This is a closeup of a beautiful fall quilt that will be a sample for a Quilt In a Bag . My friend Pam Tobias has a business selling quilt kits at shows and from her web site. She was inspired to create her business after surviving breast cancer. Every quilt is dedicated to someone who has had breast cancer, and she donates $10 from every kit to the Susan G. Koman foundation.
There will be a 5K walk/run in October, and somehow I agreed to be part of the team. I have been exercising every day, so I hope that when October rolls around I can make it! (I believe I have mentioned that I am not in the greatest of shape). I can only hope I don't embarrass myself. Oh well, if I do, at least it's for a very good cause.

Yesterday was as much fun as I hoped it would be. We sewed and chatted and generally enjoyed each other's company. We were very happy to see our friend Diane join us. Frankly, I was astonished that she looked as good as she did and that she stayed nearly all day with us. Only a few weeks ago she was literally at death's door following a surgery gone bad. Well, in the interim we have been busy making her a comfort quilt, and we were happy to be able to give it to her yesterday.

On the artful front, I have been busy in the studio, but I am still not going to share until I am farther along with the piece. My workroom looks like a cyclone ran through it. So, no pictures of that either.

A Peaceful Interlude

Thriving pond plants

A bit of remaining garden color.  

Although there is nothing peaceful about the world at large, my little corner of it is very, very quiet right now. Our son moved out (again) on Friday, taking with him all the noise and traffic of his friends and all their comings and goings. Not to mention loud music, "jamming" in the garage, guitar and drum practice, large groups of young people sitting around in the kitchen or out in the breezeway. I had forgotten how very quiet and peaceful it is without him here. Consider also that my husband is away for a few days on a trip, and voila! no one here but me and my dogs. I may feel differently in a few days, but for now being alone is heaven.

I sat out on the deck Friday night in the cooling late afternoon, listening to the birds and watching the light change until sunset. I thought I would share a few pictures of some of the remaining color in the yard. Thankfully, it has started to cool and the humidity index has dropped, but the last couple of weeks have been so hot that most of the flowers are looking a little blasted. All the trees are thriving, though. I don't know if I mentioned that we have planted over 30 in the last couple of years. I'll spare you the details of the "tree story" just now, but we had our own little set of adventures choosing and planting them.

Saturday I stayed in my pajamas until late afternoon, when a friend called and asked if I wanted to come fabric shopping (I did). I had wandered back to the studio, cup of coffee in hand, and started a new project. After blissfully working away for five or six hours, I had just about decided I needed a break when my friend called. Talk about good timing! Fabric browsing was fun and carefree, and I really bought very little except for a few pieces of net and organza to be filed away in the stash. It was great not to have a schedule.

Today will be another fun day spent sewing with friends. Yesterday's project will stay in the studio, since today I will be working on something more traditional. To tell the truth, more visiting, eating and laughing are more likely to take place than sewing, at least for me. And that's ok. Tonight I may get back into the studio, or I may not. By next Tuesday, I may be bored and lonely, but today it feels peaceful, and I am content.

The Softer Side of Quilting

This quilt was made a couple of years ago as a goodbye present for my work friend Jackie. After quilting it, I became unhappy with the way it turned out, so I grabbed my scissors and chopped it up. After "flipping" some of the pieces and stitching them back together, I added a little applique in the center. Jackie loves her quilt, and she uses it to curl up under when she reads.











New babies mean new quilts...I made this one for my great neice (that makes me sound frightfully old, doesn't it?). It is bright and fun and backed with very soft flannel. It is made to take a beating, and from what I understand, it does.












This quilt was very, very easy and fast and is made with some lovely fall colors and a healthy dash of purple. Something about the color combo makes me really happy. My SIL Barb and my neice Colleen came over and helped me make this one, and we all presented it as our gift to our other SIL Jane on her 60th birthday. It adds a splash of color to the back of her couch every fall season.

I think of these types of quilts as being the "softer side of quilting". Made to give comfort and warmth, they are a very special gift for people I love.
They are completely gratifying to make in a way that is utterly different from my art quilts, and I will probably always make them.

Fun, and Sometimes Strange

I have been lazy about getting pictures, so instead I am offering up this link. I have been having a great time reading "not martha" and looking at her wonderful photos and links on "how to make stuff." For not being Martha, she certainly gives a lot of fun and interesting information!

