You'd Better Watch Out...

I was emailing with my friend Sharon recently, and mentioned how I think of her each Christmas when I'm setting out our Christmas decorations. I always thought I set out pretty elaborate Christmas decorations...until I saw Sharon's house. Her house is just amazing. Sharon sent me a few pictures of this year's decor and has graciously allowed me to share them here.

Sharon's big, country-style home is filled with warmth and Christmas cheer. Every wall has at least one festive quilt, sometimes groupings of several quilts. There were big trees and little Christmas trees, something festive everywhere you looked.



But to be honest, my favorite part is Sharon's amazing collection of cross-stitched Santas. They are everywhere... in small sachet-sized pillows hanging from the knobs on her dining room cupboard, on pillows artfully arrayed on the furniture... Like this:



Regular stitchers may recognize these as the Prairie Schooler collection of Santas. Prairie Schooler is a counted cross-stitch pattern design company that has issued a different small Santa pattern every year, and I recognized them because my sister Laura ("the Two Handed Stitcher") has stitched a bunch of Prairie Schooler designs.

So I was especially impressed at Sharon's assortment of Santas because I know how many hours of work they represent. Lots and lots and lots! Look, here's more:



Sharon says she's stitched one every year for 24 years. Wow! (And thanks, Sharon, for letting me show them!) It almost makes me want to try cross-stitch again.

Coincidentally, just after I'd gotten these photos from Sharon to post here, I discovered that my sister is showing a few of her Prairie Schooler Santas on her blog.

I guess it's that time of year when Santas come to town. Better not cry! Better not pout!

Food and friends, friends and food

Marie of ZQuilts asked what kind of camera my new one is...it's a Panasonic Lumix FZ18. It's an 8 megapixel "SLR-like" digital camera with a Leica lens. It's in the category the camera folks call "ultra zoom" or "bridge" cameras...It's not an SLR ("single lens reflex"), but it has a really great zoom lens and does far more than the typical point-and-shoot camera. But you can't change lenses (the way you can on a true SLR) and it's not big and heavy. You can read about it here. I'm able to take basic pictures so far, but it has all sorts of setting programmed for different situations (snow! bright backgrounds! night skies! moving subjects! multiple faces!) and I suspect it'll be awhile before I figure that all out.

Meanwhile, I did take it with me to my holiday lunch at Pat's house. Pat -- a very talented cook -- made a lovely lunch of butternut squash soup with cornmeal bread and an assortment of cheeses. And Rita supplied champagne, so we were in fine celebration form.

Here's Pat, demonstrating the hand-held GPS unit she adores.

And Rita, fondling the GPS unit because she covets it.

And Janet, looking on with amusement.

For dessert, Pat presented her annual Italian fig cookies and pizelles. Yummers.

Which makes a nice segue into what I'm doing today -- baking, baking, and baking. Tommy has inspired me to make a few batches of chocolate bark, too. Can you smell the chocolate?!

Point, Shoot, and Nap

Look! My first picture with the new Christmas camera! (I was willing to put it under the tree and forego playing with it until Christmas, but Roger informed me it is my holiday obligation to figure it out so I can take Christmas pictures with it.) Not bad, considering I was sitting in a very dimly lit room and I hadn't even read the manual. I can tell there's going to be quite the learning curve to figure out all the fun things this camera does, but it has a great automatic mode that will allow me to have fun pointing and shooting while I figure the trickier stuff out. Exciting! (And for the person who asked, the camera DOES have a flash..it pops up when you want to use it but otherwise stays folded down.)

Can you tell Gemma spent the afternoon romping with her canine cousin Katie?!

I was similarly tired, having just returned from Nevada City where I spent a quick overnight with my aunt and uncle. My aunt (yep, the one I was with earlier this fall when she was recovering from surgery) took me and my cousin-in-law Linda out for a fancy Christmas tea.



I love doing "high tea" at Christmas time -- it's such a lovely ritual. We nibbled on scones and quiche and tiny sandwiches while sipping tea (Earl Grey for me, "Raspberry Truffle" for Linda, "China Gold" for Auntie Carole). How civilized! We had a lovely visit.

