Like falling off a log...

Yes, a picture of actual sewing about to happen on my sewing machine...FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 5 WEEKS!  I'm happy to report that I still know how to drive my sewing machine...it was like falling off a log.  All the stress of the past 3 months just melted away as I pieced blocks today.

Those of you who know me are thinking, "Teresa doesn't usually sew with those fabrics!"  Bingo.  These are blocks I owed to my fellow Bee Balm quilt bee stitchers.  I have been such a scoundrel and they are VERY tardy.  These modern, funky, scrappy log cabins are for dear Lizzie.  Sweet Sue is going to assemble them into a top for Lizzie, who has her hands full right now. 

These two blocks are for Vivian...can you believe I had no Kaffe Fassett and very little modern and bold in my stash?!?  Good excuse to go fabric shopping, agree?  I found a local place with both, and then it was 'Katie, bar the door!'  I wanted ALL the Kaffe Fassett!  I think I don't own these fun fabrics because I'm scared of them...don't know what to do with them.

I really am alive, although right now I am sick and have been sleeping for two days.  The concert was last Friday night, and as usual, my body just gave up when it was all over.  I was a huge target for getting sick, as exhausted as I was.  Three out of four of us got sick...the drummer is far too cool to get stressed...

BUT, the concert was great!  The four of us raised a lot of money for the music program...here are some pictures (taken from the side, where my husband wasn't in the way), but I think they will give you an idea of what went down...

This was the instrumental opener, "Blue Bosso."  Then Jill came out and the four of us did "Hallelujah" (K.D. Lang).

Then we did "Send in the Clowns" (Barbara Streisand), "The Rose" (Bette Midler), "Amazing Grace" (my arrangement), "Wade in the Water" (traditional Spiritual), and "Fever" (Peggy Lee).

Then we did another instrumental, "Spain" (Chick Corea), followed by "People" (Barbara Streisand), "Sway" (Michael Buble, Dean Martin),"One and Only" (Adele), and "Happy Days Are Here Again" (Barbara Streisand).  The lighting makes it look like I was appearing with The Blue Man Group, doesn't it?!?  The drummer's cute, shiny head beautifully displayed each color beautifully.  The color was constantly changing, thanks to some great professional LED lighting...it's so dark it's hard to tell that I am sitting at a black grand piano.

Steve got one picture of me by myself...and a not-too-flattering one, at that.  Note to self - keep mouth shut while playing, unless I am singing, and make sure people take more than one snap of each pose.

I'm happy to get back to my dull (by comparison), little life and I look forward to lots of sewing and pattern designing.  I can only take so much of that stuff in the spotlight.

What else happened in the past 6 weeks?  Mr. Fabric Therapy and I celebrated 18 years of being hitched.

We continued our tradition of REALLY doing up Halloween right.  Here are half of the pumpkins we carved (mine - Steve and Riley's are inspired by pretty obscure references - it's no fun to me when I have to explain them to the confused parents of trick or treaters...).

Oh wait...Tonya of Lazy Gal Quilting will get this one of Riley's (you have to be a Dr. Who fan to get that it is a representation of the TARDIS)...2 people in the neighborhood recognized it...it seems that most parents of small children do not have time to watch BBC America...

Anyway, I am excited to catch up on blog reading and projects, projects, projects.  Christmas is coming and there are a lot of exciting things going on in my local quilting community right now.  It's good to be back!

In stitches (finally...),
Teresa  :o)

I was captured by aliens...

OK...that's not exactly the truth.  I'm so glad I found my way back home to Fabric Therapy!  This is the longest I've ever gone without posting, and I've sure missed it!  I kept thinking that I had no business posting without something very, very quilty to share, and there has not been enough fabric therapy going on in the quilt cave lately!

First, we got away to celebrate our anniversary and do some Octoberfest-ing on the west side of the state.  We were in the Saugatuk/Douglas area on the first colorful weekend and enjoyed these Alpine horns playing in downtown Douglas, after the harvest parade.  Hey, they can play more than the "Riccola!" song!  They were playing difficult brass band marches and such, and the nice lady in the group and my daughter hit it off (both French horn players...duh!), and she let Riley play her horn!

