Feed the wolf

I am a bit of a news-aholic....so it stands to reason the inauguration was on the TV all day yesterday and I have been watching closely our new president's first day in office. It has all been impressive but to be honest predictable. That is until today's National prayer service...the sermon given by Rev. Sharon Watkins was inspiring!

Up until that point the service was a bit disjointed...a bit of trying to please everyone...sounded a bit Catholic, then definitely Southern Baptist, and then whoops there's a Greek Orthodox priest standing on the pulpit behind a clapping and dancing choir (he looked really uncomfortable!) I know the Obama team has used the term patchwork in several speeches but this event was downright scrappy! Anyway, I had gone back to the kitchen to do dishes when I heard her start to speak so I returned to the living-room. I am glad I did. (I tried to find a copy of her sermon online but no luck yet.)

It wasn't overly preachy...I think I came back in the room when I heard the crowd laugh for the first time. In a very nice way it was a warning to the new administration that power can corrupt, that vengeance can eat away at you, and that we all depended on them to remain true to basic values.

She used an American Indian fable as a teaching point that went something like this: a grandfather told his young grandson that inside each of us are two wolves struggling - one filled with anger, resentment and self pity – and the other filled with compassion, faithfulness, and hope. "Which one wins?" the grandson asks. "The one you feed," answered his grandfather.

Did I mention she is the first woman preacher to deliver a sermon at a National Prayer Service...things are a-changin'!
(the photos are a couple more the fun quilts worked on by members of my guild during our retreat last weekend!)

Quilt Retreat Recovery

I got home from the quilt retreat with my local guild a bit exhausted but glad to have gone. Before even bringing in my bags I headed to my bed for a good three hour nap...yikes. I sewed for hours past my bedtime two nights in a row and that catches up with a girl! After much sewing I got a few blocks of my mystery quilt done...I have stacks of square and square and 9-patches to work with now so I think progress on this quilt will start moving along now!Remember this quilt? I finally got the borders on this weekend. Much easier for my DH to understand a large quilt coming out of the bag than a couple of blocks! Anyway this top is ready to be quilted! A sort of finish....

The space were sewing in was really large and had a decent size kitchen...what more could you ask for? We did have a visit by the quilt police...who knew!Actually he was a park ranger who was just curious about quilts...but check out the really fun strippy tops in the making int he background!
There were lots of really fun projects. One of the things I like about this group is the diversity of their quilting. We had every thing from "turning 20 again" to really complicated paper-piecing projects. (The colors in this quilt are so much more vivid in real life...) We also had a couple of Bonnie projects in the works.
The quilt above has lots of plaids. She used several shirts in order to get the scrappy look she wanted. No big surprise she roomed with Bonnie the year she stared this quilt!

Check out the back of this quit..a good use of more plaids!A lesson learned this trip...if you put a half finished project in a box for six months it can take you almost that long to figure out how it goes together when you take it back out again. I did want to label this photo - how many quilters does it take to put together the Carolina Crossroad blocks...
But in the end it was worth it...isn't this one beautiful!

I have more photos but I've got to take Macbeth out on his walk. It has started to flurry and he is so excited! He keeps running into the computer room and "telling me" to come to "his" window by the front door to watch the funny stuff come from the sky. We don't get much snow in the part of Georgia so I'd best go out and play with him for a bit!

What to pack...

Packing you ask? "Haven't all your blogs been whining about unpacking?" you cry. Well, this is good packing. (as opposed to unpacking old towels and your husband's golf clubs....) I am headed off to a quilt retreat for a few days!

