Seattle Here I Come...Won't You Come Too?

I'm going to be on the road a bunch during the month of April...business and pleasure... so posts from here will be a little sparse for the next couple of weeks. During my travels I'm going to be in Seattle and I get to meet my friend Katie, of Sew Katie Did. Katie works at this amazing shop, Fabric Crush. Don't you LOVE that name!

Katie had a great idea that maybe I could stuff a few of my quilts into the extra space in my suitcase and do a mini trunk show at the shop. Who needs clothes when you can pack quilts? I thought it was a fine idea. So, if you're in the Seattle area, come to Fabric Crush on Tuesday, April 6th from 6:30 to 8:00. We'll talk quilts and do a little shopping together!
I have a few more binding stitches on a king sized quilt...I so want to show you...It's a LOT of stitching to get around that whole quilt. I'm so close, but I want to show it finished. Off to sew!

Inspector #5

Do you make things for other people? Do you worry about them being perfect? I do. Though I love working freely without the encumbrances of other people's rules, I'm pretty strict with myself. If I didn't work on it every day I'd be paralyzed by perfection.

As I was packaging my neighborhood quilts to send to their new owners I noticed a flaw in one of the quilts. It was a roofing problem, shoddy construction, and definitely a lax general contractor. I would have been mortified if that quilt had arrived at its destination with a leaky roof. The future owner was gracious as could be, but I was still beside myself. My brain jumped to dark places about other quilts.

I think I've said this before that there is a fine line between wonky and wacked out. I want my quilts, if they are wonky to be that way purposefully. Does that make any sense at all? Cutting with scissors or without a ruler creates wavier seams, but they shouldn't fall apart.

I also know that part of the beauty of the handmade is its imperfection, the touch of the hand.

Where am I going with this?

I don't want to subject myself to the quilt police, maybe a kindly, inspector #5 is what i need?


On a happier note. The first meeting of the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild took place on Saturday morning. These are my MQG peeps. 34 of us and growing. It's a good thing! If you'd like to see if there is a group in your city, go here. If not, why not start one.

One more thing for your Monday. Beth, my friend at Modern Jax is auctioning some gorgeous quilts and tree skirts to benefit Haiti. The need in Haiti will be long term. My hope is that this disaster may be the catalyst to development and stability for the people of Haiti. With the help of my blog friends, I donated $1,100 to the American Red Cross today. I know it's just a drop in the bucket, but a bunch of drops adds up to a flood of help.

I forgot to say, thanks for all the kind words about 'feeling blue' and my sew connected quilt. I appreciate each and every comment.

Christmas Wishes

Wishing you...

the love of family,
...the beauty of nature...
a creative spirit...
and the connection brought to us by technology.
Thanks for being a part of my life through my blog. Happy holidays!

Lost

It hasn't been my week...
....lost power
....lost the power cord for my mifi (that's my internet)
....lost my tennis shoes
....lost the 'G' for my G whiz quilt (how it unpinned itself and walked away is beyond me)
....lost my mind

In the spirit of tomorrow's another day....Penny is having a fabulous giveaway on the Flea Market Fancy Freaks blog. You won't want to miss it. Just looking at the button cheers me up.

Settling In...The Bruno Chronicles

I decided to start my day over again, delete the last post, and count my blessings. Thanks for all the kind words. Life is too good to dwell on ugly things.
As you can see, Bruno is making himself at home. He's taken a liking to Fudge's bed. Fudge would be happy about that.

Bruno is quite a dog. He was a trooper at the vet and everyone fell in love with him, no surprise there. He has a few minor medical issues, but nothing that we can't deal with. The vet did feel like he was much older than the shelter had indicated to us. Doesn't matter to us a bit, he may be older, but the vet also said he was in fabulous shape and had fantastic joints and flexibility. That's pretty rare in an old lab. I can tell you that he has the heart of a puppy.

He follows me from room to room just like Fudge did. Does my heart good. He sleeps under the sewing table or under my feet when I'm working. When it's time for a break he comes and puts his head on my knee, I melt. He loves to play...especially fetch...again, and again, and again and again.

He's definitely a city dog. He doesn't understand the country life. Next installment...learning to be a 'country boy'.

