Happy Memorial Day, everyone.
Here in northern California, it's perfect Memorial Day weather...clear and sunny, warm (estimated to get up to mid-80's) and pleasantly breezy. Perfect picnic weather.
I've spent the morning working in the garden, feeding drip irrigation lines to the flowers I've planted over the last week. And, as Caroline is off having a playdate with her friend Sarah and as Roger is occupied with his work, I will spend the afternoon getting a bit of legal work out of the way.
But late this afternoon, our friends Laura and Matt, with their two sons Chris and Trevor, will come over for a casual outdoor dinner. We've not had a chance to catch up with them in a bit, even though Chris is in the same grade at the same school as Caroline and we often pass before and after school. Laura's on the PTO board with me, so we see each other there, too. But things have been busy for all of us lately, so it feels like a long time since we've just hung out for fun.
Inspired by my trip to the Scharfffen Berger chocolate factory, Caroline and I made brownies from scratch this morning, to have for dessert tonight. The recipe is a new one, but sounds wonderful. Here it is:
Triple Chocolate Brownies
2 Tb unsalted butter + more for greasing
4 ounces semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
2 lge eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8 or 9-inch pan with butter, set aside.
Combine the chocolate, water, and butter in a medium heavy pot over low heat, stirring occasionally. When the chocolate is just melted, turn off the heat and add the cocoa powder. Stir until combined, and set aside to cool for a few minutes.
Add eggs, sugar, and vanilla and stir until well-blended. Add flour, baking soda and salt and stir until no flour shows. Stir in chocolate chips (and nuts, if desired).
Scrape batter into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, until top feels firm and brownies pull away from the sides. Remove from oven and cool. Cut into small pieces (they're rich!) and serve.
Sounds chocolatey and yummy, don't they?
The actual meal will consist of grilled fish sandwiches (we're on a grilled fish sandwich kick -- grilled mahi mahi or orange roughy, on a soft french roll with mashed avocado, louie dressing, and slices of iceberg lettuce) for the adults, grilled hot dogs for the kids, potato salad (our local small grocery store makes their own and it's fabulous) and coleslaw, from this recipe:
Asian Coleslaw
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons oriental sesame oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
shredded cabbage
chopped celery
chopped onion
Salt and pepper to taste
Whisk first 6 ingredients in large bowl to blend. Mix in cabbage, celery, onion. Season with salt and pepper. Chill at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours to blend flavors, tossing occasionally.
Margaritas will, most likely, be consumed as well.
Apparently I'm in a food sort of mood. (I heard a new term on tv yesterday: "foodgasm." Self explanatory, yes? ) So I'm looking forward to a nice evening, eating outside with friends.
I hope you're all having a festive holiday, as well.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Sunday, May 29, 2005
A Delightful Day
I had the BEST day on Friday. We "fab five friends" (minus one -- Rita is away visiting her daughter and having fun without us) spent the day in Berkeley. Janet, who used to live there and knows the area well, was our activities director. She arranged for us to start the morning with a tour of the Scharffen-Berger Chocolate Factory. Ah, Chocolate: the perfect start to any day!
If you haven't heard of Scharffen Berger chocolate, it's a relatively new (since 1997, I learned) gourmet "artisanal" chocolate, from a tiny company begun by two guys, a wine-maker and a retired physician. They went to Europe and learned the old, artisan-style method of making chocolate. They make all of the chocolate at their tiny Berkeley factory, using vintage machines from the 20's and 30's. The factory is also in an historic building, made in 1906 (just after the big earthquake) from local bricks. So, outside the factory, you stand and gaze up at this lovely old brick building and see this sign, and inhale the incredibly strong, rich smell of dark chocolate. It's just wafting through the air everywhere there. Heaven.
As it turned out, the tour was fantastic. (And that's saying something, given that we had to all wear dorky hairnets AND I had to wear THEIR clog shoes as they required closed-toe shoes in the factory and I was wearing sandals that day. (What strange things would YOU wear to get free, gourmet chocolate?!) It started with a talk about the history of chocolate, how and where it is grown, and we got to see, feel, and even taste bits of the chcolate bean. Have you ever crunched a chocolate "nib"? That's the roasted inside of a cocoa bean...sort of a non-sweet, but cocoa-ish walnut texture. Very interesting. Then, into the factory, to see the chocolate actually being made (unlike the Hershey tour, where you stand behind glass and watch a demo of how Hershey makes chocolate, somewhere else).
Here is the cocoa bean roaster, which is basically a coffee been roaster. There's even a little sign stuck on saying where this batch of beans comes from (Costa Rica).
You can't see the beans in there, but trust me, they were there. Then, on to the machine that crushes the nibs and eventually breaks them down to a gooey chocolate mass:
Yep, that's chocolate goop coating the two grinding wheels. It was sort of intoxicating to peer into that machine and see that mass of whirling dark chocolate while smelling that rich, dark smell. One could easily swoon and topple right in!
