WIP wed on Fri

I thought I would post a pic of the blocks that I made the other day when I had no internet connection. Oh! the things you can acomplish when forced to focus. Anyway, these are just lying on the floor in no particular order. It was a good idea to do that today since I saw the need for an extra row and I'm short two blocks which will take no time at all. I ahppen to be a collector of Asian fabrics but my son is a big fan as well. He picked out all of these fabrics himself with the exception of a couple that I needed to make a clear definition between the light and dark. Since he will, no doubt, drag this around and I will probably find it in a ball on the floor-I decided to take my husbands advice and keep it simple stupid(well he didn't say that but I infer)so that I won't go crazy when it gets abused.

I am now at the point of the Christmas cycle when I fear that I have forgotten some impotant thing for someone. Don't know what that is but these things often appear as a blinding flash in the middle of the night. Sitting bolt upright in bed from a dead sleep-that's when my memory apparently engages relly well. Whatever! Why not make a list you may ask? Well it's a part of my DNA-buried deep in the genetic make-up that I'm just not complete unless I'm worrying about some obscure thing.

Yesterday I was on the treadmill watching Elizabeth with Cate Blanchette(great day on AMC-mostly period pieces. I even saw the old Bette Davis Elizabeth )and I suddenly had the most awful problem with my restless leg syndrome. Numby(word?)toes and crampy toes on the left foot. Couldn't find a comfortable position all afternoon and it didn't help me get to sleep any easier. They have meds for this but the meds are a sedative and I think that's the last thing I really need. If anything, I need a good shot of adrenaline to get off my ass and keep moving. So I ,more or less, try to ignore the spasms and pains. Yesterday it was nearly impossible. Hope it's not a thing that happens often.

Well, I'm off to make another couple of blocks, wrap some stuff, figure out dinner plans etc. Hope you have a great day. Do something fun!

a day without a modem, or, how I got a lot done for a change

I totally missed WIP wed. We had a modem that was ancient and needed replacing and so my helpful son, James, took it to the cable co. store yesterday and go a new one. Whatever was wrong is now fixed and, for me at least, the internet is now not closed. Funny thing though, a whole day without connection equals a day that Dee got a lot done for a change. I worked on James' quilt top and nearly got it done. I'm having some issues with blogger(as are many) so I'll post pics at another time. For today, I'm trying to get over a weird sinus thingy(tech term). I don't have a sinus infection or a cold but when I bend forward I almost loose the ability to reamin standing. Really woozy and a little nauseating. I don't do well on most meds- a touchy stomach- but I had to resort to some Sudafed to try and get active enough to stand upright without feeling like I was on the water in a boat, something which normally makes me feel good but not so much right now.

The quilt above is only a pre-printed piece I bought years ago and outline stitched and quickly bound. It's bright and cheerful though so I still hang the thing. Someday I'll get around to making a really pretty Christmas quilt like the ones I've seen on Rian's and Jenny's blogs as well as a number of other blogs. Again, that would be a great thing to do in the new year or even in July. Where did I put that list?

Well here on Long Island it's spring in December. Right now the temps are around 50-60. This must be what it's like to have Christmas in places like California. It's really weird for NY in December. Not complaining, mind you, I just don't know what to wear. It's t-shirt weather all day and then it gets down to 37-40ish at night. You go to sleep wanting the window open a little and in the early morning it's fricken freezing! It's finally happened-I am OLD. I have blogged about my health and the weather.....UGH..sorry. I'll do better tomorrow when, hopefully, the stars are in alignment and blogger is working(heh), and I feel more like Dorothy , who is often a very funny lady.

A more festive approach

these guys came by and ate all the herring salad-thus the look of pale, glass-eyed fishiness.

Really they are a couple of the Santa figures(duh) that I have collected in these past years. One of my most early memories as a child(that ws not horrifying)is that of a very large, real live Herr Christmas who came to my Oma's house when I must have been a toddler in Germany. It is, in fact, one of only two memories I have of that time. He was, of course,huge and had a sack in which he had lumps of coal and twigs for some and gifts of candy for others. I seem to recall that it was chocolate but I think I know this because I was told it, and not from memory. I remember a tree with real candles burning and of course the ubiquitous german spice cookies along with something that you can't get anymore. Little champagne bottles made of chocolate and filled with liquor. You can get some kinds now but not like the ones I remember being imported back then. They were made from a type of chocolate that had a very crispy crunchy texture and with the liquor-they were a festival for the mouth. I think I remember someone telling me that I absconded with a package and slept well that night(tales of things to come)hic!

Anyway I thought that the Santas would make a more festive picture than the hideously pepto-pink herring salad.

I'm waybehind in everything and since I've vowed not to panic anymore(heh)I better get going to the post office, grocery(there's only herring salad left)and bookstore. have fun!

the things we do for love or, eeew... herring salad

I haven't posted for a few days-Christmas got in the way and today my son took the camera to school for his photography class so tomorrow will be a post about the house and decorating. This weekend, my husband, the best husband ever(Hi Honey!) made an annual tradition at our house. I was born in Germany and without going into too much detail-my Grandmother or Oma, was a major influence in my life. Many of her influences were hard to live with while some have become a gift that it took me a while to unwrap. One of the influences is cooking. I grew up with really good German food and much to my dismay, there are many things that I can never duplicate because I never took the time to learn these recipes when it counted. From time to time I see on talented Kristens delightful blog from Germany the occasional recipe or item that she blogs about that makes me have a sharp intake of breath and a real longing for those moments so very long ago. It's a shame that due to circumstances beyond my control, much of what I learned from Oma has been lost to my memory or should I say lack of memory. Stuff like farina dumplings that were (I think )called griesklosse(sp)and a number of spectacular baked things. Anyway, of all things to remember, I remember the foods at Christmas and the wonderful stollen and liebkucken that we always had. I also remember a traditional food that will most certainly die with me. Herring Salad. It's festive....very festive.....and pink from the beets and mayo(I know, I know an aquired taste) Anyway..it requires a lot of chopping. Chopped herring, green apples, pickled beets, onions. Every year my husband makes it for me..mememe all me(cause no one else wants it). It's one of those things that people do for each other out of love and probably a lot like the lutefisk thing in Scandinavian households to which I would add my gag. Except this really is good...and pink. Oh, alright I'm shuttin' up now. Until tomorrow.

panic in the streets!!(O.K. just my street)

Christmas Panic has set in-AGH!!!
I finally managed to get this post done-Blogger was being a pain this morning. Here is the WIP I should have posted yesterday when I just had no more time to play with posting. It's a Laurel Burch pre-print (click to make larger-but it really gets big & I don't know why)and that's about all I have to offer today. I just machine outlined the squares and finished fast. Many Christmas things taking precidence. I'm trying to keep the Christmas spirit going but it always seems to wind up being so hectic feeling that the enjoyment goes out of December and what should be a fun time for the holiday. Of course, if I would make a plan and make things in August-when there is all the time in the world-all of this panic would not be happening. I think a lot of it is artificially induced by merchandising and media but my internal panic button is pushed nevertheless. Speaking of buttons-Below is a button that will take you to a candle which you can light for free. It's a drug company but however they get the money to fight this deadly pervasive disease is O.K. with me.
Off to the stores and grocery etc. maybe I can have some of that gelato fall into my basket again....maybe lemon this timemmmm.
https://www.lighttounite.org/index.aspx?email_link=lighttounite

Late Afternoon Addendum-Note to the hubster.. reading this while I'm out shopping...good news-I didn't get the lemon gelato. Bad news-there's still some pistachio

Tales of my morning-sushi & flowers & trees, Oh my!!

I had the most productive morning. Clearly all the planets were in alignment and the holiday spirits are happy. I cleaned, shopped, got the tree, got some special cards, stopped for sushi(Hi Garrison!) and some other asian fast-food for my husbands lunch and I am now going to sit and finish writing some letters for the Food Pantry donations. Excellent day. Isn't it great when you set out with a list and actually come back (having forgotten the list) and have everything!!Eureka-hot damn.I did buy one thing that was completely unexpected...pistachio gelato. Gad !I fought with that container until it overwhelmed me and clacked along behind me out to the car jumped up and sat on the windshield blocking my vision until I finally had to relent and give it a ride home with me.

The sushi was delicious and I toasted fruit jar nicky for having a son with great taste and Oh! by the way-she's got talent to die for. Have you seen her woven quilt pieces-go now and look.. I'm going to entertain myself with the pistachio gelato while you do that. I'll be here-I'm the one with the spoon, the gelato, and no self-control.

