small hands

2008-07-01T12:03:00.000-07:00

I got this fabric from Fat Quarter Shop an excellent online fabric seller [super fast shipment, friendly customer service]. It's called Mrs. March's Antique Rose Garden. I am glad I was able to use it on the binding of this quilt:

which I finished last night, sitting in the TV room while my son played his Wii game. I wanted to get it done before we go up to my mom's cabin, so that we can bring it as a gift for the cabin. I have to restitch a ~~couple~~ lot of lines of stitching, which makes me think more and more of upgrading my machine. It's frustrating when the stitching is too loose on some parts, with no warning. I probably pulled the fabric too fast but I also tried to be conscious of that. [So I blame the machine.]

Lots of white--check! My next quilt is going to venture into colored borders and backs. I've decided.

Use of leftover fabrics--check!

Close enough approximation to its inspiration?--check!

One thing--there is a batik piece that I pre-washed and used in lots of other projects which ran on this quilt--top row, a little left of center. Dang it, betrayed by the fabric. I will try some Spray and Wash and a second washing, but it makes me wary of batiks.

Double Irish Chain quilts look straightfoward, but they can be fussy in their assembly. Next time I will be more careful in sewing the strips together, so that the seams are straight and not bowed, which affects how the squares look and are assembled. The thing about fabric, though, is that it is maleable, so you can make it do what you want it to do. But it's better not to have to wrestle with your quilt and worry about the finished product.

I rather like the finished product and look forward to seeing it at the cabin. Gotta run back to court now.

2008-06-16T09:46:00.000-07:00

Whew!

I finished this quilt yesterday, sewing on the binding while watching In the Valley of Elah, twice. What a wonderful movie. So powerful, so well acted. Tommy Lee Jones and Susan Sarandon are in top form.

The kids came home from Fathers Day brunch and a movie with their dad just as I was hanging it up to photograph. Can you tell?

I quilted around the colored triangles:

It's the first quilt I considered hanging on the wall. It's not perfect, by any means, but I am very pleased with it.

2008-06-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

Name: A.J.

Resume: Lawyer, quilter

Family: Daughter and son

Primary Residence: 100+ year old house in Bay Area

The First Thing I Do When I Wake Up in the Morning: Check on my son, make coffee, sew, read the newspaper, wash dishes if necessary

I Can't Go To Sleep Without Checking: To make sure all the lights are out. I wish I could give MH's answer, but no.

My Refrigerator Is Always Stocked With: Milk, eggs, cranberry juice, baby carrots, green beans, Thai red curry paste.

My Favorite Place To Read Is: In bed, propped up on three pillows.

My Favorite Flower Is: Any David Austin rose, like Constance Spry and Abraham Darby.

I Sleep On: Cotton sheets, usually flannel.

My Living Room is Vacuumed By: A Kenmore.

The Most Used Room In My House Is: A tie between my study and my bedroom. We tend to all cluster together.

The Color That Makes Me Most Happy Is: Like MH "I cannot single out one."

The Color I Try To Avoid: Yellow.

The Work of Art I'd Most Love to Have In My Home: Paris Street Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte. I actually missed my plane because I lingered too long with this painting at the Art Institute of Chicago.

My Dream House: Is pictured below.

A House Is Not A Home Unless: MH's answer is the best, but...it has love, kindness, courtesy, and good cooking.

I have a manila folder with sheets torn from house p0rn collected over the years. I went through it this morning to see if the images I save still inspired me. Some don't and they went into the recycling bin. Here are some others that I still love:

This is Sheila Bridges' living room. What I love about her interior design is her sense of color and her use of furniture with very strong bones.

When my kids are grown and gone and stairs start to be a challenge, this is my dream home [my yard will be very different]:

This ladder, in my bedroom, would be draped with quilts:

I want a bedroom with a plush little couch, just like this.

I love this bathroom:

Happy Father's Day.

2008-06-03T14:25:00.000-07:00

I copied this meme from Yvestown

What time did you get up today? Around 6.

Diamonds or pearls? Pearls.

Latest movie in a movie theater? Umm. I don’t remember. I got invited to go see Sex and the City with a group of strangers, but that was more an invitation to bond.

Favorite TV series? Heroes? It’s hard to say. I am not faithful to anything. On DVD, my favorite is The Wire.

What did you have for breakfast? A cup of coffee so large that my lactose intolerance was triggered by the half and half and I wrestled with nausea for two hours [I'm better now], and a slice of fluffy banana bread from Myra’s recipe.

What's your middle name? I don't have a middle name. I had one, but I don’t like it, so it’s none of your beeswax.

Favorite food? I love food. There is plenty I don’t like, but I love lots and lots of food. I saw the word "claypot" this morning and thought with deep love about the claypot rice at Le Cheval in Oakland and the big prawns on the top. Then I thought of all the dishes I love at Le Cheval and the awesome family that owns it.

Which food don't you like? I don’t like sour foods like sour cream, cream cheese, and yogurt and lemon curd. I also don’t like garbanzo beans and I don’t like wet food.

What's your favorite CD at the moment? The song I am liking is Stick With Me Baby by Allison Krauss and Robert Plant. I don’t really listen to CDs anymore.

What car do you drive? A Toyota Highlander Hybrid.

Favorite sandwich? It’s interesting to me that my children hardly ever eat sandwiches. The first two items on a grocery list were always milk and bread and now bread just goes stale and moldy in my house. My favorite sandwich is chunky peanut butter and blackberry jam on whole wheat bread.

Which human traits can't you stand? Narcissism, selfishness, dishonesty, entitlement, loudness, tackiness, rudeness, racism, crassness, ignorance.

What are your favorite clothes? I’m quite enamored of some black and white dresses that I recently bought. I wanted to get a dress I could wear with a great pair of pumps and look put together and they fit the bill.

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? Back to Costa Rica, or moving forward, Thailand.

Favorite clothing brand? Prada. I don’t own any Prada, but it is boss.

Where would you like to retire? I don’t know. I like Portland, OR, but it could change by the time I’m of retirement age. It’s not a place so much as a quality of location–temperate weather, good coffee, good health care, family near enough, low crime, interesting stuff to do and see.

Favorite time of day? Early morning, around 5:45, when the sun is up and I get out of bed and my son is still asleep. I make coffee and have time to myself.

Where were you born? San Francisco.

Which is your favorite sport to watch? I can’t say that I’m willing to spend time watching sports when I have so much other stuff to do. I like to go to A’s games.

Coke or Pepsi? Diet Coke.

Soccer or hockey? To play, to watch? Both are unappealing, frankly, but to watch, I’d say soccer.

Are you a morning person or a night owl? Morning. I have a hard time staying awake past 9:00 PM.

Pedicure or manicure? Pedicure.

Any exciting news to share? Nope, sorry. Life is just chugging along.

What did you want to become as a child? A doctor.

Best childhood memory? Cooking with my mother. That was our time together.

Ever been to Africa? No, but I intend to go in 2010.

Ever rolled anybody in toilet paper? No

Have you ever been in a car accident? Yes.

Favorite day of the week? Saturday

Favorite flower? David Austin Roses

Favorite - Hot dog or Chinese food? Chinese food.

Do you own a bike? Nope.

Who was you latest e-mail from? My colleague.

Where would you like to shop more if you could afford to? I think I would like to go to Toyko and shop, because they have everything and killer French patisserie as well. Around here, if I could afford to, I would love to shop at the Barneys New York in San Francisco.

Bed time? I’m ready for bed by 9PM.

Latest person to share dinner with? My children. My girl is a superb dinner companion. She likes my cooking and she makes good conversation. My boy is a pickier eater and wants to hurry up and eat to get back to whatever he had been doing before I called him to dinner.

What are you up to now? I need to get back to work.

Favorite color? I like them all, but I wear a lot of black and I have a soft spot in my heart for purple.

How many tattoos? None.

2008-06-01T15:04:00.000-07:00

The fabric on the left is Timeless Treasures Blue Lotus. I know this because I love this fabric most of all, more than any other fabric I have bought or will buy. The thing about fabric is once it's gone, it's gone. I have been using the last of it sparingly, if at all.

I just love the tone of the blue--would you call it Royal blue? Cornflower blue? It makes other fabrics pop out when it's in a quilt.

When I found the fabric on the right, Martha Negley Mum Toss at Portsmouth fabric, I got very excited that its blue has so many of the same qualities. I received it in the mail yesterday, and I'm pleased that it's similar enough and grateful to Westminster fabrics for producing it.

If anyone runs across any Timeless Treasures Blue Lotus, let me know.

* * *

I did yoga this morning and was a little wobbly during the Sun Salutation. The wobbly-ness reminded me to be grateful for my strength and balance while I have it, to use it while I have it, to preserve it while I have it.

The patio needs sweeping and my girl wants to go to the drug store for hair products, although she is taking an age to get ready for a simple, quick errand.

I think I'm about 75% done quilting the Hardest Quilt Ever.

2008-05-27T10:17:00.000-07:00

My blog has evolved to emphasize crafting more, so when I don't have progress/completion to report on a craft project, I'm less likely to post. Sorry about that.

Memorial Day weekend has just passed. I took the children up to my parents' cabin in Calaveras County. I expected it to be warm like it is during 4th of July weekend, but it was cold--between 37 and 50 degrees--and it snowed at 5000 feet.

We went up there to help my mom rake pine needs off the property. The fire department requires each property owner to do so to lessen the fire danger. It was fun, but we worked in the rain. It was muddy fun. My mom barbecued, so the reward for all the work was her brilliant food and sitting by the fire and reading.

I finished Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. It wasn't as brilliant as American Gods [what is?], but it was very well done and enjoyable. On a related note, the kids watched the original Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, with Gene Wilder, and my son asked "Where are all the brown people?" That is one of the best, best things about Neil Gaiman. He includes the brown people.

I also read most of Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and finished it last night, by the light of a flash light, as my son slept beside me in my bed. I enjoyed it, too.

At the cabin, I got to see this quilt again:

and to be inspired to make more quilts for the cabin.

I have been quilting this project:

It's taking a while. I bought a new walking foot and purchased some top stitch needles to see if they make a difference. So far, so good.

When I was buying the walking foot, the man at the sewing machine store said that Bernina's walking foot costs $120. That stopped me cold. I know Berninas are fabulous, but a lot of people who sing their praises are also professionals, who get to write off the costs of the machines and the accessories. I don't have the same financial leeway as most Bernina owners and I won't have until my children are finished with their educations.

I did have a moment though, when I listened to this wonderful interview of Diane Gaudynski. She may be the best quilter on the planet. I enjoyed listening to it so much because she is clearly a consummate artist who relishes life.

I've been trying to figure out what I want to piece next and I felt a little depleted of inspiration. I purchased the Quilter's Catalog by Meg Cox. I was a little disappointed that the photographs are in black and white and the 12 projects do not interest me. But the more I read it, the more I realized that it is good resource book. It led me to this website, full of quilt block patterns. I like that I can use the quick cutting techniques of Quilters Cache when I find a block that I like.

So the inspiration is back. Plus, my flickr favorites always replenish the well.

2008-05-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

So this wonderful woman, who is super-smart and a TREMENDOUS reader, suggested reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman. She didn’t suggest that I read it, so much as EVERYONE read it. But I think it’s very generous when people suggest books, don’t you?

Especially brilliant books.

So I checked it out of the library.

I’ve been slacking on my reading for about a decade. Or more. Part of it is the fault of the publishing industry. Part of it is due to life changes–children, homework, dinner. Part of it is due to quilting. I’m glad I haven’t been watching more television and thus haven’t had time to read. That would be most unfortunate.

When I was a kid and a teenager, I was a huge reader. And I was an English major in college, so I read a ton. Plus, I worked at the Berkeley Public Library.

Anyway, I started reading it. And it felt so good to sit on the couch in the TV room (with the TV off, of course), where the setting sun is nice and warm and to hold a 440+ page hardcover book on my lap.

The book is just so very, very good. So intelligent. It integrates so much information into the story, but not in that show-offy, tedious way that some authors have. It’s democratic in that everyone gets to be heroic, not just some Western archetype.

I read it slowly, though it’s suspenseful. I laughed out loud, which is hazardous in the presence of my son, because he wants to know the joke, then he wants the context explained to him. As if I have time; I’m reading.

After I finished the book, I wanted to hurry it back to the library for the next person to experience it.

On a related note, I wore a tie dyed tee shirt yesterday evening as I took a walk. I walk almost every day, about 3.5 miles or so, usually at lunch time. But I had lunch with friends and I didn’t have to pick up my children from school, so I walked my lunchtime route after work. The tee shirt was very colorful and it had a peace sign on it. I usually wear a fleece pullover, but it was 84 degrees at 5:00 yesterday afternoon, so no fleece.

The tee shirt seemed to cause a mild uproar among people I walked past. I couldn’t decide if an African American woman in tie dye was the source of it, or the peace sign, or the combination.

The most positive reaction came from a really big guy on a really big Harley, who jumped off his bike and hurried up to me to tell me how awesome my tee shirt is and how he hadn’t seen something like that in years. I asked him if it was giving him a flashback and he said it was. He gave me his business card and said if I find one like it, in size XX, he would pay me back if I bought it.

Who knows? Maybe he read American Gods and thought I was the goddess of peace, out for an evening stroll.

I'm on to Anansi Boys.

2008-04-29T12:44:00.000-07:00

Roses from my garden.

My boy is not feeling well today, so we're at home. I took him to work to get a few things done, but he spiked a fever, so I whisked him back home.

The picture from the last post is my back yard.

Here is the recipe for the cookies, from The Best Recipe by Cooks Illustrated [one of my favorite cookbooks]. I substituted dried cranberries for raisins. The nutmeg gives it the extra special flavor.

Enjoy!

2008-04-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

The weekend was lovely. The weather was in the low 80s. I sat in the back yard and wrote in my journal. My son wanted to stay with me this weekend, so we were joined at the hip and I answered a million questions. I made oatmeal cranberry cookies. I had groceries delivered and stayed home. I cut the lawns. I cut bouquets of flowers. I sewed a little bit. We slept with the windows open.

2008-04-25T10:31:00.000-07:00

Inspiration Friday

I was going through some magazines this morning, before they went into the recycling bin, and came upon this page from October 2007 Country Home. It reminded me of how inspired I am by Denyse Schmidt.

There's a terrific tour of her house here, courtesy of Design Sponge.

* * *

Of course, flickr is an endless source of inspiration.

* * *

It's going to be a gorgeous weekend. I am looking forward to working in my garden.

2008-04-20T08:49:00.000-07:00

Now this is my favorite kind of To Do list.

The sewing machine needs a tune up before I tackle quilting these three and I have to locate/replace my walking foot.

I love this part of the morning...the quiet before my kids get up. I've made scones and had coffee and I can plan the day. [Homework minding, yoga, laundry, organizing]

I wanted to barbecue this weekend, but the wind is blowing hard and it's chilly. How can April be two-thirds over? Huh?

2008-04-13T17:02:00.000-07:00

Last weekend the children and I drove down to Los Angeles to see my cousin's new twin babies and deliver the baby quilts. I haven't driven down to Los Angeles in almost 20 years. The drive went well. We left at 6AM, stopped once to get coffee and candy, and got to my aunt's house by noon. It helps to have a new car with plenty of room for two children, rather than the five I used to have to travel with. They had no excuse to bicker, which didn't stop them from bickering.

The babies are dreamy--delicious and sweet.

The next day we went to the Santa Monica Pier and the beach. It was fun. We tried to stop by Sprinkles Cupcakes in Beverly Hills, but the line was down the block and I'm not down with that. We went back to my aunt's house and held the babies for the rest of the day.

We left Sunday morning at 6AM and got home by noon. Later that day, I got my boy a haircut.

I put a border on the Honeycomb Quilt.

Now it's big enough.

I'm very pleased with how it came out. I have three quilt tops to quilt.

