Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! We have a family day ahead, which will be lovely and relaxing and entertaining and comfortaing....and food filled. Everything Thanksgiving should be!
And of course I'm thinking of the many, many things I'm thankful for. I know it's corny, but I talk with Caroline about this all the time and we try to take time to tell each other and we enjoy making our "gratitude" lists together.
Of course, my list always includes my family and friends and our animals... they are a given. But there are other things, big and small, I've been thinking about lately:
Our county library system, for keeping me in books to feed my voracious reading appetite (and for putting the catalog online so I can order books from other libraries and get almost anything I want! It's fabulous! And FREE!)
My Bernina and Juki sewing machines, for being so reliable and easy to use and for always just working right. The errors are always mine.
The Thanksgiving Day parade, because I've watched it almost every year since I was a tiny and it's how Thanksgiving should start. (One year my mom suggested to my sister and me that we draw pictures of our favorite things in the parade. So of course, that became part of the annual parade-watching tradition. Laura always drew the horses. Me, I varied but often honed in one of the big balloons. ) Any day that starts with a parade is a good day, don't you think?
Good coffee in the morning, from my Starbuck's metal car mug that keeps it hot forever and allows me to sip leisurely all morning long.
Great fabric. Aren't the fabric manufacturers making great stuff? Great patterns, wonderful colors, and always new and inspiring designs. It just keeps coming.
My mail lady, who is so nice about bring all the catalogs and packages and magazines to us, every day. It's not HER fault thatI don't get my Quilting Arts magazine for MONTHS AND MONTHS after everyone else in the universe has theirs.
Martha Stewart, for making the housey, foody, crafty stuff I do seem interesting and creative and worthy of time and attention, and for doing it gracefully. She's an odd duck, Martha, but she's an inspiration. And even inspirations make mistakes.
Our big bathtub... and being able to use it again, FINALLY, after a bathroom remodel forced by a building defect. It's deep and perfect for a long, reflective soak.
Kathy Alexander, Caroline's teacher--she's experienced, enthusiastic, wonderful with the kids, energetic, firm, and genuinely excited to see them learn. She's everything you'd want for your child in 4th grade. I truly don't know how she does it...and then how she come back the next day and does it again.
My Ipod. I LOVE my Ipod. Have I mentioned that before?
And This American Life, my favorite thing to listen to on the radio. (And you can stream it over your computer, for FREE. Anytime!) It's alternately funny, poignant, deep, silly, thought-provoking... This and "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" are my weekly listening "musts." And I can download them to the Ipod!
The blogs I read and the blogging friends I've made--you give me a glimpe into your life and keep me smiling and thinking and learning. Thanks for sharing who you are and what you do!
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
It's about family...and the food, too
Today was Thanksgiving preparation day...and I'm not even hosting everyone at my house. Tomorrow we're headed down to San Rafael to have Thanksgiving with my family at my brother's house. Gregg and Kitt are newlyweds, and this is their first family holiday dinner. I bet they're breaking out the wedding presents for fancing serving stuff!
In my family, Thanksgiving is a time to get together, of course....but really, it's all about the food. My contribution this year is dessert, so I've spent the day baking. I'm being daring and trying a new (but not too far from traditional) "Cream Cheese Pumpkin-Pecan pie. This is just in case we're not all totally stuffed with turkey and stuffing and other goodies! But it sounded so good that I had to try it. (And it uses reduced fat cream cheese, so it's HEALTHY.) Look, see?
Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pecan Pie
Crust
3/4 cup flour
6 Tblsp. light brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tblsp. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
1 Tblsp. cold water
3/4 cup chopped pecans
Filling
8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
6 Tblsp. reduced fat sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
For crust, place flour, brown sgar and salt in food processor with metal blade. Pulse several times to blend. Add butter and process until dough resembles coarse meal. With motor running, add water through feed tube, a little at a time, until dough is moist, not wet. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add pecans. Knead until a ball of dough forms and pecans are thoroughly incorporated. Flatten into disk, press into tart pan, and chill for at least 30 minutes. Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes and then cool slightly.
To prepare filling: Place cream cheese and sour cream in a bowl and mix with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Gradually add sugar and beat until well-blended. Add eggs one at a time and mix well. Remove 1/3 cup filling and set aside.
Add pumpkin puree and spices to cream cheese mixture, mixing until blended. Pour mixture into prebaked pie shell. Gently drop teaspoonfuls of reserved cream cheese mixture onto pumpkin filling, then swirl lightly with a knife to produce marbled effect. (Do not over-swirl or cream-cheese mixture will blend in.)
Bake until firm, about 35 minutes. Cool on rack for at least an hour. Serve cold or at room temperature.
*****
Doesn't sound that yummy and holiday-ish?
I also baked another traditional pumpkin pie (Martha Stewart's recipe actually, because I LOVE Martha and it's my own little act of solidarity) because Roger's aunt and cousin are coming over on Friday and I'll need something to serve. I'm actually going to roast a turkey breast that day, since it's not Thanksgiving unless you have all that left over turkey for turkey sandwiches. Or tamales, if you must.
And, because it is all about the food, for the non-pumpkin pie eaters, I'm making mini cream puffs. They're super easy to make and always wildly impress people.
Here's what you do:
Pate au choux ("pat-ay oh shoe" to sound very gourmet-ish.)
Put 1 cup water in a sauce pan with 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter. Bring to a rolling boil, melting butter completely. Reduce the heat to low, then add 1 cup flour all of a sudden (just dump it in there!) and stir vigorously. The dough will clump together and get glossy as it sort of "dries" and goes from a batter consistency to a dough-ball consistency.
Take it off of the heat, let it cool for about 5 minutes. Then, one at a time, add 4 eggs, stirring vigorously after each addition so dough is glossy and smooth. (You can do this part in a food processor if you want.)
Drop the dough by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. (You can make them long in shape, for eclairs, or roundish, for cream puffs...or large or tiny, as you prefer.) Then bake at 400 for 30 minutes. When the time is up, turn the oven off but leave them in the oven with the door cracked open for about an hour. Zee franche alvayss de zees step but I do not know vhy.
When they're cool, you slice them open, and voila, there's a lovely empty center (you may have to pull out a few strands of dough with your fingers) for you to fill. You can use whipped cream. My secret filling? Instant vanilla pudding (the kind you make in 5 minute with cold milk, not that horrid stuff you buy pre-made). Then drizzle melted chocolate over the top and people will swoon.
Ooh la la.
Happy baking, everyone!
In my family, Thanksgiving is a time to get together, of course....but really, it's all about the food. My contribution this year is dessert, so I've spent the day baking. I'm being daring and trying a new (but not too far from traditional) "Cream Cheese Pumpkin-Pecan pie. This is just in case we're not all totally stuffed with turkey and stuffing and other goodies! But it sounded so good that I had to try it. (And it uses reduced fat cream cheese, so it's HEALTHY.) Look, see?
Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pecan Pie
Crust
3/4 cup flour
6 Tblsp. light brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
6 Tblsp. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
1 Tblsp. cold water
3/4 cup chopped pecans
Filling
8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
6 Tblsp. reduced fat sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
For crust, place flour, brown sgar and salt in food processor with metal blade. Pulse several times to blend. Add butter and process until dough resembles coarse meal. With motor running, add water through feed tube, a little at a time, until dough is moist, not wet. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add pecans. Knead until a ball of dough forms and pecans are thoroughly incorporated. Flatten into disk, press into tart pan, and chill for at least 30 minutes. Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes and then cool slightly.
To prepare filling: Place cream cheese and sour cream in a bowl and mix with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Gradually add sugar and beat until well-blended. Add eggs one at a time and mix well. Remove 1/3 cup filling and set aside.
Add pumpkin puree and spices to cream cheese mixture, mixing until blended. Pour mixture into prebaked pie shell. Gently drop teaspoonfuls of reserved cream cheese mixture onto pumpkin filling, then swirl lightly with a knife to produce marbled effect. (Do not over-swirl or cream-cheese mixture will blend in.)
Bake until firm, about 35 minutes. Cool on rack for at least an hour. Serve cold or at room temperature.
*****
Doesn't sound that yummy and holiday-ish?
I also baked another traditional pumpkin pie (Martha Stewart's recipe actually, because I LOVE Martha and it's my own little act of solidarity) because Roger's aunt and cousin are coming over on Friday and I'll need something to serve. I'm actually going to roast a turkey breast that day, since it's not Thanksgiving unless you have all that left over turkey for turkey sandwiches. Or tamales, if you must.
And, because it is all about the food, for the non-pumpkin pie eaters, I'm making mini cream puffs. They're super easy to make and always wildly impress people.
Here's what you do:
Pate au choux ("pat-ay oh shoe" to sound very gourmet-ish.)
Put 1 cup water in a sauce pan with 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter. Bring to a rolling boil, melting butter completely. Reduce the heat to low, then add 1 cup flour all of a sudden (just dump it in there!) and stir vigorously. The dough will clump together and get glossy as it sort of "dries" and goes from a batter consistency to a dough-ball consistency.
Take it off of the heat, let it cool for about 5 minutes. Then, one at a time, add 4 eggs, stirring vigorously after each addition so dough is glossy and smooth. (You can do this part in a food processor if you want.)
Drop the dough by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. (You can make them long in shape, for eclairs, or roundish, for cream puffs...or large or tiny, as you prefer.) Then bake at 400 for 30 minutes. When the time is up, turn the oven off but leave them in the oven with the door cracked open for about an hour. Zee franche alvayss de zees step but I do not know vhy.
When they're cool, you slice them open, and voila, there's a lovely empty center (you may have to pull out a few strands of dough with your fingers) for you to fill. You can use whipped cream. My secret filling? Instant vanilla pudding (the kind you make in 5 minute with cold milk, not that horrid stuff you buy pre-made). Then drizzle melted chocolate over the top and people will swoon.
Ooh la la.
Happy baking, everyone!
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Something to read when you're not quilting
I have this thing about quilt books: It's hard for me not to buy them.
When I walk into a quilt shop, I can have a grand time looking at fabric. But it's the book shelf (or rack, or wall) that draws me like a magnet. I can stand and look at quilt books for a long time.
It's not that I'm looking for anything in particular. There are occasions where I want to see something specific or find information about a technique, but those are rare. Usually, it's just that a new quilt book promises beauty and color and inspiration. And who wouldn't want more of that?
I have a healthy number of books in my collection. And, for the most part, they're all books that I am happy to return to over and over again. In a certain mood, I'll pull 5 or 6 of them and sit on the chair in the corner of the bedroom to just look through them, remembering what I liked about them and finding new discoveries (recently I discovered a Mrs. Mel quilt in a book I'd owned for some years...but now that she's a friend it jumped off the page right at me). I love how what I'm drawn to in a book changes over time, as my interests and abilities have changed. It's like sitting down for a talk with an old friend and learning something new. There's the familiar, but the surprise, too.
Some people understand and share this book addiction. My friend Janet Shore has the best library of quilt books of anyone I know, only rivalled by my quilt guild's massive collection. Janet has been collecting books since the 1970's, I think. She has two big walls of shelves in her living room just full of art and quilt books, and every time I'm there I find time to pull a book or two from a shelf and look a bit. Some of her books from the late 70's and early 80's flash me back to when I worked at The Quilting Bee (when it was tiny, in Los Altos, owned by Diana Leone) and I either owned them or pored over them on the shop's shelves when the store wasn't busy. Janet has books she bought on quilt trips in Japan some years back -- amazing books with gorgeous and innovative quilts. (That's how I learned about Ayako Miyawaki...from some books on Janet's shelves.) I always ask Janet if I can come and spend a weekend at her house, just soaking up the peace and no-kids-in-the-house neatness and lovely colors and beautiful quilts and endless books. She thinks I'm joking. I'm not.
My acquisition of books used to puzzle my husband. "You'll never make all these quilts," he'd say, "Doesn't it stress you out to just add to the things you want to make?" I shouldn't have been surprised...Roger gets worried when we've taped a few TV shows and haven't watched them yet. "They're piling up! We're falling behind!" (I remind him that the VCR is for OUR convenience and we can watch them -- or not -- was we damn well please.) But I've told him over and over that I don't buy books because I want to make something in them. In fact, owning a book with a picture of a beautiful quilt takes the pressure off of me: I can enjoy looking at the quilt as often as I like without ever having to make it! Best of both worlds! I buy the books because I just like to look the quilts in them.
I have a Japanese friend, Noriko, who is greatly amused that I have subscriptions to two Japanese quilt magazines, Patchwork Quilt Tsushin and Quilts Japan. (You can subscribe through Born to Quilt, here.) A non-quilter, she thinks it's very funny that I get magazines I can't read. I've shown her how I can read the numeric measurements, if I wanted to know that exact information, and I've reminded her that I can have her translate for me if I'm desperate to know what the text says. But I love these magazines because the quilts are so different from American quilts, and in part because I can't read them. I pore over the pictures because I can't read them. I look closely at the women's faces, to see if I recognize anyone. (There are Japanese quilters whose faces I recognize now, even though I don't know their names.)
I'm not indiscriminate. But I love books of quilt exhibits (and am eager to see the I Remember Mama book and the book of the most recent Viking exhibit from Houston), and books that focus on art and creativity. I don't buy "how to make THIS quilt" type books, unless the quilts are gorgeous and the pictures are great. Most recently, Katie Pasquini Masopust's new book "Color and Composition for the Creative Quilter" landed on my shelf...it's a great addition to the collection. I can look at Sandi Cummings' book "Thinking Outside the Block" and Dianne Hire's "Quilter's Playtime" over and over, too.
And there'll be another great book just around the corner, I know.
When I walk into a quilt shop, I can have a grand time looking at fabric. But it's the book shelf (or rack, or wall) that draws me like a magnet. I can stand and look at quilt books for a long time.
It's not that I'm looking for anything in particular. There are occasions where I want to see something specific or find information about a technique, but those are rare. Usually, it's just that a new quilt book promises beauty and color and inspiration. And who wouldn't want more of that?
I have a healthy number of books in my collection. And, for the most part, they're all books that I am happy to return to over and over again. In a certain mood, I'll pull 5 or 6 of them and sit on the chair in the corner of the bedroom to just look through them, remembering what I liked about them and finding new discoveries (recently I discovered a Mrs. Mel quilt in a book I'd owned for some years...but now that she's a friend it jumped off the page right at me). I love how what I'm drawn to in a book changes over time, as my interests and abilities have changed. It's like sitting down for a talk with an old friend and learning something new. There's the familiar, but the surprise, too.
Some people understand and share this book addiction. My friend Janet Shore has the best library of quilt books of anyone I know, only rivalled by my quilt guild's massive collection. Janet has been collecting books since the 1970's, I think. She has two big walls of shelves in her living room just full of art and quilt books, and every time I'm there I find time to pull a book or two from a shelf and look a bit. Some of her books from the late 70's and early 80's flash me back to when I worked at The Quilting Bee (when it was tiny, in Los Altos, owned by Diana Leone) and I either owned them or pored over them on the shop's shelves when the store wasn't busy. Janet has books she bought on quilt trips in Japan some years back -- amazing books with gorgeous and innovative quilts. (That's how I learned about Ayako Miyawaki...from some books on Janet's shelves.) I always ask Janet if I can come and spend a weekend at her house, just soaking up the peace and no-kids-in-the-house neatness and lovely colors and beautiful quilts and endless books. She thinks I'm joking. I'm not.
