Day #117 - Stitching update

Good morning!

Some pretty impressive storms moved through last night - just as oldest DD's team was getting ready to take the field, the sky opened up.  So that one was cancelled.  Trip wasn't a waste though, scrounging sticks from under the Norway pines there for fairy wands for work!  Other DD was an hour and a half east and got through her practice before it started BUT she and her BFF had their first flat tire to deal with!  Their coaches helped them as the storm was fast approaching and got them on their way in time!  Phew!  Pizza and onion rings from Rick and Diane's was earned by all! 

I mentioned fairy wands - we are having a fairy house day at work on the 16th!  We are doing a joint program day with the Mariposa Museum and Terry and I have been working for several months on a fun day for all.  If you are local, plan on coming by, 10-4!

As I've mentioned before, I spend a good deal of time on the weekends at softball - one last summer.  We've raised 3 children who play softball ALL summer, every weekend.  Our kiddos are each 5 years apart.  The advantage there is that they each have had their time to shine at the high school level.  That also means we spread the fun out over 15 years.  For 15 years, all summer, we've traveled around the state and New England for softball and baseball.  This will, most likely, be the last summer.  Our "baby" (sorry sweetie, that's something you'll never outgrow!) is looking to play field hockey in college at Div I or II and that means next summer is all about training for that. So, for one last summer we are packing up the car with water, food, gear, chairs and something to do for me!

I've decided to work on the stitching for my "10 year quilt" each weekend.  It's easy to carry and small, so it's perfect!  The stitching is in 3 panels, so I can work on one at a time.  It's an outline, running stitch, so I only have to carry the project, black embroidery floss and some scissors!  Below is my progress so far and a scan of the pattern.  You should check it out at the Crab-Apple Hill website!

Updated stitching!

My plan is to go black and white, with the blocks, when I get that far!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day,
Carrie

Day #116 - #1 "Crafty Corner" Interview!!

Good morning!
I know you've been waiting with bated breath to see who came up with the name with the most votes AND who I interviewed!  All shall be revealed...

I would like to thanks everyone who tossed their ideas into the ring - you are a creative group!  I am definitely going to hang on to the ideas that didn't win and see if I can use them "down the road".  So....keep an eye out!  You may win fabric yet, if you didn't today!

So, who garnered the most votes?  It was "Crafty Corner" - an idea sent in by Cresendo Gal!  Congrats!  Message me and we'll figure out whether you'd like the GC or headers!  :o)

Let's get rolling with the interview, shall we? 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Our first interview is with Elaine, from NH.  I met Elaine via Facebook.  She was a friend of a friend and jump on board with the fun and games I was running on my blog and my Facebook  page.  From there we’ve become friends and partners in fabric buying crime!  Her excitement with creating and for life in general is infectious and I was thrilled (and not the least bit surprised!) when she offered to jump on for one of the first interviews for Crafty Corner.

As I was typing up this interview, I kept wanting to add asides and comments to all she had to say!  I think you will enjoy meeting our first Crafty Corner interviewee as well, so, read on!

Tell us about what you make and how you got started.    Now I only make quilts, cloth dolls and quilted bags.

How long have you been in business?   20 years

How do you get your ideas? Do you start with a fabric, yarn, or fabrics or a concept in mind first?  The project seems to be born in my head and then I figure out how I'm going to make it. The dolls make themselves, when I start sculpting the face the whole doll is born and the craziness begins!

One of Elaine's dolls

Describe your crafting/studio space to us:  It is small, over run with fabric but I have gotten it better organized so it doesn't look like a craft store exploded in it!

How did you start your business in the first place?   In 1991 I started by making beaded jewelry and called my business True North.   My husband and I started to become involved in our Native American  heritage and I expanded to doing native beading and crafts.  That led to quilting and cross stitch when I saw some of the beautiful quilts and cross stitch items other venders at Pow Wows were selling and I thought "I can do that!"

How did you come up with your company name and what does it mean to you?    I really have two companies when I branched out into cloth dolls. I call the doll company Off the Deep End Dolls. If you look at my dolls you can see why with creations like the “Woman Who Loved Chickens Too Much” or the “Butterfly Madam”!

I settled on Quiet Eagle Quilts because it is one of my Native American names and thought it sounded nice.

A beautiful, patriotic quilt - perfect timing for the beginning of July!

