Ring Around the Moon

Everyday Best top is finished

2011-05-31T10:15:00.012+03:00

Bad photo, but you get the idea. My show and tell:

This quilt was begun in ernest in December 2010. I had already pulled the fabrics out from among the hundreds I bought on the Quilters' Quest when I spent $500, mostly on FQs in stripes and spots. After the first day of the Quest, I consulted the book/pattern to be sure I was buying the right stuff. I think the second day I focused on green.

January's progress was slow while I designed and made a few shop samples for Aurora. However, once they all were finished, i returned to the mess under the sheet on my ever-collapsing design wall.

(Aside--the portable design wall loves to warp and fall over, no matter how carefully I've put it together. My dream studio will have a permanent DW made of a tackable surface affixed to the closet doors.)

I used monofilament thread and a narrow hemming stitch to applique the vines, leaves, and flowers. I made only one huge mistake and had to rip out and reposiition the stems on one of the borders. I had used the pattern incorrectly and after attempting to make it work, I decided to go with the original design. It's easier to make my own design from scratch than it is to fix mistakes I've made on other folks' designs.

The top is on its way to the quilter's as I write. I can't wait to see what she comes up with.

Getting Closer!

2011-02-09T15:44:00.003+02:00

I'm circling in (sorry about that) on this quilt.
The twelve blocks are finished but not yet sewn into their rows.

Next step: auditioning border fabrics. The book shows a plain border followed by an applique'ed border. The outer border (vine and flowers) has me all a-tizzie, and as I'm allergic to hand work, I may have to "fast and dirty" a raw edge stick on affair.

In the meantime I'm finishing the Civil War repro for Aurora. Check out my progress on that blog.

Sneak Peak or UFO?

2011-01-27T08:22:00.012+02:00

Once upon a time when TheArtful Quilter was in Centreville there was a Greater DC Shop Hop that hit at least 12 quilt shops in Northern VA and the Baltimore Burbs. I took the bus with the other AQ fans and with me I carried $500. The Hop lasted two days, exactly as long as my money.

FIVE HUNDRED BUCKS?? Well, I will say it nearly took a truck to get my new stash home. I bought dots and stripes because they were and still are pretty. Really. Nothing but dots and stripes. The fabric filled almost a quarter of my closet. The books I bought to inspire me to use the dots and strips filled another six inches of my bookcase.

I brought it all to Vilnius with me, hoping to get around to a few bright and funky projects. A couple of years ago my friend's husband bought us each a package of Hawaiian fat quarters and challenged us to do something with them. When winter comes in October, thoughts of island breezes are welcome. Some of my dots and stripes helped the Aloha prints accept the assignment.

The BIG ONE, "Everyday Best" from Piece O'Cake Designs, scared me dizzy. How do I organize all those dots? How do I manage all those arcs? Will it turn out?

A piece of advice from Art and Fear and condensed by Nike: Just Do It.

So, the arcs are finished and the design wall is up. Today I will organize the backgrounds color-wheel style and move on to assembling them. I don't know about the appliqueed border. I'm pleased I got this far.

Playing Catch Up

2011-01-13T12:42:00.004+02:00

I'm feeling guilty for not having blogged in so long, so here's a photo of one of the quilts I finished during my silent times. I called it The Bear because it was the bear who ate me. The arcs are paper pieced but the pattern was mis-printed: I made 6 backwards arcs before I realized I was wasting resources. Now I'm waiting for fabric for the binding since too much of it was used incorrectly.

I probably should have called this quilt "The Groundhog." Jean and I had ridden our motorcycles up to Webfabrics in Purcellville where I bought these batiks and stuffed them into my saddlebags. The easy road home was closed and we had to take my nemisis road home: Snickersville Pike. Dark, curvy, unlined: in short, a nightmare for the likes of me. At the first hairpin curve (actually, it's no more acute than any normal stop street, only it's not a stop street), something hit my back wheel. Later Jean told me it had been a groundhog. I think we were all lucky--I didn't drop my bike and Jean didn't crash into me. I have to assume the ground hog got away clean since I found no fur in my spokes.

Old story, but there it is. Before I took the class that showed me (almost) how to make the Venice Rose as you see it above (and since quilted by the fabulous Marilyn Moser), I had made a smaller quilt to memorialize the event. This quilt was probably posted before, but it goes with the story.

It's not that I haven't thought about blogging

2011-01-10T17:41:00.002+02:00

It's just that I can't blog and think at the same time.

I've been very busy making "normal" quilts. I saw this split nine patch in a book and had to make it. It seems tidy and crisp. And then i flubbed up the sashing and mismatched the blocks. So much for tidy.

I found another must-do quilt and am waiting for the sashing fabric to arrive so I can finish it and post a photo. BTW--Photos are on my facebook page. Visit and enjoy.

Now I must switch hats and get dinner for he who must be obeyed. LOL! AS IF!

Bounce!

2010-03-19T07:18:00.004+02:00

Just a quick note as an epilogue: As soon as I thought of a ball bouncing from frame to frame, I was able to set the blocks logically.

The top has been sent for quilting to Marilyn Moser in West Virginia. Her work is top quality and she always adds a touch of humor to the pattern. I look forward to seeing what she's done with this project.

Design wall blues (and grays and blacks and olives)

2010-02-22T12:23:00.003+02:00

I fell in love with a couple Lonni Rossi prints and decided to use them as my guide when choosing the pallette for this pattern, Borealis by Aarvark Quilts. Working in grays, blacks, and olive greens is a challenge, and the paper pieced arcs are time-consuming. I thought I could get this quilt top finished in a week, but my level of frustration keeps taking me away from the project. I must say that I do love the blocks I've finished. I hope that the finished quilt is greater than the sum of its parts.

Back to work!

Irish Pub

2010-02-21T07:55:00.001+02:00

Irish Pub & Folk Tour - 7 Nights

Posted using ShareThis

I’m Back and I’m Ready to ART!

2010-02-08T11:27:00.003+02:00

I'm finally settled—both physically and emotionally—have no major problems to solve, no parties to plan, and can focus on being focused. I do not have a paying job. What I intended to do with my time was to develop a style, decide how to market it, and get on the Quilt Trail once we return to the States in Fall 2012 (providing the world is still spinning then).

The question is: Exactly what do I want to do with all this time? Up to now I've been expressing my artistic leaning by playing Farm Town on Facebook. Lying on my death bed I'll look back and note that I had the most average virtual farm in Pixel Land. Two things I don't want to regret: having wasted all my time and being fat. Looks like I'm batting 1.000 in a negative way. That would be all pop flies, I guess.

So what is it I want? I want to sew stuff, artsy fartsy stuff. I also love painting/printing/stamping cloth. What is it about that I love? It's easy. It's messy. It's intuitive: I don't have to know what it's going to be when I'm playing. I just apply paint, experiment with techniques, and see what happens. The results are unique and the fabrics look complex in quilted things.

In a snit and needing an outlet, I got into my stash of painted canvas and muslin last week and started to cut it up. The result was a 9 x 12" journal quilt. The next day I did another one, and a couple of days after that I started a third. The third one took a week, so that makes it a semainal quilt, I guess. I was shocked to see the result.