Havin' lunch with these guys

I had a devil of a time trying to get anything to work on Beta Blogger this morning and I hope this will even load-I dragged out some of the Christmas stuff and I'm always happy to see these guys. It's a pre-printed Debbie Mumm panel but it's cheerful and people like the look of it so up it goes-

Winter has come to Long Island-it's crystal clear and you can see all the way across the sound to Bridgeport. The wind is a bit fierce and a little mean so I didn't spend much time outdoors. Tomorrow I will run to the nursery for a tree. We always get Frasier Firs because they have thicker branches that hold heavy ornaments and we have many of those. Plus we are convinced that they last longer and smell wonderful. They drink a lot of water and stay pretty right to the end-then all in one day they drop everything. Since we have done this for many years now we seem to be able to time it perfectly or near perfect anyway. Just about Jan 1 that sucker is dead, dead, dead. Perfect!

This weekend we rented The DaVinci Code- all I have to say is what was all the fuss and hype about? It's not even a really good movie...Meh! Funny, because it contains all the things that would ordinarily make for good watching-fabulous art, religious icons, historical exposition,Tom Hanks, great scenery, but I was nearly asleep in the first 15 min. How could they make a movie about and with all these great things and loose me? It was so dark I had trouble seeing what was happening. I understand the need to transmit the concept of darkness but I hate when I can't see what 's happening-would a little light have killed them? Anyway, like I said-Meh!

I'll go and work on some secret projects now and hopefully tomorrow will go better on blogger. I may spend some time praying that Debra is still talking to me since I threw a wrench into her motor this morning regarding my lack of talent with certain piecing principles. Hi Debra!!Love you!!!!Does anyone else watch The Amazing Race? Thank the Lord those two bimbettes are finally gone-off you go with your tiaras....gag

Hi everybody! A couple of people have asked me to show some of the Amish-type quilts I've made and today I came across this one. It needs a little press but I just don't have time. The season is really upon us. I have much to accomplish for the Food Pantry administration-letters to write etc. so I'll keep it short. Also there's a doozy of a storm outside. Two weather patterns colliding over us. It was bound to turn to winter sooner rather than later and based on this wild wind, I'd say it's coming sooner! I have a chicken in the oven with some sweet potatoes on which I have put olive oil and a little cinnamon. It's begining to smell a lot like Christmas(good title for a song)around here and I am just praying that the power doesn't go out before the bird is ready. This weekend I plan to clean a little, put up some more decorations and I will most likely get the tree on Mon or Tues. Roger bought me a new tree stand-it's one of those things that rights the tree with a foot pedal. Cool. In the center it looks like the jaws of life and they come up out of the stand and clamp on it automatically. Cost a bundle-but men and their toys etc...We are all chiropractors dreams around here so anything that eliminates the need to be on the ground fiddling with Frazier Fir is a good thing.

Well, I have much to do-I signed on for Debra's 2007 charity quilts effort begining in Jan. Hope there will be other folks with some time too. It's a little frightening to sign up for anything right now since I'm really swamped but I am blessed in my life with a wonderful family and there are so many who have been delt a terrible blow by this war in Iraq. No matter how you feel about the war itself, And everyone knows how I feel about that (trying to remain calm) but I feel even worse about how the lives of these young people who return with injuries and are seemingly left alone with their wounds both physical and emotional. They deserve our comfort in any way we can give it. Debra also has a call for a group of quilts that will be made for Ronald McDonald House so that's another way to help. O.K.-stepping down from the soapbox and returning to the sewing machine. Have a great weekend everyone.

Channeling(and then strangling) the Martha gene

I was reading a great blog entry by a talented fellow blogger the other day. It was by Marty from textiles in time. It's only from the other day and about being a creative woman who also has a house to keep and family to care for. Go ahead and read it...I'll wait, lalalalalalalallalalalalllfalalalala back? O.k. that's a smart lady with a great attitude and I want some for Christmas. However, I can't seem to let go of the urge to so the Martha-thing. Now mind you, it's not because I have a demanding husband and child. In fact, they're very much like the experience that she describes in her writing-if I only asked, they would do so many of the things I hate to do without complaint. They love to see me happy and being creative. So I'm putting on my shrink cap and examining my own head. Why do I fight asking? Why do I wait until things are at a dramatic point and I'm totally not enjoying the time of year or being creative? I think it must be some genetic thing. Martha is eastern European descent and I was born in Germany. It must be something bred into the genes. I say this because I know several people who are the same way. They can't, or won't delegate. Somewhere in my messy past someone told me that I wasn't a good woman if I didn't have a sparkling home and further-that I should be ashamed for not making it so. For heavens sake-I'm very close to 60-when does one develope the ability to let go of the Martha gene? It really takes a lot of the fun out of many things including holidays. I don't usually make New Years resolutions because I get depressed when I don't keep them but I'm making an exception this year-This year, I will find a way to strangle the inner Martha.

Having said all of that and asked myself all of these questions I must now say that I'm late posting today because I painted my front door a beautiful intense barn red. I am so happy with the color I could plotz. The bad part is that it's oil based paint and will not dry till March and I have people in and out of this door all the time. Gad, My son got annoyed with me for putting Wet Paint signs up all over but I think he'll be a lunatic when he ruins his good clothes. Why didn't I do this in July? The sun hits that door all day-it would have dried in a day.

Also, I went up in the attic(shudderrr) and got some of the literally thousands of decorations down. I have a number of Christmas quilts. All wall-hanging size and masses of things like you see above. Every year I say I'm going to weed out the stuff-and then the day after New Years I am so sick of everything and in no mood to look at it-sooo I shove it in boxes and say something like "I'll sort out this crap later" HA! Another year passes...... There is some really awful weather predicted for the next day or so and in anticipation of this I went to Blockbuster and rented the only two things that interested me. A study in contrasts here- The DaVinci Code, and The Libertine with Johnny Depp. I ma curious about the DaVinci thing and Mr. Depp can just stand there and look rakish anytime for me. He doesn't have to do a thing except cast that devilish eye around. sigh..... Funny that I should find him attractive because most of the time he really looks like he could use a good washing and I'm very fussy about personal hygiene. Must be the BAD BOY thing. Also not normal for me. Maybe I can get rid of it the same time I get rid of the Martha Gene. See ya later.

It fell into my basket WIP-really

Every year by the time I get the tree up I'm hitting myself over the head that I didn't make a new tree skirt. By then, of course, it's nearly over and I have grand plans for the coming year where I will make a Martha Stewart Christmas by the following year begining with a fabulous elaborate tree skirt. Well, that never happens so yesterday while I was perusing in JoAnn's for assorted items, I saw this really fast pre-printed sew-it-up-in-an-hour tree skirt. It's a lot more cutesy than I normally would pick but at this point in the game I had to take what was available and it's bright and cheery. I got two Hobbs batts and was able to use my coupon on the big one so that was a great buy. I also bought some Robson-Anton thread for which I had to trade my first-born son, but I do like this thread. Again, I only use it for top stitching since I only have one son. Then, since it's in the same shopping mall area as Wally World(walmart) I went there to see if they had the iron I was looking for. I won't go into the great iron extravaganza of last year-sufice to say that even though I was born in Germany I will not ever buy another Rowenta. Anyway, the best iron I had for years was a cheapish Black&Decker. That thing went on forever(until I dropped it) and then began to leak. Last week I saw on JoAnn's on-line that B&D had come out with a new model that is supposed to rival the Rowenta in terms of weight and heat etc. I like a good heavy iron that gets really hot. JoAnn's store person told me they only have it on-line so I shuffled over to Walmart and found it-on sale. I'll let you know how it turns out-today I need to press some window toppers that are drapery weight material and if the iron isn't a good one it can take forever to press them.
On an artistic note, I am begining work on a wedding announcement for my friends daughter who married a few weeks ago. I make these things look like antique sampler-type framed pieces with the names and dates and such. I'll show it when I finish. This one will be water color pencils and pen and ink. I should probably clean my house-dust bunnies are taking over. Before I go I want to thank all the nice people who stopped by to comment on things I've shown-Since I started this-I feel so energized and encouraged. That's a wonderful feeling and I suppose what makes this blogging thing so special. My family are all great people but they have almost zero interst in what I do artistically so it means a lot to have people I consider really talented, say nice things and offer encouragement. Great motivation.

