Whats UP?

Hi…. and what exactly is up at I Have a Notion?

Our rainfall and snowfall amounts are up in Kentucky. Almost 3 times more snow than was predicted… and if we get too much more rain… we will float away.

Also up are the wild Hyacinths. These pop up every year in the lawn, and they are naturalizing. The first year here we only had 2 or 3 plants and now we have 20! I love them. We also have lots of wild violets… under the maple and just to prove its spring… even if the temperatures don’t say so, the dandelions are blooming too.

This little one is up to 1 month old! I spent a day last week with her. It shot the whole day… by the time I drove up, we had lunch, a quick spin around IKEA, and the drive home… But well worth it!

And another day I drove up to Louisville to drop something off for Goldie. To be tested. I took Goldie with me… for some more experience riding in the car and to get a weight. That is also up! Can you believe that in the 4 weeks since diagnosis… she gained 15 pounds!!! The C-diff is done! and we are working on the Crypto. Hopefully one more sample…. and we will be in the clear.

And just like the rest of America… some of this! and it is taking more than one day!

What has kept you busy? Sewing or Taxes or….?

National Quilting Day

Today is Worldwide Quilting Day!

I hope you have set aside some time today to do something Quilty to Celebrate!

When I lived in Nebraska, we always had a Soup and Sew Day sponsored by the guild. To build and cement our Quilting Life and Friendships. It was always a big deal since the National Quilt Museum is in Lincoln Nebraska!

I celebrated a few days early, and unfortunately, no pictures!!!

I did a presentation on thread for the Kentuckiana Longarm Guild I belong to. Based on that presentation, I was asked if I would come and share it with a Guild in Indiana.

Our date was set, and I ventured up to Indiana on Thursday afternoon to share my quilts and some thread information in the evening with the Washington County Quilt Guild. I had such a great time sharing some of what I have been working on the last few years!!!

So while I may not make it into the Creative Spaces today… I did spend some Quality Time this week with Quilts and Quilters!!!

So how are You celebrating “National Quilting Day”?

Pupdate- Goldie

So what is new in Goldie's world.

Quick snap… of Goldie 7 months!!!

LOTS!!!

We think she is on the mend!

After the last test for Giardia came back positive I whisked her off to a visit with specialist. Required a drive up to Louisville with Goldie. Due to miscommunication, it required a second trip the next day to deliver a sample.

Took about a week to get the full panel of results back.

But we got an answer.

Her lower GI track was compromised. She had Cryptosporidium and Clostridium Difficile (C-diff). Poor girl. Both were causing her problems.

So a bag of Hydrolyzed dog food (to also rule out a food allergy) another script of Panacur and a script of an antibiotic, (fortunately sprinkled over food but needed to be dosed every 8 hours). We saw some immediate improvements.

Good NEWS!

She has been gaining weight and growing, now that she can absorb some nutrients. We send in another sample… and hopefully we will be done…. but will have to keep her on a tight lead until we can use some bleach in the yard. C-diff stays in the environment for a very long time.

Where did she pick it up? I suspect at the vets office when we went in for her regular course of vaccinations or for the Giardia. She had not left the house or yard since we brought her home. I feel strongly about taking puppies out before they are fully vaccinated and it was just too darn cold to go outside. Too easy to pick something up…. and she did!!!

More Later! Beth

On Duty!

A little side business this past week.

On Wednesday…. I had a FB Chat message…almost didn’t read it…. but really glad I did.

My sister… lives far away in Nebraska and was just up the road in Indiana last week for the birth of a grandchild. I drove up the following day to visit with sister, niece and great niece for a few hours. All was well. Sister flew back home, niece and baby went home.

Wednesday morning Chat Message from sister- C is back in the hospital, a lot of pain. She can’t be alone with the baby in the room. Can I go?

It is 5:30 am… and I haven’t had coffee. Message back coffee and a shower and I’ll be on my way. Dressed and packed some clothes for a few days… collected electronic backup/charging stuff and was in the hospital by 9:30 am.

So what did I mostly do?

This:

Such hard work for me!!! however by doing this… mom got to rest, really rest and recover and go home yesterday from the hospital yesterday. The Grampa flew in from Missouri…. as I was leaving. But I think I will plan a little trip up… in a couple of weeks just to check in!

Needless to say….not too much else got done!!! Another left turn, but a fairly pleasant one, since everything turned out well in the end.

Do you have detours that while not in the plan are so rewarding and well worth the change of direction?

