Everything’s Going to Be All Rice

by CZeitler

About a month ago I purchased a great deal on frozen fish. Since then I have created a couple of amazing rice bowls to enjoy. Rice from the rice cooker, baked fish, Japanese BBQ sauce or Hoisin Sauce, and then sprinkled over with the ‘Everything’s Gonna be All Rice’ seasoning that was available at Walmart for a while. I have to go light on the seasoning since it does have salt which can then overwhelm everything. This has been a fun treat a few times a month to get me to eat more fish, eat at home more, and enjoy flavors that I do not always get to enjoy.

This is what happens when you are at work, as a librarian, and notice that the t-shirt you pulled from the clean laundry pile has a couple of grease stains that are now set in and do not come out with a shout stick. You sew a felt wizards tower to cover the stains. I think this turned out well!

I am also trying to sew a skirt for my cousin’s wedding this upcoming weekend, I lost the pattern until this past Saturday, so it isn’t just that I am procrastinating. The waistband is elasticated, my left hand had ligament repair surgery, so I improvised. I used a pair of table clamps to clamp down on the waistband while the elastic is slightly stretched, then I sewed the seam. This worked really well, though since the fabric is linen some of the fibers were slightly crushed leaving tiny shiny spots that are not noticeable at all.

I asked a cousin of mine if they would like a quilt. They readily agreed so I wanted to make some samples of different colored thread. I am looking at this sampler and even I can tell that the variegated is right out, the white just blends in too well with the background fabric. Fortunately I will be seeing this cousin at the wedding and various festivities around the wedding, so I am quite excited about that.

Other than some organizing and trying to put a shed up in my back yard that is all that I have been up to. Until next time remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Travel and Time

by CZeitler

I believe I am almost entirely recovered from both the surgery and my cold. There is some white on my tongue that the Mayo Clinic website seams to indicate may be a bacterial infection, however salt water rinses should take care of that. I did manage to visit my cousin, though over the weekend rather than during the week. There is kerfuffle about the cars, however I will not bore you with that.

I absolutely love going to see my family, however I think I will limit my travel to spring and fall. In the summer work tends to take up most of my time with Summer Reading Programs, and I would like to focus on my garden some this year. Since I live in western New York winters can be dicey so I prefer to stay between work and home for those months. This means that, after the wedding, my next trip is likely going to be in October since I am teaching classes in September.

While I was visiting there was an amazing gem and mineral show that we attended. I purchased some lovely larger stones that I hope to use as focals or pendants, as well as a few tiny gem quality stones. I also had time to listen to a couple of audiobooks during my travels. One of which is “The Lost Art of Doing Nothing”. This is an amazing book that speaks about how in this day and age of instant gratification as well as the ability to entertain our selves with doomscrolling, or tik tok videos, we no longer take the time to allow ourselves to be ‘bored’. This means that all too often we do not allow ourselves to enter into a creative mindset. Most of the time the best of ideas come to you when you are in the shower or driving because you have little else to focus on so your creative mind can come out. Personally, I had a few good ideas while I was driving along so I used the notes app on my phone to make sure I will not forget them.

I hope to use this summer as a chance to explore my creativity, plant a beautiful garden, and set my workshop up for an amazing year of creativity. I am so very lucky that I have the opportunity and freedom to explore my creativity, get to spend time with my extended family more, and have an amazing job that I love. Until next time remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Too Much, Too Soon

by CZeitler

This past weekend was busy, though it could have gone much worse. Friday I missed half of staff development day, with the directors approval, and my sister and I made the 11 hour drive to where my cousin and uncle live. We got there about midnight, and were up the next morning to attend the funeral, graveside service, and memorial lunch. We did a little bit of shopping and were back in time to get invited to a family pizza fest. We ducked out of that a little early and crashed hard. The next morning we woke early to catch a cousin we had not seen in a long time, then crashed a bit more before we had to pack up, check out, and attend a lovely brunch to commemorate the family. Much was made of the little banner things I made, I hope they truly enjoyed them. There were so many people I only got a few minutes with my uncle and cousin, however I did get to spend time with family I had not seen in a while.

I also found out that another cousin was engaged to be married, I have never seen him happier than he is with his fiance. I am looking forward to seeing the family again in June for (yet another) cousin’s wedding. I love being a part of a large family, I do need to save up a bit to give them a wedding present.

