mostly threads

Groundhog Day Report

2012-02-02T21:48:00.000-08:00

So, the Official Groundhog saw his shadow and thus predicted 6 more weeks of winter. I decided to celebrate this lovely animal holiday by first making groundhog cookies. They are gluten free...it was challenging to figure out how to manage cutting them out, but I used the freezer to help them keep shape after rolling the dough.

Then I went to the zoo, where the giraffe not only had her baby alongside, but a special shadow of her own:

The zebras were surprisingly close to the fence:

Some friends came over for music. We had groundhog cookies and groundhog gravy, which is chocolate tapioca pudding, and we sang the Groundhog Song.

Lastly here is a healing cloth I made for an artist friend with a serious hand injury. Jude had a post a while ago about cloths in windows, which reminded me to consider color from front and back: the bottom picture here is how the cloth looks with light coming through from behind:

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Thank you for stopping by...I hope you enjoyed your Groundhog Day!

An ending and a beginning

2012-01-24T21:50:00.000-08:00

The dear patriarch of the farm I have visited frequently over the past 40 years has passed on. Alex was 98 and died peacefully in his sleep surrounded by his loving family. His decline was not without pain, but like everything else about him, happened with profound honesty and dignity. He was a farmer and a mighty warrior for the water rights of Northern California...it seems fitting that he died on the early morning of the first day of the Year of the Dragon...a water dragon...when the rain was pouring down in bucketfulls...

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Seems like now the rain is quiescent, but the drops are still on the oxalis:

It is another sort of new year now...there is sadness, and there is love, and there is hope.

RAIN! and results

2012-01-20T17:36:00.000-08:00

Ah, finally some rain! Hopefully several days worth...here are some raindrops on the apple tree:

Well, I didn't wait very long to unfurl my bundles! here they are right after unrolling...might make a nice skirt...

Then, I wasn't sure what to do next, so I ironed them. This is onion skin and crocosmia:

And this is onion skin and marigold flowers...kind of greenish.

I've got to do some more reading about rinsing them in a way to keep the color as much as possible. All suggestions would be very welcome. This has me so intrigued. I've signed up for Glennis' online indigo dyeing workshop! Phew! That's all for now.

Jumping in...

2012-01-16T20:50:00.000-08:00

For quite a while I've been watching fellow bloggers do dyeing with natural materials, and suddenly I find myself taking the plunge...cautiously! I collected some onion skins and dried marigold flowers, laid them on silk, misted them with vinegar and rolled them up. Now they are steaming in a lovely pot from a garage sale. There is a lot of uncertainty in my mind as to whether this is the best method...I'm trying a little bit of everything I've seen recommended. After they're done steaming, I'll let them sit for a week...that is I will try to let them sit for a week without peeking at them.

There are lots of migrating birds around now, so I went down to the bay to see...here are some, reflecting...

A ground squirrel was also surveying the scene:

Lastly here is a January rose...the first thing I saw one morning as I woke up. It's a bit odd to have roses in January, but I was glad to see it.

That's all for today.

Getting Ready

2012-01-09T19:29:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

In my ongoing effort to create a blog header that makes me happy, here is the entirety of the latest version, before I focused in on the parts I like best (see above).

It's the result of experimenting with techniques from Jude's Magic Diaries online class. Around the edges are strips of arimatsu shibori from Glennis.

Also, I've been trying (in vain, it turns out) to escape the cold that's been going around. Today, my voice is totally gone! I can only squeek very softly and with great effort. I have rested and rested and rested and here's what else I've been doing, in order to prepare for Groundhog's Day, my favorite holiday, Feb. 2. They are sachets...the one for gentlemen is full of pine needles and smells woodsy. The one for ladies is full of lavender blossoms and rose petals, dried. I wasn't too good at sending out Christmas packages to my relatives this year so I hope these will make up for it.

That's all for now...I hope you are all in good health. In case you catch this cold, here is a tip: try oregano tea with lime juice and a little honey. xoxo, S.

Outlined in gold

2012-01-03T22:14:00.000-08:00

Happy 3 day old new Year! I am still a little wobbly from the "holidays". Christmas at the farm was peaceful and deep. Here is Bird in the early morning fog:

nearby, up in the tree-top:

by the roadside, on my way home:

And something I made last year, one from a little series of "horse-hearts":

I had a sale in December and it went well. Next year I want to find a way to enjoy the season more, feel less nervousness, more trust. There is conflict in me about selling, but I love the pieces to go out into the world. Maybe do the selling earlier in the season so most of December is about giving, relaxing...is it possible to relax in December?

Well, that's all for now...I hope 2012 is going well so far for each of you...xoxo, S.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-23T21:43:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a very happy season of however you will be celebrating, perhaps quietly, perhaps not quietly! For myself, I'll be visiting my friends at their farm. We're going to eat, play contract rummy, watch over the animals and all spend time together. There will be some Swedish dishes and I have made a bison meatloaf to take!

To celebrate the season, I made some biscornu pincushions from tutorials on Eva's blog, Colourful Research and Els blog, Fiberrainbow.Thank you, Eva and Els.

That's all for now...blessings and bounty to you all!

Moony moon

2011-12-10T09:00:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Because of Jude's posting about the video on Glennis' website, I decided to make an adventure of seeing the lunar eclipse this morning. I set 2 alarms, but could hardly sleep for fear I'd miss the show. At about 3 a.m. the full moon was high and bright in the sky, but clouds were hovering. This is the first photo I took at 5:06 a.m...

Here is the second, at 5:51:

This is the last I was able to take, at 5:53:

I wish I could show you how it looked suspended in the sky, glowing as if lit from within, but my camera couldn't pick up the soft light. I was down at the dogpark, where many had gathered for viewing. One couple had a special viewer set up for a close up look. Oh what a magical sight...our moon, waiting out earth's shadow. Shortly after 6:30, it became impossible to see any more of the display because of the haze, so I visited the water birds who were getting ready for their day:

Yesterday, I picked one of the last persimmons (sigh) with the picker:

and finished up the felted "Oystercatchers having a discussion about their relationship", to prepare for Open Studios this weekend!

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That's all for now. Have a weekend to remember fondly, hopefully...

Caught in the act

2011-11-30T12:36:00.001-08:00

Gifts for the squirrels, raccoons and birds! I intend to use the picker for the persimmons that are too high to reach but alas, often I am otherwise engaged and not quick enough. I think he noticed me even though I was on the other side of the room and behind the window. Hard to tell.

I cannot bear to sweep up the fallen persimmon leaves until they are truly faded. Here is the front porch scene. That odd looking upright thing is the inside of a water heater, a heat exchanger, I believe. They come in many different shapes:

Water in the spillway:

Lacy lichen pattern:

Those last 2 photos are in honor of the early morning low fog we've had for the last few mornings, because they represent the color of the world as I step out the front door.

Lately I've been a little obsessed with the here and now and so here is an X to mark the spot. This spot, right here, where we all are.

Love to you all and thank you for stopping by...

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Map of reality

2011-11-12T10:51:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone. I love the sort of map one finds in confusing places, which informs:

This is a good reminder, I think, because where else would one be? However, sometimes it's quite difficult to tell, so I made this. The edge I dyed with tea! I've been following lots of dyeing experiments in wonderful blogland, but this is all the farther I've gotten with it. However, a little collection of onion skins and crocosmia blossoms is sitting on the counter, waiting for more courage on my part.

The persimmons are ripening! I picked some after the rain last night:

In admiration of that, I made this:

Here is one of my favorite places nearby...Horse Hill...the people in town took up a collection to save the land from developers so horses could Occupy.

And here is something I made in admiration of that!

So that's it for now. I mean to be posting oftener, and hopefully will soon be able to. Meanwhile, let's just keep occupying now, the best of now, whenever possible.

Other than human...

2011-10-18T10:45:00.000-07:00

Hello dear readers,

I mentioned a while ago that I had trained the spiders on the path leading to my car, to not attach themselves to my car. Well, as in all training situations, there are slip-ups and the other day I found one of them (I think it was Hazel), in my car with me. Yikes! Well, to make a long story short, she was rapidly relocated in a town about 10 miles away. Then I discovered a new sort of spider in the Magnolia tree...she seems to be smiling:

That was all well and good, but this morning one of her family members and I had a too close encounter as I came out the front door, so the training exercises will have to begin again. Perhaps some pruning of the persimmon tree...my neighbors across the street have some big hairy artificial spiders on their porch as Halloween decorations. I am learning more and more about the real thing.

In other animal news, last weekend I went out to visit my friends at the farm and we stopped by the Watusi's pasture, as we did last year at this time (except alas, dear Agnes is no longer with us)...this time he (she?) was cuddled up to a long-horned friend. I wish I'd made a video, but here's at least a photo. It's a wonder they don't poke each other's eyes out:

In the work department, I've been fiddling with my blog-header (see above) and updating the shop a bit. It's all an on-going process. I hope things are going well for you...that's all for now...

