Quilt Content

This child's quilt can be used to play "I Spy" or the "Match" game since there are two of each square. It is going into my friend's "hope chest" for a grandchild that hasn't even been thought of yet (at least not by the future parents). That's what I call prepared!

This is the "Egg Money Quilt", made using the book by Eleanor Burns. Based on traditional quilt blocks and made from 30's reproduction fabric, I think it looks very fresh and "spring like". Made by my friend Andine.

This was a "mystery quilt", made by my friend Gayle. You know I love those warm autumn colors.

I am enjoying having a few days off this month, although I am going in to work for a little while this afternoon. Not much new on the art front, but I have been sewing away on some UFOs. Who knows, I may even finish something.

Bright fabric, Dear Jane

Here is what I've been doing with all that bright fabric.


I liked it better before I added the "scribbly" quilting, so I may be adding some more pieces to it. On the other hand, it might be best just to start again and go for a simpler composition. At least I'm working.

Here is a picture of what one of my good quilter friends is working on.
Now, I think it is safe to say I will never do this, but I am fascinated to see it. These are all hand pieced "Dear Jane" blocks. I think I have mentioned my friends's interest in Civil War quilts, and this is the latest manifestation. There are actually hundreds of "Janiac" quilters who are making replicas of this quilt, originally made by Jane Stickle.
The blocks are small (4 1/2" I think) and are often pieced by hand.



This is what you end up with, or something similar.



As I said, not my cup of tea, but isn't it amazing?

Pretty Colors

These are some wonderful fabrics I bought this weekend, along with a nicely fused stack all ready to work with. The colors really do glow like that. One of the shops I go to very nicely sent me a gift certificate in appreciation for past patronage. Of course I used it and a little besides.Although I do love hand painted and hand dyed fabric, I also love buying it already done. So much less work. In July I will have a little time off, so there may be time to paint some more fabric. As hot as it is, it would dry in about 5 minutes. In the meantime, I have these lovelies to play with.

Fran asked if there was any curved piecing in the last work I shared, and the answer is no, it is all done in the tradition of the Chicago School of Fusing. I also
wanted to say that reading Nancy's book is NOT stressful in any way, except that it is so inspiring you want to drop everything and work on art 24/7 like she apparently does. The book is a wonderful retrospective of work, and also talks about some of her inspirations.
It is well worth owning if you love art books as much as I do.

I read about her classes on another email list. What is "stressful" to me is that she requires a lot of work in a short time, and she wants it to be large. Although I understand the idea of "loosening up" and working more intuitively, I do not want to put time or size constraints on my work. Deborah blogged about art and size a couple of days ago, and I agree that the size of the work should be what it needs to be, not artificially imposed. (An obvious exception would be a commission meant to hang in a specific area, like the one Gerrie just completed.)

Off to work (the paying kind) now, I hope to have more to share with you soon.

New work and a new book

I recently finished this piece, "One More Day Up In the Canyon". It's about 15" x 18". I love the colors of earth, sky, and water, it seems to be a recurring theme in my work. I'm really happy with the way this one turned out.

Like quite a few others, I finally received my copy of Nancy Crow's new book. I have already spent hours looking at it. What an inspiration! If I could work faster, I might save up to take a workshop from her, but from everything I've been reading about her teaching technique, I don't think it would suit me. I am not being critical of her, I just know I wouldn't thrive under that level of stress. I told my husband we needed to buy about 60 acres with three barns on it, and he looked slightly alarmed until I told him I was only joking.

Sort of.

Breakfast, Books and A Dog Wash

Our weekend was a typical one. We had the usual chores (laundry and cleaning) and a few extras like bathing the dogs. This is NOT their favorite activity and we pretty much get as wet as they do in the process. They feel great afterwards, though, and run around barking and rolling on the rugs. It
was pandemonium for a little while there.

Other than chores, we had a couple of nice breakfasts, particularly on Father's Day. Breakfast means oatmeal, toast, fruit or yogurt during the week, but on the weekend it's something special. Although we went out this weekend, often we cook at home. We make spectacular omelettes, fried potatoes, the works. Sometimes its homemade
breakfast burritos.

