Monday, Monday

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we are heading back to some semblance of normalcy around here.

First, thanks to everyone who emailed or commented with thoughts and experiences about Caroline's migraines. I had no idea the childhood/adolescent migraine thing was so common, but seems like every other person I talk to either had them in bad bouts, or knows someone who did. At least we have a plan and a good assortment of resources on our medical team, so that's all good.

Yesterday, I detoured from my grocery shopping errand to visit one of my favorite places in town, a store called The Gardener. It's a cool mix of household and garden things, with lots of interesting outdoor sculptures and big terra cotta pots from Europe, all set in a garden fragrant with herbs and citrus trees. I wandered and took pictures, which reminded me of one of things I am loving about photography --- it makes me LOOK at things differently, which in turn places me solidly in the moment. No room for worrying, it's all just seeing.

So that's my thought for today... I'm going to just focus on being in the moment, and seeing what's going on around me. Oh yeah, and finishing my "mathematics" quilt for 12x12. (The reveal is coming, December 1!)

What do YOU see around you that you haven't really looked at lately?

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get ... Coloring

I was one of those kids who could sit for hours with a coloring book and crayons and just color away quite contentedly. (I have fond memories of the Nadine the Ballerina book my grandmother kept at her house just for me. I colored an awful lot of pink tutus.)

A while ago, having one of those wide-awake-in-the-middle-of-the-night episodes, I turned on my Ipod and listened to an episode of Craftsanity, a podcast where host Jennifer Ackerman Haywood interviews various people in the crafty world. The episode that night (I chose blindly in the dark) was an interview with Dawn DeVries Sokol about her book 1,000 Artist Journal Pages: Personal Pages and Inspirations (1000 Series) and her art journaling habit. I wasn't very far into the podcast when I decided I had to hunt down the book, and the next day I found it at my local book store. It's a collection of 1000 art journal pages by different people, showing a huge range of subjects and and media and journaling styles.

That got me thinking of how I miss that simple coloring from childhood, and how while I'm not the best in the drawing department, I do have a good time just doodling. The artful ordinariness of the pages in the 1000 Pages book inspired and encouraged me, too. I realized that it wasn't the artistic merit of the drawings that attracted me -- it was the individuality and personality in the pages that I enjoyed. So I put a little bag together with a journal, watercolor pencils, a paintbrush, and some markers. And I've been sitting at odd moments (in the evening in front of the tv, etc) just doodling and coloring. I'm not aiming for art ... I'm not even aiming for any content that will artistically mark my day. I'm just letting myself doodle and color.

And it has been the BEST thing. Very relaxing, I tell you. One day last weekend, I was out running errands and stopped to just sit in the sunshine on the square at the center of town and just do a quick sketch for a moment of peace. It was just what I needed.

Today, I had to spend some time hanging around Caroline's school, and I occupied myself by trying quick sketches of kids around the school. (You'll notice I'm not showing them here -- people are my worst, worst things) And even tho they weren't great artistically speaking, I had a great time.

So, here's my therapy thought for the day: Go Color Something. You'll feel better.

Speaking of the Secretary of State...

Madeleine Albright is one of the women I admire most in the world. She's smart, she's funny, she has common sense, and she has clear ideas about how to help women throughout the world. She also has the ability to make complex ideas sound simple, but not simplistic. So I was delighted, recently, to find her newest book, Memo to the President Elect: How We Can Restore America's Reputation and Leadership on my library's sale table for $2. I snatched it up, and I've been reading it since then.
I'm not usually one to read political books. But this is easy reading -- still thought provoking, still instructive -- but a very accessible look at US political history, where we are now, and what the president elect will need to understand and do to get us headed in the right direction. It's actually uplifting -- in part, because it's reassuring to know that people DO understand the complexities of the multitude of global issues, and of course because we know that Obama will be taking the reins and things can only get better.
And it's funny. I've found myself laughing aloud several times. Here's a favorite line: "The men who wrote the Constitution did remarkably well, considering the absence of female guidance."

