Incremental Victories

Check it out!

2010-02-28T21:58:00.000-06:00

For my quilting friends in blogworld -- check out a brand-new facebook page: Quilt With Judy. Not much there yet, but stay tuned. Judy Hasheider is a wonderful designer and outstanding quilter, she has taught me everything I know. I'm just home from one of her retreats, where we persuaded her to join facebook so we can be in touch all the time. She will post photos of her patterns along with general quilting info and chitchat.

I put together one of two quilts I started seven years ago. It was my first (and so far my only) experience with "thread painting" -- wildflower blocks that are thread painted very realistically. They turned out so well, but I hadn't made the alternate blocks and they just got put away. I had made enough for two twin quilts (for when DH and I are in the nursing home -- a joke), and now one top is together (except for the border -- have to figure that out still). Each quilt has sixteen flower blocks, and I still have to thread paint five of those for the second one as well as make the alternate blocks for it. I'm determined those two quilts are going to be among my finished UFOs for 2010!

I have a crazy busy week, but afterward I hope to be able to get back to sorting out the blog issues (almost typed "glob" instead of "blog" -- which isn't far off!).

Still here

2010-02-21T18:12:00.000-06:00

I'm still here, but still no time to get this sorted out. I'm thinking about switching to a different blog program, maybe Typepad -- if it's still around. Need to do a little research first though, to be sure I'm not going from the frying pan to the fire. Talk to a few bloggers I know, etc. Any of you use a different blog program?

Alas and alack

2010-01-26T10:49:00.003-06:00

Blogspot is still not letting me post any photos I took over a week ago . . . even one at a time. I'm totally frustrated! I've not gotten a single answer from the blogspot help forum, either. I'm too busy right now to see if Apple can help me, and I doubt they will, as this is almost certainly a blogspot issue. I'm also thinking of taking my camera over to the Camera Company and see if I've inadvertantly set it on some hidden lock that's the problem.

Disaster Strikes

2010-01-20T13:28:00.002-06:00

A tiny disaster compared with others that have occurred in the past week. A stone sculpture fell off our mantel and broke our stone fireplace hearth in three pieces: the sculpture didn't even get a scratch -- go figure!

The really weird thing is that just now I downloaded both this photo and one of the quilt I'm putting together, and I'm able to post this one but not the other. Why doesn't blogspot like my quilts?

I've posted a question on blospot's help site, and await assistance if assistance there is. Wish me luck, friends.

Even More Mysterious

2010-01-07T20:29:00.002-06:00

I have a clue -- I think -- and maybe one of you can now tell me what's going on. Two to four days after I upload a photo from my camera to iPhoto, I can get it on this blog. But not before. This has happened twice now; I thought the first time I had just missed something, but tonight it happened again.

At least I can show you what I've been doing this week. Remember this very boring quilt that's been on my design wall forever?

I've been jazzing it up with these hollow cube hexagons:

I now have them all the way down to the bottom, getting darker in value all the way. And I have the setting pieces and border up too. But even if I take a photo tomorrow, I won't be able to show you for a couple of more days, until blogspot decides to accept them from my computer!

Now to put this baby together. It has to be done in half-hexagon rows, and I dasn't take more than two pieces down at a time to sew for fear of getting the pieces mixed up. So it will take me a while. I haven't dared take this off the design wall until I was ready to sew it together for the same reason, and I'm getting very sick of looking at it!

Gratitudes:

finally getting near the finish line with this quilt

beautiful snow tonight

a warm house and two kitties

Photo Blues

2010-01-05T11:35:00.001-06:00

Really frustrated with the photo issues!!!! I can't figure out how to fix it, and don't have time to spend an hour or more on the phone with Apple Care, assuming they could help me. Sorry!

Photo Problems

2009-12-27T20:30:00.002-06:00

I'm having photo issues, and who wants to read a blog with no photos? They're there when I open iPhoto, but not when I try to choose one for the blog; there's just a black square where the photo 'Event' should be.

Nor do I know how to diagnose the problem. I trust that when I get a little time, I can figure it out myself, cause you know how these things can be -- blogspot may offer no help, and Apple may say it's a blogspot problem and they can't help. You get caught in the middle.

So wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed!

Christmas and Computers

2009-12-22T20:15:00.003-06:00

Yesterday DGS came and made Christmas gifts for his parents and sister. He's putting in a zipper here --

I took a photo of a sheet of cookies (Swedish Buttons) ready to go into the oven, and I downloaded (uploaded?) it to iPhoto, but it has vanished. Sometimes computers make me want to return to this:

Can't do much with photos using a pencil, but the English have found a creative use for pencils: I took this picture while on the bus to Heathrow to fly home. Much more attractive than the ugly fencing we put around construction sites here!

A Quick Trip Back to England

2009-12-21T18:40:00.006-06:00

One of the things I think might interest you in this Season of Light (tomorrow is the winter solstice) is the quality of light in English cathedrals. You would expect the interiors to be dark, given the massive stone walls and flying buttresses. But the genius of the English Perpendicular style of architecture is that it allowed the cathedrals to be so high, without sacrificing strength and stability, that levels of clerestory windows flood the interiors with light. These photos were all taken with natural light, no flash.

This is Winchester Cathedral looking up into the transept tower from beside the quire:

Norwich Cathedral looking from inside the quire west toward the nave:

Norwich Cathedral looking east from inside the quire:

Canterbury Cathedral from just outside the quire looking west into the nave:

Canterbury Cathedral looking from the transept crossing up toward the east:

Interestingly, we were told that the interiors of the medieval cathedrals were painted with murals illustrating stories from scripture and mythology. Here and there in the most protected spots we saw remaining vestiges of some of these paintings. Imagine what these places looked like when the entire interior was painted! It must have been like being inside a stained glass window.

Which brings up the subject of the stained glass windows: Many of the original stained glass windows which dated from the 11th, 12th and 13th Centuries, were destroyed in the bombings of World War II. Almost all the existing stained glass windows are post WWII.

The most prominent side chapel in St. Paul's Cathedral in London has 50 stained glass windows, each is the seal of one of the states in the United States. I easily picked out Wisconsin's, with the badger and miner. The windows are in honor and thanksgiving to the United States for helping Britain in that war. There's also a large, heavy book in a glass case which lists the name of every U.S. serviceman who died in the war; each day a page is turned by a verger wearing white gloves. Nearby is a copy of the book, kept under a velvet cover, which visitors may look at. We were told that every day people from the states come to look for the name of a relative in the book.

What on earth?

2009-12-19T21:03:00.004-06:00

Except for this one, all the newer photos are still on my camera, which is upstairs and I'm too tired to go get it. So here's a 'contest' for you: I'll send a pack of fat quarters to the first person who correctly guesses what this is a photo of. Be sure to include your e-mail address so I can contact you for your snail mail address. Send to me at lento@chorus.net.

I've been baking cookies 'around' several repairman visits to fix the oven. It's been an eye-opener: No wonder our landfills are overflowing! The stove is only 15 years old, but the manufacturer no longer makes replacement thermostats. DH called every dealer within a hundred miles and finally found one that had it in 'old inventory.' Instead of $1500 for a new stove, we spent $240 and it's good as new.

Today I potted some amaryllis bulbs for post-Christmas bloom; once the tree and decorations are down, the house feels kind of bare, and that's when we need a reminder that things do still flower. Even though it's been ten days since our storm, the snow is still sticking to the north sides of the trees. It's really beautiful -- it outlines their interesting shapes.

Now I need to get a few more rounds of knitting done on an under-the-wire Christmas gift.

Gratitudes:

such good friends

cuddly kitties

nice dinner out with DH

English Gingerbread Recipe

2009-12-12T09:51:00.004-06:00

Delicious. There are certain things I make only at Christmas, so they are always special, never 'everyday.' This is one of those.

English Gingerbread (more like shortbread than cake)

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon ground ginger

½ cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (don't substitute!)

2/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon molasses

1/4 cup sultanas (golden raisins)

2 tablespoons finely diced crystallized ginger

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter an 8-inch round cake pan.

Sift flour with the baking powder and ginger. Put into a bowl and add the pieces of butter, blending until the mixture resembles cornmeal.

Stir the brown sugar, sultanas, molasses and ginger into the above mixture - it will be very short and crumbly - not like dough or batter. Press into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the granulated sugar.

Bake for 40 - 45 minutes, until a knife blade inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool on a rack 10 minutes, then cut into narrow wedges. Transfer wedges to the rack to finish cooling.

Re-Entry

2009-12-11T20:02:00.003-06:00

You know how it is when you haven't written to a friend for a long time, and now you can't because there's so much to say and you don't have time? That's where I am with this blog . . . I keep putting off writing because if I go back to where I left off, it's overwhelming! So I'm just going to start with this week.

The snow on Tuesday night was simply beautiful. Here are our woods yesterday:

Good thing Mr. and Mrs. Wren go south for the winter!

I got this back from the long-arm quilter, and now have the binding machine-sewn on, but won't get to the hand-sewing until after Christmas:

I'm happy with it . . . it's the quiet quilt I wanted it to be. Quilted with feathers and feathered wreaths, it seems very feminine to me without being fussy.

During these snow days I've been working on a table runner for Christmas. I'm not liking it. Remember that column in, it was Redbook Magazine, I think, called "Can This Marriage Be Saved?" I keep looking at the table runner and thinking, "Can This Tablerunner Be Saved?" I wanted it to be festive and elegant, but it's just dreary. My friend Renee advises against working on a quilting project you don't like . . . maybe she's right. But I keep hoping something will jazz it up -- I'm making a border, we'll see what that does.

Tomorrow DGS comes for the day to make gifts for his parents and sister. If we have time, we'll make some Christmas cookies, and English gingerbread (quite different from the gingerbread here) for Sunday's Advent Festival of Lessons & Carols.

Now it's time to get my jammies on and have Evening Prayer.

Gratitudes:

winter's quiet beauty

a warm house

good homemade soup for supper

Colorado

2009-11-08T19:03:00.004-06:00

With our friends from Denver, we drove about two and a quarter hours to a cabin near Buena Vista we had rented for the weekend. The weather was gorgeous, the scenery was too. From our deck we had wonderful views:

The cabin is on the banks of the Arkansas River, and we had our coffee around the campfire each morning:

We had daily visitors, as many as three doe at a time:

And this big fellow:

We hated to leave, but I managed to cajole everyone into returning via Leadville, my favorite town. It's the highest city in the United States, sitting at over 10,000 ft. on a "Fourteener" (a mountain with elevation of at least 14,000 feet). The history of Leadville is like something made up for a novel -- gold mines, silver mines, lead mines and all the stories of mining rushes. It was a very rich place (all that gold and silver sloshing around), and also pretty rough and tumble. It had grand hotels, an opera house (an opera has been written about the doings there, The Ballad of Baby Doe, by Douglas Moore), and everyone who was anyone came to Leadville: President Grant, Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde and many more. Remember the "unsinkable Molly Brown"? She came to Leadville from Missouri as a young woman to take care of her bachelor miner brothers, met Johnny Brown and married him. They lived in Leadville, where he made lots of money. One day Johnny came home from the mine with $100,000.00 in cash and told Molly to put it in a safe place. She put it in the firebox of the cold cook stove. Next morning, she absentmindedly lit the fire and burned it up. Johnny kissed her goodbye and went off to make another bundle.