Here's a shot of newly-formed chocolate bars coming down the line...very exciting. Those little dribbled bits at the end of the line drop into a bucket and are eventually dumped back into a vat, melted, and then formed back into perfect bars. Chocolate can be re-melted, tempered, and formed over and over, so if the find mistakes or bubbles in the bars, they just remelt, re-temper, and re-form them. Darn--no seconds at this factory.
Here's another shot of this conveyor belt with more chocolate. And see those people in the background? Wearing the dorky hair-covering nets? That's what we were wearing and that's pretty much how we looked. (Janet wouldn't let me take a picture of them.) One bearded fellow even had to wear a special beard-covering net on his chin which was very amusing.
But I digress.
Here's a lady whose job it is to pop lovely, dark bricks of chocolate out of their molds. That white tub in the foreground is full of them! Yummers!
And here's where little chocolate items get bagged. It looked like she was putting chocolate covered cranberries or some such delicacy into bags, here.
By the way, Sharffen-Berger has a cool website where you can take a virtual tour and see better photos than mine. And, just so you know, you can order chocolate online here!
After the tour, we made a trip through the gift shop and all bought souvenirs (edible ones, for the most part). Then, surprising, we were hungry. Fortunately, there's the Cafe Cacao right on site! We had a gorgeous lunch there (and no, we didn't have any chocolate there, although the desserts looked fabulous!) Many of the items on the menu featured chocolate in some form: a chicken mole pressed sandwich (which Pat and Janet had and raved about), a salad with cocoa nib vinaigrette... I had a lovely pressed ham and gruyere cheese sandwich with a delicious tomato and apricot chutney. The perfect salty/tangy combo to offset that chocolate lingering on my palate! It really was a lovely cafe with delicious food. We all agreed that we'd highly recommend the tour to others. (And, by the way, most of the people on the tour were visiting from out-of-state.)
From there, we ventured to 4th Street, a great shopping area in Berkeley with some terrific little shops AND a Crate and Barrel outlet! We all found good bargains there: I came away with Sunbrella (you know, that outdoor fabric that doesn't stain or mildew or fade in the sun) cushions for our patio chairs, a great deep red rug for in front of the kitchen sink, and a wire window-box planter for my sister's birthday in a few days. Score!
After that excitement, we went to our favorite Berkeley haunt, a wonderful fabric store called New Pieces. It's especially fun because, besides the great fabric they always have, they have a gallery a few doors up the street where they hang collections from various quilters. This month, they were featuring a group of quilts made together by Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston, two of my favorite quilters.
In case you're not familiar with their work, Freddy is famous for her use of bright colors interspersed with black and white prints for a very lively look. (You can see a bunch of them, here.) Gwen is known for (among other things) her "liberated quiltmaking" style of wacky, free-form versions of traditional blocks. I especially love Freddy, because I consider her responsible for getting me back into quilting after I'd been away for it for so long. I started quilting in college, when we used cardboard templates, carefully pieced dull little calico prints... and back then, I thought it was fun...but I went on to law school and then work and didn't have time or energy for it. I happened to stumble onto Freddy's book "Freddy's Houses" just when Caroline was entering preschool, and it was seeing her exciting and happy quilts that made me realize that traditional blocks didn't have to look traditional. I was electrified by the possibility of using all that color and pattern. Lucky for me, Freddy lives across the bay (on the Berkeley side, in Orinda) and she teaches at local shops. I was thrilled to get to meet her (I gushed and gushed at her, at how I loved her quilts, and how they made me see a whole new world of quilting, and how she'd changed my life...until she probably thought I was some strange and overly emotional stalker type.) Anyway, since then I've taken numerous classes with her --not becuase what she teaches is difficult, but because she's such a lovely and fun person and her classes really are wonderful fun. I think I'm a Freddy Groupie.
Oops, I'm digressing again. But that's why I was excited to see this collection of Freddy's latest quilts, with Gwen. Here's a photo of a typical one:
Now, a lot of people might think this sort of quilt is garish and wacky and bright. But actually, what I love about them: they are, well, garish and wacky and bright! I love that traditional blocks are livened up with wild color and nontraditional design. Note the amazing border on this one above...Freddy makes great fun borders.
Here's another one I really liked, which shows off Gwen's "liberated" baskets perfectly with Freddy's color:
And this one, titled "Little House in the Big Woods," is my favorite.
See that little tiny house block in the middle there? I love it. You can see more of their collaboration here.
I was excited to find the perfect backing fabric for the polka dot quilt I'm working on...you'll see it when the quilt is finished. And I came away with the book from the 2004 Visions Quilt Show, which is full of amazing and inspirational art.
