Random: So far

I've been writing about how thick the vog has been and how unproductive it has made me... well, yesterday we got a bit of rain - not a lot, but enough it seems to clean the air and make it cool again. I was excited to be able to have the day off today and not have to worry about trying to sew with oppressive humidity. The trade winds kept me company as I worked on my sister's quilt top... it seems like this is the only October project that I will not be able to cross off my list - ::sigh:: but I am ok with it. ::smile:: Because I could be finished with it if I decided to not put the smaller hexagons on, but I decided that I wanted to go all the way and add that extra touch.

My sister and I got a chance to talk the other day and it seems like she is feeling discouraged because of her responsibilities as a mother, wife, and grad student. Right now she is just really overwhelmed. Understandably so... I remember what my last year of grad school was - I couldn't imagine having to do it while raising three young children and supporting a husband whose work often takes him away from home for long periods of the week. I really look up to her and the journey that she has decided to take. I tried to think of the many reasons why she is one of my heroes as I continued to sew piece by piece.

So far I've finished piecing the large hexagons together... it is such a nice size. I was actually contemplating of just leaving it at the large hexagons and not putting on the smaller ones - but when I did a couple of samples and then held them up against the larger hexagons, I knew I'd have to add that last touch. So - this project might get stretched out a couple of more weeks... and I'm ok with that because I'm excited for how the overall quilt top will look. I know I keep putting pictures up of what appears to be the same quilt top - but actually not so... every time I take pictures of it it is because I have added something to it. I like to document the changes as they progress... and I'm finding that I like to blog about the changes - what a wonderful diary of productivity.

With the coming of the rain it makes me hungry for comfort foods. I've been feeling really homesick for the hanai (adopted) family I have back on Oahu, so I made beef curry. I don't have a picture of it but I made chicken katsu as well to go with the curry. It reminds me of when I use to work on Oahu, right across from the language school I taught at was a wonderful curry shop where I'd get katsu curry all the time. It was Korean run and they served really spicy kimchee with it as a side. I'd go there at least twice a month after work to enjoy a good plate of katsu curry while I corrected my student's papers. Isn't it funny how food can carry memories? I'm learning that anything tangible carries memories - as I work more and more with fabric, each piece of fabric carries a memory... the prints on it tell a story - and when you combine pieces from different lines, you're crafting your own story...

What stories do you find yourself thinking about while you sew?

Happy Sewing!
~K

Randomness

 The vog has finally cleared - hopefully for a while. When the weather is like that, it becomes so hard to function! To be honest I have only recently begun to get back to sewing... I have a feeling I may not be able to finish the only deadline that hasn't been checked off this month - my sister's quilt top... I made a little progress here and there - but I am finding that it is very very important to read directions. I have become so accustom to flying ahead of the directions, that I find myself having to take so much time to remedy mistakes that could have been avoided had I... yes, read the directions more clearly.... so, now my quilt top has the half hexagon in the single color on the ends - and although I thought it was sew together 12 rows - it is actually 18... I am now in the process of trying to finish this section up... ::smile:: but I am learning more and more about the process of quilting - and I am finding that I like working and creating with my hands so much... I am just learning to stop and walk away when ever it gets to be too much and I start making mistakes - I have to keep reminding myself to slow down... slow down and enjoy it....

So much of my life has been based on deadlines - school, work, - I don't want hobbies to be like that too... so although I thought that making deadlines for my quilting projects would work - (they actually really do - I just didn't factor in loosing a whole week to feeling like blah because of the vog...) I might have to readdress some of the dates that I put. ::smile:: Feels good to admit that I must say.

So what have I been filling my time with? I've been cooking more for us - mostly on the stove top I must say because I've been running from the oven... I refuse to add even more heat to an already overheated house! So although my hands are itching to bake some bread and cookies for us - I must refrain!

But that doesn't stop me from craving and wishing for the smells and tastes of fall. So I have tried to satisfy my cravings with foods that can be prepared (or prepared by someone else ::laugh::) on the stove.  Like pumpkin pancakes and syrup, and apple turnovers with a cup of decaf Irish Breakfast tea with a splash of cream... and to pair a favorite activity with those tastes of home is my kindle and my library of period romance dramas that I have neglected for oh too long. ::contented sigh:: It has been a good balance. I did manage to get on my sewing machine yesterday - that is where that strip of avacado kona cotton came from on the quilt top. Progress is being made... although it is a bit slower than my date book would like... ::smile:: With the cool trade winds back my fingers are starting to itch to be back in use... hopefully I will have more to show you soon...

Until then, Happy Sewing.

Aloha,
K.

Walker Wall Hanging

When I was in San Diego with Ross last summer an old church friend invited us to her house for tea. It is kind of a tradition that we have had since I was a teenager and living in San Diego. D would make tea and biscuits and fruit and we would sit and visit and talk about everything and nothing. We still carry on the tradition. Every visit Ross and I make, we know it will include a visit with D and her family.

Well, this past visit, when we came over for tea, we noticed that D had done a lot of home improvement projects. She had knocked down a wall that separated a room and her living room, and now the living room was twice as big! When I asked her what she would do to decorate all of the empty space she had mentioned that she would like to have quilts on the wall so that it would warm up the house.

She asked me if I knew any body who would be willing to take on a project. Although I recently joined a Hawaiian quilt club in Waimea, I wasn't sure if any body would be willing to take this project on. Everybody is really busy preparing for crafting events that they are signed up for.

Well - she seemed so intent on having one - I told her I would do it.... although I'm still new to quilting. She got really excited when I said that and it made me happy - although my heart was racing. I am one of those personality types that wants to make everyone really happy - making people happy makes me really happy. So - although I had the Coming Home to Kuiipo  quilt on my plate - I told her yes. Yes I would be happy to do it. And truly I was.

