Moxey Musings

Elementary...

2011-11-30T10:33:00.000-08:00

So here I am, playing the Countess Morcor posing with Sherlock Holmes. Time travel? No, just a bit of skit-playing for our local PBS station. The old Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series produced by Granada TV in the UK is a huge favorite with local fans, and we had a bit of fun playing some scenes under the direction of my husband, a retired film and television director! KBTC Public Television will be airing these skits during a Sherlock Holmes Pledge Marathon on Friday, Dec 2 in our neck of the woods (western Washington state)! I also played Mrs. Hudson, Holme's loyal housekeeper. Thank goodness the lines of dialog were very short!

Getting closer to air date with the Quilt Documentary!

2011-10-07T07:17:00.000-07:00

Here's the official word about the PBS documentary I'm producing which will be aired on October 15 from KBTC Public TV in Tacoma! Which is in western Washington state. (If you check the link, you should be able to press the arrow on the image of a quilt that will come up. It takes a minute to load, but it's pretty cool!)

" Over five thousand quilt enthusiasts converged on downtown Tacoma in August for the 3-day, 2011 Pacific West Quilt show. The excitement in the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center was palpable as more than 500 traditional quilts, innovative quilts, art quilts, pictorial quilts and wearable art from 18 US states and Canadian provinces were put on display. Winners of the juried and judged event were chosen from 227 finalists.

With unprecedented access, KBTC public television went behind the scenes to capture the well-organized preparations for the show, including detailed footage of the judging by professional National Quilting Association Certified Judges. This is a process that is often not revealed to the public, so enquiring minds - who might have wondered what quilt judges are looking for when they award their ribbons - will get some answers.

”This program will dispel the myth that quilts are only utilitarian items your granny might have made to keep you warm!” said Jane Moxey, the film’s producer. “The artistry of today’s world-class regional competition quilt makers was on display for all to marvel at the show. And we captured it all with our high definition cameras.”

“How’d she do that?” is a question that continually rippled through the air at the show. The up close and personal interviews conducted with many of the top winners reveal some surprising and fascinating answers to that question. The final touch is the superb, high definition videography provided by Michael Peters, KBTC’s award-winning director and videographer, assisted by several Digital Media students from Bates Technical College."

"For the Love of Fabric: Pacific West Quilt Show" promo!

2011-09-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

Please check this out! For now only people in western Washington will be able to see this PBS special I produced. The air date is Saturday October 15 at 8:30 am and at 11:30 am from KBTC Public TV, Tacoma, WA. Hoping for a national PBS release in the spring of 2012!

It's that time of year again!

2011-09-30T08:25:00.000-07:00

What brings me back to Blogland? Well it's the upcoming Willow Manor Ball, of course! I need to tear myself away from slaving over the hot quilt PBS movie and get my act together to attend. It's always fun! Lots of cyber celebrities and outrageous goings-on! The food is always scrumptious, the drink overflowing and the conversations are always fascinating! Oh and the guest list is always stellar. Fred Astaire was my date 2 years ago, for example. I'm waiting for Angie to release Brad to attend the ball with me this year. He wears a tux so nicely. I need to line up my second date choice ... and figure out my own wardrobe and mode of transportation.

Countdown time to the Pacific West Quilt Show!

2011-07-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

Best news of all is that I get to produce another TV special for PBS about this event! We'll be shooting all the beautiful quilts and a bunch of interviews, and I'll be sharing more info as it becomes available.

Head back down now to continue the countdown to the show! It's a lot of work, but well worth the effort!

Beautiful Rhododendron ....

2011-06-18T16:37:00.001-07:00

Now if only I knew the name of this magnificent Rhodie that bloomed in our garden a few weeks ago. But I don't. I just thought it looked particularly beautiful with the rain spots on its blushing petals.

I think those of you who come to check out my blog have probably become quite sick of the picture of the nice old lady who invented American Mother's Day. Or maybe you've given up on me. Life is very busy with the Pacific West Quilt Show dates looming large, so hopefully I will have more time for the luxury of blogging more regularly once that's over and done with. I am popping in to visit my favorite reads though!

I hope everyone's having a nice summer! The Pacific Northwest gods are being very miserly with any really nice weather. However, lest I offend, I am grateful for the lush green of our Puget Sound landscape. The seemingly perpectual grey skies - well, it's not polite to whine, is it? Especially about the weather. Even though I am English-born.

American Mothers Day...

2011-05-09T14:36:00.000-07:00

Honoring mothers is an idea that goes back thousands of years, but here in the US we have Julia Ward Howe to thank for how this special day began:"The first North American Mother’s Day was conceptualized with Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation in 1870. Despite having penned The Battle Hymn of the Republic 12 years earlier, Howe had become so distraught by the death and carnage of the Civil War that she called on Mothers to come together and protest what she saw as the futility of their Sons killing the Sons of other Mothers".

If you are interested in reading more history about this excellent holiday, and how it morphed into an annual holiday, check here.

I remember Mothering Sunday as a little girl in the UK -- it was at the beginning of spring and I remember going to church and all the children would give their mothers a bunch of violets to show their appreciation. There was a special service for the occasion in the Common Book of Prayer! Seems the early Puritan settlers did away with some of the more frilly religious occasions as they were too busy building their lives in the Colonies!

About the Fruitcake ...

2011-04-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

I'm going to make a cheating fruitcake in celebration of the Royal Wedding. I even have some marzipan that I forgot to use at Christmas. Fruitcakes are the traditional cakes for weddings in the UK. I remember that people would cut pieces up of this cake and mail it out it in little cardboard boxes lined with paper doilies to people who hadn't been able to attend a wedding! The fruit didn't need refrigerating and I think one used not to worry about the Royal Icing or the marzipan going bad in transit.

I don't have time for the whole proper fandango of making a British fruitcake before Friday, so I'm going to whip up a Bara Brith -- a Welsh recipe for a boiled fruitcake. I got the recipe from the UK years ago. Here's the recipe for one cake -- actually it's in the shape of a loaf, like in the photo. I think I shall have to use a bit more fruit than is in the recipe below, and perhaps add a tad of cocoa to make the cake look a bit darker and more like a traditional English fruitcake.

Ingredients

(This is for 1 fruitcake -- just double up to make 2)

1 cup of sugar, preferably soft brown

1 cup of milk

4 oz butter or margarine

8 oz mixed fruit

2 eggs

8 oz Self Raising Flour

Mixed spice and cinnamon (optional)

Method:

Place sugar, milk, butter and mixed fruit into a saucepan and bring to boil. Simmer for 10 minutes until fruit has moistened.

Allow mixture to cool before adding eggs, one at a time, and beating in well. Add flour gradually stirring in along with the mixed spices if required.

Place in a lined tin and place in oven 190 C for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours.

(I translated that to be a small loaf pan which I lined with parchment paper the last time I made this recipe. I looked up to find out that the oven would be 350-375 degrees F)

Bara Brith is lovely just served without anything else but slatherings of butter at tea time! However, this time I think that, with a bit of marzipan and a some of white icing along with the C & W cypher drawn on the top, I could feel like I was part of the Royal Wedding party.

Burke-Shyer, Bahk-Shuh? Let's Call the Whole thing Off!!

2011-04-26T16:59:00.000-07:00

The English in me is really bubbling to the surface as the countdown to the Royal Wedding has really begun in earnest. Our American TV has gone nuts with little feature stories about all sorts of little details and, of course, has gone a bit overboard with the inevitable and rather tiresome comparisons between Ms. Middleton and the late Princess Diana. But I'm hooked on it all. And I can't get over how the new social media and internet is overflowing with info -- why Clarence House is even Tweeting and there's an official YouTube channel for this event! And a Facebook page as well!

That last part is making me feel quite ancient as I remember listening to the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and her handsome Greek Prince on the "wireless" sitting up in bed suffering from the Chicken Pox!

The BBC America channel is going to be my faithful companion, starting at midnight Pacific Standard Time. I'm promised continuous coverage without commercial interruption. I'll be watching exactly what those who will be watching the BBC in England will be seeing! This decision was reached after a week of cringing at the way many American TV commentators have been murdering the pronunciation of some famous English places. Like "Bucking-HAM" (emphasis on the HAM) Palace and "Burke-Shyer" for the Miss Middleton's county. I suppose "Bucking-um" and "Bahk-Shuh" would seem a weird way to pronounce Buckingham and Berkshire to anyone but those born in the UK!

I do love the mug -- but fear it looks a bit dainty to put in a dishwasher. Hopefully there are some more rugged and less expensive mugs being created for sale.

And the lucky winner is....

2011-04-25T04:00:00.000-07:00

... Laura T whose blog you can read here! Congratulations, Laura!

Thanks so much to all the people who dropped by to leave a comment on April 24th! I can only imagine how Laura Wasilowski's ears were burning yesterday! I hope you'll be back to visit here again.

The I Really Fancy This Book Book Review …

2011-04-22T17:57:00.000-07:00

Do you ever get that feeling when you read a book, that this is just the book you always wished someone had written? I feel that way about Laura Wasilowski’s latest book “Fanciful Stitches, Colorful Quilts” from C & T Publishing. This 64-page book will get you acquainted with her unique, easy, colorful and whimsical point of view about creating small art quilts.

Quilters of all ability levels will be successful with the instructions and patterns in this book. Don’t be afraid of the Dreaded A-word (for Appliqué) that appears on the cover. You’ll never be afraid of that word ever again as you let Laura take you through the simple steps of how to be successful with an appliqué process that involves working with paper-backed fusible web.

The embroidery Laura teaches in her book might be familiar to many. Just look at the cute little cottage on the cover of the book to see how the embroidery is livening up the scene. Using a series of simple stitches to embellish these quilts certainly doesn’t look like your grandmother’s hand-embroidered tablecloth! Laura shares a wealth of information about the needles and threads to use for the Fanciful Stitches. (I know I’m not the only one who has wondered what size needle to use with which size thread for embroidering by hand!) There are excellent diagrams of how to make the stitches, too. For readers who might be feeling not-so-confident about their designing skills, Laura provides full-sized patterns for 11 charming house-themed quilts!

Each page of this book – and I do mean each - is filled with colorful photos and great illustrations as well as friendly text in which Laura’s terrific sense of humor shines through.

Since I live near the Puget Sound waters in Washington state, I am particularly fond of Laura's Houseboat Quilt.

______________________________________________________________________

Thank you Laura, for taking time to answer a couple of questions:

JM: How did you learn about dyeing fabric and threads?

LW: As a young lass I had a work/study job in the costuming department of my college where we dyed fabrics for the costumes. As an older lass, I took a formal dying course with Michelle Whipplinger. There I learned to weigh and measure all the ingredients for direct application of the dye to the fabric so I can get repeatable color. I have developed over 250 color formulas but usually stick to the 30 needed for Artfabrik colorways. But my greatest joy is Random Acts of Dyeing when you're just pouring color on fabric without a care.

JM: Apart from creating art quilts, teaching, writing books, doing DVDs and running your business Artfabrik, what else do you like to do?

LW: As a self-employed person working out of my house, I've discovered that work is always lurking around the next corner. The best way for me to relax is to leave my studio and visit family or friends. A good murder mystery is my secret vice. Throughout the day I'll sneak 20 minutes here and there for reading. And if I can combine reading with lunch, I'm in heaven! Yes this is also how I spend my free time: making little embroideries. It takes forever but they are little treasures I make just for myself. A sinful pleasure. Here is a detail of a small embroidery. It measures about 3 x 3 inches in total and was free stitched on black fabric. It's called Apple Basket.

Book Giveaway for North American Residents!!!!

Please leave a comment with an email address. A lucky North American winner will be chosen at random to receive a copy of this lovely colorful and fanciful book!

Heads Up!

2011-04-21T16:48:00.000-07:00

Do please come back here on Sunday, April 26 to read my review of Laura's book. That will be the day to add your comments and put your name in for the book giveaway! Oh and there will be an Illuminating Interview with the author, too!

