Catching up

So I have been extremely busy, May was a very busy month. I had finals and then the day after the finals we all flew to New York for a very action packed 7 days. I didn't get to see near as much as I wanted to but I still saw alot. We went from Westpoint NY to NY City, saw a Broadway Play Lion King which was very cool. We went to Yale  in Connecticut, from Connecticut we went to Dracut Massachusetts then to Boston. By the time we got to Boston I was whipped, had absolutely no energy to do anything. Which was really sad.

We got home and of course after being gone for a week there was shopping to do and I had to deal with my car which was not working well at all in my opinion so we decided to trade it in and got a new 2016 Honda Accord for me and a 2008 Santa Fe for my daughter as we were sharing my car.

Yesterday, I signed the paperwork for my student loan to move forward to get my Liberal Studies Degree and my Credentials for teaching K-8th grade. Not sure why but am terrified. But I am sure it will pass once I start classes. I start my last Spanish Class next Monday, wish I could speak Spanish it would be oh so helpful, I remember some but not near enough.

I have also been working on several projects, my daughter asked for a table cover and I found some nice solid colors that seem to play well together that will go well in her place. Am working on quilting it now, I also have some cloth napkins that I made with the same fabric for her to match. I finished a quilt for her roommate and I think it came out pretty good. I am still learning how to control the speed on my Simply Sixteen Handi-Quilter. But as long as I keep working at it one day I will get there.

I am very happy with the progress I am making it is slow but I am doing much better on being able to get that allusive 1/4" seam and my borders are coming out smoother. And I am even understanding how to get nice mitered corners. I still have so much that I want to do and I know the next 3 years will be very busy for me as I finish my bachelors and I eventually I might even get a job teaching that would be nice after all this time in school.

All in all I have a pretty good life even if it is getting busier and busier.

What Motivates Me

I have always been motivated by those around me. Sometimes that meant that I didn't do a whole lot because the people around me simply drained my energy rather then refill my energy level. Making things has always been a basic principle of who I am and what I do. Some would say that what you do is not who you are, well that may be true for them. For me, creating is a vital area of fulfillment that must be there, sometimes it comes out really really cool. And sometimes it comes out quite wonky, no matter how it comes out, it is the journey I take that is important to me.

I gave birth to a child 24 years ago today, and in creating that child there was a great deal I did not know nor did I understand. However, I look at the young man today and I know that not only did I help to create that but he also took over the creation and made it uniquely him. My son was the first person who I truly understood that I was fully capable of loving someone, that the emotions and feelings that I felt around him were special and unique and that it was that kind of love that I sought in a partner for life. And that means that sometimes the person your with at the time may not be the one you will stay with for the rest of your life, my son's father was not to be my life mate even though he was the father of both of my children. He and I parted ways, but I truly got the best of him with my two kids and though he was only a part of their lives for a short time he still helped to also create them and add to who they are today.

Chris at less than a year

Christopher at 5 or 6

Chris at 6 or 7

Chris when he turned 5 with his cousin J

Chris today

Christopher you are and always will be that part of me that no matter how hard it is to understand, no matter how hard it is contain, no matter how many times I say WHATTT? You are my miracle child, the first real glimmer of understanding that life is more then just this moment it is a combinations of moments, it is trial and error, it is no matter what not giving up. To you son I give you the world to conquer and make your own. For you are one of my creations that just keeps giving and I would not wish to change that. I love you, son and always will.

What Happened To April

Wow! I look around and the entire month of April has totally just slipped away. I have been just totally busy this month, between my classes which is Political Science and Physical Science and the weather being actually kind of sorta like early spring.  It has been raining some here which is really great. I got my new Simply Sixteen Little Foot Quilter set up and am still waiting on a part. I have been able to play with it a bit but not a whole lot.

I have also finished all of my Christmas Ornaments. I also finished all three of the quilts that I had going, my scrappy star quilt queen size, my Vacation Time Quilt that I put together last year and finally my daughters Jack Skeleton quilt. The Mardi Gras Girl is done as well. I am amazed at how much I have been able to accomplish with going to school this year as well. And I was accepted into California State University San Marcos and will be starting in August. And in less then a month We will be flying to New York for my nephew and soon to be nieces wedding and graduations.

