Celebrate the Ordinary - October's journal

This is the front cover of Celebrate the Ordinary's October journal.

These are the two inside pages . . . 

Another spread features my wristband from River Arts -  one of our area's annual outdoor art festivals.

Two fussy cut bits from one of Young Man's very early preschool papers with space for future additions.

A bit from a polka dot gift bag, a tag from my Full Deck Challenge projects, and my early voting sticker - again with blank space for the future.

A chronology of Young Man's Halloween costumes, another bit of that gift bag, and one of YM's Pokemon cards (he gave me this one several years ago - he and Daddy are deep into collecting/selling Pokemon cards these days).

These are the last page and inside back cover.  The embellished tag was made by someone else but I added the word sticker and fabric tie along with a handwritten quote on the reverse side.  

(I just couldn't resist adding the Count's postage stamp)

* * *

I'm still debating how I want to store/display these journals.  I could house them inside a traveler's notebook cover (two inserts per cover given how much I've added to the pages) but six covers could get expensive.  I could find a dedicated basket or box to stand them in but I haven't seen anything so far that isn't too big or too clunky looking.  Or, more likely than not, I could simply add a ribbon tie around each journal, coordinating the ties with each month's color palette like I did with the ROYGBIV journals and store the journals on one of my bookshelves.

I'll eventually figure it but for now I'm enjoying the process of making each month's journal.

I'll be back with photos from November's journal in a day or so.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Art has something to do with the achievement of stillness in the midst of chaos."

Saul Bellow

Catch Up Post

In between a lot of other things, I have finished filling the partial sketchbook for Eclectic Energy, my scrappy circles project.

This is one of my favorite pages in the entire journal.  

And this is another of the final few pages that I especially like.

The remaining punched circles have been sorted by size and tucked into 4 x 6 photo boxes so they're ready for future projects.

Since then, there's been a lot of editing, tossing, and clearing the top of my paper play table.  At the same time, there's been some serious pondering as to what I prefer to work with/on.

To that end, I am stopping my shipping tags for Full Deck Challenge 4.

Instead, I'm in the process of trimming a wide mix of random, neutral papers into 3 x 5 rectangles.  

The plan is to glue those rectangles onto dollar-store index cards, creating backgrounds.  Over the next few months, I'll collage onto the front of each prepped index card when time permits. 

In terms of storage, I've created a loosely organized ROYGBIV approach, much like I did with the Color Wheel rolodex project.  The card guides encompass warm neutrals, purples, oranges, pinks, greens, yellows, black/white/grayscale, blues, and reds.  (the other cards in the back of the box are ones I've already prepped)

These are my three warm neutral test cards. 

Test cards for the purple, black/white, orange, and red sections.

The biggest goal in all this is to tear up, cut up, and use a lot of the scrappy ephemera I've collected in the last two or three years.  It isn't doing any good where it is . . . 

* * *

I still have four days left in May to get Hanabi, Macnas series no. 10, quilted and finished - wish me luck!

Quiltdivajulie

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"Clutter is the manifestation of unmade decisions fueled by procrastination."

Christina Scalise

Playing Month End Catch Up

My studio squirrels finally got their way - I started a new journal project.  Using my postage stamp punch, I've been gathering these rectangles and adding them into a small blank journal.

So far I have created themed pages like the ones above plus low volume in both warm and cool tones, faces in black and white/sepia, faces in color, a page for scrappy ROYGBIV stamps, plus pages featuring words, buildings, packaging, etc.  

It's very okay if it takes a while to fill this small journal - the fun is in discovering stamp-able papers and seeing each page slowly evolve.

My April scrappy nine patches feature Chihuly's glass, faces, plaids, and warm low volume with text.  Believe it or not, there is thought given to placement of the squares - when you squint a little, can you tell?

Again, the fun of this project is in the discovery and arranging.

Over in the scrappy circles journal, I'm determined to branch out beyond creating more large clumps of semi-related circles.  This journal project has only 11-12 more pages to be filled, which is why I agreed with the squirrels to start the postage stamp punch project.

And this is an improved version of the test collage shared yesterday for weeks 15-18 of my Full Deck Challenge tags.  I wasn't at all happy about how the test collage looked, especially when "enlarged," so I tried again using another method.  This one is better but I do miss being able to create collages in Picasa.

(Your thoughts are welcome on the collages - whether you like them, don't like them, or prefer that I stay with single higher res photos,  please let me know in the comments below.  Thanks!)

* * *

Over at the sewing machine . . . 

Paint Party, Macnas no. 12,  has only a few more rows to be sewn.  Using the pairs for Yutori, Macnas no. 13, as leader enders during PP's row construction is also moving Yutori forward.

I need to seam up the backing for Morning Fog, Macnas no. 11, so I can take the top/back yardage off the design wall so it's ready for Paint Party's flimsy reveal photo shoot.

Enchanted, Macnas no. 10, is pin basted and I would really like to get it quilted yet this week.  We shall see how that plan works out.

I've added labels for each of these quilts at the bottom of the post so you can click over and see their related posts or you can visit the dedicated Macnas series blog page here.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Birds learn to fly by falling."