La luna

2011-10-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

Well then...here is our October moon, going round and round us as we go round and round the sun...it never ceases to amaze me:

Last weekend I went to a conference in the Sierras, at Squaw Valley, where the 1960 Olympics were held...already a sprinkling of snow, but no skiers. That fresh mountain air really clears the brain...

On my trip to the coast, I was enchanted by this heron, who had just nabbed a fish, and was waiting in the fog for another...

And this is a bit of last week's work. I decided to call it "Feeling the Pinch" in honor of our economic times.

That's all for now everyone...enjoy the moon times...

Change and hope

2011-09-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone...I'm up on the northern coast for my 5th annual work retreat with my friends, but this is our last day, sigh...

Some highlights:
The week before I arrived was very emotional...a memorial of an old dear friend; dawning of awareness of changes that have occurred over the last 20 years.

Someone shed an old skin:

I made a little movie of Overwhelm>Hope. Be sure to stay until the end (47 seconds)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-SlXdfR9OI

Here are some grasses for Grace

I'm not sure who lives here:

But here are the cormorants perched for the night:

Seals, basking in the fog:

Oyster catcher (red beak, PINK legs) and whimbrel:

And finally, a hand-pieced (thanks to Jude for how-to) pillow cover for a new baby:

That's all for now...happy autumn to all...xoxo, S.

Spider Time

2011-09-17T10:58:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone...it's the season for big spiders in my garden. This year I've made an effort to train them not to attach the "guide lines" to my car, so we can live in harmony and I won't be ruining their intricate weavings when I get into the car. I study the web, speak to its maker and gently remove the guide line so it can attach to the persimmon tree...this disrupts the positioning of the web, but doesn't spoil the weaving. I had to do this several mornings before they got the idea, but for the past several mornings, the webs have not been attached to the car. This is Hazel:

There are 2 webs here...they're woven at angles to one another, so that if a creature flies between them, it will very likely get caught...I don't know if the same spider built both of them...I've seen them compete over territory...I hope you can see both webs...one is in the front, the other is in the upper left corner, and has an occupant (Ginny).

Next up is a felted trout, reminiscing about my Idaho trip:

A moose:

and a work horse:

Fall is right around the corner, but it so many ways it's already here. That's all for now...

Back from fishing

2011-08-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I've been acclimating to being home after a lovely family fishing trip in Idaho. I didn't do any fishing myself, but we floated down the Teton River. For preparation I took a class in fly-tying and here is the result (a grey nymph and a wooly bugger):

Just four of us went on this floating trip, which took about 5 hours. Uncle Paddy, our host and guide, my son, grandson and me like Cleopatra (well, maybe not quite) in the stern of the boat. We learned so much about river life...the beautiful fish and the vast variety of insects in different stages of development. This is the Teton River:

We saw a mama moose and her baby. This is the mama:

Here's a caught fish. Three fish were captured and they all went back in the river to rejoice with their friends. We encountered a special reverence toward fish.

I hope you can see the big fish here, in another river, waiting for food from onlookers, who aren't allowed to catch them. It's a special protected spot.

This is from one of the many antler arches in Jackson, Wyo:

There are lots and lots of elk and deer. Each year their antlers fall off.

Here's a view of the Tetons, taken after riding a chair lift. Heights make me nervous, but I actually enjoyed this ride...very quiet, not too far off the ground...a chance to be in the treetops and then some...

This is one of the Mesa Falls...so much fine spray and mossy response:

Whilst lolling about, I made some progress on my grandson's quilt! Nine-patches and some ancestors. Not a final arrangement, but just trying to take a look at it so far.

And here's what I did yesterday, in the sunshine of my back yard...beginning 4 new felting projects...hmm, lots of possibilities...

Summer's winding down...back to the happy grindstone. That's all for now!

August Celebrations

2011-08-10T19:43:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone... it's not even quite the middle of August and the days seem so much shorter, the light hinting at autumn. When I was little, a very long time ago, the summer was full of birthdays, and it still is so, even if some of the dear ones I celebrate have moved on into the zone of mysteries. Lately my love of geometry has been reviving so I made this caprese salad, using a tiny heart cookie cutter to shape the mozzarella!

Since my family has been visiting, I cleaned up my car...this is the still life I composed for the dashboard...it's a celebration of my trip to Mt. Lassen (pine needles, piece of bark and some dancing lichen) and the jacaranda blossoms that fall into one of my favorite parking spots. I like having this in front of me especially in times of annoying traffic.

Here is a frog I made in celebration of my Auntie's 90th birthday! She likes frogs. I won't be going to the event itself because my family has a fishing trip lined up.

Lastly, here is the geometric assortment that assembled in the sink after my birthday celebration! I am now 67! Sorry not be giving a view of the pie and the cake, but I was too busy eating and being merry. I was not allowed to do the dishes...only take the picture...

That's all for now...

A New Assortment

2011-07-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone...here is some news from this home front...a welcome visitor:

I decided to concentrate on my grandson's quilt because he will be visiting soon, but in the meantime finished this felted piece:

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I saw these 2 arimatsu pieces on Glennis' site, and could not resist them, thinking I would cut into them for my grandson's quilt, but it is hard to do, they are so beautiful as is:

And then, as I've been absorbing ideas from Jude's classes and learning techniques, I suddenly came up with a new plan for my grandson's quilt. In the ongoing Magic Diaries class, Jude talks about design/theme etc., in a way that encourages us to use what we like of her sharings to cultivate our own pathway through the thickets of life.

I've discovered that I love sewing little squares together by hand to make 9-patches. Most of this fabric comes from my trip to Mt. Lassen, which was in hiding the entire weekend...I found a little quilt store that was closed. I peered into the window and suddenly the owner appeared and invited me in. I gravitated toward the red (L's favorite color) checks and here we are.

The main theme of this quilt is to introduce my grandson to his ancestors from the maternal branch of my side of his family. Now that I have a structure for this, I have a better idea of how to construct squares around the other photographs, which are all different sizes, in order to unify the over-all look of it. (I hope!)

So it's a new beginning with lots of room for development.

That's all for now...

Agnes, after life...

2011-07-16T10:55:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. Good heavens, it's been almost a month since my last post. I've been mulling things over a lot, keeping busy, and changing gears a little.

First in the news department...my little dog Agnes, who died at the end of February, sigh, is pictured on the cover of the magazine Quilting Arts, the June-July issue. My friends from the Central Valley who gave Agnes to me, have a cousin, Joan Sowada, who came over one day to photograph Agnes and then constructed the fabric picture of her that's featured in this issue of the magazine. It perfectly captures one of Agnes' 'looks' and her funny little under-slung jaw, full of kindness and determination.

And here is a little felted piece I made of my little pal, may she rest in peace:

Well, I've wanted to post these as part of a farewell to her, and I was going to put in some examples of moving on (part of which is writing a book about her...she has quite a story), but actually there is still a lot of emotion going on and it might be a better idea to take a walk, get some coffee, you know...

That's all for now, but I'll probably be back sooner...

Backyard, beyond, and back again

2011-06-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I've been busy preparing things to sell at an open studios event that happened a little more than a week ago. Now I have to replenish my stock of feltings! Being occupied thusly has kept me from being here with you, so this is a catching up of sorts. One of my favorite backyard birds is the California towhee...they do a little dance to stir up bugs and other fine edibles. They are related to the speckled towhee which only visit the neighborhood occasionally...here is one from the big park nearby:

I'm sorry it's a little out of focus, but look at his charming beard that looks like upside down flames.

In the beginning of the month, I went on a trip to Mt. Lassen, which was hiding behind a cloak of fog and rain, so I'll have to return in better weather, but I found a place with a good cup of coffee; out behind was this old Ford with charming flames...

I wandered in the woods a bit and came upon these lovely horses, waiting for riders:

Now, back to the hummingbird...here is the one who built a nest in the apple tree, then fled because of a nasty encounter with a crow. She abandoned her nest but came back one day to say hello and pick up some stuffing from the old nest to take to her new abode, but she didn't disclose the location:

And here is how that story played out in my imagination. It's called "Hummingbird considering the risks of living in a neighborhood with crows." I'm happy to say this piece has gone to live with a good friend.

That's all for now...

Wardrobe work!

2011-05-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. My bathrobe has needed help for quite a while. First I thought Replacement...but I'm so fond of it. Then I asked myself what is its worst feature and could I fix it. The answer...sleeves! and yes...
So...here are the sleeve ends which I cut off:

And here is the improved version:

To do this I deconstructed an old nightie that also needed help...the rest of it is going to become a summer skirt eventually, maybe soon! Jude's classes have definitely helped me become braver about this sort of thing; my classmates have all been inspirational, particularly Deb and Grace. Thank you!

