room (as long as the kids are otherwise-occupied) and tell folks I’m in heaven!  I didn’t spend long in there, though, as it was lunch time and the munchkins were thinking they weren’t gonna live until they ate.  So, we opted for an eariler-than-normal lunch and then NAP – my second-favorite time of the day!  hehe

Well, wouldn’t you know it – our nap got interrupted.  One of DD#3’s friend’s mom showed up, to cart my youngest darling off to a team roping competition.  I wasn’t sure they were going to come, so I didn’t tell the nagging littlest one about the event – but, boy was she excited!  After changing into her jeans and boots, she, too, left us for the day.

Wow, now I was down to just TWO kids!

So, the son got silly …. and sillier ….

And DD#2 fed cheese balls to Flat Stanley …

Once we’d calmed back down, I was bound and determined to get that NAP – and the son-man said he wanted to nap with me, too.  ummm, right.  He didn’t nap – he just flounced around in the bed until he finally got up and went and read books! 

The rest of the evening was uneventful, as the kids had popcorn salad for dinner and watched a movie while I quilted, and we waited for the tired girlie to come home.

Sunday was Sunday school and church, and if you know me, you know that it’s usually a challenge for me to be the sole parent in the mornings.  But yesterday, I had ANGELS in my midst!  I had given the kids their lists of what they needed to do the night before, and I gotta tell ya … when I went into the house after having my wake-up time reading the news, the kids had done absolutely everything I’d asked for without fighting!  HURRAY!  That doesn’t happen often, so I celebrated the victory by taking them out to lunch after church.    Then, we came home and it was time for our nap!  The dad-person and DD#1 came home just as I got up from nap, and they’d had a very fun time – though, both were stinky and exhausted. 

After all went to bed, I let Phydeaux outside … and then she wouldn’t come back.  Don’t that just drive ya nuts?!  It’s pitch-black in these hills at night and I couldn’t get her to respond to me at all.  Finally, I heard her tearing across the yard at a full run, she was obviously chasing something and defending her territory.

I just wish she’d have chased a rabbit … or an armadillo … or even a deer.  But, noooooooooooooooooo, the puppy is still not out of her yet and she’d chased a SKUNK!!!  Which, of course, I didn’t notice until she’d already gone into the house – whew, one wiff of that stink as she passed me was enough to make me wake ole what’s-his-name.  NOT necessarily my best plan of action, as he was none-too happy with the doggie.  I ran up to the barn and got her travel kennel and placed it under the house – only to realize that she was directly under our bedroom.  ummm, no.  JD went and moved her out into the yard.  But, eeeeewwwww, does our entry and bedroom have a very familiar aroma to it!  We’ll be washing the dog in tomato juice today, as that’s supposed to help take the stink out of them.  Haven’t figured out, yet, what we’ll do with the house – but, you can bet I’ll find something that’ll work!

After life calmed down again, I went back to my sewing room.  I finished the backing for the quilt that I’d completed on Saturday – once again using nearly all of my leftover fabrics up:

And then I pieced together a wall hanging, that’ll be part of the annual BOMquilts.com Christmas in July celebration:

After that, it was a late and quiet dinner and an hour of lovely reading.  Ahhhh, what a great weekend!

I’m pretty much a by-the-book traditional quilter.  I don’t mind applique, I don’t mind having fun with various embroidery techniques and I’ve even been known to throw a few buttons or decorative pipe cleaners into my designs.  But, if you gave me a choice of what I’d like to piece, it’s gonna be a simple nine-patch or some other basic quilt block, with a little Tammy twist thrown in for good measure.

But, I don’t feel as if I’m an artist….not based on the defenition that I’ve always held art up to.

My daughter?  Oh, she’s definitely an artist.  That girl can paint and draw things that I’ve only imagined.  She recently received watercolors for Christmas, and the day after she got her gifts, she was outside with her drawings, creating a lovely little postcard with a drawing of the end of our house…complete with the scrub brush that rolls around in the winter time.