My acquisition of books used to puzzle my husband. "You'll never make all these quilts," he'd say, "Doesn't it stress you out to just add to the things you want to make?" I shouldn't have been surprised...Roger gets worried when we've taped a few TV shows and haven't watched them yet. "They're piling up! We're falling behind!" (I remind him that the VCR is for OUR convenience and we can watch them -- or not -- was we damn well please.) But I've told him over and over that I don't buy books because I want to make something in them. In fact, owning a book with a picture of a beautiful quilt takes the pressure off of me: I can enjoy looking at the quilt as often as I like without ever having to make it! Best of both worlds! I buy the books because I just like to look the quilts in them.
I have a Japanese friend, Noriko, who is greatly amused that I have subscriptions to two Japanese quilt magazines, Patchwork Quilt Tsushin and Quilts Japan. (You can subscribe through Born to Quilt, here.) A non-quilter, she thinks it's very funny that I get magazines I can't read. I've shown her how I can read the numeric measurements, if I wanted to know that exact information, and I've reminded her that I can have her translate for me if I'm desperate to know what the text says. But I love these magazines because the quilts are so different from American quilts, and in part because I can't read them. I pore over the pictures because I can't read them. I look closely at the women's faces, to see if I recognize anyone. (There are Japanese quilters whose faces I recognize now, even though I don't know their names.)
I'm not indiscriminate. But I love books of quilt exhibits (and am eager to see the I Remember Mama book and the book of the most recent Viking exhibit from Houston), and books that focus on art and creativity. I don't buy "how to make THIS quilt" type books, unless the quilts are gorgeous and the pictures are great. Most recently, Katie Pasquini Masopust's new book "Color and Composition for the Creative Quilter" landed on my shelf...it's a great addition to the collection. I can look at Sandi Cummings' book "Thinking Outside the Block" and Dianne Hire's "Quilter's Playtime" over and over, too.
And there'll be another great book just around the corner, I know.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Fast food, slow quilts
Have you ever heard of the Slow Food movement? You can read more about it here, but basicaly it's a movement to appreciate the process of growing, making and eating food. It's about taking the time to enjoy food, especially with friends.
Well, I adore food -- fast or slow. But I've been thinking about the concept of "slow food" as I've been working on my dotty circles quilt. You all know that my usual and favorite method of quilting is what I call "slapdash." That's when I get to work on something that is pure fun and fast sewing--no careful measuring, just quick and creative assembly.
Well, I don't know why, but lately I've been unusually contented to just sew, calmly and slowly and without rushing to finish. I had fun sewing the arcs on my dotty circles -- still no big thought required, except to alternate a light fabric with a dark fabric -- but I just worked along, having a good time making arcs. Anyway, yesterday, I spent a happy few hours assembling blocks, and now here's where I am:
I've decided that this needs a pieced border, which I'm working on happily at the moment. With all the polka dots and circles, I decided it needed something zig-zaggy. Stay tuned.
I decided a while ago that I wanted to make some sort of Christmasy quilt to throw over the couch for the holidays. At PIQF in early October, I looked at every piece of Christmas fabric I could find...and I didn't like any of them. I didn't want any cute Christmas scene, or gold-embossed stuff, or goofy looking snowmen and Santas. But I had a stroke of inspiration and decided to do something funky with red and green geometrics. Today, I pulled my assortment out, and got them all washed and folded. Here they are, ready for cutting when I figure out what I'm going to do:
See that one in the top row, second from the left? A white background with red and green and yellow funky square shapes? I LOVE that one and bought a huge hunk. It's my inspiration fabric. La di da. (Or should I say "fa la la"?)
Well, I adore food -- fast or slow. But I've been thinking about the concept of "slow food" as I've been working on my dotty circles quilt. You all know that my usual and favorite method of quilting is what I call "slapdash." That's when I get to work on something that is pure fun and fast sewing--no careful measuring, just quick and creative assembly.
Well, I don't know why, but lately I've been unusually contented to just sew, calmly and slowly and without rushing to finish. I had fun sewing the arcs on my dotty circles -- still no big thought required, except to alternate a light fabric with a dark fabric -- but I just worked along, having a good time making arcs. Anyway, yesterday, I spent a happy few hours assembling blocks, and now here's where I am:
I've decided that this needs a pieced border, which I'm working on happily at the moment. With all the polka dots and circles, I decided it needed something zig-zaggy. Stay tuned.
I decided a while ago that I wanted to make some sort of Christmasy quilt to throw over the couch for the holidays. At PIQF in early October, I looked at every piece of Christmas fabric I could find...and I didn't like any of them. I didn't want any cute Christmas scene, or gold-embossed stuff, or goofy looking snowmen and Santas. But I had a stroke of inspiration and decided to do something funky with red and green geometrics. Today, I pulled my assortment out, and got them all washed and folded. Here they are, ready for cutting when I figure out what I'm going to do:
See that one in the top row, second from the left? A white background with red and green and yellow funky square shapes? I LOVE that one and bought a huge hunk. It's my inspiration fabric. La di da. (Or should I say "fa la la"?)
Thursday, November 17, 2005
A Crazy, Lazy, Day
I've not got much to say for myself today.
I took the day off, as a reward to myself for getting through an interesting yet stressful local school board matter. I learned some about school board politics (in a good way, actually), I learned a lot about the hot issues in my district facing the elementary schools, I stuck up for what I believed in, I affected the outcome to some extent, and I've made some friends. Plus, after the very long school board meeting last night, 2 other involved moms and I went out for a drink at a local spot and got HIT ON! We're all over 40 and each of us hasn't had that happen in...well, longer than we can remember. The guy was balding and portly and rather odd (and, amusingly, it turned out that he was the dad of a 2nd grader at the very elementary school where our kids all are), but still... The memory of that guy looking from one of us to the next and saying eagerly "Are any of you single?" will keep me chuckling for a while.
I'd planned to go to my guild meeting and have lunch with my buddies afterwards...But first thing this morning brought a call from a friend with a babysitter problem. So that meant that my morning was spent with my 3 1/2 year old friend Molly. We played and had fun.
I digress for a moment to note that Molly's dad, my good friend's ex-husband, basically abandoned the family when Molly was not even one year old. It's a horrible story for all concerned. But Molly, now very aware of other kids' daddies, has decided that her daddy died from being eaten by a snake. She's in a phase where she says this rather frequently, looking dramatically tragic. She know that's not the case, but it's how she's processing not having a daddy right now. And Molly's mom and I are enjoying the image of the horrible daddy meeting his well-deserved demise this way. In some situations, you must take your humor where you can find it.
Anyway, afterwards, I indulged myself with a bit of sewing, machine appliqueing my wild dotty circles to the background pieces. Then my sister stopped by so that her new dog Katie (a newly rescued wire-haired pointer, pictures soon) could romp with Gemma. Doggie cousins! We sat outside on the adirondack chairs on a gorgeous, warm fall day...Laura stitched (she's a needlework designer and always stitching! See her designs here) and I leafed through the ever-growing pile of catalogs, looking for Christmas gift ideas. I think we're getting about 5 catalogs a day, so it's work to keep them from piling up!
After they left, Gemma plopped down in the shade to recover from all the excitement, and I returned to sewing until it was time to pick up Caroline from after school day camp. Then she and I played a game together until Roger came home and we dug out Chinese food left-overs for dinner so I didn't even have to cook.
Now that's what I call a day off of work! Very restful.
Although I've nothing else to report, I do want recognize my friend Gerrie for the amazing quilty accomplishments coming her way lately! She's talked about them on her blog, so you can read the details there... But I mention it here because Gerrie is one of the most adventurous quilters I know. She's not afraid to try new things and she dives in with great enthusiasm. She's always willing to share what she's doing and learning. She's amazingly prolific. I'm very pleased to see her work being discovered by others, and in such an exciting flurry of events too! Good work, Gerrie!
I took the day off, as a reward to myself for getting through an interesting yet stressful local school board matter. I learned some about school board politics (in a good way, actually), I learned a lot about the hot issues in my district facing the elementary schools, I stuck up for what I believed in, I affected the outcome to some extent, and I've made some friends. Plus, after the very long school board meeting last night, 2 other involved moms and I went out for a drink at a local spot and got HIT ON! We're all over 40 and each of us hasn't had that happen in...well, longer than we can remember. The guy was balding and portly and rather odd (and, amusingly, it turned out that he was the dad of a 2nd grader at the very elementary school where our kids all are), but still... The memory of that guy looking from one of us to the next and saying eagerly "Are any of you single?" will keep me chuckling for a while.
I'd planned to go to my guild meeting and have lunch with my buddies afterwards...But first thing this morning brought a call from a friend with a babysitter problem. So that meant that my morning was spent with my 3 1/2 year old friend Molly. We played and had fun.
I digress for a moment to note that Molly's dad, my good friend's ex-husband, basically abandoned the family when Molly was not even one year old. It's a horrible story for all concerned. But Molly, now very aware of other kids' daddies, has decided that her daddy died from being eaten by a snake. She's in a phase where she says this rather frequently, looking dramatically tragic. She know that's not the case, but it's how she's processing not having a daddy right now. And Molly's mom and I are enjoying the image of the horrible daddy meeting his well-deserved demise this way. In some situations, you must take your humor where you can find it.
Anyway, afterwards, I indulged myself with a bit of sewing, machine appliqueing my wild dotty circles to the background pieces. Then my sister stopped by so that her new dog Katie (a newly rescued wire-haired pointer, pictures soon) could romp with Gemma. Doggie cousins! We sat outside on the adirondack chairs on a gorgeous, warm fall day...Laura stitched (she's a needlework designer and always stitching! See her designs here) and I leafed through the ever-growing pile of catalogs, looking for Christmas gift ideas. I think we're getting about 5 catalogs a day, so it's work to keep them from piling up!
After they left, Gemma plopped down in the shade to recover from all the excitement, and I returned to sewing until it was time to pick up Caroline from after school day camp. Then she and I played a game together until Roger came home and we dug out Chinese food left-overs for dinner so I didn't even have to cook.
Now that's what I call a day off of work! Very restful.
Although I've nothing else to report, I do want recognize my friend Gerrie for the amazing quilty accomplishments coming her way lately! She's talked about them on her blog, so you can read the details there... But I mention it here because Gerrie is one of the most adventurous quilters I know. She's not afraid to try new things and she dives in with great enthusiasm. She's always willing to share what she's doing and learning. She's amazingly prolific. I'm very pleased to see her work being discovered by others, and in such an exciting flurry of events too! Good work, Gerrie!
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
On the design wall
So, here's what I'm working on these days. Remember this? I started this paper-pieced quilt last May, out of Becky Goldsmith's and Linda Jenkins' book Quilts with a Spin. I've been working on it on and off since then, and finally got to the point of putting it all together. This is one 16" block out of 9. It's fun and happy, which makes me happy. And it's been fun working on a project that doesn't require a design decision every other minute.
I'm gonna do some sort of pieced border, but I'm still working on that. Stay tuned.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
My mother, my self
One of the Blogging 4 Books themes this month is to write about "going home again." This is my entry (my very first one!) about how "home" is in you whether you realize it or not.
"Sit straight," my mom used to say to me at dinner time. I’d have perched myself on a kitchen chair, one leg tucked comfortably under me as I sat at the table. It drove my mom nuts when I didn’t sit squarely facing the table. Apparently good manners required that I sit squarely, with both feet on the floor. But I just wasn’t comfortable, and eventually, without thinking, I’d slide around into another position that broke the rules and provoked another rebuke from my mother.
I hadn’t thought about this in years, until I heard myself say to my wiggly daughter Caroline at dinner one night, "Turn around and sit straight!" Caroline stopped squirming, but I froze more quickly at the shock of hearing myself: I’d sounded just like my mother.
It’s disconcerting, how motherhood calls up such an odd mix of feelings sometimes. There are moments when I’m in full mother mode, helping Caroline with homework or playing a card game or picking up clothes from her bedroom floor, and I have a sudden flash to an intense childhood memory of my mother doing those things with me. I remember the amazement I felt at how easy it was for me to remember where the three of clubs was hidden among the cards in a game of "Concentration"; now, I watch as Caroline’s hand goes unerringly to the right card when I’ve not been able to keep a single card in my head beyond the next turn. I remember how my mom muttered and gently scolded me about leaving my wet towel on the bathroom floor after my bath. Now, I mutter and scold and realize how tired my mom must have been as she picked up after me.
And all those things I swore to myself that I’d never say to MY children when I grew up? Yep, I’m saying them...more regularly than I’d like to admit. When we moved into a rental house with a new paint job over which our new landlords had made a big fuss, I found myself chiding Caroline over and over again to not run her hands along the walls each time she went down the hallway. I couldn’t keep the words from escaping my mouth, even as I remembered the feel of smooth wallboard under my fingers as I skipped to my bedroom.
The moments where I unexpectedly find myself being my mother aren’t all discipline-related ones. Whenever Caroline is sick, I find myself doing and saying the comforting things my mom did for me. A damp washcloth, folded a special way, as a compress for a fevered forehead, a crisp clean pillowcase to make getting to sleep easier, even the stories I tell and the songs I sing come straight from my mom, through my heart, to my daughter.
So, yes, it’s disconcerting to find myself becoming my mom as I mother my daughter. But it makes me happy, too.
"Sit straight," my mom used to say to me at dinner time. I’d have perched myself on a kitchen chair, one leg tucked comfortably under me as I sat at the table. It drove my mom nuts when I didn’t sit squarely facing the table. Apparently good manners required that I sit squarely, with both feet on the floor. But I just wasn’t comfortable, and eventually, without thinking, I’d slide around into another position that broke the rules and provoked another rebuke from my mother.
I hadn’t thought about this in years, until I heard myself say to my wiggly daughter Caroline at dinner one night, "Turn around and sit straight!" Caroline stopped squirming, but I froze more quickly at the shock of hearing myself: I’d sounded just like my mother.
It’s disconcerting, how motherhood calls up such an odd mix of feelings sometimes. There are moments when I’m in full mother mode, helping Caroline with homework or playing a card game or picking up clothes from her bedroom floor, and I have a sudden flash to an intense childhood memory of my mother doing those things with me. I remember the amazement I felt at how easy it was for me to remember where the three of clubs was hidden among the cards in a game of "Concentration"; now, I watch as Caroline’s hand goes unerringly to the right card when I’ve not been able to keep a single card in my head beyond the next turn. I remember how my mom muttered and gently scolded me about leaving my wet towel on the bathroom floor after my bath. Now, I mutter and scold and realize how tired my mom must have been as she picked up after me.