It was a fabulous day, and Gerrie, Janet, Pat and I have such fun together that we didn't even mind the traffic on the way home. I got back to find that Roger had grilled mahi mahi for fish sandwiches (on good rolls, with Louie dressing and lettuce) and sweet potato fries on the side and a chilled glass of white wine...the perfect end to a perfect day.
If you haven't heard of Scharffen Berger chocolate, it's a relatively new (since 1997, I learned) gourmet "artisanal" chocolate, from a tiny company begun by two guys, a wine-maker and a retired physician. They went to Europe and learned the old, artisan-style method of making chocolate. They make all of the chocolate at their tiny Berkeley factory, using vintage machines from the 20's and 30's. The factory is also in an historic building, made in 1906 (just after the big earthquake) from local bricks. So, outside the factory, you stand and gaze up at this lovely old brick building and see this sign, and inhale the incredibly strong, rich smell of dark chocolate. It's just wafting through the air everywhere there. Heaven.
As it turned out, the tour was fantastic. (And that's saying something, given that we had to all wear dorky hairnets AND I had to wear THEIR clog shoes as they required closed-toe shoes in the factory and I was wearing sandals that day. (What strange things would YOU wear to get free, gourmet chocolate?!) It started with a talk about the history of chocolate, how and where it is grown, and we got to see, feel, and even taste bits of the chcolate bean. Have you ever crunched a chocolate "nib"? That's the roasted inside of a cocoa bean...sort of a non-sweet, but cocoa-ish walnut texture. Very interesting. Then, into the factory, to see the chocolate actually being made (unlike the Hershey tour, where you stand behind glass and watch a demo of how Hershey makes chocolate, somewhere else).
Here is the cocoa bean roaster, which is basically a coffee been roaster. There's even a little sign stuck on saying where this batch of beans comes from (Costa Rica).
You can't see the beans in there, but trust me, they were there. Then, on to the machine that crushes the nibs and eventually breaks them down to a gooey chocolate mass:
Yep, that's chocolate goop coating the two grinding wheels. It was sort of intoxicating to peer into that machine and see that mass of whirling dark chocolate while smelling that rich, dark smell. One could easily swoon and topple right in!
Here's a shot of newly-formed chocolate bars coming down the line...very exciting. Those little dribbled bits at the end of the line drop into a bucket and are eventually dumped back into a vat, melted, and then formed back into perfect bars. Chocolate can be re-melted, tempered, and formed over and over, so if the find mistakes or bubbles in the bars, they just remelt, re-temper, and re-form them. Darn--no seconds at this factory.
Here's another shot of this conveyor belt with more chocolate. And see those people in the background? Wearing the dorky hair-covering nets? That's what we were wearing and that's pretty much how we looked. (Janet wouldn't let me take a picture of them.) One bearded fellow even had to wear a special beard-covering net on his chin which was very amusing.
But I digress.
Here's a lady whose job it is to pop lovely, dark bricks of chocolate out of their molds. That white tub in the foreground is full of them! Yummers!
And here's where little chocolate items get bagged. It looked like she was putting chocolate covered cranberries or some such delicacy into bags, here.
By the way, Sharffen-Berger has a cool website where you can take a virtual tour and see better photos than mine. And, just so you know, you can order chocolate online here!
After the tour, we made a trip through the gift shop and all bought souvenirs (edible ones, for the most part). Then, surprising, we were hungry. Fortunately, there's the Cafe Cacao right on site! We had a gorgeous lunch there (and no, we didn't have any chocolate there, although the desserts looked fabulous!) Many of the items on the menu featured chocolate in some form: a chicken mole pressed sandwich (which Pat and Janet had and raved about), a salad with cocoa nib vinaigrette... I had a lovely pressed ham and gruyere cheese sandwich with a delicious tomato and apricot chutney. The perfect salty/tangy combo to offset that chocolate lingering on my palate! It really was a lovely cafe with delicious food. We all agreed that we'd highly recommend the tour to others. (And, by the way, most of the people on the tour were visiting from out-of-state.)
From there, we ventured to 4th Street, a great shopping area in Berkeley with some terrific little shops AND a Crate and Barrel outlet! We all found good bargains there: I came away with Sunbrella (you know, that outdoor fabric that doesn't stain or mildew or fade in the sun) cushions for our patio chairs, a great deep red rug for in front of the kitchen sink, and a wire window-box planter for my sister's birthday in a few days. Score!
After that excitement, we went to our favorite Berkeley haunt, a wonderful fabric store called New Pieces. It's especially fun because, besides the great fabric they always have, they have a gallery a few doors up the street where they hang collections from various quilters. This month, they were featuring a group of quilts made together by Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston, two of my favorite quilters.