Baby Steps

Despite a few setbacks this week, I did manage to accomplish a couple of things. I'm going to keep these private lest you think "stupid is as stupid does" should become the theme of this blog. I was able to finish my August virtual quilting bee commitments.
First are my blocks for Amy. She wanted blocks from 2" to 9.5 inches and a few in between. When I first saw her fabrics in the bag I thought...oh my, she really did pull these randomly from her scrap box. Amy is a genius...look how fabulous they are! I couldn't stop making these. Lesson learned...unexpected fabric combinations can be so fresh and interesting. This is going to be one fabulous quilt!
This one is for Amber, the first block of the second round of my Common Threads bee. It's hard to believe we've finished our first year and are on to the second. Again Amber chose fantastic fabric. She wanted us to show off those mushrooms....how cute are they!
Look who came to visit right outside my studio window. This little one and her sibling and mom had a little snack early this morning. Thanks to Bruno, I was up early enough to see them and get this shot. My Bruno is an early riser. More on Bruno later...check up at the vet today...hopefully all is well.

Have a great weekend everyone and thanks for the welcome to my new friend. He may become the star of this blog if I don't get sewing.

I'd Like You to Meet...

Bruno

I miss Fudge terribly, and though no dog could ever replace her, I'm a dog person and I need to be a dog owner. I've been looking at shelter dogs online for a couple of weeks. On the way home from the airport we stopped in to see the boys and run some errands in the city. I asked my husband if he'd mind stopping by one of the local shelters...simply to look.

As you can see, I'm not much of a window shopper. He wasn't even the dog I planned to see.

Maybe it was that face, those eyes...the gentle paw on my knee as I knelt by his kennel sealed the deal.

Have you seen this on Sew Mama Sew about Iraqi Bundles of Love? Talk about making helping easy.

Lost in Cyberspace

Done and in Chicago by now. Hopefully it will be delivered to the new parents today.
I really love the colors they chose, so boyish, but not overly babyish. This should grow up with him awhile. It's definitely big enough to last past those infant days.
The back was one of those serendipity moments. I was planning a couple of zig zags for the back...sewed one of the sections wrong and didn't see it until I had cut it...took it apart and put it back together this way. I thought it looked pretty cute.
This might turn out to be another quilt design. I love those serendipity moments...after I get over the initial 'screwed that up' moment.
Thanks for the comments on my test post. Been struggling with my posts showing up on bloglines and now google reader. I thought maybe it was me being a MAC user, or my browser (so I tested with safari or firefox). (No I'm not going on a safari!) I've heard from some of you that I'm not the only one with this problem. I did figure out that if you resubscribe in bloglines and choose the second feed listed when it gives you feed options, that one is working. In google reader I have to refresh to get the posts to show up. It's so frustrating to not understand the whole feed thing. My hope is that you all can find me....I don't want to be lost in cyberspace.

Monday...gotta do

Spent the weekend pretty much lazing around. Too many hours spent in the studio simply staring at the design wall. Ever have one of those weekends? So now, it's gotta do Monday.
This quilt has to be bound and ready to hop on the plane with my hubby in the a.m. The baby is late and so am I.
This is a design I'm playing with inspired by some leftovers and a song. It's not a gotta do...it's one of the things that distracted me from my to do list.
This just needs to be quilted so I can share the tutorial for it this week. Should've had this done by now.
I really didn't get a thing done this weekend except make more messes. I've gotta get this cleaned up...I'm having company tonight. Do you think they'll notice?

Two for the Show

Two more quilts done for the show. Cabins in the City...I love how this one turned out.
I really like the back. Kept the quilting minimal on this one. It does have a nice texture, though.
The Modern Grace Hourglass quilt is done too. The organic line quilting took a long time and lots of thread, but it was worth it.
I love the texture the quilting gives to this quilt. The thread is hot pink!
The back is cute too!
I'm hanging the large quilts for the show tomorrow afternoon. These are ready to be loaded in the car. I'm excited to see them hanging. Smaller pieces will be added next week. I think I'm finally starting to realize this show is really going to happen.

