Retirement Laziness

I have been retired for one month and feel like I've turned into Ms. Lazy Butt.  My inner clock must be "off", I am awake in the middle of the night, remain unfocused, undriven, lazy, impatient, etc.  This new chapter is going to take some getting used to.  If you have suggestions, I would welcome advice on how to "settle in." 

My Retirement Reception was absolutely wonderful, more than I could have imagined, with many well-wishes, expressions of love and respect, many gifts and cards - including a LOT of gift cards to my LQS, two beautiful cakes - one with a quilty design, and a lot of folks saying really lovely things about me.  I was hoping DH was listening closely!  LOL

Above is a Diana Phalen signed painting that used to hang in my office, and which was given to me for keeps.  I don't have the best place for it yet, but it certainly looks good with that quilt, doesn't it?   

Below is a corner of MY quilt that looks a lot like another one I did, called "RED," and a lot like one from a German lady that I've recently shown.  This one is  called "Jody Blue."  My quilting friend Jody visited me weeks ago, and behind her back she hid a giganto bag of blue scraps. She said she was totally TIRED of making blue quilts, and I was gifted what was left (which was considerable!).  So a gal just HAS to make a blue quilt, doesn't she?  There are bits of lavendar and red, from 4-patches I already had.  The border is chunks of parts.  The blocks are 6 inches, and this quilt measures about 67" x 74".  If you haven't seen "RED", they are almost twins. These blocks are Jewel Box, or Buckeye Beauty and are no more than 4 patches and HSTs.  This is an easy quilt, and setting possibilities are plentiful.  



The colors are more lively, in person.

 I made so many errors with this simple quilt, I KNOW I'm not concentrating.  Jeeesh!  Embarrassing!!! 

For the backing I opted to use what I already had from stash , and made a bunch of 10 1/2 inch squares.  This is a stack of about 100.  I will need 80 for the back of "Jody Blue."   I'll show that backing another day.

We have a warm day coming up so I'm hoping to baste it soon, outside in the garage.


100 ten and one half inch squares, more lively in person.



Below is a new book, recently out, by Judy Woodworth.  She is a member of our Guild and an amazing long-arm machine quilter.  Her long list of long-arm machine quilting awards is incredible.  Many of her quilts are made with her friend Mary Sue Suit, also a quilt book author and member of our Guild, and some of Judy's assistance is provided by her talented husband. Judy does complex and intricate machine quilting, and has the most amazing "spirit"!  She's a quiet little woman, with a gigantic talent.  This is her second book and this one is about designing your OWN patterns and motifs.  If you want to expand on your machine quilting (especially long-arm) this is an excellent resource.   (The lack of color on this photo is totally MY fault!)



Best MQ book so far, and Split 9-Patch

This is the last book I'll ever need to keep improving on my Machine Quilting on a DSM. The author, Judy Woodworth, is a member of our Guild and makes the most amazing quilts, and then long-arm quilts them with astonishing perfection. Every winners list on MAJOR Quilt Shows include her name among the winners, frequently with her friend Mary Sue Suit, also an author and another member of our Guild. Aren't we lucky? What I like best about this book is the detailed, brilliant photos of her amazing, heavily-quilted backgrounds. This book is for quilters who use either a DSM or a long arm.
I've shown many of my quilt books on this blog, and every one of them has something to offer. I AM a glutton for books - love them all - but even if a quilter gets only one idea from each book, that's good enough. The best thing I get from books is ENERGY and INSPIRATION!

Below is a likely arrangement of my recent Split 9-Patch, "Which Way?" I LIKE how it jumbles my eye, confuses where to look - I like it this way. This photo could use a white border to help set it off. I WANT it to be confusing, wondering which way it goes, which side is up, etc.