Coming out...thanks for all the chins

Hi! My name is James, that's my Mom hiding behind the jacket-

I'm coming out of the blogging closet. Here is an unfortunate picture of me and cousin Nancy in Charlotte. I am on the right with all the chins. Good Lord-this is the second best shot I could find and I might as well bite the bullet. The other shot is me, hiding behind my black suede jacket in an attempt to convey my horror at being photographed. The best thing about this shot is that my son's face is in it. The guy in yellow is my BIL Bob. That's enough family stuff for a while. I must now go and recover from the many other photographs of me that make me look like a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Yesterday I had no cable connection for the better part of the day. I got a lot of other things accomplished-so it wasn't a bad day all around. It's 12 degrees outside so I think I'll hang around inside today and try to finish up a couple of projects I've begun. I got all the rows of James's quilt sewed together yesterday and now I just need borders. He'd probably like to use it in this deep freeze we have fallen into.

I leave you with a shot of the last of the larger Amish type quilts that I did a couple of years ago-excuse the lint. Digital cameras are great but they sure show up every tiny tidbit. I had a full on shot of this but blogger is finished with me today. It was a no go for three attempts. Hope you are all staying warm and happy...

Deb G. is an artist and a genius

I just had to go over to Deb Geyer's new site and see what is becoming of my donated quilt top. OMG-that girl can make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Thanks to Debra for alerting me to it. I hadn't caught up on blog reading yet. Anyway, if you get a moment go and look. I'm amazed at how beautiful it looks with feathers and wreaths. Thank you so much Deb. I just know that the young woman soldier who gets this will be thrilled with how pretty it is.

Lookee what I found ..y'all...ancient WIP

This is a cache of strips I did a long time ago. Again, it's one of those that came from the era before the quarter inch foot and so there are many points that do not match. I made it years ago when I first joined the Keepsake Quilting monthly mailing of fat quarters. Back then they didn't have choices like today. You just got a standard few choices. Now I joined the Moda Club. These strips of flying geese are the result of that old standard club- I just made hundreds of flying geese with that fast method that lets you start with a couple of larger squares and wind up with four units. At some point, I just folded up the strips and put them in the closet. Before we left for N.C.-I was in there looking around and I spotted them. I'm a little undecided about what I will do to finish so I think I'll just look at them for a while. It's funny how much your tastes change over the years. I never would put together these fabrics today. Back then I saw this as scrappy. Now it just looks kinda like a "mess o fabric"
I wanted to mention to Jane Ann and others who care-I am always delighted by how much I enjoy it down south. I live in an area where the trees block out the skyline and so when I'm in a place like Charlotte-I'm reminded of how great it is to see the horizon all around you. Charlotte is one of many cities down south that are so pretty it's a pleasure to be there for many reasons. There were beautiful pansies and flowers growing all around-in Jan. That's got to be worth the price of admission alone. I live in a very hilly area so I enjoy the flat expanse of land as well.
Big Daddy's is not the kind of place you want to go if you're into a quiet ,elegant meal. Normally I am. Big Daddy's is GREAT BIG LOUD FUN-with yummy food.You can't be unhappy there and it's a great place to take a large crowd of people. For instance-the following night we went to a "quiet meal" ,upscale type of place. The room was nearly silent,and sterile the food was overcooked banquet fare and it was not fun at all while costing three times as much.
Something strange happens to me when I'm down south though-I think it's a rescessive gene that comes from my Kentucky heritage.I was born in Germany but my Dad was a many-generations Kentuckian. In my life I have spent about 10 days in Kentucky. Once to visit my Dad in Maysville and Augusta before he died, and once to Paducah to see the quilt museum. Given the right moment though-I can easily fall into the "y'all" and "honey,lookachoo" dialect at a moments notice. I find myself thinking in that dialect for days upon returning home. There's also the amazing thing for New Yorkers-really, genuinely, nice, polite ,people...everywhere. I do love me a trip south...I can live without the white Keds and balls on the ankle socks though.....

I'm back-and with loot to boot.

>


I have returned from the wilds of North Carolina. Big Laugh...since the place we stayed in was very posh and had great maid service up the wazoo!!Perhaps posh is the wrong word-it was very new, sparkling,nicely furnished and decorated. It was a really nice apartment rather than a motel room. If you ever have the opportunity to stay in a Marriot Residence Inn-take it. It cost a bundle but it's worth every penny. We had a suite with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths, a livingroom & kitchen. That meant that James had his own bath and could come and go in his 22-year-old life without waking us & having to troop through the bedroom to our bath. It's a small thing for some but speaking for all us light sleepers-it really rocked.

I wanted to show you the cool things I got from two of my cyber friends before I left. The wonderful ATC, and card it came in, from Janet-who clearly has the post card thing down pat and is running with it.Thank you so much Janet. The fabric is from the wonderful & generous Rian-who was thoughtful enough to send me a group of beautiful Asian fabric she was not using. With everything going on in her life she took the time to mail this to me. I'm so fortunate to be among this great group of women. Thank You Rian, and I'm so happy that Jim is doing well.

