Aloha!

Praise be, I got some time to sew yesterday...looky what I did! Somewhere sometime I got the idea from someone's blog to use a old t-shirt as a clothespin bag. Our old t-shirts aren't fit for anything when we get done with them, but I've been mulling the idea in the back of my mind anyway.

Yesterday when I passed a children's resale store I thought, hey, might be something cute in there. And there was, this little boys Hawaiian shirt was too scrumptious to pass up.

I just turned it wrong side out, stitched the bottom shut, figured out where I needed to sew the sleeves so the hanger still fit and eureka, the cutest clothespin bag. I had to borrow my mother-in-laws clothes line, I haven't got mine put up at the farm yet. Those peg pins were my grandmothers, I've been using them for 38 years and she got them with ration coupons during World War II. Cool beans!

Saturday Thankies
Fresh mowed lawn
Garden that is weeded
Legs Up The Wall/Viparita Karani

1st Air Cav, 'Nam, 67-69

Thank you to all our veterans

War is asinine, but those who serve aren't.

Memorial Day Thankies

Doctors and staff at Veteran's Hospitals

M.A.S.H. units the world over, all sides

Those That Remember and Those Who Can't Forget

Orffing Up

Just to let those of you know that keep in touch with me here, or keep tabs...I'm just here for clean clothes and then back to the farm. My FIL (91) had a 911 emergency and transport this week and things are really up in the air at the farm. I am so blessed that I know how to do everything on his farm just the way he does it!

You are blessed that I didn't have my camera in the ER. The high point was a young man Orffing Up, first juicy and then dry, for about 3 hours. I was so tired and hungry I just closed my eyes and drank my hot cocoa. I'm a hard woman but most of you know that already.

I MISS my reading and writing blog time of the day.
See you all Tuesday. I think. Sharyn

Friday Thankies
Paramedics
Ambulances
ER

Selvage Envy, Or You Saw It Here First

I'll Fess Up. The subject of quilter's fabric selvages and projects is like a smashed thumbnail that I keep bumping up against. It's all I can do to get my own blogs tended to before I dash over to Selvage Blog and see what Karen Griska has unearthed this week. Because I've been a passionate quilter for nearly 40 years and until I saw her blog it never once crossed my mind to save all those literal miles of selvages I've cut off and pitched.

Now, I am glad I haven't been that kind of pack rat, that way lies madness and probably divorce. But...if only...sigh.

On the same subject but in a different vein, today I've been making cards, I owe about ten people thank yous and birthdays and just becauses. I'm in a funky kind of mood today, the kind of day when you don't comb your hair and might possibly be seen in the post office with your bunny slippers on. So I've been using a kind of aged and distressed packet of paper...and look what I found!! Paper selvages!! My mind is boiling with ideas!

...so Dear Cindy, my long time Facets Friend, and baby of our group, our star that has lost about 100 pounds, is a primo quilter, and is now sending out book manuscripts to editors that I expect to recognize her talent; Happy Birthday and here is the very first paper selvage card, tea dyed even. It will shortly be in your mail box. Quilter's drool envelope and all~

Wednesday Thankies

I'm not too old to have brain farts

Afternoon sun

The American Goldfinches are back (Think Snoopy's friend Woodstock. They really do fly like that.)

Hula Babe Anyone?

I've always thought of exercise as something weird that other people do...I'll sit in the porch and watch thank you. But then I discovered yoga last year and it felt like coming home, and gave me a new point of view. Exercise does not have to equal a stinky noisy gym, or running until pants wetting is imminent, or any of the other associated memories I have.

So I've been thinking about what else a 50-something could try that would be fun first and exercise second. Did you know that hula hooping has come into the 21st Century? So I've ordered a starter kit from Hoopnotica and am looking forward to owning my very first hula hoop of any kind. I also joined FaceBook yesterday...but I can't see that developing into anything interesting any time soon. There were only 26 people in my graduating class.

Edited to add the next day: I made Hoopnotica in the second paragraph a link for those that has asked about getting their own hoop. I ordered the beginners kit which comes with a well recommended set of DVD's, a hoop, and a ebook. It is 20% off plus I also did a web search for Hoopnotica coupon and got another $5.00 off.