I wasn't sure I was going to be able to go. When I got around to asking there wasn't any space left in the cabins (the guild starts planning this a year in advance...) I had pretty much decided I would only go up for the day but my eyes aren't doing too well and I can't drive in low light which would only give me a few hours of sewing time before having to pack up to come back home...sad. Anyway, a quilter dropped out and I got the call there was an open spot!
So what to bring? I have cut all the pieces for Bonnie's mystery quilt...I am doing it in purples, greens, browns, shirtings, and golds. Totally scrappy (except for the brown which I used the same one all the way through...not sure why. I think I was just in a groove cutting strips or something....) So mystery quilt is project #1. (This is also a nod to Bonnie since she was my roomate at this retreat the last two times I went...I'm going to miss here but she will be there in spirit/scraps)

I also have a set of blocks won by a member of this guild many years ago who passed away after a long battle with cancer. Her husband gave the blocks to the guild and no one quite knew what to do with them. So they are 80% put together...why do I have so much trouble with that last finishing lap? Oh ya...I trimmed a setting triangle too early and now have to (gulp) unsew the block and reset a new one...duhhhhh. So this is project #2. (the photo of Goldie is from her "supervising" the packing....)

And finally, I have the 1930's dresdan plate project all packed up and ready to come with me...This is hand work and should be good for the cabin at night. Project #3.
Past years I have overloaded myself with projects. Some never even get unpacked when I get there! So if I limit myself there may acually be progress...what a concept! Even so, there is the sewing machine, the bags with the projects, ironing pad, rulers, cutting mat, rotary cutters, bottles of wine (not to be used in cunjunction with the rotary cutters....), cookies, snacks, and of course some clothes and a quilt (weatherman says it will be really cold!) The photo above is from the end of my street. This leads to the Savannah river. At the bottom center you can just make out the raccoon tracks. She like to use this area to wash her food. I haven't seen her yet but see her tracks and her tricks (upended trash cans!) often in our area.

Moving is Evil and must be stopped....

Today is a day free of unpacking! I will just avoid Goldie's disapproving stare...though I think she is starting to like hanging out on top of all the boxes...I have a new mantra though courtesy of Karen at Living Life at Leehaven, "moving is evil and must be stopped." I like it.

I spent yesterday afternoon at the doctors. Looks like I may have another kidney stone on the way. Not my idea of a good time. My blood pressure was sky high and about every 10 minutes I feel like someone is punching me in my side. Duhhhhh.... She did give me some good anti-spasm pills that at least got me to sleep most of the night. Amazing how good that feels!

So today is a relax, drink lots and lots of fluids, graze on the fruit salad Dh cut up for me this morning and hope it all goes away soon!

I picked up Carolina Clay - The Life and Legand of Slave Potter Dave at the library this week. If you are interested in American pottery or southern history this is a great book. The author is a distant relative of the man who owned Dave and set about writing the book in part to find out more about his own family history. This is by no means a hard-core history. He sometimes wanders off and makes it a bit more like fiction than history but tells you before he makes the trip so you can suspend disbelief and follow along without wondering where the heck he is going. He doesn't avoid the ugly parts of what was happening in this part of the country just prior to the civil war and the decade following. To say I am enjoying reading this book may be a stretch (it is about slavery and some evil times in our history) - but I am learning a lot and at times it is fascinating.

There is quite a bit about how the style of pottery/stoneware in the Edgefield area developed and the photos are wonderful. He even shows some of the face jugs that began to be popular here in the mid 1800's. It was through the facejugs that I first learned of Dave and Edgefield pottery. (on a quilting note...in the center of Edgefield is a small museum with lots of pottery and wonderful antique quilts!)

On a totally different subject...I pulled fabrics for Bonnie's new mystery quilt. I wanted to use some of my greens and purples instead of the blues and pinks she used in hers but now I am not so sure. I may just make a little test block today....is that cheating?!

Mystery to me....

Not a lot of quilting going on here. Most of my time is spent organizing and folding fabric. One of the challenges from the move is the movers sort of threw fabric in where ever to fill space...so a drawer is full in the bedroom, the jewelry box got a fat quarter, the inside of a casserole dish some 2-1/2 inch strips, and even in the shoe boxes were tucked some 6 inch squares. How they did this without my seeing is a mystery to me. So as I unpack any stray fabric pieces end up on the couch and every night I iron, fold and put away. Guess I didn't get too far last night since this is what greeted me this morning....

