I'm leaving first thing in the morning...

...You'll know where to find me...=-)

Have a great summer everyone!

Airing of the Quilts

Today is Dorothy's 6th Annual Airing of the Quilts and I finally sent some photos this year. Usually I am in NY w/o my computer by this time so I am not ever able to participate...Today is a gorgeous, puffy cloud, breezy day here in SoCA, perfect for airing the quilts! I grabbed a few off the shelf in the hall closet and snapped away. These are all older quilts, made back when I was more productive...=-/ Man, I do like them... and I especially like seeing them there in the sunshiny day out in the yard =-)

So, come on, join me on my mini-tour:

This is a Tennessee Waltz made for DH back in the late 90s. I started it in one house and finished it in the "new" house after we moved. It was a bittersweet finish as we had lost our sweet big dog in the middle of the hand quilting. She used to sit at my feet as I quilted, leaned up against me with all her loving might(more often than not tangled in the quilt that was hanging down as I worked sitting in my chair each day.) It took me a long time to be able to sit under it and quilt again, but I eventually did. There is a tribute block with her name and silouette quilted into one of the open plain blocks...makes my throat catch to this day when I see it...

Next, is a Round Robin quilt, "Watching Birdies in my Summer Garden," made along with members of my quilt guild at the time...again, made in the 90s...I made the center portion out to and including the purple plaid. This was in my "Red Wagon" primitive-style phase... The center I designed using some elements from Red Wagon and some of my own, all in an arrangement design of my own. I was ecstatic when I got it back ; everyone did such amazing and appropriate-to-this-quilt borders...I was very lucky!

Here we have my log cabin, "Family & Friends," finished in 2002. The red center squares are all signed by family members and friends, people who have been in my life. This one is special, some of the signers now watch us from above. The quilting on this took FOREVER...since I only hand quilt, those lines that split every single one of those logs were never-ending...I mean it...

In 2002, my DD graduated from high school. The next quilt was her graduation quilt, "Island Girl." She had a love of palm trees, the beach, and all things tropical, so I got to make an island-theme quilt. It was made using the Square Dance method of piecing the background, in a gradated, sort of watercolor, blendy effect, to show the scene from under the water all the way to the sky. I then appliqued the huts (commercial pattern for those, as well as the tiny palm trees), the trees (large one framing the right side was my own design), the little batik squares that depict sea creatures, shells, the sun, moon, and stars (you aren't able to see the ones near the top here), a few broderie perse fish in the water and some shells on the sand, and in the center of the water a mermaid with blonde, flowing hair that looked very much like DD at the time. Everything was then hand quilted. This quilt was a LOT of fun! The back was also fun, containing many, many things that were meaningful to DD, some remnants of her childhood clothes, photo transfers of pictures of her first car (shiny, red '66 Mustang!), and various other things. I was sorry to see the process end...but, oh so glad to be done...if you know what I mean...

This next one made of a pink print and muslin is one of my favorites of all the quilts I've made. I wanted to make a quilt myself that looked and felt just as warm and cozy and soft as the antique quilts that I love so much. It was an extremely simple quilt to piece, and it afforded lots of hand quilting area. I did not wash the fabrics beforehand (I almost never do) and I used a cotton batt, all to insure that when I was finished quilting and finally did wash the quilt it would pucker up and be all those things that I wanted...and it did! I love this quilt, and I'm happy I got it out for this "Airing" cuz now I'm going to keep it out and cuddle up in it this evening =-)

The last quilt I wasn't even going to show, and did not send it to Dorothy even though I had it outside...but it makes me smile. It is actually the 2nd quilt I ever finished. It was for my darling baby girl (yes the same one). I was so proud of it =-) I made it with this new fangled idea that was going around, back in the late 70s or very early 80s, of not using templates but tearing strips (ohmygosh) and putting them on top of each other, sewing various lines, and then cutting them apart into triangles, etc., pressing open, and ending up with square units made up of two different colored triangles! Can you imagine?!? What a concept... Anyway, it sat around for a few years as a top and when I got preggers with her I decided it would make a great baby quilt so I sandwiched it and started quilting. She used it as a baby and then, when she was little, for her dolls, and I'm keeping it for any grandbabies that may eventually show up...it's in fine condition, and it has seen some history, and will be perfect for making grandbabies cozy...just like me...

