Planet Textile Threads

It's not like you haven't seen this quilt now two other times this week but I have now put the all important label on my Orange and Cherry Jubilee quilt. I had to go back and look at my blog posts to see when I started this quilt (documenting my quilts was the main reason I started blogging in the first place) and I see that I bought the fabric during my summer California visit in 2008 and I started sewing on July 13th of that year. The quilt was made into a flimsy on August 9th and it has sat in a closet until July of this year.

The quilt has crossed the Pacific and then crossed the Continental USA and luxuriated under June's care for about a week (she is such a fast quilter!) and then made its way back to California. And finally I have put the binding on, made a quilt label and SLEPT UNDER IT! (Yes, I'm on the floor in my mother's living room. I usually sleep on the floor anyway in Japan.)

My quilt has only to travel back to Japan with me to spend some time on the sofa with Tetsu under it (and cats on top) before it is really settled into the Watanabe family home. A LONG process but SOOOOOO worth it!!

Yesterday Leiya had to go to the Japanese Consulate to apply for a new Japanese passport. Living in Ohio she was supposed to go either to Washington DC, New York or Detroit but since she doesn't have any way to get to any of those places she tried the Consulate in Los Angeles.

It takes 10 days to process a passport so that's why we were doing this on Leiya's second day here and Marcy drove us down (though she doesn't much like driving in LA.) A lot of security to get into the building but I suppose that's true almost anyplace nowadays. Not many people in the building though.

We decided to make a day of it and stopped at some famous sandwich place and then wandered along Olvera Street (Mexico town) for a couple of hours. Lots to look at, nothing necessary to buy.

Every year I make it my job to keep the humming bird feeder filled with sugar water and the hummingbirds provide much joy for my mother watching them flit and dive bomb and argue with their fellow hummingbirds. Sometimes 5 or 6 are vying for a place at the feeder and they twitter and make a lot of noise. A very simple pleasure that is easy to maintain. The hummingbirds are happy too!

My last class in Arizona, in friendly Flagstaff, was small but good.  We cut freezer paper stencils, then used the Lumiere paints I supplied to paint leaves onto a dark (black) background.  Next, while the paint dried (fairly quickly), I talked about special tips and tricks for sewing with threads that have a reputation for being fussy:  metallic, holographic (the shiny stuff…think Mylar balloon stuff cut into long strips), shiny polyester, and more.  This project is also on the cover of my book and is included as one of the activities in the back (book available here).

First, you paint the cloth:

Then baste:

One thing many of us don’t do enough is to make sample stitch-outs before diving in to the quilting.  I can’t say enough how important and helpful this can be!   Best of all, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to rip it out…just move to another part of the practice sandwich.  Here, one student is checking out how the decorative threads look in various free-motion designs and what she needs to do to get a good stitch on her machine:

Then start stitching:

Stop a bit and muse over what next, then continue:

Then of course there are those miserable thread tails to knot and bury!

I loved the look of the copper leaves:

And then trying out different threads and stitches and stitch-lengths to outline the leaves:

Here’s a cool, silvery, feathery outline:

Thanks for being in my class!

Nothing like a creative project with kids to keep you on your toes. I've been hacking my way around imovie putting some of their collaborative work together. If I figure out how to do so, I'll post the results on the blog somehow! This big project involves these 7 to 9 year olds in some projects that give them the experience of seeing their ideas become part of something larger than they could do alone -- and also puts adults in the picture as the facilitators and technical experts to help their ideas grow into projects that might -- at the moment -- be beyond the abilities of the kids to do on their own.

Why is this important? It looks like the grownups are doing all or most of the work -- but what happens is that with the kids in the driving seat --and as the initiators of the ideas -- they get to really experience the aha of seeing something little grow into something bigger than life. This kind of powerful experience early in one's creative life can be what makes that creative path worth the obstacles ahead. At least that's how it worked for me!

And the cool thing is, the kids really do feel ownership! It's "their" work, even if the matt knives have been in the grownups' hands; even if the movie editing was mostly done by me in the wee hours after the kids went home.

"Think Like a Pro" is the name of this new program, and part of the aim, too, is to help kids see how different professionals approach creative work. The program is also a trial run on what we hope will be the  next chapter for our soon to be launched afterschool curriculum in Dallas with Big Thought. Now, the challenge is how to scale it up -- how to train others to take on the commitment to making kids' ideas shine.

 

Here is my new bird. A bit more sculptural, a bit less stuffed. I actually stuffed this one with wadded up plastic bags from the grocery store. Seemed like a good use for them, though there is talk here in Oregon of outlawing plastic grocery bags. Anyway, the bird did not need the polyfil stuffing to give him dimension, so he is lightly stuffed.

