WIP Wednesday WoW!

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Nita

Wow – look what we woke up to this morning! It started about 9:30 last night and is still falling. It’s pretty, but some green would be prettier on the May 16th!

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, since today is Work-in-Progress Wednesday, I’m linking in here: (check them out and see what other crafty folk are up to!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I haven’t given a progress report on my various sewing projects in a couple of weeks, so here goes!

The May block for the In Color Order block-of-the-month quilt-along was posted, and I made that one right away. I’m really enjoying this QAL (quilt along). Every block is made out of 1/2 triangle squares, so it is interesting to see how many combinations there are, and also they are very easy which is right up my alley these days. Cheers to stress-free quilting!  Here’s the May block:

And here it is with its buddies (Jan, Feb, Mar & Apr, plus one extra I wanted to make as an experiment). She’s going to be gorgeous when she’s finished, eh?!

And then after all my angst and anxiety over Nora’s quilt, it finally all came together.  You’ll remember that I had the 12 blocks but couldn’t decide on a sashing colour:

For some reason, the depression just magnified the indecision, which became stressful, which started keeping me awake at night and yada yada yada. Hard to believe one little quilt could cause so much panic in my mind. That’s being ill for you, I guess. I still have absolutely zero tolerance for stresses of any kind…any little stress just throws me right off of my balance beam and I can’t cope.  My solution was to put the quilt on the back burner and move on to something else for a while. I even told Nora’s mom that the quilt was going to take a bit longer than expected. I was still intrigued by stars, though, and made 12 of these little 6″ babies:

Hummm…..do you see what I see? (said the quilter to the drummer boy). Just to see what would happen, I laid out the original stars together with the new batch of 6″ minis, and Viola!  Nora’s quilt was born!

Now the big job begins…hand quilting this little sparkler!

Also this month I made the May We Be Learning Bee block for Barbara in Oregon. She requested a bow tie block in a theme of our choice. I found some cute country farm fabric, so that is my theme. The block is already in the mail – that is going to be a fun quilt! I’ll look forward to her photos of it when it’s finished. I wonder what themes the other quilters in the group will choose?

My month is June, and I wanted to have everyone make me a bear’s paw block. So I thought I better test the pattern out since I’ll have to post it in a couple of weeks. I tried three times, and just couldn’t make the block turn out the right size. So I guess it isn’t really a beginner block after all. I do love it, though, and will keep it in mind to make when I’m not a beginner anymore. There are so many little pieces in this block that the smallest error multiplies and throws the size right off, so not the best choice for a beginner quilter group if I want to receive 12 blocks that are the same size! I can use the ones I made in a little quilt of my own since my own blocks were consistant, just not the 12.5 inches that the pattern calls for. So I’ve chosen a different (easier) block, but I’ll keep it under my hat for now…you’ll have to wait until June to find out what it’s going to be!  Here are two of my three bear paw blocks:

Of course this post wouldn’t be complete without a glimpse of my menagerie! Here is Misty, who has decided that I have sewn enough for the day:

And Sammy has had a haircut – what a cutie pie!

Happy Wednesday!

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Monday, monday

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Nita

I called in sick today and stayed home from work to fight off a cold that seems determined to settle in my ears. Don’t you just hate that? Ugh.

Also, this morning I feel like I’m just starting to emerge from a solid week of broken days. I hung on during the week, but on Friday, Saturday & Sunday I could barely get out of the house. I know that it’s important to get out and connect with people, so I didn’t cancel a dinner date that I had with two girlfriends on Friday night, and was really glad I went because I had a very nice time and came home feeling better. Saturday, though, I cancelled a walking date with another friend because I just couldn’t find the energy to organize myself for the excursion.  Sunday was similar energy-wise. But then flowers arrived from my beautiful son & daughter-in-law, and in the evening we all went out for supper. Again, I had a very nice time and felt better for having gone out and celebrated mother’s day with the kids.

Today, even though I don’t feel well because of the head cold, I feel the depression fog lifting a bit. Enough to take a good look in my fridge and think about meals for the coming week. Enough to actually do something about it, which was to drag myself up the street to the grocery store, buy vegetables and make a pot of broccoli soup that I can portion into containers for lunches. Enough to make a huge pot of brown rice and chop several days worth of vegetables that can go into the fridge to be used during the week. Enough to make a doctor appointment for tomorrow to see about investigating other reasons for feeling the way I do. Ask to get my hormones tested, get another thyroid test, talk about the medication & dosage I’m taking.

And for the rest of today? I see pots of herbal tea, a box of kleenex and a nap on the couch in my immediate future. Monday, monday, sometimes just turns out that way.

 

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Spring!

