Tag Archives: home

Gifts of the Heart

It’s not homeless. My heart resides in a lot of different places… near the people I love most. You know what I’m talking about. It’s that treasured friend you can always be yourself around, the mentor who encouraged your journey, and books that became friends.

SALE! My etsy shop is stocked with high-quality handmade items. It’s time to make some room for new stuffs. Enjoy them yourself or give to those you love. All pre-made items are now 25% off their original price. Custom work is full-price and still a great deal.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/QUILTArtbymegan red heart pillow

Where’s your heart? Comment below for a chance to win this 12×12″ pillow sham. Drawing ends a week from today on August 6th at midnight pacific time. Good luck!

We have a winner! Congrats Janet Mease!

Home Grown Friends

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I’ve been a California girl for a long time now. Still, Connecticut is home. It’s where Katie is. She’s been my friend since 5th grade at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I was the new kid who had just changed schools (again) and decided not to make friends this time. Well, she would have none of that nonsense. She was gently persistent and soon I had someone to sit with at lunchtime and to play with at recess.Last weekend marked her first year anniversary of getting married. I’ve been working on a quilt for her and her husband. It isn’t quite finished yet but includes paper-pieced numbers on a green background. Of course I’ll share photos of that once it’s complete.

Here we are goofing off in high school. At this time we had boyfriends who were friends before we knew them. Lots of double-dates to the movies, dances, and bowling. Then we’d ditch the boys for a sleepover, ice-cream fest, and chick flick night.

I spent my summers away and then left for college in Illinois. Still, we kept in touch. It’s one of those friendships where we don’t need any time to get to know each other again. We just pick up where we left off, even if we haven’t seen each other in years.

Katie flew west for my wedding. She’s a high school math teacher and took time off at the beginning of the school year (September 6th) to be here for me. She stayed at my house, helped with all the preparations, and celebrated with us. Here she is walking me to my bridal dressing room.

I found out recently that I have some food allergies, including a mild gluten intolerance. I’m a little bummed. You know what cheered me up quite a bit? Katie wrote a food blog post inspired by me. Here’s her recipe for crust-less spinach quiche. I can’t wait to try it!

My husband and I have a food garden this year. This watermelon looked like it hadn’t grown any more in about a week. So we called it ripe and cut it open. Not so much. Well, now we know to let the others mature a bit longer. As for Katie and I, we’ll decide just how mature we want to act as adults. It probably involves lots of ice cream. And dancing.

Disapproving Owl Judges You

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I saw a meme on Pinterest last night that said, “I used to be a people person until people ruined it for me.” It’s snarky but a bit of a downer. As a born introvert I actually feel the opposite way. I can totally be a people person… depending on which people you’re talking about.

Take these owls, for example. The first is dubbed “Disapproving Owl.” Surely, you can see why. This ceramic ornament was in the window next to our front door when we moved in to the new place. It felt like he was saying, “do what you want, but you’ll never be welcome here.” As soon as we could, he was removed from the house.

Actually, my husband finds it hilarious that I think this owl is so creepy… so he’s hidden Disapproving Owl somewhere in the garage. That way he can make random reappearances and wig me out. Thanks honey.

The second owl is one we bought while running errands yesterday. He was on display in hardware store. “Mo” thinks you’re curious. You may be strange but if wide-eyed Mo watches long enough you’ll no doubt do something interesting. Maybe even something spectacular! Mo is mo’ like the people who I choose to be around… who’ve helped me become a mo’ of a people person. (See what I did there?! Mo thinks it was clever.)

I don’t think I’ll ever really grow out of being an introvert. I value my alone time and feel overwhelmed when there’s lots of activity around me. So I’ll sit quietly in my room and Mo will look at me with encouragement and I’ll remember that I’ve chosen the right people to be around… and they’re nothing like that @#(* Disapproving Owl.

Note to Self: Make New Friends

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Does anybody else write notes to themselves? My sewing machine has making the ker-thunk noise that indicates the needle is bent or dull for (embarrassingly) a few days now. So after my sewing session last night, I wrote myself a nice little note. See, it’s hard to make myself get up and go find the container in the closet where I stashed the needles until I find a more permanent place for them after I’ve sat down to sew. So I just don’t, and deal with the ker-thunk. But this note reminded me before I was ready to begin, so check! Needle has been changed and the machine is purrring along nicely.

My friend Melissa has become local, since I moved to her area. Last night she invited me to check out her guild and generously even offered me a ride there and back. Yeah, she’s awesome like that.

So, new experiences are scary. I’m a member of what used-to-be my local guild still, and make the trek back there every few months to participate and catch up with my friends. So the guild thing wasn’t scary, but the room full of people that I don’t know and want to is. So I put on my big-girl panties and introduced myself around. After I was emotionally exhausted from putting myself out there (with mostly positive results) I saddled up next to Melissa at her table in the back and pulled out some handwork.

Then, the most amazing thing happened. People started coming up to me. They wanted to see what I was doing and it was a great conversation starter. Plus, this particular handwork project, my crazy hexagons, is uniquely mine. It showcases my skills and preferences, and is something I’m passionate about. It’s easier to talk about something I’m passionate about than attempt small-talk with strangers.

The results of the evening speak for themselves. I joined the guild. Also, I have multiple invitations from potential new-friends to sit with them next month. And I’ve been asked to bring some quilts for show-and-share… which I’m sure will just lead to more conversations and companionship. Love it.

