What is Normal?

The past month was really busy and I am SOOOOOOO glad that I am back to my "normal".  Erma Bombeck once asked the question, "what is normal?" and answered that question with "It is a setting on the dryer!"  What a great sense of humor. :)

However, MY normal typically involves most of the day spent at home either in my sewing room or doing the routine cleaning/chores, and an occasional trip to the grocery store or the bank. Pretty boring, but I'm okay with that.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to travel to Fort Collins for an allergy testing/clearing treatment.  I was simply seeking relief from the seasonal allergies that have plagued my life every spring and fall with more sinus infections than I care to remember. Over the past six years or so I have learned how to manage the symptoms and prevent the infections by having facials and other natural therapies offered at the Massage Therapy program at Trinidad State Junior College.

Like I stated, I was simply seeking relief from seasonal allergies... But it was suggested that I follow an anti-inflammatory diet that includes being soy free and dairy free.  :P Throw in on top of that, I was also told to avoid corn, white sugar, white potatoes, pork and shell fish!

ugh!  "I'm fine... I don't really have these food allergies. Pffft... Ridiculous." And then I recalled waking one Thursday morning with such pain and stiffness in my shoulders and recalled all that I had eaten the day before.  I had consumed a banana, fresh pineapple, yogurt and cheese & peanut butter crackers... all foods I should avoid. :(  Okay, maybe it is worse than I thought...

I have since been on the hunt for soy free foods.  That is tough!  I have had some success, and I do feel much better.  My shoulders don't ache near as bad as they had.  This is progress!

But the no sugar thing got to me yesterday.  I was really, really wanting something sweet... chocolate chip cookies, specifically!  I pulled out my bag of chips and they are packed with soy! Not good!  I began searching for alternatives.  Using my favorite recipe I altered it by cutting out the white sugar and used 1/2 the amount of maple syrup.  I added baking soda to cut the acidity of it allowing the cookies rise and increased the flour by 1/4 cup.  I mixed in dried cranberries and almond slivers, and reduced the baking temperature by 25 degrees

SUCCESS!

My craving was satisfied and I don't have suffer!

Here's my recipe...

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

2-3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

Bake at 325 for 9-10 minutes

Oh yes, my allergies are so much better!  There are still a few things that are bothering me, but over all, I am actually enjoying this spring.  A few weeks ago we were enjoying a day of antique window shopping with trees in full bloom lining the streets.  My eyes did not itch, I didn't have a runny nose, or constant sneezing and wheezing.  Woohoo! 

Changes can be hard!  But I have a new normal... and I am loving it!  Now that I can satisfy my sweet tooth. ;)  Carry on with your normal!

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Put A Song In Your Heart

I am a quilter... And I am a woman... therefore, I piece and quilt with a strong tendency to the feminine side.... You know, "pretty" and sometimes "frilly".  

Quilting for children is easy because you can still use bright colors, kittens and puppies and such.  But I recently had the challenge of creating a couple quilts for some young men - the grandsons of a dear friend.  Both play guitar.  But they had begun their music lessons on the piano.  I needed something masculine for them and really didn't know where to start - other than I felt that nothing small or intricate.  After all men, like Tim Allen, like all thing bigger and faster, right?

I purchased "music" fabric just estimating how much I might need for the queen sized quilts.

Then I began searching for some "big blocks"... I ended up settling on two quick to assemble blocks, which made the quilt tops go together very quickly.

When they were ready for borders, I knew that the piano key fabric was needed. I felt it needed mitered corners for the best look... Mitered corners are not something that I do often, in fact, if completely honest, I avoid them!  I pulled out my reference that offered detailed instructions for them and moved forward.

I was pleased with result!

I chose an overall cross-hatch for the quilting... nothing fancy... remember, these are for male teens!  The final results...

It was a great compliment from my husband when he said, "I really like the look of these."  While they may not be among my personal favorites, I feel good that they are the best "masculine" quilts I have made.  Not once did I hear the word "pretty" to describe them... Funky, trippy and different were among the descriptions, but NOT pretty.  And I consider that successful!

Put a song in your heart and have a great day!

Blessings,

Melva

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Feelin' the Love...

I was recently contacted by a Northern New York resident that started a sewing group that meets at the local library...