The Fanciful Stitches, Colorful Quilts Blog Tour! The tour schedule is below:


Melody Johnson	http://fibermania.blogspot.com/	April 23
Jane Moxey	http://moxeymusings.blogspot.com/	April 24
Lyric Kinard	http://lyrickinard.blogspot.com/	April 25
Judy Coates Perez	http://judyperez.blogspot.com/	April 26
Linda Teufel	http://dragonthreadsopenbook.blogspot.com/	April 28
Jane LaFazio	http://janeville.blogspot.com/	April 29
Susan Brubaker Knapp	http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/	May 2
Frieda Anderson	http://friestyle.blogspot.com/	May 3
Connecting Threads	http://quiltwithus.connectingthreads.	com May 4

"Fanciful Stitches, Colorful Quilts" Blog Tour!

2011-04-19T12:31:00.001-07:00

I'm very excited to be a part of Laura Wasilowski's upcoming blog tour about her lovely new book for C & T Publishing! I'm going to be reviewing the book on Sunday April 24! I will also be interviewing the Lovely Laura!

There will also be a book giveaway (North American readers only, I'm afraid) for those who leave comments on Sunday!

As you know, I am a big fan of Laura's work and her beautiful Artfabrik hand-dyed fabrics and threads! I was also lucky enough to produce and direct her super DVD for C & T during a cold hard winter at the campus of the Chicago School of Fusing in Elgin, IL.

Photo Finish!

2011-04-16T17:42:00.000-07:00

I hope I shall be receiving a better image than this of the finished Two Lips quilt from the curator of the exhibition! I need to learn how to do a white balance with my nice camera so that the light stays even and true on the quilts I photograph! It was enough to do the binding, the hanging sleeve and stitching the label on the back - all of which seemed to take forever. The least enjoyable bits of any project always seem the most tedious. I handed the quilt in and saw some of the other quilts with which mine will travel. So interesting to see how people interpreted the theme of "Spirit of the West." Once this collection of quilts has been professionally photographed, they will be posted on the Association of Pacific West Quilters website and I'll be sure to make a link to them from here when that happens!

On a bit of a different note, I'm about to be contracted to coach British dialects for a local community theatre's production of the musical "Sweeny Todd." Hopefully I can persuade them to drop a lot of aitches - a la "'ammering of the 'orses 'ooves" and get some Cockney vowel sounds and effective glottal stops out of the enthusiastic American cast!

3 Two-Lips Update ...

2011-04-08T20:56:00.000-07:00

I've done all the hand embroidery - the blanket stitch around the blossoms and the running stitch in the negative spaces. Today I added a backing fabric and have been using my sewing machine to do some stitching to hold the three layers together. I stitched around the edge of each shape. Then ran a nice built-in wavy stitch pattern down the stems and started doing the same on the petals of the tulips. I decided to add a 4th 2-Lip in the bottom right hand corner of the quilt, a sort of ghost 2-Lip with Leaf, embroidered into the background. For a bit of different energy in the piece, I did a scattered seed stitch stipple. I have to do a bit of hand quilting, and figure out something simple for the outer border. Then a binding, a hanging sleeve and it will be a big Tah-Dah!

I shall be sad to let this little quilt go, but am very excited to think that it will be on exhibition at the 2011 Pacific West Quilt Show in Tacoma in August. After the Quilt Show it will travel with other "Spirit of the West"-themed quilts to various venues across North America. When I know the schedule I'll be sure to post the info here.

Tom-AY-to, Tom-AH-to ...

2011-03-24T19:12:00.001-07:00

INTERIOR SUPERMARKET - AFTERNOON

Gent ( showing shopping list to Grocery Worker. Gent speaks with marked English accent): Where would I find the courgettes?

Grocery Worker (looking puzzled): Pardon me, sir?

Jane (kindly, to English Gent): Zucchini. That's what you need to say, zucchini.

Gent: ( rolling his eyes and sounding relieved): Are they the same as courgettes?

Jane: Yes, they are.

Grocery Worker gives a wintery smile and points Gent in the direction of the veggies. Jane hums Cole Porter's "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" ... in her mind.

First Day of Spring ...

2011-03-20T13:06:00.001-07:00

The three real Two-Lips sit proudly in a pretty vase on the mantelpiece to inspire me. The quilt Two-Lips are patiently waiting for my embroidery needle to get on with it. I am doing a running stitch by hand around the shapes and then continuing the stitches out to see where they lead me. This type of stitching is inspired by the Bengali form of Kantha embroidery. I am using variegated hand-dyed cotton threads from Artfabrik to work these stitches! I have just placed an order for some more colors so that when I get to the yellow sky area at the top of the quilt, I can wail away with some luscious threads named Sunflower!

Brave Little Croci and some Two-Lips ...

2011-03-02T13:43:00.001-08:00

I always think the crocus is the bravest little thing. Last week these were covered with cold snow and frost and today there's rain pelting away on them. Nevertheless, they seem to be patiently waiting till their petals can open to reveal the pretty centers. They are a lovely pale lavender color.

Since I do have control over the climate of my fabric tulips, here are a couple of blooms all embroidered by hand with blanket stitch around the petals. For the thin stems of the blooms I used the excellent blanket stitch on my sewing machine with a variegated thread. To add some punch to the broad tulip leaves, I couched down some yummy Perle cotton thread - using my couching foot for the first time - with a narrow zig zag stitch to couch the thread in place. I've pulled all the threads through to the back and tied them off.

Next I need to put a layer of batting under this embroidered top and start some more hand stitching around the various shapes. I'll start by outlining the main shapes and then see where the stitching will lead! This next step is one of my favorite parts of this process! Finally I'll put some backing fabric and do some simple machine quilting through all three layers - my least favorite step and then decide what color to bind the three layers together. Probably black like the outer border! April Fools Day is my delivery deadline - I think I'll be able to meet it, after all.

Obsession ...

2011-02-24T15:28:00.001-08:00

After quite an adventuresome time with sour dough starter feeding and bread-recipe trying, I'm delighted to report that at last, this rather large and splendid boule was turned out of the oven yesterday! I have a friend who is very clever with graphics so he made me this little sign using a rather tight close-up photo I took of a wonderful sour dough artisan-style boule. The Big Boule is what I named this one! My son really has jumped in on this adventure of trying to get a sour tasting, nicely risen, quite holey loaf of artisan bread. My graphics buddy (MW) made a nice little French-looking logo including a tagline which, translated, means "Mother and Son." Perhaps I shall get this image blown up and framed and hang it in the kitchen! Boulangerie Moxey, indeed! Oo la la!

This same graphic designer friend is also an expert baker of breads and has been coaching us along the way. After 6 days of nursing the sour dough starter, we tried baking several loaves with just the starter. Lumps of unrisen, yet crusty and tasty monstrosities emerged. My son kept urging me to add some yeast into the dough and I refused, thinking I was doing something clever and authentic. Visions of cowboy cooks - hauling their sourdough starter in a Conestoga wagon to bake bread in a cast iron pot over a campfire out on the plains for cowboys herding cattle - had seized my fertile imagination. I knew they didn't have little jars of instant quick-rise dried yeast in their kits back in the day!

I was told to put away that romantic cowboy notion, that there was no need to suffer from the disappointment of unleavened bread. All I needed to do was to add the powdered yeast along with the sourdough starter to the recipe. As you'll see from the food porn pics above, we followed the good advice and came up trumps!

There is snow blowing sideways outside my window as I type. It doesn't seem to be sticking to the ground. I think it's time to put the kettle on for a nice hot cuppa (PG Tips tea, of course) along with a piece of Big Boule toast and jam.

Awesome New Children's Book ...

2011-02-18T13:34:00.000-08:00

Check this out! I think Gretel Parker's new book looks like one of the loveliest children's books I've seen for ages. And as for the felted creatures and objects she's created ... just too cool! What a talented artist! Let's hope there is a US release of it!

Happy Hearts Day ...

2011-02-14T10:10:00.000-08:00

Look at this beautiful fabric Valentine's Day art postcard I received in the mail from a friend! How lovely for the postman to have such a lovely piece to deliver. My friend wrote my name and address on the back of the card, put a stamp on and mailed it to me!

These hearts now send Happy Valentine's Day wishes to everyone!

Artisan Bread ...

2011-02-13T15:31:00.000-08:00

I am finally feeling like a real human being again after a really nasty 3-week cold and flu bug attacked me with a vengeance. I was knocked sideways. Didn't feel like doing anything at all. The nasty bug stole my voice, even! Temporarily. No blogging, no sewing, no cooking, no talking. Just resting, sleeping, coughing, sneezing, blowing my nose and all the other horrible things that go with a nasty bug. Haven't had such a doozie for a really long time.

I'm excited to report that a

fter 6 days of"pregnancy" and a a lot of steps, followed to the letter of this receipe here, I have produced a jar of Sourdough Starter. It's bubbly and spongy looking and was fun to make. I have a baker friend who told me he's had his sourdough starter going for ten years! I need to study a bit on the care and feeding of this Sourdough Starter Monst

er so I can always have it handy to use when baking bread at home. I shall be making up a dough this evening using some of this starter instead of dried yeast. Tomorrow I shall be baking my first Sourdough No Knead Boule! In the meantime, I baked up a loaf of the famous No Knead bread.

"Spirit of the West"... Tulips

2011-01-22T15:58:00.000-08:00

A while ago, I mentioned that I had accepted an invitation to create a quilt on the theme of "Spirit of the West". Well the April 1 deadline feels rather near, so I have been getting my act together.

In the spring in western Washington, tulips are a huge deal - along with other beautiful bulbs. After the long grey winter months, I look forward to these beautiful flowers appearing in the supermarkets and I even have a few that I planted in my garden. So the cheeky "Chew Lip" (that's how I remember English people pronouncing the name of the flower) was the flower that inspired me and seemed to say something about where I live.

After an exhaustive search for a rhododendron flower pattern - which is the state flower of this state - I threw in the towel and purchased a lovely applique pattern by Bee Creative Studio starring tulips. (Oh yes, the Americans pronounce it "Two-Lips," which continues to make me smile even after 45 years of living in this country!)

On the technical side, I took the pattern sheet and had it hugely enlarged. I am so lucky to have an excellent stash of Laura Wasilowski's Artfabrik hand-dyed fabrics to play with. I also found a lovely piece of hand-dyed shocking pink silk satin which I used too. A piece of Judy Roberton's Just Imagination hand dyed fabric crept in as well. I used to be a dyer of cloth, but I'm so relieved that there are some talented people doing that for a living who save me the trouble of that part!

This is a big Phew! to have got this far. I nailed my idea, got the pattern, enlarged it, worked with the fabrics, sewed the background together and fused the leaves and flowers. Now comes the fun part. Next I'll be plying my needle and threads to embellish the flowers and leaves. Maybe all that pink at the bottom of the background can be persuaded to look like miles of tulip fields going off into the distance. Now there's something for me to figure out.

Once a Mom Always a Mom ...

2011-01-15T11:58:00.000-08:00

I've never been very good with goodbyes. Adios, Adieu, See ya later alligator. All those phrases which connote the idea of parting.

Had to go through one of those scenarios this morning as the Younger Son (his special Christmas Tree ornament pictured here) drove off to Los Angeles for a terrific new job! A good 75% of me was thrilled for him, but the other 25% felt bereft. Once he'd rounded the corner, I could feel the needle moving towards the 100% mark of Thrilled kicking in.

Inspirational Carol Bryer Fallert ...

2011-01-10T11:29:00.000-08:00

Wow, just wow! This is so inspiring. I need to get quilting again!

It's all about the way you fill your plate ....

2011-01-04T17:24:00.000-08:00

I don't like to make concrete New Year's Resolutions, but I do have a goal or two. One is to continue improving my physical health and fitness. Last year I seem to have successfully beaten the Lady Nicotine and now I need some success with the Weight Loss business.

I came across a nifty approach to the Dreaded Diet and Portion Control conundrum on the website of the American Diabetes Association. It used to be that you had to count calories, carbs and that you really had to weigh and measure everything to the tiniest teaspoon in order to ensure success at shedding a few pounds. And for me, in the past few years, a big question has been how to battle the Blood Sugar Vampires!

After an excellent Holiday Season with all the usual suspects in the food department, the New Year has mercifully descended and stretches out like a nice blank page ahead.