How has what you create  changed over time?    Now, I give myself no limits and am willing to try anything crafty.  I just started to make quilted bags which I have found a challenge and lots of fun as I am trying my hand at design as well.

 What's the most difficult decision you've made in the last two years and how did you come to that decision?   I decided recently to begin to limit what I will concentrate on and then sell or give away craft items and supplies for the things I don't do very much anymore.  That way I can concentrate on just a couple of things and improve my techniques and try my hand at selling online.

What other type of crafting to do you?   Pretty much just cloth related items now, quilting, bags, and cloth dolls.

What a sweet bear!

What is something that makes you laugh out loud?   My best friend Colleen and I chat and when tend to have that effect on each other! We call them our: “Depends moments".

What is absolutely the best cookie you’ve ever had?   A lemonade cookie I make.

What is your best “stress buster”?    Playing games on my Ipod, or going outside and playing with my dogs.

What three character traits would your friends use to describe you?    I would hope they would say friendly, happy, smart.

If we looked inside your frig, what would we find?  According to my hubby, "too much stuff" but no junk food or soda and lots of leftovers and bottled water.

 What is your favorite thing to make for dinner?   Meatloaf, because I never make it the same twice. It's always an "in process" experiment to create it better than the last one.

If you could meet anyone, who would it be, why?   John Wayne or Katherine Hepburn - I admire the way they led their lives and it reflected in their work.

What is your favorite memory from childhood?   Baking with my mother or hunting with my dad.

What are your lifelong dreams?    Walk a good path, live a life that reflects my spirituality and hoping I influence people who meet me to be kind to others and treat everyone and everything with love and respect. 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

Thanks for sharing your creative world with us, Elaine!  We can't wait to see what you come up with next!

Quilty hugs,

Carrie

Day #115 - Interview prep, Cleaning/Sorting and sweet as a muffin cutie pie!

Good morning, friends!

Yesterday was a busy one, as I am sure it was for you all!  A little bit of this and that.

I started the morning off by working on the first interview for our "to be named tonight" posting program!  (Stop by the FB page and cast your vote!) It is so interesting to hear (to me at least...) how people got where they are.  The bends in the road, the thoughts and the decisions that brought them to this place we call "today."  I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do starting with tomorrow - hmmmm.... who will it be?  What will they share?  Curious minds want to know!

I spent the next chunk of the day clearing, cleaning, sorting and re-organizing the book shelf to the left of my space known to most as "mom's computer area/office" - otherwise known as the "path to the rest of the house."  This summer is going to be a HUGE restructuring of our place of abode - we've all had enough... hoarders by genetic background, it's time to hoe this joint out!  Everyone has been pitching in the process, which is a massive undertaking. 

The girls started by going through the dishes, glasses, coffee mugs and silverware area and culling the truly not matching and putting in a tub.  Bottom line, after 28 years of marriage, 3 children and 2 grandchildren, there are very few matching ANYTHING!!!  They did their best, though.

Hubby is working in the basement - his "man cave" if there was one for him.  It holds our pellet furnace and several lifetimes full of fascinating things that he hasn't been able to let go of, till now.  Slowly, very slowly, he's sifting and sorting with the encouragement of our son - though I would imagine he would NOT call it encouragement ... "Dad, you need this because...?"  The issue there is that my husband is a "MacGuyver", and if you are familiar with that show from way back, he could make anything from a paperclip and duct tape!  If he had Bri's basement, he could have ruled the world!  Which Bri does!  He can "jerry-rig" just about anything to do anything else because he has just the perfect little something to do the job!  So, it's a huge deal to let things go.

My cleaning out started with the bookcase (of which there was a banker box filled with paper trash and another box of books that are okay to move out...) and will move through the space through the summer.  I kid you not, when I say we are the children of hoarders. Our parents were children of the Depression and saved everything.  It becomes part of how you process the world - "I might need it someday" is your mantra. There is also something to be said for re-using and recycling.  We live in a world in which that is a good thing.  I am not saying it isn't, I am saying that I am drowning in "I might need it somedays" and perhaps re-purposing it by sharing it with someone who might need it is a good thing!

We shall see how far we get...

I would like to end with a picture of my quasi-granddaughter! I have grandsons and anyone who sews or creates for children KNOWS that you gotta have a girl to make things for!!  This is our little sweetie!  She's modeling a dress I made her for her birthday covered with ladybugs and butterflies!  If you'd like a close up, head back in time to this post and you'll see it there.  Thanks so much to her mom and my bud for sharing!

