pipers

Playing with wacom tablet.
Pleasant day off. I did not get much accomplished but sometimes you just need to doodle the day away.
These are the shore birds we call pipers. I do not know if that is actually what they are. They live on the shore's edge and dart in and out of the surf scouring the sand for food. They never get caught in the waves and their habit is to stay in a large group. I think they are so much fun to watch.

Cute aprons

I am in another apron swap-o and Lucy did send me a beautiful apron that she made to satisfy the terms of the last swap. It is fabulous! I was so excited to receive it and she says she may make a pattern from it to sell. and the cookies were good too:)
The swap features sponsors who make give aways for the swaps and todays is Jcarrelloriginals who has donated an apron for a contest giveaway. Her site has some cute stuff on it so I have linked it for you to drop in and visit. Part of the allure of these swaps is getting to know other crafters and supporting them with visits and comments and even buying something if we are so inclined. I like the line of her aprons, they are flattering and feminine but not extra frilly.

dreams from before time

I dreamed I was in the house at seven thayer street and it was devoid of any furnishing
of us
In the physical sense

I was taking pictures of the antiquities. There
was a frumpy coiffed half passed middle aged real estate lady there worriedly showing the empty house to ghostly prospects

She may have been wringing her bejeweled hands

I was taking pictures of the metal work, ancient medallions, grillwork on the heater vents, the wooden windows framing the gray new england skies, try ing to preserve the artifacts, make a record of them
Not for future generations
Not for my descendants
but for me

To preserve what was worthy and good
The creative spirit that indwelled that place
in paint and in time
that architecture that was in fact
bare of motif and medallion and to
invite that spirit back in

I visit that place in my dreams
looking for us
for traces of us

Here is where she slept under billowing lace curtains
Here is the ancient copper bath tub
Here we trod the wide planked floors

It is ever a sad search
There are no remains
and no rememberers

more Diamonds from Inklingo

Inspired by Cathi, I have made the leap to large! This block is made from the six inch Le Moyne Star shape collection. I love this size and shape. It makes twelve inch blocks which seem huge after all of the small sampler blocks I have done. I think I am going to go with this trend for a while. I already have some more cut out.I have stashed alot of brights and this is perfect for them. Cathi calls hers 'Tropical Punch'. I will have to come up with a name. As of this moment, I am drawing a blank.
On another front, I have joined another apron swap. Hopefully this time it will not get lost in the mail. Imagine some soul opening up my apron and keeping it for themselves. Watch out for Kharma. Or maybe they needed it. Whatever.
Any way I was just playing around in my sewing room, doing some Cinderelling, and cut up a shirt which was destined for the rag pile, or at least I thought it was, and came up with this apron, which was inspired by the magazine, ' apron+i+city'. It is more of an artistic suggestion, than a functional apron, although it can be tied on. The waist band is made with the cuffs and the ties are from the button band. The body is from the back of the shirt and the front did not make the cut. It is embellished with buttons and trim from my grandmothers collection. This one will not be swapped and it will be named 'Irreplaceable' .

more pics from skipjack

If you are interested in nautical art or artifact this gallery is amazing. SkipJack was totally burned down last year in a devastating blaze, and are now in the process of the arduous work of rebuilding, restocking and recreating their gallery in a new location. If you are anywhere in driving distance of Portsmouth this is one of the places you will need to see. If you are not, you can shop from the website. There is also an art gallery, for the nauticaly inclined art lover as well as some very pretty jewelry. Unfortunately my media card was filled so I could not get picutres of the painting gallery..

Mike was smitten with a knife with a scrimshaw inspired handle and sterling hardware. Maybe he will get one for his birthday? It was a good thing we saved our money (see previous post) or it would have been a long cold night in Delaware!

Elizabeth Cartier, proprietor of Starboards will fill you in on other sights to see, get you some coffee, hot or iced, and a snack and set you upon a walking tour of Olde Towne Portsmouth.

Click on the pictures to enlarge and get an idea of the beatuiful morning light that we were lucky to enjoy whilst whiling away the day, antiquing and bemusing ourselves on the High Street.