The first one is the best. I like the diagonals. Teddi says the second quilt's fringe should be somewhere else. I have to agree, but I'm not changing it. I wanted the beads to continue the theme of the circles of the Kaffe Fasset fabric and the placement is supposed to take the right side's organic elements off the page. I think the composition is not balanced, though. Maybe the first tassel/s should be longer. The third piece is a take-off of the quilt I did with Bernie Rowell (Ring Around the Moon). It's predictable if you know me, but I don't think it's trite. The fabric is fascinating. I realize these are journal quilts, sketches. Now that I'm familiar with some new techniques and know what's wrong with the compositions, I'll do something better next time.

Did I use my time wisely? I learned that I need to work in series. I kept using the same fabrics until they were gone and am enjoying the results. I learned that I have to handle the materials and keep rearranging them until something pops out at me since I can't sketch. For example, I could never have sketched my Ghosts of Jerusalem. I just kept playing with the components I created until there was a story in front of me. Is that a bad way to work? I don't think so since it seems to be working for me.

So what will I do with this time I have? I need to use that design wall (check) to arrange materials, make components, morph them into modules, and mush the modules together. My problem is that I need to stop before a piece is over-designed: I think I put too many beads on the semainal quilt. But the good news is they blend in with the background, so you really have to know they're there to see them.

The current pink and purple mess on the design wall has sparkly tulle over some Lonni Rossi tree fabric. I'm wondering about its very rigid composition. The geometry is supposed to balance the organic elements of leaves, trees, and swirls fenced in with stripes and solid cross pieces. I plan to break the fences and let nature swarm out. I've found that either you let nature out or it takes over by rotting what's under it. Story of my life: I'm in the process of ignoring my fences too.

I'm not complaining, honest, but

2009-08-19T07:36:00.004+03:00

I am a tad impatient and can't wait for the fun to start (seriously). However, I’m not having much fun now, this second, this very moment. Fun means working on the apartment and I need to get to the mall to do that. Oh, I can get to the mall by bus, but then getting back with tons of useless junk will be difficult.

I have friends who will drive me there if I'd just call them, but this is a personal quest which may take hours. I need to turn over every label, every price tag. I need to imagine every purchase being useful for exactly 3 years and disposable after that. So, I need a car, MY car, for the adventure. Until it arrives in 2 weeks, I can’t go to the local Home Depot variation for the million household items I could use RIGHT NOW while I’m otherwise unoccupied—waiting before I hurry up in this case. In the interim I’m watching military TV while hand-piecing a quilt I mailed to myself.

The TV programming is dreadful. Think about the intellectual accomplishments of the typical post-adolescent and you have the LCD of family entertainment: Wheel of Fortune, soaps, sports, Roseanne, Fox News, and the original Star Trek. Commercials are all military propaganda. Uplifting. Fortunately we are blessed with losing the satellite signal every 10 minutes or so. Instead I could watch local TV: American shows with Lithuanian voice over. They don’t even mute the English, just yell over it in Lithuanian or Russian (I can’t always tell the difference). One guy does all the voices. It’s priceless and explains a lot of the local alcoholism.

Today I will visit the med unit at the embassy—5 minutes’ walk from our apartment—and be told that I need a vaccination against some kind of encephalitis. They must have extra vaccine that’s about to expire since unemployed spouses are mostly expendable once the employee’s shipment arrives. Our shipment is due in about two weeks (see above) and I wouldn’t be dead before unpacking; ergo there has to be a surplus of meds. After that Mike has promised me a tour of the embassy and to introduce me to his colleagues and to the local hires he supervises. This is especially weird timing since Judith, a great friend who also happens to be the wife of Mike's DOS colleague, is having a BBQ for all of us tonight.

The embassy is the heart of the community and as such, is nearly as important to me as it is to people who work there. It’s where we go in an emergency and where we have many of our community functions. It’s important to know the Marine Guard—they are armed and they are on our side. I can’t meet the people who run these offices by sitting watching Star Trek reruns, and I can’t get into their offices the first time without an escort—there could be trouble if I make a wrong turn while wandering around on my own. So, thanks to the shelf life of surplus meds, I’ll finally meet some of the people who make the embassy work.

Then I must take a detour to the grocery store for dishwasher salt and to check out the sundries aisles for an entrance mat to trap the dirt the dogs love to drag in. The name Lithuania is derived from the local word for rain and with good reason. It’s like Oregon or Washington must be—a little rain all the time, which makes it nice and green. And muddy. I knew I was in trouble when our city tour guide explained that the pediment on the national cathedral featured Noah, et al. (see image above). After that, a nap before our dinner date. Charlotte woke us up at 4 since he walks her before bed didn't squeeze her at the right spot and she didn’t poop on command at 9:30.

Getting Here

2009-08-10T08:46:00.034+03:00

Yup, we're in Vilnius. I read about a religious group that sends their young men away for a couple of years of sacrifice so they value their home and family all the more once they return to settle down. Maybe there is a grand plan for our being in Lithuania for our last tour and we're meant to stay put and that's why it was so painful getting here. I know I don't want to get back on a plane any time soon. Here's the saga of our trip.

We packed the car with our luggage, dogs, and dog crates, and left our lodgings in Oakwood, Falls Church at 9:30 am on Friday, July 31. We had planned to spend some time with Sheila before our check-in at Dulles and so had a wonderful early lunch before leaving for the airport at 1:30. Our SAS flight was scheduled to leave for Copenhagen at 5:15 where we were to make connections with Air Baltic after an hour and a half layover. The total time for flights and layovers was to have been about ten hours--not real comfy for the dogs sitting in their cages in the hold, but doable.

While Mike returned the rental car, I sat near the SAS counter with the dogs and luggage, chatting with Kris, a wonderful boy of 11, and his mom who, along with the dad and twin sisters waiting at the gate, were returning home to Denmark after several years of overseas life with Dad's business. They too were traveling with a dog, a Westie named Sara. They had had a longish layover and were able to claim the dog in order to walk her. But this meant they had to check in again and go through security with us.

When the check-in counter opened at 2:30, we were first in line, got our boarding passes, kissed the dogs and sent them through security, meandered across the great but very secure divide ourselves, and eventually settled in at the gate for our SAS flight to Copenhagen, boarding in about an hour and a half.

4:45pm: There is a hopeful stirring among the passengers, waiting for their boarding call.

4:50pm: The stirring becomes more pronounced but less hopeful, yet there is no boarding call.

5:00pm: Finally the nice ground crew lady at the desk issues an announcement--"There is a warning light on the plane's 'dashboard' that says there's something amiss, but the mechanics can't find the fault. We'll let you know when we have some information."

6:00pm: Even if the flight takes off now, we've missed our connecting flight to Vilnius, a concern considering Air Baltic has very limited service between Copenhagen and Vilnius and the flights are nearly always full. This I seem to recall from my days of booking travel for my bosses at Commercial Services in Stockholm. We are now in deep connection kimchi as SAS continues to search for the source of the blinking idiot light. This plane, an Airbus, has no local mechanics who can fix it and SAS is on the phone with the Airbus help desk. I am concerned since I know where all help desks in my experience have been.

