well its been three weeks now and i am finally in a small cast and can function a bit. It’s nice to be getting closer to healing.

I broke my wrist pretty bad, i broke my one bone on the side of my thumb completely across then somehow managed to also split my joint also in half, along with damaging most of the tendons in my hand. The top of my hand being the most painful.

Its funny how life’s event make you pay attention and think about the choices you make and lead you toward major changes in your life. I guess you could say my body was talking to me and i guess i wasn’t listening, so it helped me out.

I don’t know if i ever mentioned this before, i don’t bring it up often as it is my own personal choice, but about 3 years ago i decided to go vegetarian to deal with another health issue i had in my life, insulin resistance. The precursor to full blown diabetes. I decided right then and there that diabetes was not how i wanted to get old and made some major changes in my diet. I feel so much better since making that change. It was a long but successful journey.

Following along those lines I also am not one for medications if i can possibly avoid them. With this pain of this wrist i was given vicoden, i took them for lack of a better alternative. But have to say they didnt really kill the pain very well. I still was having intense pain in the tendons in the top of my hand along with a constant pain in my wrist and up my bone.

So the other day while at the natural foods store i decieded to stop at the pharmacy and ask what i could do to help along the healing of these bones. She recommended some comfrey as a tea, 1 small cup a day and some pill that comes from the herb horsehair. The comfrey relieves pain and has an element that promotes the reknitting of your bones back together and the horsehair works to strengthen bones.

I came home, made some tea and took the pill. And i was truly amazed that within 24 hours of this regimin the pain in the top of my hand and much of my wrist had subsided. Wow, a simple cup of tea was able to do what vicodin could not. I am still in no pain several days later and very happy about that. My bones are on the mend and i hope to be back to work designing some time soon.

So the next major change in my  life is to get my body on track even more, lose the rest of this weight, strengthen these bones  and make the next decade of  my life the best. I will certainly be interested to learn more about herbs and how to use them better in my life. The journey has begun….. [Read more →]

Sorry for the delay, but a broken wrist kind of takes your mind off other things. I am feeling a bit better this week and so its time to try to get back to business.

The winners are Sherryl of skb2000.blogspot.com and Susan who wrote

What fun bags! Would love to win. So inspiring for fun.

Contact me by email and i will give you the info for the class.

i look forward  to seeing your finished bag

its going to be a long 6 weeks with no crafting on my end and i could use some crafty cheering up. i would love to see some of your creations, what your working on, things you have made.

if you have a moment you could add them to the studio flickr album, that would be so fun to check  in and brighten my day with your creativity, just click on the flickr link to the right and add your phots to the group. art and creativity makes me smile, and i would love to see what you all like to create.

with my broken wrist are the myriad of things i can no longer do

•  opening a can or bottle on my own
• putting my hair up in a pony tail
• putting on my socks (difficult)
• pulling my pants on and off (really difficult)
• scratching myself on the other side of my body
• sleeping and finding a way to lay that doesnt hurt something
• opening the can of cat food at 6am
• any of my sewing
• cooking is challenging
• tying anything
• opening my pain pill bottle (sometimes hard to do with 2 hands)

i still have my sense of humor which will get me through….where would we be without a bit of laughter

i learned the hard way that you shouldn’t put you arm ouy to try and catch yourself when you fall. it just leads to a broken wrist.

so there wont be much work getting done around here and that will be tough since  i am the kind of person who is always working on something, always busy, not much of a tv watcher, so this is going to be a hard 6 weeks of healing.

i am already feeling the pain of not being able to sew, it’s driving me nuts already and what do i like to do to relax from sewing, knit, and i wont be doing that either.

i will be hopefully posting more sine typing is one of the few things i can handle. so stop by and lets chat if you have a moment.

This month Studio-259 is giving away 2 free Cat Sack Workshop classes to some lucky winners. So if you have wanted to make a Cat Sack Handbag and missed the sign ups, or couldn’t work it into your budget then now is your opportunity to make a Cat Sack with our April giveaway.

This whimsical bag is lots of fun to make and use. The workshop offers detailed instructions and lots of detailed photos so even if you are a bit on the new side you will still be able to make a fun bag. Our updated version will even include directions for making the cat sack into a purse-backpack. Lots of people prefer to carry it that way. Kids love it as a backpack too!

The funky style and personality of this bag has lots of room for making a funky looking cat of many colors. See our gallery for some other cat colors. The workshop/class will give you all the directions you need to make the cat sack as well as a lesson on picking the right fabrics for your cat, with close up photos of the kinds of fabrics I would pick. I walk you thru every step. If you would like to know what other students have said about Studio-259 workshop/classes then click here.

Share this with a friend, perhaps they would like a chance to win a workshop/class.

How do you win a free workshop class? Its easy do any one of the following, or do more than one….

Your name will be put into the hat, yes I use a hat, for each one you do as well as for every comment you leave between today April 5 and April 20 2008 when the winners will be chosen.

• make a post on your blog about this giveaway
• make a post on your blog about one of our patterns or designs
• place a link on your blog or website to Studio-259
• sign up for our mail list
• leave a comment on this blog

Just let us know where to find our link, where to find your blog post, so you can have more chances to win.

We want you to have every chance you get to win a Cat Sack Class. Good luck!

