Out of the kitchen and into the garden but not in the studio

The last few days have been consumed by the project of installing an hardwood floor in our circa 1939 kitchen. We bought the floorboards last week (they are pre-finished birch) , ripped out all the layers of tile and vinyl, and began laying the floor yesterday. It was tough for me due to my bad back (The Spine in the Form of a Question...Mark) but I was able to help a great deal. I even did all the cutting on our brand new miter saw. Power tools!

The whole story is on my other blog: http://www.itsmetonim.blogspot.com/.

Today we started in again, but my poor body could just not keep up. So I was kicked out of the kitchen.

Since then I've been mostly sitting quietly, listening to the air compressor while Tom finishes the floor. I'm not even able to do anything in my studio! I did manage to take some pictures in the garden. The hostas are suddenly huge, and I caught them just after they were watered. I love the texture and the water drops. I'm sure these will end up in a new quilt somehow.

Scrappity Scrappy Scraps

I got some time in my work room today, and did I sew anything? No. Did I paint, or sketch, or think about any of my myriad undone projects? No.

I sorted scraps. Piles of scraps. Scraps I've been saving for probably seven or eight years, most of which are these itty-bitty pieces that I would never actually use!

So I threw the bitty bits away. I saved bigger pieces to cut into 3" squares. I saved the batiks and hand-dyes for art quilts and applique. The biggest pieces I folded and will keep for future project. And the pieces I know I'll never use, I packaged up and will sell at a future yard sale.

This freed up a whole corner of my studio! I feel as though I took a good step towards organization. A baby step.

And actually, it as fun thing to do. I took a little trip through time, as I found pieces of the quilts I've made over the years. The baby quilts, the Christmas gifts and projects, the quilts I made for sick friends and family occasions.

Tomorrow, I have a huge drawer full of more scraps to sort. But it'll be easier, since I did the hard part today.

The only thing is, I need a way to store the pieces of fabric that are bigger than little scraps, but not as big as a fat quarter. (Does this make sense?) I have a nifty storage unit for my FQs, and I have that nice big drawer for yardage, but it's the in-between pieces that I'm finding difficult to store.

If anyone out there has a suggestion, please let me know. I"m stymied!

The Red Shoes

Today, I watched one of my favorite movies: The Red Shoes, about a small ballet company in Monte Carlo. It was made in 1948 and almost every scene is a work of art! The set decoration and the costumes...fabulous. The direction is really dramatic, making for the best shots of the actors, all of which are super-stylish. I especially love the scenes in the Paris hotel room after Boris leaves Monte Carlo looking for his ballerina.
So, I did a weird thing, and took a picture of the scene on the TV. The paneled walls in in this room are painted China blue with gold moldings. All the room accents are also gilded. Then there are these huge purple drapes and rose-colored chairs. All in heavy velvet. Boris himself is wearing a red velvet smoking jacket, and at one point in the scene, he tears open the top button to reveal a gold satin lining. The whole movie is great eye-candy, as well as a great story. I need to make something in those colors. Or...take a trip to Monte Carlo right now!
Oh...I suppose I broke some copyright law by taking pictures of these images while they were transmitted to my TV set. If so, don't tell anyone, OK?

What's blooming?

I haven't done anything on any of my art quilt projects for over a week. I am so distracted by MIL in the hospital, our sick dog, Beau (who is better now than last week) , garden chores and who knows what else. I think I have SO many things to do and finish, that I'm just paralyzed when I think about it. I end up doing nothing except what I am very comfortable with and don't have to really think about--like my traditional quilting.

But--our flower beds are shaping up and things are finally blooming. Here are some pictures of pansies, lilacs, columbines and bleeding hearts. Lots of purple things, much like my Flower BOM!

All these pictures cheer me up and remind me of the beauty of Spring, even when I'm losing my mind.

More BOM Blocks

I made two more blocks for the Flower BOM on which I've been working for two years now...

I trashed the 14" block I made a couple weeks before and made another one.

This pattern is called Duck Foot in Mud--not really a flower block. But, I used my floral fabrics and the green, and now they do look like flowers.

I also made another 6" block--a little basket block. Once the quilt is completed and quilted, I'll fill the basket with 3-D flowers made from one of the florals and embellished with beads.

So--all the main blocks are done now. With the setting I want to do, I need to make about 36-38 small 4" filler blocks. They will be a number of diferent patterns; I have to figure that out yet...

Unfortunately, I can't work on this project for a while, as I need to get going on several challenges whose deadlines are looming. I need to make four fiber art pieces in the next three weeks. Wish me luck!

Musical Tastes

I always listen to music while I'm sewing or painting or beading; generally light classical and baroque, or "New Age"--what Tom refers to as "yuppie elevator music". It's soothing and calming and not very demanding to the ear. Perfect for letting my mind wander and concentrate on my project.

However, sometimes I really want to hear some hard rock. Then, out comes the old stuff: Led Zepplin, Ten Years After, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, The Doors.

In high school, I always loved the hard rock when all my girlfriends were into Joni Mitchell or Neil Diamond or other "soft rock" music. Yawn. The boys always admired my taste in music--it was a lot like theirs! Now that I'm a 50-something mom, I still love it. Is that odd?

The other day I ran across a CD that my younger daughter, Julie, recorded and gave to me for Christmas a long time ago. "Mom's Rockin' Christmas". It has songs by Puddle of Mud, Linkin Park, Limp Biskit, Tool and other 90s bands. Most are long gone, but they had some great one-hit wonders. It even has a great head-banging version of "Smooth Criminal" by Atom Ant.

Thanks, Julie. It reminds me of my high-school days; different bands and different sounds (and definitely different words--I had forgotten how many F-bombs are on that disc...), but the teenage angst never changes. Oh, and don't tell the BMI people--they'll get mad....

Changes a-coming

I've been very unsettled the last week or so. Ever since my "faux heart attack". (Thanks to Jeanne McBrayer for that term...I've used it alot.) Even so, I've managed to be sorta busy. Tom and I worked in the garden all weekend, saw a concert given by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra where they did the 1st Violin Concerto by Bruch with Frank Almond as the soloist, attended the monthly Milwaukee Art Quilters Group meeting, shopped for a new white cardigan to replace the one on which I splashed tomato sauce and bought shoes instead, and attended a meeting of the planning committee for the Grace Foundation fund-raising event. http://www.givinggrace.org/
I managed to get into the workroom only once, and worked on another block for the Flower BOM. Which I should have been working on any number of projects for assorted challenges instead, but did not. Too distracted. I have a million quilts flying in and out of my head--every time I see an unusual object, a sunset, a bird. I just can't seem to settle down and work on a one of them!!

One reason I'm so gefroozled is that we have some big changes coming--my mother-in-law, Juta, will be moving in here next week. She is 90 years old, and can no longer live on her own. She is not happy about being dependent on us, and we're not particularly happy about disrupting our household, but you do things for your mom...She's from the old country, and taking care of family is just what we do. Kinda like drinking vodka. Its just expected.
So she's been busy packing all her stuff, and we've been busy getting a room ready for her.
I hope Juta will be comfortable here, especially now that its spring. She always enjoyed sitting in the backyard and bird-watching, and she'll be able to do that again. Well, we're family and it'll all be OK.

Today a small storm rolled through the area right before sunset. I watched the dark clouds float off to the east just as the sun popped out in the west, and lit up the trees behind our yard. Then as it got darker, I was surprized to see a beautiful almost-full moon.
I guess tomorrow will be a brand new day with fresh hope. Here's a pic.


Another quilt flying into my head...