7:30pm: We receive meal vouchers. My only concern is alcohol, but once I've had my meal and a beer, it's nearly 9:00 and I realize the dogs, who have been in their cages since 2:30, need to get out to potty before the plane takes off.

9:00pm: Sara's family and I beg the ground crew to take the three dogs for a walk and give one particularly competent woman the leashes. We watch as she runs, dragged by each of the dogs in turn, between the cargo door and a spot suitable for doggie relief. We, the dogs' owners, are also relieved.

9:30pm: The flight is canceled and we are told we will be given vouchers for local hotels and that seats on departing flights will be found. We are to wait in line.

10:30pm: I leave for the baggage claim to sit with the dogs.

3:30am (Saturday, August 1): Mike finally arrives at the baggage claim with our hotel voucher and information for our flight out to Frankfurt on Lufthansa at 5:30 pm Saturday.

4:00am: We collapse in our $580/night room at the Dulles Hilton. The TV has been left on fairly loud in the adjoining room; and as I stuff torn tissues into my ears, I have thoughts on why the airlines are having financial troubles.

10:00am: We take our $10 breakfast voucher to the cold buffet which costs exactly $4/person more than the voucher pays. Hot buffet (my usual breakfast of hot oatmeal) is $8/person over. I eat a tiny carton of yogurt and granola from a shop-worn individual serving box for my $14 and comment that the staff at this oh, so exclusive restaurant does not notice patrons' empty coffee cups or when the buffet line is out of food. There is no water, no fruit, none of several labeled items on the line. I hear the person at the table next to us comment that he can get grits for his $10. We return to our room to nap for another hour and a half.

11:30am: We must check out by noon, so we schlepp our three suitcases, two dogs, two crates, and our carry-ons to the lobby. The only luggage trolley available has a flat tire and can't be steered over elevator thresholds. I imagine Paris Hilton in the elevator making a blue movie on such a trolley.

12:00pm: We are told the airport shuttle is full, and furthermore it is not functioning properly and that we must wait for the next one. We are becoming the zombies we must resemble and try hard not to eat the brains of the idiots perpetrating this farce.

12:30pm: We are shuttled off to Departures only to find half of South Asia clogging the area around the Lufthansa gate, eating lunches and waiting to see some family members off. We take our belongings and our dogs and find a window ledge to sit on until the gate opens for our flight to Frankfurt. I note that as with most parties in public areas, much trash and garbage remains after the family has gone.

1:30pm: We start manoevering our cart with two dog crates and our rolling cases through the labyrinth in front of the check-in counter. Apparently it is part of democracy in action to be treated as everybody else who has only one rolling bag to steer through the crowd-control ropes. One of us is not permitted to jump the line with our luggage while the other of us waits in line for our turn. We consider eating the brains of the Lufthansa ground crew and jump the line anyway. One nice woman sees the wisdom is assisting us and gets us to the front of the line FAST...

2:00pm: where we are told that we have been put on stand-by both for this Lufthansa flight and for the Air Baltic flight (only one of two leaving there daily) we are to meet in Frankfurt. In all probability we will be stranded (with the dogs) indefinitely in Frankfurt.

2:15pm: Crew manager arrives and suggests Mike return to the SAS desk and make a few demands that will get us on our required flights.

3:00pm: Mike and Kris(!) come to rescue me and the dogs and escort us to the SAS desk. We are booked on the 5:35 flight to Copenhagen. It's the broken plane that has been repaired by an Airbus repair team flown in overnight. We are not checked through to Vilnius since we will have an eleven hour layover in Copenhagen before we can get out on Air Baltic. BUT WE ARE BOOKED! I think to myself that I am not celebrating until we land safely in Denmark.

5:40: We are in the air! Kris and family are flying business class while Mike and I, in cattle car, each have a row of four seats to ourselves. We flip up the arm rests, throw a blanket over our heads, and settle in for actual sleep.

We land in Copenhagen on Sunday at 11:30am local time, collect our luggage and the dogs, store the luggage and the cages in their Garderobe (luggage storage) and find the train to downtown Copenhagen. We find an open-bus city tour that segues into an open-boat city tour and spend the afternoon learning about Tristam IV and the stock exchange. Charlotte is so enthralled by the boat's wake that she nearly jumps into the river.

We return to the airport and check into Air Baltic where we are told we are overweight and will be put on standby until we resolve the issue. The dogs are also put on standby until they can prove they are not terrorists. We pay the overage, get the dogs through security, are given a hand-written boarding pass to get us onto the plane. Copenhagen's airport is organized to make the traveler spend money. No matter how tired you are, you may not enter the gate area until the flight is boarded. So we sat on hard chairs designed for more for torture than for rest until the flight boarded at 8:30pm.

Once on the plane, we allowed ourselves the luxury of relaxing. In one and a half hours the ordeal would be over and we'd soon be able to collapse in our new apartment. Heavy sigh.

With that in swoops the Air Baltic ticket taker. "I have to ask you both to get off the plane. We have no record that you've paid for this flight."

11:00 pm local time, Vilnius: We land. I don't know what transpired or how the aforementioned fool found out that we had indeed paid. Whatever.

12:15am, August 3: We arrive in our apartment and who is grinning up at me but my good American friend Jim Beam.

Wire Work Bangle Bracelet

2009-05-24T21:28:00.004+03:00

Look what I did with one of my beads!

I met Donna Barnako, a jewelry artist, at an art show in Great Falls and was fascinated by her work. She has a funky, mixed-media take on accessories that fits right in with my interests.

Donna offered a class yesterday to a limited number of beginners, so piggy that I am and anxious to use my new (well, newer than most of my art supplies) lampwork beads, I snatched up one of the four places. Nobody needed to know I'd already take a beading class a year ago. Nobody could have known, either, judging on the quality of my wrapped loop (see dangle--but don't look too closely).

I love this process! Wire wrapping is easy but attention-consuming. Choosing beads is a challenge but not frustrating. The bracelet took me three hours to make, but the next one won't take that long.

The most difficult part of the project was choosing the right bead mix. I was going for a relaxed symmetry and a bit of contrast without my usual schizo melange. I'm happy with this piece.

Best part: I went shopping at JoAnn's Memorial Day sale and bought more wire, a coiling tool, and a few beads I could use as dangles on my next work of art. Just what I need: more junk to move!

Back to reality

2009-04-15T18:56:00.003+03:00

I returned to JCCFS (the Folk School) for spring break and learned a little about making lamp work beads. Because of the high cost of equipment I will never make beads again, but I must say it was artful fun!

I enjoyed playing with colors and finding new ways to manipulate the glass. Every bead was a surprise.

I intend to make some of the beads into jewelry, but many will find themselves embellishing quilts. I have a collage quilt waiting for bling and I would also like to continue making "Gypsy" quilts with my painted fabrics. No gypsy is fully dressed without tons of jewelry. Glass beads are just the thing.

However, my forthcoming move is sucking most of my brain into some kind of a chaotic parallel universe, so my creative efforts may be a tad retarded for a while.

