Melinda's Cutting Garden

Bamboo needles

2012-01-19T11:35:00.000-08:00

Being a native Californian doesn’t give you a great understanding of what a snow bird is. That is, until this week at Quilting at the Lake at Lake Havasu in Arizona where lots of snow birds congregate during the winter months.

My adventure started with the typical trip preparation that starts days before my ventures. The folding of patterns, cutting fabrics and checking supplies, packing my bags and, of course, preparing a project to work on just in case of delays or boredom. I learned that trick back in my flight attendant days. Always carry a applique, cross-stitch or knitting project to help pass the time. There is nothing worse that being stuck for 12-24 hours in an airport with nothing to do unless it's 12-24 hours without any food. I've done that, too.

It’s a quick trip to the airport and a quick 1 hour and 20 minute flight to Las Vegas. Then I will be taking the shuttle bus to the Lake. OK, I did notice the bus trip out to Havasu is 2 ½ to 3 hours but I have my book, iPhone and knitting to keep me busy. This is why you need to read the small print before you sign the contract.

Then my fun begins. As I sit down in my seat and buckle up for take off I reach for my knitting. I am working on this sweater that is made up of domino squares in 20 different colors but when I reach in my bag to pull out my knitting, I find that I have lost one of my size 3 bamboo needles. In a panic, I start digging through my bag and OMG, I have lost it. Great! My leg starts to shake, my eyes start to twitch. What am I going to do without a project?! I try to stay calm and close my eyes, breathe slowly, I tell myself. My eyes stay closed and BOOM, I am asleep until my snoring jerks me awake. I wipe the drool from my chin as we touch down in Vegas.

Las Vegas is not one of my favorite places. I have been going there since I was 18 and yes, it has changed a lot over the years. Or has it? It’s still sleazy, loud, and turns the most wholesome of people into raging idiots. And believe me, I know raging idiots when I see them.

So the thought of sitting in Vegas for 3 hours without something to do was very frustrating. I retrieved my 3 large bags and tried to find someplace to sit that didn’t have loud speakers overhead announcing the next show on the strip. Then I had an idea. What if I found a place to keep my bags and hopped a taxi to the closest Michael's craft store to pick up new knitting needles? I asked the girls at Southwest where to store my bags and they asked if I had taken them of the carousel? Yes, I had. Well, then they couldn't help me. What if I throw my bags back onto the carousel, will you then put them in storage? Well yes, but you already told us you picked them up, so no!

The 3 hours goes by so slowly. At last it is 5pm, time for my shuttle pick up. I wheel my bag to the van and hop in the bus only to find the bus is full so I sit in the passenger seat up front, across from the driver. I'm getting settled when the bus driver tells me I have to move to the back because a handicapped person has reserved that seat so to the back I go. There are 3 rows of seats and 2 people in every seat. Then the driver announces we are picking up 4 more people. Someone asks When we will get to Lake Havasu? He says about 9 pm. I do the math...I thought it was only 2 ½ - 3 hours and now we're at 4. And here is where the fun really begins. He tells us he has to make a few stops. Like 5 more and Lake Havasu is the last. I feel sick. I haven’t had anything to eat. I reach for the bag of broken chips I bought at the last minute, just in case.

First stop, the Terrible's Hotel and Casino around the corner, to pick up 1 person. Then to Searchlight (1 person), then we stop at the Riverside Casino in Laughlin, Nevada for a 20 minute potty break.

Here I think I can get something to eat but the line at the snack bar is 25 people deep and moving very slowly. I will never make it. So back on the bus and on to Bullhead City where we drop off the guy from Searchlight and pick up some kid at the very dark and seedy place where the burned out sign says, Ray's Boat Repair and below it says Greyhound Bus Stop. At Ray's, 2 men try to bribe their way on to the van.

Then on to Needles where we drop off the handicapped woman at a quickie mart. It 8:45pm and we have 2 more hours to go. This whole time I am seated between 2 large men on a seriously too small bench seat holding my bag on my lap because the is no room on the floor.

I try to close my eyes and sleep the rest of the trip but the road is bumpy and windy and I don’t want to fall on the guys next to me. Oh, I found out later on the trip home that the bumpy road part was when we crossed back into California for a few miles. That explains the crappy road.

I look up at the clock on the dashboard and its 9:45pm. Then I start to think there has to be a better way to make a living than this. Then I am ashamed of myself as I remember my sister's commute every day, 2 hours in bumper to bumper traffic to beautiful downtown Compton, Ca. to feed her family. And my Husband who has worked in the hood of Sacramento for 15 years to give Matt and I this great house and send our only son to college. How can I be such a whiner?

We finally arrive 10:09 pm. That makes 5 hours if you are counting. Not including the 3 in the airport. But I am finally here. I made it without a project. Amazing.

Now for the good part. It was one of the most enjoyable retreat /quilt camps I have taught at. The students where great, the directors of the camp were wonderful, the rooms comfortable and quiet, the food tasty and the view fantastic. From my classroom, we had a breathtaking view of the famous London Bridge. I had a wonderful time. I hope I get asked back. So the trip was little long but if it hadn't happened I wouldn't have anything to write about. The girls even got me new knitting needles for the trip home. Now for the snow birds. They have the best of both worlds. They get to enjoy their home in Canada or the states in the summer and spring and winter in the desert when it is at its most beautiful. The trip back was a lot shorter and the new driver said it should not have taken 5 hours the first time.

In the morning light we could watch as the sun came over the desert mountains and how breathtaking the view from the van was. So, if you are a snow bird and looking for something fun to do in January, 2013, try Quilting at the Lake in Lake Havasu, AZ. It’s worth it. But you may want to rent a car. Or take a different bus line.

I Love To Paint

2012-01-03T13:51:00.000-08:00

Painting on fabric has been a fun distraction over the holidays. It’s much quicker than cutting little pieces of fabric to do the same thing. And it’s so much easier to quilt. The thought has been, why don’t I choose to do this form of art quilting?

I don't really know? I like both processes. The mixing of the paint to get just the right color is so thrilling and wonderful. Plus, I love the smell of paint in the studio. It's a little sweeter than burnt fusible web.

Then there is the process. The process of pushing one's self to something more challenging. Trying something new and harder. I love mastering something hard and difficult that I have never tried before. Can I make this work, is the statement that is always running through my head. Like right now I am trying to teach myself how to knit dominoes. Not going so good at the moment.

Every artist has there own motivating factor. The thing that sparks them to create. It could be having to capture a moment in time or work through feelings like love, grief or worries. Mine is all of the above. But the strongest factor is: Can I?! Can I do with fabric and scissors what I can do with a paint and brush?

So here is what I finished over the last week. It was fun to paint again. But when it was all done there was kind of a let down. Don’t know why yet. This came out very easy and natural.

So back to my fabric and my scissors I go? Not sure. But I do have a new understanding of the medium of paint on fabric and the potential of what the future might bring.

One thing I do know, never say never!

2011-12-30T12:31:00.000-08:00

Inspiration can come at any time and on any subject and using any medium. I have been longing to paint since I got home from teaching at the Hudson River Valley Art Retreat on Dec 10, but Christmas has kinda got in the way. But after doing a little Internet Christmas shopping (So grateful for the Internet!) I finally found the time, before my son came home, to just play.

Yes, this is painting. Not just painting, but painting on fabric. I thought you would like to see the process over the next few days or weeks, as the case might be.

I am supposed to be taking down the Christmas tree today, but color and paint are calling to me.

I started just randomly painting a simple design on white fabric. The fabric is taped it to an extra cutting mate with duck tape. Love the duck tape. Keeps it taught while I paint.

What about trying a bamboo design? I really like the way this is turning out. I think I need one more design? So back to the studio.

Maybe the Christmas tree will come down tomorrow?

And then the wind blew

2011-11-08T20:25:00.000-08:00

6 Reasons Why You Don’t Take Your Husband to a Quilt Show.

1. I know, it’s obvious. They cramp your shopping style. Even though mine was very understanding, it just wasn’t the same.

2. They don’t speak the language. Quarter-inch, half-square triangle and fat quarter all get them confused.

3. They can’t keep up. They want to linger too long in a both figuring out how that is done. They ask too many questions and most of the time it’s How much does that cost?

4. They have trouble with a crowd.

5. They have to eat at a certain time.

6. They want to take a shower when you are trying to do your hair.

6 Reasons to Take Your Husband to a Quilt Show

1. He can bring more books and patterns in his suitcases when he arrives and you can fill his bags back up with goodies you bought when you go home.

2. He can carry your heavy bags back and forth to classes without getting tired.

3. The girls like to talk to him and they like him. He even got some delicious pound cake from my Teacher’s Pet. Yummy!

4. He pays for everything.

5. When you have forgotten some important supplies for your class he goes back to the hotel and gets them for you.

6. Best of all, he can talk you down off the ledge when you have had a bad day.

Bad day, you say? Yes, I did have a class from hell. I don’t very often get a class like this but once in a while Satan gives me his best shot and this was it. Really, it was just one student that forgot that others where sitting around her. I think she got this confused with a private class and that there weren’t 26 other people wanting to learn, too. Of course, she sat in the front row where she could debate me on every point I made. She didn’t like me or my technique. She made it clear that she only does traditional quilts. Why she was there I still don’t know. I had a waiting list 2 times over. It’s sad to say she took a spot from someone that really did want to do my class.

At lunch Joe came and got me and she drilled him also. He told me at lunch She is a husband stealer (whatever that means). But the fun was just beginning when I returned back from lunch. She had already packed up her bags and was sitting there with a disturbed look on her face. I hadn't even put my purse down when she and her friend started in on me. I think the question was What is the big deal with having to look at color when making your quilts? Why can’t we do this? and Why can’t we do that? and When are you getting to this? Most of which I had already covered. I told her it looks like you are getting ready to leave and I didn't want to stop her, but you have been drilling me since I got back from lunch and when I start the class we will be covering your question. She got up and so did her friend. They left then another friend left. One friend stayed for the whole class.

This selfish person made 26 people, including myself, uncomfortable and she didn't even care. I just kept thinking how horrible it would be to be married to her or be her child. I said a prayer for them.

That night I read the class comments and, of course, only hers and her friend’s were not complementary. What do you mean you don’t like my stupid stories? So, Joe helped ease my angry thoughts of buying a gun (again) by taking me out to dinner.

So the next morning I am ready to go, thinking that nothing can be as bad as that class. I start to look forward to the day’s Zinnia class. I put on my cute little silk dress and beaded sandals. I am having a great hair day. You know you’re doing well when your hair is looking hot! I get through the café, getting my bran muffin and coffee. The bellboy helps me with my rolling bags that weight a ton. He tells me that he has placed them outside where the bus stop is. I give him a tip and notice that no one is waiting for the bus outside. I ask why and they say it’s too cold and windy. Great, I am wearing a light weight dress. Oh well, I will be inside all day. So I wait there inside the café with the other eager quilters.

Then the bus arrives and the door opens with a bang and the wind is howling like a hurricane! As I walk out and reach for my rolling bags, trying to hold onto my muffin and coffee, I feel a gust of wind swirl between my legs and grab the back of my dress and whip it over my head like a burka. Just for good measure, it blows my slip up, too. I drop my muffin and push my coffee at some girl I don’t even know. My arms go flailing like a helicopter as I try to get control over my flying skirt. In the back of me, the people begin to make noises like Oh, noooooo. As they try to walk past me to get on the bus, I again grab the back of my dress as the wind then flips the front of my dress up over my head (again). I am trying to wrap the skirt around my legs to get some control over the situation but there is clearly no hope in sight. I am standing there with my dress over my head and my new Spanx in full view for all to see. I finally get my dress under control and look around quickly to see that everyone is on the bus except me and there is nobody around to laugh but one man leaning against the wall with a puzzled look on his face. That could have been MUCH worse, I think, as I climb the steps of the bus, trying to compose myself. Then I reach the bus platform and notice the bus is full of quilters going to the show and they all saw my dress mishap and are roaring with laughter. In the second row is a very lovely lady trying to hide her giggles with her hands as I walk past. All I could say, standing there with my hair frizzed out, holding my dress with my name tag and faculty ribbon on is Now, just stop that as I plopped down in my seat.

So, as I set up my classroom before the students arrived, I remembered the day before and that difficult girl and gave a little thanks that she is not in my class today!

At lunch I share the story with Joe who keeps asking me, with glee in his eyes, You mean like Marylyn Monroe? It was nothing like Marylyn Monroe. It was definitely Melinda Bula.

Ice Dying

2011-10-19T11:02:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had a day where you were supposed to be doing something important, like work, and you just couldn't seem to get to it? Welcome to my world. Being self-employed is a hard discipline and I have worked my butt off this last year. I guess being responsible and on task finally took its toll on me. So I had a ditch day yesterday. I did something just for fun.

I made some beautiful fabrics and thought you might like to see how I did it. This is called Ice Dying! If you live in the north or east you call it Snow Dying. But here in California it’s done the good old fashioned way, using your ice maker. Thank you, Kenmore!

I had read about snow dying and loved the effects but in California snow is a little hard to come by for most of us. Plus, it is a seasonal craft, at best. But where there is a will, there is a way. First, I Googled Ice Dying and there it was. I found the instructions on this cool web site. I soaked my fabrics in a soda ash bath for 20 minutes. She suggests 30. OK, I don't have patience, either.

I folded and twisted the fabric, than laid it on a wire rack in a plastic tub. It's a good idea to elevate the rack a couple of inches. I used little bowls under the rack for that. Then, I layered ice cubes on top of the fabrics. The key is not to reach into the ice maker with hands full of dye on your fingers. This could be a toxic problem for the family later. I then sprinkled the ice with 3 colors of dye. About a teaspoon or 2 of each color. I think I overdid the first yard.

Then I covered the tub and let the ice melt in the sun for about 12 hours, not the 24 suggested. This is California and it was 89 today in October. I rinsed it in the sink and washed it the washer and here it is. A work or art on a yard of fabric. I did 4 different color combinations and now my mind is spinning with what to do with these luscious fabrics. What would you do with these? Joe calls the one below Tequila Sunrise.

Now the fun is over. I have to go back to work. Houston is in 2 weeks!

Luminosity

2011-10-06T22:29:00.000-07:00

Luminosity.

That's the word for today. I Googled the word to find out what it really means. All kinds of meanings came up like:

if you are a star, What is the luminosity of an antares?

Antares or Alpha Scorpii is a red supergiant star of spectral type M1.5 Iab. It is about 65,000 times more luminous than our sun. This is not actually what I was looking for.

Then I found,

What is the opposite of luminosity?

Dullness-the state of being dull.