I haven't been sewing much, but I have been reading. Summer weather has me feeling
lazy, and I love to relax under a ceiling fan with a nice breeze blowing in the window. One of my favorite authors is Jodi Picoult. I just finished these two this weekend. I always like a good story where the author makes you care about the characters. The topics are contemporary and the plot moves right along. One of her methods is to write from each character's point of view, and you really get a chance to get inside their heads and see what's going on. Anyway, if you are looking for a good summer read or two, check it out.

A New Phase and Random Thoughts

This painting is by Jay Milder. From Abstract Art Online. I love the color and energy, and even in an internet picture I can get a feel for the "cake frosting" quality of the paint. Great fun.

Lots of things going on here. Work is busy, busy, busy because a) I am still playing "catch up", and b) everyone is bringing me their summer projects for binding and repair. I find that I am absolutely wiped out at the end of the day, even eight weeks out from surgery. On the other hand, as Jerry reminded me, I used to be wiped out after long work days BEFORE I had surgery. I have been working out how to cope with the symptoms of my new phase of life. I attended a "menopause" class, and am trying the black cohosh for relief from hot flashes. I started exercising again, which I hope will help with the stress and emotional upheaval. This has probably been the most disconcerting part. I find myself weepy at the drop of a hat (hearing a song, for example, will set me off). This is very unlike me, and I don't feel quite like myself. I have not made any decisions yet about turning to medication.

We also have a house guest, a friend of Jerry's who has been living in Egypt for the past year. He is a photographer, and he has amazing pictures, both of Egypt and of Darfur. Take a look, they are incredible. What strikes me so forcefully are the beautiful smiles on the faces of some of these people, even after so much suffering. It seems absurd to ever complain about anything when so many have so little. It gives you a lot to think about.

Painterly Time?

The visual for today is "Emptied By the Sun", by Emily Mason.

I've been a neglectful blogger lately, but it seems I've become self-conscious about whether or not I have something worthwhile to share. (Not that it ever stopped me before.) On the art front, I've made several really bad paintings. On the quilting front I've been chipping away at some traditional projects and not much else. Nothing of interest that merges both, although I thought of cutting up the paintings and reassembling them.

I am back at work now, as immersed in the daily routines as if I hadn't left. It's amazing how quickly you get back into it even if you've been gone a while. I'm happy to have my life back, but I do miss those afternoon naps.

As artists, we often talk about being "in the zone" or about how we lose track of time while we are working. Here is an interesting article about "Painterly Time."
Something I think we already knew, but still interesting.

Work In Progress

Finally, some work in progress to share.

You might remember seeing this:


Here's what I've done with it:


This is still a work in progress and has no quiltng or embellishment yet. I am also considering whether I need to bring some lighter elements into the lower left corner, more small yellow triangles perhaps. I'm thinking I need to repeat that element somewhere.

As you can probably tell, this is a combination of hand painted and commercial fabric. I had a great time painting the fabric, this time using Setacolor, Dynaflo and fabric ink.

Next will be the threadwork...

A Quiet Time

I'm still here, just haven't been online much. Computer troubles at our house mean that I have had to start sharing my computer with my son, and he is online a LOT. To be fair, he is a senior at UCSD, so it isn't all chat or games.

To tell the truth, I'm not sure I have much interesting to tell. I have spent a couple of very quiet weeks reading, sleeping, , listening to books, watching DVDs, well...you get the idea. Pretty low key to say the least. Last week I finally started going out for short trips, things like a trip to the fabric store, out to lunch, Starbuck's, the public library. I even had my hair cut and "enhanced" which also lifted my spirits since things were getting pretty scary in that department.

I am light years better since the surgery, but I am surprised to find that I am still recovering. I have no stamina and there is still occasional pain. I would be worried about this, but my doctor told me that as the nerves heal, you feel small twinges of pain and that it is actually a good sign.
I guess they give you six whole weeks for a reason. If I were 100%, there are at least a dozen projects around the house and garden that I would dive into, but I lack the strength. I guess that makes the perfect excuse to be lazy.

I have finished a bullseye quilt done from a fabric swap (and started about four years ago!) and am working on a log cabin. Not much to report in the artistic department, although I have done a little sketching here and there. Hopefully, now that I have cut way back on meds and am sleeping less I can spend more time being creative.