I think this is an idea worth pursuing and I have some thoughts about different kinds of materials.

The other day I went to visit my friend June and we walked down to Hawthorne Street, near her house, to have lunch. On our way we passed a small business that makes futons and there was a box of discarded wood blocks sitting out on the sidewalk—obviously scrap from their process, and presumably there for passersby to take if they wanted to. I picked up a couple nice rectangles, thinking they might make bases for the birds. None of my birds have had bases, but they all balance a bit precariously on their little wire legs. I sanded and painted one and attached the new bird. I think I like it. Makes it seem more like sculpture and less like a toy.

Here's another view.

In today's one-day course at City Lit we'll be making a book out of contemporary materials such as electric cabling, car tire or other found materials, using a range of medieval sewing techniques in a sculptural approach to bookbinding.

Tomorrow I'm off to West Dean for a whole week of book making - getting some skills and ideas. The course description says: "By using a range of interesting book structures combined with imaginative mark-making technquies, this course is designed to enable you to develop your ideas through the structure of the book, culminating in a unique hand made book or small edition." It includes experimenting with monoprint, rubber stamp, embossing and cut throughs and "will give you the opportunity to explore the relationship of the book structure to its contents".

Right up my street!

This book is by Carol Barton.

# 124 — Brooke Atherton! Congratulations. Send me your snail mail via the contact tab at the top of my blog and it will be on the way. For those who missed out, I suggest that you go to Jane’s website — Complex Cloth — order the book, and she will autograph it for you!! Thanks, again, for entertaining me with your comments.

As you know, from my tie dyeing escapade, I am heading out of town next week. My daughter and family are coming to house and Scooter sit. So, I have spent some time today, trying to get the downstairs area cleared of  my messes so that M & M have a place to play. I think they are bringing their Wi with them and they need some space.

Tomorrow, I am going to try to de-clutter my studio. It has reached that stage where I can’t concentrate on anything because of the messes. I need to get the aspen piece done asap. Once I get my leaves cut and everything attached with some final stitching, it will be ready for photography.

My fiber sketch for today was so much fun. I read recently that you can use lutradur for machine felting. So I cut a piece of my leaf fabric and felted with some of my curly dyed roving. It works very well. I like it because I am not starting with much thickness. So I will do more of this.

Well, my supply suitcase is almost packed.  I just have to add things to print on and things to print with.  I'm actually going through the supply list and checking things off - and will take less than I normally do because it will be an international flight.  We don't leave for another 10 days but I'm trying to be efficient (probably a mistake).

I don't know where this piece is and don't have time to look for it, but it is another class demo piece I really like.  To me, this proves the benefits of being spontaneous and without preconceived notions of what something will turn out to be. 

There are only a couple of spots left in my master class at FoQ - Printing in Layers, so if you are thinking of signing up, do it quickly!

With all the lively discussion on yesterday's blog, I did indeed turn this piece sideways and here it is, for your viewing (and/or commenting) pleasure.

From now until February 2011 the Phoenix Airport Museum is showing 2 of my pieces from my Forest Trail Series.  Yesterday I was in the Phoenix Airport, on my way to Denver,.  As I rounded the corner to security in terminal 4, I saw one of the exhibits featuring Forest Trails 4.  

Forest Trails 4, 68" x 48" is composed of texture layers of canvas, burlap, fiberglass screen and has a 2 top layers of digital prints on canvas and tyvek.

This picture was taken with my Android.  The reflection in the glass makes it impossible to get a picture without all the reflection, but I was able to clean a little of it up with the Content Aware Fill from Photohshop CS5. On my way back through the airport on Sunday, I will hunt up the other exhibit in the same terminal.

 

When I began to imagine a little patio out in front, and when I was working away on the mosaic and when the rain filled up the hole and it was nothing but a mud patch and a pile of paving blocks, and then the tree fell and it seemed like we were never going to get that little patio built, I kept this picture in my mind. And it came true.

A beautiful evening in the garden. Chocolate fondue and strawberries. A fire. Marshmallows. S'mores. Moonlight, lamplight, firelight, candle light.




The first of many such evenings, I hope.

July 29. It seems the year has sped by so fast. Maybe it’s a function of age, perhaps it is that this year has been so intense. Both?

Back in the Spring I dug grass out of a side perennial border and broadcast mixed seed. This lovely Icelandic Poppy has been blooming for several days. There are more about to open.

Just North of my studio there’s a shed. This year sunflower seeds went in against the wall. Isn’t this wonderful patterning! More blooms are on the way. It will be a treat to sit at my work table and see this color, dancing. Later in the year the birds will enjoy the seed. That too will be a visual delight.

