Quiltcontemplation

Monday, October 29, 2012

Safe from the storm

Spent the night in london at an hotel courtesy of British air. They have given us a reservation for a flighton November 2!!
I am not un happy except that each day we have to travel to the airport to get a voucher for the next nights billet. So after we do that we will go and see what we can see. After what they charged us for the tickets it seems ok that they are paying for our lodgings and meals :)
The kids are all safe and away from long beach. Jen and jay and lucas have put everything up on tables and left the building. Katy and alex do not live near the water. So ...The cats are home but bailey put out food for them and the neighbor has a key to feed them if no one returns to the house in a couple of days.
So. It was not meant to be that we got back today.
Waving from heathrow !!
Xoxo
Martha

Martha

Friday, October 26, 2012

Pic Stitch

Created with Pic Stitch for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

http://www.bigblueclip.com/linkshare/picstitch.html

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Almost finished!!

Pattern by Susan B Anderson, Itty-Bitty Toys

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Thoughts on a train tide.

I am in the train at 7:21 on a Sunday with the other workerbees. Barbara once told me that I had to learn to be a worker among workers and so I am. I may be the only native English speaker in the midst. I make a mental note to brush up on my Spanish. So many things to learn in the world. Never enough time. Mike is relearning German for our trip. I suppose I should do that as well but I do not have a love for the German language. Spanish is more poetic and so much more salient in New York. I choose Spanish. And I know enough German to make a fool of myself.
The conductor is yelling at a guy on the platform to board the train as he is running to get on a car down the platform but this car is the only one with open doors.
He runs back.
You're welcome she says.
Thank you, he replies, out of breath.
Last night a guy gets in the train before it has left penn station and asks for a couple of dollars for his train fare. And no one responded. I wrapped my sweater around my heart and stared out the window at the darkness.
That's it huh? he muttered. That's it? He left the car.
It does not pay to be softhearted in the city. So many hidden dangers. In order to give this guy money I would have to un zip my bag and pull out my wallet and that would leave me exposed. So I chose safety. Today I will keep a buck in my pocket to give a busker. Someone who makes a joyful noise in the train station. Today I chose gratitude. I have graduated from forgiveness to gratitude. It has been a long journey.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Alabama Chanin workshop

Perfect day.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Luke love

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Checking out the interloper.

Wednesday, August 08, 2012

inklingo mojo

My mojo may have returned.

Or at the very least it has been piqued by the wonderful blocks made by Carol in Linda's new Japanese X collection! Carol Skinner has done an awesome job on hers and I just know I have a whole boatload of Kaffe Fassett Fabrics that would love to be used in such a fusion of color and light.
That is my plan for the next hour. I have downloaded the Inklingo collection and will do some printing and add these shapes to my travel kit and thread by thread, block by block, who knows? a quilt may emerge. Please do go look at the links to see pictures. I do not want to lift them from the sites and they are worth the click. Linda's site also has a lots of freebies for beginners and there is a yahoo group as well where we cheer each other on.I am going to begin by printing some combo pages -pages that have several shapes on one page.I can mix and match them and that will give me a good idea of what to do next.

I have two 'go' kits that currently both hold my equilateral triangle shapes that I am using to make hexagons, which will be used in an awesome quilt that is taking the long road-the very. long. road. to completion. But thats ok because it is not a race and I enjoy the process.This shape is available in the Three Inch Sixty Degree Diamond collection. Awesome.
Having a sewing kit packed and ready greatly increases the chance that this may be done. The key is to have everything in the bag, so to speak. Add some thread, a small pair of scissors, and a tiny pin cushion with a couple of needles and you are good to go. I have a couple of (ahem)(maybe a few more) sewing kits that I have made over the years that serve me well. I have made book types, portfolios, and some box types but find that I tend to use a zippered pouch most often.

These birds from a building in NY will be made into am applique block-someday.