Back home

We made it home thanks to a tow truck and ATM machines. In delaware the car began to misfire and stall on the high way. Fortunately we were able to pull into a rest stop with a 24 hr dunkin donuts and a porta potty. Eventually we were able to get a flatbed to come and tow us to NY. Insert favorite curse word here.
However-I am so grateful because it could have been so much worse, if we were on turnpike where we could not have been towed, if we did not have the money, if if if.
In any case, the moral of the story is get AAA and have some extra cash.
While in VA we visited, went to Jamestown and Williamsburg and had a pleasant time in Portsmouth. In Portsmouth I always like to Visit the SkipJack Gallery and the Kitchen coop on High St.If you are into upholstery fabric, Ma Maison has a beautiful selection, which rivals any collection in NY.
.... and the socks are done, toes sewn up and ready for the next adventure.
We stopped for milkshakes on the way home at Stuckey's and yes Lewis, we did get you a pecan roll.
I do not hate this picture of me. Usually I do hate pictures of me and maybe that is why I am the one holding the camera on most occassions. Mike, having noticed this proclivity, wrested said camera away from me and snapped this one as we stood freezing at the port of Portsmouth.
It was a beautiful freezing day, and the puffy jacket hides a multitude of sins.
I have been unsubbed from the Dear Jane mailing list and I do not know why. I did write Brenda and received no reply so I am at a loss as to what happened. If anyone can fill me in......

ready to roll

I picked up this toiletry roll up kit at a 'crabtree and evelyn' store at the mall. Despite it being extremely pink, it is a great way to carry along my Inklingo bits. I will never have to worry about losing it in my locker. And it has enough room for lots of stuff. I confess to being a bit of a storage solution geek. I have many different kits for different applications. To me they are more important than pocketbooks, wallets and almost as important as shoes. But lets not get carried away.
My plan is to keep it with me and stitch at the odd moment, at lunch , in the car, on my couch watching ncis reruns, and one day have a quilt of snowflake/ poinsettia type blocks to put together for pink scrappy quiltiness.

done and finished

Ok I am finished whining now:) Thanks for all of your hugs. I guess the cure for my wallowing is an evening in the sewing room.
See you there.
I have cut about three quarters of the diamonds for the Jane Austen Patchwork. I think I need to get less finicky since I am running out of fabrics to cut that I love, and only have about a hundred yards of fabric I only like:)
....of the shabby chic genre that is. I am not counting the other types....which shall remain nameless for the purposes of this post.
Tonight my plan is to work on snowflake diamonds...I have an idea maybe I would like to make a top like thisfrom Hoopla Patterns. I have the book and love all of Froncie's beautiful fabrics but I have enough fabric for now. I also love the little sewing kit she has but alas I have enough of those as well!

more photoshop elements fun

Playing with pictures (mine) and templates and papers from Birgit Kerr, Jessica Sprague, and fonts from Dafont. Is that top one not an awesome font? It is called 'bleeding cowboys' by Last Track.
I could do this stuff all day.
I have been spending hours on Jessica's website, following links, and taking full advantage of her free tutorials. One day I will take a class.
Every one here is napping.
cheers!

Library booty

one of these things is not like the other

My floor is vacuumed and my garbage is empty. I took the tris off my "design wall", which is a piece of flannel on the wall, and put these up-Inklingo diamonds from the free collection.
I am enjoying the beautiful day, going to the library, and then a meeting at work.

Digital scrapbooking-Brigit Kerr

I had two days off and played scrap booking with some fun digital scrap booking stuff. I must thank Jessica Sprague,for her free tutorials, and Mary! from Mary Quilts on whose blog I found the the afore mentioned Jessica.
And if you are so inclined, the website, Scrapbookgraphics is where I bought the virtual design elements, The Valentine Kit, by Birgit Kerr, that I added to my layouts...elements are the things like back round paper, the book, the ribbons and doo dads that you place on your canvas to tell a story. The fun part of this is for me that you do not have to actually have all this stuff. It is all digital. I love this computer stuff!
The 'Basil' one has far fewer elements, but they are there in the back round and help to unify the piece.I kinda went crazy with piece for the girls, I could not stop adding things to it. There was so much cool stuff in the package that I bought. So much fun for seven dollars. Oh and photshop elements...which I had on my mac.
I did not get alot of sewing done, but did finish my second swap apron, and it is in the mail. and some more inklingoing for my Jane Austen replica. And I am relaxed and ready to go back to work.

more fun with photos

Ok. I am addicted to photoshop elements. I am not proud. I do not need CS4. I can quit any time.
One of the nice things about being driven to work is that I can stick my iphone out of the window and take pictures. Of course I could not do this if I were the driver-not unless it was a really great picture. Sometimes I do bring my regular camera. The pictures used to make this page were taken with my phone on different mornings as Mike drove me to work , going east on the loop parkway the north up the meadowbrook parkway. I have often wanted to stop and walk with my camera but never have. It is not pedestrian friendly.
It is often beautiful if you can ignore the cars and the fact that you are hurtling through space at 70 mph-if you are to be on time-and if you are going much slower than that, the driver, who shall remain anonymous, is delivering expletives and "scrubbing " his tires to pass the poky old folks who are driving in front of us. Sometimes I feel compelled to remind him that we are the oldsters now. He is usually not receptive.

