Morning Glory

Is there anything prettier? I love the blue flowers that open in the sunshine. And finally we have sunshine. It was cold and rainy for about a week and it's August. So bummed. But this morning the sun was out and it was 78 degrees and I drove with the top down on my car and the radio worked. A GOOD day. A SUMMER day!

When I get home from work I see that my husband has been in the garden. There's usually a big pail full of beans, another one of cherry tomatoes and some more zucchini. There are people telling me they haven't gotten any veggies out of their gardens. I must have magic dirt. G keeps bringing in un-ripe tomatoes. I like them to be very, very red before I pick them. (and eat them in tomato sandwiches) He picks them pink. So my center island is a tomato ripening "spot". They eventually get red but they don't have that "red" taste.

Bobby Flay made oven roasted green beans on his show. Got to try it. We had cherry tomato pasta again today and fresh tomato soup yesterday. I am getting SO GOOD at this cooking stuff. I even made stuffed baked tomatoes and they were excellent. I may even make zucchini "crab" cakes. They had a recipe on the net for this. Swear it's just like crab. I'll try anything once--the worst? Just throw it away.

Nineteen days till my birthday! I'm so excited.

Just Enough. Not Too Much

As soon as I can get Slambo over here to change the marigold picture in my sidebar--this is what you'll see if I make comments. This is what I look like while I'm blogging-- reading or writing. It took for ever to get one sort of okay picture. Too funny.

I wish I could take charming pictures like "posey gets cozy" and "little birds" but I guess not. Most of the time the house is too bright for a good picture and then it's too dark. I feel like Goldilocks.

My car is back home. The radio doesn't work. The door locks do. The red "radio card" is still missing. BMW/Westbrook is still not helping. They can't be bothered to look the number up in their files. I sincerely hate BMW/Westbrook. At times I would love to trade my roadster in for a 3 or 5 series sedan but that would mean having to take it to BMW/Westbrook for warranty service and I just won't do that. Bruce of Atlantic Motorcar is a trillion times nicer. If only he had the radio code in his files. Oh, and it didn't cost a fortune to fix my car. It was just enough.

A long, long time ago, I had my palm read. Just after the reader had read my husband's palm. She, the palm reader, was very perplexed as both our palms said approximately the same thing. We would always have enough. No more. No less.

During the Great Ice Storm about 9 years ago, we were without power for 6 days. No heat, no light, no hot water, no nothing. On the night of the 6th day, I walked up to the end of our street and looked at the pole where the switch that brings, light, heat, and water to take a shower and wash your hair, was blown. Houses on the next street had golden light shining from their windows. Not our street. Well, I looked at that switch and I said "I've had enough". Next day the power truck came to our corner and flipped the switch. And there was hot water.

So whenever things are going good or not so good--I wonder. Do I have enough? Have I had enough? Can I take more? Last week I had had enough by Friday afternoon and I just wanted my little car back. I had had enough of asking friends for rides to work.

As for the zucchini in the garden. I have definitely had "enough". And I would like people to stop trying to give me theirs.

Project Runway *Plus* Size

This was a difficult episode to watch. As a *plus* size person on the outside and a person like everyone else on the inside, I felt for all the larger women chosen last. That was very cruel. And the clothes made, yes, one day is not enough time to make a perfect outfit, but a nice fitting and even stylish outfit? Was it too much to ask? Why is Uli the only one who will try a print? I am tired and angry and very sad to see women in plus sizes placed in tent like sacks. Or draped with tunics, scarves or swags of fabric. Were any of the *plus* women smiling???

I was sorry that Robert went home for making exactly what the client wanted. She would have worn the outfit quite often. I can't say that about the other things. Laura keeps making the same things over and over--made very well, but just as boring. Cruise wear is usually flamboyant--- not what you would wear at home. Didn't Laura make the same outfit for her Katherine Hepburn Icon?

Jeffery could have made something young and fresh --lose the collar-- with asymetrical lines for Angela's mom-- he hadn't sewn anything yet-but instead he responded to her comments with his own ENORMOUS insecurities and acted terribly. His own mother should have kicked his ass into the room where Angela's mom was crying and made him apologize (she didn't and that's where he learned it). It's on television. Everyone out there has a mom-- even rock stars. Do they really want to do business with this guy? I don't give a rat's ass whether he was a crack addict or belongs to AA. No sympathy from me.