In case you're not familiar with their work, Freddy is famous for her use of bright colors interspersed with black and white prints for a very lively look. (You can see a bunch of them, here.) Gwen is known for (among other things) her "liberated quiltmaking" style of wacky, free-form versions of traditional blocks. I especially love Freddy, because I consider her responsible for getting me back into quilting after I'd been away for it for so long. I started quilting in college, when we used cardboard templates, carefully pieced dull little calico prints... and back then, I thought it was fun...but I went on to law school and then work and didn't have time or energy for it. I happened to stumble onto Freddy's book "Freddy's Houses" just when Caroline was entering preschool, and it was seeing her exciting and happy quilts that made me realize that traditional blocks didn't have to look traditional. I was electrified by the possibility of using all that color and pattern. Lucky for me, Freddy lives across the bay (on the Berkeley side, in Orinda) and she teaches at local shops. I was thrilled to get to meet her (I gushed and gushed at her, at how I loved her quilts, and how they made me see a whole new world of quilting, and how she'd changed my life...until she probably thought I was some strange and overly emotional stalker type.) Anyway, since then I've taken numerous classes with her --not becuase what she teaches is difficult, but because she's such a lovely and fun person and her classes really are wonderful fun. I think I'm a Freddy Groupie.
Oops, I'm digressing again. But that's why I was excited to see this collection of Freddy's latest quilts, with Gwen. Here's a photo of a typical one:
Now, a lot of people might think this sort of quilt is garish and wacky and bright. But actually, what I love about them: they are, well, garish and wacky and bright! I love that traditional blocks are livened up with wild color and nontraditional design. Note the amazing border on this one above...Freddy makes great fun borders.
Here's another one I really liked, which shows off Gwen's "liberated" baskets perfectly with Freddy's color:
And this one, titled "Little House in the Big Woods," is my favorite.
See that little tiny house block in the middle there? I love it. You can see more of their collaboration here.
I was excited to find the perfect backing fabric for the polka dot quilt I'm working on...you'll see it when the quilt is finished. And I came away with the book from the 2004 Visions Quilt Show, which is full of amazing and inspirational art.
It was a fabulous day, and Gerrie, Janet, Pat and I have such fun together that we didn't even mind the traffic on the way home. I got back to find that Roger had grilled mahi mahi for fish sandwiches (on good rolls, with Louie dressing and lettuce) and sweet potato fries on the side and a chilled glass of white wine...the perfect end to a perfect day.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
What nice teeth you have...
This sort of sums up my day yesterday.
I spent much of the day, from about 11:30 am until about 5:30 pm, in the dentist chair. My dentist took me at my word when I asked if I could just be sedated and have him fix everything at once before I get braces...so, yesterday was all of the work on the left side of my mouth. He replaced old fillings, prepared for 2 crowns, and removed a tooth to make room for my crowded front teeth to be gently (?) adjusted via orthodontia into straight, lovely teeth.
I came home heavily drugged, slept, and today am remaining pleasantly spacy on pain medication.
I am having interesting dreams, including one in which I learned that my mother decided to grow marijuana plants in her backyard, and another in which I found myself driving around in a VW bug with Niles Crane. Go figure.
I'm not operating heavy machinery, or even light machinery, today, so no sewing for me.
I am, however, contemplating a tooth-themed quilt!
Monday, May 23, 2005
Sunny Sunday
Here's what I did on Sunday.
I planted this flower bed, and an identical one that you can't see, which is out of the picture to the right. Now, this probably doesn't look like much...but trust me, this was HARD work. The main problem is that our soil is hard clay. I'm convinced that if you grabbed a ball of the stuff and put it in a kiln, you could bake it into a hard, unbreakable ball. We spent a lot of money amending the soil two years ago when the backyard went from a big expanse of bare dirt (which is how it was when we moved into our newly built house). So, this is the improved soil, which isn't saying much. Trust me, using a trowel to dig out holes for little six-pack flower starts is murder. I've bent several trowels so far.
Still, the yard is shaping up, if I do say so. I planted cosmos, petunias, verbena, and lobelia. And see that rose bush there in the middle? It bears pink AND white roses! It's some sort of fancy grafting, but it's very cool. See?
A pink rose, and a white one. On the same bush. Caroline loves this.
Also, I've told you about the lilac hibiscus plant that I love because of the way the flowers swirl in amazing spirals. Here's what I mean:
An opening blossom...
Partly open...And here's one wide open:
Gorgeous, aren't they?
I planted this flower bed, and an identical one that you can't see, which is out of the picture to the right. Now, this probably doesn't look like much...but trust me, this was HARD work. The main problem is that our soil is hard clay. I'm convinced that if you grabbed a ball of the stuff and put it in a kiln, you could bake it into a hard, unbreakable ball. We spent a lot of money amending the soil two years ago when the backyard went from a big expanse of bare dirt (which is how it was when we moved into our newly built house). So, this is the improved soil, which isn't saying much. Trust me, using a trowel to dig out holes for little six-pack flower starts is murder. I've bent several trowels so far.