You couldn't make up the stories of things that really happened in Leadville. It's on the cusp of being taken over by the zillionaires who want second homes (or third ones) in beautiful locations, which is a shame. I'm glad I've had a number of chances to visit it before its history gets buried by a Starbucks on every corner. Speaking of which, we had lunch at a little cafe, and when I went to the ladies' room, I saw a photo which captured my heart -- a beautiful wolf. I dragged my friend in, then both our husbands; they all were as captivated by the photo as I was. I was able to get the website address for the wolf sanctuary (http://www.krdotv.com/Global/story.asp?s=6701725) which sells the photos and have one sent to me. It's being framed now, and will hang over my desk. These are God's creatures just as we are, and they are being hunted down by people in airplanes, chased until they are exhausted, then shot. It's heartbreaking, and it has to be breaking God's heart too. Surely there is room for all God's creatures in this world. We are the ones who have invaded their habitat, and then we decide they have no right to exist there.

Gratitudes:

all God's creatures

the beauty of Creation

good times with good friends

Bad girl!

2009-11-05T20:33:00.004-06:00

I wonder if I should be trying to blog; sometimes it's just impossible to keep up with it. We had a wonderful time in Colorado (pictures at 10), were home just a few days and I went on a quilting retreat.

You'll recognize this sort of thing that goes on at retreats:

Here's what I mostly did -- 331 flying geese. I have to finish the last 29 for a total of 360 for a block exchange in January.

Some candids:

Janet (left) does the most beautiful handwork. Gayle's a new grandma, and her son and daughter-in-law, the new parents, are the CSA farmers who have kept us in excellent organic veggies all summer.

Maria from Chicago (left) and Annie from Pittsburgh.

The other thing I did was get the last border on the blue Four Patch Posy, piece the backing and prepare the binding. Monday morning I took it to the long-arm quilter, and it should be done by Christmas.

Gratitudes:

I'm surviving this crazy year

Time with good friends

The freedom to play

A few candids

2009-10-08T19:21:00.002-05:00

No history lesson tonight! DH and I are leaving early tomorrow AM for Colorado to spend a few days with friends. Thought I'd post a couple of miscellaneous photos before going.

Contemplating in the ruins of St. Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury.

Doesn't this statue make me look petite by comparison? (LOL) That's Her Majesty Queen Victoria on top.
Matthew the rescue dog with Sr. Pamela. He's adorable!
Here he is enjoying the rawhide stick I took him. I had thought, from the photo I'd seen of him, that he was a much larger dog. This chew stick will keep him busy for a while!

Stay well, be good!

Gratitudes:

Got all my errands done today

Going to see good friends and relax

I have such a good life

St. Augustine's Abbey & Henry VIII

2009-10-05T20:09:00.006-05:00

In Canterbury:

Three Saxon Christian churches already stood on this site when, in 597, St. Augustine was sent from Rome to 'evangelize' the English. The not-yet Christian king, Ethelbert, allowed St. Augustine to build a Benedictine abbey on these grounds. Over the centuries, the abbey was added to until it became a large complex. Many of the Angle and Saxon kings are buried here, and many of the early archbishops of Canterbury.

This is the chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary:

This is one of the newer graves! (Date is 1063). Several date back to the 6th and 7th centuries.

Today, of course, the abbey is in ruins. It was destroyed by Henry VIII, along with all the monasteries in England. Now Henry wasn't quite as depraved as he's usually portrayed. He was certainly every woman's worst nightmare husband. But his reasons for what he did were sound. England had just been through a thirty-year civil war (the War of the Roses) over the succession to the throne, causing the land and its people terrible misery and poverty. Henry needed a male heir to ensure there would be no war over the succession after his death. His wives (all six) produced among them only one very weak surviving son (by his 3rd wife), who died at age 15.

Although popes had granted divorces and annulments to royalty for just this reason, the pope at the time, Clement VII, would not annul the marriage of Henry and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. She was the aunt of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, a Spanish king, and he didn't want his aunt's marriage annulled as it would prevent their family's heirs from eventually ruling England. And Charles had Pope Clement right where he wanted him -- in prison!

Additionally, the English monasteries had become very wealthy. Rich landowners would leave vast tracts of land to monasteries so the monks would pray for their souls after their death. The monasteries received rents from the common people who 'sharecropped' the land. The monasteries then sent huge sums of money to Rome. Rome, in turn, gave the money to either France or Spain, whichever was currently in favor, to fight against England during centuries of constant warfare. This didn't set well with the English, understandably.

So the usual story about Henry VIII and the English Reformation leaves out a lot that explains what it was really all about. The amazing outcome of this mega-soap opera was Elizabeth I, the child of Henry and his 2nd wife Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth was without a doubt England's greatest monarch, male or female. She kept England safe from foreign enemies. (She said, "I have the body but of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England, too.") The arts flourished (think Shakespeare!). English explorers sailed the seas (think Drake). English scientists made great discoveries (think Newton).

Gratitudes:

Not being a queen!

History is so interesting.

Wildflowers can grow from ruins.

Really Olde Things

2009-10-01T16:02:00.004-05:00

This is a Stone Age hill fort. The people would have dug the ditch (second photo) using cattle's hip blade bones as shovels and red deer antlers as pickaxes. And we think we work hard.

This next one needs no naming! Whatever Stonehenge was meant for -- and no one knows for certain -- it has to have been very important to the people who built it. I have now seen many 'henges' as these stone circles are called, and none of the others had stones which came any higher than my chest. These are unbelievably huge, and each must have a good bit underground to have kept upright for so many thousands of years. See the person in the right background to note the scale.

I am almost back to Central Daylight Time (which will switch again soon!). The accumulated To-Dos and the new commitments that come with fall are keeping me swamped.

Gratitudes:

Fall is here (I love it).

DGG's 10th birthday - she's a pip!

DS's 42nd birthday coming up.

Olde Things

2009-09-28T20:58:00.004-05:00

The English don't tear down old buildings and put up new ones. I was told they will gladly spend more to preserve the exterior of an old building and replace the interior if necessary. Some of these buildings are comparatively 'new' next to some things I'll post another day.

Here's a house across from one of the gates to the cathedral close in Norwich -- this is a top-notch neighborhood!

This next one is on King's Street, the 'main' street of Norwich -- also an excellent neighborhood. The lower level will soon be upscale shops and the upper level will be residential flats.

Norwich today is quite a large city; there was a time when it was larger than London. It was the center of trade with the continent, especially for wool exports, a major part of the English economy for centuries. To this day, the Speaker of the House of Lords in Parliament sits on the 'Woolsack,' which was the symbol of Britain's prosperity.

My body is still about four hours out of synch with this time zone -- so at least I'm halfway back to normal. I saw the orthopedic surgeon today, fifteen weeks after the shoulder surgery. He was very pleased with where I am now, and so am I. I was able to schlep my own luggage without help on the trip.

Gratitudes:

good recovery from surgery

the character of old buildings

Home from England

2009-09-27T17:29:00.003-05:00

Got home Friday night and am still between that time zone and this one. I'll tell more and show photos bit by bit (and in no particular order). This is a very old church in Canterbury, St. Martin's, built in the 6th C. and still in use: http://weblingua.hostinguk.com/invictaweb/canterburybuildings/pages/stmart1a.htm

This one is looking toward the West Door of Canterbury Cathedral from the quire (about 2/3 of the way up the nave):

A beautiful, beautiful space which reaches to the heavens.

And here is the view from my bedroom window in Canterbury:

I could walk (past all those banks of roses!) from my room to the cathedral in five minutes!

I will say that I'm grateful for wood floors and carpets at home -- we spent a good six hours a day standing and walking on stone floors -- very hard on the feet, knees and hips! How did those ancient folk do it?

Gratitudes:

very easy flights both ways

good traveling companions

wonderful experiences

Errrrgghhhh!

2009-09-12T15:12:00.003-05:00

Who would think it was possible to make so many mistakes in one tiny sweater? So far I have made the back hem in garter stitch and the two front hems in ribbing, picked up a dropped stitch halfway down the back, made one front too long, and now I discover the first sleeve is 1/2 inch too short. This is an easy fix, but good grief! How oblivious am I???

Nevertheless, it's coming along. I'll finish it pronto when I get home.

Here's an old-fashioned quilting bee -- well, more of a binding bee -- last Monday at our monthly Dump Salad supper. Judy is teaching this quilt at Expo this weekend, and needed to have the sample done and washed by Thursday.

This is the fourth or fifth year (maybe sixth?) of Quilt Expo in Madison. The first year they thought it would be a good sign if they had 2,000 - 4,000 people attend. There were 10,000! It has been very successful: http://wiquiltexpo.com/?page_id=12

I've been busy getting things ready for DH to manage here without me (sob), and getting packed and organized to leave for England tomorrow (yaayyy!). I haven't done any sewing all week; I have been listening to the Goldberg Variations played on harp -- beautiful and amazing. I love that piece of music. I've also been listening to Alexander McCall Smith's 'Love Over Scotland' on my iPod. I'll take it with me, can't leave it behind unfinished! It's laugh-out-loud funny.

Gratitudes:

A great trip ahead

Loving family

Fun with good friends

Getting ready to go . . .

2009-09-05T19:55:00.009-05:00

Here's how I do meds for traveling -- I sew channels from top to bottom of a baggie. Then I poke one day's meds to the bottom of each channel:

Then I sew across the top of those, making a little pocket for each day:

Here's fifteen days worth (I should be gone twelve days, but always take an extra three days worth -- you never know what might happen):

Each morning I use the scissors in my little Swiss Army Knife (in checked bag) to cut one pocket open. At the end of the trip I have at the most three pockets left. I'm a big believer in 'throw-as-you-go' traveling. I save my ratty old underpants and then throw a pair out each night. As the trip proceeds, I'm making room in my suitcase for mementos and gifts.

I'm gradually packing, to collect everything in one place and see what I still need to dig out, and making sure I have the really important stuff, like this dog chew treat for Matthew:

Matthew is a rescue dog who lives at All Hallows Guest House at the church of St. Julian in Norwich. He's comfortable around women but afraid of men. Living with nuns suits him fine.

Sr. Pamela with Matthew

Sleeves and Dove Bars

2009-09-01T19:54:00.004-05:00

One sleeve is started. I should have picked a specific spot in the strand of yarn to make it easy to match the pattern on the other sleeve, but thought of it too late -- the story of my life. (In case you wondered, this is cheater sock yarn.) I should be making notes on this pattern in case I ever make it again.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of the peace lily today -- the sunlight was shining through the blossoms, though the camera didn't catch that. They are one of the best houseplants for 'laundering' our air. This from an environmental website:

"Environmentalists have celebrated the peace lily for its ability to clean the air, removing chemicals like formaldehyde and carbon monoxide from the air. NASA conducted a study on houseplants and named the peace lily among the top ten plants for removing indoor chemicals and keeping the air 'greener.'”

However:

"The plant is toxic. Ingested by children it can cause mouth ulcerations, and vomiting. A small amount of leaves chewed by a dog or cat is even more dangerous and potentially lethal. If you suspect a child or animal has eaten peace lily, you should contact poison control immediately. For the safety of all residents in your home, it’s suggested that you do not keep peace lilies if you have children or animals."

We have two cats, though, and they leave this alone, although they do like to chew on a couple of others.

A little private joke at our house. DH adores Dove Bars, but only milk chocolate with almonds. He always has a box in the freezer. Yesterday when he stopped to get another, the store only had dark chocolate without almonds. He shopped around until he found the ones he likes, and then -- just to make sure no emergencies arise such as having to go to bed without his evening Dove Bar -- he stocked up:
I laughed when I opened the freezer door.

