Sunday, November 17, 2013

Something new, something old!

I'm sorry to have been silent this past week. It's been a busy couple of weeks with different projects.

First, our son and his wife are in the throws of moving to their new apartment. It's exciting for them and we wish them all the best in their new surroundings. One more day and the move should be complete.

Second, my DH decided to retire at the end of this year. THAT is exciting! This means 2 things for our immediate future: 1) we will be selling our house; 2) we will move back to the Maritime region of Canada! HOME AGAIN!! I can't tell you how excited we are to make this journey at the end of his career! Lots of planning and decision making... during the holidays no less!

With all this happening, you can appreciate how hectic it's been in our household. It's hard to keep your mind focused on quilting when everything else around you needs planning. However, I did get a chance to work on 4 projects since last weekend. Sometimes I need to escape life's "stresses" and hide in my studio... it soothes the soul and calms the nerves as well as it allows me time to solve problems.

These were my projects:

1) December Daily 2013 album:
I know! It has nothing to do with quilting but I'm also a scrapbooker/crafter. I followed along with Ali Edwards for the first time in 2011 but she's been blogging about DD since 2007! She does a phenomenal job at recording December memories and it inspired me to try to do something similar. That year, I got all my stuff together but sadly never got around to completing the album. The intention was there; I followed her and her many followers daily though and got to see some wonderful memory books develop and I learned a lot about digital scrapbooking. Last year, I was really excited to participate and realized my own album. You can see the pages here.
The secret to success and to enjoy the process is to pre-plan your book early: get all the pages ready to receive the photos and journaling. I intended to do it again this year, despite the changes in our lives at the moment, or perhaps because of them so that meant getting my book done before all h*** breaks loose. Ali Edwards promotes the sale of a kit for this but I like my own version; it worked for me last year and I think it'll be fine this year too if I keep it simple.
Two years ago, I attended the LA Printer's Fair in Carson, CA where they sold "left-over" cardstock for $25 per box. I bought 2 big boxes and 1 box at last year's sale. I'm all set for awhile! :) This is what I used to design my book. Check out how I made this year's album here! I will update the FlickR website perhaps not daily but often throughout the month of December... at least that's the plan!

2) On Monday, I completed the first of many table runners I will make. These are fun and quick projects. Photos were taken before the binding was hand sewn; that was Wednesday evening's handwork.





 3) On Tuesday, after watching inspirational Henna quilting video by Sharon Schamber at The Quilt Show website, I headed to my studio and surprised myself by loading a WIP (work-in-progress) on Lolah! This little moose and deer wall quilt was made several years ago and was intended for a sister whose name I had picked for Christmas gift-giving. As it happened, that year's family reunion was put on hold and so was the quilt. Until now!
I have yet to apply the binding but this is what I played with that day! SO MUCH FUN! Don't be too harsh with comments... this is my first thread play! :)



Since most of the classes I've registered for at Road to California Quilt show in January involve feathers, I thought it was time to try my luck at putting some in this 3in border. I do need more practice before I head to class!




4) I also finished the Peppermint Place snowflake blocks I brought with me on vacation. I had 1 remaining block to applique when we returned to LA.


Before I end this long post, I want to share with you a picture of the finished quilt promised in Wedding Quilt post dated 11/04/13. It will follow S&J to their new apartment today and may it bring them comfort for many years.



Toodles,

Lorette







4 comments:

  1. I love your piece with the moose!! And I didn't realize you were from the Maritimes either. I am in New Brunswick....

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    1. Thank you Marjorie! We're both from NB too... I'm from the northwest and DH is from the southeast. We'll be located just outside of Port Elgin on the way to the island. We've missed the maritimes so we're looking forward to renewing our love and feel of the seasons!

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  2. You are certainly organized and focused, Lorette! Your album is lovely as is your quilting. I do love the table runner! Very elegant and your quilting suits it to a T! And it looks to me like you will be whipping those feathers out very soon..

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    1. Thank you Jennifer. Not much time to work on feathers these days but perhaps in early December after we're done prepping the house, there'll be more time. At least I hope so. For now, packing takes priority.

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