The 90th birthday party for Aunt Mattie was very nice. There was yummy cake and punch at the church in the afternoon for over a hundred and dinner at a restaurant in the evening for just the 25 or so immediate family. Better than all of that was dinner at Big Daddy's the night before. Lets just say I finally had my fill of hushpuppies- for a while at least, I'm not going to think about the cholesterol intake today-I'll worry about that tomorrow, Sincerely, Scarlett. It pleased my son no end since he's a huge car and racing buff. Big Daddy's had race cars on the roof and when we got ther they had all sorts of racing paraphernalia in the parking lot and of course inside. Charlotte Motor Speedway is around the corner and so James was in heaven.
Aunt Mattie & Uncle Don were so happy that we all made it from all over the place. My BIL Richard, SIL Diane, and the Best& Prettiest Niece in the World, Michelle, came from Richland WA. This was no small feat(heh) for Michelle who broke her foot in a fall a couple of days before. The Cousins Susan, Dottie, and Nancy, came from Ormond & New Smyrna Beach Fla. We came from L.I. NY and there were Mattie's nieces from Tennessee and somewhere else I'm sorry to say I can't remember. Really nice. Don's son Carl and his wonderful new wife, Gayle, were there. Gayle is really fun. I could spend a bunch of time with her any day. I managed to find a really great Quilt shop in Mooresville called The Quilter's Loft. It's on main street,around the back and upstairs, in a historic building. I wish we had made a road trip and not flown- I had to curb my enthusiasm for everything in the store because I only had so much room. I did manage to scam the few things in the picture below. If you're in the area-don't miss it. It's a great place. It used to be a dentist office and all the rooms are decked out with different themes. Very Cool.
The weather was awful and cold but the family was warm and welcoming. We had a good time except for the return to the airport and turning in the rental car. There was some damage to the rear and we know we didn't do it but that's a problem for the insurance company to figure out. Our flight back was very fast and spacious. An hour and ten min. and the flight was far from full so we could stretch out.
I'll have more pics tomorrow along with a WIP for WED. It's good to be home but I can't seem to find the maid and the complimentary danish weren't on the table this morning????? What's up with that?????

What fun...& blueberries in the basement???

I wanted to thank all of you who have been kind enough to leave very nice comments to the 12x12 challenge piece. It means a lot to me that anyone would take the time to do that. I am really enjoying the posted pieces that yo have done as well. This is fun!
Now, since I have some packing to do-I wanted to provide something amusing for you all to get a chuckle out of- If there is anyone who is as sick of seeing Rachel Ray plastered all over everything in exsistence on every square inch of advertising space in the world you must go over to the side bar and click on Gallery of the Absurd- For those of you not familiar-this is a website of a very talented artist with a wicked sense of humor. This entry perfectly expresses my feeling on the perky little squirrel.
I must now go and pull it all together. It's amazing how a trip of 3 days can generate so much stuff to pack. Since Roger and James are working I will attempt to help them but first I have to help myself....ugh! Maybe I can call Rachel Ray-she's everywhere else, why not here?

Oh! I almost forgot-these are blueberry flowers that have bloomed in the basement and Roger used the macro setting on his camera to get this wonderful shot. I just love the pics he took and hope you like it too. He used to so a lot of photography and he's a pretty talented guy. Unfortunatley the blueberry bush is confused by the warm temps and since there are no little bees to polinate them-the flowers will come to nothing. We probably should have just left the bush outside but we thought it was going to be cold(hello-winter in NY???)so we put it inside to winter-over. Who knew???

Setsubun-New Shoes for the Festival

Hi Everyone, I'm posting my 12x12x12 piece now because it's as done as I can get it with all that's going on right now. I am definitely using this as a learning experience of what to do and what not to do...I am not sure what the next pieces will bring but I am sure that there are a couple of things I will not do. found that for a piece this size-I didn't like the fused effect. It's o.k. for smaller things like post cards and trading cards but I really must say I like a finished edge. I am having a little trouble with the concept of loosening up too. It's a small piece and I just fussed over stuff. It reminded me of when I was a young girl and test taking. I was a great student except when it came to taking tests. When I have more time and am more comfortable with this I think I will have more fun too.

Anyway, this is my interpretation of Setsubun -around Feb 2nd the Japanese celebrate Setsubun- It is a celebration of spring and renewal. I cut up and manipulated a photo-copy of a Hiroshige woodblock print. It is really much larger. I used it because I had this wonderful Bali fabric that I've used for the binding and it looked almost exactly like the water in the print. Inside the store, I used a couple of sweet, actual wooden zori that I found at the craft store. There was a little Kimono there too and so in it went. Cherry blossoms are very representative of this festival and so I included these -known as Sakura. I sewed lines into the flooring to make it look more like wood and had planned to use my Aquarelle pencils to make wood grain but I have just run out of time and hope to do that when I get back from our trip.