We drove home on Sunday, getting there about 1am Monday. I had an appointment to get a tooth pulled at 9:30 am, which we made. It was fascinating as I swear I was only out for five minutes, but it turns out the procedure took 30 minutes. I did spend the rest of the day sleeping instead of the shopping trip my sister thought we would be taking. My supervisor had scheduled me to come back on Wednesday since I am going to be working this Saturday. I really appreciate that since I was not up to much on Tuesday.

Today is Wednesday, I am not sure if I am reacting to the surgery and antibiotics or if I have the cold that was going around work last week. Either way I seem to have a runny nose, and a slightly dry/sore throat. Plans are always shifting here. Originally I was going to attend Maryland Sheep and Wool festival, then go on to H&H Americas. Then I chose to do a car shuffle with my cousin, sister, and myself. That meant that longer trips were off the table for a bit. After that I cut my vacation in half, however, I was going to go south east to help my cousin, that I did the car shuffle with, because her dad was having a procedure. The procedure was pushed back a week, so I am not needed, and I feel slightly like garbage so I do not know if it is a good idea for me to take the trip for a visit.

My cousin who lost her mom asked for me to distract her with a quilt I will be making her, I sent and email and hope to make progress on that. At present, if I am feeling better by next Tuesday I plan on visiting my cousin for Wednesday through Friday, leave early Saturday so I can swing by and change cars with my sister, then sleep on Sunday. I think that this would be the easiest way to not feel like I am missing out on anything and still give myself a little time to figure things out. On the other hand, if I still feel like something ran me over I will probably skip everything and sleep my time off away.

Until next time remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Progress and Learning

by CZeitler

I did manage to finish my Edwardian gown sewn by hand. I do see some changes that I would certainly make, especially if I knew what I was doing. I love how the front looks, I’m not as thrilled by the back. I think I am going to try to add some to the waist to get things to be a little more flattering. This is made of cotton muslin, dyed with Rit wine dye, and with sequins added for interest.

There are two free learning opportunities coming up this week, the Quilter’s Life Summit and the Eco-Creative Summit. The first can be found here: https://the-quilters-life-summit-spring-2026.heysummit.com/?ac=UVJEWwz8&sc=qTK9onZv

https://events.hobbyscool.com/2026-eco-creative-registration-page/?affiliate=byheidigrace

I do not have any affiliation with either of these events. I plan on attending both for free and not upgrading to the paid method. I do attempt to support the events by supporting the presenters when and where I am able to.

My bead weaving class went amazingly last weekend. Everyone was amazing, I love how their projects turned out. I did focus on making sure that the materials I brought are somewhat organized once I got them home. I ensured that I have my materials for the May 30th Tapestry weaving class are mostly in one place, along with the bead weaving materials for the September class.

I do have a shed for my gardening equipment, however, I have to put it up before I can store my supplies in there…that is not going to happen for a couple of weeks at least. I did get some clover and shade wildflowers seeds scattered, and they started to poke their first 2 leaves up, unfortunately it started snowing this morning so I hope that the little bit of peat I put down will cover them enough to survive.

Sorry for the short post, I am focused on other things this week. When I have some spare time I am working on cutting out some pattern pieces for a couple of projects I hope to work on later this spring and summer. I am hoping to make a couple of memorial banners for family members before Thursday, as well as one or two sample blocks for my cousin. I believe that I managed to finish most of my pattern cutting done and will put them away before I pull out my Embroidery Machine.

Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract.

Tangled Threads

by CZeitler

*There is very little crafting content in this*

Sometimes you do ‘everything right’ and there is a tangled mess in the background. I spent quite a bit of time winding a very long warp, crocheting it into chains, and then warping the heddle. I am at the point of winding the warp onto the back beam so I can start tying onto the front beam and weaving my bog jacket. The threads have currently turned into a snarled mess that makes me want to cut the entire thing off and tie on the rest of the warp when I get time. I have had to take a break and leave things as they are until I get a little more time and patience so I can take the next step.

