Sunday, January 15, 2006

Head cold Redux

If boogers were gold, I could really retire. Did this cold ever really go away? My head feels like it's full of wet cement. I'm down to Alka-Selter for Colds mixed in Gallo Hearty Burgundy. Nasty but effective. In the meantime, all I can muster in the studio are more of these. I probably shouldn't be allowed to use the rotary cutter much less operate a Janome.

Friday, January 13, 2006

When in doubt, go Shopping!

Well, not doubt, just a wandering mind kind of mental inefficiency that goes along with a nagging back injury. I went to IKEA today, the big shiny new one in downtown Atlanta, a stones throw from Atlantic Station where my GoodMan is overseeing the construction of a new restaurant. I got there quite by accident - took a right instead of a left after dropping Colin off at the jobsite. The only thing I had in mind was a mini trash can for my desk at work. I came away with a whole huge bag of fun.Big enough to tote your average three year old in, they sell them for 99 cents. This silly business hangs up for drying one's unmentionables only I visualized pieces of hand dyed fabric flapping in the breeze. For 3.99, I can imagine anything I want. These are rubbery plastic ice cube trays but I could see them flipped over with paint on their cute little backsides all ready to pounce all over some fabric. And here's what IKEA is really famous for: stuff that you have to put together yourself. It took me about an hour to "build" this. Like most American households, the proper tools are never where you left them so I made this with the screwdriver on my grandmother's Boy Scout knife (it was in her sewing basket) and the wrong end of a staple hammer. I thought about glue but that would have been too much committment. Just the thing for all the miscellaneous crapola swarming all over my sewing table. Now to teach that drunken service monkey to put things away once I have finished with them. I'm sad that the second one came without it's bloody damn screws so I will have to visit the hardware store tomorrow to finish it off. I will have to mix up some sort of stain for these. Very theraputic.

Monday, January 09, 2006

contest

Prizes if you can guess the city/town/village that match my former locations: Four Places You've Lived: 122 Commercial Street 10 Bank Street 15 Baker Steet 25 1/2 Dykeman Road and here's another detail shot of my CQ06 entry:

Sunday, January 08, 2006

Finished!

Here's just a peek at my entry for Considering Quilts 2006 and since the big computer downstairs seems to have suffered a power supply failure (a least I hope that's all it is) I will have to have the disc burned at Kinkos tomorrow and get it in the mail a mere One Day before the deadline. Next on the agenda - a couple of miles of machine quilting on a few major UFOs with lots of promise. And coming up fast, choosing a few little somethings for SPUN

I have been memetagged.....

By Debra Roby of the infamous AQRing Debs, and me with my shots out of date. It's the 4 Things Thing. Getting tagged is something like getting an eartag, the painful indignity inflicted on animals by people insisting on knowing where they are and what they have been up to and not unlike the alien anal probe. I was going to plead early onset Alzheimers and skip it but I had a vague notion that not meme-ing when tagged rates up there with farting in church and using your fish fork to scratch between your shoulder blades. I was also tempted to lie wildly but the truth is out there now. Four Jobs You've Had: Domestic Engineer (the Paid kind),Phone Slut,Proofreader, Computer Network Security Administrator Four Movies You Watch: Shakespeare In Love, You've Got Mail, Jaws, The Natural Four Places You've Lived: 122 Commercial Street, 10 Bank Street, 15 Baker Steet,25 1/2 Dykeman Road Four TV Shows you Watch: Law & Order, West Wing, Deadwood, The Gems Rotating on the Lazy Susan Show Four Places You've Been on Vacation: Panama City, FL, Hyannis, MA, Savannah, GA, Naragansett, RI Four Websites You Visit Every Day: NYTimes, CraigsList ATL, TheStreet, Refdesk Four Of Your Favorite Foods: Bing Cherries, Fried Clams, Key Lime Pie, Apple Cider Four Places You'd Rather Be: any beach, any sailboat, any frozen lake at night, any jurybox Four (real)Albums You Can't Live Without: Rubber Soul - Beatles, The Essential Artie Shaw, Hell Freezes Over - Eagles, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy -- Sarah McLachlan Four People You'll Pass This On To: Let's surprise them.