Why that warning was posted

2009-04-15T18:48:00.002+03:00

I joined the Ladies Workout Express because the managers promised to call me if I ever missed an appointment. I never in two years received one call.
I paid extra to be allowed to use all the equipment, but when I wanted to use the treadmill I found that one of the two machines was broken (it slipped every third step, causing unsure footing) and the other one was being monopolized by one of the managers. I don't mind waiting for another customer, but waiting for a manager to get off the machine is beyond reason. The theory behind the EXPRESS is that one can get a full workout in 30 minutes. This doesn't work when the managers are hogging the machines.
To add insult to injury, I was charged a cancellation fee because it was I, not my husband, who was paying the bill and it was he, not I, who was transferred out of the country.
These people are jerks. Save yourself some pain and don't join their silly club.

Warning against Ladies Workout Express

2009-03-11T23:20:00.000+02:00

To: National Fitness Financial Systems
PO Box 497
Layton, UT 84041-0497

Subject: Cancellation of Membership

I received a dunning notice for payment of $62.91 as a cancellation fee for this account. Over and above the fact that this is unfair, since my home is moving to Europe and I have no where else to live in the US once this transfer takes place, you did not have the courtesy to send me a bill but referred the issue directly to a collection agency!

What kind of people are you? I thought people in Utah were LDS, Christian people who treated others fairly.

We are protecting YOU from terrorism by working in the US Embassy. Our job (and yes, I work for the government when we are overseas) is directly related to finding terrorists plotting against the American people.

I have posted a warning against Ladies Workout Express on my Facebook account. I will also post the dunning letter I received and this letter on my blog, a popular publication to which many, many people subscribe.

Susan E. Haftel

Wonkie Widers, Take Three or Four

2009-03-03T15:24:00.006+02:00

What was I thinking? I posted the picture of a crooked, lop-sided mess a couple of days ago. Publishing my failures is NOT me and I have recanted. Gone is the original article and here's the story.

I took Pat Sloan's crooked log cabin workshop on February 15 and produced a bunch of blocks. Then, I complained on her Facebook page about having taken another workshop that yielded another Unfinished Object. Of course Pat challenged me to finish the project.

Now, you have to know Pat. She can be VERY persuasive (she has the energy of a case of Red Bull and the memory of, well, there is no metaphor for her memory). So I've spent every waking minute upgrading the project and posting/reposting tweaked versions.

The top is finished (see it?) and needs to be quilted. Today's question is: How do I quilt it in keeping with the skills and talent of the OCD quilters I've fallen in with? I have no patience for quilting; I have no talent for choosing the proper pattern; I cannot make my machine stitch

evenly even with my fancy stitch regulator.

I thought I was safe with Pat. I WAS WRONG!

Are YOU my Valentine?

2009-01-30T14:24:00.002+02:00

This week's snow event left me exactly where I wanted to be: at home in my messy, messy studio making Valentines.

I found a print of Japanese lady portraits at Jo-Ann's that reminds me of ATCs. I mounted the fabric on Timtex, cut each portrait out, finished the edges, and made an effort to use up some of that bling I'm storing. The featured card was quilted, painted, couched, beaded (via glue), and more (that's when I added the tassels). I finished 15 Valentines and now have to contemplate who is worthy enough to receive such original art.

2009-01-24T16:25:00.002+02:00

A couple of weeks ago Mike (husband and employee of the Foreign Service) was offered his last overseas assignment and it was made official last week. We will be leaving for three years in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July. Mike is excited about the Jewish community there and I expect him to start growing pay’ahs next month. I, however, will still not convert since it's a sin for Humanists to take up any other religion. And then there’s the shetl thing...

Housing is furnished (Every house gets the same furniture inventory. We will take a few items to make it work for us such as my entire studio) and is supposedly comfortable. There is an APO in Helsinki and mail is shipped down by truck twice a week. I will be supplementing our local shopping via the Internet, or vice-versa. I’ve read other things in the post report but have learned to take those with a grain of salt, or less, since the people who write those things have no idea what’s really important. Tell me, please, where are the quilt shops? (Thought: AMBER!!! There will be a quilt with amber!)

We do not want to rent out our paid-off house (too many problems with irresponsible tenants and with moving our Chinese antiques that would most likely end up as piles of 200 hundred-year-old kindling) but realize leaving it vacant has just as many problems. We have invited a Foreign Service officer posted to DC to be our house-sitter and are hoping this works out for all of us. If it doesn’t, expect a flare!

In the meantime, I am stocking up on items that will be horribly expensive in Europe. This does not include a specific effort to collect art supplies since I will not be curbing my impulse buying at crafts stores. My legitimate shopping for household essentials is creating the kind of pre-packout disaster that only State Dept. employees can fully understand. In spite of the fact that there is no where to put this stuff, I’m enjoying the cash therapy and can’t wait for my next paycheck to add to the chaos.

Inspiration

2009-01-14T16:27:00.003+02:00

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." --Jack London

What do I usually do to club inspiration? I journal and blog: morning pages are my best source of complex ideas. I list: free-association shows me what's on my mind and gives me some concrete examples to work with. I meditate: sitting still and in the moment can be beneficial as well. I have a white noise machine that's supposed to generate productive brain waves. I must use that more often. I wish I would be comfortable doodling and sketching. Perhaps I should just do it and see what happens.

I'm going through a tough patch right now and can't settle down: lots of stress, lots of unwelcome distractions. My head feels like it's filled with mashed potatoes; my stomach is on the churn cycle. I haven't slept for a long time. It's very peculiar then that I'm getting ideas without the quiet that I usually need. Maybe my angst is my kiva and the resulting visions will be award-winning projects.

Today I will turn off the world and live without the stress and distractions. We'll see what bubbles to the surface.

Mono Printing on Gel

2009-01-01T00:18:00.003+02:00

Self-victimization is a sad thing. Need somebody for a presentation on anything remotely related to quilting? Just whisper in my direction. It won't matter if I'm an expert: I KNOW can fake it (having memorized the 260 arts and craft books in my library and having given up many decades ago planning lessons for my day job). When reality sets in, I will then beat myself up over not actually being an expert on a subject I've volunteered to speak on for 45 minutes. But I'll appear for free (operative work volunteer) and ya gets what ya pays for.

For example, when my friend Jean said she needed a few speakers to fill in her programs schedule for the year, I volunteered to demo mono-printing for the fine ladies of HQU. I don't know much about it, actually, but I've been in audiences where the speaker knows less about her subject than I do about smearing paint on muslin. Still, I should actually know something about the process.

To that end, I bought Rayna Gilman's book (a legitimate reason to buy a book!) and her DVD (belt and suspenders--just in case I forget how to read directions and interpret the diagrams) and have practiced most of the techniques therein.

The fabric is BORING and wants some rubberstamping and detailing here and there. Once I have tweaked the fabric to my satisfaction, I'll be able to speak, smear, doodle and stamp for 30 minutes.

Year's End: Answering the Call

2008-12-31T02:05:00.009+02:00

Cyndi Souder waxed rhetorical in her latest blog (http://www.moonlightingquilts.com/): why do we feel the need to count our accomplishments as well as account for our actions over the past year? Most of us don't have to deal with the breast-beating that can go on during Yom Kippur, and I, having only 1.75 breasts left, am neither going in for the beating nor for the fasting on New Year's Day. However, there's been history made and we need to learn from it lest we repeat our mistakes, right? Talk about pain!

