To Use or Display, That is the Question

I gave the red bear paw quilt blocks a bath, and they didn't disintegrate:

The wash did reveal many little frayed areas, and even with a good soaking for twenty minutes (which was all I dared) I couldn't get out the yellow-brown foxing stains. You can spot-treat these with hydrogen peroxide, which does lighten or remove foxing, but this can also further weaken the textiles, something I want to avoid.

The red patches are also fraying in a few spots.

The backing muslin is in the best shape, although it also shows foxing:

Both blocks are about 1/4" too wide to use as fronts for the canvas totes I have on hand. I can use them anyway, but I'll lose all the points on the bear paws if I do.

Repeated washings will eventually ruin these blocks, so they can't be incorporated in any project that needs regular washing. I'm not in any mood to make decisions right now, but I may end up binding the edges and displaying them as wall or tabletop decorations.

Sail Away

I got out a piece of indigo dyed cotton and did the slow-stitch equivalent of a blind contour drawing on it (darkened the image to show the embroidery, which is very light-colored):

What I saw in the dye patterns on the fabric was a surreal boat hull, some waves and mist rising from the deck. Maybe it was what took Cole on to the afterlife.

I miss my dog.

Sew Inspiring

We're struggling a bit with losing Cole. It's hard to lose a member of the family and go on like nothing's wrong. But I'm still working on the quilting journal I started as part of my ten things in a month challenge:

I think my handwriting is slowly improving with the daily practice:

I've also been able to meditate while stitching the little pieces I've been making for the journal, and this piece in particular helped me sort out a difficult problem:

I'm still stalling on starting the shibori quilt, but that's okay. I'll get there.

Cole

Cole came to our family in January of 2009. We chose him because he had the sweetest personality of all the pups in his litter. Later I found out he was born on the day our Sheltie Buddy died, so maybe that explains why he was such a lovely little guy -- just as Buddy had been.

During his first couple of years Cole was outnumbered two to one by our rather elderly cats, but they soon fell in love with him just like the rest of us.

A year after we got Cole we rescued Skye, who despite being half Cole's size made herself his boss. Cole was fine with that.

Cole was fine with everything. When he loved you, he loved you no matter what.

When he was young his favorite thing was running around our yard chasing frisbees or tennis balls.

Cole loved being with the family most (this pic is one Kat took on one of their excursions.)

At home he was very protective of us, and would bark the second anyone approached the house. Definitely the best watch dog we ever had. But most of the day he spent hanging out with me or following me around as I did my housework. As he got older and slowed down he would nap right next to my chair in the office while I worked.

Old age wasn't kind to Cole. He had been sick for the last six months with stomach, mouth and hip issues, and then he started to go blind. A few days ago he stopped eating and drinking, and could no longer manage the steps to go outside or walk very far. Yesterday we decided it was time to give him a peaceful end, and took him to the vet for the last time. He was surrounded by the family he loved, and I held him in my arms as he died.

Safe journey, my beautiful boy.

Two Leaves

Another little slow stitched silk piece I did tonight, mainly to practice my swan stitch.

Vintage Play

I was able to acquire some lovely vintage quilted pieces that I hope to incoporate in some holiday projects:

These bear paw blocks are nice and big, although a bit worn and fragile. I'll know if I can make pillows out of them after they get a bath. If they fray more I just might use them to decorate the front of some canvas gift bags, or frame them. I really love the bold red color of the paw patches.

Both blocks are hand-quilted, too, with lovely stitches.

I don't like to cut up old crazy quilts, but this long salvaged strip might end up in two or three pieces.

The stitching is cute, and the colors are nice. Maybe I'll try to make it into a table runner.

I fell in love with the hand-painted flowers on the end velvet patch -- gorgeous.

Store Closing Haul

The mega Books-A-Million store over in Sanford is closing, and offered an extra 20% off on their current stock -- all sales final -- so I went over to do some shopping. Safely but sadly there was no one in the store but me the entire time I was there.

The Holly Jackson novel is for Katherine, the Halloween board book is for Oliver, and the copy of Garden Spells is to keep on hand because I give that book to everyone. The rest of the books are for me. I love Anne Cleeves, and the Galbraith novel sounded interesting (the first couple weren't, but I'm willing to take another chance.) The Escape Room is by a new-to-me author, plus it was cheap. The GreenCraft mag is just a guilty pleasure.

Hopefully the smaller BAM nearer to me won't close. I don't buy many books from brick-and-mortar stores these days, but that's really the last one within reasonable driving distance.

Slow Stitch

A little meditative piece I stitched on a swatch of eco-dyed silk for my quilting journal. I'm also finding a lot of cool Fall-related pics over at Pixabay to use in my Fall journal. Some of them are really beautiful:

Adding to the Bucket List

Happy first day of Fall, y'all. :) It's been a long, hot, rainy Summer, so for once I'm looking forward to the cooler temps.

I bought these blocks to make them into a lap quilt, and they're so pretty I have to add them to the hand quilting bucket list. The seller sent along a photo of the original pattern, which is a log cabin set on point:

I also have these Asian print fans that I bought that refuse to stay in their storage bin:

It's going to be a fun year. :)

Lakeside

Some other pics I took when Kat and I had lunch down by the lake:

Healthy Eating Hacks

I am a huge fan of Pick Up Limes, and I thought I'd share one of Sadia's videos on healthy eating hacks that has some simple and neat ideas on how to put more healthy options into your diet without a lot of fuss:

Autumnal

Last night's journal entry:

I slow stitched the little silk piece to take a break from the table runner, and also so I could do something in fall colors. Autumn will be here in another week, and I'm determined not to sulk over the end of summer.

Oliver

Oliver's Mom sent these pics to me:

Yep. He's too cute for words now.

In all Its Glory Ten

This is what I wake up to every morning: Spiderman hand. To celebrate that, here are:

Ten Positive Things About Having Arthritic Hands

Arm-wrestling challenges are never made to me.

For Halloween I really can dress up as Spiderman, and I'll look very authentic.

I always get a pass for not having a proper manicure.

I don't have to do anything that requires the wearing of gloves for the rest of my life.

People who know me never try to shake my hand. People who don't try, stop when they actually see my hand, look horribly embarrassed, and then apologize profusely.

Picking out what rings to wear is not a problem (can't slip any past the swollen joints.)

Polite applause is never expected of me.

The Asian guy in the mall who tries to wheedle passing people into his massage salon only grimaces at me.

The impulse to give people who drive badly the finger remains just an impulse.

When my guy and I are out he doesn't try to hold my hand. He keeps an arm around me (sweet) or tucks his hand in the back pocket of my jeans (sexy.)

Major Moth

Saw this big girl hanging on the window screen right before a storm hit:

She's roughly about the size of my hand. Kat later identified her as a polyphemus moth.

We've seen a few of these before in our yard, but it's still a thrill to get up close to such a big bug.

Sally

Hurricane Sally thankfully gave us a pass, but she's pulling in some storms that are dousing us with rain and lightning. This is what my afternoon is forecasted to look like:

As you know when it rains a lot in the country our broadband goes down, but don't worry if I'm scarce. I've got plenty of posts scheduled to publish, and I'll check in with you once we're back up and connected.

Kat Art

My daughter has started doing commissioned art work again, and this was her first project for a gamer who wanted her to illustrate some characters. I know I'm biased, but I think it's amazing work.

Ten Things Month

I'm writing this on the night of August 15th, to post on September 14th, so I'm still almost a month ahead on the blog. I'm also still struggling a bit while coping with the new hand issues and other things. You know, life.

To get my backside in gear I'm going to post a to-do list of ten things I would like to accomplish instead of angsting over my troubles before summer ends, and see if I can do them all before this post publishes. I'm also going to challenge myself to do things other than quilting so I can dust off and use some of my other creative skills. It's been forever since I painted anything, and I stopped handwriting a couple months back. I may be clumsy with the hand problems, but if I don't use it I know I'll lose it.

A month will give me about three days for each project, so I think it's reasonable. It's fun to have a deadline because it will keep me motivated and I'm always competitive with myself. When I do them I'll add the date I finished each one, and a photo or link if applicable.

Thus here are:

Ten Things I'd Like to Do in the Next Thirty Days

Create some note cards using any technique and mail them with notes to friends. 8/18 - 8/19; made a mug rug-wrapped note*, one with watercolors and some clipped art, and the third with watercolors, a vintage trading card and some crystals.

Make a mask chain (like a lanyard, only it holds your mask around your neck.) Done 8/16 -- cobbled it together out of an old bracelet and necklace chain, and added some beads and crystals.

Make a small slow-stitch project -- maybe another needle book, as mine is packed. Done 8/20 -- hand sewn silk, velvet and cotton needle book for my embroidery and beading needles.

Paint something with watercolors. Painted the little pencil flower sketches I drew on 8/31.

Sew a soft toy for Oliver. Drew my own pattern for a little rabbit stuffie, and made it out of some leftover wool felt on 9/1.

Sketch something in pencil or pastels. Sketched some flowers in pencil on 8/31.

Start a new journal that isn't angry or filled with angst. Since September is National Sewing Month, I started a new quilting journal on 8/25.

Take some inspiring nature photos and frame the best of them for my office. Took Kat down to the lake on 8/20 to have lunch and snapped some shots of the very friendly birds (I wish people would stop hand-feeding them.) Best of the lot:

Framed and ready for hanging in the office:

Write a poem that isn't depressing. Done 8/18 -- I wrote a birthday poem for Oliver.

Write a new short story for this blog. Done 8/24 -- wrote Refuge (click here to go to the story.)

That seems like an interesting list -- wish me luck!

Bonus challenge: Make a cover for my NaNoWriMo project -- done 9/10

*Quilted, which is cheating a little, but this was a special note.