Category: Crazy-Fun Files (Page 4 of 10)

ToDoTuesdayThree

September 10, 2019 / laura bruno lilly

It’s been 2 weeks since my latest ToDoTuesday post. It’s nice to be back for a check-in. Thanks, Roseanne for sponsoring this opportunity to participate each week!

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My creativity trinity* is as follows: fiber art – MUSIC – writing. Each is intertwined with the other, offering needful respites between projects which in turn aid in the completion of various Works-In-Progress as new perspectives appear from such respites. Ultimately, it’s all about the music but tracking fiber art Works-In-Progress is lots easier to communicate in such a setting as this – hence the linky-party connection.
(A Reminder of) My goals for the week of August 27^th through September 3^rd:

Finish “Christmas Medley” and start another NOTION score-edit piece √
Finish PFWHK vertical quilting, start 3-D portion of project, figure out something special to add to PF’s eye (button, sequins?) √
Enjoy a time to snuggle down and read newest novel(s) √
If it’s cool enough (big IF), share some porch-time with hubby and a glass of Chardonnay (me), Beaujolais (him) √

Ahemmm, all those 2-week-old items have check marks after them. Yes, they are Done!
As mentioned before, a dedicated post is forthcoming on the score-editing process, but for now, suffice it to say “Christmas Medley” is finished with another score-edit begun and close to being finished.

Notice the binding clips used to keep piece neatly rolled up during stitching?

As for the PFWHK. I discovered my favorite binding clips worked well in keeping this small project neatly rolled up while finishing the vertical quilting and adding the 3-D feathers to the piece.
The instructions on how to attach those 3-D feathers to the Pink Flamingo Body were spotty at best, so I devised my own method. Instead of pinning (as suggested) the stiff triangles onto the quilted thickness of the PFWHK, I used the ¼ quilters tape to hold them in place. Also suggested was to straight stitch them ‘close to the edge’.
Ick.

quarter in. tape used to hold feathers in place and blanket stitching

Yet another use for 1/4 inch tape – holding 3D feathers in place during blanket stitching on machine

Instead, I used a blanket stitch. This covered the exposed raw edge of the 3-D feathers, adding strength as well as a more finished look to the overall application.
I have to say, I am thrilled with the way the ‘double’ batting experiment is unfolding. It handles well under the needle and is beginning to show promise as a desirable aesthetic (enough weight to hang well, with enough poofyness to show off quilting details).

The PFWHK – ready for the final touches

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ToDo for the week of September 10^th through September 16^th:

Add sequin detail to eye on PFWHK and apply binding.
Get ready for out-of-town trip

*a term I invented recently

ToDoTuesdayTwo

August 27, 2019 / laura bruno lilly

Even though I feel like there’s not much to report, I’m chiming in on this week’s linky-party for the sake of continuity. And, remember, Roseanne at Home Sewn by Us who sponsors this says it’s okay however I decide to participate!

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My creativity trinity* is as follows: fiber art – MUSIC – writing. Each is intertwined with the other, offering needful respites between projects which in turn aid in the completion of various Works-In-Progress as new perspectives appear from such respites. Ultimately, it’s all about the music but tracking fiber art Works-In-Progress is lots easier to communicate in such a setting as this and hence the linky-party connection.

My goals for the week from August 20^th through August 26^th:

Continue edits on various NOTION scores √ – “Christmas Medley” almost finished and soon to move onto another score-edit
Finish PFWHK Ø – decidedly not finished!
Maybe have something to post on next week’s ToDo Tuesday linky party √ – today’s posting is evidence of this!