First DyeFest of '06

Well, there's nothing like a tidy crop of hand dyes to get the creative year started. I think there was something seriously wrong with the black though. I used a lot of it - I was in a broody mood- and looks like 99% of it left town in the rinse cycle. Anna! Do recognize any of these pieces? Can't wait to be hacking them up but that project is in a conga line of other patiently waiting it's turn. My UFOs are giving me nightmares so in self defense I am tending to those first for while.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

unpacking (still)

Did you ever find yourself on the brink of change and the whizzing of it all leaves you just exhausted and empty? Deadlines, decisions and distant dread. There was a time when I had this much time on my hands. While the cicadas are chewing the air with their threats and the sweat rolls sweet, I think "All that is not given is lost" and wished that you could have seen how the flecks of gold stuck to my skin when the sand gave up and fell away.

Monday, January 02, 2006

Tornado Watch

OK.OK. So I looked up a bunch of lo-carb recipes and made a shopping list but I thought I would wait until the sky stopped being greenish-black before venturing out. Wonderful Winter in Georgia. Since we are under a flood warning with tornados for dessert, I though I would wile away an hour with an ER rerun and a game of solitaire with real cards! I got all the way to the end of a winning hand and found the six of hearts to be missing. "The Six of Cups (Hearts) is the only one in the Tarot that refers explicitly to the past, and of memories and good times experienced there. After losses such as those on the Five we sometimes have to take a time out to heal, to look back on the past and all the good that lies there. And during such times it's never the right thing to focus on the negative, and that's why this card is so positive and full of light. The fallen cups are now full and upright again, but with blooming flowers that cannot be spilled or washed away. Now that you have looked back, maybe now the way will be clear to look forward." What an opportunity for further honing my skill! My procrastination skills, that is. Here's all of what Tarot Master, James Rioux has to say about the six of cups and so I am properly chastened about not taking the time yesterday to reflect on the passing of 2005.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Happy New Year!

After reading everyone else's deepest thoughts on resolutions, I thought I would take a stab at it myself. Here is the Unvarnished Truth. And for those who need the warning, I have decided that Politically Correct postures will give you hemorrhoids. I decided to spend the day honoring Procrastination instead of denying her. My studio looks like Katrina paid a visit so I knew it was going to be a long day. My calls to FEMA have gone unanswered. The backdrop of my efforts today, A "Law & Order" marathon. Tomorrow, the bar exam. Before I could even get dressed I was finding ways to delay. I have several identical Wrangler denim workshirts, sized 4X, men's 4X. I wish they looked as huge on me as they should. I use them interchangeably as smocks, bathrobes, and my version of the Dixie Mink but I was getting quite sick of the corporate logo hovering over the breast pocket so I decided a little quick machine applique on one of them could cure my wardrobe blues. Now I look like a refuge from the Pyromaniacs Union.At least now I can tell which one to wear in the studio. Next on my to-do list, Breakfast. Two microwaved meatballs (in homemade 'sketi sauce) on a whole wheat roll (health food!), half a glass of OJ and two cups of coffee. Then fully dressed and fueled up, I jump on the bathroom scale - none of these "naked post-evacuation" weigh-ins for me. The awful truth lurked between my toes. At the very least I will break a sweat today. I filled several coffin-sized plastic tubs with fabric, vacuumed the nap off the carpet rather than pick up bent pins and decided a break was in order. More creativity! I really needed to finish this crocheted hat that I started last night. Wasn't Dick Clark scary? The Big Peach was out of sync with the big Apple while my neighbors treated me to fireworks and semi-automatic gunfire. Yee-haw Amigos! It's dark now. The first new day of 2006 is circling the bowl and I am quite satisfied with the proceeds of the day. No resolutions but some truth, farting around, sweat, a glimmer of order and whiffs of the promise of tomorrow.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Sneaking up on sewing

This from my new pen and sketchpad. Danny Gregory would probably be appalled. I always seem to be warming up and never pitching. Now I am going to ice on my arm, wrist and hand - aching not from drawing or sewing but a day romping around with an adding machine and several excel spreadsheets. Meanwhile this still from the trailer for "Casanova" has me thinking about a quilt with large creatures menacing a city "War of the Worlds" style. That flick had me jumping over the back of the couch. Talk about a cheap date.