Gratitudes:

green plants

corn on the cob for supper

laughter

From Sock to Glasses' Case

2009-08-31T09:21:00.003-05:00

I'm going to England in two weeks, and need to pack light. My sunglasses are the kind that fit over my regular glasses, and the case that came with them is ridiculously bulky. I've been wondering about something to protect them from scratching that won't add bulk or weight. Quilted case? No -- still too bulky. Then I remembered my Miss Matched Socks -- the kind where you get three in a pair and each one is different. I have some that are black with big polka dots, wide black and white stripes, and narrow ones. Here are the narrow ones with the glasses:

Do they fit? Yup.
How long does the case need to be?
Serge or cut and sew:
Yaayy! Very thin and lightweight. And kind of cute.

Not Too Exciting

2009-08-30T15:55:00.006-05:00

How's that for an eye-catching title for a blog entry? Can't be helped -- that's life a lot of the time. Much of this week has been spent coping with a bumper crop of broccoli, carrots, green beans, tomatoes and eggplant. I froze the tomatoes, that's a no-brainer. Read up in The Victory Garden about freezing the other veggies. Green beans and broccoli have to be blanched, then chilled, before packaging. Here's some broccoli in the ice water bath:

But when I strained it again, it was so wet I thought "This will end up chunks of ice." So I spread each batch out on a cooling rack to dry off for an hour:

It was much drier. So we'll see how that worked the first time I cook it. Then what to do with carrots? Victory Garden says they don't freeze well unless pureed, which I assume means cooking them first, but I wouldn't know what to do with ten pounds of pureed carrots. So I shredded them and froze them -- maybe they'll be ok to use in carrot cake, carrot tea bread, etc. We'll be getting plenty more to eat fresh, so if these don't turn out, at least I tried.

Finally the last and arguably most important step:
Ever since seeing a video of the Texas-size island of plastic bags floating off the west coast of the U.S. I've felt compelled to re-use the plastic bags I already have until they're unusable, and to find as many substitutes as possible going into the future. I wish I could ask my grandmother what she used before plastic bags existed.

Then the eggplants. We celebrated DGS's twelfth birthday last night (even though he was born just yesterday!), and I offered to bring salad and veggies. I scooped the eggplant out of its shell and cubed it, chopped up some tomatoes and onions and garlic. Sauteed the onions and garlic, added the tomatoes and simmered until the juice was reduced, added the eggplant and cooked until soft. Then I piled that back up in the shells and sprinkled with shredded Parmesan cheese, baked 20 minutes.
Very tasty! For a salad I sliced leeks and poured boiling water over them for one minute, then drained. Then I added thinly sliced cucumbers to the leeks. The dressing, one my grandmother used to make, is sweet cream, cider vinegar, salt and pepper, a little sugar. You kind of have to taste this as you go -- I like a lot of vinegar and not too much sugar. My younger son ate three helpings of this!

So we're eating well, the freezer is filling up for winter, and the kitchen is cleaned up. I haven't gotten back to the rest of the house, though.

Tomorrow the grandkids start school, and are dismissed at noon all week, so Grandpa and I will be picking them up and feeding them lunch. Monday, Wednesday and Friday I'll also be coaching each of them for an hour on their music lessons. They have wonderful teachers, but in 30-45 minutes a week, they're very limited in what they can do. I'm well-qualified to be their music theory teacher and practice coach, and we enjoy the time together.

Have a great week!

Gratitudes:

fall is in the air

grandchildren

plenty to eat

Nice Save

2009-08-26T10:09:00.007-05:00

Yesterday I grafted the shoulders of the baby sweater and knit on the neckband , then discovered that one front was a good inch longer than the other front and the back, just the width of the ribbing. I considered the options and didn't like either of them. Option 1: Ravel the neckband, un-graft the offending front and ravel it down an inch, re-graft and re-knit the neckband. Problem is, the stripe pattern would no longer match across the center opening. Option 2: Cut off the ribbing, pick up the live stitches and knit back down to the bottom. The stripes would then match across the center front. Problem is, I've never done that before. Gulp. But that would definitely look better in the end, assuming I could pull it off without the whole thing coming undone.

So I put a lifeline in the middle of the brown stripe, where the ribbing started. I was too chicken to cut in the row of stitches right below the lifeline, and thought maybe if I raveled from the bottom, I could just use that yarn to knit back down. But as I pulled the ever-longer end of yarn through stitch after stitch, the twist of the yarn got more and more untwisted and worn-looking. So finally I bit the bullet and cut -- though in two steps, coward that I am. The original ribbing piece first, which the cat ran off with, and then the second piece, here:

Then I ran a small circular needle through the stitches with the lifeline, and pulled it out. I had been very careful to put the lifeline through, so that was far easier than I had anticipated. Then I began to knit in the other direction, down. The switch is in the middle of this brown stripe; can you see it?

I can't! Hurrah! And I've learned something new, always a good thing.

Here's my assistant, Glenna:

I learned to knit in Brownies at age six. We made potholders for our mothers. I've been knitting ever since, though I'm no expert. I love to knit socks -- most of the time you can just go round and round and don't have to think.

Looks like the kind of day I like: sunny, not too warm, not humid. Yaaay!

Gratitudes:

learned something new

fresh slicing tomatoes ready to eat

smell of bread baking

Fiber "Arts"

2009-08-22T19:27:00.002-05:00

Today DD-i-L and I took a class in fabric postcards and ATCs. This class was her birthday present last month, so she had to wait a bit to actually get it. It was very selfish on my part -- I haven't had a chance to get away and sew with her since last Thanksgiving weekend.

It was fun, like going to kindergarten and getting gold stars no matter what we did. I made this postcard using for background some trimmings from a quilt made years ago.

This ATC has a little pocket at the bottom -- the flowers were cut from a greeting card. I tried the hot-fix crystals on it, and liked the result, but somewhere between there and home one of the crystals fell off. So do I shell out about $40 for the heating tool and a tiny bag of crystals to replace the missing one? I think not . . . I'll take off the other two and sew beads in their place.
The idea is that these little projects don't take much time, unlike a big quilt. However I can see that the amount of "stuff" one can recycle into these projects would take over all the just-reclaimed closet space in my sewing room!

Gratitudes:

DGD played her trio beautifully

a perfect summer day

Busy, Busy

2009-08-21T19:34:00.004-05:00

I've been neglecting this blog, but not exactly sitting around eating bonbons and reading trashy novels. We've lived in this house fifteen years, and it's time to do some major sorting and getting rid of my done-with books and no-longer-wanted fabric. I said to DH, "When I try to decide where to start, I get totally overwhelmed." He, in his wisdom, said,"Start in the middle." On the one hand, good advice. On the other hand, it means everything's a mess at once.

First, books. I have a small poster that says:

"The buying of more books than one can read is nothing less than the soul reaching toward infinity, and this passion is the only thing that raises us above the beasts that perish."

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. However, one eventually has to get rid of some of the books on the shelves, to make room for more, if nothing else. So I've been sorting out which ones to donate and which ones to keep, and cataloguing the keepers online on Library Thing: http://www.librarything.com/catalog.php. Great program.

Then there'll be shelf room for some of the perpetual piles; I can't wait until I've freed up some space for these:

(Note the cans and jars -- these are the 'weights' I use to do my physical therapy.)

(Also note bags of yarn and knitting, quilt needing a label . . . stuff that doesn't have a home of its own. See sewing room clean-up, below.)

And the desk -- I haven't seen the top of it for a loooong time. It's a wonder I never lose my chequebook in that mess.

Then there's the sewing room, such a disaster I can't bring myself to take any pictures of it. Today I packed up three large boxes of dress-making fabrics and two smaller boxes of sewing patterns to ship to: http://FriendsofPineRidgeReservation.org/projects/ in South Dakota.

Here's what Chris from Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation replied when I inquired whether they still needed fabric:

"Oh gosh Susan, the fabric will NOT go to waste with the ladies at the Kateri Circle sewing group! They have such limited access to fabric and notions in terms of both funds and physical distance to a store where they can purchase fabric and they are really grateful for any donations. Thanks so much, it makes such a huge difference to the women and their families!"

This is a happy ending to my futile attempts to make clothes that fit. Every time I'd get a sloper perfected, five pounds would shift somewhere else, usually lower. Or appear from nowhere. You know how that is.

And then there's the physical therapy every day -- the routine keeps getting longer (and harder). But I am making progress.

(Here's some of the physical therapy equipment -- for the lying-down exercises. High-tech stuff.)

Add to this meetings at church, processing all the fresh veggies from our CSA share, helping the grandkids practice their instruments, visiting friends in rehab with hip, knee, valve and disc replacements and on and on . . . I'm very lucky to be the visitor instead of the visitee, so I'm not complaining. But I wouldn't mind a little goofing-off time. My summer vacation was spent in a drug-induced stupor after the shoulder surgery!

I do get in a little needlework here and there -- this is the right front of the baby sweater, nearly long enough. The back and the left front are done. This baby is growing faster than I can knit, though -- at five months he weighs 20 pounds! Good thing I started this as a size one.

Gratitudes:

getting a handle on my house

lots of books here I haven't read yet

patient DH

All hail our librarians!

2009-08-11T19:28:00.009-05:00

Last night I finished reading this book:

It's listed as Young Adult, but there is a lot for an old adult to think about in it. I gave it to my almost-twelve-year-old grandson today because these are things I want him to think about too. Such things as:

Do the things I've always been taught to believe make sense now?

Is it dangerous to question the things I've always been taught to believe?

If I have guns and I put a flag on your island, does that make it mine?

Are people who don't look like me really any different from me?

What is better to have, power or knowledge?

Is there more to being a man than merely being an adult male?

I had to return some books to the library this morning, and suddenly felt compelled to tell the woman at the desk how lucky I feel to be able to use our South Central Library System. She was surprised and said thanks and pointed out her boss, who was coming over. So I told the boss the same thing, and that the staff is wonderful, the service is excellent and keeps getting better, the reference librarians are amazing, and the acquisitions people are so good I can get books that probably only 10,000 people in the whole world would want to read. She also was surprised and said I'd made everyone's day. On the way out, I turned around and said, "Librarians are my heroes; when no one else had the courage, they defended our civil liberties." She smiled and said, "Knowledge is free."

I've been smiling all day. It's so easy to criticize, but it's equally easy to thank. And I made a whole bunch of people's day!

2009-08-09T19:23:00.004-05:00

The name I couldn't remember is Laura Wasilowski, a doyenne of the Chicago School of Fusing. Here's what I learned to do at the class yesterday, taught by one of her proteges:

I want to add a couple of spiky purple flowers yet, and I'm not happy with the center of the one-of-a-kind pink flower so will probably change it. I don't know where this three-dimensional technique will come in handy, but I'm glad to add it to my repertoire. It has possibilities for a fun project for my granddaughter to do.

I have been thinking about things I would like to see happen, and have begun a list. (This is a work in progress.)

Cross-country trucks off the roads and onto the rails.

Convenient passenger rail service between cities of 100,000 or more.

Cell phone service providers share their towers with each other.

Mosquitoes become extinct.

Policy decisions based on facts and reason, not mob threats and rumors.

Gratitudes:

I am healing ahead of schedule, even if it feels glacially slow.

I tried something new and different for supper and DH liked it.

2009-08-08T22:03:00.002-05:00

These two photos from last spring, views from my sewing room window, are for Karen at http://selvageblog.blogspot.com; she is posting photos of readers' home views. There is undoubtedly a better way of getting these to Karen, but e-mail isn't working, and my iMac photo program doesn't (apparently) allow me to send them as an attachment.

