Sunday Stretch for Sewists #2

The first place we start to age is our feet.  The second place we start to age is our spine.  I state these two facts pretty much every class I teach.

One of the best things you can do for your spine at any time, really, but especially after sitting at your machine, or standing at your longarm for long periods of time, is to twist.  Twists release tension in the spine.  You can twist while standing, or sitting in your chair, but ideally it is good to move.  Change your position.  Sit on the floor.

A simple seated spinal twist, stage 2

We in the Western world rarely sit on the floor which is a prime cause of our hip and knee issues.  In the Eastern world, the type and number of hip and knee replacements are not even close to the amount here.  So keep a quilt (I'm sure you have an extra one or two, right?!) handy to spread out on your sewing room floor, and sit down on it for perhaps 5 minutes when you feel the need to release your back or your hips.  Your back and your hips will thank you.

The photo above is stage 2 of a seated twist.  Stage 1 would be leaving my right foot beside my left thigh, not crossing it over as I have done here.  Oops, I forgot to do stage 1!

Image from Yoga Partout

The girl on the lower left is in stage 1 of the twist.  You can bring the twist into the vertebrae of your neck by bringing your chin in the direction of your shoulder.  Think of looking far to the corner of the outside eye.  Doing that is a good eye exercise too!  Hold the twist for a full 1-2 minutes, breathing slowly and steadily in and out through your nose.

When we twist, we gently compress the discs, à la style of wringing out a dishcloth.  Just as we compress a garden hose to control the flow of the water, and then release it, which causes the water to rush out of the hose, the blood will rush through the compressed areas once you untwist.  This does a number of good things for our body.  If you are breathing slowly and steadily, maybe inhaling and exhaling each to a count of 3 or 4, then you are enriching your blood with oxygen.  Once you untwist, the blood, rich in nutrients, nourishes the now decompressed area.  Furthermore, the blood rushing through the area flushes out toxins that might have built up there.  In this way, you are giving yourself a deep tissue massage.  You also have created, at the microscopic level, more space in your spine, which allows for better blood flow.  A more limber, blood-flowing-freely human being is generally a happier one.  Cool, right?

Seated spinal twist, stage 3

If your knees are okay, bend in the bottom leg, keeping that foot gently flexed to protect the knee.  You don't need to pull hard, although you can do it with muscle effort, in a more yang, active style.  In the yin style, you twist as far as you are able, and then soften your belly and relax into the twist, letting the muscles go.  You may not twist as far, but you will work into the connective tissues, the ligaments and fascia (there is a vast amount of fascia in your mid-back, the area where we bend, forwards, backwards, sideways, also where we twist) which is so good when we spend a lot of time bending over our machines or our handwork.

You can do a spinal twist reclined too:

Image from Classic Yoga

That link shows you several other poses which are great for back pain.  You can do this supine twist in bed at night if you like as well.  Thinking of bringing your ear to the floor (or to your mattress) will bring the twist into your neck, much like we did in the sitting version where you bring your chin towards your shoulder.  Twists are great for the abdomen area as well, acting as aids in the digestive process, gently squeezing our abdominal organs, and, once we un-twist, nourishing those organs in the same way as I mentioned before.

Bernie Clark has a great page on twists on his Yin Yoga site here.

The quilt in the photos of me is my Perky Purses, a great size to take to yoga classes!  It's from Pam and Nicky Lintott's book, Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Quilts.

Since it's Sunday Stash in QBL, here is a photo of 3 fat quarters added this week to my stash.

My stash is lacking in grey, so these were great additions; should've ironed them first!

The sun was dappling a bit on these through the doorway, so they are not mottled as they appear here.  They are from Ella Quilts, a LQS that was at our guild meeting on Tuesday.  Her fat quarters were on special for $3 each.  You do get 20" instead of 18", as they are half a metre cut in half.  This is a very decent price per metre for Canada, $12.  However, in Ohio last week I picked up half a YARD for $3 in the sale section at Miller's Dry Goods.  Even with the terrible for Canadians exchange, that is a better deal, working out to about $4 per half yard.  Ah well, need to support our LQS, to some degree, right?  And as my friend Helen says, "it would be rude not to buy anything."
Happy Sunday!

Friends of the Heart

You all know of last week's meeting of two like-minded friends of the heart, Julie of Pink Doxies and me.  Today's post is more of the warm, fuzzy, feels good, heart-centred QBL stuff.

A Namaste Hug made by me

QBL?