OK, I am getting closer. Then good old Webster’s pulled it out for me.

Definition of LUMINOSITY:

1 a : the quality or state of being luminous b : something luminous

2 a : the relative quantity of light b : relative brightness of something Getting closer.

3 : the relative quantity of radiation emitted by a celestial source (as a star) . Oh great, back to space again!

So I will show you what luminosity is in art /quilting.

This quilt is called Grass Widows by Mary Kay Price form Portland, OR. Mary took a 5 day retreat with me last year at Empty Spools Seminars, where she began this beautiful quilt. I am pleased to announce that she just won first place(!) with this quilt at the AQS Knoxville Show. I am so proud. This is a very talented woman that has won other awards for her wonderful quilts. She probably could have done this without taking a class with me. But I am thrilled that she started it in my class and I could watch her develop this and add my two cents here and there.

Mary Kay working on her quilt.

The key to this wonderful piece is in the luminosity that she captured with just the right fabrics. In her inspiration photo the sun was shining thought the thin skin of the petals. She captured it perfectly.

Quilts can look brilliant when they are created using luminous colors. They can even be made to look as though they possess an inner light. For centuries artists have developed particular techniques for creating luminosity in their art. We can do the same thing in a quilt. When these techniques are applied, colors appear to be pure. They will reflect sunlight or other light in such a way that it seems as though the light is emanating from the artwork.

How do you show luminosity in your quilts? You need to find fabrics colors in their purest form possible. Also, you should avoid using fabrics that have a black in them and minimize your use of earth tones and focus on fabric colors that have a primary color base with white.

By using the right colors and values in your fabric selection you can create that glow. If you look at the middle flower below, can see how she has broken down each section of that one petal into veins of changing values? She got her color-values as close as she could to what she was seeing in her picture. She also brought a lot of fabric to class to choose from. Those fabrics were her paint pallet.

She also had study her pictures for days, even months, before she came to class. That’s what artists do. They spend time studying their subject matter, which is a fancy way of saying they look at their pictures. Mary had done that and the information was subconsciously in her brain before she even got to class. It was so exciting to watch her work through the problem solving. Art is problem solving. It just doesn't always flow magically from the fingerer tips but is purposely stored in the right place, waiting to be accessed. The project is analyzed, worked and reworked until you have it just right. Sometimes the analyzing takes just a split second and sometimes it takes days of thinking. But if it is taking too many days you may have to decide if it's fear that is stopping you or a creative block. In my experience, 9 times out of 10 fear is the culprit. That is when it’s good to have someone else's creative feedback. That is why retreats are great when working out our problems or pushing yourself in a new direction. The safe, creative environment is like a different world compared to being alone at home. Plus, more can be accomplished because no one is there asking What's for Dinner? or Are you going to stay in there all night? or my new favorite, Hey, I'm out of underwear. You get the picture.

That is why I love to be invited to teach at retreats all over the country and now, the world. I am going to Australia in 2012.

Student's work that, unfortunately, I can't remember her name...I am looking for it.

This is another student’s work and she is also capturing that luminosity in her California Poppies. Photography is her hobby and she is quite good at it. She shot this on the ground under the flower so the sun reflects brightly through the petals. So cool.

My early work of clematis with that glow.

My friend, Christine Barnes, has written two great books on using color and luminosity in your quilts. They are Quilter’s Color Club and Color: the Quilter's Guide. You may want to check them out.

If you would like to join me for a 4 or 5 day retreat I have added a calendar box on the side of this blog. There are many great venues coming up in the next year all over the country, even a 2013 Alaskan Cruise.

My next creative art retreat is in upstate New York at the Hudson River Valley Art Retreat coming this December. I can’t wait.

Hope to see you there and work with you on your next great masterpiece.

Being True to Your Art

2011-09-23T15:57:00.000-07:00

Monet in Pasadena

Growth as an artist has never come with gentle ease. It has always come with an in-your-face wave of frustration that make me change direction. I am facing that right now. It’s time. I have felt it coming on, but was so busy with traveling and teaching that it was easy to overlook the obvious.

I just got back from a week in the Hill Country of Texas or, for you non-Texans, San Antonio. It's a beautiful part of the state looks like El Dorado Hills in places, except for the humidity and cowboys. I received an email when I got there from a friend asking me if I got a call from Houston IQA? Surely, she wrote, those 2 quilts got an award. No I haven’t, I wrote back, is this the week? Then one of the girls in the guild I was lecturing at said she had seen my quilts on my blog and that I must have gotten a call. No, I didn’t. I went to the next guild and was asked the same thing again. Your quilts are amazing and you didn’t get a call? No, I didn’t get a call! The call. The call?

...and Our Flag was Still There

I didn’t get a call. Yes, it was a little disappointing. It has made me stop and think about my art. But then I realized, with a big exclamation point, that I am doing art, not quilting. There is a big difference. And I am teaching art, not quilting and I am showing my art in my lecture, not my quilting. That my art has even been in these shows is a fluke. The quilting world is one of the first venues that recognized my art work. When I had my first gallery show it was me and a watercolorist together as equals, 2 artists creating flowers.

Maybe I have outgrown my viewing field. It has been a wonderful and safe place, but maybe it doesn’t fit any more. The quilting world is changing and so am I. That is the way it’s supposed to be as a growing artist. Change hurts and is uncomfortable. Do you remember, as a child, having growing pains in your legs? I had those really bad as a tall girl. I am having them again and I am feeling the pain and that pain is making me reassess my path.

Folsom City Gallery

As an artist you are competing with yourself all the time. I am always trying to create something better with each piece I make. I have never let competition with other quilters interfere with my art. I found that doing that robs me of my creativety. Are you just running for the prize, or the next best work of art? In the quilting world you are competing not only with other wonderful quilters, but also with the next best sewing machine, the greatest wonder thread, the next fabulous technique that comes with 6 new products we all have to have and so on. It really isn’t conducive to pure creativity. I have tried to protect myself from that. I might have slipped a little.

First gallery show at Shelburne Museum in Vermont

So let's grow and go for it. I discover wonderful things about myself with every quilt I make. I am stretched, tested and pushed by these works. I am attached to them because of what I discovered about myself while creating them. I don’t need an award to know they are good and meaningful.

My art on the same grounds as Mary Cassatt. Wow!

I fell into the trap we all need to avoid. Did I want to value my art and self by what awards I received (or didn't) or by what a judge said? Absolutely not. Remember that the critics did not like Van Gogh's brush strokes. He turned out OK.

These 2 quilts where made because they had to come out as they where monumental points in my life, not for others to judge my stitching. That's the difference between art and quilting. It is disappointing to not have won anything but I will get over it. And I have. I teach this all the time and now I have to remember my own advice: You lose part of your creativity when you make a piece of art for a show or competition. Be true to the art and make it because you have to, for you! I am proud to say I did that with these 2 art quilts.

I read an artist blog called The Painter Keys by Robert Glenn; Today he had quotes from artist Harley Brown that reminded me of what is important in my art.

3 of my favorite qoutes from Harley Brown:
Look for and make your opportunities happen; they are not going to come rushing up to your doorstep. But sometimes they'll be looking you right in the face.

If art takes up much of the artist's time, then it makes sense that she/he be 'lost' in the euphoria of creating. Isn't that one of our ultimate purposes in life?

Without underestimating the value of talent, it's not the most important attribute you need to become a successful artist. It's not even second. More important than talent is desire.

I couldn't have said it better.

Today's Garden

2011-09-10T13:02:00.000-07:00

Today's garden was soft and quiet. The light was just perfect to snap these wonderful shots. Its going to be 100 degrees today and looks like it could rain but right now there is a cool breeze blowing. We have the doors open and the air feels so fresh.

My 8 little pumpkins are almost ready to pick. You can tell that fall is around the corner. Makes me feel like Martha Stewart. It's fun to hear the neighbors say with suprise, as they walk by, Look - she has pumpkins! I have promised a pumpkin to each of the 4 little kids that live next door. They are so cute. I hope the Great Pumpkin comes this year - I will be here waiting in my patch.

My garden has always been an inspiring retreat. It's not perfect by any means but the beauty of things growing seems to keep me grounded. I can't help but see God's hand in every corner. I am so grateful for this little yellow house.

This is the time of year I start to think about my next creation. I wander throught the garden almost every day before I go to the studio. I study my photos and look for something that moves me. Today, the reflection in the bird bath caught my eye and those big creamy roses.

The moring glories are overtaking the climbing rose bushes. You can hardy walk throught the garden gate without them wrapping around you, too. Soon this hardy vine will die back to nothing come winter.

Then, next summer, they will return to overtake the yard again. I did a quilt in 2005 of this vine dominating the fence. Its called Afternoon Glory because the flowers turn a different color in the afternoon - they are light blue in the moring and lavender in the afternoon.

We have 2 bird feeders. These little finches let me walk right up to them and snap there picture. Joe has all the birds and turkeys in our yard named and trained.

Yes, I said turkeys! Do you think it's time for me to get Joe another dog? This is Tom. He actually calls to Joe for his food. Yes, Tom has trained Joe.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of 9/11 and I wanted to remember it in my garden, next to nature. Our world changed that day forever. Even living on the west coast our family was very much affected. My only son is now a Marine. He was 14 that day. We all seemed to change our priorities. We need to remember how precious our country is and how what we value can be taken away in an instant.

This moring in the peace of the garden, I prayed for the famlies in my neighborhood, in our country and the world. And I prayed for young men and women whose lives and futures where forever changed that day .

Like most people, I get caught up in this busy world of hustle and bustle, too, but let's us never forget 9/11 and remember to give thanks in the peace of our gardens. And if you don't have your own garden, please come and use mine.

They’re Off!

2011-08-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

...and Our Flag Was Still There

The quilts that I have been working on for the last 2 years are off to Houston. Thank God. There were times I didn’t think I would every get them done. Not that I didn’t want them done, just the opposite. It was finding the time to quilt them which has been my problem.

Monet In Pasadena

You see, I am finally making somewhat of a living doing my art. This is a dream come true. Most artists have to die before there is any market for their art. Not me, I thought. I will teach and lecture and that will offset my fabric habit. But I forgot one important thing – with teaching and lecturing comes the loss of time to do my art.

I have so over booked myself this year with traveling the circuit that I have not had that precious time to just be creative and I can’t live without being creative. I get very depressed if I go too long without studio time. And maybe money is overrated, anyway. Joey may not like this but next year will be different and balance will be my theme.

The green clamps are holding the weight of the quilt off the table.

But the most exciting news is while I was rushing to get my quilts stitched I invented a pulley system to hold the weight of my big quilts while I am quilting them. I have had this idea ever since I saw a contraption that Carol Bayer Fallert uses. I think she said it was for lifting patients out of bed so you could do God knows what to them in the hospital or at home. I’m not sure where to get one of those devices so I had to improvise. This was also project weekend for Joe. Someone in our family, while flushing the toilet, dropped her glasses that were on her head down the potty as the water was swirling. Oops! So off to Home Depot with Joe I went. I told him about my pulley ideas and he still wanted to help me but only after he snaked out the potty first. That was only fair.

On our list was: 2 pulleys, 2 eye hooks, yards of rope cording, the type used for making clotheslines, and 2 hand spring clamps. Oh yeah, we also needed a snaky thingamajig for the toilet.

Once home, Plumber Joe, not to be confused with Electrician Joe, Gardner Joe, Pool Boy Joe, Car Detailer Joe, Accountant Joe, Web Master Joe or Tree Trimmer Joe, went into action. First he asked me if I wanted the glasses back. I said I don’t think so. He then extended the snaky line and jammed it down the hole. Then he tried to pull it back out and it wouldn’t budge. It was stuck. I offered some helpful advice and was told to get out of the room. What? A loving wife can’t offer guidance? I mean, without me we wouldn’t even be enjoying this time together.

Then I heard more of what sounded like a tug of war with the snake and the commode. And then this cracking sound and those wonderful words I think I got it, followed by the most magical flushing sound. Joe then announced that he had just saved us $200 and all the aerobic exercise that goes along with a 2 story home with no working toilet on the ground floor. As he was winding up his trusty snake, he wondered if he could return the snake and get his $50 back as it was hardly used and the blockage it freed was made of glass and plastic, not that other stuff. I said I didn’t think that was a good idea.

Now to the studio we went. Joe was feeling quite manly and ready to tackle my project.

The Pulley

Here are some pictures of the pulley system. It really is pretty simple and it works. My quilts are very heavy because of all the fabrics and thread.

Hooks in the beam on the ceiling.

In my Monet in Pasadena quilt I used 6300. yards of thread @ $4 per spool. That works out to $125. just in thread, not including all the half used spools still left.

That is a lot of money but it’s worth it. On both of these quilts I used a dark solid backing fabric to show my thread work on the back. It shows all of it, the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s like a painting in thread and I love it. I also use at least 33 different colors of Sulky Rayon 30 weight thread. My new favorite sewing needle is Superior's Titanium Top Stitch needle, size 80/12.

Look for them at IQA in Houston and ask a Quilting Angel to turn the quilt over so you can see the thread painting on the back.

Gotta run. Joe is now talking about trimming trees in the front yard. OMG!

I feel yucky...

2011-08-08T10:02:00.000-07:00

It’s a sick day today. I just got home from 2 weeks of nonstop teaching and lecturing. I have completely overbooked myself to the point that there is no time to even change my sweaty teaching clothes or do my hair before the evening lecture. And I was in Houston, Texas and they are having an out of control heat wave, of course. So I caught a cold and felt miserable the whole time. But the show must go on. Thank God I love what I do even when I am so sick. At one point, when I had lost my voice and found out there was no microphone(!) I did think about running from the room screaming. But then I would have had to stand outside in the heat and humidity and that was not an option.

One of my 3 hostesses, Linda, took me to the drug store where I bought cold meds, boxes of tissues and a hair clip because my hair was starting to puff out as my nose got redder and the humidity was reaching 89%. And this was only day #1.

At one point, as I was going back to my room after breakfast, I couldn’t remember my room number. I was in different hotels every day. Was it room 220 or 507 or now where am I??? The thought of asking the front desk what my room number was was very humbling.

But I made it, barely. Then, on the last night something special happened that made it all worth the runny nose, the sweaty clothes, the bad hair and losing my voice. I think I touched someone special. Artists can touch people with their art. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it shakes up your mind and head. But that is not what I am talking about. My lecture meant something to an 11 year old boy who was there with his grandmother that night at the guild meeting.