I did need a few minutes away over the weekend so I went out and bought some fun yarn colors. Do I have a plan how I will use it? No, but look at those colors....happy place.
The saga of the Tom cat continues. He was back several times courting Goldie this past weekend.He made the mistake of being out in the yard when Macbeth (my Scottish terrier) went out to play. Now Mac loves cats...most cats...maybe not cats who are stalking his little sister.
Tom got out of the tree fine after about 20 minutes of wiggling around on that branch!

red, white and blues....

Today was another unpacking day...this is getting a bit monotonous no? I did make some headway in the sewing room and hang curtains in the bedroom. That all just about wore me out...I hid in the kitchen for a bit making a huge batch of Beef Barley Soup. It has been a rainy day so it felt right.

Above is my husband's Red, White and Blue quilt I am determined to finish this year. This quilt has gone to one class, two workshops and multiple retreats. It has crossed the Atlantic (twice) and been lost once by Delta Airlines for almost two weeks (I guess I should have tipped the guy a bit more so it would stay lost....) I think I have procrastinated putting the three borders on because the next step would be to quilt it...it will be a pain to quilt. But, I am going to do this one way or another.....

The only excitement today was the neighborhood Tom cat has gotten a bit bolder...more like a peeping Tom.

That is Goldie...sleeping on her favorite chair surrounded by bits of Christmas waiting to be boxed up and a box of fabric bits that I save for when I pack boxes. The Tom cat spent most of the afternoon perched on that window waiting for her to wake up and pay attention to him!
A couple of times in the past week I have almost let him in the back door thinking he was my Brownie...not sure how well he and MacBeth would get along!

New Year...new list

Resolutions are a lot like lists. I am a list maker. I have a list of all our DVD's on an excel spreadsheet. I have an inventory list of all the items I like to keep on hand in my baking pantry. I make lists of all the diets I have ever tried and of all the quilts I have ever made. So why I wonder do I drag my feet when it comes to making resolutions? It isn't that I don't have goals...they just change more often than any list can update.

But this year is different. In 18 months I will turn 50. I think I have grown up enough to finally make some resolutions...

Don't worry I am not going to bore you all with the details. Just the quilt-y stuff!

First: tame the habit.
What, you say? It isn't like quilting is addictive and dangerous...or is it? Don't worry it isn't quilting per say that needs to be tamed but my rather messy fabric, paint, threads, beads, and anything-that- looks-like- it- may- be- fun habit. Put aside I am struggling with the tail end of a move...the amount of "stuff" I have isn't boosting my creativity it is oppressive!

(A lot of you know I have MS...I am now giving you permission to not feel guilty about laughing)...yesterday I feel into a box, which tipped over and I couldn't get out. You see it was one of those tall china boxes that the movers decided to throw my fabric into. There are box towers in my room making it tough to move around. I saw a fat quarter at the bottom of the box and instead of calling for help I tried to reach my short little arm to the bottom of the tall, tall box. In I went...over went the box jamming itself between the bookcase and some other boxes and putting me in such and awkward position I couldn't get back up! Also I was afraid of wiggling too much and taking down the bookcase (been there done that!) So where am I going with this? My "stuff" is not only creatively oppressive it is a bit well, dangerous!

So in the next month I am moving anything not directly related to quilting into some storage boxes and putting them under the bed. A lot the painting stuff and fabric is going to the Girl Scouts (a neighborhood girlscout is helping me with the clean out.)

Second: Take those quilt roadtrips
This is one of those "lists" I was taking about earlier. I want to go to the Quilt Museum in Lincoln, to Houston, and to another American Quilt Study Seminar to name a few. Maybe I can't do all of them this year but I need to pick one and just do it!

