Rebooting My Life

Okay, I'm still messing around with the look of my blog. This indicates...well, you already know.

My life is rebooting.  I didn't push the button or anything, it's just rebooting. Mega heavy conference with my orthopedic/pain doc yesterday (AKA Dr. NomNom because he is HOT!) has left me with a fist full of new prescriptions and the realization that I am not ever going to be as carefree-mobile as I was ever again.  The surgical options were rejected by both of us, him because they are rarely successful and me because I'm DONE with surgery.  (If they gave out frequent surgery miles  I'd be traveling non-stop.)  It's simply degenerative.  There are no do-overs or rewinds or magic cures. Phrases like "managing the pain" and "experimenting with different drugs" are written - with ink - in my file.

So where do I go from here?  What do I do? I need a job.  I can't commute very far, it's physically impossible and consequently rules out a shot at the better paying and more interesting jobs.  I know what I want to do.  I want to do what I've wanted to do all my life. I want to sew. I want to make quilts. I want to make quilts, totes, bags, my funky necklaces (like these), custom quilts for babies, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays.  I want a room in my house where I can walk in every day and be happy that I am there and do what I love.  I have the room. I have the equipment. I have a good stash.  That part is done. I have my husband's shop to sell in, as well as being ready (and able) to set up and market an on-line shop. I even have all the wholesale paperwork and permits because we have them through Joe's store.

I have no idea how to do the rest.

Venture capital would be necessary - the bills still need to be paid while all of this is being sorted out.  I can't see mailing Verizon a nice wall hanging and saying, "Here, this is for July, August and September, I'm trying to get my business up and running, m'kay?"  Frankly no bank around here is going to invest in a home business making "those blanket things" as the Illuminati tend to call quilts.

I'm not getting any younger. In fact, in about 3 weeks I'll be getting another year older. If not now, when do I do this?  I've had it in the back of my mind for ages and ages.  I always thought, "Someday I'll be able to do what I really love."  I have fewer days in front of me than I do behind me. This is probably my last chance to do this. I'm terrified. I'm not sure how to make this happen but I want to close my eyes and jump. No regrets.  I never want to look back at this time and think, "I should have done it then."

So what do I do?  How do I make this happen?   Anyone?  Esty and Twitter peeps who have done this - how did you get started?

Getting "IT"

It's never a good sign when I'm playing around with the look of my blog. It is an indicator of  one of two things: brain freeze ( I got nuthin')  or time-out (when I'm stressed, heat stressed, anxiety stressed, etc. and anything I put on the internet would be of the shock and awe variety, and not the "good" shock and awe, either. ) So there you go.  I'm playing with the look of my blog.  (Okay, I'm in time-out.)

In the meantime I have an amazing labor of love to occupy my hands.  A very good friend has one of the wall hangings made by my mother. We used to sell them in our store here in Gloucester and then mail a check back to her where she would cash it in and buy more quilting fabric.  (Mom kicked ass that way.)     Linn  has had this beauty hanging in her home for many years and recently asked me to take it home and give it a wash - she was nervous about doing it herself.  Okey dokey.  Washed. Line dried in the approaching scorching heat.  When I took it down I noticed that the sleeve on the back of the hanging had some places where the threads had just let go.  Age happens.  I found a spool of black thread and a sharp needle and I'm redoing the entire sleeve.  It is a miracle that I'm able to do it without clutching it to my chest, crying, and refusing to let it go.  (Eleven years later I think I'm finally making progress with my  grief.)  I'm actually enjoying the process, loving the chance to work on something my mom made, and grateful for the fact that Linn GETS IT.

There are not a lot of people out there who "get it" when it comes to quilts or, for that matter, anything hand crafted.  Paintings in galleries are found "worthy" but quilts, knit socks, hats or scarves are just KRAFTY with a K and not "worthy" of being looked at as serious creative expressions that require time and talent.  It has been an uphill battle for years.  To show my serious intent I was going to start a quilt guild here in Gloucester and call it "Quilt Bitches" and we'd all get Harley-Davidson tattoos (but the motorcycle would have a quilted seat.)  Cool, right? 'Cept I'd never get a tattoo.