These horns are beautifully carved and are only made in Switzerland and, until recently, the "Canadian Alps."  They do come apart, I was relieved to find out.  Either that, or all Alpine horn players drive vintage 1970's station wagons to haul their horns to gigs.

We listened to Alpine horns, ate a Bratwurst, drank a good beer...yep, it was a real Octoberfest.

Saugatuk and Douglas are art colonies, so we enjoyed looking through the shops and galleries.  Great towns...but no quilt shop.   :o(

Then, the block of the month I was administering and kitting for the local quilt shop arrived at the final month.  There were many evenings of sorting out little pieces of cut fabric and interesting buttons for forty kits.  All of that went into several small baggies for each kit.  Weasley found this boring, especially since I wouldn't let him "staple" the edges of the ziploc bags (does anyone else's cat have a thing about ziploc bags and plastic sheet protectors?!?).  I had said "no" so many times, he was pouty and refused to smile for camera.

This was a fun quilt to come up with and sponsor.  The center blocks are from the Halvorsen book, "Count On It" (we made them larger), then we designed the outer border using the letters in that book and designs from some of her other books.

Then, I volunteered to design and make the samples for the upcoming Holiday Dash at the shop.  Oy!  Each participating shop is featuring a different block for a holiday or season.  The blocks can stand alone as wall-hangings or be made into a large quilt.  Here is our Halloween block, the Pumpkin Watcher, now all hand-quilted and bound, featuring my "bowling pin kitty" (start with a sketch of a bowling pin and just add ears and a tail...grin)..

Julie Hale of Bits and Pieces, one of the participating shops, came up with the design for a "Celebrate!" quilt that will hold each small holiday quilt.  You might say it's a "wall-hanging wall-hanging."  I call it DONE, as I got it hand-quilted and bound this week as well.

But mainly, the bad economy has been affecting me greatly, but not in the ways you might guess.  FUNDRAISING is eating my life!  It seems like every group, every love, every interest is struggling for funds right now.

I'm writing arrangements and playing piano for a fundraiser concert at the church in a couple of weeks.  It will be fun, but it takes a lot of time on my part, listening to CD's, then transcribing those arrangements for piano, bass and drums.  I have a good music writing computer program, which is much easier than writing them out in manuscript, but it is still a time eater.

My daughter is going to a new school this year...really...the first year of it's existence!  It is a public school, but follows the International IB curriculum.  A brand new school has no music library, which means the band, choir and orchestra are sort of living hand-to-mouth...you guessed it, MORE fundraising to purchase scores, equipment, etc.

I don't submit all the hours I work doing things for my local quilt shop, so that seems like fundraising, as well.  Some shops are really hurting in this economy.

There's a disturbing trend here...we are losing the arts...music and art in school, music in church, quilting.  State education budgets are taking a pounding, as are teachers.  Good thing I am hand-quilting Steve's boxer shorts quilt (Boxer Rebellion)...I need lots of fabric therapy right now!  Quilting on a quilt made from old underwear seems very appropriate in this economy!

I also took some quilts to the Ypsilanti Heritage Museum for their annual fall show.  They mix quilts in with their regular displays, and people attend the show for a small donation...yep, more fundraising. 

I aired out The Bride and also took All Around the Town.  I always love to see what people bring in.  LOVE this one with the music fabric...

This one really spoke to me...the owner made it from his grandfather's flannel shirts.

 

Sorry to be so rambling...I won't be a stranger.  I've missed you!

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

Leaf Peeping...

It's that time of year again in Michigan...LEAF PEEPER SEASON!  Time to drive around and drink in all the glorious color and wonder of the impending fall season.  We are off doing that this weekend, toward the west side of the state to the Saugatuk/Douglas area.  Colorful leaves, cooler temps, gusty winds, apple trees sagging under the weight of ripe apples, tart, fresh-pressed cider, colorful pumpkins piled up everywhere, brisk walks on the shore of Lake Michigan...this is my favorite season. 

Fall is nice in Alabama where I grew up, but it is on steroids in Michigan.  I remember standing on the football field during halftime at Auburn University on an early November Saturday afternoon...poaching/steaming/stewing in a wool marching band uniform as the "lovely fall temps" soared into the high 80's.  Sorry, that's just not FALL!