And then there’s Maggie.  She’s an artist.  She is a lovely lady who occasionally comes to our little quilt group (she lives farther away than most, so it’s really not convenient for her all the time) to share with us her creations.  She likes to do postcards and business cards and all sorts of adventuresome art-quilty things…

In this photo above, she’s been preparing some 5×5 items for a recycling challenge….and she used things in her project that would amaze you — such as crawfish antenae and the plastic from sanitary products!  Any woman who can come up with a secondary use for things like that deserves a great big attaboygirl!

Maggie says she has a lot of quilt UFO’s because she starts projects, but loses interest or forgets what she’s supposed to do to finish, and then sets it down and goes onto something else.  Boy, do I know that feeling!  I don’t know if it’s the same for Maggie, but I get so very bored with things like 20 of the same blocks, out of the same colors in a quilt.  She goes on to be artsy and I go on to find a better way to slay the quilt dragon!

Last week, Maggie brought us some beading that she’s been learning lately:

Isn’t that just gorgeous?!  Again, this is artsy … compared to my personal quilt defenition.  I’ve seen quilters and designers who like to embellish their projects with beads, I just don’t think it’s practical unless it’s a wall hanging or some other decorative piece.  I can’t imagine sniggling up with a warm quilt, only to find that my big toe caught the string holding some beads and then I’d have little tiny beads falling all over the place!

Yeah, that’d probably only happen to me … because, I’m so, errrrr, graceful.

But when I see things like what Maggie puts together, I am truly inspired.  Inspired to design quilt patterns that people CAN embellish, if they want to.  Inspired to grow beyond traditional quilting, if only for a little bit, to bring more spice into life.  I’m inspired to look beyond my blinders, to find beauty in things that I normally wouldn’t see beauty in … and to share the love of all handiwork with others. 

Because art is created out of a vision … the eye of the creator and the eye of the beholder.  And it’s created at a single point in time, with passion. 

Well gee, if I put it that way – what I do with my quilts IS art!

It was time.  I couldn’t take it anymore.  I had to throw out the Halloween and Christmas candy, to make room for the Valentine’s candy. 

Although one or two of my children would eat candy as a meal, if I’d let them … the kids really don’t ask for it very often.  We do allow a treat or two after they eat a good meal, but it’s sure evident, after about a month, what they like (chocolate) and don’t like (suckers)!

We received a Flat Stanley in the mail this week – have you heard of him?  Oh wow, has he lived a life of adventure!  You can read about this project at the following places:

• http://www.flatstanley.com/

• http://www.flatstanley.com/jeff_brown.html

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Stanley

OUR Flat Stanley came from my niece in Nebraska, and our four youngins are just tickled as can be to take him around and give him a truly Texas vacation!  DD #1 took him to first grade yesterday.  Unfortunately, her teacher knows little or nothing about the project, so I’ll be going to town early today, to buy a Flat Stanley book to donate to the class, so they can learn about him…and write up a diary of all of the things that Flat Stanley did, while joining them in their classroom.  Tomorrow, DD #2 is in charge of showing Flat Stanley a good time here at home.  On Sunday, the son-man will take Flat Stanley to church with him, and he’ll be performing a song in sign language in front of our whole congregation!  Then on Monday, Flat Stanley gets to go to seventh grade, with DD #1!  Finally, on Tuesday, Flat Stanley and I will be buds, and I’ll show him some quilting tips … and I may even make him his very own Flat Stanley quilt!  I’m afraid he won’t get to spend much time with the dad-person … or with the Phydeaux-dog.  There’s only so much time to play in a week!  I have to get him back into his envelope on Wednesday, so he can make it back to Kindergarten and tell all of his friends in Nebraska about the fun he had in Texas.  hmmm, think I’d better find a big ole’ Texas Longhorn to pose him with, too — just because that’s what folks think of, when they think of Texas!

My very dear Gramma from Tramma passed away when I was about 20 years old (ahem, a few years ago).  I treasured that woman, from as far back as I can remember.  If it weren’t for her love, I can honestly say I would not be where I am today.  She was nothing special to most others, but she was the very epitome of unconditional love, to me.