In any event, it's a surprisingly enjoyable book to read. And for an overview of the issues, you can watch a recent, wide-ranging talk by Madeleine Albright, here:

Book Review: Quilts on the Double

I seem to have mounds and mounds of quilt scraps in the form of strips, so I was eager to see the newest book by Australian quiltmakers Judy Hooworth and Margaret Rolfe, Quilts On The Double: Dozens of Easy Strip-Pieced Designs (Martingale & Co., 2008). Graphic designs in bright colors really call out to me, so I'm a big fan of Judy Hooworth... I just love Hooworth's Razzle Dazzle Quilts -- such great use of color!

This book promised to show "dozens of strip pieced designs" -- and you know, it delivers. I mean, look at that one on the cover... it looks exciting and fun and challenging. But, once I read through the technique section, I realized it's quite simple. For one thing, Hooworth and Rolfe use a lot of striped fabric (uh oh, another reason to start collecting a new variety of fabric) and a lot of those pieces in that cover quilt are actually large sections of striped fabric. But the technique boils down to this: you sew two strips of specific widths together, and cut triangles from the strip sets. From the various combinations of strip sets, you get different sorts of triangles ... and the book shows you how reassembly into blocks creates all sorts of amazing patterns.

The trick, really, is in how you place color and using some consistently-sized strips so that when you assemble the triangles into squares, they look mosaic-y, not jumbly. Not that there's anything wrong with jumbly...I LOVE jumbly... but the appeal of this book to me is that it takes something that COULD be confusingly jumbly, and shows you how to organize it into something bold and dramatic and graphic.

I'm making this sound more complicated than Hooworth and Rolfe do. But the result, in the book, is that by varying in small ways a basic strip-piecing technique, you can get tons of really dramatic quilts. Oh, and the "on the double" part -- as you cut triangles from the strip sets, you end up with two different triangles. So the book shows you how, from that one strip set style, you can use one type in one quilt and the second type for a totally different quilt with a totally different look, or use them together and incorporate the differences into the overall pattern for even more complexity.

You all know I'm all about the quilt picures -- and this book doesn't disappoint. There are not only very striking quilts shown, but lots of clear color diagrams to illustrate the various options for assembly of the triangles to create all sorts of different patterns.

The book definitely features bright colors and bold stripey fabrics, because that is clearly what these authors love. But the technique would work just as well with pale fabrics, florals, reproduction vintage stuff, you name it.

I can hardly wait to start piecing my strips.

Officially an Artist

So, I've had this thing in my head. I'm not an artist. I'm a quilter who makes art quilts. I try to use art principles in my pieces. But artists? They're other people. I'm not sure what makes them different from me ... but I just feel a bit pretentious claiming the description of "artist" for myself.

But Saturday night, I had a big leap forward. A show of quilts in which I had several pieces opened at a lovely local art gallery, The Geyser Art Gallery in Geyserville, California. The opening reception was well-attended and very fun.... AND I sold a piece! (Remember my big butterfly wing?) To complete strangers who'd wandered in and liked one of my quilts enough to pay real honest to goodness money for it! I've never even offered my quilts for sale anywhere, really ... so I was just thrilled, and they gushed at me, so it was quite a moment.

Roger took pictures during the party to capture the feel of the event, so you can see how it all looked. That gorgeous quilt of the black squiggle on white is by my friend Marjorie Smith ... I'm afraid I can't remember who made the quilt to the far right.

Here is my friend Laura, showing my one block wonder "Spring Fling" to her son Trevor and his buddy Colin.



There was good wine to sip, and here you see my daughter Caroline (a blur of motion -- fully recovered from the migraines, thank goodness) and my BFF Beth in front of three of my quilt (Smoke Signal, Butterfly Wing, and Split Infinitives).



A shot of one side of the gallery. I was delighted that my friend Pat came with her husband, and my brother and his wife made a surprise appearance.



The buttery yellow walls in this gallery just glow, and show off the art beautifully.

Here's gallery director Emily checking her records. You can see my quilt "The Bees' Secret" behind her .... that one with the irregular edges.



Afterwards, we went next door to a newish restaurant, Diavola, where we had some good wine and delicious pizza.



Oh, and did I mention? I SOLD A QUILT! (My Voyager fund is on its way...)

[Edited because I *really* do know the difference between "next door" and "next store." Sheesh.]

