Ornery October

I'm feeling sort of ornery, so I'm declaring this new month to be: Ornery October. To me, ornery is the sort of nagging displeasure with *gestures Very Broadly* all this. That is the kind of mood I need to be in for just getting on with it. Maybe it's the usual extremely Hot-tober week that's forecast ahead for us (in the 100's) or the unsettled pre-election prickles. All of that means I need to keep sewing as much as possible. Will I be ornery enough to decorate the house for The Month of Spooky? It's very likely, yes.

The monthly marker started with this picture of the first Lupine Star that I finished.

I put that through the app, Percolator and came up with this.

I overlaid this picture I took of a Dahlia at Filoli Gardens with my mom in the app, SnapSeed and added the October label.

The monthly 30 seconds of life, or the one second every day video, including one beautiful second of DH wearing a hotdog costume in Target. Youtube picks a random frame for the title card, it knew!

 Monthly I-Did List for September

1. I made two Sawtooth Star blocks for a quilt for a friend's Veteran step-father.
2. I got started on quilting the Bohemian Wife quilt.
3. I began making kitty ears for the Lupine Mystery quilt.
4. At Sew Day, I helped assemble the quilt top from #1.
5. I made two Birds In the Air blocks for the BAMQ BOM.
6. I started assembling the Lupine Stars for the Lupine Mystery quilt.
7. I cut out the cornerstones and sashing for the Lupine Stars.
8. I found the Dog Coat pattern, found fabric, cut it out, quilted it, and finished the coat.
9. I un-quilted some of the free-motion quilting on the Bohemian Wife quilt.
10. I finished making five Lupine Stars.

I'd say, that was a pretty good showing for September. I got a lot of small stuff done, a lot of process work, which added up to a lot of progress, and one whole entire UFO Challenge finish. Heading into October with my ornery energy, ready to write lots of postcards to voters, decorate for Spooky Month, and keep sewing.

Splendiferous September

 

September has arrived, and so far, so splendiferous. extraordinarily or showily impressive, magnificent or extremely beautiful. I keep telling my studio assistants that if they sleep so deeply in the studio they are at risk of being decorated, as in the above monthly marker photo.

I started with this picture of the Mosaic table runner.

Then I ran it through the app Percolator.

.

And then in SnapSeed I overlaid this picture of curled up sleeping studio assistant #2.

Here is the 1SE video for August.

 Monthly I-Did List for August

1. I worked and worked on sewing the 200 HRTs needed for the Lupine Mystery quilt.
2. I finished up my efforts for the 2026 ICAD.
3. I pin basted the Bohemian Wife quilt.
4. I started sewing together the first blocks for the Lupine Mystery quilt and finished them.
5. I made a pair of pillowcases for an exchange.
6. I made two big Bow Tie blocks for the BAMQ BOM.
7. I quilted and finished the Mosaic table runner.
8. I made a big Square in Square block for BAMQ BOM.
9. I dug out and actually worked on the David Owen Hastings class piece (on my UFO list.)

There were definitely some interruptions this month, some bad like the Meg foot injury and a four day fever I had with an additional few days recovery time. Then there were some good ones too like the local music festival, and the usual extensive summer gardening efforts. Mostly I think I was still in recovery mode from the unpleasantness from July, as they say "getting older is not for the faint of heart." Here's hoping that September will see some more sewing and finishing.

Accoutered August

Well, here it is, already August, I'm calling it Accoutered August. It's been a fun exercise for me this year coming up with an adjective for the month ahead that starts with the same letter and isn't necessarily a word I already know or use. Accoutered means: Having been fully equipped or furnished with necessary items or accessories, indicating preparedness and readiness (prepared, equipped, provisioned). Which is definitely the state of my studio, I have just about everything in there that I would ever possibly need (and more!) from here on out. 

The monthly marker is made up of two photos, the first one of the Lupine Mystery HRTs.

edited in the Percolator app,

 and this ICAD piece layered over in the SnapSeed app and edited.