Dear Melva,

I am sending you this email to ask permission to use your pieces of my heart block #791 and turn it into the St. Patrick's small quilt as found in winter 2013 Quiltmakers 100 blocks.

I live in a small town in northern New York and have started a small sewing group this winter at our local library. Our goal is to find a small seasonal project to increase the sewing skills while forming new friendships and combating the long cold winter.

You would be given credit as the designer and it would be made clear that this is for own use only-not for profit. Thank you for considering my request.

I was humbled (yet excited) when I learned that my block - Pieces of My Heart - was selected to be included in volume 8 of Quiltmakers 100 blocks.  And even more so when I discovered that my shamrock wall hanging had been included as well.

How nice that I was asked permission for the sewing group to use my pattern and layout!  

And today I received a picture from the group!

Nice job, ladies! 

What a great way to fend off a case of "winter blues"... with a little bit of love.

What do you do to fight the "blues"?

Happy Quilting!

Melva

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First items of my 2016 "Bucket List"

As I turned the calendar to February I thought I would share a few projects from January...

The "Photo" quilt was actually started in late December, but I just completed it last week!  It was a somewhat slow project, but I thoroughly enjoyed the process and challenge of the quilt. Here are a few pics of the process...

              Day 1...

 The assembly of the leg and tail feathers... because I had basically run out of room on my design wall!

 Now that the lower half of the body was done I could move on to the upper half...

 With the rooster completed, it was ready for borders... and backing.

I found the perfect backing!  Chickens!!!!

And the sunflower border on the top & bottom came from the same chicken panel... It was meant to be!  It was the perfect size!  It certainly would have been nice to have the sunflowers on the side as well, but since I purchased the last bit of fabric on clearance at Wal-mart, I had to be happy with what I had.

A few years ago I picked up some batting and a quilting hoop off of a local swap shop for a screaming deal - The quilt hoop alone is worth around $200! (I actually didn't know this, but figured it was worth what I paid for two different battings & the hoop)  So, I pulled it out and spent a few evenings and afternoons hand quilting my Bitty Block quilt... 

It has been a learning process, but I think I have gotten the hang of it.  












I cannot believe one month has already passed by - and sew quickly! ;) 
So... Hello February!  

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Calling Fabric Experts!

I love quilts!  I love making my own quilts but something that I consider a great privilege is to be able to finish someone else's quilt.

And this week, that is exactly what I am doing.

This one is a bit different because the top (hand pieced) really should have a border added.  But because the fabric is vintage, I feel that adding a modern-day fabric to it would be an injustice.  

Do you feel the same?

The quilt top is full of imperfections, stains and some damage but the customer doesn't care!  She just wants it to be finished so that her kids have an heirloom from their Grandmother.  

There is something charming about this quilt... I am using an 80/20 batting so that when it is finished and washed it will have a wrinkled "Comfy, old quilt" look.  I am doing a black binding.  Watch for the finished quilt :)

 

Can someone who has a better knowledge of fabric give me an idea of what era this is from?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!  

Happy quilting!

Melva

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The Final Count...

While I had hoped to entice a few people to follow my blog with a give away, I have come to realize that it doesn't really matter what size my audience is. Even if I had zero followers... I would still put my fingers to the keyboard and share.

I have come to realize that this blog is really more of a journal of sorts for me. This is a place to share my thoughts and ideas, quilts quilts and projects... 

Total count of empty spools for 2015?

73!

That's what it took for the 25 quilts, a few table runners and other small miscellaneous projects!  As you can see my jar was overflowing :)  I obviously had lots of fun!

Speaking of fun... yesterday we returned home after a long weekend/business trip.  We spent some time with family, very special friends and made a few new ones along the way. Upon our return we find ourselves very, very tired!  We were in bed last night before 8 p.m. and slept for a glorious 10 hours!  And I can pretty much guarantee that we will have an early bedtime again tonight!  

On the agenda for today?  Laundry and catching up on some paperwork.  Bleh.   Tomorrow???  I will be found in my studio.

Be blessed!

Melva

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How Many Spools?

How many spools did I use in 2015????

Leave your guess in the comments and sign up to follow my blog.  The winner (the person who's guess is closest to the actual number of spools, without going over) will get a prize!  

I have chosen one of the books from my collection of quilt books for the prize...

Guesses must be submitted by January 10.

The winner will be announced Monday, January 11.

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