This is why, in my darker times, I wonder if making plans is even worth it. I had plans to do some traveling this summer, those have fallen through so I have attempted to pivot. For May I was going to have to miss my weaving guild meeting due to a conflict, that was fine, I was not that invested in the topic being discussed. I decided that I was going to miss my cousin’s bridal shower, I’m always single and didn’t want to deal with that, but I hoped to get some projects completed during that time. The bride’s mother (who had asked me to make the quilt) had been under a lot of stress attempting to help her oldest brother (my uncle) take care of his wife since she is an EMT. Unfortunately the morning of the bridal shower my aunt, my uncle’s wife, lost her battle. Instead of going to the April weaver’s guild meeting I will be attending a funeral. I am trying to be there for my cousin of that branch of the family, I will be working on making a quilt for her.

In the long run the pieces that I am having to pivot are small potatoes. I would rather be there for my family than worry about a chance to learn card weaving on an inkle loom. It looks like this year, similar to last, is going to be one of remembering what is truly important in life. Things are not all doom and gloom. I have made significant progress on sewing up my folkwear Edwardian gown. I am currently fighting with myself about adding the zipper onto the back, I would like to be able to add more authentic closures, however I am not double jointed so a Zipper is a must.

(Note, I started this post almost a week ago. I discovered that if I do not hit the ‘Save Draft’ button at the top then the draft is not saved for me to work on it on other devices. The rest of this post is from the 17th of April, while the first is from the 12 of April.)

I did manage to get the zipper added as well as remembering that I wanted to add pockets. It fits amazingly well, I am so pleased. I do plan on using Rit dye in the color Wine to add a pink to red color to this dress. I am hoping that it either turns out pink or burgundy-ish. I then hope to put some hot-fix rhinestones on to add a small amount of weight in the hem and decoration. I am hoping to ask one of my colleagues to take photos of me in the dress on Monday so I can send them in to the Folkwear contest.

I have made no progress on getting the rigid heddle loom warped up, I will in the near future, however it just seemed so daunting when I have this dress to finish and a funeral to attend. The funeral is next weekend so I have not dealt with that yet. Next week is going to be quite busy for me, I am planning on using a system of treats to allow me to get through the week in a relatively positive way. Every day is a chance for new adventures and new blessings. Often it is your attitude that gets you through each day, and sometimes bed rotting for a day or two is the only way to get through things.

Until next time remember to Live Life in a way that is A Little More Abstract.

Busy Weekend

by CZeitler

My sister has been without a car for a couple of years now. She lives in a larger city in Pennsylvania so she could use a bus to get around, however the busses are not always reliable and she often has to call an uber or another transportation service that is a bit costly. In 2023 I was able to get financing to purchase a hybrid car that will be paid off in 2031. One of our cousins in New Jersey managed to get a scratch on the side of her car that her insurance considers ‘totaled’. She fixed that car up and gave it to me, I gave my car to my sister (I’ll still work on paying it off), so that we both have vehicles. I am very grateful that I was able to do this, I didn’t realize how much it was stressing me that she did not have transportation. This did force me to clear out my car, which allowed me to find some amazing items that I ‘lost’ in the car. I am trying to keep my new to me car a bit cleaner.

Since we were visiting our cousin I decided to stay on a few extra days to hang out with the family, it is always fun to spend time with them. We visited a huge mall and I was able to find some mini block kits for over 1/2 off, and I treated myself. These are the super cute ‘monsters’ from Pac Man, I have the PacMan head and cherries to put together another time. I have been getting some spinning and weaving done on a tapestry piece that I choose to call my “Vacation Tapestry: Time is Fleeting”.

I also attempted to be a ‘passenger princess’ and craft in the passenger seat of the car since my sister drove us both up in my car. This did work somewhat, but not entirely. I managed to get some braiding done on a new kumihimo braid in Christmas Colors. Not as much as I wanted, though I did get some dozing done, I haven’t been able to sleep in a car in quite some time.

This was an amazing trip. It has taken a lot off of my mind, we both have transportation, my car insurance cost went down significantly, and I have had time to get quite a bit done. With the cost of gas this summer, the fact that my new to me car has horrible gas milage, and other considerations means that I am going to spend more time at home this summer. This is going to be a great boon for me. I am going to finally get my home organization finished, I have definite steps to take. My garden and garden storage are going to be greatly improved this summer. I have clover that I need to plant when the winter weather holds off for a few days, and there are English summer garden bulbs on the way for me to plant when frost holds off. At work we created ‘Seed Balls’, because b-o-m-b is a Nono word in a public library, and several of the seeds need to be stratified in a cold environment (kept in the fridge) for 30-60 days. That means that I have several seed balls that will be thrown in my back yard the beginning of May and a few that will be thrown the beginning of June. I am very excited to see if these are going to bloom.