Fun with pictures

Tonight I played with pictures using Photoshop Elements and tutorial from Jessica Sprague's wonderful web site. I wish that the tools that I have now had been available to me when I was a young mom. I would have had fun with digital scrap booking. If I had extra hours in the day I could go back in time and scan a thousand or so pictures that I want to play with.
I won a blog award from Cyndi! I met Cyndi in a cross stitch swap and we have been reading each other's blogs since then. She makes supportive comments which are always appreciated. As all bloggers know, sometimes it is lonely at the keyboard. You wonder who, if anyone, is reading the words you write. So, when people leave comments, it does make a difference. It does make a blogger want to keep on tapping on.


So with out further ado, I will fulfill the conditions of the award I am so humbled to receive and list five addictions. I will not list unhealthy addictions, rather the passions that I am joyously and ravenously feasting upon.
1. I love to make things, from children to quilts. I love creating beautiful objects artifacts beings rooms and relationships.
2. I love to read great books. I am not a reader of 'lightweight' literature. I love poetry and language and writing that illuminates truth.
3. I love my community of people, most of whom I have never met, who have joined me in the pursuit of accomplishing fiber nirvana and sharing in these forums on the internet.
4. I love art and art supplies and computers and good erasers and sharp scissors and good brushes and the smell of paper and the smell of linseed oil, piles of clean pressed fabric and yarn and sewing machines and fine pochades. I guess I love the things that make the processes of creation pleasurable. And books to show me how.
Oh, and my camera. I love my olympus.
5. I love my home and the people who have made it here with me. And for the two or three people who have had the balls to stick with me through my tumultuous journey, I love you too.
Five blogs I love:not in any order and I do not even know if anyone will play contest with us but that is ok. I will just keep on reading them anyway...and pass the award on down the line..
Diary of a self portrait
Brooklyntweed
the old professor
inklingo projects
Crazy aunt Purl

notes

pinging

Ping is getting some quilting done on it. I am not quite up to a thread a day but I am making up for it when I can. It helps that I am able to leave it out and have all the supplies handy to pick up on a whim. It also helps that it is visible and I see it waiting all the time. If it were tucked away, as it was for a long time, then I might 'forget'. I have not yet pieced the borders and I am not certain I am going to. While I have little use for a couch quilt, I am pretty sure I do not want to do the borders that came with the kit. However the jury is still out. I would love to have this as a bed sized quilt-for me. No worries. I have plenty of time.

One sock

Pattern from Vogue Ultimate Sock book. Opal self striping yarn. Beautiful rosewood needles. The second one will be cast on today. I will not succumb to one sock syndrome (oss)....
And the pin cushion, inspired by the new Inklingo Projects blog, is made with squares from the Le Moyne star collection. the fabrics will also be used in my swap apron...which I cut out this last few days.

Val's Pincushion

Val made pincushions to sell at the Rankin Quilt show last year, and I was lucky enough to get one.
Be sure to check out Tilde's new blog for Inklingo projects.

more pink snowflakes

AND SOCKS!!


More snowflakes of the fabric variety. My interest in these has been reignited. I am having a terribly a hard time choosing just one thing to work on. The Jane Austen patchwork diamonds are halfway cut out and they may actually get machine stitched to expedite the process, leaving me the snowflakes to do by hand. These, and knitting, should keep my busy when I am not writing and drawing, cooking and. oh yes, at work.

First Finish!!

I hemmed a pair of pants! woo hoo
and I wrote a poem
made baked oatmeal in my crock pot
and knitted on socks
good day off
see that apron on the side bar?
an apron swap-how cool is that?

