After the Mayans and the "fiscal cliff"...

Happy New Year (a little belated)!  Despite the Mayan warning, the fiscal cliff, and an extended family Christmas down south for eleven days, we made it to 2013.

December is quite a blur right now...as a church musician, it is a very busy time, even without the other madness of the season.  Then there was the last minute gift finishing, decorating, and we decided to throw an "end of the world party" on December 21 (you know..."party like there is no to-maya").  I doodled the picture above for the invites, but thankfully no asteroid hit.

I managed to finish seven gift table runners by Christmas Eve...even hand quilted them.  I took time to photograph two of them.

Then I made several pairs of earrings for gifts...why is it that I have to drag ALL the beads out before I can work?!?

The creative part of me loves the over-stimulation, but it drives the OCD neat freak in me CRAZY!!  There was nowhere to work.

Then, I tried my hand at another yo-yo Christmas ornament.

I have enough yo-yo's made for ten of these tree ornaments, but only had time to finish one...so I have a good head start on NEXT Christmas.

I love using those Karen Kay Buckley "Perfect Circles" to make them...a yo-yo will finish about half the diameter of the circle you start with.

I put the last hand quilting stitches and hanging sleeves on two small pieces for gifts.

"No Crows" by P3 Designs and a Christmas Sampler wall hanging.

One of my sisters had a baby while I was home for Christmas, so that was really special, but the trip is always so hectic and I start the new year burned out and exhausted.  I managed to see my parents, great aunt, all six of my siblings, and six of the seven nieces and nephews on my side of the family...and put almost 2000 miles on the car.  (We also slept in four different places, and I cooked in three different kitchens.)

It is good to be home!  I am SOOOOOO behind on answering email...so please be patient with me.  I also have not sent out the Christmas cards yet...typical, so typical...  

I am working on two more "Baltimore Rhapsody" blocks simultaneously.  Yep, there is a grapevine on one of them...with 150+ grapes.  I didn't do much on the project for about 3 weeks, which makes me completely nuts.

I hope everyone had a great holiday season!  I have made my typical promise to start earlier next Christmas...yeah...right...

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Yes...I went to the party...

After a long fall season with not enough playtime, I just had to go to the annual Christmas party/ornament exchange...despite the fact that I had minor foot surgery the day before.

I took two homemade ornaments (pictured in the previous post), so I got to pick two from the pile of mystery ornaments cleverly disguised in brown paper sacks.

Look how cute this chilly little crochet snowman is!  Made by Marilyn A (no blog), he is delightfully soft and plump...I will have to put him high on the Christmas tree to keep Mr. Weasley from choosing him as a holiday plaything (that cat is attracted to ornaments made with yarn - can he smell the sheep?!?). 

Debby C (no blog) made my second pick...a sweet paper-pieced Santa Claus - the perfect Santa for a quilter!  He will be in good company on the Christmas tree with my feeble attempt at a triangular Santa a few years ago...

The potluck was delicious and the company warm and engaging...I made the right choice to go!

I took something easy to make as my dish to share...7-Layered Fiesta Dip.  I'm sure EVERYONE makes a version of this time-honored party classic, but here is how I made mine.

I started with a 9 x 13 dish and spread an already prepared tub of jalapeno-bean dip.  (This is sold under different brands and found on the chip isle of the grocery store).

Next, I mixed 12 ounces of sour cream (half a large tub) with one envelope taco seasoning, then spread that on the bean dip.

I am lazy about the next layer...some people make homemade guacamole, but I cheat and buy the best quality already prepared stuff I can find at the grocery deli.  (With a little patience, it is possible to spread this on without mixing it too much with the previous layer.)

The next layers are chopped tomatoes, followed by chopped green onions.  I always buy Roma tomatoes when a recipe calls for chopped - they contain less water.  I used 4 for this recipe (be generous...these are the healthy layers).  I followed the tomatoes with a whole bunch, chopped, of green onions (the green AND the white parts).

