100 Quilts · Books

Scrappy Stars!

Elizabeth E.10 Comments

Scrappy Stars, full view

I can finally write this post, as I caught Dave before he picked up his latest Donna Leon book (see the picture at the end for my stack).  I used to have this perfect photography studio, but then we had to replace our garage doors and I can’t staple a white sheet onto it any more.  So, I have Dave hold up the quilt for me in the back yard.

Here’s the requisite languid beauty shot: Quilt Draped Over Something.

The back.  You know that fabric you have that you love love love and it’s been sitting sitting sitting on your shelf for too long?

This was mine, so I put it to good use on the back of this very red quilt.

My quilter, Cathy of CJ Designs, did a meander over the star points and a star on a rolling wavy line in the borders. I had wanted to quilt this myself and imagined some glorious feat like Angela Walters accomplishes–all detail and punch and wonderfulness.  But in the end, I traded “Done” for “Glory,” as the pragmatic side of me realized that summer was o-v-e-r and if this quilt was to be enjoyed, I needed help on the quilting.

The label:  Scrappy Stars • No one sees what is before his feet: we all gaze at the stars.  –  Cicero

This is my number 100 of 100 quilts.  Now I’m starting on my second batch of one-hundred quilts.

I’ve arranged this stack of Donna Leon books I’ve finished in order of publication, with Death at La Fenice the very first one she published.  Notice how we get the paperbacks from used books stores (via Amazon and Abe Books online).  ( That second one is titled Death in a Strange Country.) There’s a lot of her books out there. So far, Acqua Alta is my most favorite, but I do like her subplots and characters. I’ve made a note to buy little almond cakes while we’re there, as they only appear around the first part of November — a piece of trivia gleaned from one of the novels.  At any rate, I look forward to reading more of these as soon as I can.

Creating · Something to Think About

Garden of Your Mind

Elizabeth E.1 Comment

I don’t generally post videos and other things on here, but I read about this on Becky Goldsmith’s blog (Piece O’ Cake), and fell in love with it. I have felt lately like my brain is shattered glass, little pieces of hard crystal, each piece labeled with teaching tasks: grade quizzes, make logical fallacy handout, create MLA test, create MLA handouts, conclusions, lesson plans and this week, prepare for evaluations.  Even in sleep these glass fragments are embedded in my dreams and I wake up making To Do Lists for the day.  It’s wearying to say the least.  It reminds me of having a new baby, while trying to care for the older children as well.  Every part of you is taken, spoken for.

I only want quilting to be this way, to be deliciously immersed in creativity and process and product.

So Happy Labor Day to you all, and take some time to think up new quilts in the garden of your mind.  And to those who never grew up with Mr. Rogers playing in the background–well, it may not make much sense to you.  But as Becky Goldsmith noted, this video is the best use of auto-tune ever.

WIP
Elizabeth E.3 Comments

This is really my work in progress: my class on Critical Thinking, and here’s a stack of books I’d assembled to cull through, glean from.  But in the end I found as much help from the textbook I used when I went to this class as an undergrad, and so dragged that out (now where’d I put all those notes?) and feel quite a bit less panicky. But doesn’t the desk where I quilt look smart with all those book on argument stacked up?

This was the work in progress over the weekend.  A measly bitty border block for the Lollypop Tree quilt.  Actually I sewed three of these baby blocks, feeling quite impressed with myself.  (A side effect of spending too much time thinking about my class is the desire to climb into my jammies as I arrive home and curl up with a book).  Didn’t Mary Poppins sing that a job well-begun is half-done?  I kept thinking about that as I pulled these out.  At least I’m starting on the appliquéing part.  At the very least.

I assigned my class the task of listening to any one of the four following political speeches: the keynote from the Dem or GOP convention or the nominee’s speech from the same two circuses parties conventions.  So I watched Ann Romney’s speech last night, which led into the keynote of the GOP, Gov. Christie, and sewed on this new EPP block, while my husband and his friend provided the local color and play-by-play commentary.