A quilter's quest for street cred is apparently a life-long venture.  This is made more difficult by The Learning Channel's newest program, Craft Wars, hosted by..... TORI SPELLING.  Seriously, TLC?  I personally believe the only time she's had a hot glue gun in her hand was when she was replacing some hair extensions that had fallen out. A Twitter peep of mine remarked that  while she did watch the debut show,  she found "Tori's  clown-like makeup distracting."  TLC needs to learn (oohh, how ironic...) that credibility is an important part of attracting an intelligent and respectful audience who - when given intelligent content from creditable sources - have a way of going out and spending money with the show's sponsors to recreate those ideas in their own home.  It's a concept.

Time to get back to sewing the sleeve on this wall hanging.  Linn was skittish about  washing it herself because she wanted to make sure it was done carefully and properly because she loves this thing as much as I do.  She respects the time, effort, labor and creativity that went in to producing it. She gets it.

The Tao of Ed and Quilter Manure

[caption id="attachment_2571" align="alignleft" width="266"] Ed[/caption]

This is Ed.  He is the new sock monkey I purchased at a serendipitous stop at a church rummage sale.

On Saturday I drove up to Lowell, Massachusetts,  to visit my career alma mater the The New England Quilt Museum.  It was with mixed emotions - I miss the place terribly but the looong commute, the price of gas and the combined toll it took on my body and pocketbook made the decision for me.  As I pulled off  I-93 and began the storybook-beautiful drive down Rte. 133 I remembered Saturday mornings were prime-time for yard sales all along the route but I could never stop and poke around (as I would be late for work) so for five long years I resisted the temptation.

HAH.

That was all behind me as I cruised along and spied a lovely church lawn cluttered with tables and merchandise and  people swarming about.  The first table I walked up to was managed by a quilter who was selling off her book collection and had some fantastic books all selling for a mere $5 a pop.  I love it when karma happens.  I managed to restrict myself to an armful and wandered to the next table where I found ED.  Ed had to come home with me. I've wanted a sock monkey doll fah-evah (local Gloucester dialect) and he was adorable.  I didn't name him, he just told me his name when I tucked him in to the passenger seat among my new/old books.  It happens that way with me, I swear.

Ed and I continued on to the museum for a wonderful reunion with co-workers and quilts. I was completely blown away by the Fenway Park Centennial show - Rosemary Baun is a tremendously talented quilter. Even if you're not a die-hard Red Sox fan (and I'm not)  it was well worth a visit.  The imagination and creativity were rockin'!  The quilts up in the permanent collection room(s) were breathtaking.  It was all good.  What made it better was the special program presented by Shelly Zegart who created and produced the DVD documentary Why Quilts Matter - History, Art and Politics .  I've been a big fan and supporter of this important and alternately hysterically funny and sobering work for ages and it pleased me no end to see a room full of people  become enlightened and engaged too. Bonus - I finally got to meet Shelly and she is a peach, as was her husband, sister and brother-in-law. (Apparently they have a family requirement to be bright, intelligent and maintain a rippin' sense of humor.) I'm sure their website was inundated with people wanting to watch segments online and learn more about the program.  Guild reps in attendance perked right up when, after seeing segment samples, they realized the programing value inherent in the production. A win-win and bang for the buck. What's not to love?

On the drive home Ed and I talked about the responsibility quilters have to support each other in their work.  It applies to supporting any of the arts - it doesn't just fall out of the sky, people. The expression, "Money is like manure -  if you leave it in a pile it rots, you have to spread it around to do any good" has been attributed to many people but it doesn't lessen the truth or importance of the statement. We all want the quilting culture  and industry to thrive.  Ed says that while few of us have Medici money to be patrons we can buy a ticket or a book, throw a few bucks into a membership (even if it is far away and we can't visit often), support research and programing and - GET  A LOAD OF THIS - benefit ourselves from what we have fertilized.  Sometimes this means paying a few dollars more for a book or a pattern than we would if we could find it for on, say, Amazon.  To be truthful, Amazon doesn't need my money and doesn't support my community. Besides, after they tack on inflated shipping and "handling" fees the difference really. isn't. that. much.   I'd rather buy it directly from the quilter, the author, the designer - you get my drift.  The quilting industry is a THREE AND A HALF BILLION DOLLAR A YEAR BUSINESS.  That is not a typo.  Ladies and gentlemen of quilt nation that is a LOT of manure.  Look at where you spread it very carefully.  Pay attention to where leave it.  Spread it in worthy places but most important of all: SPREAD IT.  I guarantee by doing so not only the scholarship, books, patterns, fabric and RESPECT for your most beloved art will bloom and grow and thrive, but YOU will bloom and grow and thrive as a  quilter, quilt artist, historian, academic.....