On my next piece, I plan to do something that more reflects actual handwork which is sorely missing on this piece. This is really about collage and, not that I don't plan to do that(it's fun) I wanted to put more of my own handwork into a layout rather than using photocopied art as a background. It feels like cheating. Of course, as soon as I was finished, I thought of a thousand things I could have done differently.

Anyway-I hope you all like it and I'll do better soon. I'm so impressed with the work that has been posted. You women are so talented and it makes me proud to be in such good company.I can't get over how lovely the things are that I've seen posted the past few days. Real artists are present here in the Quilt Studio.

Loot from the girlfriends&new reads

Last night was (Quilting)girls night out-what that means is that we went out to a local place, Skipper's on the harbor and exchanged our Christmas loot. It was made even more fun by the fact that we were trying to be inconspicuous in a booth but we had gifts that were rather large in some cases. Since it was a slow night in the village in winter-it worked out o.k.

I got a very funny book by Amy Sedaris-who some of you may know from "Strangers with Candy" on Comedy Central(I think-I can't remember the network) Anyway-It's amusing for several reasons, not the least of which is a look at personal hygiene and home remedies you never want to try. My favorite bit so far is the "Meat Cake" that you can put together for unexpected company. Here's a shot of that.

Along with this I got some lovely fabric from the Old Country Store in Amish Country, where my friend Pam went a while back-She was thinking ahead and good for her!

I got a couple of books I had been wanting as well-"Climbing the Mango Trees" by Madhur Jaffrey-a memoir about her childhood in India and how the cooks in her ancient family expressed themselves and the seasons in food.

I also got a book by John Sedgwick called, "In My Blood" This one is of interest to me because I have always had an interest in the Sedgwick family for several reasons. Somehow they have shown up in an interesting way for me throughout the years. When I worked in cosmetics years ago I met(really briefly and totally intoxicated) Edie Sedgwick-who was a protege of Andy Warhol(I think they're making a movie called Factory Girl, about her) and known as the "it girl" of the day. She died f an overdose which came as no surprise to anyone who met her during that time but there was something fabulous and fascinating about her. The family goes back to the signing of the Constitution and, of course, there is Kyra Sedgwick who is the star of "The Closer" one of the great programs on t.v. They have a burial plot that is shaped like a piece of pie. It is called, appropriately enough, the Sedgwick Pie and the stones go back to before the revolution. It is said that they made it in this shape so that when judgement day comes they will all sit up and face forward seeing the Patriarch of the clan. The other unfortunate thing about them is that there is a strong line of depression & mental illness that, while researching the book, John has traced way, way back. I love history so I can't put it down. It's really about the history of our country, Boston Brahmin's and Stockbridge and what happened to the Native American population of that town. Anyway-I loves me a good read!

I'm really enjoying the 12x12 pieces that have been posted so far and I have come to the conclusion that I may have to post late. I spent all day yesterday between the Dr's office being a pin cushion and shopping for the trip. I have a number of important things to take care of today that are not quilt related so I don't think I'll finish on time and therefore I'll wait till other have posted & move to the end of the line. It's not like me and I don't like being late.

Winter redux & Wip Wed on Tues

I just want to give a shout out to Susan at Desert Sky-I tried to log in and comment several times-even anonymously and it doesn't like me. But I like you so I wanted to say how much I enjoyed your new blog site and header. Very cool! When things calm down I'll try to re-decorate around here too.

I also want to mention to DebR(and anyone else that cares) that the goldfinch pic from yesterday is from a couple of summers ago. I just used to to illustrate the really warm temps we had. The goldfinches are my delight. We have a number of feeders, including one that had about 25 stations. Last winter the finches didn't fly away in the fall but stayed on and put on their winter coats of a more dull green. They looked like tiny, little parrots. We fed them all winter and the bill for thistle seed was somewhere up around the national debt. We worried that we were upsetting the balance of nature by continuing their feed thinking that maybe they didn't migrate because we were making life too easy for them. Only I would worry about such things-but they are such a delight and one feeder is right outside my kitchen window where I can watch them bickering and zooming around the yard in that cool wave-like, undulating flying pattern they have. Anyway, this year we decided that we should discontinue the feeders around the end of Sept. and so they went where ever it is they go down south. When they come back there are sometimes 30-40 of them. It's a sight to behold and yet another way for me to waste an hour.... mesmerizing.

I will be busy with other things tomorrow so I am posting Wip Wed today. These are little paper pieced kimono that I have been working on from time to time. I put them in the same place I keep the Asian fabric and yesterday they tumbled out with a piece of it. I used my Carol Doak program to print out the kimono in different sizes which I will eventually put together. The other shot is of a top that I did back when I didn't know that you should be careful with bias edges. I made a bunch of blocks of a string type and the cut them across on the diagonal and re-set them-light with dark etc. Anyway. It's in amazingly good shape and with some care I will border and bind it for myself because I still love the fabrics and the colors eventhough I did it long ago.

So, I'll leave you with another shot of the top and be on my merry way.