So here's a link for you to ponder. I love this.

PS Of course I wish everyone who stops by all good wishes for a happy and successful 2011!

It's Beginning to Feel a Lot Like ...

2010-12-20T16:43:00.001-08:00

I received a delightful surprise today. A bouquet of Christmas-themed flowers from a colleague. So thoughtful and unexpected. The best sorts of surprises, I think!

We have decorated our tree and very lovely it looks, too. I want to introduce to you a little felt tree ornament I made a few years ago. She's Jane the Christmas Sew Angel! Or maybe even Jane, the Sew Christmas Angel. Puny pun, huh? Sorry about that! Her body represents the typical tomato shaped pincushion and I found some ribbon that looked like a tape measure to decorate her wings!

The Stockings Are Hung ...

2010-12-17T09:28:00.000-08:00

Phase One: Christmas Tree Time ...

2010-12-16T13:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning I sallied forth - accompanied by one son and my husband - to get our Christmas tree. First, we tried a place that had given us what we thought was a $20 off coupon. We chose a beautiful tree, gulped at the price tag ($75) then figured with $20 off with the coupon, that would be quite a deal. Oh boy, had we got that whole coupon thing all backwards! We missed the sign that read "$20 Trees In Back!" There were a bunch of quite sparse-looking trees "in back" (note: in English English that would be "in the back") that were going for $20. Obviously not the pick of the bunch!

Feeling a bit foolish, we went to our usual place, Pattersons, feeling embarrassed that we hadn't gone there in the first place. Just to see the old-fashioned truck, the huge blow up Santas and the nifty signage was a treat not to be missed, anyway! This is a wonderful year-round lot on a corner. At Christmas it's all about Christmas trees, wreaths, garlands and fruits and then at different times of the year they sell deliciously fresh seasonal fruits, veggies and plants.

The young lady who was attending the lot yesterday used the nifty Christmas tree "hairnet" gadget to make our lovely tree into a tidy, easily transportable item. Sort of like a Christmas tree sausage machine, the casing being the tube of hairnet material! She hefted the tree through the circular holder of the white netting material, then pulled it back out and the net covered the branches. Bit of a Christmas Tree magic trick, if you ask me!

"Glimmering Gone" exhibition ...

2010-12-14T12:51:00.001-08:00

Recently I attended the opening of a breathtaking exhibit called "Glimmering Gone" at the world-famous Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington. A mere 15 minute's drive from my home. I have never seen glass artwork installations like this before. It was interesting to me that two (women) glass artists - who lived thousands of miles apart - had collaborated to pull off this fascinating show. The Museum has an amazing collection of local boy Dale Chihuly's glass art. I want to go back by myself one day and have a lingering wander through this museum. It was too much to take in on a busy opening night, I think. Besides, there was a cool looking Museum gift shop that looked promising which I didn't visit this time!

The hot shop was open on the night of the "Glimmering Gone" opening. What a show that was! The architects of this hot shop included theatre-style seating above the floor of the hot shop so the public can see the glass artists doing their thing with the hot glass. Awesome stuff! In the picture you can see the exterior of the cone-shaped building that houses the hot shop!

'Tis the Season ...

2010-12-12T14:06:00.000-08:00

I love to see how other people decorate their homes at Christmas.

Last week I went to a lovely quilters' potluck luncheon last week hosted by a friend who pulled out all the stops! I took a photo with my iPhone- with the hostesses' permission - of one particularly pretty arrangement. Twigs painted with silver, hung with tiny origami crane birds and sparkly ornaments, placed in a vase that had clear glass marbles in the bottom. This vase was placed upon a mirror, two votive candles were lit and several bigger sparkly star ornaments were placed upon the mirror. The effect was magical! I could only imagine how even more beautiful it would look if the room were darkened!

What's a potluck I can hear some of you say. In the Pacific Northwest it's a very usual custom to entertain without the hassle of the hostess being responsible for preparing all the food! As a rule, the host/hostess will provides the location, perhaps one dish, and all the crocks and silverware. I didn't take very good pictures of the delicious spread, but I love potlucks. All sorts of tastes of this and that. One really yummy contribution was a Jello salad. The ingredients included crushed pretzels, cream cheese, topped with raspsberries in a raspberry flavored Jello! I know that in the midwest of the US Jello salads are very popular. They have nothing to do with lettuce! I'll share the recipe when I get it! I took a bowl of green salad to share, making sure I threw in some Christmassy colored items: golden and red cherry tomatoes, dried cranberries, sliced radishes and a few crushed walnuts for some texture!

Here's what Wikipedia had to say about "potlach," which is one of the explanations for the derivation of the word "potluck":

A potlatch is a festival ceremony practised by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. This includes Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit, Tsimshian, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka'wakw, and Coast Salish cultures. The word comes from the Chinook Jargon, meaning "to give away" or "a gift". It went through a history of rigorous ban by both the Canadian and United States' federal governments, and has been the study of many anthropologists.

Since I live in the Pacific Northwest, I like this explanation!

Broken Fortune Cookies ...

2010-12-10T10:23:00.001-08:00

Have you ever pondered what happens to Chinese restaurant fortune cookies when they don't finish up in their perfect little crescent shapes? In Seattle there's a bakery that my son discovered. This bakery bags up the rejects into huge plastic bags and sells them for the discerning and inquisitive customer who has tracked them down! These wonky ones taste just as delicious as the real deal!

Some words of comfort from one of the printed paper fortunes to the poor mis-shapen Cookies: "You will find some money!" I think my son paid about $8 for a 5-pound bag of these delicious morsels.

I was particularly fond of the fortune in this picture that told me: "You are the center of every group's attention." How did they know? And how true the prediction was that said: "You will soon meet a helpful person." OK Ms. SG, I think they must have meant you who suggested, in a very helpful way, that I needed to get my act together and make time to blog more often.

Here are a few other fortunes that came with the broken cookies:

Wealth awaits you very soon

You will find fame and fortune

You need not worry about the future

You will follow your heart's desire

Your winsome smile will be your sure protection

Simplicity and clarity should be your theme in dress

You will have good luck in the winter

I'm not quite so sure about being told how to dress, but all in all a pretty nice list of fortunes for this time of year! What a lovely job to think up and compose little sayings that will make people smile at the end of a scrumptious Chinese meal! And how lovely that these messages were with the less-than-perfect Fortune Cookies!

If you are curious about the origins of these little cookies, you can find several theories here!

Thread Surprise...

2010-12-06T11:02:00.000-08:00

If you love hand embroidery, or just love luscious hand dyed threads like I do, please pay Laura Wasilowski's blog a visit to see what's up in her world! She's got a new book coming out after Christmas and she's sharing news and a giveaway tomorrow!

Thanksgiving 2011

2010-11-25T15:25:00.000-08:00

Boy! was I thankful today when our cable tv/internet/digital phone suddenly got fixed. We'd been without all three services since Monday night because of the extreme cold arctic blast cold snap in the Pacific Northwest! This 3-day "famine" caused me to learn how to use my iPhone properly! I didn't figure out how to post blogs, but did figure out how to read them on my iPhone! Luckily we only suffered a short power outage, so I was able to charge up my iPhone OK.

It seems that several 150-foot tall pine trees in a nearby little wood were uprooted, literally, by ferocious winds on Monday night and crashed down, causing all the cable company lines to be severed!

I'm thankful for my many blessings on this Thanksgiving Day, but the telly and internet coming back on at last was a really nice touch!

Snow Day ...

2010-11-22T12:26:00.001-08:00

These are colored photographs I just shot on this snowy November day. It's quite unusual to have snow this early in the winter season here next to the Puget Sound waters. But who can resist freshly fallen snow on a fir tree in the garden? The view across Gig Harbor is dark, mysterious and cold! Because we are so close to the water, the snow won't stick for very long and the local weather forecasters have told us that by Thursday - Thanksgiving Day - we should have a smidge of sunshine and rain. Much more normal for this time of year.

It seems to me that folks who live in places that have changes of seasons are more likely to be obsessed with The Weather. I don't remember as much talk about The Weather, in general, when I lived in southern California.

I do remember receiving long distance phone calls from family overseas, mostly British relatives, whose first question would be "What's the weather like where you are?" followed closely by "What time is it there?" What I'm trying to say is that it's not just a British thing to be obsessed with the weather -- especially when the weather is less than warm and sunny.

Gig Harbor Helps Fight Breast Cancer...

2010-10-17T10:02:00.000-07:00

The Gig Harbor Quilt Festival celebrated 10 years of fundraising for local breast cancer charities yesterday. A wonderful lunch, and silent and live auction of quilts were part of the festivities. I'm sharing some images of some of the goodies that were up for sale for The Cause. The pink baseball cap was signed by champion golfer Phil Mickelson, whose wife is battling the disease. Don't you love the decorated bra - it was also auctioned off. I loved the Tea for Two item and was so impressed about how many local businesses and individuals donated items to help raise funds. During the live auction of donated quilts, the auctioneer gave attendees an opportunity to fill out a card with any amount they felt comfortable with which was to go to a fund for mammograms for women who otherwise would not be covered by insurance to receive that amazing diagnostic service. I worked with a local printer to help put together the 2011 Calendar. It was a spectacular event and I can't wait to hear how much money was raised!

The Prize ... The Adventures of "Venti"

2010-10-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

JoAnne McKay, aka Titus the Dog, recently ran a contest on her blog. She posted images of some wonderful paintings that had been entered in a local contest in her beautiful neck of the woods in Scotland. She invited her readers to guess which painting would be judged the best by a very distinguished proper judge of such things. I picked the painting that won the top prize! The prize was to win and receive a copy of JoAnne's latest volume of poetry.

So here you see the envelope peeking out of my mailbox. Its next stop was to pose in our hall amongst some of our Native American treasures, and thence to my computer desk. That's where I opened the package. What emerged was the beautiful pamphlet titled "Venti," with a handwritten dedication to me from the poet herself. Near the back there's a page that says "Handmade by the poet. This being copy number 59" and then her fingerprint appears along with her signature. Wow! And as for the contents ... moving and fascinating poetry to savor. Thank you so much JoAnne.

Yesterday I took "Venti" to work with me. I had to do a stint at the local TV station. On the way into town, I stopped at our local drive-through espresso stand and ordered like this: " I'd like a Non-Fat Venti Latte with 2 Splendas, please." The barrista said: "You do know that that means a twenny-ounce with 3 shots of espresso, ma'am, don't you?" I nodded yes (although I actually hadn't a clue) and was handed a 20-ounce (Venti, Italian for Twenty -- well "Twenny") paper cup , with two straws to sip on while I was driving in to the gig! Just as well I had those three jolts of java, since I had tons of words to say and lots of enthusiasm to muster up and my Venti latte bolstered me up. But I had a little secret. I had uttered the name of JoAnne's poetry pamphlet out loud in the world in Gig Harbor, Washington, USA!

The final image is of Venti the pamphlet sitting with Venti the latte, in the Screening Room at the TV station. Perhaps you can glimpse the Emmy Award statuettes on the bookshelf in the background. In TV-land here the Emmy is equivalent the Oscar for the movies. If there were statuettes to be awarded to beautiful hand made pamphlets of outstanding poetry, then I know Ms. McKay would be nominated! I, for one, would certainly cast my vote in her direction!

Third Annual Willow Manor Ball...

2010-09-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

I finally heard back from Gene. Kelly that is. He has agreed to be my date for the Willow Manor Ball this year! How lucky am I to be so well connected? Last year it was Fred (Astaire) whirling me around the dance floor in my feather-trimmed gown and this year I shall be showing some leg in that famous green flapper frock originally designed for Cyd (Charisse) to wear in the 1953 MGM film “Singin’ in the Rain.” This great dress was designed by Oscar-winning Walter Plunkett. Walter's credits include “An American in Paris" (for which he won his Oscar), “King Kong" (1933), “Little Women" (1933) and let’s not forget “Gone With the Wind" (1939). Don't you just love Walter's exquisite sketch for Gene's costume for "Singin' in the Rain?"