Again, we had mic problems and my throat was so sore. Thank God Ginger drove me through a Sonic to get a giant cherry lime aid before the meeting. It was like mother’s medicine. I found out that I was to go on after the break which is when most people leave. I don’t understand why a quilt guild that is paying big bucks to bring me there has me lecture at the end after the Show & Tell and when everyone is tired. At one guild recently they had 25 Show & Tells before the break and me. That meant that I also was not going to get out of there until 10:30. But this night the Show & Tells went fast and it was my time. I was worried still about the mic and had an idea right before I was introduced.

My idea fixed the mic problem. Now, could they handle my raspy voice from this darn cold? God, give me the strength to go on is what I prayed in the ladies bathroom. It was a warm and receptive group, I could see. There were about 250 at the meeting that night. I talked about how I got from there to here and the struggles I had gone through as a child and adult. This is my art. I talk about overcoming my dyslexia and the labels people put on you as a kid but that I was always thinking like an artist from the very beginning. It just didn’t fit in a school system. But it’s what makes me creative and how when you accept how you are this helps our creative process and helps us define our art. Then I end with my 3 minute movie that I have made showing my artwork and my path. It’s set to music and always gets a great response. Then the trip is over. I can now go home and fall in the arms of my loving man.

But,, as I am talking to the ladies at the end of the nigh,t I see this young man of 11 walk up to me. Behind him is his grandmother. She says he has something to say to me. He tells me that he also has dyslexia. My heart jumps as I run around the table that is separating us. He was so cute and brave. I gave him a big hug and I saw the smile on his face and then looked in his eyes and I told him You have been given a great gift. You are going to do great things in the world - you will just do them in a different way. That is what is going to make you successful. You can do anything you want to do - you will just figure out a different way to get there. Don’t let anyone stop you. I hugged him again and he nodded his head like he already knew it. I saw his grandmother turn and walk away. Later, in the car, Ginger told me she was crying. This is why I do what I do. Not to win awards, although the awards get me the jobs. I have a life I want to share with others - a life that has been hard and rewarding. A life I could have easily given up and tossed away if I had believed for one moment what people labeled me. I always knew that God had his hand in this. Artists are right-brained thinkers, which is where all creativity comes from. Schools are mostly left- brained and humans are ignorant.

There was a book I bought that is called The Gift of Dyslexia. I never read past the title and preface but the title said it all to me. I still have that book and to anyone who wants to listen to a very creative woman who has been given a gift, a runny nose and a voice that today sounds like Suzanne Pleshette on the Bob Newhart Show, I’m here and have a story to tell.

Tea For Tulips

2011-07-31T14:05:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for another trip, this time to Texas. Today is folding pattern day. As I was folding this pattern I thought I needed to give it some long over due respect. This is a great design and hardly any one knows about it. So today I am showing off my Tea For Tulip quilt design.

Yes, it is hand, needle turned, applique and quilted by little old me.

The original was made for a line of fabric that Quilters Corners got in. I designed the pattern to go with the line of fabric. I think it was in 2006? This one was done just for me and in my colors at the time. I think I might do it again in today colors.

Later I added the stacked tea cups, which was not apart of the original pattern, its a new addition. If you want this easy applique pattern, here is a link to my shop. It $12.00 Have fun with it and send me a picture.

Green is a Neutral!

2011-07-25T17:24:00.000-07:00

I’m finishing up my week of hand-dyeing. I did a lot of over-dyeing to get some new colors and designs. I wish I had more time or maybe a twin. But then again, Joe would probably freak out with 2 of me in the house - he can barely handle one. Yesterday we folded patterns which inevitably means running out of Ink. Why the printer runs out of yellow ink when you are only printing black is still a mystery to me.

Did you know that green is a neutral and has the power to make or break your quilt? Over the past 4 years I have observed my students working with green and found that the wrong shades of green can visually drain your quilt of its color power.

Today, as I am washing and pressing my green fabrics, I thought I would give you the secret to a knock-your-socks-off quilt. It’s in the greens.

To demonstrate this theory I have my students focus on just their flower petal colors first. They get them working together perfectly. How do you know if it’s right? You either get a feeling of AHHHH or YUKKKK! I know this is deep stuff. When the student feels happy with it, then we find the best background fabric. Here is how I have my students think like an artist. When we lay that flower on the background fabric they brought, 50% of the class will change their mind about that background fabric that they thought was perfect. Why didn’t that fabric work? What they thought at home was great changes in class when they see how their flower is coming along. This is OK. Artists change their minds all the time. It’s not a failure to change your mind. It’s the path to success!

Color is a science, a chemical reaction which happens when the colors touch each other. Now we audition the greens for the leaves. 80% of what the students thought would work at home have changed in class. It may not be the best for the new flower they have just created.

Now, what if we where painting with paint, not fabric? Well, you can paint over paint until you get just the right color. With the fusible you can peel the color off and change your mind. You are auditioning a variety of choices to get your quilt looking just the way you want.

The artist knows this intuitively but even the layman can learn the technique. When the color is right you will have a feeling. Artists feel…sometimes too much. Talk to me! But go with it in your art. This is how that feeling works.

Your eyes perceive the color, that message goes into the brain and causes a chemical reaction, then the message shots down the body to the stomach, turns around and then shoots back up to your mouth and comes out as YUKKKK or AHHHH. This is your brain, gut, intuition, telling you if it’s working or not. It’s a FEELING and feeling in art is always good.

Now back to the power of green. Greens come in hundreds of shades - just look outside at nature. It can also set the mood you are trying to portray. Example: visualize what color green you see when you are in Arizona? There’s a look. It’s the cool, light green and grayed greens of the desert cactus. Which, when you use them in a quilt give you that southwestern look. What about the greens in Hawaii? Those are a deep blue green and yellow green, which give off a tropical feel. So take your time when you use a green fabric when quilting and get the strongest AHHHH out of that green. You may just win the next award!

Color Summer Yellow

2011-07-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

Summer on the porch.

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken. ~James Dent or was that Joe Bula?

Ah summer! It’s here, with all its glory and fame. Or is that Flame?

Its force and strength seems to over power the other seasons. I seem to have forgotten all about my winter blues and my wet, damp, mope, spring. “Is summer ever going to get here?” I would cry. Well it's here and there is no going back.

So yesterday was a perfect day to put my hands and elbows, in the color yellow. Yes, I was dying fabric kits for my upcoming classes. How many values and shades of yellow can I make? This was the theme of the day. I even carefully wrote down my secret formulas, which I never really do. I just seem to always be able to mix just the right colors. But what if I have to have help? How would I instruct someone to do my flower colors palate? That's a little scary.

My careful notes.

So I carefully made notes and slowly started the process, documenting all my steps. Thanks God, Joe is out of town, so I could keep the mess up in the kitchen for a few days.

Pumpkins

I also was trying to get the yellow of my pumpkins and cucumber blossom. The cucumber is a little more bright yellow with a touch of green than the warm pumpkin yellow.

Cucumbers

Now for sunflower yellows. There is really a wide range of sunflower shade out there. Whenever I teach my sunflower class, it is always so interesting to see the yellow fabrics each student bring to make there sunflowers. It always is a surprise. They may be making the same pattern but they all turn out totally unique! Just like the student in class. I love that!

Yes! red sunflowers

In Huntsville, Alabama it was brought to my attention that there are red sunflowers out there? That will be for tomorrow.

Insperations

2011-07-12T12:02:00.000-07:00

I am getting ready to make my next quilt. I was inspired again by the Monterey Bay. The colors, the sounds, the foggy mist, the flowers, the smells and the history. I walked for a mile taking this all in. This week in Sisters I started collecting my fabrics. This is how I start the process. Art is in the process.

The reflections

It's not in the finished piece but every detail of the process. I tell my students to feel.
So I also prepare to be surrounded by the feelings of that moment. That "ah ha!" moment when you are moved to create.

Flowers I found in a secret garden.

Dinghies all lined up

Beach jewels.

As I walked the beach I would see treasures under my feet. These sandy jewels feel so cool in my hand.

Hair cuts of the 1709-1800's

Inspiration can come with the rich history of the region; in the Spaniards funny hair cuts. What where they thinking?

I love the way the sailors dock their sail boats. The tide changes their direction through out the day.

Nothing but Trouble!

In Monterey there are secret gardens around every fenced gate. All are open to the public and filled with local plants and flowers.

Wherever you look, there is inspirations to be found. Take it all in and then create.

4th of July

2011-07-02T17:27:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy 2 weeks and it still not over yet. I spent 5 days in New Mexico teaching in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Then got home on Wednesday and drove down to Monterey to watch our son graduate from the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio and be promoted to Corporal in the United States Marines.

So the week before the 4th of July I have been immersed in great pride for our country. Where else in the world could you live in peace with all the diverse ethnic blood pulsating through this country’s veins? No place but America. We aren’t perfect, God only knows, but we are free. Free to choose our path in life. Free to vote. Free to worship our God and free to Love.

I was talking to a woman recently about how my son’s generation is different than mine. It’s like no other before it with the possible exception of that of WWII. There has been a very strong feeling within this younger generation of pride in country and the desire to serve it. She said Sure, it’s because they have infiltrated the schools with military recruiters! WOW that hurt!

You mean I had nothing to do with the raising of my child? God knows I didn’t want this path for my only child. I was hoping for, maybe, a dentist.

But every day he watch Joe and I stand up for our rights. Events such as the Yellow House incident and the Asbestos Fraud, not to mention the yelling at the pastor over children being hurt. The idea that he could be easily swayed or recruited to give up his life for his country by one guy on campus or be influenced by the dreaded video game and not years of seeing and hearing his parents and grandparents live their lives standing up for what was right, made me sick.

My flight home from New Mexico was through San Diego, another great and beautiful city. Not just because of is beaches and great weather, but because of its diversity. I had the pleasure of sitting next to a young man of 12 and his mother. We started up a conversation right away. You could tell he was bright and very polite. He was visiting family in San Diego. I could see the pride on her face she as he talked to me. He told me he was Irish, English, Scottish and Samoan. I told him Young man, you are a true American! I am English, Dutch, German and Cherokee. He gave me a nod of his head and a high five and then we all laughed. This young man did not get this way because of the influence of school but because of the influence of his parents.

So as my son graduated we had the opportunity to meet his instructors who originally lived in several countries in the Middle East. They, too, came to America just like your family and mine, seeking the freedom to raise their children, worship God and be free to choose their own path. As proud as I am of my son, it was obvious that his instructors shared that same feeling for each of their students.

I hope you and your family celebrate a safe and happy Independence Day.

The Art of Teaching

2011-06-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

Tulips starting to die. I thought they where still so pretty just in a different way!

As I prepare to leave in a few days for 3 teaching engagements, Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Sister's Quilt Festival in Oregon, I am overwhelmed each time I start to prepare my supplies by how unprepared I always feel. And I hate that. Even though I spend days beforehand preparing. I have taught and lectured now for the last 8 years nonstop and each time it feels like the first time for me. I feel insecure and not fully prepared or worthy. Do I have anything new I can add to the student's education? Today, as I get ready it hits me again. Maybe it’s because I had some really bad teachers in my life and I watched them and hated them for not seeing I needed help. I don’t want to be like that. Sorry Mr. Cope, but you SUCKED! Then there are the superb teachers that saw something special in me and pushed me in the right direction. Thank you Miss Thaure. I want to be like her. Besides, she was hot!

A few months ago, while teaching a 2 day workshop, I noticed 3 different women in my class. They all had the look of fear and concern but each responded differently to their fear. Part of being a good teacher, in my eyes, is picking up on the signals that students are sending so I can meet their needs and guide them into thinking creatively. Fear often blocks our path. So the first thing I do is try to get rid of their fear. For some of them that fear has been there a long time

One student sat in the back and was very quiet…. one cringed at ever word I said... and the other looked like she didn’t care as she worked on another project while I lectured, which is OK with me but she was giving off the signal that she already knew it all or didn’t care.

But as I made my way to each student in the room I could see they really needed what I was offering and hopefully I could fit the lesson to them personally. At least I could try.

The quiet one in the back was very receptive to the attention I gave her. I figured she had been ignored like me before. The woman that cringed at everything was just fearful and once I got her on her way and she saw the beautiful flower blooming, she wore a big smile.

I love my Coneflower Class.

But the one that was looking aloof was hard to crack. She wasn’t going to like anything she or I did. I think she was very hard on herself. Her fear was the greatest of the three. Such fear always blocks learning a new technique. At first I thought, why would she take a class if she didn’t want to learn? But she did want to learn, she just needed more time and we didn’t have it.

I still think about her and wish we could have had a 5 day retreat together.

So I am folding patterns, making lists and cutting the Steam-A-Seam 2 for my classes, trying to figure out how to fit everything into the suitcases allowed by the all so accommodating airlines. The way things are progressing, soon I will have to pay extra for using the bathroom. Won’t that be lovely?

Getting ready for teaching and travel is an art form in itself.

Anyway, I realized today that perhaps still feeling unprepared is a good thing. It keeps me on my toes and I have so much to share. When I stop worrying and I think I have it all down, that is when I need to stop teaching. The insecurity I feel keeps me sharp because I care about the audience, so I always say a little prayer before each class that I will see and be able to meet their needs and guide each student in the right direction.

So here we go again.

2011-06-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

Dyed the silk chiffon and the wool roving in the same pot.

Pictures of the silk nuno felting scarfs I made.

I sold 3 at the Winters Outdoor quilt festival last weekend. Next I am going to try a top!

Nuno Felting?

2011-06-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

Who knew that a ball of colored wool roving and silk chiffon would thrill me? Well, it happened and it's Peggy's fault. I like to pass the blame whenever I can.

Hand-dyed silk chiffon.

It all happened on a foggy and rainy Sacramento day, which we have been having for the last 8 months. My friend, Peggy, a knitter and yarn devotee took a class and when she called with excitement in her voice I knew it was something fun! She is always finding the newest and most artistic craft/sewing/wearable ideas. I love it. She said she had just taken a class on felting silk scarves and that I was going to love it. She was right!

She came to my house and walked in with a beautiful felted silk scarf. I knew she was experimenting with felting but I had no idea you could make anything but cute little animals with the felt (which I have made and stabbed my finger numerous times with the needle. Not fun). But a wearable, that’s another thing. I love wearable art. This technique is called nuno felting, which is felting with water and friction. No needles, so no blood. Hooray!!!!

Peggy and Susan agitating the silk.

That night I made my first creation. Of course, it was also when I was making Joe dinner as Peggy gave the directions over the phone again.

I started out with silk chiffon scarves. 14” x 2 yards. Then I hand-dyed it. The silk sucks up the dye pretty fast. I had bought a bag of beautiful pastel color roving a while ago, never really sure what to do with it. It was just so pretty and soft. So the game was on.

