Life is a ride...

 

 continuing our love songs for the month of February...

 for love of people, critters, the earth and life... this song reminds those of us on the second half to love...

life

love never dies... it can change but if you ever loved, it's still there in your heart 

V day quilts and music

 

every year since I married I make a Valentine quilt. Some years they are bed sized, some time small like this one. I actually had to make it in three days, oops. I started with my box of watercolor squares 2" and multi colored. 

I just sewed them together... and then decided to finish the edges, using piping and a turned seam. I had some red piping the right size in my scrap box, and glue basted it in place

trimmed, and sewed the backing to this using the zipper foot and going slowly. Leaving a small space to turn it inside out, 

the backing was a computer scrap... it's been a year of doing things on computer... oy vey

but then I talked to my friend Cindy and said shall I applique it onto a background?

 She suggested just beading it and hanging as a wall ornament... just what I wanted but was thinking it was too Becky Homecky (in the words of clothing designer on project runway) for beads. 

I cut a piece of peltex to give it body, stuffed it in and quilted the whole thing with gold threads

 chose some beads to use

I put gold and red bugle beads for X's or hugs, some gold balls and made fringe for the bottom

I hung it from the mantel and am thrilled with how fast it came together
 

didn't use these... maybe next year

 I made another quick heart quilt I'll share later for Table Scraps challenge... stay tuned and now

For the love songs I'm showcasing this month...

remember my friends I love you just the way you are....

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaA3YZ6QdJU&list=RDGMEMQ1dJ7wXfLlqCjwV0xfSNbA&index=21

and a special song for me...

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id_UYLPSn6U

because I pretty much knew my husband when I saw his face the first time... as if I recognized him

has that happened to you?

linking to

http://www.inquiringquilter.com/ Wednesday wait loss

Midweek makers wednesdays  

myquiltinfatuation Thursdays

tgiffriday

 finished or not 

lovelaughquilt.mondays

I want to sing you love songs

 continuing the songs of love for the month of February, please enjoy this song

 As a young woman, I dated a musician ... he played guitar in a band and sang beautifully. 

 I sat at the girlfriend's table  as the band played. He also played music for me at home, wrote songs for me and eventually said he loved me.,.. then asked me to marry him.

we didn't match however and it taught me the lesson that love is not enough... it is all good, I still hold memories of my time with him and am grateful. I am not Jewish therefore his family would not accept me in any way. Heritage and expectations were in the way.  I will always remember the time we shared and how I it felt to belong to the band group and how it felt to have a talented man write a song for me. 

So many experiences in my life...

while I was in them I worried I'd never find true love but eventually music brought me together with my husband, at a contra dance. Ironically he now plays guitar, and I listen from the other room, and imagine he's playing for me since he finds songs to play he knows I love...happily,  we do match. 

have you learned any lessons from relationships?

the more I see you love song day 11

 

love... so many ways to love... 

my songs for today:

 the more I see you...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXJIQNDC-N4

to a bossa nova beat... I love how singers put their artistic spin on music!

I have a lovely memory of an evening spent watching an old movie on our big tv set... the parents were away and Tatee, my caretaker my safe and loving space, was dozing in a chair next to me. I sat enthralled as a young child, learning what romance was. The movie and title song stuck with me and I sang it often as if I was on broadway... 

every experience shapes us.... the happy and the sad, the good and the bad... and I wonder how much we have in us by the end of life. So many experiences and missed experiences, and I find people fascinating. I want to hear your stories, the ones that shaped you... if only we all felt safe enough to share our real selves... right?
 

Don't eat the yellow snowballs and two sweet videos

flowering snowball blocks

For my Rainbow Scrap challenge this year, I have three sets of blocks going each month in the chosen color. Gem stones done with improv techniques, Chandelier blocks a la StichTherapy, and flowering snowballs.

8  8" blocks

 I got my ordered templates this week, and hurried to make a few Snowball blocks to show.

I also worked on my  Valentine top, and finished the top Friday. Time to quilt it now!

It's fun to use my turning cutting board, and the templates, to cut up scraps making order from chaos.
It's going to be fun to see these in all the colors of the rainbow. Merging, swirling together, blending side by side.

I find myself getting precious about my scraps... "no this one is too good for this" Please stop me if I do that again! Use the fun stuff, the good stuff!

Sewing curves can be counter intuitive. You must pin the start and stops at right angles or the whole thing can become skewed. I use only three pins to put the large sections together

Then carefully let the fabrics meet under the needle as the piece gently curves away as I stitch

This is meant to use up scraps, and I learned the block looks much better when you use different patterns. I love the way this floral came out... this would be a spectacular quilt done with 12" blocks in florals.
For the love theme...

People of different colors, religions, genders all getting along... hands holding hands, hands reaching out to help each other through this tough life.
And...
two sweet videos of animals adopting other species...

 Treat others as you would like to be treated.

Today is a reminder that humans are just other animals, and animals can love unselfishly.
They rely on each other for emotional support. We all need love.

Animals (including human animals) can fight and they can love.
Problems develop when one perceives a threat to resources, although perception can be off base. Haven't you ever unknowingly pre-judged someone later finding out you were wrong, there was no threat?

Have you ever talked to someone quite different from you and found out how much you have in common? I remember sitting on a bench in DuPont Circle when a group of tall boys wearing drooping jeans joined us. It was unnerving as we didn't know them, and one hears stories of danger in big cities, and let's face it, we're much older than them. I started a conversation, as I do, and by the end of the interaction, most had wandered off, but one boy and I had the best talk about writing and novels. I can still see the glow in his eyes now, years later, as he shared that he wanted to be a great novelist. He was about 19, living in a poor neighborhood apt, making his way in the big city, but he had dreams few people asked him about.

I admire humans who understand love is more rewarding than war. 
Linking to:



Esther's blog Wednesdays 

Midweek makers wednesdays

 Free motion by the River Tuesdays    
lovelaughquilt.mondays
oh Scrap Sundays 
all seasons 
viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/
 scrap happy Saturdays

February is for love... love...

from google images

I've decided to dedicate this month to love.. in music and art, in different ways...

enjoy this new to me singer named Camen... a 12 year old with enough soul for ten people

a fresh version of Can't take my eyes off of you...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPYCbKM27WU&index=34&list=PL1DqAcbFyUVr3QLaoV2UumJaTE-fo59bg

a Beatles song... I Will... and she's playing ukelele...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyXM0NY4GqA

and this lovely version of Misty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dggoLKTKlHU