I do have a yoga instructor but I do most of my yoga with DVDs and it works very well for me because it isn't very often I can make a specific class time. So I figure hooping will be the same. Hope that helps! I'd love to have a hooping buddy.

Wednesday Thankies
The World Wide Web of information at our finger tips
Jade
Paper

How the Mighty Hath Fallen

I've been so busy, when a client asked if I'd redo the buttons on her beautiful silk blouse I lept at the opportunity to get needle and thread going, even if for a humble project.

On my hope-to-get-it-done list this week is trim the edges on my One-Block-Wonder and get started on the borders, and definitely get my new-and-improved working wall for my 5th wheel installed. Surely I can eke out that much time? Think?

Sunday Thankies
Popping in on the last two hours hours of a three day yoga retreat...better some than none
Seed Packets
Quality time with people I care about

Hey chick, what's your sign?

Springtime and the young farmer's mind turns once again to ... baby chicks! Ten little black sex-link chicks, home again home again in their little Del's Farm Store donut box; now ensconced in a marvelous 60 year old brooder chamber.

One cool beans improvement is we now have the option of chick feed that has their medicine in it, rather than the messy business of stirring it into their water each day. That will make things a lot more simple for my dear FIL with his short term memory problems.

Wednesday Thankies
Getting to see my Seattle sister-in-law for awhile
All the lawns are mowed
Mark the RV repair guy who does honest work for honest pay

WhereYaBeen, WatchaBeenDoing?

Spring has sprung and my commitment to keep my in-laws in their home means the farm goes into full tilt...but the weather has really been glorious for the work~
White wash the fruit orchard...my FIL planted this when he was 80. Quite optimistic the family said as they smiled behind their hands... he is now 91 and his 30 fruit trees and honey bee apiary there in the back are the pride of his days. And he still gets up on the ladder to prune and trim and thin.
Paint fencing...here I go around the orchard on the driveway side.
Their little front yard needs mowed of course...and my little doggies love the big Douglas Fir tree for shade.

The asparagas spears are coming up like mad...along with the weeds.

Rob gets a head start on spraying the driveways...weeds are what all farms grow best.

I did get three more candlewick blocks finished in the early mornings and late evenings~

Sunday Thankies
My Health
My Brain
My Legs

Looky What I Found!

A picture of the very first results of my virginal immersion into quilting, circa 1970. Way back in my first two blog posts I mentioned The Magazine Page that got me started. Still haven't found the page...but here is the yo-yo pillow, plus a Roman Stripe with feather stitching, one with appliqué work on it, and a green one with a piece of variegated crochet stitched to it. Humble beginnings but like the seed of an apple tree, the fun and wonder have colored my life ever since.

Sharing the spread, may they rest in peace and be waiting for me, Smoky, my first cat as an adult homeowner, and Little Grey, her son. They were both such marvelous clever intelligent companions...

Sunday Thankies
A full table
A full heart
Freedom of thought

Faux-Embroidery, or Life Is Short

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, I've been trying to explain pen embroidery in an email, much easier to put some images up! These are a couple of chickens from my Maggie Walker Country Garden quilt. The quilt was such an odd size I choose to finish the blocks individually, each with a different quilting method. I think they look gorgeous this way.
This is a set I tacked together and embellished with western belt buckles, the type that were used on little boys belts back in the day. The Hamburg was hand quilted, the Polish was tied with size 8 DMC floss.

The Japanese Grey Bantam was bound with red and white chicken fabric from a friend in Austria, so I machine tacked with Mettler red machine embroidery thread. I think it came out great and I'd be perfectly happy with a quilt done like this.

Anyway, the point of my post was to show the pen work I did for the breed names. I taped the pattern on my light table, and then traced the lettering with Pigma Pens. For a project like the pen work appliqué embellishment on Little Brown Bird, I used a ultra fine sandpaper under the block so it wouldn't slip and just had at it. Some of the other blocks are shown in this post last spring.

Friday Thankies
It's Friday!
Multiple signs of spring, it really is here!
Fresh oranges and apples year around!

Candlewick Summer Spread

My summer candlewick spread is progressing nicely! In fact I've finished three more blocks since I took this photo last week. As designed, these are 17" blocks but there are another couple of inches of muslin around the registration marks for trimming and I may trim them to about 18.5".