Well, thanks for joining me on my little quilt tour. You got some oldies but some goodies this time. I'm sure, if you've been around the innernets for awhile, here and on the About.com site, you have probably seen a few of these before...but that's what was on the shelf when I reached in today...and they were actually finished quilts as opposed to tops...of which there is also an abundance... If you get a chance, go over to the About.com site and/or check out Dorothy's Webshots of this year's (not sure when they are going up) and previous years' Airings...it's great fun!

Have a good week, everyone!

PS: I'm so sorry I cannot get the photos to expand...I just canNOT...and I've tried...it would make everything so much easier to see...sigh...

I'm a little blue...

Today, Memorial Day, I am missing

I've already missed

and probably most of

By the time I get there in 3 weeks, maybe I'll see the very end of

Soon...I'll be there soon......it can't happen quickly enough... I *heart* NY!

Done done done done done!

At last! I just sewed up the last seam on the backing this morning. The binding, I did yesterday and wrapped on a recycled cereal box to keep it nice and pressed. Tuesday I will mail it all off to Deb G. for the quilting (because I forgot Monday is a holiday.) This project, though not difficult in the least, really taxed my patience. I find that I do not enjoy sitting in front of the sewing machine anymore. I would far rather sit and sew or do hand work in my chair in the living room or out on the patio or anywhere else but in front of the machine. Yes, it is gratifying to finish something; yes, I enjoy seeing the fruit of my creativity...but I do not enjoy the machine process any more...what is up with that...?

This is the backing up on the flannel with the quilt top underneath...just makin' sure I covered the top with the back with at least 4" to spare...=-)

Hmmm...

Sue Wells over on Swellknits has posted a great bit about "Knitter's Block." Substitute the terms "quilting" and "sewing" for "knitting" and "yarn" etc., etc., and it applies to me, and I suspect, many of you. Especially, the finishing the old projects before moving on to the new thing...I am so mean to myself...


I need to cut myself some slack...and really, who cares if it's yarn or fabric that lights my fire at the moment...at least there is one burning...right???

Very important food for thought...

Quilt Content! Quilt Content! Quilt Content!

I have finished piecing the quilt top I've been working on for the Quilt of Valor project. Here it is up on the flannel... This one is going to one of the generals Debra told us about. I am so happy to have it done! I really like it, I love it in fact. But it was a bit tedious...especially those 25 patch blocks. It was tricky getting the border squares to fit, what with sewing discrepencies within the quilt itself...but I think they worked out ok, no huge rippling of the outside edge =-)...Now that it is done I am glad I did it, that I used those blocks. I used only fabrics from my bins, and hope to only use fabrics from my bins for the backing and binding, too. It is scrappy, but controlled scrappy. I love this kind of quilt, I love the quirky surprises when studying the fabrics while cuddled under a quilt like this. I hope the general likes it, too =-)

I had a text message from DD today telling me she was on the Eiffel Tower...How cool is that???!!??

My Mother's Day card...

...from my sweet, goofy, "badass" son...still making me cards, just like when you were little...sorta... =-) I love you, too, kiddo!! =-)

Wow, I just followed the link to this You Tube video over at Laurie's Crazy Aunt Purl blog. What a hoot! It just made me smile so wide and I actually got a little teared up...People are so COOL! Great performance art to make your day and the world a little cheerier =-) Thanks, Laurie =-)

The blocks are done...

...FINALLY! Hot off the machine...=-) Now all I need to do is sew them all together (that'll go quickly) and add a border...a very simple border... I love this quilt...I love it...I told Debra it will be a real test of my altruism to actually give it away...but I can't think of a better place for it to go than to a soldier who has done so much...

Now, I'm headed to the kitchen to have some of that leftover strawberry shortcake from last night...I love leftovers almost as much as the real thing...=-)

Have a great Sunday!

Guess what's for dessert tonight??

...and maybe even supper...=-) Gosh, I love the Farmer's Market...

Sewing, sewing, sewing...

Will get to answering emails soon...

There is quilt making going on around here...Amazing, huh?!!! I'm making a Quilt of Valor for the project Debra told us about: 1200 quilts for returning soldiers made by May 31, 2009. I decided to make a design that I've been wanting to make for awhile, though it is not as quickly done as a simpler design. It can be construed as being patriotic, given my fabric choices and the 28 star blocks in it. So, no pictures at the moment but I'll get some up soon...after the thing starts to actually take shape. Stay tuned...