Film and dance historian Larry Billman noted that Charisse’s breakthrough dancing in this film showed that she was “strong, lithe, and drop-dead gorgeous to look at.” Charisse’s style, and the material she had to work with, set her apart from earlier Hollywood dancers. “After years when Hollywood’s leading dancers were cute and fluffy,” explained Billman in a 2007 interview with The Los Angeles Times, “Cyd took dance to a more sensual realm in the 1950s.”

As I take to the floor with Gene, only pretending to smoke cigarettes from that lovely long cigarette holder, I shall be as strong, lithe and drop–dead gorgeous as I can be. I shall enter the realm of sensual dance, too.

My hair? Well of course Sydney Guilaroff will recreate that glamorous be-banged black do that must be worn to carry off the green dress with the panache it deserves. Widely regarded as the greatest hairdresser in the history of the movies, Sydney Guilaroff created the hairstyles for many of the most important stars, spending most of his career at the most glamorous of studios, MGM.

Gene has told me he's organized a beautiful 1953 black Cadillac Convertible automobile to drive us to the Ball. He hinted that if it were to rain and if Willow could arrange a lampost somewhere in the grounds, that he might be persuaded to do the famous dance. Dum de dum dum, dah dah doodi doo dah... etc He's bringing his umbrella, just in case!

Counting down with great anticipation to this wonderful event! Thanks Willow -- you are the Hostess with the Mostes'!

Mellow Yellow ...

2010-09-26T16:40:00.000-07:00

In order to combat the SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) that can come when one lives in a climate where there are more grey skies than blue, we've just had a bit of a redo done on our kitchen area room. But I speak with forked tongue ... a tad. Actually, the real reason is that this is one of two windows in this space which had to be replaced because of wood rot in the original wood-framed windows! The yellow paint we chose for the walls isn't quite true in the images. The yellow is a very clear and jolly sort of kid's crayon yellow, and gives off a bright, Mediterranean feeling. Inside the house that is. Notice that on the two days I took pictures of the windows, everything outside was really grey. Not so much about rain up here near Seattle, Washington state, it's more about the grey skies! That's what the experts say afflicts people with S.A.D.

As you can see, the older window (first image) was a casement window that we replaced. The new window is a lovely double-glazed job with some sort of gas between the layers of glass that helps insulate the house. I love the white trim, and next time we have a home improvement attack, I'm tempted to have all the wood cabinetry in this area of our house painted a bright shiny white! Next on the list is to decide what to do with this "new" space. I'm thinking my home "office" would be nice out there in Mellow Yellow-Land. That way I can have a sewing space that has a door on it so I can shut myself away and make a terrible mess without worrying about keeping all neat and tidy during my creative spurts!

We all feel a bit like we're in one of those TV home decorating programs. You know the ones: people swap dwellings, redo the interiors and then are surprised at all the changes -- many of which come from a mere change of paint color!

A Sad Farewell...

2010-09-17T09:39:00.000-07:00

So why haven't I been blogging for a couple of weeks? I've been getting my head around saying goodbye my good friend, the ever-fragrant Lady Nicotine. I'm busy making friends with old Nosmo King! It's not an easy thing to do, but I decided to see if the ancient art of acupuncture would be helpful. I've now had 3 sessions of that which seems to be doing its job of quelling the addictive urges in me for my old friend. I keep my eyes shut when the little ever-so-thin needles go in and just lie still. At the end of the sessions I feel peaceful and calm and think that this method is working for me. The best thing to come out of this is that my hacking smoker's cough has gone away. I have three more sessions ahead of me. My acupuncturist tells me he's getting my Chi flowing properly to help me stop my addictive behavior.

I started smoking cigarettes when I was about 10 years old. A little friend and I would go to the local odds and ends shop in our village in Buckinghamshire, and buy a pack of 10 Turf ciggies. (Amazing that they'd sell tobacco to us, but we probably said it was for our parents!) We'd smoke, crouched in the bushes, hoping not to be discovered. But one day my friend's little sister, who'd come with us on our smoking adventure, fell down and ran in to see her mother who could smell smoke in her hair. Oh no! Discovered! I'm remembering a light-hearted telling off from the adults who seemed more amused than anything else at our smoking escapades! Of course back in the 1950's it was not considered dangerous to smoke cigarettes, and in fact was quite fashionable.

A few years later while on holiday in France a school friend and I bought a package of Gauloises cigarettes and were smoking them out of our hotel window. We must have been about 16 as I recall. My mother came in, discovered us and suggested that the next night after the evening meal, we should offer my father a cigarette to smoke from our package. He accepted, not saying much except that smoking was a smelly habit. He smoked 3 packets a day for most of his adult life. So we all sat puffing cigarettes together that evening. His challenge was that when we got to Spain, our holiday destination, if we could each smoke a package of the local Bisontes cigs, then he would know that we were serious smokers and thus would have passed some sort of test! The cigarettes were very strong, so we offered all the Spaniards we could find one of our cigarettes and showed the empty packets proudly (and sneakily) to my father. We had become Official Smokers of Cigarettes.

I've discovered that for me it was the ritual of the smoking. The habit. Having a puff with cups of tea, while yakking on the phone, all that stuff. But with the help of the acupuncturist's skill, I am a smoker no more. Quite honestly, with the hassles of being a cigarette smoker in a society where it is prohibited everywhere and frowned upon, it's ALMOST a relief. With a pack of cigarettes costing about $8 US Dollars, it had become a rather expensive habit.

Ruby Wedding Anniversary ...

2010-09-05T14:42:00.001-07:00

It was forty years ago today... at a beach house in Malibu, California! Today we're celebrating in style with our sons dancing attendance on us!

I do remember being rather thrilled that in the notices in the Hollywood trade papers that they didn't list me as "non-pro." (In other words those were the folks who had nothing to do with show business!) The Husband and I met at Paramount Studios where he'd come in to direct a television "Movie of the Week" starring Barbara Stanwyck ("The House that Wouldn't Die") and I was, indeed, Mr. Spelling's Executive Secretary! After a really short engagement we got hitched!

Symposium Photos ...

2010-08-22T14:15:00.000-07:00

Click here to see some photos of the Symposium weekend! That's me in the colorful jacket MCing!

Quilt Camp (Symposium)

2010-08-19T10:07:00.001-07:00

The Symposium was great! ( this link takes you some pictures of the event!) They had laid on an amazing faculty and my one day of class with Jeannette deNicolis Meyer was fantastic. She taught a technique for stitching shallow curvy pieces of fabric together. It is amazing how seeing a technique being demonstrated makes it so much easier to grasp! I've read books on the subject which had excellent diagrams, but now, by George, I think I've got it! I think I'm what's called a visual learner. (That's why the instructional DVDs I produced for C & T Publishing are so nifty!)

The Evergreen State College Campus was very beautiful. The only thing wrong with it for me was that the distance between the dorms and the classrooms, eating hall and meeting house were rather far. I am so out of shape and was very grateful that the organizers had laid on some golf carts for those with "mobility issues." Long gone are my beefy days of pounding up and down a lacrosse or netball pitch I'm sad to say.

I MC'd a few evening activities, the most fun of which was the"Upcycled Wonders Wearable Art" challenge contest! Lorraine Torrence co-MC'd with me. Participants were invited to take no longer than one hour to create to create garments or accessories.

• Upcycling is taking waste and making it into something that has equal or greater use or value.

• Upcycling is taking something that you would otherwise throw out and finding a way to make it into something else.

The main rule was that those who chose to play were not supposed to buy anything, rather use "stuff" that might have been lingering in their stashes for a while. The talent was amazing and people were so resourceful. I don't have any images of that event, but suffice it to say it was very amusing and a fun evening of laughs and giggles. This event was held in the Longhouse (pictured here) which was a beautiful building patterned on the traditional longhouse meeting structures of the Native Americans of our region.

Once I have unpacked my sewing machine I shall be testing out the new curves technique that I've now added to my bag of quilting tricks. I shall also be working to lose some weight and get more exercise.

Here's the Video ...

2010-08-15T17:34:00.000-07:00

Quilt Camp for me ... yipeeee...

2010-08-12T10:54:00.000-07:00

Well it's not quilt camp, it has the fancy name of "Symposium," But basically about 150 quilting fans are congregating on the campus of Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, for a 3 and a half days of workshops, fun, camaraderie and silliness. We'll be sleeping in the college dorms. Of course the students are off for the summer so that should work OK. Back to boarding school!

I'm taking a class on Curves from Jeannette de Nicolis Meyer on Saturday which I'm looking forward to. I'll tell all when I return after the weekend!

Double Rainbow!

2010-08-08T12:29:00.000-07:00

If you look closely, you can see a second rainbow to the left of the brighter one! What a treat after a grey and rainy day here in the Pacific Northwest!

Marmite & Umami ...

2010-08-06T08:19:00.001-07:00

Following on from some comments on my post yesterday, it's probably time to do a little sharing of information about Marmite. This savory "either you love it or hate it" pot of yeasty yumminess has been around since 1902! It was first made in Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire (UK) as a by-product of beer brewing. Hence the yeast which is a good vitamin B source! Words usually fail folks who try to describe the taste but I'll have a go: it's rather salty, but has a sort of sweetish backbite. Spread very thinly on bread and butter, it's a great snack any time of day or night! One of my boarding school breakfasts was called "Marmite Toast."(Pity the poor girls who were in the "hate it" Marmite camp.) Toast? Oh no, not toast as you might imagine, but crispy white bread, deep fried and smeared with a tad of Marmite, eaten with a knife and fork! I loved it, but then I loved Spam Fritters which was a frequent supper dish as I recall. Boy! and I'll bet in those far off days the deep frying was done in lard!

I wonder if dear old Marmite (which is an expensive foreign food import in the US) falls into the umami taste category. Like Marmite, umami has a great website from which I pulled the following information:

What exactly is umami?

Taking its name from Japanese, umami is a pleasant savoury taste imparted by glutamate, a type of amino acid, and ribonucleotides, including inosinate and guanylate, which occur naturally in many foods including meat, fish, vegetables and dairy products. As the taste of umami itself is subtle and blends well with other tastes to expand and round out flavors, most people don’t recognize umami when they encounter it, but it plays an important role making food taste delicious.

When humans eat, they use all of their senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste) to form general judgments about their food, but it is taste that is the most influential in determining how delicious a food is. Conventionally, it has been thought that our sense of taste is comprised of four basic, or ‘primary’, tastes, which cannot be replicated by mixing together any of the other primaries: sweet, sour, salt and bitter. However, it is now known that there is actually a fifth primary taste: umami.

So there you have it! Marmite. A very British food taste loved and missed by ex-pats all over the world!

How do you like your eggs?

2010-08-04T08:04:00.001-07:00

The first time I went out to breakfast in a restaurant when I arrived in the States way back when in 1965, I had no idea how to answer the waitress's question: "How do you like your eggs?" My breakfast companion translated for me and slightly overwhelmed me with all the choices I had. Over Easy. Scrambled. Sunny Side Up. Basted. Boiled. Then there had to be further explanation of what all those terms meant! I had no idea. I remember ordering Scrambled. What arrived was a rather leathery lump of yellow on the plate. The plate was decorated with a huge orange slice and an enormous sprig of parsley. The other question the waitress asked me was "What sort of Toast?" So again, the explanations: White. Whole Wheat. Rye. Pumpernickle. Bagel, English Muffin. I chose English Muffin, natch. In my English way, I was expecting the Scrambled to be on top of the English Muffin, but, my toasted selection came on a side plate. I soon discovered that it's just little things that an English girl had to learn to get comfortable with day to day living in America! Why now I even eat a lot with just my fork, American style!

Anyway, this post was supposed to be about the Jumbo eggs I bought from the market the other day. Double-Yolkies to the max. Here they are for you to see. I thought the packaging was spectacular too. "Super Jumbo Grade A Eggs" "33% Larger Than Regular Eggs!" This led me to wonder about the chickens who lay these Super Jumbo egg jobs.

Here's what I learned:

All hens start egg production laying Pee Wee or Small eggs and gradually increase to a mature egg grade size of Medium, Large or bigger. In modern breeds, most hens are laying Large, Extra Large or Jumbo eggs by 40 weeks of age. While you cannot alter the basic pattern of how egg size changes as hens age, the feeding and management of your hens can have a measurable impact on egg size. The way that you treat your hens will determine how quickly they will start to lay Large, Extra Large or Jumbo eggs.