Two more lazy layers to go!  First, a large can of already pitted, already sliced, drained (I had to do that) black olives.  (Hey...I did chop fresh tomatoes and green onions...)  I chase those with 2 cups of already shredded cheddar cheese - I prefer the "petite shreds" over the larger pieces.

Ta-da!!  I gently press down on the whole thing to slightly squish everything together.  I buy "scoops" tortilla chips to serve with the dip, but any tortilla chip will do (or "scoops" Fritos...).

Sitting around, gazing lovingly and nostalgically at my tree while listening to Christmas carols, I realized that I HAD experimented with making some yo-yo's before.  I spied the the little homespun wreath, pictured at the top of the post, with plaid fabrics several years ago.

Here's a more updated version I made to take for the ornament exchange last year.

Each little yo-yo is slightly stuffed with fiberfill before pulling the gathers tight and securing.  You can make the yo-yo's any size (start with a circle template twice the diameter of the yo-yo you want to make).

Here's a little yo-yo tree ornament made by Katrina L (no blog) from years past...

Cindy C (Nine Pine Quilts) sent me photos of two cute yo-yo ornaments from her tree...a birdhouse and an angel.  Hmmmm...gonna have to try those...thanks for the inspiration!

Yo-yo ornaments are certainly appropriate for this yo-yo time of year.!  Thank you for all your well wishes about my foot...I think things are healing nicely!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Ornament exchange offering...

I am a late bloomer.  I have just now discovered the mindless joy of making yo-yo's.  Be still my OCD heart!

Some of you make them by the 100's, not even knowing what you are going to do with them (Margaret D. and sister...).  I have to say it is a very satisfying use of scraps.

It is time for the yearly ornament exchange, so the pressure has been on to come up with a worthy offering.

Since I like the way the red ornaments really "pop" on a Christmas tree, I started with my bright red scraps.

I knew I needed to make them small...as small as my fingers would fumble.  I also wasn't sure how I would embellish them in the end, so I chose to fold the edge under as I made my gathers rather than leave the edge raw.

I love Kay Buckley's "Perfect Circle" applique templates.  I don't use them very often to applique circles...I'm far too lazy and just turn the edges under with a glue stick when I make circles...and I do love making circles, but I diverge...

OK Teresa, stay on task.  Since the yo-yo's finish about half the diameter of the circle you start with, I chose a template and "dug in" to the scraps.

I decided I wanted the finished yo-yo to be about the size of a penny.

They really are addicting to make, which is a good thing!  When they are made this tiny, it takes a lot to cover a styrofoam ball.  Using some red-on-white fabrics in addition to red makes the ornament really sizzle and adds movement.

I used inexpensive pearl-headed pins to attach each yo-yo, starting at the "bottom" of the ornament, and adding them row by row, slightly overlapping them to cover the styrofoam ball.

They held so well, I didn't even have to glue them, but I could have.  I did make a hole at the "top" by stabbing the very tiny exposed place on the styrofoam ball with my stiletto, then filled it with a little craft glue and poked the knotted end of some skinny ribbon into the glued hole for a hanger.  Easy! 

(The time-consuming part is making the yo-yo's...NOTE TO SELF: spend spare time in 2013 making yo-yo's so that I will have lots to play with next year...).

I had some minor foot surgery yesterday, and now I am sitting with my foot propped up, typing (not pretty...), questioning the wisdom of my decision to drive myself to the annual party and ornament exchange this morning.  The stitches are on the bottom of a toe, and it would be better if I stayed home and stayed off of it...but it's a party...hmmm.

I have an hour to decide and make my planned dish to pass...do I act like a responsible adult and stay home or go PARTY HARDY with my friends?!?  Stay tuned...

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

(p.s. I will do a proper tutorial on these, and a couple more ornaments I came up with, soon...)