After her passing, I received a sympathy card from her best friend, Polly.  Mind you, I hadn’t seen Polly in years, but she and Grandma were best buds for a very long time.  When I was old enough to drive, I’d drop Grandma off at her favorite bar … and I’d always have to go inside, to visit with Polly before I left.  Oh my, was it a sight to see two old ladies, knocking off beers in a bar!  And after Grandma’s death, it was ever-so special for Polly to send me a note, as she truly knew how close Grandma and I were.  Inside the card that Polly sent to me was a crocheted red heart.  It’s still a treasured item of mine.  The sentiment was straight-forward … Polly told me if I ever needed to remember Grandma, all I needed to do was to hold the heart in my hand – because it was a part of Polly … and Polly was a part of Grandma’s life … and I was a part of all of it.

When we received word a couple of weeks ago that a dear friend was diagnosed with cancer, we were in shock.  This is a young woman, about my age, who is as humble and precious as they come.  She’s never been in a category that you’d ever think would get cancer, she’s just too wonderful for that.  She doesn’t drink, doesn’t smoke, never chewed tobacco … yet, the doctors found cancer under her tongue.  My goodness, the woman doesn’t even cuss – and that in itself is amazing, to me (of course, my excuse is that I was raised with it, so it’s just another word to me)!

When we heard about our friend, I had to do something.  We aren’t close in miles, but we are all close in hearts.  So, I whipped up the Crazy Quilted Heart that I showed you previously.

And now, I ask you to print out the instructions and make your own.  We received an email from our friends, and found out that she held onto the heart that I made, as she was wheeled into surgery.  It brought her the same comfort that Polly’s heart brought to me — and I bet, if you know someone who needs a little uplift, it’d help them, too.

1)  With scraps of fabric, just start sewing them together, with straight seams.  I used six fabric colors because there are six in our family.

2)  With a piece of Peltex, cardboard or something else that’s stiff enough to be traced around a number of times, draw a heart and cut it out.

3)  Next, trace the heart onto your fabrics with a pencil or disappearing ink pen and trim your stitched fabric piece so you’re about 1″ from the traced heart.

4)  Next, create your quilt sandwich with a small piece of thin, cotton batting and the background fabrics.

5)  Then, using some embroidery stitches with your sewing machine (or by hand), stitch on top of each seam that you have on the heart front, making sure that you stop at the edge of the heart template lines.

6)  Finally, using a tight zig-zag stitch, stitch all around your heart, ON the template line that you drew.  Then, cut away the excess around the outer edge.

If you’re interested, this is what I wrote (edited to protect the privacy of those involved) on the card that we sent the heart with:

We offer you our quilted heart, to have and to hold.  It is made with six fabrics, representing the six members of our family.  The pattern is known as a “crazy quilt” pattern – I think that’s pretty fitting.  It also has an unfinished edge, which will unravel as time goes on…much as we find our own hearts doing, like with the news we received about you.

After the quilted heart was finished, my husband said a blessing for you over it.  Then each of us took it into our hands, touching the fabrics, and sending up individual, silent prayers for you.

Remove the heart from this card.  Hold it and touch it … and feel the love that we send to you through it.  You are loved.  Please know that you have our constant prayers, and that we’re here if ya’ll need *anything* at all.

First, I designed another quilt this past weekend.  I was a bit frustrated with myself that I wasn’t able to piece the entire quilt, but the payoff for that meant that I spent a lot of quality time with my family.  I’m sure they appreciated it. 

Although this photo doesn’t show the true colors of the fabric (I ran a script on the photo, because I have fun with a lot of different creative things besides just quilting), it does show the details of the quilt square for the quilt that I designed.  Just have 2 more 18″ blocks left to make and then a fun border!