I haven't been slacking -- now that I can get more or less back to life as usual, the things that have piled up are mountain high and ocean deep. I did take a class today to learn the techniques of Laura W______ski (sorry!), to add to my toolbag. I planned to take a picture tonight to post, but my camera battery was dead. Sigh. Tomorrow, I promise.

Photos After All

2009-07-30T17:32:00.003-05:00

It just dawned on me that I could show you some photos from Grandparents University. Here I am navigating a robotic underwater camera in the limnology building:

This is DGS hauling up a water sample from the bottom of Lake Mendota:

And here is DGD identifying pollen from a sediment core she took from a marsh on campus -- she found pollen dating back 14,000 years at the bottom of the core!

Checking In

2009-07-30T16:31:00.008-05:00

I haven't fallen off the earth, though it sometimes feels like it. This month has been wild -- we've had (very inconsiderate) houseguests (who won't be welcome back); I've taken each grandchild who lives near here to UW-Madison's Grandparents University two consecutive weeks (DGD -- age nine -- and I studied Global Climate Change, DGS -- age eleven -- and I studied limnology); we've had the Oriental rugs rolled up, taken to the rug doctor and washed, brought home and unrolled, and I've been getting everything possible off the laid carpets because they and the living room upholstery will be cleaned tomorrow. Plus the usual stuff. And physical therapy, which takes more time every week. And coping with all the zucchini and carrots from our CSA -- lots of baked zucchini bread and carrot cake in the freezer now! Next it will be freezing tomatoes . . .

I don't even have a photo to show you, because it's been so rainy and grey whenever DH is available to hold up the latest finished quilt that I haven't been able to take one.

I have been using the time when I've run out of energy to read some good novels and watch DVDs of the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency HBO series -- I loved it! I was afraid they'd ruin the books, but they didn't. They left Mma Ramotswe tied to the tracks at the end, though, so I have to assume they will continue the series in another season. And I've just started Tea Time for the Traditionally Built, the latest book. The first two chapters are laugh-out-loud funny.

An interesting coincidence about the other reading is that without any planning on my part, four of the books have been historical fiction taking place in the 9th and 10th Centuries, about the Vikings and Anglo-Saxons in the British Isles. I have two criteria for historical fiction: the historical facts have to be accurate, and the story-telling has to be good. If I find factual errors, I figure the author hasn't done his or her homework, and I won't waste my time on the book. It's a painless way to learn some history, but worthless if it's full of mistakes.

I'm also suffering from Quilting-Retreat-Deprivation-Syndrome; I miss sewing and laughing with my good friends. And nothing is scheduled until the end of October! Woe is me! Of course, if that's the worst of my problems, I'm a lucky person. And I am.

Hints

2009-07-08T18:53:00.003-05:00

I have to be wary of repetitive motion (did you know you use your shoulder muscles to hand-stitch? I didn't!), so I can only do two needles-ful on the binding a day. Slow going. I'm going to show you a hint of what's to come. Don't get your expectations too high.

My wonderful QBs at Dump Salad Monday night trimmed the backing and batting off this quilt, then machine-sewed the binding to the back. They are such good friends -- one of them even came to the house and flossed my teeth until I could do it myself! Friends don't get much better than that. (I wouldn't have dared ask, but she's a dental hygienist.)

I'm taking baby steps in recovery, but getting there. It will be a happy day -- or night -- when I can sleep on my right side again! Twelve weeks from surgery, the PT said. Because I have fibromyalgia, I'm like a windmill at night, continuously changing position so my muscles don't turn to cement.

Thanks, Leslie, for telling me how to move photos. I'd planned to do it on this post, but for some weird reason, it wouldn't let me upload the two other photos I'd intended to post. Next time.

Gratitudes:

getting better

wonderful friends

patient husband

Fixed

2009-07-05T15:43:00.003-05:00

Wish I could remember to put these photos on in reverse order! Anybody know how to re-arrange photos on blogspot?

Here's a close-up of the quilting on Kayla's quilt -- cute, huh? Fluffy feathers in the middles, spirals in the rings.

This afternoon I got my welding helmet on (should post a photo of that sometime!) and verrry carefully snipped the threads holding on the exploded yo-yo. I took it apart and pressed it, re-made it and put it back on:
I'm not going to get much show-and-tell mileage out of this quilt, as they're coming Thursday, when I'll give all three kids their quilts. We have Dump Salad tomorrow night, and I'll at least show it to those good QBs.

I hope DH is making the tuna sandwiches; we're going to American Players Theatre to see The Philanderer. It's the most wonderful outdoor theatre you can imagine, just magic! Oh, he's calling for assistance! Bye!

Gratitudes:

gorgeous day

a roof over my head and enough to eat

laughter

Ta-da!

2009-07-03T11:52:00.003-05:00

Here it is! What nine year old girl wouldn't love this quilt? It really is this bright, though I think the yellow isn't quite so screaming as the photo would have you think. Here's the backstory:

In 1992, when I was a brand-new quilter, I saw the print fabric and fell in love. I don't know why this pattern popped into my head, but, having sewn some complicated garments, I figured I could make it. I did fine until it was time to join the blocks. Aack! The intersections were hideous. I put it away for sixteen years, and I worked to improve my technique. 2008: Surely I can do this now, I still love it, and I have a new granddaughter (acquired through marriage). So I started to put the blocks together. Aack! The intersections were hideous. What to do now? I may not be around in another sixteen years.

So I made little black yo-yos and put them over the intersections, and you know what? I like it better with the yo-yos than I would have without, even if the intersections had been perfect! There's a lesson in there. You can see the yo-yo that needs fixing in the bottom row, second from right. Not sure how to get it off without clipping the fabric or quilting stitches -- I'll have to use my welding helmet (a pair of humongous magnifiers that you wear around your head).

Another Oops

2009-07-02T20:33:00.005-05:00

I overdid again today, but what's a person to do when the CSA box has such treasures?

I got everything washed, peeled, diced, shredded, chopped, hulled, etc., and then mixed up an ugly batch of shortcake for the yummy strawberries (ugly because I just patted it into a pan instead of cutting nice rounds). A once a year treat, not to be foregone just because of a little shoulder issue.

We had some sunshine today, but DH was playing a well-earned game of golf the whole time the sun was out, so no quilt photo today either (I need him to hold it up for me). Tomorrow AM we have to get non-produce groceries and cat food, and then he's playing again at 11:30, so who knows if it will happen tomorrow, even if the sun shines? No complaints from me, he's been an angel through this.

Gratitudes:

physical therapy going well

DH got to play golf

garden bounty I didn't have to work for

Oops

2009-06-30T18:40:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was a beautiful, breezy day; DH, the darling he is, carted me hither and yon, a welcome outing. We picked up the two quilts, and I washed Kayla's today. It's beautiful, but a yo-yo came undone and will have to be repaired. Today has been cold and dark, not a good day for photographing quilts, so that will have to wait for a more propitious moment.

I overdid yesterday and am paying the price today. It's my right shoulder, dominant hand. I feel good enough to be real bored, but obviously need to take it easy -- not too much handwork or knitting yet!

Gratitudes:

long-arm quilter did a fabulous job

all three grandkid quilts are done (except for a yo-yo)

I can wash my own armpits!

I'm baack!

2009-06-28T19:08:00.003-05:00

Trail Ride

The last three days have seen an amazing improvement. Nights are still rough. Last night I took my iPod to bed and listened to Bach for 90 minutes before deciding he wasn't going to put me to sleep. So I got up and sat in DH's recliner with a lapdesk playing solitaire for a while. I haven't played it since I was a kid; I still can't win, even when I cheat. Finally my eyes started to droop. I got about four hours of sleep. But PT is going very well and I'm really pleased.

Tomorrow Jim is going to drive me to Whitewater to pick up two quilts from the long-arm quilter. So I'll have new stuff to show you. The quilt above is old stuff. The story that goes with this quilt is that I cut a lot more 2"x5" batik strips than I needed for a table runner, so I made this king size quilt out of the leftovers.

Gratitudes:

Gorgeous day today after the heat wave

Finally feeling better

DH has been a saint through all this

Going on break

2009-06-15T20:07:00.005-05:00

I didn't make it to the retreat, I was still too sick, but I did get to the Fest, which was wonderful. So many good, good people in one place, so much affection and kindness and care -- like quilters!

I'm still coughing and saw the doc late this afternoon. He conferred with the surgeon, and I had chest x-rays, and I got the green light for surgery tomorrow. I don't know when I'll be back in business here again, not for a while, at least.

DH helped me take photos of the quilts this afternoon. I don't deserve any credit for Bodie's, as it was a kit. I don't make labor-intensive baby quilts! I save that for their big kid quilts, which they won't outgrow so quickly. I thought the Hungry Caterpillar fabric was fun for a baby boy; the backing fabric is white with colorful bugs, too, and the long-arm quilter used a pantogram with flying bugs and their flight paths. Very cute. I got a copy of the board book to go with the quilt.

Here's Coplan's, which has a lotta seams! It has wool batting, so the quilting will at least show a little more in relief in such a busy quilt. The fabrics are ethnic and faux-ethnic, good for a sixteen-year-old-not-a-little-boy.

Kayla's is done too, but I have to pick it up yet, which will have to wait until I've recovered a little. I can't wait to see it.

Gratitudes:

a wonderful 'family' reunion with my religious order

getting this surgery over with tomorrow

some good recorded books for recuperating time

Bad couple of weeks

2009-06-08T15:37:00.003-05:00

I have had a nasty virus and a houseguest; poor pet -- it has to have been a bummer visit for her. Very little accomplished, just a lot of coughing and blowing. One day we did make fiber postcards; here's mine:

Coplan's and Bodie's quilts are finished, but I haven't had a chance to take photos of them yet. I still have to get the final border on the Four-Patch Posies quilt. But I will be out of town through Sunday, at the annual retreat of my religious order. If I can go, that is. I doubt I'm still contagious, but I can't cough all through the silent retreat, that would be most unkind! I do hope I can attend; this year promises to be very special, and every year is important.

The day after I get home, I will have surgery on my shoulder, for several problems, including a torn rotator cuff. I'm looking forward to getting that over with.

So my knitting and sewing, and perhaps typing, will be on vacation for a bit while I mend. I'm enjoying a couple of new books by Mark Schweitzer of St. James Music Press. They are laugh-out-loud funny, about a chief of police who is also organist and choirmaster of an Episcopal Church in Appalachia, and also aspires to write hard-boiled detective novels, which are truly awful. Good reading for when my mind is mush.

Gratitudes:

cool summer so far

a pileated woodpecker near the house

a red-headed woodpecker for the first time in years

Decision Time

2009-05-24T19:40:00.005-05:00

I have most of the pieced border together, and am trying to decide whether to float it thus:

or insert it right next to the quilt top and make the outside border plain blue:

I think I like it best this second way. I decided against the soft orange 1/4 inch inner border as it makes the quilt too busy. I make enough loud quilts; I want this one to whisper.

Meanwhile the kitchen rug is growing. It take much longer to get around it once, but each round adds about 1 1/2 inches total width. Still, I'm only about half-way there.

Lots of friends have been saving selvages for me; I've even received some in the mail! There will be some fun new colors coming up, as I was given a big bag full last Wednesday when my friend Diane came over from Lake Mills and we made scented soap. She had collected selvages from everyone at her last retreat.

