brrrrrr…...

I have not left the house since Monday, except to walk to the mailbox up the street to retrieve the pile that was held for me while I was away.   Next week promises another Polar Air attack but I will be elsewhere.

So what have I done all week? 

Over the weekend I picked up the 1880's mantle clock I took from my mother's and had fixed by the antique clock expert who also fixed the 200 year old grandfather clock that my son inherited.  Honestly, I was going to give the mantle clock away, since it didn't work - but when the clock guy spotted it and raved, I had to let him fix it.  It is here now, ticking away.  It dings on the half-hour and has a beautiful, mellow chime on the hour.  I find it very comforting.  

Monday I spent all day at IKEA looking for storage solutions for this sewing room/office.
I have made lots of progress; you just can't tell from this picture - LOL.

Took lots of measurements and notes and will go back in a few weeks to sit down with a design helper that can work on planning the space with me.  The wire basket (purchased on Monday) is now a repository for Helene's hand-dyes, which I seem to have been collecting since 1997.  Still working on ironing/cutting/sorting by color and am wondering why I have so many drawers and bins of other fabrics.  A few years ago I gave away a ton of fabrics to a friend, but you'd never know it now.

Found this old card while I was going through the family stuff (still cluttering up that end of the room in the picture.  

Yesterday, I finally got out the strips I had been auditioning in Paducah and put them on the bulletin board/mini-design wall.  Who knows what this will be, if anything??  But it is keeping me amused and I am working with color combinations I don't normally use.

I have been making gallons of soup. First, a divine wild mushroom soup (minus the garnish) inspired by the one we had in a restaurant last week.

 Next, a to-die-for butternut squash, white bean, kale soup that was the best thing I have ever tasted. (well, top of the list, anyway). It is a bit of work, but worth it. 
This recipe comes from a blog called For Love of the Table.

I was so cold yesterday (and out of soup) that I couldn't contemplate a cold dinner.  So I got out the head of cauliflower I had bought on the weekend and made Mark Bittman's Curried Cauliflower Soup.  There are a million recipes for this if you google it, but I like Mark's because it is quick and doesn't have any fat or potatoes.  I used light coconut milk and was out of cilantro, but I ate it twice today, it was so good.  Actually, this recipe looks excellent, too - and I might try it next time.  

Oh - and today I wrote my Winter 2014 newsletter and sent it out tonight.  If you want a copy and don't already subscribe, just add yourself to the link on the sidebar and I'll make sure you get one.

Well, my clock has chimed 12 and I should get a good night's sleep.  I must admit is is a luxury not to have to get up at the crack of dawn.  Tomorrow - boring old chicken soup.

The week that flew!

Goodness - I am leaving for home tomorrow (Thursday) and it feels as if I just arrived.  This has been a wonderful "retreat" week for me -- sewing in Helene's studio (below, some of the strips I brought with me, temporarily sorted<g>.  

I was not planning to buy any more fabric (I have a ton of Helene's bits and yards) but it was impossible to be here and not go home with a few (few???) yards.  I really NEED that orange and lime green and since this photo was taken, the pile has gotten bigger.  I suspect that tomorrow morning I will grab another couple of yards. Oh, my goodness.  I will never use it all.  But oh, well.

Monday night was the monthly meeting of the Paducah Fiber Artists and I was happy to see such old friends as Cathy Neri, Rosemary Claus-Gray, Rose Hughes, and other artists I had met when I was here a couple of times previously.  Caryl Bryer-Fallert was not here this week, but she comes back and forth and will probably continue to do so till her building is sold and she can be in Port Townsend, WA full time.  Anyway, show and tell at the meeting was interesting, as always, and here is a (bad) picture of Rosemary with one of her sheers.  She was showing the hanging device she had found that just works perfectly to display her pieces.  It was great to see her.  I first met Rosemary when we were both juried into a show at the Whistler Museum in Lowell, MA.  DOn't want to think about how long ago!

Helene and Bob's gallery space and shop is beyond gorgeous (eye candy abounds) and I was especially taken with this group of work on one of the walls.  I have my eye on one.