Why Quilts Matter - to Me

As a museum (and quilt museum) professional, I have a major chip on my shoulder formed by years of friends and acquaintances dismissing what I do as not a "real job".  Tell people you work at a quilt museum and they tilt their head a little and say something like, "(pause...) Well....isn't that niiiiice! You must lovooooove it!" They act like it's just a big 'ol quaint, cozy sewing bee.  Let me tell you something - there is nothing cozy about it. We have layoffs, budgets, deadlines, evaluations and performance goals. We are dealing with decreasing revenues and increasing costs - AND we have to deal with the general public e-v-e-r-y day. Believe me, it's a real freakin' job.

I promised a review of this program and here it is. I really did not know what to expect when I popped a copy of Why Quilts Matter: History, Art and Politics into my DVD player. There are some quilts in the series from the collection of the New England Quilt Museum  (where I have my "pretend job") so we received an advance copy.   I was so afraid it was going to be all Sunbonnet Sue and ditsy prints and old grannies with their white hair in a severe bun at the back of their neck - or go on to reinforce other negative stereotypes about quilters.

BOY WAS I WRONG.

I was positively thrilled at how wrong I was.  Shelly Zegart has taken the quilting bull by the horns and put it all out there - the good, the bad, and the dicey politics. There are nine programs in this series, each featuring good scholarship and interviews with experts. These are interspersed with photographs, images of many beautiful quilts and some good b-roll of exhibitions and colorful locations.  I downloaded the nine episode guides to my iPad so I could follow along with the narration. When I saw a particularly beautiful quilt all I had to do was look down and see the name, maker, location, etc. Nice touch.

The best pat?  Oh, how I bonded.  I bonded with the Gee's Bend quilter who said, "When I finish the top I love it, and then when I take it out later to quilt....I get another breath of it."   I nodded knowingly when Shelly Zegart talked about how quilting is often dismissed as "just" the work of women or looked upon as a domestic chore - not an accomplishment or an art or craft. I stood up and cheered when Shelly took on The Sun Sets on Sunbonnet Sue, threw down about the MYTH of the Underground Railroad Quilts, and called out THE QUILT POLICE on their marginalizing hostility. I felt proud to be a quilter, I felt my peeps were finally getting some respect.

As a museum professional I especially enjoyed Episode 6: How Quilts Have Been Viewed and Collected.  There was a wonderful discussion of how quilts are appraised and evaluated (just because they are old doesn't mean they are priceless, people)  and what makes them historically important. It was so gratifying to see it put out there for all the world to see and learn what epic changes and the rise of authoritative scholarship that has come about in the past decades.  The existence of The Quilt Index is one shining example of the tremendous knowledge base that has been created. The database of over 50,000 quilts, essays, lesson plans, and images has become the preeminent starting point for quilt research and exhibit planning.  Let's not forget the mothership - The International Quilt Study Center in Lincoln, Nebraska.  I guarantee that if you visit their website and play with the Quilt Explorer you will look up 2 hours later and say, "WHAT? WHAT TIME IS IT?" There are numerous organizations that promote quilt scholarship and research. The American Quilt Study Group is one of the most preeminent of them, and I am proud to note they are also based in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Fair Disclosure: I was born and raised in Nebraska.  When I hear people disparage the fact that the IQSC is located in Nebraska I get a little sideways. I grit my teeth and nicely point out what a great idea it was to locate it in the CENTER of the country where everyone has equidistant access. I then take the opportunity to educate them about the outstanding textile studies programs in place there long before the IQSC was founded.  