Helen of Midget Gem Quilts and I have coined that acronym in this social media world that loves acronyms.  Feel free to use it!

Quilting Blogland.

Bella on Graffiti

This is my entry in the Cats on Quilts category for the Pets On Quilts Show at Lily Pad Quilting.  It's so much fun.  Lara and I cemented our friendship over Olive, her daughter's pibble; as did Judy and I over the Nugs last year.  It's a great way to meet other quilters, and be amazed at how alike our fur kids are when it comes to all things quilty.  And there are prizes!  Bella won a triangle fabric mousie last year, still has it, still loves it, kicks it to death and bites it on a regular basis.

You've seen my Graffiti quilt once before, but it wasn't bound, and I wasn't sure exactly what I would do with it.  Well, I decided to take it for Show 'n Tell to this past Tuesday's guild meeting, so I had to bind it.  Of course, when I laid it down on the floor to take a picture, this happened:

Not as big as I normally require, Sandra...

Hmm...

If I can just grab this side, maybe I can roll myself up in it...

and then, "Well, since she's got that black thing in front of her face, I may as well strike a pose..."

Note the one foot angled out with pointed toes - this is a new one

Like most quilters with cats, they have to get involved in every step of the process, from pulling out fabric, to lolling about on the finished product.  Ahem, or in the finished product:

Or making sure your 1/4" seams are precise, (note the one squinty eye just to eagle kitty-eye that seam):

Great vantage point, and besides I look SO utterly adorable, she'll finally pay me some attention

But back to the Graffiti quilt.  I've had two spots where my Avanté hiccups or bobbles since we set it up for the 10' table (the person I bought it from had it at 6').  I was also suddenly having some tension issues as well.  In order to solve the problems, I threw in some muslin to try out Karlee Porter's Graffiti quilting, with various threads, and to find exactly where the bobbles occurred so my husband, "MacGyver", could do the adjusting.  I even got him to quilt a bit so he would feel how it grabbed, or sort of jumped into a kind of rut and then back out.  And thus the Graffiti quilt was born.  We finally were able to get everything nearly tickety-boo, just a teensy little spot where there was a wiggle.

Lots of people commented that I should bind it and hang it in my sewing room, and so I have done.  I used some leftover fabric from my Yoga Mat Bag.  You will never see the back, as some parts ain't so purty as I worked through some tension issues, ripped some, left some.  But I love it, and it serves to show me that I can do this, and I can persevere until I get the right tension and the smoothness I want...and the precision will come with continued practice.  I'll never be as precise as Angela Walters or Gina Perkes (wow) but I also know I'll never be as good a yogi as Kino McGregor or David Robson.  But if I am happy with my results, that's all that matters.

Sewed the binding to the back and machine top-stitched it down on the front with Sulky Holoshimmer in bright green - love the bling!

I've since hung it on my wall, er, plastic vapour barrier in my sewing corner of the basement.

I love it there.

Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Graffiti quilting practice
Size: 42.25" X 15.5"
Fabric: unbleached muslin front and back, binding is Winter Wonderland by In the Beginning Fabrics
Batting: Warm 'n Natural
Quilted: on my Avanté, Avril
Threads: Floriani Fufu's Rayons, Isacord and Sulky Holoshimmer

Hope you will hop, bound, or sashay (if you're like my diva, Bella), or canter on over to Lily Pad Quilting and check out all the entries.  You can read about my dog on quilt entry featuring Naala here.  You can vote here.  Bella is #34.  Naala is #57.

I will also link up this finish to Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday, TGIFF and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Oooh, in celebration of a million(!!) page views, Sarah is having a pretty sweet giveaway. Better hop over there and check 'er out.

More Amish Country purchases

Seriously you didn't really think all I bought was the two pieces of Minky Cuddle and the lake quilt beach-themed fabrics?  I had just short of $200 mad money from covering extra yoga classes this summer while other instructors were ill or on vacation, and I spent every dime of it. :-)

The fabrics below are going into a quilt a wee bit further down on my list of quilts to make.  Again, I had not planned to shop for this quilt, but you know how it goes, they percolate on the back burner of your quilt inventory in your head.  Well, mine do anyhow.  The bottom green I just liked, thought it might go in this quilt; didn't realize until closer inspection that it says "meow" or "mrow" on it amongst the yarn.  Darned if that nice grey isn't the same line, 'Purrsnickitty' - great name, very clever.