Things I am working on

Ping-quilting panels. My first go at 'quilt as you go', which is going slowly.
I am printing and cutting Inklingo patches for the Jane Austen Patchwork quilt. My plan is to have all the pieces cut before I sew. I have the sashing all cut and about half of the center diamonds. I need to do the border half diamonds and the tiny border diamonds...thousands:) o scrappy heaven.
I have mused upon all of the usual declarations and resolutions and I guess I will toss my hat into the ring. I will do all the healthy self nurturing things that I can. And that is it. I will give myself time and silence to think and write. I will buy a new journal, a big one.
I will likely finish one major quilt -Ping and begin at least one other-The Jane Austen Patchwork-as presented by Linda Franz.
I will probably do at least one mystery quilt just for fun, using fabric I already have.
I will spin some and explore that fiber realm.
I have joined a swap for aprons. I will probably join other swaps that tickle my fancy, but probably not the kind where you have to send a multiple of the same item or send something monthly, as I found these types of swaps very hard to keep fresh.
This year, my youngest child will leave for school and leave me and Mike, together alone, in our home where all my kids grew up and became adults. Having been ruthlessly moved from place to place at the mercy of my mother's illness, I consider this a huge triumph in my life, to have provided a place from which my kids would eventually emerge adults. We are in part what we are born and in part what we choose. So it will be an ending and a beginning, a significant one. I have been dreaming of living somewhere in a loft, or somewhere in the hills, somewhere elsewhere. Literally dreaming in my sleep, still looking for somewhere to belong. So part of my resolution is to follow that dreamstream and see where it leads...

Food is not love
Tho lack is at least indifferent
And violent
Which is not always a contradiction

Food is not love
Though it is life giving and
sustaining, like love,
Necessary, but not fulfilling,
It can be confusing.
You can get seduced in the confusion,
stirred into the same steaming pot.
A lick of swirling goat cheese
melting on a crock
of winter squash soup/a lovers salty sweat...
But I digress.

We deny
Our need
For love
(and it is so impractical.)
It is unattractive, this neediness.
We are enured to its constant call although we pursue it relentlessly.
Not food.
Food is attainable.
Food is finite.
Love is a lack of barriers,
Not boundaries.

finis

Finished Bailey's hat. Pattern is from the above referenced book. This is a user friendly little tome, which has alot of doable hats. Hats were a theme this year.
I will be doing some inklingo printing later today and will be happy to do so. It is nice to have an afternoon to myself.
Regifting has been a hot topic on the WIP yahoo list. Do you regift? is it 'green'? or is it 'cheesy'? and what is the matter with cheese anyway?
I remember as a child receiving great boxes from my grandmother and aunts filled with their clothes and trinkets. Mostly meant for my mother-being adult clothes, but worn by me, in sixth grade, hitched up with safety pins, and I thought I was so cool! Having one or two kind people as friends much mitigated the ridicule of the many.
So I will try to remember the kind ones and ignore the rest. Jody Adams was kind.I have not seen her since I was twelve but I will always remember the her kindness.
And I will miss those boxes.

HohOhhoHoo

Wristies for Jen. These are so cute, I am going to have to make more! I love the sequined yarn.
The Carolina Crossroads went to Alex. Jay and George got a hat. I still need to finish Bailey's hat and Katy's knitted object. We have opened all our presents and will go to visit more people later for dinner.

I think

I will never finish another knitted object. Instead I will come home from work and spend hours on the couch reading knitting patterns on Ravelry....
and then maybe tomorrow I will knit.

Inklinko again or Jane Austen's birthday

I love Linda Franz. I really do. I have never met her, or her husband Russ- nor Monkey, her faithful companion, but I do love her. I love her for her mind. For her perfectionism, which translates into the perfect gem of a software application for quilters-machine or hand piecers. Each one of her publications is a thing of elegance and beauty which soothes my soul.
I have enjoyed poring over the latest addition to her repertoire, The Jane Austen Patchwork, which I bought today in honor of Jane Austen's birthday. I had been yearning for it and today was the perfect gray English damp day to download it and begin to read and print the pages that I want to use.
My biggest dilemna is which color way to choose....I have brights. I have taupes. I have florals and could cobble together a retro scrappy shabby chic...my most likely choice.
If you have never looked at her website, give yourself this gift in honor of Miss Austen. Allow yourself to download the free !!! 4.5 inch LeMoyne Star collection of shapes, just to whet your appetite for genius....I know you must be a little curious.
And, I have finished the Carolina Carolina Crossroads Mystery quilt from Bonnie Hunter's blog. I love Bonnie, too. As much as Linda is precise and genteel, Bonnie is fabulously footloose and fancy free. I am happy to know them both. What Abundance!
Else, Mike's mom, has left for Germany to spend Christmas with the European side of the family who reside there. I have not been much in the mood for festivity. I am enjoying knitting some small gifts. I am not cooking, but will dine at the tables of others this year. It will be nice to see every one.
My Mom's cousin Mary, and her husband Art, decorate (an understatement) their house every year and host a Christmas coffee for friends they have known for decades. This year the theme was angels. I leave you with some of the pictures I took of their wonderful collection. One of them, lol.
It is hard not to be merry at Mary and Art's.