Final Finishes and A New Beginning

The May Spring to Finish is over. Can you believe how the month flew by? It's time to account for our finishes. I have two more in under the wire. The first is my new thread cabinet.
My dad whipped up the cabinet with some scraps from his shop. My task was to find the yardsticks. A couple of weeks ago my hubby (with his eagle eye) spotted these in a local antique store. I used my trusty miter box, saw, and a bit of glue to finish it off. Isn't it the cutest? I love that the yardsticks are such fun colors and most of them are sewing related. My favorite is in the upper left corner that says, "Modern by Every Measure." It's so me!
The last 6 project improv tops are done. Tonight I need to trim a few threads, take a few pictures, and pack them up. I'll let you know when the pictures are posted so you can see your blocks. All of the blocks are now in quilt tops. I'm so happy!
So, my finishes for the month were these:
1. thread box
2. project improv tops
3. jon's graduation quilt
4. heart baby quilt
5. juicy jungle baby quilt
6. aj's quilt
7. katie's graduation gift
8. 3 virtual quilting bee blocks
Eight for me! Not as many completed quilts as I wanted, but I'm happy. I can't wait to hear how you did.
I'll try and get back this week with the winner of the challenge as soon as I can. I'm going to take some time off to try to finish moving. I've got some precious cargo to get to the other house and it's going to take some time to get organized so I can get sewing again.

Thanks for Springing to Finish with me. It's been a blast!

I Shouldn't Have

I shouldn't have...but I did. I set off to run errands today and I had to run out to the farm (a two hour drive there and back) to pick up things I needed for Jon's awards banquet Friday night. On the way home I took a detour to Lawrence (about 30 minutes from KC).
Lawrence = Sarah's Fabrics.

Retail therapy really doesn't satisfy, but maybe it could make a long week seem a bit shorter, maybe I could miss my hubby and Fudge a little less, so...

I drove, I lingered, I shopped, I spent.

Hello Betty...it's a great name for a fabric and it's cute too.
I have a plan for these letters and who could resist a cool selvage like that?
I paid too much for these.
This one has been on my have to buy list.
I was so lucky to find two of my favorite flea market fancy prints. I bought every inch they had. Maybe 3 hours in a fabric store is a good thing.
I didn't get these at Sarah's, but they're new and I love these Paula Prass cobblestones.
Found a few fat quarters of Amy's dots in a bin...this blue wanted to come home with me.

I don't know what came over me.

Consequences:
...didn't get to the post office before it closed
...no groceries
...no texas toast to make french toast for 150 high school students this weekend
...forgot to make a hair appointment
...lost my list

I need to get it together.

Holiday Preparations Continue

If I were a cookie, I would want to live here. The cookie boxes are Martha Stewart that I found at Wal-mart. I'm in the middle of making hundreds of special cookies from my great grandmother's recipe. I'll share those when they are snuggled in these boxes and ready for giving.
This block is for Nadia in my Common Threads virtual quilting bee group. I wanted to get it done before Christmas so I set aside Saturday morning. She said make a block you love so I combined my fav blocks, pinwheels and a log cabin. She also said she loved embroidery...honestly I tried, but I decided my embroidery is not yet ready for public consumption, so I did a bit of applique. I think it's cute. Loved her fabric choices. I do hope she likes it.

I know I must be nuts, but maybe I can start and finish a quilt out of these fabrics for a Christmas present. When you find perfect fabric for that special person, it's hard to resist. I'm going to give it my best.

Evil Trolls

I would like to get inside the mind of the people who could do something like this. Why did they pick us? Have they been watching the house, imagining the goodies inside? Did they know we don't live there any more? Were we "easy pickings", or did they happen upon us? Whoever they were, they don't have shit for brains. Pardon my French, as they say, but I'm so angry I can't seem to find the appropriate words. It's hard for me to understand evil.

We went out to the country house this weekend so I could start doing some cleaning and prepping for the Thanksgiving holiday. We're having 15 people for dinner. We arrived very late Friday evening (went to the ballet that evening, but that is a story for a happier post.) Had a good sleep and headed out to the lake to pull the sailboat out for winter. (Again, another story for a funny post.) Got back to the house and started changing sheets, doing laundry, vacuuming up bugs and in general making things spiffy for the holidays.