The weather is glorious--in the low 80s. On the way home Friday, I rode with the kids with the windows down on Sacramento Street in Berkeley and Kashmir by Led Zeppelin came on the radio. It was a perfect moment.

* * *

Here is the jambalaya recipe. I don't use ham, but otherwise I follow it. It's super easy and delicious.

I'm off to do some yoga.

2008-04-02T11:34:00.000-07:00

I finished piecing another Double Irish Chain.

I may modify the corners, but I do like all the white fabric combined with all the color.

Using all the leftover fabrics to make this quilt means that I when I look at it, I reminisce about other quilts made from the same fabric. I like that.

The kids are out of school this week. We're gonna go visit my grandmother in Los Angeles. I had a terrific birthday on Sunday, complete with cupcakes and family and Chinese food for dinner. I like a low key celebration, more and more as the years go by.

I will post the jambalaya recipe next time; I promise.

2008-03-25T10:08:00.000-07:00

I took Monday off (in addition to Friday), to take my little dude on a field trip to see the Peking Acrobats at the Zellerbach Auditorium. A fine time was had by all.

After I returned him and his colleagues to school, I went and got a slice of pizza on Hopkins Street and took it home. I think I'm done with pizza. I just can't navigate the wetness to my satisfaction and really, why not give it up and just grab something else when I'm feeling peckish? Lately, I've been snacking a lot on Japanese rice crackers and roasted almonds, baby carrots, and sliced oranges.

This weekend I worked in the yard (and the glorious sunshine) both days and was in the zone, man. It was wonderful. On Sunday, I took a walk to the drug store and when I returned home, I approached my house very slowly to take in the lovely yard and house.

As you can see from the picture, I'm working on a Double Irish Chain quilt. It is the perfect project for anyone who loves, deeply loves fabric. I get to glory in all of the strips cut from remnants fabrics I've used in other projects, to imagine combinations of fabrics and interesting juxtapositions. I have three gallon sized ziploc bags of strips (1-1/2 inches wide), which will yield 3 quilts, I expect.

I was impressed by the fact that I was not exhausted when I picked my kids up from school. I bought a sourdough baguette and we had jambalaya, haricot vert, and sliced baguette for dinner.

2008-03-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

I really needed the day off, so I took it. [I need two weeks in Hawaii, but a day off will have to do.]

I drank lots of Trader Joes Volcano Super Dark and cut strips for more Double Irish Chain quilts. As I was taking some recycling to the bin, the mail carrier drove up and delivered this fabric from Fabric Tales. They delivered it from Japan in less than a week! That's what I'm talking about.

I took a shower, then went for a walk around Lake Merritt. I love Oakland and in particular the architecture of the buildings around the lake. I went to get a bowl of pho for lunch in Chinatown and stopped by the Goodwill store. I didn't buy anything.

I did some household chores and now I'm going to meet a friend for a drink.

Have a great weekend.

2008-03-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

I finished the second baby quilt on Sunday.

I bound it with light gray fabric and somehow it seems more masculine than the Bento Box quilt.

I imagine the baby when he or she is older, on her stomach on top of the quilt, looking at all the colored pieces of fabric.

I think she'll enjoy them, don't you?

2008-03-15T09:10:00.000-07:00

This is my desk. [The presence of the cordless phone is deceptive--I hate talking on the phone, especially when I'm at my desk at home.]

This is the desk I covet, from the April 2008 Martha Stewart Living:

How brilliant is this desk? It's built out of two bookshelves, attached with a piano hinge. Doesn't it seem completely do-able? That Martha has some very creative people working for her.

* * *

Work has eclipsed the rest of my life.

Daylight Savings has worsened my insomnia considerably.

I start quilting the second baby quilt today. I will do so while watching Elizabeth the Golden Age.

2008-03-05T12:41:00.000-08:00

I finished piecing the Double Irish Chain baby quilt last night. It's for the second twin and uses the same fabric as the Bento Box quilt.

I was able to get a lot of it done on the weekend because my children were in Colorado snowboarding with their dad. They came home Sunday evening full of stories and delight with their short vacation.

The piecing for this was very intense, probably because I was able to devote so many consecutive hours to it. I really enjoyed it though. The pattern in the book called for 2-inch squares, but I thought they would be too big for a baby quilt. I modified it to 1-1/2 squares and then had to adjust the pattern.

The larger square is 5-1/2 inches and the rectangle is 3-1/2 inches.

Since the twins are due this month, I better get to work on the quilting and binding.

* * *

In other news, Spring is here [thank God]. The weather has been in the high 60s and when I step out of my house I smell blossoms. I worked in my garden over the weekend and had dinner with my friend J. at The Martini House in St. Helena.

The sun is up when I get out of bed in the morning. That is a beautiful thing.

* * *

Trader Joe's Volcano Super Dark coffee is making me very happy this week. Super dark.

2008-02-25T10:59:00.000-08:00

My little dude turned 8 this weekend. Instead of a big party, he wanted a play date with his two best friends. They came over on Saturday for a five hour play date, complete with lunch, cupcakes, and presents [Lego, Naruto cards, etc.]. He didn't want Happy Birthday sung to him, so I just lit the candles, said happy birthday, gave him the Wonder Twins handshake, and he blew them out.

I love a low maintenance birthday party.

Later in the kitchen I told him how much I enjoyed being his mom, how wonderful our 8years together have been. He has taught me a lot about love, because he is so loving and because he is my heart's blood. He challenges me a lot, especially my patience, and I worry about what the world will try to do to him, but every day of mothering him has been joyful.

Sunday my mom called and said that she had located [waited in line for two hours on a rainy Sunday morning] a Wii [two actually--one for my stepfather for his 62nd birthday] and did he want it. Um...yes. So she brought it over. I set it up after visiting over tea with my mother and didn't hear much from my little guy the rest of the afternoon.

I appreciate gadgets [they're not my thing, but hey] but I resent a tiny bit how much tech support eats up my free time.

I finished the bento box quilt last week:

and decided not to make a matching second one. First, I don't believe in the whole twin matchy-matchy thing. Second, I wanted to try something different for the second one, with the same fabrics.

Because it was raining and blowing so much yesterday, I was inspired to sit down and go through my quilt scraps. One source of inspiration is Quiltville's Quips and Snips. I am just a sucker for a scrap quilt, which dovetails with my philosophy that a massive stash is a triumph of capitalism over the awareness of one's mortality. I pulled out fabric from scrap boxes and gallon sized ziploc bags and created quite a stack of fabric.

During the Oscars, which I didn't really watch [having seen none of the nominated movies except for the Bourne Ultimatum] *gasp* I ironed the fabric and cut it into 1-1/2 inch strips.

I love this quilt, though love is a too one-dimensional word for how I feel.

1. The person who took the picture seems to think that it was made one 1-inch share at a time. It may have been the case, though today, in the age of rotary cutters, wholly unnecessary.

2. I love the vacation home feel of the picture.

3. I love the variety of colors of the fabric, though I'm a sucker for a blue and white quilt.

4. I've always wanted to make a Double Irish chain quilt, since the 1980s, when I first started liking quilts.

I brought the strips to work in two gallon-sized ziploc bags, so I could gaze at the fabric strips and think about how I want to use them. Definitely another Honeycomb Quilt, a Double Irish chain, maybe a Single Irish chain, and a Nine Patch. I'm excited, the icing on the cake being using what I have.

This morning the kids returned to school. In the car, we were talking about something and I quoted Severus Snape from the movie the Order of the Phoenix. He is reading Harry's mind and sees a memory of Harry hugging Sirius and interrupts the memory by saying "I may vomit." The kids laughed and did their own impersonation of Alan Rickman saying the line. We were a happy little tribe.

2008-02-19T13:02:00.000-08:00

My children have the week off from school for "Ski Week." Ski Week can bite me. I have tons of work and I'm not hitting the slopes now or anytime in the near future.

The weekend was good. I always enjoy a three day weekend because I can slow down and enjoy my house. As I cleaned and cleaned, I reminded myself that the universe is naturally inclined toward entropy [chaos]. Plus, gravity pulls things onto the floor. That means I have to keep working, at all times, against the universal pull of both forces.

I made progress on the baby quilt, getting going most enthusiastically this morning, when I couldn't do much before getting into the shower and getting ready for work. Its dimensions are 42" x 48".

Yesterday was my stepfather's birthday. My mother made a feast of jerk chicken, barbecued ribs, rice and peas, potato salad, greens with golden beets, peach crisp. We got to taste this and discuss its taste. Disgusting was the consensus.

I took my own advice and did yoga before going to the family get together. It helped me stay serene; it's funny how family can affect you.

Afterward, we returned home and I set up a wireless router so that my daughter could activate her Apple laptop. It was a little hectic and I needed to kick my bickering children out of the room while I navigated the router setup. When they returned, my son was very, very beset with jealousy about the laptop and we had to cuddle and argue and cajole for a long time before he settled down. *Sigh*

quilterlee: My daughter and I share her machine, a Kenmore Model Number 385.19233. Here is the information.

2008-02-10T10:18:00.000-08:00

Finished with the piecing. I like the way it turned out.

The weather is terrific this weekend, so I've been in the yard cleaning up, pruning, raking, sweeping. Complete bliss.

I have to set up a wireless router and my daughter's laptop today, plant two rose bushes, laundry, yoga and Sunday dinner. And pinning and quilting.

2008-02-03T11:47:00.000-08:00

Getting Started

This scan is from Successful Scrap Quilts by Judy Turner. I didn't think a quilt with such dark fabrics would be appropriate for a baby quilt, so I decided to replace it with beige fabrics.

I happened to stop by JoAnn Fabrics when there was a sale on calicos, which is always groovy.

I'm combining Japanese fabric with some Amy Butler.

I'm watching Season 4 of The Wire on DVD, which is so good [the writing, the acting, the beautiful actors], and getting a good start.

Television on DVD is the way to go. I had heard about The Wire on NPR, but I had found the first season very boring. I decided to give it another look and I'm very impressed.

2008-01-29T14:42:00.000-08:00

I made this pincushion, trying to approximate this one. Mine is much wider and less elegant, but that's fine because I don't have to aim so carefully to get my pins in the cushion.

I was delighted to be able to pick up these straight pins and my local chain drug store, rather than having to take a special trip the fabric store. I needed the smaller pins to finish up this quilt.

The pattern is called Honeycomb. It's a nine-patch, the piecing directions I got from Two Color Quilts by Better Homes and Gardens Books and Carol Dahlstrom.

I really like the book and I love the colored fabric, which is a Ralph Lauren Kimberly sheet. The dimensions of the quilt are 72 x 78, which is small for the quilts I make. It's more throw size, but I ran out of the white fabric, so I didn't extend it past the dimensions of the pattern in the book.

I bought some new fabric from Fat Quarter Shop, which sent it lightning fast.

* * *

During the holidays, my niece slept over. My kids adore her and it's perfect for me because they occupy and entertain themselves and I get a respite. This time, left to their own devices, my daughter made my niece a reversable bag.

I think they did a great job.

On Saturday, my baby turned 12.

It has been a magical 12 years and I love my mighty girl.

2008-01-22T14:36:00.000-08:00

This is a scan from Fine Living Cookbook. [Larger version here.]

This buckle is heavenly. I use peaches, rather than apricots, and in the dead of winter, I buy frozen raspberries and peaches and defrost them before I use them. The almond extract is the secret ingredient. Also, I use a medium sized rectangular pan, because the middle tends not to cook using a 10 inch springform. It tends to bubble over (and fruit juices leak from the bottom of a springform pan), so a cookie sheet on the bottom rack keeps the smoke from the oven to a minimum.

I acquired my son's nasty cold. He asked me if I blamed him and I said no, I had chosen to kiss him knowing he was sick, but I couldn't help myself; he's my little guy. There's so much work involved in raising children, but I love it. When I think of what I could be doing--getting into mischief and navel gazing mostly--I am grateful to be a mother.

This weekend we went shopping at H & M. Pre-teens are expensive. Even when you say you're going to hold the line, the essentials end up costing more than you expect. I bought myself two dresses and a cardigan for work. H & M is becoming a source of work clothes more and more often. My son got pants and Yu Gi Oh cards. I promised him the cards after he sucked it up and went to school, though he didn't feel well, on a day I had to go to court. [My mother never let us stay home with a cold.]

Sunday I went to lunch with my sisters and caught up on the family news. Then I went grocery shopping before returning home to work on what I think of as an in-between-quilt. It is in between more thought out, planned quilts, but is the product of a desire to use fabric that I love and to make a two color quilt. I'll post pictures when I finish piecing the top--I'm 75% of the way done. Then I will start my cousin's baby quilts.

Monday (Martin Luther King Holiday) was very restful. The weather was very cold and rainy, so we stayed home and sewed, did laundry, completed homework, did yoga, cooked, cleaned (including the freezer), bickered, made up. I am looking forward to working in my garden, but this weekend the weather did not cooperate.

2008-01-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was nuts. I had to go to court four times for hearings on six matters.

Isn't the above picture a great combination of blue, white and red? It's a scan from House and Garden, I think. I was very sad to learn that H&G will stop publishing, because I've always considered it the very best of house p0rn.

Magazines are such an important source of inspiration for me. Either it's the way a home is decorated or the juxtaposition of colors that always gets my quilting juices going.

It's all about nesting anyway, so I am particularly enamored of a picture of a bed with a quilt on it.

My cousin is expecting twins, so I've been considering what kinds of baby quilts to make for her.

And I would adore a buffet (and windows) like this:

[Another scan from H&G]

I currently subscribe to:

1. Martha Stewart Living
2. Domino
3. House Beautiful
4. Country Home
5. Country Living
6. Elle Decor
7. Elle
8. Vogue
9. New York
10. Home Companion
11. Metropolitan Home
12. Marie Claire Idees
13. Cooks Illustrated

2008-01-14T15:22:00.000-08:00

I love this photograph of a room in William Morris' Red House.

The weekend was good. Yes, it did get eaten by my daughter's swim meet, but what are you gonna do?

We had to be at the pool at 7:30 AM. It was freezing in the morning, yet hundreds of kids got into the water, steam rising from the pool, and swam lap after lap. At one point I wondered at the point of it all, then I instantly remembered that these kids are very fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in the event and to have the physical ability to engage in the activity.

Saturday, I took my daughter to the meet, then took my boy to a playdate with his best buddy. Since I was in the area and I had a question, I swung by the car dealership to get it answered. Then I went back to the swim meet. The kids' dad showed up around 1:30, so I was able to go grocery shopping and then pick up my sweet boy. He had played so much Wii that his arms were sore the next day.

My girl came home and I made dinner and did a mountain of laundry.

Sunday, we had to be back at the pool at 7:30AM. It really helps that my son has a good attitude about the hours and hours we spend at these meets. I read the New York Times and he played with his Nintendo DS. We tried to stand in the sun as much as possible. I was wearing a snowboarding jacket, a fleece jacket, and a fleece scarf on top of my clothes. I didn't get really warm until after noon.

I was able to take my son home around 2PM, with my daughter remaining until the last race and getting a ride home with her father. She enjoyed herself and improved her times. She's my mighty girl.

Throughout the meet, people referred to my children's father as my husband and I would tell them that we're divorced. I didn't feel the least bit emotional about correcting them; I just felt that their presumptions needed to be corrected.

There was another mountain of laundry waiting for me, but I did yoga first, which made the mountain seem less formidable, and made dinner--penne bolognese, caesar salad and green beans. With oatmeal cranberry cookies for dessert.

I tried and failed for the third time to get through Pirates of the Carribean At World's End. I just couldn't do it.

2008-01-11T15:22:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday I bought a new car. A silver Toyota Highlander Hybrid. My daughter is very pleased with the hybrid status of the car, and we as a family are delighted with the car. Though I did not want to be in an accident or to be forced to buy a car right now, it's a very positive change. We're safer and more comfortable.

