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! 

Leah, thread, and a WIP

A couple of weeks ago I loaded a WIP that's been sitting for a while on the "to be quilted" pile. I had a fab time learning and practicing new motifs. Leah Day's quilting design gallery is my go-to inspiration site. She has 500 designs--imagine! 


I've written about motifs from her website here on "Crazy X" and here for "Math Is an Expletive."  Looking through the motifs and choosing the ones I want to try is a great pasttime when sitting in waiting rooms. In the past I'd draw the motifs on paper or a white board to get some muscle memory going, but now I just stitch. 

Sometimes I end up with a crazy mess, but those seem to disappear once I have lots of other quilting around them. I'm not much of a detail nut, so I tend to see the whole picture. Quite often one of her designs will inspire something new and different from me. That is pretty awesome!

Anyhoo, (sorry Leah's website is definitely a squirrel) I was almost finished and ran out of thread. I didn't even see that coming. Really, I was rolling along and suddenly I was not. I found another cone that was really close in color and decided to use that. But that did not work for long--I ran out again! Nothing in the entire studio would work after the second cone. Believe me, I tried.

That meant ordering thread online, and it came in today! 
If all goes well I'll have a finish in a day or two. Thanks to Superior Threads (not an affiliate) for their excellent service and prices. 
I love the thread.

I've purchased from Superior Threads at quilt shows, but this is the first time I've ordered online. Their website is user-friendly and talk about convenient since it just appeared at my door. That means I didn't have to haul thread around with me. 

As computer savvy as I think I am, I'm not much for shopping online. Are you an online shopper? If so, which companies do you use for quilting supplies?

Fabric Confessions

Yes, yes.  I've done it. 
And it's all me.  Nobody else. 
Just me.  Alone. 
I'm responsible. (But not at all sorry.)

I've had an obsession with text fabric for several months. I was good. I did what every good quilter does when she becomes obsessed with fabric: I shopped my stash. I found these there. The problem is that they do not match in any way. Well, the green, red and blackish gray are all from the same line.  

No, I needed some real text fabric in neutrals to mix things up. In the fall I ordered these 10" square (layer cakes) pieces from a Facebook site for people who are destashing. What can a girl do with a few (12) layer cakes and fewer random pieces?

So after my birthday last month I returned to Facebook. I'm not sure when I placed the order or the exact day that the package arrived, so the yardage will go on this month's accounting. 

Eclectic Elements by Tim Holtz

Besides, I have more yardage to claim, anyway. This is to-die-for fabric! It's Eclectic Elements by Tim Holtz and absolutely amazing. The design includes old maps, charts, graphs, birds, bugs, flora, etc. The colors are mostly muted grays, browns and beiges with a touch of deep blues and greens.  

The fabric must have been made especially for me.  Check out the bugs on the Entomology pattern. All of the fabrics are beautiful and I'd love yards and yards of each piece in the collection, but I had to control myself. I finally decided to get the four pieces that have the most text, drawings, and charts. 

Of course, I was in Hancock's for a reason: I needed fabric! I have two commissioned quilts that need starting and not enough green in yardage for the projects. So two large pieces of green came home. 


And then I saw this! It's a bit washed out in the photo, but the squares are postcards with beautiful hand-written addresses and stamps. The moment I saw it, I thought of Jenclair and her month of letters.  The link is for the last of her posts on the subject, but once you're there, it's easy to navigate around. Check out her days of art ready for snail mail.

Of course, a small piece came home. It will fit perfectly in the whole text fabric project....whatever that means!



The last thing that I picked up was a yard of insulated fleece to make potholders and such. My potholders are a horrible mess. Richard has used them as a spoon rest when frying food. That is going to have to stop!

I'm thinking that potholders will make good road projects when we go on a trip this summer. Surely they'll also make nice Christmas gifts as well. 

So here are the original stash fabrics with some of the new items along side them. I believe I have enough different fabrics to blend in all of them in a project. 

These are the many text fabrics that I bought recently. They definitely will all blend.

The blue in the feather and the blue from one of the layer cakes match perfectly. I love the indigo, inky feel.

I think they will work well with the blues from the original palette.

And one of my other favorite pieces, from the stash, is this Walmart fabric that I got a couple of years ago.  Do you see some inky blue in this? Hmm, do I have a color story going yet?

And here they all are. Neatly folded and stacked and waiting for a project and time.  But aren't we all?

Quilty 365 for February

I'm not sure I should even write February since it's the only month in which I've made circles. But this will keep alleviate some confusion.  (Okay, maybe.)  I actually announced that I'd decided to become involved with Quilty 365 on Feb. 13, but the first date of making the circles must have happened around the first. 

Since those dates, I'm made a few circle blocks. I chose to use some woven plaids and solids that I've had for quite some time now. 

At first I sewed plaid circles onto the solids. After I announced that I'd been sucked in become involved with the project, I decided to switch up the game and put solid circles on plaid squares. I wanted to mix it up just a little. 

Turns out that I made way more this way than I intended. Way, way more.  Big blocks with big circles. 

Small blocks with small circles. A few stripes. Some odd plaids that aren't regular wovens, but plaids none-the-less. Way more than I intended wanted.

There we have it. Well, I don't know how many, exactly, there are. I haven't counted. (yet)  I'll just say lots of plaids and still far from 365. However, the chances of maybe catching up exist since most days I sew two blocks. I have sewn as many as four or five some days a time or two. 

Linking up with

March Quilty 365 Linkup at Quilty Folk 

Uncommon Goods....

Somehow I discovered a new online store called Uncommon Goods.  At first I thought the options too odd and oddly different, but this is a place that sells handmade items and whose mission statement says, "we believe sustainability starts with integrity in everything we do, treating each individual inside and outside our company with dignity and respect, offering health insurance...and providing a living wage."  Okay, so that's an impressive mission statement--words to consider seriously and to respect.  



Well, Christmas has just passed, so real shopping is out of the question for someone who is committed to living within her means, but that doesn't mean that window shopping is out.  Good idea!  

I decided to go virtual window shopping to my heart's desire.  Since my people are always on the top of my list and are sometimes difficult to shop for--think teens!--I thought I'd shop for them.  

No limits!  No real worries!  Just fun! 

Paperweight for Meggan, Rory's wife, a high school counselor.

Garden ornaments: a butterfly house for Jenny to hang near their new patio and for Stacey a hammock to put in the camper.  The stained glass feathers just because I really like them.



Kitchen gifts for the boys because they all like food and parties and they all know how to cook for their families.



For the little girls....personalized items because they are all into stuff about themselves.  Imagine a book with you as the main character or your own pillow that tells who, when, where, how much, etc. about your birth.  

From the Uncommon Goods website on My Quotable Kid

Can I Quote You On That?

Whether your little one said the cutest thing in line at the grocery store or made an embarrassing observation worth sharing with their first dates down the line, this customizable book lets you remember and relive the moments, both big and small. Handbound with a personalized cover, this unique memory book offers roomy pages of speech bubbles ready for quotable conversations and overheard chatter. Stow their childlike insights for future generations or share priceless quips with friends and family. Handmade in the USA.

And finally stuff for the teen kids!  It doesn't matter who would get what....they'd all want these crazy things: a smart phone projector, a sneaker transformation kit, some sort of headphones and, the craziest of all, a belt made from old bicycle tire treads.  Those followed by animal socks and a messenger bag made from a mail sack.

A fun shopping spree in a place that I'd have thought too odd for me, but I surprised myself!  Go shopping....Uncommon Goods