Where I've Been and Where I'm Going

FACEBOOK: The Blog Killer

 Social Media can be the bane of one's existence. My advice is don't go there if you're not there already and if you are, run. It is a soul killing, blog killing, grammar disrespecting swamp. While it has its good points - such as finding inspiring DIY YouTube videos and reconnecting with old friends - it tends to be a huge time waster. So I've turned my back on Facebook, starting today, for the most part; I "unfriended" people I don't really know and "unfollowed" page after page that was clogging up my feed and taking up so much of my time. It's a deep, deep rabbit hole and once you fall down it, climbing out almost requires a twelve step program.

 I retired in December 2018 and I thought I'd have 8-10 hours a day to do nothing but sew and quilt. Wrong! There's been a lot of activity in our lives so the dream of sitting at the sewing machine or doing handwork all day has almost evaporated but not quite.

This past fall I made several "junk journals" for gifts. The one below was for my daughter. She's a huge Jane Austen fan so that was the theme of her journal.

Making these journals is somewhat like making a crazy quilt. Lots of creative license and there's no stopping point. I had a great time collecting ephemera to add to them and I love the quirkiness of them. I purchased many of the pages you see from Etsy shops.

It's such an enjoyable process with all the beautiful papers and images available.

All for now. Hopefully  not such a long break between posts.

Only one way to drink coffee.

Flower Show

I would love to spend my money and my time gardening. Unfortunately I do not have much of either, certainly not enough to do what I'd like to do.

A couple of weeks ago my daughter and I took a trip to Asheville to the Biltmore Estate which has a magnificent greenhouse.  Here's just a sampling of the gorgeous flowers & plants.

These were all from the greenhouse.  So beautiful.

Doris Day is 90 Years Young

I blogged a lot more before Facebook. I really need to get that monkey off my back.

My idol, Doris Day, turned 90 this week.

I don't think there is a single movie she was in that I didn't love: those great comedies with Rock Hudson (her dear friend) and James Garner, "The Man Who Knew Too Much" with Jimmy Stewart, "Midnight Lace" with Rex Harrison, "Love Me or Leave Me" with James Cagney. She could do anything.

Then there is her music, that sweet beautiful face, and her love of animals.

I always wondered why she was not chosen for the lead in the move version of "South Pacific". Not that Mitzi Gaynor wasn't fantastic but the part just screamed DORIS DAY.

Happy Birthday, Doris Day. You are a priceless treasure, a class act, true caring soul. So glad you shared your gifts with us.

Hexie Madness

Hexagons seem to be all the rage these days. My aunts made a number of flower garden quilts, all by hand, no paper piecing. They cut the hexagons out individually using templates and stitched them together.  The one that I have is packed away somewhere but below is a picture of a variation of that hexagon, much like the one   at the Soupcon Quilt Along where some really beautiful work is being done. I'm very tempted to get into that.

Here is the quilt done by my aunts nearly 40 years ago:

It's very scrappy and at this point, very worn - I need to repair it. 

My husband saw this and said, "You should make one of those for Avi."

Avi was our tour guide when we were in Israel last year. 

I might do that, and hope that it's finished when I go back to Israel in 4 or 5 years when I retire.

Red and White Crazy Quilt

Getting started on the new 2014 Crazy Quilt Project:

Trying to keep it smaller and simpler this year. 

Red and White Crazy Quilt - 2014

Ideas for a red and white crazy quilt:

These are the raw materials for a major crazy quilt - or two - for 2014.  My goal is to keep it simple, with minimal embellishment - but we'll see how long that lasts because I get a little compulsive about that. What I love about CQs is the detail so it's hard for me to stop.

This redwork piece was found at a thrift store for about $3.00. It's in bad shape but  the center is still good.