Tris on the wall

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I have seen the curvature of the earth
from the air
from the sea
on the different parts of your body

I have touched the sky
dreaming in a different dimension
felt the earth beneath me
solid
and rocking and spinning wildly

I see the curvature of the earth
in your body, feel the earth
beneath me
solid
rocking
and spinning wildly.

breathing

I have this thing about breathing. Sometimes when I breathe in and out and pay attention to my breath-attend to it, I remember that I am breathing the same air as did my brother: the same air as as inhaled and exhaled by Jesus, by Gandhi,by the Buddha and Mohammed and Moses.
We all exist in the same thin, fragile, uncompromising, exquisitely beautiful layer. We are all born from some part of each other, however elemental science has rendered that concept. We all must breathe the same air.In and out. Together.

Beads!! by my aunt Suzy

As a lover of the needle arts I find that there are some things that are indispensable. One is my close up work specs. Mine are prescription to compensate for a stigmatism (one eye is worse than the other). I only use these when I am sewing on small things like this thirty two count Jobelan fabric, which is almost microscopic as far as my eyes are concerned. With out my specs I could not do it.
And there are my scissors. I am a lover of good scissors and treasure the ones that I have. Very few things are more frustrating to a needlewoman than mediocre scissors. When I take my sewing on the road-which I always do, I am at a loss for where to put my scissors. There is no good place to set them down in the car. There is no place to set them down at work, and there is always the chance I will forget them-yes dear readers, I am forgetful.. so..I am using Suzy's beads which were designed with name tags in mind (think quilt show) to hold my precious scissors. I do not wear these unless I am sewing to prevent pokage! I keep them in my sewing kit, on the beads, along with my specs.
They can also clip on to a Clover thread cutter if you are flying on a plane (rather than on your broom). And Suzy also makes beautiful 'leashes' for your glasses. I do not use these since my glasses are always perched upon my nose..and my favorite use is as a worthy holder for my beloved thimble in its thimble cage. The lobster claw closing keeps it from opening and it can be worn without worry. And you can even wear beads for the pure joy of ornamentation! There are many strands made with semiprecious stones and silver and gold........and lady bugs ......and yes Calico, those are cats.
So for those of you who may be curious, or in need of a gift for a freind or secret pal, ...or a special teacher or even your own self, never fear I did not bring home her entire inventory ~and Suzy has an Etsy shop. Tell her I sent you.

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Originally uploaded by martha_bilski

playing with wacom - couched.
such overwhelming talent!

more pictures....maybe I missed my calling?

avisiting

Tricetera

I have sewn together 24 more tris to make a hex. My strategy is to sew one together and then lay out the tris for the next one. I leave the un sewn pieces one on my sewing table and sew it together the next time and so on and etcetera or tricetera. The new name for my scrappy triangle quilt. Maybe from dinosaur scales? maybe from from latin etcetera meaning , and so on? combined with tri~ I guess I missed my calling as a lexicographer! what a shame for the literary world!

dressed in red

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Mike's dresser drying in the sun. I love this color red. Paint is enamel and very smelly so I hope to leave it outside for a while then move it to the basement for a few days before we reinstall it in the bedroom.

the boardwalk

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We have a great place to ride our bikes in the summer.
Why do I suspect Mike's mom as being the anonymous commenter in the previous post?

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Originally uploaded by martha_bilski

gratuitous mike picture for Else

Tri progress

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I am mesmerized by these tris as they arrange themselves in diamonds and hexagons. I have a bunch in my bag to carry to work, in case I get some time to stitch at lunch and I have a pile on my sewing table to machine stitch.
I am arranging the tris in hexagons-easier than rows for me to put together because my "design wall" is only four feet across. You can see that I tend to bunch colors together. I am not sure if I will try to change this or not.

I felt like painting

Spent most of the day in my sewing room and now I will go off and have a bike ride- Would feel virtuous except for the pizza I just ate.
Doc says I must get some exersize which is hard when it hurts to walk so I will try to get some biking in this summer. I used to ride alot. Got lost in the deluge I guess.
It is hard to drag myself away from sewing once I finally get down to sewing. I am one of those people who likes to marathon sew. I could sew for days on end. today I took this picture which made me want to paint. But I was engrossed in cutting up my squares into triangles. I wish there were more daylight hours in the day...This would be nice in a watercolor. So I was going to do it in Adobe but I went back into my sewing room instead.

New Blogs

I read alot of blogs! I think I will add them to my side bar if any one is interested....ok I have added some. Enjoy.

process

I wanted to write a little about my process and then I realized that that is my process -writing about it-funny how that works. I make lists, lots of lists, some on sticky notes, some on my computer, many years of lists in my journals. I love lists! And I play. I fold paper, I make tiny books that have no value whatsoever, I visit museums and bookstores and I carry my camera with me to collect and filter my ideas. And I collect fabric and paint and tear pictures out of magazines and I have toys and stones from india and vermont and the housatonic river on my window sill. And I spend my non working hours in the company of only those who are important to me. Mostly Mike. And I listen to audio books in my studio......I could spend days in there, emerging only for chili.
I am painting another dresser. This one is going to be red. deep red.
And I am making a scrap quilt. And I am doing a wonderful Sue Garmon BOM.
all this on my days off:)

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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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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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:)