Where’ve You Been?

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I’ve been neglecting to write for a few weeks now. What have I been up to? Well, aside from spending a lot of time getting un-sick (yuck) and with my kiddos at work (so cute) I’ve been working on the house. Here are a few new skills I’ve learned.

1) Replacing window screens. When I expressed amazement that my husband could do it, he showed me how. Now I’ve volunteered to do the rest of the screens in the house, starting with the back screen door, which has been attacked by vines.

2) Mudding drywall. Filling in holes, covering low spots, etc before we paint.

3) Using a paint sprayer. I’m pretty handy with a brush and roller, but the spraying bit was new to me. We’re rolling colors, but it’s very handy for white ceilings and hard-to-reach areas like under the water heater in the garage.

4) Cutting and installing carpet. Okay, so we didn’t completely install it with tacks on the side, but throw-rug-style is just fine for the master bedroom for now.

5) Scraping popcorn ceilings down. It’s easy! Just wet it down and scrape. It flops right off and you sweep the gunk off the floor.

Oh, and I’m excellent at sorting through items. Initially, they’re in three categories: save, sell, and donate. Goodwill’s having a good donation year in my town.

I have not been quilting, but am excited to do some paper-piecing with friends tomorrow. I’ll post s’more about that soon. Promise.

Photo Finish

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I finished this table runner early this morning. (12:15am early.) It’s machine pieced and hand quilted. Yay, another one complete! This will probably either go in my etsy shop or be sold at a craft fair. Want it? Make an offer.

In other news, this new house finally feels like home. Why? I unpacked my sewing machine today. I refused to take my machine out of its case while we were staying at the motel. An adult mini-tantrum for sure, but I stuck to handwork. After three months of storage, the whirrrr of its motor is comforting. Plus now I get to work on little Mary’s baby quilt!

Playing Around at My New Place

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Hello everybody. I’ve been offline for a few weeks as my hubby, cats, and I move into our new place. We’re now living in a house while we help clean it out, do general maintenance, and update it. (Including ripping out 70’s carpeting.) It’s been hard work, especially while still working full-time. Love those kiddos I nanny, and the new place is freeway close so I’m able to keep the job.

Anyway, thought I’d show you guys the photos and tell the story of my latest finish. I’ve been working hard on the house and hadn’t touched any of my quilting supplies for over a week when my husband suggested that I open up one box and play with the things inside. I was grumpy, tired, feeling isolated, and creatively drained. The boxes were packed months ago, before we moved to the motel. So I had no idea what specifically was inside of this one simply labeled, “Quilting.”

So here’s what I made from bits found in that box plus a few things from my purse. I wasn’t making anything in particular, just (as my husband suggested) playing around. It turned into this coolish mixed-media piece. The background is a scrap of my crumb-quilting fabrics. The centerpiece is a laminated meditation card I’ve been carrying around with me to help reduce anxiety. Other treasures include the pin I got for helping with my guild’s quilt show, a friend’s bookmark, antique buttons found in grandma’s dresser, and scissor charms from my last job. It was fun to experiment. I probably won’t be doing much mixed-media art going forward… it’s not my preferred style. But hey, trying new things worked. I was far less grumpy after the last trinket was stitched on.

Big Dreams and Little Voices

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I’m fortunate that my family encouraged dreaming and goal-setting. I still have a list of wishes that I wrote on a business trip with Dad that includes going to Disney World, singing a song on stage, and dying my hair purple. My preteen cousins and I used to plan our weddings, down to the flowers and shoes. A popular new years’ day activity was to make collages from magazine clippings of things we’d like to have or do someday.

Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about some adult-ish goals like owning a home. The little nay-sayers in my head keep reminding me how far off that dream looks and pointing out all of the obstacles ahead. But here’s the thing: they’re little voices.

My parents weren’t just wishers. They also had strategies for getting some of the goals accomplished. There was one time when they wanted to go to a seminar and it didn’t look like they could make it work financially. (“Huge obstacle, why even try,” Say the little voices.) Instead of giving in to doubt, they started doing what they could do: find a sitter, book a hotel, and ask for time off work. They moved forward as if it were going to work out and… it did! At the last minute the money bit happened and they were able to go.

Nice fairytale, hunh? ISometimes dreams do come true. Planning ahead and making space for what you want can be a wise thing. A brave thing. So my husband and I, despite the little voices, have started talking about flooring, wall colors, layout plans, and bedroom sets. It’s exciting and scary. Even if it doesn’t happen for a while, I’m walking in the right direction. I’ll get where I want to go.

Settle Down Now

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As my sister gets the hang of being a new mom, I’m finally starting to put down roots in my new city. Motel living isn’t homey and we’re pretty sure we won’t rent in this area, so the neighborhood isn’t even mine. But on the fourth day of my nanny job, things are starting to feel…. right. This is my job. These are the children I get to spend my time with. We have a rhythm now. That kind of a feeling is infectious. On the way home today I signed up for a library card. At MY library. Which one? The one right near work, so it’s convenient no matter where end up living.

I promised photos of my current projects, and those are coming. I’m adding the finishing touches to “On a Good Day” so it’s inside out and upside down right now, which isn’t very photogenic. Expect a good picture on that one soon. I’ll leave you with a picture of baby Mary and her mama for now.