My biggest quilt-related mistake and resulting emotional pain was answering a colleague when she confronted and accused me of selfishly making a cancer victim on our faculty a get-well quilt. Not only did I have the temerity to make the quilt, I also had nerve to ask faculty members help make blocks and then sign the quilt with their wishes for our friend's recovery. To this day I don't understand what that colleague's point was, especially since she had been included in the process, and I know I should have walked on. There will be other quilts if needed, but there will never be another reply to such a bizarre "accusation." I hereby resolve to smile, nod, walk on.

On-going mistakes: I cannot leave an interesting craft book in the store. I have books on all the varieties of quilts and the skills needed to make them (of course), collage, journals, altered books, book making (not gambling, the actual making of books), art dolls, surface design, embellishment, jewelry making, machine embroidery. I pulled enough books yesterday to donate to my quilt guilds so that I have only 260 left and now they fit on my shelves. Cool. A library is a wonderful thing.

Not necessarily. I actually memorize these books. I can't remember my sister's birthday (born on my 10th), but I can remember many trivial techniques so well that I'm often in the middle of using one before I realize what I'm doing. Ask me the best way to do something and I'll reply with a title and/or an author that will help you.

What's so bad about this? It's expensive. On the oft chance that I may ever want to use a particular technique, I scour the universe for all the supplies that might be needed. I spent three weeks last spring finding 1" acrylic disks and solvent ink to make 3-D embellishments for a fabric journal I may make someday. (Fabric Art Journals by Pam Sussman, page 47--took me all of 30 seconds to get my hands on the right book and find the page I needed for that piece of documentation.) I have cabinets, closets, shelves, boxes full of art "supplies" for any number of projects that have caught my eye. My kitchen should be so well stocked! I hereby resolve to use more stuff than I buy. What do I do with the finished projects?

NO PROBLEM! I never finish anything. Mistake Number Three. Why is closure so difficult for me? Fear of failure or fear of losing a good friend? It's like this: I never finished reading All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren because the man is a poet. I never, ever want to stop reading that kind of prose. Also, I don't want the protagonist to lose the girl. If I finish the book, he loses the girl and I lose a friend. If I finish a project, I no longer have that which has given me so much angst/pleasure and I lose a friend. After a LONG time, I just this week finished Ghosts of Jerusalem (see below). Sewing that label was very difficult because now the quilt is no longer my baby. It belongs to the world.

So, what have I accomplished this year? I've amassed volumes of knowledge, learned a bunch of skills, produced a few decent quilts, and entered two in a show. What do I resolve? Use the knowledge (and the supplies), work harder on the production end, finish that which is worth finishing, and finally get my work "out there."

Oh, and SMILE, NOD AND WALK ON.

Closure!

2008-12-26T23:36:00.005+02:00

Pinch me. No, really. Go ahead and pinch me. I must be having an out-of-body experience.

I finished my plaid quilt ("To the Gypsy in Me") and readied it and my Jerusalem moon quilt ("Ghosts of Jerusalem") for the MAQF show. I made a special trip to the post office just to send my images, application blanks, and entry fees to New Hope. This is not me I've been watching. I am far too lazy to follow through on anything as important to me as entering my first juried show, albeit a "friendly" show, as Cyndi calls it. This must have something to do with all the other events bubbling in the bizarre cauldron called my life.

Here are the entrants:

The finished "To the Gypsy in Me" (31.5" x 28")

And "Ghosts of Jerusalem" (22" x 24")

Tomorrow I will experiment with gelatin monoprinting ("Printing From Your Panty" by Rayna Gillman) and hope to show off my efforts at HQU in February. I'll let you know how it goes.

Tyvek Explorations

2008-11-11T02:40:00.003+02:00

"Tyvek Explorations" is an on-line class offered through Joggles.com. This piece shows some Tyvek that was painted on both sides with Lumiere then stitched onto some batik and some cheap velvet. The accompanying bright orange fabric is lame'. All stitching was done in one swell foop--fastening and quilting are the same threads. After all was fastened securely, I hit the Tyvek and the neighboring double-sided lame' with my heat gun. Tyvek melted everywhere except at the stitching. The lame' melted toshow the color I faced it with. Lots of controlled shredding.

The piece needs an edge. Typically, I didn't finish it. I had to be somewhere else instead.

Do I like it? Is it finished? Where is it supposed to go from here? All excellent questions and all without answers.

Fall-adelphia Weekend

2008-11-04T03:12:00.009+02:00

Halloween weekend in Philadelphia seemed like such a good idea when we planned our trip. I had four stops on my itinerary: Ardmore and Lonni Rossi's store; Philly and the Snyderman-Works Gallery; Intercourse and The People's Place quilt museum and store; and Adamstown and some antiques malls. Mike added a few surprises: dinner with his brother--which turned into roll-on-the-floor hysterical laughing fun (who knew?), a cheesesteak lunch on South Street (NOT on my diet), and a visit to his JCFS woodworking teacher to tour his studio (almost as good as Carol Taylor's digs).

My priority was getting my foot in the door of Lonni's store. The last time I tried to shop there, the store was closed-not fun after a four-hour drive. But this time not only was the store open, everything was 20% off! Just think: Handpainted Lonni Rossi fabric! OH MY! And on SALE!!! See Susan drool. See Susan buy a few yards of very damp fabric just to avoid a lawsuit. Only the white and gray fabric is handpainted. The other $70 worth is "merely" commercial goods. I must say I was not eager to leave the store, but there were my husband and puppies to consider. Tell me why that's important, please.

Our next stop was Pa. Dutch country where we ate an abominable lunch of bland, fatty, uninspired sandwiches much like the food of my childhood--but at least there was no ring-balogna--and I visited The Olde Country Store and quilt museum. The store downstairs has every kind of quilt fabric in print, except, of course, Lonni's. It's not cheap, but there's a lot of it: traditional, dependable, predictable. I bought some fat quarters in shades/hues/tints of browns, rusts, and beiges, plus two yards of Amish black. I was wearing my Obama button and as I paid for my $50 worth of fabric was treated very curtly by the proprietress. McCain country. Gun-toting, Bible pounding, right to lifing, capital punishing, war mongering, half-truth and scare tactics spouting McCain country. I wonder if they every saw pictures of Sarah in her thong.

But I digress. We met Mike's brother for dinner in Villanova (Maia--very modern, trendy, plus side of average food) and spent the night in Exton, PA. The next day found us in Philly at the Snyderman-Works Gallery and on South Street. The gallery is inspiring. Some of the art was bizarre and seemed as if it were torn from the artist's soul. Some was serene--apparently from more peaceful souls. I resolve to follow where my ideas take me instead of trying to impress other people. My current path isn't leading me anywhere. It's not working.

This may seem like a lot of driving. It was. We had planned to spend Friday in Philly, Saturday in Lancaster, and Sunday in Adamstown. But then the Phillies had to go and win the World Series. Philadelphia was NOT a place to be in on Friday. We flipped our plans so that there would be room for us in the city by Saturday.

