Honeycomb Thoughts

Wow, it is almost amazing how distracted I have been this morning. I am trying to focus and do one task at a time, but apparently my brain wants to do a couple dozen. The infinite amount of information on the internet does not help. Absentmindedly playing fetch with Alyx and Buddy getting jealous is not helping either. But how can I resist my adorable dogs?

Several hours later I am here again. Must avoid the distraction of hundreds of episodes of Doctor Who at my fingertips.

My in-laws were over for dinner last night. After dinner, while Jack was helping Adam fix two broken toilets, Kim and I started talking about my quilt project. A few weeks ago I had mentioned that I would like her help with the project since I want this to be a multi-generational project. She asked how she could help and what kind of pattern I was making with the different fabrics. My brain was dead from a couple of long and frustrating days at work so I had no idea how to convey the random pictures in my head to another person. After they left I tried to talk to Adam and make words for him to hear and get his feedback. He was much more excited about beta testing "The Old Republic" MMORPG than talking quilts, but he did pretty well. Next was a trip to Google and research time. I needed to find pictures and words from others that would match the pictures and half formed thoughts in my head. I came across several wonderfully helpful sites that are helping me understand the project better.

1. http://www.womenfolk.com/quilt_pattern_history/mosaic.htm Found this site first and

learned a good bit about the history of quilts made with hexagons. Besides Grandmother's Flower Garden, they go by the names Honeycomb or Six-Sided Patchwork or Mosaic. They are one of the oldest forms of pieced quilts and not made often anymore since they are more difficult to put together. No wonder I was attracted to it and decided I must try it as my first quilting project. I pick out the most expensive products without ever looking at price tags, and design the most difficult projects before I do the research. This is a quilt I found on that site. The way the artist transitions the colors with the different patterns of fabrics is amazingly beautiful.

2. Blogs! http://stitchindye.blogspot.com/ and http://tallgrassprairiestudio.blogspot.com/

I am really glad I found these blogs for the current and future inspiration they will be providing. Through the blogs I found this book. It has details on how to make machine stitching the hexagons together easier. Hallelujah! The local library has it and I put it on hold so I can devour every detail when it comes my turn. The book features this quilt, which looks a lot like the quilt stuck in my head. It is really exciting for me to know that my idea, grouping various yellow fabrics in no preset pattern, looks good. (Hi, my name is Bee and I am a fiber/craft/art nerd, and I am proud of it.)

3. http://www.fgqg.com/Quiltsizes.htm This morning I found a chart that lists the typical sizes of different types of quilts. I measured my hexagons (minus the seam allowance), did some quick calculations, and found out I need 375 hexagons to make my baby quilt. 22 rows with 15 hexagons wide.

I went back to my fabrics and realized I have far more than I need. I am going to keep 15 different patterns so that each hex in a row is different. Then each of the 22 rows can be arranged with the 15 patterns in different orders. Since I was cutting down the number of patterns, I decided to consolidate the range of yellow. I picked my favorite bee pattern and went from its tones of golden and orangey yellow. I now have 14 and think I know the perfect piece to complete the set. It seems really silly to purchase another fabric when I have several I am not using. Maybe I can talk myself out of it before I go to the store.

I think I have a clearer picture with words attached to it now. Now I know what part Kim can help me with and what steps I need to take before I am ready for her assistance. It seems strange but good to have a plan. Maybe I will make one closer to the beginning next time. :)

Babies on the Brain

Meet Alex and Layla Black. They were born to Amy and Fred Black on April Fool's Day 2011. They are precious and adorable and I want to steal one.

Things have been coming together for Adam and me. We have been talking about trying to have a baby of our own soon. There are still

a good number of things we need to work on and learn about before we start trying, but thinking about it makes me excited for our future together.

There is a project I have been thinking about on and off for a while. I have been gathering differently patterned yellow fabrics to make a honeycomb. I did not know what the purpose for the final piece was going to be until recently. I have decided that Bee's future baby needs a honeycomb quilt blanket. I have never made a quilt before but my grandmother and great-grandmother have definitely created their fair share. My fabrics already have different symbols for different family members, including at least four different bee patterns. I am hoping that I can get participation from all four current generations in the creation of the project. I love the idea of a shared and passed down history through objects. I am a very visual and kinesthetic person and find comfort in knowing an object I am using was made with love.

The plan for the end result will be kind of like a "Grandma's Flower Garden" quilt. Instead of grouping like colors together to make a flower pattern, I will be scattering the different fabrics randomly. It will be kind of like this one but all in yellows. I don't know what the backing fabric will be yet. I think I need to find out if the baby will be a boy or a girl before I pick that out. And if he is a boy, I will need to find and add some less girly patterns. That seems to be harder than I expected.

To count my blessings, one good thing about my job is that the summer is slow and I have plenty of time to cut hexagons between working on other things. Then I don't get so bored with the hexagons or the work.

To Breathe or not to Breathe

There is a knot in my chest: a physical manifestation of my anxiety and depression. I am doing all that I know to loosen and untangle the knot, but the process is going very slowly. There are times I get it to a point where I hardly feel the knot at all. Unfortunately, no matter how long I am able to keep the knot at bay it is able to rebuild itself very quickly, sometimes within minutes, and it enjoys building upon itself.

Honestly I have so many things to be thankful for lately that it is sometimes hard to understand why the knot is there at all. Between my predisposition to the knot and the reoccurring triggers of disliking my day job and chiseling apart my self-esteem while applying for new jobs, it builds and tightens and distracts from all of the amazing things going on in my life.

Sometimes those old clichés have a golden nugget of truth, so here I go counting my blessings.

First of all is my family. I have a wonderful loving family who typically understands me and the things going on in my head better than I give them credit for. Adam is perfect for me. He is ever the problem-solver, comforter, and provider that I need. I am also very thankful that one of my sisters, Ellie, is able to spend a semester living with us. I am so excited to see how much she has grown up and that I can be the good big sister every girl wants. Also, my puppies are awesome, especially when they are calm and sleeping near me like they are now.

Another thing I am grateful for is the possibly career pushing article that Aarik Danielsen wrote about me and my art in the Columbia Tribune. If you have not yet had a chance to take a look at it, check it out at http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/jul/25/bee-simmons/. He did an amazing job taking an hour of my ramblings and molding it into a professional article I was very proud to see written about me.

I have many other blessings, but I think I shall stop for now before I bore you too much and since the purpose of me writing this, which was to relieve the pain of the knot, was successful.

So remember when your knot is tightening and feeling like it is going to overwhelm you, take a moment to breathe and think of at least one thing in your life that you are grateful for.

Shalom