I just hope that the chickens who laid the Jumbo eggs were treated well.

Summer Projects ...

2010-07-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

Poor Raggedy Jane still hasn't got any hair. But she's a patient soul. She sits out on my sewing table reminding me each time I pass that a girl really does need some hair, even in the nice hot and sunny weather we are finally enjoying in the Pacific Northwest. I know she's happy with her red shoes and pretty clothes, though.

Fortunately she isn't able to see the other projects I've got going with yarn: one granny crochet stripe blanket in progress, and I just started a Ripple blanket. Both crochet patterns courtesy of the amazing Lucy on her Attic::24 blog. I'm waiting for more colors to arrive from an online source for the granny blanket so spent quite a few hours really persevering with the ripple pattern. It's amazing how many good tutorials there are on Youtube. And those, along with Lucy's excellent pattern - which is full of great photographs - have got me happily whizzing along up the the little hills and down into the little valleys of the pattern. Call me obsessed, but I needed to get it all just right, so it then becomes fun, relaxing and meditative to do.

On the promotional DVD for the Quilt Ladies front: They have approved the piece with very few changes. My sons did a sterling job with the editing, sound and music parts, and the copy I wrote and narrated sounds friendly and informative. Now comes the business of pushing through with replication of a few hundred physical copies, working with a graphic designer for a simple cardboard sleeve to insert the thing into. The other part of the job will be getting the piece, which turned out at about 5 minutes, posted up on the internet. Fortunately the organization has a tech-savvy web-mistress who will be doing the internet part! I'll keep you posted on how to view it. Maybe I'll even be able to figure out how to include it on this blog. The crochet has been a nice peaceful balance to the DVD production excitement.

By the way, I just noticed that I passed the 10,000 point on my Visitor Counter. Thanks to everyone who keeps stopping by to read and to comment!

Some inspiration ...

2010-07-15T07:58:00.000-07:00

Today I am inspired by this blog. I need some fabric play and the idea of being loose and fancy free appeals to me. We're having a gorgeous heat wave after lots of dreary grey weather, I'm working on finishing up the promotional DVD I'm producing, and apart from a bit of crochet, I've been away from my fabric for too long.

Happy Fourth of July!

2010-07-03T09:23:00.000-07:00

Erma Bombeck, the late American humorist, wrote this about July 4th:

"You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. "

Taco Tuesday ...

2010-06-22T08:09:00.001-07:00

We like to do Taco Tuesday dinners at our house. Here's one version. Country-style boneless pork ribs, rubbed with almost a whole packet of Taco Seasoning Mix, set in a roasting pan covered with fresh cilantro stalks, chopped purple onions, garlic and some whole and seeded jalapeno peppers. Roast uncovered for about 3 hours in a 325-degree oven. Pull the cooked meat apart with a couple of forks so it's all shredded. Ta-Dah, now it's ready to cram into warmed soft corn and white tortillas.

The condiments we like to use build our soft tacos are: Mexican style shredded cheese, black beans (drained, rinsed and chilled), cilantro, avocado, diced fresh tomatoes, onions, shredded iceberg lettuce and shredded red cabbage and fresh limes, quartered, to squirt over the concotion. Oh and salsa and sour cream, too. Adding the red cabbage makes it Baja style, I'm told.

Viva los Martes de los Tacos!

Spirit of the West ...

2010-06-17T09:31:00.001-07:00

I’ve accepted an invitation to create and donate a quilt for the Association of Pacific West Quilters’ (APWQ) next traveling exhibit, themed the “Spirit of the West.” I am part of a small group of APWQ members who received this invitation representing all the provinces and states within its region which include:

Alaska • Alberta • Arizona • British Columbia • California • Colorado • Hawaii • Idaho • Montana • Nevada • New Mexico • The Northwest Territories • Oregon • Saskatchewan • Utah • Washington • Wyoming • Yukon

The size requirements for these quilts is 24 inches x 36 inches, either horizontal or vertical. Deadline for delivery is April 1, 2011. So there's a bit of time to get inspired and to get cracking!

The curator of the exhibit wrote this in the invitation to participate:

“We live in a marvelous part of the world, full of diversity in folklore, history, and natural wonders. Let your imagination soar and create a quilt that speaks of the “West” from Alaska to New Mexico, Saskatchewan to Hawaii, and all points in between. Feel free to mix images, techniques and styles from traditional to contemporary. Individual expression and construction techniques of unlimited variety are encouraged.”

I am percolating several ideas and will be posting my progress. I have already kitted myself out with a wonderful new selection of Artfabrik hand dyed fabrics and threads to inspire me.

The state flower of Washington state is the Rhododendron, and that’s buzzing in my head a bit. I’m also toying with the idea of doing an abstract landscape integrating some of the colors of the natural elements I see around me every day.

APWQ’s invitational traveling exhibits serve as both fundraisers for the organization and as a realization of our mission to promote the art of quiltmaking in our region and beyond. Since their inception in 1996, these inspired collections have traveled the country. Through the generosity of the quiltmakers as donors of their works, more than $120,000 has been raised at auction. The seventh and current exhibit, “Living Colour,” will be auctioned at the Pacific West Quilt Show Gala Auction and Dinner in August 2011.

Eureka!

2010-06-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

I think there's hope after all! Perseverance furthers and all that jazz! Here's what I stumbled upon to get back to my old-fashioned layout! There's some help right on the bottom of the page if you want to go back to the "older" templates! I made some small changes with the colors and hope the swimming pool blue background doesn't make it hard to read my musings!

New Layout ...

2010-06-11T13:28:00.000-07:00

Oopsie -- now I've gone and done it. Not sure if I like this new layout, but I've no idea how to get my original one back! Ah well, a change is as good as a rest. Now if only I could figure out how to get my header to go more in the center! I feel a bit "had." It all looked so easy on Blogger this morning. But one enthusiastic click too many and my old layout was all gone!

In Print ...

2010-06-10T12:37:00.001-07:00

My copy of C & T Publishing's Spring and Summer 2010 catalog arrived this week. Imagine my delight and surprise to find a quilt I had created was featured on the the page that promotes my friend Joyce R. Becker's upcoming book "Quick Little Landscape Quilts."

My quilt's title is "Secret Garden" and is featured on the right hand side of the page, next to the bear quilt and the image of the cover of the new book. I was thrilled that this quilt was accepted to be featured in Joyce's new book which will be out this fall.

The subtitle of this book is: "24 Easy Techniques to Create a Masterpiece." Joyce has so many nifty and very easy techniques to get the most amazing effects in landscape quilts! And "Easy" is the key word! I had such fun making my little quilt! I used glue, fabric inks and did some free motion stitchery. I was lucky to have such a varied stash of pieces of fabric suitable for landscape quilting to manipulate into my fantasy Secret Garden. It's very much a collaging technique to "build" the landscape with elements from different pieces of fabric to make a whole new and original piece!

I was fortunate to produce and direct Joyces instructional DVD for C & T Publishing a couple of years ago. The wealth of information about her techniques and approach to landscape quilting in that little gem is more than worth the price of admission! (The link will take you to a promo I voiced for this product!)

Raggedy Jane Dolls ...

2010-06-10T11:32:00.001-07:00

I learned this from Wikipedia: "Raggedy Ann is a fictional character created by American writer Johnny Gruelle (1880–1938) in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children. Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red yarn for hair and has a triangle nose. The character was created in 1915 as a doll, and was introduced to the public in the 1918 book Raggedy Ann Stories. A doll was also marketed along with the book to great success. A sequel, Raggedy Andy Stories (1920) introduced the character of her brother, Raggedy Andy, dressed in sailor suit and hat." Here's an image of an original Johnny Gruelle drawing of his beloved characters.

The way this English immigrant was introduced to Raggedy Ann was in a sewing class in southern California. The idea was that we were to create our own Raggedy Ann-inspired decorator dolls from a pattern. Having never read the stories, I decided that I would create a Raggedy Jane, featuring Liberty of London lawn fabrics and pretty eyelet (broderie anglaise to some readers) and laces. I created a blend of blonde acrylic yarns to make the tatty hair which is so cute. Instead of the usual straight line for her mouth, our teacher suggested embroidering a little heart. Part of the Raggedy Dolls' legend is that they have a little heart and the words"I Love You" embroidered on their chests. We also embroidered the eyes a little bigger than was set in the pattern too. (See Ole Raggedy Jane in the first image! She's over 30 years old I think by now.)

Anyway, the other day, Ole RJ whispered to me that she thought it was time I created a sister for her! Actually, the conversation started something like this: "I say Jane, old thing..." in a VERY English accent. I replied "Oh RAAH-THER!"

So here I go whipping up a Baby Raggedy Jane. Well, she'll end up being about 15 inches tall rather than her sister's more stately 25 inches. I started with the little clothes and since we've had some super grey days here, I decided to make her a sunshiney Raggedy Jane, Jr. I found some curly-looking golden acrylic yarn from which to fashion her hair. I shall need to have a good look at how Ole RJ Sr's hair was done. All I remember is that we didn't do the hair as the pattern suggested. Sadly I don't seem to be able to find my original pattern which had some helpful notes scribbled on it from the long-ago class.

Over the years I've made many Raggedy Ann and Andy-inspired dolls. One pair for a gift for a bride and groom, using their wedding colors to inspire the colors of the clothes. As I recall, that couple's hair was a rich brown, and the pretend cream satin I used for parts of their clothes was a challenge to work with. I think I already shared Carol and Noel, the Raggedy Christmas couple I created who sleep all year round in an antique trunk until "'tis the Season!"

Once I get RJ Jr. all put together, I'll introduce you to her! Talk about anthropomorphosis! Yes, folks! the dolls do talk to me. As an only child, my dolls and soft toys were my constant, faithful and trustworthy friends and I am enjoying the conversation once again!

Memories of Mending ...

2010-05-22T07:54:00.001-07:00

As I've been stitching on my little boro-inspired piece, I've been remembering my school days. There we learned how to darn our lisle stockings using a little wooden mushroom shaped tool.

According to the dictionary, lisle is “1. A fine, smooth, tightly twisted thread spun from long-stapled cotton. 2. Fabric knitted of this thread used especially for hosiery and underwear.”

In the 1950’s there was no such thing as pantyhose. Women wore stockings, which had a seam down the back. Nylon stockings were the most fashionable, but lisle stockings were cheaper. Lisle Stockings tended to wrinkle around the ankles. Because we wore these stockings for more than one day, the longer we wore them, the baggier they became. I remember that it was the heels and toes of these ugly things that got the most holes. What a relief when pantyhose came in to fashion! The ones we were allowed to wear were more like tights in a hideous brown color! Ah! the memories that flow when I have a needle and thread in my hands!

Boro Progress ...

2010-05-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

Stitching on this little piece reminds of when I used to have to darn lisle stockings at boarding school, somehow. I have a bit more to go and can't wait to start working this whole idea in colorful fabrics and threads.

Gosh, lisle stockings held up with a pink satin suspender belt. Obviously this was in an era before nylon tights were invented! Those lisle stockings were a badge of maturing. One graduated to those from wearing knee socks with the uniform. Shirts with ties and satin suspender belts. The look was finished off with brown leather lace-up shoes! Well, we also wore navy blue wool skirts.

Deep-seated Evolutionary Instinct for Pink?

2010-05-18T11:24:00.000-07:00

I've been looking into the whole business of Pink for a Girl and Blue for a Boy. This old European legend is rather sweet:

Baby boys were found under cabbages, which were somewhat blue in color. A baby girl was born in the heart of a pink rose.

(So mabye that's why "mon petit choux" ("my little cabbage") is a term of endearment in France. I've often wondered about that!)

A rather more more scientific approach is excerpted from an article by Mark Henderson, Science Editor of Timesonline.com

"We all know that women like pink and men prefer blue, but we have never really known why.

Now it emerges that parents who dress their boys in blue and girls in pink may not just be following tradition but some deep-seated evolutionary instinct.