Saturday's lunch, a cheesesteak hoagie, was an improvement over the previous day's pseudo-German garbage. After another night in Exton--early to bed due to sheer exhaustion of running heite to beite (forgive me, Yiddish police), we were off to Adamstown antique malls. We went to two large establishments and bought nothing. I was simply too tired to think clearly and refused to spend money on the wrong stuff and have a tastelessly over-decorated foyer. Consequently, my foyer table will remain tastelessly under-decorated for another year. We were on the road by 10:15 and paid a visit to Mike's woodworking teacher in Strasburg (whatever--the town with the railroad) before starting on our way home. It was fun, mostly, but I'm really, really tired of the inside of Mike's car.

Melange Mania

2008-10-25T23:07:00.005+03:00

Good news! A very nice woman came to take away my Civil War fabric, freeing me to play with my painted canvas. Et voila!

I lie. There was nothing fast and easy about this mess. I painted (stamped, dabbed, spritzed, silk screened) every piece of the fabric used in this 34 x 29" rag. I began it months ago for Cyndi's class. It started as a mark-making exercise using black paint on watercolor paper. I criss-crossed my paint, added something puffy, and came away with plaid.

Since then I've been arranging, stitching, ripping, rearranging, stitching, ripping, gluing, trimming, ripping, and stitching painted canvas until I'm sick to death of the piece and may need to put it away for a while before I quilt it. On second thought, I never get back to projects once I put them away to "cook." I'd better keep it out in plain sight where it will continue to annoy the heck out of me so that I finish it. THEN I'll hide it away.

The quilt (still to be quilted and embellished) contains fabrics I painted (etc.) in classes and at home over the past year and a half. It's busy since I still don't know when to stop adding things. At least I'm restricting myself to a few colors (yes, that's a few), and that's progress.

My husband (bless his heart--Southerners know what that means) commented that I'm developing my own style. Sure is: Schizophrenia.

Civil War Sale

2008-10-19T18:11:00.005+03:00

Every time I come home from a cash therapy session, I wonder where I'm going to put my therapeutic goodies. It's been flying under the radar for some time, but there's a bin in my closet devoted to Civil War and 1800s reproduction fabrics. Say WHAT? Have I been paying attention lately? Couldn't that space be put to better use?

I was collecting those fabrics for a very good reason, and they are very good fabrics at $10 a yard or so. My husband was interested in joining a Civil War reenactment group a couple of years ago and I was going to make quilts to sell at the events. Now that he's over it and on to studying physics and the origins of the universe, and I'm over using old-fashioned designs, the fabric must go.

A couple of weeks ago I spent an entire weekend cutting Eleanor Burn's Underground Railroad quilt and have been assembling it ever since. The borders are ready to apply and I've gathered the larger cuts of my CW collection to piece into a backing. In a couple of hours this puppy will be ready to find a willing (and cheap) quilter. Because I chose all the fabrics in one swell foop, I'm not pleased with some of the choices but am sure others will not object. This 60 x 90" quilt will be for sale at cost. There is just too much money invested in it to donate it.

The remainder of my CW fabrics will be offered for sale. Most are fat quarters, some are odd large scraps, and some are half or full yards. A guesstimate this morning told me I have about 10 yards left. I would be happy getting $50 for the lot.

I can't wait for this episode of my quilting life to be over. Is there a traditional quilter out there who would like a bargain?

A day with Laura Cater-Woods

2008-09-27T03:01:00.007+03:00

Artistic Annex is hosting workshops with Laura Cater Woods this weekend. I participated in Laura's "Off the Wall and Onto the Page," a mixed media (me? mixed media? go figure) class. Laura showed us the effects of so many nifty, gotta-have items like Drainage Screen (cheap-o garden supply) and Lutradur (not cheap, not garden, but very cool stuff). Then there was all the nifty, gotta-have stuff at Judy Gula's shop in Alexandria. If you have never met Judy or taken a class with her or shopped with her at many quilt or surface design shows, you are missing something special. Check her out on line. She doesn't sell yard goods, but if you're serious about surface design, you canNOT live without what she does sell.

The project: A two-sided, three-panel standing "book"

I used one of my Immaculate Conception's images (Ateroa in New Zealand) as the basis for my "book" still in need of "binding." I made several prints on computer fabric and one on Extravorganza. One of the prints came out in gray tones for some reason (user error, no doubt), but it was a wonderful mistake that became a Unifying Element for my piece. I added some silk paper--needs trimming--I made two summers ago at John Campbell (I can't remember whose class it was, and I remember everybody memorable. Shame!) and some of the canvas I painted with Elizabeth Busch this past summer at QBL. I used lame' and trapped some charms in tulle as touted by Bernie Rowell, but with limited success (read: looks like yetch and needs a bit of re-thinking). Embellishments to date are gold thread and some of those Middle Eastern evil eye charms that have a name but I can't remember that either.

Not Un-Busy

2008-09-21T14:39:00.003+03:00

Between sessions of wrestling with two uncooperative art quilts in progress, I've been honing my biking skills. Yesterday morning found me at the motorcycle cop rodeo near Pentagon City. The police competition featured teams from the mid-Atlantic states, including one awesome team from a Florida (mid-Atlantic if you include South America) sheriff's office. Whoo-Hoo #18! You are my HERO! Their riding was inspiring and now my goals are set much higher than just managing Snickersville Pike.

Several of the group drifted over to the Pentagon Memorial. I must say that if I ever feel the need for a good cry, here's the place. Benches pointing towards the Pentagon acknowledge those who died on the plane; benches pointing away, those who died in the building. Kudos to the designer.

I hope to get The Gate "published" soon. I spent some quality time picking out a section of less-than-acceptable thread painting and now must deal with some less-than-acceptable residual holes. One of the women in CQU answered the summer challenge with a tree done in couched threads on tulle. There's a question of balance with my adding too much texture to one section of The Gate, but a bit of light couching for the trees on the bottom edge might be the answer and might not overpower the threaded grain of the gate's wooden elements. To be continued...

Where I've been for two weeks

2008-09-02T03:01:00.002+03:00

Ok, so this isn't a sewing machine I'm riding, and I admit, I should have been home finishing The Gate (still not completely thread-painted and bound) or at least making a feeble attempt at dealing with this month's art quilt homework (mia culpa, Cyndi). But what a glorious day it was! And I can announce that for probably the first time I actually had FUN riding!

Cut, Piece, Paste

2008-08-16T15:52:00.005+03:00

My Immaculate Conception took this photo during a business trip to Tokyo a couple of years ago.

When I needed to find an image suitable for a pieced art quilt workshop, I chose this because of its simplicity.

I pieced the sky from several fabrics and made the arch as an applique. I am auditioning border ideas and hope to have the top nailed down today.

Eventually I hope to add details to the arch and to the trees/temple with quilting. I'm contemplating making the brass ornaments out of one of the many little-used mixed media embellishments in my stash. Tyvek? Foil? Shrinky-dink? Foiled shrinky-dink?

The Road

2008-08-06T16:23:00.003+03:00

My class at QBL worked next to that of Fran Skiles. Every so often I'd wander through Fran's area and become transfixed by the processes taking place there. I can't pretend to understand anything they were doing, but I have pretended to make a Fran Skiles inspired collage. Fran doesn't seem to have a website, but please google her name to see some of her work. This design is based on the black and white paper "doodle" posted a several days ago.