We've had a beautiful weekend so far, not too warm, nice and sunny. I can hear a scarlet tanager in the tree tops. We don't often see them, as they stay up high, but they have a lovely song. Tomorrow I will assist (probably cutting up oranges) to provide refreshments for the 5K Power Walk for Parkinsons' my friend Mary and her son Peter are holding for the second year.

Gratitudes:

Great talk with grandson Noah this morning

birdsong

woods lush with ferns and cranesbill

Wildflowers and Birds

2009-05-19T16:15:00.002-05:00

The woods are a riot of wildflowers, and we have had quite a wildlife show this past two days. Here are the wild geraniums, also known as cranesbill. All twelve acres are carpeted with them:

The lilies of the valley are just opening:

Last night a doe and two newborn fawns crossed the driveway into the woods. They were so spindly, they can't be more than a day old. I couldn't get a photo, alas. But we also had technicolor at the bird feeders. Here's the female oriole eating an orange.

See the indigo bunting on the ground under the feeder pole?
We also had hummingbirds, cardinals and purple finches, rose-breasted grosbeaks, goldfinches, downy and red-bellied woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees -- it was busy out there!

And here are the bluebells in my friend Fran's woods (hers are later than mine).
It has been a glorious spring. Today summer has arrived with all its heat and stickiness. Yuck.

Gratitudes:

wildflowers and wildlife

time to enjoy them

dinner tonight with old friends

Woods Full of Wildflowers

2009-05-15T20:40:00.008-05:00

The wildflowers in our woods are grateful for this long, cool spring. We have never had so many trillium:

I realized recently that I never posted a photo of The Quilt That Won't Show Cat Hair (formerly known as The Quilt From Hell). Here it is in use now:

Happy Spring!

Gratitudes:

+ MRI results now known and surgery scheduled -

+ SO there's light at the end of the tunnel

+ going to see Word With a Bird at Audubon with Olivia June 7

Simple Gifts

2009-05-14T12:03:00.004-05:00

It was a simple gift to be able to work on this after the detailed little Pieces of Times blocks:

It's funny -- for years I didn't like blue and now I just love it. Not all shades, but this one, for sure. I'm pondering the border treatment. I want to keep the quilt calm (and get it done!), so this is one possibility:

But I have a lot of the sashing pieces which were cut (ahem) a bit short

and which I could turn into a pieced border:

Then the questions are: narrow coral stripe with the pieced border? Dark blue outside this border? Inner border? Of what?

Any suggestions?

Gratitudes:

sunny and cool

wildflowers are gorgeous in the woods

A host of golden daffodils

2009-05-12T15:20:00.004-05:00

I've been on the run since getting home late Saturday, so this is just a taste -- I'll fill in more later.

Here are a few of the quilters at The Clearing last week; we had stopped at The Red Cup coffee house on Washington Island before visiting Sievers School of Fiber Arts which was having an open house. At the far right is Judy Hasheider, who teaches at Sievers and also at The Clearing.

One of the many treats of the week was the flowers, mostly wildflowers at The Clearing, but also all the naturalized daffodils around North Door, as the northern part of Door County is called.

We took several field trips to visit these -- just spectacular!

I finished all but two of the picky little sampler blocks I had hoped to do (could have done all but didn't have the fabric with me), and after making one or two of those stinkers, I let myself do a simple quilt top -- which I just love! Photos to come.

Thanksgivings:

a wonderful retreat

sublime surroundings

safe trip home

Signs of Spring

2009-04-27T20:45:00.006-05:00

My grandmother, who could quote reams of poetry by heart, always quoted Swinburne at this time of year: "The hounds of spring are on winter's traces."

Spring has been very slow coming this year, and April more like March. But in spite of continuing grey, rainy days, spring is winning. Here are some ferns poking up through the mulch:

And shy bleeding heart buds hiding their heads under the leaves:

The dear little wood violets:
And my mysterious anemone -- given to me many years ago by a friend to transplant to our woods, it disappeared after the first year, only to pop up this year:
I wonder about these little mysteries. One year a showy double white columbine came up near the path, literally from nowhere. We've never seen it again. And our patch of Dutchman's breeches, once as big across as a round dining table, has gradually shrunk to almost nothing. I don't know enough botany to know if this is natural or if we are losing our wildflowers to doubtful progress.

Wednesday I go to The Clearing in Door County for nine uninterrupted days of quilting (uninterrupted if you don't count taking the time for fabulous meals and even better fellowship). If not my favorite place in the world, it's definitely in the running. (There's a Smilebox slideshow in an earlier post of the magic of the place in January.) I'm going to finish all the pieced blocks for the Pieces of Time sampler quilt class I foolishly started in February of 2008; at least they're all cut. And I hope to get sashing around the blocks of a whimsical 4-Patch Posy I started in October.

Finally, if I finish all that, I'll make the 140 blocks for my contribution to the collaborative quilts (Freddie Moran and Gwen Marston) projects we started a year ago. In January 2008, thirteen of us made 130 blocks, divided them into packages of ten for one another. But most of us decided we need a lot more blocks. Another quilter has joined the project, hence the 140 blocks this year. Each of us makes a different block from brights and black & whites. If you haven't seen Freddie and Gwen's book "Collaborative Quilts" it's a treat. Just seeing Freddie's house is a treat. And I covet Gwen's fire engine red Featherweight.

Gratitudes:

MRI for shoulder over

going to The Clearing!

found my red raincoat

Homely Things

2009-04-22T19:32:00.005-05:00

You know about 'comfort food'? This is my 'comfort reading.' Written by an Englishwoman about fifty years ago, these books all take place in a little village called Fairacre. Nothing ever happens in them, but it doesn't happen so charmingly! It was a gentler time and place, or maybe that's just a myth, but I'd like to think it was so. I grew up in a small town, so I know a bit about what it's like to live where everyone knows everything about everyone else. Not always comfortable. But people knew when you needed help, and usually lent a hand.

Things are rising out of the ashes: Bluebells with buds!

Crocus!
Wildflowers I've never been able to identify! They look white here, but the petals have fine pale blue stripes.

I had some pretty Christmas fat quarters bought on sale, the right size for place mats, and decided to make them up this afternoon. You know how it is -- you don't feel like making Christmas stuff in the springtime, but then they go into the stash and you forget about them until next Christmas -- when you're too busy to make them. And so it goes. Not this time! I'll handsew the bindings on tonight.

Gratitudes:

flowers rising out of the ashes

a sunny day

a productive day

First Annual Bloggers Quilt Festival

2009-04-21T15:30:00.006-05:00

Finn, at Pieces From My Scrapbag wrote today about an exciting web event: the First Annual Bloggers Spring Quilt Festival. Participants are to post on our own blogs a photo of our favorite quilt, with brief comments, and then link back to the festival site at Park City Girl Quilt Festival. This is Topkapi:

It's twin size, but would be a wild bed quilt. (It's hanging over our stairs.) The pattern is from Sarah Nephew's Serendipity book, which has guidelines for piecing with 60 degree triangles and diamonds, but gives lots of leeway to do your own thing. I had a blast with this. I worked about ten hours a day for ten days, "in the zone." Even my husband got into it -- he would say "Do you want me to get you a sandwich for lunch so you can keep working?" Since he's normally oblivious to what I do, I took this as a big thumbs up!

Nice Weather for Ducks II

2009-04-20T13:59:00.004-05:00

I have had two speeds for a couple of weeks: High and Off. When I haven't been busy-busy, I've been pooped. Holy Week is a marathon of services, prayer watch and vigil. Last week I took Coplan's and another quilt (working title: Rosemaling) to a long-arm quilter in Whitewater, and Kayla's and Bodie's quilts to a long-arm quilter in DeForest. Four quilts almost done!!!

What a cold and rainy spring we're having. This made me smile, though:

Don't you wonder what that was about?

One of the two or three really nice days we've had, the cats and I were able to spend a couple of hours on the porch:

These next two photos are in the wrong order. The second is of the controlled burn we did a week ago. The woods still look like a war zone, but if you look closely at this one, you can see the green blades rising from the ashes. The bluebells and bleeding hearts are coming up too, but no buds yet.

Meanwhile, spring cleaning and other tasks await. Have a happy day.

Gratitudes:

green grass

good books

resurrection

Quick Projects

2009-04-07T16:41:00.005-05:00

I have been losing or breaking sock needles with alarming frequency of late, and find myself with but one or one and a half needles when I'm out and about. I decided I needed to carry spares, so I made this little needle wrap:

And I saw a pattern for something called a "mug bucket" for $9.99 (for just the pattern). "Well," says I, "I don't need a pattern for that! I'll figure it out myself" and I did. There are mugs at every quilting retreat, so this will come in handy.

I am culling books, dusting bookshelves and cataloging more of my library. A huge job, but it's time to admit that at 63 and with so many unread books, I'm not going to re-read most of these, and not going to brush up my feeble Latin, French and German to re-read books in those languages. The unread books teeter in stacks on the floor in my study, and need to get up onto the shelves. But what a mess! Until I get the the culled books delivered to the public library for their Friends sale, and to Julian House for their library, there is no place for them except the floor. As I move them around, I have to change the identifier for their location in the online catalog, which is tedious but necessary if I hope to lay my hands on one when I want it. I have such admiration for librarians, who combine a wealth of knowledge with infinite patience. They are my heroes, and for another reason -- in spite of the stereotype of the shy, bookish librarian, they are the ones who had the courage to stand up to the Bush Administration and protect the privacy rights of United States citizens.

A pair of chickadees are cleaning out the wren house, presumably for their own use this summer. The wrens aren't due for a couple of weeks; I wonder what they will think when they find their summer home occupied? Guess I'd better hie myself to the wild bird store and get another wren house. It's getting crowded in the back woods, what with the wrens and the barred owls, and now chickadees nesting back there. But I miss the whippoorwills, who sang us to sleep at night for years, until the suburban sprawl got too close. I don't know what happened to them, or where they went. It saddens me. The world is infinitely poorer for the loss of our wildlife.

Gratitudes:

Environmentalists working to save wildlife

Sunshine

Librarians, Defenders of the Constitution

There's a Reason

2009-03-29T20:16:00.005-05:00

There's a reason I call this blog "Incremental Victories" -- that's the story of my life. What I accomplish is mostly done by the three steps forward, two back method. Overall it's progress, but I won't win any productivity awards.

This week the issue (one of them) has been the total chaos created when our internet service provider did an "upgrade" -- boy, is that a misnomer! We still have problems even after three trips to the Apple Genius Bar -- even the Geniuses there haven't been able to fix the mess. So tomorrow we take two computers and two iPhones back in for more work. I hasten to add that none of this is Apple's fault; the fault is entirely with our internet service provider. May be our former service provider before this is over.

The computer problems have been huge time-wasters, and I haven't been able to get a lot else done. However, I started this baby sweater for a new grandson:

I love these wonderful "cheater" sock yarns, and wish they would design some for adult size sweaters. I suppose there's a lot more variation in adult sizes than in infant sizes, and that's why we haven't got it yet.

I've made progress on the rag rug from selvages:

Right now it looks like a dog's dinner, but I'm not worried -- if it looks too bad, I'll overdye it when it's done. It cups a tiny bit, but I've convinced myself that when it's been walked on for a while it will lay flat. Long way before it's big enough, though, and now I have to stop until I have some more selvages. I have four quilt backs to piece, which will provide some, and I'll ask my quilting friends to save for me too.

Last night we got three of the six inches of snow predicted, and there was a raw wind this morning. But it was sunny this afternoon, and most of it's melted.

Gratitudes:

The goldfinches are turning yellow.

We can always go back to paper and pens.

Goblin is healing well.

