"The Business of Your Life"

~ Marsha Sinetar 

 "The significant business of your life is alive and well, awaiting discovery, within your very soul."

   

Nonsense, Fantasy and Dr Seuss

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities." ~ Dr. Seuss

Cathedral Windows Pillow

Cathedral Windows Pillow

Front View
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Newbie!

Cathedral Windows Pillow - Side View

Top View - Filled with Buckwheat Hulls

Happiness Key

Recently I saw a number of posts on facebook about “never placing the key for your own happiness in someone else’s pocket.” It went over well. Many related to that quote. I certainly did. 


This morning while quietly being open to thoughts over handwashing yesterday’s dishes it occurred to me that equally important to not placing the key to one’s happiness in someone else’s pocket is not permitting anyone else to place the key for their happiness in our pocket. 


Maybe it happened a long time ago, and the pattern is well-established. Maybe some are even now sneakily trying to place that key in your pocket. Or, maybe they are outright asking, insisting, or even demanding that you stretch out your hand and take the damn key. “Right now, I said!”


Undeniably,  many things have happened and are continuing to happen all the time that can contribute to the experience of unhappiness for one person,  many people, and nations. Babies are not always picked up the minute they want to be picked up. People who have not learned how to process their own emotions want to be cared for in the way they want to, or sulkily internalize it only to resurface later in ways that say, “See what you/they did to me?”



This week someone said to me, “ I feel hurt and disappointed by what you did to me.” I’ll spare you the details “ You should not have done _____ to me.” (attempting to place her happiness key in my pocket) Btw, dear facebook friend...that was MY  facebook  you wrote on, so please excuse me for monitoring my guest comments! Being disrespectfully opinionated (not to mention ignorantly biased on the subject matter in question) on your own wall is up to you.  After a comment and then  message exchange one thing lead to  the other. Facebook friends come and they go. Not getting what she wanted she then came to the unilateral, unsubstantiated conclusion that "we aren't worshiping the same God". (semantics, semantics is more like) Here she not only hastily pulled back her key but also pulled out the "Big Gun". Whoa! Of course it goes without saying - her God is the real one, better than mine who may in fact look more like a devil, and hers can probably soundly whip my god/devil with one hand and both feet tied behind his back.  Not to worry...this happens periodically. It wasn't the first time and it most likely won't be the last time based on my current understanding of human nature.  It’s a very good thing she closed the door. That way the door didn't catch her heel as it closed.  ;-) It has been my experience that that kind of door doesn't  lead anywhere nice, anyway.  And, I’m sure she will promptly find another pocket into which to place her happiness key. Most likely she will first pull out the "I've been psychologically and spiritually abused, & I need sympathy" card.


If there is something in my pocket that belongs to someone else it uses up the personal energy that I need to be more creative throughout my own day and life. 


Carry too many keys and the pocket will sag and ultimately tear. Yep! Tricky business...this being supportive of someone else's life process while not assuming their responsibilities.

Cookie-less, Gift-less, Card-less Christmas...

What is a cookie-less, gift-less, card-less Christmas like? ...to be very honest - not bad at all!


This morning I realized that I have not had one (or many :-) ) Christmas cookies this year! I have had a bit of a hankering for Date Pinwheels, though. I may still make a batch or two of them this week - just for old times sake. Instead of dates I want to use Calamondin Marmalade for some and Fig Jam for others - both homemade.


Christmas Day  (for me) was a day pretty much like any other day around here. If it wasn't for the internet we would be completely out of touch out here in the boonies!  Got some weeding done and cleaning up in the gardens in the morning. Puttered around the house doing little things of little consequence, sat around for an hour and more discussing the various points of the first season of  "The United States of Tara" which we saw the night before last. We were aiming for a 4:30 Roast Chicken dinner but for various reasons didn't quite make it. Had dinner on the backporch at 6:30-ish, adjourned to the living room to watch the first season of a Human Target, ate Apple Crisp dessert a few hours later, and off to bed by 12:00 midnight.


True, we didn't have much excitement but we did have Peace, which I personally value much more than a racy adrenaline rush any day! 