It's interesting to drive differently in this new car; way more defensively and way less like a gladiator.

This week has been nuts, it terms of work, and this weekend my girl has a swim meet, which eats up the weekend in its entirety. The weather has been overcast and rainy, but not stormy.

Next week is going to be much more sane, I'm sure.

2008-01-04T16:21:00.001-08:00

Courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle, this is a very cool, very melodramatic picture of the results of the first of three storms that are hitting California.

I must say though, that it was quite terrifying to drive next to big rigs, across flooded freeways, this morning in order to get to work. But I'm a worker and there was a big pile of work to be done, sitting on my desk and waiting for me.

My secretary said, as I sat down at my desk, that she could have PDF-ed the six motions that I need to oppose and e-mailed them to me, and then I could have worked from home. As.If. I would have ignored the e-mail, consumed cup after cup of coffee, watched ER on DVD, and sewed. When I woke up and heard the rain, I wanted to skip work and do that anyway, but I felt like a wimp at the notion of a little [lot] of rain keeping my from my appointed rounds [lawyering].

Plus, my favorite client likes to visit me on Fridays with a big stack of questions. The work week has shrunk for our co-workers to four days, so on Friday we feel especially virtuous and productive when we discuss these matters.

Plus, two more motions were delivered to my office today, adding to the pile. But I'm on top of it.

Have a great weekend everyone.

EDITED TO ADD: Hi Barb. Leave me a comment with your http address, because the homepage link on the comments section doesn't work.

Also, I finished The Name of the Wind and confidential to Patrick Rothfuss: 661 pages of throat clearing is not cool. You should note that writers that you are obviously biting off of, in the epic serial tale genre, like Tolkein and Paolini, still managed to get stuff done in each installment. Cover some ground. Don't save it all up, like Robert Ludlum, until the last 5% of the book.

Also? Why are so many fantasy heroes so chaste? Just saying.

2008-01-01T13:11:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone! I have a really good feeling about 2008.

I was reading in Amy Butler's new book Midwest Modern [not as good as Found Style--more like a fabric catalogue] a quote that impatience is self-importance. As a very impatient person, I have to disagree. When I am impatient, it is because I feel that my time is being wasted. However, I don't want anyone's time to be wasted, by inattention, lack of seriousness, whatever.

Let's resolve in 2008 to waste as little time as possible.

I finished 2007 with yoga* and a hot bath, then cuddling with my children and hanging out.

After a quick errand, it's back home to make black eyed peas and collard greens for good luck in the new year. Tomorrow, it's back to work. *Sigh

Enjoy the rest of your holiday.

*I figured out something in doing the bow pose. I can make a more bowed shape if I don't pull on my ankles, but lower my hands to my shins and push my feet up. I like figuring stuff out.

2007-12-30T12:23:00.000-08:00

This photo is a scan from Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

Thank you for the comments on my quilt.

Do I have OCD?

No, not even close. I think of my output as the product of multitasking leisure time with quilting. Plus, I am away from my children part of the time, so I have a lot more free time than a full-time parent. And I think I am an efficient piecer. I think about quilting a lot, but there are people who are way more prolific than I.

So the search for a replacement car has begun. I'm very enamored of the 2008 Toyota Highlander Hybrid, but it's very, very expensive. I have until January 7 to figure it out, so this week is going to be full of researching, documents, conversations with sales people *Have Mercy*, and decisions, decisions. I've already been asked by a sales person about the location of my husband. It's going to be a long week.

2007-12-27T09:41:00.000-08:00

HARDEST.QUILT.EVER.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year everyone!!

Thank you for all the good wishes following my car accident. You all are the best. No, really.

Thank you for the car suggestions. I don't know yet if my car is going to be totalled and I really don't know what I will get to replace it.

Anyway, about this quilt. Around the blogosphere, folks were making this very cool doll quilt.

But I'm not a doll quilt maker, so I decided to give this quilt a whirl from scans of library book American Country Scrap Quilts by Liz Porter and Marianne Fons.

What was I thinking? I have to laugh at myself [now that it's done] about how many times I screwed up piecing the rows of blocks [7 or 8 times; no kidding]. My family joshed me about it, saying I didn't know how to quilt. My lack of spacial sense really hindered me on this one, but it's done now.

Scrap quilts are good Year-In-Review kinds of quilts, because you can use all the fabric that you used on other quilts throughout the year.

* * *

I'm taking most of this week off. I have a mediation is San Francisco tomorrow, but otherwise I've just been enjoying time at home and with my kids.

Christmas was very low key, but nice. My kids are happy and I'm relieved it's over.

It feels a little oppressive to read all the new years editions of magazines, hectoring us all to get organized. I believe in organization; I just don't want to feel obliged to be. Life is full of enough pressure already.

* * *

I am appalled by the news that Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. May she rest in peace.

2007-12-17T11:52:00.000-08:00

I was in a car accident Thursday night, as I was returning home from work. A woman came into my path at a right angle when it was completely unsafe to do so. The traffic collision report term is failure to yeild to oncoming traffic. I couldn't stop in time or get around her.

My children weren't in the car, thank God.

The airbags deployed which was horrible--smoke everywhere, the impact of the airbag to my face made my lips puffy, my jaw sore and my nose hurt. And they explode open, so my ears are still ringing from the noise of the explosion.

I called my stepfather, who came to the scene and was so very good to me, as he always is. He was like a concierge, holding my purse, talking to tow truck guy, talking to the other driver, talking to the witnesses, taking me home, making sure I didn’t lose consciousness or anything. I couldn't sleep very well that night. The next morning he picked me up and took me to the rental car place and just, in general, talked to me a whole lot.

I went to work the next day because I have a ton of work and working is what I do. Plus, I had a business lunch, which had been hard to schedule; so I didn’t want to cancel at the last minute. The lunch was lovely–grilled salmon, roasted potatoes and broccoli rabe, tiramisu for dessert.

This weekend was about regrouping and mothering. Friday night I picked up my kids and we went home and had dinner. I took a long, hot bath and got into bed to read more Name of the Wind. Mostly it was about watching Yu Gi Oh with my little dude and letting the four hours of sleep the night before catch up with me.

Saturday morning I made a long list of things we needed to accomplish and then we went out and did them. Shoe store to get flats for the dance my daughter was attending that night, drug store for a phone recharger and sundries, grocery store for...groceries, Telegraph Avenue for a late lunch [hot dogs = high protein] to get the blood sugar up and stop the bickering, stopping at Hot Topic for Secret Santa gifts, Yogurt Park for a bit of nostalgia, walking around before remembering the groceries in the trunk that needed to get home.

Saturday evening my son and I took my daughter to the dance, her first dance. I was concerned about her safety because of the location of the dance, in a high crime area of Richmond, but it was very well organized and monitored, so she was safe and had a great time. I could see that gleam of pre-teen independence in her eyes when I picked her up at 9:30 and she said repeatedly that she had a great time. While she was at the dance, my boy and I decorated the Christmas tree.

Sunday I did yoga for the first time since the accident. It felt good, though my ribs and lower back were sore. I am deeply thankful that I was not seriously injured.

Later, the kids and I walked to the drug store to get more Christmas lights, more Secret Santa gifts. I like walking with them and they like being environmentally conscious. My son watched a Nickelodeon special on global warming which featured Kenyans, describing how global warming makes it harder for them to get water. So now, when we do something like walking or turning off the lights, we say we’re doing it for the Kenyans.

As we walked around this weekend, we looked a various models of cars. I will probably have to replace my car. The contenders are the Volvo Cross Country wagon, Saturn VUE, BMW X3, Toyota Highlander, VW Passat wagon. My daughter is lobbying hard for the Chrysler Town and Country, but I’m not feeling it. I thought I might like a Honda Element, but I’m not so sure now. It won’t be a new, new car; I just don’t believe in paying the new car price. I am so not in the mood to buy a car at all.

Wear your seatbelt and drive carefully.

2007-12-07T12:12:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, my friend J. and I went to Copia for a sparkling wine tasting. I’ve never done a wine tasting of any sort, though I live and work very close to Napa and Sonoma counties. I’ve always appreciated those counties fine restaurants, but wine...eh.

This was hosted by Hugh Davies of the Schrambsburg wineries. They make wonderful sparkling wine–cuvees--and I’ve consumed many glasses of their products, though this is the first time I’ve swirled and sniffed and spit it out.

The New York Times has an interesting summary of their history:

By now, the Schramsberg story is part of Napa Valley lore: how the vineyard was started in 1862 by an itinerant barber named Jacob Schram, who employed a small army of Chinese workers to hollow cellars out of the slopes; how Robert Louis Stevenson, a guest of the Schrams in the 1880's, described them in his book ''The Silverado Squatters'' as ''dug deep in the hillside like a bandit's cave.'' The Schrams stayed until just before Prohibition, when they sold the place as a summer home.

After Prohibition was repealed, the estate passed through several hands. Wine was made there, none of it very good. Then, in 1965, Jack and Jamie Davies arrived from Los Angeles, he a Stanford and Harvard-trained businessman, she an energetic housewife interested in art.

It was the 60's and like so many others in those days, the Davies were looking for a more meaningful life. With absolutely no experience, they decided to become winemakers. What's more, they wanted to make champagne. They drove the bats from the caves and out of the old Schram house. They planted grapes, bought some battered old winemaking equipment and, depending mightily on the kindness of winemaking neighbors, began their new life. Most of the neighbors thought the idea of making sparkling wine, really top-quality sparkling wine, was insane.

During the tasting, the adjectives pineapple, citrus, green apple, hazelnut, oak, rosemary were used freely to describe the qualities of the wines. I found that I liked the four year old champagnes more than the 17 year olds.

Of course, there were also plenty of show-offy wine snobs in the audience, who had to dominate the question and answer portion of the program. Wine snobs are boring. Hugh Davies were very interesting, a cross between a chemist and a chef. At the end of the program, he opened a bottle of champagne with a sabre. Cool.

After the program we had brunch at Julia’s Kitchen. It was adequate–I had a frittata and she had a poached egg with truffles–but not life altering.

* * *

I've been watching Veronica Mars on DVD. It's entertaining and smarter than the average television show.

I'm reading The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

Because my son has decided to sleep in his own bed more consistently, REM sleep has returned and these books (and life in general) give me strange dreams.

2007-12-01T10:02:00.000-08:00

Today is World AIDS Day.

I heard a report on the radio yesterday that the new retroviral drugs have added 3 million years more life to AIDS patients. More life. That made me happy and tearful.

I also read that AIDS infection rates are rising among people ages 15 to 19. That made me tearful too.

This interview was very interesting, especially debunking the belief that AIDS is a treatable disease like diabetes. It's not like diabetes.

* * *

Before my children get home from their dad's house, I have a chicken baking in the oven. I love this recipe, which makes the house smell wonderful. It is really cold outside. I hope we can do nothing today; I need to after the week I've had and the week I'm facing.

Roast chicken with cumin, paprika and allspice

4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

1 6- to 6 1/2-pound roasting chicken
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 large lemon, halved
preparation
Preheat oven to 375°F. Rinse chicken; pat dry. Place chicken on rack in large roasting pan. Stir oil and next 7 ingredients in small bowl to form paste. Rub spice paste all over chicken.

Roast chicken 1 hour. Squeeze juice from lemon halves over chicken; place lemon halves inside main cavity. Continue to roast until chicken is cooked through and thermometer inserted into thickest part of thigh registers 175°F, about 1 hour longer. Transfer to platter; let stand 15 minutes.

* * *

I dig this combination of red rick rack and the unbleached cotton. It's from the December 2007 Marie Caire Idees.

2007-11-26T11:15:00.000-08:00

A five day weekend could be habit forming. Lots of sleeping, sewing, and then enough energy to organize my closet.

It was great to be cooking on Wednesday, really in the flow, with great equipment. Jacques Pepin says that his best tool is his hands and there is a lot to be said for that, but sharp knives, a Cuisinart food processor, a Kitchen Aid mixer, and All Clad pots are also quite good.

I watched the entire first season of The Tudors. As a fool for period costume dramas, it certainly fits the bill.

Now comes the hard part–getting through the Christmas season with my sanity intact. Whenever my children express whining and pessimism, I will yell at them like I’m Dora the Explorer "You can do it!"

I have a secret that I’m going to share with you: I found the key to getting through the big day of family togetherness and pressure. Start out the day with yoga. I did an hour of yoga on Thanksgiving morning and I felt centered and strong and relaxed the rest of the day. It’s probably more challenging for people with small kids or some distance to travel, but it’s worth it to make the time. Midway through I heard my children bickering and thought I would have to stop to referee, but I didn’t stop and by the time I was done, they were laughing together. Occasionally my son will see me doing yoga and join in, other times he will whine and call to me to come do something for him, but he understands that it is my time and I’m not going to interrupt it.

On Thanksgiving morning I did not meditate on all the things I am thankful for as I did my yoga (though you can), but I did feel grateful for my [bickering, laughing, healthy] children, for the strength and flexibility to do the poses, to be able to exercise [and function in general] without pain.

Thanksgiving week is also the traditional time for California Bar exam results to come out. I still look at the exam questions and answers and I still get a thrill, 16 years later, at the privilege of having passed.

2007-11-12T13:09:00.000-08:00

The children have school today, but I have Veteran's Day off. Beautiful. A tuna sandwich on whole wheat and Earl Gray tea for lunch, lots of lots of sewing and pinning.

I should organize my closet and I plan to make a pretty elaborate dinner, but I'm going to enjoy this day.

Thank you for the kind comments on my quilt. I really appreciate them.

2007-11-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

This quilt surprised me. It came out better and I like it more than I expected.

I couldn't figure out how to quilt it and I didn't want to do free motion quilting like I did on the blue One Patch.

I decided to quilt along the checkerboard pattern and then diagonally along the white blocks.

I used brown Denyse Schmidt Flea Market fancy for the binding:

This is definitely a Use What You Have and a Finish What You Have quilt . It was fun to complete.

2007-11-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

Halloween was a big success for the three of us. We went to my girl's school friend's house so that the kids could trick or treat with a group of friends. The mom is a wonderful cook and she made a lovely clam chowder and a caesar salad to die for. While the kids went out with the mom, I sat in front of the roaring fire in the fireplace, talking to some other [very nice] parents.

The kids were satisfied when we drove home, though they were tempted to talk about next year's costumes. I squashed that, because 365 days of planning is too much.

Halloweeen is a high pressure holiday. My kids care way more about it than Thanksgiving or Christmas really. So I'm glad it went well.

I slept very badly last night; from 11 to 3. That's not enough sleep. In the last few days, I've been excited about getting up and making a pot of coffee and finishing up my quilt. So I haven't been sleeping much.

I finished it.

This quilt is made with Squares and Strips block from this book. I used Martha Negley dahlia and vegetable fabrics, Kaffe Fassett Glassworks fabric, green and purple tamari balls Japanese fabrics.

I free motion quilted the colored fabrics and quilted straight lines on the white fabric. I used a variety of the colored fabrics for the binding.

I am very pleased to use the fabric from my stash, though the green and purple is a little teenager-y. The real problem is that I find the quilt visually confusing. I can't quite wrap my aesthetic mind around it.

It makes more visual sense when it's on my bed:

Oop! Gotta get to court.

2007-10-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

flickr love

[I get tremendously inspired by the images on flickr, whether it's to cook more or craft more.]

Shazaam.

My office is being reconfigured and I will be moving my individual office down the hall. This means that I have to clean out all the old junk in my desk and credenza to pack everything up. I don't have a lot of stuff in my office, relatively speaking, because several years ago I got rid of a lot of stuff, took it home and didn't accumulate more.

Nevertheless, I still have managed to accumulate more stuff; i.e., four staple removers, 1 billion paper clips, four packs of leftover holiday cards, etc.