 Here is my 1sE video for the month, one second of every day of the month of July

 Monthly I-Did List for July

1. I cut out the rest of the rectangles for the HRTs needed for the Lupine Mystery quilt.
2. I finished binding a Community Giving quilt and wrote and illustrated a ruler tutorial for myself
3. I made an interesting backing for the Mosaic table runner.
4. I caught up and finished my yearly participation in ICAD.
5. I worked on making the HRTs for the Lupine Mystery quilt and almost finished them.
6. I designed a quilt in EQ8 using the new to me Judy Martin stars add-ons.
7. I finished my Mini QCR Pumpkins project for the BAMQ UFO Challenge.
8. I made two napkins out of beautiful toweling.

I only got a few things done this month due to being ill, but I did make it to Sew Day. and managed to have a couple visits with family. I haven't gone to the gym for the whole month and I miss it so much and will be going back starting on 8/1. I didn't do a whole lot of gardening, as I was only able to water a little bit at a time, just enough to keep things alive. I only went to one PT visit early in July for my right wrist, but the rest of the month, all that rest seems to have let it really heal up. I'm raring to get going in August after so much down time, but I have to keep in mind to not overdo things. 

 

Jocose July

Welcome Jocose July! Joscose means: humorous or liking to play. Sounds like a very good plan for July. Keeping a sense of humor as it heats up in my work room is very necessary.

I chose to start with this picture of some of the HSTs I made for the Lupin Mystery quilt.

I ran in through the app Percolator.

And then combined that with the super dramatic and showy Passionflower in the app, SnapSeed.
 

Here is my 1sE video for the month, one second of every day of the month of June..

 Monthly I-Did List for June

1. I started working on the Lupine Mystery quilt again with various sizes of HSTs in different color combinations and sizes. It was A Lot of HSTs all at once~300!
2. I started working on the HRTs for the Lupine Mystery quilt and used a new ruler.
3. I made five Community Giving blocks.
4. I worked on binding a Community Giving quilt.
5. I made my BAMQ BOM blocks just in time, Drunkard's Path and X+.
6. I started on my yearly participation in ICAD.
7. I set up and started using my new Oliso iron.
8. I participated in three exhibits at once in June, BAMQ AT SMCF, BAMQ at the SM Library and SLV Quilters at the BC Library.
9. I got out and started working on my Mini QCR Pumpkins project to finish for the BAMQ UFO Challenge.
10. I finished quilting and then did the binding on my Six by Six quilt for the BAMQ UFO Challenge.

I found that I got plenty done this month, including going to both the Sew Day and meeting for BAMQ,  had a couple great visits with family, kept going to the gym (yay me!), did a whole lot of gardening (see the June  Flower Friday post), kept going on two weekly PT appointments for my right wrist as it is working and helping how I can keep using my right hand like I need to. The plan is to continue keeping up the forward momentum throughout July. 

 

Jubilant June

Welcome to Jubilant June, well I hope it will be at least somewhat Jubilant (feeling or expressing great joy).  The monthly marker picture above was made out of the combination of two of the pictures I took during May and several editing steps in two apps.

I started out with this picture of the almost completed 6x6 quilt.

I transformed the picture in the app Percolator.

And then I combined it with this picture of of our Angel's Trumpet tree.

Here is my 1sE video for the month, one second of every day of the month of May.

 Monthly I-Did List for May

1. I finished Ocean Effect for the BAMQ exhibit at the SMCF and turned it in
2. I started and finished a small quilt for the BAMQ exhibit at the San Mateo Library
3. I made some more Mosaic blocks at Sew Day and at home too.
4. I finished piecing the Mosaic table runner.
5. I made four Community Giving blocks.
6. I updated my Fabric Tracker and kept it updated during the month
7. I assembled, pieced together , made a backing and then sandwiched and quilted my Six by Six quilt for the BAMQ UFO Challenge.