Sometimes You Just Need Comfort Food

First, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to all of you who commented and/or emailed me with advice and sympathy about the migraine situation around here. It's quite reassuring to hear from folks who dealt with the kid angle before, especially to know that it will change. I realize how many people deal with migraines all the time -- it's terribly common, I guess. At any rate, Caroline seems to be improving, and we have a plan, and we're not agonizing quite so much.

With all of this stuff going on around here, when I'm tired and worried and incapable of complex thought (you can imagine that this isn't helping me get work done), I decided that A) I was craving comfort food; and B) I didn't want to do anything much beyond pushing a button or two. And hey! The crockpot was the answer.

Luckily, some months ago, someone turned me onto a blog called "A Year of Crockpotting." Starting January 1, 2008, Stephanie vowed to use her crockpot every single day and blog about the outcome. As a result, the blog has a bunch of easy recipes AND the honest reviews from her family.

I read with interest about Stephanie's cooking a whole chicken in the crockpot. I'd heard of that before, but couldn't figure out why one would do that when it's pretty easy to just throw one in the oven, and it sounded like the chicken would just be sitting in a large pool of grease, with a cooked but slimy skin to boot. Ick. BUT Stephanie removed the skin! I hadn't even considered that concept! And on a day when I knew I was going to get more frazzled as the day went on, I decided to go for it. I peeled (eek) a raw, whole chicken, rubbed the whole thing down with Montreal Chicken Spice (thank you, Rachel Ray), and threw it in the crockpot. No liquid, nothing. Just skinless chicken and spice rub.

It was delicious! Easy, and really great. It got rave reviews all around. I was so inspired that today I'm trying a turkey breast following Stephanie's directions. (I know, Thanksgiving is just around the corner, but I just want a REAL turkey sandwich NOW.)

It's 9:20 and the hardest part of dinner is DONE. I love that crockpot.

I Need Your Help!

Have any of you ever heard of "childhood migraine syndrome?" Have you ever dealt with frequent migraines in kids or adolescents?

I ask out of pure desperation. Caroline, age 12, is suddenly suffering from frequent and intense migraines. We're working with our doctor and a neurologist, both of whom tell us that "childhood migraine syndrome" is relatively common, especially in adolescent girls. We're trying various options in terms of medications, preventative things, but boy, is this rough. The headaches are quite disabling, and poor Caroline has missed more school and suffered from more nausea and headache pain in the last 2 weeks than most kids suffer in 5 years, I'm guessing.

So I'm appealing for help, any advice, reassurance, etc. It is NO FUN for anyone, and of course I'd give anything to stop this for Caroline.

By the way, we're told that adult migraines are pretty different from this sort of child/teen migraine syndrome. So I'm particularly interested in hearing if any of you has experience in dealing with this.

Thanks! (When Caroline gets a migraine, I get an immediate tension headache... so I'm going to go take some ibuprofin...)

My first gallery show!

I'm so excited! My first partipation in a gallery show, along with others from my "gilded lilies" art group! The gallery director took 12 of my pieces, but I don't know which she'll hang. I'm feeling quite thrilled.

Geyserville is not quite 2 hours north of San Francisco, just north of my town of Healdsburg. It's a tiny little town, with one short main street that has taken off suddenly with some lovely tasting rooms, a few very popular restaurants, and several galleries.

DO COME if you're in the area!!

We Can, We Did, We Will

I am so happy, and so relieved, and so hopeful.

(Aaron Sorkin couldn't have scripted that speech any better.)

We can change history today

And yes we will!

Please VOTE!

Better Late than Never

Um, Happy Autumn!

Curl Up with this Book

Life has been frustrating lately. Too much work, too many school meetings, too much household stuff (yikes -- getting the carpets cleaned meant getting everything off of the floor in my office/studio! And getting all the fabric out from under bed! Egad! It'll be days before I recover) ... so my creative life and my blogging life are suffering. I have pictures I've taken but not yet had time to run thru the Photoshop cure-all, and I have things to talk about, and fun projects I'd love to be working on. However, I have two deposition outlines to finish and email off before bedtime tonight, and a slew of objections to draft this week, so who knows then I'll get to all of that.