The work on the wall is going well but not photographing well. Maybe later.

I have been busy playing around with the new EQ7.   I must say I am very impressed with it.  I have been playing with Kaleidoscope Kreator however EQ7 has something similar which is very cool indeed.


Here is a little project I have been working on :

I shall put the project file under the projects on the blog for those of you with EQ7.  Please note the EQ7 project files will not be backward compatible (you can't use them in EQ6).

Seeing how people carry their bookbinding tools to class neatly rolled up, I decided to make a tool roll to hold bone folder, glue brush, ruler, needles, scalpel, etc etc.
The square of pieced fabric is a UFO from the River exhibition, five years ago. It has an elegant secret - shibori wadding -All it needed was quilting, pockets, and ties -
Unrolled -
and unwrapped -A place fr everything, and everything in its place!

What's more, it's contagious - my son has been reorganising his tool box...

TAST week 22 resulted in a not very inspiring exercise.good to have it in my stitching vocab, but i honestly doubt that i'll be using it much. evidently it's not the stitch's fault, but the stitcher.
wasn't even inspired to add zing to the photo :(
tonight husband-san and i are meeting friends for dinner. hoping to be more inspired tomorrow.





neki desu

Sometimes, I like to challenge myself to make a composition in 5 minutes. I reach into my fused scraps, grab piece of fabric and just do it. I don’t want to over think it. So, feeling a bit worn out tonight, I did this quicky fiber sketch.

This morning, I overslept a bit and then the game was on because I had a guild committee meeting here at 10 am. I did a bunch of errands, three loads of laundry, packed up the t-shirts to send them to New York and then did the farmer’s market run.

I always feel exhausted around dinner time. Then, I head down to my office and studio and have a burst of energy and often get some of my best work done. Today, on Face Book, I posted: A woman’s work is never done…especially if she takes time out to make art. I find that on many days, I get caught up in the day to day stuff and the evenings are my only uninterrupted time to create.

I have been cutting leaves from the lutradur. I love the color variation and the texture of the medium.

I want to say how very much I have enjoyed reading every single comment that has been left. I really am overwhelmed. Tomorrow night, I will do the random number generator and post the winner.

When I started this blog in January 2005, it was a vehicle for looking at my work from a distance and thinking out loud.  I still do that intermittently with pieces I don't mind having seen by the immediate world.

To celebrate some good news, I treated myself to a sit-down at the sewing machine tonight.  Stitched this piece as much as I wanted to and if it needs a bit more after I put on the facing, I'll add it then.

In the meantime, I am back looking at this piece again and dithering over the orientation.  It wants to be like that one but on the other hand...I have to contemplate this one.

Alas, I shall have to leave the decision till morning.

Looking downriver from the Hawthorne Bridge at about 9:30 p.m.  in mid-July. — Jer Filed under: Portland

Leiya flew in last night around 9:00 at the local airport and came off the plane looking happy and grown up. I love Leiya's smile.

So though not too many hours have passed since she arrived (and most of that sleep) here are pictures for Tetsu to enjoy of his daughter whom he hasn't seen in two years. (I saw her last summer.)








That suitcase is almost empty. I asked her to bring it because hers is larger than mine and already I am going to need a bigger suitcase to get all my things back to Japan.











Grandma was overjoyed to see Leiya.
















And this morning, Colin, Kiana and Leiya joined me on the neighborhood walk.

We've got a lot of talking to cram into the next two weeks.

I’ve an entry active at 3rd Ward in New York City.

Please go to:

thelmasmith.3rdward.com

The Vox Populi Award is based on public voting.  Take a look at a selection from the Left Turn Lane and vote for me.  Winning the Vox Populi Award will help me progress to the jurying process.  It’s a good thing to see art quilts in an artist’s venue.

Thank you for your support.  thelmasmith

Sam-the-golden-wonder-dog has been home with Beau and me this week.

Watching the dynamic between the two dogs is interesting, especially in the morning. Sam is approaching 11, old age for a retriever. He had a bad injury as a very young dog and the resulting arthritis slows him down. His attitude is good and he’s happy but his style is different.

Watching him with Beau reminds me of the proverb “Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill”.

Sam is a serious working/hunting dog. The closest thing to a bird is his training dummy.

Beau’s game is to steal the dummy from Sam at every chance then run around in circles trying to entice Sam to give chase.

Sam watches.

Eventually Beau, being young and NOT a retriever, gets distracted, whereupon Sam gets the dummy back and the games continue.