Still, the yard is shaping up, if I do say so. I planted cosmos, petunias, verbena, and lobelia. And see that rose bush there in the middle? It bears pink AND white roses! It's some sort of fancy grafting, but it's very cool. See?
A pink rose, and a white one. On the same bush. Caroline loves this.
Also, I've told you about the lilac hibiscus plant that I love because of the way the flowers swirl in amazing spirals. Here's what I mean:
An opening blossom...
Partly open...And here's one wide open:
Gorgeous, aren't they?
A Very Shibori Day
What the heck is this lady doing, you ask?
This is Joy-Lily, a shibori artist who taught a guild workshop last friday. Here, she's demonstrating how to make a "nose" (and you were thinking of a different part of the body, weren't you?!) which will result in a circular pattern when dyed.
Here's Gerrie, concentrating on wrapping her silk. It's HARD, all that wrapping and twisting and tying.
See, Janet and Pat are wearing serious faces of concentration, too. I was glad to try this, but I'm not sure I'm gonna do much. For the effort, the scrunching is more my speed (fast) and my style (slapdash).
Still, the results are pretty and fun. These were from others in the class whose pieces dried pretty quickly.
And this is Pat, Janet, and Gerrie looking happy and pretending they made these.
I'll post my fabrics when I have them ironed. I did one silk piece, which is pretty but not colors whose final result surprised me, and a piece of cotton which took a lot of work to wrap but is interesting looking. All said, it was a fun day, but not a great class as classes go. If you're ever inclined to take a workshop from this woman, email me and I'll tell you more.
By the way, this picture cracks me up, because it's a picture of Gerrie taking a picture for HER blog. Taking a photo of a blogger in the pre-blog process amuses me no end!
Friday, May 20, 2005
It's going to be a good day...
I know it's going to be a good day, because...
1. The first email that arrived in my inbox this morning informed me that I've won 1.5 million euros in an international lottery. And I'm feeling so fabulous that I won't even claim the money. Or perhaps I'll be very generous and assign my claim to the winnings to that fellow in Nigeria who keeps writing me to ask for help.
2. I'm off for the day to take a shibori dyeing workshop with artist Joy Lily, along with my good friends Gerrie, Pat, and Janet. Fun ahead!
3. My sister is picking Caroline up for school, so I don't have to rush home! I'm free!
4. Later on, Caroline, Laura (my sister) and I will have a girl's movie/pizza night to watch A Series of Unfortunate Events together. (If you haven't seen this movie -- which you should because Jim Carey and Meryl Streep are incredibly funny and clever in it -- it's worth renting it just to see the title/credit sequences. Sort of Edward Gorey-esque but with a different edge, very artful.)
5. It's sunny, and promises to be warm, which means we'll probably dye fabric outside on the courtyard.
6. My heirloom roses are blooming and they smell heavenly!
Hope you all have a nice day ahead!
1. The first email that arrived in my inbox this morning informed me that I've won 1.5 million euros in an international lottery. And I'm feeling so fabulous that I won't even claim the money. Or perhaps I'll be very generous and assign my claim to the winnings to that fellow in Nigeria who keeps writing me to ask for help.
2. I'm off for the day to take a shibori dyeing workshop with artist Joy Lily, along with my good friends Gerrie, Pat, and Janet. Fun ahead!
3. My sister is picking Caroline up for school, so I don't have to rush home! I'm free!
4. Later on, Caroline, Laura (my sister) and I will have a girl's movie/pizza night to watch A Series of Unfortunate Events together. (If you haven't seen this movie -- which you should because Jim Carey and Meryl Streep are incredibly funny and clever in it -- it's worth renting it just to see the title/credit sequences. Sort of Edward Gorey-esque but with a different edge, very artful.)
5. It's sunny, and promises to be warm, which means we'll probably dye fabric outside on the courtyard.
6. My heirloom roses are blooming and they smell heavenly!
Hope you all have a nice day ahead!
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Stripping fun
I've been having such a good time with my mindless paper piecing project! First, I pulled out all of my bright polka dots and arranged them. Don't they look pretty?
Here are the "lights."
I'm paper piecing arcs for my circle project...Here's one.
And look! I've done a whole bunch!
They're very fun and happy. And, as I keep saying, totally brainless. Gee, I have so many strips cut, I'll just have to keep going...and going...and going...
Here are the "lights."
I'm paper piecing arcs for my circle project...Here's one.
And look! I've done a whole bunch!
They're very fun and happy. And, as I keep saying, totally brainless. Gee, I have so many strips cut, I'll just have to keep going...and going...and going...
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Email as Fiction
I got into bed last night with a new novel from the library. It's called "Dear Stranger, Dearest Friend" by Laney Katz Becker. I'd pulled it off the shelf because it promised to be the story of a friendship unfolding between two women as they corresponded with each other. I love books written through letters and journal entries.