I am recycling all my old work calendars–it’s the age of the Blackberry. I leafed through them and frankly, they contain memories I don’t want to retain.

Plenty of marriage flashbacks too, alas.

Anyway, the weekend was good and restful. The prior weekend I had done too much and not had enough down time. Then the week was hectic, times 10. So I crawled into Saturday, mentally exhausted.

I quilted all weekend (almost done!) and had my groceries delivered. I wanted to stay indoors and go nowhere. I accomplished this mostly, except that I ran out of quilting thread and had to make a quick run to get more. I swear, this quilt ate up $30+ worth of quilting thread, easy.

The kids went to Halloween parties, so they were happy and satisfied. I made orange cranberry scones, so I had something good to eat all weekend.

Rest is critical.

2007-10-20T14:41:00.000-07:00

This picture is deceptive. It makes it appear that I have the day to myself, to do what I want. But no, it's a To-Do day, full of Yu Gi Oh card buying, playdate dropping off, slumber party dropping off, banking snafus to untangle, etc. No sitting in my study, drinking coffee, watching DVDs and quilting.

I did get my grocery and coffee shopping done yesterday, but I still have to go to H & M for my girl.

2007-10-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

While Monday mornings are difficult, this weekend was pretty good.

I've been craving cupcakes and haven't had one since I got back from my road trip in August, so I stopped by Betty's Bakeshop on Fourth Street this weekend and picked one up. It was not fabulous, but it was mighty tasty.

Saturday night I went to Isa Restaurant in San Francisco. My friend J. brought a bottle of champagne, Domaine Carneros, because they didn't offer it on the menu the last time she was there, and we drank it all. It was delicious, as was the food:

Butter Lettuce Salad with bartlett pear, candied walnuts & point reyes blue cheese, Baked Laura Chenel Goat Cheese with basil pesto, tomato concassÈe & pinenuts,
Maple leaf duck breast with grilled spring onion, young mustard greens, wild huckleberries & port,
Grilled natural flat iron steak with summer squash, potatoes, moutarde verte & bordelaise sauce
Brussel sprouts
Flourless chocolate cake with vanilla gelato

You share plates and eat it family style, which is very cool, because then you get to taste everything.

The only thing about all that champagne is that alcohol depresses me, so the next day I was feeling a bit down. I stayed in for most of the day, though I took a long walk, and finished the Broken Dishes quilt.

I used Amy Butler's Sage Lacework fabric for the binding, which I finished sewing on as my little dude snored softly beside me in bed last night.

The quilting is a combination of free motion swirls and in the ditch quilting between the triangles.

The blue and white striped fabric is a seersucker I was obsessed with. It is a bit delicate, so not appropriate for the binding, but I was pleased to be able to use it

Once it was washed, it got a real crinkly, quilted effect which I have found to be soft and comfortable in this quilt:

I'm not in love with how I set the blocks on this quilt; not like how pleased I was with this one:

but it didn't look right to me without [white] space in between the blocks. That's my thing. And my daughter loves it and wants it on her bed right away. I just have to cut the errant threads in the back and it's all hers.

Still working on the binding tutorial.

2007-10-08T11:31:00.000-07:00

One Hour Project*

*once you have the supplies.

I made curtains for the two front doors of my house. The house used to be a duplex so there are two front doors.

The curtains are made from Nigella fabric by Amy Butler. I thought the colors and the design were definitely in keeping with they style of a 100+ year old house.

I am really pleased with them and they are much more inviting than the Venetian blinds that they are replacing.

And the blue accents in the fabric matches the new blue accent paint of my house

2007-10-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

My 7-year old son doesn't mind going to the fabric store. He usually finds a fabric that inspires him and he comes up with an idea for a project for me to sew for him.

Halloween Candy Bag 2007

Wednesday afternoon was no different. At Stonemountain and Daughter he saw a bag made from this Alexander Henry fabric and that was it, he had to have it.

Luckily, I had the black "bamboo" handles already.

The bag is a little wonky and uneven, but it's for collecting Halloween candy, so it needs to be functional, first and foremost; wide and deep.

And I thought the stitching should be in keeping with the Halloween theme:

I have the day off today, so I sewed it, visited my mother, took the kids for Japanese food for lunch, shopped for groceries, did yard work.

Enjoy the holiday weekend.

2007-10-03T11:23:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been posting. I've been buried with work and home responsibilities.

I've been working on the binding tutorial, but also wrangling homework and quilting my Broken Dishes quilt [need to get more quilting thread]. And my dad has been having some health problems, which moves everything else way down on the list of priorities.

Hi Jes: Do you tape out or draw out your designs? I drew them with a straight edge and a quilting pencil. I use a quilting pencil rather than a pen because pencil is a better value. Before I would spend $3.95 on a quilting pen that was dry already and not able to mark a whole quilt. Pencils are more like $1.95 and they last through a whole quilt.

I think taping would have taken longer.

Hi Marilyn: What book is it [Birdboxes Quilt] from? It's from this book:

Hi quilterlee: You do seem to favor white. Do you have a favorite white fabric and where do you get it? Everywhere. I get the standard white cotton fabric from the fabric store as long as it's not too cream. I get it from the king sized white cotton sheets sets that I buy for the flat sheet to use as quilt backing. I use the leftover fitted sheet for piecing and sometimes the pillowcases as well [if I don't put them on my pillows].

I don't mind if my whites are not consistent on a project because it feels more in keeping with the quilting tradition of using what you have, rather than striving for perfection.

Hi Amandajean: How many versions of this birdbox did you make total? Six.

Hi Heather: Do you purchase your backing sheets online? Yes. I still buy them on Amazon.

Hi gossamer: Since you seems to favor white, have you made a quilt with all white shaded fabrics yet? No, but I would love to. Thanks for the idea.

Great questions and I really appreciate everyone's comments.

* * *

Here is a really cool project.

2007-09-23T17:05:00.000-07:00

What I Learned From This Quilt

1. How to finally get my corners of my binding right!!! I am so happy about that. I will write a tutorial later this week.

2. That I love the Kaffe Fassett Birdboxes pattern, but I am done making it. The quilting part made me think Basta!! with this design.

Since I pieced this quilt, I got a scrap piecing book which gives me good ideas about using scraps. One of the greatest virtues of the Birdboxes pattern is its use of scraps.

3. I made this quilt because I have a blue version that I love, love.

Every time I go to my parents' cabin, I think it could use more quilts and I would love to see a version of the blue Birdboxes quilt. I am sending it to the cabin, so I am fulfilling my wish.

4. There are lots of quilt fabrics that have a "country" flavor and I'm glad that I was able to use them in this project. The binding is made from a Ralph Lauren sheet--Yvette.

Done making this pattern. Love it, but done.

On to the next one:

2007-09-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

The weather has gotten cooler, the fall issues are out with the home and garden magazines, which immediately inspires me to nest. And nothing says nest to me more than beds and bedding.

I love the bed on the upper right, the use of the darker, tweed and paisley material for bedding. It's very Thomas O'Brien, though it's a scan from the Ethan Allen catalogue.

I am inspired by the Donna Karan bedding, especially the top coverlet. I think a quilt of predominately white, with stripes of fabric would be interesting.

2007-09-07T10:46:00.000-07:00

flickr love

I'm curious:

I was listening to [or reading]* an interview with a pollster about microtrends and he said that microtrends are important because they reveal facts you would never have guessed. His example was: who would have known that young people are knitting? And my first thought was: he's late; knitting is over. [Over in the same sense that trucker hats are over.]

Hold on, before the knitters get upset :0), my question is this: has crafting and crafty-blogging peaked? Is it over or is it at an ebb in an ebb and flow kind of thing?

Is it seasonal and folks have been otherwise occupied during the summer? [Which would not explain the quiet from the folks Down Under. For example, one of the crafty blogs that always inspired me has been discontinued indefinitely.]

Am I reading the wrong blogs and there is a lot of activity elsewhere? Because the blogs I'm reading are very, very quiet.

As I was working on my quilt this morning, I gazed up at my bookshelves containing my fabric stash. I realized that I have not been excited about any new fabric collections in about a year or more. Not like the first Denyse Schmidt collection or the Martha Negley Westminster fruits and dahlias from 2005.

I would hate for all the money that has been spent on yarn, fabric, and supplies from all the people who used to blog/create to be wasted.

I don't intend to stop, but I've been questioning this quieting down I've been noticing.

What gives?

*It's interesting how when one is so bombarded by media--television, radio, internet, newspapers--one can forget the source of the information.

2007-09-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

Inspiration Wednesday

Linda, thank you for your question. The quilt is from Kaffe Fassett's Book Passionate Patchwork and is called the Fonthill quilt.

Monica, thank you for your question. No, I've never made a quilt from old clothes. I think part of the reason is because my children were always enamored with clothes made from material that would never make a good quilt. From time to time I see an amazing toddler outfit made out of a great fabric and I want to buy it and cut it up, but the economics of paying for a finished garmet to yield a small amount of useable quilt fabric always stop me. Though Lyn's use of Oilily fabric makes me think twice.

Autumn is on its way. I was walking yesterday and I almost slipped on a bunch of leaves covering the ground. And then my friend J. described a pork roast she made with a vegetable tagine and I told her "You're cooking for fall already." Autumn is my favorite season, but Halloween candy in the stores in August is offensive to me.

2007-09-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

The comments on my last post got me thinking.

Quilting is definitely more strenuous than piecing, as well as being much, much slower. But then again, it's the only way to the finished quilt.

I am not finding the quilting physically taxing, either to my arms or my wrists. Then again, I'm not moving like gangbusters either.

One problem is that my study always becomes the most fun place to be in the house when my kids are home. It results in them commandeering my desk/sewing chair and turning the television to their favorite shows every time I get up to put a load of laundry in the washer/dryer or to cook or to organize an overflowing closet. I couldn't possibly kick them out, claiming the space as mine [!!!] because one day they will not live with me and the truth is that they can have anything of mine that they want.

However, they and housework interrupts my quilting flow. I am well aware of my momentum on a quilting project: slow start, incremental progress, completing an encouraging percentage of blocks, moving past the midway mark, increasing speed and duration as the finish line approaches.

Diane Gaudynski is a quilting goddess and the above images are from her book. I like how scrunched up the quilts are in her machine and how they end up gorgeous and wonderful anyway. I don't have a Bernina and my quilting will never reach the level of hers, but reading her book is always very encouraging and inspiring.

When I take a break from the quilting, I love snipping threads and poring over the fabric, which leads to a craving for piecing a new quilt. Which will have to wait; but that's when I'm very open to inspiration:

2007-09-02T16:33:00.000-07:00

My plan for Labor Day weekend was just to lay low and be a complete hermit and work on my quilt. I am really digging the fabrics:

Then I remembered my friend had a wedding reception planned to celebrate her elopement on Saturday night. I mentioned it to my girl and she was adamant that we go.

So I headed to Sur La Table and then we had to get my sweet girl a dress. She looked beautiful and it warmed my heart to see her dancing with my mom at the reception.

Today I so did not feel like going grocery shopping, but then I reminded myself that I would have to go tomorrow, on the holiday, if I didn't. So I headed out and got it done. Whew.

There's a dead possum in front of my house. It's a teenager, not fully mature, and my son was really sad abot its demise. As much as I do for neighborhood beautification, I'm not touching a dead possum.

Have a great holiday.

2007-08-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

Before I left Seattle for Mount Rainier, I stopped by Dahlia Bakery to get a couple of cupcakes for the road. They weren't on display, but I asked and they brought the tray out from the back. *Whew.* I was going to have to launch into a sob story about how I needed them.

I drove to Mount Rainier, taking 410 East from Tacoma, getting turned around by the lack of signs giving clear directions to the mountain. [Hint: go toward the Sunrise area] Accordingly, I got to drive across the Chinook Pass twice, socked in with fog and narrow and scary, twice.

I was pleased to reach the mountain and stopped at the lodge for a veggie burger and to write some post cards. Lots of people were wearing hiking gear and a short hike would have been fun (wearing plenty of warm clothes), but I didn't know how the day was going to unfold, so I didn't go on one.

Palisades Lake

I intended to go from there to Mount St. Helens ['cause I'm all about the volcanoes, baby], but Highway 123 was closed, so I had to get back to Highway 5, which took forever, and I ran out of time. I headed down to Oregon, stopping in Portland to restock at Voodoo Doughnuts [still didn't order a maple bacon doughnut], and then on to Eugene.

I spent the night in Eugene and got up the next morning to head to the coast. I was really impressed by all the international cuisine available in Eugene and even more impressed by the coffee at Full City Coffee Roasters. Wow.

Warning--Controversial Remarks Ahead: I had been throwing away two-thirds full cups of coffee the entire time I was in Seattle (and Victoria), not knowing exactly why until I had some Full City Coffee in Euguene. Here's why: the coffee in Seattle was acidic, terminally bitter, and rather disgusting.

Restored in my relationship with The Dark Master, I headed to the Oregon Coast, driving west to Florence.

I stopped at Leona's Cafe and Sugar Shack for lunch and had an excellent grilled chicken salad underneath an oil painting of Elvis and another of two white kittens. I would have taken a picture of the art, but I resisted taking mocking photographs during this trip. The waitress was superb, working the entire cavernous establishment by herself and acting as cashier. I left her a big tip.

I drove out between Florence and Coos Bay, throughly enjoying the dunes and the Pacific Ocean.

I stopped at the Shore Acres State Park and toured the gardens:

I had made a reservation for a campsite at Diamond Lake, so I headed east to the lake. I was not sure how far away it was and I really, really didn't want to drive in the woods at night because I didn't want to hit a deer. I was relieved to arrive at Diamond Lake around 8:00 PM, to locate my campsite and settle in. I had purchased a full sized air mattress, which I set up in the folded down back seats of my Isuzu Rodeo, with flannel sheets and two quilts.

I watched Brokeback Mountain on my portable DVD player [which plugged into the cigarette lighter] and went to sleep. I woke up around 2AM because it became profoundly cold. I looked out to see if it had snowed during the night, which has happened to me when I've been camping before. It had not, but I had to put on two jackets, three pairs of socks, and a cap before I could fall back to sleep.

In the morning, I got up and headed to Crater Lake.

Crater Lake is truly incredible. I am looking forward to going back with my kids and exploring it more, during the summer months. [I get the impression that it is quite the winter spot.]

I stopped off at the lodge and got a cup of coffee and ate my last Voodoo Doughnut.

It's got a pentagram on it; see? It was delicious, even two days old. Out of Voodoo doughnuts, it was time to go home. I headed toward Klamath Falls, passed the very beautiful Mount Shasta

and returned to Oakland, desperately craving a carne asada taco.

I thought I would give the stink eye to the brown hills and traffic congested East Bay after being in lush, green Oregon, but I felt a welling up of love and appreciation as I drove on 80 West in Emeryville and looked out across the waters of the Bay.

Heather commented that next time maybe I'll go "further afield", but this journey was about going inward actually. There's a lot of stuff going on in my life right now and it was a wonderful opportunity to cool out, to be meditative, to learn about myself.

I kept my word to myself that I would stay safe. I followed my plan and did everything I wanted to do, except visit Mount St. Helens and eat at more places. That is for the next trip. I expanded my horizons and saw new things and met new people.

I always say that all my kids need to enjoy their vacations are beaches and volcanoes. However, they flew to London and I headed straight for the beaches and volcanoes, so maybe it's what I need.

Most of all, I had fun.

2007-08-20T11:20:00.000-07:00

The next day I took the Victoria Ferry to Victoria, B.C. It's a 2-1/2 hour ride from Seattle and it's very comfortable. I took Triptone just to make sure that I didn't get seasick.

There were tons of advertisements to take a trip to Butchart Gardens, but I didn't want to commit to that trip sight unseen. I went to the Empress Hotel and made a 2:00 PM reservation for afternoon tea, which didn't leave enough time to go out the gardens.