Third: Finish my husband's quilt
Now I could make a long list of the projects in bags. Cover a page with excuses for abandoned quilt tops. Or even, just bore you to tears with the number of orphaned blocs lurking in my quilting room. think the Island of misfit toys meets Sio's sewing room. The only quilt that really, really needs to be done is the Red, white and blue quilt I have been working on for (drum roll please.....) seven years!
(Seven years and I just searched my all my digital photos files and I can't find one of this red, white and blue....so instead you get a pic of Goldie.) Those of you who have been quilting awhile know what I am talking about. The quilt that you just don't like...don't like the fabrics...don't like the pattern...don't like...just don't like! But he does...a lot. So I am going to knuckle down and just get the d@*&% thing done.

So that is it for quilting resolutions...nothing too serious...the rest of the resolutions take care of that . I am just trying to get back to having fun with my quilting...is that too much to ask?!

2008 List...

It is that time of year that all the magazines and news show start making their lists...the best shows of 2008, the worst dressed, the best book, the worst movie....So I thought I'd make my list of what I am thankful for in the "Quilting World" in the past year. These are in no particular order and if you want to add to the list please do....

1. International Quilt Study Center and Museum
In March of 2008 they opened the museum and study center at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. My goal is to get there in 2009. What is really great though is you don't have to physically visit to benefit from this great collection of quilts. They are a wonderful on-line resource. If you don't get their "Quilt of the Month" email you should sign up immediately. It is like getting a little gift in your email each month!

2. QG Newsletter
Michele@quiltinggallery.com This comes to my email each month and provides links to many interesting quilting blogs and sites. I have made several fun projects and found blog sites that I return to often.

3. Scraps and Shirttails, by Bonnie Hunter
To see a friend archive something they have wanted to do for so long is really inspiring. Bonnie is also one of the most hardworking women I know and is so generous with her time and talents that to see her name on the cover of a book was a real rush. Sometimes good things do happen to good people! (The photo below is a block I made from her Carolina Crossroads online mystery...)

4. Expansion of the Quilt Index
www.quiltindex.org
Before you go to this site get a really big cup of coffee, tea or heck a good red wine. The number of quilts on this site went over 18,000 this year. The index allows you to search through them quickly...ok, it finds them quickly though I guarantee you will spend hours going through the photos and reading the histories. (maybe keep the pot of coffee or bottle of wine close at hand) Even if you are not a quilt history fanatic you will find this indes useful. The other day a blogger was asking for ideas on how to finish a hexegon quilt. I typed hexegon into the index and it came back with 134 examples...that was a two cuppa visit!

5. Local Quilt Shops
I am lucky to live in an area with two very different quilt shops within a few miles of my house (with a new artsey one opening next month!) I tell my Dh it is my patriotic duty to support them! On the serious side however Jeff's fixes my 12 year old Viking and makes it run like new again. (I once got a note that read, "this is a sewing machine not a cat bed!"...Brownie would dissagree.) The shops are where I go when I need a some thread and a bit of inspiration. After a couple years of living overseas and doing the majority of my shopping online it is really nice to touch the fabric again...

6. Eco-consciousness/Quilters are going green
I got my first piece of bamboo batting this month. My first quilt, circa 1972, has a thick polyester batting that is sneaking through the seams...I worry that in a fire the quilt would melt! Natural fibers, cotton, wool, or now bamboo, have to be better for the earh and for the users! The growing number of patterns for shopping bags ment to replace your plastic is a long way from the bags we used to make to hold our plastic bags! And finely, quilters are looking at their "stashes" as things to be used and less as things to hoard. Some of my favorite antique quilts show how frugal a quilter can be when they need to be! (Scrap quilts rule!)

7. Tutorial Explosion
Between bloogers posting instructions and quilting web sites you can find directions on just about anything to do with quilting. I am amazed at the generosity of those who put their ideas out there to share with us. In some ways it is like a online quilt guild. (without all the cookies and chocolate....)