And all those things I swore to myself that I’d never say to MY children when I grew up? Yep, I’m saying them...more regularly than I’d like to admit. When we moved into a rental house with a new paint job over which our new landlords had made a big fuss, I found myself chiding Caroline over and over again to not run her hands along the walls each time she went down the hallway. I couldn’t keep the words from escaping my mouth, even as I remembered the feel of smooth wallboard under my fingers as I skipped to my bedroom.
The moments where I unexpectedly find myself being my mother aren’t all discipline-related ones. Whenever Caroline is sick, I find myself doing and saying the comforting things my mom did for me. A damp washcloth, folded a special way, as a compress for a fevered forehead, a crisp clean pillowcase to make getting to sleep easier, even the stories I tell and the songs I sing come straight from my mom, through my heart, to my daughter.
So, yes, it’s disconcerting to find myself becoming my mom as I mother my daughter. But it makes me happy, too.
So you wanna know what I did yesterday? THIS.
Yep, some mysterious cold or flu bug caused me to cancel my meeting thursday afternoon and put me in bed all day friday. And, strangely enough, this is the first time in years that I've caught something that didn't start with Caroline bringing it home from school.
Thank goodness for Just's Eucasol Spray. Just is this Swiss company that makes herbal products (and I think they sell them through in-home parties -- that's how I discovered them years ago). They make a little spray that smells like herbs and eucalyptus and mint, sort of like Vick's Vapor-rub, but you don't have to apply that sticky ointment anywhere to get the wonderful smell effect. I spray it on a tissue and put it next to my nose when I'm going to sleep and I swear it helps clear up my stuffiness and relaxes me. So I love the stuff and have been spraying it willy-nilly lately.
So, no sewing going on here. I've been living vicariously through Melody and Gerrie and Kristin (new member to the AQ web ring!) and their adventures at Art Quilt Tahoe.
And I've been reading a lot, in between naps. Finished "Saving Fish from Drowning" (isn't that the best title?) by Amy Tan, and I would highly recommend it. Very thought provoking. I blew through a chick lit book, "Time Off for Good Behavior" which was mildly entertaining, although I found the narrator/heroine irritating and not likeable. I'm now into a dense legal thriller, "The Will," which seems interesting but keeps causing me to drift off. We'll see if that's the cold medicine or bad writing. It's too soon to tell.
By the way, if you're a member of the ring, put yourself on our Frappr.com map by clicking here:
http://www.frappr.com/artfulquilterswebring
It's fun to see where we all are!
Yep, some mysterious cold or flu bug caused me to cancel my meeting thursday afternoon and put me in bed all day friday. And, strangely enough, this is the first time in years that I've caught something that didn't start with Caroline bringing it home from school.
Thank goodness for Just's Eucasol Spray. Just is this Swiss company that makes herbal products (and I think they sell them through in-home parties -- that's how I discovered them years ago). They make a little spray that smells like herbs and eucalyptus and mint, sort of like Vick's Vapor-rub, but you don't have to apply that sticky ointment anywhere to get the wonderful smell effect. I spray it on a tissue and put it next to my nose when I'm going to sleep and I swear it helps clear up my stuffiness and relaxes me. So I love the stuff and have been spraying it willy-nilly lately.
So, no sewing going on here. I've been living vicariously through Melody and Gerrie and Kristin (new member to the AQ web ring!) and their adventures at Art Quilt Tahoe.
And I've been reading a lot, in between naps. Finished "Saving Fish from Drowning" (isn't that the best title?) by Amy Tan, and I would highly recommend it. Very thought provoking. I blew through a chick lit book, "Time Off for Good Behavior" which was mildly entertaining, although I found the narrator/heroine irritating and not likeable. I'm now into a dense legal thriller, "The Will," which seems interesting but keeps causing me to drift off. We'll see if that's the cold medicine or bad writing. It's too soon to tell.
By the way, if you're a member of the ring, put yourself on our Frappr.com map by clicking here:
http://www.frappr.com/artfulquilterswebring
It's fun to see where we all are!
Monday, November 07, 2005
Where are we?
There are just so many fun things on the internet. And I've added one of them to my blog. See that new box over there (there, on the right) just below the AQ web ring box? It's a link to "Frapper," a site which creates a map showing where everyone is.
Here's the official link:
http://www.frappr.com/artfulquilterswebring
So, if you're a member of the AQ web ring, go add yourself to the map...and maybe eventually we'll see where our members are!
Here's the official link:
http://www.frappr.com/artfulquilterswebring
So, if you're a member of the AQ web ring, go add yourself to the map...and maybe eventually we'll see where our members are!
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Someone Else Will Do It
It's ironic to me that my last post was about my involvement with this big school board issue. I can't even begin to tell you my list of frustrations with the whole situation.
But on Friday, I learned that one of the big quilt guilds in Northern California, the Marin Quilt Guild, is disbanding because there aren't people willing to step into the officer roles and run the guild. I was surprised, and actually rather impressed, at the boldness of the undoubtedly tired and overworked former guild officers. They've run the guild for years longer than their terms required, under the group's by-laws. They've put on a large, well-attended, well-respected juried quilt show every Labor Day weekend for many years.
Perhaps some new members will step forward to carry on the work and resurrect the guild, and that panic over not having the guild that they took for granted will propel people into action. Or perhaps not...maybe the failure of members to recognize that members in a group need to share the work means that the group just isn't a big enough priority to them.
There's not only the personal parallel for me as I struggle with this school stuff. Also, in my art quilt group, it's time for me to hand over the reins of being the "coordinator" to someone else. And so far no one is willing to step up and do it. I've been worrying about it, because I need to step out of the role for a number of reasons, but what do I do if no one will step in? Now I think "maybe that means that the group isn't important enough to anyone to share the work." And perhaps recognizing that and walking away from a group that isn't willing to share the workload of making it all happen isn't a bad thing. We'll see how that goes.
This sort of event and the aftermath of shock has lessons for us all, don't you think? From the littlest quilt group to the biggest of government...If we don't pay attention and do our part, maybe it'll change into something we don't recognize or like or want at all...And maybe it'll just go away.
These are my lofty thoughts on this Sunday morning. But now it's time to put in another load of laundry.
But on Friday, I learned that one of the big quilt guilds in Northern California, the Marin Quilt Guild, is disbanding because there aren't people willing to step into the officer roles and run the guild. I was surprised, and actually rather impressed, at the boldness of the undoubtedly tired and overworked former guild officers. They've run the guild for years longer than their terms required, under the group's by-laws. They've put on a large, well-attended, well-respected juried quilt show every Labor Day weekend for many years.
Perhaps some new members will step forward to carry on the work and resurrect the guild, and that panic over not having the guild that they took for granted will propel people into action. Or perhaps not...maybe the failure of members to recognize that members in a group need to share the work means that the group just isn't a big enough priority to them.
There's not only the personal parallel for me as I struggle with this school stuff. Also, in my art quilt group, it's time for me to hand over the reins of being the "coordinator" to someone else. And so far no one is willing to step up and do it. I've been worrying about it, because I need to step out of the role for a number of reasons, but what do I do if no one will step in? Now I think "maybe that means that the group isn't important enough to anyone to share the work." And perhaps recognizing that and walking away from a group that isn't willing to share the workload of making it all happen isn't a bad thing. We'll see how that goes.
This sort of event and the aftermath of shock has lessons for us all, don't you think? From the littlest quilt group to the biggest of government...If we don't pay attention and do our part, maybe it'll change into something we don't recognize or like or want at all...And maybe it'll just go away.
These are my lofty thoughts on this Sunday morning. But now it's time to put in another load of laundry.
Thursday, November 03, 2005
The Ups and Downs of Getting INVOLVED
You'll have to excuse my lack of fun and exciting stuff here. And, I warn you, it might be this way for a few days.
I blame it all on the School Board. A big issue has suddenly arisen regarding our district's elementary schools: whether our two schools should each be Kindergarten through 5th grade, or whether we should have one Kinder through 2nd grade school and another third through 5th grade school. The decision impacts virtually every elementary school kid in the district and their families, not to mention the city over all has it has implications for traffic issues and real estate values and such.
I've been hovering on the edge of the issue, trying to avoid jumping into it. But it's hard to resist. It's an important issue. And partly it's out of frustration with the Board, because the district actually had a huge review process and vote on this VERY SAME ISSUE just 18 months ago. So it's dismaying and confusing to have it all brought up again...and for no clear reason.
So, I finally decided that I need to get more information and find out what is REALLY driving this. Is it money? Is it some view of educational benefit that I'm missing? Is it just the personal preference of the board members who voted the other way on the issue last time, and don't want to let it rest?
Well, suffice it to say that I'm going to be having a lot of meetings in the coming week. I've already gotten my dander up, when I asked a secretary if I could have a copy of a particular report (which a school board member had referred to in a conversation) and the secretary replied, suspiciously, "How did YOU find out about that report?" Like it's a state secret, and not a public record. Sheesh.
You can bet I'm gonna get that report come hell or high water, now.
Anyway. That's what I'm doing right now. So if you don't hear from me for a few days, you'll know why.
And by the way, if any of you reading this have experience with either elementary school configuration (K-5 or K-6, or the "grade span" thing where your child changes school every few years), I'd love to hear from you about your experiences.
I guess I can't sit back and do nothing, as much as I'd rather, some times.
I blame it all on the School Board. A big issue has suddenly arisen regarding our district's elementary schools: whether our two schools should each be Kindergarten through 5th grade, or whether we should have one Kinder through 2nd grade school and another third through 5th grade school. The decision impacts virtually every elementary school kid in the district and their families, not to mention the city over all has it has implications for traffic issues and real estate values and such.
I've been hovering on the edge of the issue, trying to avoid jumping into it. But it's hard to resist. It's an important issue. And partly it's out of frustration with the Board, because the district actually had a huge review process and vote on this VERY SAME ISSUE just 18 months ago. So it's dismaying and confusing to have it all brought up again...and for no clear reason.
So, I finally decided that I need to get more information and find out what is REALLY driving this. Is it money? Is it some view of educational benefit that I'm missing? Is it just the personal preference of the board members who voted the other way on the issue last time, and don't want to let it rest?
Well, suffice it to say that I'm going to be having a lot of meetings in the coming week. I've already gotten my dander up, when I asked a secretary if I could have a copy of a particular report (which a school board member had referred to in a conversation) and the secretary replied, suspiciously, "How did YOU find out about that report?" Like it's a state secret, and not a public record. Sheesh.
You can bet I'm gonna get that report come hell or high water, now.
Anyway. That's what I'm doing right now. So if you don't hear from me for a few days, you'll know why.
And by the way, if any of you reading this have experience with either elementary school configuration (K-5 or K-6, or the "grade span" thing where your child changes school every few years), I'd love to hear from you about your experiences.
I guess I can't sit back and do nothing, as much as I'd rather, some times.
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Halloween Hangover
You know, it occurs to me that the reason God invented Halloween candy isn't for the kids -- it's so that the grown-ups orchestrating Halloween can get and maintain a sugar high to get them through the Halloween festivities.
It's been a long few days, folks. But fun. Very fun.
As I mentioned, Saturday was spent sewing the horse's costume for the EPS pony show. Sunday was the big horse show. The whole horse show experience isn't strange to me-- my sister rode in shows when we were in high school, so many of my high school weekends were spent hanging around barns, watching events, handing out ribbons, etc. And Caroline's been riding for about 3 years now, so by now the pony show isn't new either. And I KNOW that each class drags on interminably and the whole thing moves slowly. Like a tired pony trudging away from its stall.
Still, we leave the house early enough to be sure we're not late...only to arrive and discover that Caroline's first class won't be for about 2 hours. This leaves plenty of time to wander around, pet all the ponies, get all of our shoes really muddy, and accumulate enough liquid in our bladders that we all need to use the rather rustic (ahem) facilities there. And I'd really rather not use them.
But I digress. It was a lovely October day, sunny and over 70, with a touch of crispness in the air. The scent of hay and pony and manure (which from a distance is actually sort of pleasant) was in the air...and of course, there were scads of little girls skittering around, wearing their tan breeches and black boots and looking so sophisticated with their hair in neat buns...until, out of boredom, they start the wild cartwheeling that inevitably occurs when you get a bunch of 9 year olds together.
But I digress again. The costume event was very fun, with wildly inventive costumes for ponies and riders. Caroline and her pony, Bartles, turned out well:
They took 7th place, which thrilled Caroline as many kids didn't get a ribbon at all and she didn't have one of that purple color yet for her collection. Here's another view of them:
Caroline's good friend Lani, riding Rose, was a Pony Express aviator. Rose wasn't too thrilled about being the airplane and she kept rolling her eyes suspiciously at the cardboard wings, but they made it through the class and Lani took 8th place.
The overall winner was a boy (the only boy there all day, I think) who had an elaborate pirate costume and had turned the saddle into a huge treasure chest with overflowing treasure. I didn't get a good picture, so you'll just have to imagine that yourself.
Yesterday was the Halloween parade at school... I just love watching the kindergarteners trail around in their costumes! And then Caroline's class had its party. The 4th graders planned it themselves, and came up with inventive things. Caroline's contribution was to bring our steam vaporizer, for a mist effect in the classroom. Spooky!
Then, of course, came the trick-or-treating. Caroline's friend Dabria, AKA Wednesday Adams (of the Adams Family) went together, chattering excitedly the whole way. Dabria is a cute little girl, the spitting image of the TV Adams Family Wednesday (with slightly lighter hair. She has a high, happy voice and just chatters, chatters, chatters. "I'm having a BLAST!" she said to me, then she immediately turned to Caroline with a sigh. "I wish we could go with my brother. He knows the houses that give MONEY."
Oh well. No cash handouts in our neighborhood, but they did come home with a significant amount of candy, plus one toothrbrush each from the dentist up the street, AND a little pamphlet with Spiderman on the front about how God is a superhero and you can read about his adventures in the Bible. Seriously.
So, today we rest. And try to avoid the left-over hershey bars.
It's been a long few days, folks. But fun. Very fun.
As I mentioned, Saturday was spent sewing the horse's costume for the EPS pony show. Sunday was the big horse show. The whole horse show experience isn't strange to me-- my sister rode in shows when we were in high school, so many of my high school weekends were spent hanging around barns, watching events, handing out ribbons, etc. And Caroline's been riding for about 3 years now, so by now the pony show isn't new either. And I KNOW that each class drags on interminably and the whole thing moves slowly. Like a tired pony trudging away from its stall.
Still, we leave the house early enough to be sure we're not late...only to arrive and discover that Caroline's first class won't be for about 2 hours. This leaves plenty of time to wander around, pet all the ponies, get all of our shoes really muddy, and accumulate enough liquid in our bladders that we all need to use the rather rustic (ahem) facilities there. And I'd really rather not use them.