Then today in class we had a lively discussion on whether or not the students voted, and did they think it important?  A few offered up that they didn’t think it was important, but many felt confused by the propositions on the ballot (we live in California) and what the candidates stood for.  I offered to take some office hours time to help them sort it out so they could decide, but that they had to help do the research.  I purposely keep my preferences under wraps so as not to prejudice them, but really often I feel the same as they.  I’ve decided that voting is a little like the block above, all the pieces coming together to make a democratic whole.  A few other students encouraged the bystanders to take their vote seriously.  I was really happy about that. And as I look at this block, I can see I’ve got some rearranging to do up there.

The last thing for this work in progress post (posted soooo late in the day) is this wonderful birthday card my nephew made for his daughter Charlie on her 7th birthday.  I love all the stylish dogs and puppies.  Very fun to look at it.  And yes, he got his masters in art, and works for a fashion design firm in New York City.

His wife is equally talented (that’s one of her photos, above), and her blog, Found While Walking, always has the most beautiful bouquets of flowers, gathered up mostly from her garden.

Okay, this post is a little off of quilt topics, and yes, it’s a stretch for my brain to even work tonight (I’m already in the jammies), but this weekend is Labor Day and I plan to labor all day at the sewing machine, stowing away the books and distractions to really enjoy my Labor Day holiday.

Happy Labor Day to you too.  Now head back over to the Freshly Pieced blog — guest hosted by Michelle of City House Studio — to see other Works In Progress.

100 Quilts · Books · Creating

My Head’s in a Book. . . or Two

Elizabeth E.4 Comments

I should be annotating the readings I assigned to my students with my brand new colored pencils, but instead my brain’s rebelled.  It is Saturday after all, and I need a break.

Remember the exhibit I was all gaga over at Long Beach?  Well, the twelve-by-twelve group has put out a book, Twelve By Twelve: The International Art Quilt Challenge, and it arrived in my mailbox this week.

There’s so much in here, and I’ve just barely started reading.  They have an overview of each theme, and have featured one quilt from that collection and the artist that created it.  We get to learn about her methods, ways of working, how she approached the idea and how it percolated in her mind.

Some of my favorites from the exhibit are featured, as well as an overview of how they all got together.  The Leader of the Pack found a website where six quilters had embarked on a similar project.  So she then asked twelve quilt artists that she knew to try this themed approach to working.  I’ve been chatting with Rachel and we think we’d like to try, and although we know we are certifiably nuts to add one more thing to our lives, the idea of trying new techniques and ideas in a small space (a quiltlet, if you will) is appealing.

We all have Too Much To Do, for sure, but I keep thinking of that old refrain I have heard more than once–something about the worst thing to live with is regret.  I’ve settled some of my ghosts–doubtful I’ll ever write a novel, or climb Mt. Everest (really doubtful on that one), or go bungee-jumping.  But to pass up on a chance to push the creative edge may be a regret I don’t want hanging around.  I think Rachel and I are still wondering if we want to jump off that Quiltlet Cliff, but if you want to walk to the edge and jump with us, leave me a comment and we’ll start to put together our own group.  You have to agree to a deadline, but it will be well-labeled.

The Gentle Art of Quiltmaking is the second book that came this week (banner week for books, I know!) by Jane Brocket.  Betty, a reader, and I were talking (“emailing”) about a quilt titled the Swimming Pool quilt, shown here on the cover, a lush compilation of Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  The whole book is filled with quilts like this, in moody atmospheric settings.  I mentioned to Betty that sometimes these illustrations drove me nuts as I wanted Full! Color! Pictures! of the quilts so I could really study them.

But the quilts are so beautiful I put up with this inconvenience.  She’s quite descriptive in her ideas, methods and even fabric lines used.

At the end of the book, she includes this visual index of the quilts, but. . . I still wanted them larger, esp. since it’s a hardback book. It’s published by C&T, which publishes most of my favorite quilt books.

And lastly, I have my 100th quilt back from the quilter, and am sewing the binding, sleeve and label on.

More photos when I can get my husband to finish his Donna Leon book–we’re feasting on them currently, our heads always with Detective Guido Brunetti, solving crime in Venice.  My husband is on #12 in the series; I just finished #8 (I’m trying to catch up).  This fall we’re headed to Northern Italy, with a stop in Venice, but in reading these books, I feel like I’m already there.