8. Reproduction Fabrics
Those of us who love the look of a vinatage quilt in our own quilts are lucky to have so many choices right now. I can remember buying my first bundle of Aunt Gracie's fabrics back in the early 1990's and being afraid to cut into them...what if they don't ever print anything like them again! (I never did use the pink rabbit flying the airplane...) It was about that time I was making my first Baltimore Album quilt and I bought a piece of every reproduction fabric that came into Seminole Sampler...Now there are dozens of collections to choose from! (If they would just reprint that madder stripe from the mid-1990's that I only have a small 10x10 piece left)

9. Quilting Bloggers
The past couple of years blogging has become a major contributor to how I look at quilting. It is not only the physical act of quilting but the talking about fabrics, about families, sharing ideas, and events in our lives. That is quilting. That is can be done with women (and a few men!) from all around the world is a bit overwhelming...but overwhelming in a good way.

10. Fill in the blank....what do you think was an important event, product or service in the world of quilting in 2008? (Allright, I couldn't think of another thing to write....help me out!)

Chocolate Mug and coffee keyboard

We start with the keyboard - I cannot believe what a difference a new keyboard makes! I am not the type of person to go out and get the newest gadget...my computers live very long (some may say pro-longed) lives. Today however I had to make a few upgrades. My DH dumped...I mean spilled...an entire travel mug of hot coffee onto the keyboard. (Actually onto the keyboard, mouse pad, open drawer with printer paper, and MacBeth's head....Interestingly DH did not get any coffee on himself...ummmmmm) Anyway, I dried it out but the keyboard didn't work at all...I took it apart and cleaned it (big, big yuck...have the cats been sleeping here?) After a good cleaning I got all the keys to work...well sort of...they didn't always send the right signal which made for intersting typing (so much bleeping you'd think I was governor of Illinois!)

So off the the Office Depot I went. This is one of those things that makes not sense to me at all...it was less expensive to buy a keyboard with a new mouse than the same brand keyboard with fewer features by itself. I know...quite complaining! The bottom line...the new keyboard and mouse is so much easier for me to use. Maybe I will break down and replace the monitor with a larger screen for when my eyes go wonky...

Next the chocolate mug - maybe you have seen the recipe for a Chocolate Mug Cake in blogland. I think it was on Paula's but also saw it on the Quilt Gallery Newsletter. It really peaked my interest...chocolate cake for one "baked" in the microwave? I had to try it.

My first one wasn't a big success. I don't think I got it all mixed together enought. So on my second try I put all the dry ingredients in the mug then in a seperate bowl broke the egg and mixed in the oil and vanilla. Then I used a tiny whisk from the liquor cabinet to mix the cake...much better. The recipe says the cake will rise above the rim of the mug...they are not kidding! It almost touched the ceiling of the microwave! (I think I may make this with my nephew at Christmas...sort of looks like it is going to grow so tall it will topple over.) The consistancy is more like a teacake or bread than cake but it is good all the same (particularly with a bit of butter pecan icecream on top!) A warning...tip the cake out onto a plate while it is still hot and immediately fill the mug with water. Cleaning the mug was a bit of a challenge...I wouldn't use a mug you are too attached to....
I just finished reading Barbara Kingsolver's Prodigal Summer. She is one of my favorite writers so I am not sure how I missed this one! Anyway, I would definately reccomend it.

Wow...I've written this much and nothing about quilts yet...or unpacking! You didn't think that would last did you! Last night I spent a lot of time photographing the breakage...not a fun night. Anyways I also slipped in some of the vintage quilt blocks I had packed away. This idigo and gingham 9-patch in a is one of those blocks. I'll be posting photos of others during the next couple of weeks...I have to dig out my encyclopedia of quilt blocks first!

A little bit of Christmas

I extended my unpacking break to put out some Christmas decorations and make cookies. Doesn't take much these days to convince me to take a break from those #$&** boxes.

The little wallhanging was made by Tonya for me and includes: my Macbeth calmly watching Santa; Goldie on the mantlepiece being good; and brownie about to tear an ornament off the tree (if not knock down the tree alltogether!) That pretty much sums up our house.
The santa is at least a dozen years old and was purchased at a flea market in Maryland. It was made by a woman from Florida. He stands...oh, rather sits over a foot tall. I've been known to leave him sitting on the bookcase past St. Patrick's Day....(My DH claims I made him grow a beard because I have a thing for Santa...could be....) Not too much else made it out... a little tree, a couple of small snowpeople and a nativity set.