Check out the "The Renegade Craft Fair" as well. Yes, yes, I know we are "artists" here, but some of the vendors websites are pretty good. I am always a sucker for handmade items, be they "art" or "craft".

Another creative site to check out is "Fast Fiction". The premise is, people email this blogger an illustration or photo and he does a very short and imaginative story to go with it. Fun, and sometimes strange.

Weekend Walking

This weekend I decided to vary my "exercise" and go somewhere to walk. I am getting bored, bored, bored with my eliptical machine, despite the fact that it is arranged to give me a good view of the television. Perhaps I am just getting bored, bored, bored of TV in general. I am going to try to make exercise more fun, otherwise I will be back on the couch curled up with a good book before you know it.

Sadly, I forgot the digital camera, so you will have to wait until the next trip to get pictures. I thought about driving down to the beach but wimped out when I considered the traffic. Instead, I visited Lake Murray, a popular spot for walking, rollerblading, and biking located in beautiful suburban La Mesa. I enjoyed watching the people, dogs, fishermen, and hundreds of ducks. The geese were a little intimidating, so I gave them plenty of room. They were a rowdy, noisy bunch, obviously fun loving but a little cross at having so much company.

The sunlight glinting off the water was lovely, and the air was fresh. I noticed all kinds of desert wild flowers and a large variety of eucalyptus trees. I kept my eyes open to avoid rattlesnakes (they have warning signs up), but I didn't see any. For communing with nature, fewer people would have been better, but for safety it was just right. Did I mention that it was HOT? I arrived early, but the sun was already out in full force.

Later in the afternoon, I actually went BACK to the lake for another walk, this time with Jerry. It was nice to have company for the second walk, and the late afternoon was much cooler. Afterwards, for supper we grilled some food and had a nice salad with fresh garden tomatoes.

Happy Friday!

Friday at Last! It has been a mixed week, some happiness at seeing old friends, some sadness at seeing other friends move, some good time spent working at what I do for myself, and a huge adjustment to the "back to work schedule." I expect to have a little quiet time this weekend, and I am really looking forward to it. There will be housework and laundry, of course, but if in the right mood I can knock that out in a couple of hours.

Thursday nights have become a favorite of mine since we started making it the unofficial "Starbucks" night. However many quilting friends who can make it meet there, and we have coffee (or green tea or whatever) and just relax and talk for a couple of hours. Once in a while there is some sharing (of quilting) but more importantly, there is lots of laughter. I have had the blues lately off and on, but seeing my friends helps me remember to count my blessings. God bless girlfriends, they really keep you sane!

Back at Work

Well, I am back at work, and needless to say, I am exhausted. Let's just say that a month off is long enough to really get used to it! I am still adjusting to getting up at 5am again, and I miss those 8 hours a night plus the odd nap. I should hit my stride again by next week. I think the best part about retirement will be not worrying about gettting enough sleep, and if I have insomnia I can just get up, work in the studio, and take a nap the next day.

I spent a little time on Monday backing and quilting the "Feathered Forest". I am still working on it, but so far I'm happy with it. Thanks very much to those of you who left comments! It's always great to know somebody's reading. Mrs. Mel asked if it was decorator fabric, and no it isn't, it actually came from a thrift store sun dress with a dropped waist and a full skirt. Very ugly fashion wise, but plenty of fabric to salvage. Nikki asked about process. I pieced the back- ground from some hand-dyed and commercial fabric. I cut out the "feather leaves" and other shapes and fused them. I did not make a preliminary sketch, just played around working "intuitively" until I was pleased with the composition. I know it looks like I might have done something interesting with paint to the fabric, but it was already like that.

Tonight I started fooling around making some "thread sketches" for A Simple Still Life. I like using the thread to sketch. I started with a batting sandwich made with PFD fabric because I will probably paint it AFTER most of the thread work is done. I will take more pictures to show process, and IF it doesn't end up a great mess, I'll share.

And now for something completely different...

Feathered Forest
Pieced and fused, made from hand-dyed, commercial and RECYCLED fabric.

Thanks Gerrie and Sonji for your comments on the sea turtles quilt. I am still working on it and will probably subject you all to more photos of it down the line. Hope you dedicated artists (ahem) are not offended at being subjected to something whimsical. Note my avoidance of the word "cute". I do that so I can pretend to take myself seriously.

