Re•building joy - sketchbook view

A glimpse into my sketchbook today.

Phantom Tollbooth quote

We've been listening to "The Phantom Tollbooth" in the car after school each day. A number of times, we've paused it and had to write down awesome quotes. Here's one that really struck me last week.

Nest necklace - A gift in use

I think there is not much that feels better to me than giving a gift I handmade and then receiving a photo of it in use.
I received this pic today - announcing the birth of a precious Ruby girl. Her mom is a beautiful and talented friend of mine and I was so delighted to realize that the first pic of her also had the nest necklace that I made as a shower gift for this mom of two.

poster art - phantom tollbooth

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"Quote is from "the phantom tollbooth""

housewarming gift

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"A very "libby" welcome to the neighborhood from our realtors (who are friends and new neighbors)"

instacanvas

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"I share the beauty I see daily through instagram. Help me open my

Re•building joy - I caught myself singing

I had a long drive yesterday at dusk. The skies in LA have been unbelievably beautiful this week as a very unusual storm passed through. I was able to watch the sunset in my rear view mirror and see it reflect off downtown and the urban hills and trees of LA as I drove east to the foothills. Beautiful. If I weren't going 68mph, I would have been taking pictures - so many.
But the images are sealed in my mind. I was alone, there wasn't traffic, for some reason... I put on my favorite playlist really loud and enjoyed the moment. There was a moment though where suddenly I realized, "I'm singing loud in my car!"
I think I have caught myself singing only two of three times in the past six months. Not much.
But the sun seems to be rising. The flowers are appearing on the earth.
Ironically, I also have found that I cry more easily when I think of missing Gray (I so wish I could show you pics of him!) - but I am smiling more too. Things are getting unclogged.

I'm really ready for spring. It's been a long winter. I remember from my 5 winters in Chicago that the first crocuses that poked through the snow were the sign that we had made it. I have seen crocuses. And I have caught myself singing.

Re•building joy - encouraging myself

We can all agree. It's been a rough few months around here. I haven't shared half of it. Sometimes it's felt like we almost catch our breath with one thing only to be hit by another, stronger wave. I saw this verse and typography on pinterest and felt like I needed it written on my face. So I did just that. (graphically speaking)
I needed to be able to read this, and know that it could be me, too.

Oh, that old thing? (engagement ring)

I look for beauty every day, every place. Today I was leaving the grocery store and this caught my eye.
It's been on my finger for 13 years. And I still love it. And the man that gave it to me? I love him way more than I did back then. Which makes this antique treasure all the more beautiful.

Charity Quilts - wanna help?

I've had so much fun helping the LAMQG wrap our hands and hearts around quilting for charity these past few months. As a guild, we have 2 completed charity quilts and more than 6 underway. All in 4 months. (this makes me happy)

charity quilt made by my orphaned blocks donated to American Hero Quilts which sends quilts to wounded soldiers in front line hospitals in  Afghanistan

 

I especially love how our members have caught the bug for speed-pieced quilts. It all started with that one on the winter retreat. We made 24 blocks in a half hour and had a finished top an hour later when three of us sashed it as fast as we could.  I have just received word that this quilt is finished being long-armed by our fabulous Tanya, who also chairs the charity committee with me.

photo taken by Hollie of Undercover Crafter

The second speed pieced quilt top was assembled at our weekend sew in February. We whipped that puppy up in a half hour again - this time without sashing and Hollie took it home to quilt. I haven't seen it yet, but she's a great quilter, so I am really excited.

photo taken by Hollie of Undercover Crafter

The third speed pieced quilt is finished. I'm going to show it at the next meeting - and then we get to decide where it gets donated.  This one was a really fast top - only a few of us were at the March sew, so we did really big, fast 12.5" x "any length" blocks out of strips that I pre-cut.  Turns out there are still enough purple strips cut to make a second quilt, so I have about 10 more bundles from that one to hand out. I took the purple one on my sewing weekend getaway and finished that one by the lake.

In addition to all this - I've begun collecting "orphan" blocks by friends and members and these have provided the inspiration and themes for even more quilts.

We've collected enough batting scraps to piece together batting for 2 of the quilts.

I have decided to post here on my blog, because I have a sneaking suspicion that maybe someone might read all this here and want to get involved... even if they aren't a regular at our meetings or sews. In that case... I have so many great ways for you to get involved!

1) donate leftover cotton batting scraps (bigger pieces are preferred) - or if you have some other type of batting that you aren't going to use and its a big enough piece to use, we'll take it.
2) be a TOPPER - help assemble the quilt top from the donated squares
3) be a quilter - baste and quilt one of our quilts
4) send in blocks:
        - want to participate in the super easy and fast purple quilt?
                    I'll send you a roll of strips to sew up.   (we can do it all through the mail)
        - current block color themes I'm looking for: - red/black/white  -aqua/gray/yellow
        - got some orphaned blocks? leftovers? trials you made and don't know what to do with?
5) be a binder - don't push and shove, we all know this is the best part.
6) got a charity that wants one? let us know. These are also great for charities to put in their auctions to raise money.
7) donate fabric - though I am currently swimming in fabric donations for these quilts (our backings have been donated by Lauren at SEW MODERN, yay!) - we are actually quite low on solids. Maybe you have a solid color that isn't the right weight or is a shade you know you won't use... that would be greatly loved.

It's such a great thing to have a hobby that can lend itself to generously sharing with others. If you want to get involved, let me know!