I tried a new biscotti recipe..lemon ginger. The flavor is great but they came out flat! Hard to cut it and make it again when it is a pancake. I followed the recipe exactly. The baking powder and the eggs were fresh. Guess I'll go back to my old standby...wonder if I could just take my apricot and lemon recipie and add the diced ginger in place of some of the apricot....Maybe I should have done that first...Duhhhhh.

The Perfect Fabric

Unpacking is a good time to reevaluate some of my unfinished projects. There are those I just lost interest in (a Christmas table runner that just needs a binding but Christmas was over soooo....this may be a good one to resurrect!). There are others that I made for a specific class or workshop that came home in a plastic bag never to leave the back of a closet again (there are quiet a few of these.) And then there are projects that I needed just the right "something" to finish it...this photo is one of those projects.

I think I bought the Dresden plates at an antique show...though it may have been ebay. It was at least 12 years ago. Since they are from the 1930's what is an extra decade or so...) Anyway, I used ecology cloth which is a medium weight muslin that plays well with feedsack. I have a couple of feedsacks to use for the borders but I just don't like the flimsey yellow fabric in the center that is machine hemstitched appliqued. The rest of the block is hand done and to be honest I'm not sure the centers that don't have a seam allowance would make it for another dozen years. So way back when I went in search of the "perfect" yellow fabric to applique over the nasty center...perfect is hard to find.

So this project has spent many many years in a shoebox. It has traveled with me from Maryland to South Carolina, South Carolina to Georgia, Georgia to Massachusetts, Massachusetts to Gloustershire England, and England back to to Georgia again. If these blocks could get frequent flyer miles we could go to Houston next year for free!

Well hang onto your seat...I found the perfect yellow fabric in one of the most unlikely of places. My husband's closet. OK, it wasn't really his closet. It was a box of his clothes I was unpacking from the move. An old yellow cotton shirt. (Thank you Bonnie Hunter for this inspiration!) I thought about it for a minute - I hadn't seen him wear it in years...it is pretty worn around the collar...there is a button missinng...RIPPPPPP. This shirt is now fabric!!!! The perfect fabric!

So now I have another hand sewing project that should take me through until my sewing room is up and "fully operational" again. (fully operational is to be spoken like the emperor in Star Wars when he boasts about the "death star" - this is a wierd thing my DH has started doing when talking about my sewing room....)

Siobhan

I'm not sure if we are making progress on the unpacking or it just isn't bothering me as much. Either way things are better. Oh, I still can't walk into my sewing room but I do have a plan. Friends are coming over and moving the boxes out into the garage so we can put in the new (unbroken) bookcases and gradually move the fabric into place. If I am lucky this will happen before the end of the year....

Another reason for needing more bookcases for fabric (other than still having more fabric than I need!) is the number of books that find their way into out house. I must have given away a carload of books before I left England and still we have them piled in corners, on crowding counter-tops, double stacked on shelves and lined up on the bedroom windowsill.
Last night I finished "Ice Road" in the photo above. It is a historical novel based in St. Petersburg at the start of WWII. If you like historical novels or this period in history I would definitely recommend it. It is a fairly complex group of characters and it takes a good hundred or so pages before the plot gels...stick with it though. (I don't know if you could write a novel set in Russia and it not be a bit complicated!)

So it was a fairly lazy weekend. My DH did most of the heavy lifting when it came to the boxes. Did a bit of Christmas shopping, a bit of baking, and a lot of looking through recipes.

A question...a couple of years ago a quilter posted a "baked oatmeal" recipe. I made it a dozen times or so then lost the recipe. Does anyone have it or know who posted it?