Active Procrastination, Part III

2008-08-02T23:54:00.004+03:00

Here's one of the pieces of rusted muslin. I'm wondering about how this fabric will behave in a quilt. I read that the rust has to be neutralized and that it is not archival because the fibers just keep rusting. Since I have no idea how to go about neutralizing rust (Rustoleum?), I'm going make something out of this nifty fabric and enjoy it. My work has never been intended to last for centuries, anyway. Here and now, Baby!

Active Procrastination, Part II

2008-08-02T03:20:00.004+03:00

His name is Hwemudua after the Adinkra symbol meaning "measuring stick." A tad ironic, don't you think?

Active Procrastination

2008-08-01T17:08:00.009+03:00

It's been a busy week in my studio.

I am monitoring fabric that I've put outside to rust. This is a passive activity, so maybe this doesn't count as my being busy. I made a QBL video twice—NOT a passive activity either time (counts double). And I am making the first doll from the book Art Doll Adventure. The doll is less than successful, but I’m learning a lot.

After a morning of concentrated reading, pondering, and composing, I got caught up in my on-line class. While on-line, I visited Amazon and bought a Canon MP970 printer so I can work with photos. It was delivered the very next day (because of luck and a wonderful UPS hub near me, not because I opted for upgraded delivery), so I set it up (hours) and immediately made a poster-sized image for Sheri’s pieced art quilts class (http://www.theartfulquilter.com/) next week. Piecing and pasting together the partial "poster" images took the rest of the day.

Through this all, I have successfully procrastinated doing my homework quilt for Cyndi’s class. It's not that I haven't worked on it. One of the canvases I painted last week was based on the design I’m supposed to use. I'm having issues with my vision for this project, a vision which does not match what I've been able to produce so far. I could quilt this canvas whole-cloth, maybe add some bling. In the meantime, I'll keep moving. I can get a lot accomplished when I’m avoiding something.

Forced March

2008-07-27T19:33:00.002+03:00

It's a miracle that I didn't gain any weight during my two weeks plus away from home and to ensure I don't, my husband conspired with the dogs to lure me on a walk to the swamp near our house. What he neglected to tell me is that it's 90 degrees with MUCH humidity and the swamp part of the walk was only during the first of a five-mostly-boring-mile circuit. I need a nap! No finishing that UFO in my plans for this afternoon.

Another UFO!

2008-07-27T04:23:00.003+03:00

I swore I would never take another workshop that yielded UFOs and here is another one! This needs to be quilted and the edges, now held back with straight pins, hemmed down in the back.

I stopped at the Quilt Odyssey in Hershey, PA, on the way home from Morristown, NY, and saw so many gorgeous quilts my head is still fuzzy. The best part was that I now know some of the Famous Quilters over whose works I drooled. Mop, please!

Finished

2008-07-25T02:43:00.003+03:00

I dumped the original busy project and replaced it with this one. I may return to it tomorrow if time permits. In the meantime, I have a finished product for show and tell tomorrow afternoon.

This quilt (about 20" square) started out with my favorite painted canvas (textile paint texturized with a tiling tool). I cut it into several pieces and rearranged them to create an acceptable composition. Another canvas that had been painted with blue acrylic and stenciled with metallic copper acrylic provided the blue elements, and the red is a Moda marble.

I stitched in the ditch around all the geometric shapes with monofilament, quilted the bamboo stenciling with gold metallic thread, and quilted around the abstract globs with variegated thread. I also stitched straight lines along some of the stripes. The edging was finished with satin stitching in two colors of variegated thread.

I'm pleased with the overall effect. Cyndi is going to be proud of me because it has a focal point. Teddi is not going to see arrows that point to nowhere since I was so very careful to create a flowing composition. Elizabeth likes it, too, and said so. Yippee!

What I would do differently next time: use facings for the edges instead of satin stitch, and plan my quilting. I lied. I won't plan my quilting. I have no idea how to plan my quilting which is why my quilting is always the weakest element of my projects. Maybe next year I should take a class on how to develop quilting patterns that enhance projects.

In the meantime, I like the composition and the colors of this project. I'll try another one at home and may be able to enter it in Hampton in January. (Workshop projects are not allowed in many juried shows.)

Slice and Dice

2008-07-24T04:15:00.002+03:00

Painting is finished and the stash is ready to chop into useable shapes. So far I've been working with the typical straight edges, but I plan to try something different tomorrow. One of the teachers has shown her class a technique for inserting strips (not unlike the flange I've used before) and one of my classmates has inserted a semi-circular flap into one of her seams. I like both ideas and intend to steal them. Teddi says I need to add another small square since I have only two. My thought on the squares is that the uppermost one on the right is too small and if it's the right size, I'll need only one.

As is usual for me, the first attempt at this project is over-designed--WAY too much "stuff" to look at as it is. I may have to work on two pieces at the same time to use some of these ideas. But I know how I work: my first attempt is always busy and complicated and then pared down. Tomorrow is Pare-Down Day.

Day One--Splash and Splatter

2008-07-22T00:05:00.004+03:00

Ms. Elizabeth Busch teaches Creating Small Works this week at QBL. Today she taught us to use acrylics and textile paints to alter the formerly unadorned canvas that we'll make into a quilt starting on Wednesday. Besides being an outstanding artist, this lady is a great teacher and fun to be around. Please look her up at her website.

So many of the class objected to my having a camera that I am not permitted to take photos of them and their works. However, I have no objection to your seeing and maybe even "stealing" my ideas. Help yourself!

QBL

2008-07-21T13:32:00.001+03:00

Teddi and I arrived here at Morrisville State (a SUNY campus) after a 7 hour drive yesterday. Check-in took me back to my freshman college days in--gulp--1967. The dining hall food is pretty much the same (starch and mystery meat), so I'll be hanging out at the salad bar.

After dealing with our priorities (checking-in to the show, shopping at the vendor mall, viewing the quilt exhibit, shopping at the vendor mall, unpacking, and finding the dining hall) we found our classrooms to drop off our machines and supplies. My room is a gym! With a huge blue tarp covering the floor! And buckets! And I have a roller-bag full of paint and canvas!!! Oh, this will be Heaven on Earth! I'll get back to you.

Standards of Learning--off topic

2008-07-20T03:21:00.000+03:00

Every year we teachers turn ourselves inside out preparing students for their SOL tests. We work hard and hope the public takes us seriously. Try as we might, people are just not getting the message. Here's some evidence of local math at a gas station somewhere along I-81 in southern VA. In math students learn to look for a bargain. In English they learn to read the small print. Where do they learn about signage?

Sunrise in Brasstown, July 18

2008-07-18T15:01:00.001+03:00

The Apron

2008-07-15T20:34:00.000+03:00

It's finished.
The vinyl goth apron destined for the auction block at Quilting By the Lake was completed yesterday around dinner time--and I swear the image is not sideways in my photo gallery. What's that all about? Maybe there's a Goth in the machine.

What I love: the reactions this item gets, the neck strap made out of grommeted vinyl tape sewn over twill tape and fastened with mitten clips and a very large safety pin, the way it looks on me (too bad I'm giving it up).

