Empty Spools Conference

I've died and gone to heaven! Yesterday I got a ride with my friend Karrie and her husband to Nanaimo, where we caught a plane to Vancouver, then from Vancouver to San Francisco where we stayed for the night in the San Francisco Westin Airport Hotel. It was a fabulous place to stay, seconds from the airport and had a pretty fountain with PALM TREES that were healthy and tall and beautiful! My camera didn't capture their beauty in the dark. Karrie and I had arranged to meet at the place where the shuttles for the hotel take off......unfortunately we didn't know there was four of them. Of course I did not end up at the one Karrie did, but she found me....Good idea to travel with someone younger than me....!

This morning we got up at some ungodly hour in order to catch the last flight of our journey. A 20 minute flight from San Francisco to Monterey, California. But it was worth it. Upon arriving here.....here being the Asilomar Conference Center. The Asilomar Conference Center where the "Empty Spools Quilting Seminar" is being held. I'm taking a week long class here! What a wonderful and unexpected break from my daily routine!
Once settled in our room we went for a tea and then a walk on the beach. It is so fabulous I want to live here! We walked for almost two hours and I didn't want to go back!

Now, later in the day, all the other participants in the Quilt Conference are arriving and the "Meet and Greet" is happening in a few minutes. Off I go!

Finding Time for Art

My newly discovered Driftwood Shelter!

I've been a little overwhelmed lately by my mother's multiple medical appointments and haven't been doing anything in my sewing room.  I've taken my knitting to waiting rooms, my beading to a friend's house for a day together, and have worked on a little 12 x 12 challenge. Not really finishing anything as successfully as I did in January, but the days are full and busy. 

Two socks on Two circular needles.....the plan to
have them match exactly isn't working!

My caregiving shift seems to be from 9:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. with little breaks here and there throughout the day.  By the time I sit down in the evening, I am tired and not feeling enough creative energy to work in my sewing room.  But still feeling that I want to do something that is a bit creative.  Often my mind is caught up in the day's conversations and frustrations....the most difficult part of this new "career".   Sometimes I knit and watch TV like the little old lady I can be at times, and sometimes I doodle.

BUT, I am lucky enough to know Donna, who has letters after her name.  She is a CZT or Certified Zentangle Teacher.  Try googling "zentangles" and you'll be amazed at this art form that doodling has become. Here's a link to the main site of the people who started this craze.  http://tanglepatterns.com/

When I feel the way I've described above, I sit in the evening and try a zentangle.  In no time at all I am totally focused on the drawing and have forgotten anything else.  I go to bed satisfied that I did a little something artistic and much more relaxed than I was when I sat down. 


Another friend, Joan, travelled with me to Victoria to attend the doll club meeting.  Just to stay in touch with everyone we do this three or four times a year.  While in Victoria we did a bit of shopping and I have to thank Joan because she came up with the greatest idea.  I had told her how I've been doing a bit of zentangling in the evenings.  She also knows I take my dog for two hour walks to the beach a couple of times a week.  She suggested we go to the art supply store, Opus, http://opusartsupplies.com/locations/victoria and get an Art Bin, a small journal and a couple of pens to keep as a kit in my backpack, which I always take with me in case I find a good heart-shaped rock to bring home (I collect them). 

We did purchase that little kit and today for the first time I went to the beach with it, and a little thermos of tea and a protein bar.  Tuffy and I walked fast and furious to the end of the beach, collecting little items for inspiration, when lo and behold, there is a little shelter built of driftwood!  I hunkered down in there, (it was drizzling rain) got out my kit and my tea, and while listening to the music of the waves crashing on the beach, I did a zentangle, sipped my tea, and just generally totally relaxed with my dog sleeping beside me.  It was wonderful and I'll be doing that again. 

Beach Tidbits used as Inspiration

And here's the results.  Can you recognize the shape of the rock used as a template, the driftwood, feather shells and waves?  This was a delightful exercise and such a peaceful way to spend some time on the beach.  It took about 1/2 hour to draw, and then we walked back home to prepare dinner.....refreshed and smiling, and with a tired out dog!  All in all a great day! 

Finishing things!

Early in January I got together with my friend Joan and we decided this would be the year for finishing things.  Joan loves to journal and does a spectacular job of it.  I haven't done any of that yet, other than this blog!  She gave me a beautiful small notebook which is divided into sections with lined paper, graph paper, plastic sleeves for photos or samples and some dividers in random places.  I decided it would be my journal of my "Finishing Adventures of 2012". 

We sat down on our regular Friday stitching day and began our lists.  She had gone through all her unfinished objects (heretofor referred to as UFO's) and listed them.  So while at my house we went through my cupboard of UFO's and listed them in my journal.  Even I was horrified at what I had in there.  If I finished all the things in there I would have an entire closet to put to better use.  I think there's a fine line between storing and hoarding and I may be on the verge of crossing it! 

My book is now divided into types of UFO's.  Unfinished quilts, unfinished dolls, unfinished paper projects (handmade books), unfinished knitting projects and unfinished art trading cards! 

