Circles

I have been playing with Circles these days. In a Quilting Arts Magazine from a couple of months ago I tried a process where you have several squares of fabric stacked and you machine stitch a free form spiral. After you have sewn the spiral you cut the circle in quarters and then you trim away some of the layers.
This is the results of my experimentation. It has been fun. I have stitched tole over the top of these and quilted them in place. I now have a fun and very colorful table runner. It was fun to do and very freeing. I did not have to think much or plan. At this point in things I am needing to be creative but I just don't have much concentration. This was a great way to spend a stress free day in the studio and create something fun and new. Beryl Taylor is the author of the article and I have to apologize because I can not find which month the article was in the magazine.

Life has mellowed a bit but things are still a bit up in the air. I hope someday to be able to tell you all about what has been going on in our lives. It is a character building experience and my husband and I. We have decided we are going to live our lives and be good people and send out good thoughts.

My first quilt run

I spent 3 days this last week participating in my first "Quilt Run" Two of my quilt friends and I traveled the entire Oregon Coast and visited 14 quilt shops. We had a great time. I had imagined we would visit the quilt shops and have lots of time to visit and do hand work and beach walking while we were at our hotel. I was so surprised. I think I sewed for about an hour in three days. We drove, ate, shopped, laughed and talked for 3 days. It was such fun to do this with some incredible quilters and I feel I learned so much from them in many ways especially when it comes to choosing fabric... I have a new outlook on the whole process.

We decided to create our own challenge. We would each purchase a fat quarter in each shop to coordinate with a focus fabric we had. We will then cut the fabric in half and give each person our fabric and in turn we will make something with their fabric and we will exchange our quilts on the Winter Solstice this year. So I will have adequate time to create something but I hope my work can measure up and that my friends will like what I create. It will truly be a challenge for me. A welcome one though.

I think it is so inspiring to spend time with people who are so creative and FUN!

I am still working on sending out good and positive thoughts in a challenging time. I figure if I send out good thoughts the same will return. :-)

Confusion

I live in a beautiful part of the world. It is a small and wonderful place most of the time.

I am spending much of my time lately wondering about choices people make. I would like to live in a world where people are kind to one another and respect each other. Our small world has been shaken up. When you are faced with individuals who chose to do everything in their power to make life difficult for those around them, what do you do. Why try and manipulate things and lie. I just have such a hard time understanding what would make people so unhappy or angry that they need to make everyone around them unhappy.

I like to think the best of people and my faith in people is being tested...