Creative Every Day

Have already decided to move forward to 2009 in a positive, creative way. I need some "umph" to get me going at times, so I am joining "Creative Every Day" run by Leah Piken Kolidas. I like she does not define being "creative" strictly by being artistic in the traditional sense....painting. She encourages all manner of creativity, which in one way I am using to mean being more creative in my cooking. Instead of doing the same dozen things over and over, branching out a little.

Also, can use that creative license to work on my family cookbook, my novel, my quilts, etc, etc. Gardening is also creative and I have to get creative about gardening on my balcony. Want to have an herb garden/tub and some flowers and tomatoes.

This is the quilt which started me quilting again. One of my co-workers came to me and asked if I would help her niece with a quilting project. I am not a "quilter", but have done a few really simple ones, had ideas for some, so I said yes.

"TM" had an idea. She wanted to celebrate her mother's 50th birthday with a pictorial quilt, but did not sew. Had no idea where to start other than she had a ton of old family pics and pieces of her mother's wedding dress and veil.

I had emailed her with some sites for her to get a better idea of what she wanted and then we met and I told her what she needed to do to get started. A couple of weeks later she delivered the squares. The pictures were sewn on with love. I finished piecing the quilt, did the binding and handed the quilt back off to her.

She gave it to her mom for her birthday. I heard from my co-worker and another friend the mother cried and is going to hang it on the wall.

But that quilt had me getting out my flannel stash and getting busy. I could have sworn I took some pictures of my log cabin quilt as I was working on it. Have to finish tying it. I'm tying it, not quilting it. I also made a quick and easy flannel quilt for a guy at work who is such a sweetheart. Just a simple 4 inch square patch quilt and backed it with a sage green flannel, which is his "color".

I now have 1 quilt top in flannel I am hand piecing at work, probably for OD. I have a 2nd quilt top with the strips cut. Doing "jelly roll" quilt tops with these. And need to do a quick lap quilt to auction off in 2 weeks for a co-worker's bake sale. Her husband has an extreme medical condition which came up and we are giving her a bake sale to help raise some money for their expenses.

Out of this, I should have a 3rd quilt top able to be done with the final pieces of flannel. Then it's on to the cotton.