                                                                           ~o0o~


btw...we did get Christmas cards by mail and email-just did not send any.

Be Not Afraid

I seldom watch youtube videos due to the limited bandwidth we have, but I just watched this youtube video by  Neale  Donald Walsch about the changes we're experiencing now and will continue to experience for a number of years more. He says we're undergoing a major overhaul but "Be not afraid." He has a soothing and comforting voice. 


Gosh! I feel like I worked hard today, and I have been busy, but not much recount-worthy got done....just one of those days. Well, I'm looking forward to a relaxing evening watching a movie - knowing that tomorrow will be another day!
                                               

I Love Vintage Furniture!

"Bentwood Ice Cream Parlor Chair"

Lovely Original Austrian Import Fabric by Mill Creek on the ice cream parlor chair - one of four chairs. Newly reupholstered by moi.
~*~

"Footstool with Removeable Lid"

Large Botanical Print on the lovely Vintage Footstool.  Very sturdily built!
~*~

"Storage Space for Chocolate Candy Stash"

Stash the candy, or embroidery project, or the journal, or the latest library book!
~*~

"Director's Chair"
Sometimes we do have to get up there and talk!
~*~

Upcycled Tea Light Holder

Day...

...and Night.

A few weeks ago I acquired a number of old  pole insulators at a yard sale. I remember these being used to insulate the wires on the poles along the railroad running through my dad's farm. This morning while sitting in my hickory rocking chair I got the image for this tea light holder using an insulator and a rusty old coil spring from a piece of furniture that wasn't salvadgeable because the frame was badly worm-eaten. Fred bought some battery operated tea lights at the local dollar store. The battery can be replaced. Neat thing is the light flickers like a flame does!

Pillows Giveaway Winner

And the winner of the pair of Cathedral Windows Pillows is Bev from Tallahassee!
http://earthnsky8d.blogspot.com/p/c-w-pillows-giveaway-122011.html


My etsy store (SarahsQuiltsnCrafts) is in vacation mode for two weeks. Views had slowed down enormously, and it was obvious to me that this would be an excellent time to take a breather...and time to focus on doing some important things around here. And possibly get into a better routine altogether. That could mean writing things down...making lists! And sticking with them! ;-)

Ho Ho Hum!

Weather-wise, it was a mostly dreary day today...and a "do-nothing kind of day" for me. Despite a blister in hand, I did work some more on  rehabilitating a set of four, wood-frame, ice cream parlor style chairs - up to the point where I need more welt cord than I have on hand. Etsy.com to the rescue! I also need finishing nails that I do not have, but will make a trip to town tomorrow for those, & a few other things on my list.


The first Christmas card of the season arrived yesterday - a lovely handmade card from my youngest niece, Tina. I am going to admit that here at this house we do very little in the way of decorating, or celebrating outwardly, or gift and card giving. I am fully aware that this is no way to support the economy. It is what it is. And that is that.


Over the weekend I am going to take myself by the scruff of my neck and engage in some gardening related activities. Well, I'm planning to do that. I have a package of mixed greens seeds from Pinetree Seeds, & I think it's a good time to begin seeding them every two weeks. They will be ready to eat in 40 days - somewhere in the vicinity of next February. To be continued....

Wicker Chair Makeover!

This project was started months ago, and finished today. Yes, the "old girl's still got it"!

Before...

Repurposed Wicker

...and After!

you’re already perfect

you’re already perfect

‘Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.’ ~Lao Tzu

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on twitter .

From:  Zen Habits

Tangerine Tango

 "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing". ~ Helen Keller





Click here for more about Tangerine Tango! Pantone's Color of the Year 2012

Kiss the Earth

"Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet." ~Thich Nhat Hahn

Fur Kids in the Bread Box

It was just a Matter of Time!

Repurposed Linen Table Napkins

Lilac Table Napkins - Repurposed Linen

Set of Four - 15" Square

Not Wild...Nor Wooly

Bright Children's Quilt

This was a fun little project! Made using fabric panels and scrap pieces from a dear friend in town. Next project is making a set of four, Lilac-colored print  table napkins, using repurposed linen fabric. 

