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Archive for the ‘This and that’ Category

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Catharsis

Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008

It feels so good to get rid of stuff that clutters your life or to use up food in the fridge. I did both of these things today. I have a pile of very nice things to take to the consignment shop. I was excited to hear that I do not need to make an appointment — just drop and run. I also have a big bag of things that I was going to take to the Goodwill, but I think I will give them to my cleaning lady, Maryama. She is in Cuba for a few weeks visiting her family and helping them clean up from the hurricanes. We miss her.

I also cooked up the remaining turkey carcass yesterday, and today I made a huge pot of turkey and brown and wild rice and veggie soup. It was so good. I have 3 containers to put in the freezer for future meals.

I have almost completed the quilting on the Jerusalem Cross quilt. I am using one of the programmed stitches on the Janome and doing very simple quilting after doing some stitch in the ditch to hold everything in place. I found this hand-dyed quilt backing fabric that I am using. Here you can see some of the quilting from the back.

Our house guest has not arrived yet. His plane was due in at 9:30 tonight so he should be here soon. I am tired from all the closet cleaning, cooking and quilting so I hope he is not too late. I am ready for beddy bye!!

Posted in Solo Show, This and that | 4 Comments »

Simple Geometry

Monday, December 1st, 2008

What a day!! I went to Costco at 10 am this morning and was given an hour and a half time to wait for my flat tire to be repaired. Argh! Me and too much time in Costco could be trouble. I have now walked every isle in the store. I know every cool and tacky thing that they carry. I tasted every thing that they were offering – even a quarter of a slice of whole wheat toast!! I am shameless. The best thing was roasted chicken with wild rice. I bought some and stuck it in the freezer for frenetic days.

I needed to rephotograph my 12 X 12 quilt before I posted it here. The luminous fabrics that I use make photography a challenge. I lined up my lights coming in from the sides and I like this one.

Since I am very math deficient, I could not come up with any thing creative or witty like the rest of my group. Have you been to the blog to see all the really cool things that were done? So, I went for pretty and pretty simple. The background fabrics are my hand dyed silks. The geometric forms are organza. I love the way the background colors shine through. It has a painterly feel, I think. And sort of wonky, like me.

This afternoon, I wrangled the cross quilt into submission to prepare it for quilting. That will be my next project. I have to do some house work tomorrow. We will have a house guest for the next few days. He is a musician from Montreal who will play in the Baroque Orchestra for the Trinity Christmas Consort. He apparently dresses in 18th century attire. It will be an interesting experience. I am going to try to get a photo to share!!

Posted in 12X12 challenge, This and that | 5 Comments »

Sunday Sundries

Sunday, November 30th, 2008

Today was a pretty good day. We went to church early to hear Marcus Borg talk about the season of Advent. Today is the first Sunday in Advent. I love to see the giant advent wreath hanging above us. The new blue vestments were on view today. Wow! They sparkled. The creators and makers had stenciled different motifs with silver fabric paint and then embellished with Swarovski crystals. Not my taste. But I was not asked for my input so I will just be silent and ponder the design in my head.

After a foggy morning, the sun came out. I took a quick walk with Mr C and Maggie and then got to work finishing the Dead Sea piece.

As I was finishing the quilting, I decided to try to keep the uneven edges that I had cropped out of the previous photo. I like it. It is my style to have the wonky edges, don’t you think? I used Pellon in the structure so that I could satin stitch the edges.

I took some photos of this and the 12 X 12 math quilt. You can see all of the reveals on the 12 X 12 blog.

I took my sunset walk with Miss Maggie and wow! did we see a gorgeous sunset. The western sky was aglow in red. Wish I had had my camera with me.

Then I set out to pick up pizza for supper. When I came out of the store, I saw that I had a flat tire. I called Mr C, figured he would be faster than AAA. So, tomorrow, I have to take time out of my day to go out to Costco, where we bought these tires very recently and see if it can be repaired or if I have to get a new one.

I sometimes start to panic when I consider how fast the time is going by and the other work that I want to complete, But, it will be what it will be.

Posted in My creations, Solo Show, This and that | 7 Comments »

Sew Peaceful

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

I am so stressed by the construction that Mr C is doing down here in my space. Don’t get me wrong, I think what he is doing is great, but I sure wish he had waited until I had all this work done for my January show. I still can’t get to my copier and thermofax so all the collage pieces that I want to do with images from the ruins and the security wall have been put on hold.

I can’t use my computer when he is sanding dry wall so I run upstairs and then I get distracted and don’t get back to the studio.I think that tomorrow, I am going to lay down the law and kick him out until next year.

Tonight, I needed something that made me feel I was accomplishing something and was sort of mindless and peaceful so I worked on the batik Jerusalem cross. I have each of the rows in neat piles with the row number.

Then, I set about strip piecing.

I got all the rows stitched in one direction. Now, I just need to press the seams and stitch the other direction.

I also finished fusing the Dead Sea piece. It is sandwiched and ready to quilt. See that green line running through it? That makes it eligible to enter in the HIgh fiber Diet Line Dancing show.

I was tagged by Natalya to list 7 things  you might not know about me. I’ve done this before, but I will try for 7 more.

  1. I played the clarinet in band and orchestra.
  2. I have never ridden on a roller coaster, and I never will.
  3. I did not get my driver’s license until I was 20.
  4. I once worked in the boy’s department of a store at Christmas to earn the money to  buy a floor loom.
  5. One of my front teeth was broken when an enamel pitcher fell off a shelf at summer camp.
  6. I don’t act my age!
  7. I need to have the radio or tv on when I am working. It annoys Mr C!!

I have to get up early and pick up my organic, free range turkey. Today, I went to the Holiday Farmer’s market and stocked up on some great veggies. Steph and I are coordinating the cooking.

Posted in Fusing, Meme, My creations, Solo Show, This and that | 9 Comments »

Time Management

Thursday, November 6th, 2008

I am feeling a great deal of empathy for women who have school age children and attempt to have some creative time for themselves. This morning, I fed everyone breakfast, supervised getting dressed for school, packed the lunches and started out the door – wait a minute – Grandma needs her coffee. It was about 9 when we returned so I caught up on the computer, sending SDA bulk mailings, reading blogs, etc. Worked in the studio for about an hour, took a walk with Mr C and Maggie, ate lunch, did some SDA website work, spent some more time in the studio. Then, off to school for pick up, went to Steph’s to feed the cat, back to our house, snack and talking time with the M & M, half hour in the studio, made dinner, helped with homework, supervised bedtime. Whew. I worked in the studio for another 2 hours tonight.

All that said, having M & M here is really a treat. They are so much fun and so inquisitive. There is never a dull moment. We just looked at Mia’s math homework. She had to make up her own story problem and give the answer. I have 3 bags of Obama buttons. There are 9 buttons in each bag. How many buttons do I have!! Yep, that would be my granddaughter. Today, she wore my big Obama button to school. It has a photo of Obama’s family and says, “America’s Next First Family.”

This is what I accomplished today:

I was going to try to have the colors cascade across the quilt in a rainbow, but it wasn’t working so I am going to make it scrappy. It is nice to have something like this to work on when you have bits and pieces of time.

Tomorrow, in addition to the M & M schedule, I am going to go to WW and get my hair cut and colored. Won’t be much time in the studio.

Posted in M & M, My creations, Obama, This and that | 7 Comments »

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