Low Volume Projects--Who? Me?

Even I have to snicker to myself when I say that I really enjoy the look of low volume quilts. Super-color-saturated-me! Perhaps it's the yin and yang I crave. I had my first introduction to it with A Month of Sundays by Cheryl Arkison. Also inspiring was Sunday Morning Quilts by Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison. I think this one book gets pulled off my shelf weekly. I started digging deeper into the low volume theory, and I believe that Malka Dubrawsky was the first person credited with the term, but there are others, too, who were involved in it becoming the trend it is today. Looking at Dubrawsky's work, she's also a strong user of saturated color. So, maybe finding balance is in our nature.

"Tradition!" (said while humming Fiddler on the Roof)

Whatever your beliefs, the Season is upon us, like it or not, and it's here with its many traditions.

I was brought up in a little Mennonite church, in a small town in Ohio. My family had lived there for generations. Therefore, my life was wrought with tradition, most of which I challenged, and much to my grandparent's and parent's chagrin. Some traditions made no sense and didn't 'catch', but others slipped in, binding with my brain and heart, and demanding to be observed this time of year. Combine them with my husband's, those our family adopted, and a Moravian community saturated in them, and we have one really patch-worked holiday here! If marriage isn't a compromise, the holidays are!

Sewing Machine Covers and Ironing Board Redo

What isn't there to love about Saturdays?

It was a whole day to putz in the sewing room. I tidied, dusted, made sure to vacuum off my sewing machines, and put my cover on. It's a good practice to follow as dust is a real enemy to your machine. I made this one years ago, but my new machine needs one now. Something jazzy.

Waterproof Mug Rugs

I suppose I shouldn't start a post by complaining, but I have a pet peeve with ordinary Mug Rugs. If you use them as a coaster on wood and you have a spill, you may wind up with a water ring or even ruined furniture. I need things to be functional--not just 'decorative'. This family really lives in our home, we eat and drink in the front room, and we don't always pay attention. I say this from experience.

Tiny Houses Tiny Trees-Big Reveal

Tiny Houses Tiny Trees

Here's the Big Reveal!

Tiny Houses Tiny Trees WIP

I love weekends without big commitments. 

I got a lot done,  

but you'll only get to see the trees today.

I did several small stints at my Janome on Sunday, and the Tiny Houses Tiny Trees was quilted. Later in the evening I sat with the family and sewed on buttons. A few more hours, and it will be ready to hang. I'm getting excited now. 

Someone asked me where I find the time to sew and quilt with all I have going on. We have a very busy household here. If you're interested, read on.

Do you know people that when you try to find a date for a get-together, and they start paging through their calendars into the next 2 months? They're booked solid in their personal lives as well as their professional lives. They will say, "My schedule is crazy! It's not me--it's the kids!" We have 5 kid  from teens into twenties now, but they were all young once long ago. I hear my friends lament, and wish I could tell them this.

I have a dear friend who once told me she only allowed each of her kids to do one outside activity that maintained a schedule, like a sport, twice a year. So, 6 kids on a rotating basis, and not all at once. She limited the craziness in her life by setting limits. She's a smart cookie. I applied a lot of her mommy wisdom to my own life with young kids, and still do. Like, I once bargained with one of our children the opportunity to have a horse instead of playing on a softball team again. It was the same amount of time investment, but spread out over the year, and a regular schedule. My kids did do sports, but when they did, they all took lessons at the same time, like tennis or martial arts. I never felt the guilt that they had to do it all. The free time we gave them was every bit as important as another scheduled activity.

Every one of my children found a unique hobby growing up by not following the norm of 'The Hurried Child'. They all, so far, have carried these interests into adulthood. Forcing them to fill their own time worked.

Your free time is often hard to control, especially during the holidays, so don't burn yourself out this season. Manage your time instead of allowing it to manage you. If you must, mark off your calendars with "Free Time" with a pen--it's non-negotiable. I'm advocating a Slow Holiday, and Less-is-More theme.

This is my effort at holiday decorating so far. I found it at the local store on sale this weekend. I love to give a big, sarcastic, "Whatever!" to my kids now, probably because it was a banned word in our house when they were all little. (Having older kids is really more fun, I'm telling you!) I think it carries the same sentiment, but in a holiday way. 

Doxie Girls, let's go pick up your 3 canine cousins, and make this a sewing day. 

(Shut in a room with 6 dogs.)

(Hmmm.) 

Not sure I'll get a lot done today, but we'll have fun.

A Tiny Post on Tiny Trees

Tiny Holiday Trees 

My little trees I accidentally squished together turned into a sweet wall hanging. I finished it up yesterday as a gift for my friend, Wenda. It was a happy accident, and I was pleased how it turned out.

I used the chance to try out the machine quilting I had in mind for the larger wall hanging, and also the button and pearl embellishments. I think the bling is pretty, but it could easily be made less glammy by using colored buttons on one or all the trees.