Full Size Frontal View

I cleaned and oiled my sewing machine this morning (something that does not get done nearly often enough) in preparation for getting started with sewing 280 Cathedral Windows frames....soon!

Rear View


Yesterday I discovered that Listia.com has now given us the option of voluntarily donating our store credits for the benefit of 5 different charities. I chose to donate for Toys for Tots and the Nature Conservancy. www.listia.com/foundations I have asked whether there will be the possibility of them hooking up with Kiva.org for year-round donations of credits. All Faith's Food Bank would work for me as well!

"I am Part of the Sun...." by D. H. Lawrence

Vintage Navajo Marbled Turquoise Ring -signed J.T.

via: Summer Rayne (facebook)

"I am part of the sun as my eye is part of me, That I am part of the earth my feet know perfectly, and my blood is part of the sea... There is nothing of me that is alone and absolute, except my mind, and we shall find that the mind has no existence by itself, it is only the glitter of the sun on the surface of the waters." ~D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ring available at:  SarahsQuiltsnCrafts.etsy.com

Elizabeth Barrett Browning quote

via Elsa Bailey on facebook:


"Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God: 
But only s/he who Sees takes off his/her shoes." 
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning


....'nuff said!

Girl's Night Out. (no, this was not me.)

via Nell Stanley on Facebook:

A woman was invited out for a night with the "girls." She told her husband that she would be home by midnight, "I promise!" Well, the hours passed and the margaritas went down way too easily. Around 3 a.m, a bit loaded, she headed for home. 

Just as she got in the door, the cuckoo clock in the hallway started up and cuckooed 3 times. Quickly, realizing her husband would probably wake up, she cuckooed another 9 times. She was really proud of herself for coming up with such a quick-witted solution, in order to escape a possible conflict with him. (Even when totally smashed, 3 cuckoos plus 9 cuckoos totals 12 cuckoos = MIDNIGHT !) 

The next morning her husband asked her what time she got in, she told him "MIDNIGHT"... he didn't seem pissed off in the least. Then he said "Oh by the way we need a new cuckoo clock." When she asked him why, he said, "Well, last night our clock cuckooed three times, then said "oh shit" Cuckooed 4 more times, cleared its throat, cuckooed another three times, giggled, cuckooed twice more, and then tripped over the coffee table and farted."

Be Authentic; Be Yourself.

"Be authentic, be yourself. That’s a beautiful expression. Everyone is divine because there is only one God, one truth, one reality, and it can be expressed in infinite varieties. The Vedic sages recognized that Truth is one but various sages call it by various names. Let us not quarrel with the names and forms, different paths; ultimately we are only manifesting, unfolding, our divinity."


For the entire article: Swami Dayatmananda - Three Expressions of Reality

A Country Road

Etsy, and Quit Your Day Job

Quit Your Day Job: larimeloom

Read the entire Etsy blog post in LarimeLooms own words. And for a little sojourn into her etsy store. Enjoy!

Recent Saga with a Privately owned Quilt Store

Some of my energy lately has been consumed with getting 9 of my Cathedral Windows wallhangings back from Alma Sue's Quilt Shop in Sarasota, Fla.  I took a number of quilts in to her shop in early July for possible consignment, & she handpicked 9 that she deemed saleable in her store. Some of them she said would sell once the snowbirds got here since they were colors more frequently used for home decor in the northern states. 


Recently, I became curious how the quilts were doing and stopped in two weeks ago. I didn't see any of them. The owner, Ella wasn't in and the sales clerk couldn't tell me anything. She made a written note for Ella to call me. Later that day in the afternoon I called. They said, "Oh, Monday is Ella's day off. Call in the morning after 10:30." So, I called the next day around noon and they said, "Oh, Ella was here but became sick & went home".  So, I waited 2 weeks for the "Phone Call" & the Quilt Shop never called. So the following weekend on Saturday's shopping trip I stopped in, again. This time I spoke with Ella, and she said "Oh, today's not a good day. You'll have to come back another time." At that point she acknowledged she didn't know where the wallhangings were, and didn't know if they had actually ever been on display during the four months. Said that Michael, a man who used to work there had rearranged her store completely over the summer when she was on vacation, and if he didn't like something he just put it away in the storeroom.