Summer in Winter & two-fer Meme

It was 70 degrees here this weekend. A few more of these days and this guy will be back with his pals. Very strange!

Two-Fer Meme (courtesy of DebR)
Two names you go by:1.. Dee 2.DeeDee -my best friend still calls me this eventhough it started out as a joke when she introduced me to a librarian where she works as DeeDee-she's an exotic dancer. It became the joke that stuck.(I have large boobage for my 5'2" frame)
Two parts of your heritage:1.German-Mother's side2.Scotch, English, Cherokee-father.
Two things that scare you:1.. Snakes .2 Religious fundamentalists of any persuasion
Two everyday essentials:1.Tea 2. books magazines-reading stuff
Two things you are wearing right now:1.Jammy bottoms 2.old comfy sweatshirt-flip flops-I just got up
Two of your favorite bands or musical artists (at the moment):1Dixie Chicks 2.The new 4-disc Vince Gill Album. There's not a bad song on it and I'm normally not a big country western fan. One song on it, I think it's called "the reason why" ,is the best ballad I've heard in years and makes me want to slow dance-very romantic.
Two things you want in a relationship (other than love):I'm going to go with DebR on this plus I'd need to add respect to the list. It's hard to pick only 2 1.. Security2.. Independence
Two truths:1.. I'm often more comfortable with men than women-experience has taught me that men are more direct and straightforward. women have often hurt me more with backstabbing than any man has ever hurt me. 2.I'm a devoted friend-I expect the same in return and it is rare. I only have one friend to whom I would trust anything important-the rest are acquaintances. I think it's that way with many people.
Two favorite hobbies:1.reading 2.quilting
Two things you need to do this week:1.. Finish the 12x12x4 piece and post it 2.shop for our trip
Two stores you shop at: 1. Borders Sentimental stitches-quilt shop
Two favorite sports- 1. I hate sports....really. I used to play tennis a thousand years ago. Problems with my back led to my sporting downfall. that and I hate sports.
Two shows you like to watch:1.Nip/Tuck 2. For years I've been a fan of the most ridiculous show and I'm admitting it here for the first public time-The Soup on the E-channel. It used to be Talk Soup with Greg Kinear years ago and was gone for a while but now it's back and always makes me laugh by taking clips from the worst crap on t.v. and adding humorous commentary and comments out of context. It's my guilty pleasure on weekends-after that I re-read War & Peace or Proust to make up for it.
Two things you’d buy if money were no object:1. A BMW for me. 2..A really nice 4-wheel drive truck for Roger. I have an Explorer4-wheel drive but he's not comfortable in it. It has a tight cab space. If money were no object we could afford the insurance on them too!
Two wishes for 2007:1. That my family remain well and without any major illnesses or injuries. 2. That it's a year without a bunch of funerals-last year there were too many.

Anyone who wants this just take it- I hate to tag people.

I'm still working on the challenge piece and hope to finish it today-I'm on the fence about it. It's O.K. I thought when I signed up for this quarterly thing that my first piece wouldn't be due till the end of March or so. I think I could have done better were there a bit more time. I sort of feel like I'm throwing it together just to get it done and I don't like that feeling. I realize it doesn't have to be a masterpiece but I have so much going on right now in my family life that I' not giving it my all. I wanted better for my first piece. Oh well...I'm never really happy with my work no matter what. Too critical. I need to work on that a lot this year. My motto will be "Better done than perfect"

Pile o' Possibilities or KISS

This pile of stuff is really just a glimpse of what I've been up to. The real problem for me is to pair things down or Kiss-Keep it simple, stupid. I have to keep reminding myself that it's only a 12 in. piece and I must think in the spare, Asian tradition of less means more.

In line with that notion, I got out a book of woodblock prints by Hiroshige. His 100 Views of Edo is very famous and when the plates are viewed individually what comes across most is the simplicity and deeper meaning of certain images. For any of you who are not familiar with these prints-Edo was the ancient name for the village where Tokyo stands today. As with all places depicted in ancient times-much is different. However, in Japan, the ancient is revered and kept sacred so there are many items within these views, such as bridges and temples and even prefectures that remain essentially the same. I decided that since I am using the shoe and bag theme in Japan, I would also incorporate the element of the seasons since they play a very important part in Asian culture. They provide a rhythm for celebration and honoring the families departed members as well as honoring the living. There are festivals for sending the souls on their way, and honoring ancestors by sweeping of the grave stones and placement of favorite foods for the departed spirits. There are children's festivals-boys day and girls day in late spring, I think. Some celebrate the full moon by having a festival for viewing it and the there are lantern festivals and a personal favorite of mine is the day in January when women have traditionally taken sewing needles and put them into large beeswax blocks in temples where they are blessed for the coming year. The sewing of Kimono in Japan is done by artists who are sometimes made official national treasures by the government. They are a dying breed as the money culture has taken young people away from traditional arts &crafts. Anyway, as you can imagine, there are so many things churning around in my head that I am tempted to use a line from Monty Python-"My brain hurts" So as hard as it is for me-I'll try to keep it simple because as it is in Asian culture...simple is what best illustrates something of dignified beauty. So for my first piece I plan to use "winter" as a theme as well and since I'm making four of these I'll go along with the seasons.