Every day this week I have been cutting and sewing strips and arranging/rearranging them on the wall. Right now I am pretty happy with the arrangement but we shall see how I feel when I get home and look at them in my own space.  They have a long way to go.  I brought the pink strips with me, but have put them aside to start something else.

So, off to pack all my stuff (or stuff my stuff) in my already stuffed (did I use this word enough??) suitcases.

I am going home inspired and encouraged and totally relaxed, which was the purpose of this interlude.

Ahhh...

Sewing break

So far, puttering around with no particular results in mind.  Just as well.  I brought all the fabrics I thought I needed for the oink (oops! that should have been PINK) piece I was going to work on.  No matter what I did, I did not love it.  Or even like it.  

Being in Paducah means two things if you love fabric: 1) Jefferson Street Studios and 2) Hancock's of Paducah.  Well, I am already living in #1 so yesterday I thought it would be a good idea to go to #2 and shop.  We got there at 2:55 and the sign said they closed at 3:00 on Saturdays.  What's up with that?

So I hit the sale table, grabbed without looking, and we checked out by 3:10 after they measured the remnants.  I hate making decisons under pressure, so I didn't even know what I had bought till we got home.  Huh?  What was I thinking?  I still haven't used the fabrics I bought 3 years ago, last time I was here.

Yesterday, Helene gave me a few random strips to play with and today I fell in love with one of them so much I wanted a yard of the same fabric.  Since Helene's fabrics are one of a kind (or these days, eight of a kind - sort of - because no two fabrics in the same batch are identical) it was with some difficulty that Helene finally located a yard of this fabric.  There are others just as gorgeous, but I needed this one for my soul:-).  

Tune in later to see what I am doing on Monday.  This post did not upload last night.

A cozy mystery

I admit it: I like a good mystery. Not the "oh $#*t where did the envelope with all that cash in it disappear to?? I know I put it somewhere, but where???" mystery; but a good whodunit. 

Mostly, I love British police procedurals -- but last night I was up late reading something a bit more lighthearted: what they call a "cozy" mystery.  You know, the kind that usually takes place in a small (charming) village with a cast of (mostly likable) village characters and is usually a series. Yes, somebody ends up dead but the victim was somebody you were not emotionally attached to anyway and the fun is in seeing the detective figure out who the culprit was.

Cozy Quilting Mysteries have been around for a while; you're probably familiar with the books by Earlene Fowler and Jennifer Chaverini.  Well, they need to move over and make room for Mary Marks, whose book, Forget Me Knot, is the first in a new series that just hit the shelves a couple of days ago.  I thought it was not only charming, but funny.  And when it comes to funny, I am a tough audience.

It's different from typical quilting mysteries because it takes place in Los Angeles (hardly a village) and the quilters who solve the mystery are not  necessarily charming and cutsey-pie.  The narrator, Martha Rose, is overweight and a bit acerbic (meow,meow)and I found myself chuckling frequently at her "tell it like it is" descriptions of her Quilty Tuesday cohorts, life, husbands, and other quilters. 

There are references we can relate to: Houston, Best of Show Awards we don't think were deserved, and other familiar things. Honestly, the characters are engaging, the dialogue can be hilarious. and it's just a fun read. I'm already looking forward to the next book in the series!

en route to Paducah:-))

As I sit in the airport waiting for flight time, I have the chance to post some of the pictures I took during the "Can this Fabric be Saved?" workshop during the last two days.  Not all my shots came out (what else is new?) but these are some examples that did.

We did a variety of surface design techniques: screening with the usual suspects we all have at home, plus a gelatin printing demo and the recipe so everyone who wants to do this can do it at home.  Two days was not enough time to do everything, but it was a flying start!

Since everybody brought ugly fabric,they were not intimidated about printing all over it because for the most part, they could not have made it worse!  This is the back side of really hideous pink palm tree fabric that Valerie covered up with a screen made with blue gel glue.  You can see the obverse, but below you can see the "after".