I got a surprising amount done this month, including going to both the Sew Day and meeting for BAMQ,  had a great Mother's Day with family, kept going to the gym (yay me!), did a whole lot of gardening (see Flower Friday post), starting on weekly PT for my right wrist which is really helping and I'm feeling silly for putting it off, Here's to keeping up the good momentum into June.

Munificent May

 Welcome to Munificent May, I'm looking forward to the flower-filled lovely month ahead. Munificent has always been a word I enjoy seeing in use, so I'm taking the opportunity to use it here. It means magnanimous or generous, which sounds like a good sort of May to me. The monthly marker is made with Percolator and SnapSeed. It's a combination of two of my pictures from April.

First, I started with this picture of my now finished kawandii, 

and then I edited it in Percolator.

Then in SnapSeed I combined it with this picture of the Moss Lady statue in Beacon Hill Park in Victoria, BC, Canada.

Here's my One Second Every Day video for April

Monthly I-Did List for April

1. I worked on the second BAMQ Creative Play piece that got handed to me
2. I started a new quilt for the BAMQ exhibit at the SMCF, quilting it with the walking foot
3. I continued assembling Ocean Effect for the BAMQ exhibit at SCMF.
4. I started working on the Clover quilt pillowcase and finished it for the BAMQ UFO challenge.
5. I made some more Mosaic blocks at Sew Day 
6. I finished my Kawandii just in time for BAMQ UFO challenge.

Doesn't seem like a whole lot, but there are two finishes in there which feels pretty great, as well as starting a completely new piece. It's been a fractured sort of month because I did some international traveling in the middle of April, when we went up to visit family in Nanaimo, BC, Canada for a week,  Hiking happened on our trip to Canada, along with continuing to regularly go to the gym the rest of the month. I went to BAMQ Sew Day. I was fairly active on social media, posted here on le blogue only 18 times,...over on BlueSky 34 times, on Flashes 5 times, and on Instagram  times. 

Aprillian April

The  new month arrives, and I'm awash in flowers around here. A lot earlier than usual because of the unusually high temperatures we had for a lot of March. Aprillian is an actual word, one that I don't think I've ever encountered, it's quite old, from the mid 1600's. It means "Of or characteristic of April." Not amazing, but it works well as April is such a transitional month between seasons and around here that means flowers. The lilacs have already come and gone thanks to a bit of rain on the last day of March. 

The monthly marker is a combination of two photos, manipulated in the apps percolator and snapseed. First I took this picture from the Mosaic Improv class of the blocks I made in class, 

and put it through Percolator.

Then I overlaid that result with a picture of Marcel Duchamp's rotoreliefs that I was fascinated with at the MOCA in Los Angeles. I really like the final combination of the circular designs ghosted over the circular Percolatorized squares of the quilt blocks.

Here's my One Second Every Day video for March

Monthly I-Did List for March

1. I worked on the pink flying geese from the Lupine Mystery clue #2 and finished them
2. I did a lot of stitching on the Snake in the Garden quilt
3. I sewed 26 HSTs for a Community Giving quilt
4. I worked on the first BAMQ Creative Play piece that got handed to me
5. Together with other BAMQ people we sewed an entire Community Giving quilt top
6. I made a Sawtooth Star for the BAMQ BOM with a Snail's Trail center
7. I took an Improv Mosaic class and made a bunch of blocks
8. I sewed a whole lot more on my Kawandii.
9. I refurbished a "vintage" SF Giants yard flag in time for opening day.
10. I gifted DH the City Sampler for our 36th anniversary.
11. I worked on the second BAMQ Creative Play piece that got handed to me.

A lot of traveling in March (as expected), one last time for me going up and back to Spokane for the medical study and then almost a week in Los Angeles with DH, including a stop-off on the way home at the Getty Museum. Hiking has been replaced with going to the gym that we re-joined in February, we need to work on balancing that out, as I do miss hiking and really need to do it when it isn't super hot outside. I guess this month's hike was attending the No Kings demonstration as we were walking around our town for two straight hours. I went to BAMQ Sew Day, as well as an in-person class. I was a bit less active on social media, posted here on le blogue 26 times,...over on BlueSky 25 times, on Flashes 7 times, and on Instagram times. 