Let's wrap it up: this program is well worth the purchase price.  Yes, you'll see it on PBS but you won't see it all because you'll miss an episode and you won't be able to realize the full impact of this production. It will move you, inspire you and enable you to carry your head a little higher. If we truly want to promote and continue the work, art and craft of quilting we need to make it a priority.  We need to support this kind of scholarship and PR  with our blogs, our actions, and our money.  Buy it from the Kentucky Quilt Project. Buy it from your locally owned quilt shop or from a museum.  Just be sure you share it with as many people, guilds, neighbors, townspeople, church groups as you can.  It is a wonderful production that will entertain, inform and enrich anyone who appreciates something truly beautiful.

Quilts really matter to me.  I've given up more financially rewarding job opportunities to do what I do.  I don't want to burn out for a corporation. I don't want to come home exhausted to benefit a bunch of faceless stockholders. Don't kid yourself - I come home burned out and exhausted all the time. My daily commute is a 100 mile round trip. The cost of gas is killing me. I do it because I want to be around this kind of art. I learn from my co-workers and visitors every day. I'm willing to do it as long as I can because I thrive on the emotion I have always felt when seeing a quilt for the first time. It never lessens. I have the curators trained to call me when they are opening boxes for the next exhibit.  I want to be with them and see them first. When I go upstairs to open or close the galleries I have my own private time with the quilts and it just. fills. me. up. I am inspired, I feel creative, and I feel proud knowing I use my daytime hours to care for, promote and share this art. I can then go home and use my talents (and what I have learned at work) to create my own beautiful quilts.

Quilts have always mattered to me. From my earliest childhood I have always felt and known hand-made objects to give off a sort of emotion, energy, karma - I'm not sure what to call it.  I feel it when I touch quilts made by others - especially old ones. They almost whisper to me. Willa Cather (another Nebraska girl) called it, "That irregular and intimate quality of things made entirely by the human hand." This quote says it best:

It took me more than twenty years, nearly twenty-five, I reckon, in the evenings after supper when the children were all put to bed. My whole life is in that quilt. It scares me sometimes when I look at it. All my joys and all my sorrows are stitched into those little pieces. When I was proud of the boys and when I was downright provoked and angry with them. When the girls annoyed me or when they gave me a warm feeling around my heart. And John, too.  He was stitched into that quilt and all the thirty years we were married.  Sometimes I loved him and sometimes I sat there hating him as I pieced the patches together.  So they are all in that quilt,  my hopes and fears, my joys and sorrows, my loves and hates.  I tremble sometimes when I remember what that quilt knows about me. 

Marguerite Ickis, quoting her great-grandmother in the book,  Anonymous Was a Woman, 1979, Mirra Bank, St. Martin's Press.

The Healing Power of Fabric Arts

A wonderful article about an artist to be featured in the next exhibit at the New England Quilt Museum.  Dr. Michele David has quite a story - and a marvelous talent.  You just want to grit your teeth at such an overachiever, but you gotta love her.  All that talent, brains and spirit in one woman - WOW!

A Healing Art by Sandra Lawson

What Gives?

I'll tell you who gives -  Betty Londergan.  Her blog is called What Gives 365 and here is some insight on her thinking:

I’d been looking for a way to do some good in the world for a while but could never figure out exactly what to do – so I’ve settled on a random shotgun approach of giving to anything that rings my chimes –which hopefully will inspire other people to pry open their wallets and give as well. I’m using the money my dad left me to fund this venture – and since he and my mom were thrifty savers who were also passionate givers, it’s poetic justice that those hard-earned dimes and nickels will be passed along to good causes. Dorothy Mae would love that—and say that it’s about time I stopped buying so many darn shoes and did something for others.

Today she gives a shout-out to the New England Quilt Museum (yay!) by featuring a beautiful quilt from the collection, and gives props to the Quilt Index and the Alliance for American Quilts. It's a wonderful blog entry - just click on this link. Thanks, Betty!

Help, Please!

Please take a two second poll that will help enormously with a future project. THANK YOU ! ! !