Now it's counting down to Christmas. Yikes! I woke up at 5 this morning with my mind spinning through the stuff I need to get done. I ended up getting out of bed to finalize the Christmas dinner menu, make the grocery shopping list, and sort out the baking I need to do later today and tomorrow.

Oh! And while I was in Nevada City, Roger called to tell me that the tree FELL OVER. This particular tree seems to be jinxed. Luckily, the ornaments were not on it yet. He righted it and ended up wiring the thing to the walls (it's in a corner). I tell you, the artificial tree is looking better and better. We'll finish decorating it tonight. I have never had an unfinished tree this close to Christmas, so I'm eager to get it up and looking sparkly.

Okay--I'm off to do some wrapping, then to lunch with good buddies Pat, Rita, and Janet... Having wonderful friends is the best holiday gift of all, don't you think?

Capable of Thousands of Words

Look what I'm getting for Christmas! It's hardly a surprise...I picked it out and ordered it myself. And it'll be here within the next day or two. Yahoo!

You may have noticed the lack of photos here... which is due in part to my being fed up with the old camera I have, which has such a shutter lag that it's hard to get a clear picture of anything that moves (such as people and animals and things being jiggled by a passing breeze). Roger is similarly irked with his tiny point-and-shoot digital camera, so we opted to upgrade our cameras as our gifts to each other.

I've enjoyed researching and reading and checking out cameras in stores...and I finally landed on this Panasonic SLR-like camera with an attached Leica telephoto lens. I think it'll far more than I'll ever need it to do, and yet it's still pretty small and something I'd throw in my bag to go places.

Roger's still deciding... not sure whether to go the digital SLR route and take advantage of some great Canon lenses we have, or to go the route I've chosen and go for something a tad smaller.

Oh--the tree, by the way, is UP in its stand but not yet decorated. (That's tonight's excitement.) After dinner (and fortification by a glass of good Shiraz) Roger and I tackled the tree together. Yes, it did need additional shimming to get it to stay upright in the stand...but we discovered that the tree trunk itself is bent, so when it was resting right in the stand, the tree looked crooked. Geez.

I tell you, I'm shopping for bargain fake trees on sale after Christmas.

O Christmas Tree...

Roger and I generally divide the holiday decorating. He does outside, I do inside. And this works out quite nicely, usually. This is his busy time of year (what with the end of the semester, final exams, and papers to grade) and I care more about inside decorations than he does. Way more. (He still marvels over the fact that we have specific boxes for Easter decorations and Halloween decorations in the garage.) So typically he gets the outside lights up some weekend after Thanksgiving, and I start bringing out the holiday decorations to suit my indoor theme. (I know -- I got inspired to decorate in "themes" by a) getting tired of putting the same stuff in the same place every year; and b) watching all those HGTV holiday decorating shows ever year, culminating in the White House decoration extravaganza that is impressive and beautiful and ridiculous, all at the same time.)

ANYway. We've had all of the decorations up for weeks now EXCEPT for the Christmas tree. We didn't want to get it up too early, as our good friends are coming from Maine to spend New Year's with us and we wanted the tree to have a least a tinge of green by then. And then there's been the flu and what with one thing and another, the tree isn't up yet.

So, while Caroline and I stayed home in our jammies yesterday, Roger ventured out and brought home a lovely tree. A Noble Fir, our favorite kind, not too wide at the bottom. We were going to get it up last evening, but by then Caroline's fever had returned, I was feeling achey and tired still, and Roger had papers to grade.

When I stumbled downstairs this morning, Roger paused as he was heading out the door (briefcase and coffee mug in hand already) to say "Shall we bring in the tree and set it up in the stand before I go?"

Now, I don't know how easily your trees go up, but around here it's a struggle. Aside from the required moving-of-furniture, it's never an easy or quick task. Inevitably the tree is too wide for the stand, or too narrow...or it requires creative shims to make it stand straight. It's not a 5 minute job.

Is that just me?

I tried not to roll my eyes too obnoxiously and sent him on his way. But later in the morning, after I'd had coffee and dressed and gotten Caroline squared away with gingerale and a holiday movie to watch, I figured I'd at least shove the furniture around and set up the stand and get things ready for the tree.

