Art Quilt Tahoe - Three Things to Ponder

The sign outside our door at Art Quilt Tahoe. The freakish organized person inside me really liked the way everything was labeled so nicely! I thought about snatching the paper sign at the end of the program as a memento, but someone beat me to it.

Here are three things (there are more, of course) I learned while I was there:

• Overheard from Libby Lehman, Thread Goddess: If you are a fan of Sewer's Aid for difficult threads, you'll really like Tri-Flow Bicycle Lubricant. It actually bonds to the thread and doesn't gum up your machine like Sewer's Aid can do.

• From Carol Taylor, Color Goddess: To tame unruly couching threads, use a straw, taped to the top of your sewing machine, to feed the thread. It's hard to see in my picture, but the couching thread comes around the back of the pin where you pull your thread to wind your bobbin, then trails over the end (near your flywheel). This will free up your hands to guide the fabric under the foot. Make sure the tension on your couching thread stays loose - if it pulls tight you will get puckers. After much serious discussion in class (ha, ha, NOT!), we decided that the best straw to use is one of the fat Starbucks straws, the one you get with a Frappuccino. However, make sure you get a smaller one, too, so you can poke unruly threads through the straw easily.

• Heard from one of the teachers and now I can't remember: Think about sorting your fabric by value instead of color. Hmmm...this might actually work for me, but is going to take a long time for me to reorganize my fabric. A long time ago I used to sort my fabric by type (solids, batiks, florals, etc.), then I mixed them all up and sorted them by color because I frequently intermix them in my work. But sorting them by value might even be better! I'll have to think on that one myself.
  

What I've Been Up To

I'm home from Art Quilt Tahoe, which was FABULOUS. I will post more very soon about the experience. In the meantime, THIS is what I've been up to:

LOTS OF WORK!

Actually, this picture doesn't look as bad as it feels. Organized chaos, I guess.

More soon.

Art Quilt Tahoe - Day Two

First, a glimpse of last night's dinner. It was Libby Lehman's 60th birthday. She looks terrific, by the way, and is sporting a darling new short haircut. (Notice Honu III on display behind the podium - WOW - how did I luck out with that??)

Today was the first full day of work and I made good progress on the first project. It was fun learning how to couch various yarns and threads. I have a nice new SMALL collection of these yarns that I can use for various projects. I already have some ideas.

Here is a play-by-play of the piece I worked on today:


I'll post a picture of the finished project tomorrow. In the meantime, check out this jacket that Mary P. from Upland, California made (Aly, here's an idea for your fabric!!):




















More fun posted tomorrow!

Tahoe!

I arrived at Lake Tahoe yesterday, a little tired from the red-eye flight, excited about the week ahead and a little nervous. This is the first time I've taken a trip like this by myself! It feels a little bit odd to be in such a beautiful place without Bruce, and he said it feels odd to be home by himself, too.

This is the view from my room, which is lovely. Snow on the mountains and a bit chilly outside - I don't think it got up to 50 degrees yesterday.

I settled into my room and had a massage, which was desperately needed after trying to sleep on the plane. They had a sanctuary room with comfortable couches, relaxing music, lemon water, tea and apples. I had two cups of this wonderful cinnamon tea, the scent of which reminded me of the fiery taste of cinnamon bear candy (one of my favorites), and an apple. I realized as I ate the apple that I'd had very little to eat and I was starving!

After the massage I felt relaxed and rejuvenated, but not perky enough to explore, so I ordered room service (I think for the second time in my life) and had a wonderful grilled chicken sandwich and a bowl of mixed fruit. It was funny, I was expecting a little side cup of fruit, but it actually came in a good-sized bowl which was filled with cantaloupe, honeydew, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and pineapple which were all fresh and sweet. I was especially surprised with the pineapple, which was the best I've had outside of home (and better than some of that)!

