Lovely Weather!

In the heat of the summer (coming soon, without a doubt!) or the cold of winter, I think of spring here in Maryland and endure. The weather yesterday and today has been the sort for which I live and breathe -- 70's, flowers everywhere, puffy clouds and sunshine. I saw iris leaves well above ground yesterday, there will be blooms soon. And I discovered that one of the neighbors across Mellor Ave from the shop's back door has a dark purple lilac the like of which I have never seen before -- deep, royal purple.

Yeterday was a busy day at the shop -- two first-time-sewing (second class session) Baltimore Album classes, one morning, one evening. Lots of trembles and fits and excitement. :) I brought in the kit Patty bought in Lancaster at the quilt show to start working on (and worked some more on it, today). I promised her that I would make it if she bought it.

Patty loves butterfly images, which was the first thing that caught the eye about this kit, hanging in the International Fabrics booth:

The design is by Sylvia Pippen who, along with her mother Kitty, has written two very popular books on using Japanese fabrics and designs for quilts. I did not know (prior to this sighting) that she did patterns or kits, so this was an additional 'feather' to note in my mind about her as a quilter. This piece combines sashiko stitchery (Japanese country quilting) with applique. I love both, so the making of this really was attractive to me.

I started working on the stitching while we were still at Lancaster, but I decided when I picked it up again to do the applique preparation first. Here are two of the six butterfly wing sets basted to be sewn down:

Here is my working space from this afternoon (notice that I am being incredibly organized with this project -- see the little ziplock plastic bags to keep each butterfly in?:):

We got a new type of needle in stock yesterday from John James (England) -- apparently the needles ae coated with something permanent that makes their surface slippery so it slides through the fabric more easily. The fabrics that were included in this kit for the butterfly wings are hand marbled (they _look_ like the work of Marjorie Beavis). I think either the paint or maybe some leftover size in the fabrics makes the surface harder to penetrate -- I was basting with a St. Thomas Sons sharp (size 10), my usual daily needle, but kept piercing my pushing finger as often as the fabric The new needle slid through like butter. ;)

If you are an applique lover, you will notice that my method here (my very favorite one) is 'freezer paper on the back, hand basted' methodology. I learned to do needleturn applique originally, and I did lots of it, but I really like the freezer paper templates -- gives me a nice, firm edge to turn the seams over. I have tried liquid starch and glue stick basting the edges under ... but thread basting is still my favorite. It isn't fast (though it isn't nearly as slow as people think it will be), but it produces a prepared shape that is smooth and effortless to applique. :)

One of the reasons I started this blog was to leave some kind of record of my daily life ... which is rich in detail but quickly forgotten by my over burdened memory. Making these butterflies definitely rates as a pleasurable daily activity! Beautiful fabric, beautiful weather, and enough leisure to enjoy them both -- life is good.

Misty

The past three days have been text-book case beautiful spring weather. This morning when I got up, it was raining. Again, textbook gentle spring rain. Truly lovely (and I can tell you for sure that it is a _rare_ rainy day that I find attractive:).

My little dog, Foxy, is out of his anti-flea medicine so I drove to West Friendship to his vet to get more. It's about a thirty minute drive through mostly country scenery. The farther west I got, the more the drizzle became fog. The trip was almost magical -- trees, the road, cars with lights twinkling like candles far away, and thick foggy mist. Luckily everyone was taking it easy and not trying to hot-dog their way down the road!

I ran errands, as long as I was out, and picked up a sheet of 140 pound watercolor paper and a big round mailing tube to prepare for the next round robin I am participating in -- Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine (www.clothpaperscissors.com) had an article in the most recent issue: Artists Make Their Mark: a mixed-media round robin by PATRICIA BOLTON -- an online group of paper artists is going to try to do this style of rr for ourselves. My paper is soaking in the bathtub right now (to stretch it) and I am contemplating how to decorate this entirely, boring, white mailing tube to carry my artwork around the country for several months. (more news in anther issue about all this:)

While the sun was shining on Thursday morning, as I stepped out my front door to go to the store for the day, I happened to glace up at the leaves of our bloodleaf Japanese maple -- the sunlight streaming through was so beautiful, I took photos:

I am planning to spend the rest of today picking up my bedroom, hanging the clean clothes my husband washed yesterday, and working on a Mother's Day gift for my Mom. Maybe my son and I will watch one of the dvd's we have from Netflix (I think they are all anime). :)

I promised a while back to share some more of the photos I took while I was in Ocean City with FiberLectic in March, so here are some to enjoy:

Oh, I almost forgot. On Thursday evening, during my sewing with Barbara treat time, I finally finished the little bolshoi kit from Benartex. I really like what I've done with it -- I made it into a rectangular shape and 'biggered' it into a large lap quilt size. Here it is, hanging on the wall at the store:

More Shoe House Info

I just found out more about the Shoe House and its history here: http://www.jarrettsville.org/family/shoehouse.htm

Here is a great photo of the house from York county info pages:

How wonderful! :)

Glorious!

Today was a beautiful day, weather-wise! Mid-70's, balmy air, many pretty flowers. :) Of course, it was fairly quiet at the store. I spent an hour or two making the work schedule up for May -- made more difficult than usual by the fact that one of our staff members has retired and another is working reduced hours.

Libbie and Patty set out to research some missing invoices/packing slips that Checker claims they never billed us for (but we were supposed to have received the inventory). What a mess! Patty got frustrated with Skip's overflowing file cabinet and started sorting out last year's paperwork to pack away (I talked to Ricka, our accountant, and found out that corporations have to keep three years of complete records and annual summaries forever). They were working SO hard (and succeeding) ... and I already owed Barbara and Alice ice cream (for helping me move the very, very heavy front 'new' fabric stand) ... so, halfway through the afternoon I went out to Baskin Robbins (on Frederick Road) for ice cream.

I haven't had REAL ice cream for a couple of years. What a treat! :)

I decided to wait until Skip can help me to hang the new quilt top I pieced (Big Bolshoi?:) -- he's better at ladder work than I am!

I realized, around four o'clock, that I had not yet mailed the Quilters Paradise pattern packages to Rose Hahn -- she is taking them with her to the quilt show at Paducah (next week) to sell. Her quilt is on display at the show and she is vending her patterns, etc. So, I called her to find out that she is planning to leave for the show this Sunday. Not enough time to mail the stuff, so I took an extremely pleasant drive out to Frederick (about an hour) to take them to Rose. Such beautiful weather, even the rush hour traffic could not dim my enthusiasm.

I went out Frederick Road (RT 144) to west Rt 40, then onto Interstate 70 to Frederick. I saw a number of beautiful flowering things -- the first azalea I've seen in flower this season, pink dogwood (pale and darker) and a redbud:

I saw wisteria blooming along the roadside this morning as I was going through Ellicott City, but there was no place to pull over or even to hesitate for picture taking. Maybe I'll find some elsewhere. Lilacs should be flowering but I haven't seen any, yet (I'll have to go visit my friend, Sherry -- she has beautiful lilacs growing right under her kitchen window:).

Hard to be unhappy in such beautiful weather -- today would have been my parent's 55th wedding anniversary -- I'm thinking of my Mom, on her first wedding anniversary after my Dad's death in January. Sad, sad ... love you, Mom!

PS I do apologize for the somewhat blurry photos -- hard to take a pic from any distance without moving the camera. I'm getting shakier as I get older. :P

Forgetful

No photos today, alas -- I left my camera at the store. My mother used to say to me (when I was a child and mislaid anything) -- 'You'd lose your head if it wasn't fastened on!' Sadly, it is still the same.

My art quilt group, FiberLectic had our monthly meeting today at the store. I do so love this group of women -- they fill me up with inspiration! We had some very invigorating show and tell, a couple of interesting quilt-y problems to consider (Mary with her photo altered and transfered lilies, Ann with her glorious Green Mystery treescape), and lots and lots of good cheer.

