j.m.b.

Free-piecing progress?!

2012-01-19T19:30:00.000-08:00

Process shots... OK, I can do that.

What do you do when you FINALLY get all the blocks together in one spot-- and then find out that your design wall is a bit small?

1)I did not really think about it-- I just started sewing. There were some black strips on my cutting surface and I love checkerboards, so I started making black and light strip sets and cutting them in 2" sections and then just sewing them back together.

2)It was pleasing to me, so I started pairing up the blocks by type and then combining them with the black and light sets-- Voila'-- it starts to come together. (Who knows where we will be tomorrow or the next day, but I will start to sew and something will happen.)

I stopped for a bit to get that RUSH of finishing something-- and I finished some bee blocks for the 2012 EMQG bee.... I am IN LOVE with whatever fabric this "solid" is-- softer than butter and a beautiful grayish denim color.
After sewing for a while I tire and then find little pieces that I can't give up. That newsprint from the Moda's Authentic line is SO GREAT and then I finally have been cutting into my dragonfly Alexander Henry print from 1997. YES, you read that right 1997!! I have been so worried about using it up that I just fold it and refold it on the shelf. I am so tired of doing that. Cut and use!I am happy to say that I am almost DONE with all of my Half-square triangle scraps (leftover from MANY, MANY snowball blocks). I have been using them as my leaders and enders when I chain piece and there is enough here for SOMETHING...

Maybe I should just start sewing them together and see what happens?

JMB

Inspiration, schminsperation.... get to WORK!

2012-01-18T17:22:00.000-08:00

“The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who'll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you're sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that's almost never the case.”
― Chuck Close

Found while reading this AWESOME post!

I'm busy working.

JMB

Soooo close!!

2012-01-16T18:30:00.000-08:00

I can almost taste it... I am so close to finishing my side of this. I am a little afraid of the monster that I have created in the process. Question-- How do you keep piecing if the cutting area gets to messy?? Does that mean you have to stop and tidy? How annoying!
I finished my name blocks...
A little wonky beach hut.
And 2 little/big mushrooms.

And I am so in love with taking pics on my iPhone with this.

I hate to say it, but it's true.

JMB

There it is again... the light!

2012-01-12T21:55:00.000-08:00

Glowing popcorn... yum!

My sister turned me on to a little secret. Use walnut oil and salt INSTEAD of butter (I love me some butter!) My sister has omega-3 levels that are OFF the charts! We think this is why-- and nooooo saturated fats! I also add some cinnamon sugar to balance out all that heathy-ness. So today we had:

Sun

Fat

Salty

Sweet

It was SO good!

JMB

P.S. I bought the kids a special ceramic shaker for "their" sugar at the holiday market this Christmas. Now, every time I zest something up I have to smile because the shaker is so pretty. There is some thing special about beautiful AND useful.

Sometimes the light is just right...

2012-01-10T14:05:00.001-08:00

Yes, I am still struggling with putting away all the Christmas decor. This year I really loved my fake-y tinsel items. They just make me smile.
The light was good today and I took ALL my "need to be photo'd" items out to the back. This little quilt was such a blessing this summer-- but it just didn't get put on the blog until today. I love it. It is a ray of sunshine, the piecing is gorgeous and the colors are so exuberant. It has cheered me so much the past few months. The dear smoochee of flickr fame made it for me and I am so grateful.
The back is just as beautiful. She also sent me a charm pack of AMH Bohemian... but it is half sewn together on my machine right now.

After taking overdue doll quilt photos, I decided to tackle the pile of my WIPs/UFOs (when do you reclassify??) They are either going to get finished or re-homed in 2012. I am not going to have so much space in the studio devoted to half done projects this year.... that is SO 2011! (Pics coming tomorrow... I HAVE to get those crazy kids to BED!)

JMB

New year... new hair... taking 10.

2012-01-09T13:12:00.000-08:00

I tried a new box this month... kinda bright... kinda right!
and Mango and I are wearing our sparkle shoes...

Watch out 2012!

JMB

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-24T18:36:00.000-08:00

Hello--

I just wanted to gift you all with 2 lovely things that I saw yesterday...

Things that every one should experience this holiday
THIS!!

and

THIS!!

You can thank me later-- I know you will!

I hope that you loved and were loved this day.

JMB

monday mosaic-- loveliness!

2011-12-19T12:51:00.001-08:00

1. festive, 2. www.flickr.com/photos/annamariahorner/6533020081/in/faves..., 3. santas, 4. little pine, 5. {sparkling}, 6. Untitled, 7. Christmas Mug rug recieved!, 8. Molly's Sketchbook: Felt Baby Shoes, 9. Cup O' Cheer!, 10. Christmas Mug Rug Swap - front, 11. 553-556 sally jo, 12. Festive Felt Trees, 13. 6.365 (notes to myself), 14. IMG_3624, 15. AAAaaagh!, 16. Happy Holiday, 17. Peppermint Trees, 18. Brenda's Stars, 19. spring green recycled wool sweater wreath, 20. an ansel adams kind of morning, 21. unwavering, 22. the wrapping cloth, 23. Scrappy Mug Rug Swap - for Dawn, guiltyquilter, 24. snow!, 25. Three toadstools

Sometimes I just need a little brightening on my computer... I thought I would share what I found today. Thank you all you talented people on Flickr-- thanks for sharing some cheer with me this day! If you want to make your own, go here.

Back to the workshop.... tinker, tinker

JMB

December 16, 2011 10:13AM

2011-12-16T10:17:00.000-08:00

"I have been serving them in bowls so that the syrup doesn't flood."

Who would have known?!

JMB

December 7, 2011 5:57PM

2011-12-15T09:23:00.000-08:00

Messy

Laundry

Together

Crossed legs

Reading

JMB

Naughty and Nice...

2011-12-13T17:10:00.001-08:00

Nice---

*Little silver tinsel tree from Goodwill for $3

*Yarn from Black Sheep Gathering, knit in to a Good-luck Cowl
*Hats knit for all kids in 3 days AND they are adored (hats by kids, kids by me) from here

*All knitting yarn pulled from stash (so it was free, right?)

Naughty--

At&t-- and that is all I want to say about that... grrrrrrr.

JMB

There more but... isn't that always how it is?!

2011-12-08T10:18:00.000-08:00

Greetings--

This week has passed in a blur. It is the last week of school for us before the BIG VACAY!! Big Daddy has been traveling an ridiculous amount---- and

--- Yup, that was me taking a sigh break. I can't believe it, but yesterday in the hallway AT school, I said to a few other moms that I didn't really care for the new therapist I have been seeing. BUT, I think that I am going to keep seeing her, BECAUSE it forces me to find help for my kids and be "not mom" for ONE WHOLE HOUR A WEEK! We all laughed. They did, because it was AWKWARD (and a bit identifiable) and me because, once again the old MOUTH was moving light years faster than my SOCIAL filters. The rest of the afternoon was just a free-for-all because Big Daddy was FINALLY coming home and I was pondering what I had realized...

Having my youngest turning 2 has been kind of an underground weirdness... at this point with the boys I was already planning my next pregnancy. There aren't going to be any more, so the paradigm shifts and I am floating out here in uncharted waters. I am seeing that there is going to be a day (sooner than I think) that I am going to be "not mom" for hours at a time. What is that going to mean for me? Do I really think that I am going to fill that time cleaning and doing housework?!! What is the next phase? I think THAT is the fetus I am gestating now... (I just wanted to write fetus)

Frida--- I have been thinking a lot about Frida these days. The colors she used, the dark and light aspects of her art, the intimacy of her self portraits-- I just want to know more. Is there anything that you just want to know more of? Curiosity is a comfort.

So-- I bet you all have been sleeping restlessly, tossing and turning, wondering WHO won the STITCH Gifts 2011 magazine. The random number generator picked #4 and that was a lovely lady named Hilda. We have been in touch and it is winging its way to her house. I was so surprised to see all the new people who commented. It was like THIS year there are an entire DIFFERENT 9 people reading this blog. You poor people, it has been a rather rough year. I am really sooooo much different when the whole Cancer-thing is not a part of everyday life. It has been nice to have a place to put some of those feelings, a safe place, with nice people. Isn't that all any of us want?

I may be back this week with something lighter... I did find a AWESOME silver tinsel tree for $3 and it has been cheering me up as the Willamette Valley has moved in to the damp freeze zone.

CHeerio!

JMB

We are almost at 400!! Give-away time!!

2011-11-30T12:53:00.001-08:00

Hey there-- I am busy sewing a Xmas quilt top that I started over a decade ago... yes, for some reason I got bogged down with making it PERFECT, instead of just MAKING IT! Thanksgiving was hard for me this year, so after the family trekked to Grandma and Grandpa's for the PRE-MEAL festivities I stayed in and pulled out something to work on. I got out all of the Christmas fabrics that I have been collecting and somehow the last time I worked on this quilt I packed up all the parts in a bag and set it on top. What I found on Thanksgiving, looked OK to me (not totally ugly, but I didn't have to think too much), I am adding some sashing and some borders and by the end of the week I should have a QUITE large finished top! I had already given up on this project a few times, it's a Christmas miracle!

Because I like to get others in a celebrating mood as well, I am giving away the "STITCH GIFTS 2011" magazine. Why? Because I like to give people more reasons to craft a holiday surprise or gift-- and also I love to toot my own horn! See below...
That sweet little Elf Baby was hatched in my craft room earlier this year. The folks at STITCH did a beautiful job with the project pictures and also put him in the table of contents!! So exciting!

If you would like to get one of my extra copies of "STITCH GIFTS 2011" please leave a comment about your favorite things to do for the holidays by Monday December 5 @ high noon PST. We will draw a name and I will drop the LOVELY magazine in the mail that afternoon after I get the boys from school. (I am partial to my Elf Baby, but this issue is LOADED with beautiful projects. I liked how they picked some that would take a half hour and some that would take a little longer-- a really fun bunch!)

I hope you are all getting cozy and crafty-- I have been knitting a simple lace cowl and fashioned some doll pants for Mango's bare bottomed baby. Handwork soothes and brightens!

JMB

A smug Mango, but she can see!

2011-11-22T17:48:00.000-08:00

This little one has been going "rogue" lately... ripping clips out, running around like a feral pony. Yes, I can officially say that we have reached 2. Neither of her brothers had a large "attitude" change at two-- it was more noticeable at 3. This little lovely has decided that she has an opinion about EVERYTHING and that it is going to be KNOWN! OH DIOS MIO!
She did sit still enough for me to give her a little eye window. So now when she is screaming at me she won't have to pick ALL of her hair out of her mouth. Little things... little things.
There also has been sewing!! I am happy to report that I am almost done with my free-pieced study. I have the best partner. She was the first one finished and then has been so understanding about my tardiness. Little things... Little things. I am gearing up to start this group in January... it is full of REALLY talented people and I know that it is going to make me reach for next handhold in my creative life. I am so happy I was invited to participate. Also Hoop-up is getting going again in January...

Mango is getting bigger and I am needing some outlets for my grief and creativity. Looking into 2012... I am going to continue to try and stretch the ol' creative muscles-- get some projects finished, new things written up. It has just got to happen, I feel like it is time. Forward motion is just a matter of suckin' up the fear and sadness and getting some stuff done... right?! Hmmm, time will tell.

JMB

Caught between two seasons...

2011-11-18T10:49:00.000-08:00

1. Bridgewater, 2. in the sewing shed, 3. In progress..., 4. Baby Ingrid v. 2, 5. 318/365 (30 days of gratitude, day 14), 6. Untitled, 7. Taste tested!, 8. Candy Cane Love Paper Pieced Pattern, 9. Radiant Orb detail, 10. Strings Attached, 11. Strings Attached, 12. Beaded Birds, 13. "Fight or Flight", 14. Fence Line-Habitat Challenge, 15. one year ago today, 16. Fans of May, 17. Felt mushrooms (2), 18. Untitled, 19. Block for Vickie QJRR, 20. Cross and flowers quilt, 21. Scissors for Amisha ~ Patchwork 318 Bee ~, 22. even rock babies need cozy quil, 23. fabric 012, 24. elk, 25. Block for Bearpawandbearpaw

I feel like it should still be summer, but here I am, firmly planted between harvest season and winter. I do like what I have been finding on Flickr. I may not be making much right now, but my eyes are happy!