[polldaddy poll=3703693]

Homage to my Sherpa

[caption id="attachment_1122" align="aligncenter" width="283" caption="Now That's a Bear! Created By: Debbie Janes Photo by: Jeff Lomicka"][/caption]

Deborah Janes is my sherpa.  I have the very good fortune to work with this talented woman and I learn from her every single day that I do.  In addition to being one of the most talented quilters I know (click on the above picture)  she has an endless supply of patience.   Seriously.  I know I sometimes ask the most basic questions of her and she manages to look thoughtful (like she has never been asked that before) and give me an answer that in no way makes me feel like an idiot.

I think I am most in awe of the latter - someone with her skills and abilities could easily take the high and haughty route but she does not. Heaven knows there are enough **QB's on the planet.  She demonstrates such a genuine love for what she does that it becomes contagious.  I've seen people in the museum shop watch her, ask her questions, and she draws them in to whatever she is working on and always tells them, "Oh yes you CAN do this,  it's fun!" and they walk away shaking their heads in amazement....and encouraged by her infused energy.

I am inspired by Debbie  for these and other reasons that go beyond what can be discussed here.  She has faced major battles in her life and she meets them head on.  I try to remember her example when I am asked questions (not about quilting) by tourists in my husband's store, by people who think working at a quilt museum is (tilt your head to the side) "sooo cute!" and who generally exhibit a disregard for personal property.  (I honk the hell out of my horn when I see someone throw a cigarette butt out their car window.)  I think we all have knowledge and gifts that we need to share with others even if we don't realize it ourselves.  I hope before I leave this earth I have been a sherpa to someone, or a whole lot of someones.

**QB's  =  Quilt Bitches.  We all know a few..... make sure you aren't one of them.

You Like Me - You Really Like Me!

Awwww, sorry to go all "Sally Fields" on you, but I just received the nicest award from Shannon over at MonkeyDog Quilts.   I think Shannon 'gets' my dark sense of humor, and aside from my family and a few good friends that is a pretty rare thing.  Anyway, she's a doll,  she has a crazy dog and she really enjoys sewing.  What's  not to love?

Before I get my tiara I have to follow a few rules and do some stuff.  This will entitle me to bestow this lovely award on others so that I may encourage them the way that Shannon has, thankfully, done for me.  First up - I have to reveal  seven things.   This could be interesting.

1. I have a tool box that I hide from my husband. Inside are my needle nose pliers, an assortment of screwdrivers, blue painter's tape (also used to tape off quilting patterns), graduated paint rollers, a stash of Allen wrenches and my very precious collection of paintbrushes.  I have to hide them because my husband would use an expensive cutting brush to sweep dead leaf gunk out of a gutter and not break a sweat.  If you turned me loose in a hardware store with $500 to spend  I'd blow it all in the paint department.


2. I consider the following one of the finest culinary recipes for comfort food: hot chicken soup, a box of Chicken in a Biscuit crackers and Skippy chunky peanut butter.  Apply chunky peanut butter to CIB crackers and float them on top of a steaming bowl of chicken soup.  It is a thing of beauty and it is delicious.  (Hey, I make my own soup.)


3. I started sewing in junior high school and have made garments all my life.  I consider myself a pretty good quilter but I can't for the life of me install a simple  zipper.


4. I sing while I brush my teeth.


5. I have struggled with shyness my entire life.


6. I have a pair of mentors who live on my CPU and I talk to them a lot.  Helen (the chicken) and Commander Bob (the green army guy) are fine sources of wisdom.  I can't use the language they use here  so let's just say they have a very low tolerance for BS and keep me on track about a lot of things.


7. I adore rhubarb.

There - let the festivities begin.  Bloggers everywhere should rejoice that while we may be separated by time, distance, opinion or subject,  we all support each other.  It is a delight for me to be able to now go forth and do it for others.