But I digress. It was a lovely October day, sunny and over 70, with a touch of crispness in the air. The scent of hay and pony and manure (which from a distance is actually sort of pleasant) was in the air...and of course, there were scads of little girls skittering around, wearing their tan breeches and black boots and looking so sophisticated with their hair in neat buns...until, out of boredom, they start the wild cartwheeling that inevitably occurs when you get a bunch of 9 year olds together.
But I digress again. The costume event was very fun, with wildly inventive costumes for ponies and riders. Caroline and her pony, Bartles, turned out well:
They took 7th place, which thrilled Caroline as many kids didn't get a ribbon at all and she didn't have one of that purple color yet for her collection. Here's another view of them:
Caroline's good friend Lani, riding Rose, was a Pony Express aviator. Rose wasn't too thrilled about being the airplane and she kept rolling her eyes suspiciously at the cardboard wings, but they made it through the class and Lani took 8th place.
The overall winner was a boy (the only boy there all day, I think) who had an elaborate pirate costume and had turned the saddle into a huge treasure chest with overflowing treasure. I didn't get a good picture, so you'll just have to imagine that yourself.
Yesterday was the Halloween parade at school... I just love watching the kindergarteners trail around in their costumes! And then Caroline's class had its party. The 4th graders planned it themselves, and came up with inventive things. Caroline's contribution was to bring our steam vaporizer, for a mist effect in the classroom. Spooky!
Then, of course, came the trick-or-treating. Caroline's friend Dabria, AKA Wednesday Adams (of the Adams Family) went together, chattering excitedly the whole way. Dabria is a cute little girl, the spitting image of the TV Adams Family Wednesday (with slightly lighter hair. She has a high, happy voice and just chatters, chatters, chatters. "I'm having a BLAST!" she said to me, then she immediately turned to Caroline with a sigh. "I wish we could go with my brother. He knows the houses that give MONEY."
Oh well. No cash handouts in our neighborhood, but they did come home with a significant amount of candy, plus one toothrbrush each from the dentist up the street, AND a little pamphlet with Spiderman on the front about how God is a superhero and you can read about his adventures in the Bible. Seriously.
So, today we rest. And try to avoid the left-over hershey bars.
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Unexpected Talents
I think from time to time of one of the interviews Roger and I had with the social worker before we adopted Caroline. (By way of explanation, when you adopt you have to have a home study by a state-authorized agency, which means that a social worker gets assigned to you and comes out and interviews you a bunch of times both before and after the adoption. ) Our social worker was a down-to-earth, friendly woman named Judith who was herself the mom of two adopted kids. She took all the anxiety out of the home study process for us.
Anyway, early on she asked "So, what sorts of activities to you envision doing with your daughter?" In retrospect, the question seems ridiculously broad and even silly. But back then, as a mom-in-waiting, I answered eagerly to describe my idyllic view of motherhood: I'd read to her, play games and cards and dolls with her, we'd bake cookies together and lie on the grass and stare at bugs together...i went on and on. I had quite a vision.
And now, some 9 years into our life with Caroline, I think back to the conversation and think about the things I simply couldn't imagine myself doing. Not because they were bad, or things I didn't want to do -- but because it just never occurred to me that I'd be doing them. And that's not to say that we haven't done the stuff I described to Judith, many times over: we read a ton and play games and dolls (although I didn't know that Caroline's doll play most often involves some form of tying the doll up in odd bondage style and then having horses come to the rescue. Finding Barbies staked to the furniture legs around Caroline's room does make me wonder about her impending adolescence... Hmm, the bondage thing didn't come up in the home study.)
But there are just things I couldn't have imagined myself doing. One of the big lessons of motherhood, for me, is the well of resources you discover you have... patience, humor, inventiveness, and sheer tolerance for little sleep and child wailing. And drool...tolerance of drool is another. I actually stunned myself once, when we were at my folks' house and Caroline (at about 1) suddenly started to vomit and I held out my hand to catch the vomit so it wouldn't hit the couch. Did you get that? I HELD OUT MY HAND TO CATCH THE VOMIT. As an impulse. (Hmm, is that a good mom impulse, or a good daughter impulse, protecting my parents' couch? Or both? Until now, it didn't occur to me to think about that angle.)
I didn't know that, when Caroline was a baby, I'd regularly sit her in the kitchen sink with the water fawcet on to let just a small stream of water fall out. That water mesmerized her, and she'd sit, transfixed, moving her chubbing fingers in and out of it. It was the only thing that would quiet her after a vaccination or when she was really cranky with teething.
I didn't know that I'd become an expert at building under-the-dining-room-table forts with blankets and pillows and upturned chairs, to transform our small living space into something new and exciting on a cold snowy day where we were housebound.
I didn't know I'd be peering into buckets of snails (EUUUUU) after Caroline had painstakingly collected them from the agapantha bushes to make the snail families she adored. (My second quilt for her was a Snail's Trail block quilt. No surprise there.)
And I didn't know I'd be sewing Halloween costumes for horses. Yes, you read that right. FOR HORSES. That's what I was doing yesterday. Uh huh. Read that again. FOR HORSES. The woman at the fabric store looked at me like I was crazy. "Well, that's a new one on me," she said, shaking her head.
Caroline rides (rode, rides, will ride -- all tenses, with great enthusiasm) at a riding school that puts on a kids' horse show every October. The show features a costume class -- actually, usually two or three as there are so many kids who want to participate they have to double up on the ponies -- where the kids and the ponies dress up. Last year was Caroline's first year...She was a Pony Ninja Princess, a role of her own invention. She was quite specific about the costume requirements. My part involved making a red silk-like (or, a hunk of silkish polyester from the bargain bin at Joann's Fabrics) blanket with gold tassels and fringe, rein and bridle decorations (gold fringe and tassels), and a gold organza veil for Her Highness the princess. Caroline won 3rd place and I was inordinately proud. I mean, that fringe on the bridle looked AWESOME.
This year, Caroline has opted to be an EPS (that's European Pony School) cheerleader. So we found her an inexpensive red cheerleading costume and I applied EPS to the front in white felt letters (We LOVE Wonder Under)...and with red felt and white bias tape, I've made a blanket to cover the pony's flanks and say "GO EPS!" on either side....And a red breast-plate thingy that will attach to the saddle and say EPS. (Who do we love? WONDER UNDER! Give me a W! Give me an O! Give me an N!) And Caroline and I spent last evening dismantling actual pom pons (did you know it's pom PON and not pom POM? According to the package it is, anyway) to take smaller clumps of pom pon strands, attach them to those little claw-like hair clippy things which we will then attach to the pony's mane and tail. I even have more red and white bias tape (a very cheap way to get colored trim) which we will wind around the reins for more spirited color.
Everyone will look stunning and festive and spilled with Pony School Spirit. Of course, Caroline has been strictly lectured several times to NOT wave her pom pons too aggressively, for fear of scaring the ponies and causing a stampede.
This will be an interesting afternoon. Pictures to follow.
Anyway, early on she asked "So, what sorts of activities to you envision doing with your daughter?" In retrospect, the question seems ridiculously broad and even silly. But back then, as a mom-in-waiting, I answered eagerly to describe my idyllic view of motherhood: I'd read to her, play games and cards and dolls with her, we'd bake cookies together and lie on the grass and stare at bugs together...i went on and on. I had quite a vision.
And now, some 9 years into our life with Caroline, I think back to the conversation and think about the things I simply couldn't imagine myself doing. Not because they were bad, or things I didn't want to do -- but because it just never occurred to me that I'd be doing them. And that's not to say that we haven't done the stuff I described to Judith, many times over: we read a ton and play games and dolls (although I didn't know that Caroline's doll play most often involves some form of tying the doll up in odd bondage style and then having horses come to the rescue. Finding Barbies staked to the furniture legs around Caroline's room does make me wonder about her impending adolescence... Hmm, the bondage thing didn't come up in the home study.)
But there are just things I couldn't have imagined myself doing. One of the big lessons of motherhood, for me, is the well of resources you discover you have... patience, humor, inventiveness, and sheer tolerance for little sleep and child wailing. And drool...tolerance of drool is another. I actually stunned myself once, when we were at my folks' house and Caroline (at about 1) suddenly started to vomit and I held out my hand to catch the vomit so it wouldn't hit the couch. Did you get that? I HELD OUT MY HAND TO CATCH THE VOMIT. As an impulse. (Hmm, is that a good mom impulse, or a good daughter impulse, protecting my parents' couch? Or both? Until now, it didn't occur to me to think about that angle.)
I didn't know that, when Caroline was a baby, I'd regularly sit her in the kitchen sink with the water fawcet on to let just a small stream of water fall out. That water mesmerized her, and she'd sit, transfixed, moving her chubbing fingers in and out of it. It was the only thing that would quiet her after a vaccination or when she was really cranky with teething.
I didn't know that I'd become an expert at building under-the-dining-room-table forts with blankets and pillows and upturned chairs, to transform our small living space into something new and exciting on a cold snowy day where we were housebound.
I didn't know I'd be peering into buckets of snails (EUUUUU) after Caroline had painstakingly collected them from the agapantha bushes to make the snail families she adored. (My second quilt for her was a Snail's Trail block quilt. No surprise there.)
And I didn't know I'd be sewing Halloween costumes for horses. Yes, you read that right. FOR HORSES. That's what I was doing yesterday. Uh huh. Read that again. FOR HORSES. The woman at the fabric store looked at me like I was crazy. "Well, that's a new one on me," she said, shaking her head.
Caroline rides (rode, rides, will ride -- all tenses, with great enthusiasm) at a riding school that puts on a kids' horse show every October. The show features a costume class -- actually, usually two or three as there are so many kids who want to participate they have to double up on the ponies -- where the kids and the ponies dress up. Last year was Caroline's first year...She was a Pony Ninja Princess, a role of her own invention. She was quite specific about the costume requirements. My part involved making a red silk-like (or, a hunk of silkish polyester from the bargain bin at Joann's Fabrics) blanket with gold tassels and fringe, rein and bridle decorations (gold fringe and tassels), and a gold organza veil for Her Highness the princess. Caroline won 3rd place and I was inordinately proud. I mean, that fringe on the bridle looked AWESOME.
This year, Caroline has opted to be an EPS (that's European Pony School) cheerleader. So we found her an inexpensive red cheerleading costume and I applied EPS to the front in white felt letters (We LOVE Wonder Under)...and with red felt and white bias tape, I've made a blanket to cover the pony's flanks and say "GO EPS!" on either side....And a red breast-plate thingy that will attach to the saddle and say EPS. (Who do we love? WONDER UNDER! Give me a W! Give me an O! Give me an N!) And Caroline and I spent last evening dismantling actual pom pons (did you know it's pom PON and not pom POM? According to the package it is, anyway) to take smaller clumps of pom pon strands, attach them to those little claw-like hair clippy things which we will then attach to the pony's mane and tail. I even have more red and white bias tape (a very cheap way to get colored trim) which we will wind around the reins for more spirited color.
Everyone will look stunning and festive and spilled with Pony School Spirit. Of course, Caroline has been strictly lectured several times to NOT wave her pom pons too aggressively, for fear of scaring the ponies and causing a stampede.
This will be an interesting afternoon. Pictures to follow.
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Going Inside the Block
It amuses me that, when so many artists talk about working 'outside of the block' to stretch themselves and open their minds to new ideas, my Practical Design workshop is asking me to use a traditional block as the starting point for creativity. Hence the "inside the block." I'd guess that for many art quilters, using traditional block structure is a new, if not scary, approach. You all can work through the inside/outside the block analogies yourselves.
Anyway. Here's the starting point block, known generally as the "Star of Bethlehem" or "Dutch Puzzle."
And here's the block's grid structure:
Notice all of those triangles?! We're not allowed to change the direction of any triangle lines but can combine them to form squares and parallelograms.
I digress to say I LOVE Electric Quilt 5. Do you have this software? If not, ask someone to give it to you for Christmas or your birthday, or treat yourself to it. (It's pricey. Around $100. But very fun and actually useful in all sorts of ways.) EQ allows you to use traditional blocks, or draw your own. You're not limited to blocks, either. You can draw any shapes you want, in any kind of setting or on any background you choose. You can set up blocks or chunks to form a background for an art quilt, or work with any shapes you want. (Strangely, one of the things I especially like it for is deciding on proportions...without endless and repeated sketching, I can fiddle with a diagram to test out different proportions of shapes before I move to fabric.) And it has "stashes" of fabric swatches so you can color designs with fabric colors and textures and even import REAL on-the-market fabrics. Very fun and cool. I've actually designed quilts on EQ and then decided, for the moment, that designing them and seeing them laid out there was enough for me at that stage so I could move on to something else. I've also used EQ to memorialize something I want to make in the future. Some time ago, I saw a tv show setting where a quilt hung on the wall in the background. I loved the quilt, and drew a hasty sketch as I was watching tv, then I designed it on EQ while it was fresh in my memory. Now I don't even remember what the TV show was, but I have the quilt all designed to remind me of what I want to do.
But anyway. As it happens, EQ is perfect for this sort of exercise. I was able to find the block in EQ's block library, then reduce it to the grid above. And rather than spend a lot of time trying out colors and layouts by hand-coloring (which has its own appeal for those of us who miss coloring with crayons but is a bit time-consuming and slow), I'm able to fill areas with color as I choose. Here's one variation:
You can see from the blank grid how many possibilities there are for design with this structure. I've decided to give myself two goals in this task: One is to use more muted colors for my final block, to force myself away from the brights I always head towards instinctively; and two, to play with the notion of transparency.
I've been fascinated by transparency in quilts since I stumbled onto Ruth McDowell's book "Pattern on Pattern." Simply put, that's where you use color to create the illusion of overlapping shapes. Here's an absolutely awe-inspiring example by Priscilla Bianchi:
So, I've started fiddling with EQ to see what transparency effects I can create in this block. Here's a first example:
You'll notice that I'm playing with bright colors, but for now I'm just finding the overlapping shapes in the block to get the transparent effect. I'll figure out the fabric later.
Here's another try:
So, that's how I'm approaching this exercise. It's very fun. I've got Itunes playing in the background and I'll just click-and-color.
Anyway. Here's the starting point block, known generally as the "Star of Bethlehem" or "Dutch Puzzle."
And here's the block's grid structure:
Notice all of those triangles?! We're not allowed to change the direction of any triangle lines but can combine them to form squares and parallelograms.
I digress to say I LOVE Electric Quilt 5. Do you have this software? If not, ask someone to give it to you for Christmas or your birthday, or treat yourself to it. (It's pricey. Around $100. But very fun and actually useful in all sorts of ways.) EQ allows you to use traditional blocks, or draw your own. You're not limited to blocks, either. You can draw any shapes you want, in any kind of setting or on any background you choose. You can set up blocks or chunks to form a background for an art quilt, or work with any shapes you want. (Strangely, one of the things I especially like it for is deciding on proportions...without endless and repeated sketching, I can fiddle with a diagram to test out different proportions of shapes before I move to fabric.) And it has "stashes" of fabric swatches so you can color designs with fabric colors and textures and even import REAL on-the-market fabrics. Very fun and cool. I've actually designed quilts on EQ and then decided, for the moment, that designing them and seeing them laid out there was enough for me at that stage so I could move on to something else. I've also used EQ to memorialize something I want to make in the future. Some time ago, I saw a tv show setting where a quilt hung on the wall in the background. I loved the quilt, and drew a hasty sketch as I was watching tv, then I designed it on EQ while it was fresh in my memory. Now I don't even remember what the TV show was, but I have the quilt all designed to remind me of what I want to do.