Okay, off to do some cleaning then then some creating, I think!
Quilty hugs,
Carrie

Day #114 - Garlic Scape Pesto & Roasted Kohlrabi - yummy!

Good morning friends and best wishes to you all for a wonderful 4th of July!

There will be a barbeque at the Whitt household this evening, after mama Whitt runs to get our veggies from the CSA this afternoon!  While trying to finish up last week's goodies, I had to find some recipes for somethings new to me: garlic scapes and kohlrabi!

I'd been chopping up the garlic scapes and tossing them in stirfry dishes and salads for a couple of weeks, but I needed to move a larger amount.  So, I did the modern thing and Googled it!  Wow, found some GREAT ideas!  Started off chopping some up and then freezing it for later.  I'll let you know how that goes - sometimes freezing isn't the best idea, BUT it's been good for the herbs I've been getting every week, so it's worth a try.  I've been toying around with an idea what I did with most of it: garlic scape pesto! 

Image from http://really-rose.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html

All I did was to rough chop the scapes, about 1/2 - 3/4 cup or so and toss them into the food processor, pulsing till they were finely chopped.  Then I drizzled olive oil in and sent that flying some more.  Lastly, some grated parmesan, about 1/4 cup or so (I am VERY exact when I cook....lol!), again, more pulsing and a bit of scraping to get a good consistency.  I added a bit more olive oil, as I had added too much cheese (oh wait, is there such a thing as too much cheese?) and then put in a plastic container for storage in the frig. 

OMG....first, the smell is amazing when you are chopping and processing it, secondly, mix with butter and spread on bread for garlic bread???  Yah, baby!  Incredible!  Tossed a spoonful into hubby's chicken salad and ZING!!  It was so tasty!  I am thinking it would be great in an omelet ... which I will probably try this morning - at the current rate of consumption we will have no problem keeping vampires away!

Image from http://www.humeseeds.com/

The second item I was playing around with was kohlrabi.  I'd never even brought any into the house before, so this was an experiment from the get go!  I considered trying a recipe for an apple-kohlrabi slaw, but I decided roasted was going to be my first attempt because: A) the oven was already going to need to go on for the garlic bread and B) Have you ever roasted anything with olive oil and garlic (scapes) that wasn't good? 

So, I chopped the kohrabi up, tossed it with olive oil, garlic scapes and onions and put it all in the oven.  I stirred it a few times and voila!  I forgot to mention it was purple, so that looked rather lovely when it was done.  I ended up sprinkling it over my chicken/boc choi/rotini mixture and it was oh so good!

Well, as I mentioned, tonight is a bbq with the fam, so there is cleaning to do and food prepare, so I am off for the day, friends!  I wish you all the best and be safe today (and every day!)

Bon appetite!
Carrie

Day #113 - Interviews are making me think...

Good morning, blogging friends!
Another day of softball in our world, but a quick posting before I head out - wouldn't want you to worry where I was!  :o)

I have had several responses to my call for folks to share their crafting world with us!  It is so cool!  Wait till you get to meet them - you'll love it!  I know I am.  As the title of this posting says, it's made me think a bit: what direction has my creative life taken me?  You know, what have I dabbled in?  What has taken over my life for different periods?

One of the ways you can tell is by looking at my 3 children's Christmas stockings!  All 3 were hand made in 5 year gaps of time.  Rory's was embroidered.  Oodles of little french knots and other various stitches - matches all the other intricate stitching you'd see in other places like the blouse I wore for my high school yearbook photo (hand made blouse... embroidery... late 70's baby!)

Kelly's was cross stitch.  Oh...no question there - you'll find all sorts of examples scattered around the house of THAT time period.  Sometime I will take a picture of the Madonna & Child I made for my Memere, once I have a camera I can use...

Shauna,s, stitching with quilting.  Not a big surprise there, either.  As time had past, I needed crafts that didn't take hours to create.  I didn't have hours for projects anymore - I had 3 children in various stages of development!  Needles laying around could be dangerous for inquiring minds and who could possibly keep a cross stitch pattern in mind during THAT period!

There was the scrapbooking period that I truly think was nipped in the bud by the digital age of NOT having a zillion photos to crop and paste, though I am always concerned about losing all I have on this computer....

