All The Better To SEE With!

Back last summer, when I began my first smocking class, I realized that I was going to need some "visual help" for the exacting precision required to place the stitches evenly and correctly. Quiltkeemosabe suggested that I borrow her Visual Mate. It worked great, it hangs around the neck, is fairly lightweight, and... the best part: it has it's own light! I'll admit, it took some getting used to, but I am truly happy that I persevered until I became comfortable with it. I returned hers when my husband gave me my own for a birthday gift. Not only was it incredibly valuable for the smocking stitches but there is no way that I would have been able to whip and roll those hem edges on Lucy Ann's christening dress (and have them look half decent) without it! I now slip it over my head every time I sit down to do handwork: appliqué, embroidery, and most recently to do some block de-construction! I carried it with me today to use while Gregory napped and I gave more Chubby Chicks their legs and eyes. I'm certain that I didn't fully appreciate how wonderfully I could see the tiniest detail when my eyes were younger. But, I'm old enough, and wise enough now to shun vanity and use whatever it takes for hand sewing stitches that can hold a candle to those of my younger friends. The stitches are looking good, small and even... and I can see that, up close and clearly!

Life is Good!

A Bee In The Barn

Many hands make light work. Nane graciously opened her barn-loft studio space to our Bee for a sew day on Saturday. We came bearing bushels of scraps and strips to construct lap quilts for the patients in the Neuroscience Unit at one of our local hospitals. We left with enough finished string blocks for four complete quilt tops and the beginnings of a few more. There were seven quilters gathered, plus Zorro the kitty. It was a wonderful day; we accomplished much and greatly missed those who couldn't join us.

Life is Good!

Her First Quilt!

This is my neighbor, she wanted to make a quilt. She had lots and lots of worn-out blue jeans at her disposal. I loaned her a rotary cutter and a mat (after a quick safety lesson) a few months ago. She dropped by for show and tell yesterday afternoon! She's nine years old and sleeps under this warm and wonderful work of art every night. She's talking about making herself a matching pillow sham. Something tells me that her first quilt won't be her last.

Life is Good!

Legs To Stand On

This is the first of the appliqué blocks from the Hop To It class, January's is done; crossed off the list! You might remember that I expressed a question regarding my own sanity in this earlier post. I have more than a few things going on and seriously didn't know how I could cram in more appliqué too. But, I have, and at least I'm off to a good start. Sometimes, when I do crazy and impetuous things I feel a little bit like the chubby chicks pictured in my blog header, without a leg to stand on! But, as of today, we have legs. (All the better to Hop To It with. Or better yet, kicking as hard as we can to keep our heads above water!) Yep, me and the chicks...we're holding our own!

Life is Good!

What's Behind The Name?

You've known me for a few years by this name, no doubt you've assumed it wasn't my real name and came from my affection for sewing and all things quilt related, that's only part of the story... allow me to explain how the name came to be in the first place. Years ago I was having a telephone conversation with a friend; we were discussing books that we were currently reading. She mentioned that she and her husband were reading John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I didn't quite catch the name of the book and responded with the question: "Midnight in the Garden of Goodneedle"? We laughed and she repeated the name of the book, slower and more deliberately for my aging ears. I forgot about it until the next time I saw her husband; he teased me by calling me "Mrs. Goodneedle." It was funny, I wasn't offended by the name, and I sort of liked it. In fact, I liked it so much that I wrote down a true story, for children, back in 2005... before I began blogging, and entitled it "Mrs. Goodneedle and the Miracle Quilt." I've faced numerous rejections from publishers since then on my little book, but that's OK... it's my story and I will continue to tell it. The following year however, when this blog came to be, I began composing posts with this now familiar pen name; it makes me smile, for a litany of reasons, not the least of which being that it's become a daily reminder of the happiness that can occur from not taking myself, or aging, too seriously!

Life is Good!

Jazzed

As if I wasn't jazzed enough over my Frosty Fingers quilt-to-be I decided to jazz up some of the plainer pairs with machine embroidery touches! Aren't these great? This is, honestly, way too much fun; the problem here is that I can think things up much faster than I can stitch! (I need to dial my creative brain down a notch or two, or consume more caffeine...) Oh, the possibilities!

Life is Good!

Old News

It's been all over the news lately, and they're calling it a craze; the "MOM Cave" craze. The news reporters refer to the subject matter of this story as "women retaliating against the niches carved out by their husbands", namely their "man caves". Seriously? This is the photo that they're running on the various networks, one of a woman seeking refuge in her own space... doing what else... sewing! To those of us who are quilters this is OLD news; or better yet: not news at all! We had our spaces, created by necessity, long before they were referred to by any cute titles; probably as far back as to when they actually were caves, just don't tell the men.

Life is Good!

Stitched Together

Our Pastor used a wonderful example in her sermon this past Sunday in reference to being one as a church family. She spoke about the importance of the church family and how we come to value that even more as we grow older, I do believe that's true for me. Then, she used the example of being stitched together. She explained that God stitches us together; year by year, day by day, hour by hour and minute by minute. God is the fabric, Jesus the needle and the Holy Spirit is the thread that binds the work as one. I love reflecting on this, being stitched together as one. I love thinking about being part of God's family within the church and that being a part of me, of who I am, and how we can't be separated one from another. This illustration of the Trinity not only gives me comfort but it just plain makes my heart smile... broadly!

Life is Good!

For Desperate Quilters

Disclaimer: this isn't the ACTUAL sign, I created this one on a sign generator website. You're going to have to take my word: there was a sign like this outside a log cabin-style quilt shop in Cosby, TN. My husband and I drove to Gatlinburg yesterday to meet a college friend and his wife for lunch. The weather was rainy, dark and dismal as we headed back across the mountains toward North Carolina and home when I spotted this; otherwise I would have asked him to turn around so that I could have taken a real picture! You've gotta love this; I've been that desperate for supplies before, haven't you?

