Thoughts on Laughter and Gratitude -and me being silly

Be grateful for the things you use every day but would feel "lost" without. Simple but necessary things - like food, water, heating in this cold weather.

Remember to find something to celebrate every day. Look for humor, look for joy, look for a chance to laugh at yourself. Yes, I am serious. If you can laugh at yourself, the world seems less daunting. It makes you resilient against negative events.

So consider yourself, your attitudes, the things you do from outside yourself and see how funny you really are. Then don't get upset, LAUGH about it. Take yourself less seriously. You will live a longer and happier life.

I am hoping that the video below works. It is me playing autoharp and singing a totally silly song.  I heard the song in a virtual autoharp group and knew I needed to learn it. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative and keep laughing!

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

For the Season

Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate this event.  I do normally.  This year will be much quieter.  But Mom and I will celebrate anyway.  I have made some sugar-free peanut butter fudge that we will enjoy.  Tomorrow morning I will make a dessert that I call "Peach Pudding."  It is like a Southern Banana Pudding - but with canned peaches replacing the bananas - since I can not eat bananas. 

I have a few more small surprises in store for her - they are based on personal family memories. 

Here is a painting that I did several years back in a class.  We each painted one and then had it printed on cards to send as Christmas cards.  I no longer mail out cards. So here is my card to you. 

I wish for Peace and Joy to you.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Pieces and More

Here are the pieces - the pieces for what I think are the last three blocks to make for this quilt.

Those blocks will go into some fun giant four patches on the way to becoming quilt panels. 

Here are the five blocks that will go with those three.  Just ignore the stained, well-used ironing surface. 

Here are all the larger pieces that I have put on the bed.  I keep doing this to be sure that I make the panels correctly and get the layout as planned. 

I have to say that I think this quilt will make me very happy in spite of the small imperfections. But I will not point those out to you.  Ha ha. 

What I will point out to you is this one piece of my hand-dyed fabric that I think is just amazing.  That is one of the joys of the way I dye fabric.  You never know exactly what will happen, but more often than not you get some lovely pieces to play with.   Just feast your eyes on this one. 

I hope you know that I am talking about that upper right square.  The yellow streaking into the fuschia while still maintaining a purity of yellow and yet also blending on the edges  just brings me joy.  And those white places where the fabric resisted the dye add a lovely surprise.  That entire piece makes me smile - so of course  I put it in this quilt that I intend to keep for my bed. 

I don't know if I will be posting again this year but just in case I don't I want to wish you a glorious holiday season, whatever you celebrate.   Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah,  Happy ___Whatever___.  I am glad you are here. 

 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

Half Square Triangles for the Pieced Blocks

The quilt I am making uses a lot of HSTs (half-square triangles.)  There are lots of ways of making these units.  When I started on this quilt, I used a paper foundation called Thangles as I had some in my stash that were the right size.

But this time, I decided to use a ruler and cut them before sewing them. I have The Left-Eze ruler designed by "A Left-Handed Quilter."  - I am not left-handed, but I tested the ruler as a "right handed tester."  So you will see some special stickers on my ruler as an Honorary Leftie.

What I did was take the two 2 1/2"  strips and layer them and iron them together.  There is nothing to hold them, but I find that it helps me to keep them neatly stacked during cutting. Then I put them on the cutting board and use the handy Left-Eze ruler to cut them. They come out layered and ready to sew. 

I confess that sometimes I do cut with my left hand. I am somewhat ambidextrous - but it is limited. 

Once they are sewn there is only one "dog-ear" to cut off.  I cut them before I press the unit open. 

Once they are pressed open they are ready to go into the pieced blocks that look like this:

I find doing the HST units this way to be as easy and maybe a bit faster than using some other methods.  

I have a few more pieced blocks to make before I finish constructing the sections of the quilt. As you may know I am quilting this one in sections and joining them to make a nice big quilt for my bed. But I am taking it slowly and enjoying the process.  

I think I have joined the "slow quilting" movement - at least for a while.  Oh yes,  I have also started another warm fuzzy piece on the loom that I plan to use to make a "house jacket" that I can wear on cold days to avoid turning up the heat. 

Thanks for stopping by. 

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.