The summer candlewick spread this will replace shown in this post last July was done on whole cloth so when the candlewicking was finished the top was ready to use. As mine will have inner seams it needs to be backed so I'll make a quilt back in lighter/neutral colors so they don't shade through and then quilt the layers. I will have to do some samples...the quilting may look very odd to the eye with no batting, but since the point is a summer spread batting is the last thing I want to introduce.

I may also introduce some companionable sashing to the candlewick side. That part is still on the working wall of my mind. If it is successfully executed I think I may do a number of top/back no batting combos. Saves space and money and rather than just one spread for the hot months I'd have a variety. After all, my quilts are intended to be used. Used up is even OK, I can always make more and I have lots of cold weather quilts.

Palm Sunday Thankies
My Rob will be home for a little while today!
70 degrees!
Someone to eat a meal with!

Cat Quilting

I was trimming blocks on the dining table at our 5th wheel...and our beautiful cat Conway was the recipient of some of the fly away Orts. I cringe when I see Eleanor Burns throwing scraps over her shoulder. I wonder if she really does that away from the camera...

Looks like he was working up the energy to think about doing something when he went to sleep doesn't it.

Are there any two more go-together things than cats and quilts?

Friday Thankies
Work is finished for the week
Our clean clear safe water that shows up at the tap like magic
Anticipations

Orter Make a Four Patch

Or I Orter clean my working wall with a lint roller more often...But these 4 sticky tapes of Orts were so pretty I had to sew them into a block. After all, who thought we'd all be making items out of selvege edges? Stay tuned, I have a neat one of those coming up soon.

The curiosity is how all the greyish background pet hair gets up there. Do they pin themselves up at night while I'm dreaming sweet dreams of finished quilts?

In truth I roll the wall every time a project comes off of it. Quilters are certainly stringy people~

Tuesday Thankies
Yoga Tonight!
Aleve
White kitties with blue eyes

Monetize and Earth Hour

I'm underwhelmed by the newest link button in our Blogger dashboard, Monetize. On the other hand today's Earth Day observations can give one reason to hope that there is hope for the human race. Not much, but still...

Regarding Google's push for bloggers to Monetize I will admit that when I first thought about doing a blog my whole focus was on another stream of income. As a self-employed Jill of all trades, I'm always looking for new ideas. The first six months I worked on my first blog I could never come up with posts I was happy with, that I could also link to Amazon or wherever. In the end I nixed the whole idea, deleted all those posts and started afresh. I discovered I loved blogging and decided to dedicate that particular small part of my life to life and living, not commerce. I've never regretted it and with over 1000 blog posts between my blogs I've found it a very elegant way to clear my mind and open my heart.

I also love reading my favorites and seeking out new ones. But I never go back to the ones who have dozens of Monetize links in their posts or whose sidebar is full of ads. This is one area of my life I deliberately choose to keep commerce free. One small plug, great, more power to us all, but I'm not a shopper and I hate being marketed to.

Regarding the second annual Earth Hour. I am so touched and encouraged that cities and countries are participating, not just individuals like thee and me. Please feel free to click on the links in this paragraph and be uplifted, rather than regarded a shopping sheeple.

And to answer a few questions about my last post: Lynn asked how I line up top and bottom for basting. I always make sure the bottom layer is larger than the top by at least three inches. After checking to be sure they are squared up I fold each top in half and tack in a bright piece of yarn or heavy Perle cotton...so before I lay them out they have a bright marker on all 4 center sides.
Then when I get the batting on the backing I fold the top in half according to those markers, line it up with the backing markers and then adjust the side markers as needed. Takes longer to say it than do it! I pin baste no further than 3-4 inches apart and so far it has worked beautifully.

Our resident numismatic (I have The Point winging it's way to me as we speak) asked if I've had my quilts appraised. Short answer, no. If they were lost I can always make another, better, and who can really put value on modern quilts? I have a whole-cloth quilt I kept track of my hand quilting time on and came in at just over 600 hours. Could I get 6-7,000 dollar for my quilts? Not hardly. I maintain a low profile and I think you have to have a name to command those dollars. I don't do for money what I do for fun. Life is too short to 'monetize' everything :)

And Linda has the best blog topper phrase I've seen, stop on over and meet the alpaca lady. I always appreciate comments, it is the best way to find new and interesting bloggers.