I am easily entertained when it comes to the four-leggeds in my life.

Working out in the patio yesterday, I dyed 10 of these…Sweet little onesies for sweet little babies.

Between Monday and Tuesday, I finished 8 new silk scarves and have 3 more waiting to finish.  I need some time to decide how to finish them.  I want to do more wax designs.  There is only one in this group using my new “BIG sponge” stamp. I love the BIG sponge.

I came home an hour ago from a little shopping and look what was sitting on the front walk. A box with my Orange and Cherry Jubilee quilt!!! (And it really is a quilt now!)



June, a blogger friend offered to help me with my problem of not knowing how to get this very large quilt, quilted, so I brought the flimsy with me to California, and sent it off to North Carolina the first week that I was here.

Today the quilted quilt arrived. June has enhanced the triangles and squares with hundreds of magical swirls! It is SOOOO beautiful!!! My mother is sitting here with the quilt just tracing her finger over the swirls and asking over and over,

"How did your friend do that?" "Who made this quilt?"

June also sent some kitty fabrics from her collection and my mother has just been laughing over all the colors and patterns and poses of the kitties.

"Where did you get all these kitties?" "Who collects kitty fabrics?"

"Kitty lovers, Mother. Like me."

I will start immediately on making binding and maybe will get this all bound and ready to adorn my mother's bed for the two more weeks that I will be here. But then it is coming back to Japan with me!!!

Thank you, June. The quilting is just beautiful.

As of 10:30 tonight, 95 people have left a comment, hoping to win Jane’s book. It was so much fun reading all of your comments today. On Friday, I will use a random number generator to announce the winner. So if you are just reading my blog today, you still have time to leave a comment on yesterday’s blog for a chance to win Jane Dunnewold’s new book, Art Cloth.

I was so tired after dinner tonight that I thought I could not possibly do a fiber sketch. I printed out my leaf templates on freezer paper and played some solitaire on the computer. I went into the studio to iron the freezer paper to the painted lutradur and I suddenly wanted to use some of the lutradur for a sketch. I titled it summer. By the way, I cut out some leaves and the lutradur is going to be perfect.

This morning, I washed out the dyeing that I did yesterday. Got some great results with the t-shirts. The fabric was less than spectacular.

I used a cool black dye for this shirt – you can see the blues that have shown up.

For several of the shirts, I used chocolate brown and teal — I really like this combo.

Here is another version of the teal and brown for Mia.

This is some cheese cloth that got dunked in the black dye. I like this.

This is another piece done with teal and chocolate brown. I think this will bee really cool for discharging.

I love this wacky piece. I hung the fabric on the clothes line and poured various leftover dyes on to the fabric ala Robbi Eklow. I love a piece of fabric like this that can be cut up and used in compositions. There are many fabulous elements to this.

Joining  me in the studio was my faithful assistant, Scooter. He remains calm, cool and collected through it all.

I’m so bad…I haven’t blogged in forever.  I guess I can just take you through what I have been doing the last couple of weeks… in pictures.

I went to Terra Haute to an exhibit that a friend of mine was in.  We went to a place she had once gone to school and I saw interesting things to photograph such as this structure.

Interesting glass close to where we parked…

Then made lots of fabric beads and made earrings from them…this pair sold…

I’ve been making liner bags to go in Kay’s basket purses…a little collaborative effort…

I made ciabatta bread for the very first time…it turned out great…I love it…

We went to my  family reunion…outdoors at a state park on the hottest day of the year…

That’s my brother…he was not a happy camper…

We left on Friday to go home for the reunion and were having AC problems at the time.  Well, it’s Tuesday and we are still waiting for the repair guy.  Lucky we are staying cool though.

Back to the “dye studio” and scarves and onesies this week…

Took this while the scarf was drying…

Pole-wrapped and dyed, stamped and a rubbing applied.  The rubbing plate design was made on a piece of cardboard with hot glue.  Great way to make rubbings.

A few months ago I read about Anne Lemanski and her stitched paper sculptures in Fiberarts magazine. You can see a lot of it on her web site here. I have been fascinated by creating 3-dimensional stitched work for a long time. I have shown a lot of my stuffed birds on this blog. Years ago I made a whole series of stuffed animals. I looked at Anne Lemanski's work and loved the very precise seaming she creates to give dimension to her animals and wondered how one even begins to create something like that.

It seemed like I might be able to adapt the bird pattern I developed to this more engineered form. I started by cutting paper pieces and slashing and adding to the pieces in ways that took them from flat to dimensional.

Then I cut my paper model apart and made pattern pieces.