This is the view this morning. It snowed last night!! There is a thin blanket of white covering everything and it is SO PRETTY. You have to walk outside to get from the building where the rooms are to the main building where the workshop and restaurants are which is neat because you get to experience the COLD air. I love it. I'm just thankful I have a good jacket, gloves and warm shoes. I might even take a walk outside later. There are trails everywhere. If I had warmer running clothes, I'd probably take a spin outside, but I'll be happy to workout in the fitness center which looks out on the valley. Who needs TV on the treadmill when you've got a view like that!

I am enjoying the peace and quiet and the ability to choose whatever I want to fill the day. I am reading a wonderful book that I borrowed from my friend Joan called "A Three Dog Life." It's a memoir about a woman whose husband is injured and suffers a traumatic brain injury. It's beautifully written, poignant and funny. I didn't think I would be able to relate to it, but I read the cover flap and was intrigued. Turns out there's something for everyone to take away from this book. I have to keep reminding myself as I read it that it is a true story - this woman is remarkable. A must-read!

Lastly, I have to show you the little bag I bought for traveling. I needed a small purse just to carry my ID, credit cards, phone and camera, plus my boarding pass. Who wants to dig through a huge bag at the airport? I looked everywhere on Maui, but could not find what I had in mind, and I had NO TIME to make one up. The I literally stumbled onto Linda Dunn's blog via the SAQA web ring (the link for the ring is on my sidebar - they are all Studio Art Quilt Associates members). She makes these FABULOUS bags from bits of recycled fabric. Here is a picture of mine:

It is beautifully made, opens at the top with a zipper, has a front pocket that fits a boarding pass (see the gold silk edge near the top), and a zipper pocket on the back that you can't see, which holds my camera and phone perfectly! To top it all off, all pockets are lined in silk. And, it is my current favorite color combination - brown and blue. What a great Christmas gift! Thanks, Linda, for having exactly what I needed!

That's all for now. I have to finish sewing the sleeve on my quilt for the challenge. I will post a picture of it after the exhibit opens. More later!

No Mo Plastic Bag

Check out this effort by the Paia, Maui merchants to become the first plastic-shopping-bag-free town in Hawaii: www.nomoplasticbag.com

I caught a press release about it in Maui No Ka Oi Magazine.

Are YOU using reusable bags yet?

Trouble with Fabric Choices

This is the central fabric I picked for the last part of my class. I'm not sure I've done the right thing! I may scrap the whole bit and go with something completely different tonight after I talk with my friends at our guild meeting.

I'm just not sure I'm getting the pizzazz I want from the color choices. I've always wanted to do a brown/neutral quilt, but I'm not sure if this is the right combination.

Here are the other fabrics I've pulled so far:















What do you think?

Project Two

These are the fabrics I chose for the "sensuous lines and curves" part of my class next week.

It's a good thing to get everything prepped early. As I was getting these fabrics ready to go I realized that my central piece was only 18" wide (makes sense, since I usually buy half-yards) and I needed 22". I was lucky to find it at the fabric shop yesterday and bought another yard.

One more bummer - my Tutto tote is not the "crafter" model. It's the office model, so my sewing machine does not fit. ERG! I'm going to have to post it back on eBay. Thankfully, my mother-in-law has a variety of suitcases and one carry-on size just happens to fit my machine perfectly. Crisis averted.

Honu III

Here's a first peek at Honu III!

He's done, except for the sleeve, which I am going to stitch on tonight.

I finished this one with a facing instead of a binding, which I prefer for this quilt, because it gives it a more "open" look since it's not confined by a traditional binding. You can't see the detail in this shot, but I will take better (and more color-true) photos this weekend with my new photography set up.

Thanks to one of my blogging friends who referred to Kathy Loomis' article in the September 2007 issue of AQS magazine - who was it?? It's Kathy's instructions I followed for the facing - great job!

Secret Project

The other day I pulled out a book I haven't referred to in a long, long time: On the Surface, by Wendy Hill. I fell in love with this book when it came out, and it was one of the first titles I purchased for my old quilt shop.

I wanted a fun, thready background for a quilt I'm working on, and On the Surface was just the ticket. I wove the background, and here you can see how I've used every pin from my pincushion to secure the layers for quilting.