Stay tuned! More Later! Beth

Whew! and

putting it all away…. may take days.

  

The Quilters Day Out was only 6 hours from open to close and I was busy pretty much the whole time. Not even time to take a picture!!!

They INVENTORY did not decrease as I would have liked.

Everything from setup to take down took a bit longer to get done, because well this part of Kentucky has been nothing but gray skies and COLD or RAIN for the past 6 weeks or so. Lots and lots of rain… so much so that the landscape has taken on a dramatically watery vista.

Today we have the beautiful glow from actual sunshine and a cloudless sky. Temperatures have warmed up so much that the hyacinth is up, both the hybrid and the wild variety that is growing in the lawn, the maple (silver) has bloomed and my lilac is leafing, as is the hydrangea. I also see the day lilies showing some green sprouts too. Of course it is pretty early for this, so hopefully they won’t be stunted by a surprise snow in March.

I will be spending the next few days unpacking the boxes of stock and marking it down so I can modernize the store. Are there items that you are interested in or think would be a good fit for I HAVE A NOTION? Please help me out with how I can better meet your needs, since it will benefit both of us!!!

Look for the Markdowns in the Inventory Reduction Category coming soon.

Seriously it must go.

If you see something you really really want email me with an offer… of course the more you want…

So Seriously, Lets TALK!!!

More Later, Beth

Are you in the area?

This Saturday (one day only) is the Louisville area Quilters Day Out and Gathering of the Guilds. Click the link for more information.

Under the Gathering of the Guilds part, local Quilt Guilds come to recruit/entice new membership and share some of the interests and projects that their membership does, including demonstrations.

The Quilters Day Out part of course is the venders mall, which is where I Have a Notion will be.

So if you are attending… Please stop and say hi!

More Later…(after I have put things away and taken a long nap!!!)  Beth

A Bit About Fusible Products

Before I hurt my hand I was working on this bright little quilt.

Each of the little stacks of hearts illustrate a brand/type of fusible and how well they stack up, stick and feel. This is designed for touching, to feel the layers and the suppleness or the stiffness of the layers of each of the stacks of fused hearts.

(I think the pictures will enlarge if you click on them)

Another thing that nice to know is how the edges hold up after fusing and stitching. Some fusible products are much better at holding the fabric edges down than others. Here I used an open narrow zigzag stitch to finish the edges of each heart.

Over the years I have used many different fusible products... about 200 yards so far. I like having a selection on hand to use, depending on the project. Sometimes I need to have some real stick and others need a light stick just to keep in place until I stitch it down. Sometimes you do not want to trace a thousand leaves... and would be happy if you could just print out a paper backed fusible with all your leaves traced and ready to be fused to the fabric.

Some fusible products stick… so well that the glue becomes part of both fabrics and taking them apart…. will never happen, while some others depending of the fabric treatments, you may be able to peel a fused piece off and reposition. Still others allow you to create your design pieces and they will have a ‘temporary’ sticky feature that allows you to play with placement before making it permanent with heat. Another downside to some fusible products is that the glue may maybe so heat sensitive that too much ruins the stick or there is so much glue that the layers of fabrics become stiff that they are nearly impossible to stitch through by machine or they will transfer the glue to the needle causing additional problems.

The hearts hanging on the side are to show how a fusible product looks on the back of the fabric, minus a backing so you can see how each the fusible feels and looks after fusing to the first fabric.

After sharing this with a guild I have been asked to expand this into a talk on various fusible products and characteristics.

Do you use fusible products in your creative process? Which one is you favorite? Do have one that has disappointed you?

More Later- Beth

Surviving an Injury!

So how did I get past the tendonitis without losing my mind?

I did a jigsaw puzzle. I have started this a number of times…. but never got past getting some of the outside edges done before putting it back in the box. I generally keep a puzzle around for when I have to sit on my hands… and do nothing. The last time was when we were selling the house in Virginia.

This time I had enough time to complete this puzzle and I will be passing it on later in the year. I rarely ever do a puzzle less than a 1000 pieces, and this one was doubly difficult because the pieces were irregular, very irregular! And did not fit together as well as I would have liked.

After almost 10 days of rest I think I can go about my daily activities without restriction. But I will monitor for pain or swelling and find a new activity if I feel…. any discomfort.

Until Later! Beth

Pupdate…

I promised a pupdate… that would feature Linzi. She is going to be 8 in a few months. She has had a rough time of it the last year or so … with Bandit being a bully, and then… having to deal with another puppy. She has been a little gun shy… not sure if she should fully embrace Goldie or not. For the most part, she has.