Next, sigh. The little hummingbird from my last post has gone away...she was sitting on her beautiful little nest, but the neighborhood crow ended that happy story. Not that there is just one crow...there are many, many. This happened last year also...the squirrels and the crows are very dominant here.

Here is another trivet/prayer mat, "bee star":

It's one of several prayers for the underdog, for example, that the hummingbird might evolve to not so easily attract the crow. I just finished reading River of Doubt by Candice Millard, about Theodore Roosevelt's harrowing adventures in the Amazonian type jungle, and how life in the jungle there evolved. So, it's easy to see how a crow can find a hummingbird nest...I wish mother nature could assist the hummingbird a little more here. Seems like I should be able to help.

That's all for now!

Hidden treasure

2011-05-22T15:27:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I've been a bit absent lately. Not sure why. Just because, I guess. Here, but not here. Anyway, I've missed you and I want to show you a discovery from my last train trip which took me through Grand Junction, Colorado. There is a beautiful old station there that has been partially renovated, but the work seems to have stopped...this is a view of it from the upper level of the train:

Walk around back and look through a grimy old window...(this is a reflection of me doing that):

See the little arch above the camera? That is this:

You can't see this from the outside, for some reason. It's one of the windows in the top photo. If only someone would buy this building and finish restoring it. Another nice thing about Grand Junction is there is a little store there that sells interesting items. They used to have produce, but that stopped. One of my wishes is that Amtrak let local craft people and farmers sell good things at the stations.

Here is a backyard visitor!

and Voila!... something I've been working on...the bluebird of happiness taking a night flight...

There is an opportunity to sell things coming up, so I've been making a little collection, to see what will happen.

That's all for now!

Closer to home

2011-04-28T18:41:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. I'm slowly making my way home after visiting my dear family. I hopped off the train this morning to visit Denver for a day and will hop on the next one tomorrow to continue on. Denver is a wonderful place for walking. The sun was out and the temperature was perfect. A new travel center is being built and I think it will be quite something...a real hub for buses and trains. So here are a few impressions...the old grand station which is being renovated:

A pattern where the sidewalk crosses the tracks:

Some coal cars waiting to go somewhere:

Crocheted flowers on the fence separating the sidewalk from the construction. This is just a tiny portion of the display.

Here is the sleeve of my old jacket that I "boro-ed" a la Jude:

Some New Jersey azalea blossoms, just beginning to assert themselves. It was cold and rainy almost the entire visit, but then Easter was a beautiful day, maybe even a little too suddenly warm, but how glad we were for the sunshine.

That's all for now. Time for bed.

How it was, and Is.

2011-04-06T19:32:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. The show opening went well! It is easier to talk about my work in my imagination than it is in reality, but this was an opportunity to practice. There were many artists in the show and each one brought 2 food items, so there was interesting delicious food and a lovely band. My friend Marge graciously took these photos, as I was so occupied with talking. Here are the 4 pictures I contributed:

This one is called "Too Much Phone":

More on the subject of this series can be found at www.steadfastcowpony.com

Lately I've been sitting outside on my back porch at sunset time, listening to the birds and maybe working...this is the tree behind my studio at this time...someone told me this light is called 'alpenglow'...I love that word, even though I am nowhere near the Alps...

And then this...a minute later:

And lastly, here is Zoe, in her basket...she is visiting for a short while. She's 15 and very sprightly, although you wouldn't necessarily know it from this picture:

That's all for now...may tax-time tax you lightly...xoxo...

Marching into April

2011-04-02T10:10:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow dear inhabitants of Planet Earth...locally, spring is behind schedule because of all the rain. One (of the many) advantages of blogging is a new form of daily ordering of events. Last year on March 23, I took this photo of the wisteria:

Here is the wisteria on March 29, this year:

I've been working on more felted squares, which I've decided to call Prayer Mats. First a green horse, which isn't quite done:

This is a prayer for order:

And this is a prayer for Containment, for all the leaks our planet has been experiencing...in the Gulf of Mexico, in the nuclear power plant in Japan, the wiki-leaks, and also for the levees in California, which hopefully will hold during the spring melt:

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That's all for now...

Strange timing

2011-03-27T16:40:00.000-07:00

The day after little Agnes died, I learned that 4 of my art pieces had been accepted in a local Cartoon and Humorous Art show. One featured her as a character in a painting. It was impossible to be very happy at that point, but I was grateful to have the work to do to ready the pictures for the show. I had the pictures, which I'd painted using Photoshop, printed on silk, and then I mounted them on white needle felted wool, so that the effect would be soft. Yesterday, I delivered them to the gallery, but took this picture first...you can see her little face, and the carved rock which the veterinary hospital sent to me, as well as the Keep Calm Carry On water bottle my son sent. Once the show opens I'll post a photo of the pictures...at least I think I will...I am a big worrier about how they will look in public. Anyway, all this has been therapeutic and a month has gone by, which is astonishing.

That's all for now...

Newts, hail and full moon

2011-03-20T21:23:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. Four of my pictures have been accepted in a local show! So I've been preparing them...this involves printing on silk, fringing the silk and then sewing it onto a felted background. I decided to wait until the show actually happens (early in April), to make a posting of the actual images. So until then, here is the sign from the park where the road is closed for newts:

We have been having a great deal of rain. Friday evening there was a loud, flashy thunderstorm that must have been right over head...it was quite noisy. Later I looked out to check on the doves and lo and behold the ground was white...not with snow, but HAIL!

It was still on the ground the next afternoon:

and here, completing my report of mysterious events, is the very nearly full moon:

Adjusting

2011-03-09T12:25:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. Well, it's a new reality now, a new world. I'm trying to cultivate and nourish my awareness of little Agnes as a spirit now. It's difficult because I miss her form so much. Still, there is definitely a sense of her about.

I've been stitching on my grandson's quilt, and here's a bit of that:

Went for a walk in the big park...lots of moss and drippy wetness:

And a close-up:

Next a little newt crawled by. In the spring the Rangers close a road up here so the newts can travel undisturbed.

And then, I visited the Little Farm where the happy pig slept. I think she was dreaming of her babies who were under the heat lamp.

The world is full of amazing things. That's all for now...

Very Sad News

2011-02-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,
Dear little Agnes passed away during her Dental Procedure this morning. Her heart stopped beating and they weren't able to start it up again, despite every effort. It wasn't anyone's fault. She lived with me for 7 years...she was 3 when she came here, but she might have been older. I will tell more of her story some day, meanwhile here is a picture of her on Valentine's day with the heart bisquit that friend Pat gave her. She was the lovingest, dearest creature imaginable.

To the farm

2011-02-23T22:18:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone...on Sunday we went to the farm. First there was snow on Mt. Diablo, an unusual sight, the snow, that is:

Then comes all this beautiful green grass on the windmill pass into the Great Valley:

And here is the river my friends live next to...all swollen with the winter rains...just a little more water and they would have to evacuate, but so far the storms are spaced far enough apart that they're safe. As I write this, I'm thinking of my friends in Australia and New Zealand who are getting the brunt of the worst. My prayers go there.

I finished basting a big panel for my grandson's quilt and have started outlining the letters using one of the techniques taught by Jude in the boro class:

And here is Agnes, all snuggled up next to the the thread nest. She's resting up for the big Dental Experience she'll be having next week at the animal hospital.

That's all for now!

Happy St. Valentine's Day...

2011-02-14T17:24:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. This is the heart I wove in Jude's Contemporary Woven Boro class. Everyone is doing such inspiring work. This heart was meant to go on a tree outside, but it's raining so today it's hanging on the plum blossoms from my neighbor's yard. Pot Roast is on the menu tonight...friends are coming over!

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This is the latest in the trivet collection. Also being called Miniature Prayer Rugs. This one is called "seeds of tomorrow". I wanted to see what would happen if I put it through the hot cycle of a washing machine. This was not a great idea...presently it is smaller than it was and I had to work a bit to restore its good looks. Hand washing recommended...

That's all for now. Love to YOU...

Overnight guest

2011-02-12T12:06:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. Things have been a little busy around here...Agnes' friend Zoe came over for an experimental sleepover, to see if they would be compatible for a longer stay. Agnes did a little growling, but overall it was a positive experience...here is a preliminary sniff...

I did go to see some of the Lunar New Year festivities at the Community Center. The Chinese after-school program had some wonderful performances...the room was packed...

Here's my first experimental "weaving without a foundation" for Jude's Contemporary Boro Weaving class. We are learning many intriguing new techniques.

Have also been continuing to needle-felt. This one is called "Bumped":

That's all for now!

Happy Chinese New Year!

2011-02-03T08:22:00.000-08:00

February is full of holidays. Personally, although only partially recovered from Groundhog Day, I am going to celebrate Chinese New Year today anyway. It is the Year of the Rabbit. There will be a big celebration this afternoon at the Community Center. Perhaps camera and I will venture over there. Meanwhile here is a little trivet honoring today.