Issues:

I was going for something with a bit more edge, but once I saw how the pretty little housewifey flounce looked in vinyl, I stuck with it.

I wanted to use expanding paint for the Gothic letters. Doesn't work on plastic. I wanted to use fabric paint to stencil the letters onto the vinyl. Again, not on plastic. I tried to use Staz-on ink but the color I brought didn't show up. The ink, however, stuck wonderfully to the counter top, to the sink, and to the stencil film.

I used vinyl glue to tack down the facings and to attache the skull applique. Vinyl glue eats vinyl, so there may be a lump or two here and there. What the heck--it only adds to the attitude.

The Fun Begins

2008-07-12T14:52:00.000+03:00

Our ten-hour drive began yesterday morning at 6:15, 6:23, and 6:30. There are no images of that comedy. We arrived at JCFS at 4:30.

The drive was fairly successful until we got to Asheville, NC, where the road system defies anything that resembles driving in a logical universe. I wanted to photograph a plate of spaghetti and caption it "NC 19, 24, 40, 26 East and West, towards 240 North and South."

My class this weekend is Precious Metal Wire Weaving. So far, it's been an easy fit for me. Image shows my first attempt in copper wire. Today we will learn variations of plain weave. My current sample is more even and tighter. I am brainstorming ways to use this mesh in a collage.

Who is the woman and why is she grinning?

2008-07-10T13:58:00.000+03:00

A. It's me.
B. I have an Eye-Fi card in the camera and this picture is being instantly and simultaneously sent to Phanfare and to my computer.

Ok, I admit that I could have combed my hair and smiled less threateningly, but I was caught up in the moment. My new camera (Canon PowerShot SD 1100 IS) arrived after dinner yesterday. Installing the software for it and for the Eye-Fi was a whole lot easier than waiting patiently for the UPS guy!

We leave for camp (www.folkschool.org) tomorrow at 0-dark-30. The car trunk is already full of my projects--here's hoping I don't forget my sewing machine--and I'm working through my list of last-minute to-dos. Don't worry: I won't bore you with those details. Been there, done that.

What I'm most excited about is being with the other "campers." If you ever wondered where all the Hippies went, they have jobs (many of them are English teachers like myself) and spend their summers at places like JCFS. [I know we are alive (and maybe even well) since I did see a VW bus sputtering down VA Rt 66 the other day. Perhaps it was on its way to a commune in a big farmhouse.] The demographic is inspiring: we are green, we are liberal, we are interesting, we are sociable. Just what you'd expect of Flower Children, all growed up. Mealtime conversations are energetic and inspiring, whether we are solving the world's problems or brainstorming a design solution. Camp "fills the well" and is more than whatever someone chooses to produce over the course of a five-day class.

Having said that, Quilting by the Lake (the week after camp) had better be all about the class. I hope to be surprised and inspired by that population as well. (Did you hear the but?)

Details: Quilter's Quest Blocks

2008-07-07T15:57:00.000+03:00

Check this out: Yesterday I cut out all the pieces and made a zippie for every remaining QQ block pattern AND this morning I finished the Most Dreaded One of the bunch (see comments in a previous post). I need these kits for portable hand work during our 10 hour drive to/from JCFS. Oh, but I am good today! Just for that (TMI alert), I get to go to coffee with Sheila and Kristin after I drop my crash bars off at the Honda dealer so they can be installed on my motorcycle (bike is already at the dealer).

And here's another kick in the head: I bought a good camera and Eye-Fi. I won't be using the Webcam when I'm too lazy to track down the "family" digital in its three pieces, all in various locations. MY camera and ALL its pieces will be accessible to guess who? ME! Yippee! Things should be looking a bit better soon.

Apron update: found black pleather and fancy tulle at Joann's yesterday. I'm sketching a composite of a few Goth dresses/corsets/tops and the See and Sew apron pattern. This is do-able and should be pretty funny when it's finished. I need larger grommets, though, and see a shopping trip tacked on to the coffee excursion.

Too much fun!

Packing for Camp

2008-07-05T15:30:00.001+03:00

This is a to-do list, so I don't expect ANYBODY to read this. Why are you still here?

Projects for camp (WAY too much to do in one week)

1. pear project: Fix shading on quilt. Now that I remembered I own a plastic pear, this will be easier. "Frame" will include bright green piping (a la Susan Cleveland: http://www.piecesbewithyou.com/) inner border and a 2" or 3" black outer border.

2. apron project: paint base fabric and make basic apron. Or maybe make the apron and then paint it. If I were any good at this "art" that wouldn't even be a question. Buy more netting/organza/webbing for the flounce.

3. silk triptych project: TBA. I have no idea how to proceed with this thing. Some artist! If anything I drew remotely resembled anything in this universe (monkeys really do draw better than I do), I could put this in a sketch book and see exactly how to proceed. I am better with a scissors than I am with a pencil. Maybe I should just shred it?

4. 2006 quilt quest project: I may just throw this out. Whoever "designed" some of those quilt squares is a sadist. I never saw a worse designed basket than the pattern that came from one of the studios on the quest. So convoluted! Gratuitously difficult (snob appeal?). But I started it and have the fabric. There is no due date.

5. Cyndi's homework: I found an image on line that will work to remind me of the hell I went through during my bike ride on Wednesday. Heavily shaded macadam road, no lines, drainage ditches along each side, big trucks coming the opposite way, lots of curves. When I got to AQ class that evening, all I could think about was the horror of the ride. I'm thinking a woven quilt that will somehow show the filtering sunlight that wreaked havoc with my perception of where the road actually was and overlay my nightmare image.

I'm sure I've left something out. ONLY 5 projects? I may be back.

Blooming Nine Patch

2008-07-04T19:48:00.001+03:00

This top, an attempt to use the left-overs from another quilt top, took over a week to finish. My problem is that since I've begun making original quilts I can no longer follow directions. I must have ripped out more stitches more than I left in. The irony of this is that I still had to buy fabric since no fabric other than the Moda Marble (that orange and blue smoosh towards the center) will do for the binding.

This mess-terpiece will be quilted by Not Me.

Now, on to the truly fun: the soon-to-be offensive dominatrix kitchen-wretch-wear.

Would You Buy this Apron?

2008-07-04T15:38:00.000+03:00

I will be attending Quilting By the Lake at the end of July. One of their fund-raisers includes an auction of functional aprons. I have issues with wasting money on experimental garments, so I bought a pattern:

Now, if you know anything about me you'll understand how this June Cleaver image just will not do.

My version of June and Her Cleaver:

The Dominatrix Apron

Black fabric with black skin rubbing plate= leather
Brads and zippers, other silver bling
Netting ruffle at bottom.
Tattoo element
Skulls
Ties will be woven like whips
Laces a must

Here we go!

2008-07-02T15:55:00.000+03:00

To be perfectly honest, I have been forced into starting this blog. I'm taking an on-line class that requires I start one, but it's supposed to be an educational thing, not a self-promotional thing. And then there's Teddi who is the kind of muse one can't resist. Can you say nag? She's always right, though (how boring for her) and I know this is the thing that will get my art off the ground--where I am constantly throwing it, crumbled and torn. Here's a picture of a quick journal entry I did on Monday.