We acquired Linzi in South Africa, shortly after moving there. She and Axel, (he was 6) got along great. Mostly because Axel was such a low key dog with other dogs. No cuddling, but no wars either. Axel on the right and Linzi on the left in 2010.

                              

To give Linzi some peace from Bandit, I used to take her up to the sewing room with me after dinner. She would =find a place and just rest. Not often changing locations. Now, because Goldie is still a puppy… I still give her the peace and she knows the phrase ‘take Linzi up with me’.

 

And this is her favorite toy in the Creative Space. I was clearing off a table and tossed this old top that has some repair work going on… out of the way for a few minutes and… when I turned around …..

A note on Goldie. She just completed round 5 of medications for Giardia, after the last test of clear.. she started to revert again and on Monday I took another sample in. Things are looking better and I will consult with the vet again tomorrow… about how things are shaping up, (pun intended).

We have lived in this house just over 2.5 years and never had a fire…. we fixed that the other night.

And outside this morning… yep that ground hog might just be right!

More Later-Beth!

Full Stop!

Think as in engines and forward movement.

Yep that's me!

Started last week with some discomfort… and finally got to the point on Sunday of some pain and by Wednesday… enough to seek medical intervention.

After several hours and  good old fashioned x-rays a diagnosis.

My poor thumb is experiencing tendonitis combined with arthritis (bone spurs and calcifications too). A steroid shot for the inflammation and a brace for the next 7-10 days and then see about further treatment of if it is just a management issue.

So the hard work for me is to ignore all the things calling my name with deadlines, needs doing or even the THINGS I want to do and rest my hand.

So to combat the hours of boredom I have broken out a jigsaw puzzle.

How do you cope with situations that require you to not only change the forward motion plans or the order of Full Stop!!!

More Later! (maybe) Beth

Focus

Do you ever find that you have lost focus in your creative endeavors. Not just falling out of love with a project, but forgetting that you even have it in the works. Not only that but the project is sitting right out in the open, on the table, -

Technorati Tags: Hearts,fusible,rainbow,focus,attention

visible!

I just did that the other night. Sometimes I have difficulty finding the order of projects after completing an unforeseen or unplanned project or obligation and when coming back to the Creative Space feel lost. I spent an hour piddling about… with a little hand work on an old quilt top, that was not really on the list ‘get done immediately’ projects.

I had been working on getting this

little thing done…

but was sidelined once because I hadn’t totally thought the project through and then I had those “Guild Chores” or Meeting Preparation things to move off the table, which totally drew all my focus from the creative fun stuff.

Do you find you are diverted from your focus, and find yourself doing nothing?

More Later! – Beth

Winter 2018

The middle of January has come and gone!!!

I would say I have no idea of where the time went since the New Year Year dawned... but I do.

Most of it has been winter!!! Lots of it. We went in the deep freeze in December and haven't really seen any relief since. This has been like Chicago COLD!!!  negative temperatures with biting wind chills, and we have snow to go with it.

There are a couple of bright spots.... even in the winter!

This bloomed yesterday. Can you see the snow outside. We had more than 5" on the ground when all was done. And it is still cold, weather people suggest that we will be above freezing tomorrow.

I know.... I said Linzi next, but well ...The only ones in our house that love the snow are the dogs. This was Goldies 1st snow of any accumulation and she loves it.

Plays tag/chase with Linzi... eats it, snow plows with her nose... and in general doesn't want to come in.

I observed the robins last winter... flocking, like in huge groups... and saw it again yesterday. If you were wondering how cold is is, this robin is puffed and sitting with his feathers covering his feet.

In the Creative Spaces I have been on hold. It is the end of year or the beginning of a new year for both of the guilds. I have been preparing to hand off the VP stuff for one guild and pick up Membership as well as have a Live Auction in a few months and that has taken a chunk of time recently too.  At the other guild we are gearing up for the Quilt Show... in September!

What are you working on.... something quilty or NOT!!!

More Later-Beth

Goldie 4 month Pupdate!

As I promised.... a Goldie update.

Let me just say that is Freezing cold in Kentucky these days. Much more like up north... in Chicago than down south in Kentucky. Several nights have been at zero... and a few degrees below that a couple of  times... and that does not include wind chills!!!