Now for something completely different. On Friday I spent the day with a quilting friend who is leaning towards the "art" side (ok I am dragging her over, but she is willing). She spends most of her time doing machine quilting for other people since that is her business, but the few quilts she has time to make are bright and fun, and she has a great eye for color. Her husband and daughter are both artists and I love the creative style of their home. She is used to thinking of her other family members as artists, but not herself.

What I really want to tell you about is our fun foray into the thrift stores in search of recyclable fabric for art quilts. I am delighted to report that the mission was successful: several real silk blouses, something very shiny with sequins, a little velvet, and a fabulous print cotton, all for a few bucks. The fabulous cotton print from the THRIFT store led me to spend several hours yesterday making the above. I had a blast. This might or might not be a finished piece.

Close view 

Close view 

Work In Progress

Sea Turtles progressing
I added fish, some paint to try to improve the contrast, small orange triangles in the right border...I have another large orange triangle border for the bottom...maybe. I might ditch the large triangle borders altogether, although it means unsewing. Brilliant multi color print for outer border. I love the fabric so much I think I have to use it. Beads for the back of the turtle shells if I ever get that far.

I know how you all like pictures, so here is the sea turtle quilt in progress. I am adding more borders, fish, and seaweed....
No quilting yet, just a few couched threads....

Sea Turtles

Just Dropping In

Hello friends. I have been meaning to post, but was trying to hold out until I had something great to show you. Um, that hasn't happened yet. I have spent a lot of my remaining vacation time working on "domestic goddess" stuff (tongue firmly in cheek). Cleaning, organizing, browsing cookbooks and meal planning, even fiddling with decorating. The meal planning thing is to keep us interested and motivated to eat in a healthy way and lose weight. I have no shortage of cookbooks here, have I mentioned that I am a cookbook addict? Along with every other kind of book I seem to collect , there is a nice library of cookbooks. It makes no difference at all that I could never in my lifetime prepare all of these recipes, nor does it matter that I am often too lazy to cook unless I can figure out the shortcut. Could be we have grilled chicken and salad (yet again....)

I have started a new quilt about sea turtles, and I am enjoying working on it. It is whimsical and bright, but to my mind not terribly original. I will finish it though, and yes, eventually there will be pictures. I am also working on a traditional red and white quilt that will be a gift. Otherwise, the last week of my vacation is slipping though my fingers like sand. Where does the time go?

Hawaiian Hike

We took a very long drive around the big island, stopping to do some small hiking trails. This is one of them.


The pictures here were taken during our "hike". I am not in as good a shape as I could be, and it was hot and humid. The scenery was worth the effort, though.

The happy couple on vacation 

A few vacation pictures

The Kona Coast on the big island.















From the plane, approaching the big island.



More pictures from the plane as we traveled from Oahu to the big island.






These were taken while we were still in Oahu.














Here is how Jerry spent a lot of time. We must have hours of film for him to edit.

Back home from Hawaii

The Beach in Waikiki looks a lot like San Diego, until you look over and see Diamond Head and the skyscraper hotels that come right down to the water. That, and the water is very warm.

We have been home for a couple of days and I've been immersed in post vacation tasks and catching up with things on the home front. Since I know you all love eye candy, I'll post a few pictures bit by bit.

In Hawaii

Here we are in lovely Waikiki, getting ready to board a bus to the airport and go to the big island of Hawaii. So far, we have done lots of fun and touritsty things...walking on the beach, wading in the ocean, eating wonderful food, drinking mai-tais, visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center, and shopping. I found a fun fabric shop in downtown Honolulu, but it was kind of an adventure to get there. Jerry likes to do lots of "urban hiking", ie explore your environment on foot, walking through neighborhoods etc. Let's just say that I have not hiked so many hills since San Francisco...
Thank goodness for 45 sun block! After two days in the sun I am only slightly pink, and not burned to a crisp. So far, it has been a wonderful vacation!
On the Big Island, we plan to do some snorkeling and more exploring. I understand that where we are going is a bit less urban than Waikiki, which will be OK with me. This is not even peak season, and every place we go is crowded!

The neatest thing about the beaches here is that the water is so WARM. In San Diego, we have absolutely wonderful beaches, but let's just say the water is a little brisk! I am typing here on an internet machine in the lobby of our hotel (imagine!) that you feed money into. I can't figure out how to put up pictures or links by opening up multiple internet ports, and I don't think I can download any pictures here either. So, more to come in a few days......