Yes, I worked on NOTION score edits for the “Christmas Medley” piece and realized I needed to de-clutter the score by 80% of previously inserted information. There is a delicate balance in music scoring between suggested fingerings and performance directions and OCD control of the performers every interpretation of the musical score. The fact that I de-cluttered a slew of fingerings shows I am closer to completion than before. In fact, with this particular piece, I have only to recheck for notation mistakes (think of this as being like ‘spell-checking’ the score) and add the fun stuff like title, arranger/name, date, copyright and dedication (if so choose to do). Then it is done and onto another piece to score-edit.
The PFWHK is not finished. Duh. In fact, as I continued with the vertical machine quilting, I found myself making dumb mistakes. So, I wisely decided to quit while I was ahead. Meaning: I did a few lines of reverse-sewing and set the PFWHK aside for another day/week. The interesting thing of note here is that the reverse-sewing (okay, seam-stitch ripping out!) went smoothly and left absolutely no small holes in the fabric top or back. I think that is due to two things: 1- the quality of the fabric itself and 2- the use of fine 60 wt thread in the bobbin.

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ToDo for the week of August 27^th through September 3^rd:

Finish “Christmas Medley” and start another NOTION score-edit piece
Finish PFWHK vertical quilting, start 3-D portion of project, figure out something special to add to PF’s eye (button, sequins?)
Enjoy a time to snuggle down and read newest novel(s)
If it’s cool enough (big IF), share some porch-time with hubby and a glass of Chardonnay (me), Beaujolais (him)

* a term I invented recently

6 for 6

August 24, 2019 / laura bruno lilly

I have to admit, 6 days in a row of posts is taxing! Here it is day six of 6 years on WP.org and I still haven’t a clue as to what to do for a Finale. That’s the performer in me, always thinking in terms of set lists, intros, outros and yes…Finales. But the ‘winging it’ aspect seems to suggest completing this self-imposed challenge more along the lines of an improvisational finish.
I’m gonna go with that, then. Here is a Haiku I just now thought up – enjoy and thanks for joining with me in this 6 day bloggoversary celebration!

Courage walks Into.
Holding Onto – Hope. Belief.
Clinging Onto – Love.
laura bruno lilly

PLUTO my favorite planet next to Mars…

August 23, 2019 / laura bruno lilly

When I was growing up I had an imaginary friend. Her name was Zelda. Zelda was a witch. That’s right, this little half-Italian Catholic girl had an imaginary witch-friend. She flew on a broom stick and traveled to oh so many places I could never go. Like Pluto. Actually, Zelda lived on the planet Pluto.
Pluto, my favorite planet next to Mars…
When I was an 8^th grader in what was then called Jr. High, I entered the science fair. It was kind of a new thing in the 60s, not at all required for students as part of any pre-set curriculum.
My project was an in-depth study of – you guessed it – the planet Mars. I won several firsts and seconds and ultimately made it through district with an Honorable Mention. That HM meant I couldn’t go on to ‘state’, but it was still quite a feat! Back then, this thirteen-year-old school girl scientist didn’t know that it was considered unusual for a girl to be interested in math and science.
Scroll up a few decades to the 21^st century.
When New Horizons was launched in 2006, hubby and I kept periodic tabs on its journey. As the internet improved, so did the ease with which we were able to keep up with all the photos and info NASA had to offer. The Jupiter fly-by photos in 2007 awed and inspired the world – talk about in-your-face beauty.
Early on in the mission, it came out that Queen’s Brian May is also Dr. Brian May the astrophysicist. Because he was dubbed an official “science team collaborator” to the New Horizons Team, I scrutinized his collaborations to see if rock stardom would overshadow scientific curiosity.
I was not disappointed, Dr. Brian is the real deal on both counts.
I’m confident he helped advance the cause of math and science showing nerdiness to be on a par with rock stardom.

Pluto & Charon from New Horizons

By late 2014 New Horizons began its Pluto encounter, rapidly entering into its approach phase to the planet. The infamous Pluto fly-by began in July 2015 while it was a mere 7,800 miles above the surface of Pluto. That’s just 601 miles above Santa Fe, NM in terms of an Earth distance comparison!
Because of this close encounter of the (formerly) 9^th kind*, a map of Pluto was compiled featuring names recognizing people of significance to Pluto. Approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in September 2017, it includes an area named after an 11-year old girl.