Peggy said I needed a long strip of bubble pool cover plastic. Don’t have, but do have bubble wrap. You need a PVC pipe. Don’t have, but do have strong cardboard tubing. You need nylon netting. Don’t have, but do have bridal tool. Game on! This is called being creative with what you have. I am the queen of that.

I laid out the scarf on the bubble wrap and added the roving, trying to make a flower design, of course. Laid the netting over my creation, wet it with hot soapy water and rolled it up on the tube, tying it with string, and began the wet felting process. You roll it back and forth with you arms, from your elbows to your hands back and forth, back and forth. About 25 times for 4 repetitions, then 50, then up to 400-600 rolls, checking the piece and making sure the netting is not felting to the wool.

Peggy had a girl in her class that wore a pedometer which measures your movement and how many calories you are burning while felting. It determined that you can burn up to 600 calories when making one scarf. Now that’s my kind of exercise.

I asked Peggy if she would demo the technique at Flowers On the Lake. The demo was a hit as the girls loved it. I couldn't wait to get home and try more ideas.

Hey, how about dyeing your own fabric and roving to match? Stay tuned!

It Snowed AGAIN!

2011-06-07T11:04:00.000-07:00

View from our class room. Its snowing on the other side of the lake.

I have spent the last 2 days in my pink flannel (Christmas sock monkey) jammies. No, I don’t have a cold. It’s just the coziest outfit I have and it’s pink. I am just resting up after a fun and busy week at my Flowers on the Lake retreat on beautiful Lake Tahoe.

The water is so clear.

Pearl taking a break.

Helen and her vibrant clematis.

You know you must have had a good time even though your feet still hurt and you have slept 12 hours straight for 2 days but there is still a smile on your face. At one point I did question if I had bit off more than I could chew as I tried to meet the needs of a room full of 20 panicky women on that first day. The first day of all classes you have a room full of big eyes with questioning looks.

Kathy's sunflower.

Gale's roses.

We had some exciting moments and I learned that I can’t do it all. But I can’t wait to try it again next year.

Starting to snow on the lake.

We did have some exciting moment when one of the students got sick and we had to call the fire department for help. Nothing perks up a group of woman quicker than cute young firemen walking through the room. Makes you forget you where just in a panic.

The weather was crazy. But it seems to be crazy this year all over the country. Is God trying to say something? So, of course it did snow the second day and the girls from Arizona got all excited.

It's only June 1. Why not snow?

Pat and Cathy in the snow.

The student that traveled the farthest to the retreat was Donna. She and her husband came all the way from Massachusetts where it was 95 degrees and humid. Thank God she brought a sweater at the last minute.

Thread Play on a coneflower.

Claire's hibiscus.

Jan's zinnia

Linda working hard!

Joe and I talked and I am going to try it again next May. I like the end of May because we have the whole place to ourselves. It’s quiet and peaceful.

View from above!

On the last night I stood up on the second floor and looked down at the class as they worked so intensely. I was pooped, but the room was filled with beautiful colors and you could feel the spark of creativity. Some sat contently, admiring their finished flower.

Donna's inspiration photo.

She's got it!

Kim's zinnia.

Dede working on a fabulous quilt she started in a Janet Fogg class.

Cheri's clematis from her own hand dyed fabrics.

Leila and her flowers.

Ruby's hibiscus from her husband's photo.

I felt like a proud mother watching the group. I thought to myself, who would have predicted that the little dyslexic girl, who felt so retarded at one point in her life, would have a group of talented, dynamic women drive 100s of miles to take a class from her? God is so good!

Hope to see you next year! If not at Tahoe maybe in New York in December at the Hudson River Valley Art Rhttp://www.artworkshops.com/

Yards (and yards) of Thread

2011-05-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

Painting by Delilah Smith

(Second time posting this blog. Blogger seems to have lost everyone's blogs this week.)

Today I counted how many spools of thread I have gone through since I started quilting Monet in Pasadena. So far it's 3,600 yards. That's a lot and I just started. I think it's starting to look good. Whenever I start a new quilt the first few days are frustrating and pure torture and I hate everything I am doing. I just want to throw it away. Joe will tell you I am not a happy camper. That must be the temperamental artist in me. I hate being like that. Then I turn a corner and, hopefully, start to see it coming to life.

Here are some tools I can’t live without when quilting: tweezers, stilettos, curved-tip snips, sticky tape roller (you might call a lint roller), and a curved-tip knife, which is really a scalpel, I think. These are all my fix-it tools. That means YES I can take out and put back in my stitches as I go. It’s like having a big eraser. If you spell a word wrong you can just erase it. The eraser has always been a very useful and much needed tool in my life. I used to get so mad at myself in school after erasing so many words on the page that the paper looked really messy. But I guess that was preparing me for now.

I call what I am doing sketching or coloring with my thread. Some call this quilting. But I don’t think that is what I am really doing. Yes, I am quilting the 3 layers together, but it’s more like weaving the colors of fabric together with the thread. I am visualizing as I quilt that I have a crayon in my hand and I am filling in and adding detail with the crayon/thread. I focus on one small space at a time. That way I don't get overwhelmed or distracted. I roll, fold, smush and squeeze my quilt to get the area I want to work on under my needle. This is a home machine I am using, a Bernina 158.

I have also been using a thread conditioner called Sewer Add. This helps the rayon thread not to fray too much, which it will do because it is rayon and going through heavy fabrics. But don’t get it confused with the Fray Check bottle - they look alike in the bottom of a drawer.

Back of the quilt.

I am also using some 40 weight thread along with my normal 30 weight rayon thread. The quilt is predominantly blues and greens. I felt I needed more shades of blue and green thread to add the depth and detail. The 40 weight thread comes in more colors. I still like the look of the 30 weight but sometimes having the right color is more important than the weight of the thread. It reminded me of how wonderful it was to have the big box of 64 colors of crayons as opposed to the 8 pack. Even back then it was all about the color. Remember the sharpener that came on the back of the box? I thought that was so cool.

Today I will be buying more bobbins, too. I thought I had enough but since I need a bobbin for every color I am using I am going to splurge on a few more. Having the right tools and supplies to work with makes all the difference.

P.S. I read a blogging forum lately that suggests removing music from your site, saying that most people find it irritating. What do you think?

Stitch, stitch, STITCH!

2011-05-02T18:40:00.000-07:00

I just bought a new iron today and it's pink! Will it not fall on the floor and break?...I don't know but I have been having that problem with irons that like to jump off my ironing board, crash to the floor and then leak water all over my quilts. So I'm hoping that this beautiful pink one will not be so jumpy. Besides, it goes with my studio.

The picture I took at the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena, CA.

A big deadline is looming over my head as I finish my Monet in Pasadena quilt. The quilt has been done since last year but I have not had time to quilt it until now. So I made a large order to my favorite thread guy, Mike at speedstitch.com. I will hide the thread bill from my husband, as all good wives do. Bought 2 packs of new needles and cleaned out the dust bunnies hidng in my machine then revved up the old girl I call Bertha but better know as a Bernina 158.

I love to do big quilts but maneuvering the large and heavy quilt under the machine can move the layers if you don’t have it pinned or basted really well and I've been using safety pins in the past.

On small quilts I can just safety pin the layer and start stitching in the middle and work out but not on this big girl so I tried a new pin basting device that I got from the Cotton Patch store when teaching at Asilomar. It's a rubber plug or stop that you put on the sharp tip of your quilting straight pins. Brilliant idea.

The new pin basting device I tried. I think it will work better without all the fusible web.

But it didn't work that great with the fusible web. I kept bending the straight pins trying to push it in and take it out. Now I have 50 bent pins. Then I had an idea. How about trying a free motion basting using really large stitches that can easily be taken out? It’s about time to dust off the old seam ripper, if I can find it.

My free motion basting.

But to get those big 1/2 inch stitches, I had to move my hand and the quilt really fast and my foot on the peddle has to go really slow. It was a little tricky at first but it seems to be working so far.

I need at least 3 weeks of solid quilting to get it done. But only have 2 weeks to work. I guess it going to be take-out, for a few weeks.

Pattern Success!

2011-04-29T20:06:00.000-07:00

Well, the zinnia pattern seems to be a big hit. Just taught a 2 day class up in Pine Grove, CA, beautiful country just 45 minutes from my house. It reminds me a lot of Ireland without all the castles. Anyways, there were 15 students in this class and they all brought their own color choices and all the flowers were beautiful. This is not the easiest pattern in my collection as it has many layers but turns out wonderful. I love watching them grow and bloom in class. I will be teaching this again in Sisters in July and at Thimble Creek in August. Check my calendar for more info.

You prepare 3 different color charts for each flower. The best way to do that is to make black and white copies of the original color chart that comes with all my patterns. With a black and white copy you just see the values of the colors and how they relate to each other and it makes it much easier to change your color palate. Easy probably isn't the right word. You are taking the pattern pieces for color A and pinning it to all 3 layers of the A fabrics on the color chart and cutting them out all at once.

Then you would lay the cut fabrics down on the background for all 3 flowers, then do the same for the next color in the color chart, and so on. I think there are 21 different fabrics in the pattern. Beside sore thumbs I think I heard a little whimpering on the 3rd day. They worked hard and persevered. I was so proud.

But last week at the Empty Spools Seminars in Pacific Grove, I had 2 very brave students who wanted to do a 3 zinnia quilt inspired by one of my quilts. It's a sample to show the variety of colors you could make the flower in. I never thought that someone would want to take on the challenge of doing 3 different colors at the same time. I thought I was the only one crazy enough to try to cut out all 3 color ways at the same time. But, no!!!! These girl where determined.

That is just it. You have to persevere through the hard parts to reap the rewards and everyone’s level of perseverance is different. Each student comes to my classes at a different level, battling different fears and challenges. That is what is so exciting. But, of course, there is the naysayer observing this from afar.

Melissa's

Nancy's

I had a student tell me one day at lunch that someone expressed to her, “I don’t know how you can even work from someone else's pattern.” What! If I had heard that statement or knew who that was, I would slap them. We are all different. People think they are diverse and open minded but they are not. Let's check ourselves before we make stupid statements. I know a group of girls that believe very strongly in diversity as long as it lines up with their beliefs and it also trickles into the quilting community. Have you met that person who thinks it not legitimate quilting if it’s not done a certain way? That’s not being open minded, diverse, or even polite.

So, we in the quilting world need to cut each other some slack and, if you come to one of my classes, please know that I will help you, whatever level you are at. At least I will try my very best. Remember, its only fabric and we can get more. Unless, of course, you are in Ierland and then you had better conserve.

Hidden Treasures

2011-04-12T17:54:00.000-07:00

I love junk shops, antique stores, and garage sales. Things that one person may call junk are someone else's gold. There is a funky little antique/junk shop up the mountain about 10 minutes away that I love. The problem is she is never open. I have tried weekends, then she is on vacation. I tried Wednesday or Thursday. No luck. It makes my heart start to beat fast just thinking of it. Mind you, the shop does not have priceless heirlooms. That's not really my style. But it is full of mismatches, chipped and used, odds and ends. Her backyard is full of great rusty tools, patio stuff, buckets and just all-around crap. I see them as garden art. Joe shakes his head whenever I come home with some of my artist finds. To me this shop is full of treasures and when it is open it’s paradise for a junker like me.

This Chinese restaurant was across the street from our hotel in Galway.

This one is for you, Tim. He is drinking Smithwick's.

Last night I watched an episode of Hoarders. Nice segue, don’t you think? Matt came home 4 weeks ago with his girlfriend and took one look at the garage and said, ”Mom, are you a hoarder?” His father shot me a glance then respond to his son “All that crap is yours!” So I had to watch an episode just to make sure I was OK.

Park House Hotel, we circled it 8 times until we found where parking was.

I must say as I am still unpacking from our wonderful Ireland adventure and I found my bag of Irish treasure. The second night after the Quilt Festival we drove to Galway on the west side of the country. It’s a cool college town and you can feel the hip nature in the air. The hotel was to die for.

First of all, we had our own beds. Always a plus. Don't get me wrong, I am passionate for my hot husband but my own bed and a pair of ear plugs and I am in heaven and so is Joe. The Park House Hotel was very elegant and reasonably priced. The next day we took a ferry ride over the Shannon River to our next stop, Dingle. How can you not have a good time in a place called Dingle?

Ferry Ride

Just like the roads in Ireland, the ferry was a little narrow, too. Joe had to drive us up and onto the ferry next to a big gas tanker truck. He got so close to the left side, not wanting to hit the truck that I couldn't get out of the car on my side. Do you think he did that on purpose?

Just a few miles (30) from the ferry, in the tiny town of Kenvarra, we saw our first castle. I yelled for Joe to pull the car over. I think he thought I was yelling about his driving again. He found a place to pull over which wasn't much but our sweet and sporty Ford Mondeo fit it nicely. We bundled up and walked around our first castle, Dunguaire Castle, circa 1520. It was breathtaking.

My first castle.

The best part about our first castle is that nobody was there but us and a Japanese couple that seemed to be taking the same tourist route as us that day as we saw them at several other sites, too.. There was moss growing on the side of the 4 story stone walls. It was so soft and green. I pulled a little off and put it in my pocket. As we walked back to the car we closed the rusty iron gate and a chip of rusty paint fell off the gate. I picked it up and put that in my pocket, too. I asked Joe if I would have trouble getting through TSA with my rust and moss. He rolled his eyes and said he thought I would be OK. Ah, treasures!

I love rust.

Last night I looked all over the house for them, thinking that I had lost my treasures. But I found them this morning in the bag with my other priceless finds. Yes, I bought a shirt and a beautiful handwoven scarf and some pretty earrings.

Irish gold!

But the sea glass, broken pottery, shells, rust and moss mean more to me than gold. Because they are Irish

moss and rust.

The good news is that I am not a hoarder. I can proudly stand by that. But a little weird ? Absolutely.

The 40 Greens of Ireland

2011-04-06T20:15:00.000-07:00

Color has always been my thing. Whether I am making it, playing with it or manipulating it for a painting or quilt, I seem to have been born with the color eye and an overwhelming need to be surrounded by it.

I have noticed as I travel that there is a color palette to every place I go. In Hawaii it is the blues. Arizona is pastels. At Lake Tahoe it’s the turquoises and in Ireland, it is the greens. They say there are over 40 different greens in Ireland but I think they are wrong - it’s more like 80 plus. I sat in the car counting them, while Joe was avoiding traffic cones and tourist buses on the small and winding Irish roads.

Narrow road plus you are driving on the left side.