The things you find

Today I am taking a day off from the move...not a day off however. My Dh offered my services to help bake for a party our friends are having tonight. Now normally this would not be a problem but when most of your things are still in cardboard boxes it is a bit of a challenge. I ended up making Cream cheese brownies, lemon bars, and pumpkin bars. They are all baked in 9x13 pans so I can put out one tray with three different bars on them and they fit well. I also made a try of pralines this morning. I had to put them in the car already so I can't "graze" on them.

I'm going over their house later to work on the appitizers...tzatziki, fresh hummus, stuffed grape leaves, grilled halloumi, spanakopita, bruscetta on garlic toast, and grilled marinated shrimp. Most of these are already put together and just need to be thrown on the grill or plated. The house smells good at least.

People react to stress...like moving...differently. When stressed I cook. This has been a stressful move. First the movers thought they lost our main shipment...it ended being a data input error but made for a couple of anxious days. Then our cat Goldie got out and somehow injured her back leg. Now of course this happens lat at night so she has to go to the late night vet causing us to have a late, late night while she gets it cleaned and stapled shut.So they finally find our shipment but by then they can't deliver until after Thanksgiving. No problem...I can sleep another two weeks on an airmattress. The morning before the shipment arrives worry that I may have pulled a musle cleaning the kitchen...by noon I was in the emergency room diagnosed with a kidney stone! Fortunately about midnight it passed but it left me really, really out of it for when the movers showed up at 7:30 the next morning.

The movers told us they were going to deliver 7 crates Monday and 7 more the next day. This sounded like a good plan until the first day was over. They delivered the frame and box spring for the king size bed and only the mattress for the queen size guest room bed. Still not a real bed in the house... Also, the first day was primarily boxes...no bookcases, dressers, or cabinets. Hard to put stuff away like that! Try as you can the boxes end up blocking spaces you want to put the cabinet that the stuff in the boxes go in! Duhhhhhh!!!! It was so nice when my quilting room was empty like the photo below...now I can't even get in to take a photo (all you see is the side of a box!)Then comes the damages part....The packers were incentivized to get the containers as densely packed as possible. The packed out the drawers of dressers and the inside of the cabinets for my sewing room...I'm not sure they realized how heavy fabric is...the three cabinets are all broken in one way or another and the fabric all has to be refolded. We are talking three 6-foot by 3 foot cabinets of fabric...I'll be folding for weeks! And instead of a sewing desk for Christmas I guess I will be replacing my cabinets (I lost one in the trip over to England...though that one was empty.)

Anyway, I am thankful it is almost over. I am unpacking 5 boxes a day (no more!) and have even put up a couple of Christmas decorations. Optimisticly it will at least be St Patrick's day before I am in my sewing room doing anything but organizing again. The quilt at the top of this post is one of my oldest projects...about 1997. It is from one of Mimi Dietrich's Smithsonian quilt books and is called the Cobb Quilt. I am hand quilting it so for the next month or so it will be about the only quilting/sewing I see myself doing.

I just reread this...what a whiney post! I'll do much better next time....

Giving Thanks

I hope everyone had a great holiday yesterday. Friends had us over for dinner so we didn't have to try and make a do with only a few pots and pan (honestly it would have been a restaurant holiday!) I did make a pecan pie (only one since I only have one pan unpacked) and a pan of "New Orleans" stuffing (I bought a new pan at Tuesday Morning....)

So it was a very minimal sort of holiday...I got a lot of rest which is good since the big shipment of furniture and "stuff" arrives on Monday. In some ways I am really excited for it to come...the computer is currently precariously perched on a cardboard box, the keyboard is on my lap and I am sitting on a borrowed folding chair. Yup, my shoulders will be grateful for our computer desk!

(Add to that grateful list a real bed...my body is getting too old to spend this many days on an airmattress!)

I have finished unpacking the boxes that were in storage while we were gone. About half of that has gone to the Goodwill. What was I thinking?! I did find a box of quilts! They are fine for their many months in the dark. I'll take some photos later today. The photo above is of some of the CW blocks that I made during my last months in the UK...They will be the first blocks up on my new design wall....

