Disclaimer….if you haven’t watched your tape of Project Runway this week, skip this post!

Now….the bad first:

Oh my goodness….. WHAT was Santino thinking? She looked like a rooster! Totally not skate-able unless you’re in a barnyard skit for the Ice Follies…and a folly it was!

Not surprised to see Emmett go, though. His designing for women was un-inspired. I kept wondering why he tried out for this show anyway? Andrae has talent, but his garment looked like a sack. And those little feather things looked like either fishing lures or something that fell of a stripper’s pasties! EEEK!

Daniel V’s plum thing was too tight, even on the skinny model, and the pulls in the fabric were distinctly not flattering. The design had potential, but the execution was lacking.

Nick had an interesting idea in the ruching, but it looked like he took one bodice for the left boob, another bodice for the right boob, part of one skirt for one side, and part of another for the other side, in fabrics that didn’t go together in terms of color. I liked the ruching idea, and I liked the way he paired the sheer and the not-sheer fabrics in the skirt, but the color seems “off”…..

Now for the good:

I loved the idea of Chloe’s blue silk bias ruffles, but didn’t like the neck line. If she had done the same idea, but in a crossover top that created an illusion of a waist, then it would have been awesome…I kept thinking of how the ruffles would look fluttering as the skater swirls around the ice…totally cool!

I really liked Kara’s number….the one long sleeve was gorgeous, the embellishments on the dress were well done, and I thought the fringe could work, though a fluttery skirt, maybe a longer tea-length / ballet style sheer would have worked better for the style of the rest of the garment.

I kept wondering why none of the designers asked what music Sasha Cohen would skate to….I’ve always thought the skate costume designers, at least at that ethereal height of skill (i.e. the skaters) worked the design to a particular piece of music and set of choreography. If Sasha were skating to a 20’s style piece, the flapper fringe on Kara’s dress would have worked perfectly. Anyway….

Zulema: I was really surprised. The outfit was classy, the pleating in the skirt was fantastic, and not something I remember seeing in skating competitions. The scrolling stuff on the bodice was well done, but I think it would have been better if there had been just a touch more coverage over the bust—not a lot more, just a little more. Many of the skaters are pretty flat-chested, and adding a bit of curve to the line, and bit more of the embellishment there, would have created an illusion of a rounder bustline, which would have been nice. Looking at the dress again, I think the top line is good, but the straight lines of the bust coverage could have come a little farther down to create more of a cup look.

Of course, the judges didn’t ask me, so Phhhht! And what ARE we going to do when it’s over.

Now….who do we thing ought to make it to the final three, and who do we think actually will make it to the final three?

Those who ought to get there:

Nick
Chloe
?? Maybe Daniel V?

Originally, I had Kara instead of Daniel, but I just surfed into Project Runway and looked at what Daniel V, Kara and Zulema have done, and Daniel’s designs are definitely better…..

Who will get there:

My crystal ball is decidedly murky, but
Nick
Chloe
Maybe Zulema, since she’s abrasive?

Tell me what you think? And now that I’ve written my dish, I get to go read everyone else’s!

Wasting Time on Saturday

Bold what is true about you:

APPEARANCE

I am shorter than 5’4.
I am taller than 5’11”.
I have many scars.
I tan easily.
I don’t shave my legs.
I wish my hair was a different color.

I have a tattoo, or more.
I am self-conscious about my appearance.
I have/had braces.
I wear glasses just to read.
I would get plastic surgery if it were 100% safe, free of cost, and scar-free.
I’ve been told I’m attractive by a complete stranger.
I have/had more than 2 piercings.
I have/had piercings in places besides my ears.
I have freckles.

FAMILY/HOME LIFE

I’ve sworn at my parents.
I’ve run away from home.
I’ve been kicked out of the house.
My biological parents are together.
I have a sibling less than one year old.
I want to have kids someday.
I have children.
I’ve lost a child.

SCHOOL/WORK
I’m in school.
I have a job.
I’ve fallen asleep at work/school.
I almost always do my homework.
I’ve missed a week or more of school.
I’ve been on the Honor Roll within the last 2 years (of school)
I failed more than 1 class last year.
I’ve stolen something from my job . (if pens and binder clips count)
I’ve been fired.
I’ve skipped school.

EMBARRASSMENT

I’ve slipped out a “lol” in a spoken conversation.
Disney movies still make me cry.
I’ve peed from laughing.
I’ve snorted while laughing.
I’ve laughed so hard I’ve cried.
I’ve glued my hand to something.
I’ve laughed till some kind of beverage came out of my nose.
I’ve had my pants rip in public.

HEALTH

I was born with a disease/impairment.
I’ve gotten stitches.
I’ve broken a bone.
I’ve had my tonsils removed.
I’ve sat in a doctor’s office with a friend.
I’ve had my wisdom teeth removed.
I’ve had serious surgery.
I’ve had chicken pox.
My vision is better than 20/20.

TRAVELING

I’ve driven over 200 miles in one day.
I’ve been on a plane.
I’ve been to Canada.
I’ve been to Mexico.
I’ve been to Niagara Falls.
I’ve been to Japan
I’ve been down under.
I’ve Celebrated Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
I’ve been to Europe.
I’ve been to Africa.
I’ve been to Hell.