Food for Thought

Whatever you say,  do, create, paint, weave,  whatever --   this is today's food for thought:

I've been a hard worker all my life, but 'most all my work has been the kind that 'perishes with the usin'," as the Bible says.  That's the discouragin' thing about a woman's work....if a woman was to see all the dishes that she had to wash before she dies, piled up before her in one pile, she'd like down right then and there. I've always had the name 'o bein' a good housekeeper, but when I'm dead and gone there ain't anybody goin' to think  o'  the floors I've swept, and the tables I've scrubbed, and the old clothes I've patched, and the stockin's I've darned...But when one of my grandchildren or great-grandchildren sees one o' these quilts, they'll think about Aunt Jane, and, wherever I am,

I'll know I ain't forgotten.

Aunt Jane of Kentucky,  ca. 1900 - from the book Anonymous Was a Woman, 1979, Mirra Bank, St. Martin's Press.

Looky Looky - A Thing of Beauty!

When I came in to work this past Wednesday I saw this on my desk and nearly fainted. I've been dropping (okay, throwing) hints around that I wanted one of these for my birthday and I THOUGHT somebody finally took the hint (okay, broadcast).

Wrong.

It was the next best thing, though. The artist who makes these - Dave Grunewald - is a craftsman living in upstate New York.  His website QuiltBoxes is a thing of beauty and if you go looking I recommend you tie a bib around your neck because you will drool over these things.   He also has a wonderful Facebook page  where you can read the reviews of his admiring fans (including me) and get updates on new designs.

Back to the quilt box - he actually DONATED one of these to be raffled off at the Lowell Quilt Festival that is coming up in just a few short weeks.  Talk about a stand-up guy!  I loved the feel and the smell (oh the wood!) and precise detail of this piece.  Inside is a series of divided spaces to put whatever you like - and every edge is shaped, every joint is perfect.  It is a thing of beauty I would display on mantle at home - seriously. Quilters everywhere appreciate the time and patience and devotion it takes to create a quilt. These boxes are an extraordinary complement to quilting and serve an equally beautiful and useful purpose.

The festival committee had a meeting that afternoon and scooped up the box and put it away for safe keeping.  Not that they don't trust me.  Okay, they don't trust me.  (They had to wrestle it away from me.)   I'm giving my husband one more chance to gift me with one of these things for our anniversary, and if he fails again I'll just gift myself one.  With his credit card.  Work with me, people.

BP - the Good One, Not the Evil One

I loves me a new exhibit opening, and this one is a beaut.

Contemporary Broderie Perse: An Elegant Revival

[caption id="attachment_754" align="aligncenter" width="353" caption="Tree of Life by Barbara Barber"][/caption]

Opening today at the New England Quilt Museum,  this is a contemporary take on a beautiful technique.  BONUS - the quilts from the permanent collection are of the vintage variety, so you get the best of both worlds!   This from our PR maven  Christina Inge:

Combining collage, fine appliqué, and fine quilting, broderie perse, also known as cut-out chintz appliqué, presents a high point in the art of quilting and deserves the admiration and attention of all who appreciate fine needlework.  The technique emerged in the late eighteenth century when chintz fabrics were very expensive and only the very wealthy could afford whole cloth bed coverings made from large pieces of chintz.  By cutting motifs out of a small amount of fabric, the quilter could rearrange them onto a large field of inexpensive plain cotton to imitate the designs on larger fabrics.  Plain cream or white fields filled by fine quilting surround the trees, floral sprays, wreaths, urns, birds, and baskets appliquéd with tiny whip, buttonhole, or reverse buttonhole stitches.  The style, which was very popular in the Middle Atlantic States and the South into the 1840s, largely disappeared after the 1850s. The exhibition, curated by Anita B. Loscalzo, presents 30 contemporary broderie perse quilts and several antique examples in order to familiarize viewers with the style and its history.

I'm still working on my little no-faux-bro but I think there is a workshop scheduled in October and I really should take THAT before I sit down and attempt this technique. (Especially after seeing some of these quilts up close - wowza!)

My Bestest New Quilting Gadget

Okay I am not making this up.  Today I checked the caller ID on the phone and it gave the name of the place where my Bernina is being repaired.  The message light was blinking.  I hit the button, expecting to hear my baby was back and ready to be brought home.....and...... FAIL.  Evidently the repairman is going to go out on medical leave and so all repairs will be delayed for two more weeks.  Rats.  I feel really bad for the repairman - I can't imagine what would necessitate 2 week medical leave and I will certainly say a few prayers for a speedy recovery.  It's kind of a moot point - even if the Bernina was back, I wouldn't be in my sewing room in these temperatures.  It's freakishly HOT, day after day.