Throughout January I have been applying myself to finishing things.  I have finished a felted purse....it had been in my closet for at least 3 years and it needed a button sewn on it!!!!  WHY do I stop when I'm so close?  But it's done now.

I then got out a doll that I think I started at least 15 years ago.  She's lovely and just needs her clothing completed.  I had started to make a skirt of leaves with decorative machine stitching on them.  The silk I was working on had bunched up and I didn't know how to fix that so into a box she went with all her parts and pieces to await ...... well, to await more knowledge I suppose.  This month she emerged and I was amazed at how much I've learned in the past years and how easily I could do that stitching now that I know what supplies to use and how to use them!  I've got the stitching done now and am adding beads to the skirt petals....beading is another skill I've learned since starting that doll.  I'll be going to the doll club meeting in Victoria next week and I intend to take her with me.  Some of the members were in that class when I took it with Patti Culea, and I'd like to ask if anyone can remember how many years ago it was! 

 Another thing finished in January is a knitted collar which I'm very pleased with.  It was started in a class at Needle & Arts in Campbell River http://www.needlenart.com/ with Miriam Leth-Espensen from Santa Fe, New Mexico.  I love the way it fits and believe I will do another.  It would make a lovely gift for someone who doesn't knit and it's so simple! 

This is a pot holder that has been on the shelf for a number of years.....I don't dare guess how many.  I don't even think I made it....it's folded squares and all it needed was a binding!  It's done now and crossed off the list! 

And last but not least, while at a retreat with my quilting group in April of 2011 I put together a kit quilt that my mother gave me and asked me to make for my sister to hang in her office.  I'm not a Halloween officianado, but I was willing to sew it together and finish it.  Mum had used the center panel to translate into graph work and knitted a sweater for my sister in the intarsia method, which incorporated these designs. (My sister works is a pediatric heart specialist) Mum does this in her head, without even drafting it out on graph paper! 

So this January I got out that quilt top, basted it and proceeded to quilt and bind it.  Yahoo....another finished project!  And the last step for January is to enter in my little journal of UFO's, what I finished, when I finished it, and any notes I think appropriate.  The only appropriate note I can think of is "Why the heck didn't you go all the way to the end before you started the next thing!!!"  See that big word at the bottom of the page????

I can hardly wait to see what February brings!

A Tea Flower Ceremony

My mother, father and I were having dinner  together the other evening, as we do every evening now that they live with us.  it was a quiet meal with not a lot of conversation.  I cleared the table of the main meal and brought out dessert and as always, a pot of herbal tea.  Only this day the tea was different.  We had a coffeemaker that stopped working and I had thrown out the body of it and put the pot in a box for the local thrift shop.  Mum saw it there and brought it back into the kitchen.  She told me she had a tea flower that her granddaughter gave her and she needed a clear pot to put it in and wanted to use the nearly discarded clear glass coffee pot for that. 

Now you should know that Mum has downsized considerably in this move, and can't let go of a lot of things she has.  So when she can't find a place for them she brings them into my part of the house and places them somewhere.  I find little surprises in the oddest places.  Some I leave there and some I put in the box for the thrift store.  I've found that once Mum has actually gone through the motions of moving something out of her space, she will often forget about it.  (Altho I have gotten into trouble the odd time because we "can't find" something she knows she brought over to my house!)  But this time it was worth it......

But back to the tea.  Mum brought her little tea flower over.  It's a tight little ball of tea leaves.  This one was called Sunset Oolong...."Wild oolong leaves and orange lily offer a golden full-bodied flavor with hints of peach, some caffeine.  Brew time 3 minutes."  It was from Spice Merchants . 

We put the little ball into the pot and topped it up with just-boiled water.  And then the three of us sat and watched the little thing unfurl.  I must admit to having had thoughts along the line of "what has my life become?"  But little by little the leaves rehydrated and spread out and lo and behold, we had a lovely flower floating in a pot of tea!  We poured three cups and it was surprisingly tasty.  I had seen these little balls in the tea shops in our area, but never before appreciated the zen quality of the tea ceremony using one of these. 

My natural (or destructive?) curiosity overcame me when we were done tho.  I got out kitchen scissors and dismantled the leaves.  It was interesting to see that it was constructed like a bouquet.....many long tea leaves, a lily flower which still had it's stamens, and what I think was a strawflower in the middle.  I can't imagine making these and wondered how it gets dried into the ball shape! 

But what started out to be something I thought laughable was actually pretty interesting and educational as well as tasty! 

Zen Doodling

"Zentangling" has become a very popular form of doodling.  Check out the "home site" for this new art craze at http://tanglepatterns.com  There are many blogs on-line also that have photos and descriptions of other "tangler's" pieces, as this one is going to do.  My friend Donna Pepper is a Certified Zentangle Teacher and treated a group of us to a class.  It was amazing in that it made a group of very close friends go from chattering and laughing to total silence the moment we started to concentrate.  I can understand why it's called "ZENtangling" by that experience. 