Last night at quilt group, the topic was changing the look of a fabric, through cutting it and making scrappy squares with it.  To me, it’s a simple thing … but, to a handful in our quilt group, they were perplexed.  And really?  I think it has more to do with abandoning all principals than anything else.  One member had some southwest-style fabric that she purchased, but the style is long out-of-date.  She still wanted to use it, but she wanted to reduce the “southwest” feel of the fabric, in whatever she made with it.

So, we cut the fabric into 2 1/2″ strips, and started sewing the strips together with other coordinating (but not necessary complimentary) fabrics.  And none of the strip blocks were to match.  In order to pull one’s eye away from the offending fabric, you need to use other fabrics – not necessarily bigger and bolder ones, but fabrics that are pleasing to the over-all desired feel of the finished quilt.  This is the original fabric:

And this is a stack of the fabrics that we used in our strip blocks:

After we completed sewing our strips into blocks, then we put them together to make half-square trianges out of pairs of blocks.  We ended our short demonstration with 4 new strip blocks, ready to be put into a quilt.

Then the question of sashing and borders was raised.  As we discussed how to handle such, we laid out more fabrics, to see what would and wouldn’t work with our scrap blocks.  Again, the goal was to minimize the pattern in the offending fabric — and it was fun to see what would and wouldn’t work, as far as borders, with the new blocks.

I think it was a great learning experience for everyone involved – including me!  It’s so easy to hide away in my sewing room and design and sew.  It’s a whole ‘nuther experience, to have a half-dozen others in front of you, looking upon you for your expertise, and trying to articulate things that you normally don’t say aloud.

Quilt design is a process, just as most anything else is.  We teach others by sharing this process with them.  It’s old hat to me, when I’m having an intimate experience with my fabric and sewing machine … but, it’s also enjoyable to share the many years of quilt experience that I’ve accumulated and watching how the lights turn on in others’ eyes when they learn the same tips and tricks.

And really?  There is no “wrong” in quilting.  Some like one thing, some like something else.  And as I told the ladies last night, it’s all handmade and you can take as much poetic license as you want to, with your quilting. 

In our family, we try to draw out our holidays so they just keep on giving.  Birthday celebrations usually last a month … and national holidays last at least a week!

Valentine’s Day may be a distant memory for some, but we continue to celebrate the love.

Friday nights have been duped “Family Movie Nights” in our house.  The kids eat popcorn salad for dinner and sit in front of a movie.  You ever try that?  Corn is a vegetable, right?  Then we add things to it like M & M’s (made from the cacao bean – there’s a legume, right?), marshmallows are white, so they’re the dairy portion of the salad and then Goldfish crackers.  If you get the colored crackers, you’re really piling on the veggies, because they come in red and green!  My husband always said that every meal has to have something green on the plate, to give vegetables their due.  So, green Goldfish it is!  Wow, what a healthy salad for my kids!  And they LOVE it!

That also means that the mom and dad in the house can have a relatively quiet dinner.

Last night, we celebrated our Valentine’s dinner, sans the candlelight.

What did we make?  It was far better than popcorn salad, I assure you!  We found this recipe in the Food & Wine magazine some years ago, and have perfected it over time so that it’s one of those “close your eyes while you savor the flavor” meals.  With some crusty bread, it’s heaven on a spoon:

Smoky Shrimp and Cheesy Grits

ingredients
3 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
3/4 cup quick grits
1/4 pound white cheddar cheese, shredded (1 cup)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 pound slab bacon, cut into 1/4-inch matchsticks
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound shelled and deveined large shrimp
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

The full recipe and instructions can be found here.

We like about 3 chopped green onions, added to the shrimp when you add the parsley.  And we prefer a soft white smoked cheese, as opposed to the white cheddar listed above.

For wine?  My husband pairs this with a Pinot Grigio.  I’m not a drinker, so I’d be clueless about this part.  However, last night, we had no wine, so he settled for some Bavarian-Style Amber made by Shiner as an anniversary beer.

After dinner, while I digested, I finished the border on the quilt that will forever be known as the “fabric line that nearly was my un-doing”:

It’s gorgeous, now that it’s complete.  I may even keep it for myself!