Fleeting February

Well, February certainly has passed me right on by. Sure, it's a short month, but it just felt like whoosh! And talk about apricity, (the word I learned at the beginning of February- it means the warmth of the sun in winter), the last few days of this month have been Very Hot! Like 84F all of a sudden, when last week there was snow on the surrounding mountaintops. 

The monthly marker is a combination of two photos, the first is my recently completed quilt, City Sampler.

I used the app, Percolator to manipulate that picture.

Then I used the app, SnapSeed to overlay this picture of the completed quilt, May You Ever Return and add the MARCH label.

Here's my One Second Every Day video for February, all 31 (why not 28?!) seconds of it! 

Monthly I-Did List for February

1. I did the BAM BOM Flying Geese blocks at Sew Day.
2. I trimmed the teeny tiny HSTs™from the Flying Geese in #1
3. I added the sashing/cornerstones to the blocks, then chunked and assembled the Patchwork Palooza quilt top
4. I wrote out and illustrated my two UFO projects this year, UFO Finishes 2026 and BAM UFO Challenge
5. I worked on the next steps of the Oxbow Tote, and then finished it.
6. I began sewing down the binding on City Sampler and then finished it and photographed it too.
7. I made the rest of the purple Flying Geese blocks for the 2nd clue of the Lupine Mystery Quilt.
8. I stitched a lot of green water on Snake in The Garden.
9. I embroidered on May You Ever Return and finished it just in time for the BAM UFO challenge.
10. I cut out the rest of the Flying Geese pieces for Clue 2 of the Lupine Mystery

Turns out for a short month that whizzed by, I got quite a bit done. In February I only traveled to going up and back to Spokane once again for the medical study. I went hiking with family twice, both were new hikes, a great one in a new place and the one closer to home in a part of the park we'd never seen. And DH and I re-joined our local gym. So a lot more of my energy is going towards getting more fit. I kept on being pretty active on social media, posted here on le blogue 26 times,...over on BlueSky 26 times, on Flashes 7 times, and on Instagram 8 times. March is going to be a busier travel month so we'll see if I can continue at close to the same rate.

January Apricity

 The first month of our new year has blitzed past, and I've just learned a new word seen above in the title. Apricity - the warmth of the sun in Winter. 

I started with this picture I took of a Western Jack O'Lantern mushroom on a hike at Quail Hollow Ranch.

I used the app, Percolator.

Then in the app, SnapSeed I added this picture in and added the title.

Here's my One Second Every Day video for January, all 31 seconds of it!

Monthly I-Did List for January

1. I did the BAM BOM Friendship Star blocks at Sew Day.
2. I made most of the purplel Flying Geese blocks for the second clue of the Lupine Mystery Quilt.
3. I stitched a lot of sky on Snake in The Garden.
4. I did Project Quilting 17.1 and made Clean Cloud for my first finish of the year.
5. I started and finished  making my Stretching Art & Tradition 26 quilt, Cumulative Spiral.
6. I found, found the notes for, and began working on May You Ever Return for the BAM UFO challenge.

Well, that's actually quite a lot! January was a month with mostly local traveling happening, except for going up and back to Spokane once again for the medical study. I went hiking with family four times, wow! I  attended both Sew Day and the monthly meeting for BAMQ and took a great 2-day online class from SDA called Soft Circuits. I kept on being pretty active on social media, posted here on le blogue 27 times,...overon BlueSky 40 times, on Flashes 7 times, on Instagram 8 times. Will February be even more active and productive? It could happen...

New Year, New Month, New Day

 

Well well well...another year has arrived, and it's time for a new monthly marker. For this year, I've gone back to combining two of my photos, one from my quilt/art making and one from elsewhere in the app, SnapSeed.

I combined the picture of the gate that my DH made for us last year. (oh my goodness, last year).

It's combined with this photo of four of the Hourglass blocks from the Lupine Mystery quilt. I really liked how the lines on the gate line up with the lines on the block, and the lines on the fabric.

