Calamity Kim

The only difference between a place mat and an Art Quilt is the ability to eat off of it. Can you put a plate of spaghetti on this?

Yesterday I remembered that it was Mini Quilt Monday but I also needed to practice with the new Bernina Activa 220 (say it like a movie announcer) so I sort of cheated and combined the two. I had an image of a sprouting avocado pit in my mind, so I put pencil to paper and drew one up. I scan and make several copies to cut up and use for patterns.
I saw it sitting on a table, by a window and the black and white checkered floor below.
When I put the base together and showed the Mr he said he "didn't get it".
 He couldn't see it.
I mumbled a few things and went back to sewing,  but that worry crease had appeared between my eyebrows and I had to consciously relax
 and work on it some more.
Using a pale sea glass blue I appliqued a jar sitting on the table.
I traced the avocado plant onto the water soluble Sulky. This will dissolve with water after I stitch the design. I want to use black thread to make it look drawn.
This looks good and was so much fun with the new machine.
It is precise.
All along the way there are decisions, aren't there?
What colors? What fabrics?
What tells the story?
Are the curtains moving with the summer's breeze?
I used some iron on stuff for the big leaves but just pinned the small ones. Oh, I cut up one of the copies of the picture and used it as a template to cut the leaves.
I am still asking myself questions- should the stem be brown?
Should I stitch it or hand embroider it or just use a sharpie marker?
If I used a marker would it run or fade?
I also need to add the toothpicks but I don't want them to be black- I want them to be toothpick colored.
 Is that right? Or should they be black to go with the rest of the composition? Questions, questions...
Layered with cotton/wool blended batting I forge ahead- machine quilting while the Kings of Leon boogie in the background.
 Just doing it. Gotta finish this.
Trying to practice, trying to learn.
I used some sweet Heidi Grace fabrics (from JoAnn's) scored last night when I went for more thread for the back.
 OK, so now, my final question is what to use for a border- to bind? Red? Black? I'll think about it and look around to see what grabs me.
I showed it to the Mr again and he said: "Oh, now I get it!".
Anyone want to volunteer to be my design assistant? I need help- and he isn't the guy to go to for this kind of stuff. I need a creative person who can throw ideas around, you know, talk it up, make it work.
Oh, wait- that's what all of you are for!
Ready at a moments notice to drop everything and comment to help me pick out bindings and suggest fabrics....what? you're busy?
Sometimes I think it speaks for itself when I post pics at Flickr and I don't get a comment. Like they are sitting there scratching their heads, asking themselves, what the ? is going on with her.
This new machine may turn out to be really bad for us- I may never cook or clean again!
Who wants to do laundry when this sweet girl is in there waiting to play?

* and if you can't imagine spilling spaghetti sauce on this, then it must be a mini art quilt.

Love & Stitches,
calamity kimbernina

We do not grow absolutely, chronologically.

We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly.
We grow partially.
 We are relative.
We are mature in one realm, childish in another.
The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present.
We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.
quote by  Anais Nin

This morning I started sewing up some placemats.
I am not sure if that's all one word, but I'm typing it that way so forgive me if it's really place mats.
I don't know and I just am so confused, excited, tired, sad, trying to write something, that I just feel apathetic about proper spelling.
Ever have one of those days?
Well, on Tuesday I went to Ikea and after telling my son that I was there for 3 hours and 43 minutes he said that I could apply for Swedish citizenship after being there that long!
 It was awesome and I brought home some wonderful goodies.
Here is my new sewing table and chair.
The cabinets/drawers  below were put together pretty quick by my (wonderful) husband and "go to guy".
He can do anything.
Without reading the directions.
 Really.
I am amazed and awed at his putting together skills.
The tabletop is glass with a silhouette of flora and fauna including butterflies and ladybugs. It makes me smile and when the light shines down through it you get a secondary rush of JOY as the pattern is reflected in shadows of leaves and flowers.
After hearing about Ikea and it's awesome bookcases and furniture it was nice to see it for myself.
Upstairs everything is set up in room type displays and as my husband says: "Nothing will make you hate your own furniture quicker than a trip to Ikea". Everything we have just about is wood and old-fashioned.
If you read my Blog very often you already know this about me and are probably beginning to chuckle at the thought of me bringing home uber modern sleek Scandinavian furnishing and introducing them to their new old room mates- the shabby chic cupboards and distressed french rush ladder back chairs. I wanted to throw away everything and immediately redecorate in IKEA!!!!!
Here's a fine example of old beach house meeting new-awesome-modern:
Chenille bedspread, shell lamp, whitewashed pine bedside table with tadah!
new frosted floral silhouette lamp by IKEA.
Forget the light up globe- gimme some light with these frosted (got 4 of them) lamps for Fred's music room.
 It's like walking into the sun.
It's modern like a space ship.
It's IKEA!!!

I found the cutest fabric and it's like 7.99 for 45"x118".
It will make some cute stuff!!!
I got new red cushions for the kitchen chairs- only 5.99 each.
I really hope they last!
 It seems like a lot of it is made in China or Thailand and that did bother me.
 But the prices are great and the construction seems good.
I fell in love with this embroidered lampshade and after seeing similar ones at Anthropology for over a hundred dollars I bought one- it was only 24.99.
Oh so pretty and sweet and it doesn't fit a single lamp in our house.
 I tried it on all of them.
 *sigh*
Guess we'll have to go back to Ikea!

OK, so back to the placemats.
I cut some fabrics up into 4 1/2" squares and carefully sewed them together, matching seams, trimming, all the while holding my breath, which I didn't realize until a song came on and I sighed soooo big that I had to smile at myself.
 Really, it's not brain science.
 It's patchwork.
It's really difficult for me to measure and be so precise.
I am afraid of math.
I love rulers and rotary cutters but am I qualified to use them?
Do I know how to make it straight?
See, I fool you all into thinking my quilts are so awesome but they aren't usually traditional and I never,  hardly ever make anything functional!
It's good to practice sewing straight.
It's good to sew anything in my opinion and it makes for a happy day.
I have been saying a lot of prayers recently for some friends and family who aren't doing so well and that's what makes me sad.
 Trying to stay busy so that I focus on other things.
 Life isn't always easy is it?
 It's difficult to know  that people you love, who are sick and who make your life better because they are a part of it, are in pain and there is nothing you can do.
I haven't been feeling "up to snuff" as my Grandma used to say, either since Tuesday. Drinking some cranberry juice and resting yesterday seemed to help.
I hate taking antibiotics and won't go to a Dr unless I absolutely have to.
Today I felt better, more like sewing and doing stuff around the house.
So the big reason for making functional stuff like placemats?
It's because my Flickr friend Sara started a Placemat Swap Group and I signed up. They should be about 13 x 17 or so and if you want to sign up, I think its still open until Saturday. I just saw that she is giving away two placemats to celebrate the swap too! Here is her Blog again.
After that she will choose partners and we can email with them to find out what they like and what will match their kitchen/dining rooms and make them happy.
Four of the fabrics I used in mine today were from fat quarters purchased at the last quilt show I went to.
 I am going to do the backing and the binding with this plaid.
I am just warming up, so to speak, until I get my swap partner and then I'll post what I make here for the swap.
 I am still working on the bag, the table runner, the teapot cozy and several doll quilts and aprons.
 This is my finish it up/ functional year and it feels pretty good to learn new things, even if they are old to some people, they are new to me.
It's tough to match those corners but when they work, that's a pretty awesome feeling.
Better than a sharp stick in the eye, anyway!
 So, back to my sewing room and thanks for stopping by...
xo,
calamity kim