Zentangles can be done in a book or journal (one of the participants has a fabulous collection in a little book and they are incredible)  and can be any size you like, but the typical is a 3" card referred to as a "tile".  Donna gave us each a few tiles and a pen (pencils and erasers not allowed), and started us out on the essentials to begin our very own tile.  It was great fun and I loved it.

So I decided to try it at home.....in fact....finish the piece I started in that mini-class.  Now I'm wondering if I missed the "zen" aspect altogether because the piece I did is so uptight and strangled that it doesn't look like I relaxed or got into the zone at all! Too many tiny little squiggles, too much black.....I think a psychiatrist might have fun analysing this one!  I don't remember what mood I was in when I tackled this one, but I do believe I'll have to try again....or then again, perhaps I should just stick to stitching! Here's my first tile (she says unhappily)....and I know the photo isn't in proper focus, but figured it shows well enough how badly I did~!

Pennant Exchange

The online group I belong to, Stargaze Tomers, with Yahoo, occasionally does an exchange.  Last spring Patti Culea, leader of the group http://www.pmcdesigns.com/index.php organized an exchange of pennants.  I volunteered to take part.  This was just before the insanity of construction started and I had fantasies of being able to sew while the crew worked.  Needless to say it didn't work out that way.  The deadline was August and I missed it by a mile, but I did finish.  The picture above is the five that I made. 

The photos below are the ones I made paired with the one I received from the person I exchanged with.  Some beautiful work by some very talented people.  My chosen theme was "trees" and you can see that reflected in each pennant I received. 

This is the set exchanged between Patti Culea and myself.  Patti's theme was Steampunk/Fantasy and I had a lot of fun looking for charms and decorations to do that theme.  It has a real watch face, new charms, a piece from a broken digital camera, and rusty lock washers for goggles. 

 This is the set exchanged between Kari Curley and myself.  Kari's theme was "pink" and this one is done on tissue paper fabric (tutorial at www.joggles.com) with a stamped and stitched face.  There is tattered lace covered with puff paint, a technique taught by Eileen Neill of Qualicum Beach.  It is quite heavily beaded but unfortunately does not show in the photo!

This set was exchanged between myself and Rayna Shone.  I did not get hers before I made the one I was doing for her, but was pleased to see that she does "crazy quilting" because mine turned out looking that way too!  It is a transfer image at the center with some of my own tatting for trim and hand painted fabric. 

And this set was exchanged between myself and Sue Crook.  Her theme was the most challenging for me and was "bright colors".  The one she made for me is wool felt with some pretty incredible quilting on it, and mine is applique, stamping, hand painted fabric, beading and some paper beads from Africa. 

The fifth one I did and mailed was a "cat" theme and is paper pieced in the tail, has google eyes and a mouse charm hanging off the background.  I haven't received a pennant from this participant yet, which makes me feel not so bad for being as late as I was! 

A QUILTED ROCK!

An idea was formed when my friend Angela and I went to a rock show last March.  I love rocks, and always find it intriquing to see what people can do with them.  But I keep telling myself I have enough interests, and I don't have room, time or finances for more.....but these are rocks and I love them.  So I bought some pieces, with a new idea forming in my mind. 

This particular rock show had a lot of slices available for sale.  I couldn't help but see pictures in them and thought it would be fun to find a way to incorporate the slices into a quilt.  I purchased four, thinking that I would experiment with them.  The idea percolating was to extend the design in the rock out into a surrounding quilt. 

It is always exhilarating when the idea in your head comes out of your hands.  This slice of stone is actually called "Ocean Picture Stone".  (I had to take it to The Rock Shop in Courtenay, BC to have it drilled because I don't have the correct tools....I'll be getting them because this was FUN!  The owner told me the name and that it's from mainland BC and is getting hard to find.)

 I spread out the fabrics I thought would go with the stone and blend the colors and this is what came of it.  I've used a mixture of commercial solid colors, hand dyed fabrics by Ionne McCauley, and some of my own hand painted fabric.  The funny part is that the quilting design in the "sky and water" area came from the pocket of my jeans!  Inspiration can be found anywhere!   

I have spoken often of the group in which I am privileged to be a member.  We had another "retreat" this past week and it was again, wonderful to be with friends for three days and catch up with what is going on in their lives, as well as share what is happening in mine.  We met at a new location this time, Honeymoon Bay Lodge Lodge in Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island.  It was sooooo comfortable, luxurious and absolutely perfect for our group.  I would recommend it to anyone who wants to have a gathering of this sort. 

We stitch and quilt and inspire each other, share finished projects at our "show and tell" evening and in the last two gatherings have instigated a 12" x 12" challenge.  Last time the theme was trees and the work submitted was so varied and intriguing....so many different ways to interpret trees. 

The winner of the "Tree" challenge set the theme for the next one.  This time we were to produce a 12" x 12" piece with the theme "Ocean".

Lo and behold.....I won first prize for the 12" x 12" (and it WAS a challenge  for me to make it the right size!)  I will be doing more of these with the other slices I bought, and I'll be looking for the next rock show I can go to!