Catching Up

Brumous has reached flimsy (quilt top) status.  

Shown here draped over the foyer stairway divider just after being pressed.

Here's a detail photo of the top laid out on my drafting/cutting table just prior to being rolled onto a pool noodle, in preparation for pin basting.

I also stitched together the WOF yardage for the two sides of the backing (shown here folded in half to save space).  

I'll get those columns pressed, seam the two together, press their seam, and then roll the back onto a pool noodle (hopefully today, if all goes well).

I've also done a bit more work on my December journal.  

This Santa photo was taken on December 1, so that was the perfect spot to include it.  

I have ordered prints of each year's 'Little Man with Santa' photo to tuck into the other pockets on this page (they're layered behind the one you can see).

I mailed our Christmas cards on December 5, so I included one of the cards on that day's page along with the "labels" from the booklets of stamps I used along with one of our return address labels (edited for sharing here).

And I tucked the info tags from my two new Christmas cacti into a pocket on one of last Friday's pages along with a bit of their foil pot wrapper.

To those of you who have grown Christmas cactus longer than I have - please reassure me that it's normal for some of the unopened buds to fall off after the plants have finished traveling from the grower to grocery store to my house - or tell me what I'm doing wrong to cause them to drop off.

My mom used to fuss at us girls not to bump her cactus so we wouldn't make the buds fall off - but no one has bumped these since they've been at our house.  

Finally, we celebrated an early Christmas with elder son and family yesterday.  Little Man L-O-V-E-S his new freestyle scooter (and after just once around the block he asked to go to the skate park - his favorite place to scooter).

Quiltdivajulie

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"Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection."

Winston Churchill

December Journal - a Few More Pages

Behind each date's cover page, there's one page from a Little Golden Christmas book and then two double-sided pages of scrapbook paper. 

On the first s'book paper page, I'm adding some sort of decoration along the left margin, a Kraft library card envelope, and (for now) emailed notes to myself for that date.

Eventually, I'll write my notes in red ink on library check-out cards and tuck the cards into the envelopes

Each envelope has a colorful name badge sticker and a single Christmas postage stamp.  

On the remaining pages, I'll add some sparkly silver stars, quotations, photographs, and all sorts of other bits and pieces. 

This is the gold metallic cover page for December 2.

And here is page one for Dec. second.  

Cover page for December 3.

Page one for Dec. 3.

Page one for December 4 . . .  (I do love that large letters washi tape!).

And Page one for December 5.

I am quite sure this journal will not be all put together until after the holidays but I wanted to get the basic structure in place so I had a place to tuck bits and pieces as I find them during the month.

* * *

Ortho appointment follow up:

Despite the discomfort in my right knee, the knee is not the culprit. 

The low back x-rays confirmed my leg pain (from thigh to ankle) is sciatica driven which I suspected but was afraid to believe was the cause since I know my knee is overdue for a replacement.  

Dr. F. has started me on a steroid pack and if things don't resolve fully, I'm to call him back with the logical next step being PT.  

Quiltdivajulie

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"I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights."

Maya Angelou

I Sewed

I did a bit of block rearranging, then clipped the blocks so I could web the top of Brumous, our January kitchen table quilt.

(the binding strips belong to Gnomeville - the dining room wall quilt)

And rather than put the remaining gnome fabric back into the stash, I decided to use it in a scrappy pieced backing.  The other grays came straight from the stash - so this back will be a win-win.

I'll sew each of the two sides together top to bottom and trim the width before attaching the two halves.

AND the blocks are webbed in one direction.

I'll wait a day or so to finish the webbing process so I don't over-tax my knee/leg.  It's doing better (more or less) and I don't want to jinx anything.

While I waited for the leg to improve, I did some work on my December journal.

I bought this A5 binder to simplify the whole process and customized the cover using a magazine cut out centered on self-stick red felt.

This is the cover page for December 1.  

The daily tabs are 2" watercolor paper circles hand-numbered 1 through 31.

I used a variety of scrapbook papers for the 31 cover pages, just to keep things interesting.

This is the back of that first cover page - I love how the quote encapsulates my December philosophy and quietly lays the foundation for this journal.

And, if you can handle another Santa photo, Little Man had the most marvelous experience with Mr. Claus last night.  

I was so happy I was there to share in his joy.

* * *

Back again when I have more progress to share.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Do what makes you feel sparkly inside."

Jane Lee Logan

A Garden of Collage - the Finish

When it came time to finalize the cover for A Garden of Collage, despite repeated checking of measurements, the cover was not tall enough to stitch the end pockets . . . so I simply glued the quilted fabric cover to the binder's cover.

Here is a side view - clearly the journal is now too fat to close like the original book did.

Here's a photo of the inside cover and first page - you'll need to double click to enlarge it.

The card in the pocket contains the inspiration source and provenance of the original binder.

The following series of photos are SOME of the interior pages.

I was delighted to find several vintage seed packets to include.

And, of course, there are multiple quotes throughout the many pages.

Do any of you remember fold-a-notes from the Current company?

They make marvelous tuck in items.

Some of younger son's leftover parchment paper was trimmed to make "crinkly" pages.

Most of the pages are "full size" but a few are smaller to add interest.

If you supersize the photo, I hope you can read the definition on the left hand page.

I've loved dandelions since I was young (although my parents tried very hard to convince me they were weeds).

The thick, vintage bird cards also made wonderful items to tuck into rescued envelopes.