Wheeee..lookee what I got

I just wanted to let you all know that I got instant fun-in-an-envelope in the mail. I got my copy of darling Deborah's delightful book(say that fast 4 times) It's really fun. Plus I have this great piece of hand dyed loveliness to get to work with. This would be a great thing to have if you are one of those folks who need to entertain young people in extra-curricular activities. It's not hard stuff to do and one could jazz it up as much as desired or just keep it simple. Anyway-get your copy today by going to Deborah's blog and ordering immediately for a fun time for all. Even if you don't want to buy one you should go and see what fabulousness there is. Deborah is one amazingly talented woman.I'm going to check out my copy right now...

the camera-I wish it would lie-and shopping day

Today I am off to do some shopping and so I will leave you in the capable, (if bacon grease spotted) hands of my kitchen pals. Digital cameras are ugly truthtellers. I 've been thinking lately as I take pics that I should go around and take random shots just to see what I can't normally see- and for crap sake clean it.
So, I'm off to see if any of the Black Friday people left anything for me to buy. I plan to go to JoAnn's(no.. not for me-settle down now)I need to get some gifts for the Thursday night quilting Ladies. I feel I must come up with something special for them since they are not obsessive compulsive fabric hoarders and actually require and occasional purchase to increase their stashes. One of them is very traditional and makes lovely, well constructed, traditional patterns. The other does the same but really takes off when I give her something very different in the way of a fabric she normally wouldn't have picked out. Beneath the surface lies an artist screaming to get out. Then I have to come up with something for the "Guys" around here and of course, for Dani-who will probably get a gift certificate to the Salon that we both go to. I did that last time but I think she really appreciated it. Other than that I have only to get something for my niece. I'm making a quilt for her but I am not gooing to drive myself crazy trying to finish it by Christmas since I have a number of other things in the works. Say...what happened to my "I'm going to make things in August so I don't go crazy in Dec.?" Oh well-best intentions. One of the quilt ladies likes those Jim Shore quilt angel figurines so I ordered her one of those too.
I just wanted to say how happy I was to get my copy of Deborah's great little book on making small art pieces & post cards. It's so cute and full of fun ideas and only $12. Great gift for someone who has never done this type of thing before- here's a link to her at Deborah's Journal. Tell her I sent you.... Hey! I better get going before the day gets away from me. I'll let you know how I make out later.

Addendum to the trip some 4 hours later.....Shopping sucks but I did remember the most important purchase of the day-Bagels, fresh from the little old bagel maker..

Further evidence for my new Sistah down South-or..my camera battery died

This picture is for Jodie-The Carolina Quilter-(there's a link in my list) who we have now discovered is a long-lost southern relative. Funny thing is-I never got around to commenting on her blog that we must be related since we have read all of the same books-separated at birth...hmmmm. I think probably not since she's such a young thang whereas I....am....not so much. however, Roger lives by the old saying that you're as young as you act-in which case I am 12. So-the picture is one of several I took the other day to show my ugly stash keeping. On that day I decided I would show the lesser of two hideous pics. Today I attempted to take a nice pic and found the camera had no battery power and all of my men were missing so no one could help me with that. So here is the awful truth. What you can't see above all this fabric is Lionel trains and accessories all the way to the ceiling. I may have mentioned that we never argue about our purchases since we are the 2 oldest children in the house. Roger has some really beautiful antique pieces and many, many, wonderful Lionel train layout pieces. We're waiting for the only real kid in the house to get married and give up his room(dreaming here) so that Roger can set up a layout with mountains and train stations, scale model cars and stores and such. That's not likely in the near future and McDonald men tend to move away, marry, and then come back home with the wife and kid in tow. Hell...that's how we got this giant house to begin with. Anyway-someday, when the train stuff moves I will have lots of room for more fabric(cause I really need some-heh)
I really enjoyed the blogs about Thanksgiving- we had a great day. I started my son's quilt and decided that since everything of his is always in a ball on the floor in his room-I wasn't going to go crazy with any fancy patterns. I just started a large block courthouse steps with very big centers and large pieces. It will go together fast and I won't cry when I see it laying around. Other than that I have had to go and buy some food since everyone was home for 4 days and it looked like a plague of locust came through-I got some delicious jumbo shrimp to make scampi tonight-simple and delish with a salad and a little rice to sop up the wine sauce. I hope you all have a nice dinner too-see you tomorrow with new pics(I hope)

I screwed up something when I posted the first pic-not gonna change it now-later ladies.....

In the closet-in a frenzy

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This is what happens when you don't know what you want and you can't find what you are looking for...FABRIC FRENZY. I am hanging my head in shame. Let me also say that I'm a gemini-full on snakes in the head gemini....When an idea strikes-back away slowly-run- and don't look back. I think I'm in a sort of manic phase-that's good in some ways and REALLY bad in other ways like this closet situation right here. The smart thing to do would be to take it all out and re-organize it by color the way it should be. MMMMMnnnnooooo. When the frenzy strikes-the crazy get going.
I'm not one of those folks who need to go out and join the maddness at black Friday weekend sales-there is almost nothing I can think of that I need badly enough to enter the twilight zone of consumerism this weekend. I'm fortunate enough not to have to go to a regular daily job so I'll wait until maybe tues. or wed. and head to JoAnn's. I need wonder under and backing for the boy's quilt and for my nieces too. I need thread-May order that one on line since I found I like that King Tut thread I got at the fabric store in Maine. It's varigated and really silky. I love it. I only use it for top stitching though since it costs King Tut prices.
I leave you with a picture of the best thing I ever did in my life(James) and hope you have a great weekend. If anyones looking for me-I'll be in the closet. If you don't hear from me-send in the troops I may be on the floor under all this stuff.

Leaves- fabric wip done-art wip..not so much

Here is the fall quilt that I finally finished putting the binding on. It's been sitting around so long there are creases in the middle that I hope are not permanent. I will attempt to press it later.

The sketch below is one I started last year and put aside. I have few of these. and this one fell out of a pile when I was unearthing something else yesterday in my work space. I started it as a gift that was supposed to be for my friend for Christmas last year. I wound up buying her a bunch of fabric and a book instead. I lack confidence and technique. When I do one of these drawings I almost always have the urge to do MORE. What I mean is I just can't leave well enough alone. I have to go back and add more-outlines, more color, more everything. I need a sign that says LESS IS MORE-Put Down the Pencils and walk away... So....I'm usually unhappy with my results and I find unfinished pieces like this collecting dust. Attitude adjustment needed here! I'm off to the store now for a number of last minute things-fruit, wine, flowers and lots of Tylenol 8 hr. The weather has turned dark and stormy here and I feel achy and tired-Winter sucks but I don't really like summer either. I already have some whine with my wine...Have a happy turkey day everyone.

It's all about the bird, baby

Thanksgiving Horoscope for Gemini

You're the sign most likely to bring up interesting and controversial topics at Thanksgiving dinner. Your signature dish: Sweet potatoes with marshmallows Your signature dessert: Pumpkin cheesecake This holiday: Play bartender. You're family is much more lively with a few drinks in them.

What's" Your Thanksgiving Horoscope?

when they're right they're almost right. Love the sweet potatoes and love the marshmallows but not so much together. Pumpkin cheesecake totally rocks the holiday. Just give me a spoon and leave me alone with it. I don't really need to play bartender though since the family are all really good at helping themselves to various libations without any prompting from me. The guys are all about beer drinking before dinner and in front of the football game. Dinner itself is always a good deep, rich, red. The other day someone mentioned Ravenswood and I second(or third or whatever) that motion. I also like a nice Zinfandel and Merlot. Depends on what the husband or brother-in-law picks up tomorrow and I long ago stopped caring about the red with meat and white with fowl thing. There will be pumpkin pie(no cheesecake this year)and whipped cream, because for me it's really about the whipped cream(German heritage here-whipped cream in everything, that's how I got this way)Whipped potatoes(mmmm),sausage and cornbread stuffing-asparagus and all the fixin's. Last but not least there will be fresh fruit-melons,berries,etc. Something for everyone. Oh!-I forgot the gravy and cranberry. I make a pan gravy with just juices and 1/2 Knorr turkey gravy packet and enhanced with a good stock. It's not thick like "stand a fork in it gravy" it's thin and more about the turkey flavorand we have the old-fashioned cranberry that you plop from the can and can cut with a knife(they like it that way, what can I say) Well, that's Thanksgiving around here. If the weather is nice we all troop to our beach, less than a mile away, for a nice walk and to collect beach glass for me. I have several large glass containers of beach glass. That started years ago with a gift of a piece by my little boy. Now people bring me beach glass from all over. It's lovely. As for the controversy in the first part of this quiz-I leave that to someone else. I'm usually too busy to take part in many BIG conversations and most people in this group know how I feel about hot topics without mucking up a perfect day with that stuff.