Now?  I am back to fabric - rather where I started 40 years ago when my memere and mom taught me to sew.  How about you?  Where has your journey taken you?  If I get to interview you, perhaps we'll all know!

Quilty hugs on this lovely day,
Carrie

Day #112 - Name that column/article/post!

Good morning!
Anyone old enough to remember the show "Name that Tune"?  We used to sit around the TV thinking we were pretty smart naming the songs based on the first few notes!  Think I'd be pretty hard pressed to do it now-a-days, but we try riding in the car - takes me a few more notes, that's all.  Actually, I can sometimes get the lyrics, but often not the name! 

The reason I thought of it was titling this morning's post: "Name that column/article/post".  If you read the blog yesterday, you'll know I got this idea for learning about each other through an online interview posted here. There were immediate responses from several followers, so be looking for the first one in the upcoming week!  I am soooooooo excited to learn more about other creative people!  Aren't you?

I think that creating often is insular, rather like being a school teacher in a classroom, which is my background.  You hear about and see great ideas, but you work on them in isolation, which is fine, I personally need that.  But there needs to be the sharing - it expands your own ideas and takes you in directions you might not of thought of.  You might start with an idea for a bag, perhaps.  Someone says, "Hey, why don't you try using ____ on it!  That would add zing!"  Then you think, "hmmmmm, true, AND I could do...."  You get the picture. 

I also think that we (human beings, but women in particular) tend to minimize what we do and who we are.  "Oh, this old thing...it's nothing."  Hence the reason I would like to honor and recognize what other creative folks are doing to make the world a more beautiful place (or at least your living room!!)  It also touches our voyeuristic nature by letting us glimpse, for just a moment into the window of another person's world, their soul.

I am VERY excited that several of you are willing to jump in!  Be watching your email because I WILL be contacting more of you to share with us... you know not when!  :o)


Oh, and I forgot to mention that there will be fabric involved!  Muahahahaha!!  Once a month, I will draw a name from ANYONE I've interviewed to win fabric!!!  YEA!!!  Once you've been interviewed, your name will go into a drawing EVERY month for different fabric treats!  Oh yah, baby!  Now we've sweetened the pot! 

Also, right now I need your creative genius!  As I mentioned at the start of the posting (yes, I digressed a wee bit...) I need help naming the column/article/posting.  I am looking for something catchy, that expresses the idea of this interview concept.  POP ON OVER to my Facebook page and toss your idea into the ring.  THEN ask your friends to stop by and vote for your idea by LIKING your title.  Most votes = new name for column.  OH, and you might happen to see that the lucky/smartie/creative soul who wins gets either $25 to spend on fabric and goodies OR a flat rate filled with headers, their choice!  Come on, don't you want new fabric??? 

Okay, it's softball weekend time!  Off to be a good mommy!
Quilty hugs to you all!
Carrie

Day #111 - I want to talk to YOU!!

Good morning!
It it another GORGEOUS morning here in NH!  Finally!  Thank goodness!  Phew....  Not only is it sunny and in the 70's-low 80's, it's actually dry!  Truly gorgeous weather.

So, as the posting title indicates, I want to talk to YOU!  Yes, YOU!  I want to know about the who, what, where, why, when and how of how others create!  You might be someone who sells your items, or more likely, like so many of us, someone who creates for themselves, their family and their friends.  I want to hear from YOU!

I would like to share a glimpse into the lives of other people's creative world.  I know.... "NO ONE would want to hear about what I do..."  WRONG!!  Aren't you here right now?  Aren't you reading about the creative endeavors of another human being?  Just an average Joe-sephina?  (I am referring to myself here, people!) 

So who would like to go first, eh?  I have talked to many of you face-to-face and I find what you do fascinating!!  Come on....say "Yes..."  Puleeze?   All you need to do is let me know you are willing and then I'll send you a series of questions - answer the ones YOU WANT!!  Ignore the ones you don't and for that matter add anything that you want to share that's not on there!  It's that easy!  Wonder what I might ask?   Here is a link to my earlier blogs that have some interviews.  The first one you come to, I believe, is me!  :o)

We'd love to see something you've made - you can just email me pictures and I will post them!  Wicked simple, really!

Come on... jump in!!  Oh.... and don't be surprised if you find a message in your email box from me, folks!  Yup... I just might be out wandering and say "Hey, how about ......?"  So there!!

Quilty hugs and best wishes for a safe and happy holiday weekend to all!
Off to work,
Carrie