So lets lighten the mood with a website that will make many, MANY quilters very happy.  It's a wonderful site  by Incompetech Creative Industries. Check it out - it is fun to just play with and see what you can create.  This site will generate grids, graph paper, hexagons, circles - you name it, you can make it.  The finished product is a one click download of a PDF of your new file.  I chose to make a 1 inch square grid on 11 x 17 paper so I could lay out my cherry blocks.  I taped a few sheets together and have this WONDERFUL surface to lay out and align the cherries, play around with placement - it's GENIUS!   And it's  free!!  You can change the line weights and colors, too.

You're welcome!

No Faux Bro!

That is the name of my next project.  Since the Bernina is off getting it's 10 thousand mile checkup,  I needed some hand sewing to keep me occupied.  Additionally, since we're all aflutter with the beautiful broderie perse quilts coming in to the museum for the next exhibit,  I thought it might be interesting to try one myself.  The true sign-from-God came when I found this piece of fabric during my Schooled by my Stash  excavation.  It isn't as O R A N G E as it looks  -   for some reason my camera takes poetic license with color.  Anyway, I'm nervous as heck cutting it up, but as my  Yoda & Sherpa quilting guide Debbie explained to me, "Well, you can just sew it back together, you know...."

So I'm cutting it up in to bits and trying to arrange it so that it will look like a beautiful little tree coming out of an elegant pot.  The background color is a burnt orange nubby lovely, but now I'm thinking I might put it on a cream muslin background and use the burnt orange for pieced borders. This,  my very first attempt at broderie perse, will be a wall hanging when it grows up. Since I am  not going to fuse it or use machine applique, it will truly be a "no faux bro" project.  I figure by the end of it I'll either love or hate needle turned applique.  Either way,  it is one quilt I'll get to take of my bucket list.

[gallery link="file"]

Schooled by my Stash

The Bernina (sporting a fine new needle clamp screw) is off to the experts for a long overdue tune-up, clean-out, fixy-uppy.  I have bowed to pressure (and the sound of a clunky bobbin case) and made up my mind to get it back in top form.  I have three projects that need to be finished, and the machine is not firing on all 8 cylinders.  I packed it up, placed it near the stairs (so Joe can carry it down and schlep it to my car) and turned and took a good look at my sewing room.

UGGGHHH.

It was a mess. I have a little bit of an organizational sickness thingie, but you would not know it by looking around. I set to work "filing" fabrics in their color coded tubs, collecting odds and ends, finding a home for Ebay upholstery bits (I have a thing for Scalamandre) and reviewing my UFO's (not as bad or as many as I thought).  By the time I finished working my way through the entire mess, I had the uneasy realization that I have........ fabric I had forgotten I purchased.  Fabric I really loved - woo hoo!  Fabric I had not seen in ages.  Crushed walnut shells to make pincushions with - wool roving for felting.  The amount of forgotten muslin (the gift of  a friend, long story) was overwhelming.  Yards and yards of muslin.

I was planning on doing a little fabric shopping after I dropped off the Bernina.  Guess what - I'm not.  I have a lot of lovely stuff, and I am content with what I have.  It is all tidy and folded and looks wonderful.  I have been schooled by quilters, schooled by my Mom, and now I have been schooled by my stash.  It was a marvelous lesson.

I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP.

I have been reduced to the status of "visitor" in my own sewing room.  I broke the canvas needle during some overzealous stitching of my basket project, and now this - the Porsche needle clamp screw  is AWOL. The only thing left to do now is sort out fabrics, tidy up the fabric containers, reorganize my cutters and templates and (shriek!) maybe vacuum.  Is this quilting?  I think NOT.

The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Screw!

Hey !   Whine a little on your blog, call a Bernina dealer in the area and POOF!   The Porsche screw is on  the way!  Schwing!