--JMB

My mom was an Artist... Memorial Show 11-12-11

2011-11-14T10:51:00.000-08:00

This is only the smallest sampling. My mom, Amira, created art seriously (the work was a serious endeavour, but the content was not always.) for over 4 decades. Her entire house was her studio-- stacks of painting, every surface was covered with sculpture, she was more prolific than I knew. My mom always wanted to show her work, but then she was always immersed in making more, so where was the time to do it all? Her wish was that her art not be thrown away-- I could never do that, but isn't that any Maker's greatest fear? Her dear friends organized this show and these pieces and more were released in to the world. People were so happy to take a piece home.

It was overwhelming to me.

I grew up and lived with all of this "art-making" my entire life, and it all seemed so pedestrian (in a way) to me -- didn't all of your moms collect everything for their projects? Didn't they paint doll heads blue? Didn't your moms save spent firework papers to be fashioned into wings for a Japanese-inspired Kachina doll? and maybe not one, but 15 creations? Your mom didn't carve EVERY mango skin from EVERY mango she ate into a face? Your mom didn't dry those faces on the dashboard of her Datsun?

Now that she is gone-- it is hitting me how unique her view of the world was and how she reacted to it-- How THAT has shaped me and how I make things. I wonder what the future will bring me. She really "dialed it up to 11" and that is why things seem so "quiet" in my life now. Things just seem beige where they used to be an electric blue pastel.

I have to say that we didn't even show the best stuff-- it is stashed away for now, waiting for some breathing space for me and my family.

Still breathing

JMB

Blurry focus...

2011-11-09T09:42:00.000-08:00

This post started just as a way to move myself forward. Forward to where, I am not quite sure, but forward. I looked for pictures to post for today on my laptop... and realized that I have been uploading the new ones to the new mac mini. That means the pictures on this computer are all pictures of before. Before, before before...

So much has happened in the last two months. I feel like I have lived a lifetime. The sweetness, the bitterness, the laughter, and the tears-- there has been so many of each that it baffles me that I am not just lying on the floor dehydrated and rocking in a fetal curl.
Looking back, memory all seems fuzzy, but the feeling is sharp. Some days it is a sun shining in my face (there is a chill in the air) and my sister says to me "Jessi, doesn't feel like we are in Maui?!" Then we walk through the sunlight to the car and make our way to the church to set up our mom's memorial. Other days it is a labor to shower and dress and then all I want to do is climb in to the DVD world of Mango's 9/5/11 birthday. The boys talked my mom in to be the "singer" for a game of musical chairs. I missed the game because I was inside cooking, but in the movie, my mom is just outside the field of view singing the theme songs to "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and the "Emperor's March from Star Wars" as the boys laugh and skip around the chairs. I know you all are wondering... the game was a tie.

My mom was so worried that these kids would not remember her because they are so young. How could you forget someone who sings a Star Wars theme song for musical chairs? How? I just want to crawl into the screen and lay my head on her good shoulder, to pat her fuzzy hair. I want to laugh with them and feel the heat of that September evening.

Coming back to the computer today was prompted by this post. Thank you Soulemama. This was my 10 minutes today. I don't know that feel better as writing, for me, sets me in the middle of the muddle that is my self right now. But the effort is worth something and it is a move forward.

JMB

All there is, is Love...

2011-10-14T07:01:00.001-07:00

Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.

There's nothing you can do that can't be done.

Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.

Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game It's easy.

There's nothing you can make that can't be made.

No one you can save that can't be saved.

Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time - It's easy.

All you need is love, all you need is love, All you need is love, love, love is all you need.

Love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.

All you need is love, all you need is love, All you need is love, love, love is all you need.

There's nothing you can know that isn't known.

Nothing you can see that isn't shown.

Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be. It's easy.

All you need is love, all you need is love, All you need is love, love, love is all you need.

All you need is love (all together now)

All you need is love (everybody)

All you need is love, love, love is all you need.

--Lennon/McCartney

Amira Sue-Lin Simons

Truth teller, Giver of Love, Creator, Free Spirit

Mommy, Mother, Grandmanu

Her passing leaves a vacuum in my life.

I love her, she is free.

June 4, 1951- October 12, 2011

Coburg, Oregon 9-11-11 5:30am-10am--- Annual treasure hunt

2011-09-15T10:43:00.000-07:00

I love pictures that evoke and idea or a memory for me. These inspire color combinations, quilt block ideas, and just funny juxtaposition of things. They make me smile and remember what a great time I had at the Coburg Antique Fair with 2 awesome sisters. That they are nice enough to hang out with me and shop and laugh and in the early morning hours is so great!. I did buy 2 quilt tops... I had too. Maybe we can have a future quilt show of all of the old tops that I simply had to rescue from the rag pile. I am a such sucker.

JMB

You said the "Word of the Day!"

2011-09-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

So glad I have a friend to share a bit of "ham" and Pee-wee with!

More from the Coburg Antique Fair shortly!

JMB

The little bear with embryo hands...

2011-09-04T06:59:00.000-07:00

Some one is not very happy that their quilt was sent away... but he still kept knitting and knitting and knitting.
This little project (Doll Quilt Swap #11) is finally done, finally sent, and finally received. What a relief! It is very small, I think only about 14"x 11". I spent so much time agonizing over how to quilt it, and if I even had the skillz to make a tiny quilt, but by the end I really enjoyed the process of making it "just right". Now if I could just find the picture of the little beauty that I received... at least it is a 3 day weekend.

JMB

Fullness of life :)

2011-08-19T11:23:00.000-07:00

1. {this moment}, 2. Jellies, 3. "Naps are Pretty Amazing", 4. www.flickr.com/photos/annamariahorner/6035218021/in/faves..., 5. Amos Lee at the Cuthbert under a full moon, 6. Gratitude, 7. clean., 8. "Blanc lumière" en Arles, 9. Growing uP, 10. Spools, 11. DQS 11 Progress, 12. August 14, 2011, 13. Pillow WIP done!!!, 14. Suburb, 15. the bees, 16. water lilies, 17. Beach huts, 18. Molly's Sketchbook: Felt Flower Charms, 19. + and x blocks, 20. BeeFF quilt in progress , 21. Ringo Pie Sunlight for Marit, 22. coordinating, 23. bee imaginative top, 24. 175/365, 25. Plans for RIngo Pie

My mom had surgery for a really yucky infection in her original tumor site this morning. She made it through and I just wanted to post some pretty pictures. I love that people are so generous with their lives on Flickr. They post pretty things that either spark me creatively, emotionally, or just give my eyes a little joyride.

I love making mosaics... and then sitting and looking at them when I need a little pick me up. I appreciate all of your thoughts and comments the past months, and acknowledge that my responses have been spotty at best. Every one of them I have read and taken some comfort from. Between Cancer, infections, planning trips to Hawaii, and those three gorgeous and ACTIVE kids of mine--- time is FULL. Life is very full. I was looking across the room the other day at Big Daddy and just thinking that I am glad that when there is an ebb in the fullness of life right now, we will still have each other. We still will have laughter, a messy house, and love. Maybe I don't like the messy house, but it comes with the other two SO I WILL TAKE IT!

I just want to get to September and take my mom to Hawaii. I really do.

I am thankful right now for a resilient spirit. At this moment I know that I will not be given more than I can handle, but that it takes me a moment to find my legs to stand. I know that I am able to laugh and cry-- sometimes simultaneously... and then go and fold some laundry so that we can all have clean clothes.

JMB

Working small... perhaps for the LAST time!

2011-08-15T22:44:00.000-07:00

This little quilty has been making me work and work. It is leaving tomorrow for my DQS#11 partner-- are they stateside or are they cross the sea-- you won't know until they get it! I have to say that it is looking pretty sweet right now (after I finished the quilting and binding.) Man, if I put the energy in to one of my regular size quilts that I put in to this one--- maybe I need to do just that and hang up the swap hat for a while and make some human size quilts.

If you want to check up on the other stuff I have been up to this week-- Yup, we had a flash mob quilt show. It was pretty fun. I'd do it again. You should stage one too.

;)

JMB

a little sand, a little sun, a little fun...

2011-08-08T09:05:00.000-07:00

We are at the beach for a bit of fun. Big Daddy's cousins came out from the Midwest for their first taste of the Pacific. Thank you Oregon coast gods for giving us such a beautiful day yesterday! Man, kids sure do like sand. I also had forgotten the joy of flying a kite.

I needed that.

JMB

Something started...

2011-07-26T21:38:00.000-07:00

The children are all in their beds (Please let them be asleep!) Big Daddy will be returning from Israel in only 3 more sleeps (I can't wait!) and I have almost made it through THIS day.
My sisters and I all journeyed to the oncologist office today with our mom. Journeyed, because we knew what was going to be told to us and it was a long way to go.

From here to there,

from October until today...

from diagnosis to where we are now.

It feels like another life ago, October 2010, an easier time--- maybe without the technicolor of the good times right now, but definitely without the depth of sorrow that these days hold. My mom has a very rare and freak type of cancer that is not being affected by any of the chemicals they are pumping in to her body. It keeps growing and spreading. It has grown through her chemotherapy AND her radiation treatments. It is in her lungs now and the doctor's words today were "Best case scenario is a year, and that is for 10% of patients". THUD

October feels like another life ago. I look to the future and don't really know how this is all going to settle out. I just realized in that office today that there are no guarantees--- we can look out a week, and then when we get there, we can look out another week, that is it. She seems not too bad right now. She has a cute, curly, short hair-do and a tan, but she is soooo tired and her left arm and hand are numb. I have to help her buckle her seatbelt and adjust her pants' waistband for her. How bad is it going to get? How fast is it going to be? Will she be this way for a longer time or shorter time? There is no formula for me to apply to this problem, no pattern, I can figure out and then adjust to. Rationally, I am there, I get it. Emotionally, it is my mom's existence that we are talking about and I am NOT there yet.

So I started my summer series sampler this week-- Each block has very specific parameters, cutting instructions, clear tutorials--- My only job is to cut my favorite fabrics and sew them back together. To start something, make something new from pieces-- that is about all I can handle right now.

I appreciate your prayers for her. My mom's name is Amira.

JMB

14 years... 14 years and 3 kids later!

2011-07-19T20:56:00.001-07:00

Cake... this year we did it up right and got us a nice little cake.
The kids loved it and we did too (we are only twitching a tiny bit from the sugar onslaught.) But yes, we have made it through 14 years of marriage, not too shabby. This year I believe we dubbed the "Year of Survival", mostly due to the trials of work, cancer, and three crazy kids. That is OK, that is good-- better the year of survival than the "Year of going down in flames". I am so thankful that I have such a good man to go through this life with. That we can look at each other as child after child comes down with "the worst flu EVER" and laugh and pray that we don't get it too-- and then just be thankful that only one of us was sick at a time. That there is still enough in our partnership to get us through those emotionally bare times-- when one person yields, even if they don't want to. I know that every morning I will wake up and look at the morning hair of my kids' Daddy--- what a fabulous Daddy he is-- and that I will wake and look at the face of my very best friend.

Thanks for always seeing the very best in me! Happy Anniversary-- I will still love you when we are older and grayer. You are the one for me. :)

JMB

Current incarnation...

2011-07-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

My humble contribution to the EMQG Solids Challenge. I say humble, not because of the way I feel about MY quilt, but because there is SO much talent in this group of quilters, so much, and many of them don't even know it. (that is right guys, you are FANTASTIC!) I was sewing and sewing these eggy-ovals the week that I was in Bend, hand applique does take longer than I remembered-- BUT it gets faster the more that you do! Katie challenged me to finish it by our next meeting, I am thinking that is doable-- GO, GO GADGET!

JMB

P.S.

There is another Sisters' Quilt Show post here... and man, there will be more.