Okay, I think that is enough for this post. Until next time remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Keeping the Flow Going

by CZeitler

I have been asked to teach two different craft classes for another library. One is a bead weaving craft class. I made a lovely piece with size 8 beads out of blue with a red heart and diamond. To ensure that I have some pieces in different sizes I used size 11/0 seed beads to create the moon wall hanging, the random forest colors are out of 8/0 and the various plus signs is out of 6/0 beads. I love how these turned out, they were so much fun to put together, I am very exciting to teach this class. It is fun to purchase the supplies knowing that people are going to love learning this skill. Apparently there were enough people that signed up so another class was requested. Unfortunately Saturday’s are very busy for me so I cannot teach another Saturday class (other than the 2 scheduled) until September. The second class is going to be weaving a tapestry pouch using cardboard and worsted weight yarn. Both of these are going to be a ton of fun, and easy to learn.

This is only part of what is going on in my life right now, this is the fun part really. I have some dental problems that I am getting treatment for, which is very expensive and anxiety inducing. Fortunately I have enough money to cover my bills and basic expenses.

At present I am working on making an Edwardian Gown using a Folkwear Pattern. There is a contest where Threads and Folkwear have teamed up to offer a prize, I hope to enter with this gown. I am making it out of Muslin cloth, dyed red with some trim. Hopefully this will turn out good enough that I can wear it to my cousin’s wedding.

Life is amazing, I am so lucky for everything that I have and can do. The weather is warming up so I hope to be able to work on my garden/yard soon.

I wrote this post several weeks ago, so the information is accurate, but a little out of date. I am going to post this today, and follow up early next week with updates to this post and what I was up to the last weekend in March. Until then, remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Living for the Day

by CZeitler

I am very lucky. I make sure to remind myself of that frequently as it is too easy to take things for granted. I have a paycheck that covers my bills with a little left over for things like food, gas, and crafting materials. I am not rolling in it, if I want to do a big weaving project I will need to save up and the same if I want to take a bigger trip.

I was thinking today that I should start creating materials to sell online for Pride in June. I tend to stick too close to the actual holidays to create for them, for example I tend to start making for Halloween in September, when I should be creating in April. December crafts should be started in June, etc. Right now I want to make things for spring, however they would likely not be finished until summer. That caused me to come to a realization. I do not need to.

My online store, which almost never has anything in it because etsy takes such a huge chunk out of any profits, was started when I was in a really tight financial bind. I have taken appropriate steps since then and no longer find myself in that immediate situation. Since I work in a non-profit field I am still living paycheck to paycheck, however I am not living off of rice, beans, and chicken 20 out of 31 days a month. This caused me to realize that I can, once more, create items that I would like to create instead of thinking about what might sell. Admittedly I did not have much success with that anyway, but the thought is there.

I do have some family members that commission me for different projects, and I have the opportunity to teach two classes later this spring, however I can use the profits for those to support my creative journey and/or pay down some things like my car and mortgage.

I am going to take the rest of this year to remind myself that I can enjoy my life, I do not have to spend money all the time, I do not have to worry about my roof, transportation, or food, so I am very lucky. This spring and summer I will concentrate on my creativity, garden, family, and going to the beach when I can. My life is so full, I am so lucky, and I get to help people every day I work in one way or another. Being a librarian sounds like a dull job, I understand that.

Every time we have a new security guard, yes a public library needs a security guard, they are surprised at how much work they have. Since we allow everyone in, no matter their history, and they can stay as long as they follow our expected behaviors. We have computers, so there are people searching for jobs and apartments, trying to create or update their resumes, searching for information, genealogical history, and so much more. People are learning how to use a 3-d printer or getting items printed. Sometimes they are trying to search out medical information, how to build things, wire things, repair cars, garden, take Civil Service Tests and so much more. We have fiction books on all different topics, a robust e-book and e-audio book collections, Young Adult, and periodicals (magazines). I need to have a working knowledge of our collection, the programs we offer, and all different aspects of the library. I am in charge of most of the collection development so I need to know what our patrons are looking for and what is currently hot, I do some programming, and I spend about half of my time on one of the service desks. I love my job, I love every aspect, even the problematic patrons, and staying busy. I cannot imagine working in a different field. Hopefully I can get back to reading, as I do not spend enough time reading and enjoying getting lost in a story.