But anyway. As it happens, EQ is perfect for this sort of exercise. I was able to find the block in EQ's block library, then reduce it to the grid above. And rather than spend a lot of time trying out colors and layouts by hand-coloring (which has its own appeal for those of us who miss coloring with crayons but is a bit time-consuming and slow), I'm able to fill areas with color as I choose. Here's one variation:
You can see from the blank grid how many possibilities there are for design with this structure. I've decided to give myself two goals in this task: One is to use more muted colors for my final block, to force myself away from the brights I always head towards instinctively; and two, to play with the notion of transparency.
I've been fascinated by transparency in quilts since I stumbled onto Ruth McDowell's book "Pattern on Pattern." Simply put, that's where you use color to create the illusion of overlapping shapes. Here's an absolutely awe-inspiring example by Priscilla Bianchi:
So, I've started fiddling with EQ to see what transparency effects I can create in this block. Here's a first example:
You'll notice that I'm playing with bright colors, but for now I'm just finding the overlapping shapes in the block to get the transparent effect. I'll figure out the fabric later.
Here's another try:
So, that's how I'm approaching this exercise. It's very fun. I've got Itunes playing in the background and I'll just click-and-color.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Work? What work?
I have been shamelessly celebrating my lack of work. (To be honest, although my biggest case settled and eliminated the nastiest projects on my to-do list, I still have work on the list. Just nothing pressing. So I can pretend like it's not there, for the moment. You know how that lawyerly procrastination thing works. If I ignore it, it really might go away.)
Anyway. Yesterday, I had my art group meeting, followed by the second "Practical Design" workshop with Marilyn Felber. At the art group, we revealed the "brown bag" challenge quilts we've been working on for the past 6 months. The assortment of small quilts was wonderful to see. You can see them all here, on Gerrie's blog.
The design workshop with Marilyn was thought-provoking and very interesting. Marilyn has such a calm, careful presence about her. One of the big themes I'm taking away so far is the sense of doing whatever it is I do in my quilt art with deliberation. Why am I doing this? Why am I choosing this technique? Marilyn throws out a lot of questions to think about, with the basic premise that usually it's the process of asking the question that is more useful than actually answering it. So, for example, we talked a bit about the skill and craft that goes into making an art quilt, and learning the techniques (and confronting one's fear of what one cannot do) so that the inability to do some aspect of the craft won't impede your progress on a partular piece of art.
Many in the group were startled, to say the least, when Marilyn presented us with the next challenge: to use a particular complex traditional block (the Star of Bethlehem), reduce it to its basic structure, and then redesign a block that is true to the structure of the original but different in appearance from it. The diagram of the block flat out stunned some folks. All those triangles! All those points! (The group did not call itself "the Pointless Sisters" for nothing.) But many of us are enthusiastic about the process of taking an existing structure and making it our own.
And today? My sister and I tried out a new hamburger stand in town (with gourmet hamburgers and serving sweet potato fries...this IS Healdsburg, after all, where gourmet food rules and wine is served with everything) and then went home to watch a fluffy movie and happily tear inspirational pictures out of our old magazines. I"ll tell you about my inspiration notebooks another day. Now, all this leisure activity has worn me out and I'm headed to bed with a good novel.
Ooh--bathroom report-- the painters finished today, the toilet is now reinstalled (and not perching along side the bed, which is a refreshing improvement in the bedroom) and there are only a few minor things to be fixed before the master bathroom is ours again. I see a long bubble bath in my future...
Anyway. Yesterday, I had my art group meeting, followed by the second "Practical Design" workshop with Marilyn Felber. At the art group, we revealed the "brown bag" challenge quilts we've been working on for the past 6 months. The assortment of small quilts was wonderful to see. You can see them all here, on Gerrie's blog.
The design workshop with Marilyn was thought-provoking and very interesting. Marilyn has such a calm, careful presence about her. One of the big themes I'm taking away so far is the sense of doing whatever it is I do in my quilt art with deliberation. Why am I doing this? Why am I choosing this technique? Marilyn throws out a lot of questions to think about, with the basic premise that usually it's the process of asking the question that is more useful than actually answering it. So, for example, we talked a bit about the skill and craft that goes into making an art quilt, and learning the techniques (and confronting one's fear of what one cannot do) so that the inability to do some aspect of the craft won't impede your progress on a partular piece of art.
Many in the group were startled, to say the least, when Marilyn presented us with the next challenge: to use a particular complex traditional block (the Star of Bethlehem), reduce it to its basic structure, and then redesign a block that is true to the structure of the original but different in appearance from it. The diagram of the block flat out stunned some folks. All those triangles! All those points! (The group did not call itself "the Pointless Sisters" for nothing.) But many of us are enthusiastic about the process of taking an existing structure and making it our own.
And today? My sister and I tried out a new hamburger stand in town (with gourmet hamburgers and serving sweet potato fries...this IS Healdsburg, after all, where gourmet food rules and wine is served with everything) and then went home to watch a fluffy movie and happily tear inspirational pictures out of our old magazines. I"ll tell you about my inspiration notebooks another day. Now, all this leisure activity has worn me out and I'm headed to bed with a good novel.
Ooh--bathroom report-- the painters finished today, the toilet is now reinstalled (and not perching along side the bed, which is a refreshing improvement in the bedroom) and there are only a few minor things to be fixed before the master bathroom is ours again. I see a long bubble bath in my future...
Monday, October 24, 2005
In which I get good news
I am LEAPING around my office with glee.
I sat down at my computer this morning with dread, not to mention a queasy stomach and throbbing head. The queasiness was both literal and figurative: literal because we've all had some mild stomach thing this weekend where we don't want to eat and if we do we feel nauseated, and figurative because despite said literal queasiness I needed to make SERIOUS progress on a big old fat motion to scare the pants off the other side in a case I'm working on so we could get them thrown right out of court. And the throbbing head thing is because Caroline was up and down from bed all last night, complaining of various maladies (including itchy bumps, a stomach ache, wrinkly sheets, and other night-time disasters) so I didn't get much sleep.
Nevertheless, I poured myself a large cup of coffee, read my email, then figured I'd better call Bob the Wonder Boss before I dug in to see if there was anything vital I needed to know before I launched into work.
And LO, the angels are smiling on me because THE CASE SETTLED on Friday afternoon!
Hah! I'm happy, happy, HAPPY! Now I can go back to feeling queasy and sleepy with impunity. And with a child home sick from school, which means that the day won't exactly be fun and easy...but heck, at least I won't be trying to write the most brilliant and convincing summary judgment motion in the universe.
Things are looking up around here.
I love it when icky cases settle. And I'm not even the one getting the settlement cash.
I sat down at my computer this morning with dread, not to mention a queasy stomach and throbbing head. The queasiness was both literal and figurative: literal because we've all had some mild stomach thing this weekend where we don't want to eat and if we do we feel nauseated, and figurative because despite said literal queasiness I needed to make SERIOUS progress on a big old fat motion to scare the pants off the other side in a case I'm working on so we could get them thrown right out of court. And the throbbing head thing is because Caroline was up and down from bed all last night, complaining of various maladies (including itchy bumps, a stomach ache, wrinkly sheets, and other night-time disasters) so I didn't get much sleep.
Nevertheless, I poured myself a large cup of coffee, read my email, then figured I'd better call Bob the Wonder Boss before I dug in to see if there was anything vital I needed to know before I launched into work.
And LO, the angels are smiling on me because THE CASE SETTLED on Friday afternoon!
Hah! I'm happy, happy, HAPPY! Now I can go back to feeling queasy and sleepy with impunity. And with a child home sick from school, which means that the day won't exactly be fun and easy...but heck, at least I won't be trying to write the most brilliant and convincing summary judgment motion in the universe.
Things are looking up around here.
I love it when icky cases settle. And I'm not even the one getting the settlement cash.
Saturday, October 22, 2005
A Cottony Way to Die
Hey, you friends of mine:
You guys who are with me when we end up in fabric stores? And you guys who run into me at quilt shows? You all know who you are.
I havean order a request for you: If you see me holding fabric and standing near a cash register, DO NOT let me buy it! Rip it out of my hands! Push me away from the register! Yank my wallet away from me! Shove me to the floor, if need be...but do not let me come home with more fabric.
It's not a money issue...although I don't even want to try to estimate the value of the fabric crammed into my closet.
It's a space thing. I have fabric in every nook and cranny in my office, and I've used up the under-the-bed space, and I've got some on a closet shelf in the bedroom, and I've use the drawers in the hallway....
Simply put, it is TOO MUCH.
"Woman Dies After Fabric-Stuffed Shelves Collapse" is not a headline I want my family to have to see. (Although suffociation by fabric wouldn't be a totally horrid way to go...My last thought would probably be something like "I love that Kaffe Fassett print too much to cut into it" or "I forgot I had that piece that Melody Johnson dyed!")
This is a cry for help! Stop me before I buy again!
(Can you tell I'm putting away my stuff from PIQF?!)
You guys who are with me when we end up in fabric stores? And you guys who run into me at quilt shows? You all know who you are.
I have
It's not a money issue...although I don't even want to try to estimate the value of the fabric crammed into my closet.
It's a space thing. I have fabric in every nook and cranny in my office, and I've used up the under-the-bed space, and I've got some on a closet shelf in the bedroom, and I've use the drawers in the hallway....
Simply put, it is TOO MUCH.
"Woman Dies After Fabric-Stuffed Shelves Collapse" is not a headline I want my family to have to see. (Although suffociation by fabric wouldn't be a totally horrid way to go...My last thought would probably be something like "I love that Kaffe Fassett print too much to cut into it" or "I forgot I had that piece that Melody Johnson dyed!")
This is a cry for help! Stop me before I buy again!
(Can you tell I'm putting away my stuff from PIQF?!)
Friday, October 21, 2005
Hi, Pod
Here's my pod, finished. I decided to crop it and add the border to bring the focus back to the pod.
You know how much I love my Ipod? That's why I named this "Hi, Pod."
Hey, I'm tired. But it's a challenge finished.
Retreating and Returning
There's nothing like a mini-vacation in your own home town. I spent the last few days enjoying a quilting retreat at The Bishop's Ranch right here in Healdsburg. It's probably less than 15 miles from my house, but I feel like I'm hundreds of miles away when I'm there.
The ranch is a retreat and conference center owned by the Episcopal Diocese of California. There are lovely old buildings like this one, which is the main house:
There are other buildings... some woodsy cabins, some more modern meeting rooms, a lovely chapel with the most beautiful and artistic stained (or painted?) glass windows I've ever seen. But it's the setting that is truly magnificent... It's all nestled in the hills, with views of vineyards and rolling hills, oak trees clustered around the property, and wildlife (besides the quilters, I mean) strolling through from time to time. The essence of peace just floats through the air there.
There were about 40 women at this retreat, I'm guessing. We were divided among three different buildings: the main house (where there were 21 people), St. John's Room, where I was with 5 others, and Harrison House, where there was a group of perhaps 8 quilters of the more traditional persuasian. We visited each other frequently (to see what everyone was working on, to share snacks and wine, and to otherwise tease and joke and be silly) and we share meals together in a common dining room.
My sewing crowd consisted of my buddies Rita, Janet, Pat (all of whom you've seen here before -- they're members of my art group and my guild, as well as especially wonderful friends)...and Pat's sister Mary Lou who comes out from Massachusetts to include this retreat in her annual California vacation. This year, we had a "newbie" in the room, a pleasant woman who came from several hours away for a quilting get-away. She kept strolling off to read, take naps, and check out movie times...I suspect that when she signed up for a quilting retreat, she didn't realize she'd be in with a bunch of loonies who were happy to hang out in the sewing room, talking incessantly, from morning until as late at night as we could manage.
Fellow blogger, AQ ring member and buddy Gerrie was there, although she wasn't in our room... She's enough of an old-timer at that particular retreat that she has a guaranteed spot in the main house. So, we visited often and saw each other at meals. Here she is, looking happy and busy.
Down in our room, we did a lot of sewing, although you wouldn't know it from my complete lack of sewing action pictures. Janet and Pat worked on challenge projects for our art group. We cheered Mary Lou on as she moved from using her subdued New Englander fabrics into wild brights and high contrast fabrics... She knows she'll get a shocked reaction when she shows her work to her local guild back there. She's had a hard time finding contemporary quilters in her area.
We laughed and joked almost incessantly. And we listened to good music, too. Oddly enough, when we pooled our CDs we found that we had quite the international assortment... Gypsy Kings, Beau Soleil, Andrea Boccelli, a singer from Brazil whose name I can't remember but whose voice was very nice) and more. Indeed, spontaneous outbursts of dancing occurred from time to time. Here's Pat:
And Mary Lou and Rita demonstrated proper ballroom dancing technique (although I never did see a dip):
Yes, I did get sewing done! I decided to use the time to work on my Karen Stone "Cinco de Mayo" blocks. These are the complex New York Beauty style blocks with something like 11 different fabrics in each block and lord knows how many points. They're fun, but slow going. I figured having a hunk of time to just plug away on them would be good. And it was, although I was a bit frustrated as the quilters around me were whipping out a quilt top a day while I was proudly announcing the completion of ONE block every 5 hours or so. Still, I was happy to get seven of them done at the retreat. Here they are, with the two I'd done before (in no particular arrangement):
I'm not sure how big I'm going to make the quilt. I'd envisioned something rather large, but geez, these blocks take a lot of time. I'm going to take a break for a while, then make a few more and then see how it goes. I'm thinking I want at least 16 blocks and probably more.
The other thing I accomplished at the ranch was that I did most of my "Brown Bag Challenge" quilt. Remember that challenge? About 6 months ago, everyone in our art group brought a brown paper sack with an unidentied object in it, and we put them on the table and each picked a bag. The challenge is to make an 18" square quilt inspired by the what's in your bag.
Here's what I got:
In case you can't recognize it, it's a seed pod from a Liquidambar tree. (I never knew until I went to link the tree name that it's all one word. Hmmm.)
As I was sewing on my Cinco de Mayo blocks, I was complaining outloud to my sewing roommates at the retreat that I didn't know what I was going to do for the challenge.
Pat gave me a bemused look. "A rounded shape? With points? Whatever could you do?"
I looked down at my blocks. Oh yeah. Round. Pointy points. Well, duh. So, I thought about doing another block and making it the center of an 18" square quilt.
But those blocks take so dang long! I opted for the fusing method (or, as we started to call it, the "slap and glue" approach). Here's where I am so far:
I'm gonna crop this way down so only the edges of the leaves show. And I'm thinking of doing some Gabrielle-type shading. We'll see.