Bernina Held Hostage - Day 25

I'm holding up pretty well, considering I have NO IDEA if or when the Porsche needle clamp screw will ever show up on my doorstep. I am trapped in back-ordered  limbo.  It isn't like I can drive down to the local hardware store and pick one up - I would have done that ages ago.  So, I'm stuck with my canvas needle in my Bernina - and since it's being held in place by the broken needle clamp screw, I'm not even sure how stable that is  - or for how long.

So I need a suitable canvas needle project and I think I have one in mind. Our new TV came with a nice remote, we have the satellite remote, we have the remote for the Bose stereo (hooked up to the TV) and the VCR/DVD remote.  I know - one remote can control all of those things, but my husband is not ready to let go of his precious stash of remotes.  Whatever - he watches more TV than I do, so whatever keeps him occupied (so I can go upstairs and sew.....) is good with me.

We need something to reign in this hodgepodge of remote controls, so I think I'll make up a basket that is 1) long enough and 2) wide enough so they can all nest nicely together. I bought the book It's A Wrap last summer, fooled around a little and loved the technique & the ability to use up some not-so-nice fabrics in a way that makes them look wonderful. Bonus - I have a strong needle in the machine, so sewing through all the layers of clothesline & fabric will be a snap.  Wish me luck, I'll post pictures if/when I'm successful!

Please Stay On the Line - Your Screw Is Important To Us.

I am kind of treading water here with my canvas needle in the machine and a broken screw holding it in place. I can't work on current projects, I can't change the needle until the Porsche screw arrives, and I am not liking this at all.  I've been reading a lot of quilting  blogs and between feeling completely inadequate and resisting the urge to post corrections to usage ( a "thread draw"?  Really?  You put thread in a draw? It's   DRAWER  for heaven's sake.)  I am getting pretty cranky.  I suppose I could spend the time cleaning and organizing my sewing room.  Or my house.  (As if...)  I am downloading all kinds of podcasts and library books to keep me company on a trip home next week (woo hoo!) and trying to fix up my antique computer so that it runs a little faster than a 90-year-old on glare ice.   Not very exciting, but I guess it needs to be done.

Anticipation is both the best and worst part of anything.  I have 2 used (PRE-OWNED for you Lexus types) books somewhere in the mail, both on antique sewing and notions, nom nom nom!  Also on a truck somewhere is  this little thread caddy and pincushion from Ebay.  Speaking of Ebay, this little pair of squeeze scissors is sharp as a razor and snips thread like nobody's business.  I love them and I'm going to order another one, maybe two.

So all of this is swirling about in my universe - and none of it has shown up yet.  Where is a box of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies when you need them?

Quilts 1700 to 2010 - The Book!

Well, the gang is all back from the trip to England, and our lovely boss brought home  fabric trip treats, woo hoo!   Lots of comments on the exhibit at the V&A, and some lovely books made the trip back "across the pond" with them.  I was able to bring home the Quilts 1700 to 2010 - Hidden Histories, Untold Stories (by Sue Prichard) for a long weekend. Fortunately, or unfortunately, this coincided with my rotary cutter finger shearing, so it was a perfect few days to sit and read. (I was careful not to bleed on the book, relax.)

The book is a beauty, filled with wonderful histories and lots of background on the quilts and quiltmakers.   I saw details in the quilts that astonished me, inspired me, and gave me a few ideas of my own.

For some reason, about halfway through the book, the contemporary quilts and quilters were explored. It was like hitting a concrete wall - the flow, the timeline, the whole experience was interrupted, and not pleasantly.  I am a new-born fan of contemporary quilts, but these were, um, how can I be nice about this - unique. Okay, yeah, unique and unusual. Yeah, that. Unusual. That is all I can say in a family publication.

When I returned the book to my boss,  I told her if it was my book I would have taken an X-Acto  knife and carved out those middle pages.  (The quilts all reappear at the end of the book, so no worries.)   She looked at my mangled finger and gave me a look that said, "Hey- no sharp instruments for a while, m'kay?"   I'm going to buy the book - it's a definite keeper. Nice to have the chance to spend so much time with it before purchase, tho.  Sometimes being the stay-at-home Cinderella has a few advantages.