Meanwhile, I'm leaving you with a book that you will want to read. It's "Hannah's Dream" by Diane Hammond, and it's the loveliest book I've read in a long time. It's the story of Hannah, a sweet, timid elephant in a small town zoo, and her aging caretaker Sam with whom Hannah is deeply bonded, and their quest to find a solution for Hannah's old age so Sam can retire. It's fascinating, and endearing, and a wonderful way to go someplace different.

I pulled this off of the new book shelf at the library, started reading, and couldn't put it down. By the time I finished it (curled up on the couch while it was raining outside -- just perfect) I was weeping -- in a good way. It was the perfect escape.

Enjoy! And I'll be back after the work gets done...

How I Spent My Saturday

Look what I did! Fondling, folding, sorting... A day well spent.

So Many Books, So Little Time

Yesterday, I had one of those days where I had a list of errands and appointments, and I knew I was going to have gaps of time in between to fill. I usually take whatever I'm currently reading for such times ... I can have an embarrassingly good time just sitting in the car in some pleasantly shady spot, reading quietly. But yesterday, I didn't have anything to take along. I'd finished my pile of library books, and hadn't started anything new.
Before I headed out the door, I grabbed something out of the "haven't read yet" section of my bookshelf. I grabbed "So Many Books, So Little Time" by Sara Nelson, a book reviewer for Publisher's Weekly magazine. Subtitled "A year of passionate reading," the book is Nelson's account of a year where she determined to read a book a week and write about it. It may not sound that fascinating to you, but as a hard-core book lover, this is the sort of thing I love. Reading a book about reading books! Perfect.
I loved Nelson's chatty style, which turned out to the perfect thing for my reading in fits and starts yesterday. And I was so struck by how similar her attitudes toward reading are to my own. She talks about needing to be in the right sort of mood or setting to read a certain book, and how re-reading favorites is, for her, a way of linking back to where she was and who she was with when she read a book for the first time. She talks about the delicate awkwardness of getting book recommendations from friends ("You'll just LOVE 'The Bridges of Madison County,' I promise!!") and how a shared taste in reading can be the basis for a friendship. She talks about the "coming of age" moment when she decided that she didn't have to finish every single book she started (for me it was in law school, when reading time was too precious to waste on a crummy novel), and how the more certain books are hyped, the less she wants to read them.
It was as if she was looking into my head.
As one of my errands was a library visit, I came home with a big stack of books and, based on Nelson's commentary, an even bigger list of things to check out next. My random grab from the bookshelf turned out to be the perfect thing for the day.
In case you're interested, here are the books she talks about that made me want to add them to my "must read" list:
Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote (well, yes, I've seen the movie, but never read the book...)
FLOATERby Calvin Trillin
Slammerkinby Emma Donoghue
Kitchen Confidential Updated Ed: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.)by Anthony Bourdain (am I the only one who hasn't read this yet?)
How To Lose Friends And Alienate Peopleby Tony Young
Love Junkieby Robert Plunket
A Child Out of Alcatrazby Tara Ison
Whitegirlby Kate Manning
So now I will go forth and read. (Or stay in and read, I mean.)

Autumn in California

This is the time of year when I really start missing New Hampshire. Even though I'm a 3rd generation Californian, there was something about New England that just felt like home to me. The architecture, the landscape, the weather -- it just felt RIGHT in a way that an 80 degree day toward the end of October just feels WRONG.

So here it is, October 24, and it is over 80 today. It's been annoyingly hot all week. It's just so hard to get in the mood for Halloween when people are still wearing shorts and tank tops, you know?

Yesterday, I spotted my neighbor (we'll call him Tom) outside blowing leaves around his front yard. He has a big, New England style house with has two big maple trees in the front yard that turn a glorious red each fall. They're past the red stage, and are starting to fall down in a very (to my mind) satisfying and autumnal way. I've watched as, Tom and family have decorated their house with an amazing array of Halloween decorations, including corn stalks tied to the columns along their porch, and even on the basketball hoop stand that is parked in the street in front of their house. They come from the East themselves, so I figured that their decor reflects their missing fall, too.

So, there was Tom, wielding his leaf blower, when I realized that he was blowing the thing UP into the tree to create a lovely and festive swirl of autumn leaves in the air. The ground was covered with leaves, which I thought provided a wonderful complement to the corn stalks and pumpkins on the porch and skeletons dangling from the porch roof.