GUNG HAY FAT CHOY!

Happy Groundhog Day

2011-02-01T22:52:00.000-08:00

Here is the groundhog playing catch and release with his shadow:

I love this holiday so much because it's about an animal and The Shadow, and light and dark. It's also celebrated as Candlemas and St. Brigid's Day...it's midway between the solstice and the equinox.

Interestingly enough, along with my contemplations about The Shadow etc., three important light fixtures have gone on the blink:

This dangles from the kitchen ceiling while I take multiple trips to the hardware store to learn how to change the bulb...

This is the light by my sewing nest and due to a weak connection I guess, it just won't stay on. It is really on the blink.

On this overhead light, for some reason, the bulb has broken and so I must use needlenose pliers to carefully unscrew it. My advisor says to wear gloves while doing this. Luckily the hardware store is only 10 minutes away.

So I wish each of you an enlightening Groundhog Day...shadow or no shadow.

That's all for now.

Getting Ready

2011-01-30T21:49:00.000-08:00

In preparation for Groundhog Day, which is coming right up on Wednesday...2/2/11...I thought I would spend some time contemplating my shadow. I love this holiday because it affords us this possibility. It need not be ONLY the groundhog who sees or doesn't see his shadow.

The handyman at the church on the corner painted the yellow lines so people would stop tripping over the curb there...the yellow of the paint made the shadow look very violet in the late afternoon sun...alas this doesn't show in the photo. Nevertheless. This is a depiction of my shadow picking up signals from all over. I am often incorrect in my interpretation of these signals. Ha! I can blame it on my shadow!

This is a little weaving (the white part) I made in Jude's boro class to put in a window, or maybe on a tree:

C'est tout pour maintenant!

Farewell January

2011-01-27T16:34:00.000-08:00

Where has January gone? It was a good month and still a bit of it remains, so here is some proof that I'm still here...one day at the dog park, this appeared:

Jude's Boro class has us excited and busy, working hard and making progress (as above)...I'm working on a quilt for grandson...here is the start of my first project for class:

At the same time, I'm still working on more felted trivets, which soon will appear in the shop:

and, inspired by ducks at the dog park:

also:

A tribute to January, called Merry Cherry January:

Finally, in preparation for the Year of the Rabbit:

That's all for now!

Busy bees

2011-01-17T11:32:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, I've been busy making small objects! Here are some bees:

This is a celebration of arriving home (2 weeks ago!)

I'm really looking forward to Jude's boro class that's starting Wed! So I've assembled a pile of fabrics as well as some of the already made squares for my grandson's quilt, which I'm hoping to subject to the techniques we learn:

And lastly, this morning after walking Agnes, I noticed these spider webs...I've seen them a million times before but never observed the lines that provide structure from above...my eyes are getting older, but I'm seeing more.

That's all for now.

Waiting at the Intersection

2011-01-09T21:15:00.000-08:00

Here is another in the trivet series...I made the design while the train coming home from Ohio was stopped to let passengers off...it was night and I watched the cars on the other side of the gate deciding whether they wanted to stay till the train left, or turn around and go another way...Life is so full of intersections.

After being home awhile, I made this little kitty coaster, called Cat in Recession:

View CC License

Then, after I made that, I was walking in the neighborhood and saw this kitty in someone's window:

The timing of that startled me...it seemed like everything had happened backwards. That's why I'm including this last picture...the train has to back into the Denver station. I was in the last car: here is the conductor guiding the train backwards into the station, using her walkie-talkie to stay in touch with the front of the train, and making sure the switches were all going in the right direction.

That's all for now!

Home Sweet Home

2011-01-02T22:36:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I'm back from a satisfying family holiday in Ohio. I've missed you all. Here's a nearly complete sampling of the presents I made for everyone. The goal was usefulness, so I zeroed in on trivets and bookmarks:

A mountain in Nevada, taken through the train window:

And this is Agnes, sight-seeing on the way home after spending the holidays on the farm with our dear friends.

Happy New Year dear readers!

Peace now

2010-12-19T21:08:00.000-08:00

I see 2011 coming. I see it through the forest of days between now and then and I wish everyone peace and comfort as we all wander through that forest. Tomorrow I embark on a trek to see loved ones...Agnes will have a visit at the farm while I travel. We (not including Agnes, who had doggy treats) indulged in the annual glory of:

And this is one of the Christmas projects I've been working on. I'm thinking of it as a trivet. Several more need to be accomplished on the trek.

Happy holidays to all!

Birds and bees and trees

2010-12-12T16:02:00.000-08:00

The most wonderful videos have been appearing at Jude's, and I couldn't resist trying out the holiday trees as little bookmarks for menfolk...here are the beginnings:

Over the weekend, I took a needle-felting class with Kate Weese and made a 3-D bee:

and then a little flat bee, just to see if that would work for a plan that's cooking:

Onward

2010-12-08T16:12:00.000-08:00

There has been a bit of blueness here, but it is moving on. Here's Alex with his lap-robe. I think he liked it. That's Agnes' tail in the foreground.

After Thanksgiving I sat on the couch for 3 days and made bee earrings...

View CC License

worked on some patches for Liam's quilt (the velvet in the background is from Diane Cransac,

inspired by Jude's methods, started a penguin for Liam's quilt:

View CC License

and wrapped some gifts. Last weekend I went to a pottery sale and watched a friend wrap pots in newspaper upon which her husband had been practicing calligraphy. A lightbulb went off in my head and I thought rather than buying more paper, I would wrap gifts with newpaper embellished with seasonal poems, like this:

I know that the calligraphy has a way to go, but still....!

That's all for now...

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T09:29:00.000-08:00

Last night at 10 I finished the farm cloth and very soon we'll be off to deliver it. Meanwhile here's the persimmon pudding recipe for Elizabeth. This was given to me by my auntie nearly 40 years ago...the book,( Cooking for Company, by the editors of the Farm Journal, 1968) is falling apart and the pages, particularly this one, are all stained and crumbly, but the recipe seems to get better and better. It's called Hoosier Persimmon Pudding (Hoosier=Indiana)

2 cups osterized persimmon pulp, 3 eggs, 1 and 3/4 cup milk. Mix together.

Sift together 2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 and 1/2 cup sugar and 1teaspoon CORIANDER.

Pour persimmon misture into dry mixture. ADD 3 TABLESPOONS MELTED BUTTER. Stir briefly.

Pour into greased pan and bake in 325 degree oven about one hour. Serve warm or cold with or without whipped cream. Makes 12 servings.

Don't forget the butter or the coriander. I have done that several times, so I put them in caps.

Lastly here is one last bit of this beautiful color. I can't bear to sweep up the leaves yet. I'm so grateful to all of you who make blogland such an inviting place. Happy Thanksgiving, however you celebrate it!

Yesterday's rainbow, squirrel and International Bird Fest

2010-11-22T22:36:00.000-08:00

There was a short rainbow at the dog park yesterday:

I made some persimmon pudding for book club:

Finished the Cheeky Squirrel cloth:

Here is an experiment. It's my dove Molly responding to a recording of a Wattle Bird, that Kaite has on her blog!

Heat Wave

2010-11-16T17:55:00.000-08:00

It's been warm, verging on Hot, here. It does not feel like November. But with the new light, waking up early comes more readily. Yesterday I awoke feeling I was being watched. There was a shape on the studio roof:

The passage of time revealed that the owner of the shape was...Buddy!

Buddy is a special visitor because, believe it or not, he once saved Edgar's life. That is a story for another time. Edgar doesn't feel especially grateful and spends a lot of time in his dish, especially during the heat wave:

So, while all this has been going on, I've been stitching away on the farm cloth...now it has a backing and just needs a little more quilting. Here is the bottom left corner:

It needs to be done by Thanksgiving...so far, so good...

Snowing down south

2010-11-10T15:45:00.000-08:00

That was the code phrase for telling someone their slip was showing...back in junior high when we wore slips and petticoats and they weren't supposed to show. Well, here is Mt. Tamalpais kind of "snowing down south"!

I've been busy on the farm cloth but it's not ready to make an appearance, so instead...Here's the progress on the naughty squirrel cloth:

The naughty squirrel and family, along with the raccoons and other critters, are presently working on the persimmons, but so am I!...This is the pulp, after it's been osterized and made the gurgle, plop sound:

And here's the jam. Easy to make...4 cups pulp plus 4 cups sugar, simmer (not boil) for 20 minutes. It's excellent with yogurt and millions of other things.

And here, as I realize I've digressed from the original subject of this posting, is the last redbud leaf on friend Pat's tree:

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T14:25:00.000-07:00

This is my third year of celebrating the Day of the Dead. This year's innovation is a slightly elevated altar. There is some candy in case some ghosts and goblins come to the door. Perhaps I'll also have to gobble some of it up myself. Happy Halloween, dear readers.