That was keeping my mind off the fact that I might not make it to our next Irish vista. Joe was either going to kill me and leave me in a Irish bog somewhere never to be found again or we were going to drive head-on into a large tour bus called the PaddyWagon. Anyways, there are more than 40 greens, I am sure.

So you see that the reason I haven’t written you sooner is because I was invited to teach at the Quilt Guild of Ireland for their Festival this year in Dublin. Yes, it was a dream come true to be in Ireland and with some very talentened quilters. This guild incorporates all of Ireland, both north and south. How spoiled we are in the states to have quilt guilds in almost every town. In California, sometimes we have more than one per town. But in Ireland they have just one or 2 groups. The quilters drove great distances to get to this festival. OK, in California that is no big deal to drive 4 hours to search for fabrics. We just call that a "Shop Hop".

They also have a loving respect for their fabrics. Fabric is hard to come by and they don’t waste a bit of it. I learned that in class one day when I mistakenly told my students that this was a practice piece and you can throw it away when you get home. The whole class yelled out “Oh no!!!!! We can't through it away. We will make something out of it.”

That’s when I knew I was so spoiled. Batiks can cost at least 15 euros per meter, which is about $22 a yard American. So I have a new respect for my fabric collection and went up to my studio and patted them all and said thank you to the big guy (and I didn’t mean Joe!) when I got home.

So thank you Quilter Guild of Ireland for the wonderful time Joe and I had. You are warm, gracious and talented. And you have way more than 40 greens.

More of our Irish adventure to come but I am sleep deprived right now.

Need a Quilting Break?

2011-02-28T18:28:00.000-08:00

I only have 2 more rooms available for my Flowers On the Lake Retreat, May 30- June 3.

I love retreats. I love to go to them and teach at them.

When the phone is ringing at home and I can’t get anything finished I long for the focused time just to work on a project and get something done. As a teacher it is such a wonderful experience to work with the students, one on one, and help them achieve their goals and watch them grow. It is also a great bonding and sharing time with others with similar interests. I always come home learning some new technique, idea or new product as we share ideas. I have met women that I know I will always be friends with.

Our great-grandmothers had their sewing bees. They would meet at the church or someone’s house, bring a casserole to share and sit around the quilting frame, talking and stitching. But only for that day.

Today’s woman doesn’t have to milk the cow or bring in the wheat and stay close to home. She has her own car and may even be in charge of her own work schedule. Boy, how things have changed. I remember going my first time to Empty Spools Seminars at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, CA. I had heard about it for years. I saved up to go with friends and took Mary Lou Weidman's class. In class I had the pleasure of sitting next to Freddy Moran. I was in color heaven. I knew that it couldn’t get any better than that.

That when I realized that these very independent women and men do this retreating thing all the time. Wow. They may take a long weekend or a week. They sometimes go by themselves. All making their way to this creative environment and do the thing they love most - being creative and fondling fabrics. Yes, I said fondling and you know you do it.

Before I started traveling and teaching so much, I would have the pleasure of meeting my 2 friends for a day of quilting. We would meet at one friend’s house who has a beautiful studio with 3 sewing machines and lots of fabrics. She also owns a great quilt shop. We never ran out of fabric. We would all decide on a pattern we all liked. Then we set up an assembly line of cutting and ironing and sewing. We would end up making 3 of the same quilt, one for each of us. It was so much fun. But it was only 3 hours, one day a week. Still, I miss that time.

As you working girls know, we all can’t have that precious time to quilt every week. That is why retreating is so heavenly. You can block out an uninterrupted time to immerse yourself in whatever project you want and listen to funny stories and eat chocolate and maybe even enjoy some wine.

Last year was my first time hosting my own retreat, Flowers On the Lake. I had no idea how this would go. It was a wonderful time, if I do say so myself. It brought 9 women together and by the end of the retreat we had all bonded and were not ready to leave, acting like little girls who don’t want to leave the party yet! As I was packing up my car they were on the phone, finding a hotel to stay and sew another 2 days. It wasn’t long enough they said. It made me feel good that they wanted to stay.

So that is what a retreat does. I see it all the time at these events. So, if you have never experienced a quilting retreat, I want to invite you to some of my favorites. And, of course, I will be there.

Empty Spools Seminars, Pacific Grove, April 15-20

Flowers On the Lake, Lake Tahoe, May 30-June 3

Hudson River Valley Quilt Art Retreat, Albany, New York, Dec 4 -10

You don’t have to be an experienced sewer or artist. Newbees are always welcome. You can work from your own flower photo or use one on my patterns. I help you all along the way. This is for you.

Also, for you west coast girls, this will be my first time at Sisters, Oregon and Quilters Affair but we will talk more about that later.

Camellias, Daffodiles and Snow?

2011-02-24T17:13:00.000-08:00

I can’t think of anything to write about today. So how about pictures of my garden? It’s February and my camellia bushes are bursting and the daffodils are up in some places in the yard. What is with that? But on a cold and dreary day like today it makes me happy.

New! Camellia quilt.
I made this arrangement for the kitchen table. It has lasted 3 days which is hard to do with arrangements with camellias because the heavy flowers usually drop off the stem right away. But this one is lasting. These pictures make me think spring is on its way. But is it?

I love how the light reflects in the wet glass vase

Last night while watching the local evening news, our overly perky weather man ran to the Doppler weather map with a little skip in his step. He was so elated to inform all of us that we could have snow sprinkles tomorrow as low as 500 feet. What? This is California! I live at 1,100 ft. Well, there go my daffodils and what about my oranges?
Maybe that is why the birds are eating up all the bird seed so fast. They know something is up. The other day we had 15 large tom turkeys in our yard and now the female turkeys are hanging out here. Joe "accidentally" drops bird seed on the ground when refilling the feeder for his new pet turkeys. Which reminds me that I really need to get him another dog soon. The turkeys are fine but their droppings are like land mines on our sidewalk that you have to dodge every time you get the mail.

When company leaves we have to say "Watch where you are stepping" and then try not to laugh as we watch them hop and dance back to their car avoiding while piles.
This bird feeder has been so much fun. I can't believe I said that. We can view the bird action up close from the safety of our dining room without their detection. We have counted about 8 different species not counting the turkeys.

Where is Waldo? You have to finds 2 birds in this picture.

We also have a new little hairy friend that has adopted us from time to time. I came out on the porch the other day and she was curled up in Joe's lap. She likes to hang out on our warm porch also watching the bird feeder. I call her Jade because of her light jade green eyes. She will now let us pet her. I don’t think she has a real family but goes from house to house. Our neighborhood is not that friendly and the few I have talked to about her say she visits them also. I want to give her a bath and a flea collar, but her teeth are really sharp and I happen to be very allergic to her. I overdid the petting the other day and paid for it the rest of the evening. So yesterday was spring and today its winter again. So if you live to the east of California, get ready! Another storm is coming and you didn’t need Skippy the weather boy to tell you that one.

I think I will work on my camellia quilt today and pretend it is spring anyway.

Presidents Day Sale

2011-02-18T11:51:00.000-08:00

Macy’s is having a Presidents Day Sale and so am I. I have reduced the price on 3 of my first Fusible Flower quilts: Clematis, Yellow Daisy and Oriental Poppy. They are looking for nice homes.

Click to enlarge.

Clematis

2002

New price is $800.

21” x 32”

This is the second Fusible Flower quilt I made. Purple is my favorite color so when I saw this picture in a flower catalog I knew I had to try and recreate it. How could I make these flowers look dimensional with just fabric and maybe some thread? That was my challenge. I had never seen a Fusible Flower quilt before but wondered What if I treated it just like I was painting, only using fabric and thread? These flowers are bright and crisp in the morning light. I wanted to capture the sunlight hitting the center of the flowers just right.

Click to enlarge.

Yellow Daisies

2002

New price is $500

18” x 24”

This quilt was inspired by a picture in a flower magazine. Right away I knew I did not have enough yellow fabrics to make it work. I used about 12 different values of yellow fabric to give the flowers their depth. This was my third quilt using the Fusible Flower technique. Each time I made one I would learn something new.

Click to enlarge.

Oriental Poppy

17" x 24"

New price is $900.

I knew this quilt would be a challenge and it was. I almost gave up many times but I'm so glad I didn't. I learned so much from making this quilt. This quilt is painted with fabric and thread to create this beautiful poppy quilt inspired by a flower catalog. This was quite a challenge trying to making the paper-like petals bend and fold, all in fabric. I highlighted the quilt with lots of thread play, which adds more shading and detail. Back then I thought it was a lot of thread and they would surely kick me out of the quilting world for all that thread. Who knew?

The final step is some carefully placed glass beads that I added by hand. This was the first time I entered my Fusible Flower art work in a show and it won Honorable Mention at the Marin Quilt and Needle Art Show in 2003.

These first quilts are very special to me. Each one has taught me a valuable lesson and pushed my creativity. It took me years before I would show the quilt world my flowers. Then I saw the work of Katie PM and Velda Newman and thought there might be a chance someone would like what I do, also.

If you are interested in any of these art quilts, let me know. I take PayPal, Visa or Master Card or good old green cash. You can contact me at melbula@comcast.net

My closets are getting too full and Joe won't enlarge my studio space, so some of my babies have to go, so more can follow.

Looking for Mr. Right

2011-02-09T19:31:00.000-08:00

I have been looking and looking for the perfect free-motion sewing machine. Does it exist? I don't think so. I want something the sews really straight and I can control the speed. It has to handle sewing through many thicknesses of fusible fabric while using delicate rayon thread. It needs to have a big enough arm so that large quilts can easily get under the machine. And maybe it should come in pink. If i am going to dream it might as well have a color. Why not?

But the biggest thing is I don't want to sell my house to buy it. Where is that machine? I don't want a stitch regulator or fancy stitches. I don't need it to sing to me when it turns on, or have a drink holder for my coffee. I don't need it to store pictures of my family that pop up when I am trying to sew. I just want it to do the job of sewing. Even Wilma had a sewing machine that worked.

Where are you Mr. Right???? I dream, fantasize and pray for you. I even have been searching (dare I say?) the Internet for you.

When Hello Kitty went bad.

But alas! You may only be a vision in my dreams. Maybe you haven't been invented yet. So I will wait.
In the mean time, does any one what to buy a Bernia 200 upgraded to a 730 that tap dances?

Knit One and Purl Two

2011-02-01T18:37:00.000-08:00

I just love to knit. So while my web site has been under construction, which seems like forever, I have been knitting. First it was this scarf to get me back in the knitting groove. When I saw the colors and texture of this yarn my heart skipped a beat. I broke out in a sweat and knew I had to have it. I didn't look at the price until I got to the register. Yes, it was very expensive. I bought it anyway. Don't tell Joe. Then feeling quite accomplished after making this beautiful scarf, I wondered if I was brave enough to work on a sweater I started about 2 years ago.

It was a Vogue pattern that I downloaded off their web site. I had to join the vogue knitting site and then you can down load it for free. I just loved it. I was going to teach myself how to do cables with this pattern. No sweat, right?

This was my second try at the sweater. You can see some of my cables rows are not going in the right direction.

I started the sweater 4 times, which means I had to unravel the sweater 3 times. At one point I just lost interest and felt maybe it was simply too complicated for my little brain but I needed something complicated to work on while Joe was fixing my web site. Oh! I guess I forgot to tell you that I wiped out most of my web site by trying to help Joe. So why not try again to make this Debbie Bliss Silver Belle sweater again and stay out of Joe's hair (what little he has left) and stick with what I know how to do.

So far it’s working out really great. I have been obsessed with it and it is going very fast - big needles help (Size 9). Every once in a while I have to take out a row or 2. Like last night. You can see by the picture that this young girl has not been blessed yet with her womanly assets. And at her age I wasn't, either.

So the sizing and fit of this sweater is also a challenge. I was lucky to find web sites that have also worked on this sweater and gave me an idea of how it fits. It runs really big. But I am happy to say I am done with the skirt and now working on the top and sleeve that are in one piece.

I will keep you updated on my progress. But now I am looking for my next sweater and I found this pattern that I want sooo bad. It’s called the Mermaid by Hanne Falkenberg. It comes in all colors but you can only get the pattern when you buy her kit. So this is my motivation for completing my Silver Belle. Then I have to find the $$$$. And you thought you could only be addicted to fabric!

It's Out!

2011-01-24T20:31:00.000-08:00

Drop everything and run to the nearest book store to get the February/March issue of Quilter's Home magazine. Buy every issue you can. OK, maybe just my mom and I will do that. It's finally here, a month earlier than we thought it would be. It turned out so cute. There is a wonderful 5 page spread on our house in this issue. They even put in the story of our yellow house controversy that caused quite a stir in 2002. You can't see any of the dust or cobwebs or the glue gun I used to hold most things together for the shoot. There is even a picture of Joe and I sitting with our feet in the pool, which makes me long for summer. It was really hot the day we shot this.

Laundry Room

This is my laundry room that I wallpapered with botanical prints I cut out of an old book and glued right on the old wallpaper. I keep the collection of flower pots above the counter and sink area. The yellow iris is a new quilt. Behind the drapes is Joe's beer making supplies - he and Matt occasionally turn my kitchen into a mad scientist's laboratory.

This is our breakfast nook which is mostly used for folding towels and laundry. On the back wall at the top is a quilt of strawberries in a bowl and below that is one on my paintings of fruit on a table with a blue tea pot. Hanging over the table is my Yellow Daisy quilt.

Master Bedroom

I love our master bedroom in soft colors of blues and peach. There is a wonderful view from the deck off this room. I fell in love with this house because of the view. Over the chair is draped a Lone Start quilt I made out of Amy Butler's first line of fabric. You can't see it, but every intersection in the quilt has a hot fix crystal on it. It's really sparkly. The flower quilt on the wall is a camellia.

We sit out there and watch the sunset.

This is my living room office.

I have a small office space in the corner of my living room. Its where I design patterns and do all my computer work. The small framed quilt block above my head is from my Baltimore album quilt. I needed some art work for the space so I just framed the block. Someday, I might just finish that quilt. Or not!

All the photos where taken by the famous quilt photographer to the stars, Gregory Case. There is a really cute article about him and his partner, Elena, in the magazine also. It's about couples in quilting.

Thank you Quilter's Home for a wonderful experience.

Do we really SEE the whole picture?

2011-01-09T11:59:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to finish up the thread work on my flag quilt. I made this quilt after attending Matt’s Marine boot camp graduation. The ceremony blew me away. I consider myself very patriotic but seeing those young men willing to give their life for our country has changed me. So I had to make a quilt to commemorate the day my son because a United States Marine.