Anyway, I got about half-way through and only put it down because it was midnight and I was too tired. But I wanted to keep reading. The novel involves a woman who posts a message on a breast cancer internet message board because she discovers a lump, and the email relationship she develops with a breast cancer survivor who answers her. The story unfolds through their emails.
It's easy reading -- as easy as reading email! -- and it's interesting, poignant, and personal. My sister has survived breast cancer, as have several friends, so it hits subjects and emotions very close to home.
And it reminds me of how surprisingly easy it can be to make friends -- even close friends -- through email. I'm so glad for my friends, and the new ones I've made (and am making) through the Artful Quilters Web Ring.
Anyway, I got about half-way through and only put it down because it was midnight and I was too tired. But I wanted to keep reading. The novel involves a woman who posts a message on a breast cancer internet message board because she discovers a lump, and the email relationship she develops with a breast cancer survivor who answers her. The story unfolds through their emails.
It's easy reading -- as easy as reading email! -- and it's interesting, poignant, and personal. My sister has survived breast cancer, as have several friends, so it hits subjects and emotions very close to home.
And it reminds me of how surprisingly easy it can be to make friends -- even close friends -- through email. I'm so glad for my friends, and the new ones I've made (and am making) through the Artful Quilters Web Ring.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
Studio Confidante
Do you have a Studio Confidante? You know, someone who lives in your studio and keeps you company and makes you smile?
I have two. Above, that's Hilda Haagen-Daas, and I love her. She was made by my friend Elaine Benjamin, who makes and sells the most gorgeous art dolls. You probably can't tell too well on the photo, but Hilda has a tiny copper moon face, and hair made of copper nails. She has wooden ice cream spoon hands, which explains the --shall we say, comfortable? -- proportions of her "figure 8."
Here's the other:
I've had this lovely wooden mermaid for many years. I got her on Nantucket, where I was drawn to her and couldn't leave the island without her. Her waist and tail are hinged, so she's sort of posable. But mostly she lounges on the bookshelf, gazing peacefully down at me.
I was inspired to show you my Confidantes after reading Stephanie's wonderful blog. (Stephanie, by the way, is one of two amazingly creative daughters of my buddy and our fellow ring-member Gerrie.) Her blog pointed me to this site, where you can see a whole slide show of various folks' Studio Confidantes.
I'd love to see yours! If you post yours on your blog, put a comment on this entry so people will know where to look!
Saturday, May 14, 2005
Wanting a Piece O' Cake
No, I didn't make this. Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins, of "Piece O' Cake Designs," did. It's in their new book, "Quilts with a Spin," and it was also on a cover of a recent Quilters Newsletter Magazein. I love those circles!
You see, I’ve been in the mood to sew something easy and mindless. You know, where you can sit at the sewing machine with good music or tv in the background, and just grab fabric and sew without making decisions.
This sort of mood is generally reflective of having to think too much in my non-quilting life! I have a lot of work on my desk... I did finish that appellate brief, and on time without any “all-nighters,” so that was good. Now I have three simultaneous projects: an intellectual property case, a criminal case in which I have to do some motions to exclude evidence, and a products liability civil case involving a defective cement form hoisting mechanism. They’re all fairly interesting (well, I guess interesting is a relative term...trust me, it could be far worse) and I like the variety.
But as a result of all this thinking, I want stress-free sewing. As much as I love the design wall designing process, in this sort of mood I don’t want to have to constantly decide what I want where. I need slapdash, spontaneous stuff. No thinking, just sewing. Do you ever feel that way?
At times like these, I often pull out the large rubbermaid full of scraps at the bottom of the closet and sew crazy log cabin type blocks, which I then use for quilts to donate to a local children’s shelter. They’re fun, happy, and mindless. But I’ve done a lot of those in recent months, so I’m up for something else.
A month or two ago, Quilters Newsletter magazine had a quilt on the cover, made by the Piece O’ Cake ladies. It features circles that have 3 rings in them, and each ring is paper pieced with gaily colored stripes. It’s happy and whimsical and it looks mindless. So, that’s where I’m headed today. I copied the paper piecing foundations, and I’ve pulled out happy fabric to mix with the scrap strips I have, and that’s my plan for the afternoon.
And no, I'm not gonna do any applique, on the border or elsewhere. I do have my limits.
Happy weekend, y’all!
Monday, May 09, 2005
Cleopatra graced our home last week. Actually, although she appeared only on Thursday and Friday, we talked about her all week long.
The occasion? Caroline's third grade teacher assigned them a book report on a biography, and each student had to dress up as the subject and deliver an oral report as if she was the subject. Don't ask me why, but Caroline chose Cleopatra...Other kids chose people like Elvis, Hilary Duff, Michele Kwan and Kobe Bryant. (Now, that's a report I'd have liked to have heard...wonder whether the kid explained that little rape accusation...)
