An award???

One of my dear blogger friends, Ann, from Orange Crumpled Napkin has nominated me for the Liebster Award! The Liebster Award is an award for new bloggers  with small followings who fit the requirement of having less than 200 followers and happen to be doing something the nominator really likes.

When nominated for the Liebster Award, one must give a thank you speech and:

• Answer 11 questions posted by the person who nominated me
• List 11 random and hopefully not too weird facts about myself
• Nominate & tag up to 11 new bloggers with 200 followers or less 
• Write 11 questions for the bloggers I nominate.

Ann, thank you, thank you (bows). Here are the answers to your questions:

1. When did you start quilting?
     Probably made my first quilt in my early twenties. Simple squares from my old blue

     jeans.

2. Do you think of your quilting as an art or as a hobby?

     Both....

     art: The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination

     hobby: An activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure.

3. Have you traveled much in your life?

     I have traveled a bit around the US and visited many of the neighboring islands, but I    

     did not see Europe until my 50th birthday when I visited England, Belgium, and

     Spain.

4. What color dominates your fabric collection?

    When I purchase fabric, I choose whatever color resonates with me at the moment. I

    can say that purple is my favorite color, but it is not the color that always satisfies my

    creative longings. Sometimes, it’s dark and monochromatic….other times it’s bold

    and bright. I never really know what is going to sneak up on me and grab my creative

    attention.

5. If you could dress up like a gypsy and go to work, would you?

     Yes!

6. What’s your favorite yogurt flavor?

    Seven Stars Biodynamic Yogurt – Original Maple

7. After you have paid off your debts and taken care of your family needs, what

    would you do with yourself if you won the lottery?

    Probably just keep living the way I do now minus the financial worries.

8. Introvert or Extrovert?

    Definitely introvert.

9. Which is the career you wanted to pursue and for one reason or another

    didn’t?

    Something in the arts, for sure!

10. Who is your role model and why?

      I am inspired by anyone who is eager to explore new things and be continually

     challenged, whose creative spirit flows in the face of obstacles, and who loves

     deeply and has a generous soul.

11. Do you remember your dreams?

      I have a few dreams that have been reoccurring since early childhood. I remember

      my current dreams…..sometimes.

Here are some random things you might not know about me:

1. I have eleven wonderful, crazy children. (Yes, I birthed them all)

2. I have and continue to supervise their education at home.

3. I love to cook and eat food of every nationality. I like it spicy.

4. In order to make sense of a rigid past, I got an Associates Degree in my fifties.

    I studied contemporary spirituality.

5. I know almost nothing about Tarot, however, I have a collection of Tarot cards

    that I have purchased over the years simply because I find them beautiful.

6. I collect books published by the Folio Society in London. I hope these kinds of books

    never become obsolete.

7. My favorite color is purple.

8. If I could have everything I need delivered to my door, I would probably be content to

    stay home.

9. I choose to be barefoot, hate shoes, and value comfort over style in my clothes.

10. I am an avid tea drinker.

11. I am a compulsive organizer.

Here are the bloggers that I nominate:

1. Threads and Patches

2. A Gilded Yarn

3. In A Stitch Quilting

4. Bending Pins

5. Claudia's Blog

6. Lise's Blog

7. 365 Days of Wonderful

8. A Creative K
9. Rantin' Babe 

Here are eleven questions for the bloggers that I nominated:

1. What is your favorite season and why?

2. What is your favorite outdoor activity?

3. What edible thing do you have trouble saying "No" to?

4. What life lesson are you still struggling to learn?

5. Do you have a collection of anything?

6. When you're with your best friend, is there a subject you gravitate to?

7. Name one of your personal goals for 2013?

8. Write a brief creative history...

9. Who has been the most instrumental in your creative development?

10. When you are in the creative zone, what noise if any do you surround yourself with?

11. Of all the creative activities you love, do you have a favorite and why?

    

Hello, April

Another month has come and gone. One quarter of the year already passed. It feels as if time really does move quickly. March was another good month. I can't really complain about what I accomplished. I definitely stayed busy.

-Bound two quilts

-Completed four quilt tops

-Made twelve placemats

-Finished the last four blocks of the brown star quilt

My "What Star Are You From?" quilt came back from Carol of Lorac Designs.

There is something so exciting about getting a quilt back that you have sent out. In some ways, it is like seeing it for the first time.