Map of Pluto with features approved by the IAU, September 2017

Burney crater honors Venetia Burney (1918-2009), who as an 11-year-old schoolgirl suggested the name “Pluto” for Clyde Tombaugh’s newly discovered planet. Later in life she taught mathematics and economics.
I wonder if Zelda ever visited Venetia as a young child growing up in Oxford, England back in the day?
*Pluto was considered to be the 9^th planet in our solar system back when I was a child…now it is classified as a Dwarf Planet.
Pluto photo credit, Pluto map credit

note: this is for day five of my 6 years on WP.org posts

Happy belated Lefthanders Day

August 22, 2019 / laura bruno lilly

August 13^th is the official date – BUT – it’s never too late to celebrate!

I’m not lefthanded, but my baby bro is…along with at least one person in each of our parents’ siblings and consequent families…I guess you could say we’re a lefthanded heavy family (groan).

(yep, this is for day four of my 6 years on WP.org posts)

Keeping you in my heart for awhile…

August 21, 2019 / laura bruno lilly

Note: Something triggered this nostalgic moment and while more on the rough draft side, I thought I’d use it for day three of my “6 years on WP.org” posts.

Denver Mandolin Orchestra Laura Bruno Lilly, Paul Drury, others

Detail of Denver Mandolin Orchestra group photo (circa 1999?) Laura Bruno Lilly (me) – kneeling in front, Paul Drury – tall one in the back

One of the joys of being a performing member of the Denver Mandolin Orchestra was the sense of generational genesis. The turn of the 20^th to the 21^st century marked my introduction and induction into this motley crew of musicians. A group ranging from violin virtuoso Thereza Stephan doubling on mando; mando greats Eli Karasek, Charlie Provenza, Drew Horton; to mother-daughter and father-son mandolinists sharing music stands during rehearsals and consequent performances. And then there were us guitarists headed by Ron Grosswiler whose collection of historical American classical guitar scores along with Mandolin Orchestra Repertoire from then till now was legendary and not fully revealed until after his death in 2010.
Peppered throughout the DMO’s 23+ musicians, amateurs and professionals alike, we all contributed to the awareness of this largely unknown type of accessible American music. Plus, those like myself who just wanted to play in an ‘orchestra’ with instruments not normally associated with conventional orchestras.
But what I remember most vividly is the memorial service Swallow Hill hosted for one of its own volunteers, and for one of our very own DMO members, Paul Drury, sometime in 2004 (?).
Living within modest means, and one who knew hardship as well as gritty challenges, Paul cared for others. He made sure everyday people got to enjoy simple pleasures – like music. Often, he’d pass on Swallow Hill concert tickets he purchased himself to people he knew marginally (often a little lost in life) – just so they could bask in the healing that is music.
One evening, he died suddenly due to an unperceived advancement in symptoms of diabetic shock…
I hadn’t been a part of the DMO for several years, but was contacted about the jam-session memorial to be held in his honor…an invite to bring my instrument and pluck some of the corny rep we played as a group. And yes, he had a proper musical tribute played by a smaller version of the DMO.
However, it wasn’t until the first strums of Warren Zevon’s Keep Me In Your Heart drifted through the auditorium sound system that the crowd got silent…Paul’s wish for all, sung for the one we had all come to honor that night.

ToDoTuesday

August 20, 2019 / laura bruno lilly

This is my first time to do a ‘linky’ post. It may be the first of a sporadic few or the first and last of just this one. Since I covered my bases with Roseanne of Home Sewn by Us, the sponsor of this linky-party, I was assured no one will be offended one way or the other.

This also counts as day two of my 6 years on WP.org posts. My, how serendipitous.
Here goes!
My creativity trinity* is as follows: fiber art – MUSIC – writing. Each is intertwined with the other, offering needful respites between projects which in turn aid in the completion of various Works-In-Progress as new perspectives appear from such respites. Ultimately, it’s all about the music but tracking fiber art Works-In-Progress is lots easier to communicate in such a setting as this.
My goals for the week from August 13^th through August 19^th:

Edit “Christmas Medley” NOTION score √ (hey, like this creative use of the square root symbol?)
Start ‘Pink Flamingo Wall Hanging Kit’ √

I’m planning on writing up a special post on the process of editing music scores into a Final copy, so I’ll just let that square root symbol ‘check’ linger to show I’m on track with that goal.