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Nita

I didn’t have to go to work today! It was such a beautiful morning that I decided to take a walk and get my errands done early. Samson and I walked the river loop at about 9:30 in the morning. It was about 0 degrees, so everything was crisp and frosty. I love it when the sun is warm on your shoulders and the air is chilly on your skin at the same time. I love it when the ground is slightly crunchy before it’s warmed up enough to soften. Spring is definitely here! The seagulls are back on the river, screeching and squawking. Walking along, I heard an especially loud ruckus start up in the gull population. I turned around just in time to see a bald eagle fly about 20 feet over my head, chased by a half-dozen of the afore-mentioned squawking flock. Further on, I found my first crocus flowers blooming on the river edge, and Sammy and I had to stop and smell the air when we got our first whiff of warm dirt and sap. Robins are singing, leaf buds are swelling and the snow is melting. Oh, happy day!

I didn’t have my camera with me, so I took some pictures of the yard when I got home instead. Here is what spring looks like at my house today:

 

Here is the rhubarb just starting to peek out of the ground. And brave early poppies sprouting, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Spring to you!

 

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Wednesday…again?

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Nita

Well, I don’t have much to report on the quilting front. I made a couple of more stars for Nora’s quilt, and then I laid them all out and chose the 12 I like best.

I’ve actually made 24 blocks between experimenting with this and that. Enough already! I have enough star blocks for 2 very different quilts now. Anyway…I still can’t decide how to put them together…with sashing or not, and if with sashing, I can’t decide between white or blue. And then I thought maybe I’d add little pinwheels on the sashing strips at the corners between each block… Sigh…

Actually, there’s a lot going on between me and that quilt, and I may decide to set it aside and make something else for Nora while I sort it out. It is starting to represent my frustration and unhappiness with being unwell, and those aren’t the kind of feelings I want to wrap her up in.

So…what other work in progress? How about me?I’m definitely a work in progress here, although lately its starting to feel like progress in the wrong direction as I’m finding it harder and harder to maintain my equilibrium, especially at work.

This morning I attended the second of those courses I talked about a couple of weeks ago (a broken day and a pretty dress). I don’t know…they call it a course, but it’s starting to feel an awful lot like group therapy to me. And I DIDN’T sign up for group therapy. I feel like a fish out of water. I feel irritable and impatient and I don’t like feeling that way. When I am sitting in that classroom, I don’t know who I am. And I REALLY don’t like THAT! Anyway, I am going, and I am trying to do the exercises because I am one stubborn lady who is determined to try everything she can to get better and be well again.

I don’t know what being well is going to look like. I don’t want to be an overachiever like I was before. That wasn’t healthy and look where it got me. But I do want my sense of joy back. I don’t like being a prickly pear. Somewhere inside is that joyful woman you see on the banner of this website. I want her back.

After class I went to the office. My balance beam was pretty narrow, but I was doing okay. I was smiling. I worked on an important project that took all afternoon to complete, and I was feeling good about myself – competent and capable. and kind of the way I used to feel in my job a couple of years ago.

…and then everything went to hell, and anxiety & depression are having a party in my body, making my head hurt and my stomach roll.

So I am going to go to my regularly scheduled Pilates class and see if I can work some of my stress out of me and into the mat where it belongs. And if that doesn’t work, maybe I’ll take the dog out for a walk.

Here is your photo for the day: me in my former life, dancing in front of The Big Band. Wow, that seems like a long time ago, but was actually only last year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since it is WIP Wednesday, I’m linking up:

 

 

 

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WiP Wednesday

Posted on April 25, 2012 by Nita

I haven’t checked in on a work-in-progress Wednesday for a couple of weeks. I may have slowed down now that I’m back at work, but I still make a point to spend an hour in the sewing room whenever I can. Today I’m linking up here:

 

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

 

 

 

 

Here’s what I’ve been up to!

A couple of Saturdays ago I couldn’t find any more excuses for putting my taxes off.  Who looks forward to that, eh? Not me! So I told myself that as soon as I finished my taxes, I could work on the April Treasure Chest Block-of-the-Month as a reward. With that motivation and a couple of cups of strong tea, I got right to work and finished them in no time!

And then…my reward! Voila! The Greek Cross!

 

I’ve also been making some 6-inch stars for Nora’s quilt:

 

After all that, I had the thought that maybe I should clean my sewing machine. So I took off the needle plate and prepared myself for a linty mess…but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, considering that it’s literally been YEARS since I last cleaned it.

 

I’ll leave you with some beautiful light from the Lake House this last weekend. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

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Earth Day Presentation at Yukon College

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Nita

…because sometimes I DO write about things that have nothing to do with quilting!

Today at lunch I went down to the “pit” (our Yukon College common area) to listen to a noon-hour presentation by the Kitchen-Kuiack family, who were the winners of the Canadian Geographic Energy Diet Challenge. 