Water over the dam

2010-10-27T14:50:00.000-07:00

We've been having rain! The lake is spilling over...

I've been thinking about my carbon footprint, which I can't photograph, so, after splashing in some puddles, I took this:

The persimmons are orange-ing up:

Here is the first to ripen. Yum!

Madam Spider, perhaps disguising herself as a persimmon? She used to be yellowish.

Lately I've been working on the farmcloth, hoping to finish soon. Here are some details...the edges are nearly all done, then I have to back it with flannel. At first the denim was trying my patience, but now I take each stitch slowly and individually; not surprisingly, we're getting along better!

The Watusi

2010-10-19T15:02:00.000-07:00

Well, last weekend we had another big adventure. First, Agnes had her portrait made by our photographer friend and former student Dorothy:

Then, we went out to the farm to celebrate yet ANOTHER birthday, this time Farmer Kat's:

Here is her stitched card (sorry, the colors aren't very accurate) with lots of special indigo fabric from Glennis and with some fabric weaving as learned from Jude and a picture of the donkeys as printed by the Pixeladies:

And THEN, we all went for a ride to see The Watusi! He is a special breed of bull, which originated in Africa, who is presently living in a field with the Texas Longhorns. I hope I am not stretching my credibility too far, but we saw this amazing beast with all of our eyes...no photoshopping!

And here, in case this brings back dancing memories, is the Watusi song:

Moving through reality.

2010-10-11T17:04:00.000-07:00

Here is Agnes deciding to go home with me rather than with the group of less shaggy dogs who are more or less in her size range. Since this picture was taken some of her hair was shaved off to help with a skin problem. She asked me not to include a picture of that.

This is a small cloth I started when it looked like my beautiful sunflower was not going to last very long, due to the sly, cheeky squirrel. (I was right.) But it's been fun working on this...the base is made of silk batting with a layer of gauze on top. I've been incorporating ideas from Jude's workshops. There's a long way to go still.

This is the sunflower now. Sigh. That's Molly the dove in the background.

It's a long story, but before my return to sewing, I spent many years creating images on the computer. They turned into a series that revolved around a horse character, O.P. (Opie) I used to sell them at Farmers' Markets, but not lately. SO! I'm going to try putting some of them in the Mostly Threads Shop. Perhaps the Nurse Series will also become cards. We'll see how it goes, but here's a picture of the first one, in its cellophane package; it's in the shop.

The Mystery of the Sneaky Harvester

2010-10-03T13:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I went out to the farm in the Valley and passed a field of pumpkins, waiting to be picked:

Today, I was working a little on this:

and this:

When suddenly I looked up at the apple tree, and saw THIS lying on a branch:

Then, looking over at my beautiful sunflower, my first EVER, I saw this:

Someone has been harvesting my sunflower! Maybe it was that cheeky squirrel who quarrels with Agnes. Or maybe it was the crow who hides out in the liquidamber tree singing strangely percussive chants.

Whatever it is, I thought I better quick put up a couple of photos of my sunflower whilst it is still partially around. Here it is as a very very young sunflower blossom:

And here is what is thankfully still there:

Happy October dear readers.

Chair restoration and a Cowgirl

2010-09-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

Last year I found this wonderful chair at a yard sale. $5! I love to sit in it out back to sew or draw or read, but the paint has been steadily chipping off, so I decided to fix it up a little with some plain old string and Elmer's glue, then some paint to hold the whole thing together. My neighbor, Emily, helped me take it to the do-it-yourself car wash and we power-sprayed it to strip it even further, and now I'm in the process of painting it. The primer coat on the bottom is half-way done in the middle photo. Work was called off due to the heat wave we've had, but SOON the dear old chair will be looking lovely. That's a re-working of a square for Liam's quilt in the seat.

Lastly, here is a piece I made last year that might be in a local show. It's called "Cowgirl's got a Bunion", and it's somewhat autobiographical.

CC License

Weaving, wool and wild turkeys

2010-09-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

On this day of Equinox and Full Moon, after reading Jude's posting about weaving, I noticed many many web weavings in my neighbor's yard. The spiders had been busy...almost every available space was taken...a mine field for flying insects. The webs glistened in the sunlight like gossamer dinner plates. Here is one:

Baa baa black sheep:

Then, I went to visit the pigs and chickens and geese at the Little Farm nearby, but they were all inside for the night. The wild turkeys were stopping by to see what they could glean. Here are some feathers:

And here is a turkey portrait; she has stirred up the pebbles with her beautiful feet, hoping for some leftover seeds:

Happy Autumn, everyone...

Wild creatures and the farm cloth

2010-09-18T20:41:00.000-07:00

While strolling through the park one day, I photographed this duck because he looked so funny and squat.

Then this fellow and I startled one another at a curve in the path...he bounded off and we considered each other at a safer distance...

I'm making the farm cloth for my farm friends and this week I added their house and began to applique their pictures on...

Alex, upper left, is 96 now. This week his older sister Louise died. She was a very dear friend. Although she was 98, good-byes are hard. The family is gathering now for the memorial...

These fish are appliqued to the bottom of the farm cloth. Alex has fought hard for California farmers water rights.

A pansy, a parade and a beast

2010-09-12T17:13:00.000-07:00

This year I managed to grow some flowers. This pansy plant is still hanging on despite the cool summer we've had.

Today is the day of the annual street fair nearby...thousands of people come from all over to walk up and down Solano Avenue. There's a parade...

The music continues all afternoon, with bands stationed at fairly close intervals...the sounds and rhythms all merge and swirl around in my little back yard. The delicious food smells also waft about temptingly. I could not resist...why even try?

Here is the bumblebeast...I started him before learning from Jude about patchwork beasts, and yesterday, feeling I was neglecting him, I added some stitching. Oh and the nurses have been getting restless, so I put a couple of them in the shop...

Three creatures

2010-09-05T21:36:00.000-07:00

The highlight of this week was a trip to the Honkey Donkey Farm...we saw many many miniature donkeys...they are very sweet creatures, healthy and quite affectionate. Although they are small, they bray like a big donkey, and that is probably the main reason it wouldn't be wise for me to have one here. Well, the flies would also be a problem, and it would be better to have two, so they wouldn't get lonesome. So, it doesn't look like any mini-donks are going to be living here, but here's a photo anyway, thanks to my friend Susan, who invited me on this wonderful outing and took the picture:

And here is a baby spotted mini-donk:

I'll bet you knew this was coming...here is the Spotted Pony...he is floating down the Nile:

(not finished yet, but coming along)

Switching gears

2010-08-30T22:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we drove out to visit my dear friends at the farm. Lunch is always amazing but this corn particularly so. It was so sweet and so Yellow...I wish I could capture the color...pure sunshine. Oh my!

I pulled off the road on the way home to take this picture or maybe just to linger a little longer. It's looking west in the Central Valley toward the Coastal Mountains.

Am going to get back to work for a while on the Farm Cloth...here's the project:

And here's another one that I stitched on the train going East and need to do some more work on. It's of a mysterious island nearby:

So life is not boring, but all that driving is kind of tiring and here's Agnes at the end of the day:

What, more nurses??

2010-08-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, a couple more, at least for now. This first one is the Queen of the Nice Nurses. I'm working a little bit with faces, thinking how important they are, and how changeable, like the seasons.

And this one is called " 'You'd make my job a whole lot easier if you'd take your meds." nurse'. I'm not sure how to punctuate that. I was working on this in my doctor's waiting room and someone asked me about it, so in the course of the conversation, I mentioned the title...a couple of the patients looked a little alarmed, or embarrassed, but the woman who'd asked about it, I think she was a caretaker herself, nodded her head. It's not completed yet and includes some hand-dyed fabric from Heike's shop.

Update on the Nurses

2010-08-23T11:26:00.000-07:00

Here is Nurse #1. She's almost done...just needs something around the edges.

And here is Off Duty Nurse. She's been having a good time and just needs a little more stitching and a cover-up for the back. There's another Nurse in the works...maybe two, and I'll do a new posting really soon, I think.

I've been experimenting with the font size, wanting it to be easy to read...so far there haven't been any complaints, but I'd welcome feedback...

Enjoy these last few days of summer everyone...:)

An unusual visitor

2010-08-19T20:23:00.000-07:00

This pigeon appeared in my yard one afternoon recently. Right next to the aviary where the doves, Edgar and Molly, live. The pigeon looked serenely up at me and seemed to be enjoying pecking around for seeds. Then I noticed he/she had bands on the ankles. I thought, hmmm...perhaps I should do something...perhaps he/she belongs to someone...so I resolved to think more seriously about it, not knowing quite what I ought to do. The next morning he/she popped up on the fence and looked directly at me as Agnes (dog) and I were heading out to the dogpark...it was quite a look and I resolved that if the pigeon made another appearance, I would capture it (how??) and ask someone what to do. Well, it didn't reappear...probably a wise decision, as Agnes' welcoming statement might have meant The End, and my next door neighbor has a cat, but in the meantime he/she posed quite grandly for this photo, and I feel that the visit was a blessing.