I love how the pod turned out, especially the weird curly points. Here's a close-up:
So, now it's back to home and real life and work and laundry and such. But it's also back to husband and daughter and puppy and cats, so life is good.
It wouldn't be a retreat if you didn't have home to retreat from and return to, eh?!
The ranch is a retreat and conference center owned by the Episcopal Diocese of California. There are lovely old buildings like this one, which is the main house:
There are other buildings... some woodsy cabins, some more modern meeting rooms, a lovely chapel with the most beautiful and artistic stained (or painted?) glass windows I've ever seen. But it's the setting that is truly magnificent... It's all nestled in the hills, with views of vineyards and rolling hills, oak trees clustered around the property, and wildlife (besides the quilters, I mean) strolling through from time to time. The essence of peace just floats through the air there.
There were about 40 women at this retreat, I'm guessing. We were divided among three different buildings: the main house (where there were 21 people), St. John's Room, where I was with 5 others, and Harrison House, where there was a group of perhaps 8 quilters of the more traditional persuasian. We visited each other frequently (to see what everyone was working on, to share snacks and wine, and to otherwise tease and joke and be silly) and we share meals together in a common dining room.
My sewing crowd consisted of my buddies Rita, Janet, Pat (all of whom you've seen here before -- they're members of my art group and my guild, as well as especially wonderful friends)...and Pat's sister Mary Lou who comes out from Massachusetts to include this retreat in her annual California vacation. This year, we had a "newbie" in the room, a pleasant woman who came from several hours away for a quilting get-away. She kept strolling off to read, take naps, and check out movie times...I suspect that when she signed up for a quilting retreat, she didn't realize she'd be in with a bunch of loonies who were happy to hang out in the sewing room, talking incessantly, from morning until as late at night as we could manage.
Fellow blogger, AQ ring member and buddy Gerrie was there, although she wasn't in our room... She's enough of an old-timer at that particular retreat that she has a guaranteed spot in the main house. So, we visited often and saw each other at meals. Here she is, looking happy and busy.
Down in our room, we did a lot of sewing, although you wouldn't know it from my complete lack of sewing action pictures. Janet and Pat worked on challenge projects for our art group. We cheered Mary Lou on as she moved from using her subdued New Englander fabrics into wild brights and high contrast fabrics... She knows she'll get a shocked reaction when she shows her work to her local guild back there. She's had a hard time finding contemporary quilters in her area.
We laughed and joked almost incessantly. And we listened to good music, too. Oddly enough, when we pooled our CDs we found that we had quite the international assortment... Gypsy Kings, Beau Soleil, Andrea Boccelli, a singer from Brazil whose name I can't remember but whose voice was very nice) and more. Indeed, spontaneous outbursts of dancing occurred from time to time. Here's Pat:
And Mary Lou and Rita demonstrated proper ballroom dancing technique (although I never did see a dip):
Yes, I did get sewing done! I decided to use the time to work on my Karen Stone "Cinco de Mayo" blocks. These are the complex New York Beauty style blocks with something like 11 different fabrics in each block and lord knows how many points. They're fun, but slow going. I figured having a hunk of time to just plug away on them would be good. And it was, although I was a bit frustrated as the quilters around me were whipping out a quilt top a day while I was proudly announcing the completion of ONE block every 5 hours or so. Still, I was happy to get seven of them done at the retreat. Here they are, with the two I'd done before (in no particular arrangement):
I'm not sure how big I'm going to make the quilt. I'd envisioned something rather large, but geez, these blocks take a lot of time. I'm going to take a break for a while, then make a few more and then see how it goes. I'm thinking I want at least 16 blocks and probably more.
The other thing I accomplished at the ranch was that I did most of my "Brown Bag Challenge" quilt. Remember that challenge? About 6 months ago, everyone in our art group brought a brown paper sack with an unidentied object in it, and we put them on the table and each picked a bag. The challenge is to make an 18" square quilt inspired by the what's in your bag.
Here's what I got:
In case you can't recognize it, it's a seed pod from a Liquidambar tree. (I never knew until I went to link the tree name that it's all one word. Hmmm.)
As I was sewing on my Cinco de Mayo blocks, I was complaining outloud to my sewing roommates at the retreat that I didn't know what I was going to do for the challenge.
Pat gave me a bemused look. "A rounded shape? With points? Whatever could you do?"
I looked down at my blocks. Oh yeah. Round. Pointy points. Well, duh. So, I thought about doing another block and making it the center of an 18" square quilt.
But those blocks take so dang long! I opted for the fusing method (or, as we started to call it, the "slap and glue" approach). Here's where I am so far:
I'm gonna crop this way down so only the edges of the leaves show. And I'm thinking of doing some Gabrielle-type shading. We'll see.
I love how the pod turned out, especially the weird curly points. Here's a close-up:
So, now it's back to home and real life and work and laundry and such. But it's also back to husband and daughter and puppy and cats, so life is good.
It wouldn't be a retreat if you didn't have home to retreat from and return to, eh?!
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Read this book...
I am just back from a lovely quilt retreat, and as soon as I unpack all my stuff and transfer photos from camera to computer, I will tell you more about it. But in the meantime, I want to recommend an absolutely amazing book that you will surely want to read.
It's called "gods in Alabama" by Joshilyn Jackson. Here's one of the opening paragraphs:
"I made a deal with God two years before I left [Alabama]. At the time, I thought He made out pretty well. I offered Him a three-for-one deal: All He had to do was perform a miracle. He fulfilled His end of the bargain, so I kept my three promises faithfully, no matter what the cost. I held our deal as sacred for twelve solid years. But that was before God let Rose Mae Lolly show up on my doorstep, dragging my ghosts and her own considerable baggage with her."
It's hard to know how to describe this novel. It's amazingly well-written, with wise-cracking humor and charming descriptions of crazy Southern folks, a southern girl's perspective from life in the north. It's absorbing drama, and a plot with a some surprising turns.
Really, this book will delight and engross you, and keep you thinking after you put it down. It wouldn't surprise me if this ended up as an Oprah pick (and I mean that in a good way).
What's more, you can get a taste of Joshilyn Jackson's writing on her blog Faster than Kudzu, which is wonderful fun reading.
I'm not kidding. Go find this book and read it.
It's called "gods in Alabama" by Joshilyn Jackson. Here's one of the opening paragraphs:
"I made a deal with God two years before I left [Alabama]. At the time, I thought He made out pretty well. I offered Him a three-for-one deal: All He had to do was perform a miracle. He fulfilled His end of the bargain, so I kept my three promises faithfully, no matter what the cost. I held our deal as sacred for twelve solid years. But that was before God let Rose Mae Lolly show up on my doorstep, dragging my ghosts and her own considerable baggage with her."
It's hard to know how to describe this novel. It's amazingly well-written, with wise-cracking humor and charming descriptions of crazy Southern folks, a southern girl's perspective from life in the north. It's absorbing drama, and a plot with a some surprising turns.
Really, this book will delight and engross you, and keep you thinking after you put it down. It wouldn't surprise me if this ended up as an Oprah pick (and I mean that in a good way).
What's more, you can get a taste of Joshilyn Jackson's writing on her blog Faster than Kudzu, which is wonderful fun reading.
I'm not kidding. Go find this book and read it.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Quilt Festival Frenzy
I am home after three days devoted to quilts, viewing, making, and otherwise being immersed in, at PIQF in Santa Clara. One of the great things for me about this is that it takes place about 20 minutes from my parents' house. So, I stay with them and then get to enjoy the show for a few days. PIQF is so huge, with such great things to see, that I'd hate to try to do it in one day. As it is, I get overwhelmed seeing this many amazing quilts in one place.
There were scads of gorgeous quilts. I quickly became overwhelmed and didn't take as many pictures as I probably should have. Plus there were wonderful quilts that just always had people crowded around them, so I never did get a clear shot.
Here is one of the ones I consider among my most favorites:
I find that I am drawn to different sorts of quilts each year. I admire, but tend not to look at closely or take pictures of of the traditional or big applique quilts. Baltimore Album quilts leave me cold, although I am awed by the time and patience that making one displays. I'm also, at present, sick and tired of the heavy surface design stuff...you know, things stamped and printed and layered with fabric bits and organza on top of that and then layered more with stitching and different thread work and beads and other stuff attached. I know those techniques are probably fun to do and the look is trendy right now, but I find most of those very jumbly and not very interesting. There was a fair amount of that sort of work this show, and I didn't see any one piece that struck me really terrific. (But that's just me, and hey, I know my quilts aren't fine art either.)
By the way, I also noticed that heavy, heavy quilting is IN. I can't believe how many quilts I saw that were so heavily quilted that you noticed the quilting before you noticed the quilt itself. It made me admire all the more the quilts that used the threadwork and quilting to compliment but not overwhelm the quilt content. Anyway. I don't mean to sound nit-picky. There were lots and lots of gorgeous quilts.
This time, I just wandered around and looked at the stuff that caught my eye for whatever reason. Mostly, the factor that pulls me in is color. That, more than technique or content, is usually what gets my attention and causes me to look more closely. I did find myself drawn to the animal quilts, for some reason...Not for realistic portrayals of animals...This dog one was so colorful and full of detail (not to mention amazing applique) that it warranted a lot of close looking.
This dog quilt also captured my attention. I love how it is about the dog, but it is so colorful and has so much to look at in it. Very whimsical. I recall that it was made for a "blue" challenge...and I suspect that this dog was/is either a blue heeler breed or named Blue. (You can tell I pay way more attention to the quilt than the information on the card.)
Here are more favorites, for no other reason than I found them exceptional. I'm afraid that I didn't notice who made them, so my apologies. I guess being happily overwhelmed by the artistry of the quilt is my excuse.
Oh! Look at this! A group of quilt artists took a picture of Paris, cut it into strips, and made this panel of strips. Apparently there was one fabric that each artist had to use. My friends and I were guessing that it was one of the terra cotta colored bits which most of them used somewhere in the bridge stonework. I was especially amazed at this, as most of these group projects that I've seen turn out ugly and disjointed looking. I thought this was surprisingly cohesive.
I took this picture for Caroline. I will never make this sort of horse quilt, but I can admire it.
For some reason, I found myself noticing interesting and unusual borders. This was a pretty, but not wildly interesting, broderie perse type quilt. But I love this border, with the black buttonhole stitching highlighting the pieced edges.
Another intesting quilt and border treatment. You can just tell that this is a Japanese quilt, can't you? The detail was really amazing.
I also was interested in the border treatment on this. I thought this edge treatment really made a good (but not great) quilt into something much more interesting.
One of the special exhibits was a collection of small quilts (all about 18 or 20" square) by a group of artists from New York State. There were lots of interesting small works in that assortment and I spent a long time enjoying them. Here's one of my favorites. I loved how these narrow strings (each maybe 1/4 inch wide or less) made such great texture.
I have much more to say about PIQF, but of course I can't close this first entry without showing you how my first day ended: with margaritas with Melody Johnson and Gerrie Congdon at El Torito. After a long day of walking around on concrete floors (resulting in "Disneyland Feet" as my family refers to that tired leg/sore feet feeling), nothing is as reviving as a comfy booth, laughter with friends, and of course a large margarita on the rocks!
Our waiter kindly took this shot (notice how Melody is gazing at him with interest?). I'm still figuring out how to smile in braces...it just doesn't feel normal yet. But it was a very enjoyable dinner!
Oh, I have to add one more thing. I walked through the show on Thursday and Friday. Starting Saturday, the convention center was hosting other activities besides the quilt show. In the halls adjacent to the quilt show area was the "Bay Area UFO Convention." I'm not kidding! It was totally entertaining to sit (to enjoy a rejuvenating cup of coffee and rest the Disneyland Feet) and watch the folks coming in and going out. I actually saw one very serious fellow with a rather large wad of aluminum foil on his head. Seriously, I did.
I bet that the thought of a quilt convention was just as odd to them as the UFO convention was to me.
Can't you just see THAT as a quilt? "Quilt and UFO Convention"?
There were scads of gorgeous quilts. I quickly became overwhelmed and didn't take as many pictures as I probably should have. Plus there were wonderful quilts that just always had people crowded around them, so I never did get a clear shot.
Here is one of the ones I consider among my most favorites:
I find that I am drawn to different sorts of quilts each year. I admire, but tend not to look at closely or take pictures of of the traditional or big applique quilts. Baltimore Album quilts leave me cold, although I am awed by the time and patience that making one displays. I'm also, at present, sick and tired of the heavy surface design stuff...you know, things stamped and printed and layered with fabric bits and organza on top of that and then layered more with stitching and different thread work and beads and other stuff attached. I know those techniques are probably fun to do and the look is trendy right now, but I find most of those very jumbly and not very interesting. There was a fair amount of that sort of work this show, and I didn't see any one piece that struck me really terrific. (But that's just me, and hey, I know my quilts aren't fine art either.)
By the way, I also noticed that heavy, heavy quilting is IN. I can't believe how many quilts I saw that were so heavily quilted that you noticed the quilting before you noticed the quilt itself. It made me admire all the more the quilts that used the threadwork and quilting to compliment but not overwhelm the quilt content. Anyway. I don't mean to sound nit-picky. There were lots and lots of gorgeous quilts.
This time, I just wandered around and looked at the stuff that caught my eye for whatever reason. Mostly, the factor that pulls me in is color. That, more than technique or content, is usually what gets my attention and causes me to look more closely. I did find myself drawn to the animal quilts, for some reason...Not for realistic portrayals of animals...This dog one was so colorful and full of detail (not to mention amazing applique) that it warranted a lot of close looking.
This dog quilt also captured my attention. I love how it is about the dog, but it is so colorful and has so much to look at in it. Very whimsical. I recall that it was made for a "blue" challenge...and I suspect that this dog was/is either a blue heeler breed or named Blue. (You can tell I pay way more attention to the quilt than the information on the card.)
Here are more favorites, for no other reason than I found them exceptional. I'm afraid that I didn't notice who made them, so my apologies. I guess being happily overwhelmed by the artistry of the quilt is my excuse.
Oh! Look at this! A group of quilt artists took a picture of Paris, cut it into strips, and made this panel of strips. Apparently there was one fabric that each artist had to use. My friends and I were guessing that it was one of the terra cotta colored bits which most of them used somewhere in the bridge stonework. I was especially amazed at this, as most of these group projects that I've seen turn out ugly and disjointed looking. I thought this was surprisingly cohesive.
I took this picture for Caroline. I will never make this sort of horse quilt, but I can admire it.
For some reason, I found myself noticing interesting and unusual borders. This was a pretty, but not wildly interesting, broderie perse type quilt. But I love this border, with the black buttonhole stitching highlighting the pieced edges.
Another intesting quilt and border treatment. You can just tell that this is a Japanese quilt, can't you? The detail was really amazing.
I also was interested in the border treatment on this. I thought this edge treatment really made a good (but not great) quilt into something much more interesting.