The weather here is lovely...again...No, I don't feel guilty...I am lucky to live where I do and this (late Winter through Spring) is the time of year I love the most here. The flowers are glorious at the moment and the air is soft. I had my gardener plant 10 nice Indian Hawthorn bushes outside the picture window along the wide bank today...they are lovely and covered with pink flowers. And the citrus blossoms from the trees in the orchard are filling the air around here with such a heady fragrance...I tell you, this is the life...

Quilt pictures coming, I promise...

A little taste of Spring...

Just a glimpse of things to come. Spring is starting here in SoCA, though there will be cooler days ahead they say. Things like to get started here about this time every year, though, and it is a real treat to have these balmy days in winter. I wanted to share , to let you know that it IS going to happen, wherever you live...Spring is coming...no matter what Punxsutawney Phil had to say the other day...In the meantime, enjoy these little snaps from my yard...

No water in the fountain at the moment...it needs something done to the motor.

My poor neglected and unfinished garden...I'm going to put in raised boxes and plant veggies and more flowers in there.
Pink India Hawthorn is starting to bloom right now...I love it.

My glorious nectarine tree is in bloom and leafing out already. This tree drags on the ground when the fruit is ready. Such delicious nectarines every year. It's always a good thing when I'm still in town to enjoy it. Some years it fruits later than others and I miss it when I have to leave for NY before the fruit is ripe. I noticed the crab apple tree is starting to flower, too. It will be lovely in a few days. I have picked the end of the tangelos, they were a bit sour this year. The grapefruit are mostly done. And the other citrus are beautifully budded. Let's hope for more lemons and limes this year!

Knitting, knitting, knitting...

Well, not a lot of sewing or quilting going on here but I have been knitting. We had a spell of cooler weather and even some rain last month, but it didn't last. What it did do while it was here was make me want to be cozy, so I started and completed 3 knitting projects in January. I only have photos of one of them, darn it...

This was inspired by a pattern in Joelle Hoverson's book, Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, which is a book I checked out of the library and ended up ordering for myself because I liked it so much. The hat is for my little 3 year old niece who just moved with her family to the frozen land of Colorado from sunshiny Southern California...I thought she needed to keep her head warm while remembering me =-) The design of the hat pattern in the book is so simple and allows for adding your own elements and embellishments very easily. I added the crocheted flower to help her know which side was the front. I also knit a darling pink and brown hat for her 5 mo. old baby sister out of the same book. The third thing I knit was a quick and easy scarf for myself out of brown mottled Homespun, super simple, plain old garter stitch on sz 19 needles. It was purely an impulse project that came home from JoAnn's with me last week and was so quick and easy-peasy, just what I needed to scratch an itch I must have had at the time =-) I am in the process of making another one to stash in my gift box for next Christmas. I already have it earmarked for a certain recipient, so I feel pretty proud of myself for being ahead of the game...at least by one gift =-)

They tell me today is Super Bowl Sundae...you mean we get to have a really big bowl of ice cream with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry? Huh? That's not how it's spelled or what it means? ...oh. Well, darn...=-/

And Happy Birthday to my other little girl!

...who is 11 years old today...what a sweet, sweet, loving girl. Happy Birthday, Daisy! Mommy loves you!

Birthday doings...

Happy 25th Birthday to my "baby"...Now I need to buy three boxes of birthday candles for both my kids...I remember turning 25...this is weird...

This was taken on Xmas (before her haircut) Dontcha just love her vintage glasses frames? I remember those, too...

This is a most delicious vegan chocolate cake with chocolate filling...Stephanie's Bakery in Ocean Beach is the bomb, I must say...We had the cake last night, even though today is actually her birthday, cuz she has a big night out on the town with her friends planned for tonight...

Split this picture (of her blowing out her candles) from the nose up and you will be looking at me...well, a me 30 years younger...ok, stop doing the math, I know, I know, I, too have a milestone of sorts coming up in March...sigh...

Well, we are off for some girl time and birthday shopping. I do love hanging out with this sweet girl...my buddy, my pal...Happy birthday sweetheart; I love you with all my heart!

Ohhhhhh yeahhhhhh!

Sworn in at 9 am Pacific Standard Time...I had champagne for breakfast...What a glorious day!