Monday, December 26, 2005

Serenity

I finally got to see this tonight. Now I know why people were mildly freaked when I took that silly quiz to determine which character in the movie you were and I came up Summer. Thanks for not spoiling it for me. Nothing like having your heart wrenched around for an hour and change. All and all, I liked it but saddened that any sequel or TV show will bear the violence and changes wrought in this movie.

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Merry Christmas...

There's a stuffed turkey almost done, folks are sleeping, lounging about, playing with the booty. I keep going to the mirror to admire the moonlight Jim bought me, just like in the song. He really knows how to make me smile. I want to make the time to curl up with "The Creative License" by Danny Gregory . The introduction lifted my heart, made me laugh and cry. For the moment though, I am compelled to keep sewing on this piece. I keep stitching things and then picking all the stitches out just like I used to do with beads. Does this mean it's time to stop?? It needs something more, some focus.

Sunday, December 18, 2005

the O-Bags

I don't know why I didn't post these this sooner. I was told that these steps were published in a magazine somewhere so I have to figure that it's ok to share my version. If anyone wants to get into a copyright brawl, you send your lawyer to meet my lawyer out in the parking lot and we'll let them kick each other's asses while we make stuff. Start with any size square sandwich of two fabrics that get along nicely and your choice of batt or interfacing. You know the drill - right sides together, leave a small opening in the middle of one seam so you can drag it inside out...poke around in the corners gently with a fat old crochet hook or something equally benign...I like crayons, they'll break before they hurt the fabric. Then iron it flat. Fold, stitch and if you must, embellish. I have been told by one of my sons friends that if I tarted one of these up with black lace and ribbon the Gothic Lolitas would be fighting over them. Is this something I aspire to?

Saturday, December 17, 2005

A Quiet Saturday Night

We had an invite to a posh do in town but Jim's been coming down with a rotten cold for about a WEEK now. He's one of those guys who thinks he's invincible. He came home from work early this afternoon and curled up on the couch. Immediately, Nurse Karma jumped up to do her vigil. This cat is one of the most haughty, arrogant females on the planet. I am sure it pains HRH daily to have to suffer living with these commoners. She rarely has anything nice to say to anyone beyond giving orders and almost never permits petting. There is once huge exception in her behavior. If someone in the house is ill, even just lying down with a headache, Karma approaches the sickabee tentatively and then, with a stern look at the patient as if to say "Tut, tut, my deah. All will be well soon" she climbs aboard and just roosts on you purring, hours if you don't stir. It's such a contrast to the way she normally acts, aloof and skittish. Jim was mildly alarmed. "Stop looking at me like that." I actually think she's sitting there thinking this last ditch attempt at cuddly civility will get her into someone's will. Or else she is planning to eat your eyes once they flutter down for the last time. I like cats. They don't really care about us beyond what we have to offer. So the house is quiet, I am alone and have had a good weep over the last half of "You've Got Mail" and finally finished my buddy's Christmas gift. You better not read this JR! I don't know how long it is but I'm 5'8" (well I used to be) and it hangs down mid-calf on both sides and it's a foot wide. Jinx helped. Now I am going to listen to Vin on WFUV and whoop someone's butt at Literati.

Thursday, December 15, 2005

The Mad Dash

I just finished putting together a lap quilt for my Dad from a top that I finished back in the spring. Almost a traditional piece for me but that will suit him just fine. He is 81 now, I think. There is some controversy over exactly how old he is since he white lied a few years in order to enlist in the Navy. How old do you think he looks in this the little guy on the left. He had a major surgery just before Thanksgiving and has been slow bouncing back so I think a warmer will be welcome. It goes in the Big Box tomorrow with all the other presents bound for New York and then I have to turn my attention to my immediate family. We are inclined to buy one another things like all weather tires and microwaves. I have asked for garage doors this year and fully expect to get them. And for a few more minutes at the machine, the last post card for 2005.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Christmas Party booty