So this weekend, this is my room today and hopefully it will look cleaner and better organized by the end of this weekend.

I have also been working on my dragon it is slowly coming along.

One Year and Seven Days

I noticed while looking back in my blog that I posted about my daughter moving out that was just last year. The strangeness of not having any children living in the house has left. I have not really suffered from empty nest syndrome like many mothers that I know. I think in part because I immediately found a perfect spot for my sewing endeavors. I have made a sewing room and actually spend a great deal of time in there. The other thing that probably helps is my daughter only moved into our Granny Flat which is a 1+ bedroom flat. She has done quite well for herself attending school and working. It does amaze me though how the time has flown by. So many changes for me, the amount of creating items has increased and yet my schedule is still fairly manageable.

My biggest goal for this year was to once again get organized, to stay on task, and to complete projects. I have succeeded quite well at that so far. And I have added to my equipment, which means that I need to learn a new skill, quilting on a long arm is much different than quilting on a domestic machine. It is easier and yet not, I suppose the easiest part of it is that rather than fighting the quilt sandwich to push it through your domestic machine, you are learning to control the machine as it runs across your quilt sandwich.

So besides, my two classes that I have this semester, which starts back tomorrow, I will now be studying quilting techniques. Seriously, I think I will really prefer studying quilting techniques over Political Science and Physics.

 Finished my daughters Nightmare before Christmas Quilt.

 Am staying current with Pat Sloan's Secret Garden Block of the Month.

Finished quilting the Vacation Time Quilt from Pat Sloan's 2015 Block of the Month.

And only have 3 more sets of Christmas Ornaments to do and those will all be finished. There is a part of me that has considered giving a set each year to my two kids and my nephew and his wife every year for awhile. And maybe start a tradition. We will see.

Karma or just Living

Have you ever wanted something and believed that no matter what you would never be able to get what you wanted. I used to be that way, I believed that somehow my life was just so wrong, I truly believed that I would never get what I wanted. It was this type of thinking though that kept me stuck and I truly believed that I would never get out of the vicious cycle of self defeat. Until....

In May of 1999 I met a man who promised to help me to live life if I made a choice. You know making a choice was a concept that I really thought wasn't something I could do, sure you make a choice on what clothes your going to wear, what you will eat, whether to go to bed or not. These are different choices though they are choices between things you already have, or things you have to do like eat, sleep, etc... But to make a choice to live life rather then just to live the life that you have, now that is a different concept.

Now it is March of 2016, and for the upteenth time, I have come to a better understanding of what it means to choose to live life. There are still things in my past I deeply regret, things I wish would never have happened, I can't change them and I have come to accept them. The big thing is you know what it is all good even the bad because daily life changes, daily there are things that can be improved on, things that are just what they are, things that make you cry, things that make you smile, things that make you sad and things that make you happy. But it is the people around you that you feel the love, they don't make you feel loved, they freely love you so that you can feel that love no matter what.

Some would say that is a play on words and maybe it is, but if you look at the definition of certain words you will see there is just a slight difference in the connotation and the meaning in each word. I asked the question once:

Would your rather do a job well, or do a good job. You see good is an adjective it is used to describe something that doesn't really require action. But the word well is an adverb it is describing an action. For me, doing something well is important and when you only strive for something that is good enough, well then you are not getting the full benefit of life. Is there a time when good enough works of course, for me good enough changes, it is contingent upon what it is for.

Today, is a day that I can say just living is well worth making the choice of living life and not contemplating is it karma or what. Today, I feel the love that surrounds me. Today, I know I have done the best that I can do for today. Today, I know that my children, are doing what makes them happy and I am proud of them for that. Today, I know that though my methods of raising them were considered very unorthodox by many, and sometimes I believed I really was the worst kind of parent in the world because I had no clue what I was doing, that no matter what they would know I loved them.  Today, I know that deciding to give marriage another try was absolutely, positively, with out a doubt, the best decision I could have made because you see, I was already, committed to a man that taught me that living life no matter what was better then believing that karma was just killing me. I am not alone today, even though I am a loner. I will never be alone again, for I have experienced a life of living. And for all the nay sayers, the ones who told me to just get over it, move on I hope that one day, you will make the choice to live life and quit accepting that life is life.