I transferred the pattern to stiff interfacing, fused to fabric, which I thought would give the pieces the flatness and stiffness I needed. They could be a little stiffer I think. I am still working on this prototype, but I like what is happening so far.

Ray dubbed it "Frankenstein Bird" because of the prominent stitching.

More to come . . .

This is what happens when you buy the own-brand - more air than substance?

WOW! Cambridge, England textile artist Sandra Scott stitched the quilt in the photo. WOW! Sandra shares on her blog that her "work is a reflection of who I am as a mother, wife, teacher and artist. I enjoy experimenting with new art materials and gadgets." Take a moment to visit Sandra's blog and give a shout out to this sistah quilter in England! Enjoy!

One of the "tiny houses" on Charteris Road ... the owners love their little garden, and there's always something blooming. Not to mention the lions keeping guard.

What does breakfast look like around the country? The world? Your house?

I'm working/playing with a group of 7-to-9 year old creative thinkers this week at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Connecticut in the second course of our New World Kids program -- it's called "Think Like a Pro," and introduces our young alumnae of NWKs to a more indepth look at their own creative process as well as a look at how different people in different fields approach creative work.

One of our projects -- combining social media, the theme of home and an installation designed by the kids -- has to do with collecting breakfast photos.

Here's the email that the kids came up with (with a couple of additions) and your instructions. Feel free to copy the request and send it out -- we want to see the diversity of what we humans eat each morning and the more, the better. Deadline for submissions is THIS THURSDAY at noon, since our exhibit (online and inhouse) goes live on Saturday. We'll send any who contribute a link to a site with all the photos.

Hello friends!

We are collecting breakfasts from everywhere. Please email us a photo of your breakfast for our exhibition.
Email it to: mybreakfast@me.com. We need it by noon on Thursday. (We'll send back a link to the results!)
Thank you from the "Think like a Pro" class at the Aldrich in CT, USA! (Be sure and tell us where you eat breakfast!)

Here is an example:

 

More about the program, for those interested (from my colleague and co-author Susan Marcus' letter to the kids' parents):

“TLAPro” is the second step on a path that we see as building a real literacy in creative thinking skills. It is designed much the same way as we teach any literacy...by first learning a symbol system, in the case the Sensory Alphabet. This was “New World Kids.”

Next we start “scaffolding” thinking skills on that foundation. It’s the same way that the traditional alphabet leads to reading and numbers become the tools of arithmetic.

Also at the heart of the NWK approach is the belief that learning should be learner-centered, that the development of individual potential should be priority one. We believe that creativity is “basic.” We know that it can be nurtured in all children...and at this time especially...it is important to give kids the “creative thinking tools” to create a meaningful life and deal with an unknown future.

To get at individual styles we use the Sensory Alphabet as a lens to discern the constellation of strengths that we see in the patterns of each child’s creative work and behavior. Activities are carefully designed to bring out these patterns. We then share them with the parents. And you have all been a part of that. What we know from many years of applied research with kids is that these patterns of strengths don’t change. They are as indelible as a fingerprint. There is a great deal of research that supports this view, e.g., Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences that has now grown into “differentiated instruction” in some classrooms — and in the last decade this idea is strongly supported by neuroscience.
In TLAPro, the basic idea is to get kids working out of their individual strengths in conscious way. At about 7yrs old, this capacity for reflection begins to unfold developmentally. We are beginning to exercise and build these new capacities. We share the info we gave you all at the end of NWK with the children (in a simpler form, of course) and give them different formats and media to reflect on those ideas.

We keep the Sensory Alphabet and the creative process in mind as we work/play. This week we observed different ways that “pros” think and use the tools of their professions. We heard how they solve problems and create. The children had the opportunity to try out those ways of thinking, use media and solve problems “like a pro,” in fact, like several diverse pros. And the important part we reflect on at this time is...which one is most fitting for my their natural strengths? Which one did they resonate with? Gave them the most ideas? Now they are beginning to get a grasp of the notion that some things might be difficult and hard to imagine, while others will be easy and engrossing — and that’s OK.

There are several other “strands” that run through TLAPro:
•    We are building reflective (metacognitive) skills by playing with different ways of envisioning information through infographics. (This is what you’ve seen coming home.) It is a basic kind of visual literacy that will serve them in interpreting visual information and later, being able to create their own. This will be a needed skill in the future and is an underpinning of “digital literacy.” At this stage, we’re observing, collecting and playing.

•    We are playing with different ways of taking notes and reflecting on the experiences of the day.

•    We are expanding the array of digital media that they are using to solve problems and create. Again, in simple, playful and creative ways. We’ll demonstrate these for parents on the last day.
•    We are experiencing working both individually and consciously, as a group. This week, it was very simple and spontaneous. Next week we will go deeper.