Onion Skin Socks

2009-03-20T20:54:00.003-05:00

I've been making Claire socks with Koigu yarn , a color called Charred Wood, if I remember correctly. I had to break into the second (and last) skein before finishing the first sock. That means I'll run out of yarn before finishing the second sock. What to do? Seems extravagant to buy another skein just to finish a toe. I had this orange fingering weight yarn from Dale of Norway -- a little too pink and bright, but . . . I wondered about dying it with onion skins. So I've been saving brown and red (mostly brown) onion skins for a few weeks. Tonight I put them into a glass bowl and poured boiling water over them, then let them sit for an hour or so. Now to experiment: I tested a short length of the orange yarn which I had 'cooked' in the onion skin soup. It's lying across the brown sock -- can you see it?

Looks like it will work. I rolled an estimated two toe's-worth of the orange yarn into a circle and tied it several places with twine. Then into the bowl of onion skin soup it went, and both went into the microwave oven.

I cooked them for seven minutes on high, until the yarn had absorbed much of the color in the water.

I rinsed the yarn until the rinse water ran clear, then hung it to dry. When it's dry, I'll roll it into a little ball and finish the first sock's toe. I hope there's enough to do both toes, as it might be hard to re-create the exact same color again!

This is another way to waste not, want not -- use it up, make it do. I'm feeling quite pleased with myself!

Much ado about very little

2009-03-19T12:29:00.005-05:00

What a week! The cat on the left, Goblin, had extensive exploratory surgery Tuesday, without uncovering the cause of her distress (I hate having put her through that!). Glenna, the cat on the right, jumped up on the open hot tub and fell in Saturday evening, soaked to the bone.

I had to take both sewing machines to Waukesha for cleaning and tuning -- they were overdo and running rough. Now I can get back to work on Coplan's quilt.

It is Lent, with all the extra church activity that entails. And Lent reminds me that the mysterious Christmas cactus, one side of which blooms at Christmas and the other around Easter, is blooming. This conjures up memories of the Glastonbury thorn legend. Someday I'll write about that.

The only progress I've made on much of anything needleworkish is what I'm calling my "Depression Project." It's using up miles and miles of selvages left from cutting quilting fabrics, mine and donated by friends.

Very utilitarian, colors are whatever piece is next in the roll without planning. It makes me feel good to know that I'm making use of something that would otherwise be thrown away. Learning to waste not, want not can be an upside to the current economic situation.

Monday two bluebirds perched briefly in a tree outside the dining room window. I checked my 'arrival date' record: They used to arrive in late April or early May. The last few years they've been arriving in early to mid-April. March 16 is alarmingly early. More evidence of climate change.

Gratitudes:

nothing serious wrong with Goblin

Glenna survived her swim

snowdrops blooming along the walk

The origins of my header

2009-03-11T22:18:00.005-05:00

Leslie, at Pieceful Moments asked about the quilt in my header. It's a bull's-eye. Here's the story: My great-niece Sarah, age 6, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, and was facing chemotherapy and radiation. As soon as we heard, my daughter-in-law Claire (also a quilter) and I got together and cut all the pieces for background and 'flowers,' then each took half and made them up, met again a few days later and put it together. Next day I sewed little green leaves on and took it to the long-arm quilter, who said she could squeeze it in right away, and she quilted the whole thing overnight! That night Claire and I put the binding on, and the next day (exactly seven days after the news) I took it to the post office and mailed it to Boise, where Sarah lives. I put in a note saying that the more the quilt was washed, the more the flowers would 'bloom' so it was ok to throw up on it. That was a little more than a year ago. Sarah went through a hellacious year with all sorts of complications, but today she is in remission.

Nice Weather for Ducks

2009-03-11T15:17:00.002-05:00

[Someday I'll figure out how to get photos on here in the order I want!]

Yesterday I went to Quilt Sitters' Circle, a bi-monthly meeting led by Judy Hasheider, quilter par excellence. Here is the new one she showed:

It's a knockout. I have so many want-to-make quilts, in my head, in my fabric stash, and when I see one like this the list keeps growing -- I won't live long enough!

It was a puddly March day here. Friends in the parking lot:

One of Judy's other recent quilts looks like an Italian Renaissance terrazzo floor, another stunner; I wish I had a good photo of it. I dug through my stash and put these together. What do you think?

Gratitudes:

cold better

shoulder better (very gradually!)

Olivia's 3rd grade math scores were in the 99th percentile!

Ant Latte?

2009-03-05T13:15:00.008-06:00

This morning, when I dumped the coffee dregs from the pot into the sink, seven drowned ants fell out. It's March 5, for heaven's sake! How have they survived this cold winter? (Not to mention those blasted Asian beetles which never go away.) In some cultures, ants are considered an acceptable protein-based comestible, but I'd at least like to have washed them first. How would one go about washing an ant?

Yesterday I thought my cold couldn't get worse, but sure enough, it did. I didn't get much done yesterday, but today I will take a stab at finishing this postcard:

Although the leaf is a subdued batik, both it and the black background are more vivid than they appear in this anemic photo. I have some beads and a tiny acorn charm to sew on, then we'll see how it looks.

I had hoped to get the top of Coplan's quilt put together yesterday, but didn't. And my head is too clogged up today to be leaning over picking up and putting down blocks. Here it is to date:

Gratitudes:

hot tea

hot showers

no cold lasts forever

Another Postcard

2009-03-04T20:30:00.005-06:00

Less successful than the first. I wanted this to be simple and classic looking, for the birthday of Myra, who does amazing nature-themed quilts for the Audubon Society in Milwaukee. I had a beautiful bluejay feather, and now I've learned when using real feathers, sew them on after all pressing is finished!

I didn't finish Coplan's quilt today, my cold is even worse, and I'm even grumpier.

Gratitudes:
good husband fixed dinner
didn't have to accomplish anything today
found a place to service my sewing machines (now that all the Madison dealers have gone out of business)

Sick and Grumpy

2009-03-03T21:15:00.005-06:00

Wonderful retreat at the Jones Mansion in Mineral Point, WI last week, but two of the people had bad colds, another got sick while there, and now I am too. I had avoided getting a cold for more than a year, mostly by staying away from sick people. And it seems very unfair that a well person should have to forfeit the fee and stay home to avoid sick people who don't. So now I am sick. And grumpy.

However I got most of the piecing done for Coplan's quilt, which I'm anxious to finish so I can send all three children their quilts (including a brand-new grandson). If I felt better I'd probably have finished today. Maybe tomorrow.

The Clearing in Winter - Last Month

2009-02-22T15:17:00.001-06:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Zebra Postcard

2009-02-18T10:03:00.003-06:00

Oops, first one didn't take.

Gratitudes:

a good night's sleep

fresh snow

Fabric Postcard

2009-02-17T20:38:00.010-06:00

My first fabric postcard (well, second, actually, but the first didn't count):

The background is a couple of cut-off triangles from some strip piecing sewn together. The background of the fussy cut zebra is a piece of corrugated cardboard that some leaf buttons from South Africa came on. The buttons I've had for a while, and the variegated thread was a prize last week at the EAA retreat.

Gratitudes:

another day to sew

time with granddaughter Olivia

the privilege of voting

Productive Day

2009-02-16T20:28:00.004-06:00

I'm being very disciplined about daily physical therapy for my rotator cuff issue, but this 'exercise' is the easy one -- even the cats like to get in on the act.

This is the third rearrangement of the blocks in this one-block wonder quilt. When I saw the fabric, I saw blue and green, not pink. There's a whole lot of pink in it, though, and I've been trying to make the blues and greens attract the eye. I need to make some hollow cube blocks in blue and green to help out.

I promised I'd show the EAA retreat projects, and here they are. First, a woven table runner. I finished it today (featherstitching on raw edges and binding) -- I didn't want yet another half-finished project cluttering up the sewing room, which is already beyond redemption.

And this nifty little iPod or cell phone bag from a recycled necktie. Very quick, and just what I need so I can listen to my iPod while sewing without danger of running a rotary cutter through the earphone cord. Tomorrow I'm going to help my little granddaughter make one for herself.

We also were given demonstrations for mitering hems and for attaching blanket binding without having to handstitch the corners closed. Don't know how often I'll use the latter technique, but no doubt an application will arise sometime.

Gratitudes:

a day to sew

leftovers for supper

good friends

Quilting Cadets

2009-02-12T20:46:00.006-06:00

I spent Monday through Wednesday at a quilting retreat with the Fox Valley Technical College, with demonstrations and assistance from my friend Renee's Aunt Donna. Aunt Donna is 82 years old, and the mother of ten children. Here she is:

That tells you something about her personality! I'll try to get photos of some of the projects she demonstrated (and which I actually made) and post them. She's both an engineer and an artist.

We stayed and sewed at a lovely chalet owned by the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh, WI: www.eaa.org

It was a light, airy space with a glider suspended overhead. That's a new quilting retreat phenomenon.

We visited an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink fabric shop called YDS near Omro, WI. This is also run by an 80-something year old woman. Her prices are fabulous because she has no overhead to speak of. It's incredibly crowded (and there were twelve of us in there), and nothing is organized according to a system, but the fabrics are good quality (e.g., Moda) and she has excellent thread, etc. She also has kitschy stuff like doll dresses with full skirts made from milking machine filters. I found a perfect backing for the brights quilt for my new step-granddaughter.

The high point of the retreat is that after standing for about nine hours over two days, I finished all the cutting for the pieced blocks for the Pieces of Time class, using a more efficient cutting method. I have gotten so far behind, and class meets again next Wednesday. Now when I get ten minutes to sew, I'll actually be able to sew, instead of auditioning fabrics for each block and cutting it one piece at a time.

Gratitudes:

time with good friend Renee

all those blocks cut and bagged

home safe in spite of a flat tire

Birthdays and an Owl

2009-02-08T17:17:00.005-06:00

A friend showed me a beautiful scarf she's knitting, the pattern is called Ocean Waves, and is available free on Ravelry (www.ravelry.com). It's very simple and goes very fast. I'm making two at a time, this one in yarn that really is the color of ocean waves:

And this one:
What I learned is that the more frequent the color changes in the yarn are (every 2 - 4 inches), the more evenly distributed they are in this scarf; whereas when the colors change less frequently (every 20 - 25 inches), colors appear in large diagonals, as in the first photo. I may like this better when the scarf gets longer, but for now, I prefer the scarf in the lower photo. I'll have to remember this in future.

This morning we had a guest during breakfast:

He (or she) has been perched in branches near the house during the day several times lately. This morning he (or she) stayed a good half hour before flying away. We have always had a pair of these barred owls in our woods, and we frequently hear them hooting in the night, but we rarely see them during the day.

My friend Diane's birthday arrived last week, one of the ends-in-zero ones, and our quilting group has a tradition for ends-in-zero birthdays: Each of us makes the celebrant a quilt block in the design and color of her choice. Diane wanted churn dash blocks in green on tan or black. Here's the one I made her:

Yesterday was my birthday (not ending in zero -- that was three years ago). Everyone was so nice to me I felt quite elderly -- no Boy Scouts helped me across the street yet, but I expect that's imminent. We had a lovely family celebration at an Indian restaurant Friday evening, and a lovely dinner with friends last night. Roses, candy, heavenly-scented soap and candle (Frasier Fir), a beautifully-bound blank book, phone calls, cards, a portable DVD player on which to play my quilting tutorials -- I am spoiled.