July 10, 2011

2011-07-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

The rain (YES, there is rain here in Oregon!) (come on sky! It is July... oh well, at least I don't have to water the garden and my lettuce is still tender and delicious.) this weekend is making me think of last week.... hmmmmmm

A picture of us all and my attempts at capturing the kids.... I had to just be thankful that no one fell off the mountain and that I did not have a heart attack because the was little to no railing around this summit. We had a fun day and I didn't faint. Good times!

JMB

I am still thinking about this...

2011-07-09T21:46:00.000-07:00

I am still thinking about this quilt... the swirl in the circle, all those autumn-y browns and oranges, the fussy cutting. This may not be a quilt I could make, but I think that I am in love.

Thanks Kathy for showing me.

JMB

P.S.

The bare beginnings of the Sisters' pics are here.

Virtual quilt buddies... the reality...

2011-07-08T21:48:00.000-07:00

What a fun day! Our real names maybe Kristin, Tonya, and Jessica.... but we like to go by Stitchin' Hands, Lazy Gal, and jmbmommy (this of course is me, so I am not going to link you, you are already here.) We started quilting together about 4 years ago online. I have been so inspired by each of these women and I have grown as a quilter because of these women. I am so happy that we all were in the same place at the same time, it is about time.

If you see any of on the streets of Sisters tomorrow. Please say "Hi", tell us if you prefer chocolate treats or lemon iced cupcakes and explain to us EITHER your favorite Dr (Dr. Who.) OR why Firefly had to get cancelled. (I am still wondering this... still.) I am excited about the show tomorrow... interested to see the PMQG display (maybe I will pick their brains a bit.) but excited to see all of the quilts!!

JMB

wow!

2011-07-07T21:52:00.000-07:00

Check out this for more pictures... but I am in love!

JMB

Rollin' with my homies...

2011-07-04T10:53:00.001-07:00

Red-White- and Blue for a Happy Fourth of July!

We rolled into Sisters' yesterday... I got my Quilter's Affair bag and now we are really and truly in vacation mode!! Hooray! I will be around this week with the goings on... quilt stuff will be over here. Have a beautiful day we will be checking out the Drake Park festivities!

JMB

Lace on the brain...

2011-06-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

I went to a little Vintage Marketplace last weekend... and I couldn't resist the bright flowers on a lace tablecloth.

Then some words of wisdom... you can check out more of her here. I am enjoying the temperate weather and thinking of making things with lace.

That's about it, my mind is busy.

JMB

First week of summer... the blahs... and trying to craft my way out.

2011-06-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

I have been working with this great group of quilters since January. We make a block or two a month to practice our free-piecing skills and then most of us have hooked up with a partner and then we make a second to give to them. I get to swap with Heidi in Germany! Here are all the blocks she has sent me mingled with the ones that I have finished for myself.
I just think they look great together. I am noticing that my blocks are tending towards the smaller side, maybe because I have been doing so many small quilt swaps. This past week I wanted to enter a quilt in to a big show in Portland and was QUITE surprised to find that most of my larger quilts were all made prior to the required 2009 date?? WOW, what could I have possibly been doing since then. Maybe taking care of 3 nutty children...
They are very cute, but I guess finishing some big quilts is on my agenda for now.

Summertime and the living is easy.... Who ever thought that was true?? In theory I guess, but I am realizing that with 5 people in a house when a cold rears it's ugly head... we are lucky if it only makes its way once around the bodies. Mango was sick with the highest fever and the weirdest rash. With the third child I am a much more "a wait and see" type of mommy, but when the feet start getting all red and the red polka dotted rash is making it's over the entire body. Well, then we have to go and see the Dr., so that she can tell us "Oh, that is a weird rash. It is probably just a part of the virus" Awesome, I guess that is why you are earning the big bucks! No sooner did her fever break, then I am jarred out of my sweet sweet sleep by Brownie crying that "It feels like glass shards have fallen in to my ears." So after 2 days of ear duty I am going to cautiously say that we can now start our summer vacation with just a broken clavicle and a few runny noses.

I did start a new BIGGER project... I just had to... I have been reading Twyla Tharp's "The Creative Habit" and she talks about having creative rituals that get you on the path of creating work... otherwise you might just talk yourself out of what ever it is you are going to make. She is a dancer and likes to workout every morning so for her, getting out of her apartment at 5am and hailing a cab is what she needs to accomplish doing her creative work for the day. She says that if she does that, then the rest of the day just follows, but if she doesn't she can talk herself in to sleeping in... etc, etc. I was thinking about that for me... and since I have a room to sew in, I don't necessarily see my work unless I open the door-- and maybe I am inclined to leave it shut, to not do work. BUT the other day I was thinking that the act of opening the door and turning on all of the light switches (I like a LOT of light) makes me want to sit and sew and work on projects. It may not be of that much interest to all of you, but for me, it is good to know. What kind of rituals/habit do you all have before getting down to your own creative work?
In order to re-excite myself I needed to post my little zipper pouch that I did not finish in time for the EMQG swap, but did finish nonetheless. I am still not a zipper lover, I think that I need to read some tutorials or something, but I did like making a little zakka-style zipper pull decoration. I just think it is so cute.

I hope all of you are enjoying summer. We are going to be in Bend for a family vacation the week of the 4th of July. I am going to do some things at the Quilter's Affair and also see the Sisters' Quilt Show. That is when summer is going to start for certain... we need a vacation.

JMB

A space for me...

2011-06-17T11:03:00.000-07:00

1. playing in my little studio..., 2. summer afternoon., 3. Ship / Boat / Color, 4. Paint the Room, What Color?, 5. Summer garden, 6. Color , 7. Colors, 8. Summer Sommer Wild Flower Blume Wildblume Nature Natur Germany Bavaria Bayern, 9. Summer 2009, 10. Summer Sommer Wild Flower Blume Wildblume Nature Natur Germany Bavaria Bayern, 11. Summer, 12. Summer Sunshine, 13. summer, 14. Summer Wind, 15. Summer, 16. summer, 17. What are your favorite colors?, 18. Summer Tanager, 19. Summer!, 20. 141, 21. Los Angeles / Ferris Wheel / Summer, 22. Flowers / Summer / Nature / Bee, 23. Half Done!, 24. Study of Bird in Berry Bush, 25. allium

I just realized that it has been 5 years since I first cracked open the door to the blogosphere... since I made a little space for myself midst the wilds of life at home with children. I love it here and there with them.

Today is the last day of school for Brownie.

Blondie is having some growing pains (mostly I need to figure out a new way of communicating with me/him that is less yell/cry, and more hug/smile.)

Little, "Sweet", Mango is also challenging me with her ability to quietly climb--meddle-- and take off clothes.

Fullness, I have said it before, I will say it again... but right now I need to look at my little happy place and breathe deep.

JMB

Quick stop... found some smiling faces!

2011-06-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

As I was trying to organize my thoughts about the last two weeks into something coherent, I came across these two pictures... and then I thought that I should just post them today.

They are from the EMQG quilt show reception. My friend Emily came with her daughter. She and Blondie were born just a day apart and were in the same preschool class (they are now graduates!) Emily and I have been friends since she walked in to Mr. Schroeder's homeroom class in the fall of 1987. She was a new student and had absolutely NO idea that I was friendless, dorky, and the queen of getting my bra strap snapped. She made my 7th grade year at Oaklea, not only bearable but really, really awesome.

I am so glad that she is still a good friend and someone I can count on, after all of these years.

JMB

Getting all the ducks in a row...

2011-06-09T13:36:00.000-07:00

1. House Needlebook, 2. Octopus needlebook 01, 3. Needlebook - yellow top, 4. Little Doll Needlebook, 5. Stitch Club Felt Needlebook, 6. Cherry Needlebook, 7. 2" hexagon needlebooks, 8. gravestone needlebook, 9. nálabækur/ needlebook., 10. wool felt needlebook, 11. beaded snail needlebook, 12. inside, 13. needlecase received, 14. inside, 15. Needlebook , 16. Round Needlebook, 17. Round Needlebook, 18. Ocean Scene Needlebook, 19. Cupcake needlebook, 20. self-present: a needlebook, 21. Needlebook, 22. needlebook profile swap sent to annaelizc, 23. needlebook inside - profile swap sent to annaelizc , 24. Needlebook and pincushion swap, 25. Needlebook

For the EMQG, June was "Needlebook" swap month. I had so much fun looking at all the books on flickr that I want to make MORE and MORE--
But how many do I really need?? At least one more! This is the one that I made to swap-- why didn't I make 2? (Rats... I don't have a pic of the one that I picked. It is a cool hexagon book.)

End of the year stuff has made life kinda crazy-- each day this week I have been pulled in so many directions and then left just feeling squeezed-- and just when you think that is all "under control," you get a call from the school office-- saying your Brownie is hurt. Priorities suddenly become crystal clear. That other stuff can all be back-burnered... you just need to take care of your boy.

We left urgent care with a sling, a weird figure-8 splint and only a broken collar bone. He said that his pain level was only a 2-3 (down from a 7.5, my boy is very specific.) After looking at the medical posters in the exam room, "The Amazing Back" and "The Amazing Knee"-- he quipped "What will they think of next, Mom, The Amazing Uterus?"-- that was when I knew he was going to be O.K. Exhale...

I wrote a little something about the EMQG quilt show... hopefully I can catch up with myself this weekend.

JMB

Polka dots...

2011-05-31T18:59:00.001-07:00

Does anyone else feel very shy about feet?? I feel so nude posting them.... so exposed. It is quite a funny feeling. I hadn't made HST (like the lingo? Half Square Triangles for those of you "out of the loop") in a LONG time, I forgot how much I adore them. ADORE THEM!

That is about it.... but wait....

Yup, it is hung and I am excited... very excited! (I like to keep posting about it, because I am THAT excited!)

JMB

Opportunity is everywhere...

2011-05-28T20:41:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just have to yell with food in your mouth.... somethings are that important.
Lot's of things are that important to my little Mango... I can not stop taking pictures of her. I love dressing her in zany outfits and then I love taking pictures of her. My excuse is, she will not always be so willing to let me pick her clothes so I must play while I can. Right?!
I was playing with my telephoto lens a few weeks ago and caught some new (to us) backyard birds... Western Tanager (above), there was a whole flock of them flitting around in the back laurel hedge.
Then a male Black-headed Grosbeak (above, he blends in to that pine REALLY well) and a female one (below) feasted at our feeder. I LOVE seeing new birds in the yard.
Additionally, I would like to say "WATCH out WORLD!" I am finally understanding Photoshop AND learning Illustrator... I could be unstoppable in the very near future.

Additionally, X2-- My sweet Eugene Modern Quilt Guild and I hung our first show today!!! Woot-Woot! Another one of the bucket list items people!! I feel like it kind of just fell in to our laps and I would have been silly to say no. I will admit that it is WAY harder than I thought to make some of the crucial decisions like-- "Which to hang first??" I am so grateful to all of the awesome Quilt Mafia/Quilt Club members that helped make this a reality. Whether you helped hang, brought a quilt in, or even just have had a encouraging word-- THANK YOU SO MUCH! I am so happy with what we put together. I am especially thankful for the wonderful couple that offered us the space and then helped us put up the quilts. Thanks Don and Mary Jo from Our Sewing Room. Just to give them some more love-- I love to sew there. They have a great open space, large cutting tables and (my FAVORITE!!) a huge design wall. I would be making only king-size quilts if my design wall was that big. Design walls are the best.

Our Opening and Reception is, Thursday, June 2 from 6-8PM. If you are in the Eugene-Springfield area please come, it would be so fun to meet you! I will be the one with the very short hair, spazzing out because she is so excited.

Something to think about:

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

-Thomas Alva Edison

JMB

Yup, it is about Cancer-- but there is a quilt!!

2011-05-21T21:25:00.000-07:00

By night I have been working on my EMQG bee quilt. I love it. I love to puzzle a way to put the pieces together. I like that you can take the work of 9 friends and have it make sense.

