First Time For Everything

My husband gets the mail each evening on his way home. To be honest, I couldn't if I wanted to as I have no idea which box is ours. I tried once many years ago and ended up trying the key in a dozen boxes before I hit the jackpot of bills and flyers. Last night as he was walking up the stairs he said something along the lines of (I was cooking dinner and only half paying attention), "I've been around you for a long time. I've seen you make all kinds of cards and crafty stuff. But I have never seen one of these. This is ALRIGHT! You need to make these!"

Um...Ok. He got my full attention. He walked across the room and handed me this:

(Sorry about the orientation, on my way to 'getting to good',
I will try to figure out how to rotate a photo!)

My friend Linda over at SCRAPMASTER had sewn & sent me this postcard in the mail! Little sneak asked for my address because, "I left something at her house" and she wanted to mail it to me. 

Not sure if you can read the writing but I had left something at her house...some scraps! She used them to make the postcard! It is so cute, I just love it. Best of all it made me smile! 

Isn't it rather happy making to get something in the mail that isn't a bill or a piece of junk? Maybe I should make some of these!

Thursday Morning Musing...

Last night we were having dinner at my Mums and my Kaleido flimsy came up in conversation. I of course expressed my frustration with the error filled pattern when my son shared his thoughts.  He said, "I don't get why anyone would make a quilt off a magazine pattern anyway. Why do they even make magazines full of patterns when you can just make up your own?"

I think my jaw dropped, it's possible I even choked a little on my nanaimo bar. My first reaction was shock. What a negative comment! I love looking thru patterns and seeing who's making what, seeing the colours as the trends change, feeling inspiration strike when all the elements come together and light that fire in my head.

But then I thought about the literal statement he made. My boy, The Virgo, literal to a fault...it's a black and white world for these Virgo people. He has watched me slice up piece after piece of fabric and stitch random bits back together in glee. He's not seen me angered by a pattern or complain about 'this not fitting' or 'that not working' for a very long time.  His 13 year old brains most recent version of my quilting history is an Improv view. I love free piecing! I'm a dive in head first kinda girl...in all aspects of my life. I just jump in. In quilting, he has watched me bring to life several designs that have both amused and awed me...without instructions. He sees that, his perception has become his brains reality; his mother just makes stuff.

Back to our dinner conversation:
I explained to Ben that patterns are important. While I am flattered that he thinks every other brain out there functions like mine does that there are lot's of people who sew their entire lives and never make a single quilt without a pattern. Some never cook without a recipe. Some carpenters never build without a plan. And this is OK! We are not all jumpers, sometimes plans are required.

I can build a Purple Cow with no insructions but I simply cannot build a single piece of IKEA furniture without a whole friggin' manual. And that too, is OK.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Right?
A thousand swear words often enough.

This flimsy was a love affair in the making the minute I saw it on the cover of  the current issue of Quilty Magazine.

Had. To. Have. It.

"KALEIDO" was designed by fellow Canadian Jeannie Jenkins of Ontario. So nice to see some Canuk talent in the spotlight. The pattern as printed in the magazine tormented me with little errors...which made me think in spite of my decision to refrain from thinking yesterday. I managed to figure it out and though it's one skinny border short of being put on the frame, it's done.

I may never piece curves again, at least not sober anyway.

I love it!

And Here I Go!

Good Morning!
In keeping with my list of intentions for this brand new year I will attempt to learn how to blog! Seems all the cool kids in my quilty world are doing this, so I figured I should give it a go... why the hell not? It's apt to take me a while to progress from "getting by" to "good".... And who knows, maybe I'll get to "great" one day!

First things first... How to put up a picture?
Hmmm...This isn't going to be easy is it?
Maybe a bit like nailing jello to a tree?