Pink Flamingo Wall Hanging Kit

As for the Pink Flamingo Wall Hanging Kit (PFWHK)? Lots of tangibles to share with you new ToDoTuesday readers and my dear usual suspects (little listers/followers).
I don’t usually do kits, but this one was on sale and I thought I’d use it to perfect my machine walking foot quilting skills and try out a few sewing experiments.
First thing I noticed right out of the box was the quality of the pre-printed fabric. The fabric itself has a great hand and feels like a high thread count cotton. It in fact glides smoothly under the needle and is a joy to sew/quilt. The printed aspect of it, though, is quite poor.
Everything except batting and thread is included –

Pink Flamingo Wall Hanging Backing Fabric & Battings

PFWHK backing fabric, 80/20 batt, low loft batt and tip of top fabric panel

which plays well with my intention to try a ‘double’ batting application and exploring lighter weight/finer thread in the bobbin.
My last two projects involving batting yielded a sense of incompleteness. I used an 80/20 cotton/poly batt for the Project4Now quilt which handled & quilted nicely, but feels flat and heavy. On my Proud2Bee an honorary Manc wall hanging I used a low loft poly batt which handled & quilted nicely but hangs flimsily.
For the PFWHK I decided to combine the two – with the 80/20 cotton/poly against the backing fabric and the low loft poly against the top fabric. I spray basted the two together then spray basted the outer layer of the 80/20 to the backing and then the outer layer of the low loft to the top. After smoothing everything out, I needle basted the new quilt sandwich for an extra measure of security.
I chose thread I already had on hand: a Gutterman 100% cotton Pink thread for the outline stitching required around the PF’s body and a Mettler Metrocene poly White thread for the vertical quilting lines. Both had The Finishing Touch Bobbin Thread 100% poly White 60 weight thread in the bobbin.

Pretty pink stitches

Using the walking foot for all stitching applications, I used ¼ in. Quilter’s Tape for the first two vertical quilt lines then added the left-sided quilting attachment spacer bar to continue the vertical line quilting on the PFWHK.
I learned two cautions with the walking foot:

The ¼ in. QT peels back under the walking foot, sticks & acts as a stitch-shortening ‘brake’
The presser foot glides under basting thread, catches & acts as a stitch-shortening ‘brake’, too

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ToDo for the week of August 20^th through August 26^th:

Continue edits on various NOTION scores
Finish PFWHK
Maybe have something to post on next week’s ToDoTuesday linky party

Thanks, Roseanne for letting me try my hand at this linky-party!

*new term I just invented!

6 years on WP.org

August 19, 2019 / laura bruno lilly

It’s official. I’ve been registered with WP for 6 years. I signed up and worked on my website/blog starting in July 2013 then pubbed my first post, Why Blog? Why Now? on August 30, 2013.

Bloggoversaries come and go. Case in point: last year’s was all but forgotten! This year, I thought I’d celebrate by posting a little something for 6 days in a row. Starting now! And no, they are not already written and ‘scheduled’ for automatic pubbing on the blog. I just came up with this idea and am gonna wing it.
We’ll see how it goes – meanwhile, enjoy this vid on day one of 6 years on WP.org.