With Gratitude

Hi everybody, I'm back :) I can't believe it's been a week today since the surgery, it seems like ages. Everything went very well, and I thank you all again for your positive thoughts and prayers. The cancer was confirmed as being in an early stage, and radiation will not be necessary (yea!) I have a row of gleaming staples running from navel to groin, but everything is healing as it should. When you have a health issue, it is amazing how your world shrinks to the management of tiny things. Becoming so helpless is very humbling, and I can only be grateful for the excellent care I have received.

My Easter weekend was very quiet as I was newly home from the hospital, but I did have several visitors and received some very nice get well wishes. Jen sent me a lovely postcard in soothing colors and Marlene sent me an exciting little packet of embellishments. I have also received many emails and good wishes, and I am overwhelmed and grateful.

In our living room, which is quiet and centrally located, there is a lovely window bed which is the perfect spot for rest and recovery. It is actually a huge window seat which we have outfitted with an extra long twin mattress and it has served us well over the years as an extra sleeping niche for guests. It is flanked on two sides by ceiling height book cases, and so it makes the perfect reading and napping nook. Proximity to the window gives a lovely view of the sky and the neighbor's lush avocado grove. From that spot I can also see the huge picture window across the front of the house. The trees we planted on the half acre slope in front give privacy and a beautiful green view. Right now we have plum, apple, orange and cherry trees all in fragrent bloom.

I am feeling a little stronger every day, and I am happy and grateful to be home.

My next art quilt?

It has been a busy weekend. My surgery is not until this afternoon, so I will go off to the hospital around 11 am. I expect to be in about 4 or 5 days, and I doubt I will have any time with the computer. This weekend I spent some fun time with family and did lots of errands. By late Sunday afternoon I was filled with nervous energy that had me doing yard work and cleaning the house like a madwoman. At one point Jerry looked at Andy (our son) and said "Your mother is possessed". Relaxation tapes just weren't doing the trick anymore.

I also spent a little time with the sketchbook and have three possibilities for projects when I get home. I am hoping that I will feel well enough during my recovery to spend a lot of time creating. I like these three, so at least one of them should make a jumping off point for my next art quilt.

From Gerrie, A Quilt For Healing

Gerrie has been kind enough to loan me her quiltlet for inspiration and healing. It was made for her when she was facing the challenge of breast cancer last year. When I unwrapped it, I just sat down and cried for a minute, overwhelmed by the love and strength of its message. I'm not sure I have the words to say how much this means to me. Thank you Gerrie from the bottom of my heart.

Wow, it has been a busy week. Still more medical stuff and endless paperwork to prepare for absence from work. I rather naively thought a few days back that it was going to be simple. Everything is fine, there's just a lot more bureaucratic nonsense than I expected. I had to run around town, file this, file that. I'm off to work shortly, my last working day for six weeks.

My neice and her family are in town for two weeks and there will be a big family gathering this weekend. It will be great to be with everyone and fun to see the youngest family members. I can't think of a better way to spend my last day before surgery, which will be Monday, 1pm Pacific time. Thanks for all your prayers and positive energy for healing.

Thank you Shirley

What a lovely treat arrived in the mail! A pretty card, terrific postcard and hand dyed "striped" fabric from Shirley in New Zealand. These are all so special. Thank you so much!

Today was a fun lunch and sewing day with quilting friends, always one of my favorite things to do. The sun was shining and it was just a beautiful day. Carla made a wonderful chicken pasta salad and green salad, along with freshly baked herb bread. To top it off, there were some very good homemade cookies for dessert. Yum! We spent the afternoon relaxing and chatting and generally forgetting about anything else we had to take care of. When I got home tonight, Jerry was just in the process of heating some leftovers for dinner, so with the addition of a nice salad we were good to go. All in all, a very fine and relaxing day.

Getting Ready

Hi everybody, I'm still here. It's amazing how many things there are to do when you are preparing to "drop out" of your life for a while. Everything is moving ahead as it should, medical pre-op tests are done, work and home are organized. I feel like I have turned a significant corner mentally and emotionally and I completely credit the power of prayer and positive energy. Thank you all.