We live about 25 minutes from the store so I insisted on scheduling a time, and she said Tuesday at 1:00. Tues. morning came, I did not know what to think. Fred offered to call and find out if the quilts would be ready for pick-up at 1:00 before we drove a half hour to get there. We thought she might take it more seriously with a male voice calling. He called and asked to speak with Ella, and was told she was in a meeting, and they would call back. Fred  said he bets  they will call back in 15 minutes, and they never called at all! He begrudgingly admitted to losing the bet on that one! I bet him a dollar they wouldn't, and we shook on it. So Fred made another call when it was time to leave, & they curtly said the quilts were ready. Together we went & picked them up. The quilts were all there, and in good condition. I checked them out thoroughly before signing for them. The clerk asked me what I was looking for..."just checking to make sure everything is OK before I sign for them". The clerks were polite, but not pleasant. So, after four phone calls and 3 store visits in a 2.5 week saga, my quilts are back home with me. And, not once did anyone at Alma Sue's offer an apology. On the contrary, I was left  with the feeling that I was out of line.


(Years ago, in Pa. I had a very bad experience with a returned Giant Dahlia quilt that had been consigned at a local quilt and fabric store. When I laid it out on my bed I became aware of a wide band that had become faded from their overhead lighting system. They flatly denied it, and assumed no responsibility. Always check your consigned quilts and crafts for issues prior to signing for their release.)

I haven't been buying much fabric except online or at thrift stores lately. And now I will feel absolutely no guilt at not supporting this particular family-owned fabric store as oppposed to JoAnns or Walmart - for supplies, etc. Respect and trust are earned.  


As for the future of privately owned quilt stores and fabric stores - my sense is they will be few and far between as more and more people buy online, or scour thrift stores and yard sales as alternative, inexpensive sources of fabrics.  

Sustainably Harvested Hardwood Buttons by ReMaineWicked

Surprise this morning!...one of my supply items has been included in this DIY Mania Etsy Treasury collated by Rachel of http://www.etsy.com/people/coolclimates   

I've been feeling a great affection for all things wood lately...so, pictured below is one treasury item that particularly caught  my eye!

Organic Hardwood Buttons from Maine

In the artist's words: "Wooden Buttons, Sustainably Harvested and Organic, set of four. These buttons were made by my 14 year old son, in order to try and raise money for a field trip to France!

They are made from naturally fallen, dried, Maine hardwood (either Beech, Ironwood or Maple). They were then cut, sanded, drilled, sanded and then soaked in food grade Mineral Oil for preservation. They would make a great stocking stuffer for knitters, seamstress's and crafters."

 Rain Harbison also says:

"I am passionate about creating new, lovable things from discarded, unloved or out-dated items. My clothes and housewares are made with love and respect for you and the earth. Each is made from repurposed clothing and/or vintage fabrics that otherwise, would end up in a landfill."

Click on the following link for more details about the buttons, and to see other items by Rain at  RemaineWicked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This holiday season consider shopping with artists and crafters who specialize in bringing environmentally sustainable merchandise to the marketplace!

Quietly, and with dignity, Listen to Your Heart of Hearts

French Model

The photo of this French model was floating around on Facebook awhile ago, and I feel as though I've already used it in another blog post. However, it is perfect for a point I feel the need to make.  


Living a less active life, and going through menopause is causing my body to look a bit more like her body. Maybe I can do something about it. Maybe that something is just to be more accepting of what is....that, AND do something about it! 


Acorns already have all the knowledge (DNA) of the tree they will one day become. Climate and day to day weather are influential as well. 


We as humans have more choices than acorns do...mobility for one. And trees don't need to get an education to make a living to provide for their own basic needs, or the needs of their offspring - if they have any. That's another choice people have.


The words I really wish someone had spoken to me when I was a teenager are: "Quietly, and with dignity, consistently listen to and follow the impressions you receive from your own 'heart of hearts'. Do not let even the people you love the most get in the way of you fulfilling your own destiny. And, continue doing that for the rest of your life" So there! I've now said the words for others to hear, and follow if they so choose.