I have been having a lot of trouble finishing this quilt. Procrastination is the word. There were many valid (sort of) excuses I used to avoid going into the studio like, it’s too cold outside today, I don’t feel like it and the best one, my pants are too tight. I know, but remember we will do or say anything to avoid dealing with our fears. Bingo, you've got it - I have been full of fear at completing this quilt. I think it’s called the fear of failure or fear of success, whatever it is, it's a feeling that you are simply not good enough. It has been this way for about 6-9 months. You would think by now I would have this down but life is always a struggle and, if it’s not, you aren’t doing it right. I have even bought books recently on the topic of fear and the artist, thinking that it would push me a little bit. But they just gather dust on my desk, which needed to be cleaned up, which was another excuse for not finishing my quilt.

Then today I received an email from a woman that stopped me dead in my tracks. I wanted to share it with you because maybe you are going through something. It made me mad at first. Do I have a sign on my back that says KICK ME?

But then I read it again and felt her pain and I started to cry. Actually, I sobbed. I then realized why I am here doing these quilts. Not to win awards or make money (even thought that does make my husband happy) but to share my life, creativity, and story with others. And mostly because it is all I can do.

She saw my segment on TheQuiltShow.com #501 and wrote:

Dear Melinda,

Beautiful work and technique! Congratulations for your winning quilts.

I watched you on the Quilt Show. I really enjoyed it except for a comment you made that touched me deeply. When you said that there is something to be said about blindness. Here is my story. A little over a year ago, my son lost his eye sight to an hereditary gene deficiency. He is 29 and was a wonderful photography teacher and website designer. I also am a quilter and design quilts for our provincial quilt show. I am an oil artist and interior decorator. Since David lost is eye sight, I have been having a great deal of difficulty working on art projects. I have been feeling quite guilty about what his happening to him since the hereditary missing gene his passed down from mother to sons. Recently, I found the courage to start some projects so it was very hard for me to hear you say what you said. It is very difficult for someone to realize how hard it is to become blind and have to live with this handicap and having to re-invent oneself. We are very proud of David. He went back to university this September and to all our amazement he is getting all A`s ! It doesn’t take away all the sadness and how hard it is to study and commute to his classes in his condition. So through his strength, I found the courage to start designing again.

I recently found out about a color code that was invented for the blind. It is called the Barker code. It matches color to texture and the goal is to make wall quilts that represents the masters (Renoir, Monet etc) arts so that the blind can feel and get an ``image ``of art and also understand what shape ie a house has or a car or a landscape. I am gathering quilt artist to help with creating pieces that would become a traveling exhibit to be presented to the blind centers. So I just might write to you again as the project progresses to kindly ask for your participation.

Thank you for sharing your work!

I am so sorry but I just had to mention this and may be you can find some other word to describe the perception of color value.

Respectfully,

Lynda

Thread on the back.

I wrote back:

Your letter touched my heart. But you have to understand that I was not making light of being blind. It was a poorly chosen metaphor for the seeing not wanting to really see. I, too, battle with a handicap every day of my life. I have dyslexia and it's caused me much pain and suffering. Can you imagine what it is like to be called retarded? It was very difficult to bear that as a child. I would retreat in to my own world of sewing and painting to survive. My parents where so worried about me.

By the time I was 16 I just wanted to die. I thought there was no purpose for me being in this world. I have worked very hard to learn different ways to overcome this handicap, but it remains. My art is the only thing I could do as a child. I now show my art and speak about having dyslexia. The battles and the blessings. I call it the gift of dyslexia, because it made me SEE things differently, which is a blessing most people in this world will never experience. Would I being doing what I am doing now if I had been born without dyslexia?

Now, you and your son are going through a very hard time. But there is a gift in the midst of this. God does not make mistakes. I know. He is preparing a wonderful creative gift in your son. The strength of creativity is not stopped by losing one's vision. Learn everything you can on how to use this new gift.

I have a family friend, Lester, who is an art professor. He told my parents when I was 17, She is an artist. He is now 80 years old and blind but when we talk about art he see color. his face lights up and in that conversation, he can still see, just differently. Monet and Matisse did some on their best work as elderly, handicapped, blind men. Tell your son to not give up. He is developing new eyes for his art and creativity.

In 5 minutes i was on TV, it’s hard, if not impossible, to tell others my story, but you are mad at me because of something I said. But I know what you are really mad at and it’s not me, it’s the fear of change and being different. I know.

Now you’ve done it. I am going to have to put you and David at the top of my prayer list. So watch out!

Melinda

The back.

I will keep this letter always to remind me of why I am doing my art. Because I have to and I can’t do anything else.

Sometimes, God takes something away, so I (or you) won’t miss what he wants us to do. Years ago I made the decision to try to go forward proudly with the good, the bad, and the very imperfect. Struggling with blindness in no joke. I pray that David can find a new way to express his God given talent.

What are you struggling with? Know there is someone who cares - just don’t kick so hard. Now I can finish the quilt. Thank you, Lynda, for writing me. I would love to make a quilt for the blind. I been making them for the seeing, that sometimes, don't really see.

Happy New Years!

2010-12-30T11:53:00.000-08:00

Its here! The new year. Time for a fresh start and new adventures. It really is like any other day - or is it? January 1 has a new feeling to me and it also has a color, even some sparkle. It's like you just cleaned the spots off the window and the view is all new. So what are we going to do with this new start?
Over the holiday we where at a Christmas/engagement party and in walks a couple that Joe and I had a falling out with years ago. They went to our church, in fact it was the pastor and his wife. The wife did nothing to lead to the trouble, it was more between me and the pastor. A difference of opinion and I just happened to be a woman. It tore our life up for years. I worked so hard on how to forgive his cockiness and pride. Joe was even more hurt than me and the 2 of us worked for at least 5 years on forgiving and that is not an easy job when your world comes crashing down around you.

So we go to this party and who walks in but the pastor and his lovely wife. I instantly saw that he looked distressed and weaker than I had remembered him. My heart softened and I knew I had forgiveness in my heart. Wow! So, I decided after some time to say hello and merry Christmas. Surely he also had been working on the same forgiveness towards me - he's a pastor. The room was also full of our friends that also had been very affected by this fall out.

So I walked over as they where talking to my good friend and I said Merry Christmas and put my arm gently around him for a compassionate hug which he responded to by jerking his hip to dislodge me. I turned to his wife who looked very uncomfortable but was gracious. My friend smiled and was happy to see me say hello. I asked the pastor's wife about their new grandchildren and congratulated them on the additions to their family. She stumbled for words and then someone grabbed my arm saying Mindy! How are you? and I was thankfully whisked away. I was so surprised but felt so proud of myself for taking the first step. While I have forgiven, he, unfortunately, is still the same. Other party-goers who new the situation were also watching and I hope it was a big healing for them, too. It was the period at the end of the book for me and Joe. Now I see him as he is and he did hurt me and our family but God has healed us and blessed us and I can forgive and move on.

Life is an amazing journey. Last year does affect the next year and so on but being unforgiving stops you in your tracks. No growth can take place until you walk through the hurt to get to forgiveness. I am often asked how I was able to reach for my dreams and it seems to me, when I look back, it was the painful, difficult and hard places in my life that I had to go through that helped me grow. I went through them, not around them. When I have gone around them I have had to go back and do it again. By battling the hurts and pains of life, you work on moving forward to success in whatever your goals are. There is no way I could stand up in front of hundreds of people and make a complete fool of myself if I had not gone through the strengthening of life's hurts and battles.

I have new issues to deal with in the upcoming year but I can put this one to bed. It may have taken 6 years but I have moved one step ahead. Thank you God for listening and answering my prayers. I pray for you as I pray for my family and myself that forgiveness will rule our lives this next year. That doesn't mean you forget or always look the other way - it means you open your heart so you can move forward.

Happy New Year!

Yes, It's Christmas

2010-12-22T11:51:00.000-08:00

It's coming faster than I can keep up with. Yes, it’s Christmas and I am not ready for it in any way. I got the tree up last week just in time for Matt's arrival home for the holidays. The lights on the house went up and the storm blew them down the next day. This is the first year I had help from Joe putting up the lights . Not that he wouldn't help me in years past, but he has always had the daunting Christmas chore of figuring out how Christmas was going to happen financially, and there were a few years there that I still don't know how we did it. Joe has worked a lot of overtime over the years - like every Christmas but this year. That's 28 if you are counting. With his new position he now has been working from home for the last year which has given us a new dance to learn. He is here all day long, morning to night, in my way, asking for food and other things we will not speak about. My carefully choreographed routine has been disrupted this last year. This routine consists of getting up, having breakfast and maybe going for a walk then getting to the studio and immersing myself in work. Then, about 3:30pm, I would quickly clean up the house, get out of my sweats, take a shower, do my hair and makeup and get all dolled up for my man. 4:30 - 5:00 he'd walk in and say how pretty I looked, having no idea how I spent my day. I think he thought I was like this all day. It was so sweet. In this new routine he soon started noticing the reality. He asked me the other day if I was going to take a shower any time today. I say yes, when my boyfriend comes home from work about 5:00. So now he is home all day and my routine is changing but it did come in really handy when putting up the lights. I didn't have to get on the ladder once. He even ran to the store for me and got more extension cords (which we are always short of).

So the lights are up and the neighborhood looks very festive in the evening. Even the Pakistani family has put up a very large snow globe on their front lawn. Now they are true Americans. Our neighborhood is very multicultural for this part of California. Except for the Russians, I mean Ukrainians, who still are having trouble with all the holiday cheer and can't understand why we have dogs.

We use to have a family from Germany living in the 'hood for about 8 years. They always had great parties with wonderful food. We where sad when they moved back to Europe. But Marlis took our tradition of Christmas lights on the house with her. I guess she was quite the hit in her new neighborhood in Sweden when she decorated the outside of her new home with Christmas lights. I hope they where the blinking ones. Leave it to us tacky Americans to have too much bling for the holidays.

It’s important to decorate because once you get the decorations up, it feels like Christmas. The job I dreaded was just what I needed. Now I need to work on what’s on TV. We wanted a Christmas show last night, so I went to On Demand and under holiday shows, was RAMBO!?! When did Rocky become Christmas.
Just shoot me now and get it over with. There wasn’t one good holiday show that didn't involve a murder or sex or some dysfunctional family with sick humor. Why????

So when you can't see it on TV or in the movies, put some sparkly lights on your house and turn on some Christmas music, really loud so the neighbors know it's here and what is on TV is not what it is about.
Christmas in not about gifts, and who is buying cars for Christmas? It's not about the decoration and lights but about a baby that was born to save mankind and boy do we need him now. Well, at least I do!
Merry Christmas!

What's In a Name?

2010-11-19T11:46:00.000-08:00

Just yesterday I got, in the mail, my teaching packet for Houston IQA next year, 2011. Didn't I just get home 2 weeks ago from Houston? They need my teaching proposal by December 15th. I think they just want to mess with me. So the last 2 days I have been writing up proposals and designing a new pattern. I am supposed to be on vacation. They have asked me to teach the Zinnia again. Wow! I thought I would also add a new flower to my repertoire.

I have been drawing and studying the Texas bluebonnet, which looks a lot like a California lupine. I guess it depends on where you see them blooming. I first saw the lupine on the rolling hillside of La Selva Beach, north of Monterey. We lived there for 2 years when Matt was a toddler. Every day, out my window, was this breathtaking view of the ocean all the way to Monterey and then, in the spring it, was the blue and purple lupine covering the hillside that ran down to the ocean. Yes, it was heaven. I would spend hours amazed at the wonder of God's beauty that I was so blessed to see every day.

I have a friend, Janice, who sent me pictures of fields in Texas covered in this beautiful bluebonnet flower. One picture was of her grandchildren sitting in the fields of blue. I now know why she moved to Texas (plus. you can carry a gun in your purse). She was going through a messy divorce at the time and I bet she wished she could have had a gun, back when she was living in California. For those of you who do not know how to take a joke, that was one. I recently had a neighbor read my blog where I stated, "I wanted a gun for Mothers Day, but no one would give me one". They thought I was serious, so now when I make a joke, I have to put in a disclaimer: This blog site may not be fit for sad, depressing people, who can't laugh at themself.

I recently was speaking in Canada and made a comment in my lecture about something funny Joe had said about himself. He was referring to an old picture I took of him. I always liked the picture but he didn’t. When I got home from this trip, there was an email from someone in the audience that I had offended. I didn't say a bad word or make fun of the queen, who isn't really there leader anyway. I didn't make fun of anyone or a race, gender or belief. But I did quote what my husband had said about himself. I did apologize to the person and I felt bad that I hurt her feelings. But, after some thought, I felt very sorry for her that she can't laugh at the funny things people say in life. Now I guess I can't quote the funny, goofy things my family says without offending some people. I also took it out of my lecture.

But recently, while speaking in southern California, just for fun, and because I like to stir things up, I threw out that same remark and this time, like every time prior to Canada, got a big laugh. Oh, well.
So I am sorry to all that I have offended in the past, but I am just going to be me. Just know that my heart is in the right place. I am not here to hurt anyone. I just want to make my art that hopefully makes others happy. Soon, I am afraid; I will run out of thing to blog about.

Hopefully, no one is offended by a California girl doing a Texas bluebonnet, which really looks like a lupine to me. I have been told there is a difference and I am sure it’s called by another name in Europe. To me, it’s just another beautiful flower that has to be captured.

So, if everything goes as planned, and it never does, I might be teaching this new pattern, Texas bluebonnet, next year in Houston along with the Zinnia and the Hibiscus. I will keep you posted. And look for my new pattern; it’s a chic designer purse for your small and discrete hand gun that I will be showcasing at spring market. Relax, it’s a joke!

Looking for Stuart Little

2010-11-14T12:18:00.000-08:00

Joe's on the hunt. "I don't like playing God, but its freaking me out having a mouse in the house" he says as he quotes Dr. Seuss. My man!

Guess what my husband is doing today? We have an unwanted visitor. Yesterday he set out mouse bait in traps around the outside of the house and this morning he went in with the big guns. The mouse trap with peanut butter. Creamy, not crunchy - it does make a difference, he says. He admits, "Everything I learned about hunting for mice I picked up from Tom and Jerry cartoons. Do we have any Swiss cheese with the really big holes in it?" "No", I said, " just peanut butter".

Speaking of Jerry, I found out yesterday that my husband told me a wrong name for one of our neighbors. I have, for the last 6 years, been calling him Jerry when his name, I come to find out, is BOB! I asked Joe why he did that and he said because he LOOKED like a Jerry. I had to apologize to Bob. I hope that Ryan and Amber next door are, in fact, Ryan and Amber.