I went to Satin Moon quilt shop at bought this fabric:

And photographed this quilt

because I really like the swirly quilting on the stars:

I also went to the Munro's Books and bought my favorite magazine, Canadian House and Home, for a reasonable price (no tariffs or whatever). It was cool to see the Canadian and English version of the latest Harry Potter book.

I walked around looking at the Parliament House and totem poles:

At the appointed time, I went for tea at the Fairmont Empress Hotel:

I was seated in the library, which was very cozy, and gazed out at the harbor:

The service was unreal. I had this wonderful woman who was so attentive, so kind. She looked like Maribel Verdu in Pan's Labyrinth. I couldn't eat everything on the tray, but I tasted everything and it was all exquisite. My favorite was the curried chicken and mango sandwiches. I had Empress blend tea.

After the Empress, I took a self-guided tour of the Parliament House and then it was time to board the ferry to return to Seattle.

The trip there and back I was fortunate to sit across from married couples who liked each other, so they emanated a pleasant vibe, which was a relief. The return couple was more talkative and the wife asked me about my trip. She opined that I was "brave" to travel by myself, to which I thought (but didn't say) "Yeah well if I waited until I had a husband to travel with, it would be a very long wait." They spoke to another couple, who asked when they heard I was traveling alone whether I wanted a husband, as they have an unmarried son in his 40s. I didn't say no thank you, but...no thank you.

The ferry got in around 8:00PM and it was still light and I really wanted some sushi, so I consulted with my Seattle tour book and went to Shiro's because it's Ichiro Suzuki's favorite. They were tremendously gracious and even though I didn't have a reservation, seated me at the sushi bar. I watched Shiro work his magic; he's been making sushi for 50 years, and he fed me wonderous sushi and lots of pickled ginger. They offered me sake, but I had to get back to my hotel safely, so I had green tea instead. The salmon sushi made me want to cry it was so good and my cucumber roll had so much wasabi that I had to close my eyes while fireworks shot off in my brain.

I got back to my hotel safely and left Seattle the next day for Mount Rainier.

2007-08-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

The next day it was time for me to leave Portland and head north. First I had to stop at Voodoo Doughnuts, because the book said that it was great and that Brad Pitt's favorite donut there is the maple bacon donut. As much as I love BP, I couldn't bring myself to order one, but I picked up two other donuts and then a cup of coffee from Stumptown Coffee.

VDD is on SW 3rd, in a dark hole of a store. They've got some amazing choices and I was tempted to order a dozen, where they give you 13 of the donuts of their choice. But I could never have eaten 13 donuts by myself. Froot Loops on donuts. Genius!!!

The two I ordered were both chocolate. As you can see, the one on the right has Cocoa Puffs as well. They were heaven; the perfect size, not too sweet, but wonderfully sweet. The coffee was really good too, but I barely noticed.

I headed west to Astoria. Of course I had to go to Astoria because of these two blogs. The drive out was beautiful, past beautiful farms [not the monstrous agribusiness concerns I'm used to in the Central Valley] and into the lush green woods. I cruised through, taking it all in.

Mariko mentioned the Pig 'N Pancake in Astoria, but I wasn't in the mood for pancakes when I finally got there (though I had been before). I figured out that I wasn't going to be able to eat everywhere and everything on one trip, though I still managed to eat plenty.

Instead I went to a Farmers Market in the downtown area and walked around looking at historic buildings.

This enormous hydrangea bush made me gasp.

This house was my favorite:

I went to the Columbia River Museum and then headed back west and north. The drive into Seattle was pretty, passing the Sleater Kinney offramp near Olympia, which has a beautifully domed state capitol building. Traffic was really bad from Tacoma to Seattle, which is not a small distance.

Eventually I got to my motel, which was the Travelodge near the Seattle Center. Hotels in Seattle are expensive and parking is extra, but the Travelodge was adequate and more reasonably priced. As soon as I got out of my car, roadweary, some guy accosted me, saying that I needed a younger man like himself. Younger? He had plaque on his teeth older than me. It irritated me and made me feel a little unsafe, the only time I felt so on the whole trip.

I was very hungry and I wanted sushi, but on Sunday evening there were very few restaurants open in that area. I lucked out and found Bambino's East Coast Pizzeria. It's really pretty inside and I had a Pellegrino Limonatta, a tuna and white bean salad with garlic infused olive oil drizzled on top, and rigatoni carbonara. If I had known how enormous the white bean salad was and how delicious, I would not have ordered the pasta, which I only ate a quarter of. [Carbonara should be made with lean bacon; that's all I'm saying]. The food (and lots of good Seattle tap water) made me feel much better, though.

The next day I had planned to take a ferry to Victoria, B.C., but I would have to check in at 6:30AM for a 7:30AM departure, and I was too tired. So I spent the day exploring Seattle instead. I went to The Mother Church, also known as the original Nordstrom. I also went to the Barneys New York next to it, which had lovely clothes and shoes. I went to the Seattle Public Library:

Not to cast aspersions on a library, but $165.5 million is a lot of money to spend on a building that does not feel very welcoming. I like a building, especially a library, to say Come on in. There's room for everyone and all are welcome.

For lunch, I had a grilled salmon sandwich at Lowells in the Pike Street Market while gazing out at Puget Sound. That was fun and the salmon was delicious.

On the way back to the motel, I stopped at Dahlia Bakery and bought a cupcake:

It was one of the best cupcakes I've ever eaten and I've been to the Magnolia Bakery, people. [Matt is rhapsodizing about Sprinkles Cupcakes, which I am going to have to check out.] It was perfect.

I went to Kinokuniya and Uwajimaya in the International District and had a blast looking at the Japanese craft books.

ISBN 452903979X

I like this Start Series of books, because there's something accessible and inspiring about them. And the book cost about $10.

Then I went out the Capitol Hill and University Districts.

I want this house. It's across the street from the Volunteer Park Observation Tower:

2007-08-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

It's so nice to make a pot of coffee (Nicaraguan Organic from Cole Coffee) and drink it from a favorite mug, eat a boiled egg and a slice of toast, prepared in one's own very quiet kitchen. It's great to be home.

* * *

The next day I got up and headed out to the Columbia River basin. I stopped at Staccato Gelato to try their donuts. They are big and sweet. I really liked their applesauce donut.

I headed out on 84 East. It's hard to describe how incredibly beautiful this area is. My pictures don't do it justice. Alicia's pictures are much better.

I've always loved being out in nature, but I didn't expect to be so moved by the beauty of the area. It's so much more lush than the parts of the Sierra Nevada mountains and foothills that I've been in. Because I was by myself, I could indulge in my love for waterfalls, mountains and trees at my leisure.

I stopped off at Multnomah Falls and hiked up the hill past the bridge, but not all the way to the top because I didn't know what the day had in store and how much time I had.

Next, I drove on eastward, and stopped at Eagle Creek. There I used the ladies room and then laced on my hiking boots, put on my sunglasses and broad brimmed sun hat, grabbed a bottle of water, and set off on a 6 mile hike on the Eagle Creek trail. It's beautiful and easy; there were of people of all ages and their dogs on the way. Parts of the trail were right on the side of the mountains, but they had cables you could hold onto.

At one point, I was completely by myself and hadn't seen anyone in a long time and I worried a little. I didn't have a cell phone, I thought about a serial killer, I thought about a mountain lion and how they're supposed to strike silently. I was worried that the applesauce donut that I had eaten would make me smell even more appetizing to a mountain lion.

Then I told myself that my fate could not possibly be to die being eaten by a mountain lion on the Eagle Creek trail in Oregon. No way, no how. Cardiac arrest arguing a motion for summary judgment in front of Judge S., a struggle to the death for a pair of pumps at Nordstrom, but not in the wilderness. And sure enough, more people came walking by and my worries abated. It was beautiful, beautiful.

When I got back to the car, I ate lunch of my Uwajimaya food from the small ice chest I carried on the passenger seat and continued east to the Hood River, whose claim to fame is for being an extremely popular spot for windsurfing. The book says

The fury of the winds derives from the heat of the eastern desert drawing in the Pacific westerlies. The confining contours of the Gorge dam up these air masses and precipitate their gusty release.

I love information like this, especially because the part of the Bay Area that I live in is subject to the same effect, the heat from the inland counties sucking in the cloud coverage and fog from the Pacific.

I didn't go windsurfing. I drove on to the Dalles, where the landscape changes dramatically to brown, brown, brown grassland.

On the way, I passed by Mount Hood, which is, typical of the Cascade mountains, dramatic and beautiful. I'm a sucker for landscapes formed by volcanos and glaciers.

I went to Fort Dalles and got a wonderful tour from the guide. She is completely sweet and a history buff, a native of the area. Having read the Little House series repeatedly, I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and the artifacts.

Plus, they had quilts.

At the end, the tour guide asked me where I am from* and what brought me to the area and I mentioned the tour book. I think the question was actually deeper, about what I, an African American woman by myself, was doing there. What could I say? Indulging my curiosity. Exploring the West. Seeing how my tax dollars are spent on National Parks. Taking a break from my crazy life.

*I get asked this question about 20 times a year. Do you get asked this question a lot?

It was almost 5:00 when I finished the tour, so it was time to head back to Portland. I stopped at a rose garden in The Dalles and looked down at the hills and the river. The drive back was beautiful.

I was hot and sweaty from the hike, so after grabbing a veggie burger and a blackberry lemonade from Burgerville, I went back to my room and took another extra long shower.

It was a wonderful day.

2007-08-11T06:59:00.000-07:00

Multnomah Falls

Eight days, 2500 miles, 300 pictures.

While I was in Seattle, my children sent me an e-mail from Paris, which said, in part "We thought you hated road trips." I sent them back a reply which said "I thought I hated road trips too but it turns out I only hate them if I am crammed in a car with a bunch of other people and we're driving somewhere like Texas or Arizona [in the summer]. I actually enjoy them if I am by myself."

I had a great time.

I left at 5:30AM on Thursday (8/2) and headed up I-5 going north. I stopped in the bustling metropolis of Dunsmuir (pop. 1,923) and had breakfast at the Cornerstone Cafe. There I learned that you have to be careful when you order wheat toast, because you could get beige white bread when you're not expecting it. Dunsmuir smells really good, like sweet flowers.

My plan was to drive all the way to Portland on the first day, just to get my journey started and to get a sense of how I would do on a road trip. This was my first one since the 1980s. I truly hated them because of the supremely uncomfortable ones I was dragged on when I was a kid. I don't even drive to Los Angeles, because you can fly there in one hour.

I listened to my MP3 player, drank coffee from the gas station (rather tasty actually) and, reading those brown freeway signs about some historical site, wished I had a talking GPS system that didn't give me directions, but told me why stuff like rivers and mountains are named the way they are and facts (geographical and historical) about the place referenced by the sign.

I got a splitting headache in Eugene and stopped to get a diet Coke to wash down some Advil. Driving into Portland was thrilling and I let my sense of direction lead me to the Red Lion Inn at the Convention Center. (It helped that I had looked at its location using Google Earth before I left home.)

One way I prepared for the trip was to read Alicia's and Mariko's blogs and make a list of things to do and eat.

So I checked into the hotel and almost wept with joy at the site of a Burgerville right across the street. I got a turkey burger, fries and a blackberry lemonade* and took them back to my room.

*They had these amazing milkshake flavors on the menu, but I'm not much of a milkshake drinker, me being increasingly lactose intolerant and them being loaded with calories.

Traveling by yourself = you don't have to drag your exhausted self out of your hotel room to check out the nightlife or any other such nonsense if you don't feel like it.

I once saw a report on a 60 Minutes type of show about how they never launder the top coverlet of hotel beds. So I brought a blankie with me, stripped the coverlet off immediately, and put my quilt on the bed.

It was 87 degrees in Portland and humid (to me at least). I took a super long shower and watched some of A Very Long Engagement on the portable DVD player I brought and went to bed.

The next day I consulted with the Oregon travel book, authored by Elizabeth and Mark Morris, published by Moon, before I set out. This book is absolutely excellent and because of it I had a great time in Oregon.

I went to the Cup and Saucer for breakfast, getting turned around and diverted before I found it and then finding a parking space right in front of it. [This is a miracle for someone from the SF Bay Area.]

While I waited for a table I read a sign which said that hate speech would not be tolerated in the cafe. It made me happy to read and it and my breakfast--egg, potato, cheese, bacon, green onion scramble, vanilla ginger scone and coffee--and a friendly and attentive waitress solidified my opinion that Portland is excellent.

Though the sky looked like this, it didn't rain.

After breakfast I strolled down Hawthorne Street, going into a Fred Meyer because I had never been to one before, and feeling deeply jealous [in a petulant and stamp your foot kind of way] of all the beautiful old houses and tree lined streets in the area.

I had a list of things I wanted to do, thanks to Alicia and Mariko and their commenters, so I:

a. Went to Powells Books (the most excellent used book store) and browsed and bought the practice at home issue of Yoga Journal and this quilt book.

b. Walked around the Pearl District, stopping at Pearl Bakery and Storables, where these wire gym baskets only cost $10 each. [Dude, they try to sell the used ones on ebay for $25+ each.] I bought four for my fabric stash.

c. I stopped off at Pix Patisserie and bought macaroons. The tip jar said "Tips are friggin' sweet."

d. Checked out Fabric Depot and Mills End Fabric stores. Being able to buy fabric online makes shopping at stores like this a bit obsolete. You see the same stuff you pass over online and the stuff you like other people have snatched up and taken to the cutters. Especially in a cavernous store like FD.

Traveling by yourself = you get to shop for stuff you like

e. Drove to Beaverton [passing by Nike World Headquarters] and shopped at Uwajimaya and Kinokuniya* book store.

The candies at 7 o'clock were gross, not sweet at all. I love tangelos and they reminded me of how I used to eat four or more a day when I was pregnant with my son.

ISBN 978402190415B and 457911020X

*There's one in San Francisco, but it's in Japantown and frankly it's easier to find parking by driving 700 miles to Portland.

I decided to have an early dinner at Pho Van in Beaverton. As I walked in and the waitress saw that I was alone and that I immediately asked for the location for the ladies room, she thought I was not serious about eating there. But I ordered the sliced beef salad and the chicken pho, which eased her anxiety. I think the fact that I ate with chop sticks and know my way around a bowl of pho* eased her anxiety even more and by the end of the meal she was all smiles. The food was delicious.

*Thanks to Pho 84 and Vo's Restaurant in Oakland.

I had decided upon setting out that I would not eat any food that I could get at home, which meant no chain restaurants and no Starbucks.

I love the way the folks in Oregon say Have a nice day when you're leaving their establishment.

I returned to Portland, picked up another blackberry lemonade, and returned to the hotel.

Traveling by myself, I wasn't going to wander around at night. Plus, I'm a bit of a lightweight when it comes to staying up late.

2007-07-28T08:21:00.000-07:00

This is my sweet boy's room. After the floor was completed, he didn't want to put his toys back into his room. He wanted a less cluttered space, so we put them in the attic. We still haven't replaced his window coverings, so the room is filled with light.

What remains are his most important objects, including his Maasai statues and his books about Africa and the Maasai.

My sweet girl wanted to move to a bigger room, so we moved her across the hall.

The green stuffed animal is Banjo, who has been on all of my girl's trips--Europe, Costa Rica, Hawaii--and been blessed during the annual blessing of the animals at our church.

Tomorrow, my kids (and Banjo) are flying to Europe with their dad. I am anxious about my son, as this is his first trip there, the first time we're going to be away from each other (and for 18 days). My girl wanted to know what I wanted her to bring back for me. I said "Bring back your brother in one piece." And to him I said "Bring back your sister in one piece. Don't bring me things. Bring me the two of you."