What I wanted as a young girl was to live a beautiful life. I wanted to be able to wear feminine clothing, shoes and hairstyle of my choice, listen to joyful music, read thought-provoking books & have uplifting conversations with people with educated minds...in other words - a refined life. Unfortunately, the hard work of trying to establish my right to assert myself got in the way of many of my primary relationships. We never were able to have an understanding of what was going on. I was never even able to speak the words....it just seemed like they were going to hit a really, really hard wall, get all smashed and slide down onto a quivering little heap. 


Mom and Dad...wherever you hang out now, I really hope that you have the ability and or courage to understand. For all I know, you too had many of the same desires of the heart that I did, with even less capability to make choices for yourself. 

Mint Green and Charcoal Log Cabin

Eccentric Log Cabin Wall Hanging

Charcoal and Mint Green Juxtaposition

These vintage Log Cabin quilt blocks were a discovery on a recent thrifting/treasure hunt. The color combination caught my interest, and I decided to honor the artist who made the blocks by completing a wallhanging. I am also somewhat infatuated with the black and white polka dot binding! Well, actually quite a lot. 


These colors together make me "feel good"! Don't know why, but they do! So, I made an Etsy Treasury Collection, too! For me, treasury making is "sortof"  like making a digital quilt, but I digress.


Steve Jobs quote: 
"Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it. They just saw something."


I'm familiar with that guilty feeling. And sometimes it's a quilty feeling! ;-) Actually, I like feeling a little guilty when I've been waxing creative...because it means (to me) that it wasn't just "me" there.


 ~*~

Cathedral Windows Pillows Giveaway 12/18/2011

 Cathedral Windows Pillows  12/2011 Giveaway (covers only)

USA & Canada residents only...For more information, and to enter the Giveaway click on the following blog page link: CW Pillows-Giveaway-12/2011

What are friends for! Especially old ones.

Q. So, you are quilting printed panels now? (from a longtime friend)

A. The Princess Quilt was made at a friend's request. She was going to get it for a birthday gift for her little daughter & forgot about it -spent all her money elsewhere. 


The Little Girls Gardening Quilt was made using two  strips of the girls gardening fabric - that was all I had,  filled in with latticework, using scrap fabrics. The borders and back were new fabric.  The little quilts were just fun little side projects. 

There are times when I wonder if quilters have gone completely insane...cutting up yardages of outrageously expensive fabric into small pieces and sewing them back together again. Then getting together in small or not-so-small cliches and oh-ing and ah-ing about the end result over sweets, junk foods & coffee. Sometimes I wonder if it's just busy-work for people, with women in particular - who cannot do much else artistically. Wait, wait...put down the gun! Don't shoot me just yet! I don't believe that for one minute! Because, I have seen absolutely stunning and gorgeous quilts! But I must say, if I were looking in on the planet from another planet I think I might seriously question the whole thing. Making quilts out of scraps leftover from other sewing projects I get. That makes sense. That is how quilts were made historically.


Every once in a while a good friend from town gives me a bag of scrap fabrics. Other people's scrap fabrics are fun! One time, Donna Foxwell (back in Pa.) brought me a large number of big black garbage bags filled with scrap fabric/fat quarters  & yardage even - leftover from her fabric store. Said she just threw them downstairs into her basement over the years. "The Dungeon" she called it. I dumped the bags out onto my kitchen floor, and sorted the fabrics out by color. What fun that was! Made a lot of very interesting quilts, too, because many of the fabrics were vintage.

But! ...the Big Project coming up even as I write...making 280, 4" Cathedral Windows frames for a custom request through etsy. She sent her muslin. I've got them all cut & ready to sew assembly line fashion. 


Interesting thought:
There is a group of aliens who think our planet is owned by cars. And that humans are slaves to the cars. The humans spend all their time working to make sure they have the money to take care of the cars...  Taking them out to dine at gas stations. Taking them to the beauty salon, aka car wash. Taking them to socialize in huge parking lots- long drives in the countryside or highways. Bringing them big bags of surprises from mall stores...you get the picture. Think about it! What owns you?