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful celebration and plenty to be thankful for.

the naked truth-sort of

I took a look at Rian's blog- Rian's Pages - this morning and she commented on the size of handbags and asked us to be brave and show the contents. Here you go. The only thing not showing is the 3000 reciepts I had stuffed in the bottom which I have now put through the shredder-thanks Rian!

Years ago I worked in the cosmetic business first as a make-up artist and then as a buyer for imported fragrance lines. It required me to be made-up and well dressed every day. I miss this to a certain degree. I'm no longer the size 8 who lived that way and I love me my comfy clothes too much to change now but I still have the handbag and shoe attitude. Sloppy bags and shoes are telling to me. That is not to say that I don't have some sloppy shoes and the occasional old bag(besides me).It's just that it's one of the things I look at. Shoe shopping is therapy to me.

My niece recently had to take a trip into Manhattan while she was visiting us so she could go down to Canal St. and look for a Vuitton knock-off. She got a good one-but then she went up to Madison and 5th and bought a Coach bag for $200.00. She had saved all her money for months just for this one small(7x9) Coach bag. It wasn't even a traditional Coach leather bag that's made to last a lifetime. It was one of those fabric things they retail to young people today. And it was white. Last week she went to look at colleges and left it somewhere in Wyoming. Still got the $25.00 knock-off. Hard lesson learned for our sweet Michelle.

Anyway-thanks Rian-for making me clean out my bag. It's not a big one-only about 9 in. and sort of square.A Liz Claibourne on sale from Macy's last year. Not really big enough to hit someone with in defense like the old lady on Laugh In years ago. I agree with Rian about the gigundo bags-If you're in a store around here on a busy day you constantly find yourself being bumped-not by people-but by these bags that are big enough to hold clothes for a weekend in the country. However-I do have lots of keys. Along with mine-there are keys to a number of churches in the community. Running the Food Pantry means I have to pick up food from several deposit points. It was easier for them to give me keys than to come down early in the a.m. and open doors. Maybe when I finish that pick up stuff, I'll take myself for some shoe shopping therapy-perhaps a new bag too. Really thanks Rian-I don't need much to get me motivated for that. Hope everyone has a great day!

Last night, I went to bed with my ruby slippers on in case the house fell on me.Wow-that was a wind storm. The good news-nearly all the leaves are blown away. All except those tenacious oak trees. They still have leaves from last year hanging in bunches that just won't quit. This is a pic out the port hole in my bedroom.Sorry for the quality of the shot but it's through a screen. My husband put this moon viewing window in when we built the house. It's in a corner of the bedroom and when the time is right the moon shines right through it so beautifully. At top you can see the stained glass bluebird I bought him for Christmas one year. This little quilt below is made up of hand dyed fabric that a friend gave me a while back. I made a baby quilt for a friends son and liked the colors and 9-patches so much I made extra and put this little wall hanging together for myself. There's nothing perfect about it but it is very cheery and bright. It will be coming down now so that I can put up more seasonal things. Maybe it's the artist in me but once I get the basic construction of a top done I get very slap happy about the finish. The checkerboard border didn't finish the right size because I am math challenged and I just wanted to get done so since it was not a gift for someone I just slapped that baby together. I should pay more attention but at that point my mind is raing on to the next thing to do. I think I will go out & spend some time picking up broken branches and fallen debris in the driveway and rejoice in the fact that it looks like the sun is coming out-Wahoo!! Dry air and sunshine-what a great blessing.

Just Me & The Boys & thanks

I'm home alone with these guys today and frankly they've been no help to me at all. So I left them to their own strange devices and face making and gave in to the cleaning bug....wow did I need a good dusting and frankly the carpet was alarming. Bleah. Of course this would have been a lot easier if the temp. in my house wasn't 70 degrees-It's November, isn't it?I'd be happy to have this all winter long but then I would put on the air conditioner and vacuum with wild abandon in my shorts... with a margarita(no salt). I know, there are many who say 70-that's chilly(I hear you Texas people loud and clear) but here in the northeast 70 in Nov. is just weird and so wrong...so wrong and yet so great. Trying not to bitch about the weather since that, along with bodily function complaints, are a sure sign of advancing age. I have a pot of pea soup on the stove and so the all the signs are in place for winter..but 70, hmmm.

I want to thank all you lovely ladies who were kind enough to comment and those that sent me e-mails-WOW. You guys are inspirational.I live in a house with four men. Now they are the sweetest guys you could want to know, but nevertheless typical men. Most of the time you could be laying on the ground gasping and they would look up from there assorted hobby things(books, computer games, name an electronic gizmo)and say something like "Problem, Dee???" So when I get encouragement from people I don't even know-I'm SO THRILLED. What a great group of women you all are. Take a quick bow...go ahead...o.k. Today Janet, of Just bee-cause made me laugh out loud at the crack of dawn-what a great way to start the day. Her Thanksgiving recipe is hysterical. Scroll down to yesterdays entry for a laugh. Talented lady that. Anyway it's great to be in such company. I also read Crazy Aunt Purl today and this was also laugh-cramp inducing. Not a lot of quilting stuff getting done today but a funny and amazing thing happened as I was writing this-My son came home and said he really liked the Japanese lantern quilt from yesterday-I believe he said this because it was on the staircase to be taken up to my work area and he nearly fell over it-see- They love me !! They really love me...Maybe I'll make biscuits(suckah)

Japanese lanterns & WIP wed.

Got a bunch of stuff to do right now but I'll come back later. Until then-here's a piece in progress. I started it to hang above our kings size bed so it's quite long. The lanterns look like they're swinging in the breeze. I'll post a better pic later-Just wanted to get in a WIP today...

Favorite things by talented friends

Another gloomy rainy morning around here. I always thought I could easily live in the pacific northwest but after a few of these days in a row I wonder about that. Here is a shot of some of the things that make me smile in my workspace. These are works by some of my favorite artists who happen to be bloggers too. The red shoes are by DebR of (what else) Red Shoe Ramblings-who is not only a wonderful artist but a very tlented writer as well. Visit her blog for something new and really interesting every day. She's very prolific and funny. The small piece next to the shoes is by Deb Boschert of Deborah's Journal and if you click the pic (tee hee)you can see it better. It's done on a piece of really beautiful hand dyed fabric and stitched with beads. I love her work and if you go to her blog you will see that she has written a a book on how to make these wonderful pieces. It's very inexpensive and well worth having. Very detailed descriptions and insights to technique. Go get you one! Before they're gone!!!! On the right is my latest purchase and the picture really doesn't do it justice. It's "Kimono Collage" by Gerrie Congdon of Crazy for Fiber. The whole thing is beaded on top of really lovely pieces of kimono fabric. It makes me happy just to look at it. A riot of color and beauty. I really love red and don't know why I don't have more of it in my house? The sampler above is by my cousin Susan who was kind enough to make this for my son James when he was born 22 years ago. Since he's a little (heh) too old for this to hang in his room anymore I absconded with it. What I haven't put up yet are 4 postcards, also by Deborah B. that I am having framed. They are bright and cheerful and just delightful to look at. I can't wait to get it done. These are some of the things I try to focus on when I am in a gloomy rainy mood. I hope your day is brighter. I'm off to the grocery store. Can't put it off any longer-there's nothing to eat for breakfast(it's all about me, you know!)