Priceless photo:

Buh bye, W!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 1, 2009

I joined the Creative Every Day Challenge...and today I was creative =-) The post just before this one was about me not making resolutions for the new year. However, this afternoon I did talk to myself a bit and decided that I would commit to starting an everday entry into a sketch book. I want to get more comfortable with drawing and sketching and I know that the only way to do that is to draw every day...so I am starting at the very beginning of the year and will see how long I can keep at it on an everyday basis. Of course, nothing says I can't get back up on the horse if I fall off every now and then...Anyway, I did sketch today. And I enjoyed it. It wasn't much but it was a start. Oh, and I found the manual to my camera so I can check on a few things that I had questions about. And I got some things organized in my work room so that I can be comfortable in there with space to be creative. I found some art supplies that I knew I had bought awhile ago and couldn't find for some time. I got inspired just looking in the bag! So I think this every day creative thing is going to be a lot of fun and a good nudge for me.

Happy New Year! And non-resolutions for 2009...

Image from The English Association at University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH

I am going to continue my mother’s years-long practice of resolving not to make any resolutions for the new year. I am not good at keeping resolutions, and I can make myself feel guilty and stressed out over enough things without adding anything more to feel guilty about doing or not doing in the new year…That said, I do have some ideas and feelings I would like to incorporate into my life and my outlook, so I guess this is as good a time as any to give them a good brushing off and have a new go at some of them…but these are not resolutions…

On the creative front: After 31+ years of quilting I have such an overabundance of UFOs that I can’t possible put them all to a list or a schedule…I really can’t. But, I can give myself the gift of accepting that the pile will always exist. I would like to remove the "Quilt-guilt" from my brain and work on these things when the whim strikes, not as a strict, demanding chore that I make for myself. I want to delight in finding long lost projects and immersing myself in them once again …when and if the mood strikes. And I want to free myself to take on new projects, fabric/textile related or otherwise, as the mood also strikes for that. It is self-defeating not to allow myself to make anything new as long as there are piles of old things sitting around…since there always will be…I need to grow and learn and let myself find the joy once again in my creative life without putting barriers in my own way...

Roma Journal Medium, Image from My Scribe, UK

I have always wanted to keep a sketch-type or illustrated/mixed media journal, a la SkybelleArts’ Kim, and various other journal makers and artists. I have long admired Kim’s dedication to her art and creativity, and always love to see her illustrated pages. I would like to try my hand at one of these…I think it would help me overcome my sense that “I can’t draw” by letting me practice (something adults are loath to do) in a non-threatening venue—my own private journal. I know that the only way to become better at drawing is to draw every day…practice, practice, practice...so I would like to try to do that…Now, whether I start off the new year doing it or start it at some later point in the year is immaterial…I just want to do it and plan to in 2009…

After reading JenClair’s blog post yesterday I ordered The Vigorous Mind: Cross-train Your Brain to Break Through Mental, Emotional, and Professional Boundaries by Ingrid Cummings. It sure sounds like a book and set of ideas that would help me out of the artistic funk that has gripped me for so long now. I’m looking forward to its delivery, along with Danny Gregory’s An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration from the Private Sketchbooks of Artists, Illustrators and Designers. Thanks, Sis, for the Amazon gift card! =-)

Off the coast of Albania, October 2008, dnmc

I am interested in getting some of my photographs ready to display at an artist’s co-op gallery sometime in the next year. I have been told that I have an eye for taking photos, by several different, unrelated people, and I would like to explore that a lot more, perhaps even trying to sell some of them in some form or another at some point. In January, I want to sign up for a photography class to expand my knowledge more into the technical side of photography, as well as to add to my artistic sense of it.

On the personal front: I want to get outside of myself more. I want to be more gracious, more forgiving, and to be more tolerant, less critical of, and less irritable to the people I come in contact with on a more or less regular basis. I’ve become somewhat of a “my way or no way” type lately, and I have also mired myself in a depressing lack of enthusiasm for most things that have been meaningful to me in the past…and it’s hard for me to take, so I’d like to come to some good place in dealing with those issues. I know that it would make me a happier person, to say nothing of the people I interact with… Though these sound sort of like resolutions, I have been thinking a lot about it for awhile now and, really, wanting to act on it has nothing to do with the new year…these are just things I feel the need to address and change and I’d want to work on them at whatever time of year it happened to be right now…

So, there you have it…my non-resolutions for the new year. I guess the main gist is this: I want to become a freer, more creative, less restrictive maker of art, and a more gracious and more accepting student of life…not too much to ask for…I just need to leave my bubble and get to it!

Well, the ball has dropped, Bill and Hillary have gone home from the festivities, so it’s time to say: Happy New Year, everyone! The best to you all in a great, creative 2009!