Researchers have found that there could be sound historical reasons why women have developed a heightened appreciation of reds and pinks, while men are drawn to blue.

The explanation might date back to humans’ hunter-gatherer days, when women were the primary gatherers and would have benefited from an ability to home in on ripe, red fruits ...”

Here's another theory:

Long ago, many people believed that evil spirits hung around the nursery, but that these spirits were repelled by certain colours. The most potent colour was blue, associated with the heavenly sky.

Blue was believed to frighten away demons and rob them of their power. So blue on a baby was not only adornment, but also seen as a very necessary precaution. Now this was a long time ago, when girls were considered inferior, so boys got the really potent blue colour—it didn't matter what colour girls got. The assumption is that later generations chose pink for girls to symbolize that new rosy all-over-pink look.

Wow! From strong, essential ancient hunter-gatherer women to being "rosy all-over-pink-creatures" that didn't really matter ...

Portrait of Pinkness!

2010-05-15T19:56:00.001-07:00

This was another rhododendron bloom I photographed the other day. I put a portrait setting on the camera and got all the background blurry and soft! I'll have to remember that trick another time! So Ms. Rhodie, you were the subject of a portrait. Silly really about pink being "girlie." My husband looks really good in a pale pink shirt!

Mother's Day Morning Glories...

2010-05-09T08:50:00.001-07:00

My Mother's Day started with finding my nice Limoges china cup and saucer all placed on the counter, PG Tips teabag at the ready and the electric kettle filled, set for boiling up. Two thoughtful adult sons being midnight pixies in the kitchen last night to make sure their gesture brought a smile to my face first thing today. Which it did! I'm an early riser, so was most delighted to have this little scene greet me this morning. The pattern of my personal set of china is "Morning Glory", a Sevres pattern, 1788 Louvre Museum.

Speaking of glory -- I offer you some shots of some of the rhodies that are blooming magnificently in our garden at the moment.

Boro and Japanese Textiles link

2010-05-08T09:13:00.001-07:00

Here's a great link to Sri to discover more about boro, if you're interested! Click on the Japan tab for a great explanation about Boro. There's also a side link to Sashiko, too and much more.

Boro Inspiration ..

2010-05-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Victoria's blog, I've had fun researching Japanese Boro textiles and decided to experiment. Victoria has made some fantastic utility quilts of her own, inspired by the boro business.

In Japanese, "Boro" means "ragged." In olden times, working-class Japanese used to patch garments and household items when they got ragged. Antique futon covers, such as the one pictured, are sold in fancy galleries for thousands of dollars!

On the left is a small piece I'm about to play with. I'll be stitching the raw-edged small pieces to the background with a running stitch, emulating Sashiko stitchery. I'll add some batting and a backing and continue to quilt the surface. Afterwards I plan to wash the piece and hope that there will be some fraying of the patches! I do love to experiment, and this was an excuse to add some small pieces of lovely indigo dyed fabrics to my stash!

I do have a new project in mind and if this approach turns out to be fun to do, I'll be posting about the larger wall piece I'll be doing. It won't be in these Japanese indigos, rather I'll be playing in my color comfort zone of the hand dyed fabrics and luscious embroidery threads I just ordered and received from Artfabrik.

Moving Picture Messages ...

2010-04-25T09:30:00.000-07:00

I've been commissioned to create a promotional video for APWQ. I'm in a happy flurry of gathering media for my Younger Son to edit together. I've got permission to use clips from two PBS specials I produced about the fabulous quilt show and contest. I'm working with local arts organizations to get stills and video footage. The idea is to make a short piece that tells some history of the organization, shows footage of past quilt show visitors, and of course to feature past winning quilts that have been in the show. The event is moving from Seattle to Tacoma, WA in August of 2011, so I wanted to give a pinch of flavor of the city where the next show will be presented.

It occurred to me to brush up my own skills with my Apple Final Cut Pro video editing software. I was taught some simple maneuvers a few years ago with that awesome software. I've decided to put together a rough cut of the piece using the images and moving pictures I have in my possession. I had started to write a paper script - but figured my new MO will be to work with the footage, see what it looks like, THEN write the paper script, based on my rough cut! I love a good press kit and written materials, but there are so many new and exciting ways with new media to get the word out!

I'm struck once again how akin to quiltmaking video work is. Here I am, gathering and choosing the right material, cutting it, looking at it, fiddling with how the material is "patched" together. What I'm doing with my rough cut is sort of "Basting" ("Tacking" to UK readers) and Younger Son will use his skills to make a fine finish to the whole shebang! Or like cookery, I'm gathering the right ingredients, getting the right flavors, cooking them and then serving it all up on a video platter.

Improvisational Quiltplay continued ...

2010-04-16T12:23:00.001-07:00

I am somewhat obsessed at the moment with this improvisational piecing business. I've been doing some reading about the subject, and find that many people who do this sort of thing are talking about intuitiveness when it comes to working like this. The book by Jean Wells (published by C & T Publishing) that is pictured here has been most helpful to go through. For one thing, it's packed with the most gorgeous photographs, mostly of the natural world, to illustrate the dreaded Color Theory bits! I do find it fascinating that after I have selected some colors of fabric - with the help of my color wheel gizmo - there is a little zing thing that goes off in my head that says "Yes, that's cool!" or "Uh-oh - that's not working." I think that must be my Intuition speaking. I suppose the Improvisation part is the actual physical putting together of the various parts to get a harmonious "song." Quiltsongs, anyone?

Apart from Ms. Wells' book, I've read a bit about color theory; I've taken some classes, yet still feel my brain has a hard time grasping some of those theoretical facts. There's a phrase that goes something like: "Color gets the glory, but Value does the work." I'm still trying to grasp that whole Value concept. I'm trying to keep it as simple as whether or not the combinations of colors I pick work for me and give me that nice smug feeling of having done something that works just fine. I still haven't quite figured out how to make this work bigger. The little piece on the top left is about the size of a picture postcard. It feels done to me. Just as well that I feel that way since that statement has given me permission to move on to another try, this time with bigger bits of fabric. I am tempted to throw some of my batik fabric stash in with the hand dyed to see how that looks. Might be quite sparkly. But I need to stop making quilts in my head and head for the fabric stash!

My trusty color wheel, with it's top bit torn off, has become a constant companion as I go on this intuitive improvisational quilting journey.

Improvisational Exercise Completed!

2010-04-10T21:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of images of the little improvisational quilt I've been creating. It's done! Hooray for simple hand stitches and beautiful hand dyed variegated thread! The picture on the left is the whole piece and I've included a detail shot as well.

Easter Bunny...

2010-04-04T11:49:00.000-07:00

A bit of research turned up a lot of information about the Easter Bunny legend. In an eggshell, it all seems to be handed down from ancient pagan rites of spring and fecundity getting mingled with the Christian message of the Resurrection. Since the 19th century it seems the Germans initiated the idea of this chocolate egg laying rabbit/hare who would only give out his chocolate eggs to the good boys and girls. Well, hippity hoppity hop!

It's taken me this long to get around to checking out this Easter Bunny guy. I don't remember him creeping (sorry, Bunny, I'm sure you don't creep, you probably hippity hop) into my Easters when I was young and living in England. I do remember receiving a nice big hollow chocolate Easter egg which opened to reveal lovely individual chocolates inside. I also remember the lovely Alleluia hymns at church services on Easter Sunday.

I suppose when I became a Mom here in my adopted home, I just went along with what everyone else was doing about Easter Bunnies and Easter baskets, and Easter egg hunts and such. I was always a bit baffled, but there was no internet to easily access this sort of information way back then! And heck! who doesn't like chocolate and the thrill of the hunt. I was never crazy about the cellophane easter grass stuff that was used to line the baskets, though. What a pain to rake it up from the garden!

Having become a pagan in my old age -- that is to say I don't go to church any more - I think I can now make friends with this East Bunny fellow. Nothing like a symbol for spring, new beginnings, promises of good things to come and all that jazz ... hippity hop, indeedy. (Although why a boy bunny would be laying chocolate eggs is still a bit of mystery to me.)

PS: I think the image of this vintage (1911) card probably just adds to my confusion. Are the pair of rabbits/hares looking lovingly at the little chicken their egg just hatched? Was it their egg? Or are they just living in a big blue egg together? Which Rabbit is the Mom? Are they even a couple, or does it matter to them about that?

Me Meme

2010-04-02T09:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Titus and Kat I'm doing this Me Meme. Here goes:

My name is:  Jane, Janie, Mom, Mummy, Darling

Never in my life have I been: short of a good conversational rejoinder   

The one person who can drive me nuts is: Rick Sanchez on CNN

High school: my English girls’ boarding school in Bath which I loved.

When I’m nervous: I tap my heels up and down, causing my legs to jiggle.

The last song I listened to was: Simon and Garfunkel’s “Feeling Groovy.” 

If I were to get married right now (renew my vows) my best man/maid of honour: the young Elizabeth Taylor

My hair is: short and still blonde (at great expense at the hands of my hairdresser)   

When I was 5: I played an angel in a Nativity Play in Tripoli, Libya  

 Last Christmas: Because of leaving things to the last minute, it was frantic.  

 I should be…working harder on losing weight  

When I look down I see: that my office floor needs a good clean

 The happiest recent event was: That’s a tricky one right now.

 If I were a character on ‘Friends’ I’d be: Jennifer Aniston’s character

 By this time next year: I would like to have had a nice holiday in a place that has sandy beaches and palm trees.

 My current gripe is the negativity in the American political scene

I have a hard time understanding: the intricacies of Photoshop Elements

 There’s this girl I know that: I don’t know many “girls” any more.

If I won an award, the first person I would tell would be: My husband

Take my advice: Carpe Diem !

The thing I want to buy: an iPhone

If you visited the place I was born: a rural community in the Midlands of England.

I plan to visit: I have no plans, only dreams to see the Grand Canyon, a Carribbean Island and anywhere with palm trees and sunshine.

 If you spent the night at my house: You’d have a darned good meal and at least a nice cozy quilt to sleep under on a sofa.

 I’d stop my wedding if: the wedding cake wasn’t tiered and huge.   

The world could do without: American Idol

 I’d rather lick the belly of a cockroach than: touch or hold any kind of reptile.

 Most recent thing I’ve bought myself: new sensible knickers   

Most recent thing someone else bought me: A little teddy bear

 My favorite blonde is: Me   

My favorite brunette is: My best friend Jill, who might well be a redhead at the moment.   

My favorite red head is: See previous answer, if Jill is a rehead at the moment

 My middle name is: Jane. My first name is Dianne which I never use.   

In the morning I: am like Titus with the cigarette and cup of tea with milk and artificial sweetener.

The animals I would like to see flying besides birds are: Can’t imagine that.

Once, at a bar: I think that’s better left unanswered…  

Last night I was:glad I didn’t have to cook dinner having been treated to a nice Teriyaki Chicken lunch out.

 There’s this guy I know who: Nope, nothing to say about that …

 If I was an animal I’d be: A dolphin.   

A better name for me would be : Your Royal Highness   

Tomorrow I am: going to be wondering again about the mysteries of the Easter bunny.   

Tonight I am: catching up with “Project Runway.”

My birthday is: March 16 – and yes I’m a textbook Pisces person.

Hodgepodge Jumble Art Quilt

2010-04-01T14:26:00.001-07:00

How I enjoyed this definition I found today about patchwork art quilts:

Something having a haphazard or disorganized structure or random composition: hodgepodge, jumble

I think this little effort of mine fits the definition quite nicely. It measures about 17" x 13". It felt very freeing to have a lovely stash of Artfabrik hand-dyed cotton fabric, and just have at it using various interesting piecing techniques. I remembered to put a new sharp blade in my rotary cutter and and then I went to town and cut, stacked, sewed, pressed, whacked, stitched bits back together for a cheerful pleasing piece. An exercise in improvised piecing accomplished! A controlled hodgepodge, if you will. In the past I have only used this fabric for fused applique quilts but it's fun to piece with too. The variegated nature of the cloth brings unexpected color change surprises.