Life is Good!

Frosty Fingers?

What's an ever-mounting stack of mitten blocks to do without a setting to aspire to? Nothing more than grow taller and eventually topple over. I came up with this layout as a way to corral these hand warmers and turn my idea into something a wee bit more organized. Now, I have a goal: a pair a day for the next forty days and I'll have enough for this quilt top/ matching game. Wish me luck.

Life is Good!

Mitten Match-Up ~ 79.5" X 94.5"

Mondays With Gregory

This is our youngest grandbaby, Gregory, he is 2 months old. I keep him on Mondays since his Mommy has gone back to her classroom, she is a teacher. Normally, I would have him today but since it's a school holiday and she's home, I won't be needed. I'll miss him today, (I wonder if he will miss me?) that's the bad news. The good news is that I will have him on Thursday this week; which means that this little cutie will go to Quilt Ministry with me at church! Don't you just know that Nana will get sew much done. Thank you for indulging me with these two photos, you may not know it but I am sparing you, believe me; this is what restraint looks like, that's hard for me to do!

You're welcome!

Life is Good!

Quilting Preview

Here's a peep at a bit of the quilting on "Mealtime Mantra". It's been s-l-o-w going, there's a ton of quilting on this one! Why? Probably because I'm slightly insane; I'm deluded by this philosophy~ if a little quilting is good then a LOT is better. I had these itty-bitty spirals in my head and now they're on the quilt... everywhere! This is one of the reasons I don't quilt for others... I take altogether way too long! Nobody but me would put up with me.

Life is Good!

What's Holding YOU Back?

Some friends gave us a pretty little Christmas package containing a small plastic pot, three Paperwhite bulbs and an incredibly tiny amount of potting soil along with the planting instructions. I was skeptical, there didn't seem to be enough planting medium and the bulbs didn't appear vital but I followed the directions and set them on the kitchen windowsill; more to prove to my doubting self that I was right and they wouldn't sprout than to watch in any hopeful anticipation. Lo, and behold, they took off...seemingly overnight! I was wrong. The bulbs are living out their purpose and I am constantly gauging their progress and cheering them on! The next time I make excuses about not having enough space or time or materials I am going to remember this lesson learned at the windowsill and not hold back, but rather... remember my purpose!

Life is Good!

Mitten Match-Up

I was inspired by a photo of a pieced mitten block shown in a blog post by Cheryl over at Polka Dots & Rick Rack earlier this week. I had participated in an appliqué mitten swap a few years ago and really wanted to find a pieced version. EQ to the rescue! I created this foundation pattern, similar to the one from Ashby's Attic that Cheryl had shown. The most wonderful thing about creating in EQ7 for paper piecing is that the program will number your pieces for you; and, allow you to print foundations in mirror images! I'm super excited about the latter, as I can easily stitch mitten PAIRS as opposed to random singletons (which only ever end up in a lost and found box). Once I began I couldn't stop, this is my latest obsession. Can't you just imagine the fun a child (of any age) would have searching out and matching up mitten pairs scattered across this quilt's surface? Now I'm also thinking about how EQ can help me create a sock block pattern for another version of this Match-Up idea. Too many ideas, not enough days in the week; my creative brain is working overtime! It's my way of celebrating Scrap Soup officially becoming a flimsy and coming off the design wall to await it's place in the "to be quilted" queue. How do you celebrate a quilt-making milestone; by beginning another project, or is it just me?

Scrap Soup 80" X 96"
Life is Good!

Cabin Fever?

It's been a weird week... ice and snow, cancellations; and, for me, a wicked case of cabin fever (apparently that wasn't covered with my flu shot). After all of the hubbub surrounding the double baptisms and the celebratory lunch for fifty people here at the house last Sunday, my camera went missing. I made a few frantic phone-calls and finally located B.U.C.* in my daughter's car on it's way back to the Capital City. (She has a very similar compact camera to mine, plus we have identical cases; I'm surprised this hasn't happened before now!) Well, what's a blogger without her camera? Not much fun to be around, that's for sure! Combine that with my need to get out and we justified a trip yesterday to the Capital City: I could do with a shopping trip for essentials (coffee) and wanted to visit the newly-opened Container Store there. So, we braved the icy and rutted roads to get out of our neighborhood and found dry streets and smooth sailing the rest of the way. The Container Store was great, I didn't buy a thing but have been considering lots of new storage options for my stash closet, now that I know what they have it's easier to make a purchase plan for my next excursion there. The store didn't disappoint Mason either, there was SO MUCH to do... like stacking and lining up the rolling toy totes! Both Nana and Mason found the best therapy at this storage mecca for our mutual cases of cabin fever! Oh, and one more unique "find", just in case you're been wondering how to get all those pesky flip-flops up and off the closet floor (you know you have!); here you go, just for you~ a flip-flop hanger! See, just look at all of the valuable information you can find right here!

Life is Good!

*B.U.C. - Back Up Camera -- my Nikon is still in the ICU
of the camera hospital 100 miles away, sniff!

A GRRRRREAT Day To Be A Tiger!

Our daughter is a proud Auburn alumni. I stayed up last night until midnight, just for her, to witness her beloved Tigers win the National college football championship game. (OK, I may have napped some during the game but I watched the spectacular finish!) She has rigid good-luck rituals that she adheres to before games: dressing her family in orange clothing and, last night, she even prepared an all-orange dinner! Looks like her strategy worked. It's a happy day at her house this morning. I wonder who's more excited here, Mom or Lucy Ann?

War Eagle!
Life is Good!
It is all about #1 today, isn't it? 1/11/11