She sent me the fabric and told me that she wanted it to be beach themed - you see in her living room she has pictures of sunsets and sand and seashells and she has seashells on her walls - so I knew just the patterns that I would use. All four of those patterns actually appear in my Coming Home to Kuiipo quilt, so I was already familiar with the needle turn applique for those blocks.

When I got the fabric, she had actually sent me a lot of fat quarters. Apparently JoAnn was having a sale on fq so she sent me a lot to choose from. The dusty sunset colors were what my eyes gravitated towards. I like the fact that they were vibrant but at the same time soft.

As I write this I am working on applique for the last block - the orange sea horse block. I hope to finish quilting this by the end of the year so that I can start hand quilting my Coming Home quilt in the new year.

Sometimes I get discouraged at how much time goes into this project - but the thought of her receiving her finished wall hanging pushes me forward and keeps my hands moving on it.

I hope my post's about the Walker Wall Hanging are clear now. Sorry I never introduced it before. =)

Well - I better close this up.

Happy Sewing!

Reflections on inspiration

Do you remember the time in your sewing journey that you asked yourself what type of style you would like to be seen in your work? How long did it take for you to figure it out?  I started looking at pictures on the internet of things that inspire me - move me - or things that I just think are beautiful.  I started thinking about my favorite stores like World Market, and boutiques that carry things from all over the world.... I like the world travel look, things that are grounded in nature.  I've always loved different cultures and customs... lets see if reflecting on these things will manifest within my next projects... hmmm.... I wonder if this is an excuse to buy new fabric? ::smile:: What inspires you?

So hot!

 my weakness! salt and vinegar chips and an icy cold ginger ale

no more room in the scrap bin! 

 2" blocks 

my storage until I can find a better box 

The vog was so thick yesterday and it was so hot - Ross and I stayed home and watched episodes from the first season of Beauty and the Beast on Netflix and snacked while trying to stay cool. We turned on all of the fans - opened up all of the windows in hope of that stray breeze finding it's way into the house   - but the heat and the bad air quality left us feeling low energy and sluggish. 

At night when it got cooler I was able to break out my scrab bin and cut out some 3" and 2" blocks. It is nice having a stash of precut blocks for when I want to play at a later time with them. I cut up a good amount - but my bin is still heaping... makes sense though since after a year of sewing I am only addressing my scrap bin now. Looking at them and the colors I have, for some reason all my scraps look like a baby quilt - which makes sense I guess because the only past projects I have had that weren't made of batik were baby quilts....

Have you ever run into this? Finding that when you sit down to organize your scrap bin, it looks like baby quilt material was flying out everywhere? =) Time for some fabric shopping I think... 

A bit of sewing... vog... and thoughts on my sister

 light brunch for so hot a day

 labeling my rows 

 pumpkin bread snack 

 catching up on laundry 

Yesterday I had a whole day for sewing. Those days are the nicest... I know that large chunks of time won't always be available forever - so I really cherish that time to myself... years later when the seasons in our life shift, I want to be able to remember the peaceful quiet of sewing, and tea, and reading, and the joy of household chores and be grateful that I had this time.

It has been horribly hot and muggy - the vog (the ash that gets sit up from the volcanos in the south) has  been so thick this past week. I can barely see the ocean from our front windows because the air is so bad... it has been hard to breathe - and it has been hard to be motivated to do much. My childhood asthma tends to act up and I try and not push myself...

Today the vog seems especially strong. I haven't had the energy to continue working on my sister's quilt top - the most I did today was some cutting while Ross is at Jujitsu... at least it's all lined up though for when the vog clears and I'm able to jump back into sewing.

Since finishing my Coming Home To Kuuipo quilt top - I've been inspired to keep going on constructing quilt tops. It doesn't seem as daunting as I thought it was before. It is nice seeing it come together. I get excited at thinking of my sister getting a handmade quilt that she can cuddle up on the couch with while she reads her kindle.

My sister is finishing up her last year of graduate school. She is getting her Masters in Library Science. I couldn't imagine doing my Masters while running a household and raising up three little children... but she is almost at the finish line and I am so proud of her. So I want to make her a quilt for her birthday because I think that she really needs the encouragement - and hopefully it will help her and give her that last push until she finishes up.

My sister and I share the same birthday. We were both born on February 22, and being a part in distance is difficult especially around that time. Since we were young we always celebrated our birthdays at the same time... so hopefully if I can't be there in spirit in February 2014 - I'm hoping to be able to give her something special.  Growing up it was always just the two of us so we're really close.  Skype and texts and phone calls at odd hours (three hour time difference, so catching a time that works for both of us can be random) is how we like to communicate. It is especially nice being able to catch up on Skype. One time I was able to help my niece (the oldest of the three) with her homework - that was really special. Hopefully there can be more Skype time in the future.

Ross just got home from Jujitsu. We were planning on going to the beach when we got home, but he said that it might be worse if we go south - so we are planning on a nice relaxing day at home. Which is all fine and dandy with me.... hopefully the trade winds come back... I'm missing our clean air breeze.

Happy Saturday!
K.

Random: hopefully it will be a productive day!

Good morning =) Today I have the whole day off - I have a morning piano lesson to do for an hour and then the whole day is mine! =) Other than loads and loads of laundry, I am planning on getting some work done on my sister's quilt top, and possibly finish two place mats that I have in my sewing basket right now... we'll see how the day unfolds.

I'm really excited about this quilt top. =) It is my first time using my hexie half rulers by Lori Holt that I bought here. I must say that I was inspired to put the hexie half rulers and the Posy fabric together from here. I bought the Posy fabric a while back when it first came out and I was just trying which pattern to do it with, and then I fell in love with how the hexagons looked with the soft fabric...

I'm looking forward to see what a day off leads to!