* * *

The more I play with journal-making, the more parallels I find with my quilting journey.

Even when I'm given complete instructions, I have a hard time following them (as in I don't want to make something that looks just like the teacher's).

I definitely prefer scrappy over the too-coordinated "kits" that are so commonly available.

Nann mentioned in a response to a comment that this process was like "curating scraps for a quilt" and I couldn't agree more.

And while I love the inspiration of virtual classes, I think I'm at my limit for adding any more new ones.  I have enough to last well into next year and, like my quilting adventures, by then I'll be solidly off on my own path.

From now until the end of the year, my goal is to focus on stitching and quilting and let the paper stash rest for a bit.  I may dabble with some of the rolodex cards if the urge strikes, but my sewing machine and Max are calling to me.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Art is something that makes you breathe with a different kind of happiness."

Anni Albers

End of October Bits and Pieces

I had held off doing anything to the cover of my Flowers Magic Art Fest journal because I hadn't decided what to do.

And then I knew.

I have started making a journal cover to slip over the binder's cover.  

(click HERE for Wanda's journal cover tutorial)

This photo shows the unpressed slab loosely wrapped around the book's front cover.

And this is the back.  

(the jury is still out which orientation I'll end up using - I think that back might become the front . . . )

It won't take long to get the cover trimmed, quilted, and finished and; since the interior of the book is done aside from a couple of small items I want to add like the book's provenance, the whole thing might be done before the week is out.

For the record, I've named this journal A Garden of Collage (name inspired by a snippet cut from a magazine).

Elsewhere in the studio, Audrey has revealed the name of her QAL - Bramble Blooms.  

So I will use that name as the label for this quilt project here on the blog.

She also suggested we choose fabrics from our recent fabric pull to create the first quilt's center panel.

I've chosen these - none of them are large and some have gaps where sections were cut away, so I need to puzzle out a layout for that center rectangle.

And many months ago, I purchased this blank fabric book from Baumcat, a currently on-break Etsy seller - mostly because I wanted to see how she put it together.

Since then it has sat.

Now, with younger son doing twice-weekly PT for an inflamed rotator cuff (and my ensuing waiting time in their lovely lobby) I've pulled out this book along with four neutrals plus a soft pink No. 5 Perle cotton and have started using a kantha-style stitch to fill each of the pages.

I unstitched the three signatures from the cover and have found myself wondering if I'll end up making my own cover before the book is ultimately reassembled.  

If I had to guess at this moment, my answer would be absolutely YES.

* * *

Again this year we will be holding down the trick-or-treating candy station at elder son's house while he and Mommy take Little Man (a ninja this year) around their neighborhood.

We had our first frost/freeze last night with two more freezing nights on the horizon so the hordes of candy-hunters will likely be wearing coats over their costumes.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion.  Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly."

Franz Kafka 

My Sister's Journal - Delivered

Her birthday journal was delivered Tuesday and she is over the moon happy with it.

She was delighted with the number of "intriguing" things - like this page with a stamp from Rwanda featuring a Norman Rockwell Santa Claus and a quality control slip from an at-home COVID test.

I found all of my Queen Elizabeth stamps and added them to this page from an old stamp catalog.

Everyone in her family is a huge fan of Charlie Brown . . . and the snaps came from the stash of our mom.

I even managed to tuck in a few bits of fabric (right page) - something I want to do much more of going forward.

She said she loved all the empowering words . . .

Didn't we all grow up eating Animal Crackers?

Another quote she especially liked.

The paper towel was used to soak up excess water in the pans after Little Man and I painted with water colors one day.

Turns out paper towel works well in journals!

I used this random water color note from who knows where and added a quote inside - Don't make things more complicated than they need to be (she and I are famous for doing that).

And here's a top view of the finished journal.

* * *

I was so worried about gifting one of my randomly eclectic journals,  but after her reactions, I feel much better about gifting another one someday in the future.

Quiltdivajulie

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"The artist vocation is to send light into the human heart."

George Sand

Catching Up and Regrouping

Most of the picking up and putting away after our three weeks with LM here is done, but none of us are really back in the groove just yet.  

I pulled out my bag of Scrabble tiles and am going to make some sort of framed piece to hang on the wall in my studio (and yes, I know "eclectic" needs another C tile).

I've also started on a scrappy journal for my sister's upcoming ending-in-5 milestone birthday.  

This is the page this is folded to go inside the library card pocket on the inside of the front cover.

Here it is inside the pocket.  

I used the strip of music paper to reinforce the spine.

And here is what I put on the inside of the back cover.

The scrappy paper signatures were sewn in place after this photo was taken so now I am working on the collage elements.

Her birthday is next week - so I need to get this finished and in the mail soon.

I've also started saving my tea bags to use as part of a longer term project next year, possibly the 100 Day Project or maybe the Index-Card-a-Day (ICAD).  

To that end I cut up leftover scrapbook paper (card stock weight) to use as the bases. 

These measure 4.5" x 6.5" each and there are just over 100 of them.

Once they're completed, I'll punch a hole in each so they can become part of my "Rings of Things" collection (display idea inspired by Wendy of Willa Wanders).

* * *

P.S.  The street stabilization effort is completed and the asphalt crews started work today to repave our streets.  Once they are finished I think all of us will need to do a lot of pressure washing to get rid of the residual dust, dirt, and grime (the parts that a recent rain storm didn't wash away).

Quiltdivajulie

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"Perfectionism is the enemy of art; it stifles the creative impulse."

Julia Cameron