I am putting it together with some urgency-- because it is concrete and I can figure out an answer to it. This past week we had to go to another one of those "uh-oh" oncology appointments--- I knew it was going to be dreadful. What made it The Worst for me this time, was that the bad news didn't rip out the rug from under my feet-- it was that I expected how bad it was going to be and that is the "normal" for us now.

Cancer is just feeling like this grey cloud that is always with us now, and will always be with us. It will. Sometimes I just want to go back to before. Before I felt this urgency to stop putting off things, where I felt like EVERY holiday maybe wasn't the last-- before.

But then, would I have pulled off the road after the appointment? Would I have pulled off the road and got out of the car and sat in this HUGE yellow field and listened to the bees? I just don't know. I do feel like I value all that I have learned since my mom's diagnosis-- I value the time that it has allowed me to spend with her, that I have had to carve out of the craziness that has been our life in 2011. I value the closeness that I have with my sisters. I have a deep gratitude for that. But if someone mentions the "Gift of Cancer" to me again, I think I will scream! I think we could have made to where we are now without this grey cloud.

If you do ever have the chance, stop and listen to the bees. It feels like Life.

JMB

Things that make you go hmmmmm...

2011-05-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

The lens focus function on my little powershot is dying... but I just love this picture.

as an aside- I keep asking myself "Why is life so great right now and so awful?"

-- What I mean is:

1) Is it really so great?

2) Is it really so awful?

3) Or does the contrast of the REALLY great make the awful seem so sucky?

4) Or does the SUPER suckiness make the Little great seem so HUGE?

5) Then, do the semantics of it really matter?

Is life is just a contrast of sweet and bitter, a big soup of opportunities and loses?

it just is.

and I don't know.

I guess I will keep on making stuff, taking pictures, hugging kids, going to the library, making dinner, crying, writing, planning, and dreaming... wait, I almost forgot the laundry.

JMB

Being a mama...

2011-05-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

Just when you think the sinus pressure and the days are going to GET you... they put on their helmets and ride an old skateboard together.

Little joys.

Three of them.

Melt me.

JMB

Little girl, little dress... a small moment in a day.

2011-04-29T12:13:00.001-07:00

I love the motion in this picture. It captures the extremes of day, the extremes of this little girl.

Our Mango is 19+ months. She is saying more and more words each day. She loves having a bag to tote to the car and to have her "phone", which is an old calculator. Using it to talk to her Daddy while he is at work and saying "Yes, yes, uh-huh, noooooo" just like she hears us. Mango is a part of the hustle and bustle in the house... always asking for a book to read, or a pencil and paper to draw with. She has been looking at my nails lately and frowning when she thinks that they are too long. (Where does this come from??) She falls right in to the scrum when the brothers wrestle. I don't know how she escapes the smack-down, but she does. Last night she spent an amazing amount of time, energy, and laughter running around the computer chair in her diaper and bloomer "shorts". She kept going and going and going. The energizer bunny must be modeled off a little girl. I bet that is why it is pink.

JMB

P.S.

This dress was my Pattern Pact finish for March, but it was finished in April...such is the life right now. It is a dress from Handmade Beginings that I tricked out "jessica" style and added the little goosey apron instead of the inset fabric panel. To be honest, it took me so long because "gathering" freaks me out. I would like to say that Anna Maria gave good hints and once I got "over" myself, it went together SO EASY! Score 2 for AMH!! She writes an awesome pattern... if you can just get over your own fear-bots.

I am sick... sick... sick...

2011-04-27T21:43:00.001-07:00

1. Round and Round, 2. Hoop Travel Bag, 3. a shoo fly, 4. fox theater, 5. Ingrid Press quilt, 6. Happy Easter!, 7. Adler and Sullivan, 8. vertical floral pattern from 'scandistitches' set, 9. DQS10 finished!, 10. Ms. Fox in Frame, 11. Introducing Miss March!, 12. Chickens, 13. DQS10 Progress - Mariner's Compass, 14. Georgetown Circle Quilt, 15. top done!, 16. Merry Go Round, 17. yes., 18. pretty little pouch - front, 19. Chairs, 20. _DSC2076B, 21. _DSC2047, 22. Lichen Shawl 2, 23. Wagon Wheel Patchwork Block, 24. 98. The Number Five, 25. Untitled

I have a head cold the size of.... what is really big?? Infinity... and then seeing all of these beautiful things is going to make my brain explode. It is. I swear.

JMB

Having a bit of fun on the straight and narrow...

2011-04-23T14:56:00.000-07:00

My little bunny nuggets are coming along nicely. I like wearing them as fattie finger puppets, so maybe when these are done I will have to make some slimmer ones and have a little show. I didn't understand the ear instructions very well, so I ended up making a 6 stitch I-cord... so easy and so fun to knit!
I have been working on my EMQG bee quilt. There still are some blocks out there in the universe, but it has been a fun exercise in piecing and playing with fabric. I CAN still piece with some amount of precision---this is perhaps not the best picture, BUT the seams do match up! Sometimes a nice 1/4 seam is a fun way to play too.
Here are all the blocks, not in their final spots, but up on the wall to inspire me! Last week I was making free-pieced churn dash blocks for this group.
The view out the sewing window today is BEAUTIFUL!!! I heart SUNSHINE and pretty spring flowers. Happy Easter! (Wait-- until you see the dress I made for Mango-- SEW cute!)

JMB

Balance... precarious, necessary...

2011-04-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

There-- I finished something for me today! These are my Hoop Up #1 swap embroideries all hooped up and hung. I added a few hoops of the Mendocino inspiration fabric and no, I never did finish my piece for this round. Actually these were all sitting in my craft room, stacked in a neat pile, but not able to be looked at. They are truly lovely. (the stitch artists are here, here, here, and here.) I want to make a quilt, but that is not on the priority list at the moment. So they are hung and enjoyed. Thanks guys for your beautiful work.

I am so sick of my kids having colds. I realize that this sounds really grumpy but last week the Mango and Brownie were ailing and this week Blondie has been knocked down by the same virus. The snot, the sad eyes, the whining, the hot brows... I am alternately overwhelmed with love and repulsion. Normally, I am not TOO in to the "lala" of astrology, but I am a Libra and I find that I am CONSTANTLY seeking a balance point between two opposites-- embracing and repelling, action and contemplation, fullness and emptiness-- I long to have the middle ground, but with this active family I find myself at the extremes many times. I just wish that I didn't find the juggling so frustrating.

To deal, I will knit these bunnies---Bunny fun time, they are called nuggets and they are so cute. Tomorrow will be better, maybe there will be less snot and sneezing. Hopefully.

JMB

Love those swaps!

2011-04-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

I looked up at these three tree yesterday (in the sunshine!! Woo-hoo!) and was just struck by how different their life cycle is. They are all looking quite different, yet they all are trees in the same yard. I am sure there is something deeper there, but I have kids to get fed and picked up from school. So it goes sometimes...
This here is my main reason for getting a post out today... it is sooooo pretty, so pretty in the sun, so pretty hanging in my yard. (I am going to use these blue pea trellis-es this year!!)
I had been getting nervous... I haven't had a bad swap yet, but everyone else had been getting theirs!! But then this beauty had to travel all the way from England from the wonderful Mandy. I love it and I love all of the wonderful treats that she sent. I am in love with the blue and green "tufted tweets"--I don't think that I have every seen it in person. The colors are so pretty together. The little wooden doll is in blues and greens too and so cute. The quilt is in a beautiful assortment of Kaffe prints (love those) a few of them I don't have, so now I can look at them as much as I please! Got to love those swaps almost as much as sunshine!

JMB

A Winner!

2011-04-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

I will dispense with all the "What happened to this past week??"-- I just don't know, life is busy and I haven't even been having time for T.V. Blondie picked his winner, courtesy of Mango's Easter hat-- Kristin you are the proud new owner of my vanity vehicle "101 Patchwork Projects". I will get that off to you this very week!

I have been baking a lot lately-- I will post pics soon... but I am forgetting to slash the tops of my loaves sometimes and they are looking like crazy weird mushroom tops. Grrrrr.

JMB

Happy Friday!!

2011-04-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

I thought it was my DQS #10 package, but it was so heavy...
Wait... What is it? I am PUBLISHED!
There is my little toothy friend!

Last year when I was starting this, I saw a submissions request on the Quilting Arts website. Doing the EMQG freaked me out so immensely that I thought, "Might as well submit SOMETHING, the worst they can do is not accept it... but I will still have the stuff that I made! And if they do take it, that will be one thing checked off my 'life list'."

CHECK!

I just finished going through the magazine... it is a fattie! SO many things to make and do (and not just mine!) I did cry when I saw my tooth pillow. I wasn't sure what the format for the patterns was going to be (how much space for each project etc.) BUT they put in the part I wrote about my childhood tooth pillow and that slayed me. My stuff (and everyone else's too!) looks beautiful. The creative team at Quilting Arts did a fantastic job. (I have a feeling that some of these projects are going to turn up at my house as part of my Pattern Pact!) I am so happy with my first foray in to the publishing world!

I just happen to have an extra copy... would you like it to come to your house? You could cover yourself in patchwork projects! What if you gave me a comment... yes, how about you tell me one thing that is on your life list that TOTALLY freaks you out, but it is there.... something that you want to do before you leave the planet. AND then I will do a random/pull a name out of a hat type thing next Friday (then we can have 2 Happy Fridays, right?) Let's say enter by 4/15/11 @ noon PST! (Tax day!) If you want to blog about it yourself, or follow me that is great, but to be honest I am just glad you are here today and I am here today and that we are having our Happy Friday together.

Have the best weekend, I am going to float on these good feelings for at least 2 more days!

JMB

PNCA workshop with Lizzy House!

2011-04-04T23:00:00.000-07:00

Can I say now that I went to Art School?? It was only for a long weekend, but I did... I went to Art School, to learn about some art, to DO some ART.
I don't know what I was expecting, what I wanted out of the time in Portland... Time to myself, away from motherly and daughterly responsibilities, a break from cancer, to hang out with my soon to be Pharmacist sister (Pharmasister?), to learn to silkscreen. Those were REALLY my expectations. What I received was VASTLY larger that these things. I don't really understand the magnitude of what happened in my brain, but I know that I am not the same person I was. There are still tears when I think of it, but I do know that I need to dream bigger.

To DREAM really, really BIG.

I have been trying for so many years to fit inside of this box-- it is reeel reeel cozy in here, I know all of the dimensions of it. I have decked it out very nicely with limits involving who I am, what I am capable of doing, and who I most definitely am NOT. It is comfortable but so very small.
My box is kept small because I can control that. I know that. I don't like to fail. That is so BAD. I don't like to get messy or to do things that I am not good at, and all this fits nicely in my little box.
So how to you get good at something unless you try it?

Like you have an ABSOLUTELY great time making something and it is total crap. What then? Is that failing? What you produced is U-G-L-Y-- like REALLY bad, BUT the process was enchanting? What is to be done with that? Did you waste your time? Is that failure?
What if the next morning, you wake up and you find that you are thinking in new ways, getting new ideas... feeling REALLY jazzed about the opportunity to make something that is NOT going to be perfect? What then?
You can just decide to stop thinking about the end product and begin to really get in to the "ride"... how ever long this crazy ride is going to last, what if you just go?
I did, I do, and I am...
I am here, at home-- there are LOT'S of home-y things that I have to take care of here (like really A LOT.) But in my head, I am still there. The ride hasn't ended. I still can see the possibility that is available to me if I just stop trying to see the end product.
If I can just keep the voice of fear at bay-- the voice that has haunted me my whole life saying "keep it small Jessica, think about what the effort is going to merit in the end. Are the rewards going to outweigh the energy output? What if you try as hard as you can and you just fail, like it is all for nothing?"
"What if you just FAIL and it is all for NOTHING?"
What I understand now is that I have found my self, who I really am, in the PROCESS,
and no matter what my end product is, if the ink smudges, if the fabric rips, if I have to tear out the seams, if nobody wants to read what I have to write...
That is just OK with me. I still am where I need to be at this moment because I am doing the learning/designing/growing/making that I need to do. There is no fear for me in that. I am dreaming bigger.