Now, I'm in a really crappy mood anyway. My car was "fooled" with in the parking lot at work on Monday and the security alarm went off and the battery shut down and the car went into security mode and shut itself down so it couldn't be driven. We had to have it towed twice. And the mechanics have been working on it since Tuesday morning. It's now Thursday, late afternoon. I am so damned pissed. This is going to cost a fortune. They can't get the radio to work. There maybe a problem with the door locks also. And of course, it needed a brand new battery. The kind that goes inside the car, not in the engine. The kind that costs a lot and isn't sold at Wal*Mart. I wish Jeffery was here in my house right now. I'd like to kick his ass around--make me feel better.

No Picture Monday

I finished the binding on Plantetary Motion 2 and now that it's done--I can stop thinking about it, having it on the design wall, or working on it any more. No pictures either. It stinks.

I have two more things that are progressing *oh, so slowly* to the You Stink pile. I don't think it's the *now* me that's making them stink--I think they were just bad ideas from the start that I have been wasting time trying to SAVE. That's me. The EMT of bad quilts.

I am sad and anxious. G is driving 38 miles one way (5 days a week) to a very physically tiring job. I am constantly worried that he will be in a car accident. Crazy. But I can't stop doing it. If you remember, we almost died in a car accident that for some reason didn't happen at the last second when we were on vacation. Now every time we or just G, gets in the car and goes any distance--well, I'm getting in touch with the grim reaper. I may need therapy.

I bought a whole bag of ProChem stuff in New Hampshire at the World Quilt show. Stuff used to thicken bleach, potato resist, Chlor Stop, soy wax and probably something else I have forgotten. I keep reading and seeing stuff made with these things--so I got some. Now I'll have to find out how to use them as the products have little or no instructions. I still haven't made an order for Lutrador. Need to try painting that also.

I did heat set some painted fabric and then I washed it. No runoff. Woo Hoo! Last time I washed it too soon and all the paint filler came out and dulled everything down. So unhappy. But it's nice to know that any future owner of this stuff can wash it.

I saw a fused quilt in the World Show in NH. Fused hand dyed fabric. And the little squares were all loose and fluttering in the AC breeze. No stitching to hold them down. The quilting went all around them but not over the little squares. I have a feeling that by the time the quilt gets back home, some of the squares will be gone. Bad WU?

The Really Long Date

I thought this double expresso and the ride home from New Hampshire to Maine was going to be the end of the "really long date" but I was completely wrong. My husband then took me "shopping" at the Kittery outlets. This guy knows how to make a date memorable.

The World Quilt and Textile Show was disappointing. Last year it was fantastic. This year there were some very interesting pieces and nice, new vendors but--well, maybe it was me. I remember last year, standing and studying pieces--learning. Didn't happen this time. I did have some lovely chats with two or three vendors though and got a lovely early birthday gift ( I bought it) from Betsy of Quiltessentials. A handmade tote--but really it's a basket.

Maybe there were too many traditional quilts. I always look forward to seeing the wild and wacky world of the art quilt at these World Quilt shows. The only photo I have to show--because I can't give you the maker's names on the others--is by my favorite quilter, Pamela Allen from Canada.

This is a detail. The quilt is about having "hot flashes" and the quilting depicts little fire engines racing to the fire, which is the lady in the piece. The fire dog is lovely.

Now, as I stood and enjoyed this quilt, three women walked up behind me and expressed their distaste for this quilt. If you don't like it, dears, move on--move away-- let me enjoy it without your running commentary. I think they were trying to let me know that my opinion was somehow "wrong". I was tempted to follow them to the next traditional quilt they all admired and poo poo it. But I appreciate all the time and work that goes into traditional quilting. And I apologize for the blurry picture. There was a large spotlight just above and to the right of this quilt and it did terrible things to my digital camera. This was the best G and I could do.

As to the shopping, I got little glass bowls with lids at Crate & Barrel along with 8 yards of Marimekko fabric (regular price $32 a yard) for $4 a yard ( generous yards!). And I went to the Old Navy outlet--I really do not like Old Navy. It's such a sloppy, warehouse place and I don't like the merchandise. Why did I go???? Well, a patron at the library had on a wonderful white V-neck tee (and everyone who know me, knows there are two things I love. White linen shirts and white v-neck tees) and I asked where she got it. Old Navy. Ick. But I went, I tried on, I purchased. White V- neck perfection. I also thought the 6 foot 3- 350 pound black bouncer dude over by the dressing rooms was a thoughtful choice. Mainers will understand.

I did not have Deborah's recommended Chocolate Sogno at Carrabbas. I just could not eat a warm fudge brownie topped with chocolate mousse and fudge sauce. I just could not. Next time, I'll skip the dinner and go right to the dessert. The mussels were divine.