One of the special exhibits was a collection of small quilts (all about 18 or 20" square) by a group of artists from New York State. There were lots of interesting small works in that assortment and I spent a long time enjoying them. Here's one of my favorites. I loved how these narrow strings (each maybe 1/4 inch wide or less) made such great texture.
I have much more to say about PIQF, but of course I can't close this first entry without showing you how my first day ended: with margaritas with Melody Johnson and Gerrie Congdon at El Torito. After a long day of walking around on concrete floors (resulting in "Disneyland Feet" as my family refers to that tired leg/sore feet feeling), nothing is as reviving as a comfy booth, laughter with friends, and of course a large margarita on the rocks!
Our waiter kindly took this shot (notice how Melody is gazing at him with interest?). I'm still figuring out how to smile in braces...it just doesn't feel normal yet. But it was a very enjoyable dinner!
Oh, I have to add one more thing. I walked through the show on Thursday and Friday. Starting Saturday, the convention center was hosting other activities besides the quilt show. In the halls adjacent to the quilt show area was the "Bay Area UFO Convention." I'm not kidding! It was totally entertaining to sit (to enjoy a rejuvenating cup of coffee and rest the Disneyland Feet) and watch the folks coming in and going out. I actually saw one very serious fellow with a rather large wad of aluminum foil on his head. Seriously, I did.
I bet that the thought of a quilt convention was just as odd to them as the UFO convention was to me.
Can't you just see THAT as a quilt? "Quilt and UFO Convention"?
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Quilty Travels
Ooh! I have earned this week, let me tell you!
I am leaving momentarily to drive down to Santa Clara, to spend 3 days at PIQF. I'll view amazing quilts, shop a little teeny bit (ahem), visit with friends, see Miss Melody, take a workshop with Robbi Ecklow, and have a grand time.
Then, I dash home, spend a day with husband and child and dog, then turn around and head off to Bishop's Ranch for a quilting retreat with a wonderful group of women.
So, basically, I have a vacation from real life and responsibilities for almost a whole week.
I shall return looking well rested and smiling!
Happy quilting!
I am leaving momentarily to drive down to Santa Clara, to spend 3 days at PIQF. I'll view amazing quilts, shop a little teeny bit (ahem), visit with friends, see Miss Melody, take a workshop with Robbi Ecklow, and have a grand time.
Then, I dash home, spend a day with husband and child and dog, then turn around and head off to Bishop's Ranch for a quilting retreat with a wonderful group of women.
So, basically, I have a vacation from real life and responsibilities for almost a whole week.
I shall return looking well rested and smiling!
Happy quilting!
Monday, October 10, 2005
I interrupt this blog....
... to make an important announcement. I've been reading blogs on the Artful Quilter's Web Ring, and I just have to say:
I LOVE YOU GUYS!
(No, I'm not drunk. Okay, I'm mildly nauseated from all the obnoxious legal pleadings I've been reading lately... but still, I'm overcome with the urge to hug my computer monitor because of you all.)
Truly, this is an amazing group of artists and women. Did you realize that the ring has 105 members now?
I'm absolutely blown away by the creativity and diversity of the women in this ring. If you hop through the ring, you can visit world-famous quilt artists and teachers. You can see work that you KNOW will be big, prize-winning work one day, while it's actually in the process of being made. You can see people making quilts for their kids and their friends and people they don't even know. You can watch as quilt artists explore still life art, color, design. You can get great inspiration, and you can receive feedback and encouragement on your own work.
And, even beyond the quilts and art shown on these blogs, you can glimpse the lives of 105 different and delightful women, from all over the U.S., the U.K., Scotland, Australia... You can see (or be linked to) virtually every quiz on the internet to find out what wine you are, what old movie you are, what movie star you are, what rock band you are, etc. (Ahem! I'm not naming names here but you quiz-linkers know who you are...and we love you for it!)
I love having you all appear on my screen and I thank you for everything you share with me through your blog!
I LOVE YOU GUYS!
(No, I'm not drunk. Okay, I'm mildly nauseated from all the obnoxious legal pleadings I've been reading lately... but still, I'm overcome with the urge to hug my computer monitor because of you all.)
Truly, this is an amazing group of artists and women. Did you realize that the ring has 105 members now?
I'm absolutely blown away by the creativity and diversity of the women in this ring. If you hop through the ring, you can visit world-famous quilt artists and teachers. You can see work that you KNOW will be big, prize-winning work one day, while it's actually in the process of being made. You can see people making quilts for their kids and their friends and people they don't even know. You can watch as quilt artists explore still life art, color, design. You can get great inspiration, and you can receive feedback and encouragement on your own work.
And, even beyond the quilts and art shown on these blogs, you can glimpse the lives of 105 different and delightful women, from all over the U.S., the U.K., Scotland, Australia... You can see (or be linked to) virtually every quiz on the internet to find out what wine you are, what old movie you are, what movie star you are, what rock band you are, etc. (Ahem! I'm not naming names here but you quiz-linkers know who you are...and we love you for it!)
I love having you all appear on my screen and I thank you for everything you share with me through your blog!
Halloween Housez
For those of you who asked about how to make something like my little Halloween neighborhood quilt, here's the pattern that I used in making mine. It's by Jan Mullen, of Stargazey Designs.
You can purchase it, and others by Jan Mullen, here or here. I love her crooked, free-form style, and they're really fun to make.
You can purchase it, and others by Jan Mullen, here or here. I love her crooked, free-form style, and they're really fun to make.
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Why lawyers don't like lawyers
I'm a lawyer myself, as I've mentioned before. But I've spent the last several days immersed in a case which is reminding me why I was so eager to get away from full-time courtroom litigation. It's not the clients (although they can be difficult). It's not the judges, although there's nothing more annoying than finding a judge who will do whatever he can to avoid making a decision. It's not the courtroom drama -- heck, that's a big part of the fun. Frankly, it's the lawyers.
Yep. I always said that practicing law would be great if you could choose your opposing counsel. Which you can't.
At present, I do the written work for my good friend and "boss" Bob back in New Hampshire. I'm a member of the NH bar, where I practiced "in person" for many years. Now, I write pleadings and briefs and deal with documents ... whatever I can do from this far away, at my computer, at any time of the day. It's actually a very nice arrangement, and usually it means I spend my work time doing the legal work I like best: the intellectual legal analysis in briefs and memoranda.
But these days, I'm spending my time writing about ridiculous skirmishes over discovery, which is the process by which lawyers exchange information about a case to prepare for trial. This ought to be a relatively straight-forward contract case, involving some machinery that my client wanted to buy and the other side wanted to make and sell.
But in the hands of this other lawyer -- known affectionately here as "The JERK" -- it has deteriorated into a procedural nit-picking contest. Here's an example of the sort of thing I've had to waste my SUNDAY (ahem! a day of rest! fun with family! quilting!) dealing with:
We sent them "requests for admissions." That's a document where you make a bunch of statements and the other side is required to either admit they're true or deny them. You can use them in all sorts of useful ways at trial. Anyway, here's a typical request for admission:
"Smith invited Jones to bid for the job of manufacuring a prototype machine."
And here's a typical answer from the JERK: "Smith objects to this request as worded, in that Smith is not sure what is meant by the terms "invited," "bid," or "job."
AARRRGH. Makes me wanna whack the guy upside the head with a very thick dictionary. I had a bit of entertainment imagining replies:
"Your objection to Request #2 is specious. (Feel free to look that word up in a dictionary. You DO know what a dictionary is, don't you?)"
or
"Here are the definitions of invite, bid, and job.I am happy to add three new words to your vocabulary. Knowledge is power, you know. Now, please respond to the request."
or
"How did you get beyond 4th grade, with such a limited vocabulary? Was your law degree issued by an accredited institution?"
Sigh. I'd really rather be quilting. Or cleaning my sewing area. Or cleaning the toilet, even. Feel free to post your suggested response to this jerk in the comments. It'll cheer me up. I have more of this to deal with.
Yep. I always said that practicing law would be great if you could choose your opposing counsel. Which you can't.
At present, I do the written work for my good friend and "boss" Bob back in New Hampshire. I'm a member of the NH bar, where I practiced "in person" for many years. Now, I write pleadings and briefs and deal with documents ... whatever I can do from this far away, at my computer, at any time of the day. It's actually a very nice arrangement, and usually it means I spend my work time doing the legal work I like best: the intellectual legal analysis in briefs and memoranda.
But these days, I'm spending my time writing about ridiculous skirmishes over discovery, which is the process by which lawyers exchange information about a case to prepare for trial. This ought to be a relatively straight-forward contract case, involving some machinery that my client wanted to buy and the other side wanted to make and sell.
But in the hands of this other lawyer -- known affectionately here as "The JERK" -- it has deteriorated into a procedural nit-picking contest. Here's an example of the sort of thing I've had to waste my SUNDAY (ahem! a day of rest! fun with family! quilting!) dealing with:
We sent them "requests for admissions." That's a document where you make a bunch of statements and the other side is required to either admit they're true or deny them. You can use them in all sorts of useful ways at trial. Anyway, here's a typical request for admission:
"Smith invited Jones to bid for the job of manufacuring a prototype machine."
And here's a typical answer from the JERK: "Smith objects to this request as worded, in that Smith is not sure what is meant by the terms "invited," "bid," or "job."
AARRRGH. Makes me wanna whack the guy upside the head with a very thick dictionary. I had a bit of entertainment imagining replies:
"Your objection to Request #2 is specious. (Feel free to look that word up in a dictionary. You DO know what a dictionary is, don't you?)"
or
"Here are the definitions of invite, bid, and job.I am happy to add three new words to your vocabulary. Knowledge is power, you know. Now, please respond to the request."
or
"How did you get beyond 4th grade, with such a limited vocabulary? Was your law degree issued by an accredited institution?"
Sigh. I'd really rather be quilting. Or cleaning my sewing area. Or cleaning the toilet, even. Feel free to post your suggested response to this jerk in the comments. It'll cheer me up. I have more of this to deal with.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Another UFO Off of the Pile
I love making crazy log cabin "kid quilts." They're fun, a great way to use up scraps, and they make bright, cheerful quilts. I've made a bunch of these for the local charity I support, the Valley of the Moon Children's Center.
On Monday, I was scheduled for my second lesson on my friend Veronica's Gammill Long Arm Quilting Machine. (She has not yet named hers, unlike those odd ladies on the tv commercial who are apparently better friends with their machines than with their human friends.) I'd practiced on a scrap hunk of muslin last time, and decided that this time I'd work on an actual quilt top.
So, I pulled out one of the crazy quilt tops I'd put together last fall. Yep, another one from that same batch of Halloween fabrics. (Funny, how far that pack of Halloween half-yards will stretch--and I've got enough left to make another quilt like this, probably.) Anyway, here it is, completed:
I just did a looping meander all over the quilt. I figured I'd start with something easy and get fancier from there. I apologize for the less-than-sharp pictures, but maybe you can see a bit of the quilting here:
Or, maybe not. Anyway, trust me, it's a looping meander that looks fine. I did get brave enough to write "Boo" a few times in the border, but that was as brave as I got.
This took me probably three hours to do on her machine...You have to bear in mind that changing the bobbin and stopping and starting and burying threads as I go is all new to me, so that probably slowed me way down...Still, I was delighted to have this done in one morning.
My view of the long arm quilting so far? It's a heck of a lot of fun. Threading the machine isn't as hard or tricky as I thought it would be...in fact, it's very much like threading your typical industrial type machine. The loading process isn't a fast one, but then again, neither is the basting process when you're going to quilt on a regular machine. I can see that if you take the time to make sure it's all straight when you put all the layers on the rollers, then all goes smoothly as you quilt sections and roll it up.
Also, it's clear to me that if you've done a fair amount of free-motion quilting, then the long-arm won't be that hard. I think a lot of what people have a hard time with is figuring out how to get an overall continuous line pattern to cover the area uniformly, and how not to get backed into a corner as you're quilting. Those are the same issues you deal with regardless of what machine you're on, so if you've gotten good at that stuff, then the long arm stuff will be easier. Veronica, who had done no free-motion quilting before she got this, said that she found that the hardest part, and she's amazed that it's not hard at all for me. Another one of those practice issues, I believe.
Am I eager to rush out and buy one? No. This is suiting me fine to be able to use one from time to time. I'm not sure if it's a function of Veronica's particular machine or my novice status or what, but I find the machine hard to control when you move it at certain angles, so precision quilting right now wouldn't come out well. But maybe that's a matter of getting a feel for the machine and getting a lot of practice. We'll see. I have another donation quilt I'll take next Monday for my next practice session.
By the way, I was thinking to give this one away. But Caroline has pointed out that the crazy quilt I made for her some years ago is getting very worn and she needs THIS one to snuggle with on the couch. So, it looks like it's staying here.
On Monday, I was scheduled for my second lesson on my friend Veronica's Gammill Long Arm Quilting Machine. (She has not yet named hers, unlike those odd ladies on the tv commercial who are apparently better friends with their machines than with their human friends.) I'd practiced on a scrap hunk of muslin last time, and decided that this time I'd work on an actual quilt top.
So, I pulled out one of the crazy quilt tops I'd put together last fall. Yep, another one from that same batch of Halloween fabrics. (Funny, how far that pack of Halloween half-yards will stretch--and I've got enough left to make another quilt like this, probably.) Anyway, here it is, completed:
I just did a looping meander all over the quilt. I figured I'd start with something easy and get fancier from there. I apologize for the less-than-sharp pictures, but maybe you can see a bit of the quilting here:
Or, maybe not. Anyway, trust me, it's a looping meander that looks fine. I did get brave enough to write "Boo" a few times in the border, but that was as brave as I got.
This took me probably three hours to do on her machine...You have to bear in mind that changing the bobbin and stopping and starting and burying threads as I go is all new to me, so that probably slowed me way down...Still, I was delighted to have this done in one morning.
My view of the long arm quilting so far? It's a heck of a lot of fun. Threading the machine isn't as hard or tricky as I thought it would be...in fact, it's very much like threading your typical industrial type machine. The loading process isn't a fast one, but then again, neither is the basting process when you're going to quilt on a regular machine. I can see that if you take the time to make sure it's all straight when you put all the layers on the rollers, then all goes smoothly as you quilt sections and roll it up.
Also, it's clear to me that if you've done a fair amount of free-motion quilting, then the long-arm won't be that hard. I think a lot of what people have a hard time with is figuring out how to get an overall continuous line pattern to cover the area uniformly, and how not to get backed into a corner as you're quilting. Those are the same issues you deal with regardless of what machine you're on, so if you've gotten good at that stuff, then the long arm stuff will be easier. Veronica, who had done no free-motion quilting before she got this, said that she found that the hardest part, and she's amazed that it's not hard at all for me. Another one of those practice issues, I believe.