I first zig-zagged all of the raw edges to tack everything down, then went to town with several threads a la "on the surface." Here's a picture of the thread embellishment in progress.

My trusty 160 did well with most of the threads, but kicked up a fuss with the Superior Threads Hologram thread and one other decorative thread. I trudged on, though, and it finished up nicely.

I'll unveil this project and its purpose in a later post.

Getting Ready for AQT

I am going to Art Quilt Tahoe in just over a week! I have been slowly getting supplies together for my class with Carol Taylor. I am so excited about this trip I can hardly stand it! I've wanted to go to Art Quilt Tahoe or Asilomar for years and my dream came true in the form of a scholarship to AQT.

Here are the fabrics I've chosen for one of the segments of the class. I still have to add threads to this one. Finally a chance to use these finicky fabrics I've had for a long, long time. I threw in the packet of beads just because they "go."

I have to get out the suitcase(s) this weekend and figure out how I'm not going to freeze my tail off! I don't have any "winter" clothes, outside of a snowboarding jacket I bought last year for our trip to Lake Arrowhead. The average high temperature for Lake Tahoe in November is only 49! With lows as cold as 20. Oh boy. Let's keep in mind, however, that I won't be hiking in the woods or skiing. I will be going from airport to car to hotel. I'm mostly concerned with staying warm and comfortable in class.

I'll post the other two fabric packets I'm putting together so you can see the progress during the week. I can't wait!

By the way, if you are going to AQT, please drop me a note. I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone and making new friends.

Long Overdue

Here is a picture of Janey with her "get well" quilt. She had hip replacement surgery so our little group got together and made her the quilt.

These quilts are fun, because they are kind of like a pot luck where you end up having all of the right dishes. We had minimal guidelines (flower theme, Bali fabrics, and one matching sashing strip). Ta - Da - this is what you get!

She was really surprised! She had no idea what we were up to even when I was getting it out of the bag to hand it to her.

And, of course, she's healing up fast, no doubt because of the quilt! :-)

Bernina...BAH!

I purchased some new feet for my "old" 160 this year, in anticipation of my Art Quilt Tahoe class with Carol Taylor next week. One is a #21 couching/cording foot, which is the cause of my frustration.

I haven't had a need to use it this year, so it has been sitting in my sewing box, waiting for class. Last night I was working on my challenge quilt for AQT and, low and behold, I needed to couch something! I was so excited to use my new foot and clipped it on the machine. My excitement dimmed, however, when I realized it is not the correct foot for my model. ERG! Instead of the needle lining up with the zigzag hole, it lines up with the hole the couching thread goes through. Thankfully I noticed this BEFORE I began sewing and busted a needle.

WHY DOES BERNINA DO THIS?

I've never liked the fact that their machines come with so few feet included, and each additional foot is SO EXPENSIVE! And why make feet that are so similar but aren't transferable? Think of the investment you make in feet over the years, then you get a new machine and WHAM - your feet are not transferable to the new machine. If you are changing the design, change the numbers so you don't think they all fit the same.

So, I am off to our Bernina dealer today to buy a NEW #21 for my 160 - hopefully they have it. Thankfully I discovered this error before going to class! I'll have to test my other feet tonight.

And I'll have to put my old #21 back on eBay where I got it. RATS!

Lucky Number 35

A random fact: I have taken up the sport of trapshooting! Bruce and I have been going to the range regularly for the past six months or so and are progressing so well we will be shooting in a tournament at the end of November. In case you're curious, I shoot a Remington 11-87 semi-auto with a 28" barrel. :-)

Last night we were shooting trap doubles and I shot a 35! It's 35 out of a total of 50 targets, but I'd only been hitting about half up until now. Hopefully I can maintain that consistency and keep getting better. In the tournament you shoot 100 singles at 16 yards, 100 handicap singles (19 yards for the ladies, and up to 27 yards for the men), and 100 doubles.

Another 35 - that's about the number of readers I get on my blog each day. I don't know if they are the same 35 people, or a different 35 each time. Anyway, I appreciate the visits, especially since I haven't been posting regularly. Thanks for hanging in there!