Trash-Formation

Not my own personally created word--but it is what I like to do, best of all. Make things from trash. Now to me, trash is anything I would throw away, you would throw away or something that another person gives to me, so they don't have to throw it away. This slightly blurry picture is of a piece I made out of stuff a friend gave me. She's moving and didn't want to take these scraps with her. I have enough to make another companion piece.

Three trash- formations. All quilted and ready for binding. Or I might try that "facing" thing that Tommy the Material Girl described on her blog. The black and cream was quilted without a backing fabric and will get an "escape hatch" ending. The batting is fusible so it wil be okay to do it this way.

Painted fabric. I won't show you the shirt and tee shirt that got painted along with this piece when I leaned over to paint a stripe. This isn't all that exciting but I needed a striped co-ordinating fabric to border a wacky log cabin. My daughter likes the color and it is her birthday on Wednesday so I thought it would be nice to finish it for her. Maybe to hang on her bedroom wall. I'm going to applique something very important to her in the center. She reads this --so no more info. Can I get it done by Wednesday? I work best against a deadline.

I'm going to give away my last pile of zucchini. I don't want to make any more pickles. And now we are starting to get a pile (small) of tomatoes. Pretty ones. Not all that tasty but fresh, warm from the sun tomatoes. Need BACON!

I roasted one of the butternut squash from the garden. Pale gold and not much taste. I adored the ones from last year. Deep saturated russet orange and so sweet. I ate them as soon as they came out of the oven. Yum. G says there are small orange ones out there--just babies. I'll have to wait. Got to get back to the cutting board and cut border strips for that quilt and do the "special" thing and then fuse batting to it and a back and quilt it tomorrow. So much work, so little time.

Time & Patience

I'm having "one of those" days. No direction, too much sugar. I got a lot done yesterday--not what I had planned to get done--- but a lot of other stuff. I made a real dinner. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, cucumber salad and steamed broccoli. I got the expected "arrival home time" for my husband wrong, so I made his plate and flew out the door to a meeting. Hello/Goodbye.

I am supposed to be 1. machine quilting or 2. reading RFQ's for my committee. We got seven. Lots of reading to be done by Sunday. Instead, I am sort of wandering around, looking out the windows, watering plants, making a coffee cake for dessert tonight and looking for new blogs to read. I even paid some bills and called my cable provider to complain that Bravo is missing. I was sort of hoping to speak to someone in India, like last time I called, but got Nicole ( she told me her name at least four times) and she said Bravo was experiencing network problems.

We are "housetraining" our new TiVo. It still thinks we like "Walker, Texas Ranger" and everything now playing on the country music channel. My husband gave everything "3" thumbs down last night. Teach that TiVo a lesson! The day before we got Sex In The City and lots of stuff off the MTV channel. We're almost 60 years old! My son says it takes time and patience to train the TiVo to only select/record things you really like.

Think I'll have a sandwich and go down to the quilt room and fool around getting the walking foot on the old Bernina--- always need time and patience for that--- then maybe thread the machine. I may even sew. I am certainly NOT reading the RFQ's today. Could check on the Bravo situation on the televison again. Here I go.

Tuesday, TiVo & Tomato

I saw this image in a magazine while waiting to get my nails done. Don't we all have moments when the sewing machine is a "crime scene"? I'm going to frame this and hang it on the wall near my machine---to keep things in perspective and add a laugh to the tears.

It's tomato time! I've been picking my favorite cherry tomato- Sun Gold- but on Sunday my husband brought in this beauty. We ate all the other examples already. Now that the woodchuck who was calling our garden his personal grocery has gone to "woodchuck heaven", our produce is thriving. Almost time for green beans. Other gardeners are having trouble with tomato wilt because of all the rain and humidity but my garden is only in it's second year. Still beginner's luck here.

We finally got TiVo. There was a special $150 rebate. My son says that's because a new edition, number 3, is coming out and TiVo wants to sell all the old models. Well, old is good enough for us. So far----- we can turn it on and off. We did manage to use the "pause" feature to stop the program we were watching while we made coffee and pie for snack, and then start the program where we left off and that was fascinating. Now when people call during our favorite shows, we can "pause" and not miss anything. We can also go back if we didn't hear some of the dialog. We selected about five things for TiVo to record. And TiVo is already picking "other" stuff and recording that also. We are deleting everything TiVo selects hoping to "teach" it to not do that.