Marguerite and Brian and their two daughters, 17-year-old Simone and 12-year-old Marika, came to share what they learned and how they did it. But they didn’t just talk, they also shared several of the two-minute videos that Simone had made as part of the project.  In total they were required to make 32 videos and post 32 blogs during the 3-month challenge. Wow! The videos we saw today were funny, engaging and informative and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I have been trying to track them down on the web so I could link to a few here, but unfortunately I haven’t had any luck. If I can find them later, I’ll post them then. Anyway, the family also passed around samples of various types of LED lightbulbs for us to see…these replace both the old-fashioned incandescent ones and the newer low energy fluorescent ones,. But better than that, they were able to talk about what they liked and didn’t like about the different types of bulbs. In fact, after hearing them talk, I’ll seriously consider replacing our “new” low energy fluorescent bulbs with these lower-energy LED ones when they wear out. The family also generously shared copies of their electric bills (down a whopping 32%), passed around a watt-hour meter (a little device that shows how much power whatever device you plug into it is using), and shared some of the more innovative outside-the-box ideas that they tried out, such as using grey water to flush the toilet.

They mentioned briefly that all of the participants in the challenge had to make and use a solar oven, and that as a result they used 51% less cooking fuel! Wow! I would have liked to have learned more about that. I think that is something we could definitely use here in the Yukon, so I may have to do a little research of my own. That would be a cool summer project for the Lake House, eh?

17-year-old Simone also took part in the Shell Canada driving challenge and shared some of the things she learned there as well. I was happy to see that many of the driving tips were things I already do. For example, I like to manage my vehicles energy much the same way I manage my bicycle, by coasting down hills (instead of powering down them) and coasting to stop signs & stop lights instead of powering up to them and then braking. However, I was also happy to learn some things that I hadn’t thought of, such as pretending there is an egg under the accelerator pedal, or pretending that there’s a full glass of water on the dashboard. These little imaginings should help to smooth out acceleration and deceleration. Smoother driving with less braking will definitely make a considerable difference in the amount of gas I burn (and have to buy).

After the presentation, I even got to plant some arugula and pea seeds to take home for my windowsill for future healthy munching!

I work in a cool place. Thanks for hosting this great lunch-time presentation, Yukon College, and thanks to the Kitchen-Kuiack family for sharing your experience with us. 

Happy Earth Week, everyone!

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A Broken Day and a Pretty Dress

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Nita

I haven’t written anything about my experience with menopausal depression for awhile. I don’t want to be one of those people who complain endlessly about their health, so I try not to talk about it too much. But since I started with that first post, (if you want to follow along, look under “depression” in the drop-down categories) I guess I will continue. Please stop reading now if it’s going to drive you bananas!

This is my third week back on the job. The first week, I only came in for two days. The second week I came in for 3 days. This week, I’m back to full time.

Wearing the everything-is -okay mask again has been tiring, and I’m exhausted at the end of the day. I’ve had a couple of small anxiety attacks at unusual times, too. For example, at the end of the day when I’m lying in bed I’ll suddenly start to panic. Kelly holds onto me and tells me I’m safe and that it will pass. God bless my husband.

I had two broken days in a row last weekend (Friday & Saturday). I held it all together through the work week, and then fell to pieces as soon as the pressure was off. I guess that makes sense. Today is another broken day as well, and I guess that makes sense, too.

What’s next? Well, part of my wellness plan is to attend a special course that was designed to teach lifestyle & self-management tools to people with depression and other related disorders. It takes place one morning per week for seven weeks. Sometimes I look forward to it, and sometimes I dread it. When I dread it, it’s because I’m scared and proud. I’m scared because what if being so immersed in the subject will make things worse?  And my pride doesn’t want me to be labeled and judged before I even walk in the door as “depressedNita”. I don’t want to be depressedNita! I want to be joyfulNita!

On the other hand, I look forward to being in the class because I really do want to be 100% well again.  I’m willing to  do whatever it takes to get the joyful ME back, and I’m hoping that taking this course will give me some great tools for my kit.

So the course information session was today. I went into the meeting feeling pretty good, but walked out feeling extremely shaky. At the end of the meeting, we were asked to fill out our answers to a dozen or so questions on a written form. I tried to answer as honestly as I could, but as I went from question to question, I began to realize that I’m really not as fine as I thought I was. It shook me up.

Afterwards, I sat in my car for a long time before I could drive away. I felt nauseous and lightheaded, and my chest and throat hurt. I might have thought I was having a heart attack, but I know from experience what anxiety and panic feels like, and that was the worst panic attack I’ve had in a long, long time.

I needed to be calm before going back to work, so I parked the car on Main Street and walked up and down a bit, just allowing myself to be amongst people, breathing and trying to feel settled again. I went into a store to browse, and ended up buying two dresses. Two dresses that made me feel confident and pretty the instant I put them on. Two dresses that made me smile and see myself on the outside the way I want to feel on the inside.