I do want to thank Lizzy for the great experience, I have never spent 3 days in a row on ART before. It blew my mind. She is so open with her knowledge and is a great teacher. You all need to learn what she has to teach, I'm tellin' you!

JMB

In crafting news...

2011-03-23T11:46:00.000-07:00

Spring Break-- Day 2, step 27 of 50---finished! It is a team effort, I would not have the fortitude to attempt this alone. Brownie is both a enthusiastic cheerleader AND a hard driving task master, maybe we will finish this later today.

I fear that my blog is turning into a cancer and kid blog these last few weeks. Upon looking through my photos I have come across many that haven't been shared... Fear not, I am still a crafting blogger!
Wait... this is the "urban-farmer" blogger shot-- but come on, the eggs are coming back. Lay, lay me some more little chickies!
Back to the early morning sewing-- I am going to finish this for next weeks DQS #10 due date. I did limit myself to only one online swap the past few months, but I have still felt really, really busy keeping up with the monthly swaps at the EMQG.
Photo-happy blogger here--- at first I was grossed out by this sticker, but upon closer inspection I wanted to leave a note on the windshield because this sticker actually ROCKS!
Back to craft-blogger, crafting all over town-- knitting is a great anxiety soother, I am knitting a stella pixie hat for little mango in the pre-op appointment at OHSU. In the past few weeks I also knitted 2 hats for my mom, this one and one I invented-- she has been wearing them, but in all the hubbub I forgot to take pictures. The pixie hat went with me to L.A. and I worked on it a little when the plane was taking off and landing. Upon arrival back home, I have discovered that I added and subtracted some of the ribbing rows by mistake. Luckily, I will be using this project to entertain myself further after I rip out the weird rows!
Back to crafting in odd locations-- I finished my swap softie (see EMQG link above) in the car after picking the kids up from school. By bribing them with granola bars and pop music, I was able to finish the arms, hair, and face just in time to drop him off at a friends for her to take him to the swap for me.

Looking at these pictures makes me think that I (and YOU too!) have little excuse for not having time for craft and taking our projects out with us. Out around town, to the airport, to the doctor's office, when time to craft around the home is short, you can always make something to do on the go!

(My crafting P.S.A. for the day!)

JMB

The last weeks...

2011-03-21T17:58:00.000-07:00

I thought that I would start with the end of my WHIRLWIND trip to L.A. first. San Fran airport... stuck there, but thank goodness for public art installations. They had a recycled art exhibit that I had to breeze through in my attempt to return to Oregon. I really wish that I could have seen the Button Hearse (top, 3rd from the left) in person. The scary person in the lower right-hand corner is yours truly... not enough sleep, gritty brain and new short hair-do. Long story short, it is such a breeze to travel alone, delays are very easy when you don't have to deal with spouses and children. Handwork also makes waiting A LOT less tense.

This past week has been one of great relief. I was SO relieved to finally make it home Monday @ noon. Thursday found my sisters, mother, and I back up in Portland for my mom's pathology reports. We were SO relieved to hear that they got the tumors out WITH negative margins (a nice area around the tumor that is cancer free) and the lymph tumor was a loner, all of the other nodes were cancer-free. EXHALE... To be honest I had no idea what a "good" result from the pathology would even look like. We have had one bad visit with the oncologist after another for the past 5 months, THE PAST 5 MONTHS!!! In my head the fact that my mom was breathing was good news for me. She still has to do 6 weeks of radiation therapy... but for now the cancer is all cut out. She is so happy. My sisters are so happy. I am so happy. The question now is, what is life? What do we do now? When we started this crazy journey down the rabbit hole ... what had I been doing? What had I been planning? I guess I have got to go and figure that out.

Peace

JMB

Fabric therapy...

2011-03-12T08:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a big day for us. My mom went in for surgery to remove a tumor in her breast and another in her lymph in her armpit. She came through the whole thing well. The surgeon said that he cleaned all of it out of her body. I am so relieved. SO. Relieved!

The first two hours in the waiting room were OK. After those came and went, I kept watching the clock and started feeling anxious and punchy. There was a fisherman in the waiting room and he and the "concierge" nurse got in to this loud discussion about fish, eating fish, meaty fish, mushy fish, and cooking fish. A LOT of talk about fish. After a while my sisters and I couldn't help but get the giggles. Some people eat, some smoke... my sisters and I get the giggles when we are anxious.... and it was A LOT of talk about fish. Laughing helped release the nervous energy, but we all were able to really exhale once the surgeon came out and told us our mama was in recovery. I am so thankful that we were together. No one would have helped me laugh like those two girlies.
This past week I also found A LOT of fabric that wanted to come and live with me... brighten my life, if you please. I put all the skulls and purples together and I kinda like that mix. This next lot is for the kids. I am putting together another "I spy" and there are a lot of goodies here. I think the pac-man ghosts are going to be a hit.
More fun!! The town print is really fun!
SNAPS and VIEW MASTER!!! I am so in love.
Tickets, writing..... I can't say no to chicken wire!
Germs AND text??? These are really weird, but I like that.
These were on big sale @ Fabric.com. The watercolor-ness of them is just perfect for spring!

I was so sad to miss my EMQG meeting last night... but rumor has it that it still was fantastic, even though I was gone. (I am so happy about that! It means we have found some good folks here in Eugene!) I was glad that I got to be with my mom and my sisters. Throughout the past months my mom has been saying that some of the pain that she had been having in her shoulders is feeling better. She believes that is the power of all of the people praying for her. Thank you so much for keeping her in your prayers, it means so much and it makes a difference.

JMB

Thinking of Spring...

2011-03-09T13:38:00.000-08:00

For a moment after Blondie's Hip-Hop class yesterday, I was just able to think of the coming of Spring. Thank you for your support.

JMB

Stardate February 24, 2011... Mission: Snow day!

2011-03-08T12:10:00.000-08:00

It didn't last through the day, but BOY, it was fun while it lasted!!

(Mango's featured pants are the reverse side of the pants I posted yesterday.... LOVE SEEING THAT FABRIC in the "everyday"!)

JMB

Delayed due to .... forgetfulness?? The Oscars!

2011-03-07T12:28:00.000-08:00

Dealing with cancer makes you do funny things. I think that I have been in search of opportunities for light-hearted fun. This was one little vacation I went on last week, Hot Swan-Mama in the Brownie Bus. Yes, I was in full costume, and YES there were no parking spots close to the party house so I had to walk a block, and YES there was a van full of dudes fixing the house next door as I knocked on the door. Luckily, I was wearing a mask and no one could tell who I was. Yes, it was quite the disguise. The wrap-up is here. Thanks Emily for the crazy trip!

JMB

While I learn one thing, she learns another...

2011-03-06T11:23:00.000-08:00

I am hoping to cover many things with this mosaic...

*my feeble, but diligent, attempts at guitar

*my funny, funny little Mango

*my February pattern pick (FINISHED!!!), a pair of "Quick Change Trousers" from this book.

Guitar-- Received for Christmas too long ago, trying for the second time to make some "beautiful music". Also my first picture for this series.

Mango, she is a funny girl. The past two weeks have been HUGE developmental weeks for her. She is running all over the place now. Her vocabulary is exploding, but to be honest she is using "no" as just a regular conversational word rather than an answer to a question. I will ask her if she would like a cookie and she smiles widely, holds out her hand and says "No". It all comes off as very coy and cute. We have said "goodbye" to the night time bottle of milk. She is really just part of the family kid-pack now. I am so happy to say hello to this new "big kid", but also sad to say another little goodbye to my last baby.

I was so happy to finish stitching up these cute, cute pants. To be honest I cut them out in early January, there was a rogue afternoon where both boys were whisked away by Grandma and Grandpa. They had just sat, cut out and folded on the kitchen shelf.... as a reminder that I needed to finish them. Finally I found this great little group that is doing a pattern a month... I had to sew them together. Mango looks so cute in them. I love the waist finishing. It looks so professional and the directions were really easy to follow. Maybe my most favorite thing was cutting into my "Good Folks" fabric, the stash that I have been hoarding for a year now. This month I am making a little dress from the same book. I have the bodice done. I will post the finished piece when I get back to it.

This coming week is going to be a biggie... My mom is having surgery, on March 9th, to cut out the cancer in her breast and armpit. We are trekking up to Portland to the OHSU Knight Cancer center. Her surgeon is well respected and has done this surgery before so I am hopeful that we will have a good outcome. Your prayers and thoughts are always appreciated.

Until we meet again!

JMB

Grow mustache, grow! Now do the Hokey Pokey!

2011-02-25T11:00:00.000-08:00

Somebody is coming home from Korea today!!!

In other news, today, I am sharing something that my old co-worker emailed me. I miss them. Is a 6 minute video, but it made me laugh really genuinely and then I really missed my old job (5 years clean!!) It was not the perfect job for me, but I was able to laugh with those friends like I haven't laughed since. We would get really bored (like A LOT) and we would make up different name for our "bands", you know, and then think of what we would call our "albums". Mostly we were in fictional 80's hair bands or or some kind of emo-British fusion kind of thing. Sometimes it would get so silly that we would laugh until we couldn't breathe. We would go through other cycles where we would listen to the "les Miserables" soundtrack until we were inspired to spend our entire day of lab work talking in song. Probably some people thought we were weird or annoying, but we just didn't care. I really miss that.

Yesterday my mother got YET more bad news about her cancer. I am so angry that it is hard for me to be sad. The pool of sadness is there, it seems to be really deep. I can feel it. I dip my toes in every so often but then back out again. I am somewhat worried about drowning in it. Somewhat is an understatement.

JMB

It is all about perspective..

2011-02-22T11:54:00.000-08:00

We have been gifted in our neighborhood with a BEAUTIFUL bike/pedestrian bridge over to our River bike path system. Now, when the level of crazy hits TILT, I can get everyone outside and we have a safe walking destination (we live in a no sidewalk neighborhood= heart attacks for this momma.)

My perspective changes outdoors, as does theirs. It is not nearly as dark an dreary during the winter here, if you can make it outside. Then, this day, I was able to practice "good sharing techniques" and I let each of the boys take some pictures with the iTouch. I am so glad that I did. I now have my memory of the fun walk last Sunday, coupled with the fun pictures that we all took.

Brownie loves the ominous abilities of the Lenses app...

so spooky!

Blondie loves the pocketbooth app. Maybe it is more pictures per turn, I don't know, but I love seeing what he sees.

Myself, I like to just use what I have... my Rebel, to capture a tiny reader.
or the iTouch camera to quickly snap an attempt to outrun the hail storm.... We were not fast enough. We did laugh a lot though. Perspective. If it is not working for you, try and change it up. That is my helpful word for this week!

JMB

P.S.

Hopefully, I can overcome my sewing inertia and get some stuff together tonight. Whenever Big Daddy is on a trip I either sew up a storm OR I watch WAY TOO much Tivo...I am hoping to switch to the sewing!

Oh the love continues...

2011-02-21T11:37:00.000-08:00

I can't resist these mosaics. These series capture the emotion of the moment for me and I love that the future me will be able to remember too. :)

These two are too much!

too much cute

too much smile

too much cheekiness (actual and attitude)

too much toothiness

too much love

JMB

Sunday stash...

2011-02-20T15:05:00.000-08:00

I am seriously in love with this printed lace design...
Then there were plaid vehicles!! And this Anna Griffin piece looks like a storybook from the 70's.... I won't gush over the french general piece....TEXT!
Blondie was so very good at the store that I let him pick out 2 for himself. I think that he wants a wallet and a bag. I had better make good on that promise! (maybe he will share a smiling kitty with me?!)

Off to take care of the crying baby (I had to post first is that so wrong??) (she was playing with the brothers so not too bad!)

JMB

Brother and sister....

2011-02-15T13:11:00.000-08:00

The other day I was too slow in supplying a snack after we got home from school.