"What a great way to get more fall decor," I yelled with a big approving smile.

Dave paused and turned off the blower. "I'm getting as many of these suckers down as I can," he pretty much growled, "I'm only raking ONCE."

With that, he resumed blowing with what I realized was a determined vigorousness to remove as many of them as he could.

Oh well. So much for celebrating the beauty of autumn.

Meanwhile, I'll go have a summery glass of iced tea.

Making more mess by cleaning...

This is another "one thing leads to another" post. Does this happen to you, too? You set out to accomplish one chore, which creates another, and then leaves you with another... and suddenly you got one thing done and have 7 more to do.

Returning from PIQF with a bit (ahem) of fabric meant that, in order to put it away, I really had to deal with the Fabric Closet. This is a regular bedroom style closet (not, alas, a walk-in) in my small office/studio, and it had reached the point where something fell out at me every time I slid open a door.

So, I spent Monday folding and straightening and sorting and weeding out stuff I don't want any more. That picture up there is the CLEANED UP version. Don't snicker. It's about as good as it gets. And to make room and make it all accessible, I took out my Big Bin of Scraps and have yet to find another home for it.

I moved on to other pressing business, but meanwhile, the bin of scraps is sitting here on my office floor, looking like this:

Those blue plastic bags are those giant hefty bag things in which I have sorted dark strips, light strips, and blacks. It was a handy sort for one project at some point. Anyway, so every time I walk into my office -- about 20 times a day -- I see the Big Bin of Scraps and think, "I should do something with those."

I've been in a finishing mood (two old projects finished in the last two weeks! Yee haw! Pictures to appear when I figure out where to photograph the big beasties) and getting rid of scraps will feel good. (Is it possible to get rid of scraps in any way other than simply giving or throwing them away???) Last night I pulled out the wonderful book by Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston, and decided I'd make a bunch of "art parts" for assembly into something colorful and fun.

That's the plan for later today, after I put dinner in the crockpot, deal with another load of laundry, and take the dog for a walk. But in my morning blog-reading, I popped into Exuberant Color, to see that Wanda has been playing with her strippy scraps, too. Great inspiration to get moving!

PIQF, 2008

This delightful quilt is "Pup Art" by Nancy S. Brown, and it won the Viewers' Choice award at the recent Pacific International Quilt Festival. I was there last Friday and Saturday, and my head is still spinning from all the great stuff I saw. This quilt was one of my very favorites (as Nancy Brown's always are -- her animal portraits are so fun and so detailed.)

I'm lucky that I grew up about 20 minutes away from the show venue in Santa Clara, California, so I take the opportunity to spend a few nights with my parents and have two days to see the show. It is simply too huge for one day's worth of viewing. I get sort of glazed over, seeing so many stunning quilts all in a row, so it's good for me to break up my quilt-viewing with some time strolling through the vendor booths.

This year, my friend Pat was going to be in the area staying at her son's house (under a similar arrangement to mine) so I picked her up at her son's new house bright and early friday morning, and we were at the door when the show opened. We immediately made our way to the furthest place, so we could view quilts unimpeded by the crowds starting near the door. That put us in the international room, where we saw some stunning quilts from Japan and Australia and special exhibits (Priscilla Bianchi's comes to mind -- I love her happy quilts with bold Guatemalan fabrics).

And then there were the vendors! Pat and I made good show companions, as we tend to like the same types of stuff -- which can be a problem when you're counting on a buddy to help you restrain yourself! We tended to just help justify more purchases! Still, we each got a few nice pieces of fabric -- some unusual japanese wrapping cloths, some good pale batiks (have you noticed how hard it is to find batiks in good pale browns and yellows?) and the odd fat quarter that we couldn't resist.

I came armed with a list of the King Tut thread (from Superior) that I already have -- I love it for machine quilting and tend to just buy the same colors over and over. So I filled in some gaps, checking them off neatly on my thread chart. (A tiny bit of organization in my otherwise chaotic supply system ... but it's a start!) I also came away with a spool of fusible thread to play with -- seems useful, yes?