Next week will have a different structure. We will divide children into three small, like-minded groups to work with a Pro that is most like their natural way of thinking. We’ll have a 2D group, a 3D/builders group and a group that will work with social and kinetic sensibilities. We will be working with the theme of HOME and using several of the exhibitions now on view at the Aldrich as jumping off points. There one day of collecting ideas and trying out beginning thoughts, then two days of working with the Pros to complete a real piece of creative work. After that, we will work together to design a presentation for the parents that includes all the results. We will also experience documenting our work and putting it into a digital format. It will be a full week!

neki desu

I have had a busy day and am feeling great. I made a trip to Target this morning to buy more t-shirts. I had some left over dye and decided to dye some shirts for my M and M and Mr C hinted that he would like one, too.

I scoured the shirts and got everything dyed by early afternoon. I had enough dye left to use up on some fabric. I had mixed up some chocolate brown, teal blue and black in addition to the red, blue an yellow that was left from Saturday.

I bought some light weight lutradur at Fabric Depot on Saturday which I think will make nice leaves for my latest aspen piece. I painted it with Jacquard Dyna-Flow this afternoon. I love the colors. I will make leaf patterns with freezer paper and spend tomorrow night cutting and cutting.

Tonight, I am feeling rather tired and achy from all the standing and walking the dog so I decided to start working on Allegro, by next organza pocket piece. Since I need to make the background quilt before I attach the pockets, I have to know the exact measurements. For the 12 by 12 piece, that was easy. Here is my start. I think it might be easier to work it out on graph paper.

The darker pockets will fill in around the white pieces. I am trying to decide if I need to paint more of the white pieces.

Now, I have an extra copy of Jane Dunnewold’s new book, Art Cloth. It is a fabulous how to book from the queen of surface design. Leave a comment and I will do a random drawing on Friday.

As part of my travels and teaching for the Arizona Quilt Guild, I got to present a lecture at their semi-annual meeting.  They hold one meeting in the southern part of the state, and one in the north.  This one was in Flagstaff, in northern Arizona, and MY how beautiful and friendly a town!  I TOTALLY fell in love with the place, mostly because of the people!  We were booked at the Radisson, which had totally cool artwork and “stuff” to decorate.  Here are two neat pieces:

That second one, especially, gives me some cool ideas for an art quilt…hmm…..

And then there were these carved doors….WOW:

Talk about inspiration for quilting and applique designs!!!!

I gave my lecture at this meeting, and boy was that a challenge!  My laptop DIED two days before, and I was scheduled to do  a presentation using the laptop.  SHRIEK!   AND, even though I had the presentation on a thumb drive as insurance, we couldn’t find anyone on such short notice (that hadn’t already left home) that had a MacBook with Keynote installed, and no Mac stores anywhere nearby to rent one!   Fortunately, I had almost ALL my journal quilts with me (the topic of the talk), as well as my digital projector and video camera (which I use for live demos in class).  My intrepid host Tari Hammons came to the rescue.  I figured out that we could just hold the journals under the camera and project them “live” to the wall!   So I did the talk, flagged pages from my working sketchbook that I happened to have with me to share for that part, and Tari just swapped things out in order.  PHEW!  The group was MOST understanding, and it worked in the end.  But I hope never to repeat THAT experience.  THANK YOU, Tari! for your help…you helped save the day! Here’s me, doing the talk, looking more together than I actually felt:

(The long delay in blogging all this is due, in part, to having to reconstruct my life on the new laptop, which took two weeks to get built and sent from Apple in China….. thankfully, I had backed up fully the day before I left on the trip and had been saving for and planning on a new laptop later this year….so all is well in the end, but sheesh!)

The meeting was the usual guild thing, and this time outgoing President Lynn Kough was presented with this spectacular quilt made by board members…WOW:

Wish I had a better picture… the quilting (by the woman on the right, and I’m SO SORRY I didn’t write down her name…she’s the new Pres. of the guild I think) was GORGEOUS!

There were vendors, too (yippee!), and one had this lovely way to use up bolt-boards and display batik selections effectively:

Finally, here are two pictures from downtown Flagstaff…  The cathedral:

and this cool tree-sculpture on the Northern Arizona University Campus (between my hotel and downtown)…when the wind blew, the leaves clink and tinkle and dance…way cool:

What a wonderful, friendly, art-friendly town!   I don’t think I could ever live that far from salt-water, but if I could, Flagstaff would be very high on my list of great towns!