My chosen word of the year is: Alignment. I will be doing my best to work on making sure my inner world is matching up with my outer expression. There's a lot going on inside of everyone (including me), sometimes some or all of it gets stuck inside, pushed down, pushed away, ignored, de-prioritized, etc. The occasional successful expression of my own interior world shines so much more brightly to me among all the other less personal work that I've made OR am in the process of making OR am meaning to make at some point. All of it is useful and necessary as it adds up to skill-acquiring, facility (but not yet mastery) of processes and materials, training the hands and the brain to work together and so forth. But I'm finding I need to put more of my focus on making sure I'm prioritizing or working on my own projects that I've come up with all on my own.

I'm starting off the year doing a month of Drawing Every Day This is my illustrated More/Less list for the year. It relates to what I was talking about Alignment.

Here's to a year where all  your More actually happens and as much of your Less gets lost or worked out.

Determined December

So, December arrives upon us once again. Do you feel ready for it? I, frankly do not at all feel ready for a big holiday production this year of any sort. But I will try my best to come up with something reasonable that we can all enjoy doing and to also get some me-time/sewing-time in there also at some point during the month that lies ahead. 

The monthly marker was made by the apps KaleidaCam and SnapSeed from this original picture of the really excellent Routed West exhibit at BAMPFA as seen from the second floor. It's a very cool looking building with unexpected shapes inside and out. DH said it looked like a bit like a 50's era toaster from the outside, which I somewhat agreed with. In college, our sorority house was next door to the old BAMPFA building which was very fun to look out the window at as it also was built in a super interesting way. That way was unfortunately unable to be updated for the more rigorous earthquake building standards, thus the new, improved BAMPFA building.

The 30 second video of my One Second Every Day of November is above.

 Monthly I-Did List for November

1. I worked on the big paper pieced quilt I'm making with the MQG Challenge fabrics.
2. I made more Stamp Quilt blocks, eleven new ones in all. 
3. I added more monthly columns to the Temperature Quilt.
4. I cut out, quilted and began assembly of the Oxbow Tote.
5. I cut out eleven more Stamp Quilt blocks.
6. I cut out three more Patchwork Palooza blocks and sewed each of them up: Safe Harbour, Starlight Path, Guiding Star.
7. I chose fabric and made HST blocks and Checkerboard blocks for the BAMQG BOM.
8. I stitched on the Snake in the Garden piece.
9. I made the last three Patchwork Palooza blocks, Market Day, Crosswalk, and Homeward Bound.
10. I made four table napkins out of the toweling I recently bought in Portland.
11. I pulled fabric for the Lupine & Laughter mystery quilt.   

November was partially a month of travel, most of the first week in Portland or on the way home, up and back to Spokane once again for the medical study. Then there was the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, survived without a working refrigerator/freezer. Thankfully we have a working little one that we're limping along with until the big one gets fixed. The amount of work I got done was pretty good, considering the traveling and home chaos. I participated in a sew day of sorts to work on the Oxbow Tote. I was still very active on social media, posted on BlueSky 31 times, on Flashes 9 times, on Instagram 3 times. I doubt December will be any calmer, but hopefully there'll be sewing time in there.

Notably November

November is here and it seems way too soon to me. Surely the year can’t be almost over! I was looking through my pictures for a fall/autumn colored photo to work with.

and then I saw this awesome wool fabric draped over a couch. It would have been fine without using the kaleidacam app, but then I came up with this monthly marker.

Here's the 1sE video for last month, all thirty one seconds of it.

Monthly I-Did List ~ October 

1. I sewed together the first block of the quilt I designed for the MQG challenge.
2. I took an online class on iPad for quilters.
3. I worked on making some pieces for the Y.E.S. Coat.
4. I made 7 postage stamp blocks for community giving.
5. I sewed more weekly blocks for Patchwork Palooza and put them all up on the design wall.
6. I added on both the January and February columns to begin assembly of the Temperature quilt.
7. I added the March and April columns to the Temperature Quilt.
8. I stitched on Snake in the Garden in the USA and the UK.