Most of the feature fabric is hidden, as the person for whom this is destined reads this blog--mysterious, I know.  It's background reads black here but it is a delicious deep navy.

Sunday Stash from Amish Country

Not Sunday Stretch for Sewers...Sewists...as I'd planned...hmm might have to switch that so we think happy fabric thoughts and not be thrown off by unpleasant smells thoughts...

Any-who.  In the previous post where I let you know why I'd not blogged for a week, and showed off two more bags I'd made, you learned that I'd spent a couple of days in Amish Country in Ohio.  I helped support a couple of several businesses there of course, amongst them cheese, wine, Amish foods, and of course, fabric.

Loved this.  Squealed in disbelief at the first few, never did lose the shine of seeing this:

I took a couple more of various buggies, on the road, parked, a team of four horses across raking in a field, but then I read that they do not appreciate being photographed, and so, in respect of that, I will only post this fairly anonymous shot.

I felt like I'd stepped back in time.

This is Miller's Dry Goods, two stores side by side, this one in a barn on what was the farm where the owner grew up.  There are two houses in back, now set up for (drum roll) quilt retreats(!) or family reunions.

This is Julie's favourite shop, and I can totally see why.

So!  On with the purchases.

May I just say a big fat, "EEEEP!"  This is Minky Cuddle from Shannon Fabrics.  The good stuff.  It is the only full price fabric I bought.  When I saw the footballs, well, done and done.  Brady.  Cost does not factor into the equation where my beloved grandson is concerned.  My dad, penny pincher extraordinaire, was like that with his grandchildren.  He bought Brianne her first pair of baby shoes:  excellent support, leather, expensive from an expensive specialty shoe shop in Windsor, he was with me and waved away my wallet, saying, "Grandpa is paying." They cost more money than he probably ever paid for a pair for himself...or his own kids, lol.

Brady loves football.  Loves.  Cannot wait to start playing.  Last November he "ordered" a Halloween quilt from a picture he saw in my American Patchwork & Quilting magazine.  This is going onto the back.  Fall and Football, Halloween.  It works.

The gorgeous, plush, oh-my-god-should-I?-I-should, sculptured ivory Minky is for me!  Probably for the back of Wings.  These are 60" wide so 2 yards costs $35, not too shabby for a quilt backing, I'd say.  And what a backing.  You think petting cotton fabric is good for the soul?  This will massage your spirit, your senses, your soul, your inner mmmrrrroooowww of a feline rolling around in ecstasy.  You get the picture.  I'll stop before I feel the need to run downstairs and touch these two pieces again!

Two winters of collecting lake-themed fabrics

The top two in the run under the feature fabric are from my stash.  I show you this, because I did not know I was going to shop for some other pieces to go with this collection.  Look what I got:

I am not sure whether I will use the Moda wood grain (think dock) fabric, but it does work.  The sea glass, sea foam batik was bought with my Sea Glass quilt in mind, although I don't need any more fabrics for it... (pattern purchased on Craftsy- if you click through the Craftsy link on my sidebar and purchase this pattern, by an Alberta designer, cool, I will get a few cents, merci beaucoup)  However, it works, maybe, in this quilt.  It's not the exact green in the feature fabric, but is great with the wavy water fabric and the 'lake' peppered cotton on the bottom. The batik was $8/yard at Zinck's, the wood grain in the basement sale fabric for $6/yard. 

The lower fabric was at Zinck's for, as you see, $3.99/yard.  Score!  Backing for the lake quilt.  I bought 4 yards.  It's going to be a throw for the bench in the front entryway.
The other two shell and rope fabrics were from Miller's Dry Goods, $6/yard.  They might go into this quilt, might not.  They might grow up into a cushion for said bench.  The blue stripe will be the binding for the quilt!  $6/yard (I bought 1/2 yard).  Love that basement.  Bolts and bolts of fabric.  Current.  Amy Butler. Riley Blake.  Moda.  Quilt shop quality.  Prices for my budget.  Sorry Canada.  Can't do it.   This translates to about $7.50-8 per metre, which Sew Sisters does do on their site, and they do have a pretty good selection.  I've yet to see a quilt shop around here with this kind of sale prices.  And cough, $4/yard?  $5? like this shop does, as does my beloved Alma Sue's Quilts in Sarasota, smack dap in the Amish and Mennonite section of town, and my new favourite in North Port, Expert Sewing Center.  Facebook page here.  Online store here.  Rarely if ever, have I found $4-$5/metre fabric here in Canada, of the quilt shop quality.