Quilt-related news: Honu III is complete (except the sleeve, which goes on tonight). I will post photos ASAP. He is traveling with me to Art Quilt Tahoe in 2 weeks, along with "Night Light" and "Croton Chorus" for a special display of work by the scholarship recipient...ME! I'm also working on my challenge quilt based on the theme "Benign" or "Be Nine" aptly named for AQT's ninth year AND prepping my supplies for class. I will post photos of some of these things, too.

Stay tuned!

Red Ginger Banner

I MUST...

• Do something creative today
• Finish two baby quilts (before they grow up!)
  
• Finish Honu III
• Make my challenge quilt for Art Quilt Tahoe
• Make another special small quilt for AQT
• Get back to work on the agapanthus quilt
• Start the Reef quilt

...and get back into the studio for some quiet creative time. Does someone have an extra two weeks I can borrow?

Postcard Update

HA HA! If I had a piece of clipart with a tongue sticking out, I would post it here. Despite the trouble at the post office, I know for a fact that 2 out of 3 of the postcards I mailed made it to their destinations unscathed!

Susanne in Switzerland received hers on Wednesday (even though her website is in German, I still got the gist). Nellie in Michigan also received hers this week. Both went sans envelope! Nellie said it was the first one she received in that manner. The one to Switzerland arrived simply with an international postcard rate stamp.

The interesting thing is, I haven't heard from Postcard Recipient #3 - and she lives on Maui. It wouldn't surprise me at all if that one takes 3 weeks to arrive. :-)

What about the Quilting Content?

OK, I know. I've been surprisingly lax on the quilting front. The only thing I've done recently is get Honu III ready to quilt, which I plan to do this weekend.

I only have 6 weeks before Art Quilt Tahoe, so another thing I am going to do this weekend is tape up a piece of paper on the sliding glass door of the studio (my only available vertical surface) and write my TO DO list and schedule things as best as I can. I really do better with a visual!

I have been SO tied up with my day job and my new fitness regimen that I come home and drop at the end of the day. I work out in the morning, so it doesn't impact my creative time which is usually in the evening, but by the time I get home at night, do dinner, clean up and prep for the next day I am beat.

I am once again faced with the need to re-evaluate all of the areas of my life to try to omit and simplify some things. I just have too much on my plate.

Killer Cat Attack

Cody and I take our morning walk, usually before the sun comes up. I enjoy it because it's quiet, there are no cars, no barking dogs, etc. Cody enjoys it because, well, he's a dog. It's nice. Usually.

This morning we started out and, as we were cruising up the street minding our own business, we saw a cat stroll into the middle of the street about 200 ft in front of us. Then, out trot three kittens, probably about 7-8 weeks old. Momma is sitting in the middle of the street looking at us, then pops up and starts to stroll in our direction with kittens in tow. She's prancing along, tail up, like a friendly little kitty (a lot how Ginger acts).

Cody is in a sit, watching patiently. He's not a cat attacker (he's a Lab, for heaven sakes!), just curious, but he stays still better in a sit. I think to myself, "OK, let's not bother the kitties, we'll just go out and around them on the other side of the street." Right.

Just about the time we become parallel with momma kitty, she freaks out, bares her teeth, and runs hissing and spitting at Cody and me. She's darting in and out, coming closer and closer, flattening herself on the ground, teeth bared, claws out. Then, she rushes Cody and jumps on his back, going absolutely crazy. I'm freaking out! This damn cat is attacking my dog! Cody yelps and sprints around me on the leash and finally the cat jumps off, which gives me just enough time and room for a squirt of pepper spray. I push the button and a tiny squirt, followed by *sigh*, and there's no more pepper spray, but she got just enough of a whiff to chase her off.

We trot up the street, then she comes back at us again and I have to throw the empty pepper spray can at her (and miss) and she scoots off into the bushes.

HOLY CRAP! Talk about a wake up call in the a.m.

I have never seen a cat attack like this unprovoked. She had kittens, so I understand her need to protect them, but this was unbelievable. We gave her a wide berth, but she had it planned all along. She was probably scoping us out before we even saw her coming.