conspicuous consumtion and orphans

This is a REALLY bad pic of the fabric I ordered from Hancocks for my son's quilt. Sorry you can't see the spider mum fabric on the left and next to it the dragon, the leaves and watery Kanji. It's really great fabric and I'll take more pics of progress where you can see the actual details. This morning I was searching for something to post on WIP Wed, I came up with a number of things I had completely forgotten. I think that's so much fun.Like fabric archaeology. For a while, when I first started quilting I tried a number of things to see what I liked. I did a lot of paper piecing and I still do. A fascination with houses led me to make a number of quilts like that and I also tried applique. Most of the applique was done as gifts for children. Happily I found out about fusing and since my eyes are not as good as they once were-that will be the method I would use for any future applique. Anyway..here are some more houses I made while on "the great HOUSE jag. They are just so graphic and fun I couldn't stop myself. There are more houses, unfinished and found this morning. They will appear eventually. I also found 9 log cabin blocks made from the first Moda fabric I ever got. Once you go Moda-there's no going back. I really love working with that stuff. Along with all that there were a bunch of orphan blocks, some PP sailboat blocks, a few mini log cabins, a pp sunbonnet sue, some long ago abandoned pp Christmas ornaments and last but not least, a couple of tops that I had folded and put away probably for lack of batting or backing.. Lots to do....Yesterday was so gloomy and the rain and wind kept me inside instead of going to the JoAnn's sale to use my coupons. I know I will regret having to let those coupons expire because I need wonder under, backing, batting, thread and such. I spent a lazy day watching dvds and doing laundry and ironing. The best part was that the guys took pity and got take-out both days. How lucky am I??? Saturday was Chinese and Sunday was Greek. Yumm.
Yesterday I talked to my friend Trisha regarding the quilt that unfortunately went along with Max to the great beyond. She's going to make another one and I, for one, am thrilled and will post a picture when it's done. It was a reminder to take pictures of your finished work before something unfortuante happens-like being buried with a relative...scroll down and see the entry about Max if you don't know what I mean and care to.
I have to get along to the Food Pantry to pick up my mail and deposit checks and such. It's a busy time right now-everyone remembers the needy at the holidays which is very wonderful but for me it means keeping up with the thank you letters right away, lest I find myself with hundreds rather than just half that. Everyone who gives a donation get a personal thank you from me. Be it grocery food drives or checks or even kids and money from lemonade selling in the summer(very cute) It's something I have done for a while and we could (and soon may have to) print out form letters but I really hate to do that. In the past I only had to write 20-25 letters a month but now it has become a popular charity in our community and people even send memorial donations when someone dies. That requires two letters-one to thank the donor and one to the family of the deceased in acknowledgement. It has become a big job. I just finished a pile of letters last week. Often lately, I make up a letter for money and one for grocery donations and just change the name and addresses on each one, as well as, any pertinent info such as the dollar amt. I became discouraged last year when I made an error on the dollar amount and recieved a really snarky letter from the person who made the donation. He suggested that I was a moron for getting the amount wrong. Since I do this as a volunteer and I pay all postage and cost of this operation, I suggested to that person in a follow-up letter that perhaps they would like to take over my job, as volunteers are few and far between and...mistakes happen and can easily be corrected. It's very discouraging to be a volunteer and have your a__ chewed out because you did some small thing wrong. A that time we went through our records and it turned out that in nearly 1700 letters, I had made two mistakes. Figures I would get the one hump in the crowd. Further proof that no good deed goes unpunished. Have a great day-and thanks to everyone who left comments. It's a really nice surprise and fun getting to know new blogging friends.

I gotta be me...

My son was reading this and had an interesting question for me-what if the people who read this think that the picture I posted a couple of days ago is really me? I laughed and joked around and then...I thought, what if the people who read this think that picture I posted a couple of day ago is really me..NOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo. James said "Mom, no one had made a comment after that post so it may be true." Let me just say..I have what might be called a bone dry sense of humor and will do nearly anything for a laugh. Also, I don't smoke. I 've been trying to find a picture of me that doesn't look like Dame Edna Everage but I'm coming up empty.
Yesterday, Roger took me out to the east end of the Island to the Tanger Outlet mall and then to lunch- We went to the Lobster Roll in Greenport or Mattituck I can't remember which, but it was fun and delicious. Not a lobster roll from Maine but delicious never the less. Then we visited friends who have a koi pond on their property. The koi had hundreds of babies. It was really neat... I'm off to finish some prep work on my son's new quilt and maybe I'll have pics on Mon. until then, have a great weekend everyone.

First you grab a bag full of squares....

Random scrap quilt for myself-Made from 5 inch sample squares from Hancocks in April Cornell fabrics. No time to be artsy. I need something warm to cover me and everyone but me has a quilt.

I'm not sure why this picture came out this way. It is revealing in that below the quilt you can see evidence of the large male pack rat that lives here. In his defence, there are a number of places in our house where he could store his paperwork if not for the fact that our son, James, has taken over with various computer and media items. What space remains is taken over my....well...me. He's a good natured spouse and so it all comes out well in the end except that there are stacks of things here and there. This quilt is one of the first things I made way back in the early '90s. It's very cheerful and bright and this part of my house is on the dark north side. We live on a large hill and at about 2:30 the sun is over on the other side of the hill and behind a forrest of trees. This works in our favor in the summer when we are glad for the sun to go away in the heat of the day-not so much in the winter. Here is a picture of what I collect other than fabric. That's a shot of half the bookshelf and on top are a couple of my husbands antique toy trains. I'd like to say that this is the whole collection of books but I would be lying-There's another bookshelf and two upstairs-all full. Hello my name is Dee, I'm a

bookaholic....The last picture is of a far wall in my livingroom where we are doing some prep-work for painting. I have removed a hideous border from around the window in preparation for new paint, coming soon. On the wall is a small piece I did using Aunt Grace repros. I had made one for my niece and liked the brightness-it's coming out wobbly in the pic but I think that's because I tried to re-size the pic. I'll figure out this stuff eventually in the mean time thanks for looking and reading and welcome to my home....Come on in, have a cup of tea and visit.

Got a Light?

Who says I can't be

fashionable?

I have several things to do today and among the most important is to buy some new things to wear. I am currently trying to walk more each day and diet(ugh!) because I have reached alarming proportions. The most alarming is that nothing I own fits me any longer. Since I live in a very damp and cold winter place, I don't hink I can wear my linen shirts and pants much longer. There's definitely a chill in the air. So, with that in mind I have to do one of the worst things-and that is buy clothes that I plan to wear only till I loose weight. It's just so depressing and should be foremost in my mind when I am thinking about what to eat. Basically I try to follow the Weight Watchers path. This is how I lost 55 or so lbs. a number of years ago. Dieting really is the worst. I just have a hard time caring that much about it. I care, but I'm easily distracted and I have friends who bake-really well. My motivation in this is that my cholesterol and sugar were above normal last time I went to the Dr. So I walk and try to be more active. Not easy for a sedentary person like me. Everything I like to do involves sitting- reading, sewing, artwork, watching dvds....you name it. We have a treadmill in the basement and I'd better get there before I find something else to distract me from that mission.

Regarding the elections, let me just say this YAHOO!!! and as an aside let me say that the people of Tenn. are so foolish as to leave me speechless.. It's not my state but picking Coarker over Harold Ford is a travesty that will cost them. As for the rest....again.....YAHOOO!! It's areal shame that it took 7 years and thousands of young lives to send a message to George and his cronies though. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Hope you have a great day-I'm going to work on my son's quilt today and then look for some material to make a Quilt of Valor.

Patience-- not always a virtue,Bob, & good eats

This is a picture of an antique quilt that my friend Rich sent me from auction he went to in Pa. Dutch country. It only had a spot or two and he wanted to know if it was worth all the money they were bidding it up to. I think it went for about $400. The best thing at the auction was a quilt that looked so blahhh that you wouldn't give two cents for it...in fact it looked like white sheeting that was stained..but wait...the person who had made it was really covering up what was inside. They had used a quilt as the batting- I kept thinking why was this quilt in this auction. It was not up to the standards of anything else offered and the quilting was horrible big stitches and randomly placed here and there. Turned out it was something called Dove in the Window inside and went for over $500.-hot stuff no???

Well, this morning was a test of patience for me. One of the most annoying things in life is waiting in a Doctor's office, especially when it 's not for me. I know that sounds terrible but I worked for a Dr. at one time and I ran that place like a very tight ship. We scheduled things so people didn't have to face insult to injury by having to wait an hour for a visit. Well, any way my brother-in-law Bob had to have oral surgery from a Dr. that we had never used before-now it all turned out great but they told us to be there at 10 so we left at 9:30 which got us there about 15 min. early for paperwork. I think they factor in the paperwork to take about half an hour because we waited 40 min. just to get in and another half hour to get finished. I read a third of a book(speed reader here) I just started, the place was really warm, and in sympathy for Bob I didn't eat breakfast(really dumb move as I am a cranky baby when I'm hungry) The reason it was so warm was that they had so many damn lights on overhead it seemed like I was in a tanning bed. They were the kind of overhead spots like I have in my kitchen which I never use in the summer because it makes it about 10 degrees hotter in an already hot kitchen. Geez it was hot in there along with being a colossal waste of energy. Anyway-Bob's O.K. and I came home and made myself something to eat while he went to bed for a rest and a Percoset. Sweet dreams Bob....