Early in the morning Jim flies to Florida for a week of golf, and I drive to my friend Renee's house, from whence we will go on to Fox Valley Technical College for a couple of days of quilting. This is a new group to me, and I'm looking forward to making new friends and learning new things.

Gratitudes:

Another year of a good life

Owls in the woods

Birthday cards handmade by my grandkids

Table Runners

2009-01-29T21:47:00.003-06:00

Here are some table runners I finished in 2008. This first was a sample of the Four-Patch Posy block. Stack four repeats of a motif, cut in half both way, then arrange in kaleidoscope style. I had some seed packet fabric which was perfect. Sashing and borders are gingham.

This is a pattern called Long Lines. Very simple. I made a smaller one in blues and golds with koi fish -- a motif like the fish can be cut in half and a strip inserted and the eye fills in so it appears whole. My son and daughter-in-law have that one.

This next table runner has been the subject of many jokes. I cut way more 2"x5" strips than I needed, so I made a king size quilt out of the leftovers. (Of course, I had to cut more strips!) When I finished it, the center looked kind of blah next to the border, so I went in the backyard and gathered some leaves and traced them. I cut those shapes out of similar colors of batiks, then cut a few identical ones in half down the center vein and sewed half of one leaf to half of another one. It's subtle -- you would think it was all one fabric, but it gives depth and texture. Then I raw-edge appliqued them to the center of the table runner. It turned out very well.

Finally, this next one was out of the box for me. The background of each square was embossed using Shiva Paintstix and rubbing plates. Then the leaf on each used a different paint stick technique. In theory, when you've made all six blocks, you've learned all the techniques for using them. I'm sure some artistic folk have come up with a lot of new ways, but it's the basics. I haven't used them since, but keep drooling over the photos in Quilting Arts magazine.

Gratitudes:

Did everything on my B list today

Started knitting the Ocean Waves scarf in lovely handpainted yarn

Gave the cat a bath and survived

Guests at the birdfeeder

2009-01-28T19:53:00.005-06:00

We have anywhere from two to four deer every day at the birdfeeder and birdbath. They've eaten all the bark up as far as they can reach now. Sometimes we have a mother with one or two of last year's fawns; she licks seed off the feeder and knocks some on the ground for the young ones.

I wonder how they get through the snow without breaking their delicate legs, but mostly they do. The other day, coming up the driveway, three jumped across and leaped into the woods -- a beautiful ballet.

Today I balanced my chequebook, which has been much easier since I started using a credit card for almost everything. But I was still off $675 and couldn't find it. (Good thing I'm married to a banker. In fact, I met him because I had trouble balancing my chequebook.) A task that should have taken ten minutes took two hours. No wonder I don't get any sewing done!

Gratitudes:

A balanced chequebook

Enough money left to give some away

Wildlife in our woods

The Good Life -- Now

2009-01-27T21:18:00.002-06:00

Two years ago, on one of the coldest weekends of the year, I was at a quilting retreat in rural Sauk County. One of the women, coming in from outside, mentioned that there was a friendly kitty outside. When I took my walk-around-and-get-the-kinks-out break, I went out to see it. It was friendly, indeed -- doing figure-eights around my legs. I picked it up -- skin and bones; its spine was like the pop beads of my youth, and I could put my finger into the joint of its hip socket. It was our first day there, and the only leftovers we had were from lunch: chicken artichoke casserole. I put some on a paper plate and took it out. The kitten ravenously devoured every morsel, including the artichokes. I picked it up again, and tucked it under my coat, where it nestled in and began to purr.

My daughter-in-law Claire was with me; I asked if she would be willing to drive me and the kitten to the vet, and she agreed. We were about an hour away, and it was a little after 4 PM on a Friday, so I called the vet, said I was bringing a rescue kitty in, and if I was a few minutes late, would they wait? They said yes.

Claire began the drive nervously, repeating, "That cat's going to bite you!" "No, it isn't," said I; it was curled on my lap purring like crazy. After about fifteen minutes, it went sound asleep. It was probably the first time in a long time it had been full and warm.

We got to the vet on the dot of 5 PM; I asked them to keep the cat over the weekend, have a vet check it over on Monday and test it for feline leukemia, then call me. Monday noon the vet called and said the test was negative, but the cat was starving (no kidding), had fleas and ear mites and, no doubt, worms, an infected eye and a broken tooth. Also that it was a female, about two years old, and had had kittens, which undoubtedly died because she was too thin to nurse them.

I asked the vet to deal with the fleas, the ear mites, the worms, the eye, and inoculate her against feline leukemia, and call me when I could pick her up. Then I called my husband, who was very happy having only one cat in the house. But he's also a gentle and compassionate man, and was surprisingly easy to persuade that we needed to give this kitty a good home. Here they are:

She has been a joy and the source of great entertainment -- a little clown. She's also very good with the grandkids, much more tolerant than the older cat.

Olivia has been wanting a kitty forever, so we decided that this would be her kitty that lives at Nana's house. They are quite a pair:

On these cold snowy days, I'm so glad to know this little cat is inside, warm, dry and with a full tummy.

Gratitudes:

a rescued kitty

a beautiful granddaughter

a loving husband

A retreat for the strong-hearted

2009-01-24T20:38:00.010-06:00

So far January has not been the doze-in-front-of-the-fireplace kind of time I fantasize about in November and December. I have not been willfully neglecting this poor blog for so many months -- life is what happens when you have other plans.

Last weekend my daughter-in-law and I went on our annual quilting retreat in Door County, Wisconsin. When we arrived Thursday afternoon, the temperature was -17 F.

But, as I tell my granddaughter, "The women in our family are tough cookies." We had a wonderful time, spending as much time walking around outside gaping at the beauty and taking pictures as inside doing needlework.

It's a unique ecosystem --a peninsula between two large bodies of water (Green Bay and Lake Michigan), and it's the transitional area between the Northern Hardwood Forest and the Boreal Forest. It is stunning, especially in January. Going up there for five days over MLK, Jr. weekend has become a tradition among my close quilting friends. The fair-weather tourists have long since gone, and quiet reigns.

Snow reigns too. It is austere and opulent at the same time. We had six inches of snow on Saturday, in bright sunshine, so it truly appeared that diamonds were falling through the air.

The paths through the woods are right out of a storybook (Narnia).

Here flowers are wearing white shakos.

This is one of the unheated cabins -- we stay in the few that have heat! We take our down comforters and hot water bottles and are snug and warm. And we know how to dress for the cold.

I had low expectations for what I would accomplish -- and met them: I finished my grandson's Obama socks (the right one says President and the left says Obama) so he could wear them for the inauguration on Tuesday. I finished appliqueing a block which I started last June. I am taking a two-year class to learn hand applique, and the first four blocks went surprisingly well. It was beginner's luck -- the fifth block is awful, and I was so discouraged I couldn't get myself to pick it up again. But I finally convinced myself that someday I will look at this quilt and say, "Wow, I've come a long way!" So I finished it. And I cut out the next one. Last, I appliqued over a mistake on a top that's now ready for the quilter, once I get the backing together.

I have watched more television since Obama's nomination acceptance speech than in the past 30 years. I know our country has huge problems, but we still have natural resources, we still know how to work, we're still inventive. There's nothing wrong that we can't fix. I'm so relieved that we now have people in government who can figure it out without getting hung up on ideology.

One of the blogs I like to read is Sara's Scraps. Sara ends each post with gratitudes for the day, and I like that. I think I'll steal the idea from her.

Gratitudes:

A warm house

Fresh homemade bread

Lois reads this blog

Giddy with Joy and Relief

2008-11-05T21:34:00.003-06:00

I have been too busy for two months to keep this up, but life is easier today than it's been for a long time. Although we have much to do, we know our nation is now in good hands. Soon I'll bring this up to date.

Baking & Tea

2008-09-09T21:48:00.005-05:00

Today I baked up some of the zillion zucchini into bread, along with the classic French boule, and made Joe Carson's Ginger Cookies and Dixie Curkeet's Refrigerator Cookies. I took the cookies to Obama headquarters for the hardworking volunteers. The place was buzzing like a hive.

Tonight I met Carla and got The Quilt From Hell which she had quilted for me. It looks really nice! I may have to change its name. Even Skip likes it, and wants to use it on our bed. It is huge! I'll get a photo ASAP and post it -- of course, it's not bound yet, and won't be until I get time. It is a long, long way 'round that thing.

I finished reading Three Cups of Tea last night. It's a gripping read and a galvanizing story. I know what I want from my family this Christmas -- a year's salary for a teacher in one of Mortenson's schools -- $356. A dollar a day. To educate girls; he also builds women's vocational centers, brings in fresh drinking water, and other humanitarian deeds, with the unintended consequence eliminating the motivations behind terrorism. Why be the world's worst nightmare when you can be the world's best friend?

Roses and Tomatoes

2008-09-05T18:32:00.007-05:00

We had a wonderful visit with our friends Mary and Dave in Denver. Here's Mary with her birthday quilt. She likes it!

Yesterday I picked up 40 pounds of tomatoes from our community farm. Took them home, peeled, chopped and packed them for freezing. A lot of work, but a lot easier than canning! They taste like the ones from my grandmother's garden when I was little. I've had them breakfast, lunch and supper ever since they 'came on.'

This afternoon I got a call from Ginny, a dynamo who sews, weaves, knits and takes care of half the people on the planet. She told me about an estate sale in the condo complex where she lives and said I had to get right over there. I'm not into garage sales, rummage sales, etc., but this was the stash of a fabriholic the likes of which one can only imagine! Main floor: one room of just buttons, one room of yarns, the rest of the rooms were beautifully organized, top-quality quilting cottons. One big double closet's shelves were stacked with novelty fabrics. The shelves over the washer and dryer, as well as the tops of both machines, were stacked with landscape fabrics. The pantry was full of bright prints and black and white prints. Large shelving units in the dining area held sorted Orientals, batiks and florals (large and small). And tables in the living room held boxes of fat quarters. Prices: $4 - 5 a yard for larger pieces, $.50 a fat quarter. I bought about $400 worth of quilting fabric for $60. But the real score was in the 'bargain basement' -- two very large pieces (at least 60"x60") of beautiful quality fake fur for $5 each. What do I need with that? I've been making new Christmas pageant costumes for the kids of our parish; the magi have been wearing tatty bathrobes for years, and last year I made satin and brocade tunics for them. When I have time I will add matching capes with fur linings!

La Boheme

2008-08-27T10:10:00.006-05:00

Ta da! Finished the binding at 10:30 last night, washed it first thing this morning. What do you think?

I'm taking it to Denver tomorrow as a birthday gift for my friend Mary -- best friends since 7th grade. It doesn't get much better than that.

Summer Days

2008-08-26T16:39:00.005-05:00

Saturday Margaret and I went to Fran's for a lunch potluck. Obama's announcement that Joe Biden would be his V-P running mate had arrived in my Inbox at 3:11 AM, and Margaret and Fran wanted to see their joint appearance in Springfield that afternoon. Biden seems like a good choice: seasoned, knowledgeable, lots of experience working across the aisle in the Senate before politics overtook statesmanship. Maybe the two of them can turn this battleship around before we sink.

Today I'm making stuffed cabbage rolls for supper. I used to make these when my boys were young, and it was a favorite supper. I haven't made them for a long time because it's hard to find cabbages large enough to provide the big leaves required. The magnificent cabbage from Primrose Farm is just what I needed. Yum.

I have been poring over eleven years worth of loose photos looking for ones of the trip to Door County Mother Mo and I took in October of her first year here. I had nearly given up, having got to the 1997 level of the midden without finding them, when several more envelopes of prints came to light. Lo and behold, there they were! Just in time for her retirement celebration scrapbook. But what a lot of wonderful pictures I had forgotten about . . . now I'm on a mission to get them into photo albums.