Rumi

ROYGBIV Series Complete

All eight of my ROYGBIV journals are assembled and "done" . . . subject to adding more found bits over time.

The photos below feature my final two journals - "warm neutrals" and "the blues."

Warm neutral cover.

Who else remembers taking typing class in high school?  

A fragment from one of my mother's Simplicity patterns and a vintage button card.

An old recipe and an old postcard with fabulous penmanship on the reverse side (the Kraft envelope is one my DIL used to send a card my way).

Lace fragment from my collegiate summer in Finland and one of my grandmother's crocheted doilies embellished with a vintage button.

Random bits of papers - graph, rice, map, magazine, tea-dyed learn-to-print, and vintage book.

I added flat lace trim to seven or eight of the pages - the color palette pretty much demanded it.

On to the "the blues" journal.

For some reason the juxtaposition of the underwater bookplate and the blue skies phrase tickled me.

Blueberries from a Pete the Cat book turned into a pocket for the Chihuly tag, a bit of scrapbook paper, and a magazine illustration.

A group of interestingly random pieces.

Two pockets  containing a vintage game card and the LOL postcard sent from Nann's stash.

I love including vintage seed packets in these journals.

* * *

Technically these eight volumes are more "glue book" than journal, but I'm not big on using the technically correct terminology (any more than I 'm a fan of popular genre or style labels for my quilts).

These books were originally the annual calendar journals I kept next to the sewing machine during my earlier years of quilt making.  Instead of letting them sit ignored while taking up valuable shelf space, I've given them new life as "altered books" . . . so I call them my ROYGBIV journals for the sake of simplicity.

This has been a super fun project that has allowed me to use a whole lot of little bits of all sorts.  Much better to use these little bits instead of accumulating and storing!

And, if you're interested in seeing the earlier volume reveal posts, just click on the ROYGBIV label below.

Quiltdivajulie

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"We can only connect the dots we collect . . . Your connections are the thread that you weave into the cloth that becomes your story that only you can tell."

Amanda Powell

Black and White ROYGBIV Journal Done

I didn't feel good enough to sew let alone handling the rotary cutter, so I worked on the black and white ROYGBIV journal.  

It is "done" for now but there are quite a few blank pages that can be filled going forward as items of interest present themselves.

DH likes this bird and I must say that cutting out so many letters for my Abecedarium project has greatly improved my fussy cutting skills.

I chanced upon a $2 thrifted book filled with black and white photographs taken by Frank M. Hohenberger, the unofficial photographer laureate of Indiana.  

I've used quite a few of his photos in this journal - they're timeless and haunting.  The quotes came from all over but they absolutely belonged with these photographs.

The spiral-bound now-altered book itself was my 2018 quilt log.  Every so often a bit of multicolor ink shows around the edges.  

Who else has stood and gazed into the basin of a large civic fountain?  I know I have.

The gray scrapbook paper backgrounds came from an early 2023 purchase.

Finally I have found a grand way to use them.

Having lived in Indiana for many years when our boys were babies, toddlers, and lower elementary school students, we saw many buildings like this one.  

I've had the typewriter sticker for a long time - and this page tickles me.

Exploring was the beyond-perfect word for this photograph.

Black and white logos cut from advertising and packaging.

The final page (left) bears a vellum pocket made from paper rescued from one of Young Man's long ago Kiwi Crate kits.

The inside back cover (right) features the thrifted book's cover photo.

And in my stash of abandoned old thrifted/rescued photos, I found these two that now live inside the vellum pocket.

The back of the car photo bears the inscription "Pop's car 1946" so the time period is exactly right.

* * * 

There are two more ROYGBIV journals planned - one in warm neutrals and the other in blues.  I've started assessing what I have for the warm neutrals version so time will tell how that evolves.  

(by using the ROYGBIV label below, you can scroll through all of this project's previous posts)

p.s. All of us are recovering slowly - our energy comes and goes as does our ability to concentrate - darn summer colds!

Quiltdivajulie

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"It is better to something than to do nothing while waiting to do everything." 

Winston Churchill

ROYGBIV Journal in Purples

The purple ROYGBIV journal has been completed. 

The introduction post for this multi-volume series is HERE and you can see all previous posts by using the ROYGBIV journals label in the sidebar.

Inside front cover and first page.

I had such fun sifting through my bits and pieces of purple . . . 

An unused envelope became a decorated pocket with a decorated paint chip tucked inside.

Another unused envelope contains a play money "bill" backed with a magazine cut out.

Vintage rick rack and the inspection slip from a box of masks . . . 

And a quote I dearly love embellished with a bit of vintage lace.

Part of the cover of my maternal grandmother's embroidery booklet (one of many she left behind).

A label turned into a pocket . . .

As was this magazine cut out . . .

This panda panel from a box of tissues holds more play money.

And another embellished envelope fills the final page of the journal.

And when the flap is opened, more goodies are revealed.

The back cover's florals came from yet another magazine page.

* * *

Next up in the series will be the black and white edition (with only blue and then warm neutrals still in the pipeline).

Quiltdivajulie

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"Be eccentric now - don't wait for old age to wear purple!"

Regina Brett