Post #28:UFO Report: Another Odd Bit Uncovered

It's funny the things that come out of the woodwork when you move. Well, at least when I do, hehe. Here's another of my unfinished projects, one I began long ago, so long ago I had completely forgotten about it almost as quickly as I had progressed on it thus far...then it got tucked inside a notebook, never to be seen again for, hmmm, shall I tell you, should I really admit that this book-cover-to-be [maybe I should say book-cover-wanna-be?] is truly one of the very first pieces of machine embroidery I did on my Bernina 170E after I bought it in 1998????? I know, I know, just ask any of my friends, it's weird, and I'm coming to terms with it! So thanks for letting me share my projects and musings and ramblings with y'all. It's helping me sort out my crafty life. It's putting a fresh spin on my creativity. It's bringing new inspiration to my crazy, weird world.

I actually had tucked this bit of embroidered fabric neatly away in a three-ring binder, pressed in-between the safety of a plastic sheet protector, which is why it is so nice and flat and neat and doesn't even need any pressing after all these years. It's almost like it's trying to take away any excuse I might have for not finishing it right now. But I don't need any excuse...I already have nine thousand, nine hundred, ninety nine odd other projects that might suffice for that. 

I'll save those for another day. 

Finding peace in creativity,

Meryl

Post #27: UFO Report: A Blast From the Past (truly NOT my oldest UFO)!

It's been a long time since I've posted anything here as life has a way of occasionally rearranging priorities. That's the way life is, and one must adapt as needed to the ever-changing demand and flow of things within and around and among us. And it is quite alright.

There are many groups and people these days who seem to pride themselves on being procrastinators. As a matter of fact, there was a quilting group I was in at one time with that name. ...smile... It's taken many years for my perspective to change on this, but one thing I truly do understand: I am NOT the procrastinator. 

So occasionally I change course, head in another direction, try something else for awhile. Well, maybe more than occasionally - And my former white-hot love is all-but-forgotten, tucked away in a box, under some papers of long-ago-misunderstood meaning... And I do mean long ago.

OK, let me back up here a bit, to help quantify just how old this bit of UFOdom really is. Hmmm, let me see...if I had done what I intended when I started this blog... (hehe...the best-laid-plans-of-mice-and-men---stay tuned---that's the title of another blog-post-in-progress that my-life's-gotten-temporarily-in-the-way-of---hee hee!) and posted one UFO (un-finished object/project) each day, then this blog would run for 27.4 years!!! Well, if you've been following my blog for awhile, then you may know that that is just a teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeensy weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeensy bit shy of one-half of my entire time on this planet in this body of mine. That's a pretty darn good long time, don't you think?



So here it is, the UFO that I found the other day from sooooooooooooooo long ago, almost finished, but not quite. A bit dulled and stained around the edges. The kit manufacturer's copyright date in the bottom corner - that's the same year I bought the kit and did all of the work on this. Yes, I know that may seem weird to some of you. And no, I don't care. I actually am finding this quite amusing, and since I've made it my goal in the last few months to make someone laugh every day (& let me proudly state here that so far I have accomplished that goal each and every day henceforth), why can't I also be one of those who gets to be laughing? LOL. LOL. LOL. Finding laughter in creativity as well as peace....smile...

LOL.

In actuality, this UFO o' mine is 33 years old!!! That's the same age that my DH's daughter will be this year. Wow.  LOL.

Coming soon to a blog near you: 

My oldest UFO and my earliest craft projects, LOL.

Finding peace in creativity,

Meryl
                   

Post # 26: What year is this, and just who gets to decide for all of us, anyway???

I looked at the calendar today. Right there at the top, in big, bold numbers, there it is: 2013.

So that's what year it is, right?





NOT A CHANCE!


It seems, that someone, somewhere, somehow, for some unknown reason (at least unknown to me), has decided to change that.