October was a jam-packed travel-filled  month,  I got to travel to Spokane once again to participate in a medical study. This took almost no recovery time as I got a lot less of the shots, because it is working. And then the first week and a half of October I was still traveling with my DH out of the country. And then the last week and a half I road-tripped up to Portland with a friend. So, the amount of work I got done is fairly amazing I suppose as I was hardly at home. I was very active on social media, posted on BlueSky 35 times, on Flashes 11 times, on Instagram 2 times. That was a whole lot! On to a hopefully calmer November ... 

Oh October

 

October is here, hurray! My favorite month of the whole year. I thought I'd try and make a sort of spooky-ish monthly marker picture, this is what I came up with, but it's not terribly scary, 

It's made from the above picture, put into the KaleidaCam app, and then the title was added in SnapSeed.

Here's the 1sE video for last month, all thirty seconds of it.

Monthly I-Did List ~ September

1. I sewed the first border onto the Old Town Mystery Quilt.
2. I sewed the second border onto the Old Town Mystery Quilt.
3. I sewed the third and final border onto the Old Town Mystery Quilt for a quilt top finish!
4. I made two Postage Stamp blocks for BAMQ Community giving.
5. I extended the backing for the Bohemian Wife quilt so now it's ready to sandwich.
6. I worked on making some pieces for the Y.E.S. Coat.
7. I got ready for a new class with Jane Dunnewold.
8. I started sewing and then finished making all 21 of the setting blocks for the Patchwork Palooza quilt.
9. I sewed more weekly blocks for Patchwork Palooza and put them all up on the design wall.
10. I started trimming and measuring the columns for the Temperature Quilt.
11. I cut out and started adding the sashing to the Temperature Quilt.

September was quite a month,  I got to travel to Spokane again to participate in a medical study. This took some recovery time as I got a Lot of shots, but I'm better now. And then the last week of September I'm traveling with my DH out of the country. So, the amount of work I got done is pretty fair I suppose. But then I look at my design wall and see the completed Old Town quilt top and I calm down about productivity.  I was only somewhat active on social media, posted on BlueSky 15 times, on Flashes 5 times, on Instagram 2 times.  I attended the BAMQ SewDay, went hiking with family, and got my yearly Covid booster shot. That was a whole lot! On to enjoying October... 

September Sallies Forth

So here we are as September sallies forth onto the monthly stage. I'm going to be traveling again this month to Spokane, and maybe to Copenhagen if my passport renewal comes back in time. I'm also starting a new class with Jane Dunnewold on Gelli Plate printing this week. A whole lot to look forward to and hopefully some time in there to get some quilting work done too. The monthly marker photo was edited in kaleidacam and snapseed.

It started with this photo of a vintage post office box in the lobby of the fancy old hotel I got to stay in while I was in Spokane.

Here's the 1sE video for last month, all thirty-three seconds of it.

Monthly I-Did List ~ August

1. I finished piecing all of the blocks for the Old Town Mystery quilt. I worked on assembling the blocks and the pieced sashing into the center of the quilt top. I put together the three borders, two of which are pieced that will surround the center of the quilt top.
2. I helped piece a Community Giving quilt top at Sew Day.
3. I started catching up on making the weekly blocks for Patchwork Palooza. I also started making the in-between blocks for this quilt too.

August was certainly...a month,  I got to travel to Spokane to be included in a medical study. Traveling on my own was a new experience for me, and took some recovery time. I'm a little underwhelmed with my productivity this month, but I guess it's to be expected. Everyone takes August off right? But then I look at my design wall and see the Old Town quilt top center and the Patchwork Palooza blocks and am pretty happy with what I actually did get done this month.  I was quite active on social media, posted on BlueSky 31 times, on Flashes 9 times, on Instagram 7 times.  I attended the BAMQ SewDay, went hiking with family, swam in my mom's new community's pool and got my yearly flu shot . That was a whole lot! On to September...