These two pieces were actually done on sewn-together strips that were left over from another workshop with another teacher.  The resist on th;e top one was torn paper, I think.  And the bottom one was a glue screen.  Neat, huh?

This was tape put directly on the fabric and painted into with a foam brush.

The result is here. 

Jeanette has covered her cloth with little strips of tape and is now removing them.  You can see how it looks after the tape comes off. 

The orange strips were done with tape resist and then stamps were used on the next layer.

Glue on a screen over hand-dyed fabric gives a really nice look.

And this was a gelatin print done with a Lego.  Look how the gelatin creates a 3-D effect!

Carol printed a whole big piece of white on white with tape and green paint, with some purple added in a few places.  She is not sure how to use it yet but I tore a strip of the below fabric and plunked it onto the purple-stripe area to show her the possibilities when you cut up your fabric and reconstruct the pieces.  I'm eager to see what she finally does.

In fact, I am looking forward to seeing what everybody ultimately does with their fabrics and hope they will send me pictures at some point.

In the meantime, I am off to catch my flight and will no doubt blog from Paducah

heat wave in Chicago

Wow - it's up from 18 below to +5 today.  Temps are going up and by the time I leave on Friday, it is supposed to be a balmy 36 degrees.  Will believe it when I see it (or feel it, as the case may be).

I must admit I was flattered that a group of hearty souls dragged themselves out in this cold to hear me speak this morning.  Not sure I would have done the same, had the shoe been on the other foot.  The North Suburban Needlearts Guild is a group of diversely talented women, all of whom do something with a needle -- beading, felting, sewing, knitting, weaving, book arts, etc.  Many of them do surface design or make jewelry - and almost all of them do more than one thing - and do it well.  

Some of the members belong to a group called Womens' Journeys in Fiber and their work is amazing!

I just spent an hour on their website, http://www.womensjourneysinfiber.com -- completely awed by their talent.  You really need to go there.

After taking me out to a lovely lunch, my host for the afternoon took me to a place in Chicago called American Science and Surplus.  Oh,mygoodness -- what fun to browse.  Here are just a few of the things I resisted buying.

It did make a rather amusing afternoon.  My favorite stop was at an independent bookstore, where I purchased at least three novels to keep me occupied. Yes, I have some books on myiPad but I am not in the mood for any of them.  And there is nothing like paper reading matter to make me happy.

Tomorrow - Can this Fabric be Saved?

First post of 2014

There was going to be a last post of 2013 but I spent Dec 31 and Jan 1 with friends in their NY City pied a terre, which has no Internet access.    

For those of you following my sewing room clean-up saga, I spent the past week in that room and it now looks relatively civilized, except for the cutting/ironing table.  Mostl of the drawers below that surface have been emptied and eithere pitched or sequestered somewhere else.  I just have to take out what is behind the cabinet doors (a Singer 99, which is a 3/4 size workhorse and comes in a nifty carrying case.

But how many sewing machines does a person need?  I have this one, which I suppose I should use once in a while because it sews a nice straight stitch; my Viking 210, which is only 14 lbs and if I ever need to drive somewhere to teach I can take it; my wonderful, quiet old Bernina 1020 which is so quiet.  I use it only for piecing and it is in my studio.  Finally, my Janome 6500 in my sewing room at home.  I quilt on this one.

Enough of this tangent.  I arranged all my threads in the beautiful antique Red Star thread cabinet my friend Audrey gave me a decade or more ago.  I am SO proud of myself. How long they will stay organized? Don't know, but for now they are a visual treat.

The threads in the bottom are so old they break if you pull them, but they are beautiful.  The next up are my brand name threads and now I can see what I have (as in too many of a coupleofcolors I never use).  The top are the small spools of brand name threads and the top drawer, which you don't see, is full of gorgeous old spools of silk threads, which I also don't use but love to look at.

My scissors, seam rippers, and other tools are in the middle drawer, which does not have a glass front.

Fast forward to Jan 6 and I am in Chicago, where it is -11F degrees, up from a low of 18 below zero when we landed a few hours ago.  In my nice warm hotel room at the moment, but will have to walk to the restaurant next door for dinner.  I was wearing five layers under my coat, including a hooded sweatshirt and in addition, two scarves. On my feet, a pair of furry clogs (no socks, of course) and my feet were so hot on the plane that I had to take them off.  Brought my Birks with me for indoor wear:-)).