If you are still with me, I have to share this "wee-ooh, wee-ooh" cue Twilight Zone music,  moment (there were a few, but this one--!) that happened in Miller's Dry Goods.  I had told Julie about the Amish and Mennonite ladies who hand quilt quilts at Alma Sue's for so much per yard of thread.  How I wanted, one day, to take a quilt down to Florida with me and get it hand-quilted by these ladies who come from Ohio and Pennsylvania and spend the winter in this entire section of Amish around the shop.  We walked into Miller's and a tiny Amish lady greeted us.  I did a double-take.  It couldn't be.  Come on, Sandra, with the dark blue dresses and white caps, they tend to look the same.  Look closer.  Name tag.  Mary.  No freaking WAY!

me:  Do you work at Alma Sue's in Sarasota in the winter time?
Mary: I sure do.
me:  (picking my jaw off the floor) I shop there while we are in Florida! I thought I recognized you!
Julie: What??? You know her??!!
me: You've cut fabric for me!
Julie:  She's (meaning me) visiting from Canada!
Mary: (who doesn't seem amazed in the least) We get a lot of Canadians at Alma Sue's.
Julie and Sandra: (laughing and exclaiming in amazement to each other) I don't believe it! Really?!  No way! This is crazy! etc. etc.

What are the chances, though,  that of all the quilt shops and all of the various counties where the Amish and Mennonite live, this particular store would be the one that Julie takes me to, first time visitor to the area, where Mary would happen to be working that day, and that Alma Sue's is the store I frequent while in Florida... Small world.

Linking this lengthy post up with Molli Sparkles for Sunday Stash #139.

Letting the Cat Out of the Bag

It's been 8 days since my last post (ha, that has Catholic confessional overtones!) and here's why.  First, you know about the Folk Fest last weekend from Friday to Sunday, which was just over the top amazing.  If you ever get a chance to see Natalie MacMaster with her husband, Donnell Leahy, go for it.  Same goes for Pavlo, a beautiful, mesmerizing Flamenco guitarist.  Ashley MacIsaac did not disappoint either, WOW, electric fiddling.  Second, cue the choir, or perhaps the fiddle, I met up with Julie of Pink Doxies!!!!  Pinch me!

"pd meets mmm" Julie's Instagram caption!

She took me to Amish Country, (pinch me hard again!) where we did so many things, amongst them, visited and helped keep in business two awesome fabric stores, and ate at an Amish restaurant where I had the best homemade lunch: grilled cheese on homemade whole wheat bread, with locally made Swiss cheese, and the best pecan pie and ice cream, both homemade, I have ever tasted and most likely ever will taste in my life....

I have told a few people, as well as said it here on the blog, about the wonderful, like-minded souls I have met through blogging, women I consider very good friends, and for whom I am so very thankful.  I've heard, and got "the look" that these aren't real friends.  Well, they most certainly are.  Meeting Julie, hugging in person, as opposed to the virtual ones, although those mean a lot too, just cemented this sentiment. :-)

Of course I had to make her a Pyramid Pouch.  (a little bag...get the double entendre in the title of this post?) These are all Art Gallery fabrics, a fat quarter bundle of 16 that I picked up from Fat Quarter Shop in March with a quilt for my niece in mind.  I used them to start Cheryl's Sea Star pattern for my niece, and have a little bit of each one left over...perfect!  Julie loves pink, in case you didn't know...

I just LOVE this print.  I saved it because I only needed 15 fat quarters for Cheryl's pattern.  It's a perfect lining... However, I'd love an entire backing or a border out of this fabric!

I was making two pouches at a time, one for Julie, and one for my oldest daughter, Brianne, who also loves all things pink, has done since she was born, no lie.  Brianne's didn't quite get finished before we left, so I finished it up this morning.  Now each daughter has a rendition of my first published pattern, made by moi! Dayna's was in purple, her favourite colour, and was the prototype for the Moda Bakeshop pattern.

Exact same 32 triangles per side as Julie's, just arranged differently

Brianne's has a hot pink zipper, as opposed to the paler pink one in Julie's, as well as a hot pink lining fabric.  The zippers are from that pack I purchased last winter from Zipit. (no affiliation, but they are great: great service, and great prices too.)

The lining is leftover fabric from Brianne's pinks and oranges quilt I made her in 2007.  It's a gorgeous one, Color Connections by Free Spirit, and has a similar hand to the smooth Art Gallery fabrics.  I didn't put a pull handle on Brianne's, thought I'd see how it works without one.