Peace.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Winter Solstice

Jeanne has a lovely poem posted over on her blog, Spiral, celebrating the shortest day of the year and the new year to come. Here's to longer days and the festivities ahead!

New header...it's from last year's tree...We don't have our tree yet this year but will get it today or tomorrow... edit: we got it, it's lovely and sitting out in the rain to keep it fresh until tomorrow...

I had hoped to sew yesterday but went Christmas shopping instead and did almost all of it at once since I hadn't really done much before this. I am just about done, just need one or two small things and that'll be it. I want the boxes in the mail early this next week! Mid-week latest... Priority boxes: I hope I can fit at least one person's stuff in one ...and then the other one I'll have to bite the bullet and go for the big box with the big postage in order to get it there in time...but that's ok...

Waitin' on the rain...missed the big moon last night because of the clouds, darn it... edit: It's RAINING!!!! YAY!!!! A very neato day =-)

Have a great weekend! I'll be wrappin'...

I do believe the dam has been breached…or, at least, I have been sewing for the last few days, which hasn’t happened in a very…very… long while. I guess I got the bug or had to scratch an itch or something…annnnywayyyy…I can’t really show you much cuz I’m not sure who reads this blog…but I will on Dec. 26 or thereabouts…after the unwrapping…It’s nothing too earth shattering, I’m using a magazine pattern, but at this point any sewing is better than none and product (completed product)) vs. creativity is not really an issue…baby steps…I’m actually liking the results, and I have put my own spin on it, with different colors and feeling…BTW: I (still!) HATE paper piecing…but hand appliqué, now that I can get into…and quick strip piecing…yep, I’ve been doing it all…

We are in wait-and-see mode around here. Supposedly we are in for some cooler, wetter weather in the next few days, starting on the weekend and continuing into the next week or so, and I can tell you we are ready…though it has been quite lovely this last week…We still have Fall leaves on the sweet gum trees, and they are so beautiful…I guess, technically, it’s still Fall…and really, what is Winter here in SoCA anyway??? Not braggin', just askin'...

Sunday Movie

Went to the movies late this afternoon and saw Cadillac Records, which just opened this week. I know that there are glaring omissions in the movie vs. actual history of Chess Records, but the music is great, the story compelling, Adrian Brody as fascinating as ever, and Beyonce Knowles A.MAZ.ING as Etta James. Wow, that young woman can sing and, truly, she can act. I have always enjoyed Muddy Waters, too, so to hear the music and view a story of the times was entertaining.

Coupled with a good late lunch/early dinner of Mexican food this was a most enjoyable outing.

It's a special day today...

Twenty-seven years and nine months ago today I began a career that I had dreamt of and planned and waited for my entire life up to that point. It was what I had always wanted to do with my life, what I knew I was made for. I was, myself, 27 years old. I knew if I accepted the job it was going to be a lifetime commitment, one from which there would be no retirement, though the benefits and joys would be immeasurable. So here I am, in 2008, still loving the path I chose, grateful for every moment I have spent on its many winding ways. I have been blessed time and time again, every single day. I have laughed, I have cried, I have been challenged, and I have been happy down to my very toes. Thank you, my sweet boy. Thank you, thank you, thank you--for the boy you were, for the man you have become, and for giving me my life’s dream. I love you more than words can ever say. Happy birthday, sweetheart…

Did you see it??

We've been watching the moon and the planets this week...what a lovely Fall show...

Well, I did not leave the property on Black Friday, no-sir-ee...I did venture out this afternoon, however, and it was not bad, which was my plan =-) I had to go to the P.O. and that was the most crowded place of the 4 places I went, but even that wasn't bad. I do realize that it will only get worse as the time passes so I plan to get my act together as soon as possible. I only have two packages to mail this year and will get them ready soon. Today I mailed DS's birthday box; his birthday is always my priority in early December (no Christmas prep until after it...ever...). This will be the first birthday I have not seen him or made him a cake in all his 27 years on the planet and I don't like it one bit...nope...I know I'll be thinking of him all day on his day and missing him so much...this thing of families being spread out all over the country/world sucks...truly...Happy Birthday, my "little" red-headed guy, xoxo...

I've been knitting (yet another scarf, it's what I do) and reading (all relaxing and entertaining, not a lot of thinking) and catching up on DVR recordings (Days of Our Lives, still watching after 36 years)...a peaceful, lazy 4-day weekend...most enjoyable =-) Now if I could just get some fabric and/or quilting into that mix, all would be looking up in my creative world...One day it'll happen again...

Have a great week!