I got new tires on my car. Last year I replaced two tires and had planned to get the other two this summer. Discontinued. Michelin didn't have anything with compatible tread. So I was faced with buying four new tires and having two used tires with only 1000 miles on them. Michelin and my husband worked out a great compromise. Thank You! Now I have new tires, all the same, and I didn't spend more than the cost of two tires. I also got "all season" instead of "performance". The ride is a bit bumpy. The performance tires were soft and good on turns. But these new tires may actually be drivable in a little, tiny bit of snow. Wouldn't that be interesting? A four season car. Even rain could sometimes be a driving (sliding) adventure with the wide performance tires. Steer straight. Go sideways. Yikes!!!

Work today and tomorrow and then sewing machine day on Thursday. Quilting the two pieces needing quilting and some top stitching on number three. Gotta get some product done in 2006. I also have no fresh ideas for anything after that. Maybe another vase of flowers. I'm all out of "original".

Order, Service, Management

We received this advertisement in the mail this week. Laundry service, cleaning, outdoor maintainance--- lightbulb changing?--- and transportation to medical and other appointments and places. Shangrila? Nope. A retirement village. I'm starting to think this is a super fantastic idea for artistic types. No worries. Meals, clean undies and sheets, vacuumed floors, trash taken out, medication delivered. Sign me up!

Yesterday I went on an artistic adventure. Open studio and farm day (weekend) organized by Fiber Arts. My friend and I started out at 10 am and visited a well known fiber artist and were given five star treatment. Absolutely gorgeous studio, art quilts (one is being entered into Quilt National) and gardens. We learned about discharging with bleach, a seaweed additive that is not effected by bleach, lye shibori, and just had the best time. Our next visit was to a published and well known quilter down the road. She was teaching in Boston this weekend so the tour director duties went to her 8 year old son. "This is where we cut and glue the design fabrics: this is where we sew: and this is where we embellish". He has spent so much time in the studio with his mom--- it really is "we". And I had to admire his carefully made magnets and his artistic rocks. He went to art camp and made the rocks. Heated them in a toaster oven and then rubbed crayons over. The crayon wax melted and art was made.

Then on down the road to the next town and a lovely, new post and beam studio owned by an artist working in oil on linen and dyes on silk. I was enchanted by the paintings. And the artist. We had both led the corporate life of multiple moves including foreign lands. She begins each day with her journal, a few drawings (4") and a walk. Not in any specific order. We talked about how the writing, drawing and meditation of the walk prepares the "artist" within to work. There were lovely hand painted and sewn pillows and scarves for sale. I made a few sketches of a woven oil painting.

Next an in town studio of a friend of mine. She is a painter just beginning to work in fabric and it was wonderful to see her work space. She told us that this spring the roof of her studio had caved in and she had had to rescue all her work and supplies and carry them into the main house. She had just-- within a day-- finished painting the new roof (inside) and walls. We had had a wonderful time with her. And saw more discharged black fabric.

Our final stop was at Fiber Arts. Christine Macchi was the creator of this farm and studio day and made the wonderful maps etc. Delightful. Upstairs was an artist who works on paper and canvas. I spent a fascinating 30 minutes up in her studio where she shared her art with me. Especially the papered/painted boxes I had seen in a local restaurant. I mentioned to the artist that I had spent more time looking at and admiring her boxes than I had spent on my dinner.

If you are wondering about the lack of names and photos--well, it seemed impolite to ask to take pictures and blog them and well, it also seems impolite to mention a few and not all the very talented artists in the area and on the map.

I have emerged from my art adventure renewed and refreshed. Now that I have given up on politics (or politics has given up on me), I can devote myself to ART. First journal pages in the morning, then a walk and then a few drawings or small fabric collages. Operatic music (and Rolling Stones) on the CD player and watermelon chunks to sustain me. See you later! Oh, and I must get slides of my quilt work. Christine says I must have slides. Pronto!

Really.....I am working!

My giant bag of fabric from a friend's garage give-away is sitting on my sewing chair. So much good stuff. What will it become? B's fabric choices are so different from mine. Batiks mostly and I have about have a box myself. So we'll see.

The Marigold is backed, batted and basted. I added some blue polka doted fabric around the edges---you can see the ripples in the unattached fabric. One side covered to the petals, the other not. the color is off so don't be too taken with that. It can all be easily removed if I don't like it after a while. The piece was too small for any show--but do I really want it in a show???