"Don't worry little sister, your brother will take care of you"
"Here is a piece of bread."
"Let's sit here on the table in the sun and watch the birds."
"I love you."
"I love you too, big brother"*

I had been telling them both all week to NOT sit on the table, but they looked so cute. Instead of chiding them I got the camera and shot away, after all, how many sunny afternoons do you have in Oregon, in February? It's gotta be a holiday!
JMB
*narration provided by me... it is nice to add a happy script to remember a special moment, even if it is only for the mommy.

Happy Valentine's Day??

2011-02-14T21:56:00.000-08:00

What is the Universe trying to me when this is what I find smuggled in to the bottom of my grocery sack on Valentine's Day?? I am so confused.

JMB

Getting my butt kicked by minutiae...

2011-02-06T21:43:00.000-08:00

Well, this is what I have been doing since we last talked. Making little birds, and driving myself crazy trying to reinvent the wheel with these Darn Union Jack blocks (I am free-piecing something that is rather fussy...crazytown!), and taking crappy low light pictures. I don't know why I like them so much (the Union Jacks, not my off color images)... the graphic quality of the intersecting crosses?? Perhaps, I actually just like flags.

In Other News:
(this is the big "unload" folks)

Big Daddie has been chained to his desk at work for the last two weeks... I don't see him and it has been so long that I am starting to think that this is the new state of our existence...yucko! Catch me on Tuesday... he is "supposed" to be back to normal by then.

My poor mother had to change Chemo drugs and the new one is giving her very painful side effects. It makes me so sad for her. I just keep praying for strength for her. She has been really doing awesome and having a great attitude thus far. It has helped me to feel hopeful, I hope we can stay on the right track and that we all can be strong enough to support each other.

The plumber came out 3 times this week... nothing major, but the faucet is STILL leaking!

My new idea of interesting is figuring out how many loads of laundry I do in a week. I know, "Jessica, that is depressing" you say.... but I am really curious. Today I did 5. I still have 3 of them to fold and put away. (they are kids clothes and kitchen towels... SO many items per load!!!)

FUN THINGS (to balance out all the mind-numbing crap):
*Today we organized the kid's art cupboard and the boys were so exciting to rediscover all of the things that they have in there. It sounds like work, but it actually made me really happy.

*Lunch at the DQ in J.C.-- It was like the old days, when I just had one boy and we would sit and watch the trucks go by. Today we had 3 kids that were in to watching all of the street action. Wow, yes, 3 KIDS!

*Bald eagle in the grass field on the way home. It was maybe 20 yards away, so beautiful and always so thrilling.

*Lambs, sweet, little, cuties. Black ones, white ones, white with brown noses... so fun to watch them hop on each other. I swear that this one ewe had 6 babies surrounding her. I am sure that they all weren't hers, but some momma was having some free time!

*Taking pictures of moss on old buildings. The colors made me so happy that I can see.

And this is only one day--

Note to Future Self: remember to make the kids go see the lambs, they may not like it, but you sure do!

JMB
P.S.
I think that I would be insane had I not had Veronica Mars to watch on Netflix. A long time ago, we used to be friends....

Chasing my tail...

2011-01-26T12:59:00.000-08:00

Peeks of a new project... a tutorial in the works perhaps
The neighborhood is getting some closure (I'm a-gonna quilt it, yes I am!),
Afternoon sun shining, shining those winter blahs away.

1. Untitled, 2. Robin red breast, 3. More Ideas Than Time, 4. DSCN1107, 5. I Aspire, 6. naturally dyed silk yarns rainbow, 7. Everything Will Be OK, 8. i've been papercutting, 9. Untitled

and these... I am just getting LOST on flickr so much lately. The eye candy there has been eating up time that I could be using for my beauty sleep.

At the end of a week, I wonder where all the time in the days goes to. The children, our home, take up a lot of it, but also the back of my mind is processing something, some kind of change of self, of my sense of my self. A shift in how I have been thinking of things, of time, and of what I am capable of. It isn't just one thing, but a bunch of things that have occurred over the past year(s). Seeing the children growing and striving, mortality, doing things that I have thought were REALLY scary... these are all changing me. They probably have always been changing me, but I feel like I am coming up to one of those HUGE developmental jumps that kids have, like when you learn to walk or talk. It feels kind of weird, kinda good, but also weird. I wonder what it will be, and who I will be.

I read a quote today on a "new to me" blog and I like it, I like a lot.

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." ~Theodore Roosevelt

It resonates with where I am today and truthfully how I want to live. The last few months have been "interesting", a contrast in sorrow and wonderfulness. I have been trying to just see what the day will bring, and also to make myself available to the opportunities that might come along. It is kinda working. The less tightly I am squeezing something, the more I am able to see how it is able to unfurl, and then what to make of it.

Well, it makes sense to me.

Be careful of what you find on flickr... a picture of a collection of red objects could change the way you look at the world, or not

JMB

Moments... January 12, 2011

2011-01-23T20:10:00.001-08:00

Painting helper
Lots of circles on the snack table
Beauty in a cup.

What a wonderful Wednesday to find in my camera!! :)

JMB

The world is vast and wide...

2011-01-20T10:12:00.000-08:00

1. Flickr Dreaming (otherwise known as day dreaming), 2. cropped, 3. the walking foot is on :: cue the celestial chorus, 4. Work in progress- Batboy card, 5. hi., 6. corners :: simple fixes, 7. moon set19jan11 IMG_8236, 8. Charming Triangles Quilt Top, 9. {Lettering}, 10. 1.18.11, 11. Bird on a "wire"for spotty. Hope you like it!, 12. mid century neighborhood, 13. Untitled, 14. Sewing Machine Cover, 15. Untitled, 16. time machine, 17. DSC_0840, 18. 80s BatWing Sweater, 19. My mountain, 20. Carving stamps, 21. New Flickr, second call, 22. Untitled, 23. Sneak Peek for ruthiequilts........, 24. Improv block, 25. Mom's Monkey Socks

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

I went to flickr this morning, like I do many mornings. The scrolling "contacts" section on the bottom TOTALLY caught my eye. Here are a few of the lovelies..... there were so many, I got lost.

Some weeks I realize, I can post a whole bunch, others I can't. It is just funny to me how that works out. Hmmmmmm

On a side note I am taking suggestions on how to play with one child while all three children are home. Sometimes one child wants to play something that is just not age appropriate for all of them or the other 2 just don't want to play it. Is there a secret that I am not getting?? I am finding that some games and activities just are not happening around here and I think that we would like to have them happen. Hmmmmmm

JMB

Note to EMQG members!!

2011-01-16T11:39:00.000-08:00

Hi guys,

We have hit a bump in the road!! Our Webs.com site is broken right now. I am not sure why, but the people at Webs.com think that it has to do with Comcast. I am making a master email list to get info out to you in the interim. We can also post discussion on our flickr group... the solution might be in moving off of Webs.com. I don't know. hmmmmm

BUT

We will get to meet this week @ EWEB @ 6:30 (gavel @ 7:00). Even without computers we can still quilt and get together! Hooray!

JMB

Simple Gifts

2011-01-14T13:45:00.000-08:00

I listened to the most amazing song this morning. Brenda Dayne gifted it to me.
It reminded me of earlier this week when I took a walk around the yard with my camera.

Have a wonderful weekend!

JMB

For $3.99 you could change your morning, for $2.98 more change your day!

2011-01-12T11:15:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post... I always want to blog when I have a ZILLION other things that I am supposed to be doing...

SO I have talked before about dealing with S.A.D. in the dark Oregon winters. This year it hasn't been so bad. I am cutting my fabric more, I have more projects going on, AND every week or so I have been getting one of the $3.99 bunches of flowers at Trader Joes. I think seeing the pretty colors in the kitchen window is a pick-me-up ALL DAY LONG (if you think about it you walk by the kitchen window A LOT in a day.) The mum types stay prettiest the longest, but I like them all.
(The "i love you" boggle letters were made my friend Emily, she is so crafty. The Matryoshka doll is actually a set of measuring cups I have been wanting to show you, I got them in S.F. this past summer.... she is so cute!)Today, my friend T.J. ALSO had some delicious chocolates to share with me. I am not a big chocolate buyer, if some one gives me some, I will eat them but I just don't get that excited about chocolate. THESE, my friend, are my new FAVORITE. They are perfect, smooth, and terrific. AND isn't dark chocolate supposed to up the mood??

Go forth and be happy!

JMB

P.S.

A little tip:

I have collected a bunch of small little bottles that I put my flowers in. They are so cute, but tend to grow algae in the bottom, periodically. Today I tried the whole "uncooked rice and water slurry" in the dirty bottles and shook it really hard in each of them.... Voila' no more algae. I had read it before, but never tried it. SO GREAT!

little girls...

2011-01-11T19:18:00.001-08:00

I have been asking myself "How did we get to THIS from THIS in just one year?"

I don't know and I am amazed.

JMB

Pillow time!

2011-01-09T13:47:00.000-08:00

This is going to be my year of using my fabric. No, I am not making any grand "use only the stash" commitment, but I want to enjoy my beautiful fabrics EVERYDAY so I am going to make things for my home to USE them. Here is my first finished project of 2011. I love it.
Yesterday I was able to spend most of the day sewing and quilting ALONE! I spied this sheet at an estate sale about a month ago. There was a tiny glimmer of turquoise in a back closet and I snapped it up as fast as I could (there was a flat AND fitted queen (maybe a full, but it is so huge.) I clutched it close under one arm as I walked through the rest of the sale. I kept thinking that someone would stop me and tell me that they were theirs first. That is how much I love them. SO MUCH! The fabric is very soft and worn in some spot, so it is perfect to add some color to a quilted project.
I thought that a fully quilted pillow would feel nice so I practiced some free-motion alphabets on it. It was my first larger quilting project on my new sewing table (my machine now sits flush with the table) and it was FABULOUS!! No more catching on the small detachable quilting surface of my Bernina! I just had to share. The colors really do perk up the sun/family room in our home.

Speaking of color, I am compelled to share pics of these 3 skeins that I found today on flicker (here, here, and here). I challenge you to look at those and not feel inspired to make a quilt or other project from those color combinations. SO BEAUTIFUL!

A few weeks ago someone asked me how I found great stuff on flickr, as it is such a HUGE site. I have found a few great swap groups and then from those I found people whose pieces I liked... then I went and checked out their favorites. Here are a few groups that I really like:

Doll Quilt Swap

Fat Quarterly inspiration

Colors

Collaborative quilting

Enjoy some color today!!

JMB

Hey... hey you!

2011-01-07T17:03:00.000-08:00

Sometimes do you feel like you are:

*missing the joke and perhaps it is on you

*a half hour late to the party and everyone has already introduced themselves

*staging holiday photos because you forgot to take them in the midst of the hubbub

*finally figuring out all those apps you downloaded can do cool stuff

Well, I am:

*still laughing, because the joke IS on me and it is really funny

*still showing up at the party, even if I am late

*still trying to take the pictures I want, because in 15 years I will just be so happy to see her rearranging the ornaments again, and again, and ... again

*still thinking that playing with pocketbooth and shakeit is cool and fun
*still totally crushing on these colors even though EVERYONE is going on and on about "What is coming next?" (I found the FQ set for sale on at Fat Quarter shop... I have never bought a whole pack, it felt VERY indulgent. I was so lucky to get the pieces with the selvage!) What Anna Maria does with color makes my eyeballs pop out!
This new year is going to be eventful. I know that to be true. It will be unexpected. It will be bittersweet but also wonderful.

eventful

unexpected

bittersweet

wonderful

We will be alright.

Happy New Year friends! (a week late, but I still am showing up!)

JMB

Life... it really happens, so does grace.

2010-12-15T12:46:00.001-08:00

Because I like blogs that are beautiful, but that are also true, I write today.