When I posted weeks ago about airing out "All Around the Town" at the local Saline Country Fair, I had not yet collected the nice prizes I received for getting the blue ribbon in the applique/hand quilted wall hanging category and the overall Best of Show ribbon.  I am LONG overdue in acknowledging the two local stores that offered the prizes!

Ann Arbor Sewing Center donated the prize for Best of Show - a lovely padded sewing basket laden with all kinds of nice quilty treats.  There were also patterns, tools, and lovely surprises.  Thank you, thank you for supporting the Fair!

Then there was this lovely parcel for taking the blue ribbon from Leabu Sewing Center, also located in Ann Arbor...(I recently bought my Janome 6600 sewing machine from them).

There was this lovely book...

 

...and some fun fat quarters, patterns, etc.

With Boxer Rebellion all basted, I hope to spend some evening time of this mini-break weekend doing some hand quilting while sipping some apple cider.  Ahhhh...fall (sigh).

Well, I have FINALLY passed the 70 pounds lost mark.  I am happy to put that 10-pound mark BEHIND me (or maybe, that's the area the 10 pounds came from?!?  Can't tell...I don't have to look at that side of me...God is merciful...).  When I occasionally help out with end-of-the-year inventory at the local quilt shop, we weigh the bolts of fabric, then the owner uses some magic formula to figure out how much fabric is on hand at that time.  70 pounds of bolted fabric is a HUGE pile (but lovely and alluring in its own way, just like me...).  A recent boxed purchase from IKEA weighed about 70 pounds.  I remember huffing and puffing (and cursing!) as I single-handedly unloaded it from the car.  It is unbelievable that I have been hauling THAT around for so long (and much more).  Clothes are getting baggy, rings are getting loose, granny panties are getting "grannier," bones are appearing that I forgot I had. 

On a related subject, you've GOT to check out Mary Lou's latest post at Cheaper Than Therapy Quilting entitled Amazing Lift.  You will be glad you did (Warning:  go pee first...).

Maybe mid-life is the time for large weight loss...while everyone else around me is complaining about aches, pains, etc., I am just thrilled to see my feet and be able to tie my shoes without setting Guinness World Records for holding my breathe (and turning a shade of blue that I normally seek out when looking for fabric.)   Life is good.   :o)

A HUGE thank you to everyone who offered such wonderful suggestions about watermarking photos, copyrighting original designs, buying good design software and hardware, and all the encouragement following my last post.  I appreciate your time and effort.  I hope to be able to share more with you soon about all that.

If you are "leaf peeping" in lower Michigan this weekend, I hope you can find Jennifer's Quilt Shop in Pinckney, Michigan.  This is Jennifer Burg, the owner and a friendlier, more bubbly person you won't meet.  Her laugh is downright infectious!!

When you first drive up to her shop, just a half block off the center of town, you see a lovely little white cottage with beautiful flowers.  

Then you step inside and think you've stepped into a much BIGGER cottage/store.  She has so much lovely fabric in there.  Once you regain consciousness and start breathing on your own again, you start counting the large list of fabric types that she features.  She carries a huge amount of 30's, reproduction, fun and fresh, seasonal, and color blenders.  She now carries wool as well.

She fills every square inch of her store with cotton yumminess, books, patterns, notions, kits, batting, samples, knick knacks...and somehow she offers all this without making one feel overcrowded.

One of my favorite things about this shop is that they cut (and maintain!) fat quarters of EVERY BOLT!  I love her "11 for the price of 10" policy on FQs.  And they are located right there, close to the original bolt.  Current Block-of-the-Months are also cheerfully displayed.  Just look at all those lovely Farmer's Wife completed blocks.

Sometimes I find myself there for no particular reason and just buy a "pick-me-up" pile of FQs...just a taste of my 10 new best friends.

Her quilt kits are displayed in cute gift bags on top of the shelves...never out of reach.

 

New, featured and/or seasonal lines tend to be in the center of the store...

 

...and the color wall is around the outer wall.

Books, books, books...

 

Novelties under the front window...

...notions and patterns to fill every need.

Neutrals and batiks behind the cutting area...

...and a well-stocked, well-rotated sale area in front of the cutting area. 

I hope you have a great weekend, peeping or not, on this first weekend of October!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)