Winners will be posted here on the blog on April 20th.

All I ask is that you share the completed cat sack photos with me so that I can post them here on the blog! I love to share students work! And I love to see your cats when they are done!

We all have them, but do you know how to keep your mat in top shape.

This past week at the quilt show in Lancaster I made a stop at the Olfa booth and found out that I can give my mat a bath! Bet you didn’t know that, well I didn’t.

You can put your mat in the bathtub using 1/4 cup white vinegar to a gallon of tepid water (not hot) and a couple of drops of mild dish washing liquid. You can use a soft bristle brush to create a lather and clean and condition your mat.

Then rinse the mat and either air dry or dry with a Turkish towel. It says your mat loves moisture and that bathing them helps keep them supple.

So I thought I would gather some other tips rotary mat tips to share with you.

• You can also use a gum eraser that you find at the art store to pull out fibers from your mat, it also leaves no residue. Try a toothbrush across the surface to get those fibers out.
• Some people have complained of mat odor, what do you do? Try wiping your mat with a gentle cleanser such as Murphy’s Oil Soap, Vinegar, or Pine Scented Lysol or lukewarm dish washing liquid. Air Dry.
• you can also clean your mat with a napped lint roller to remove fibers and keep lint from getting on the fabrics you are cutting.
• did you know you could also cut on the back of your mat
• also don’t leave your mat in extreme hot or cold places as it will warp, once warped you cannot fix the mat.
• use only rotary blades on your mat, snap off blades or utility blades will damage your mat, use an old mat for that, not the same one you use to cut your fabrics.
• don’t cut batting and other loosely bound fibers on your mat, the blade is so fine and the mat dense that those fibers will catch in your cuts and could distort your mat. If you choose to cut batt on your mat the at least put a thin cotton between the batt and the mat to prevent fibers from embedding.
• always use a sharp blade
• never roll your mat, store flat, vary your cutting spot on the mat
• use your old mats and distorted mats, for other art projects, cutting papers etc,

If you have any other tips about caring for your mat, please feel free to add them to this post!

Patty!

Congratulations Patty!

I was a day late in pulling a name from the hat, sorry but the quilting show was calling my name, I had to go get some stash.

Enjoy the book, I hope it gives you some ideas for your own creativity!

Michelle

The quilt show is in town and that meant a day out of shopping. I was in need of a fabric fix and there was plenty there to feed that need.

The quilt show was great too. Every year at this show they have a partial exhibit from the Quilt National quilt show. It is always wonderful to be able to peek at this show since I am never able to make it to Ohio when the whole show is going on. I cant share any pics from that part of the show, you cant take photos.

The rest of the show was also very good. So I thought today I would share some of my favorite quilts that I enjoyed viewing. I dont have the quilters names, sorry, just the quilts. I took my 11 year old, it was mom and daughter art day out. So she was taking all the pictures. Click on the photos to see a larger version.

The first one here, well all I can say is I love cats!

And the next one, well this is so reminiscent of the area of the country that I live in. Amish Country in Lancaster. So picturesque and simple. I just love the feelings in this quilt of the simple life.

This garden scene got me too, I wish those were my french doors leading off to my beautiful garden…..

The old lady and the chickens, she looks like anyones grandmother, so sweet, bet she has a nice hot pie in the oven too! MMMM!

This next one is it totally amazing and totally insane. This quilt is approx 12 inches square. And each one of those colored fan shapes is pieced in gradation to pieces so tiny, I cant even imagine how to sew this up. This is one of those amazing mini quilts. Just boggles my mind sewing things pieced so small.

I love the next one, reminds me of a oriental print, it was done so very well. I would hang this one up on my wall!

This one I do remember the maker, Susan Riggio. I love this one, lets just say it brings back some great memories! I am dating myself here…

And my most favorite quilt was this one with all the garden veggies. This is a great quilt, lots of color, delicious looking fruits and veggies. And the close up below shows all the food is embroidered. A garden delight! This would look great in my dining room!

It was a great show and I spent every cent I went with. Yesterday was novelty fabric day. Even though I went looking to beef up my batik stash, there were more vendors there with some great novelty fabrics that I dont usually see round here. So I stocked up on some of those, I have a series of projects in mind and they will do just right.

I will have to stock up on my batiks some other time.

If you are around this weekend you should stop in and check out this quilt show.

The most recent online class that ran on Joggles for the Cat Sack Handbag produced and variety of bags. Everyone had lots of fun creating their colorful cats. And just because I made it a cat doesnt mean you cant use some creativity and turn it into a dog! This little guy is just adorable.

Who wouldnt love this dog! So

And then there is Gabrielle Swain of Gabrielles Sewing Studio

if you are looking for some one to tailor make some clothing for you then visit Gabrielles Site.

This is her little kitty who she designed to go with her blue silk dupioni shirt and I can tell you he

matches up very nicely.

And as you can see from Gabrielle’s pics that the inside of the bags come with lots of pockets to store your stuff in. I just hate lumping thru a pile at the bottom of my bag, so these pockets do come in very handy.

Click here to see Paulines very colorful cat which she was nice enough to share with us on our Flickr Group.

The class was a big success and if you missed it then there will be another class starting up soon, so watch on Joggles for the sign ups.