miracle of miracles

The predicted foot of snow did not show up here.  It turned to rain and by Saturday it was sunny. Hooray.  So off I went to Victoria's loft in Manhattan for the NYMetroMod meeting. It felt great to get out, and since the last meeting I attended, the group had swelled to 38 people or so.  Because of my travel schedule, I had missed a lot of meetings and it was fun to see the enthusiasm and the show-and-tell.  Here are just a few.

Janet cut up something she had made in a Nancy Crow class, added prints (horrors!!) and made it her own.  She is an experienced quilter who does her own thing, including surface design -- and her work is very nice. I have known Janet for a long time.

I've seen a lot of quilts made out of old ties but this one is atypical and makes a strong visual statement - especially from a distance (which this photo is not).

It's funny - many modern quilts are riffs on traditional patters, but funky (like the one above). What exactly is modern quilting? I think this post on the Modern Quilt Guild site says it very well with both words and visuals. http://bit.ly/abaq58.  There is nothing new under the sun.

On my two block stroll from the Port Authority to the meeting I saw a couple of pull-down doors that made me smile.

This was the next-door at which the arrow was pointing.  Do you see any cigars?

After the meeting I stopped at International Market on 9th Ave. and 40th, across the street from the Port Authority's back door.  Loaded up on spanikopita, taramasalata, tatziki, dolmates, olives, pita.  We have feasted for two nights and there is enough for a lunch. I roasted some golden beets and added salt, lemon juice, wine vinegar, olive oil and dill. And tonight I made a roasted eggplant dip.

After I got home on Saturday I decided to recover the ripped, hideous cushions on my favorite chair. I have had the room painted and am in the throes of reorganization.  Keeping in mind the fact that I cannot sew, I feel pretty good about the result.  My mother taught me to make slip covers by laying the fabric on the cushions and cutting. No pattern.  This, I can do. Not well, but well enough.

Now I have to recover the other cushion and a few throw pillows.  Of course, I am out of this fabric, but will figure it out.

The yellow turned out to be a yellow-green that cheers me right up. I have rearranged things and I hope the room will work better for me as a sewing room.  The machine is on a bridge table for the nonce. I am directly catty-corner from where I sat before.  The cherry cabinet was in the garage - left over from the kitchen because it came in wrong.  But it tips over when I open the bottom drawer, so I'm not quite sure what to do about that.  Jeremy and Ross hauled up my old kitchen cabinets from the basement alcove and they are the perfect height for cutting/ironing without breaking my back. My old butcher block table top is now the counter top and at 36" x 60", it's a good size. As you can see, it already looks right at home - LOL. 

I'm slowly hauling the rolling bins back into the room and have my work cut out for me in the ironing department.  Then there are the books...