My latest "trash formation" out of the wastebasket. Some of the new batik made it onto the top--it was "just right" for the crossed stripes on top. Love when that happens. I also really love making stuff out of the wastebasket. Whole pieces of fabric are just too much "decision" for me. I like digging around in a pile of chopped up fabric looking for something that might "work" rather than starting with some matchy collection of yardage and making a great big mess out of it. I always hate what I make when I have it all planned out. I am such a failure at that. That's kind of where the Marigold is going right now---- too much matchy-ness and not enough "whimsey". I've been told that is what people love about my work--the whimsey.

I try to be a happy, delightful, charming person--somewhat eccentric but in a nice way. I guess when that comes out in the "work" it's a good thing. Need more of that in my life.

Bought 6 pint jars of Fig Preserves (TJMaxx) for my husband. He really loves the fig preserves my friend Kay's mom makes. But the homemade stuff is gone and this is almost as good. Comes from Arkansas. I told Kay about this on the phone last night and now she is going to find some fig trees for her Mom to plant---so we'll have Future Figs.

Yesterday, I had a "meeting" regarding my running for Town Office. Seems someone else wants to run and they can't say no to her. And the incumbent could win a three-way race quite easily. In others words, they "threw me under the bus". My short and very interesting political career is now officially ovah! It hurts to get thrown under the bus.

Driven

I have spent more time in the car than at home this month. Well. Not really. I have been driving to work a lot more than usual. Working 3 and sometimes 4 days each week. Last summer I worked one day a week. So this is like--- 200% more. And I have meetings. I was appointed to a Town Committee and we are having weekly meetings. Every Thursday from 7 to 9. I was expecting one meeting a month or something. WRONG! We did decide to take Thanksgiving Thursday OFF. What about Christmas??? It's like the Scrooge of committees.

And I decided to run for Town Council in my district. ( I must have some serious Karma adjustments to make) I have a nomination petiton that needs 25 to 50 signatures of registered voters. Everyone is on vacation. So I have been walking around knocking on doors. This must be a "pre-test" to see if you're tough enough for the actual election campaign. I'm wondering.

I went to my friend's house this morning and got two large bags of fabric. She is moving and tried to sell the stuff at a garage sale and is now just giving it away. Nice batiks, prints and shibori. And silks. I tried to pay but she said "just get it out of here". So I did.

Made 5 more jars of pickled zucchini. Pints this time and I did the water bath thing again. I figured a pint of tasty pickles is a mighty nice holiday gift. Tomorrow I'm making Refrigerator Pickles. No water bath or salting or soaking. Just scrub the cucumbers, pack into a jar with garlic and dill, vinegar and water and that's it. I think there may be some salt and sugar in with the vinegar. Real tasty with a sandwich. I might ask Patty for a few grape leaves. My Mom always put few in each jar for some reason.

I sliced my right pinkie finger along with the zucchini on the Japanese slicer. Ouch! No stitches. But I got a car ride and an ice cream cone just the same. And I just got a diet Coke on ice with a lime. Wonder what my husband wants? A Tivo?

Today is my son's 35th birthday. How did that happen? I loved him completely the very first time I held him and it's been like that ever since. He grew up to be a very good person. My daughter says I like him so much because he lives all the way across the country and I see him infrequently and he doesn't ask me for favors--like feeding cats for a week, cutting the grass or emptying the hot water heater. Could be. Just wish we could be having dinner and birthday cake with him right now. Happy Birthday! Love You!

Pickles, Presents and Kitchens

The garden is producing zucchini. Therefore, I am producing zucchini pickles. I made these on Monday. I even did the "water bath" thing. Zucchini, onions, red bell pepper, jalapeno, vinegar and 5 cups of sugar. The stove was sticky with sugar and vinegar as was everything else I touched. Good thing my husband likes to clean up after me.

Present! Painted fabric from the famous Sonji. As thrilled as I was with the present--- I had to leave for work just moments after opening the package. I just wanted to stay home and look at the wonderful colors and textures. I really have a long way to go on this "painted fabric". sonji has such depth in her painting. The more you look, the more you see. Wow!

This was too much of a coincidence. After talking about how much I loved the little playhouse in kindergarten as a five year old --- I get the Pottery Barn Kids catalog and there is my dream kitchen circa 1951. Look at the little knobs on the stove. The little sink. And that chubby, retro fridge. There's even a doll baby! I WANT IT! but where to put it? I guess I'll have to do the next, best thing. Make it into a quilt.

Posie Gets Cozy is working on the second round of the Club Little House project. Twelve people make 12 identical doll house items and then send them to one location where 12 boxes are packed with one of each item and then sent back out. Where was I when this was being organized???? I have a very large Saltbox dollhouse in my living room. With lights in the windows. I love all things tiny and my dollhouse is full of furniture, dolls etc. The tiny beds have pillows and little duvets. I guess I'll just have to make my own stuff. Sniff :( It would have been fun to make stuff with eleven other crafty dollhousers.