I got my fabric in the mail today from Hancocks for my son's quilt. He picked out several from the Alexander Henry Asian line that have dragons and Kanji and such. I think I will find a way to showcase the dragons by making it very strippy. Maybe long columns of dragon fabric in between long stips of Kanji and a wild spider mum in deep intense red and gold and black. I'll take some shots of the fabric tomorrow and post pics. I haven't made him anything since he was much younger and at 22 he's outgrown the kid sized quilts a long time ago. We still have them-one of cowboy boots and western theme, and one of airplanes and related items- I get a kick out of looking at them, as beat up as they are-they still make me think of how adorable he was-my blue-eyed boy....sign. He will be mortified when he reads this-of course Dani will laugh at him. When I went on vacation to Maine she had to show him how to use the washing machine(he's so full of it) and I just thanked her. I was secretly glad she did some stuff for him since everytime he gets involved with laundry something gets ruined and it's never his. Well, I picked up a bunch of shrimp and some scallops to saute with garlic and tomatoes to make a putanesca sauce. I bought a jar of Frances Ford Copolla's spaghetti sauce and it's the best and most delicious jar sauce I've ever eaten. It's very expensive but the putanesca and mamarella are soooo fresh and delish it's worth every penny. I can't make sauce better than that and I learned from a great old Italian lady. Sauce from a jar is a curse that I would normally spit at someone but this stuff is excellent for instant gratification. Never mind that you could make a whole pot for what it costs for one jar.It's light and not cooked to death and has a lot of calamata olives and sprigs of basil and good olive oil. You don't need to do anything but open, heat, add(or not)whatever, and toss the al dente pasta right in the same pan. turn off the heat and add a heap of parmigiana reggiano or something like it and grab a fork and some good brunello or a nice sangiovase..mmmmm...I'm adding the seafood to mine-somebody bring the bread-dinners at 7. Leave the guns, bring the cannoli, Do you know what movie that's from?

Dani's stars and buttons

I'm finally getting the hang it-sort of. This is the quilt I just finished for Dani, my son's girlfriend. It's not a very good picture but all of those stars are made from Bali fabrics. In between the rows are buttons in all different colors and shapes. Some hearts, some stars, some flower shapes. It was really fun to make and I had never done stars before so it was a learning experience for me. In retrospect, I wish I had amde the background out of something other than white. It's a very pretty white on white but I think it would have really been sensational in pale bali with more intense stars-perhaps in another quilt to come. I didn't mean for both these pics to be together but they are and I'm not changing it now. I'll look for some more stuff to up-load and maybe tomorrow there will be more...

being good to the muse(and me)

I've been reading a lot of different blogs for a while and I see a theme running through a some of them. Pledging to not buying fabric. It is spoken of as if it's a the road to enlightenment and goodness. It's a funny thing because it reminds me of my good friend Terry- she's another of the quilt ladies I know and a very hard working very talented person. Funny thing about Terry is that she seems to feel that she doesn't deserve to be happy. I'm not sure what happened back in the days of her childhood but I suspect that someone repeatedly told her that she was an unworthy child-unworthy of praise, nurturing, warmth, whatever. It makes me mad and sad and we have a close enough relationship that I'm happy to tell her how talented she is and that she is, indeed ,deserving of praise.Plus I can relate to the whole abuse thing. Now don't go writing me any nasty comments but I have long suspected that it has something to do with her Catholic upbringing. Even she says that. My husband, who was raised Catholic says that too. I think it had a lot to do with Sister Mary Margaret slapping her with a ruler every time she looked happy or proud.
ANYWAY...I digress. The thing about Terry that relates to the reading of some of these blogs is that I sense a theme of self deprivation when it comes to buying fabric and fun stuff. There was a whole month where people actually signed up...signed up to NOT buy fabric. Lordy, Lordy Let me grab a glass of water and fan myself for a minute on my fainting couch............O.K., better. This is how I see that. Quilting is my art, my love, my talent. Quilting is where I challenge myself to make something really pretty and pleasing to myself and hopefully, others. Why in the name of sweet Jesus would I want to rob myself of the pleasure of buying something to further that joy. I can find a dozen different ways to prove myself a strong person with moral fiber in other areas of my life-why would denying myself fabric prove anything. Maybe it's a catholic thing? Maybe we need to self flagellate somehow to feel better about ourselves? Buying fabric and quilting stuff makes me really happy. I've suffered enough in my life and at nearly 60, I'm no longer sure how much fabric buying time I have. Besides what will my friends have to fight over when I'm gone but my fabric. Lotta bitch slappin' going on there.
Well, todays entry will be short, at least for now-maybe I'll write more later. There's a video store around the corner that has been driven out of business by Blockbuster and is selling out all the stock for rock bottom prices. I'm going to take a look to see what foreign movies and other dvds they have left. Maybe I'll find a few good oldies too, not a lot of people are old movie buffs. I need to go grocery shopping too. Making fish tacos if I don't forget my list-need limes and avocado and mini corn tortillas. Maybe after that I'll get totally crazy and hit the fabric store. Maybe I'll buy something. Maybe not....whatever I choose to do, it won't be because I'm "saving myself" for fabric.......Hope you have a beautiful day

Sewing Sunday, movies and cool, cool, women

Today I actually got around to using my sewing machine and making something-well...the begining of something, after all I'm no Debra Spincic. I want to thank Debra for taking me to the Houston quilt show in her pocket and I loved the quilt she chatted with me in front of. Thanks Debra. Anyway, I worked on a quilt for....tah dah...ME. Afew months ago I bought several packets of die-cut squares from Hancocks from the April Cornell line. The colors are very springy andpretty like sherbet. Yellows and limes and pinks-polka dots and paisley and hibiscus flowers in those shades as well as pale aqua and melon. It's a riot of color, especially for me. I work with Amish brights and black a lot so this is a departure. I decided to bag the idea of doing anything fancy and instead just use the squares and as is. The only deviation from this was making half square triangles from some. Anyway-my thinking was that I would have an actual quilt for me for the winter in soft girly colors. My bedroom is very white with cherry furniture and so it is easily adaptable to most anything I like..and I likeee!
The One thing that kept me from accomplishing stuff this weekend was that I rented several DVDs-I got Elizabeth I and I got the first 3 dvds of "Big Love" the HBO show about the Mormon family with Bill Pullman who is the husband of 3 wives. The first two episodes sort of set it up in terms of characters and they're not bad at all but by the fourth episode you really get into these peoples strange lives.If any of you know who Bruce Dern is-in this he plays a role that must have been written for him. He's the Patriarch of a Mormon Poligamist family and he plays a completely crazy and disgusting human being. He's so darn good at it that it makes you wonder what he's really like. It's really good and I almost went back today to get the rest but I'll wait for tomorrow. I read a review of a new movie by Pedro Almodovar called Volver with Penelope Cruz(she's in all his movies) and I am looking forward to seeing it. I just recently saw his movie "all about my mother" which was great and served two functions-my son is taking a foreign film elective and he needed me to see it and review it for him. It was very moving and in the movie he incorporates one of my favorite old movies "All about Eve" as part of his movie. Warning-it has subtitles but I speak some Spanish so it made life a bit easier. I couldn't watch Elizabeth I (which is the reason I wnet to the video store) because I didn't realize that it was a 2 dvd set and all I got was disc 2 AGH!
Well, I suppose I should go and see how much I an get done before I slowly fade into the sunset. This getting dark at 4:30 reall sucks. I want to thank Debra for the chat in front of a beautiful quilt and Melody for just being...well...Mel. By the way-If DebR is reading go get yourself a copy of "Climbing the Mango Trees", by Madhur Jaffrey. It's a lucious book full of writing that makes your mouth water and your soul sing....see you tomorrow