Cody and I got away relatively unscathed - I was mostly worried for his face and eyes - but she didn't draw blood. Thank goodness for his thick coat!

I have a mind to find out who this cat belongs to and give them a piece of my mind. I would have done it this morning, but I was so afraid of being attacked myself, that I didn't go back. If she's a feral cat she needs to be picked up. She's a menace!

*&@%^$ Post Office!

I have three very important postcards to mail and I got nothing but static from the post office. I should have known (and did, but decided to try anyway) that Kahului would be a nightmare.

I handed over one to the clerk and said, "I need a stamp to send this postcard to Switzerland." She said, "Don't you want an envelope?" I said, "No, thank you, it's a postcard." Mind you, it was only fabric - no beads or glitz of any kind - it was a POSTCARD, only it was made out of fabric. She turned around and asked another clerk if she could send it and they said, "only in an envelope." So I said, "Nevermind," and took it back from her. Then she says, "We have regulations, you know."

HMMPH. Tell me about it - AND IT'S OK TO SEND IT! I didn't have the time, energy or patience to explain to her about the number of people on the QuiltArt list who have researched this in the post office regulations and found it to be OK TO SEND A FRICKIN' FABRIC POSTCARD WITHOUT A DAMN ENVELOPE.

Can you tell I'm a little peeved? I wanted to say, "It's not like I'm sending a bomb or anything," but they probably wouldn't have been amused, called the cops and had me hauled out of there in handcuffs. Not worth it, so I did the next best thing.

I went to another post office, asked for the stamps I needed, stuck them on the POSTCARDS and mailed them from another post office.

My friend Robin actually mailed a postcard with a $20 bill attached to it. Believe it or not, it made it to it's destination intact.

I'm sure she was just jealous SHE wasn't getting one. And with that kind of attitude SHE WON'T!

Food Break

I've been on a fairly rigorous diet and exercise program for the last four months or so (more info on that HERE). I've lost nearly 20lbs and gained more stamina, optimism and energy than I could have ever imagined. I think it's been easy for me because I love to cook, so I've been open to trying all kinds of new, healthy things. So here's a peek at a couple of things I cooked this weekend.

Roasted Tomato Soup with Garlic and Basil
(this is the healthy one)

Roast about 2lbs tomatoes (cut in half and squeeze the seeds out) and garlic cloves (unpeeled), drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Roast at 350 degrees for one hour. If you like more garlic, use more. Saute (in a soup pot - I use my lovely Le Creuset!) one whole onion in a couple of tablespoons of butter along with a good teaspoon full of dried oregano until the onion is translucent. Add 2-15oz cans of chicken broth to the onion, add the tomatoes and their juices from the pan, and squeeze out the garlic from the skin into the pot (discard the garlic skins). Bring to a boil, then simmer for a half hour or so.

Do you have a VitaMix blender? If so, puree the soup until it's smooth, then add 1/2 cup of milk for a little creaminess. (If you don't have one of these beauties, get one... in the meantime, use an immersion blender or your ancient Osterizer, but it probably won't be as smooth and you might need to strain it through a fine sieve, pressing on the solids).


Sprinkle with grated FRESH parmesan and chopped basil. If you think you don't like tomato soup, you haven't had this before. YUM!

For dessert:

Peach Cobbler
(definitely a special treat!)

You can find this recipe HERE from Paula Deen. With one KEY substitution (keep reading)...

Yummy ripe peaches with a bit of sugar in my favorite pot. The recipe calls for water, but you need to substitute the SECRET INGREDIENT....

HA! I was only going to use a quarter cup of Jack with a quarter cup of water, but my mom suggested using ALL Jack, which is fantastic! It lends a subtle, earthy, smoky flavor to the peaches as they simmer. YUM!

Pour the batter into the pan, then spoon the peaches on top, then pour the remaining juice gently over the top. The picture on the Food Network's recipe of the finished product is much nicer than mine, plus we ate some before I took the final photo, but here's a look:

Be sure to serve it warm with a scoop of good vanilla ice cream. YUM!