I have been "Preparing for Surgery with Mind Body Techniques". It is a structured way to achieve a state of calm preparedness and enlist your mind's power to assist in your own healing. It's almost uncanny, but once I reached this point of absolute calm, everything fell into place as if by magic. I unexpectedly have the full assistance of a marvellous and talented co-worker who will take care of my department and my students in my absence. My doctors are great, my insurance is fantastic, and thanks to disability and my excellent benefits I will lose very little income. My house is clean, my pantry is stocked, and all that is left to do is to pick up a few items for my hospital stay. Twelve more days 'til surgery. I have lots of fun things planned to fill my time until then, and some of them even relate to art and quilts :) I promise next time to post something at least a little bit related to these two topics.

March Journal Quilt

This is a small piece from my "cityscape" series. It is made of hand-dyed and hand-painted fabrics, fused directly to the batting a la Melody Johnson, and free motion machine quilted. I had so many ideas for a journal quilt this month that I found it hard to choose, so I ended up finishing something started months ago. I think April will be the month I address what is really going on in my life through art. In the meantime, here is a small colorful exercise.

My consult with my surgeon went well and I think I like him. He is direct and has a sense of humor, both qualities I appreciate. Jerry went with me for moral support and to get himself up to speed on what will occur. I will have a total hysterectomy, meaning that they will remove both ovaries and the uterus. While they are in there, they will be looking to determine the cancer's progression, and if they think it is necessary, they will remove some lymph nodes also. (Let us hope we don't have to go there.) My incision will be a vertical one across the abdomen, no short cut methods I'm afraid. That means 4 or 5 days in the hospital and 5 or 6 weeks at home afterwards. This seems like an awfully long time, so I hope I will get well faster than that.
In the meantime they have started me on medication to lower my blood pressure before surgery, and there will be a couple more medical appointments as well. I am feeling a bit swallowed up in the machinery of medicine (there's another art quilt theme!)

I appreciate the comments on the small quilts. ( I think some of you didn't recognize them as my January and February journal quilts. ) When we post these nice large close-up views of our small works, they look so different than when viewed from a distance. Just a quick word about the other quilts I shared. The reason my friends made identical quilts in different fabrics is so that they can be used as samples for our friend Pam Tobias' Quilt In A Bag quilt kit business. They are not art quilters, but they all do make beautiful traditional quilts, usually with much more variety.

Today I am off to a workshop entitled "Protecting Library Collections, Emergency Preparedness, Response & Recovery". Do I lead an exciting life or what?

Thank you all for your comments and kind support. They mean the world. I hope to spend some time catching up with everyone this coming weekend.

Update, sort of

We have another rainy day in Southern California, and while I am starting to feel a bit waterlogged, it is a good thing. Although it hardly seems possible, I heard on the news that we are still 6" below our normal rainfall for the year. If you are not familiar with our So Cal climate, just let me say that hail and snow are extremely unusual here. I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen it in the past 30 years. That's why we get so excited about it, and also why no one knows how to drive in it. Today it is just rain, and hopefully we will get a glimmer of sun by this afternoon. There are new flowers out and I'd like to get some pictures.

Today I am not at work because I have a consultation with my surgeon and some other medical lab stuff. I have had plenty of time to prepare my questions and Jerry will be with me. I have been trying to get things organized at work, but I think I will just have to realize that I cannot make arrangements for every possibility. (Compulsive, who me?) Things will probably go along just fine without me, just not exactly as I would like them to. There will still be an unkown number of working days before surgery since I won't have an exact date until the OR calls to schedule.

The nice pictures are from my last small quilt group gathering. I swear I think I had to try ten times to get them posted with Blogger. I have been working on making a couple of scrap quilts (to use, not art). Funny how that works, I don't think I have any fewer scraps than I did before! They just seem to multiply. I also have some postcard photos to share, so hopefully I can get them posted later.

Not Really Spring

Well, here's what I get for saying it was Spring. We have had rain, hail, snow (snow!) and all manner of chilly and inclement weather. Now, to tell the truth, the snow didn't really stick for long at our elevation, but some of the mountain areas are still digging out.