Create a Connection quiz, for DebR

DebR of Red Shoe Ramblings is a guest blogger on Create a Connection and asks us to do this quiz. Since I am a huge fan of Deb, here goes.........1. I have never wanted to- climb mountains. I've never understood why someone would need to put themselves in danger and subject their families to endless grief and loss, to get to the top of some rocks. Life is too short and precious.We need to see(really see) what is here on earth around us. and-gamble-I can't stand the thought of money down the toilet; but I've always thought I might like to _fly-before all the bad things happened in 2001,flying was the coolest thing ever.I loved every minute of it.
2. When I was _10_ years old, I believed _that God hated me.
3. If I was my own best friend, what I would enjoy the most about spending time with Me would be- I'm very adaptable, kind, and a great listener,sometimes too good; while what I'd find the most irritating would be -everthing I don't do that I should-I'm irritatingly easily distracted and that is the reason for the chaos that often accompanies me- and that I'm not much of a talker. I'm a student of human nature. I'd rather listen and people watch. I often think of social gatherings as theater.
4. If the story of my life up to this point was being published tomorrow, it would be titled "_Thanks for Giving Me Back My Life" and it would be dedicated to- My husband ,Roger & my son, James
5. When my time on Earth is over, and the people who loved me are remembering me, it would please me if they said- she was a great friend, a woman of faith, and boy was she smart.
Here's the Create a Connection site-scroll down a day or so since I'm late doing this.Sorry Deb. http://www.bealivebelievebeyou.com/create/

WIP Wed ... not & remembering Keiko

I wish I could show you all something more coherent and closer to looking finished but that would be a lie. I have several possibilities churning around and I just wish that it wasn't due on the 12th. Usually, Jan. is a month where I could unwind and do basically not a lot. This year, I have a number of pleasant and a couple of unpleasant things looming. It figures! That's just the way life goes. It goes into the same category of questions such as "why don't I make a Christmas quilt or decorations in July when nothing is going on?"It's just the universe laughing at us when we think things will be smooth sailing. Punishment for hubris? Whatever.

The little doll in the pic is a gift I received from a lovely Japanese girl who worked for the cosmetic company, Shiseido. Many centuries ago, when I was a young woman in the business, I had to arrange for the opening of their cosmetic line in a big department store here. The company sent 4 very young girls who spoke something resembling English to demonstrate their product. They really were so adorable. Keiko was the older of the bunch and probably 19 at the time. They all came dressed in Kimono and accessories, right down to their tabi socks and zori. I was enchanted. When I would drop them at their motel I had to allow extra time because they would bow and I would bow and they would bow and I would bow and...well...that would go on until I had backed out far enough to get in my car and leave. Very amusing and completely enchanting. As a parting thank you to me for the help-Keiko gave me this doll that she made. That was 36 years ago. This little doll normally resides with my Guan Yin and other Asian figurines.Whenever I see it I wonder what became of her. I think she was engaged to a guy from Canada. I was hoping for inspiration seeping through this well-made doll. My mind is cluttered with "have to do" & "should get done" and I'm just not thinking clearly.

The Mary Englebreit card is one I bought a while back and I'm showing it for Janet who also saves ephemera(crap) and makes me smile daily. Thanks Janet! Anyway, she was saying that she woke up thinking in a very positive manner about being creative from this day forward. I felt the same way the night of New Years Day. I thought, "tomorrow I will get up and begin a new and more creative life." I really couldn't wait to go to sleep so I could wake and get going. Life just gets in the way and I am unable to live with total chaos. Controlled chaos...that I can handle. I need to get out the dust cloths and super-sucker(electrolux) and a bit of lemon oil or I can't function. The grocery store is also a must since we are down to crackers and tuna. Lets not even talk about the laundry, O.K.? I need some clothes to wear to N.C. for Aunt Mattie's 90th. Unfortunately, I'm a "do one thing at a time and do it well" person so I'm not thriving in this climate of chaos. The point of this long and winding ramble is that I have nothing good to show for myself yet. I am fairly good in a crunch though so lets hope I can pull my tush out of the fire in the stretch. It could happen! Yeah! it could!!

wrap it up, baby!

I must say, I'm so ready to put it all away. Next year I should give serious thought to how many lights get wound up into the tree since I nearly fell over from going round and round . Had I fallen it wuld have been one of those commercials-"help I've fallen and I can't get up"- only I would have been enrobed in tiny lights as well. While the tree is going up it seems like a good idea to load that sucker up...not so much when you're untwirling all the cords and such. Anyway it's a done deal! What I like best about the un-doing of Christmas is that everything looks so spacious and well...I hesitate to say it...but...neat. you in the back....stop that laughing immediately!