I resisted all books but the new Kaffe Fassett one (yep, the one I just reviewed). When I got home, I discovered that I had bought a fair amount of pinks and greens and browns. They seem to coordinate rather nicely, actually, even though I wasn't buying with anything in mind. But you should have seen what I DIDN'T buy! I am getting better at catch-and-release shopping (that is, putting stuff BACK and walking away.)

As always, the quilts were inspirational. You can see the big prizewinners here.

Book Review: Kaffe Fassett's Country Garden Quilts

You know I love quilt books. But you know whose books I love more than any others? Kaffe Fassett's. Yep, I have every one. And I will probably buy every one that comes out until the day I die. I love how he uses pretty simple quilt patterns to make unusual quilts that just sing with his personality and vision. I love how his fabric choices create a riot of color and pattern. I love how he photographs the quilts, so that each quilt is styled in a perfectly accompanying setting.

So imagine my extreme delight when I spotted Kaffe Fassett's Country Garden Quilts this weekend at the Pacific International Quilt Festival, in the Stitchin' Post booth. I lunged straight for it with a big gasp (to the lady with the blue quilted tote bag: Sorry!) and pretty much dashed for the register. I didn't need to pre-view it. I knew I'd want it. And the whole rest of the afternoon, even while viewing amazing quilts and fondling beautiful fabric, I was looking forward to getting to my parents' house (conveniently located within 20 minutes of the show site), parking myself in the comfy blue recliner, and having a good look.

I was not disappointed. I like this assortment of quilts better than the ones in the last book, for some reason. This book (like the last few) feature quilts by some other designers (using Kaffe's fabric) -- Pauline Smith, Roberta Horton, Mary Mashuta, even english crafty blogger Jane Brocket. The Pauline Smith called "Blooms" just makes my heart sing -- reds and lavenders and blues and happy flowers... A wonderful medallion one by Kaffe called "Knot Garden" that I want to make... An intricate nine-patch wonder that has all sorts of sub-patterns going on... I pretty much want to make every quilt in the book.

I have to say that it surprises me that the techniques they teach for making these quilts involves tracing the templates at the back of the book...no quick cutting or strip techniques here, even though I think they're easily usable on these quilts. Maybe because he and Liza Lucy fussy cut every piece? It seems sort of outdated. And, as much as I like Kaffe's fabrics, I would like to see him include a few others in the book. I like them, but the quilts would be just as stunning with other fabrics and pattern options.

I'll report in the quilt show later, when I'm rested. I'm still in a visual daze, after all of those impressive quilts!

You've Just Gotta Love John Cleese

Fall Fling, Spring Fling

I apologize for the recent silence -- I have been off having fun at my twice-yearly quilting retreat at the Bishop's Ranch. Clearing the decks so I could take those days away meant a flurry of work, but I promptly but all things practical out of my head as I drove out to the ranch. As usual, it was 4 days of fun and laughter and friends and great food and, of course, quilting.

This time, I packed up my trusty Juki and took only two big quilts that were sandwiched and ready to be quilted. The first one I finished was the "one block wonder" quilt above, which I've named Spring Fling (because of those springy colors, of course). Several retreats ago, a couple of ladies were making one block wonder quilts, and as the book was new to most of us, we were enthralled with the concept. That led to a shopping trip where a bunch of us wandered around the shop using mirrors to see the kaleidoscopic effects of various fabrics, and then a bunch of us started making these quilts. This October retreat was the designated time for completion, so our show-and-tell included a whole "one block wonder" segment where we shared our finished quilts.

I enjoyed making mine, basically -- sewing the blocks was especially fun, as every block is a new, surprising kaleidoscope. Designing the overall look on a wall was fun too. But sewing them together became tedious, and I wasn't thrilled with the process of finishing the quilt. I ended up floating the quilt top on top of the borders... a rather slapdash process that isn't the tidiest up close but did the job to my satisfaction.

This shot is from show and tell and doesn't show the quilting, but I had a fun time following the kaleidoscope patterns in the blocks and quilting big, lose flowery shapes in the border.

So now, I have a mess of stuff to put away, tons of laundry to do, and a pile of legal work to address before I can get away to the Pacific International Quilt Festival next weekend! Another quilting excursion -- October is a fun month!