I just have to finish the binding and then it's ready for the buyer to pick up.

From my stash pick for March, I have completed the first 32 blocks of a quilt. This is what I have spent the last few days working on.

April is going to be a rather crazy month. I will be teaching on three days, taking a class on two days, our quilt group meets on one night, the Ribbon Quilt class reunion is one night, and one sewing day at the shop. Because I will be starting a new project for the class I'm taking, I know I won't be able to start anything else new. Also, at least six quilts will be coming back to me and the two I just got back makes a total of eight. So how will I be spending much of this month.....binding, binding, binding!

When plans change...

Today, I was supposed to have a monthly sewing day with a girlfriend. Unfortunately, she's sick with this nasty cold that's been going around, so we had to cancel. My 18 year old and I decided to go shopping at a small local Italian market, and she put this into the shopping cart...

Rainbow pasta bow ties from Italy.

While the water was coming to a boil for the pasta, she made garlic bread...

We had the pasta with homemade marinara sauce and freshly grated Parmesan cheese...and our family never forgets the pepper...

I have been fortunate enough to have my Star and Stripes piece quilted by Barbara Persing  http://www.barbarapersing.com/gallery.php Browsing her gallery is well worth it. Her work is absolutely beautiful!

Barb lives about an hour away from me, so I sent her the quilt and she mailed it back to me this week.Last night, at the ArtQuilt Elements opening http://www.artquiltelements.com/ , I had the pleasure of meeting her.

Her newest book called "Listen to Your Quilt" is due to be released by C&T Publishing in May.  http://www.ctpub.com/productdetails.cfm?sku=10850

Honestly, it took my breath away when I pulled it out of the box and opened it up.

Now, I need to decide how to bind it, and another project will be finished!

 A peaceful farewell to March...

My stash....

It's mid-March. A friend of mine has asked me more than once if I am putting a dent in my stored fabric. I just laugh and say, "I really need to send you a picture of my stash!" So, here we go. Most of my fabric is in my closet. If you can believe it, it is the ONLY closet in my house! Here are all my batiks sorted by color...

Here is a pile of batiks that I have no room for because all of my boxes are full...

Here are my other fabrics sorted by color. On the bottom of this shelf are two very large boxes: one for all my creams and whites and one for all my blacks and grays...

On another shelf, next to my jeans, are my fabric collections...

On the floor is a pile of Asian fabrics that don't fit in my box marked "Asian." On top of this pile are all the fabrics for a quilt I am making for my soon-to-be nineteen year old. The box holds the pieces that have already cut.

Here, in my closet on a small bookshelf, are piles of random stuff...

Now, we move out of the closet. Under my drafting table are more boxes. The top two boxes hold projects I am currently working on. The big box underneath is more unfinished stuff...and more stuff...

Next to all that is my box of "leftovers" that I recently organized...

Here is a drawer in my sewing dresser filled with....ok, yes, more stuff that I haven't finished. All my beige and browns are in the drawer underneath.

Ok, so that was really embarrassing! I guess you can understand why I want to finish projects this year. And, I must say, I am doing pretty well. Working hard...and having fun! However, I've told you in so many words that fabric is my addiction. I shared a picture earlier of some new fabric called "Cosmos" by Westminster that came into Cloth and Bobbin. Well, yesterday, I succumbed. Here is my new project....

Can you blame me?

Perseverance...

Rilke wrote....

"If we imagine our being as a room of any size, it seems that most of us know only a single corner of that room, a spot by the window, a narrow strip on which we keep walking back and forth. That gives a kind of security. But isn't insecurity with all its dangers so much more human?

We are not prisoners of that room."

I read this over a week ago, and it keeps pulling me back to it. I have reread this many times thinking about the room of my soul, especially how this idea relates to my art. I know the truth of this concerning my soul, only knowing a portion, a safe portion. I also know this is certain concerning my art, keeping in a safe corner, feeling insecurities that prevent me from branching out, experimenting, and pushing the boundaries. I don't want to be a prisoner. The first steps of freedom are difficult. Often we run back to what we have known.

I have finished all the squares for the brown star quilt. The block for July was the most difficult for me. My first attempt was a mess. I ripped part of it out four times before I gave up and decided to simply start from scratch.

I am not totally pleased with my second attempt, but I'm going to let it be.