My next step will be to attach a cotton batting (wadding) to this top with some special spray glue. Once that's done, I'll get stitching by hand with my lovely hand dyed threads. The first lot of stitching will be decorative in some artful, intuitive, embroidery-ish way.

Once I've replenished my stash - and no I don't want to learn how to dye my own cloth (been there, done that) - I might have a bash at a much larger piece. I still have a splendid empty wall over our fireplace that has been calling out for something eye-catching to hang there. Yes, to me this is definitely art for the wall.

2010-03-31T10:34:00.001-07:00

Today on Facebook, of all places, I found a link to the official press release about the postponement of The Play. The director did call me personally yesterday about it all. I am stepping away for a bit to see what happens with this saga. Need to regroup my thoughts and feelings.

Triumph and Disaster...

2010-03-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

Thank you to those who have sent encouraging remarks about my acting opportunity! I have just heard that the production is to be "postponed." Technical difficulties apparently. I have enjoyed all the excitement, research and the idea of a long-held dream of mine to perform on stage. Situation beyond my control, that much I know. I can "wait and not be tired by waiting" for whatever comes next with this project.

My late father was big on Rudyard Kipling and here's an old faithful that I shall be reciting to myself today:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Agatha Animated...

2010-03-29T12:49:00.000-07:00

I found THIS on Youtube. Kudos to the creator of this video. I just love how he made her eyebrows so expressive in the animation. In the formal portrait on the left, Dame Agatha is 67. ( I just had my 67th birthday a couple of weeks ago, too.)

I notice that Dame A pronounces the "h" in Hercule! And I always thought it was pronounced "'ercule," like in zee francais. But maybe I've only heard the lovely David Suchet introduce himself as Poirot on the BBC telly versions of the mysteries. In a Belgian accent.

I've got Act 1 lines memorized and am about to plunge into Act 2 today! All my dialog is monolog (dialogue and monologue to some of you guys!), and it takes fierce concentration to follow Dame A's flitting hither and yon of interesting thoughts which seem to come forth in no particular order, although I am trying to make my own order out of it. There's quite a bit of alliteration, which is helping me remember. For example: "Poisoned Passions,"

" Much of what Murder Mysteries rely on for Motivation..." As long as I learn with a super-plummy-posh English accent, I'm doing OK. The lines are taken directly from Dame A's autobiography and she is frank about not wanting to tell her story in a chronological order. She just sort of saunters in anywhere she feels like it in her narrative, and free-associates her personal memories and recollections about her illustrious career.

Improvisational Quiltplay!

2010-03-26T18:55:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the recent goings-on at Melody Johnson's blog, I decided to have a little play with some pretty fabric today. For those not in the know, this is known as improvisational piecing. That means you cut fabric, sew bits together, slash them apart and sew them together again just as the spirit moves you. Well, there's a tad more to it than that, but basically it's about throwing most of the usual rules out of the window at this point in the proceedings. Points don't have to be pointy, seams don't have to match. The colors of spring sang to me from my stash. This is just one unit of something. More to come if and when the spirit moves me again! I forgot to mention - there's no deadline either about this little adventure. My UFO (UnFinished Objects) quilting pile grows ever taller, but even that's just fine with me as well.

All the deciduous trees are sprouting new bright green foliage, the daffodils are blooming and the rhodies are just about to do their thing as well. Spring is busting out all over, to mess up the words of that lyric a bit! (I think it was "June" and I think the word was "bursting" in the original song. Wasn't it from "Oklahoma?")

On an Agatha note, I read her autobiography - what an interesting life she led. Memorization of one's lines is under way. A rehearsal schedule has been given. That all starts on April 17th. But more details will be forthcoming anon!

I Got the Part!

2010-03-15T09:51:00.001-07:00

I'm waiting for a copy of this book to arrive from Amazon.com. Why? Because I have been cast to play this revered figure in a play called "Agatha Christie's BBC Murders." I need to learn all I can about this person so I can personify her in the play.

This is a huge deal for me. Since I was a very little girl, I always wanted to be an actress.

The producers of this play have written an original work and apart from my bits, fully costumed actors will be performing four plays that Dame Agatha wrote for the BBC Radio: "Three Blind Mice" (later "The Moustrap"), "Yellow Iris" which was first presented on the BBC National Program in 1937, "Butter in a Lordly Dish" which was first performed on the BBC in 1948 and "Personal Call" a thriller presented on the BBC in 1954.

I've listened to some old recordings of Ms. Christie speaking, to study her speech patterns. I am practicing speaking in the third person, as Agatha was wont to do. One can never be too careful about one's way of expressing oneself!

Online Quilting Classes

2010-03-06T08:48:00.000-08:00

Wow, the wonders of the internet will never cease to amaze me! Our cat Bo'sun was helping me search this morning. Once he moved himself off my keyboard, I jumped down the rabbit hole of quilting blogs and I stumbled upon this. And I read that Jane Davila is offering online classes too!

I know there are probably tons more classes and workshops online, some using videos for the instruction. And of course if you write the correct search words in YouTube it's amazing how many tutorials there are about quilting on that site. I've been helped tremendously by the free tutorials about crochet and knitting lately on You Tube.

Free is good, but I'm so pleased to see that quilting professionals value their knowledge sufficiently to charge for their online workshops and classes!

Quilters Choice Network

2010-03-05T07:47:00.000-08:00

There's a brand new website for quilters. Do nip over and check it out. I am a contributor to this new website and there will be many more exciting features that will be rolled out shortly! It's going to grow into a great new online quilting community and I'm excited to be involved with it.

Those who write quilt blogs might want to check this out, since QCN will make a link on their site to your blog if you want!

Yum-Oh!

2010-02-27T09:08:00.001-08:00

Steamed Brussels sprouts, mashed russet spuds and a hearty portion of steak and kidney pud for my birthday boy! Pass the Worcester sauce and Colman's mustard, please. I followed Delia's recipe to the letter. Next time I'm going to get more adventurous and add some thyme and maybe a use a can of beef broth instead of the water called for in the classic recipe. Birthday Boy was very pleased to have such an authentic British taste thrill on his special day!

Kate & Sidney Pud

2010-02-26T12:58:00.000-08:00

Check here for the recipe I'm making today! Really it's Steak & Kidney Pud, but Kate and Sidney Pud would be the Cockney Rhyming Slang name for this quintessentially British dish! But that colorful slang is a whole 'nother post, I think.

I've assembled all the ingredients and have fished out my huge steamer and if it all turns out well, there will be images of the final outcome tomorrow!

I was delighted to find an assortment of sizes of pudding bowls in my cupboards, but the one I'll be using is the 1.5 liter capacity size called for in Delia Smith's recipe. You say litre and I say liter ... Now don't get me going about American spelling. I'm used to centER and theatER after so many years! HonOR and ColOR still catch me short. I will confess that I still get annoyed at Christmastime when many of my favorite (yes, that's right, favORite) carols are sung to a different melody than the ones imprinted in my memory banks! I wonder if anyone knows how that spelling difference happened between US AND British written English. ( TomAYto, TomAHto, let's call the whole thing off...)

The bottle of rum in the picture has nothing to do with this recipe.

Beef Kidney update!

2010-02-25T10:36:00.000-08:00

Yes!!!! A bit of sleuthing on my part has turned up a supermarket that does have beef kidneys AND they sell beef suet! My brain has unfrozen, it seems, but the kidneys will be frozen, so I need to get a move on! Now if I could only remember where I stored my pudding basin...

Code in the Doze

2010-02-25T09:20:00.000-08:00

I've been sidewiped by a dreaded 'lergy! Such a headcold! All I've done is lump about, waiting to feel better. Which I do today. Haven't felt like reading or crocheting or sewing or just about anything. Although I have been reading blogs and I have been watching Olympic competition on the telly, which I am now a bit sick of. I am looking forward to the Ladies Figure Skating contest tonight.

My husband has a very significant birthday tomorrow, so I need to hustle about figuring out something special to do. I've been trying to locate beef kidneys which nobody seems to have around here. His favorite English supper is steak and kidney pudding. He'll have to give me some new orders in that department. Or maybe I'll just have to whip up a steak and something-else pudding instead. Best nip over to Delia Smith's website to get some ideas!

Olympic Spirit

2010-02-17T09:11:00.000-08:00

I've been sucked into the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games for the past few days. It's all going on a couple of hundred miles from here. The broadcasts at night are going so late that I'm falling asleep before the end of the programming. I'm intrigued by some of the newer sports, like snowboarding; I am particularly fond of the figure skating; I was saddened by the death of the young Georgian luge athlete; I am admiring the camaraderie between the athletes.

I'm crocheting away on my granny squares as I listen to the overloaded commentary. The sports journalists have outdone themselves with tons of back stories about the athletes. All quite fascinating fill material but I say 'On with the sports action!' I'm getting pretty fed up with all the medal counting that's going on. I think some of these commentators just don't get the concept of the Olympic spirit. I know, someone's got to win the shiny medal, but ...

... I think Winston Churchill said it best: 'Play the game for more than you can afford to lose ... only then will you learn the game.'

Grantland Rice, the great sportswriter once said, 'It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game.'

oops

2010-02-08T13:58:00.000-08:00

It was Titus who did a post about Greta Garbo, NOT Willow! Sorry for my confusion ladies!

Headshot

2010-02-08T08:56:00.000-08:00

On her blog the other day, Willow posted some great photographs of the legendary Greta Garbo. She even showed a unique old photo of Garbo before Hollywood had worked its magic on her. In the early photograph, Ms. Garbo appears with very bushy eyebrows. Other photos on Willow's blog features wonderful studio portraits which had been retouched to perfection by the photographer.

In the early 1960s I worked as a Publicity Assistant at Pinewood Studios in England. The Time/Life photographer, the late Denis Cameron, came to do a photo story on Sophia Loren who was one of the stars of a movie I was working on. I persuaded Denis to shoot some headshots of me. Here is the best one. I remember having not very nice skin, and certainly a tweezer had never been applied to my eyebrows. I don't think I ever quite got the hang of the liquid eyeliner business, either. So, thanks to the nice retouching department at Pinewood, this portrait ends up showing the young me with porcelain skin, beautiful eye makeup and elegant arched eyebrows!

Food for thought and creativity...and happy hooking.

2010-01-31T08:02:00.000-08:00

My younger son gave me a nice Amazon.com gift certificate for Christmas. Here are the books I got! The first one about crochet motifs goes along with my latest obsession... the art of crochet. And it really is an art. This book goes beyond the granny motif and has many fanciful and lovely things for me to try hidden within its pages. Circles, hexagons, diamonds, rectangles and so forth! Even if I just look at the pretty pictures, I shall be happy.

I think I've got the granny square motif down pretty well. I used the pattern from Attic::24's blog I like the circular, rather floral-looking centers in her motif. She has wonderful tutorials filled with terrific close-up photographs of how to do things! She also has great and cheery explanations in plain English. So helpful. How interesting to find out that English crochet fans use different terminology for stitches and techniques than we do over here. I found a huge stash of yarn in my basement, all gathered before I had my hand surgery. So that's all been brought upstairs ready for me to attack it with various sizes of crochet hooks. I started with the knitting a few years ago, but that stuttered to an end because of pain in my hands. Well, that pain has been fixed, and now, for a bit of a change, I'm trying something new, yet old. My patchwork and fabric fondling have been ditched for now and the crochet bug has bitten me, big time! I will confess that I had fun using my yarn shop gift certificate to amplify my stash of bright colors for the granny squares!

The second book I got because simply robin mentioned it. I admire the photography and inspiring posts on her blog, so was grateful for her recommendation. The camera I use is full of bells and whistles that I haven't discovered yet. So I'm looking forward to starting a bit of study with that book to help me unlock the power of my fancy camera!

I do seem to have the attention span of a flea with my various "little hobbies." (My Husband once called my efforts at crafting that phrase. I'm happy to report he doesn't say that any more. I have trained him not to.) I'm all into the learning and collecting of the right tools and materials for my various arts and crafts. It's the doing of the work that I love.

P.S. A word of thanks to Lucy and to Robin for their blogs.

Deer Lawn Mowing Crew...