This weekend I'm mapping out my road trip up to Portland and Seattle. I haven't decided on Vancouver and might instead explore the Oregon coast and Crater Lake. I am looking forward to getting away from work. I probably could putter around the house for a week, but I'd rather test myself and go see and experience something new.

Non Sequitur Home Improvement Photo:

I've wanted a pedestal sink for a long time. I finally got one with my bathroom redo, which started out as simply needing to replace the ancient linoleum. The replacement ended up being white marble after an epic search. Epic. I really like how white the bathroom is now, though the walls are a dove gray.

In painting the outside of the house, the guys scraped and cleaned every single window. With that and the absence of window coverings, the house feels like a glass box now.

2007-07-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

Triangles border = more color, more stuff for the eye to look at, more layers to diversify quilting patterns

So now I have four pieced tops that need to be quilted:

That's the labor intensive part, but I'm ready to get started. Gotta get supplies: organic cotton batting and acres of white cotton backing.

Since my REM sleep is still MIA, I was able to experience to the 4.2 earthquake at 4:00AM in all of its glory. Shaking and creaking and rumbling.

2007-07-18T18:31:00.000-07:00

Dear [Crafty] Mojo,

Thank you for returning. I know you ran off when my house blew up with renovations and everyone crammed into my study. It didn't help that work has gone crazy, too much litigation, too many meetings, and I come home exhausted.

Thank you for laying low, rather than abandoning me.

I finished piecing this quilt:

and then realized it needed more color/detail. So I took off the border to add a row of triangles all around. Stick with me mojo and I'll be finished piecing for real tomorrow.

Can you speak to my REM sleep and ask it to return now as well? I'm getting desperate.

Love,

A.J.

2007-07-08T09:52:00.001-07:00

Not blogging, not sewing, what the heck? Sorry for my absence.

Though the summer is usually a time when the pace eases up, it hasn't been that way for me. My 7 year old, whose father is a school teacher and has the summer off, can't believe that I have to go to work these days. He's says it's not fair and I agree with him. Work is only getting more hectic and intense, not less.

I took the kids to my parents' cabin for the 4th of July holiday weekend. It was fun to hang out, just the three of us, and swim and play a ton of table tennis. I also played pool with my son and he had the cutest trash talking in the world. Like waving his hand in front of his nose and saying "What's that smell? Oh, it's mom's shot."

At one point we were sharing a drink and I told him not to backwash. He said "But Mom, sharing is caring."

Behold my baby girl's shoulders. She was mighty in the swim races at the pool, a ringer.

My home renovations are moving along--two months into it. Of course, the devil is in the last details that need to get finished. Ah well.

My neighbor came by to ask me if I was making the renovations planning to sell the house. I assured him that I am not. He was glad to hear it. He told me that he and his wife had a baby at home 8 days earlier. His wife came out later with the baby in a sling, a gorgeous little girl.

This weekend I'm sewing and continuing to put my house back together.

2007-06-25T21:55:00.000-07:00

This weekend, my friend Julia and I went to the Domaine Carneros winery in Napa. We climbed to the top of the stairs in the picture and sat on the terrace in the shade and drank champagne and ate a cheese tray as we gazed down at the rolling hills of the Napa valley. It was really gorgeous. A half of a flute of champagne went straight to my head and made me feel fuzzy. Later we went to a Portuguese restaurant in Sonoma.

Earlier in the day I had taken my kids to my girl's swim meet. It was the usual fun and she improved her breast stroke time in the 200 meters even though I didn't stand on the side of the pool and yell at her. Imagine that.

Sunday, I walked around Lake Merrit, did some grocery shopping, and generally puttered around the house. I even took a nap in the warm afternoon.

2007-06-18T09:57:00.000-07:00

I love Country Home magazine. I think it's head and shoulders above most house p0rn and I love this cover.

I do wish, however, that the photograph of this quilt had not been blurry. Have mercy on us quilters.

This weekend I took my kids to my parents' cabin. My mom said that they needed help clearing the pine needles on the property, but it was mostly done when we got there. So I took the kids fishing while my Mom barbecued a turkey on the Webber grill and puttered around the cabin. We fished at White Pines Lake, which is really pretty. Fishing is not my thing, so I sat in the shade and did crossword puzzles while the kids fished. There was some fishing tournament on the lake, so there were a lot of people.

Later in the afternoon, we returned to the cabin, changed into swim suits and went to Blue Lake to swim and play table tennis at the clubhouse. Fun times, lots of sun.

Sunday we fished more, then more swimming (in the pool this time), more table tennis, more sun and barbecue.

I'm glad we were able to have a quick getaway. I may overdose on adrenaline right about now. As soon as we got home, the mental To Do lists started forming. I want/need to slow down.

My girl was able to appreciate how cool it is to get away from your life for a while. The children sailed into camp this morning and now I have a big pile of work to do.

2007-06-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

I had a good weekend and I hope you did as well.

On Saturday morning, I dropped my daughter off at swim practice and my son off at his dad's house. Then I returned home and puttered around, cleaning up, purging and organizing stuff, putting new pulls on a new cabinet for my bathroom.

For lunch, I stopped by a local taqueria and had a fish taco. Delicious. Then I walked over to the Temescal Street Faire. I like walking in my neighborhood and I am thankful it has a hardware store, a library, a drug store, a bakery and a really good deli within walking distance. I get to look at people, look at plants. Cars look a bit frightening when you're walking. I wish more people walked.

The faire was lovely and, since I was by myself, I got to leave after walking through, listening to music and people watching. Back home for more organizing and purging and watching this movie. I wasn't impressed with it. I started watching Curse of the Golden Flower. Ahhh Gong Li and Chow Yun Fat, lavish costumes and epic drama.

Sunday morning I made orange scones with dried cranberries and coffee for breakfast. Then I started working on bags for my son's teachers, just like I did last year.

While I was sewing, I listened to Dave Chappelle on You Tube. At times I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe--though I won't tell you which clip in particular sent me over the edge.

The bags took longer than I expected, probably from all the laughing. The handles on the first one I made were too wide, so I kept it for myself and made two more. I was really glad to use this Martha Negley vegetable fabric for the lining. It's the ultimate farmers market bag. :0)

I pulled myself away from the bags and Dave Chappelle long enough to take a shower, get dressed and go to the grocery store and Cole Coffee.

I gave the bags to the teachers this morning, because my son was too shy to do it himself and they loved them. I thought the kids' last day of school was Friday, but it's Wednesday at noon. Ooops.

This summer, my son is going to Cal Camp through July. My girl is going to Cal Camp for two weeks, one week off and then three weeks of African Dance camp. And plenty of swim practice throughout all that. In August, their father is taking them to Europe (England, France and Germany) for three weeks.

I have been musing about what to do with myself while they're gone and keeping in mind that I can't do something so fantastic that they'll be upset to have missed it, I decided to go on a road trip to Portland, Seattle and possibly Vancouver, B.C. A road trip by myself. It's exciting and a little intimidating. It's not going to take three weeks, because I can't be away from my practice that long. Frankly, I don't have any details worked out thus far. Stay tuned.

2007-06-08T08:10:00.000-07:00

The chaos is better. The sun came out a little this week (though it's not visible now). I am blogging before Court this morning. I was looking at my electronic calendar and complaining to my secretary about all the work I have. I told her it was all her fault, which made her laugh. She bribed me a couple of weeks ago to get a brief done by promising that she'd love me forever if I did. So I did and now she loves me forever, so I can blame her.

My children have one more week of school. They're excited. I'm excited. Their school is like a job for me and I enjoy the ten 10 weeks off.

Plus, I got right with the library (paying $20 in fines) and now I can read No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy and Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson. Summer reading, bring it on! I love the library.

2007-06-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

Obviously I've got berries on the brain.

I'm a bit disgruntled. The chaos in my house is still really bad. I look at the pile of my son's toys in my dining room and my brain locks. Then again, I get brain lock about plenty of things these days, when I encounter a task I don't want to do. I'd rather have a clean house. I'd rather V. haul all the junk away. I'd rather go on vacation.

This weekend was fine. My son had his last soccer game of the season and enjoyed himself thoroughly. It was blowing and cold (jackets for everyone), but the sun peeked out a bit yesterday, which elevated my mood. So did getting 50 cents credit for reusing my Cole Coffee bag. So does that picture of the baby sucking her thumb.

2007-05-31T09:51:00.000-07:00

Behold my new rug

A little bit of order restored makes a huge difference. Last night we were able to eat dinner at the dining room table and it was wonderful. My son yelled "This chicken is so delicious." I was able to fold the kids' clothes and put them in the chest of drawers in their rooms.

The guys are putting the baseboards in today and touching up all the paint that got nicked when they were putting the floors in. The floors are red oak.

I am hating this Bay Area weather--in the mid-50s and overcast and blowing. I should be used to this version of summer weather after all these years, but it's pissing me off.

2007-05-30T10:12:00.000-07:00

For Heather:

Nothing to worry about.

Shiny is better:

V. agrees with me.

2007-05-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

This is a block called Broken Dishes. I was able to assemble about ten or so this weekend. Though I'm a sucker for a blue quilt, as I've said (and demonstrated) before, my bedroom has taken a brownish/caffe latte turn with the renovations going on in my house, like this bedroom from Elle Decor.

So it and my other blue quilts may clash.

The house is slooooooowly coming along. I had to tell V. that I wanted a high gloss finish on the floors. He thought satin would be better and didn't check with me first, so I had to put my foot down a bit. But looking at a picture like this makes me want shiny floors.

I showed my mom and stepdad the chaos/work yesterday. They were encouraging about the progress, reminding me that their bathroom took four months to complete. My mom and I laughed at the article in the Sunday Chronicle where the writer stated his opinion that old houses are rubbish. I can only shrug my shoulders and say that it's a crazy love that I have for my 100+ year old house; it's not logical. My mom wanted to get rid of even more stuff, which made me laugh.

I didn't realize, until Sunday night, that my neighbors were relying on me to have window coverings to maintain their privacy. I've got to get my window covering back on pronto.

I cleaned out a storage area next to my study. It's a bit roomy, with a hall, a closet sized area, and space under the back stairs. The kids responded to the change with great enthusiasm by making it into a quiet area/club house. I was surprised by their reaction, but pleased. I couldn't believe the stuff that I had stored there (lots of picnic supplies) and was relieved that I was clearing it out and not someone else. I would have been embarrassed to have anyone else have to deal with the detritus.

It's very interesting to be moving everything in my house around. I had a moment last week, after being stressed out by the chaos, when I walked across my patio to the recycling bin, when my home made sense to me. As if I could see to the time when the chaos is resolved and everything is in order and there is a lot less of it.

I recognize that I'm a product of the plethora of messages to consume that Americans are bombarded with. [For example, celebrate Memorial Day by buying stuff on sale.] And because I live in a house with a lot of storage capacity, it's incredibly easy to accumulate a lot of stuff. I don't want to live like that any more.

2007-05-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

Works in Progress:

I really needed to take the day off, because I've been working really hard, the chaos in my house is taking its toll on my psyche, and it feels like I'm getting strep throat.

So I did, though I am hard wired not to take the day off. I got it from my mom.

I'm sewing, watching ER and Gideon's Daughter*, folding fabric, and being completely inspired by an 8 year old issue of Martha Stewart Living (September 1999).

I think this room is genius. I would do it a ~~bit~~ lot less cluttered and I'm a disaster with houseplants, but the red and the celadon make me very happy.

*Watching a movie where a child dies is just hard for me.

2007-05-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

I wish I had some really cool photo of my completed house to post, but I don't. I know where my digital camera is, which is something, but the house is in complete disarray.

When someone comes to visit me (which I do not encourage), I take them to the back yard because it is the least chaotic place in my house.

This is a picture of the rug that will go in my bedroom if it's ever finished.

The weekend was good. Saturday I had to get up early to get to my son's 8:30AM soccer game. After the game, the children and I went grocery shopping and to Cole Coffee, home to unload the groceries, then to H & M and Old Navy for summer clothes.

Sunday, my girl had a swim meet at Mills College that started at 7:30AM and went until 3:00PM. She takes my breath away that girl. I saw little under-8 year olds racing in 13 feet deep water and thought I could never have allowed my girl to do that. I can barely bring myself to let her do it at 11 years old, but it's a good lesson not to let my fears limit her life.

My little guy was a paragon of patience, napping and eating and hanging out generally.

When we got home, my girl put on her pajamas and took a 2 hour nap while I cooked Sunday dinner (roast lemon chicken, mashed potatoes, asparagus) and did laundry.

I have a secret plan to reclaim my house by purging what I can from the insanity while the guys are working, so that when it's time for it to be put back in the appropriate rooms, there will be much less of it. I love the advice from Apartment Therapy to toss stuff and to enjoy one's home. The subtitle is The Eight Step Home Cure. I think the word cure is very important, because it doesn't feel healthy (for me) to live with disorder and clutter. Just being able to keep the recycling moving out of the house makes me feel psychologically better.

One example the author gave was to make coffee at home and spend time in the morning drinking it, rather than stopping by the mega chain. My mornings are my favorite part of the day and I don't mind that the absence of window coverings means that I wake up at dawn during the renovation.

I woke up at 5:45 this morning and started some laundry, washed dishes, made myself coffee and breakfast, then got the kids up. I didn't have as lovely a morning as Alicia, because I had to get to court by 8:30AM, but the judge was someone I was very happy to appear before and it made for a pleasant morning.

There was the smell of spilled milk in my car (you know the smell that makes you think Oh Jesus, what died), so on the way to the office, I stopped by the self-serve car wash to do a quick carpet shampoo and vacuum.

It's lunch time and I have a bag of clothes to donate and to go grocery shopping for dinner tonight.

2007-05-18T17:20:00.001-07:00

Pretend that I'm whispering:

My house is more insanely chaotic than ever. I'm trying to keep my cool. Someday it will be over.

Work has been crazy, home is crazy.

This weekend should be a a little calmer.

Mother's Day was lovely.

Hope you all have a beautiful weekend.

2007-05-11T11:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Friday.

The house is coming along, slowly, but my study is a cluttered sanctuary where I am working on a new quilt and reading magazines.

I haven't crystalized my thoughts on how the work on my house is changing how I live, but this morning I was in the downstairs shower, which was fixed this week. I haven't taken a shower downstairs since before my son was born. Seven years. It is lovely too. I love to look at the Apartment Therapy Smallest Coolest Contest and dig on the pared down, clutter-free aesthetic. It's just so hard to emulate.

I love this quilt:

It's from this month's Country Living Magazine.

This weekend I hope to slow down and catch my breath. What about you?

2007-05-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

This weekend was good and hectic, as usual. My son had an 8:30AM soccer game, so there was no sleeping in. After the game, we looked at hardwood floors then returned home. When my girl came home from swim practice, we went out again and got them skateboards and safety gear. They love their skateboards and rode them the rest of the day.

Sunday we went grocery shopping then to see Spiderman 3. After the movie, I barbecued and tried to clean up the house. I also made a lemon pound cake from Cook's Illustrated magazine. I didn't have sour cream, but I used the baking substitutions link so generously provided by Alicia. The cake turned out well, though it's not the absolute best lemon pound cake I've ever had.

We ate dinner (barbecued chicken, salad, green beans, rustic Italian sour dough bread and penne pasta with cheese) in the back yard, sitting on this quilt and it was completely lovely.

My favorite combination is to try a new dessert recipe on the weekend and have leftovers on Monday. Last night I picked up some strawberries from Monterey Market and we had this for dessert.

I am learning a lot about living during this remodel. I am enjoying my whole house in a way I didn't before. And evaluating all the stuff in it more critically.

Colleen: the squares on the brown One Patch are 3-1/2 inches. My blue One Patch had 4-1/2 inch squares.

