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.

Help Wanted!

Wanted: Info about the print on the shirt!

Picked this shirt up at the yardsale of a European couple & I plan to sell it so I'd be grateful for information about the print. Is it based on a particular comic strip or cartoons, or just a combination of various funnies?

Last Year's Bestseller Mandala Zafu is BACK!!!!

Mandala Zafu Cushion 

Last year's best seller is back! For more information, photos and pricing see: Mandala Zafu Cushion Cover

Old Miakka Sunset

Old Miakka Sunset 10-16-2011

"My birthday gift for this year/month is the promise of screening the front porch & adding a door. That means we'll be able to spend much more time there undisturbed by mosquitoes! I am seeing my self/us sitting out there eating dinners by sunsets like this one. And just generally unwinding at bedtime for a good night's rest. Thinking about adding hanging planters - possibly herbs & lettuce, etc.; and strings of lights for a bit more ambience after it's dark." ~*~
                                                                   

Reversible I Spy and Beatrix Potter ABC Quilt, and Princess Quilt

Beatrix Potter ABC Quilt

I Spy Quilt

I Spy Quilt - close-up

Beatrix Potter ABC Quilt - close-up

Princess Quilt

Princess Quilt - close-up

Princess Quilt - back view

The Beatrix Potter ABC and I Spy quilt are two sides of one reversible quilt. My intent was to make a quilt where both sides could be used as an educational tool at different stages of learning. I made 2 of this one for twin boys in Hawaii.


And the Princess Quilt is for a little princess, of course!... the sister of the twin boys in Hawaii!


Both quilts are 100% machine made & quilted by me. 


Fiber contents are: 
all cotton fabrics, thread, and 100% cotton or 80% cotton/ 20% poly batting


Care suggestions are: Machine wash in warm water & mild soap. Machine dry.


FYI about the intent of an I Spy Quilt...it's a educational game to play with children. One person says "I spy... (name something in the quilt such as a monkey)" and the other person/s try to find it. That's the general idea....


                                                                            ~*~

Another day, another ride!

Lucky being nonchalant about his new "ride".

The two little yellow-greenish dots in the upper right are the eyes of Smoky, the black cat. Cats are so photogenic...always seem to be posing, don't they!

Antique Footstool to Storage Chest Conversion

From this Goodwill find....

Stripped down to this....

We did remove the spring unit & replaced 
it with a wooden lid....you wondered, didn't you?

Converted to this.....

And used for a display at the market!

I like good & sturdy furniture...some day when I have my restored log cabin then I want to fill it with old and useful wood furniture and vintage or antique overstuffed furniture. A woman can dream! 

After the Ball...First Friday Art Walk Weekend on etsy

Art Quilt - Garden in the Night

Forest Floor Ring

To see the rest of this autumn themed treasury see:
After the Ball - First Friday Art Walk Weekend etsy Treasury

For more about FFAW weekend see our team blog ----> First Friday Art Walk

Don't Waste Your Time Living Someone Else's Life

Gone too soon....

   

~ Rumi:

"When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy. "

                                                                             

Calamondin Marmalade & PB Sandwich...Mmmm!

Smuckers PB & my Calamondin Marmalade on Rye Bread

Kinda speaks for itself, doesn't it?

8 oz. Calamondin Marmalade - ready to go!

Calamondin, oranges & dried cranberry goodness! And, sugar (of course!), water, and pectin made from the calamondin seeds themselves.

These are the BEST Dried Cranberries ever!!!

To buy some of the MOST delicious dried cranberries click on the following link:  tootsytwo  Great for snacking or adding to granola or baking!  Read their product description to find out why these are superior to any  you can buy in stores. Seriously. You owe it to yourself!

Calamondin Fruit on the Tree - Stock Photo 

 Calamondin fruit is one of the neat discoveries I've made since moving to Florida. Making Marmalade with them is another neat discovery. The process from beginning to end is quite labor and time intensive...but fun!
~*~

Do you Want to be a Mermaid or a Whale?

French model Tara Lynn

via Delphine Fieberg on facebook:

A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"

The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way:

"Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness.
They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia.
They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on cds. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.

Mermaids do not exist.

But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish?
They would have no sex life and could not bear children.
Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad.
And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?

Without a doubt, I'd rather be a whale.