Here is a pic of the little Amish mini I finished for a friend. I have made a number of these and friends hint that they would appreciate having one. My only issue is not with making them but the black fabric. Oh! how hard it is on the eyes. I made aone for the wall in my home and I hand quilted it with black thread. Black on black..OMG I was like one of those little Italian Nuns who go blind from making hand sewn delicates for the rich women. I think I need one of those hilarious head lamps that Dorothy has-I'm not sure even that would help.

We had a really fun time New Years Eve. There were about 16 of us at the restaurant and then we went back to Joe&Jeri's house. There were cream puffs-nuff said! My son had a couple of friends over and they made themselves those puff canapes and had a bottleof champagne and some sparkling cider for the drivers. When we got home they were playing adults only Pictionary. It was very funny. I got "kinky sex" right and they all roared. Beneath the roar was that look they give older people like they can't believe you could know such a thing-pffft to them ! Kids always think their parents began life as such. Roger and I just look at each other and chuckle. How the hell do they think they got here anyway!

Well, I think I will say farewell now-I have the 12x12x4 thingy looming in a very small wondow of time before we have to go to N.C. for Aunt Mattie's 90th. I've never done one of these before and I'm hitting a brick wall. After I get done with the clean-up, I'll just dive in with both feet and hope something looks appealing enough to show you all. Adios muchachas..you too Roger!!

All's well that ends well

Just a last post for the last day of the year. We are going out to dinner with friends at a very good local Italian place called Intermezzo. It's right around the corner and the food is outstanding. There will be about 15 of us. Should be fun. We go out early and the return to the same house where we had Christmas Eve, the famous Joe & Jeri's. It's like Ricks place in the movie Casablanca. To paraphrase-"Sooner or later everyone comes to Joe & Jeri's." We probably won't stay long since we have become old farts in the staying awake area. We are both so used to getting up at dawn that by 10 p.m. we are leaning sideways embarassingly. Even my son James and his girlfriend Dani are having a quiet night. He bought a bottle of champagne and some canapes to heat in the oven. We will probably come back early and crash their party. All of their friends are doing something else or have gone away for the holiday. I think they might be happy to see us.

Last night we saw Happy Feet- It was fun but I didn't like the way they did the ending. It seemed like they needed to put in something as filler and decided to use a rather serious subject to be solved by one little penguin. It just didn't feel right. I thought they should have kept it in the realm of a fantasy cartoon. Most of the movie was like a Busby Berkley musical and if you know who that is your as old as me. Then they switched to somber and dark. . Oh well, that's what makes a horse race. All kinds!

Here is a shot of a little chair my husband made for me and two little fishermen along with some of my chickens and a few of the books I have read recently and consider keepers. Big Calvin Trillin fan here I have all his books but "Dinner with Alice" is still one of my favs. His wife Alice passed away a few years ago. She was his somewhat reluctant travel companion and I wondered how he would fare without her. Now he gives great walking tours of obscure and undiscovered places to eat in Manhattan with fabulous food. There's a waiting list to get into a tour. I doubt many will get to go since Calvin is getting on and he only does it twice a year in the spring and fall. The novel "Distant Land of My Father" is one of my all-time favs. It's not new, a couple of years old but I rarely re-read too many things but this is one. Wonderful story.

Lastly-here is a shot of a couple of my husband's more precious toy trains. One is antique and the other is an exact replica of a New York Central train down to the sounds it can make. It's a Lionel and it was one of the first really expensive things Roger treated himself to when we were sort of financially better off.When was that?? Someday I'll take pics of all the trains, and there are many. Many. I enjoy seeing him delight in them the way he enjoys my delight in fabric and art so we work well together and isn't that just the best mix of all? Happy New Year to all of you wonderful people who have given me so much these past months and so generously. It means more than words can adequately express. Be well and warm and safe!