Both pouches were quilted with Sulky Holoshimmer metallic thread in fuchsia - love it - tried to catch the shimmer here in the sunlight

My impatiens plants do not disappoint this year once again.  They are spectacular.

My husband's banana plants are also spectacular

The banana plants are 2 and 3 years old, and, up until this Spring, were in pots which we hauled by dolly in for the winter.  They are now in the ground.  I can't bear to think of seeing these gorgeous things die, but he says they are just too big now.  :-(  The elephant ears are finally starting to take off with the past couple weeks of warm and humid weather; we have had such a below average temperatures summer here that they haven't burst forth like they normally do.

Bag Stats
Pattern:  original design
Size: 6.5" high X 11.5" wide at the top
Fabric:  Art Gallery scraps; Free Spirit Color Connections scrap for lining from my stash
Batting: Warm 'n Natural
Quilted: on my Bernina
Threads: pieced with Gütermann; quilted with Sulky Holoshimmer
Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Crazy Mom Quilts' Finish It Up Friday.  Too funny: both of today's posts feature a baby quilt made by Sarah and by Amanda Jean respectively. Each one is very different.

I am also linking up with TGIFF held this week at Quilt Matters.

I will also probably link this post up with Cynthia's Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.  No way.  Cynthia's post for today is also about a baby quilt she made!  Talk about the stars aligning.

Wings - Flimsy

Thanks to all of you who gave me your input into which setting you preferred for Wings.  The majority went with B and that was my first choice, once I played around after making A, which was the first first choice!  Here it is:

The wind yesterday did not permit a great outdoor shot, so I took this in the inside front entrance.  Yay for a retracting screen door so that I can get great light on quilt here!  I still tweaked two blocks.  I didn't like the two "non" colours, brown and black, to be both in the same row, so I brought some "light" into the bottom row and moved the brown beside the orange to help make it sing a little more, since the brown tones are a bit rusty or orangey.

Hard to believe it started here:

Had to haul the bench over to reach the top row! Forgot to take it away...

I love those circles; you never know, another one may just evolve into being yet.  Somehow the scrap boxes and ziploc bags do not seem to have reduced in bulk , even though there are over 500 logs in this quilt.  528 to be exact.  Amazing.  Also amazing that just turning two blocks a quarter turn resulted in the wings layout.

Quick outside shot before the breeze took it!

I love the dappled light on that one so had to include it.  I put this as my August ALYoF goal, to have a finished quilt.  It is Cynthia's 16th Scrap-a-Palooza quilt at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework.

I won't be doing much quilting this weekend.

Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy! Pinch me!

I am volunteering once again this year at Kingsville's second folk fest.  It is held at Lakeside Park, half a block from my house which is SO exciting, and once again, they have a terrific lineup.  Last night was the volunteer appreciation soirée, cool to see so many familiar faces back, share pizza and drinks from a local winery, Cooper's Hawk Vineyards, and brewery, Walkerville Brewery.  :-)  With a name like that, their beer must be awesome, right?! And yes, it is Hiram Walker himself, not just a whiskey connoisseur, no relation, but I wish he was! As for Donnell Leahy, I saw him perform several years ago with his entire family, Leahy, in Edmonton.  I took my parents, because he was playing Don Messer's violin for the tour.  I was just a little girl, but I remember that show...and that dates me.  I haven't seen Natalie MacMaster yet, but I've been a fan of hers for years.  Ashley MacIsaac, J.P. Cormier, and Guy Davis are also here, all of whom I have seen, all terrific.

I was thinking yesterday how much music is a part of my life, something I have written about before.  I am not one who can 'watch' TV while quilting; I once tried to watch "Frozen", thinking I wouldn't really need or have the desire to pay attention to the screen...uh, yes I did.  I only missed about 10 minutes of that great movie.  Therefore, I listen to music ALL the time when I sew.  I love all kinds of music, except for country (2 songs and I'm ready to stick a fork in my eye), crazy jazz (same fork feeling), and, sorry dear brother, intense opera for prolonged periods of soprano singing...I can handle maybe 3 arias.... However, I love light opera, "Carmen", "The Barber of Seville", "The Magic Flute"... I digress.  With the rise of groups like Mumford and Sons, and Of Monsters and Men, I've rediscovered folk music.  If it is anything like last year, this year's folk fest will be a blast.

This morning--eeeep!

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict.