Christmas continues...

I finally got into the studio today. I didn't know what to do, except clean house, but what fun is that? So, as we say in French comme ça va (as it goes), I decided to start a new project. New projects generally create messes, so as we also say comme de fait (as it does) I made the already big mess beaucoup plus much bigger. 

But the mess is worth it! Because look what I pulled off. Today. I know. It is after Christmas. That's okay. I just had an itch. It's been weeks, WEEKS I say, since I went into the studio and turned on a machine. 

Today would have been my dad's birthday, so I figured I needed a little creativity to counteract the tears. It worked. Making a few little happy things and praying a rosary tonight are two great ways to fight the depression of the holidays. 

And look how happy! A couple of little hearts. Some strings of beads. Red flowers. Shimmery satin flowers. 

It took me almost all afternoon. I got stuck on those red flowers. That's what happens when you don't have the correct materials. I really wanted some red flowers. Three attempts in, I decided to use the smaller one. Then finally, I remembered the basket of sheer fabrics. That worked beautifully. 

I have bolts of white satiny fabric, so I used it to make some little hearts, two I embellished with ready-made trims from a drawer. And with some small squares, I made what might be closed tulips. They are cute in person, I'm not sure about in these pictures.

Some gold ribbon serves as string for one of the pieces and strings of small beads work for the other one. 

The tassel on the right is actually a ribbon trim that I just sewed into a circle and added beads to create a head. The strings of beads on that piece are the ones I strung before Christmas. I decided that they weren't showy enough as single strands and planned to made a few more to make into some sort of tassel. Well, here's the tassel I came up with. 



Each piece has six or seven strands of decoration and every strand is different, which is what I like most about them. They look great with the purchased decorations but add some uniqueness to the tree. They may even add a little elegance but, being handmade, they are also simple and homey.

Can you guess where I got my inspiration? 

Bipolar 3: Balance {an art quilt series} Quilt Festival version

Number three in my series of art quilts exploring strategies for dealing with Bipolar Disorder is my favorite thus far, so I decided to write another post explaining the art piece.

Finding balance in life is especially important to a patient with BD because we tend to express emotion in extremes. Mania is the euphoria that we feel when everything is good. Depression is the polar opposite, so it's those hurtful, negative feelings that occur when life hands us a few hard knocks. 

People with BD tend to feel their emotions on a grand, out-of-proportion scale. What is a difficult situation to most people may become a disastrous situation in the emotions of a BD patient. 

Finding balance helps to keep those overly emotional states in check. Note I said "helps." BD requires a doctor's care and, most often, medicine and therapy. But balancing work, family time, and relaxation can help to alleviate the feelings of urgency that BD brings on. Eating well, exercising, and getting enough sleep are other ways of creating balance. 

This piece, like all of the works, has a dark and light side, each representing depression and mania, respectively. On the dark side is a small, almost black circle which represents that place in depression that is almost impossible to return from. Notice that the quilting runs right through this darkness as though it isn't there.

On the mania side are organic, wavy pieces of depression, showing that both can occur at the same time and at any time. The red circles are like balancing rocks, always about to tumble but somehow carefully balanced. Those circles are the things in life that we can balance, however difficult. 

I've carried the motifs of light/dark throughout the series. Always depression and mania are touching along a vertical, wavy line, never the same. That's because the two are impossible to predict. 

Another motif is that one darker area of depression which is in the same general area, but always changing. A third motif is the quilting--vertical lines that sway and wave and go around some objects, through some objects and are changed by other objects. 

Unpredictable. That's what BD is. Unpredictable and not easy to follow or track. Always moving and keeping just a step ahead--science, medicine, therapy, help. 

Visit the Bloggers Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side to post your own quilt finish--but hurry because it ends tomorrow. Want some inspiration? See the 150 blogs posted so far! 

Bipolar 4: Connection {an art quilt series} finished!

If you've been following my blog for a while, you know that I have Bipolar Disorder and that I've been trying to work through the emotions and problems of the disease. An art quilt series seemed appropriate for the task, so I started one back in May or June. Because I decided to hand quilt the first couple of quilts and machine quilt others, I am finishing them in a bipolar sort of order. Well, what did anyone expect?

This is number four, Connection, in the series. As I go along I'm researching ways to overcome the many challenges of Bipolar 1. It's not easy to keep up with them all. But this is giving me time to think, pray and meditate about living with a disease that will never be cured. One of the reasons that it's become such a big issue is that since I've retired, I begun sharing this information with others.

My family has known for a few years. I told Richard the day that I received the diagnosis. But I. I have always known that there is something different in my system. I figured out part of the puzzle when I finally saw a doctor and began taking antidepressants. But even the meds didn't "fix" everything.

Eventually I got the diagnosis and received medicine specifically suited for BD. I've researched the symptoms, the medicines, therapies, and so on. Even so, everyday seems to bring something new. 

Now I'm trying to include some of the strategies that have worked for others. That's how I've gotten here. And hopefully it will lead me forward.   

Look for other quilts in the series here:

Bipolar  {an art quilt series} 

Bipolar 1: Creative 

Bipolar 2: Structure 

Bipolar 3: Balance 

Bipolar 4: Connection 

And, visit the Bloggers Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side to post your own quilt finish--but hurry because it ends tomorrow. Want some inspiration? There are over 150 blogs posted thus far! 

Bipolar 1: Creative {an art quilt series} finished!

I wasn't going to post anything from my phone, but this finish from early last week, before the computer kisses floor incident, was close to completion. Plus I do like posting finishes, so here we are.

As part of my bipolar disorder series, this art quilt is very out of order-- I wrote about #3 here then about #2 here. That's because I hand-quilted it, and I'm not very good at finding time for hand quilting.

 The idea behind the series is that I'd explore ways to cope with bipolar disorder, both for my own journey and also as a way of sharing information with others who suffer from the disease.

I'm not sure how I can achieve that second goal, but I figure I'd need to have the works first. I also figure that the works would have to include at least two big ideas. One big idea would have to impart the lifestyle changes that improve one's chances of recovery. The other big idea is to show how bipolar depression affects patients.

To that end I've been researching both types of bipolar depression. While I am studying the symptoms of both depression and mania, my main focus is on sharing recovery strategies.

Linking up with

Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or Not)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict 

Bipolar 2: Structure {an art quilt series} finished!

Just as I bounce around in life, I'm bouncing from one bipolar art quilt to another. (See #3 here) At this point I have four either complete or almost there. However, par for the course, I am not finishing them in order. I'm starting them in order. I work on whichever is calling me. And that is between all the things that call me away--babysitting, parent sitting, family, sewing, and so on.

For some reason I felt a need to be very literal with this one. Structure is a best practice for living with bipolar disorder. Keeping things in order and knowing which are priorities helps in decision-making and fends off those overwhelming feelings of disorder.

Jacquie Gering had a quilt show or presentation of some kind in Houston, perhaps, a few years ago. I was wondering around extremely tired and saw a group of people sitting for this presentation. I had no idea what was going on and, truthfully, didn't care. I slipped into a chair with the intention of trying to stay awake. In just a few minutes I was sitting up, amazed. I loved the quilts. So many ideas! So many possibilities! So little structure!  

Ahh, yes. And that's where most of it all stayed. I returned home so full of stuff in my head that it got all muddled up. It happens that way every year. As I work I remember some small detail and pull it to the forefront of my thinking and play with it. That's how this quilt came about. 

Remembering one of Jacquie's motifs, the lines in "unparallel," I began thinking about how structure is important in the life of someone with bipolar tendencies. And so, here I am. 

Link Ups!

My Quilt Infatuation (NTT)

AmandaJean's Crazy Mom Quilts

Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or Not)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict 

Bipolar 3: Balanced {an art quilt series} finished!

The third in the series is complete, well—maybe. I haven't decided exactly how I want to add the final touches and the label. Otherwise, it's done. 

Here's the problem, as I work on the series, things come to me and, because I want all of the pieces to have some of the same elements, I can't seem to finish any of them. 

But I'm stopping on this one for now. At least until I decide on those things that have come and I don't know what to do with them.

On this quilt I wanted to give a sense that recovery is ongoing and left the raw selvage on the left and right edges. On the top and bottom, though I finished the quilt with binding. I tried to use a pillowcase fold but that didn't work because the edges were messy because of the quilting, so I cut and applied a bias binding, meant to follow the shape of the edges, which are sunken in toward the middle. 

The whole back of the work was a mess. In fact, all of them have messy backs even before I finish the work on the front. So to give this one a cleaner look, I added a backing. Then a sleeve and corner pockets. 

A good pressing and a label will put this one on the growing pile of art quilts that I've finished in the last year or two. Well, unless those nagging things force me to pull it out again.

Handwork is fast work!

I'm a fanatic at times. On hyper-drive when I start something that is of great interest. Unable to enjoy the work unless the work is moving forward. Rarely do I sit and appreciate something of my own making. 


However I do stop often and appreciate it for moments. Just moments. But still. Every time I empty my needle, I take a moment. Just a moment. But still.

I look at where I'm going. Appreciate what I've done. Make a few decisions. Thread up and stitch. Fast and furious, off I go again. 

What do you have under your needle?


Edited to add: see my article on AHIQ: Improvisational Utility Quilts. Thanks to Kaja and Ann for putting together this great new blog.

New under my needle

I've missed having a small hand-quilting project. It's been almost a month since I finished the orphan quilt block my mom made. I've had an idea squeaking around in my brain, so I decided today (quite randomly) that I'd do something with it. 

All improv and all fun, it's going quite well. It was meant to be a small wall hanging, so it didn't take a great deal of time to put together. I just cut pieces with my scissors and stitched or raw edge applique things on. I even have a small reverse-applique piece (not shown).

Tonight I brought the top and my little basket of tools in to stitch while we watched a movie. I can see small changes already. This one might be fast. Enjoy the sneak peek!

Not so sure about this one

I've started a new project using scraps. All was going along fine, until I ran out of scraps! Can you believe that? I want a quilt that will be larger than 45 inches square. That's not much of a quilt, unless it's for a baby. 

I don't think this one is for a baby. Though that's the closest I am to knowing what it is to be. Anyway, I was really out of scraps! That meant only two choices: cut up some yardage to make scraps--which somehow defeats the purpose--or pull scraps from a bin of a different color. 

The empty bin gave me nine nice 15" x 15" panels in beige, tan, and light brown. Great for a nine-patch kind of quilt, but do the math. 

I dug around in the other bins and found that the red, blue and green bins are all spilling over. I pulled red. Why not? I thought it would give a bright, happy contrast to the neutrals. 

I'm not happy. I don't know what's wrong, but I don't like what I'm seeing. I also haven't stopped doing. What is it about something not working that makes me keep at it? 

Oh, yes, I'm bipolar. I'm the laugh and cry at the same time kind of chick. Imagine you love everything at once and walk away with nothing. That's me. If I have too many options, I can't decide. If I have only two or three choices, I can't choose. Of course, I may make a spontaneous, fast decision and run with it. All the way. Goodness knows what's to happen if I discover that it was a wrong decision. I may ditch it and move on or fight for the wrong thing till the end with no apparent reason whatsoever. I'm all over the place at the same time. Maybe I should get back to that project problem.

So not like a project and keep making the project? Yeah, I do that. In fact, I'm in the very midst of that. I thought about adding a third color and that may still be the answer, but this red/neutral combination is just not what I expected it would be. 

I guess that I'll either figure it out or make the ugliest quilt top and set aside for, I don't know. Forever? It wouldn't be the first ugly quilt top. And whether I ditch it or finish it, that wouldn't be the first time either. 

Finished or Not Friday?  I'm may be both finished and not. How often can you say that?

Link Up Parties

Crazy Mom Quilts (Finish It Up Friday)

Busy Hands Quilts (Finished or Not Friday)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!)