I saw these flowers earlier this year on the very same day as Beth's 60th birthday party. I thought that they were so beautiful that I wanted to see them always. Some things are so nice and special that you want them around always. Her party was so fun. I took pictures of everyone and got a lot of silly shots. We all danced. We all celebrated. Beth looked just radiant. It was a wonderful evening.
This evening we are getting together to celebrate her again and to wish her a safe journey in to the next life. I share this to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers during her illness but also to bless her daughters and husband as they go on, in to tomorrow and the day after. I picked this picture of Beth holding Mango because I love her eyes in it. She was so happy to meet Mango this day. She just held her and smiled. I like to remember her holding my baby girl.
I like this picture because it reminds me of the dancing at her birthday party. I remember laughing as my sister and Beth danced round and round square-dance style. They looked so sweet. We need to do this sometimes. When we don't know what will be tomorrow, we just have to dance a bit today, not to deny what is happening, but to have the joyous memory to draw upon when it gets really hard.

I love this family. I hope today, that with all of our prayers and support we all can say good-bye to Beth. That when it gets too hard to breathe that we can hold each other's hands a little tighter and know that we are not alone. Beth blessed us all with her life. With love, a droll smile, a really good story, and a welcoming home... things that everyone should know. I am glad that I did and do.

Peace be with you this day

JMB

When you go out in the woods today...

2010-12-13T10:42:00.000-08:00

Real life has been too real lately, so I went for a little walk in the garden today. There were two little eyes peeking out of the parsley...

What a sweet little Hedgie made from a formerly loved sweater.
Look at his little sweetie. These were made with this pattern. The base was a little long for my hedgie's body, so I let one of the points hang out as a little tail. I think that I need to make some more. Cute handwork is a salve to the soul.

JMB

Well... I do have to ensconce myself in beauty, because what is the alternative?

2010-12-10T13:03:00.000-08:00

I decided that last post could not be what today is about. I have been working very hard to be healthy and to lose weight in a sustainable way. Big Daddy and I were talking one day about incentives, non-food incentives and so OF COURSE, I thought FABRIC! The first three pics are my "I lost 10 pounds and it is STILL GONE!!" (even a month later!) I was so lucky to find the turquoise farmdale flowers, I had to get a nice chunk of it. The Paris map is so fun, I like it next to the squirrel's treasure map (sometimes you just have to laugh.)
I liked these creepy little owls peeking from behind the new Anna Maria Horner, there are a couple more that I would like to befriend. That may wait for the next 10 pounds.
I am such a sucker for bees and those scissors.... I am crazy about the scissors. I really need to cut in to them and put them in a project to use... another mug rug?? I saw the purple bunnies used as a sash on a little girl's olive green dress, it was smashing...little Mango might like some little rabbits. (These were bought here, here, and here.) I love doing some fiber shopping while in Portland.
The owls... I am still crushing on the owls. Rumor has it that someone in my fair city has bought 2 bolts of the larger print... 2 stores are out of it, I want to see that project when they are done!
My favorite local shop, Piece by Piece Fabrics, was purging some of the "older" fabrics...I got deals, deals, deals! Some of these are saved for a Mango dress, or smocky type garb. The color, I am needing these colors during this grey Oregon weather. I bet these would look nice on some pillows for my grey couch. This quilt is folded over the back of it and it greets me with a smile EVERY morning.
Looking at these two like this makes me happy. It sounds bad, but this morning I did buy myself a little bit of happiness. They are in the wash right now, I want to cut into all of them before they become too precious.

Here's to blogging your way out of the dark!

JMB

It is dark right now... but I feel I need the catharsis.

2010-12-10T12:24:00.000-08:00

I had something beautiful to share today, because there is so much that is beautiful in this world of ours. That will have to wait for another day, I just really have to get something off my chest.

Dear Cancer,

I really hate you. You are a mutant, creepy and disgusting. I am sick and tired of you making people around me sick. My friend Beth is saying good bye to her family because you just couldn't leave her alone. When I think of the hole that is going to be in this world when she dies it just makes me weep. She will be free of this earthly body AND YOU, but we all will miss her so much. Her grandchildren will never feel her hug or get to go to the Country Faire with her in the summer. That is WRONG. I will miss her silly face that she makes when the "B.S." in the conversation gets a little too thick, her style, and her kindness. AND YOU?! Cancer, you are one rotten piece of crap!!

I am so very pissed that you now have chosen to inhabit my mother's breast and lymph nodes... I am very upset about it. I am angry that we can't just cut you out and throw you away, but that she now has to poison her body to try and kill you. I am so very pissed that I am going to have to explain this to my children, answer their questions the best that I can, but also to say that I DON'T KNOW what is going to be, how long you will stay.

Your timing sucks. Sometimes, I think that if I just had to say good bye to Beth right now, I could deal with that. But having to say "hello" to you, right now, and having some idea that, for the very least you are going to be around for a while... well, you are not welcome here, not at all, I hate you. Stay the hell away from my body.

JMB

Tonya... you did it!

2010-12-07T18:27:00.000-08:00

My life as a quilter would be SO much less interesting had I not stumbled across this blog, oh SO many years ago.
Tonya's OPUS arrives TODAY!!! Congratulations, I am a more excited and inspired quilter for knowing you.

This trip of "projects past" brought to you by "the UnRuly Quilter"... all of them (and MORE!) inspired by Tonya's unique style, enthusiastic encouragement and great taste in movies and tv shows.

Thanks! I can't wait to get my hands on this book!

JMB

Today, why I love flickr...

2010-12-03T10:35:00.000-08:00

1. Mug Rug Received, 2. thrift store note, 3. Big Bang Theory, 4. figure.8.6, 5. MUG RUG SWAP, 6. Holiday hexagons, 7. collectors pails, 8. Santa Postcards, 9. Trim The Tree Handmade Ornament Swap, 10. Flashback ~ Christmas 2007, 11. framed, 12. Bird Embroidery

If you haven't tried flickr, you should. So much to see!

JMB

A lot has been going on here... is it REALLY December already?

2010-12-02T21:00:00.000-08:00

Hi,

Long time no blog here... I have been blogging over here, but it is mostly the nuts and bolts stuff about starting a group (Eugene Modern Quilt Guild). I was driving in the car today and thinking..."wow, our little guild has come so far" and "what was I thinking when I threw this together". We have had 2 meetings and 2 sew-in sessions... and I have met SO many great people, right here in my own back yard. It feels good. Oh yea, and I have also been getting ready for this. This year is my "building" year apparently, or "attempting" year at least. I have done a number of things that TOTALLY scare the poo out of me, and I have lived... and even liked it.

So in the interest of "attempting" things... I whipped up this SWEET advent calendar (if I may toot my own horn...) The best part was IT WAS ALL STUFF I HAD LYING AROUND! Oh my goodness, I have SO much crafting stuff. I like it all! PAPER... GLUE... STAMPS... ZIPPERS... AND THE FABRIC, "my [gosh] Putty" THE FABRIC! GLUTTONY THY NAME IS JESSICA (a.k.a. jmbmommy) I could go on and on, but what would the point be? Getting ready for the Cuppajoy sale has been a blessing, because I now have a better handle on how much stuff I have. I need to use it or lose it.

Using it:

To make this calendar I just did these few things,

1)Brainstormed with the boys about things they might like to do for the holiday season (I did write down "Go to Chucky Cheese" because I do love those boys.

2)After they went to bed, I punched out 24 circles and glued them to 24 tiny clothes pins (big ones would work too, but tiny things are so cute)

3)Wrote down 24 different things to do on little green papers. In years past, my OCD might have made me make these all the same size... but I am being CRAZY, and they are ALL different!! (I did try to plan some of the bigger activities for when they both are out of school. There were some small activities too, like "crazy hair day")

4)Assembled it all together on a piece of museum board that I had cut for a different project that never quite panned out... LUCKY ME!

5) The middle looked rather Large and Black and Blah (you know, LBB?!) So I just stuck a piece of fancy schmancy paper there. I even USED some of my fancy schmancy scrapbookery-type letter stickers (I can't be buried with them... they are 2 years old!) I added something simple and classic, kinda catchy.... Merry Christmas... on top of that and VOILA'!

Another advent calendar DONE! And I only started it a day late!

There was ANOTHER flickr swap... yes, My name is Jessica and I am a flickr swap addict. BUT, this one was small, just a mug rug (translation: smaller than a placemat, bigger than a coaster). I was stricken Thanksgiving week with a MOST HORRIBLE strep throat... I did not want THOSE cooties anywhere near my rug, so I finished it just in time AFTER I took the antibiotics. Phewwww...
You make... but also you receive.... here is my beautiful new afternoon coffee friend! I love it!!! The little deer is such a dear and it makes me smile when I look at those backwards letters. Thanks!! It was from this nice new friend.

That is the short wrap up... I have so much to share. I believe that if I just make a plan that I will be able to blog all the things that I want to... we will see if I can make that a reality too. Thanks for sticking with me... I was just thinking, if you too forgot to make an advent calendar this year, you could always adjust it and make it a "12 days of Christmas" calendar. Your kids will still like it.

Peace in this Season

JMB

Walking girl... walk on by

2010-11-15T13:04:00.000-08:00

Friday, November 12, 2010

There she goes, there she goes again...

14 months old and she walks... tonight she insisted on wearing ONE little dutch shoe slipper and walking from one end of the living room to the other. She fell a lot, but she wouldn't stop. She carried her brother's lunch box home from school today, always trying to keep up with the big boys.

On the other hand she is equally willing to kick back on the sofa with her Auntie, peruse some japanese comics and work a little sudoku. What a funny little Mango. She loves to feed herself from mommy's plate, off her own fork, thank you. This week she also started throwing herself to the floor and rolling around, so sad, when she is unhappy with her mommy's mean limits. Other than that she is our little lovie, giving very enthusiastic hugs and loud little kiss-kisses.

JMB

Get your craft on!

2010-11-12T22:10:00.001-08:00

I am working my way through the Harry Potter series.... ready for #3! More to do!

JMB

Quiet riot!

2010-10-26T22:26:00.001-07:00

I cut in to my precious Kaffe fabrics. I am so glad this is finished, so glad. It is brightening all of my grey mornings these days. That is a good thing. Hope you are having a SPOOOOOOKY weekend!

JMB

Hanging at the Apartment house...

2010-10-26T22:15:00.000-07:00

I finished it a few months ago, but Blondie has been wrapped up in it. It is amazingly hard to take a full picture with a little boy burrito'd inside. Today was sunny and Mango was sleeping, so we hung it up and took a few pics. This quilt was made for story times, laying on the floor and playing "I spy", and making a sleepy boy cozy. It works.

JMB

What a week!

2010-10-19T20:28:00.000-07:00

I would like to thank Kelly for supplying the word of the week... Do you want a gander at the newest Quilt Guild in Eugene? The Eugene Modern Quilt Guild had it's inaugural (I like to use that word as much as possible) meeting this past week, the week that will be forever heralded as "Jessica's crazy Awesome week"Scraps flew as we made name tags, an excellent ice breaker (Thanks Kelly, AGAIN!) I jabbered on, like I do, but people seemed excited to get a group going and excited about getting to sew with some other cool people (which just made me more excited.) We had 27 people show up, more than were even signed up on the website. I was so heartened to see so many creative quilters in one place... LIVE!
We talked about our group and then had lots and lots of show and tell. I was able to share 2 large quilts that I have recently finished (I don't have a good full picture of either of them, but I am SO pleased with them..maybe a project for tomorrow?) I am always making some kind of OVER-expressive face... my face just does that when I talk, I mean I do get really excited about things and I can't help it. This is Blondie's Apartment House.
Here is my Kaffe Fassett favorites quilt... I am loving that it is done, done, done--and the colors, I love to look at those colors. Running this first meeting was a stretch for me, but it felt good. (and then Oh my! We get to do another one next month!!)
Then it was Pumpkin patch day with Blondie's class... I don't write it enough but I am in love with my kids, even when I have to take 20 pictures to get one where they are all looking at the camera. I just love them.
Finally, as an early birthday present to myself (As of yesterday, I have officially entered my LATE 30s) I went to a Kaffe Fassett lecture in Sisters. It was a beautiful day, so much sunshine, so many lovely pictures of quilts... not as star-struck as I was "back in the day" (I just re-read that post... wow, good to meet You, former self... keep up the good work.) But really good to listen to his talk and then mellow out the hero-worship. I haven't made a huge number of quilts in the past 2 years, but I am finding my style and my voice. That feels good.
36 years on this earth... I remember being younger. Some discrete things were better, but not the whole of life. Life is so good now. I like me and appreciate me at 36 in a way that I did not when I was 20 or 25 or 30 even. I am gentler with myself as a person. I am faster to try something different and more comfortable if it was a mistake. Not perfect, but not upset about THAT anymore. I am happy to say that I do believe that my best days are still ahead of me, maybe not every one...but I have more to do. 36 is going to be a good one for me. I am going to try more crazy stuff. I want to do more things that I am afraid of, to seek a comfortable spot between what I do now and what I dream of doing. I want to live closer to the dream. It is going to be a big year, yes it is.