And once that was in place, I figured I could get Caroline to help me get the tree into the stand, if I lifted the tree and she guided it into the stand's bowl. That's where it went awry.

And you know, that's where things go badly every year. Maybe it IS me.

Yep, sure enough, the tree is quite narrow for the stand, so it wouldn't stand straight or balance and I simply couldn't get it screwed into the stand with any sort of stability. There was the annual muttering-of-swear-words while clutching onto armfuls of pine branches...now, there's a great tradition to hand down to your child at Christmas, eh?

We pulled it out. We attached wood blocks to the trunk to add width. We re-inserted. We wrestled and muttered and snapped at each other and pulled it out again. At one point, I dashed downtown to pick up one of those small cheap tree stands, thinking that it'd suit the narrow trunk of this tree better...but no, all that happened was that the tree screws BENT as the tree slowly tipped over. You guessed it -- more muttered swear words.

I tried and tried, with Caroline gamely helping, for FAR too long. I'm talking spending 3 hours doing this. And finally, I dragged the tree back out to the garage, where it is now sitting in its bucket of water.

Roger and I had been looking at artificial trees, thinking that we may have hit that developmental stage where an artificial tree sounds like a wonderful relief, as opposed to a horrid sacrilege. (That's the developmental stage that come right after getting a car with automatic transmission feels like a good thing, too.) I've even selected the tree I'd want (check out the very realistic trees at http://www.balsamhill.com/ -- I've seen these in person and they're pretty darn remarkable for artificial trees.) But they're pricey. Any of the decently-realistic ones seem to be.

And right now? I'm sitting here with some sap and pine in my hair, my back aching, and my hands stained by tree-sap and tingling with pine-needle pricks, and Caroline has been chastizing me about the words she's heard come out of my mouth this morning.

I figure I'd pay $1000 to never have to do that all again. I think an artificial tree would be a bargain.

I'll rest up and be in a holiday mood tomorrow. Once the halls are decked...

What Do You Want for Christmas?

Do you have people around you (say, a spouse maybe) who, less than 10 days before Christmas, suddenly ask you what you might like for a Christmas gift? And, if that happens, do you instantly go blank and have no idea of where to steer your good-natured and willing gift-buyer?

Just in case that happens to you, here are a few ideas ... And you know, you can just email the link as a visual aide for your last-minute shopper friends! These places have last-minute shipping, too!

Some great books are new on the shelves to provide inspiration for art quilters:

Jeanne Williamson's The Uncommon Quilter (you can read my review from a month ago here)

The Painted Quilt by Linda and Laura Kemshall -- great ideas and inspiration on design, painting, surface design, and more.

Nancy Crow's newest book, "Crossroads: Constructions, Markings and Structures" is available for PREORDER here (wouldn't you love a note tucked into a card that says you'll be receiving immediately in the mail when it's released?)

"Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists" by Rice Freeman-Zachary. A fascinating assortment of thoughts and ideas about creativity from working artists in all areas.

"Kaleidoscope: Ideas and Projects to Spark your Creativity" by Suzanne Simanaitis. This book has stories, exercises, and fun ideas to jumpstart your creative exploration.

Rex Ray: Art + Design features the abstract design of San Francisco artist Rex Ray. Luscious shapes, great color, wonderful inspiration.

Neogeo: Illustration and Urban Art by Robert Klanten - covers geometrical forms and solid colors in current design. Very intriguing and more great inspiration.

Okay, maybe books aren't the only things you want... Here are a few supplies you might not buy yourself but they'd be lovely to receive:

Paintstiks Holiday Starter Packs - these come with the "Paintstiks on Fabric" book, rubbing plates, and six paintsticks to get you started in your explorations.

Creative Textile Tool -- sort of like a wood-burning tool but for fabric. You can use this to play with applique, embossing on velvet, fusing, stencil cutting, and more.

Jacquard ExtravOrganza (sem-transparent silk organza sheets) and opaque silk (in sheets or in a roll),all ready for inkjet printing!

Angelina Fiber Jeweltone Sample Set -- Can't decide what color of Angelina Fiber you want to play with? Or are you always missing the one you want? Equilter.com has several different assortments in different price ranges.

"Bead Gravy" and "Bead Soup" -- Maybe Santa will fill your stocking with these great color-sorted assortments of glass beads from Equilter!