Day after tomorrow we go to Denver to visit our friends Mary and Dave over Labor Day. This has become an annual visit, one we look forward to every year. This year is especially neat because we'll be in Denver the last night of the Democratic Convention, the night Obama gives his acceptance speech there.

Summer bounty

2008-08-21T09:47:00.005-05:00

Half of this week's CSA share:

We're splitting a share with Matt & Claire, so they have the other half. I'm loving it -- fresh veggies without any chemicals, and tasting like they did from my grandmother's garden.

And here's this morning's bread rising, fragrant of yeast and rosemary:

Here are the finished blocks for the Pieces of Time class I'm taking. It's a two-year class, meeting every other month. We're making a quilt from a Lori Smith pattern. Although this is not my usual kind of thing, I'm taking the class because I want to learn to applique, and to improve my piecing accuracy.

I'm improving, though I discovered that a quarter inch seam is one click different on my two almost-identical machines. I've put reminders on each machine with masking tape.

I've used a different method of preparing the appliques for each block, and so far the one that seems to be working best is to iron the freezer paper template on the wrong side of the fabric, baste the seam allowance, give it a good pressing with spray sizing, then remove the freezer paper before stitching the applique to the background. If I leave the freezer paper in until after stitching the applique to the background, when I pull it out, it stretches my stitches, distorting the piece.

I tried heat-proof plastic templates, but they shift around while I'm trying to press the seam allowances. Needle-turn works well with fairly straight edges, but the first method has given the best all 'round results so far. I do wish I knew how to avoid little thread pokies in the tight inside curves and corners.

Meanwhile . . .

2008-08-10T20:37:00.002-05:00

This is what Noah was up to for a week in Canada, followed by three weeks at a nature camp in northern Wisconsin. It sure was good to see him Friday!

Whew!

2008-08-10T20:03:00.004-05:00

The California grandkids left this morning after ten days with us while their parents vacationed in Belize. If we needed a reminder of why people our age don't have children, this was it! We are exhausted. But the kids had a great time. We did just about everything there is to see and do: toured the Cave of the Mounds, rode Aunt Claire's horse at Hoofer's stables, saw dinosaur skeletons at UW's Geology Museum, went to Vilas Zoo and the playground, saw Kung-Fu Panda, went to the butterfly hatch at Olbrich Gardens and swimming at the Middleton pool a couple of times. Cousins Olivia and Annika had several overnights and play dates -- looks like they enjoy being together, doesn't it?

Erik spent about eight hours over two days building an awesome pirate ship (more like a barge) from styrofoam packing materials -- complete with sail, helm and two planks for enemies to walk. (I suppose to a pirate the Good Guys are the Bad Guys.)

Here is Grandpa watching the kids while Nana cleans up from lunch:

And this is what they left behind in the laundry room:

Sausage Pillowcases Part 2

2008-07-29T12:22:00.005-05:00

Turn the sausage tube inside out. Voila! The cuff encloses the raw edges of the body fabric on both sides.

Sew the long side seam with a French seam, or serge it, or stitch and then zig-zag the edge so it's a neat finish.

Now just sew across the bottom, and it's done! Very slick. After you've made this once, you can make one start to finish in just a couple of minutes.

Sausage Pillowcases, Part 1

2008-07-29T12:01:00.005-05:00

My favorite quilting teacher, Judy Hasheider, taught some of us how to make a pillowcase with a cuff in a jiffy -- and nicely finished inside. Here's how it's done:

You will need 3/4 yard fabric for the main body of the pillowcase, and 1/4 yard fabric for the cuff. Square up the cut ends of each piece of fabric (on the grainline). Each piece will be approximately 42" - 44" inches from selvedge to selvedge -- cut them the same length, trimming off the selvedge at the same time.

Lay out the cuff fabric right side up, and lay the body fabric on top of it, matching the cut edges furthest from you. Beginning with the cut edge closest to you, roll or fold the body fabric up in a sausage considerably narrower than the cuff fabric.

Now fold the bottom cut edge of the cuff fabric up over the sausage so you have a three-layer sandwich of cuff, body, cuff:

Pin and sew the long seam, keeping those three cut edges matched up.

Blogger won't let me put any more photos in this post, so -- to be continued in the next one!

Little Pleasures

2008-07-15T14:44:00.010-05:00

What could be nicer than reading the morning paper with a helper?

And there's nothing more luxurious than clean sheets from the solar-powered dryer, smelling of fresh air and sunshine -- complete with wren song.

A poem I wrote years ago:

"Hanging Out the Sheets"

An emerald insect, long, thin,

marquise-cut, beetles in the grass under the clothesline;

the mosquitos are fierce, hungry;

tiny green worms dangle from branches;

webs droop after last night's rain, torn lace.

Yesterday a doe stretched her neck here,

chewed lilac leaves, blew --

stood so near my spying eyes, oblivious,

poked at her nose with a black hoof.

A shot of sunlight touched

the soft inside of her ear, golden, white.

It's a quiet day here, but not for long: Next week Olivia (age 8) and I will be studying entomology (bugs) at Grandparents University (University of Wisconsin) and on the weekend the California kids and grandkids arrive for an extended stay. Then the roller coaster will be full throttle until October.

Home Town Visit

2008-07-13T19:05:00.016-05:00

Yesterday we went to the Dregne family reunion at the farm just outside Viroqua. Amazing how many progeny derive from the three original Dregne siblings and their spouses. I enjoy seeing the little ones and talking with those of my generation -- we are now the matriarchs and patriarchs. That in-between age group, those just graduating from college and getting married, are not very interested in us old fogeys -- never fear, they'll get their turn!

My sister-in-law and I went into town so she could show me a couple of interesting places I haven't seen.

First we went to Main Street Station:

www.viroquamainststation.com

This was the old Buick car dealership building. It's now an indoor town square, complete with fountain and benches. All around the sides are booths selling antiques, local art and locally-made lotions, clothing, etc. There's an organic ice-cream shop and a pleasant patio in back for sitting outside.

Then we went to Ewetopia yarn shop:

www.ewetopiafibershop.com

They sell a lovely selection of high-quality commercial yarns as well as locally-grown, hand-spun and hand-dyed wools. Also roving and wool for spinning. The website has pdf files of some nice free patterns designed by the shop owner. I'm going to make the Bicolor Spiral Cap.

In the early 70s "back-to-earth" young people began moving into Viroqua, and the locals didn't want those dirty hippies. Now, thirty years later, the economic revival of this dying small town is entirely due to the dirty hippies.

Out of the house

2008-07-10T16:33:00.003-05:00

Saturday I took The Quilt From Hell to Carla, the long-arm quilter who has been patiently waiting for it. I am so glad it's in her hands and out of my house!

Tuesday afternoon I went out to Fran's house for a reunion of my writing group, the first time we've all been together this summer, what with Margaret at chamber music camp and me all over the state. Margaret's sister Caroline from Hartford, Connecticut -- a cellist -- was here also, with photos of the mama black bear and three cubs who wandered into her front yard!

Tuesday evening the Dump Salad group of quilters came to my house for supper. What a wonderful bunch of women! Each doing something different: knitting a prayer shawl, making beautiful (really beautiful) jewelry, knitting squares to felt into a bag, appliqueing a table runner, needle punching . . . there's nothing they can't do.

Yesterday I took three table runners, a wall hanging and another bed size quilt to Linda in Reedsburg, another long-arm quilter, who finally has time to do them. Two of the table runners are oriental, one is a seed packet floral stack 'n whack-type for spring. The wall hanging is the leaf pattern done with Shiva Paintstix. It was a lot of fun to do! The big quilt is from a book called French Market, the pattern is called Rose Trellis, but I'm calling my quilt "French Flea Market" because that's what it looks like to me: very La Boheme, something one would find on a treasure hunt in Paris. It is promised to my oldest (as in longest-term) friend Mary for her birthday; I'll take it to her in Denver over Labor Day. I'll post photos of all these quilts when I get them back -- which will take a while. I can see most of the top of my cutting table now.

Meanwhile I'm sewing together five 120 inch strips of teal batiks for a summer-weight coverlet to replace The Quilt From Hell. Not only is it not really a king-size quilt, which I've sworn off, but without all those seams, it will be truly summer weight.

Returning from Reedsburg yesterday I came via Spring Green, a beautiful drive. And I wanted to stop at Paradise Teas to get a replacement for my tea infuser, lost somewhere between here and The Clearing two weeks ago. The amount of standing water in Spring Green, especially as you come in on Highway 23, is heart-breaking. Homes still sitting in a foot or more of water.

Progress Report

2008-07-04T12:14:00.007-05:00

I've sketched the block for the bottom of Iznik: I simplified flower and leaf designs from a Dover book of Turkish designs -- there's no way I can applique such sharp points!

I've loved Bach's French Suites for many years, but didn't know the English Suites at all well. I've had Murray Perahia's recording of Nos. 2, 4 and 5, and wasn't in thrall. This week I got his recording of Nos. 1, 3 and 6 and am enchanted. I have to give the first recording another good, hard listen. Took me a long time to fall in love with the Goldbergs, but now they're very close friends. In fact, I realized a couple of months ago that they are the story of a human life -- not necessarily chronological, and certainly not programmatic, but when that ethereal theme returns at the end, you know you have come full circle from birth to the sublimity of death. (I'm not claiming that the process of dying is sublime, but that death itself is.)

I love a good mystery

2008-07-01T17:19:00.003-05:00

Which doesn't include "Where did all these ants come from?" and "I cut this so carefully -- what happened?"

I am putting the finishing touches on the quilt from hell. This was an ill-conceived project from the get-go. The plan was to get together with a friend, sharing batiks, and make two similar quilts. Ellen's was a wedding present for a friend's daughter; mine was to be a quilt that wouldn't show cat hair for our king-size bed. Ellen finished hers a while back. Mine is too wild for our calm, woodland bedroom. I thought I'd put a soft color border on to tone it down. Looked awful. So I took it off, all 436 inches of it. Today I cut black fabric for new borders and binding. 872 inches of it. When I sew it on (including both sides of the binding), it will be 1744 inches. Crikey. I hope if I say the words "king size" again, someone slaps me.

This will now be a gift to our son and daughter-in-law, whose house is decorated in sports and exercise equipment (think snowboards and water skis leaning against the living room walls), and whose bedroom is primer white. It will add some color and pattern and sparkle to their home, and they're young -- it probably won't keep them awake at night.

But what to do for our bed? Tomorrow I pick up a bedskirt I had made especially to match the first, late border. If I even whisper "king-size quilt," someone will slap me.

Iznik in progress

2008-06-30T10:57:00.004-05:00

Here's the first segment of the quilt. It's from Sara Nephew's book Serendipity, the pattern called 'Gull.' The focal fabric is from Robert Kaufman's Florentine line, and so is the very small print in the hexagons which looks kind of grey in the photo, but is really true blue, gold and creamy white.

It will be a while before I have time to design the top and bottom segments, though I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do.

Tentative Beginnings

2008-06-29T20:27:00.005-05:00

Today I'm trying to love my neighbors, who kept us awake last night with music, fireworks and motorcycle motors. I'm beginning the newest Boris Akunin mystery. That's the pen name for a Russian who writes delightful, literate mysteries.

And I'm going to look at my books on Turkish tile work, in the hope of finding a design I can incorporate into "Iznik," my new quilt.