Here is the final block for August. This class will be a celebration. Four women who have stuck through this for a year. Amazing!

The final quilt will be a replica of the "What Star Are You From?" quilt. I might play around with a different border.

So, next I will make six of those tiny stars, put together the sashings, and assemble the top. I can barely wait to get it done!

Something new from something old...

The New York Times Natural Food Cookbook. I got it in the late 70's in paperback. Last fall, I found an old  hardback copy in good condition. I was ecstatic because my copy was in three pieces. I have truly loved this cookbook. I have been making the whole wheat banana bread recipe from this for as long as I can remember owning it. The only tweak I made consistently was adding a generous quarter cup of sesame seeds to the batter. All these years, I have looked forward to brown bananas so I could make this recipe.

The other day, I got the batter ready and said to my son who happened to be in the kitchen...."What can we do differently this time?" His suggestion was to add fruit. We happened to have blueberries, so in they went. I did not expect it to be so absolutely delicious!

I decided to make twelve placemats with the Paintstik bamboo panels that I made. I clearly wanted an Asian theme for the fabric I chose. I hunted through a box and found a lovely piece that my wonderful stepmother brought back from Japan maybe fifteen years ago. I was so excited to be able to finally feel good about using it.

The bamboo panels got a 1/4" border of dark green with metallic gold dots...

and the result was this. They are super-sized placemats 15" x 20".

I've been wanting to get the brown star quilt done, so I completed the blocks for the April class...

May class...

and June class...

Thankfully, I have now finished ten out of the twelve blocks. Two more to go....then I can put it all together!

Leap Year..

"Today isn't real! Do whatever you want."

This morning, a friend posted this on her Facebook. After all, today only happens once every 1460 days. So, maybe I can ignore it. Ok, no school today!

Today, we will prepare for my daughter and my only grandchild to arrive from the west coast. I will make banana bread, prepare wasabi sesame crusted salmon for dinner, and have a long overdue visit with an old friend. For a good part of the day, the deep recesses of my mind will be pondering my plans for the month of March. To be realistic, it's going to be very full. Visits from two of my out-of-state children, a class to teach, quilt group with my lady friends, and the opening of Art Quilt Elements 2012.

Looking back on February, I am pleased with what I accomplished. 

-Bound 5 quilts

-Finished 2 quilt tops 

-Took 2 tops to be quilted

-1 pillowcase for my daughter

-Finished twelve bamboo paintstik panels

-Started the "Overlapped Mountain" quilt

-Continued working on 3 other quilts

My plan for March is to simply keep doing what I'm doing. When I have time, I work (play). That's it. It is also time to prepare my taxes, and I have wedding invitations to work on for my son's wedding this summer...more on that later.

Here is the first panel of the "Overlapped Mountain" blocks. There are 3 here, I have 2 others done, and 3 to go. Then I get to mull over ideas for the center square.

Here are the bamboo Paintstik panels. There are 12 of them. At the moments, I'm thinking about a set of placemats.

I think the most exciting thing about welcoming March is that I will go into my closet and pick another pile of something from my stash for a new project.....Happy Leap Year :)

Spring?

The weather is unseasonably warm, my crocuses are in bloom, and we have had too little snow to even speak of it. I am not a lover of winter, but it would have been nice to have at least one good snowfall so the kids could have a snowball fight or build an igloo. Maybe it's not too late to be surprised with a significant snow storm...the kind that sends people frantically rushing to the supermarket for batteries and candles, schools close, and even the plows can't keep up with the accumulation. I'm up for it :)

I really don't like waste. If you spent any amount of time at my house, you would catch me eating the crust off someone's plate before I put it in the sink, the last two forkfuls of pasta, or scraping the plates into a small bowl for tomorrow's lunch. Disgusting? Maybe..but I do stay far away from soggy cereal. I have my limits.

We keep quite a lot of fruit around at all times, clearly more than we eat because I am regularly making banana bread with the bananas that are too brown for anyone to go near. This morning, I decided it was time to deal with the bowl of apples that had been sitting around long enough to be too soft for anyone to enjoy. Applesauce time!

Many, many years ago, our family lived near an orchard. All summer long, we would go pick berries, apples, and cherries to can. The children and I would all sit around our large farm table, each with a cutting board, knife, and bowl, and we would settle in to a long day of prepping. These were good days....great memories. Today the smell of apples cooking filled the house. When they were soft enough to mash, I turned off the stove and ran to the store for fresh raspberries. When I got home, into the pot they went with a touch of honey. Out came the masher....and then the children came with cups and spoons to have a taste of warm raspberry applesauce.