Educating Me

Never one to leave well enough alone, I got myself appointed to a Town committee. The one where we try to save the old high school from demolition and then find a re use for it. My first attended meeting was last Thursday (I missed the first meeting) and I have been on the learning curve since then.

My first mailing was an inch thick package of information. To read. To memorize? So it goes without saying that I was the quietest member of the committee on Thursday evening. I was just trying to figure things out. And the meetings are on television. Ick!

I wanted to be a "team player" so I volunteered for the first sub committee to be formed. We are drafting an RFQ. Request For Qualification. We need an expert or team of them to prepare items for the RFP. Request For Proposal. So I've been googling and trying to get information on what a great RFP proposal looks like so I know what kind of RFQ we need to help build it. I am SO out of my element!!!

Now you know why I haven't been posting or making art or anything. I did make bread yesterday afternoon just so I could knead the dough and vent some frustration. Made half into a tasty focaccia and the other half is in the fridge waiting to be pizza. I think onion and olive to go with a salad of romaine lettuce coming out of my garden. We had zucchini for lunch and more is now sitting on my counter top. Oy!

I'm going to see if I can find a Greek Mousaka recipe. When I visited Greece we had many different varieties of this dish. Made with potatoes, eggplant and I think squash. I loved them all. YES! Found one and it calls for three and a half pounds of zucchini.

Now I have to get down on the floor and clean out some space in the "refrigerator from hell". Jennair. Never buy one! The only time it looks spacious is when it's empty. I even have one of the shelves removed so items taller than 5 inches can go in. Wine bottle? No. Gallons of milk? No. Watermelon? Well, I have one in there right now and things are very crowded. Eggs? The only place they can go--well, it's so secluded, you forget you have eggs. We lost the applesauce and had to remove everything from two shelves before we caught a glimpse of the jar and dug it out.

I want an LG French Door Fridge with Freezer on the bottom. I want to be able to STAND and find food. I am SO tired of kneeling on the floor searching for things. If anyone from LG is out there reading this---- give me a fridge and I will blog about it endlessly until everyone wants one. Please! RFR. Request For Refrigerator.

Who Am I Now?

I was sorting through my "ripped out of magazines" pages and images yesterday and came across a stack of photo copies of a school photo of myself. I layered a couple of images to get the picture you see at the top of this post. I can see, you may not be able to, the (my) fingers pinching the folds of the dress. I'm happy to be the center of attention. My mother is taking the picture (always tension there), I'm in school where I felt safe and all I had to do to get through the day was "do the work". A relative "calm" period of my life.

I have been struggling to come up with an idea for Quilt National. The deadline for entry is September 19th. The day after I turn 60. This seems like an event in my life I should make into a piece of art. So.... who am I now? Do I feel safe? Am I just getting through the day?

The only "for sure" things I know--- I like being the center of attention. Quietly. I like the public and having friends but I like solitude better. I love my job at the library. I like to help people and teach them the things I love to do ( sewing, decorating, gardening). I'm generally happy.... for no good reason. My opinions on some topics can make people defensive. I like to be "right". I don't like "stupid", "mean", or "hurtful" things or people. I still like to "play house" like I did in kindergarten. Little dishes, furniture and the small contained areas were heaven on earth to me when I was five. Now I rearrange furniture, make slipcovers and pillows and set up little vignettes to please the eye. I love being home.

But I have always felt that I hadn't accomplished what I needed to in this lifetime. My karma. I have often felt like a boat drifting away from it's mooring. I paddle back to the dock. Then start drifting again.

I can entertain myself 24/7 without running out of things to do-- or not do. Inquisitive, clever, charming, amusing, hard working, stubborn, deceptive, critical, wobbly on decisions
( wondering if I made the right one), emotional, good health, good bones, healthy appetite and wide hips. Lots of art material here if I pay attention.

Who Knew?

It's getting hot and humid here in Maine. I've been snacking on watermelon cubes even though the 99 cents a pound for watermelon seems crazy. Especially for July! It still gets down to the high 60's at night, so we are still able to sleep but that should be coming to an end soon. The weather map for the US is all orange for the coming week. HOT!

I have broken down completely and been strip piecing. Now my fabric strip cutting is not as accurate as it once was (back in the "day") so the strips aren't all the same width. And now that I have made a bunch and cut and trimmed them---well, I can't seem to think what to do with them. I know I have to make more. And really, that's what I don't like about piecing. You make some great little block and then you have to make like a 1000 more to get anywhere. Tedious.