best friends,mercy, and Max

Pull up a chair and have a piece of my bagel while I tell you a cautionary tale of a death in the family. Not a death in my family but the death of my friend Trisha's father-in-law Max. It's a cautionary tale because this is the kind of thing that can happen to you-SO PAY ATTENTION.
Last night I went to my Thursday night quilting with the girls. The girls are my two best friends, Trisha and Pat. Now both these women have the ability to make me laugh till stuff comes out my nose. Unfortunately, in the past few months Trisha's father-in-law Max had gotten progressively worse with a number of ailments that seemed to increase daily. It was one of those things you hear about in the news. Here's the headline- Man Never Sees Doc in 40 yrs-dies in 2 months of EVERYTHING!- O.K. got the picture? Now Max was probably in a health food store for the latest vitamin every other day and because of his(ahem)bazaar take on life, he wouldn't hesitate to tell you in detail what was wrong with your life and as an addendum, how miserable you were. Max was known far and wide in our village. He had long ago retired and only went to the Store on Mondays. I could make a list rivaling the phonebook of people who would put off going to the store until Tuesday just to Not see Max. If you went in for a specific item and forgot it was Monday-undoubtedly, you would come out having been lectured to about how ridiculous your idea was and you would hold in your hand the item that Max thought was more appropriate. Business on Monday was not brisk....For thirty years Max made every holiday miserable for my friend Trisha by initiating an argument with a random family member and clearing the room faster than a farting dog. Often after scraping his plate clean her would imperiously inform her how much better so and so's whatever was. He was as genuinely mean to her as he was sweet to the other daughter-in-law, who NEVER EVER invited him to dinner, EVER. Stay with me now.... Well..a couple of years ago I taught Trisha to paper piece. Sometime later I gave her some really special fabric for Christmas and she made, what started out to be a t-block quilt. It was really pretty and her work is always on the mark even without paper piecing. I watched her make the little blocks(many little blocks)and assumed is would be just lovely slightly larger than mini wall quilt. She picked out a paper pieced border with, I"M NOT KIDDING a million little pieces. It was very intricate. Well she decided to stretch out of the box on this one. When it was finished she had made a quilt that had all these t-blocks and toward the bottom they were twisted and turned as if they were falling out of the quilt. This was a really big stretch towards art for her. It was no less than spectacular. O.K. for those of you who have stuck with me on this journey-a few weeks ago Max finally left this mortal plane for a place where he can be a curmudggeon in eternity. Let me also add that the daughter-in-law who stayed by his bedside and comforted him was not the other daughter-in-law but Trisha. On the day he was buried, the mother-in-law asked if she could pick out something to put in the coffin with Max(you see where I'm going with this?) Trisha, being the best person in the world simply said "sure" and of all the houseful of quilts to pick from-MIL picked this one. OH!! yes!! she did! So anyway, last night at the Thursday night meeting of the quilting ladies the occasion arose to discuss someones quilt and how it wasn't done nearly as well as Trisha's. She said "you mean the one that's in the box with Max?" Now I'm not one given to throwing around colorful language(even though I find it amusing sometimes)but I yelled out in a barely restrained yelp "What the F__K were you thinking?" and of course everyone was very quiet for about 30 seconds-then we laughed so hard stuff came out our noses.....In closing let me just say that among the many reasons that this woman is a rock of a friend, after all the crap he gave her-she gave the eulogy for Max when no one else in the family was able to. As part of the eulogy she told everyone that if they had come to the store on Monday and wound up with stuff they didn't want because Max insisted he knew better-returns would be accepted on Tuesday of next week. Life is pretty damned amazing sometimes-for all the people who Max annoyed(and there are legions)over 400 people showed up at the funeral. We think some of them came to make sure he was really gone. The police blocked a main artery road so the funeral could get to the graveyard and there was a dinner at the VFW for everyone afterward. I guess that's what it means to be a part of a small town. People come to support each other and tell cautionary tales. I love this place. I will never pass the cemetery again without thinking of that quilt and hoping that Max is enjoying it.I hope it can stand up to the heat....

Catch-up

I was lost in the dust yesterday...literally. When you can write your name in it, it's time to consider a major clean-up. In my clean-up of the great dryer vent debacle on Saturday, I found that there is, indeed a floor under all the stuff in the closet and on that floor there were several bags of scraps. Now I'm not talking about big bags but just ziplocs. In the past I''ve always been excited to unearth such things. These were not the sort of thing you get excited about. Why on earth I saved bits(really little bits) of fabric that was questionable 15 years ago is a mystery. I guess back then I must have thought that I'd do do something with it someday(not)In case I forgot to mention it before, I live by the Scarlett O'Hara rules for life. Number one on that list is_ I'll worry about that tomorrow, or in this case, next millenium. Well, I am happy to report that it feels really great to unburden oneself of a lot of useless crap. While I was on a role I threw away a lot of clothes that will never in this life fit me again. I also found a bunch of UFOs that I clearly didn't like to begin with and, wait for it.....I chucked them. They were poorly done with fabric that was of a poor quality and so-out they went. Stuff that I started way back before I realised that you get what you pay for in the fabric world. I found a pretty good piece of fabric that was one of the early Asian designs with outlining in gold around the camellias and I held my breath and threw it away. Why, you may wonder?? Because I used it in two different quilts I made and after a number of (not many)washings the gold turned green and austic and actually ate through the fabric. Well all of this is by way of explaining my absence from the blog world yesterday. I am finding that it is really hard to get to the computer if I don't do it first thing in the day. I am trying to up-load a photo of the quilt that I just finished for my son's girlfriend, Dani. I don't know if it will work. Fingers crossed. If not I'll try again later. Have a spectacular day...

twofer

Two posts in one day-I'm really not getting anything done. Thanks to my friend Deb(Red Shoe Rambling) for the nice comment. Happy Halloween to everyone who cares. I do love seeing the kids in their costumes. My son and I used to dress up(yes, I did too) and walk the neighborhood. Then we would fight over the candy(Hee) Until he figured out that taking the candy into his room over night would mean having some the next day. I really developed a sweet tooth. Funny thing about that is that before I got married and had a kid I never ever ate candy. All my life I've been a meat and potatoes person. Growing up in a German household with my grandmother, who put gravy on everything that didn't move really had a profound effect on me. A profound and enlarging effect. As soon as I left home I lost poundage really fast. Then I went to weight watchers and lost about 55 pounds. Since I was in the cosmetic business I had to look good and stay that way-so for many years I was hungry-really really hungry. I have since lost that hunger and need desperately to return to WW. We live way up here on this hill and most children are too lazy to climb up here for candy or anything else so we rarely get anyone on Halloween. I can count on one hand the number of kids in the last five years. In fact, we get so excited and surprised that we probably scare them when they do jumping around yelling "Hey come look at the trick or treater" they probably have our house pegged as the one where the crazy people live. My point being-I don't need to buy candy-every year I do anyway-every year I eat the stuff myself-every year I gain more weight and every year I say I won't do it again...excuse me while I unwrap this Snickers mini. Hopeless!!!