Journey to Egypt and back to the garden

2010-08-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

On the recent trip to NYC we visited the Metropolitan Museum. Liam, who is 6, wanted to see the mummies. I remember being very small and seeing real mummies in the museum. They were ebony colored and all shriveled and very very fascinating. Perhaps I made this memory up, because on this trip we didn't see any actual mummies. But we (I) did become enamored of:

Ceramic tiles from King Djoser's tomb...the lines in between are made from limestone. I'm not sure who the fine gentleman to the left is.

Then we happened upon this fragment from Queen Neferu's tomb...they are her protective vulture figures:

Lastly, here are the pink ladies again. A better picture I think. They are actually called Naked Pink Ladies...they seem to become a deeper pink with time. I'd never noticed this before.

Two of my patchwork nurses are nearly done and a third has been started. That's what's coming up next!
well, maybe.

Bee News!

2010-08-14T17:52:00.000-07:00

On page 29 of Quilting Arts Magazine, (August/September) in a wonderful article by Jude Hill, called "Weaving a Cloth Base", my tiny embroidered bee makes an appearance! I feel very honored, grateful and delighted. I'm a great admirer of Jude's work and have been studying her techniques in her online classes; she has a unique and warm vision, and was so kind and encouraging to each one of us. Words are inadequate...

Pink Ladies and the off duty nurse

2010-08-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

My garden is having one of its colorful phases and here is a small bit of it. These ladies need very little water...they are blooming in unwatered areas everywhere right now. They seem to come out of nowhere but actually they have lush green leaves in the spring...you can see the residue of the leaves underneath (the stringy white things). I like to leave it there as a historical reminder. Last year there were only four or five ladies in this spot but now they have formed quite a congregation.

And here is the progress report on the Off Duty Nurse...she is not complete yet, but she's getting there, wherever that will be. Jude's class will end on Sunday, sigh...it has been the best.

Found face

2010-07-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

One day, on Jude's blog, there was mention of a "face plant" challenge posted on Arksparktheater. The idea is you make a face on the street or in the forest then leave it there for someone to find, after taking a photo of it. Well, this morning after yoga, at the local demolition project that I've mentioned before, was an earth mover, resting after its labors; this ready-made face was staring me down from up in the sky! I don't know if it will count for the challenge, since I didn't create it, but, it was so amazing that I had to show you anyway.

That's a little strange so here's another white sand beach scene. This is Lake Anza in Berkeley, where I went to stitch one afternoon. Oh summer!

And speaking of stitching, I've been making patchwork beasts in Jude's class; we have only one week more...this is one I've been working on. So far it's called Off Duty Nurse but that may change when her features and limbs are added.

It's a great deal of fun and also challenging.

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Home again, home again, jiggity jig

2010-07-23T11:23:00.000-07:00

What a lovely trip it was. Here is a scene from the last leg of my journey, looking out the parlor car window on the Amtrak Coast Starlight, of the Pacific Ocean, somewhere near Los Angeles.

And here are the trains from the West (L.A.) and East (Chicago) meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It would have been easy to get on the wrong train (except for all the announcements warning us not to).

I worked a lot on this block for my grandson's quilt of my great great grandmother. The photos were printed on silk for me by the Pixeladies, then I stitched over it to make sure it will withstand multiple washings etc. This sort of image has the added feature of being a little like a movie, because as the fabric moves around, in the course of being used, the facial expression changes, so the interaction can be very like a conversation.

This is the beginning of a spotted pony I'm making for Jude's Patchwork Beast online class. These classes have been so wonderful; I will miss them...they have helped me see cloth differently and interact with it more lovingly.

BEACH

2010-07-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

Well, now I'm in Washington, D.C. remembering the wonderful day at the beach with my family. This is Belmar, New Jersey...the ocean was pretty rough but what a good time we had. Haven't done too much stitching lately because of the incredibly good company I've been keeping.

Having traversed the continent...

2010-07-11T19:50:00.000-07:00

Each year, I try to pack more sensibly. This is my luggage in the train station, waiting for the train.

This is the menu. The food is good and included in the price of the total trip (if you travel in a sleeping car)

Here is my tiny room...all set up for stitching work!

My great great grandmother...her image printed on silk, being stitched down.

A Visit

2010-07-04T22:21:00.000-07:00

Here is the 10 year anniversary pillow that will arrive in time for my son and daughter-in-law's 11th anniversary. And hopefully I will arrive there just about the same time. The design was for their wedding. Now there are 2 boys in the household also. I can hardly wait to see them all. I'm taking lots of cloths to work on en route. Today is the 4th of July; I hear the fireworks, but am staying home.

Mobile stitching

2010-06-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

Trying to create a habit of taking projects to work on with me everywhere. Sometimes I forget but yesterday I had a long wait in a waiting room and made good progress on the little Agnes cloth. It's for Liam's quilt but hasn't been stitched down yet. The second example is an experimental combining of 2 cloths. Both pieces use techniques from Jude's workshops. These are so light and manageable and fun to work on that it makes waiting into treasure time.

It's been pretty cool lately, perfect for walking; here's a scene from relatively nearby, Jewel Lake(perfect name):

Mistaken identity and a beginning cloth

2010-06-21T21:51:00.000-07:00

When my former neighbors moved away, their pair of doves moved over here. Earnest and Molly. They had a baby, Edgar. This was 3 or 4 years ago. Then one of the pair died mysteriously. I assumed it was Molly who died, because the remaining dove was quite a singer and supposedly the males are the best singers. Earnest and Edgar, although father and son, live separately because they fought when they were first introduced. Nevertheless they perch near each other and sing to one another. Every spring Edgar curls up in his food bowl and acts broody. After a while he's himself again. This spring, Earnest curled up in his food bowl and became broody too...His food bowl is above eye level so I don't look in there every day, but the day before Fathers' Day when I peeked in, this is what I saw:

Oh no! Either someone has played a trick on me, or Earnest is Molly. And has been for quite a while. This is very confusing and unsettling. He/she isn't very interested in the eggs now, I suppose because they aren't fertile. That's the nature story of the week.

In the Spirit Cloth workshop we are making bases to build a story on later...here is one of my bases before I basted it:

And here is the same cloth after basting...it has a soft depth and is light and wonderful to hold:

Catching up slowly

2010-06-18T11:45:00.000-07:00

This is a close-up of progress on a portion of one cloth I've shown before and have been working on...the birds are indigo dyed cloth from Glennis...the cloth is woven from bits of fabric collected over the years

I started it in Jude Hill's cloth to cloth workshop; now I'm taking her Spirit Cloth workshop and today is the day to start something new for that. It is all exactly what I need to learn and is keeping me Busy. This cloth I decided to call "Texas", because 2 weekends ago I went to a family wedding in Texas!! My cousin is an amazing horsewoman and let me ride this beautiful horse:

She is leading us, thank goodness, and this doesn't show how fervently I am holding on to the saddle horn.

Lastly, here is a photo of some wildness in the big park nearby. I love how, in spite of their differences, these plants are all getting along so nicely together.

A small hanging and a visitor

2010-06-07T13:21:00.000-07:00

This is a very small hanging...8 inches square, that I created to show in our library. They used to have an annual big-quilt show but space became a factor, so they turned it into a mini-quilt show. Mine is called "Romance at the dog park" and uses hand-dyed fabrics. I made it several months ago, during Glennis' Shibori workshop, and before Jude's Cloth to Cloth workshop, where I have learned skills that will enhance this sort of cloth in the future.

Lately, when I sit outside to sew, a hummingbird instantly appears and I have been thinking, Oh how nice to be appreciated by a hummingbird. Several times the little bird seemed to be acting a little less friendly and perhaps even a bit aggressive, but Oh well, I thought, it's still nice to be appreciated by nature in this way. Then, today, as I got up to leave, my eye was drawn to a patch of green in the apple tree, and what did I see but her nest...with her in it. Can you see her eye and her tiny beak pointing skyward? The nest is miniscule and has lichens decorating it! I think she was saying "Hello and keep your distance."

AND, I'm starting to create a shop! You'll see it on the sidebar. Feedback is welcome, as I have limited experience with this sort of thing.

Workshop cloths Report #2

2010-06-02T14:25:00.000-07:00

I've been stitching away in Jude's cloth to cloth workshop and here's where my 2 cloths are now. In the top one, I cut the circle from the background, rotated it, then replaced it inlay fashion. In the bottom piece, the blue birds shapes were cut into the pine needle cloth, exposing the blue fabric underneath. It's fun to work this way; dynamic and ever challenging in the design sense. I'm a little behind in the lessons because there is so much to explore and it's very satisfying to do so.

