Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Christmas Ideas!

ACK - I hate the moment when the family asks for Christmas ideas. My brain draws a blank. If I were "Martha", I would have been creating a list since last Christmas!!!  If my family were observant - they wouldn't need a list!   But I have come up with a couple and I think they would be good for ALL OF YOU - at least one of them.


I have been complaining about my leg for a while. Still not fixed, but I have been faithfully foam rolling at the gym. I hate it, but I have to say that the more I do, the easier it is and less of a torture tube!!!   I hit upon a great idea - why not use TWO foam rollers. Otherwise I find it VERY awkward to use. So I already have ONE foam roller at home so I am asking for a second one. But here is the thing - you should NOT wait to use it when you have a problem. You should be using it ALL THE TIME.  Honestly I did about 5 minutes of rolling on my legs and I feel like I just spent $100 on a massage!!!!   I am NOT kidding!!!!   And I have my little spiky ball that I rolled around on the floor - I must have looked like a cat or a dog rubbing their back, but now my back/neck is feeling all rosy as well. No pain means you can get a LOT more done in a day!!!!!

Have no idea what a foam roller looks like???   Check out this link - mine is very basic but there are some very fancy ones that look more tortuous than the one I have.

Foam rollers

Anyway - it is just a thought if you are looking for something.  They are awesome when you use them and this leg issue of mine has convinced me that I should use it all the time.  Too bad I waited until I am in big trouble!  But I am working on it.



Here is an interesting concept that I can't wrap my head around. I was reading this book the other day.
Crossroads by Nancy Crow


Nancy is an art quilter and has been around for many years. This particular book was published in 2007.

Nancy does a lot of spontaneous designing, works in series and I have loved her stuff from since I started to quilt. In the front of the book is an article written by Nancy which begs a discussion. Most of Nancy's quilts are hand quilted but not always by her. Here is an excerpt from the book........

"Today, it is not uncommon for artists to have their work completely fabricated by other hands. For some, it simply underscores the current art world convention that, in art, ideas are what matters, not objects and certainly not craft. Once the piece is realized, the "fabricator" is never mentioned. In contrast, Crow accords all the women who sew on her quilts a peer's respect, reflecting, among other things, her belief in the dignity of hand labor. Significantly, she credits them by name on the back of each finished piece. "


I know that Nancy is not the only quilter who designs the work - then has someone else create it for them.  And many times, book authors also design the quilts - then farm out the work.  


Isn't that interesting?  I find it hard to wrap  my head around the fact of designing something and then having someone else put it together.  Well - I guess fashion designers do it all the time. But that all lends itself to the statement above - it is not the process of assembly (the craft) that is important to these artists - just the concept. However if you are a lover of the CRAFT - there is NO WAY I would design something and have someone else put it together. I guess I am not an artist in the same sense of the word!!!!  I just find the concept a bit weird!!!!

Yesterday was a crazy day!  I left the house at 10 AM and got back around 9 PM. I know!!!!!   It was run run run or should I say DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE - all day.



This was my view for part of the day.  Don't worry - the traffic was at a dead stop. The camera was ON and on the seat - I didn't even look through the view finder - just snapped.    I know - TELUS says - THUMBS UP!!!!!



After picking up some fabric from Northcott for an upcoming project which will be shared with you at the appropriate time, it was off to Scarborough to drop off a sewing machine and pick up some more supplies.  Since I was in the "neighbourhood", I decided to stop at this store. I had seen them at CreativFestival, but they don't come any more and I had never been to their store.




Quilt-A Bag in Markham!!!!!


Oh my - if you are into making bags - you MUST visit this store. The handles, the doo dads, the zippers, the  frames, the clasps - everything you could possibly want when you make a bag. And then they had fabric - oh boy - I saw something that was perfect for a friend of mine and I could NOT resist. I really shouldn't have because he isn't a close friend - but I am going to make him a quilt.  It was PERFECT and I just couldn't leave it in the store!!!!!

I had a chicken burger for lunch and I don't eat bread any more and certainly not white bread. I could barely eat the burger - didn't eat the bread - see what happens when you try to eat healthy - nothing has appeal any more!!!!!!   Live and learn!!!!!

Then I realized that I had ONE HOUR to get back to the other side of the city to get to a meeting. Yikes - I hope the traffic isn't bad.  30 minutes later and I was very close to my destination. How did that happen????   There was ZERO traffic!!!!  Well there was traffic but it was moving.

Had a GREAT discussion about quilt guilds, quilt shows, rules of meetings and all that. It was an awesome meeting and hopefully we will see some of the outcome in the coming year at the guilds that I attend. I thought it was a very productive meeting.

And then I had 45 minutes to get to the movie theater!!!!   I was meeting Lynn so we could see Horrible Bosses 2.  Ooops - five minutes late on that one. By this time - it is four in the afternoon and the traffic is getting heavy.   But wasn't such a big deal. The theater was practically empty.  Note to self - NEVER buy the popcorn at the theater again. What a rip off!!!!!   I knew that, but I had been craving the darn stuff all day.

After the movie - I thought I could sneak in a few more errands and was successful on a couple of them. Arrived home - watched some Quilting Arts Video (I love them and free from the library!!!!).  Got more knitting done - making AWESOME progress.  I love it - I come to a term that I don't know - stop the movie - google the term - watch the video - do the stitch - back to Quilting Arts.   SO AWESOME.

On that note - it is time to get started on the day today!!!!

Have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!


Ciao!!!!!!!!


No comments:

Post a Comment