Both hubby and I noticed that the house was chilly. Didn't think much of it, it's getting cold, and we keep the heat turned down low since we only come out on weekends. The hubby headed downstairs to do some chores and low and behold he discovered that one of the windows in the family room had been smashed. We looked closer and evidently these dingbats had used a rake and tried to break in through one of the windows. They smashed the outer pane to pieces and there was a hole about the size of basketball in the second pane along with lots of cracks.

They didn't get in, didn't take anything. These evil, brainless trolls gave up. Trolls like this have none of the qualities of good people, like persistence and a can do attitude. They started their dastardly deed and then gave up and ran away with their stinky little troll tails between their legs, scared off maybe by my almost 80 year old mother or Rusty, their trusty lab who loves everyone and only wants to play. Cowards.

So, we were left to clean up their little troll mess. It will cost us about $750 to replace the window. I'm not sure how long it will take to regain my sense of security.

My dad took it personally. They live at the bottom of our hill and he watches and takes care of our house. He saw a car drive down the hill Friday afternoon. He even saw the car's tracks in the yard behind the house. He assumed it was one of my son's band members picking up equipment. He didn't give it another thought. He is planning on digging holes, putting in posts and chaining our driveway. I can't be there to help. I hate that these trolls have made more work for my dad and added stress to his life.

We're back at the townhome in the city. My dad just called. He's parked his car at the bottom of our driveway to protect the house. Take that trolls!

Warning...Political Rant

I'm tired of folks writing about and telling me I am un-American because of who I support for President. I participate in the political process, I read, I study, I'm involved, I care enough to investigate the issues, but because I don't agree I'm un-American. What happened to civility? Disagree, fine, but un-American? Enough already.

I try hard to look beyond the ads and the soundbites. Campaigns have been reduced to each side manipulating statistics, words, phrases, associations to their own advantage. I don't agree completely with either political party, and I'm a problem solver at heart. I don't mind politicians changing their minds. For goodness sake, isn't that why we have a brain, to think, to weigh issues, to create solutions, to listen to others?

Is name calling really productive? I refuse to be put in your box, thank you very much. I may disagree, maybe even passionately, but I respect your right as an American to have your opinions and your ideas. Assume what you will, just know that I vote.

Reflections

on a great birthday...

a sparkly clean house
flowers on the table
dinner with my family and my parents
talking politics and world affairs with my teens and hubby till late in the evening
good wishes from so many of you...thanks!

on the day...

september 11th is a bit different for me. in the whirlwind of the attacks on the world trade center and the horror unfolding on the television life went on, work, school, driving kids here and there. on the way home from picking up my son at school i came upon an accident on our gravel road about a mile from home. i was the first on the scene and it is a scene that is burned in my memory, a flipped over car, two girls laying on the road, a twisted neck, the labored breathing, the wheels of the car spinning, the quiet of a country road, the roaring of the helicopter as it landed nearby. the oldest died on the scene while i was holding her hand, the second died later that week, the third daughter walked away without a scratch. she was the only one in the car wearing a seatbelt. a family was devastated that day along with so many other families.

every time i buckle my seatbelt i think of that day. buckle up, buckle up your children. talk to the teens in your life, your own, and others. that seatbelt could save their life.

i know i take for granted the blessings in my life, but on days like today i try to remember how blessed i am to live in a country where the founding fathers crafted a system which established order and embraced change all at the same time. Brilliant!

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

How cool is that!

High Flying Weekend

When five F 16s swoop directly over your house it makes your teeth chatter a bit, the windows rattle and for a moment you can't hear yourself think. That's our house on air show weekend in Kansas City. The park across the street becomes a neighborhood carnival, the streets are packed with cars and occasionally folks spread blankets on our front yard to join in the fun. The more the merrier! We had friends over both days and plopped the grill and the furniture from the back deck on the front yard and had a ball. (The pic was taken last year by my son. I forgot to take one picture.)
