On a totally different but more quilty topic...is anyone else sort of disappointed by the quilt magazines right now? Books-a-million has a huge magazine section and it used to be I could almost always find a quilt magazine that I wanted to bring home. Last week I think I opened every issue and nada...not one. Most of them only had very simple (and not very interesting) quilt tops. What happened? Are they driving by the large graphic prints that are so popular right now? And another beef...just how many bag patterns do we need? They all sort of go together the same way don't they?

Boy does that sound grouchy...oh, well.

The Big Easy

I know it seems like I have barely gotten back to the US but already my DH wanted to go on vacation. Is it really a vacation if you are still living out of suitcases and your computer is perched on a cardboard box? Ummmmm. Anyway, we went to New Orleans for a few days for some art, music and good food. Which do I write about first?

New Orleans is still coming back after Katrina but worth a visit none the less. We stayed up in the Garden District this time which is a beautiful area. I got my beignet and coffee downtown and bought a piece of artwork from a guy I've been watching for a few years. I had to ship it back so photos to come later. I had the best ribs of my life at a restaurant on St. Charles St that I think is called Zizi's. Unfortunately the rest of the meal was only medioca...fries were cold, the beer flat (retured to the waiter who did bring another only too late for most of my meal.) (Looks like food has won the race to be first - big surprise!)

When you eat out in New Orleans you expect good food. The meal we had at Jacques-Imo's was incrediable for any city! It is a small up-town restaurant packed with mostly locals. It is decorated with "outsider" or folk art giving you lots to look at while your meal is prepared. Even my usually finicky DH didn't complain about his Gumbo, the grouper, the garlicky corn bread or the check (which is saying something!) We will definately go back there next trip.


So now the art...there is a really great exhibition going on through January 18th calle dthe P.1 (or Prospect .1) Over 23 location with inthe city with 81 artists representing 39 countries are involved. It is impressive. I spent a lot of time at the Contemporary Art Center on Camp Street.

Now this isn't for everyone but I think most folks would at least be moved by some of the installations at the CAC. The building is a gutted warehouse and is so visually stricking that even the ladders for the workman putting finishing touches on the 15 foot windows looked to be an art installation! Photos were not allowed but a quick run down of my favorites...

John BArnes, Jr used mixed media construction of boats as a "testament to survival and resilence." The ones that really drew me in were "Target Data," and "Supplied and Demanded."

Shawnee Major had three huge heavily embellished quiltlike pieces. I wish they put the dimensions in the cataloge...I'm guessing they were 18 foot by 18 foot! Did I say huge!!!! I stood so long in front of "War Channel" I think I made the security guard nervous. The cataloge says she uses thousands of objects (I think they underestimate!) Everything from beads and buttons to plastic toys and casino chips! With her work it helps to walk up close then gradually back away...it changes totally.

Lee Bul's "chandelier-like work" is breath-taking. Again, huge...maybe 12 by 12. Hard to determine since there is a mirrored floor below. (Reminded me a bit of the Goaudi exhibit that showed how he designed the spired for his cathedral.) Some see skyscrapers other ships...the number of beads, chains and reflective pieces is amazing.

On the darker/more intense side is the installation by Skylar Fein "Remember the UpStairs Lounge." Regardless of ones politics it is impossible not to be efffected by this installation. From the catalog "As New Orleans builds and rebuilds, recovers and recreates itself Fein's work raises questions of what's new, what's old, and what's worth saving of new Orlean's cultural foundations."
So if you are going to be in the area or are looking for an excuse for a road trip this exhibit is definately work the miles.

Now for music. This will be short. There is a lot less of it now in New Orleans than I remember. I hope that this will come back like the food and the art. It was a bit sad.

So I am back to unpacking boxes. Thanks to all of you for the input on my evolving quilting room (do I dare call it studio?!) I took out the graph paper and made a floor plan. Today I am putting some of the packing paper to good use and laying out on the floor what I did on the graph paper to check for aisle/walking space. We may even go down to the LQS and look at the sewing machine tables. I'll let you know how this one goes!