"Complex Cloth: The Workshops DVD Set" - If you can't take a class with Jane Dunnewald herself, you can watch these DVDs of her as she demonstrates the processes in her Complex Cloth book.

So, here's what you do. Print out this list (go ahead, hit that print button up there) and circle or check off the things you want. And keep it handy so when your ready-to-shop buddy asks, all you need to do is hand it over.

Sorry, I don't provide gift wrap! Happy Holidays!

Christmas essentials

An essential part of our Christmas tradition is the nightly reading of a Christmas story at Caroline's bedtime. This started when she was tiny, of course, and I've added a new Christmas book or two every year to her collection. No matter how old she gets, she still wants (and I still love to read) these wonderful books at this time of year. And I see we are not the only ones... even after I planned to do an entry about our favorite books, my friend and kindred spirit Loretta listed the ones she shares with her well-into-their-teens kids every year. (We have read a number of them today in bed, as Caroline has come down with my creepie-crawlie flu. Roger is staying clear and washing his hands like a maniac to try to avoid it.) But we are cheery -- we will be healthy well in time for Christmas!

Anyway, the books:



A gorgeous classic illustrated version of the ballet story.



Okay, this is one of my personal favorites, because it's about a harried mom with the flu on Christmas eve, and the Christmas tree lights are a tangled mess, and the dog knocks over the tree... what more can go wrong? It's a very fun rhyming story.


Don't you love Jan Brett's illustrations? "The Mitten" is my favorite...Caroline prefers the reindeer one.


We LOVE Madeline's Christmas, and Caroline laughs every time when I say I wish I had a genie who'd make my dirty dishes disappear, too.


In this wonderfully-illustrated book, a snowman gets sick of NYC in the snow and heads away for a tropical vacation...


Caroline loves this cat's eye view of Christmas:



And we have to read this, over and over:



And of course, popcorn of at the movies makes the mouse want to string it on the tree...


Oh! And have you seen these Look Alikes books? Joan Steiner makes amazing scenes with every day objects, so you can pore over ever picture and find oodles of items, cleverly disguised. They're very fun for kids and adults. We keep this sitting on our living room coffee table.



Another personal favorite... Mr. Willowby buys a big tree and cuts off the top to make it fit in his house, and then all the animals of the forest get to share as more of the tree gets cut off...very charming.


And we always love the stories about strong women...


May you enjoy many snuggly hours with your loved ones reading your favorite holiday stories!

The Red Jello and Gingerale Blues

I couldn't find any clever pictures to illustrate the way I've spent the last several days ... shuffling miserably between the bed and the bathroom, aching and shivering with a rather unpleasant flu bug. This thing came along quite suddenly and I'm only now feeling that I can eat a few soda crackers and drink a mug of broth without feeling queasy. Ideal for pre-holiday weight loss, but other than that, NOT GOOD.

Before that, I had two days of serious Christmas shopping... the result of which is heaped in a pile on the far side of the bed with a tablecloth spread over it all so curious eyes won't look. Normally I sort and hide everything quite cleverly, but what with sudden nausea and such, I simply couldn't deal with it.

When I felt ready to venture out of the bedroom, I did make it down to the family room couch to lie around and watch movies. Perfect. I watched Michael Moore's "Sicko," which has me ready to move to Canada... "Love Actually," which I'd seen before but forgotten I'd seen before (and I'd forgotten it took place at Christmastime), "Bewitched" with Nicole Kidman which I found charming and fluffy and just perfect for a fuzzy sick head... and best of all, I stumbled onto an all day marathon of America's Top Model which I'd never seen and which, in this state, fascinated me no end. (Actually, it did make me realize that modelling may be much harder than it looks.)

You can tell I've put my sick time to good intellectual use.

So. I'm hoping to get back to something akin to normal tomorrow. We are late getting the tree up (although all of the other holiday decorations are up) so that will happen tomorrow afternoon after Caroline's riding lesson. Then, stomach and bowels willing, Caroline and I will head up to Sacramento for my best friend Beth's annual cooking baking party on Sunday. I may just park myself in a corner (away from the cookies) and watch. We'll see.