I'm going back down to the studio, turn on the tv, cut more accurate strips ( I need more) and work on this. I only have a skimpy half yard of the best fabric--so this won't take long. And I've got some sort of bobbin tension problem to solve and a needle that needs replacing. Probably should replace the rotary blade also. That takes up nearly an hour cause I NEVER know how to put the thing back together. And my husband has gone out to meet with the unemployment people to discuss his claim--so he can't do it for me. Oh, bother!

I will edit this post later with a picture of these "adorable" strips. Perhaps I will even have made something out of them by then? Stranger things have happened. This will not be a bed quilt. Not even a baby quilt. This will be SMALL. Perhaps a potholder.

Baking

We are having another farewell potluck at the library today. So I was "baking" yesterday. Literally. I made the Barefoot Contessa Cheesecake. I used my big mixer and timed everything. If the recipe said "mix for 5 minutes", I set the timer and let the Kitchen Aid do it's thing. Five packages of cream cheese, 7 eggs, zest of two lemons, sour cream, sugar and vanilla. And then the baking. Well, it's summer and we have no AC so the cake was baking--- 2 hours total--- and I was baking. I still have to work on my farewell gift and make the raspberry topping. I will go out to get the raspberries in a while and then mix them with warm red currant jelly just before serving. Yummy! and it looks just like the cookbook picture. I may bake more often!

Garden News:
My tomato plants are now nearly six feet tall. And covered with tiny yellow tomato blossoms. Zucchini is coming along. The cucumber plants are climbing the trellis and are two feet tall. The red cabbage looks nice, the butternut squash are growing and I have volunteer potatoes and tomatoes growing in the compost heap. All the beans are up. My husband planted blue petunias and morning glory out by the mailbox and the morning glory is climbing the post and winding around the mailbox. Nice. Out back he planted double pink petunias in a big planter and they aren't nearly as nice as the single blue petunias. The back bed is full of dahlias and they are all coming up nicely. Red with lime green centers. My friend and I got a box of tubers from a gardener moving into assisted living. Got to keep them going for him. The blueberries are growing--but it'll be years before we get any berries. The raspberry bushes--well, they aren't doing very well and I may have to write or call the nursery they came from and get some advice or a refund.

My husband just got back from picking up houseplants from a neighbor. She is going away for a month and lending her house to a visiting family here to perform at the Bowdoin Music Festival. I volunteered to care for her plants. So I'll have "guests" on the sunporch. I think I'll go greet them.

Fiercely Independent

Rayna @ Studio 78 has a link to this Jackson Pollack site. Took me a while to figure out the blank screen. You have to just begin moving the mouse. I made a really nice floral one but in my exuberance I deleted it before snapping a picture. I intend to try this on a very large scale with paint and white fabric.

The second one. Just happens to be in this colorway. You have no control over the colors that come up when you click. And when you see the next picture you will see why this particular scribble has me so "gob-smaked".

My latest work. See all the squiggly lines? Now I wish they were darker and more blobby. This is old (50's) white blanket wool, batik commercial cotton and beige needlepoint canvas layered, stitched, buttoned, tied. Tactile. Zen. I don't know if it's done yet. I may want to splatter India ink over it. The piece is small, probably not even 18 inches square.

The title above came to me as I was thinking about my 84 year old father. Who would rather be dead than give up his independence. I understand. I am my father's daughter.

On a different subject, my husband has been without employment for a month now. He is driving me to work longer hours away from home. I may even look for another part time job. Every time I turn around, he is there. I feel like I'm trapped. And of course, when backed to the wall, I lash out. There are lots of hurt feelings on his part.

He has had two of a possible three interviews with Target for a cashier's job (?). They have interviewed him like crazy but no one has yet even mentioned "the job" he might be hired to do, the hours, the pay. Nothing. They are smart enough to know he is WAY, WAY over-qualified for the job --whatever it is- in fact he taught a "cashier's class" for his last employer when he worked for them. A recruiter has called about a training job in Illinois but the employer doesn't really want to relocate someone. He continues taking his internet "transition" program that the company is providing. This is where you train for jobs that don't exist. A friend of mine is giving him aptitude tests to see if he could work as an independent consultant. And basically he is drifting. Does he just want a "regular joe" job or does he want a corporate job. How hard does he want to work for the next 7 years. I have even mentioned selling this big house and moving to something much smaller. He isn't liking that.

