Heavens

We saw the Blue Angels practicing at Jones Beach today.They are here for NY Fleet Week. It was an amazing dazzling performance. The geese were unimpressed. Probably wondering what all the noise was about.
After the show we went to Whole Foods where I treated myself to sour dough bread and Stilton cheese. Heavenly. Again. I also bought Greek yogurt and some berries for dessert later-chicken chili with roasted veggies on the side.If you like yogurt and you have not tried the Greek stuff, I tell you, it is the real deal. Try it and tell me what you think.
Tonight I will be working on my Square for my partner from Fair and Square, a stitcherie swap...no pictures. I do not want to ruin the surprise. I will save the scrap stitching for work.
My plan is to make enough chili to last for three days of lunch at work. If I don't go out for lunch at the mall, I eat better, have time to stitch and save a bundle.It is a crime that the fast food places charge double at the mall what they get elsewhere. I am rebelling against mall food!

equilateral triangles are awesome!

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Originally uploaded by martha_bilski

right now: there is the drone of airplanes reverberating overhead. my computer clicks and pings and tick tocks with the ikea clock on the wall. a duet. there are some birds -cardinals -out in our tiny back yard. a car rolls by on the wet road.
Spring has blown in on a sea breeze, wet and windy. The lilacs have come and gone. The bush is now home to the cardinals, who no longer are worried by the cat.
I sit on the corner of my brown leather couch with the wide arms, upon which rests my sewing stuff. I stitch, I write. I read a few emails. A project is launched. A morning passes.

siggie top

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Originally uploaded by martha_bilski

Completed May 2008 from siggies from the Dear Jane list from 2004, 2005 and 2006. This will definitely be sent out for machine quilting!

I lov this and I am sure I heard the angels singing as I put all the blocks together. My dd's boyfriend Steve calls it the Nobel Prize quilt.

Dutchquilts and high scrapiness

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Originally uploaded by martha_bilski

Scrappy!

Years ago when I first began my Dear Jane adventure, I ordered fabric from Den Hann & Wagenmakers in Amsterdam. I had come across a tiny blurb in the arts section of the NYTimes about businesses that only sold one product. And I was off on a tangent. I found the Dear Jane book on their webste and I ordered a fabric sampler and with my order they sent some photos and some plastic templates. And then there came the Dear Jane internet list, hosted by Brenda Papadakis, and that was my first internet connection with other fiber obsessed people. And I am happy to say that my passion has grown and taken many turns and it has been wonderful. So, thanks to Al gore for the internet.

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Originally uploaded by martha_bilski

And I have 'met' many friends, among them Tilde from Copenhagen, who has issued a summer challenge, or invitation , if you will, to make a quilt of scraps found in your sewing room. This triggered a memory for me of a quilt that I had seen from a certain Danish website and I went a'hunting in my sewing stuff, and lo and behold, the Den Haan & Wagenmakers scraps and templates were unearthed, or unboxed, as it were. If the truth be known, I did have to yell for help to get down of the table onto which I had climbed in search of the box with the templates...never fear, Mike was available for the rescue.
These are the photos sent to me from the Den Haan and Wagenmaker store. And I have always thought I would want to make one and this is the perfect opportunity to make one and -Yes I will use the template, and the fabric, and other fabric from other places. I had thought that I would limit my palette and then was reminded that scrappy meant scrappy. I am sorry I just cannot explain it better than that. So I will not be (consciously) choosing colors or excluding others, and I will beginning cutting fairly soon-just as soon as I clean up some loose ends and sweep some threads under the carpet....

Alicia~

Alicia cuts my hair at her place. It is a comfortable, warm shop-no snootiness, no airs- and she always does great work! Her husband Rudy even goes to get their elderly customers and brings them to the shop as a courtesy-and there is always coffee and cookies. And Alicia loves my iphone:)

on the design wall

Siggies are finding their place on my wall. Going is slow. I am in no hurry. The next row will be purples, then blues and greens.

Siggies-D-13 Field of Dreams

Siggies are a fun way collect blocks and share this quilt making passion. I have been in several international swaps over the years and I have collected hundres of blocks. Now it is time to assemble them into a top. It is amazing to handle each one of these little bits of hope and good will. I can feel the spirit of the people who made them, each one dreaming about how the recipient would react, and anticipating receiving theirs in return, dreaming of their own creations.

Mother's day feast

...and a good time was had by all.