Westside Portland, from the Hawthorne Bridge, on Saturday, July 24.  A brewfest is going on in Tom McCall Waterfront Park, and the Portland Spirit dining excursion boat is docked, gathering passengers. Saturday was an exciting day for the recovered invalid (that’s me) — shopping, a bit of art looking and buying, and then, as evening [...]

Hmmm. Not much going on today. I made another Alabama Beauty block. This is the first year I've ever brought along a Work In Progress (though it didn't start out that way) and I'm getting a lot more done on it than I thought I would.

So, how about some dog pictures? I like dogs. My brother has 3 dogs, 4 counting Maxine's dog that spends a lot of time here now though he actually lives with Marcy's brother. They are all quiet, very obedient dogs which is amazing to me. All the dogs that I've ever owned have been "run-for-the-hills-as-soon-as-you-escape-and-don't-come-back-on-your-own-accord" dogs. You know my headaches with Choco!

Cassie is my brother's oldest dog and is a "store-bought" dog. She waddles and snores and grunts and wants to be left alone. We all call her "Piggy". She will not walk anywhere... has to be carried. She does not like the great outdoors like the front yard. Give her a spot by the TV and she isn't heard of for the rest of the day. Cassie did not like the dip in the pool.

Scrappy is a rescued dog but has turned out to be the smartest, most loving dog I've ever met. I can't take credit for this picture. Kiana snapped this when she got down on the floor with Marcy's big expensive camera. Scrappy's one bad habit is biting his nails.

And here is Sadie. Marcy rescued this doggie too when she saw the big black eyes peering at her from a carrier.

"May I see that dog please?" (Marcy was NOT out shopping for a dog that day... She just wanted a look.) "Oh my gosh! This doggie just keeps coming!"

Sadie has a normal sized head but is lonnngggg~~ And she has a terrific overbite which makes her look very goofy. She also has, what the family calls, Tyrannosaurus Rex front legs.

"Only a mother could love this ugly dog!"

says Marcy and she went home and convinced my brother that they needed a third dog. Sadie is devoted to her family and especially to Marcy.

And nowadays we have Mogley, Maxine's dog. Mogley was even allowed to visit Maxine at the hospital in her last days which says a lot about the compassion of Maxine's doctor who realized how much she loved her dog.

Mogley is hot under all that fur so Marcy's brother decided to try a trimming job. Not too professional but a lot cooler for Mogley.

You know, my brother is a big, grumpy looking guy that shrugs off emotion and displays of affection. (but has a reservoir inside his heart.) It makes me smile whenever I see him down on the floor with the dogs talking baby talk to them.

"You is just a little bother~~~ Now, don't go licking me~~~ Oohh~~!! You baddy doggie! You lick me again~~~ Oohh. Doggie Woggie.~~~"

South Kensington tube station

Some of my "studio time" recently has been used to revisit past sketchbooks and scrapbooks. This one was made out of A3 photocopy paper; the wallpaper cover folds out. I used it to collect images of "blue things" before, during, and after a bout of indigo dyeing.I was thinking about the sky, and buildings reflecting the sky
and clouds moving across the sky
and even skies that aren't blue -
In the back of the book, hidden in the folding cover that can be used for storing loose bits of paper, were the notes from several courses I'd all but forgotten about, including one of a series of drawing courses at the V&A about 10 years ago -
We drew faces (and feet) in the sculpture court; I wish I could remember the tutor's name....

neki desu

Today we went to Cambridge, home of world famous Cambridge University. Cambridge is a lively cosmopolitan city that attracts a lot of overseas and local visitors. After lunch , we went punting on the river. Fortunately, we had a proper punter and did not attempt to do it ourselves
The punters has to watch out for low-flying bridges.
The university really goes for the ivy league look, to emphasise that it's the 3rd oldest university in Europe.

The river winds through the university grounds.
There were several dozen punts in action, so things got hectic in places.
Hard to believe this is a student residence!
The Bridge of Sighs - which connects a student residence with the exam rooms. Aptly named.

Miss Emma - almost 6 mo., pix on my FB page.  But she was only part of the entertainment today.

I took Jessica to visit her friend Liz this afternoon. Liz is one of a kind: sharp as a tack, memory like an elephant, and has all her marbles. She is 103.

Jess and Liz have been friends for more than ten years, since Jessica lived across the hall from her on 29th St. in Manhattan.

Liz is in rehab because her substitute nurse dropped her taking her out of bed and she broke her knee.    You have to read this story about her and you ABSOLUTELY must watch the audio slide show in the article (click on amusing stories under Liz' small photo).  She has led quite a life and is a #1 amazing person.  We had a great visit with her today.  Hopefully, she will go home on Thursday.