It's not 2013 at all. Well, maybe I'm going a bit too far. It's still 2013 as far as the Gregorian calendar is concerned. I'll give you that. The question that baffles me is who (whom?) is it that resides in the mythical ivory tower in the faraway land making arbitrary decisions for all of us lowly consumers throughout the globe? Not following me yet? Then please, let me clarify. I believe that someone, somewhere, somehow, has decided to declare this year, 2013, at least unofficially, to be, pause..................wait, wait, wait for it, drum-roll please.......

The Year of the Owl

I honestly never planned to do this, but one day as I was out and about browsing in a store, I'm not even sure which one, maybe it was Home Goods or Joanne's or Ross - no matter...they all have pretty much the same made-in-China stuff-for-sale that the homogenizing of America, no...of the world, has brought to our society. But there I go, digressing into uncharted territory that is meant for another time and place - sorry about that. Well, anyway, for some reason I decided to get out my handy-dandy iPhone and snap a picture of this metal-owl-wall-sculpture-thingy. 

This is him, the owl who (or should I say hoo?) started it:

Being an artsy-crafty-type I will take photos of many things that interest me throughout the week, when it suits me. I even took a ton of photos of the ceilings and rafters in a Walmart garden center one day. Anyway, after I took that first owl photo, it was as though  all of the owls the world over sent out a call to reproduce everywhere! It's kind of like when you get a new car, or a new-to-you car, and all of a sudden every other car on the road is your same model. Or is it? Doesn't it just seem that way? Maybe with cars, but no, sir, not with these owls, I kid you not! The owls truly are all over the place. Owls ad nauseam!* 

*But for some reason I still think they're cute.

I did not search them out.

I came across all of these owls over a period of about 3 months.

Some were on the internet.

Some were knitted.

Some like to hang out as a group.*

*I especially like this photo! The saying that is embroidered on the pillow immediately brought to mind the very special, kind, creative, diverse, and talented, caring, and supportive group of fiber artists who put up with me on a fairly regular basis.

Some were hard.

Some were friendly.

Some were demure.

Some appeared lost.

Some are neglected. I saw this little fella again the other day and now he is passed out on his back; obviously the Florida sun is too much for him. Maybe he is allergic to mold?

These guys like to hang around...

and these, too.

In the picture below the bottom row had those Audubon Society birds that make the authentic sound of each species, the middle row had a mix of birds and animals, but the top row, that's the funny one. It had these little snap-top purses in animal shapes, just the cute kind of thing that little girls would be attracted to, and wouldn't you know it? All of the top row was full EXCEPT for the owls. Of those there was only one remaining. Sheesh! We are all so easily brainwashed...seasonally brainwashed, actually! For what will they come up with next year?



OK

I'll

shut up

you get the point.

But

isn't

it

mind-boggling

I honestly

never

went out of my way

to

search

for

the

owls.

They

just

keep

coming

and

won't

stop

until

next

season

when

the powers that be decide to
change our mind for us. ;-)

Isn't this amazing???

After all of this time I went into our hall bathroom to wash my hands and right there on the sink, right next to the soap dish, what did I see? An owl. No joke. I'd forgotten about this one. My lovely  Dear Hubby had given it to me as a gift a few years back, this little blue and white glass owl, less than 3" tall.

We had gone through some life challenges and he said it was a sign of the wisdom we had gained. Once again, challenges seem to surround us at every turn, yet that is what makes life interesting, isn't it? That is life.

I am still seeing owls at every turn as well.

My iPhone is again filling up with silly photos of silly owls; no- silly made-in-China-owl-like products is more like it, but I think I've had enough of the owls for now. 


OK, maybe not...

I forgot to mention that I recently purchased the Owl Obsession afghan pattern from the Ravelry website: (http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/owl-obsession) and plan on making at least a few of the owls to use in one of my 10ThousandProjects.

Then, I realized I'd really been affected when one night I was in bed watching television and DH was already asleep. I didn't want to turn on the light and wake him, but I wanted to crochet, so I decided to do some wire crochet, which, depending on what you are doing, can be fairly easy to manipulate in the dark. I started making a small ring shape with the idea of making a flower, but then it began to evolve into what I thought may look like little eyeglasses, then they looked like eyes, and then I changed colors, and before I knew it, it was becoming...yes, you guessed it...an owl. I never planned for this to turn out like an owl...it just happened. So here it is, another UFO, which will be completed at the proper time, though even I do not know when that might be.