2007-05-05T11:33:00.000-07:00

At the risk of being repetitive, I made this brown and burgundy One Patch out of fabric that had been languishing in my stash. This is my Spring Cleaning quilt. I felt the need for brown after making a pink quilt. Now I crave blues and greens.

My brother's fiancee abruptly called off the engagement (via e-mail) so I am not going to complete Any Way You Slice It quilt. There is no reason to do so and her behavior has left a bad taste in my mouth about the quilt.

2007-05-02T19:08:00.000-07:00

There are no words, really, to describe the degree of insanity I feel at this moment because of the state of my house.

So I am sheltering in place in my study and trying not to get too freaked out.

2007-04-26T10:07:00.000-07:00

It's really hard to describe how much I love David Austin roses. I deeply and passionately love them; they're miraculous to me, their beauty and their scent. Occasionally, I plant a bush that is a dud--disease prone, stingy with the blossoms, not happy with the spot I've planted it in. Then I dig it up and plant something else.

Clockwise from the pink one on top, the bouquet is comprised of Reine Victoria, Glamis Castle (white), another Reine Victoria (pink), Alchemyst (yellow), Abraham Darby (peach), Pearlie Mae (yellow with ruffled petals), and Margarethe (yellow, facing away from the camera). The big peach flower in the middle is another Abraham Darby; if I could have only one David Austin rose, it would probably be this one. It is a superb cut flower and the scent is exquisite.

I cut the bouquet yesterday evening, while I was waiting for the water for pasta to boil. The kids were buzzing around the house and yard, waiting for the guys in the bathroom to finish up and leave.

I'm having some work done on the house, including having my upstairs bathroom redone. I'm praying fervently that we don't have to live in chaos for too long.

2007-04-25T14:05:00.000-07:00

I made two bags to send with the quilt, made up of leftover fabric from the project. Since Matilda has a sister, it's only fair to put something in the package for her as well. And they are identical, so there's no reason to quibble about who gets which one. Which never stopped my kids from quibbling, but I hope it helps in this case.

I like that I was able to use up all of the apple fabric I had left from the quilt on the handles and the lining.

2007-04-21T16:04:00.000-07:00

Finishing...is good.

This is Matilda's Quilt. Matilda is an adorable 4 year old who says that her favorite colors (plural) are pink. That's it. So I had to score some pink fabric, though I had the pink Japanese seersucker and the Kaffe Fassett dahlias fabric.

The binding is fabric from Cia's Palette and it's called Follow Your Imagination. Fitting, I think. The white fabric is from the high thread count sheet set that I've previously blogged about. It's really soft.

As you can see, it's quilted quite a bit.

It's 58 inches square. Square! I've never made a square quilt before, but that's how it evolved. I found the Split Ninepatch block here, made multiple copies of it, then put them together in a pattern I liked. I had never done that before either. I've learned a lot making this quilt.

I always wish a quilt I'm giving away was better, closer to perfection, free of flaws. This one has plenty of flaws, but plenty of good intentions too.

I hope Matilda likes it.

2007-04-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

Inspiration Friday

I saw these pillows in a couch ad in this month's Metropolitan Home. I love the fabric combinations.

Now it may be alarming for some to see a Christmas decoration in April, but I saw this project in a December 2000 issue of Country Living magazine and I was inspired. It turns out that Amy Butler created this project and it's brilliant.

I saw just yesterday someone blogging about a similar idea by Danny Seo in Country Home magazine, but I think Amy's execution--with vintage fabric strips, felt cut outs and beads on the end of the pins--is superior.

She recommends using styrofoam balls in the middle because a ball made up of all fabric is heavy. I can relate to that an I can't wait to try it.

Sorry about Christmas in April, but everyone knows that handmade ornaments take time to create.

I hope you have a good weekend.

2007-04-18T10:49:00.000-07:00

My current favorites. [Don't you just want to kiss Rosa's little girls?]

Colleen's comment made me laugh with delight:

you know, i'm just really interested in how you get your energy. i mean, obviously you're a very directed person but it seems that you just have these beautiful kids, a high powered job and gorgeous roses, and you make a quilt every time i turn around! bed quilts! not wall hangings, bed quilts! do you have a mantra you can pass on to your more blobby readers (me) so i can jumpstart a bit. i feel like i have so many ideas and so many things started but so many many more things in the queue. tell me wise one!

Do I have a mantra? No, not really. I think I have a divided consciousness when it comes to crafting/quilting. There are times when my creative urge abandons me, or distances itself from me and won't return my phone calls [like on The Hills*]. Then, a part of me is appalled that I'm not working, working, working**; like a swim coach standing on the side of the pool yelling. Another part of me is Jeff Spicoli, who couldn't be bothered with crafting, who argues with the swim coach that crafting is supposed to be fun. Yet another part of me is the conciliator, who says--Okay, you don't feel like pushing this quilt through the machine, your wrists and hands are tired, so just sit here and cut loose threads or mark some lines. And that last voice is what enables me to make progress on something and finish it.

Here's another important factor: I make the most progress when I can see two steps ahead. So, like this morning, when I tell myself that I'm going to finish quilting the big squares, then finish up the last few small squares, then quilt the border, I move through the first step, anxious to get to the second step. If I haven't visualized the next step, I can get bogged down. One thing that helps the visualization is that I have finished quilts before and I know what a cool feeling it is to complete something.

I love fabric and get inspired by it. When I feel drawn to a fabric, I no longer feel reluctant to cut it up once I have it. In fact, my attraction is to cut it up, to combine it with white fabric, to make it into something useable that can be a part of my home, my landscape, so I can continuously enjoy it.

Quilting is not hard; it's easy. Really, really. [I remember learning how to make a tote bag and being mystified, gobsmacked that they're made inside out. Yet, I was able to purchase a Japanese craft book and make a tutorial out of the instructions to make a cosmetics bag.]

Here's The Secret:

1. Get a blank notebook and make it your crafty/inspiration journal.

2. Put inspiring images in the notebook.

3. Make a list of projects you want to complete.

4. Get started.

5. Don't stop/do a little each day/week.

I am deeply grateful for everyone's appreciation of my flowers and my quilts.

* I can't always sit through an entire episode because it's too ridiculous (and/or repellent), but I can't look away either.

** My mother is very high energy and driven in everything, including her creativity. I have some (a fraction) of her energy, I think.

2007-04-16T09:17:00.000-07:00

It rained like crazy on Saturday and was clear and sunny on Sunday. My girl swam in her first weekend long meet and had a lot of fun. She looked like a dolphin in the water and was happy and proud of herself for overcoming her anxiety about competing.

I left the meet on Sunday, leaving the kids with their dad, and stopped by 7-11 to pick up a Big Gulp of Diet Coke. It's such an indulgence, with zero nutrients, but riding in the car on a sunny day, the windows down, a Big Gulp of Diet Coke in the cup holder makes me very, very happy.

[About a year ago, I developed a craving for chewing ice which I knew was a sign that I needed to start taking an iron supplement. 7-11 ice is my favorite kind to chew because of its shape. I didn't start taking the supplement until last month and now the craving is gone and my teeth are sensitive to the cold. *Sigh*]

The kids came home in the early afternoon, as I was cutting the grass in the back yard. They helped me garden, my girl trimming the weeds in and around the patio like a pro. Miraculously, she wasn't worn out from swimming for two days.

My boys lost his marbles a little bit after Sunday dinner and when he started screaming at me, I lost mine for a nanosecond. Then I collected myself and took him upstairs and made him take a bath. By the time he got out, after a thorough soak and shampoo, I had two freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and a mug of milk ready for him. The rest of the evening went much, much more smoothly.

Saturday I worked on this quilt and watched Babel and Shut Up and Sing.

Babel was heavy, too long, and disjointed.

My sister (the doctor) is a huge fan of the Dixie Chicks, because, I think, they're strong women like her. She admires the fact that they play their own instruments and they're working mothers. The women are tremendously interesting to watch, but I think the movie could have been edited better.

I'm going to have some work done on my house and one way I have to get ready for it is to purge. There's no way I can move a bunch of junk around while the work is being done, just to put it back when the work is over. No way.

2007-04-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

My kids are on Spring Break this week. Monday and Tuesday they went to their cousin's house, but today I took off work to take care of them. I would love to have taken them back up to the cabin all week, but I had several deadlines at work.

While my girl had swim practice, my boy and I went to Berkeley Hort and Monterey Market. We picked up the strawberries pictured above and had them for dessert. They were delicious, perfect in every way. At Berkeley Hort we walked among the rose bushes and I was sorely tempted to buy one, but I have no room to plant a new rose bush and it costs $30.

There is a lovely store on Hopkins called Country Cheese which seems to sell way more chocolate and tea than cheese. I bought two cups:

Next we went to the park and I watched my boy on the swings. I remember how much fun I used to have swinging. He looked so strong and happy.

2007-04-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

Lovely: a quiet morning before an errand, commitment filled weekend with a huge cup of coffee, good music and progress on a quilt.

This week was bananas, with court every day and lots of work stuff in between. Since California is a big state (163,696 square miles), it involved lots of driving.

My plans for regrouping and slowing down have not come to pass yet. I'll keep working on it.

2007-04-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Sarah, for the birthday wishes. My birthday on Friday was pretty low key, but sweet that way. Lunch and (ice cream) birthday cake at work, calls from friends and family, birthday drawings from my kids, and Chinese takeout with the kids in the evening.

Saturday morning I made these orange scones and they rocked my world. They have nutmeg and dried cranberries and the glaze that I put on the cinnamon rolls. Their shape may be explained by the excess of milk that I put in them. The recipe calls for 3/4 cup, but I think they're dry that way. So I put in a little under 1 cup.

I ate these wonderful scones and watched Marie Antoinette. I agree with others that the costumes are out of this world; Milena Canonero is a genius. However, the rock music in the score and the hodge podge of accents grated on my nerves terribly. Casting Rip Torn as Louis XV: he looks like a French monarch, but with the accent from the American South, he did not sound like one. It felt like an overlong music video and/or perfume commercial. What's worse, the bonus features with Sofia Coppola's comments about it looking like an Adam Ant video eroded my regard for the film. I still deeply respect her visual artistry, though she is woefully inarticulate.

The kids went with their dad, briefly, and then I joined them at my son's first soccer game. He had a blast and looked unbelievably cute.

When I felt bored, I visualized all the parents all over the world standing around watching their kids play soccer.

Afterward, my son wanted to come home with me, so I took him to the grocery store and Cole Coffee. He was famished by the time we got home, so I made him what he wanted--two plain hamburgers and a tall glass of chocolate milk.

This morning we went to Mass (Palm Sunday is very heavy and a bit of a downer--I forget every year). Then I took my children to their father's house and returned home, determined to finish piecing a quilt I've been struggling with. Part of the struggle was my monkey mind, part of it was children bickering in my study and watching cartoons which grated on my nerves. I overcame the monkey mind and the kids are away, so I finished piecing the top.

I ran out to get some quilt batting, so now all I have to do is iron the backing, pin the three layers together and get started with the quilting.

2007-03-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

Inspiration Wednesday

I can't remember precisely what inspired me to hunt down this book at the library, but I'm glad I did. Katrin Cargill has a wonderful aesthetic.

I aspire to make a Drunkard's Path quilt and I love this yellow/orange and white one.

This quilt is wonderful in solid red and white, but I'm thinking about a version in prints.

Ignoring the walls which make me feel claustrophobic, I thought Hey an Ohio Star quilt. I made one of those.

* * *

Thank you for the information about the Rattlesnake block. I can't find the book at my local libraries and I balk at spending $45 to buy it used. If someone finds it at her library, please check it out and let me know more about the pattern. I suspect it's paper piecing.

The Easy Country book above is for sale for 89 cents at half.com and I was tempted to buy it, then I remembered about impulse buying, I scanned the images I like from the library copy, and I've been going through my books and donating them and I don't want to reverse that trend.

It was weird for me, a life-long lover of books, a former library employee, an English major, to part with some of my books and to feel a great sense of relief to be rid of them.

2007-03-27T10:39:00.000-07:00

I'm digging how this block is coming together.

This weekend with the kids was chock full of activity--errands, clothes shopping (boo!), visiting my sister, stopping by the office on Saturday (in pre-trial mode), Mass and Caffe Strada, watching a college intramural bike race (beautiful athletes in skin tight racing gear), lots of homework, barbecue, a surprise visit from two brothers and a friend, laundry and sewing.

I followed through on my Spring cleaning idea and went through my fabric stash, selecting long neglected, passed over and ignored fabric, and cut them into squares for one patch quilts. It is gonna be plural--more than one quilt--I can tell. It was really an eye opener, because so many of the fabrics were impulse buys. Dang the mouse and the internet and my lack of self control. I balked at cutting some fabric, but then I promised myself that it makes room for new fabric.

In some ways, I would make more quilts if I found more inspiring blocks/designs. For example, I love this block, but I can't find instructions on how to make it. Anyone know?

There is something a bit morbid about using up the fabrics in my stash. I thought, I would rather there be quilts left when I die, rather than piles of fabric that I love and others might not care about. I bought it to cut it up and sew it. Now I have two gallon sized ziploc bags of 3-1/2" squares.

2007-03-23T14:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening I finished piecing the Birdboxes quilt, v.6. There's something restorative and mind clearing about piecing the quilt. I love working with fabric, including many fabrics that I've worked with on other projects or which were impulse purchases that I am glad to be able to use.

This quilt looks like the Anniversary Quilt, which my mother refuses to use:

so I'm glad I can give her another one that she will use (sleep under).

This morning I straightened up my sewing area and got ready to resume working on the pink quilt. While I was straightening up and putting the scraps into bags, I got a Spring cleaning idea: I have a lot of gallon sized ziploc bags of scraps. I intend to make some one patch quilts with them.

If I don't use the scraps up, I'll give them away.

2007-03-21T11:37:00.000-07:00

Happy First Day of Spring.

I'm really feeling it this morning, probably because it rained yesterday and today the sky is clean and clear. Also because I had time and space to drink a lot of coffee this morning and sew.

I was inspired to start this Birdboxes quilt after I returned from the cabin. I think the colors will look wonderful up there and I love this quilt pattern (as you can probably tell from the five I've made so far).

I took my son to Berkeley Hort on Monday (while waiting for my daughter to finish swim practice) and he had a wonderful time. He seemed really interested and inspired by the plants from all over the world, especially Africa. It's a great gift to share interests/passions with my children.

2007-03-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

This is a pretty blanket. Cath Kidston sells it for $207 for a double sized blanket made out of acrylic yarn.

The price inspired me to try to make one of my own. Also I realized that my family's bedding collection was lacking a granny square crocheted blanket.

I finished my blanket today. My son lay on it last night and said "I love this blanket."

It's 90 squares, made out of 16 skeins of Red Heart acrylic yarn, which cost $3 each and a $3 crochet needle. So it cost $51 to make.

I get the impression acrylic yarn is a disfavored yarn, but a. I wanted to follow Ms. Kidston's materials, b. I'm not a yarn person so it doesn't bother me and c. Since I'm giving it to a 7 year old, it's probably good that it is washable.

When I was at the cabin, I crocheted a lot, but when I got back I realized that I had crocheted about 40 squares incorrectly. I didn't have the green in the third layer. So I had pull them apart and re-do them. I also noticed that the CK blanket as pictured has only about four different squares.

Also I didn't crochet the squares together; I sewed them together.

But I'm actually really proud of it. I like it a lot and my son loves it.

More importantly, I realized once we got back from the cabin how much I love my quilts and fabric and sewing. Just getting back into my bed underneath my quilts was a powerfully emotional experience. I am a one textile woman and it's fabric.

* * *

Thank you for your questions about my dishes. :0)

Yes, it's a fish poacher. No, I've never used it.

The bowls are speckled melmac bowls that I bought on e-bay for $5-10. These stack below is Texasware, Apolloware and Brookpark.