And my good friend Pam, clear across the world, but here in my heart, who charts her needlework progress from Australia. See, we can put all kinds of interesting links in our posts without marketing to our dear readers. Thank you all for stopping by, it is always a surprise!

edited to add on 4/4/09: I just realized I have links on my Quirkeries blog...be assured those links are for courtesy and appreciation of fair use copyright and credit to the artist and publisher. I receive zero anything in return.

Saturday Thankies
5 cows gone tomorrow
spring is upon us in the Pacific NW
Machine Quilting Unlimited magazine

Reverse Reverse!

Each time I hear the word reverse my mind immediately goes to a clip from the BBC comedy Father Ted. Anyway, back to quilting, Like 'to prewash or not to prewash' there is another group, those of us who piece our backs vs. those of us who think a single color/piece of backing is sacrosanct. Both sides are right because there aren't any rules, only what works for each of us. Today I'll share some of the reverse sides (I hesitate to call them 'backs' as once they are quilted both sides do full duty on the bed.) It is fairly obvious which side of the fence I quilt on. The quilt above is the reverse side the John Deere quilt I made for Rob. This is a great way to use up what is left of theme quilt fabrics.

This is my red/white/black back titled Ode To Joan, my good friend who loves these colors in her quilts. It is the reverse side of one of my chicken quilts, Chanticleer.

I think this is one of my least attractive backs, the reverse side of one of my favorites, titled Sisters. Both sides of this quilt were my first efforts to work strictly from stash. There are only four fabrics in this back and the stripes were a real PITA to work with. This is the first time I had my working wall in place and it was invaluable, I can't imagine how I made quilts before I had one!

This is every single last piece of the fabrics my friend Elle and I purchased for a joint project titled Spirit of the Mesa. Being restricted by what you have adds a great deal of creativity to your work.

I love this reverse side because I love purple/green/yellow-orange together. It was my first effort at doing a layout in Electric Quilt software. My only one in fact, I just don't have time to work with it long enough to remember what I learn. The other side is a Delectable Mountains.
This is the reverse side of my Dear Jane/Jane Stickle quilt titled Two Sides of Jane. It was just a exercise to teach myself to appliqué, and working with mixed neutrals. I think it is my all time favorite top.

Thursday Thankies

Sewing Machines

Needles

Eyes

Collage

Last Sunday afternoon was a fun break for me, a five hour class which included a short yoga practice and a guided class in SoulCollage® with ten lovely women at Vision Yoga/Wild Trout Gallery.

Enormous boxes of magazines, calendars, and catalogs were set out and we each just pulled a armful of sources at random, then sat at the table or curled up on the floor and each time we saw an image that sparked something in us we'd pull it out and add to our pile. I've been working on a Discovery Journal for years so was familiar with this part of the task. (If you click on the photos on my blog they open up larger in a new page)

We were then given 5" X 8" mat boards, glue stick, and scissors and encouraged to make a collage of our bits. The results were outstanding and so different. I've worked with tarot and oracle cards for years so what I see in mine and what the object of the experience was supposed to be diverged, but I understand the concept, and will make more of these little art pieces as time and inclination permit. These are easier to sit out and think about than a Discovery Journal is!
I titled my piece Botox Party, based on a snippet of conversation I heard earlier. The foundation is 3 pieces, a forest in full color and glory, a withered and frosted winter weed, and the sun behind teasel pods.

For the statement I see a beautiful woman on the left railing against the body she has been given, then Aphrodite turning her back on her own beauty. Below center a false oddly shaped face is presented to the world. Which soon fades to bone and dust and what was the point?

In our teens we wish to appear older so on goes the make-up and tight clothes and we drink and smoke and behave like we think older women must do. At 30 we start dieting and tinting our first grey hairs and wish we were young again. At 50 we are going for belly bands and tummy tucks and breasts that look like wooden apples, our face skin is pulled up until our hair line is now two inches above our ears, we botox and have wands inserted all over our bodies to suck out yellow fat and bleach our teeth until they look like a packet of Chicklets. At 70 we marvel at how beautiful we were at 49 before we started taking things into our hands and skewing into a unnatural state of affairs.