Maybe instead of the afghan being called Owl Obsession,

that should be my name instead!

It's weird, because I really am not that into it; it's just that I am completely astounded (& almost nauseated) by the overwhelming, over-doing of this kind of thing. I just need to stay home (and off of the internet, too), in my little chair with my little crochet hook and my little knitting needles and my micro-jigsaw and my sewing machine and most of all, my fine, fine, fibery friends, which I have barely yet touched on in this blog, for fear that once I begin to write about my admiration for them and how they inspire me, I may never have time to create fiber art again.

Finding peace in creativity,

Meryl

Post #21: Holly Berries for St. Patty's Day & Me, NOT Stuck in the Middle

   Here is a preview of a project I've been working on for Holly Berry, who is the medium-sized dog companion of a very talented fiber friend. If you've read my earlier posts you've probably seen some of my dear Alice's embellished collars that I've made for her. One day while at one of the four fiber-art-related groups I attend regularly, I felt the impulse to ask this friend what size her dog's neck was and if she had any old collars lying around that she could spare...and would she mind if I either built a new collar on top of it or took it apart to reuse the hardware? Of course, she said yes, brought it the following week, and I've been working on it (on & off) ever since.
   I recently started on this new jaunt in this, the middle of my middle-ish decade, nearing the center of what some would term my double-nickle year, that time which struck fear and horror on the faces of some who have gone before me, but, not me..oh, no. For me, it only brings a sense of boldness, of testing the waters, and I find myself signing myself up to do things that I may have time or inclination to do...or not. But I sign up to do it anyway. I question myself. But I do it anyway. What I'm referring to is deliberately following my instincts...listening to the spirit within me...going with my gut...leading with my heart...call it what you will I try hard, well, that's not exactly right...I relax into not second-guessing myself. Maybe deliberately wasn't exactly the right word, but then again, maybe it was, given all my past conditioning to "go against my gut." Anyway, many times these days I don't quench what I feel led to do, and boy, it feels great! I simply go ahead and make the commitment, not really knowing the direction this will lead.
   That's quite a switch for a former manufacturing planner and scheduler who had to know every last detail ahead of time and have everything worked out in advance. All of my boxes had to line up, my numbers had to add up, my squares had to be filled in, the lines had to be straight, etc. Then, wouldn't you know it? I decided to try quilting some years ago, and I loved it. It was the late-90's and I was sewing quilt tops on a machine and doing some hand quilting and some machine quilting, but mostly on the machine. It was so anal-retentive and precise, all of the lines were so neat and the measurements were so like my old planner job. Really, I'm not kidding. But I honestly have loosened up (ever so slightly, but I feel the top is about to blow off the volcano any second), and I'm enjoying my newly found playtime. All of the tight rules of perfection have boxed me in too closely and it is time to color out of the lines a bit. I NEVER did that as a child. It's about time I did. However, I don't wish to abandon all the rules, for they do have their right and just place in our physical world, for what good would any collar be to Holly Berry if it was only 10" long, even if it was the prettiest collar in the land? I promise, Holly Berry's new collar is the specified 15-1/2" from buckle-tip to  buckle-tip.
   The only problem my freedom has created is that now I tend to have an even harder time making decisions, always changing my mind, auditioning different colors and materials, trying new techniques. It seems I've gone from one extreme to the other. But I am also learning to be more patient with myself in the process, and that ain't so bad either. Maybe my rubber band will bounce back toward the middle again. Haha, the middle, kind of like me!

In these first nine photos, the top collar was her original collar. Of the other items, only the blue leather, the cream leather braid, and some of the crochet made it into the final collar, which is now complete. I will post pictures very soon; I just don't feel I should post them here until after Holly Berry and her faithful fiber-lovin' companion have seen it first.

Finding peace in creativity,

Meryl