Now back to the mouse hunt. Joe said that a few nights ago he was reading in the bedroom when he thought he saw something running past him. He thought it may have been a mouse, but was unsure as there was no tiny car involved like in Stuart Little. We live next to rolling hills and lots of fields so you get, from time to time, mice. The last time we had one in the house was years ago and I woke up to the sound of Joe chasing him with a broom. Joe was trying to apply a practical comic strip approach to the problem and was disappointed with the result as the broom head broke off and, believe it or not, he was unable to whack the mouse with the broom stick.

That was not a good idea so this morning he is researching how to set the traps and go in after it. Last night as we are trying to sleep, the mouse is chewing through the makeshift wall Joe put over the hole we had to cut to access some plumbing. His chewing was so loud that we had to sleep in another room. This morning we looked at the chewed hole and Joe said "I think we're going to need a bigger boat" (apologies to any Jaws fans).

Of course, we couldn't find a flash light that worker - we have 6 flashlights and 0 batteries. So I used the flash on my camera. I thought that was pretty ingenious. and I also got some pictures of the hunt.
So as I am writing this blog and talking to my big game hunter, Joe, when we hear a SNAP! I look at him and he says, "I will look at him later - maybe tomorrow". That's my hero.

Working on my NEW Zinnia pattern!

2010-10-25T11:41:00.000-07:00


My new Zinnia pattern that I will be teaching in Houston in a couple of weeks. But I can't leave well enough alone. So I have been trying it out in other colors. Size 25" x 28".

How about purple red and orange? size 45" X 45". Trying out these colors, before I hand dye fabric packs, for my students.

Zinnia's come in every color. I think this will be perfect.


I am using the pattern just like my students will. And of course, because it me, I found a few type Os's.

How about a little turquoise for the leaves?


Just chunks of color, made up mostly of my hand dye's, with some Hoffman batik thrown in for good measure. Now the Thread!

Quilter's Home Comes to Visit!

2010-09-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

I am on a wild ride. It seems that my little world has sped up and I am running to keep up with it. We leave soon for the Hawaiian cruise that I will be teaching on. I am getting all the patterns ready, not to mention trying to find shorts, in my size, in September.

Maybe being a stay-at-home mom all those years has slowed me down but right now everything I have ever prayed for or dreamed about is happening, all at the same time. Like right now! This very minute. I have been getting ready for this wonderful Hawaiian cruise and have been invited to teach in Toronto, Canada when I get home. Next year, I'll be teaching in Dublin, Ireland. Wow!

Two weeks ago I got a phone call from my friend, Jake Finch, who is the editor of Quilter’s Home magazine. They would like to do a photo shoot of my house, not just the studio, but the whole house, on September 18. Jake said, with a little giggle, "if you need to get new drapes, this would be the time, and don’t forget to dust." Great!

I barely have time wash my husband’s shorts, much less make drapes. But that is what I am doing right now. Making drapes for my bedroom, not doing the laundry. We have been hanging light fixtures, finishing up unfinished projects and cleaning up the yard. They are going to show the outside of the Yellow House and share the story of this house I love. The famous Gregory Case is arriving this Saturday and will be here for 7 -10 hours, he said, shooting our home.

I am staging the house with quilts everywhere, which means covering up the scrapes or imperfections on the walls, some left by Cosmo. I haven’t really wanted to get rid of them yet, but I guess it’s time.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I am doing it all with little cash. We stripped the money tree in the backyard bare months ago with the addition of new windows and siding so the wind would stop blowing through our living room.

I talk in my lectures about being more creative, which is making something out of nothing. In my life, that has usually come because of little cash. I am very experienced in doing great thing with no, and I mean no money. So I have been digging through the garage, hitting the flea markets and discount stores to make something out of nothing. Again! This is called Creativity. I found this fabric glue that works great to hem drapes and add trim. I found safety pins work great instead of a zipper. And if the buttons I got from WalMart, are not the right color, paint them.

About 6 months ago, I bought a hallway light fixture that no one can figure out how to hang from our very high entry ceiling. Well, they can figure it out, but I don’t have the cash to pay them. It's more than the light cost. So, Joe and I have a new idea. We will fix up the one that is already there like I did for the dining room chandelier.

The laundry room is wallpapered in pages out of a botanical flower book. And I am hiding Joe’s beer making equipment behind the gathered drapes. No one is allowed to use the room until after next Saturday. Sorry Joe, you may need to go shopping.

I even cleaned behind the washer and dryer. It was yucky! Next is the frig. God only knows what is growing back there. I know they aren’t going to show behind the refrigerator. Do you think Martha Stewart cleans behind her own frig before a photo shoot? I don’t think so.

I wanted to show you some of the tricks I have been using to make my house magazine-ready. If I only had a magic wand. Oh, but I do, it’s called CREATIVITY and a glue gun.

Guessing Game

2010-08-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

Guess what I have been doing this week?

No, I haven't made Joe great breakfasts.

or cleaned the house.

I haven't been quilting or even gardening.

Haven't even done my hair and my fingers are green.

The laundry is piling up and we are running low on towels.

If you said making color,

you would be right.

The only problem is I now have a sore shoulder from all the folding and ironing.

This is going to make some beautiful flowers.

The Loving Stitches Award

2010-08-14T20:13:00.000-07:00

I recently judged my first quilt show. I was a little scared to say the least. I have a lot of experience being judged, but to judge others is quite another thing. The first thing I did to prepare was to Google how to judge a quilt show. Then I asked friends who have experience on this subject for guidance. But still, it really comes down to me and my artistic opinion and eye. But how and what am I going to say?

The quilt show was for Tennessee Quilts, in Jonesborough, Tennessee. This is the oldest town in Tennessee and the storytelling capitol of the world. So it was appropriate that I was there. I have been told that I am full of it (stories) before. Tennessee Quilts is a great quilt shop that has a show and festival every year in July.

The quilt show was held at the University Gallery. I was dropped off at the gallery full of quilts and had them all to myself, except for a preschool class there for, of course, story time. Remember, this is the story capitol of the WORLD and they start the children off early.

I took a deep breath and jumped right in. As I walked up to each quilt, I was reminded about what judges have said about my quilts in the past. Some critics are very vague. Others point out the flaws under the guise of where I can improve. But to me the judging is very subjective. I always thoughtfully consider their remarks but don't let it stop me. I have had quilts that were full of mistakes win Best of Show and quilts that were the best I could do technically come away with nothing as nobody saw all the hard work I had done. So now I just do what thrills me and don't worry about if I win or not. But, to be on the other side and judging is a little intimidating.

I could see that each quilt was so different. There weren't many categories, either. Just Best of Show, Best Group, Best Machine and Best Hand Workmanship. It took me about 2 hours to go through 38 quilts. I found my winners. There was no going back. Did I pick the right ones? I don't know. I just let my eye and heart guide me. But that was not the end. The next night they had a Gallery Talk and Walk. Guess who was doing the talking? Right, it was me. I was supposed to walk around to each quilt and comment on that quilt. Oh, My God! I had forgotten that part in my contract.

We walked into the gallery and it was packed. What are all these people doing here? What am I going to say and is it a hostile crowd? They looked nice, but who knows, I have never been to Tennessee.

I introduced myself and started right in. I walked to the first quilt. They followed me. For a split second I thought What if I ran out the door right now, would they run after me? Then, as if by magic, I remembered all that I had written down about the quilts. How I thought the colors sparkled, the complication of the design, how perfect the points where. I saw the crowd's faces soften as I spoke. They had no idea who this crazy woman from California was judging their quilts. But I am an encourager. I was born that way and I feel that you make a better impact with praise rather than harsh words. I save my harsh words for the politicians.

I knew what went into each quilt. The time they spent, the thoughts they worked out while working on the piece and the love. It was touching. As the gallery group followed me from quilt to quilt, I came to a quilt I will never forget. It’s hard to describe. It wasn't as well executed as the others, far from it. But I knew the love that went into this quilt. Its sashing was quilted and full of wrinkles. She had used puffy batting. The blocks where made up of the back of Sunbonnet Sam, in his overalls. She had lovingly made each little sunbonnet boy out of clothing from her son’s baby clothes. There were overalls made with Bob the Builder, Oshkosh B'Gosh overalls, a John Deere tractor t-shirt, even a Wiggles t-shirt. As I was talking about this quilt I looked up and there in front of me was the mother and her son, about 7 years old. I knew it was the quilt maker and the son right away as they had made there way to the front of the crowd. I got a lump in my throat because I knew that this quilt was made with love for someone very special. The boy looked lovingly up at his mom. As I stated that fact I thought of my son, now in the Marines. Soon he will be off to Afghanistan. How much that quilt will mean one day when that small boy becomes a man, I told the group before me. To me this was the most important quilt there. Because I also made a quilt for my son that was made with love and no skill. Puffy batting, very big stitches and more than one wrinkle in the sashing. But it is the best quilt I have ever made because my little boy, like hers, napped with it, cried on it, and was warmed by it. I knew what this mom felt. I saw the pride in her eyes when her boy looked up at her with love. How many mothers have made quilts out of love, not skill, just love to say I love you son and will always be there for you.

So, for all of you who have made that same quilt, I give you, now that I am a real judge, The Loving Stitches Award. It’s a priceless award, worth its weight in gold.

Of Russians and Rain Drops

2010-08-02T08:37:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month and our home is still in the process of getting a much needed face-lift. I said the house, not me. She got new windows and new siding to replace the dry rot. It so air tight that the air conditioning actually turns off on a 103 degree day.

She is still the yellow beauty she was meant to be. The interesting thing is the siding manufacturer calls this yellow color Cream. The same color we got in trouble for with the color Nazis back in 2002. You can read about that episode here.

Yes, Yuri and his Russian crew are still here fixing her up. How things in the world have changed just in my lifetime. They are a group of really nice guys that understand more English than they let on. After a month I have adopted them all. I just call them my boys. If Joe's dad was still alive he would have a field day with this. Russians in our yard working on our house. For all the years I knew him he pretended he was Italian. I have been researching Joe's family genealogy and on his fathers side, I come to find out, is a grandfather and grandmother who were Russian and Polish. So when I hear my boys talking, I think of how it was when Joe's grandfather, who emigrated here in 1911, didn't speak English and had to work and fit in right away. Just like my boys. Would I be able to do that? And most important, why did Joe's dad always say he was Italian? Interesting, isn't it?

So while my boys have been hammering away I have been making this quilt and thinking.

I took the original picture after we had a big rain storm. I love the rain drops running down the petals. I'm not sure what the name of the flower is, but it's a vine that grows like crazy in my back yard. I have looked at this photo for about a year waiting for the right time to make it. I always like to challenge myself and wanted to see if I could do a flower covered in rain drops. I was asked to participate in this year's International Quilt Festival in Houston silent action and this will be my contribution, which is kind of ironic because I missed the entry date for the show for the 2 quilts I have been working on since last year. I can't believe I missed the cut off date, but I did. So I will be there just teaching a new pattern I designed just for Houston. But let's just say, that if it wasn't for all these big shows, giving me the venue to show my art, I wouldn't have all these great teaching jobs and be traveling the world. Without the big shows I would have had plenty of time and an open calender to get my quilts in to Houston on time. So it is very bittersweet, and funny, that I missed the cut off date.

The first year I went to the Houston Show, I was so blown away. My friend, Dawn, took me that year to expose me to the quilting world. We walked through the silent action where Dawn bid on a stunning Diane Gaudynski whole cloth quilt. No bigger than 12" square. She has it hanging in her beautiful home and I know it cost $$$. So when I was asked to participate in this years auction I stopped everything and made the quilt shown here, Rain Drops. I encrusted it in thread and the back is as pretty as the front, so, if you are going to the IQA Houston show, start the bidding.

That there are even a places for me to show my art is so amazing. I am truly grateful. To think that I can now financially help out my husband, after all these years of being a stay at home mom/artist. To have a funny group of Russians putting badly needed siding on my notorious Yellow House is awesome. It wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for the quilting world. THANK YOU!

Hawaii, Here We Come?

2010-07-11T15:05:00.000-07:00

The Hawaiian cruise is getting closer and everyone is getting excited. Everyone but me. I thought it would be fun to teach on a 14 day Hawaiian Cruise. Why not? They give you a room, all meals included and pay you a whopping $25 per student. But this doesn't count the 2 months it has taken me to design and write 3 new patterns, hand dye all the fabrics and price out the fabric kits and patterns so they are reasonable. What was I thinking?

So you can tell how my week is going. On top of all that, we had all new windows put in the house the week before I left for Asilomar to teach. Then mom and dad made a quick visit where my mom ran out of her meds. Oh, NO!

I had a tire blow out, on 101 in Gilroy, driving to Asilomare. It was only 103 degrees as I waited for the tow truck. We can thank our California government for the pot hole the size of New Jersey that wasted my tire. And I came home to Russians putting new siding on my home. Yes, its still yellow. Ah, the sound of hammers in the morning. It's like music to my ears.

Right now as I speak Joe is under the kitchen sink, fixing the plumbing that shook loose, we think, when they where bashing out our old windows.

The problem is that Joe and I have never really gone on a fancy vacation. We spend most of our free days off fixing things. We don't know what to pack and how are we going to sleep in the same bed for 14 days? I can barely make it 2 hours before I get the jimmy leg and have to move to the other bed in Matt's room . Don't tell him, it will freak him out.

Joe kept saying this cruise thing might not be a good idea. Why don't I listen to him more? I am happy to report that the windows are in and so thick and tight that when you open the slider you here a whoosh. It's like we are in an air lock. The air conditioner actually cools the house and turns off.. And, best of all, I don't hear my kooky neighbor talking to weird men in the early morning hours. Hooray!

So, here are the Hawaiian tropical flowers I have been designing. They will soon be on the web and look for the Miss Mindy doll, which is in the Shop.

If I can get my webmaster out from under the kitchen sink, we will have them in the Shop tomorrow.

Thanks for letting me vent. Got to go, Joe is calling for a wrench, or was that a wench?

Making Things Simpler Is So Complcated

2010-06-23T19:55:00.000-07:00

I have a new toy! Its called a WACOM. Why Wacom? I have no idea, but it is one of the coolest new computer tools. Well, let's just say it's new to me. Finally, when I am designing new patterns, I don't have to draw with a clumsy mouse or, as I called it, "The Brick".   Over the years I have been somewhat animated (surprise!) in expressing my feelings to my husband about the difficultly of using The Brick to draw. But he was listening and helped me to select the Wacom Cintiq and now I can draw with a pen on a computer tablet. This is SO sweet.