Nothing like learning a neat new trick! And just what my creative process needed- Another way to waste time, although these do make pretty nice gifts. Friday night I went with my husband to his office Christmas party which was held at a very nice local restaurant. It was the first time meeting all of these people so it was a little awkward at first. Then I noticed that the woman sitting two seats to my right was doing something foldy with her napkin while we waited for our food. Of course I had to ask and she explained that a customer had come into the FABRIC STORE she manages and showed her this little origami purse she had made from a pattern she found in a magazine.Starting with a simple square folded three times you wind up with a neat little bag that has four seperate compartments. I snatched a tiny sheet of paper from my notebook and asked her to show me again. It was the simplest little trick since those paper fortune tellers we made in school. The next day I went to H-A's for some snaps. ONLY some snaps. I came away with four bundles of satin brocade, yards of twisted gold and black cord, metallic threads (woo-woo 50% off!), fancy frogs and a ceramic dog dish so my folks will stop feeding Debo off the people plates. Here's what I made:

Monday, December 12, 2005

The Quilters Prayer

_________________________________________...


_________ Market Scene_____________...
Quiet, dark house.
A distant dryer rumbles.
Everyone home and sleeping.
Coiled cats mutter over
missed sunning opportunities, paws over their eyes.
In the market today I stood in a shaft of sunlight
glad it was coming over my shoulder,
the better to read the promises and lies
on the bottles of vitamins. After the Cs, Ds and Es,
I closed my eyes and leaned back into the warmth
resigned to indecision.
Leaning out the window of his glass prison,
the elderly pharmacist said "Bella, Signora, bella".
From some other me,I knew to smile and say "Grazie"
then turn and get on with the day, a winter bouquet added to my list.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

One more

You won't hate me for this either. Does anyone know who that is singing and breaking my heart?

Take a Break

While all of you are working away like a flotilla of beavers at a balsa wood harvest festival, I have been watching movie trailers! Don't tell me you are not an Antonio Banderas fan - I refuse to believe it. If these colors don't inspire art making something is wrong with me. And finally, some inspiration for those of us who are feeling our age.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Last Minute Holiday Shopping

In case anyone is interested in some lovely hand dyed silk/rayon velvet scarves, I've done an inventory and posted them HERE while there's still time to ship them.

My Hero & Heartbreak

Never mind that other silly face. This face captured me stone cold in the market the other day and I got such an immediate pang of loss and sadness that my eyes filled with tears and the checkout lady thought something was wrong. I showed her the cover as if that were enough explanation but I don't think she was old enough to get it. I think I will go and rent "A Hard Days Night". It's been a long, long time. John was my hero, my idol and ideal. We would both never grow up.

self portrait Tuesday

Since I'm not getting anything creative done except holiday gifts, here I am in all my finery - the infamous Bog Coat, which has no buttons and even if it did, I couldn't button it, the damn thing shrank somehow, and my hat, because I forgot it's in the mid-20's out and washed my hair and don't have time to dry it. All my wet hair is crammed up in there. Later when it drys and swells up like wet wool will, I will look like a Rastafarian toting serious dreadlocks. I'm off to the mines...

Friday, December 02, 2005

We Got Big Balls

Yes folks, that's a full sized house cat creeping about in the decorations that were supposed to have been hung (today) from the trees outside where the ghosts used to be. My decorating team was called out of town (you know I am kidding here) so instead, I disguised myself as a productive person and went into the studio. It's such a mess that the only thing I could do was grab flibberty gibbets from my little black bag and crouch over the sewing machine trying to block out the chaos all around me. This postcard thing is seriously infectious. Here is the fruit of a short afternoon: five four three two one

Thursday, December 01, 2005

More Giving Thanks

What no pictures? Nope, just me checking in and giving thanks. Just got back from retrieving my son Jake and his car from the scene of a thankfully minor traffic accident. His first and no one was hurt but his lovingly hand built Honda took a pretty bad hit. Repeat out loud "NO ONE WAS HURT". I also went back to work part time today. It's a small office with small office routines, good company and flexible hours. If I have to earn and income of some kind, it beats all hell out working for nothing at JoAnn's or someplace equally heinous. And of course, now that I have to meet someone else's schedule, I am beginning to feel a twinge of creativity. At least enough to go in and start looking at all the treasures I brought back with me from New York. What in the world does one do with real, good quality wool? At least I think it's wool. I'll barbeque some tomorrow to be sure.