I need to remember to Live Life in a way that is A Little More Abstract. Don’t take myself too seriously, and enjoy each day as it comes.

Figure Out What You Can Live With

by CZeitler

My Aunt asked me to quilt a quilt top she had made for her daughter. I initially resisted because I want her to approve and knew that my skills were not to the point where I was really comfortable taking this commission. I was afraid I would majorly screw it up, however I agreed despite my reservations. Now it has been over a year since I received the quilt top, my Aunt has been talking to her sisters (my other aunts) asking if they have heard anything about the quilt top. I did screw some things up. When I was first quilting using my embroidery machine I listened to conventional wisdom and left as much background around the edges as I could, I managed to get most of the fabric unpicked from where it folded under. Since I had so much bulk of the quilt around the edges of the hoop my machine now prefers to have the hoop at a slight angle before it will finish stitching a pattern. The, sort of expensive, quilting background fabric in a wide width, did not take to the dense embroidery I wanted to use for the quilt label. That took 4 tries and finally using a different fabric, which does not really match as it is an almost latte color. I finally let my aunt know that I was finished, she sent a much more generous payment than I asked for, and now I just have to send the quilt top off. I know I am stressing her out, however I am also stressing myself out.

Can I actually send the quilt off with that piece of fabric on the back and the quilt label so mismatched? I was terrified of starting the project, so it took me several months to even get the quilt sandwich made. Once I had started, and trimmed off the extra backing after the doubled over problem, I noticed that some of the pieces that had been appliqued came loose. I checked with my aunt to see if she wanted those stitched down in invisible thread, she agreed. I hand stitched each piece down, that took some time. Now I am supposed to send this off on Wednesday, it is Saturday today, and I am at work. I think I have to try to remake the label on a fabric that more closely matches the quilt back. I cannot in good conscience send the quilt the way it is now. I don’t think I can pick much more of that selvedge piece that got caught out of the back, however, I can change the label (I hope). I did also make ‘matching’ pillow cases to add to the Wedding present.

I am sorry for the stress I am causing her, and the stress that this is causing me. I do not know if I regret this commission or not. I’ve accepted another for some crosses from a different aunt, however I know what she is looking for and should be able to get those done quickly.

I probably did not know how much this has been weighing on me. Now I understand why I have not wanted to send this off, I cannot stand the label…I might try to do a fake miter for the corners of the binding as well since I do not like how those look either.

Wish me luck, I hope to get all of this done this afternoon into tomorrow. I have made some progress on getting my embroidery pieces for February done, it’s only March 7! Lol.

Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract, and decide what you can live with and what you cannot.

Looking to the Future

by CZeitler

Every day brings something new and special to the world. I was able to spend time with my family, and will be able to spend another weekend with my family again soon. The weather is warming up in Western New York, though it will cool down again soon, and spring is just around the corner. March 3, there is an Embroidery Extravaganza happening through Creative Spark. This learning opportunity is a treat to myself, something that I can look forward to and that should spark my imagination for the rest of the year.

One of my cousin’s daughters is getting interested in embroidery and sewing, like me she enjoys using the proper terminology for different stitches. I gave her a choice of having the finished pouch or a kit to put together, and she chose a kit. I am really looking forward to seeing them soon.

I spent the past week having sleeping problems. The 21st was the anniversary of my dad’s passing, February has always sort of sucked since then. I suppose the weather taking a turn for the worse did not help me any. I did get around to spending a few hours stitching up some more circles for my larger project, though certainly not the one a day I was supposed to do.

That is about all for right now, I will post more as I get more finished. I’m trying to look on the bright side, even while not in the best of moods, and having sleeping problems. All of the gardening site I follow keep saying that it is time to start planting seedlings, however, it is not safe to plant outside until the end of May in my area, so spring is a little ways away right now.

Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!