So that is my whereabouts, and wherewithals and whatnots. Anybody else recover their mojo lately? Do share your favorite sewing apparatus. I will happily send some fabric to the one that inspires me the most. what kind of fabric? don't worry I probably have something you like. lol.

Saturday, August 04, 2012

I am completely uninspired to begin any new projects so I am toting my equilateral triangle bits to and from work each day and getting in a few threads. It is kind of relaxing and I feel like I am doing something at least.

I have some things on my knitting needles as well and I have lost my startitis there as well. I guess this calls for finishing something. not a bad thing. it happens from time to time. (insert smirk)

I have some applique blocks on my wall and I am avoiding them like all heck but there they stay, haunting me, whislering, 'just one thread'... Part of me wants to just do them on the machine and this part argues with the part that whispers "but you like doing them by hand" and, 'it will take forever...' and they are at a standoff..

perhaps it is just august-that month when

you just want to soak in the summer

and avoid thinking about school starting

in just one short month.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

eyes opened:)

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Dear Lucas,

Lucas Colin Gray Arrigo

Dear Lucas,

Here are today's headlines from the CNN website. I thought I should make a copy for you. I don't quite know what to make of them all: whether you are being born in to a mess of a world or if that is just the paradigm of news reporting. I will leave it to you to decipher.

Today I am thinking about meeting you and making sure your mom is ok. I know she is eager to be up and about and to be able to bring you home. Mom and dad have made you a sweet room and I will make some stuff for it! That is what I think about a lot, about making things. It is more important to me than the news headlines so don't worry too much about them.

Presently you are still in the hospital where you were born and I am told you are beautiful. I know your parents are both very pretty so I know you will be too. And smart and kind. With all of those attributes I am sure you will be ok. I hope to be able to meet you soon and tell you some stories about people I have known-and maybe some cats and dogs too. Also I like to draw birds. perhaps I can show you one day, and then you can draw some too. There have been some very fine artists and musicians in your family as well as many others. I am partial to the more creative types. You have a good dose of that too in your genes. Genes are those squiggly things scientists make up to explain peoples personalities.

I am also partial to cats and I think you will like our cats. I hope you do not have allergies to them. I am sure we can work around it. I think they are looking forward to meeting you.

Soon I will get to see you. I hope you are not too impatient…

love,

your grandmother.

View from Roosevelt Hospital

U.S.

World

Politics

Video

Tech

Business

Opinion

Popular on Facebook

Entertainment

Travel

Living

Health

From our blogs

Sports

Newspulse

HLNtv.com

SI.com

Play CNN Games!

Martha

Monday, July 02, 2012

cloud watching

Jen+ in the pool. Best 200 bucks I ever spent.

Although it is nearly in the nineties today, I finished adding the hardware to this bag and it is a finish!

It is big and heavy and I will put it away for my winter commute when it will be appreciated. I bought it as a kit on our trip to the Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck two years ago, from the wonderful Nora the proprietor of Noni Designs.

The hardware is stunning and she also has a book of exquisite knitted flowers which is on the above linked website. I have made many of her bags and flowers form previously published patterns and they are in a class by themselves. Accessories are mandatory.

Other news finds us fighting the heat with a twelve foot diameter 36 inch high pool which is filling as I write. Mike says he now needs to build a pool house. To which I replied that this was my plan all along.
Jen is now two days past her due date and tomorrow a doctor's visit (which coincides with the full moon)is on the calendar. hmmmm.... maybe splashing about in our little pool will make the little baby 'who shall not be named' want to come out, or maybe some spicy food will be the catalyst? Baby your time is nigh!

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Striped dresses

We had a lovely birthday dinner with almost all of my children. Katy and Jason were unable to be there. I love these zebra striped dresses!

Today is the due date for the baby but it does not look like he is ready to join us. I can't blame him. the heat is brutal. But everyone already knows that. We are assembling a small wading pool in the back yard just to be able to submerge in cool water. If you have ever seen my yard, you know it will be tiny! We will enjoy it anyway.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Bead shopping on 6th ave

Thursday, May 24, 2012

The recent spring cleaning activity has uncovered various and sundry toys.