Anyway, Caroline brought a book home from the school library about Cleopatra, and although it was written at her reading/comprehension level, it was complicated. To explain the high points in Cleopatra's life, you have to explain Julius Caesar, and the Roman Empire, and Mark Antony...no small feat. So, all week, we talked about Cleopatra and a highly condensed version of her life. Roger and I both learned more than we knew about her originally, which was pretty much nothing beyond the Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton movie.
Caroline rehearsed the story over and over, and was very prepared although extremely nervous about having to say that Julius Caesar and Mark Antony both fell in love with her...She just KNEW that the whole class would shriek "Eeee-eeewwwwww" when she mentioned the L-O-V-E word! But she survived (they didn't shriek) and did great. (Roger actually went to watch so we have the event on videotape.)
The only question during the class Q&A period? "Where'd you get that cool rubber snake?" These kids go right to the important stuff.
I mention all of this because a) I love the picture, and b) it took a lot of MY time and energy all week. It made me think a lot of my friend Paula, whose kids were in elementary school when I was a brand new, single lawyer. Paula used to write me about what her kids were doing, and although I never would have said so to her face, I was always rather irritated that I wanted to know what SHE was doing and all I got were reports of what her kids were doing. It's taken me a long time (and a child of my own) to realize what that is: What the kids are doing, at this young age, IS what the mom is doing.
So, although Caroline was the one with the assignment, Cleopatra became my assignment, too.
Who'd have thought.
It's a miracle!
I finished my contemporary double wedding ring quilt! I'm calling it "Ring Cycle." Here it is, hanging over the master bed.
It turned out amazingly flat, considering how it was when I sandwiched it with the batting and back. I did ditch-stitch quilting at first, then a lot of tight stippling on the background to mash that all down, then I blocked it. And when I say blocked, I mean "stretched the heck out of it!" I really worked and worked to keep mushing it this way and that and pinning, pinning, pinning, until it was flat...THEN I quilted the rings. And, astonishingly, it turned out fine. I thank god for Kathy Sandbach and how much I learned from her in her machine quilting class! (The amazing things that blocking can fix being one of them.)
Here's a detail shot to show how it's quilted:
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Binding interruptus
I always look forward to sewing the binding onto a quilt. Partly, it's the knowledge that I'm almost done. But it's largely that I use it to indulge myself with a particularly enjoyable binding ritual. I plan time during the day, in the morning, preferably, find a good movie or something otherwise engrossing on tv, and treat myself to a few hours to sit and sew in front of the tv. It's peaceful, and I love it.
Apparently, this ritual of mine is jinxed. I wrote a while ago of my frustrations trying to bind one quilt. But today was worse.
Having stretched and blocked the heck out of my contemporary double wedding ring quilt, and quilted it profusely until it actually was flat, I was delighted to get to the binding stage. I planned to use this morning to sit, watch a movie (I was aiming for Bridget Jones 2) and sew. I've enjoyed making this quilt, but it's had various delays while I've pondered how to solve a few problems that arose. So, coming to the end of it is especially satisfying and worthy of indulgence.
No sooner did I sit down, thread the needle, and get the movie fired up did the phone ring. Now, I'm no fool. I figure that if I'm going to be indulgent, then I'm going all the way. I let the phone ring until the answering machine picked up.
Uh oh. I heard the voice of Bob, the attorney for whom I do research and writing. His message? "Just wanted to make sure that you're on target to get the brief filed on Monday."
BRIEF? WHAT BRIEF? Talk about taking the fun out of the morning. I lunged for the phone, breathlessly pretending to Bob that I'd just come in from outside... to learn that somehow his secretary had neglected to send me a copy of a scheduling order from the state supreme court stating that MONDAY is the deadline for filing an appellate brief I'd agreed to do. I knew the appeal was pending, but had no idea that the court had issued its schedule. Geez.
So, the quilt is unbound, Bridget Jones 2 remains unseen... and now I'm writing an appellate brief for the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Not a small task. Still, if I put my head down and just work straight through until Sunday night, I think it'll get done and be okay.
So, if you don't hear from me until Monday, you'll know why.
But on Tuesday, don't call me. I'm gonna sit and watch a movie and sew.
Apparently, this ritual of mine is jinxed. I wrote a while ago of my frustrations trying to bind one quilt. But today was worse.
Having stretched and blocked the heck out of my contemporary double wedding ring quilt, and quilted it profusely until it actually was flat, I was delighted to get to the binding stage. I planned to use this morning to sit, watch a movie (I was aiming for Bridget Jones 2) and sew. I've enjoyed making this quilt, but it's had various delays while I've pondered how to solve a few problems that arose. So, coming to the end of it is especially satisfying and worthy of indulgence.
No sooner did I sit down, thread the needle, and get the movie fired up did the phone ring. Now, I'm no fool. I figure that if I'm going to be indulgent, then I'm going all the way. I let the phone ring until the answering machine picked up.