"The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off".~Gloria Steinem


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quilts for the Kidlets

Little Girls Gardening

Princess Quilt

Flannel Robot Quilt 

Interested? See my etsy store widget in the upper right sidebar.

Vintage Four-Patch Blocks to CW Frames

There's a first time for everything, and this in the first time I tried using four-patch blocks for Cathedral Windows frames - something I've been wanting to do for a long time. These vintage handstitched four-patch blocks were in a large bag of fabrics from Goodwill, along with many other hand-stitched patches. And, I am sooo looking forward to making many tiny quilts this winter!

Vintage Four Patch blocks

Reverse Side of CW frames

Completed CW Frames

Reverse side of CW Frames

So now! Choosing the insets...that will be interesting, I'm sure! Or, letting them choose me...that could be even more interesting!

One of the Greatest Gifts...

Wow! I won something I really wanted!

Had an email from Connecting Threads today stating that the comment I left on their blog won the Table Stand Quilt Display...I wanted one to display my little CW quilts, etc. 

I also adore the Metal Hanger with Pineapple in their mail order catalog - will have to call about that because I could simply not locate it online at their website.

Wire_Table_Stand_and_Headers

Cathedral Windows Wall Hanging - fits perfectly!

Maxine-ism

Approaching the Holidays with Honesty

Darn it!

‎"Our lives improve only when we take chances... and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves."


~ Walter Anderson

Framed!

Cathedral Windows Frames- ready to go!

These 64 Cathedral Windows frames were fun to make, & the fabric was great to work with. I especially like the tiny, coffee & cream colored flower print. It's demure and elegant. Since I wanted to use up the entire piece of fabric I cut the squares accordingly. Consequently, the frames measure 4 and 5/8" square...a bit of an unusual size, but who said anyway what they should be! Windows are meant to be seen through - not keep you boxed in!

I Spy a Charm Quilt?

I Spy a Charm Quilt?

Years ago my mother knotted & finished a colorful scrappy quilt top that had been given to us. We used it whenever one of us didn't feel quite right, and it was a really comfy feeling - more than any other quilts I've had. I'm sure it's quite worn by now ( my ex has it - I think) and I still refer to it fondly as the "Magic Quilt". This quilt top reminds me of that quilt.

A thrift store find, this was a NEW QUILT (lap quilt size) with the blocks on both sides, with no batting. Even though I really, really, really do not like ripping that is what I did, and then added borders for a double bed size quilt top. After my remake it's now a combination of "I Spy Quilt" and "Charm Block Quilt" and "Scrappy Quilt" and "Magic Quilt" - all in one quilt!


Measures: 84" x 91" and is ready to knot or quilt by hand or machine.

She's all that and more!

She's all that and more!

I feel like I know someone who has this "attitude"! We get a charge every time we look at her, and that was before I gave her "good hair".

This is a soap dispenser temporarily turned vase. "She" (the soap dispenser) was in the bottom of a bag of  fabrics from a yard sale....discovered while gloating over my "loot" later that day. That is the thing I LOVE about yard sales...you just DO NOT know what you will find. Long live yard sales!

Where Vintage met Contemporary

"Where Vintage Met Contemporary"

Interesting Zipper Tab!

"Closure"....we all have many openings, and many Closures! Each one a little different.  Some of our relationships last longer than others. Some were cut off short. Some have threads hanging loose yet. Some are rusty. Some are definitely vintage - that may be good or not so good. All depends.



The Story:
The cotton fabric for the quilt front and back is repurposed table napkins. The zippers and buttons are vintage and previously used. They look like the buttons my mother snipped off garments that had seen their best days & kept in her button jar until further notice. Zippers she saved from trousers, shirts and dresses and kept in a drawer of her Singer treadle sewing machine. I still remember how the drawers smelled. Often the threads were still hanging from the zippers and buttons. Note the zipper tab on the red zipper in particular! Click on the photos for a close-up view.

Measurements: 17" W. x 17" H.

Cotton fabric & fiberfill.
Vintage buttons and zippers.
Machine quilted using the stippling method.