last meme of the year

Do you own a gun? No but there are days when I think one might be called for. Such a weird question.
What’s your favorite Christmas song?I have a few-It's comin' on Christmas(wish I had a river I could skate away on)Little St. Nick(beach boys) are two favs
What do you prefer to drink in the morning?-you haven't read my blog about the tea, have you? It's tea, tea, and then some tea. Strong, with milk and sweetner.
What do you think of hot dogs? I like them occasionally but I prefer some good German sausage like bratwurst.
Can you do push-ups? I suppose if someone put that gun I don't have to my head I could do one. I have disc problems in my back so it would not go well
What’s your favorite piece of jewelry?I have a few. I'm an earring and ring person. I own many beautiful pieces of both. For a while I went through a native american jewelry phase and I have a few rings and earrings of that style but mostly I like gold and sterling hoops.
What is your secret weapon to lure the opposite sex?HAHAAHA In my house-food.
Middle name?Louise
Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment:1-what's for lunch?
2. I should get to the store for leg of lamb for New years day. 3 don't forget the mint jelly.
Name 3 drinks you regularly drink:tea,iced tea, iced white tea with apple or pear flavoring. Does water count? Lots of water.
What time did you wake up today? 5:45 a.m.
Current hate?I don't usually hate anything or anyone but in this case I'll make an exception-the media and network t.v. studios for buying up all the good cable channels and putting re-runs of programs on a continuous loop and calling it programming. It's disgusting what they've done to A&E , Bravo and other stations and then to have to pay a cable compnay for that drivel. At first I was delighted by them putting on programs I couldn't stay up to watch but by the time I flipped to A&E for the same CSI-Miami re-run three times during the holiday weekend I nearly lost it for real. Here where I live there is no choice-it's all connected. DSL-t.v. etc. Also, Ted Turner bought up all the MGM old great movies and you can't get Turner classic movies without a package here. He sucks and so do the networks-don't get me started.
Favorite place to be?In my house on a snowy day when everyone is home and safe.
Least favorite place to be? Doctors office-any kind. Dentist. Grocery store
Where would you like to go?I could easily go to Hawaii again. I loved San Francisco and I loved Paducah but I was there when it was 99 degrees and I couldn't really enjoy it. So many places.
Do you own slippers? Not really. I kind of live in flip flops all year round in the house.
What shirt are you wearing?apricot linen shirt
Do you burn or tan? I would burn if I went out in the sun. I'm not a sun person and I guess it has been a good idea since my skin is fairly wrinkle free even at 58.
Favorite color(s)?Another thing I'm a real Gemini about. I love colors and yet I wear almost all beige, white,black and occasional pale tints. I adore red and in my closet of shame there are a huge number of earthy tones.
What is your favorite holiday? It's not that I don't like holidays but I think too much gets made about them and it diminishes the importance and makes people crazy with things they think they can't live without doing. I'm really always happiest when they are over and I can clean up the mess and clutter(I know, I know, but holiday clutter gets old quickly)
What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child?Not a lot since I knew early on that I lived with the real monsters. Definitely snakes would be up there too.
What’s in your pockets right now?grocery list
Last thing that made you laugh?I am easily amused and childlike. Ellen had a re-run of the artwork people did depicting her-it was funny
Best bed sheets as a child? Wow, I'm with Janet on this one. I come from a far off universe where there were only white sheets.
Would you be a pirate?Probably not, I'm really a nice person. I don't think I could pillage. I do contemplate giving the odd person a good smack now and then.
Worst injury you’ve ever had?When my son was an infant I stepped out of our car onto a patch of ice and in order to keep from dropping him I fell on my tailbone. It was the begining of the end of my back.
Are your parents still together? No-Father dead- evil step father dead-mother-still living
Do you wish on shooting stars-always. what could it hurt?
What is your favorite book(s)? Oh My! Have you seen my bookshelves? If I had only five to choose-East of Eden, the encyclopedia(I know I'm weird, but I like reading them)The Gold Coast because it takes place not far from me and I love a good cautionary tale in the style of "the bigger they are the harder they fall." A couple of obscure books on the history of China and Japan which would be of no interest to anyone but me.
What is your favorite candy?You would probably think it would be chocolate but I like me a good tootsie roll pop.the chocolate ones or cherry. and I am a total sucker for the hershey kisses with cherry cordial centers. Oh how I rue the day they made those little buggers.
What song did you have played at your wedding?Both times were simple here comes the bride on the organ.Very small dinner afterwards.Second time was the charm.
How is the weather outside right now? Really warm for this time in NY
What was your first thought this morning when you woke up? It was dark and I sensed my husband was not there but I didn't want to reach over in case he was and I would wake him. So(poor me) I stayed in bed till it got a little moe light and I could see. He was already up but being very quiet downstairs.

For Debra

Hi Debra- I am happy to donate the quilt but I just feel bad that some lovely woman is going to have to quilt the BEAST. I have heard that it's a bitch to quilt something wonky and this definitly fits that pic. The size is 68x58 because I was having menopausal mania and decided at some point to make it a lap quilt for myself rather than a wall hanging for a large livingroom wall. Trouble is, I ran out of long border pieces and only had enough to do the top and bottom before I freaked out and put it away. I can easily remove the top and bottom very quickly. I do not have backing or batting, so your offer sounds great. I would be happy to send you what ever the backing costs as well as the batting which I am also out of and I will certainly bind it when done. Just one very important note-We will be gone from the 17th to the 21st of Jan so don't send me anything to arrive around that time. There is no one here to pick up packages delivered. Our mail comes to a box at the bottom of the hill and I don't want anyone to get hurt trying to get up here if the weather gets bad and the drive is not cleared. Any time before or after those dates will work great.

On a semi-related topic-in Jan. I hope to get into the closet and sort out some of the largesse that is just taking up space. Is that the sort of thing that one could post in Traders Village? If so, books, patterns, and some older fabric await some talented person who would like them.