Uh oh. I heard the voice of Bob, the attorney for whom I do research and writing. His message? "Just wanted to make sure that you're on target to get the brief filed on Monday."
BRIEF? WHAT BRIEF? Talk about taking the fun out of the morning. I lunged for the phone, breathlessly pretending to Bob that I'd just come in from outside... to learn that somehow his secretary had neglected to send me a copy of a scheduling order from the state supreme court stating that MONDAY is the deadline for filing an appellate brief I'd agreed to do. I knew the appeal was pending, but had no idea that the court had issued its schedule. Geez.
So, the quilt is unbound, Bridget Jones 2 remains unseen... and now I'm writing an appellate brief for the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Not a small task. Still, if I put my head down and just work straight through until Sunday night, I think it'll get done and be okay.
So, if you don't hear from me until Monday, you'll know why.
But on Tuesday, don't call me. I'm gonna sit and watch a movie and sew.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
What I'm reading...
Reading is a huge part of my life. I've always been an avid reader, and I love to get book recommendations from others. That's why I enjoy seeing "what I'm reading" lists on blog sidebars. It fascinates me to find out what other people read, and I often end up going to look up books I might not have heard about otherwise.
When I set up my blog, I was excited to find a site called allconsuming.net, which allowed you to mark books you were reading and then link them to your blog so your blog was always current. However, the amazing programmer who set up that site has had various problems it and it hasn't been functioning well lately. I haven't found anything else like it (if anyone has any recommendations, I'd be eager to hear them) and I'm too lazy to update my whole blog template every time I change books...which do every 2 or 3 days. So, I'm going to just add a "what I'm reading" from time to time, just in case you want to know.
And you might want to know what I'm reading now, because it's a fascinating book. It's called "The Dogs of Babel," by Carolyn Parkhurst. It's a very well-written story of a man whose wife has died under circumstances which are mysterious to him. He becomes obsessed with teaching their dog, the sole witness, to talk so he can find out the truth about her death --was it accidental or did Lexy commit suicide?
When I set up my blog, I was excited to find a site called allconsuming.net, which allowed you to mark books you were reading and then link them to your blog so your blog was always current. However, the amazing programmer who set up that site has had various problems it and it hasn't been functioning well lately. I haven't found anything else like it (if anyone has any recommendations, I'd be eager to hear them) and I'm too lazy to update my whole blog template every time I change books...which do every 2 or 3 days. So, I'm going to just add a "what I'm reading" from time to time, just in case you want to know.
And you might want to know what I'm reading now, because it's a fascinating book. It's called "The Dogs of Babel," by Carolyn Parkhurst. It's a very well-written story of a man whose wife has died under circumstances which are mysterious to him. He becomes obsessed with teaching their dog, the sole witness, to talk so he can find out the truth about her death --was it accidental or did Lexy commit suicide?
Guess the sitcom character
Just in case you're sitting in front of the computer, you've read all your favorite blogs already, and you have nothing to do (or, in that unlikely event, you're looking for other things to do while you're not doing all the other things you should be doing), you can check out this entertaining site:
http://www.smalltime.com/dictator.html
It's a silly game where the computer guesses which sitcom character or dictator you're thinking of.
That's right. Sitcom character or dictator. Don't ask me why. But it works.
And it's more fun than cleaning the bathroom.
http://www.smalltime.com/dictator.html
It's a silly game where the computer guesses which sitcom character or dictator you're thinking of.
That's right. Sitcom character or dictator. Don't ask me why. But it works.
And it's more fun than cleaning the bathroom.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Time for a miracle
I have spent some time this weekend working on quilting my contemporary double wedding quilt, which looks like this:
Well, the top seemed nice and flat at the ironing board...but in the sandwiching process, I discovered that -- probably due to all those curves and biases -- the top wasn't as flat as it should be. Still, I forged ahead... when in doubt, keep going. That's my motto, which does not always serve me well.
I ditch-stitched around the circles. Egad...it REALLY isn't flat. So, I've done tight stippling all over the blue background, and have decided to put my faith in the miracles that a good, damp blocking can work. I will block it tomorrow, flatten out (I hope) the somewhat puffy rings, and THEN add minimal quilting to them.
Wish me luck. I'm pinning my hopes on a miracle blocking experience.
Well, the top seemed nice and flat at the ironing board...but in the sandwiching process, I discovered that -- probably due to all those curves and biases -- the top wasn't as flat as it should be. Still, I forged ahead... when in doubt, keep going. That's my motto, which does not always serve me well.
I ditch-stitched around the circles. Egad...it REALLY isn't flat. So, I've done tight stippling all over the blue background, and have decided to put my faith in the miracles that a good, damp blocking can work. I will block it tomorrow, flatten out (I hope) the somewhat puffy rings, and THEN add minimal quilting to them.
Wish me luck. I'm pinning my hopes on a miracle blocking experience.
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