But we do have a new problem and that is me learning all the new software that came with it. I don't care what they say out in the computer world, but these people that are supposed to be teaching us how to use computer stuff do not speak English. I have now watched dozens of tutorials to come to the sad conclusion that I am still missing something. But no, it's just the way they speak. Their language sounds like English but I have never heard those words before. I can't even find them in the dictionary, not to mention the shortcuts like cntl-click and alt-shift. WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT!

The computer world is in their own world. They have truly forgot that they are selling there products to people like ME! So speak to me. Now I have to buy another book on the secret code of how to speak Nerd. Thank God my son is a linguist.

Do you how to zip and unzip a file? Trust me, it is not anything like zipping up your skirt. Do you have any ideas how to defrag your computer? Or even what a frag is? Do you know what VGA and DVI cables are?
I didn't think so.

The first tutorial I watched was this fast talking guy who speaks so fast you can't even write it down. I had to watch it 3 times to get what he was saying, which was nothing. The reviews on his presentation mirrored my feelings exactly. Of course he took offense and defended his delivery. Then their was the "Earring Guy," as I like to call him, who is way to old for wearing earrings.   His tutorial gave me the impression he was saying, Hurry up and learn this, you are wasting my time. I have a pilates class in an hour. I am sure he has to go interface with his peeps who also wear earrings.

Next on my list is this pleasant female voice. Maybe I can relate to women better than the guys. NO, she is also from this strange world. She kept asking about opening a practice file and nobody could find the practice files. This was in Photoshop and every one was still looking for the practice file when I gave up. She was also in a hurry and had to run to meet someone and interface after she picks up the kids form day care who all know also speak the techno lingo at their preschool in the Silicon Valley.

Isn't there any one who speaks computer to the regular people like an artist/mom/dyslexic? Help!!!

Then the door blows opens with a bang. A gust of wind blows leaves into the hallway with a whoosh.
Behind the sunlit shadows, is the outline of a MAN. He is wearing flip flops and shorts that show off his great tan legs. He approach the computer slowly.   He motions for my chair. I jump up quickly, tossing my foo-foo pillow aside. He asks for a cool drink. It's early in the morning, so I fix him a cooling iced coffee.
I can tell this is going to be a HOT day. The lone stranger starts to work his magic. I here the click, click, clicking of the key board. Its been about 15 minutes and then I hear him say I fixed it! My heart skips a beat. Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What has he done? No one knows. But he spoke in a patient, soft voice, speaking clear English.
He showed this artist how to work her new toy. As he stood next to me I felt my heart beat fast and my face get hot. I quickly ask him to stay for dinner. But, no. He has others to save. He drives way from my house on his trusty stead, The HOT HATCH, to his real job. I know my computer world has been set straight.
At least for for today. Tomorrow, who knows?

The Art of Weight Loss

2010-06-03T18:51:00.000-07:00

Marcia, Jan and Cindy 1974

Mindy Jacqui and Cynthia 1979

The frustration with trying to lose weight is about to do me in. I am exercising and really eating the right things but for the last week nothing, I mean NOTHING has happened except I have watched some really funny YouTube videos while on the treadmill and learned some new ways to enjoy celery. Yummy.

Last night I was watching Entertainment Tonight. Can you tell Joe is out of town? There was Marcia Brady proudly showing off her new body. She is the same age as me and down to 113 for a photo shoot. I have never been 113. She has lost 50 pounds. She was so happy because this was the same weight she was when the Brady Bunch went to Hawaii and Bobby found the scary tiki that put a curse on the Brady family. Don't act like you don't remember. So there she was in her new skinny body. I need to know how she did it. After the show suckers me in for almost an hour I NEED to know how she did it. Here I am, on my diet, working hard to lose 1 pound only to gain it back. What is her secret? The show is back after 45 commercials, one which was for Jenny Craig. I am on the edge of the sofa, waiting and...............

Oh, that's her secret. Why didn't I think of that. It's so simple. She got a personal trainer, has a chef to cook all her food and she must have money, or is getting some, because she can work out 2 hours a day. And after 8 months she dropped 50 pounds. You go, girl! We will all just go out and get personal trainers.

OK, so I sound a little angry, it is really just disappointment. You know how I feel? I hope you do.
There is not one woman alive that doesn't, after the age of 40, have trouble with her weight. I look back at photo albums of me just 5 to 7 years ago and see I was 15 pounds smaller and can't believe how good I looked but how fat I thought I was at the time. That is sad.

Learning to be content with one's self is an art form and I would like to master that art. I have a successful career that is more than I could have ever dreamed of. My son is prospering in his adult life and my husband, my sweet husband, looks at me like I am the hottest thing going. Thank God, I haven't gotten him those new glasses yet.

So it's just me that is getting in the way again! So this is my plan for just today: I am going to think like I am strong, thin and young. Go and get my manicure and even a tan. Because tan fat is always better than white fat. One day at a time.

But first I have to do 35 minutes on the treadmill. That is also part of the art.

My first Flowers (SNOW) on the Lake!

2010-05-23T12:57:00.000-07:00

I think I am a pretty good driver. I have good reflexes, great depth perception and can spot a cop from a mile away. OK, the cop-spotting is debatable but nothing could have prepared me for the drive up to Lake Tahoe last Monday.

Joe and I watched the weather channel the night before and saw a chance for snow. Great! This is our first art quilt retreat, Flower on the Lake, hosted by Joe and I.

The last weeks have been a little stressful, with the retreat in jeopardy, not because of weather but because of low attendance. I have been traveling TOO MUCH and missed the deadline to cancel, so the retreat was still a possibility. At the last minute, Joe made a deal with the conference grounds to let us come, even thought it was just 8 of us with 16 rooms booked. In fact, as other groups had canceled, we would be the only people there.

So we made our way up the hill in a pouring rainstorm that turned into a snowstorm at Kyburz (a small town on highway 50 that is essentially 3 buildings and boasts a sign reading Welcome to Kyburz and below it Now leaving Kyburz ). My Tahoe is 4 wheel drive but I have never used it and don't even know how to use it. Joe is in his turbo GTI with no chains. He can go really fast, but where we are, in the weather there is, nobody is going fast. So he follows me into Tahoe.

I kept noticing that all the snowplows where going the other way. At one point the frost built up on my window so much, that I couldn't see. I had to lean over to the middle of the window to see the road.
How are my girls going to get up here? One is flying in from Canada and one is coming from Red Bluff.
So far this is looking like, as Will Ferrel said in Anchorman, a "Poor choice." The snow is falling heavier and the wind is gusting as we arrive to check in. The temperature is 28 degrees and dropping.

Two of my students have already made it here. OK, I now officially have my first retreat. We unload our cars and check out our lakeview rooms to see nothing but a snowy white blanket covering Lake Tahoe. This is not starting out so good. I set up and started to worry about the other travelers. How are they going to make it up here? I call Miss Canada, her airplane is delayed and she is stuck in San Francisco until midnight. I then start calling all the other campers to tell them about the snowstorm. Too late. They are already in it somewhere on a snowy road. I say a little prayer. Then the door blows open with a bang and in walks Deb. I can see that she is smiling, which is good, I think. She starts to tell her horror story of white out conditions and not being able to see the road. I start to freak out. She almost went off the road and had no idea how she got here, her visibility was near zero the whole way. At one time she screamed "Jesus, take the wheel!" just like the song. If the song was screamed. Very loudly. She just happened to put her chains in her car at the last minute.

Its now 5pm and the girls were to be here at 3pm. The door opens and in walk 2 more snow bunnies laughing and letting out a sigh of relief. They tell about their scary trip with their noses pushed up against the window, like two far sighted little old ladies because they can't see a thing. We were in hysterics by now. Now we are just waiting for miss Red Bluff. I call her cell, she picks up the phone, and before I can get a word in I hear her say, in a loud voice, "I Don't Do Snow! " Me neither, I say. She says she'll see us the next morning. Sounds good to me.

So the six of us look out the windows to see nothing, and I mean nothing, but white. The snow storm has turned into a blizzard. Great. Joe is on the road somewhere trying to make it down the hill in a sports car that is meant for anything but what he is currently in. Then the door opens again and it's snowy Joe. Thank God!
He was turned back and now wants my SUV to try again to get home. Great! now I am stuck in the snow with a car I can barely get in and out of.

So here we are, stuck in a snowstorm, can't go anywhere. We are sitting in a beautiful, warm room with a lot of fabrics and sewing machines. Aaaahhhhhh There is no better way to spend a stormy day than to be surrounded by fabric, sewing machines and chocolate.

I can't wait for next year! Picture taken by Jacque Moore.

Oh, Paducah!

2010-05-07T22:27:00.000-07:00

I just got home, 2 days later than scheduled, from Paducah, Kentucky. But, do not worry or fret for me, because I just hit the jackpot and I never had to leave Kentucky. I had an impulsive moment and acted intuitively for the first time in a long while. Those days of having to get home to the kid are behind me and now I have freedom I never had. Maybe the empty nest is not so bad after all.

I flew into Paducah on a very small plane, which I love. The plane was full of quilters and one poor traveler that had no idea what had just happened to him. You could feel the excitement in the air as we landed at the very small Paducah airport. We were met with AQS signs and a welcoming committee wearing red coats, right there at the airport. Impressive. I also meet up with 3 other teachers on the same journey. They were Esterita Austin, Bonnie McCaffery, and Lyric Kinard. WOW! What a creative bunch and, to top it off, they are really nice people. We all hit it off, and did what teachers always do when they arrive in a new venue. We started worrying about whether or not all the class supplies we had shipped to Paducah had made it. They had.

The week was full of hectic running around - trying to find the right bus, would it be here in time, and how do I get this big bag back to the hotel? We hauled big bags all over Paducah with achy feet and tired arms but it was all worth it because our students make it so much fun. They were hungry to learn and seeing them get it is such a joy. I love my job! But the true adventure was just around the corner, disguised as the trip home.

We arrived at the airport on a rainy afternoon to make our separate ways home, and find the airport full of quilters. I'm glad I have a seat, but the plane is late and there are storms all over the place. Chicago has big delays and that is where we are all going first. So we talk to the other quilters, meet some new friends and just wait. I start to get a little goofy while we wait, which is what I do best. I mean, I'm good at getting goofy. I am not a good waiting.
Oh, did I mention that we were hanging with last year's Best of Show winner at AQS and Houston, Mariya Waters, from Australia, who was there with her sweet husband? Her quilts, yes, I said quilts, were bought for a lovey sum by the AQS museum. It's just another day at the airport. I got a cute shot of these romantic Aussies. Mariya is very witty and quite a hoot!

I will use this to blackmail her later. I'm guessing that was her husband, but who knows? I was still giddy from PADUCAH! So we wait and wait and then we wait some more. Then the gate agent announces, again, that our already late plane is going to be overweight and the carrier will be asking for volunteers to take a later plane. They will be giving a round trip ticket on United anywhere in the lower 48 states, along with a hotel room and meal vouchers for anyone willing to take a later flight.

A light bulb goes off in my head. Maybe I should stay and get the ticket so Joe and I can take a fun trip. I just missed our 28th anniversary being in Paducah. No, I can't do that - it's crazy. This idea is too impulsive. I need to get home. Or do I? I call Joe to tell him what's up. He says go for it. So, I told Lyric I was going to stay. She was also calling her husband. She wants to give the ticket to her husband who wants to see his brother-in-law in Utah for a boys' adventure. He has been home with their 5 children. Yes, I said 5.

She decides to stay, so we walk up to the agent and tell her that we're in. We both know that just our suitcases are heaver than most. It's one of the fun aspects of being a quilt teacher, always having overweight baggage. The airlines must love us. We hug all our new friends good bye and promise to stay in touch, which I know we will.

Now our new adventure begins. It's Lyric and me and 2 other gals, Terry from Florida and Karen from Michigan, our new traveling companions. We know they are nice people because they are quilters.

We decide to take advantage of the extra day in Paducah and start plotting the plan for our next day in the taxi on the way to our new hotel. There were a lot of things I didn't get to see because I was teaching or sitting on a bus most of my time here. So we meet in the lobby the next morning and take off for town. Karen knows where the bus stop is and we wait in a misty rain. I am sure this is not going to be a good hair day. We board a city bus/taxi. First stop, the artist studio of Helene Davis.

What a treat. She showed us her house /studio/ dyeing room, which Lyric and I were lusting over. It's decked out with 4 washing machines and 2 dryers. I bought some of her beautiful shibori fabrics.

Next stop was the tea shop, Serrina Tea (get it?), for lunch. Bad news! It had a closed sign in the window. I think I saw Lyric stomp her foot out of disappointment. Then the door opened and out came about 15 or so Coast Guards. We sort of stood at attention. I then shot out proudly that my son is a Marine. They shout back Semper Fidelis! They ask me if I know what that means. Yes, I tell them, "Always faithful." Then they ask me if I know what their motto, Semper Paratus, means. I say Always hungry? and they all laugh. There motto is Always ready and they ARE!

While I was teasing the Coast Guard, our new friend Terry had slipped into the tea shop and was inquiring about lunch. A small detail like a CLOSED sign does not stop Terry. They invited us in and we had a private lunch and tea that was fabulous. After lunch the owner showed us the ballroom upstairs with it's beautiful tin ceiling tiles. They are renovating this 1800's house that used to be the Elks Club during Prohibition, so you can guess what the elks where brewing down in the basement. It was awesome.

But we are not done yet. After lunch we walked the 6 blocks to Carol Bryer Fallert's Studio and Shop. We have called ahead and she invites us over.

She takes us on a tour of her house, studio, classroom even her to-die-for bathroom. She has a collection of art quilts by some of the best quilters in the world hanging all over her house. It was amazing. I loved the ceiling in her living room the most.

We are all looking at each other and are feeling the same thing. We can't believe we are doing this. It's so unreal. Then, to top it off, she asked how we were getting back to the hotel. We said, the bus. She said Oh, no you're not. I will take you back to your hotel. So, we all hop into her minivan and - yikes - Carol Bryer Fallert is driving us home. I know, couldn't you just die? As we floated out of her van, not one of us felt the ground under our feet.

That night we had dinner together and all knew we had just had a special day that we will never forget.

We talked like we had been friends forever, which was really nice. I have been reliving that day since I got home. It was definitely the best part of my trip.

But it made me think about how many other wonderful experiences we are missing because we have to plan everything down to the last detail. We make lists and MUST stick to the list. We even get mad if the plans on our list get changed.

But, maybe next time your plans get changed you can try to look at it as a gift. It might just be an opportunity to experience something new that you might otherwise have missed. Don't be afraid, take that chance. Without taking a chance, I would have missed a wonderful gift, wrapped up in an extra day in Paducah.