I hope you all have been having festive holiday fun. And wash your hands often, people!

Quivira Challenges

What with all of the holiday and horsey goings on around here, I have not had a chance to post about the get-together of the Quivira Quilters. Thanks to Pat M, that's the new name for my local challenge group -- a group of of us local art quilters (3 in Sonoma County, 4 over the hill on the seacoast in Sea Ranch) who have banded together for a monthly challenge.

Our first meeting was last week, and we had such fun! First, we revealed the results of the "coffee and cream" challenge. Sorry that I don't have individual pictures -- but heck, at least I remembered pictures at all! You can click to enlarge the picture and see each piece better. You might recognize my swirling coffee and cream down in the bottom right corner.



Then, after oogling all of those, we put our results for the "fences" challenge:



On that first one, Marilyn decided to illustrate her being "on the fence" between Hilary and Obama. We were all quite amused with that twist on the theme! I just love Pat's depiction of Christos' fence (bottom, 3rd from left).

We had lunch and of course yakked and yakked. Our December theme is "masks" and the January theme is "childhood memories." Hmmm. Whatever will I do...

Book Review: Paper Quilts

I'm a paper crafter from way back. At one point, I veered away from sewing and quilting into paper arts and book making, eventually teaching book arts and making sculptural artist books. When I found myself cutting small pieces of paper to assemble paper quilts, I realized that I should try fabric again, and that led me back to making quilts with fabric. I haven't looked back since.


So it's no wonder that this book, "Paper Quilts: Turn Traditional Quilt Motifs into Contemporary Cards and Crafts" by Sandra Lounsbury Foose caught my eye recently. It combines two of my passions and provides a way to make graphicly gorgeous paper art.


I'm impressed at how well laid out this book is. It starts with basic "building blocks," showing the tools and techniques you need to work with paper for these projects. And it builds from simple patterns to more complex ones. The initial projects use squares (double irish chain, square in a square), then move to using circles, stars, triangles, diamonds, hexagons and octagons. We quilters know the wonderful patterns that can be made from those simple shapes! And there are all levels of work here -- some are quite simple and would be easy and quick to make, but others have more detail, more pieces, and more complex shapes. Want to make a feathered star but don't want to sew all those points? There's a lovely paper one that would be much quicker! Instructions for projects are very clear, and templates are provided.


I especially love how beautifully the photos show the projects. They're colorful and clear and display multiple variations on the particular theme being taught. It's a very artfully designed book.


All of the projects in this book feature traditional quilt patterns. The graphic elegance of those patterns is beautifully suited to work with bright solid colored paper, for stunning results. But quilters know how easy it is to transform a design with different colors and prints. All of those tricks would work in paper, too.


I'm not sure I'll be making paper quilt greeting cards. But I could see using this as a jumping off point to make art I'd frame and hang in my home or give as a gift. If you're traveling or away from your sewing machine, you could have fun playing with these paper designs to fulfill your quilting passion. This would be a great way to explore shapes and quilt design with kids of all ages, too.

Fur-covered heaven

I have mentioned that Caroline is a horse fanatic. Her dream is to raise, own and train horses, and she saves every penny she gets in her "horse fund." And lately, she's been asking me every single day when she can get a horse, when she could lease a share of a horse, and the like.

So, Roger and I are experiencing a level of parental thrill in being able to move her toward her big dream. We've stumbled onto one of those situations that just seems ideal. One of the professors in Roger's department suffered a back injury recently, and it fell to Roger as department chair to make sure that her classes were covered. During the course of their many conversations, Roger learned that the woman has two horses and can no longer ride them because of her chronic back condition. They're her "babies," family members really that she just won't consider selling. But she can't ride them, and her partner isn't that interested in riding, so they've been looking for someone to come and hang out with their horses, give them love and attention, and of course exercise.

It didn't take long for us to nail down an opportunity to visit the horses, check out the situation, and discuss how this all would work. And as savvy parents, we didn't say anything to C while we sorted that all out, knowing we'd be pestered and pestered and Caroline would be dying from excitement.

Well, so far so good. We have visited the woman and her property -- some 5 acres along a small river -- and we've met the horses. There is a 10 year old Arabian mare named Romance, a gorgeous chestnut with a big white blaze on her face and 4 white socks, and an 8 year old dark chestnut mare named Ranger. Both are very social and clearly eager to be petted and groomed and loved.