Me? I just wanted to work less and make more art. Now I'm working more and never seeing the inside of my workroom. Life. It just happens sometimes.

My Blog My Opinion

See, that's how this works. I don't agree with everything on everyone else's blog. So you don't have to agree with stuff on my blog either. We could generate some interesting conversation though.

Now about FRAMES. The thing about framing art is that it is always very personality specific. The artist, the framer or the owner will pick the framing for a picture, watercolor, oil etc. The important factor here--the frame can be removed. Leaving the art as is.

Hand Quilting. The hand and eye of the quilter influences the stitching. Give identical quilts to five hand quilters with specific, detailed instructions and you will have five very different results. That's why several different quilters have quilted for a certain artist. Each has a specific way of working. A specific "look" or result. The quilter has added their personality and artistry to the piece.

Photography. When I was in school, the photography majors developed their own film. I know because I was often invited to the darkroom to "help". Professionals take hundreds of rolls of film at one time and do send these rolls to a lab to be processed. Photographers do however print their own pictures because it is the printing, enlarging, focus, value which expresses the artist's view. Even digitally.

Commercial Fabric. Hey, now. This is really going to be a topic for conversation in the next ten years. With more and more artists coming into the quilt world, there will be more emphasis on "make your own" fabric. And as a painter myself, I am always frustrated by not having the right color, texture or value in my stash for a specific purpose. I don't dye. What I have decided to do - and I have bolts of white waiting ---is paint what I need as I need it.

Eventually, I will have to choose -- to use the commercial polka dotted fabric I adore-- or to sell it and just move on to 100% "painted by me" fabric. The financial and emotional value of the stash in the closet weighs heavily. But in the past year, very little fabric has gone into the closet or come out into my work. I have even considered using my ultra favorites to make pillowcases. Geez!

The Nancy Crow book is going to my library as a donation to the collection. It will settle in quite nicely with the Gee's Bend Quilts and I hope get checked out as often.

I'm Just Saying....

In the past few days I have lowered the "oh for cripes sake" quota for my rant. Because, I realize the book is titled "NANCY CROW" for a reason.

There are a bazillion quilt pictures in this book. All of them look pretty much the same. Same colors, same techniques and same patterns. And each and every photo has the same little identity paragraph. "100% cotton fabrics hand-dyed by Nancy Crow. Fabrics cut into directly and machine pieced by Nancy Crow. Hand quilted by___varies_____ with pattern denoted by Nancy Crow." Sometimes the direct cutting into the fabric is done 'improvisationally".

I've checked with my Quilt National books and Visions and no other artist mentions their own name as often as Nancy does.

And, I don't know about any of you but everytime I cut into fabric---I do it directly. And as to the improvisational aspect--- I rarely have any idea how things are going to turn out. And then I have to improvise. Don't we all?

Dare I even approach the hand quilting by another person? Doesn't this make it a "group quilt"? The quilting pattern that Nancy denotes on a scrap of journal page----well, it really needs the hand of a true quilting genius. And the quilting really makes these quilts sing. And Nancy didn't quilt them.

Anyway, Nancy is "really sad" about the rest of us. We are not "raising the bar" and trying for our "best of the best" work like she is. And we are fusing with soluble glue.

I don't fuse with WU but I don't criticize anyone who does. I personally glue improvisationally with Crayola School Glue after cutting directly into my fabric. Nancy would really be SUPER SAD about ME! Just like I'm super sad I bought this book.

Pictures

I reworked the borders on Planetary Motion II. Taking off the ones that were too light or the wrong color. I've started the topstitiching and need to get this layered with batting and backing. I always hate that part. And I use fusible batting. So I have to find a large, clean spot on the carpeted floor, somewhere in this house and lay it all down and iron it. Finding the clean spot. Could take most of today.

I've gotten this far on the Marigold. Blue rick rack sewn down and blue polka dot fused. I think I will do a satin stitch in orange around some of the petals and I found a very close match to the blue and white polka dot fabric at Marden's last week--- so I'm thinking I might make this wider and longer so I can make the minimum number of inches to enter this in a Mancuso show. Because of the book sale I missed sending in the entry form for World Quilts. And the piece was short on inches to qualify.

I pieced the background and then fused the flowers on. This one is layered with backing and batting already. Small. Just needed to clear off the ironing board. It's cute. My "warm-up" exercise before working on the other two. I always have to warm up or I make horrid mistakes on the big ones. Happen to you???

In a day or two, or maybe later today I have a "rant" regarding the Nancy Crow book and some of Nancy's thoughts on quilting. I will not be complimentary.