Although I have a quilt that I really need to bind, I got myself into working on this quilt and have been unable to stop. I make excuses like...I don't want to change the thread in my machine. However, the truth is, when I get into that zone, that place where I am totally committed to a project, enjoying it, and want to see it through to completion, there's pretty much nothing that gets in my way. The "Metro Goes Au Naturel" has been like this. I have a few more borders to go, and then I'm done. Then...bind the BQ quilt (pattern by Maple Island Quilts) and finish the "Rosehip" quilt.

Cloth & Bobbin

I grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs and have always thought that Narberth is the most charming town on the Main Line. So, it is not surprising at all that in Narberth you will find the most wonderful "small but mighty" fabric shop for crafters, quilters, and seamstresses alike. From the sunny yellow storefront to the owner's cheerful hello when you walk in the door, visiting Cloth & Bobbin (http://clothandbobbin.com/) always, without exception, makes my day better.

The owner, Johanna Hertz, often posts pictures of new fabric lines she has just received on the store's Facebook. I commented on one of the most recent pictures with....

Holly Z. Perry This is not good....they are so beautiful. Somebody stop me :)

Yesterday at 2:58pm · 

These gorgeous fabrics are part of the Benedictus Collection designed by the Victoria and Albert Museum for Westminster Fabrics. 

"Benedictus is a beautiful collection of Art Deco textile designs. These designs have been recreated from Edouard Benedictus` beautiful albums of textile and wallpaper designs held at the V&A. Benedictus was a talented man, not only an artist and textile designer but he was a writer, bookbinder and the chemist who discovered safety glass in 1903."

So, as I drool, my mind is churning with ideas for this fabric. It is only a matter of time.

The second line, also from Westminster Fabrics, is a collection of abstract geometric florals by UK designer, Dan Bennett, called Cosmos.

Without question, the most difficult part of visiting Cloth & Bobbin is leaving without spending all of your money :) It is simply eye-candy! Johanna has a remarkable knack for filling her modest space with a wonderful variety of fabrics and notions. The store also offers classes for the beginner, such as "Getting to Know Your Sewing Machine," classes for seamstresses who want to make skirts or pajama pants, and classes for quilters, including instruction in paper-piecing and applique. These are only a few!

If you are local, come and visit. If you are out-of-town and ever plan to visit Southeast Pennsylvania, find time to add a stop at Cloth & Bobbin. You will NOT regret it.

Rather typical day...

All of my days have a few things in common:

1. They are all rather hectic. I am usually rushing from one thing to the next.

2. There is never enough time to do what I think needs to be done.

3. They are all filled with struggles.

4. They are all equally filled with giggles and love!

Yesterday was a rather typical day:

Woke up and immediately brushed Mr. Darcy. He can only be approached with a brush and comb when he is semi-incoherent.

Shower and get ready for my day. Class to teach from 1-3 and a party to attend at 6. Taking focaccia and wine to the party. Get the dough started and make coffee.

Go upstairs and square all the blocks for the Amy Butler quilts while I drink my coffee. The quilts are now ready to assemble :) Make sure the children are at their desks finishing all the work they did not complete this week.

Go down and prep the focaccia for second rising. Clean kitchen. Make lunch!

Back upstairs. Prep class material. Go outside to get the snow off my car. Realize it is not snow...it is ice. Get off what I can. Back inside. Put focaccia in the oven, and ask Lydia to take it out in a 1/2 hour. I need to leave....running late. Can't get the car out. My kind neighbor helps :) Teach class. While at Cloth and Bobbin, pick up backing and batting for the next quilts, then go to Whole Foods and finally pick up wine. Go home and make dinner for the family. Go to the party....

Oh!! and almost get killed sliding on a patch of ice into Eagle Road....deep breath. Immediately call Abby and tell her to be extremely careful on her way to dance at the Wings game in Philly.

Come home and work on the ribbon quilt while the children watch an episode of Legend of the Seeker on Netflix. Hold Abby while she cries because the music skipped 15 seconds during the performance, and it messed up everyone on the dance team. A disaster for her! Have a cup of Night Night tea....collapse.