I have considered all these things. If I were rolling in money I might even be tempted to try them. Obviously once you start you never know when to stop. Fortunately I have chosen to pay the mortgage and buy groceries instead. And work on my inner-mini-me. This week I'm taking a page from one of Rumi's books and polishing my heart, a forever project if there ever was one. I hope it reminds me to look at my Botox Party and appreciate what I have while I have it.

Tuesday Thankies
The blogs I enjoy visiting
Lunch out with my Rob
Candlelight

Sprung

In our moderate climate baby lambs and calves are already scattered over the landscape. I would hesitate to call myself a farmwife...the sheer non-political correctness of it for one reason. But I was born and raised on a farm and coming full circle I now do much of the day to day work on my in-laws farm. So what do our thoughts turn to? Seeds, of course!

I've already ordered the giant tomato tree seeds for my father-in-law. He'd seen the annual ads on television and asked me to get them...I noticed last week he has already placed his five gallon buckets in the spots where he intends to grow them. He will be 91 next month and anything that gets him up and excited is OK by me.

I ran across this photograph recently when I was doing some research about women's employment options. This is a 1890 shot of the Burpee Seed Company order fulfillment area. Looks like a pretty nice place to work to me, Way healthier than the cotton mills for sure. I have a collection of Botanical catalog covers in one of my Webshots albums and sure enough...there was Burpee's 1890 issue. Synchronicity...Happy Spring, and here is to a cool wet fall for our friends Down Under.

Saturday Thankies
Spring always returns
My Rob will be home soon
Mourning Doves

Question of the day

What to do when you run out of thread?

• Paint toenails
• make lists
• bother other people
• play with dogs

Wednesday Thankies
Thread
More Thread
There is more thread where that came from

Lent, Long Seams, and Violence

Odd group of blog title subjects, eh what? This week as I've had time I've been working on the long seams of the Hydrangea One Block Wonder. As noted before long seams are about my least favorite sewing task, who knows why. Should be pure pleasure as it means the end is getting close and getting to move on to another project new or old... But I will say this, it gives me time to think.

Today I was thinking about the 40 days of Lent. I've only observed Lent once but that one time changed how I view the world and daily life. It is one of the reasons we don't bother with TV reception here; no cable, no satellite, no picture, also no newspaper. I don't know where the idea came from, probably listening to the inane things people give up...but I got a bee in my bonnet about eliminating violence from my world for 40 days.

Sound easy? Don't kid yourself, we immerse ourselves in the idea of violence. How about:

I hate Brussels Sprouts

Stop, you're twisting/breaking my arm

I'll kill you if you tell my age

I'd like to break that drivers phone/head/neck

I'd kill for a ....

That coat is to die for

Squash that spider

Smack that fly

Eat that hamburger

and that is just off the top of my head.

Off the front page news today on Google:

N. Ireland riots after police arrest 3 over killings

Women in Congo speak out about rape despite taboo

Austrian incest suspect Fritzl faces justice

Girl decapitated 700 years ago gets church burial

German town holds first burial in school shooting

Pastor's slaying suspect appointed public defender

Baby hippo won't be fed to tigers zoo says

Movies and TV? From Loony Tunes to M*A*S*H to Clockwork Orange there is no limit to far to cross. Of course I could go on all day long...and tomorrow and the next day, because it never stops. And without thinking about what it is doing to us we go on bathing in it.

Not me. No more. I am So much more careful about how I phrase things, about where I let my mind dwell, what I read. I'm not preaching, to each their own, just throwing the thought out there for rumination.

Saturday Thankies:

Dunker donuts

Salad

Rain on the roof

The Quilt Show Part II, Being Bernie Madoffed

I mentioned below that The Quilt Show just isn't a good fit for me and I was going to request a refund of the balance of my subscription. That was March 3rd. I did indeed use the embedded form on the website and made an official request which included all my contact info.

Zero response, not even a form letter.

So I called the contact phone number for 'payment concerns' on Monday, March 9. No answer, after about 14 rings I got a voice mail for Lisa Bowman saying she was away from her desk and would return my call as soon as possible.

Zero response.

I called again three days later, same no answer after many rings, same voice mail.
And the same zero response.

This afternoon I sent a note to the contact address on Alex Anderson's own website:
I'm not holding my breath. I am wondering if one chick knows what the other chick is doing.

Thursday Thankies:

Robins

computers don't go up in a puff of smoke when I hit the wrong button...again.

Sunshine! Crocus!