Tomorrow morning, lecture at the guild and my body is in east coast time so I will read for a while and call it a day.

hidden treasures?

This morning I started going through my mother's (or maybe my grandmother's) sewing basket.  Well, not actually a basket but two tins that probably contained cookies in the 1940's.  Here is what I have not yet thrown out -- I am paralyzed.

OMG - I made that pin cushion when I was in elementary school.  I think it is filled with sand.  My mother actually used it. 

•  A bag of safety pins, each pinned to the other so you could wear them as a necklace.  Steel - made in USA.  Do I need them?  Nope.  
• A small bullet with holes through it, made to go on a key chain. I think it was my grandmother's - but where did she get it? Did my uncle bring it home from WWII?
• A wooden embroidery hoop - sturdy and wonderfully made in USA.
• Bobbins for an old sewing machine - one still with thread on it.  Anybody want them?
• Some weird sort of scissors (picture below) does anyone have a clue?  WHAT do I do with these? Sell 'em on ebay? 

Sigh…this is an archeological dig.  Any takers?

• Simplicity apron pattern from 1968.  
• Bone rings. BONE? Not plastic?  Curtain rings for cafe curtains, I suppose.
• My mother's darning egg. I remember this.
• Needles bought at the Acme supermarket where my mother shopped. I don't think Acme supermarkets exist any more.
• Unopened package of blue flash cubes. Do you need them?
• A pair of electric scissors, still in the box.  It was a bad idea in the first place.
• A couple of mother of pearl belt buckles.  Beautiful, but useless - I think.
• A lone jack.  Remember Jacks?  If they still make them, you know they are plastic.
• Rolls of film, undeveloped (I have to admit these are mine) Who develops film now?
• Untold spools of old thread on wooden spools. Sigh…  

I haven't even dealt with the knitting needles, crochet hooks, stitch holders, and half-finished sweaters (mine).  My daughters do not knit, sew, or do any other handwork.  Back to work.  I thick this is sufficient reporting for now - it has been my morning's work and I am mired in the quicksand of minute, unable to escape.  HELP!! (and stay tuned).

out it goes

Another day in the house with the luxury of time to work on rearranging my life.  Actually, I did a little dyeing this morning (wearing gloves didn't prevent the stains on my fingers - I can't figure out why not) and paid my end-of-the-year bills.

Hooray!  That left me free to make a small dent in the sewing room detritus so I can call in a space planner.  (Ms. Closet gave up on me a long time ago and anyway, she has relocated so I will have to find someone else to help me)

I know there is some blog tour of real studios, but nobody wants to see anything this real.  

 I need to empty this cabinet, which didn't used to be in this room - it was my old kitchen cabinet and just the right height for cutting/ironing with my old kitchen table butcher block top. BUT it has to go.  Thought it would be great storage but the drawers don't pull out very far and the shelves are shallower than you would think.  1980's builder's kitchen:-(.  

It took me a couple of hours just to empty the one drawer you see pulled out.  Lots of redundant stuff went into the trash: more paper clips than can fit into the little box; pens that don't work and batteries I was delighted to find until I read the 2001 expiration date. 

I found a zillion ballpoint pens that still work, but do I need all of them?  Can I just throw them out? ARGH. Put 'em back in a plastic bag and stuffed them into a different drawer. Not helpful. Tomorrow, I will tackle another drawer.  Maybe.

However, I am making progress on the other side of the room.  This afternoon I moved
my sewing machine from in front of the window to where an annoying table used to be. The table is out in the hall and may go back down to the basement, or to Freecycle. It's only another place for clutter.  I'm sitting in my chair now looking at the mess, but when I look at this, I feel calm and happy.  And exhausted from moving furniture by myself!

I found my old sketchbook from 1999 and looked at it with fresh eyes.  Interesting…I don't know what the genesis of this sketch was.