Her life in our household has been a bit difficult to say the least. Nothing too serious .... but her puppyhood has had a rather 'loose' beginning. I will try and discuss this delicately... She was 9 weeks old when she came to live with us. As you can see by the rug she is on... she has grown! Photo on the left  9 weeks + and one on the right is just the other day at 16 weeks +. She pretty much fills up the rug now.

  

At first we thought that she was under stress ... of leaving home new people, sleeping alone; then she wasn't eating so we gave her a little food additives (canned food as the breeder was doing) which can also bring on a bit of looseness.

Then we saw the vet for our 12 week inoculations, vet found Roundworms, (they come from mom, either in utero or via the milk). Medicated and eradicated.

Next we had a bit of teething.... which will often cause the same issue.

 

So, at about 14 weeks... still the same, so return visit to the vet along with a sample. The sun was coming in a high window... and I just couldn't resist the silhouette.

Diagnosis; Giardia -generally caused by unclean water or from a particular delicacy found in a yard that has visiting wild rabbits (Rabbit Treats).

At 16 weeks, the final shots and a revisit about the Giardia... Now after 4 weeks of 2 different medications, and not much improvement, although she feels better! More active. It might also be just a particularly healthy colony of Giardia and it has resisted the individual medications, but we may be seeing some improvement....  Along with this last course of medication we are changing her diet, as there may also be an allergy to something in her food. Hopefully this poor girl will get a bit more regular and I will get a full nights sleep without a trip or 2 outside in the middle of the night!!! We keep a calendar... of  'puppy business' so we will know if the puppy is holding longer... and able to go through the night without a trip outside. This calendar started out as joke for the husbands retirement...so he would know which day of the week we were on and the date. It only took a year for us to not need the chalkboard for that... we found a new reason to use it... first for Bandit and now for Goldie, but I din't change the reason!!!

It always seems to be something.... the next dog story I'll share some about Linzi, she has been a trooper!

Do you have a pet? Does it bring you joy? Share in the comments, we all want to know!!!

As Always- More later! Beth

New Year Perspective!

Wasn't it GREAT to catch up with Kelly? I don't know how she managed to have something new posted.... so often to the blog. I can barely think ahead... let alone back it up with pictures!!!

I have been thinking about and started to create a post about closing out 2017 or looking ahead to 2018... but everyone does that and in a week or so, we will all be ready to move on! I figure we would all do something differently, make better choices, save more, spend less, be more positive, laugh more, be a better person .... you know as we look backward or forward.... they all apply in both directions. Goal setting is like Resolutions... the are good until the next idea or opportunity comes along, and just like a chicken... we are drawn to the next sparkly thing or project! I belong to a loose creative group that is called the 'Sparkly Chickens' because we are always drawn off course by ....something.

I have tried the "word" for the year thing... several times but I always forget the 'guide' word I have chosen... around about the month of March or April, because the end of winter is near... and there is a new world beckining for us to come outside and play.

Most of us pick unrealistic.... ways to plan for the year ahead to overcome the boring- can you say exercise or lose weight, downsize the 'stuff' or clean something....or to laugh more, love more and not allow for serendipity, the unexpected and spontaneous opportunities we can't see coming. 




Me -I live for the opportunities that chance and change allow. To explore, experience and meet new people, different places or try new traditions;  to share tastes, customs and ideas, see something from a different perspective. I try to leave a little room while looking ahead for the unexpected something .... to happen while I muddle on with the daily stuff.

Happy New Year.... may it become everything you need it to be!  

More later! Beth (I promise more Goldie coming soon)

Where is the world is Kelly aka prior Queen of the IHAN Nation now?

Beth:  Inquiring minds want to know, what have you been up to since selling IHAN?

Kelly: The last 6 months feel like a blur and for that matter the last year feels like a blur too.  So let me think...what have I been doing with myself since selling IHAN?

Being a mother is more than a full time job so that has kept me busy.  The previous IHAN elves are now teenagers and Aaron is actually 6 feet tall now....which is freaky...how did that happen?  LOL

Previously known as the IHAN shipping Elves sporting their new metal mouths...LOL

I have been to CA twice to spend time with our oldest daughter, her husband and our new grandson.  Having a new life in our family has brought tremendous joy.  To see someone you dearly love hold their child and then begin to know that is how much you love them....it is a meeting of the souls in a way.

I cried so much having to leave them that my eyes are swollen. 

My first grandson....he is pure magic.  Expecting another grand child in June, our youngest daughter is now pregnant.  I can hardly wait.