I like that image of myself: there goes Nita, moving towards wellness in a pretty dress.

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inspiration in strange places

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Nita

Thanks to everyone for their opinion on the colour choices – that was fun! Funny how this quilt is building itself. It reminds me of when I was choreographing At Last. It just seems to have a mind of its own, and I just have to be patient and wait for the quilt to reveal itself.

So as we were getting ready to leave for band this evening, I suddenly saw the little area rug in front of the door in a new light.  Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Voila! …..inspiration comes in strange places!

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Your Opinion Needed!

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Nita

Well, I’m ready to start putting Nora’s Star quilt together. I’ve made 15 blocks, and after squaring them up and taking a good hard look, I’ve chosen my favourite 12 to go into the quilt. I’ve also decided to sash them. For you non-quilters, sashing means to frame each square with fabric strips. As an example, here are two pictures: the one on the left is un-sashed. The one on the right has white sashing.

 

 

 

 

So, as I said, I’ve decided to sash each block as a way of pulling them all together and add a bit of extra width and length to the quilt. And I need some help deciding! I have three options: White sashing, Yellow sashing, or Navy Blue. Here are pictures of the yellow and navy blue options:

 

 

 

 

Of the three options, I like the white sashing the least. I’m torn between the yellow and the blue, but I’ll post all three for you to see. The yellow would be easiest to hand quilt, and would look nice because I’m using the same yellow for the backing. The blue would be harder to hand quilt because it has a gold print overlay. And the white would show the seam allowances. I could also use the yellow for sashing and backing, and the blue for binding. Or the yellow for sashing and outer border with a narrow navy inside border. Or just the opposite: Navy sashing and inner border with yellow backing and binding. sigh. You see my problem?

Anyway,  I could sure use your opinion! Please leave a comment and tell me what you think about the sashing in the three layouts below! Thanks!

Yellow with gold & cream flower print:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Navy Blue with gold fleur de lies:

 

 

 

 

 

 

plain white:

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Permission to do nothing at all

Posted on April 11, 2012 by Nita

The cabin is the one place in the world where we have given ourselves permission to do nothing at all. We each fall into our own rhythm there. Kelly loves to putter, and so for him the cabin is handyman heaven. He can easily spend the day fixing up this or that, interspersed with one or two (or three!) naps on the couch and a good session with his book or listening to CBC radio shows. I love to read and knit or sew, and can easily spend the entire day with a good book or handiwork project. In fact, I keep a special project mainly just for the lake. For the last two summers it was making the appliqué squares for Halia’s quilt. Before that I spent an entire summer knitting hats. This summer (and probably the next one or two summers as well!) will be spent on the appliquéd orange peel quilt.

So, speaking of the cabin, we spent the Easter long weekend there last week. The weather was spectacular. It was the first day that the sun was warm enough to sit out and enjoy it.

 

 

And, since the April We Be Learning Bee block was posted, I decided that that would be my weekend project. April is Jody’s month, and she requested a scrap basket wonky log cabin. So I grabbed my scrap bag and took it with me. I decided that I would make this modern wonky block in a very traditional fashion – hand pieced! So I sat out in the sun and sewed one strip onto the next with needle and thread. I even put my antique iron on the wood stove and used it to press the seams. That was very cool. My stitches are neither the smallest nor the straightest ever made, but I think the square will be sturdy enough. At least, I hope so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I read two books at the lake as well: Round Robin and then The Runaway Quilt, both by Jennifer Chiaverini. The Runaway Quilt is what inspired me to try piecing the wonky log cabin square by hand. I need to go back to the library and see if they have any other books in the series, as it’s a good one!

We had the telescopes with us, and got in some good viewing of a pretty active solar corona as well as sun spots with the solar scope. Here he is – what a beautiful day!

And he also got three clear nights in a row stargazing with his TeleVue. Sorry, I don’t have a picture of that since it was night and I’d be in more trouble than I can imagine if I snapped the flash at him!

Every one loves coming to the cabin. There’s Spooky in her favourite place…the middle of the bed.

 

 

 

Here’s Misty in her favourite place. Can you see her hiding there?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think Samson loves the sun more than the rest of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we got home on Monday, I finished a half-triangle square that I had started last week. I’ll need more than the 12 that we’ll be making in the In Color Order half-triangle squares BOM, so when I saw this pattern, I thought I would add it to the collection.

 

 

 

 

As usual, since it’s Work-in-Progress Wednesday, I’m linked in to The Needle and Thread Network, Sew Much Ado and Freshly Pieced, so head on over and check out what other crafters are up to!

That was my long weekend, a little bit late but better than never! How was yours?

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