The bowl below is an Alexander Barna Appollo Ware melmac bowl. I have about three of them and I love them.

2007-03-18T14:55:00.000-07:00

Random Sunday

1. My first bouquet of Spring.

2. The weather is gorgeous--in the high 60s.

3. I stopped by the Temescal Farmers Market on the way to Cole Coffee and the grocery store and picked up some onions, collards greens and oranges.

4. I got a free cup of coffee with my one pound coffee bean purchase (Ethiopian Harrar in a bag that says Kenya). The caffeine makes me slightly euphoric.

5. Another work in progress photograph. I finished attaching the squares and double crocheting a border; now I'm dealing with all the dangling yarn ends.

I watched/listened to Dr. Katz Professional Therapist, Season 2, Disc 1, which is hilarious. Plus, with the animation of Dr. Katz being as profoundly rudimentary as it is, one does not need to watch it.

I also watched Quincinera, based on a rave recommendation from the San Francisco Chronicle, which is beautifully shot and incredibly emotionally intense.

6. James Lipton has a rather hammy interview style, but he gets a free pass forever with me because of his Dave Chappelle interview. I watched his interview of Chris Rock this morning and it's almost as good. I love Chris Rocks' enthusiasm for creative, artistic people.

7. Open shelving is fine, but goodness the dishes get greasy unless they are used and washed on a regular rotation.

I have been straightening up my dishes and pots, culling and donating, while listening to a radio documentary about Cambodian women sold into prostitution. Another message to me: Don't.Complain.About.Anything.

One woman who was sold by her mother when she was 12 had this broken little voice as she talked to the founder of the Cambodian Women's Crisis Center, who told her that she could trust her to protect her from then on. She said "I can't trust you. I've been sold three times." Sold three times.

I'm going to eat an orange and enjoy this beautiful day.

2007-03-16T11:57:00.000-07:00

The morning started out a little rocky, when I had to go get some blood drawn and the lab employees were more interested in visiting with each other than serving the clients. But they broke huddle at some point and the blood draw went smoothly. *Whew* More importantly, I was able to get to court on time. There, the motions went my way and I learned that my nemesis (sort of) is being transferred. *Big smile*

The weather is outstanding--in the mid-70s--and the weekend is at hand. Sushi with my friend J. tomorrow, yard work, crocheted blanket, quilting.

Flickr is so great. This mosiac of my more recent favorites is like a happiness pill.

This photograph captures so much of what I love about Oakland.

2007-03-14T16:42:00.000-07:00

I wrote this on Monday, but I didn't have time to post it until this morning:

The weekend was outstanding for one big reason: the weather. It was in the mid-70s and so gorgeous.

On Saturday, I got up early and sewed. I brewed a pot of Trader Joe’s Mexican Double Dark, which was a nice change from the Peets Kenyan that I had been drinking all week, which was disappointing.

I got some new Westminster fabric:

though the one below is a bit more brown than I expected (one of the hazards of impulse buying online)

I need to make a quilt which uses my brown/earth tone fabrics.

I picked the kids up from their dad’s house and we went to Nor-Cal Swim Shop in Walnut Creek to get my girl fitted for her team suit. She was elated and inspired by all the posters of local heroine Natalie Coughlin. I'm glad she so passionate about swimming, while at the same time, we get the laid back Berkeley version of swim team (thank God).

I tried to make a quick stop at the Walnut Creek Macy’s [I need some new suits], but parking was impossible.

Next we went to the Ashby Flea Market (per my son's request), which was packed because of the warm weather. I bought a wooded bowl from Tanzania. The children thought I was arguing with the seller when we were negotiating a price, so I got to explain the art of haggling to them. I told them that the seller had obviously been sizing me up before he announced the price, to see what he could ask and reasonably expect to get from me. [I admittedly did not look prosperous.] I knew I could get it for cheaper, so I announced what I wanted to pay. He tried to split the difference, so I said all I had was my quoted price. He feigned outrage and stated the expense he incurred in bringing the bowl from Tanzania. I turned to move away and reiterated my price. He accepted it. [$20]

We had some lunch off a catering truck and the kids had ice cream sandwiches.

We went home and I cut half of the back yard, before my son lured me back inside to spend time with him.

Sunday I cut the second half of the back yard and weeded and mulched. It was heavenly to be back there, smelling the eucalyptus, smiting the wild onions, cleaning up patio furniture. My boy opened up the patio umbrella and then I knew it was time to barbecue. I love all the red on the rose bush foliage, because those leaves turn into blooms. [When you look at my house using Google Earth, it looks like an oasis of trees in a lot of asphalt.] As he raked up eucalyptus leaves, my son asked me again for assurance that I would not sell the house. I promised that I wouldn’t.

We had to go get my girl a replacement flash drive and then to the grocery store. We drove with the windows open. I wore a skirt, a short sleeved tee shirt, and flip flops.

Back home, I put away the groceries, washed dishes, and marinated the chicken, all while my son called to me to come and be with him. He doesn’t want to do anything in particular; he just wants to be in the same room with me all the times.

I crocheted the last of the granny squares. My son was so proud that I finished the squares and excited that I am giving the blanket to him. This morning he ran out of the house to tell his sister of these two facts. Putting it together is taking awhile, but I work on it pretty steadily. Hopefully, it will be done by the weekend.

The barbecue was delicious. I loved minding the grill and picking up tools and strolling around the back yard looking at plants. I wanted to sweep the patio, but years and years ago my uncle said not to sweep while you’re barbecuing and I believe him.

2007-03-08T11:36:00.000-08:00

These three ingredients from Trader Joes can be assembled in five minutes to make dinner. My daughter asked me to buy them last week, when we were at the store and she tried a free sample. I was in such an exhausted haze, I agreed without thinking about it. I helped her put it together--browning the veggie patty for 2 to 3 minutes on each side and then microwaving it for 45 seconds to make sure it was cooked, heating the pita bread for 12 seconds in the microwave--and we each had one. They're delicious.

The flash obscured the relish, but the label says Indian Relish.

* * *

I have completed 72 granny squares. 18 more to go. I hope that only takes another 3 to 4 days, though I didn't do myself any favors by leaving my crochet needle at home today.

I bought my son a red crochet needle for his birthday, per his request. [Red because the Maasai wear red.] He crochets one long chain, but I am so tickled to see him doing so.

* * *

I went with my guy on a field trip to Monterey Market in Berkeley. It was cool on so many levels, including going to the supremely popular and crowded MM on a quiet morning, taking the route of the produce from the trucks to the refrigerators to the store, trying samples of different fruits. The owner is an amazing guy, who wakes up at 2AM to go the wholesale market, works until noon when he goes home and sleeps, then gets up at 5PM to go back to the store to make sure all is well. I can't imagine that kind of schedule, but I'm a wimp when it comes to staying up late. It was clear from what the owner said that his job is about relationships--with farmers, suppliers and his employees. I had no idea how much work goes into stacking and arranging produce and keeping the store clean and the produce moving. Wow.

* * *

I'm sorry my blogging has been spotty. Maybe it's the change of seasons, but I feel that a big change is on its way. I'm racing, racing all the time, but it's not all bad.

2007-03-02T10:38:00.000-08:00

It has been a long week. I've been in court four out of five days this week, federal and state, civil and criminal. And a little dude with an earache. I'm tired.

But this morning, I was pulling up to a Peets Coffee to use my Christmas gift card and my secretary called to give me outstanding news on a court ruling. After that I was all smiles, on my way back to court. It's funny because it's tiring to go the same department, day in and day out, but there's always someone who has a kind word, a cheerful good morning, which improves the experience immensely.

A few weeks ago, inspired by Tania, I made this bag:

The dark fabric is pinstriped wool. My daughter thought I cut up an old suit to make it, but I would never do that. The inside is silk paisley:

I think of it as my Tyson Beckford bag:

It's also lined with buckram, which gives it its shape and reinforcement. Buckram is usually used in hats, but it's an interfacing and I like working with it. I bought a bunch of it on sale for $1 a yard, which is cheap for interfacing.

* * *

I am tickled to read about all the crocheting going on, inspired by many of the same things. Here is a picture of a blanket which was featured on the March 2007 cover of Country Home Magazine. It's from Pine Cone Hill and it costs $178.

Pretty, huh?

This weekend I have to work on my lawns/gardens. I hope to sew, crochet, rest and recharge.

2007-02-26T09:46:00.000-08:00

I like Work In Progress Friday, though I sometimes have to move it to another day of the week. I love to see what other folks are up to and I appreciate dispelling the Ta Da aspect of only showing a completed project.

I've been stuck for a little while on the Any Way You Slice It quilt, for two reasons:

1. I always get Monkey Mind when I'm trying to emulate Denyse Schmidt, because she is awesome and her vision is very particular to her.

2. It's harder when you have to meet expectations--in this case of the recipients--and you are emulating someone else. It's way easier to spring a quilt on some unsuspecting person. :0) Ninja Quilting Style!!

Speaking of emulation, I am crocheting something. Me.

I used to crochet, back when I was...ten or something. I remember getting guidance from my mother or my grandmother or great aunt, using 60s and 70s era, psychedelic acrylic yarn. Then I forgot everything.

I knit in college, but the cost of yarn always stuck in my craw. It still does. Plus, knitting is complicated.

Here are the circumstances that led me to crochet something:

1. Seeing Nanny McPhee, some time in 2006. I mentioned that the bedding was excellent, but I didn’t know that I was impressed with a crocheted blanket. I was though.

2. Buying myself a Splink doll for Christmas. Now that I'm crocheting, I can appreciate the brilliance of Julie's talent even more.

3. Alicia and Jane (I even eat Jelly Bellies while I crochet) started crocheting a waves blanket and the colors moved me.

4. Cath Kidston thought she was gonna charge $207 for this blanket.

It’s made from acrylic yarn, which means the materials for the entire double sized blanket cost around $40, retail; much less wholesale. Twelve skeins of yarn for $2.99 each and a crochet needle. This kind of retail textile markup is the reason I quilt too. It’s wrong. It makes me think: I can do that. [I don't factor in my hourly wage, because a) it's a hobby and b) it begs the question of who crocheted the blanket for Ms. Kidston's company and at what wage?]

I decided to make her blanket, as closely as I could.

[Admittedly, it's big talk to say I'm going to do what a professional designer/taste maker does from a spirit of resentment. However, Lyn posted that she was inspired to start one too and it made me laugh at myself and crafty blog zeitgeist.]

5. Crocheting is portable. Quilting is not. I can crochet at work, at swimming practice, at my parents’ cabin. But check it out: I don’t intend to start knitting again, or to buy expensive yarn. There is not enough time in a day to quilt and do everything else and one stash (fabric) is enough. I wanted to do this project primarily because of number 4.

I figure the finished blanket will take 90 blocks and I figure I can complete 5 blocks a day for 18 days. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. The deeper my concentration on the project, the more my son seems to need to sit on me.

6. Flickr is great for examples of awesome granny squares. I got the instructions on how to crochet a granny square from Martha Stewart’s website. Smooches to Martha. It took me more than a day to figure out what the instructions meant and how to follow them correctly. It’s like driving: a lot of it came back to me, from the mists of time, and it was easy to do once you figured stuff out. Crocheting is much more forgiving than knitting.

It is weird to out myself about my crocheting, since I'm A Quilter.

But I also put the Any Way You Slice It quilt aside (not away) and started on another quilt, following my process. That means finding a block I like, pulling fabric I think will suit the block, rotary cutting, pinning and sewing. It's my first [crafting] love, crocheting is a dalliance. What's true about my completing projects (of many sorts) is that multi-tasking is liberating for me.

2007-02-22T15:47:00.000-08:00

This is the view from Bear Valley. So cold. So beautiful.

My girl took a snowboarding lesson with her BFF.

And then hit the slopes:

My boy had a bug from hell and slept most of the time and ate very little. I worried, but he rallied.

Returning home to this sight was quite a treat:

Descending 8000 feet gave me a pounding headache and I felt a little burdened by all the To Do lists which spring instantly to mind, all the e-mails that downloaded into my Blackberry, all the phone calls/messages, chores, etc. I need to manage it all better.

* * *

Thank you all for the compliments about my kids. Nothing makes a mother's heart more full of joy. I kiss you all.

2007-02-17T16:02:00.000-08:00

The kids have Ski Week, so we're going to the snow for a little while.

2007-02-15T09:36:00.000-08:00

These are the bags I made for the One Hour Craft bag swap.

The larger bag is made from two Amy Butler fabrics. The lining is from an older fabric line:

The smaller pouch is made from the Prints Charming fabric I got from Cia's Palette. This is the other side of the small pouch:

* * *

Hi Stephanie, thank you for your comment. It prompts me to recommend that you read (if you haven't already) Flux by Peggy Orenstein. It really helped me clear out a lot of mental clutter, created by media hype and cultural messages, before I embarked on my path of single parenthood.

2007-02-12T09:01:00.000-08:00

I had a great weekend and I hope you did too. Saturday I made this Honey Vanilla pound cake, an Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa recipe out of the most current issue of Country Living magazine.

It is so good and the fragrance will send you to heaven. I mixed it up while I put away the groceries, so my son entered in on the process too late to break the eggs. Oh the humanity! He whined that he wanted to bake something else, that he didn't want pound cake. Didn't want pound cake? Have I given birth and raised up someone who says those words?

Nevertheless, I put the last three slices in their lunches this morning.

We went to the movies on the rainy Saturday and saw this. It wasn't bad at all; plenty of weaknesses but no deal breakers.

Sunday morning, I wanted to eat a bagel and drink coffee and linger over this photograph in the New York Times magazine:

but no, we got up and went to San Ramon for a swim meet. My first swim meet.

I expected it to be challenging, to be out in the suburbs surrounded by swim parents, to be bored out of my skull and having to wrangle a bored 6 year old, and in the rain. But it was fine. I got into seeing the little bitty girls in their races, all the swimmers walking around in their big swim jackets and Uggs, eating baked potatoes and Cup-O-Noodles in between races, my girl hanging with her friends in complete bliss. She didn't swim this time, but she will next time.

I didn't know my children like Cup-O-Noodles. I'm not going to stock them at home, though. Too much sodium.

After three hours we returned to Oakland and bought supplies for my girl to make Valentines cards. And crickets for the gecko. Her brother had been pestering her all weekend, so I took him away from her so that she could have several hours of relaxing, alone time. Everybody wins when the bickering subsides.

Laundry, dinner, Grammys and back to work and school this morning.

2007-02-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

I'm blogging during a quick court recess. I'm sorry I haven't posted this week.

Thank you all for your comments about my sweet boy.

I can't really distill and summarize my feelings about crafting and my legacy to my children. I know that when they no longer have me, they will have the things I made by hand when I was missing and wanting them, as well as when we were all crammed together in my study playing Studio Apartment while I sewed.

I lost my quilting momentum this week, but that enabled me to complete my bag for One Hour Craft's bag swap. I didn't realize the deadline was tomorrow, but that's groovy because I'm heading for the post office after court.

One secret of getting your crafty mojo back is to complete small project. Since most of my projects are king sized quilts, it's just the thing.

I will post pictures once my swap-ee has received it.

Here is a little peek at another bag I made, inspired by this wonderful picture of Tania in Lisbon:

Gotta run!

2007-02-05T10:44:00.000-08:00

My son has his "Big Share" today at school. I was sure he would take his two new Maasai chokers, which came in the mail--all the way from Kenya--this weekend. But suddenly he felt shy about exposing his love of Kenya and the Maasai to his class. So he went around collecting things that I had made for him to show, which completely surprised me.

And this cushion, minus the pins:

It really surprised me that he is so proud of my handmade things that he would bring them in to share. It made me think of the lyrics in the Dixie Chicks song Silent House:

Everything that you made by hand
Everything that you know by heart

It's the made by hand stuff that my son values most and is proud enough of to show to his peers.