Have I ever mentioned that I am becoming a modestly decent crossword puzzle solver? I have always admired people who were confident enough to do the crosswords in ink -- even with an ample eraser, I never quite felt up to snuff (so to speak:). Still, I am a reasonably well educated and verbally articulate person -- it often bugged me that I wasn't better at crosswords. Now I know that it takes time to learn the 'in' words and definitions, the continually appearing clues/answers that fit into so many puzzle corners. A lot like playing Scrabble (another 'in' technical vocabulary) -- which I am only very so-so at, as well.

I discovered that I could do the crossword online in several places -- I like the Baltimore Sun's website the best for this. So, as an exercise in keeping my brain fit (exercise those gray muscles?:), I took up the evening crossword. In the beginning it took me 20 to 25 minutes to do each puzzle, _with_ lots of 'cheating' by looking up words. Now I do them in about 10 (sometimes less) and only have to look up the definitions having to do with the names of popular actors or authors (I know a lot of strange bits of knowledge but I'm a bit vague on the day-to-day:).

I began designing the coming year's block of the month quilt a month ago -- we are going to do Shoes (I guess I'm in what can be thought of as a whimsical mood?:). The layout has a background of squares -- Alice suggested (and I concurred, on reflection) that the background/setting looks like a crossword. I think I am going to try to work letters and words into it, if I can do so with a subtle touch (subtle touch seems oxymoronic when I'm thinking funk and flash for the content, eh?:). I've been brainstorming song titles with shoes/feet, sayings or quotes with same, names and words for shoes/types of shoes, the word 'shoe' in various languages....haven't decided how to get those words in, exactly, but they want to be there, I guess. :)

I observed some time ago that my altered art work often (almost always) has words or quotes in it ... now I'm trying it out in fabric, I guess. Let's hope I can _remember_ my words to include them!

Sewing Saturday

Saturday was supposed to be my day off ... but I am so caught up in the little quilt I am making, I decided to spend it in the back classroom at the store sewing instead. :) I am working on a quilt made from a kit that Benartex issued called Little Bolshoi:

I made two more borders for the top and bottom edges so it will be rectangular. I'm happy with the way it is working up -- more photos later. :)

I'm getting almost nothing else done right now, though. Too tired in the evening to do houseowork or even to read. I'm reading the history of England from Neolithic to 1650 right now. Not nearly enough detail about the ancient periods for my taste. All the history books I read seem to think that English history starts with Bouidicca. My family being almost exclusively Celtic, I expect my ancestors were on her side of the fight.

Today is beautiful and sunny -- the Chinese cherry trees are blooming now, too, so our courtyard is lovely with tulips, daffodils, cherry, dogwood, hyacinth, many lovely flowers. Ah, Spring! :)

Catching Up!

It has been longer than I thought since last I posted here! Life just flows over me sometimes ... and I am barely able to float and bob, never mind sink a line. :)

I managed to almost finish the little Butterfly Quilt. Here are some photos:

Spring time always makes me want to shake everything up -- I get tired of seeing all the winter things. :P Generally antsy, I guess. I started (and finished!) two new samples for the store -- here is a really cool new tote pattern (Summer Tote by Lazy Girl) made up in three great (also new) batik prints:

I like all the inside pockets, too:

I also made a pretty little handbag in batiks from another new pattern -- I liked the way it looked (has a zippered pocket on the back for change and a folding wallet attached to the front for credit cards) and was shaped. There are two sizes in the pattern and I decided to try the larger one -- even so, this is a _small_ bag! I carried it all around Lancaster quilt show (Quilters Heritage Celebration -- more about this in a minute) and managed to keep my digital camera, my telephone and my keys inside the body of the purse. 'Course, with money in the zippered pocket and cc's in the wallet, not much need for more at the show. Daily life requires a few more items for me, though (just in case, you know -- calendar, address book, assorted eye drops and hand lotions, etc). I think I am going to send this one to my beloved daughter (she travels pretty light!:) and make another one for a sample. I made this one with soft fleece interlining and I think a stiffer fusible might give better long term wear (we'll see:).