A holiday swim

2010-05-28T22:32:00.000-07:00

Thank you all so much for visiting my blog. May this be a generally happy and a thoughtful holiday for you.

Workshop cloths

2010-05-21T13:32:00.000-07:00

This is the first woven cloth I made for Jude's cloth to cloth workshop. It's made out of dear old scraps from various projects. Some hand dyed silk. No quilting yet. It's nice to handle...very light

This one has lots of flannel in it so it's a bit heavier. What fun it is to make them. Each is 12" square just about.

I can't resist adding this photo. Very slowly and carefully the old department of Public Health building is being torn down. They spray it with enormous quantities of water, I suppose to keep the dust down. This project has been going on for months. This was yesterday's view which I found beautiful. More lovely than the building itself ever was.

Gifts

2010-05-19T22:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I finished this very small hanging for a friend. There is a little bit of fabric weaving in the center...the border is strips from my grandmother's shawl and the hanger is made from braided bits of the same shawl. The body of it is made from silk batting. See the bee?

Saturday was an amazing day. I went to the quilters' drop-in and on the way passed a little garage sale where I found this rug. It's about 6 feet long. Evidently a family member brought it back from Turkey, but the people decided not to keep it because of a few holes and so they were selling it for $10. I asked them if they were totally sure of that price and they were, so I am very grateful. Doesn't that look like a lighthouse on the top?

Then, on the way home, I bought this silk hanky in an antique store. After I finish admiring it, I may chop it up for inclusion in another cloth.

I've also started making cloth in Jude's workshop and I'll put up pictures of my experiments soon. She is a wonderful teacher; the techniques and the results are very satisfying.

What came out in the wash

2010-05-13T22:23:00.000-07:00

I had a surprise when I took the farm cloth out of the washer/dryer (it is all one machine). The denim made these interesting pointy things on the sides, and on the bottom edge:

It did this! After I get the loose threads tacked down, I'll wash it in my neighbor's machine with fabric softener and see if the denim behaves differently. I like those funny points. Jude's cloth to cloth class starts Saturday and I'm very very much looking forward to it.

This is Agnes at the dog park with her gigantic Mother's Day Biscuit, presented to her by her friend Pat. She worked her way laboriously and lovingly through about half of it, then a Big Dog sauntered over and in one quick bite, swallowed the remainder. Agnes was a little perplexed...she didn't see it happen...one minute it was there, and when she looked back it was gone, but it didn't spoil her day one bit. She looked up at Pat and wagged her tail and pretty soon she had another homemade biscuit to gnaw on.

Mother's Day

2010-05-08T21:22:00.000-07:00

It is Mother's Day Eve and I wish you all a good day tomorrow. Sometimes we are mothers and sometimes we aren't, but somewhere somehow there is a mother involved in our being here and may she be blessed. My own personal mother died several years ago, but I still have daughterly feelings which I try to activate when the motherless feelings arise. And one day after my mother died, I for some reason needed to be especially kind to myself, so I bought this little needlecase which is in constant use. It comes from a quilt store in Vermont and I wish I could be more specific, but alas, that's the best I can do. Perhaps the lovely person who made it will see it here!

Raindrops and gravity

2010-05-05T11:16:00.000-07:00

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I've been working on the rain portion of the farmcloth/laprobe. I wasn't happy with the raindrops so I tried imagining the path that each drop follows...and that it must be very curvy due to wind currants and birds and airplanes getting in the way while gravity is always pulling pulling. Here's a close-up:

The raindrops themselves are little rectangles of starched home-dyed silk! The paths are made of unfurled yarn. I don't know what will happen when this is washed, but probably should find out soon, as it is supposed to be utilitarian.

Lo and behold, here are some local cormorants. Before seeing them nesting at Sea Ranch, I was unaware of their social nature. I have only noticed them swimming individually in the past, but yesterday at the dog park a crowd of them swam by. Sometimes they would all dip underwater at the same time, vanishing completely and then all pop up again more or less together.

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A last minute contribution

2010-04-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

We've been encouraged in my writing class to write a poem for National Poetry Month, which is just about to end, so here is mine:

Where are the flowers in winter?
Where are the raindrops,
the stars
when the sun shines?

How do we make it through the bad times?
How forgive?
How endure suffering when there's no way to help?

How forego the need for words when the silence is speaking?

Suzanna Klein
April 19, 2010

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Call of the wild

2010-04-27T23:28:00.000-07:00

Last night at 3 a.m. my dog Agnes began barking and jumping up and down on top of me. Wearily, since she would not respond to my pleas that she focus on sleep, I arose to switch on the back yard light; there were the wild raccoons mating in the moonlight. It seemed voyeuristic to watch them too much so I switched off the light and tried to go back to sleep, but Agnes would have none of that and kept barking...she levitates a little with each bark and it is very cute, but it was so late. One of the raccoons came over, put its' nose to the French door and watched her. But for the glass, they were inches apart. Agnes loved this. So, I think, did the raccoon. Eventually the wild beasts retreated and sleep returned. Sorry, I could not take a picture! Too much reflection. So instead, here are just 3 photos from my trip to Tucson. More soon.

I wanted to drive down the east side of the Sierras to see the escarpment...that is where the Sierras rise up in sharp contrast to the geologically downward motion of the Owens Valley. I hope I am describing this correctly. I decided to take highway 50 and some other smaller roads to cross the Sierras (instead of Route 80, which is straighter). Therefore it was a little scary at times! in terms of curvy roads and breathtaking vistas involving height. So here are some samples:

Above is a turn-out. I am not a fast driver in the best of circumstances, but this sort of situation brings out the snail in me and I'm happy to let the faster folks go by. We are going East through the beautiful Sierra Mountains.

This is the same situation, looking in the other direction. Can you imagine what it was like coming through here in a stage coach??

This is the escarpment! The eastern side of the Sierras. They rise up in all their glory out of the more desert-like valley of Nevada. I went to a little quilt store in this town...the Quilt House (Gardnerville, Nevada) and bought some fat quarters of flannel with pine cones and the like.

Respite from travel

2010-04-22T15:32:00.000-07:00

Ah, I am home for a while! It was a long drive to Tucson and back but worth it for happy glimpses of family and scenery. I will post some pictures later on, but for now here are the two pieces I've been working on, slowly making progress.

And...

I've just pinned the sunshine and rainclouds on, but this morning I stitched the right hand cloud down a little:

That is silk gauze that I dyed a very pale blue.

The Wild Life and an accessory

2010-04-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

Just a few more pictures from Sea Ranch! I'm learning slowly about the camera and these came out a little better. This baby and mama washed up on the shore and the nursing started right there, with more waves washing over them.

The cormorants continued to fascinate me.

After the big storm, a rainbow.

Kari's posting about understory, gave me an understanding of this:

And lastly, here is one of the fabric bracelets I hope to offer in my shop!

That's all for now; I'm on the road to Tucson to visit family.

weather moods

2010-04-11T18:47:00.000-07:00

We've been having dramatic weather here. Yesterday the internet vanished, but it turned out that by unplugging the router box, then plugging it back in after 30 seconds, the connection returned. Its' absence felt a little spooky; here we are by this wild coastline, great chunks of which periodically slide into the sea. Somehow the internet feels like a tangible connection, a life-line. Of sorts.

Seals! See the baby? Evidently it was born just hours before I took this picture. Usually at this time of year there are many more baby seals. Who knows what has detained them.

Today it has been pouring; this is the murky scene through my window.

A brief respite from the rain.

Here is the cormorant nesting area. Can you see one practically in the middle, in a little niche? At night there is a cormorant on almost every ledge.

Seagulls.

Agnes doesn't like the rain. Only a lap will do.

Sea Ranch

2010-04-07T12:17:00.000-07:00

For four years, my dear friend Barbara and I have come to Sea Ranch on the Northern California coast for a week long work retreat/reunion. We were high school friends many many years ago and this is a wonderful chance to catch up on life events; work, and eat. Her husband comes up for part of the time. They do quite a lot of reading whilst I am upstairs working on projects. I've brought 2 lap-robes to work on plus numerous smaller items. One hope is to get started setting up an online shop.

Below is the lap-robe for my 95 year old farmer friend Alex. It has tractors, asparagus and corn and later I'll add some embroidery. I've been experimenting with Jude Hill's fabric weaving techniques on her video series. I'm having a good time with this and really enjoyed ripping the denim!

The other big project is below. It doesn't have a name yet; it's silk and flannel. The silk I dyed in the shibori class from Glennis. It's growing from the inside out and I think will be another lap-robe.

King of the bees

2010-03-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

Well, I was going to return to the subject of the economics of embroidering bees but am too distracted by the wisteria getting into high gear; one day I was out admiring it when in buzzed the biggest most dignified bumblebee I've ever seen. He considered the buds from all angles, and then buzzed off, apparently thinking they weren't quite ready for his pollen collection. Alas, my camera was elsewhere, so I decided to immortalize him by embroidery. He was lots shinier and more commanding than this, but perhaps you can add those qualities with imagination.