I didn't get much sewing done, but got a start on new pillows for the family room. These pillows say "happy" to me.









































I received my bookmarks and book from my partner in Amy's Bookmark Swap. You all can be jealous cause I had a great partner. I received these three lovely bookmarks on Saturday along with the cutest Winnie the Pooh Teatime Recipe book. There are really great recipes in there! Thanks so much Rachel! If you have a minute, check out her blog...she's amazing!
















I also received this little quilt from the fabulous Betty Ninja. It's so darling. I think it might hang right in my studio. Thanks Betty! A couple of other belated thank you's too. I received the Brilliant Blog Award from Kris at Quilted Simple, Doris at Threads of Conversation and Melissa at Sweet Sewing Sew Sweetly. Thanks ladies. Right back at you! Lastly, Carissa at Happy Stuff I owe you one. I won a Lara Bar on her blog and this big box came in the mail. In the bottom of that box was a jar of her fabulous rhubarb sauce. I made some drooly comments on her blog about her rhubarb, I'm ashamed to say probably more than once. She felt my pain and sent me a jar of her sauce. Pictures? No, sorry. I guess I could take one of the empty jar. I can unabashedly say I licked the jar clean. Simply fabulous.

Vintage Sheets Anyone?

There's another vintage sheet swap happening here if you're interested. It's limited to 30 folks, so head on over and sign up.

City Life

I had an interesting experience last night. How about I set the scene for you? This is what I see when I look out the window or sit on my porch.
















St. John's church is up the street and St. John's park is directly across the street from my house. It's a typical urban park, a few large trees, a flag pole, a few stone benches that overlook the city and have the same view as I do when I'm sitting in my living room. The redbuds in my header bloom in the park in the spring. Beautiful stonework walls line the sidewalk and a stone stairway leads down to the lower level of the park which is an open field where I play with my dog and kids play soccer and families come to hang out. Lots of folks take their lunch break at the park to enjoy the view either in their cars or lounging on the stone wall. Our street is the last street on the Kansas side, then the park, the river and an area called the West Bottoms which is an old warehouse district. Then the land rises up to downtown Kansas City, Missouri. My neighborhood is a mix of old and new, young and old, urban blight and urban renewal. I love my neighborhood, I get energy from the diversity and from the struggle to make it a good place for everyone to live.





















The interstate connecting Kansas and Missouri is below the park and with the railroad and the ramps and bridges and the river it is an area with a significant homeless population. A few blocks up from my house is the Willa Gill Center. Every day, 365 days a year they serve a hearty lunch to anyone who shows up. You would be surprised to see who and how many people get their only meal at Willa Gill. Everyday around 11:30 a trickle of people come up from the West Bottoms for lunch. I've seen a glimpse of camps, communities down by the river when we ride our bikes or walk the riverfront trail and there are a few that spend some time in the park across the street. The other day I saw two men who scrambled under the ramp to the interstate. It must have been loud and hot under there. Mostly though I don't see them, they're hidden, but I know they're there.





















I guess it took longer to set the scene than I thought. So last night I had one of those sleepless nights. As I was wandering trying to entertain myself I went downstairs and sat by the window. I noticed a man in the park. It was 2:45 a.m. I couldn't see him clearly, but he appeared middle aged, thin, and he was carrying a backpack. He was systematically searching through the trash can in the park. He would dig for a minute and then lay his finds on the sidewalk in a neat row. Dig for a few more minutes and add to his stash. He glanced at his finds and picked up a few things and put them in his pack, threw others back in the trash and left others on the sidewalk to be reconsidered. He dug some more and eventually all he thought worthy of keeping were in his pack and the rest back in the trash. I thought he was moving on as he began to walk up the hill, but he paused and did the same at the second trash can. I couldn't see what he kept. He then walked to the stone bench with the best view and put his pack on the edge of the bench, took off his jacket and folded it neatly and put it in his pack. He sat on the bench with his pack beside him and looked at the lights of the city. I watched him as he sat and I wondered about him. I wanted to sit next to him on the bench and talk with him. Was he homeless? Was he hiking the interstate and trying to get somewhere?

I have many questions. There are so many things I don't understand. We have so much and many have so little. I've been known to take someone's trash too, a cute table on the street which has potential. Is that how he feels too, "I can do something with this." I wonder.
(Photos are by my son Jon. He loves to capture that urban feeling.)