I managed to 'clone' myself just fine for the two-classes-in-one-day trick. At least, all my students seemed happy. :)

QHC in Lancaster, PA is a big deal for me every year (usually in April). I've attended every show since 1989 and have been staying the weekend with my dear friend, Patty, for many years (I've lost count of how many:). I enjoy the drive north (up I83 and then East on PA 30) -- it is usually becoming spring by the show date and the drive is mostly country farmland. Every year we pass the Shoe House and this year I managed to take a photo (on the way home):

I don't know anything about this house's history (apparently it was featured recently on the Amazing Race). It sits at the top of a hill just to the west of an overpass on PA30 and is picturesque. :) There is something charming and very American about this house - it is on my personal list of Landmarks.

All my sales team except Libbie went off to the show on Thursday, so Patty and I stayed and helped Libbie (wo)man the store (even though we had planned to go the show that day, too). The evening crew (Jackie and Alice) got in around 5 and then Skip at 6 (he was coming from work, poor man, nothing so much fun as a quilting Day Out:). By the time Patty and I got on the road, it was definitely getting dark (that's why no photo of the Shoe House on the way to Lancaster:). We have been staying at the Country Inn Suites hotel on Rt30 in Lancaster for a couple of years (really like the place:) and managed to check in to our room around 8 pm on Thursday. Friday was our only day to 'do' the show, so I was exhausted by the evening. :)

I thought the quilts shown this year were excellent in quality, for the most part. Some truly beautiful hand quilting and an amazing amount of high quality beading, even on some 'traditional' quilts. Great prize winners. I only managed to take photos of the small quilts in the Lampeter Hall because there was such a big crowd in the Tennis Barn where the large quilts are hung (also was getting truly tired by the time we got there). There was a lot of turnover and several changes in vendors at the show this year (I found out when I got home that this was also the weekend of the new IQA show in Chicago). I did not buy much this year -- a pretty periwinkle pigment dyed sweatshirt and some Fiesta colored ribbons to embellish it from Ribbonsmyth ... a repeat of cream on black Geisha faces from Quilt-N-Stuff (was great to see Madeline!:) ... and a set of Setascrib markers from Mickie Lawler of Skydyes.

Oh, PS, I got to see Floris's completed little quilts that she worked on during our retreat in OC recently -- based on the styrofoam meat tray, remember? :)

Patty and I took a two day painting class with Mickie Lawler and had a BALL! Mickie is a funny, talented artist and was a great teacher. I took both cotton and silk pfd (prepared for dyeing) yardage to paint. I've done a fair bit of painting on cotton so I decided to use the silk first ... painted seven yards of China Silk (two different weights) in two days, cut into about fat quarter sized pieces. :) Glorious, glorious fun! I have done quite a bit of dyeing and painting over the years -- I enjoy surface design and playing with textile art. :) I prefer painting to dyeing, mostly because you have _slightly_ more control over the outcome. Also because it involves painting -- years ago, at QSDS (quilt surface design symposium) I discovered that I truly enjoy gestural movement activities -- knitting, painting, machine quilting... playing with color and paint, messing about and making beautiful fabrics -- doesn't get much better in life!

I ironed (to heat set) my pieces at the store yesterday but haven't taken any photos -- will share them slowly over time (there are a lot of them:). Patty had a great time in the class, too, and made some gorgeous bits -- Mickie is very supportive and encourages everyone to relax and enjoy the process. She taught me quite a bit about mixing colors (including that you have to work to develop your 'eye' for this), just during the lecture-demo sections of the class. She can teach everything she knows about fabric painting and still not 'give away the store' as far as her fabric selling business -- 'cause you are buying her artistic talent with the fabric (that no one else can really duplicate). :)

Skip and I are at home today, doing the income taxes. :P What this actually means is that he is doing the number crunching and then bouncing his ideas, problems, decisions off me -- while I do other things on the computer. :) God please never make me have to do this tax stuff on my own!! I'd be off to an accountant in a flash. Skip enjoys the challenge, I think. :P

We got 45 bolts of new Timeless Treasure fabrics into the shop yesterday -- I'll try to write an email newsletter tomorrow. I love this company's fabrics -- beautiful printing, bright colors, great designs. :) I haven't loooked at the order log book for a while -- wonder what else will arrive soon? :)