2010-01-26T08:51:00.001-08:00

...Thank you for your interesting visit to my lawn yesterday. I'm glad you found the sweet green grass to your liking. Now you've given us an excuse not to get the mower out quite yet. Housekeeping note: please use the bathroom which is off to the side of the lawn rather than right in the middle of this green oasis.

PS. I do hope you guys aren't riddled with fleas. I noticed you flicking your ears and scratching your skin with your dainty hooves.

White Tailed Deer: It is too easy to label some creatures as pests, and to forget that all of Nature has a right to exist. It is not the deer's fault that we are building our homes on its traditional habitat. Deer are sometimes referred to as "edge" species, meaning they prefer to live where two or more habitats meet. As urban areas expand into the woods, the "edge" keeps moving deeper into the deer's traditional habitat. We owe them some accommodation for this. Deer are magnificent animals that we can learn to live with and enjoy with a little effort.

Splendid Sunrise

2010-01-20T09:28:00.001-08:00

After many misty dark grey mornings in the Pacific Northwest, this breathtaking sunrise vista moved my soul yesterday.

Pacific West Quilt Show...

2010-01-19T08:59:00.000-08:00

I’ve added another activity to my life. I’m going to be doing the Corporate fundraising for the 2011 Pacific West Quilt Show. Last week I attended, with the board members of the Association of Pacific West Quilters, the signing of 3 year’s worth of contracts to produce this wonderful show at The Greater Tacoma Convention and Visitors’ Center. We got such a welcome from the City of Tacoma -- the new Mayor showed up to the signing event and welcomed the event to her city. The facility is almost brand new and is a gorgeous example of how a public building can be a work of art in itself. Oh, and I’m writing press releases and creating press kits for the organization too as it launches into a new chapter of its existence. There’s lots of schmoozing up ahead for me. But I enjoy that stuff. There’s a ton of money to be raised, so it will be a great challenge to my skills of persuasion! My English charm and smarm might be helpful as I go forward with this project.

Blast from the Past ...

2010-01-13T11:10:00.001-08:00

Here's an image of a book I've had since 1973. A 97-page paperback titled "The Complete Needlecraft Encyclopedia," published by King Patterns. It's a really helpful little volume jam-packed with instructions on Knitting, Crochet, Tatting, Hairpin Lace, Macrame, Needlepoint, Crewel Embroidery, Embroidery and Rug Hooking. This old book is helping to distract me from the unsewing of the blunted corners of my Feathered Star quilt block. I had a yen to have a go at some crochet again. I've been doing some knitting -mostly small items which I know I will actually complete - but suddenly the urge to hook came over me! I smiled at the picture of the pretty model, bedecked in a shirtwaster dress, wearing fuzzy slippers, posing for the cover. It looks like she's wearing stockings, too. Why the shirtwaister dress and not a nice high necked flannel nightie? was the question that popped into my mind.

I had a grandmother who seemed never to be without a crochet hook in of her hand. She made granny squares, some very tiny, which were whipped into dresser covers, table mats, coasters and so forth. She used to smoke Woodbine cigarettes at the same time she crocheted, the little ciggie dangling from her lips as her fingers flew with the crochet hook. I don't think she ever inhaled the cigarette, but liked the smell and maybe the taste of it. She lived well into her nineties, so it wasn't the ciggies that did her in! I remember being fascinated watching the ash at the end of the cigarette getting longer and longer and would be amazed that, just in time, she'd flick the ashes into a nearby ashtray, without spilling a drop on her handwork. When I get my crochet hook flying, I shall think fondly of my lovely grandmother.

Pointless in Seattle

2010-01-08T08:41:00.000-08:00

The pins indicate some boo-boos in my piecing. Blunted points just don't cut the mustard. This "mustard" phrase gave me pause for thought and this is what I discovered:

... that it is a corruption of the military phrase "to pass muster” ("muster", from Latin _monstrare_="to show", means "to assemble (troops), as for inspection” ); that it refers to the practice of adding vinegar to ground-up mustard seed to “cut” the bitter taste; that it literally means “cut mustard” as an example of a difficult task, mustard being a relatively tough crop that grows close to the ground; and that it literally means “cut mustard” as an example of an easy task (via the negative expression “can’t even cut the mustard” ), mustard being easier to cut at the table than butter.

So the exercise today will be to march in with my trusty seam ripper to see if I can torture these "blunties" into being "pointies." Being the colonel's daughter that I am, I shall approach this in a military fashion and will charge into the Valley of the Five Blunties and see if I can get them to fall in and assembled in the proper manner. Or maybe I'm Florence Nightingale with my lamp held high to heal some sickness in this Feathered Star block. Oh dear! I disappeared into the Crimean War the minute I read the words "assemble troops for inspection."

PS I've just noticed that this is my first year anniversary of starting to blog. Time has flown and I have enjoyed every minute. Thanks to those who stop by to read and comment!

She doesn't follow directions very well...

2010-01-06T12:36:00.000-08:00

...I think that phrase used to appear on my school reports.

It’s about the “un-sewing” on this block. I thought I’d read the directions that came with the templates so carefully. But even though I was trying not to rush, I found I had blown it a couple of times. To give myself some due, I was very patient about ripping back the seams to fix the silly mistakes. In the past I would have just scrapped the whole thing, so that's progress! I have a nice sharp seam-ripper and it got a bit of a workout yesterday afternoon. I lengthened my machine's stitch length a bit to take away the frustration of picking out very tiny stitches! Which happened on more than one occasion. I still need to sew the eight elements together to form the finished block, so this is an update for anyone who's interested!

Not reading directions seems to be an issue for me. My first effort at a pecan pie recipe last Thanksgiving turned out totally wrong as I put 1 cup of flour in part the recipe rather than 1 tablespoon. I get so enthusiastic and think I know what I’m doing. A little humility lesson is a good thing. Occasionally. I need to make a sign that features the old saying "Measure twice, cut once."

I feel the fused tulip quilt top calling me to put a few hand stitches in after this flurry of machine madness. However, I am happy to report that I did achieve a majority of pointy points!

Whether the Weather ...

2010-01-05T08:24:00.000-08:00

My neck of the woods, the Puget Sound area of western Washington state, has a reputation for frequent rain. This reputation derives from this frequency of precipitation as well as the fact that it is cloudy an average of 226 days per year. At 37.1 inches (94 cm) the city receives less precipitation than New York City, Atlanta, Houston and most cities of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Seattle was also not listed in a study that revealed the 10 rainiest cities in the continental United States. Most of the precipitation falls as drizzle or light rain.

It's the drizzle that's the dreariest.

Accuracy matters...

2010-01-04T08:00:00.001-08:00

I thought I had my machine properly set up to sew a nice quarter-inch seam -- but after stitching this first bit of patchwork, I wasn't satisfied, so I had to do a bit of studying. I produced a DVD for C & T Publishing by the great Precision Piecing expert Sally Collins.

Sally wins big prizes for her small and intricately pieced quilts at major quilt shows, so she know a thing or two about the subject. I revisited the DVD and was reminded of many excellent tips by Sally about the whole process and art of precision piecing patchwork. It all starts with the cutting (I know that's good because of the nifty templates I carefully used), the seam allowance must be a proper quarter-inch, the thread to sew with needs to be skinny so as not to take up too much room in the process; there are recommendations of how to pin properly and so much more.

I've put the single hole throat plate in my machine, wound a bobbin of Superior Threads Bottom Line thread (very skinny), am carefully pinning the proper way, found a Microtex needle to use (so the hole the needle makes in the fabric isn't like some great sword has pierced it.) I also set my stitch length at 1.7 , so my seams will be nice and strong. I've done very careful pressing of my patchwork and it's all coming along nicely. I am taking my time. I don't have a deadline, so there's no need to rush.

Feathered Star block beginnings

2010-01-02T08:38:00.000-08:00

I love the traditional Feathered Star patchwork block. I made the blue one with the little house in the middle a year ago. It's the center for a bigger quilt just waiting for me to get inspired to add some more borders in the style of English and Welsh Frame Quilts. A center medallion surrounded by borders of different sorts of patchwork is called a Frame Quilt.

I was fortunate to win and receive 4 pieces of Valerie Greeley's fabric line in a drawing, so I had fun pulling other fabrics that might go with her fabrics -- the pig, sheep, buttercup and the green with animals on it are Valerie's charming designs. For the rest of the fabrics I went in a rather traditional vibe as far as colors and prints, trying to remember to vary the size of the prints and get some good contrast so the fussy piecing and pointy points will show up nicely!

I used a lovely template set by Marti Michell. They are made so all the pointy points of fabric are snipped off before you start stitching, giving you a better chance at accurate and plain-sailing piecing! Perhaps you can see this in the little triangles in the image. I cut through 4 layers of fabric at once which made the cutting fast. Although I took all day to do the cutting, taking my time, and making sure that I had everything just so! Nothing like a new year to encourage a good and careful start with a quilting project. Several tea breaks and a spot of knitting were necessary so I didn't totally obsess and make a mistake! So far so good!

Happy Twenty Ten!

2010-01-01T14:55:00.000-08:00

Twenty Ten ... it does have a certain ring to it. I wish everyone much creativity, good health and plenty of humor in this new decade. Even plenty of "humoUr."

On New Year's Eve I started cutting out a new pieced patchwork project. I'm continuing with the cutting today. Blogger doesn't seem to want me to post any images. I have been very distracted from my quilting in the last few months and, with the impetus of spending a nice little gift certificate at our local quilt shop, I'm off on another quilt adventure. I'll try with pictures another day.

Boxing Day

2009-12-26T09:12:00.001-08:00

A lovely Christmas Day was had by all. The living room looks like a bomb has hit it. But what's the fun of tidying up on Christmas Day? I love poinsettias and was happy I followed my last minute instinct to treat ourselves to one. Those plants say "Christmas" to me as much as a tree does.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2009-12-25T08:08:00.000-08:00

Kedgeree for Christmas

2009-12-23T09:23:00.001-08:00

Once a year, on Christmas morning, our family likes to eat kedgeree for breakfast. It's very challenging to find the finnan haddie fish, but our local trusty Safeway has some in today!

Kedgeree became popular in the UK during the reign of Queen Victoria and was served at breakfast in the homes of the wealthy. The name of the dish may be Indian in origin, but it came initially from Scotland. The dish was taken to India by troops serving the British Raj and it is no doubt in India where the kedgeree gained its curry spices. The combination of smoked fish, rice, eggs and spices became popular amongst British colonials in India and made its way back to Britain. Since then, it has become a British classic.

Milk-poached finnan haddie, hard-boiled eggs, fresh chopped parsley, butter, cream, cayenne pepper and saffron are the ingredients I use. Oh and long grain white rice, too!

The British Raj contingent is alive and well in Gig Harbor, Washington.

For Santa's Poetry Go-Kart

2009-12-21T12:25:00.000-08:00

Christmas Fairy Tale

First she asked for brand new dresses

Then she asked for new-do tresses

The wings she sports are new and red

Don't tell I said this: she's an airhead

Last, not least, a brand new wand

Her every wish is my command

I'm hoping to get on Santa's Poetry Go-Kart. This is my first attempt at writing verse after some excellent reading suggestions and encouragement from Titus the Dog.

Wandless in Seattle ...

2009-12-21T08:32:00.000-08:00

So ... now Christmas Fairy has some nice new poinsettia-red wings. She likes her hair tousled. She wouldn't let me anywhere near her with the glue gun to fix those ringlets. She's on strike as you can see. She's lolling on a branch of our pretty Christmas tree, eyes not wide open, with that hand in the air. Yes Ms. Fairy, I will create a new wand for you. I just need the Musician Son to let me have an old guitar string so I can fashion the bit that you like to have through your magic hand. Ouch! A bit of cardboard cut into a star and covered with tinfoil and attached to the guitar string will be how I do this little job for you. This will be major work for me as you know very well that sort of crafting isn't really my thing. But I love you and so a new wand you shall have before Christmas Eve. How's that for a promise to keep?

Fairy has let me know, in no uncertain terms, that she has already noticed that the director's chair ornament has been placed on the tree in honor of Santa and The Director Husband. She is not well pleased with me for being so slack about the wand. Believe me, we are both looking forward to her being the star on top of our tree.