Saturday's weather was particularly bad, but that didn't stop me from accompanying my quilting buddies to 10 quilt shops. We were involved in a "Cruisin' Quilter's Run", a local promotion where all the quilt shops get together to offer prizes and incentives. Sort of a Quilter's Road Trip. Some of the girls had been to all 20 shops, and I think I made it to about 15 all together. We are particularly lucky here to have so many shops to choose from, and it was fun to discover new ones. I also realized that I am pretty happy with the five that are a short drive from my house.

It's all kind of a blur now, but we did a lot of talking , eating, laughing and shopping. This was a real marathon, something like 14 hours worth. Lots of calls from plaintive husbands wondering about dinner . This cracked me up. I can't imagine being married to a man who can't manage to feed himself.

I got some cheerful looking "retro" fabric to make spring pillows and a throw, maybe a table runner. I chose red, blue, yellow and white, so anything I make will look nice on in to summer. I found one or two "artsy" fabric fat quarters to add to the stash as well. My well meaning friends do make me laugh, though. They are sure I will love any fabric they find that looks well, weird, to them. Sometimes they are right.

Sunday was also a fun gathering of more sewing friends for lunch and an afternoon of stitching. I don't usually have non-family things planned on both weekend days, but I have to say it was a lot of fun. My friend Gayle served a marvellous Mexican corn chowder and a chicken salad, accompanied by hot rolls. Yum! I am awaiting the recipe. Soup or chowder is just the thing for weather like this. I will share the recipe when I get it.

A couple of you have emailed kindly inquiring about my health, and nothing has changed. I had thought everything would move a lot faster, but I will have my next consult on March 21st and surgery presumably scheduled shortly thereafter. My doctor said not to worry, my kind of cancer is SLOW growing. While I am HAPPY that it is a less scary kind, it is still hard to wait. I am plenty busy and have lots of things to distract me, it's not like I'm sitting around twiddling my thumbs, but still...I will be glad when the surgery is finished. Meanwhile, this Californian is wishing it were a little warmer.

Happy Birthday!

Today is Jerry's 54th birthday. We have been married almost 30 years now. Let me tell you just a few things about him that I love. He wakes up in the morning with a song (literally). His first impulse is kindness. Love, for him, means that he can't do enough for you. He is a really marvellous cook. He does laundry. He is a terrific and understanding dad. He has a great sense of fun, adventure, and zest for life. He is my partner, my best friend, and the steady light in my life. I am blessed.
Happy Birthday, Jerry.

An Early Morning Ramble

This is part of our front yard. Yes, we have a gravel road to nowhere down the middle of it.
The guy who drives in to fill up the propane tank likes it. People park on it if we have a big family party, so I guess that's useful. The big tree in the middle is still bare but there are buds on it.

This is an elephant ear palm. It is growing next to the deck and we have to whack it back all the time.

I love this next bush, although I always forget the name of it.

Ok, I didn't really go that far, just around our little acre. It rained yesterday, so the air was unbelievably fresh and crisp. My dogs loved it and you could just see how happy they were.
I think it's Spring.

Georgia on my mind

Ok that was way too easy. Of course it was Georgia O'Keefe. About the calendar, I meant that I wanted to choose the pieces you don't usually SEE on calendars, not that there weren't any. Here are a few more postcards.

Postcards

Here are a few of the postcards I made and sent. I didn't make them all the same, but I did have some repeats. The assignment was to pick a favorite artist and make something in that style. It was a lot of fun. I deliberately picked some works that you don't see on the calendars all the time. Can you guess which artist was the inspiration?

Donate Books

I saw this on the Book Arts list and wanted to pass it on.

Seeking Book Donations
The New Orleans Public Library
(New Orleans LA)

The New Orleans Public Library is asking for any and all hardcover and
paperback books for people of all ages in an effort to restock the shelves
after Katrina. The staff will assess which titles will be designated for
its collections. The rest will be distributed to destitute families or sold
for library fundraising. Please send your books to:
Rica A. Trigs, Public Relations
New Orleans Public Library
219 Loyola Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70112

If you tell the post office that they are for the library in New Orleans,
they will give you the library rate which is slightly less than the book
rate.