I had a fun day at the Long Beach quilt show yesterday! I have told Marcy that quilting is really a very economical hobby but it sure doesn't look that way when there are so many treasures to be found at each booth you turn to! In the ol' days when I only did hand piecing and hand quilting then sure, a quilt might cost a hundred dollars in materials but I would spend 6 months to a year on it and buy little else. Nowadays with the sewing machine, roller cutters, speedy patterns and the like, my output is a little faster but I still think that rather than being a fashion queen or a tennis club member that I'm getting a lot for my money!

This is what the Long Beach Convention Center looks like! Marcy and I picked up Takumi and Bianca a little before 10:00 and drove a short way to the center (good place to live Takumi!) We bought our tickets and went in the main entrance when I hear,

"Tanya? Tanya!"

Who? What? Is some one calling me? It was Tanya D. whom I only know through blogging but she had given me her cell phone number and told me to call her while I was at the show since she would be there with friends. We were just walking in the door at the same time! I didn't know her, but she recognized me and we had a quick chat and promised to browse the booths together later.

Booths, booths, booths! Since I didn't really know what I wanted to buy I just poured over the shops with Marcy occasionally asking

"Aren't you going to buy anything?"

First I had to buy an official Long Beach shopping bag which is beautiful and will be a great reminder of my day when I use it to carry quilting supplies back in Japan. THEN I started adding things to my bag.

I found an applique pressing sheet which was on my "to buy" list. I picked up some one dollar fat quarters that will find their way into my Alabama Beauty project. I bought some Magic Bobbin Washers which I've seen during my website browsing.

At one of the aisle intersections someone said to me,

"Are you Tanya? I read your blog and I recognize your picture. Oh, hi Takumi. I recognize you and your girlfriend. Oh, and here's your sister-in-law."

Wow! What a surprise that was!!! With all the fantastic things to look at I'm surprised that Gigi would be taking in anything else but the booths but it was so nice of her to stop and chat, and let me know she visits my blog.

At a time out period in our day I called up another blogger, Annie O. and she came over to have a quick chat and to give each other the promised High 5.

Pretty soon Tanya D. joined us again and introduced us to people and favorite booths and her guild's quilt raffle. When I decided to buy 5 batik fat quarters she and Marcy somehow encouraged me to buy 15. Tanya D. spent quite a lot of her time telling Marcy about what was good to buy or what would be cheaper elsewhere but since Marcy doesn't quilt she felt Tanya D's expertise was being wasted on her.

At some point during the day Takumi guided me back to the vendors and said,

"I am buying you a birthday present. You can pick out whatever you want."

Well, that puts me on freeze.

"Oh no. I can't spend my poor son's hard earned money. What a wonderful son! There's so much I want! No, no. I don't NEED anything. Fat quarters? A kit? A pattern? A couple yards of fabric? Tools?"

I think what I enjoyed most about the quilt show was watching people demonstrate techniques and tools. I was tempted by kits but once it is made, it is made. I finally asked Takumi to buy me a rotary circle cutter because I can see me using that in some applique projects.

A little while later I watched someone doing applique and found out why my applique doesn't look like hers! Oh dear. Do I want to buy this wonderful set of applique tools? Tanya D. and Marcy kept saying yes.

"It's a good price! If you bought everything separately you'd be spending a lot more."

And Takumi solved my dilemma by buying THAT for me too. Poor boy. He spent more money at the quilt show than I did!

So this is what I came away with yesterday. I think I was very good. I came home thinking...

"I should have bought that. I'll never find those again. I shouldn't have been so cautious."

But there are still quilt stores in the area that I may get to in the next two weeks. And I am sure other new and wonderful quilt things are waiting for me right around the corner. A quilter can never be at a loss for something to buy!

Oh, and did we see quilts? Oh yes, we did! Too many to photograph, too many to choose which is my favorite. Some photographed well, some didn't. Here are a couple. A silk antique. A whimsical LA Rose parade float quilt. Tanya D's guild's raffle quilt.




I think Marcy and Bianca had a good time yesterday. They are both non-quilters but they seemed to enjoy the hub-bub and enthusiasm of the people around them. I know I had a FANTASTIC time and consider this the highlight of my summer (so far! You never know!!!)

Takumi? Well, nothing too enlightening for him and he was good to spend 6 hours following the females around. He was still smiling at the end!

Congratulations to the African American Quilt Circle (Durham, NC) for winning a 2010 Indies Art Award for their extraordinary community contributions! The award is from the local community newspaper. The guild has about 60 members. Click here to read the newspaper story. Enjoy!