Also I have enough art supplies, clothes, shoes, books, yarn, and sewing supplies.

for the moment.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

sorting

I tried to kill this sweater by felting it. It is wool and nylon and apparently will not felt. It may warrant another try. I do not hate the sweater but it seemed destined to make a great owl. since it has proven wash worthy, I may have to keep it. Well played, LLBean, well played.

This shirt was a gift from my brother in 1978. I do not actually wear it anymore, but it is not something I can part with. Every so often I come across it during a room purge and fondle it, remembering my younger brother. Then I fold it and put it into a new place until the next time. It is the only thing I have from him. I think I will keep it for a while.

The upcoming weekend is Memorial Day weekend here in the states. A day we put aside to remember our fallen soldiers. For those of us who have lost loved ones who were service members, everyday is Memorial Day.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

I finished the Sky Ladder baby blanket tonight. It still needs to be washed but the knitting is done. Love the soft merino and pattern from Knitspot. This was the first pattern of the club. hmmm which one shall I do next?

Sometimes I feel like I am swamped with projects and I will never finish anything. I keep the list in the side bar to remind me of the things I do finish. If nothing else, I feel a twinge of pride as I add each item. In truth, the list is skimpy if compared with my projects that are in progress. But who is comparing?

Also. I would like to buy another spinning wheel. I cannot even begin to justify it but is it not adorable???? (my thanks to Franklin Habit leading me down this path.)

Saturday, May 19, 2012

what's poppin'

Its nice when the garden just grows and all of the work you have done in the past years comes to flower. Then you get to enjoy it and bask in the color. We have a lot of weeds and some veggies in the raised beds but my favorites are the flowers that bloom year after year. Roses, Allium, Columbine, Dalia, Chives and an unidentified yellow bulb that spreads everywhere. The peonies are close to bursting and the Clematis is next but for now this is what's in the garden.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Buttons have a distinctly utilitarian connotation. They are used to close unseemly openings and for closure. not the kind of closure that one needs when moving on from a 'what was I thinking' affair of the heart, or an ill conceived get rich quick plan. But closure that ensures our modesty will not be in question: an unsung, ordinary place in apparel. It might even be said that they are an afterthought.
Biographies are but the clothes and buttons of the man. The biography of the man himself cannot be written.
Mark Twain

There are those who understand the importance of the humble button.I refer to several members of my fashionable family, nay, not only fashionable, but arbiters of fashion, artisans who could glance at a ready to wear catalog and recreate the dresses on the page. in a snap. and then add the buttons. You have to be born with it, the ability to know the right button. It is a lost art.

Of course there are many ways we can reuse something. We can dye it. We can cut it. We can change the buttons.

Issey Miyake

I can hear my mother, my aunts, my grandmother and great grandmother say,
"You can always change the buttons."
That was the way of saying that a garment was redeemable, had some nascent value. the addition of the correct button could reinstate said garment to wearable, and possibly even proud status.

Knitters know the importance of buttons. The resurgence of knitting as a cool pastime for celebs and fashionistas alike, buttons are reclaiming their rightful place in the planning and construction of beautiful knitted objects. They are discussed and displayed on blogs. Artists are shown creating them in their studios, Etsy has dozens, if not hundreds of sites devoted to buttons.

I say, if you believe what you read in the comic strips, then you believe that mice run around with little gold buttons on their red pants and drive cars.
Mort Walker

And then there are the vintage buttons and their collectors and recreaters. It is these that you see here. I will add them as an artistic stroke to the neck warmers I have made for gifts, (maybe even keep one for myself.) They are not afterthoughts, but punctuation. And closure, not simply to close the gap, but to announce the completion of a project and the invitation to go on to the next thing.

America: It's like Britain, only with buttons.
Ringo Starr