Note: I chose this as it’s Monday Morning Friendly, with a message that is timeless…

Fun Friday Banana Box Update

August 9, 2019 / laura bruno lilly

Okay, I’m psyched.
I scored 5 – yes 5 – banana boxes a few days ago. And guess where I got ‘em? That’s right, the very same Food Lion that gave me the song and dance about turning them in for ‘credit’.
Fine. I kinda thought that customer service lady just didn’t want to bother with me the customer asking for banana boxes…
That was then…as for now…
A few days ago, I noticed a friendly looking produce person busily arranging lettuces. So, I went up and asked for a few of the boxes she had just emptied. “Oh sure, these are nice ones and haven’t been broken down yet. How many do you want?”
Of course her eagerness to comply with my request fueled my resolve to inquire about those darn banana boxes.
“Wow, thanks these are great.” I was warming up for the zinger.
“Oh, and hey, are there any banana boxes in the back?”
Friendly produce person’s eyes lit up as she raised her pointer finger for me to wait right there. She disappeared behind those odd plastic-y hanging drapery things that are commonly used to separate the back storage area from the rest of the grocery store.
After a few minutes, she returned in triumph with 5 – yes 5 – banana boxes and offered to help me take them back to my car.
What a score!

Yeah, it's a hot summer…

July 20, 2019 / laura bruno lilly

“Luscious Lavender,” poem by Annika Perry

A sight for sore eyes, no? Thank you, Annika for giving me permission to share this as part of my little oasis offering to my readers – not that any of it will actually cool us down or offer any solutions to the state of our Global Warming Reality…but, well, we’re all entitled to a break.
While my forays into the medicinal properties of lavender are legendary, pushing the boundaries of application (remember my ‘loaded brownie’ recipe confession?), there is also the purple presence of this flowering herb to consider.

Mary Lou Mawicke Bruno headstone, Ft. Logan

A shortened stem leaning against Ma’s headstone before Dad passed away.

I love purple, it’s refreshing and mysterious all at the same time. It’s also a shared favorite color with my late Ma…
This color has a history with my family, interwoven into the fabric of our lives. Some of those threads include what I named early on as being Bruno’s Purple Giants – irises that were originally planted in our Boulder garden the first spring after we moved there (Fall 1969) and have been in the family ever since. Transplanted clumps bought from the local farm down the road, Long’s Gardens, they took to the earth and exploded into tall stems loaded with hugely fragrant, deeply lavender-purple gems.
As me and my bro grew up, married and moved into homes of our own, tubers were dug, shared and planted with each successive garden.

My flower child Michelle (notice unflattened iris stem to right of hat)

One such bed lined the front walk to our first home during our kids’ growing up years where specimens routinely grew taller than a kindergartener. Notice Michelle’s purple slicker? It rained that day back in 1992.
When she came home from school (kindergarten), the normally taller Bruno’s Purple Giants irises were slightly flattened by the intense spring storm…except one battered stem.
My flower child, Michelle, surrounded by a walkway of towering purple delights – yummy memories – and an image oasis for this mom to savor.
Last summer, while finishing the distribution of Dad’s estate and getting Ma & Dad’s house ready to sell, I angsted over a nagging reluctance to give up the remnants of the family tubers which had been growing in a corner of their neglected garden. Because hubby and I have not owned property since selling our home in 2009, it wasn’t in the best interest of those tubers to be dug up and then not transplanted. As much as I wanted to keep with tradition, it just wasn’t feasible.
Wouldn’t you know, my flower child Michelle, now all grown up, came up with a plan. At the end of her trip to meet with us to celebrate Joe’s b-day and help with the cleaning of the house and such, we dug a few up, packed them dry in brown paper bags and buried ‘em in her suitcase. Her thinking being, she could at least plant them at her (and her husband David’s) place in MI to get established there. Given the fact that those poor tubers were disrupted from their normal growth cycle, it was dicey, but worth a try. Imagine, those Bruno’s Purple Giants replanted in yet another family garden and available for us to dig a few for whenever hubby and I do settle into a home of our own with a place to garden.
Someday.
And that’s another oasis for me to think on – hope is as refreshing as a drink of cool lemonade on a hot summer’s day.

On another note – yes a little pun – please enjoy this classic and appropriate to the theme of this post video, Summer in the City by one of my fav groups* back in the day. It brings back memories of summers in Chicago as a kid growing up before we moved to Boulder…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=158&v=U5bUmx-hk-c

*for a cool – pun intended – interview with John Sebastian, click here