Have You Ever?
1. Taken a quilting class
2. Paper pieced- yes-I've taught it to others
3. Hand quilted-
4. Hand pieced-yes but I wish I was more focused
5. Created your own pattern
6. Published a pattern in a magazine or book-
7. Gone on a quilting retreat-
8. Gone to a quilting convention
9. Met someone who wrote a quilting book
10 combined your quilting with some other craft
11. Done any three dimensional quilting - like fabric origami?
12. Made something using Thimbleberries fabric
13. Made something using batiks
14. Dyed your own fabric
15. Made a landscape hanging
16 Made a New York Beauty quilt-does starting count?
17 Made a baby quilt
18 Made a wall hanging
19 Made a journal quilt
20 Submitted your journal quilt for viewing
21 Made a fabric postcard
22 Made a artistic trading card (ATC)
23 Exchanged artistic trading cards
24. Mailed our your postcard?
25. Made a lap quilt
26 Made a twin size quilt
27 Made a full size quilt
28 Made a queen size quilt
29 Made a king size quilt
30 Donated a quilt to charity
31 Sent a quilt out to a quilter
32 Thrown away a UFO
33 Given away a UFO
34 Cut up a UFO and made something else with it
35 Ripped fabric instead of cutting it
36 Made a quilt exactly like the pattern, with no changes whatsoever
37 Done any Sashiko
38 Quilted your own quilt
39 Did free motion quilting- just practicing so far
40 Put any embroidery or beads on your quilt
41 Given away your quilt to a stranger
42 Swapped fabric
43 swapped blocks
44 participated in a round robin
45 participated in an ostritch round robin
46 kept a journal about your quilting
47 written a letter to someone who made an antique quilt
49 kept a blog about your quilting-this blog, although it's about a lot of other stuff too.
50 participated in a gift exchange
51 sent a quilting random act of kindness
52 joined a newsgroup about quilting
53 made a quilt using a pattern from quilterscache I love this site
54 joined an online block of the month
55 made a block of the month quilt
56 subscribed to a fabric of the month club
57 bought fabric at an online store
58 bought fabric from ebay
59 own more than one sewing machine
60 have a room dedicated solely to sewing-does part of my bedroom and part of my kitchen count?
61 hide a fabric purchase-not anymore though it's a silly thing to do since my husband collects toy and antique trains-He always says I couldn't begin to spend as much on fabric as he has on trains so no problemo.
62 finished making a holiday gift before July
63 made a landscape quilt
64 made a quilt using a book from the library
65 worked with someone else to make a quilt-baby quilt for a young woman my quilt group knows
66. joined a quilt guild
67 become president of a quilt guild
68 taught a quilting class
69 helped someone else get the quilting bug
70 taught a child to sew
71 made a Dear Jane block- no but I enjoy that site and love those blocks
72 Made a miniature quilt-that's how I began quilting by getting a copy of Miniature Quilts mag. which has unfortunately gone out of business. I have made many minis and given many away as gifts.
73 watch QNN - quilters news network-seen it a few times-neat idea
73 subscribe to a quilting magazine from your own country-Quilters Newsletter(not so good anymore, dropped my subscription and Miniature Quilts-see above
74 subscribe to a quilting magazine from another country
75 buy fabric from another country
76 swapped completed quilts with someone else
77 asked for quilting help online
78 gone to a quilt shop to ask for quilting help
79 bought fabric at a local quilt shop-wish there were more locally-I have to travel a bit to get to my nearest one.
80 travelled more than 100 miles to go to a quilt shop-my husband used to think we travelled to see the sites-now he just looks for the nearest quilt shop when planning a trip.
81 used nontraditional fabric for a quilt - something other than cotton or flannel
82 made a quilt using instructions given to you on a blog- still working on Judy's first quilt for an hour on Sunshine Quilts.
83 make comments on someone's quilting blog- yes indeed, that's how I made quilting artist friends on line.
84 meet a quilter in person after only having talked online
85 had a quilting retreat in your home
86 own quilting software-EQ-5
87 made a quilt you designed on your quilting software
88 done any quilt research - history, interviewing quilters, etc.- along with being a quilter I'm a history buff and bookaholic so I have a number of history books about quilting
89 had any quilt related subject published anywhere
90 donated a quilt to a museum
91 bought a quilt from a thrift store
92 made a quilt using fabric from a thrift store
93 made a quilt using photos-for my husbands 50th
94 made a pastel quilt
95 made a quilt using brights
96 made a quilt using ethnic fabric from another country - African, Asian, etc.-I have a huge collection of asian fabric.
97 made a quilt using leftover blocks from other quilts
98 had your quilt in a magazine, newspaper, newsletter, TV, etc.
99. submitted your quilt to a quilt show?
100. won any ribbons with your quilts?
101 had more finished quilts than UFOs
102 made a quilt using reproduction fabrics-I have a huge collection of civil war fabrics
103 took a break from quilting that was longer than a year
104 made money with your quilting
105 had a job in the fabric / quilting industry

Dumb and Dumberer

OMG I can't believe how stupid this lack of knowledge about computer-related stuff makes one feel. I'm married to a verrrry smart man and my son is a computer nut who was going to make his living with computers and as for me....well, lets just say I'm challenged. Smart cookie in many other ways but when I come up against the mighty computer gods, I shrink in horror and quake in my high heeled sneakers. I know that much of it has to do with the generation and age but up till now I haven't really cared too much. Now I would like to get into the writing and blogging and picture up-loading. One day at a time(or week, or month) Today there are a number of semi-important things I must do(cleaning,cooking,laundry,ugh) in order to get to the good stuff(blogging and sewing) SO for a little while, I'll take a suggestion from Debra Spincic(really talented lady) and just write a few posts to get the thing going. Maybe a meme or two to introduce the uniqueness of me(heh) to anyone who might be interested. I hope I don't scare anyone away. I'm a fairly honest spoken woman and I'm usually not afraid to state my opinions-that doesn't please some people but I think life is too short to beat around the bush too much...and after all.....it's my blog and welcome to it! I'm a woman of nearly 60(gad that hurt) who is passionate about books, tea, old movies, quilting-sewing-needlework, and my super family and friends. I really hate housework because lets face it at my age I've been doing it for eons and it still looks the same every morning. I live in a very big , very old house that is a rabbit warren of rooms that really need the have the walls torn out of to make larger spaces that people could live in(whew-that felt good)but there are the usual financial constraints and so we cram ourselves into teeny tiny spaces and live in an eternal jumble of stuff. I spend some of my time helping to run a food pantry in our village. It's not a place to get a cooked meal but simply a Pantry with canned goods and a freezer with some stuff that the local food establishments are good enough to donate. We have a number of excellent bakeries and restaurants and such who bring day old good like bagels ,bread, food left over from civic functions and such. Most of our clients are retired people who need to make ends meet, disabled vets from the local VA and single Moms, some with disabled kids. The Moms often have to choose between rent and food to pay for the cost of an Autistic child. There is almost nothing sadder than that. They come in and cry and visit and sometimes I think it is less for the food than for an adult human voice and some compassion. Anyway that's where I'm headed now and so I'll just leave todays post off here. I hope you enjoy reading and I look forward to any comments that friends care to leave. Thanks for the chance to chat....

Saturday with the guys

Well, here I am writing as far away from the guys(husband and son) as I can get because they are in a cleaning frenzy...shudder....They have decided to make today the day the vents for the dryer get cleaned out. Now mind you, that's an important job. It's the getting to the vents that cause me alarm. In order to get to the vents they have to move a REALLY lot of stuff like fabric and junk in the walk in closet that houses the pipe which goes up into the attic and vents the crap from the dryer. So... now I am listening to the banging and swearing and such because my BOYS are no lightweights nor are they working in a large area. Of course there is much manly bumping and clunking going on and if there is one thing I have learned over the years it's this-when the boys are deep into a project-it's best to be in a different time zone. Lord I do love those guys. The thing is that when they are sharp with each other I take it personally-five minutes later they are fine and I'm still insulted. I guess that's the way with a lot of men and their sons...I hope they finish soon. The good part is when they do I can get into the closet and start cleaning up the mess. Having a walk-in closet is a great thing but it sometimes becomes the repository for eveything that no one knows what to do with. "Oh, just stick it in the closet and I'll figure something out later." Later becomes March and then the summer goes by and here we are with crap everywhere. We are some of the nicest people you would want to know but we are all pack rats. No one wants to part with anything until it becomes the Collier Brothers all over again. The husband collects Lionel and antique trains, I collect fabric and sewing related crafty stuff and my son has a collection of video games and music and guitars and c.ds. and such...we are overwhelmed. What we need is a dumpster....hmmmm... more later.. and if you're looking for me I'll be in the closet- or in the kitchen making a fabulous home made pea soup with hambone and all-send help and bring bread. Dinners at 6:30

I may tell Debra later

Well I switched to Blogger Beta and all went smoothly-mostly because I have nothing much to move. No pictures and not a lot of entries. I think I may ask for help on Mon. Debra is probably at the BIG SHOW in Houston and I hope she's having fun....more later

favorite things well said

" It was not a woman's desire... to be forgotten. and in one simple, unpretentious way, she created a medium that would outlive even many of her husband's houses, barns and fences: she signed her name in friendship onto cloth and, in her own way, cried out, Remember Me."Linda Otto Lipsett - Remember Me

crazy in Northport

I don't know about the rest of the world but fall seems to bring with it an urgency and even a sort of panic. Holidays around the corner...vacation in Maine....school semester begins...I should be doing something productive every minute of the day until I fall over into my plate of spaghetti...whew. The thing is though that when this happens, instead of getting on the stick as it were-I seem to go into reverse. Maybe it's all overwhelming (maybe?)or I'm not good at picking one thing and sticking to it(yeah, that too) anyway I find myself wanting to sit down in front of the tube and nap instead of doing the seemingly limitless chores and possibilities that surround me. It's a toss up but the nap is looking really good. Crisp fall air, hot cuppa, new programming possibilities, no one here to look at me with a wrinkled forhead......zzzzz huh...where was I...Oh yeah-fabric fondling, I forgot fabric fondling and that is a clear priority. It's so lonely in that closet(heh) Besides, I have to reast up for my vacation-next week-in Maine. Lobstermmmmm