I have become a better person, because I made that choice to live life.

Oh MY GOD

It is 6:22 in the morning and all night I kept waking myself up with this mantra going through my head, omg, omg, omg. You see yesterday I brought home a new machine from Sewing Machine Plus in San Marcos, Ca. Ever since I really started being serious about quilting back in 2012 and I have not stopped, I have known that I wanted a long arm quilting machine.I never wanted the one that required a room all by itself but one that was big enough to do what I needed and to be honest I never thought I would actually get one.

My first real quilt attempt was in 1991 when I found out that I was having my son, I hand embroidered a crib quilt and sheet sets. then in 2001, I made my first block quilt, I have grown since my first quilt. I didn't make another quilt really until 2012. Over the years I have sewn, embroidered and embroidery was truly my passion since I was 9 years old that was over 40 years ago. But it was not until I met my husband that I really began to take chances with my work and go outside of pre-printed products or kits. He has always encouraged me and shown an amazing amount of support and even has supplied the fuel for my addiction of thread and fabric.

The people at Sewing Machine Plus are really great, I have bought the majority of my machines there.They have a service department, classes and some supplies such as notions, and thread. They are more then happy to work a deal with you and the really cool thing is upgrade is very good there.

SO OMG- I have a LONG ARM and frame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is all the info that I know on it right now because it is still sitting in boxes in my living room.

                        Handi Quilter Simply Sixteen 16-inch Longarm with HQ Little Foot

Package Includes:

• HQ Simply Sixteen 16-inch Longarm
• HQ Little Foot with HQ Precision-Glide Track System
• Stitching Speed up to 1,800 Stitches Per Minute
• Color Touchscreen
• Bobbin Winder

Machine Features:

• Ergonomic front handlebars with touchscreen control
• 1,800 stitches per minute
• LED light ring
• Handi Feet mount with quarter-inch ruler foot installed; open-toe foot included
• Two modes of HQ stitch regulation: Precision and Cruise
• Manual mode with two customizable preset speeds
• Consistent stitch quality from 4 to 18 stitches per inch
• Needle-stop positioning control
• High-speed rotary hook with largecapacity M-class bobbin
• Easy needle change with ergonomic thumb screw
• Five bobbins, 20 needles, sample thread
• Quilting alarm and project timer
• Four language options: English, French, German and Spanish
• Built-in diagnostics
• Integrated USB port

Frame Features:

• Innovative quilt clamp management system: 6 Easy-Grasp Quilt Clamps, 1 HQ Super Quilt Clamp, and 6 Hold-Tight clamps
• Accommodates any size quilt
• 5-foot free-standing frame
• Adjustable legs for easy customization from 33" to 44" in height
• Easy-assembly professional-grade system made of high quality steel
• Leveling feet adjust to floor surfaces
  

http://www.sewingmachinesplus.com/hq-simply-sixteen.php?gclid=CjwKEAjw8bO3BRDp0bP_vL-7_lASJACL_d6wg36f1GqdXv126Etu_0LLp4m6Q4EO5qwStkWEoZJiThoCd3Tw_wcB

Quilting or Embroidery

I spoke with my son a few months back and he said something to me that I have been replaying over and over and thinking about since he brought it up.He said that though my quilts were nice he preferred my embroidery over my quilting. I find both fun and interesting for me it is about the thread and the fabric, the amount of things you can do is phenomenal to me.

 This piece took me almost a year and I loved making it. I really love embroidery and I think it will always be something that I will love but is it something that I will always be able to do that is something else. Because I don't like to do printed patterns and I much prefer to create my own design and do different techniques so that each one is different.

But the above is quilting this has been something that I began planning around the first of February and it is for a challenge that needs to be finished by July 1st. 

Each project is different and each one has its fun parts, its tedious parts  and that ultimate sense of yes !!!! I did that but can they be compared no but what I have decided is they both have their merits and I love them both. And each time it is a new adventure.