Yes I continue to sew and quilt but in a much more relaxed and messy fashion.  I have several projects in progress and most are pinned to my design wall, one on top of the other.  A bit messy but this allows me to follow my energy and work on things that feel good instead of pressuring myself to have a deadline.  My creative process is not linear and I am most comfortable and happy when I do the next indicated pleasurable thing and when I hit a part that I don't want to do at the time...I set it aside until I'm feeling more up to the challenge.  An organic sort of creating focusing more on the pleasure and less on the deadlines.

Here are some quilts that are in full swing at this time:

These are my tiny hexies quilt. 

This wild mess is what I call sewing one scrap to the next, cutting and re-sewing.  It will be finished in 2018. 

A small wall hanging I started for fun.  It still needs to be quilted.

Waldo inspired me to make this quilt for charity.  I was in the throws of darkness and she said I had to help her sew some charity quilts...that's all it took.  Thankfully Beth quilted it for me because quilting on a domestic machine is not my forte.

When I get stuck on a project or in need of ideas I run them past Waldo (Longtime IHAN blog followers are familiar with Waldo...Rosemary my girlfriend).  Having Waldo essentially 3 houses away really helps when a gal needs a different thread or to check the stash fabrics to see if there isn't something that can be used instead of stored.  We both have fabric stashes (more on that at another time) and our goal is to use it all so we share back and forth.  Unfortunately  Waldo's health is declining.  She had a stroke a few weeks ago and it has affected some of her thinking and she gets confused at times.  The great news is she is up and walking during the day.  She and I went out for lunch last week so that is a blessing she is about and interested in getting out of the house.  Naturally she has a large wall hanging in the process of being quilted and it is under her needle on the machine.  When she is feeling better I'm sure she'll be back in there finishing it.

Waldo and I

Beth: Kelly, do you miss IHAN?

Kelly: No, what I miss is regular contact with my regular blog readers, previous customers, and those in the quilting industry that I built relationships with.  I'm a people person more than I am a business person.  People come first before sales and profits and I think that is why I was successful.  That played a huge part in my agreement to sell IHAN to you Beth.  I had to be sure the honesty and integrity would continue with someone who had a wide breadth of knowledge of the quilting/needle arts industry.  Had the right person not come along, I would have likely just closed it and donated the inventory.

I feel I owe people an explanation for falling off planet quilting yet at the same time I was not sure people were interested in knowing all those personal details of my life.  Typically I am known for my humor, honesty and integrity not necessarily sharing the heavier side of life.  If people are truly interested, I'd be willing to share more in depth, just leave a comment below and I'd be willing to share more.

Thank you Beth for asking how I am and for staying connected.

Smiles,

Kelly

Finished Project!

So what do I do.... when... I am not cooking, cleaning, puppying or going to guilds?

Creating of course. Most of my creations don't start on Monday and finish in a chronological fashion. They start, get sidelined by an obligation or other deadline... like the project I am going to talk about today.

"The Night Circus" was inspired by a Facebook post made by a member of one of the Quilt Guilds I belong to and based loosely on creating this style of a patchworked elephant explored by another blogger.  About the only thing I used was the line drawing of the elephant, which I also cleaned up a bit for a better better pattern.

I wanted a really bright elephant, so I got out my box of batik scraps and started to build the body. I decided to keep the order of color symmetrical on both sides of the body although the fabrics may have changed from side to side, but color order remained.



Once the elephant was built I considered the background, plain anything was just going to be too plain... and while I was working on this I was listening to a book titled 'The Night Circus', by Erin Morgenstern. It was disappointing that the best thing about the book was the title, however the author also wrote "Water For Elephants" which is how the title of this Elephant quilt came about.... the Night Circus was about a black and white circus..... the second most interesting thing about the book, (I didn't find any other things to consider interesting in the book).







Next up was the quilting.... Of course I wanted to do this on the longarm, (for more practice). I didn't want the background quilting to be the star, so I used a swirl as the fill to add texture rather than a design since the focal point was the elephant. The elephant was nailed down with some squiggly lines across seams of the various colors, since it pretty much already stood out. 


I added her headband and some wobbly eyelashes with beads as the final bit of her costume.

A more detailed picture (as always you may click on any image for a larger view). I started this sometime around June.... but of course there were some other things between the start and the finish....











The particulars: The quilt measures 35"x35", the elephant is 17"x13"; threads were So Fine white and black (by Superior) on the background and Madeira monofil on the elephant.

So what are you working on? Has it had a sideways progression... or straight through to completion?

As always more later!! Beth
PS.... check back soon, a surprise blog contributor.... coming soon.