JMB

Afternoon fun is BACK!

2010-10-06T16:19:00.000-07:00

It always starts with just one of them... but then the other two follow. At least today it was something fun and relatively safe...
Blondie has had an artistic renaissance. I think he has been doing a lot of projects at school, so now he feels more inclined to start art at home. (just guessing) Well, Little (or not so little any more) Mango saw her brother with the markers out and she just had to get in the act. I don't remember the boys wanting to color at this young, but for two days now she has been demanding to color too. (she was such a placid baby... now, she really works HARD to make each and every desire that she has KNOWN.) (What a set of lungs!)
Maybe crafternoon is back for a while now....now if ol' mommy could just loosen up a little bit, we could have some serious fun!

JMB

Rush of days...

2010-09-28T21:16:00.000-07:00

A blur of new experiences...
events...
treasures found, but not by me ;(
School field trips...
Friendly visits...
Growing and discovering...
Funny times...
Silly times...
Restful times...
and creative times...

The past few weeks have been so full... so full.

Eugene Modern Quilt Guild is having it's first meet-up... we might have some actual people show up... I am so excited.

Maybe the tooth fairy will visit our house, now if we can just find that second tooth...

We are all full up with big kids around here too... no more babies, just big old kids learning new things and teaching their Momma a thing or two about a thing or two.

JMB

The postie has been good to me lately!

2010-09-09T21:53:00.000-07:00

The quilt wall for Fall 2010!
Here is the new one from a new friend. Home, so perfect for me.
The back... love the little queen in her newsprint dress.
and then... so many goodies. My favorite extra is the watercolor. The back of it has a note from the artist explaining her process and what a fun experience she had making it. I love doing these types of swaps for this reason, learning about other quilters from their blogs and flickr favorites. And then making them something from my own hands that is specially for them. It is a wonderful thing. I think that this is my 5th (?) swap with the Doll Quilt Swap group and every one of them has been just as special.
THEN... I have a super fast stitcher in my Hoop Up! group. She already finished mine and sent it from Canada! What a week! (Check out that eye in the O, so fun!)

JMB

DQS#9 Finished!

2010-09-07T21:36:00.001-07:00

Not much to say today, just a little quilt share. I must say that this is attempt #2 for the ol' Doll Quilt Swap #9 (there are some AWESOME quilts this round, every round actually. SO inspirational). I finished the top of #1 and my husband said "I like the Southwestern vibe" WELL, it was NOT Southwestern that I was going for (not that there is anything wrong with that)... and then that was all I could see, and we all know how that goes...

I am happy to say that after finishing this one, I liked the bubbles so much that I am adding bubbles to the "southwestern" one and I think that it is all going to be OK.

School is really starting tomorrow! I had a moment tonight while making dinner. A moment where I just had to stop what I was doing and do a happy dance because Mango takes naps... and sometimes it will just be she and I during the week now. The house is so quiet when she sleeps... and I can sew as much as I like... just me, sewing! Now I have to go and do a dance again!

JMB

Happy Birthday Baby!

2010-09-05T22:58:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday little Mango!

I see you looking at the world, waiting, figuring it out. You take your time, weigh your options, and then (usually following your big brothers' lead) leap right in to the fray. Your first few steps were a run. I hear you let out a squall when you can't get down from where you have climbed to.

Breathe deep, little girl, snuggle here in my arms just a little longer. You will be able to do everything you desire, before you know it, before I know it. Be a baby, with your momma, for just a wee bit longer.

Happy Birthday little girl, we love you so.

JMB

We all pick together...

2010-08-29T19:46:00.001-07:00

So much for the computer fast, I uploaded these pictures and I didn't want to forget...

August 20, 2010

A beautiful day.

One brother in camp, one brother and one sister with me.

Blueberry buckets with harnesses for "hands free picking".

One baby in the hand, one hand for picking... she wanted to help too.

The sweetest little farm.

A beautiful day.

JMB

Is it really almost time for school to start?

2010-08-28T21:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't been around much, yes that is true. I have been busy with the kids, living the LIFE, you know. The past few weeks have just flown by. I was telling Big Daddy the other day "Each day is just the best day in the world and then it is just the WORST day. And then it changes again." It is normal, I think. With this mix of ages the mood of the group changes from minute to minute. One moment we are on the back porch at noon in our PJs playing Sequence in bliss and then a half hour later we are all hungry and needing to eat RIGHT NOW! So it goes.

Highlights of the last weeks are:

Little Mango playing on the pretend fire engine at the park just like a little girl. The same one that her brothers love to play on... a reminder that she is not so much the little baby anymore (she will be one in a week!). We welcomed a new little baby in to the world 2 weeks ago. She also is a third child and a beautiful little girl. She is so new that she makes Mango seem like a sophisticated woman of the world. I can't believe that last year at this time I was hugely pregnant and laid out on bed rest. I am so happy to be where I am right now.
We all entered things in to the county fair.... I was ELATED when I saw that I won a blue ribbon! Now when Mango wears her sweater this winter she can proudly babble to the other toddlers. (I really was so excited about this that it was ridiculous, I promise that this is the last time that I will mention the blue ribbon that I won... did you see it? It was a blue ribbon...) The boys both entered paintings and got 3rd place ribbons. We were quite an excited bunch. We missed the day that they paid out the prize monies so we are patiently waiting for them to mail us our checks. Some of us more patiently than others.
A peek of my Doll Quilt Swap #9 quilt.... it has been making me crazy, the background, the colors, what to make?? I have been having a computer fast until I finish it. It is due Wednesday. The crazy making around here will stop then, I hope! (hee hee)

JMB

Eugene Modern Quilt Guild...

2010-08-19T15:25:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, I did it. I am just inviting you to do it too. Come, join me in making a meet up place for all the cool quilters you know. The site is now up and waiting for members. I am hoping to have an inaugural meeting in September (probably towards the end of September, school is starting!!) So sign up, post to the forum, whatever... let's get this party started!

JMB

One, Two, buckle my shoe...

2010-08-12T11:12:00.000-07:00

There you go! It was as easy as that, two little boys picking two happy friends. The hard part was finding a time to post. I will email you for all of your particulars. Thanks for the happy wishes, thanks even to those who read and don't comment (I know you are there!). It takes all of us for the online community that we have built.

This week was busy because we were getting ready for the County Fair. I entered some new categories this year soft original toy and knitted baby garment. All it takes is the fair to get me to finally sew the little buttons on Mango's new fall sweater.
Isn't it cute? I discovered that I absolutely LOVE knitting little sweaters! I even blocked it. Not too shabby for a first try (I have completed a grown-up sweater, but it was not out of pretty yarn and it was too itchy and smelly....I think that it is in my pile of felted items to be repurposed!) This one was so easy and fun.

The brothers both entered paintings and recycled art. Brownie also entered a Lego sculpture and Blondie entered a "mixed" painting and drawing. Entering for us meant Mommy running around scrounging frames and adding hanging wire the morning of the drop off day (luckily the boys were in camp). I even swiped the frame from my wedding photo to frame one of the paintings. That is love for you! Maybe things run smoother in other families, but I am so proud that we got it all together this year!

I have also been working on getting a website together for a modern quilt guild for my little town. Learning a new website format is challenging, but I am diligently trying to get it together for a meeting this fall (my dream is September, but it is sneaking up.) I did tell a woman at my guild to keep me accountable and on task! It is working!

See you soon!

JMB

Four-year old boys

2010-08-06T13:24:00.001-07:00

Right now:

I am listening to Blondie and his fellow four-year old negotiate what to play.

"I want to make the fort in the closet"

"I don't want to."

"OK, I will go in your fort."

"Come on, let's just play animal doctor."

"It's too hot in there."

"I have the biggest ginormous bat that is BROWN, it is big and brown."

"Let's go outside, this is not very fun..."

"Hey, here are 2 big pillows, cool"

"It is NOT a vampire BAT!"

And it goes on and on and on.

I like that they both say exactly what they want to with out apology or malice. Sometimes they play together and sometimes just side by side. It is so wonderful to watch and listen to him grow in to a Friend.

JMB

P.S.

Don't forget to comment on my last post to celebrate 4 years of fun!!

There's a party going on right here...

2010-07-30T14:13:00.000-07:00

OK, the "Celebrate Good Times" song was running through my head when I was writing the title, I can't help it. Maybe it isn't a big party, but I am celebrating right here and now about being around blogland for four years. (OK so it is a month late, but I had to finish those quilts and that takes time.)

Thank you all for meeting with me here and in this space. It is very special to me. I enjoy writing what I want, hearing what you all have to say and then visiting your own corner of blogland. It is a nice little circle we have going on.

To continue the "Good Vibrations" I am giving away three of my little quilts. I am keeping "North" for myself and "South" is going to live with a certain friend, "East" and "West" are looking for a home. If you would like them to come and live with you just leave a comment here and maybe leave your favorite party song too, that would be fun. I know my boys would love a new list of dance music.

Fiesta Forever!

JMB

*EDITED*

Ha ha ha, the joke is on me, in my excitement and haste to post I forgot to add when I was going to draw the luck winners... how about Monday August 9th at high noon PST?

I can't resist a Mango!

2010-07-26T22:40:00.000-07:00

I can't help it. She is too much, really too much. She is 10.5 months and just so pleased with herself. This past week she has been trying to stand, because she had two hands full of toys and no where to hold on to. Tonight she waved bye-bye to Big Daddy, looked at her hand and then just beamed with her newly found abilities. We are in for it now!

Too much!

JMB

Rice-a-roni, the San Francisco treat...

2010-07-25T22:03:00.000-07:00

A weekend in San Francisco celebrating 13 years of marriage... a walking tour.
old houses...old bricks, I love 'em.
Pretty as a postcard...
Hamming it up in Japantown...
Ohhh the craft books...Alcatraz...
The steps of Telegraph hill... I only saw one of the parrots :(
She slept...
Fig and Prosciutto pizza... Yum
Segway tours... funniest thing to see
Street music... I love the accordion!
Treats!!

Me and You in San Francisco.

A little trip away, with only one small girl,

it is almost like the beginning again, but so much better. Here is to 13 more fine years!

Love you,

JMB

P.S.

Dear Readers,

Thanks to the 9 hour (each way!) car trip I was able to finish some little quilts!! Hooray! They are going to be shown and given away later this week, so stay tuned!

JMB

Whispers from the past...

2010-07-14T20:54:00.000-07:00

A long time ago I wrote myself a note. I haven't read it since. I read it today. I have needed to read it and read it often. I think I will make a sign.
For all of you who might need to read it too:

"Finishing it Saturday, in the depths of the 5th (?) cold of the season, I was giddy with excitement and so glad that I made time for myself again. I was a much nicer wife and mom that day. I really need to remember that the MAKING is a place I need to be often. I am sure that I have written about this before, and I know that I will write it again. For me the Creation and the Making are resting places for me, safe places, the place that my most genuine self lives. TAKE NOTE SELF!!! Remember, remember, remember...."

Ahhh, making stuff, I just need to make some stuff. Thanks, past Self! I will try to remind future Self also.
JMB

Summer Sighs deux...

2010-07-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

Enjoying a walk on the beach with the little Mango. I get to go on a surprise Anniversary trip to San Francisco this weekend... with only one little sweetie in tow. Bliss.

JMB