Am I eager to rush out and buy one? No. This is suiting me fine to be able to use one from time to time. I'm not sure if it's a function of Veronica's particular machine or my novice status or what, but I find the machine hard to control when you move it at certain angles, so precision quilting right now wouldn't come out well. But maybe that's a matter of getting a feel for the machine and getting a lot of practice. We'll see. I have another donation quilt I'll take next Monday for my next practice session.
By the way, I was thinking to give this one away. But Caroline has pointed out that the crazy quilt I made for her some years ago is getting very worn and she needs THIS one to snuggle with on the couch. So, it looks like it's staying here.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Boo!
About 2 years ago, just after Halloween, I came across a great sale on Halloween fabrics and bought a bunch.
So, a year ago, I spent some nice quilt-retreat time making a fun Halloween quilt. I used a combination of Gwen Marston's and Jan Mullen's crazy houses, and made a quilt top, which sat in the closet all year. This past week, I decided to get it finished, so here it is. This is small, about 38 x 38 inches.
I had such fun with it, especially the crooked fence. My friend Rita contributed a piece of her wacky witch fabric, which allowed me to add a few cranky witches to the neighborhood.
Here's another.
I did a quick quilting job (so it's not the tidiest) but I experimented with quilting spiderwebs on the border, and I like how it turned out. At least you can tell they're supposed to be spiderwebs!
It feels good to finish something that's been hanging around in the UFO pile.
I think this will live for the season on the dining room table (with a centerpiece cleverly made of a hurricane glass lamp filled with candy canes -- I mean, corns! -- and holding an orange candle)...or maybe on the wall in the family room?
So, a year ago, I spent some nice quilt-retreat time making a fun Halloween quilt. I used a combination of Gwen Marston's and Jan Mullen's crazy houses, and made a quilt top, which sat in the closet all year. This past week, I decided to get it finished, so here it is. This is small, about 38 x 38 inches.
I had such fun with it, especially the crooked fence. My friend Rita contributed a piece of her wacky witch fabric, which allowed me to add a few cranky witches to the neighborhood.
Here's another.
I did a quick quilting job (so it's not the tidiest) but I experimented with quilting spiderwebs on the border, and I like how it turned out. At least you can tell they're supposed to be spiderwebs!
It feels good to finish something that's been hanging around in the UFO pile.
I think this will live for the season on the dining room table (with a centerpiece cleverly made of a hurricane glass lamp filled with candy canes -- I mean, corns! -- and holding an orange candle)...or maybe on the wall in the family room?
Sunday, October 02, 2005
And I thought parenting was hard...
Who knew that baby penguins were so cute?!
I saw March of the Penguins this afternoon. (I couldn't get Caroline and Roger to come with me, so I went alone, party poopers that they are.) What a fascinating movie!
Penguin parenthood makes raising a human child look like a piece of cake. After all, we do it while living indoors, in comfort and warmth, with 3 meals a day. Of course, penguin babies don't talk back...
Goal: Organization
Yesterday was consumed by Caroline's riding lesson and a family gathering at my brother's house to celebrate his wedding. (It was wonderful to see my aunt, uncle and cousins...it'd been too long since we'd been together.)
So, today is a designated tidying and organizing day, with a reward at the end of it.
My goal is to tidy my office, the laundry room, and the hallway. In the hallway leading to Caroline's room (and opposite the door to the laundry room) we have a section of cabinets where linens and other miscellaneous things are stored. I tend to use the counter to fold laundry and put stuff that is on its way out (all those clothes Caroline is rapidly out-growing) and the piles accululate with amazing speed. It's astonishing how much better I feel about life when that area is all clean, so that's my plan.
We'll all head out to see the March of the Penguins this afternoon. I have been wanting to see this, after my friend Pat has raved about it so. You can see the wall quilt she made inspired by this movie here, on Gerrie Congdon's blog. It's been ages since we've had a family movie date.
Incidentally, when we got home last night from the family gathering, Caroline went straight to bed and Roger and I flopped down in front of the tv. Flipping channels, we stumbled across the movie "Sunset Boulevard," just beginning. Although we'd seen the famous scenes before ("I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille") neither of us had ever seen the whole thing. We sat, entranced, for 90 minutes. I do love old movies and thank goodness for Turner Classic Movies channel, which airs them without commercials.
So, today is a designated tidying and organizing day, with a reward at the end of it.
My goal is to tidy my office, the laundry room, and the hallway. In the hallway leading to Caroline's room (and opposite the door to the laundry room) we have a section of cabinets where linens and other miscellaneous things are stored. I tend to use the counter to fold laundry and put stuff that is on its way out (all those clothes Caroline is rapidly out-growing) and the piles accululate with amazing speed. It's astonishing how much better I feel about life when that area is all clean, so that's my plan.
We'll all head out to see the March of the Penguins this afternoon. I have been wanting to see this, after my friend Pat has raved about it so. You can see the wall quilt she made inspired by this movie here, on Gerrie Congdon's blog. It's been ages since we've had a family movie date.
Incidentally, when we got home last night from the family gathering, Caroline went straight to bed and Roger and I flopped down in front of the tv. Flipping channels, we stumbled across the movie "Sunset Boulevard," just beginning. Although we'd seen the famous scenes before ("I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille") neither of us had ever seen the whole thing. We sat, entranced, for 90 minutes. I do love old movies and thank goodness for Turner Classic Movies channel, which airs them without commercials.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
I get by with a little art with my friends
When I sat down to write a post here this morning, I started in on how irritating my day was yesterday, and how many things went wrong. I wrote a few paragraphs, getting more irritated all over again as I wrote, and then it occurred to me: I wouldn't want to read that. I erased it all and went off to do errands.
Well, I came home after getting some things done and having lunch with friends and I feel much better. And instead, I'll tell you about the good part of yesterday.
In my art quilt group, the Pointless Sisters, we started our workshop with quilt artist Marilyn Felber. I wasn't sure what to expect, really, but I knew several things: She's highly respected by my friend and long-time quilter Janet Shore; some people I know who've taken classes with her rave about her and have produced amazing work in their workshops with her; and in her emails about what she planned to do, she said she would present the sort of master class she always wanted to find but never did.
Well, it was a wonderful afternoon. Marilyn is a calm, very pleasant woman who is great at asking questions, provoking ideas, and generating interesting thoughts. She had us go around the group and talk about why we were in quilting and what we wanted to get out of the workshop, and that was very instructive. Considering that we've been getting together for some time now, I learned stuff about others that I didn't know...It was very interesting to hear what others thought their strengths and weaknesses were as quilt artists. She looked at some work some of us had done, and her comments were kind and thoughtful.
The exercise she had us do was of interest to me not so much for the sewing exercise itself, but for the questions that she raised about the exercise afterwards. Here's what she had us do: We each chose a baggie of scrap fabric from an assortment Marilyn had brought with her. She told us to pick 9 pieces out of the baggie, and then with each of those, sew something to it from our scrap collections. We did that over and over, until we had 9 assembled pieces.
When we gathered together, she asked provocative questions:
Did you like sewing piece by piece, without knowing what the end was going to be? Do you prefer to know before you start what the end result will be?
Was it stressful having someone yell out directions to you while you were working?
Why did you sew the shapes you sewed?
Why did you choose what you picked out of the baggie? Did you choose for color, pattern, etc?
What made you add what you did to each piece? Were you driven by a desire to make symmetrical pieces? Different pieces? Did you pull fabrics at random or aim for something cohesive?
It was, for me, an exercise in noticing what drove me to do what I did. Interestingly, after we all put our pieces on the floor in front of us (we were sitting in a circle), I would have been able to identify who had done which pieces for over half of the groupings, I think.
Also, funnily, almost everyone had the feeling that they had done something "wrong," when one of the key points was that the exercise directions were so vague that there was not any "wrong" way at all. The sense that somehow there were unspoken "rules" we were violating was a very strong one in each of us! That alone was a light-bulb moment for me.
So, now the task -- if we choose to accept it -- is to take those pieces and make something bigger with it. We meet again in a month.
I think this will be a very productive series of workshops!
Well, I came home after getting some things done and having lunch with friends and I feel much better. And instead, I'll tell you about the good part of yesterday.
In my art quilt group, the Pointless Sisters, we started our workshop with quilt artist Marilyn Felber. I wasn't sure what to expect, really, but I knew several things: She's highly respected by my friend and long-time quilter Janet Shore; some people I know who've taken classes with her rave about her and have produced amazing work in their workshops with her; and in her emails about what she planned to do, she said she would present the sort of master class she always wanted to find but never did.
Well, it was a wonderful afternoon. Marilyn is a calm, very pleasant woman who is great at asking questions, provoking ideas, and generating interesting thoughts. She had us go around the group and talk about why we were in quilting and what we wanted to get out of the workshop, and that was very instructive. Considering that we've been getting together for some time now, I learned stuff about others that I didn't know...It was very interesting to hear what others thought their strengths and weaknesses were as quilt artists. She looked at some work some of us had done, and her comments were kind and thoughtful.
The exercise she had us do was of interest to me not so much for the sewing exercise itself, but for the questions that she raised about the exercise afterwards. Here's what she had us do: We each chose a baggie of scrap fabric from an assortment Marilyn had brought with her. She told us to pick 9 pieces out of the baggie, and then with each of those, sew something to it from our scrap collections. We did that over and over, until we had 9 assembled pieces.
When we gathered together, she asked provocative questions:
Did you like sewing piece by piece, without knowing what the end was going to be? Do you prefer to know before you start what the end result will be?
Was it stressful having someone yell out directions to you while you were working?
Why did you sew the shapes you sewed?
Why did you choose what you picked out of the baggie? Did you choose for color, pattern, etc?
What made you add what you did to each piece? Were you driven by a desire to make symmetrical pieces? Different pieces? Did you pull fabrics at random or aim for something cohesive?
It was, for me, an exercise in noticing what drove me to do what I did. Interestingly, after we all put our pieces on the floor in front of us (we were sitting in a circle), I would have been able to identify who had done which pieces for over half of the groupings, I think.
Also, funnily, almost everyone had the feeling that they had done something "wrong," when one of the key points was that the exercise directions were so vague that there was not any "wrong" way at all. The sense that somehow there were unspoken "rules" we were violating was a very strong one in each of us! That alone was a light-bulb moment for me.
So, now the task -- if we choose to accept it -- is to take those pieces and make something bigger with it. We meet again in a month.
I think this will be a very productive series of workshops!
Monday, September 26, 2005
Random Monday Thoughts
1. Oh boy, today's the day I go to Veronica's house to meet her long arm quilting machine and get my first lesson! I'm bringing a huge hunk of muslin to learn on... For future learning projects, I have a stack of quilt tops made with scraps to be donated to the local children's center. I'd be so happy to finish these off and give them away!
2. Simply Quilts seems to have really good, art-quilty shows on Mondays. I find it interesting that the newest shows are featuring really interesting contemporary quilters and new techniques. Nowadays I don't watch the rest of the week, but I always tune in on Mondays.
3. I can't imagine getting a tattoo. I find them totally unattractive. It makes me feel old and untrendy, but there you have it.
4. I want my bathroom back! We're in the waiting-for-the-tile stage. Last night I would have loved a long soak in our huge bathtub, but no such luck. Sigh.
5. Tomorrow is the first lesson with Marilyn Felber, a Berkeley quilt artist who is going to come and do ongoing workshops with my art quilt group. The first task is to bring scraps and sewing machine. I hauled out my large scrap bin and will just bring the whole thing. Wonder what we'll do?!
6. What's your least favorite word? (Do you watch Inside the Actor's Studio? At the end, interviewer James Lipton always asks guests the same series of questions, to which they reply as if they had no idea he ALWAYS does this and as if they just thought of the answer at that moment.) This is one of the questions, and the same word -- or non-word -- springs to my mind: Irregardless. I HATE when people say that.
7. What to have for dinner? When I was a kid, my mom would ask that, with a tired sigh. I used to think, "What's so hard about that?" But now, I know! It's the relentless need for a decision. I'm trying to use my crockpot more, as I love having dinner made by 10am.
2. Simply Quilts seems to have really good, art-quilty shows on Mondays. I find it interesting that the newest shows are featuring really interesting contemporary quilters and new techniques. Nowadays I don't watch the rest of the week, but I always tune in on Mondays.
3. I can't imagine getting a tattoo. I find them totally unattractive. It makes me feel old and untrendy, but there you have it.
4. I want my bathroom back! We're in the waiting-for-the-tile stage. Last night I would have loved a long soak in our huge bathtub, but no such luck. Sigh.
5. Tomorrow is the first lesson with Marilyn Felber, a Berkeley quilt artist who is going to come and do ongoing workshops with my art quilt group. The first task is to bring scraps and sewing machine. I hauled out my large scrap bin and will just bring the whole thing. Wonder what we'll do?!
6. What's your least favorite word? (Do you watch Inside the Actor's Studio? At the end, interviewer James Lipton always asks guests the same series of questions, to which they reply as if they had no idea he ALWAYS does this and as if they just thought of the answer at that moment.) This is one of the questions, and the same word -- or non-word -- springs to my mind: Irregardless. I HATE when people say that.
7. What to have for dinner? When I was a kid, my mom would ask that, with a tired sigh. I used to think, "What's so hard about that?" But now, I know! It's the relentless need for a decision. I'm trying to use my crockpot more, as I love having dinner made by 10am.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Happy Day
We had an exciting and happy day in our family yesterday. My brother Gregg got married to his girlfriend Kitt. It was the perfect day for an afternoon wedding--warm and sunny. The wedding took place in the backyard of a friend of theirs, on a deck with a lovely view of oak-covered mountains.
The wedding was especially exciting for Caroline, who served as a flower girl. She took her job very seriously:
Here is the wedding in progress:
Gregg and Kitt are very happy, which makes all of us very happy. I love this shot of them, with Gregg being typically silly.
And Caroline, relieved to have her job over with, posed with Uncle Gregg and Auntie Kitt.
Afterwards, we had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant in Tiburon called The Caprice. We dined on fabulous food (caesar salad, grilled salmon, garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed herbed squash) in a room which was right on the SF bay and looked right out on Angel Island. It felt like being on a boat, without the rocking.
Afterwards, we enjoyed champagne and the most amazing chocolate cake (filled with chocolate mousse) that you could imagine.
A grand time was had by all, and we are all wishing the newlyweds great happiness.
The wedding was especially exciting for Caroline, who served as a flower girl. She took her job very seriously:
Here is the wedding in progress:
Gregg and Kitt are very happy, which makes all of us very happy. I love this shot of them, with Gregg being typically silly.
And Caroline, relieved to have her job over with, posed with Uncle Gregg and Auntie Kitt.
Afterwards, we had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant in Tiburon called The Caprice. We dined on fabulous food (caesar salad, grilled salmon, garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed herbed squash) in a room which was right on the SF bay and looked right out on Angel Island. It felt like being on a boat, without the rocking.
Afterwards, we enjoyed champagne and the most amazing chocolate cake (filled with chocolate mousse) that you could imagine.
A grand time was had by all, and we are all wishing the newlyweds great happiness.
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