At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.

We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies.
We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.
Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?! "

(The girl on the picture is French model Tara Lynn)

“Breathing in I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile.”

“Breathing in I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile.” ~Thich Nhat Hahn
There is more power in a smile than you may have ever contemplated.

Thich Nhat Hahn has been a Buddhist monk for more than 60 years. He is also a poet and the author of Being Peace, The Miracle of Mindfulness, Living Buddha, Living Christ, and many other books. He gave birth to the movement of “Engaged Buddhism”— peaceful activism for the purpose of social reform. Because of his stance against the Vietnam War, he was exiled from his own country. It also led Martin Luther King Jr. to nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1967.

He lives in a monastic community in south-western France called Plum Village , where he teaches, writes, gardens, and works to help refugees world-wide. (No matter what your faith, I encourage you to read more about this amazing man.)
An interview Oprah was conducting (from 2010) with Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hahn (pronounced tic not han).
================================================================

Oprah: What is happiness?

Nhat Hanh: Happiness is the cessation of suffering. Well-being. For instance, when I practice this exercise of breathing in, I’m aware of my eyes; breathing out, I smile to my eyes and realize that they are still in good condition. There is a paradise of form and colors in the world. And because you have eyes still in good condition, you can get in touch with the paradise. So when I become aware of my eyes, I touch one of the conditions of happiness. And when I touch it, happiness comes.

Oprah: And you could do that with every part of your body.

Nhat Hanh: Yes. Breathing in, I am aware of my heart. Breathing out, I smile to my heart and know that my heart still functions normally. I feel grateful for my heart.

Oprah: So it’s about being aware of and grateful for what we have.

Nhat Hanh: Yes.

Oprah: And not just the material things, but the fact that we have our breath.

Nhat Hanh: Yes. You need the practice of mindfulness to bring your mind back to the body and establish yourself in the moment. If you are fully present, you need only make a step or take a breath in order to enter the kingdom of God. And once you have the kingdom, you don’t need to run after objects of your craving, like power, fame, sensual pleasure, and so on. Peace is possible. Happiness is possible. And this practice is simple enough for everyone to do.

Oprah: Tell me how we do it.

Nhat Hanh: Suppose you are drinking a cup of tea. When you hold your cup, you may like to breathe in, to bring your mind back to your body, and you become fully present. And when you are truly there, something else is also there—life, represented by the cup of tea. In that moment you are real, and the cup of tea is real. You are not lost in the past, in the future, in your projects, in your worries. You are free from all of these afflictions. And in that state of being free, you enjoy your tea. That is the moment of happiness, and of peace. When you brush your teeth, you may have just two minutes, but according to this practice, it is possible to produce freedom and joy during that time, because you are established in the here and now. If you are capable of brushing your teeth in mindfulness, then you will be able to enjoy the time when you take a shower, cook your breakfast, sip your tea.

Oprah: So from this point of view, there are endless conditions of happiness.

Nhat Hanh: Yes. Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.

Oprah: With you, the tea is real.

Nhat Hanh:I am real, and the tea is real. I am in the present. I don’t think of the past. I don’t think of the future. There is a real encounter between me and the tea, and peace, happiness and joy are possible during the time I drink.

Always go home with your head held high.

It doesn't matter how your day has gone.
Always go home with your head held high.



Just sayin'........

Purple Gingko Cathedral Windows Raffle Quilt

Gingko Cathedral Windows Quilt

This CW is being raffled off on Oct. 2nd, 2011 at the Old Miakka Schoolhouse at their annual fundraiser event. All the proceeds from the ticket sales will benefit the schoolhouse Restoration Fund. Still a couple days left to buy tickets @ $1.00 each, 6 for $5.00, or 12 for $10.00! Just sayin'....

OOAK Cathedral Windows Wallhanging

Orange Cathedral Windows Wallhanging - Outdoor View

Made in 2002, I used to say this is the one I loved so much I would never part with it.

Full View Indoors


People DO change their mind. I did. :-)

Back View

In retrospect, the quilt is now for sale in my etsy store.

This is the only CW I made with the insets of one fabric, and the frames of different fabrics. Not that it was a plan. I was working with a limited amount of fabrics, and this is the end result. I do want to make more CW quilts in this manner...soon!
~*~