Here also is the bigger square I made out of the smaller squares in the last post.

I want to add some fabric weaving around the outside of this inspired by Judes's work at Spirit Cloth, perhaps using the gauzy cloth on the very left.

Lastly, one more bee item! My favorite socks.

Back to work, Granny

2010-03-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

Sigh. The dear ones have gone back to their home nest. It will be my turn to travel next. I miss them.

This morning I unwrapped my arashi pole (Glennis' shibori class).

Here it is on the counter with a little bobbin made with a twig from the apple tree. The thread I used to wrap the silk on the pole is buttonhole twist; you can see it on the bobbin. This bobbin idea came from Deb G.

Here is my arashi after I ironed it. My goal is to create a pattern like water and then to make a lap cloth:

with several to many of these (above) sewn together. I'm practicing Jude's piecing method. The silk is tricky to manage because it is slippery. On this piece I used starch, then I tried a fabric interfacing and that worked well, but the silk no longer felt like silk...more like cotton. I have a couple of other ideas to explore.

More bees

2010-03-12T13:12:00.000-08:00

So, I took my camera in for advice about how to improve the color situation and came home with a new camera! Then, a beekeeper stopped by and gave me a job of embroidering 3 bees on a denim jacket; this was very unexpected. There was a dilemma about what to charge; he suggested $10. per bee. (I would love to hear how others resolve this sort of issue.) It seemed really high to me, so I decided to time the process. The first bee took one hour fifteen minutes...that was on the pocket...hard sewing. The second took 56 minutes and the third took 45 minutes. They are goofy looking bees and smaller than they appear here. I still need to work out the details of how exactly to embroider them, but not today because tomorrow the two grandsons and their parents will arrive from the east coast! They won't be staying here but I will see them as much as possible.

Bye Bye Black Heart

2010-03-07T17:37:00.000-08:00

Here she is again. I think this is all. The colors are a little better without the flash I think. Thank you everyone. On this next one though, everything was the same but the pink faded out. Tomorrow I'm going to the camera store, ask some questions.

Someone who was mad at me once said I had a black heart. It plagued me for a long time and then I felt grateful for the image. This sheer cloth is covered with little sprouts or maybe it's been walked all over by bird feet. Chickens, I think.

The latest on the home cloth. I've been busy bee-ing.

I hope everyone everywhere is having either a little bit of spring or the loveliness of approaching fall. What a round world it is. May there be respite from the quaking. My heart goes out to those who have been enduring too much.

She has a heart

2010-03-05T21:05:00.000-08:00

What a week this has been!

The heart was part of my shibori experimenting, and I thought I should put it on her sleeve, because well, because that was the sort of week it was.

I wish the photo showed the rain streaks a little better. I need to learn more about my camera.

A portrait

2010-02-27T16:44:00.000-08:00

...of myself, walking in the rain, with a head-cold.

The shibori class is so interesting...for part of lesson 2, I made:

The square on the right was the lesson, then I made the strip on the left to use as a border on the self-portrait. There is much to learn.

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Tea tin and shibori class

2010-02-22T11:28:00.000-08:00

This little tea tin has been in my kitchen cabinet for years. Just the other day, when I was pondering how to think about the new homecloth (see last post), I noticed it anew. It is such a simple happy representation. I have become all discombobulated trying to decide if I want to portray my home from the point of view of history, from the front or the back, from the inside out, or even should I look at it as if from a satellite. Now, when I become all perplexed with all these questions, I go look at the tea tin. It helps that there is tea inside it.

And! I'm taking the Online Shibori class from Glennis Dolce through Joggles.com and these are my first results. It's very exciting. Although I've not done much dyeing, I'm having sensations of deja vu.

not snow, but...

2010-02-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

Seeing the beautiful snow pictures on Spirit Cloth makes me a little homesick for back east, but here is an offering of hope! The fruit trees are starting to bloom all over town; this is one from the big park just east of us.

Somehow, with no warning at all, I have caught a cold, despite trying very hard to avoid such a thing. Perhaps starting to prepare for tax time has made it feel welcome.

And here is how my homecloth is coming. Gulp. So far it is about order and disorder, infinity, my new glasses and the rosebush out front. I am not sure where it is going. Well, inbetween coming and going is IS. And likely that will change soon.

A valentine

2010-02-14T11:41:00.000-08:00

Wishing a happy heart to all. Since hearts are always breaking...a happy mending heart.

Spotted Pony and new cloth

2010-02-12T21:37:00.000-08:00

This is a cloth (slightly over 12" square) inspired on my train trip home last summer. It was early morning, the crescent moon hung in the sky and we were moving through Wyoming or Utah. I imagined the horses out there chasing the train, or just running to celebrate the new day.

A detail of his happy feet.

Here is the beginning of my new cloth. It is going to be about home. Since most of what I do here is work, it seemed fitting to use my old blue jeans (which in the other sense, no longer fit.) It is stretch fabric and doesn't like being squared up, so I decided to just let it relax and be that way. The bottom half I paper-pieced and it does look nice and even, but the seams were so thick I thought maybe helter-skelter would create less bulk, so that's what I did on the top. This cloth or quilt is probably going to represent my view of the reality of my home as well as dreams. Right now it's sort of a footprint.

hope

2010-02-10T19:00:00.000-08:00

Here is a little foretelling of spring, blooming by my front door.

Reading about the snow back east, I feel a little envious, but at the same time can imagine it seems like more than enough and darn that groundhog and his predictions, so here is a sight perhaps for sore eyes. I wanted to display my accomplishment re: paper piecing, but the camera battery ran down so it will have to wait.

Some progress

2010-02-05T22:03:00.000-08:00

After several attempts, I have finally added my header picture...that is the running horse above. Perhaps there is a way to have the title letters below the picture, but so far that process eludes me.

That little cloth is about 5" high by 9.5" long. Today I embroidered the bee on. The almond growers in the Central Valley of California are having difficulties with bees too ill to pollinate, so this little bee is a prayer for help for our bee colonies.

The orangey-pink fabric in the background is a linen that I dyed with onion skins from Trader Joe's. It was a bag of multi-colored pearl onions. I read about the process and that citric acid would help to set the color, but I didn't have citric acid, so I added the peel from a clementine and boiled it all together. It made a beautiful color, but this is not a sturdy cloth, even though I stitched everything securely. I felt commited and went ahead with the project anyway but I doubt it would withstand a trip through the washing machine. Also, I painted starch on the horse so that I could applique him more easily to the background; this helped. After the initial applique, but before the couching, I soaked the background plus horse in warm water to take out the starch because I read that silverfish like starch. As you can see this is all very experimental.

Lastly, here is Agnes, my dog who is the size of a large cat. She is a little skeptical about all this experimenting but is supportive for the most part.

Groundhog's Day Eve

2010-02-01T20:30:00.000-08:00

Happy Groundhog Day (February 2). Shadow awareness day! Blessings on the whole idea, whether he sees it or not.

Donkeys and Crows finished

2010-01-29T16:08:00.000-08:00

Here is the final (I think) version of the donkeys and the crows. It's 6.5" x 16"... an experiment that kept evolving.

This is a detail of (last month's) blue moon. It is made of leftover fringe scraps that I compressed and then sewed in with silvery thread. Now I am wondering what the donkeys and crows are saying to one another, so I will address that soon. Meanwhile I'm hoping to make a header for this blog, but no promises as to when it may appear, that is to say, how long it takes to figure out how to do it.

Donkeys and Winter Bird

2010-01-24T15:32:00.000-08:00

Here's a close-up on how the donkeys are coming along. I gave them a little ground to stand on.

And here is another bookmark. I used linen for the background. This little bird I made using a stabilizing fabric backer because it's silk and was slippy sliding around something terrific. Next time I'm going to experiment with starch and see if that will help with tucked-under applique. Maybe it would be a good idea to work on a bigger scale!

The photo doesn't pick up the shiny thread moon that the winter bird is looking at.

And here is one more, an experiment, a sampler of all these new (to me) ways of working. It is maybe Santa wading through the January lull.

Donkeys and Crows plus

2010-01-18T20:18:00.000-08:00

This is a work in progress. The farm I love to visit has donkeys. One day during Christmas I stepped outside thinking I heard the donkeys braying, but it was a big flock of crows. They both have nice raspy voices, and it was the time of the blue moon, so I've been thinking about all that. Then today, because of a post on spiritcloth.typepad.com (January Thaw) I realized there are 2 ancient dresses far back in the closet that I believe were my grandmother's. We called her Ninawr. They are stained and not really wearable so perhaps I will put them to use as elements to enhance these cloth pictures, as I used fragments of her shawl in the frog bookmark. Here is what they look like right now. I am showing them like this because I don't want to think of them as dresses or it will be too hard to borrow from them.