Let me know about the quilt top-TTYL

the WIP that was-or-why the 1/4 inch matters

I like to call this my menopausal quilt. I don't really know what the hell I'm going to do with it except perhaps use it one day to illustrate to a class what happens when you don't have a quarter inch foot and you are in a manic phase. I really loved all these fabrics and made may more nine patches than appear here. There in a box in THE CLOSET OF SHAME. When I put this together, I can't imagine what I was thinking. I only know I wasn't measuring. Probably, I thought (in some parallel universe) once I got it together it would all come out right. NOT, and so it takes up a special place of honor(or horror) on the top of my list of UFOs. So much promise-so little matching of seams. One day I will take it apart and figure something out....but not today! I just want you to notice that I am, if nothing else, consistantly wrong about every measurment in every block. Thank you, thank you very much.

WOW-if you click on it it's even bigger more awful...It made me yelp! Good thing we're friends or you'd drum me out of the group!Did I mention I made this ten years ago?

six weird things

I'm a little tired today-post holiday clean-up and such. Getting ready for the 12x12x4 challenge prompted me to cleanup my so-called studio area, which is just a long wall in my bedroom that is the repositary for all the crap in my art life. I needed a big shovel and trash bag to get to the surface and that's what I did yesterday. So today I'm meme-ing and chillin'. The guys are off to work and the house is fairly quiet. Here are my six things-which will prompt a my husband to say, "only six?"

1.
I have a touch of agoraphobia-and I must force myself to go out everyday even if it means just opening the door and walking outside. Skipping a day and staying inside makes it worse the next day.
2.
Shoe fetish here-what makes it really weird is that for years I wore very beautiful and expensive high heels and now I have problems with my feet and legs so that all I can wear is flats. I must have 50 pairs of shoes and I only wear 5.

3.
I am a tea drinker and then some. I drink many mugs of tea in a day. I grew up in a house with a British step-father so I learned to love a good cuppa. I'm so fussy about my tea that I actually carry some with me in my purse so I have my own brand and not that pissy stuff that passes for tea here in the U.S. I drink PG Tips from England and my husband buys it for in in commercial service sized boxes of 500 from the manufacturer-importer several boxes at a time. Can you say OCD. I actually feel annoyed when I can't have my tea fast enough in the morning. I married the best man alive.

4.
I am supersticious about a couple of things to the extreme. Coming from a very horrifying childhood made me afraid to express too much joy out loud. I am still afraid to voice too much happiness for fear that the proverbial foot will come out of the sky and stomp on my happiness. Being a student of Asian history made me aware of certain asian principles that have translated to my own life such as not boasting or being openly too proud. In ancient times Chinese women would not praise a new-born child for fear that the gods would be envious and take the child.To some extent, this is how I feel about things that are important to me. I will never say out loud that life is good. The last time I said it out loud was Sept 10th 2001.

5. I still like herring salad

6.
Being a Gemini, I have many interests and some are polar opposites. For instance, I like classical music(Water Music by Handel, Hyden Trumpet Concerto and most things played by YoYo Ma) and even opera(Italian) but I'm happy to hear a lot of country like Montgomery Gentry's "Christmas with the family"(the funniest seasonal song ever made) and I love my Charlie Byrd retrospective and some Dixie Chicks as well. I draw the line at most rap but I have heard some I almost like though not in large doses and I have to be in the mood.

Well, if you're still with me... your really a good friend....I'll try to do better tomorrow or even later.

because this can't wait for tomorrow

http://manolomen.com/2006/12/20/dont-like-women-youll-love-our-sweaters/ Enjoy!

Big fun with the family

Merry Christmas to you all. We had the best time. A mix of fun, really good food and friends and of course loot to boot. These are some of things I got from Santa. The JoAnns cards are from my very generous and funny BIL Bob. He couldn't find any large denomination cards so he just grabbed a handful. I got Borders cards from Roger and books I wanted. There is a biography of Chas Addams, of Addams Family fame, missing from the pic since I already took that up to bed last night-very interesting. He had a very unusual life. I love me a good biography. I also got the Quilt National Book for this year which has some very unusual quilts in it by award winners. I had written these titles down wanting to go and ask my friend at the Library to get them for me from interloans. I guess Roger saw the list and smart fella that I married-he got them for me! How cool is that ? Especially since that list was laying around forever on some corner of the desk and if you could see the chaos on the desk you would be amazed too! The other gift missing from the pic is from my son. It's two DVD sets. One of Animaniacs and the other is Pinky & The Brain. I can't wait to open them and watch. When James was a little boy we watched them together and I would plotz at the dialog and music. They occasionally show them on the carton network and we still get giggles. We used to sing all the songs together(well O.K.....maybe I sang them alone) and burst out laughing. We still watch cartoons. (I know-sad...overgrown child here)

On Christmas Eve we went to our friends, Joe & Jeri's house for a buffet dinner. Our son James came along after he was finished with work. We're still groaning from too much food and a bit of drink. The table was full for hours and then... came dessert. Oink! Life is good but somewhat larger.

The weather here is very warm and that would be alright if it weren't for the fact that we are all melting in our winter clothes. Also, we know what's coming and it makes it that much harder to go from very warm to verrrrry cold!

I hope you all had a great celebration. Tomorrow I'll get more pics together of Christmas.