Paris Métro map as a jumping-off point.  But that's as far as I got.

 And these lines, obviously, took their cue from a scrap of cloth. What was I thinking?

This one was how I felt about being in the sandwich generation and I wrote something to go along with it.  Thank goodness that's over!

I fell into the chair exhausted earlier tonight and didn't think I could move again.  But I finally got up, made a good cup of coffee, took a couple of cookies I had baked the other day and some home made ginger pistachio ice cream and it perked me right up, as you can imagine.  Now I think it is time to crash so I can do a little more in here tomorrow, before the weekend starts.

Happy Merry & retro quilts

I spent Christmas eve cleaning up my sewing room and am making progress.  I've begun sorting out family photos, papers, and other ephemera that have been taking up floor space and the boxes are stacked relatively neatly on one end of the room.  Phew! By the time 2014 rears its head I should have cleared the decks on my cutting/ironing table.  

Cleaning up has yielded a few treasures I had forgotten about; among them, one of the first books I purchased (used) back in the 1970's. Bonnie Lehman's book was published in 1972 and I started quilting in 1974. It was a classic and I suppose it still is. It certainly influenced me.

I fell in love with this pattern and the quilt I made when  I took my first (and only) quilt- making class, was a spiderweb.

1974 - I was a young woman with 3 little kids.

Then, of course, having leftover strips, I moved on to string quilts - also first encountered in this book.

I still make string quilts - this was on my bulletin board a couple of weeks ago.  

In 1974 there were only a few books: REALLY!  Ruby McKim's 101 Patchwork Patterns, The Standard Book of Quiltmaking & Collecting, Beth Gutcheon's A Perfect Patchwork Primer, and Quick & Easy Quilting.  Bonnie Lehman also published Quilter's Newsletter and the first issue I bought was in September 1973, before I ever found a quilting class! (Oh, good grief - this is turning into a "remember when?" thing that old people do. Sorry 'bout that - LOL).

This seems to be Bonnie Lehman's son on the cover.

 The back cover was full of classified ads.  For example…

100% COTTON FABRICS, especially selected for quilts.

 Over 20 tiny prints plus 20 shades of plain colors. 

 36" widths, $1.10 per yd; 45" widths, $1.95 per yd.

OMG - where are those prices now??? OTOH - do we really still want tiny prints?  Mine are in my UFO box, waiting to be reinvented. 

BUT I have digressed. Back to Quick and Easy Quilting.  Here was something that, while I did not make anything like it then, there is a shock of recognition as I look Bonnie's variation III - "a new interpretation of the String Quilt idea. Of course, it was made of bonded woolens & knits (this was the 70's, remember??) in several shades of purple and lavender, with white for contrast. Uh huh.

The wonderful part is that it is completely random -- no pattern, no worries about matching seams or cutting anything the identical size and shape. Hmmm…sound familiar?
This also reminded me of something I own.

I have a very old quilt top that is in the same vein, which my husband fell in love with years ago at an antique show.  Me, too:-). Some years later I showed it to Raymond Dobard, an authority on African American quilts and he agreed with my instinct that it is indeed an African American top, probably late 19th century or somewhere around 1900-1910 at latest.

I never quilted it because I felt it would ruin the value and authenticity. Isn't it wonderful??  Here is a closer look at some of those fabrics.

If you were to turn it over, you would see that the strips were attached (by hand) to a foundation, unlike the way most of us strip-piece today.

And I have the distinct feeling that this may have been made by more than one pair of hands, since some blocks are hand-pieced (left) and others are machine pieced (right). 

Sigh…I keep it in the closet because the brown fabrics from those early days are so prone to fading and shredding, but it makes me sad to do so because it is such a visual treat.
What would you do??

Well, enough memory lane stuff. I have the day to myself and need to get back to culling the overwhelming load of stuff in this room so I can actually sew.  I am resisting the temptation to sit here and read through every Quilter's Newsletter I have from 1973-1984. Maybe I should think about getting rid of those, too.

Wishing you all a happy holiday and a wonderful, creative year ahead.
love,
Rayna