It was pretty fun to tell Caroline about it all. We went for the first time a few days ago to get the tour of the premises, and we were back today for a spot of horse-loving and grooming. It's going to take a bit for the horses to get to know us and vice versa, so riding won't happen in the near future. But that's okay... we're getting acquainted.



Caroline was in heaven. And not just because of the horses... These ladies also have 17 pygmy goats on their property. They started with a few and then became known for rescuing injured or unwanted goats. They're funny looking little guys -- with rectangular pupils in their eyes. Did you know that?!



And, as far as Caroline is concerned, it gets even better. There are cats and kittens everywhere you look.



They've also managed to collect (and neuter) various feral cats, and have ended up giving a home to the cats who've wandered in from all over the place. So, when you stand still and look around, you end up spotting at least one cat everywhere you look.

For a girl who loves animals, especially horses and cats, it's heaven. And it's pretty great for her mom, too.

Friends Face to Face

Well, Roger and Caroline and I enjoyed a lovely evening last night with Brenda and her husband David. I was not surprised to find that I instantly felt comfortable with her -- after all, we have known each other for a while now, even if we've never met in person! Roger and David thought it odd how much we knew of each other's life, and how we asked questions as if we were long-time friends. But we ARE friends with a history and a knowledge of each other's life -- it's just not based on geographical proximity!

We were reminded how much we have in common -- the legal training, of course, and a similar ambivalence about legal work combined with the recognition that it's an efficient and relatively interesting way to earn a good income. And of course, once we started talking quilts, we were off and running.

Here is a blurry but shot of the elusive David. (I say that because I don't think I ever saw a photo of him on Brenda's blog.) What a nice fellow he is. He and Roger talked wine with the same eager excitement Brenda and I reserve for fabric and quilt talk.



We enjoyed a leisurely dinner (grilled salmon, baked potatoes, salad, sourdough french bread of course, a delicious local zinfandel, and lemon cheesecake for dessert.

Brenda brought me this lovely, lovely gift from New Zealand where she'd been visiting her family -- a book featuring the work and biographies about New Zealand textile artists! It's a beautiful book, with a page or two on each artist. Wasn't that incredibly nice of her? I'm going to get a lot of enjoyment out of this!



And of course we did the tour of quilts around the house and I was able to show her my Dandelions in person. We agreed that it's SO much more satisfying to see quilts in person. Brenda was also amused to see the Hinty frame taking up a significant spot in the master bedroom.

Now Roger and I are thinking there could be a trip to Australia in our future. SOME day.

I'm so delighted we were able to meet.

Fenced In

This month's theme for my local challenge group was "Fences," and I just finished my challenge piece. (With hours to spare -- everyone is coming over tomorrow for our first challenge get-together!)

I'd wanted to play with picket fences, and as I've been wanting to explore using a digital photo as the basis for a piece, I decided to use this opportunity. I started with this photograph:



Ultimately, the piece I arrived at above was created using software called Kaleidoscope Kreator. Boy, did I have fun playing with that! You can download a trial version of the software, which will let you do everything but you see your kaleidoscope result with a watermark of the company logo. But you can play with the various kaleidoscope shapes and see how they transform your favorite photos.

I ended up using two different kaleidoscope creations, actually -- the center pentagon surrounded by pickets, then another "frame" of the foliage. It was also fun experimenting with putting different frames around different centers. Amazing possibilities!

Then I printed it out and quilted it. The final piece is 9x12 inches. The top and bottom borders are a deep green, btw, even tho they look black here.

Along the way, I tried various photo effects to see where those led me for quilt possibilities. I discovered that some images that look great on screen (or even paper) just don't work on fabric. This is something I did with photoshop, and while it looked cool on screen, it looked horrid and dead on fabric.



Ah well. This was a fun learning experience, which is the point of these challenges!

And guess what I'm doing tonight? I'm having dinner with our very own Brenda Smith and her husband David, here all the way from Australia! I talked to her last night to make arrangements, thinking how lovely and familiar she sounded, even though I've never met her. I'm delighted to get to meet her in person!