"Baltimore Rhapsody" Block 15 - the double bass

The double bass, or string bass, is block #15 of my original applique project called "Baltimore Rhapsody."   (You can read about the back story of this project here.)

This lowest of the stringed instruments is also called the bass viol, contrabass, and bull fiddle.  It is about 6 feet tall and the player of this instrument has to either stand or perch on a high stool to play it (the violin is only 23-24 inches long, in comparison).



The double bass is not just a larger version of a violin.  The "shoulders" (top of the body) are narrower and the back is flat rather than rounded like the violin, viola, and cello.  These and other subtle differences in shape and proportion help to create the deep, velvet tones. 

The double bass has four strings that are tuned in fourths rather than fifths, as the other three stringed instruments.  This helps the player a little, as it decreases the hand span needed to play a scale from 14 inches to 10.5, which is still very challenging!  The thickness and greater tension of the strings requires very strong fingers to play.

The music is written an octave higher than what is actually heard to avoid the excessive amount of ledger lines that would be needed to voice the actual low tones (ledger lines are used above and below the 5-line staff).

Before the time of Beethoven, the bass parts were pretty much just the bass line...rare difficult passages and melody lines.  He had a good friend who played bass, which enabled him to understand the instrument better and write more demanding, thematically interesting parts for the bass to play.  Very few solo pieces were written for this instrument.

In addition to producing the tone by bowing, the bass is often plucked (pizzicato) to produce a clear, resonant tone.

It takes great dedication to play such a large instrument...it can even determine what kind of car you drive!  In addition to being the foundation of orchestral music, the bass replaced the tuba in jazz and dance bands, where is is most often plucked, rather than bowed, to produce the beautiful tones.

 

One more stringed instrument to go to round out the section...the viola.

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

"Baltimore Rhapsody" Block #14 - the violin, the top of the orchestra

Here we are at the violin, Block #14 of "Baltimore Rhapsody" (see the back story here).  I drafted so many versions of this block, a couple of which I will probably also turn into patterns...it is nice to have a choice of blocks!  This is a small version of the instrument (because I really wanted to include a fruit compote in the first quilt, since it is such a classic Baltimore album motif).

This smallest, soprano of all bowed instruments is made from about 70 pieces of various kinds of wood - maple, sycamore, ebony, pine, and pear wood.  The pieces are glued together and varnished.  Believe it or not, the quality of the instrument's tone can vary depending on which woods are chosen and the chemical formulas of the glues and varnishes used.

The violin's length is basically the average distance between the shoulder to the palm of the hand, about 23-24 inches.  Smaller scale sizes are made for children - 3/4, 1/2, and even 1/16 lengths.  Like the cello and the viola, the 4 strings are tuned in a series of perfect fifths.  The strings are strung from the tail piece to a set of pegs, which can be individually turned to tune each string.

The sound is made by pulling a bow across the strings.  The bow is basically a wooden stick with horse hair stretched from end to end.  Rubbing the tightened horse hair across the strings causes them to vibrate.  The unique shape of the body and the size of the
"f holes" serve as a sound amplifier and "sweetener."  Bowing technique results in differences in volume, smoothness or shortness of notes in a passage, and whether the tone is forceful and hard or caressed into sweetness.  The strings can also be plucked with the fingers rather than bowed to produce short, pizzicato notes.  It is a very expressive instrument.

The violin is held between the chin and left shoulder, with the left-hand fingers pressing the strings to produce pitches and the right hand holding the bow.

The first violin player, or concert master/mistress, asks the principle oboe for the tuning notes, first for the strings, then for the winds and brass.  The piano and the violin have had the most solo works written for each.  The most common small ensemble is the string quartet, consisting of 2 violins, 1 viola and a cello.  There are no stringed instruments in a concert band, but the violin is the most popular instrument in an orchestra.  It has also been used as a solo instrument in the folk and country music genres.

The next block will be the largest stringed instrument...the double bass.

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

(Thanks to my oboe-playing buddy, Margaret D, for the reminder!)