EXPERIENCES

I’ve gotten lost in my city.
I’ve seen a shooting star.
I’ve wished on a shooting star.
I’ve seen a meteor shower.
I’ve gone out in public in my pajamas.
I’ve pushed all the buttons on an elevator.
I’ve kicked a guy where it hurts.
I’ve been to a casino.
I’ve been skydiving.
I’ve gone skinny dipping.
I’ve played spin the bottle.
I’ve drank a whole gallon of milk in one hour.
I’ve crashed a car.

I’ve been skiing.
I’ve been in a play.
I’ve met someone in person from the internet.
I’ve caught a snowflake on my tongue.
I’ve seen the Northern Lights.
I’ve sat on a roof top at night.
I’ve played chicken.
I’ve played a prank on someone.
I’ve ridden in a taxi.
I’ve seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
I’ve eaten Sushi.
I’ve been snowboarding.

SEXUALITY

I’ve had a crush on more than one person.
I’ve had a crush on someone of the same sex.
I’ve kissed someone of the same sex.
I’ve had a crush on a teacher.
I am a cuddler.
I love to flirt.
I’ve been kissed in the rain.
I’ve hugged a stranger.
I’ve kissed a stranger.

HONESTY/CRIME

I am a terrible liar.
I’ve done something I promised someone else I wouldn’t.
I’ve done something I promised myself I wouldn’t.
I’ve snuck out of my house.
I have lied to my parents about where I am.
I am keeping a secret from the world.
I’ve cheated while playing a game.
I’ve cheated on a test.
I’ve run a red light.
I’ve been suspended from school.

I’ve been in a fist fight

I’ve witnessed a crime

I’ve been arrested

I’ve shoplifted

DEATH & DYING

I’m afraid of dying.
I’ve fantasized about my own death.
I hate funerals.
I’ve seen someone dying.
Someone close to me has attempted suicide.
Someone close to me has commited suicide.
I’ve planned my own suicide.–In the past–Don’t worry, I’m not suicidal now.
I’ve written a eulogy for myself.

MATERIALISM

I own over 5 rap CDs.
I own an iPod or MP3 player.
I have an unhealthy obsession with anime/manga.
I own multiple designer purses, costing over $100 a piece.

I own something from Hot Topic.
I own something from Pac Sun.
I collect comic books.
I own something from The Gap.
I own something I got on e-bay.
I own something from Abercrombie.

POLITICAL/SOCIAL ATTITUDES

In general, I don’t like people.
I’m a feminist.
I’m very outgoing.
I listen to political music
I’m Democratic
I’m Republican.
I’m liberal.
I don’t like Bush because he is dumb.
I don’t like Bush with my own reasons to back it up.
I am for Bush.
I’m religious.

RANDOM

I’ve stolen a tray from a fast food restaurant.
I open up to others easily. (if I trust them)
I watch the news.
I don’t kill bugs.
I hate hearing songs that sacrifice meaning for the sake of being able to rhyme.
I curse regularly.
I sing in the shower.
I am a morning person.
I paid for my cell phone ring tone.
I’m a snob about grammar.
I am a sports fanatic.
I twirl my hair.
I have “x”s in my screen name.
I love being neat.
I’ve had Spam.
I’ve copied more than 30 CDs in a day.
I bake well.
My favorite color is blue.
I would wear pajamas to school.
I like Martha Stewart.
I know how to shoot a gun.
I am in love with love.
I am guilty of tYpInG lIkE tHiS.
I laugh at my own jokes.
I eat fast food weekly.
I am online 24/7, even as an away message.
I’ve not turned anything in and still got an A in a certain class.

I can’t sleep if there is a spider in the room.
I am really ticklish.
I love white chocolate.
I bite my nails.
I play video games.
I’m good at remembering faces.
I’m good at remembering names.
I’m good at remembering dates.
I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life.
My answers are totally honest.

Blame it on Gabrielle…saw this on her blog!

Has anyone noted that “meme” (please add accent circonflex over the first “e”…that’s the chinaman’s hat accent) is the same as “me! me!”??? And joining the fray thanks to DebR:

Four Jobs You’ve Had:

Foreign Service Officer (aka US diplomat);
house cleaner;
Mom;
Sew-er for an interior decorator (fabricator? the person who made the duvets and bedskirts and pillows and window treatments for the wealthy…)

Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over:

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir; Bridge Over the River Kwai; White Christmas; The King of Hearts

Four Places You’ve Lived:
only four? That just takes care of the last 8 years…… OK, from age toddler to now a selection:
Bangkok, Thailand (age 3);
Marin County, California (age 6-17);
Libreville, Gabon (central Africa, on the equator south of Nigeria–age, 30-32);
Camden, Maine (now!)

Four TV Shows you love to Watch:

Two and a Half Men;
CSI (the original…Las Vegas one);
sometimes What Not To Wear (BBC….a screamer, but they *do* make the women look better); West Wing

Four Places You’ve Been on Vacation:

I remember vacations….
a favorite from the DINK days (dual income, no kids): Caneel Bay/St. John USVI;
Friday Harbor, Wash. (and then we moved there);
Albert Schweitzer’s clinic on the Ooguee River, Gabon;
Machu Picchu, Peru.

Four Websites You Visit Every Day:

www.webshots.com and NYTimes online.
The rest I visit many days but not all: www.amazon.com (used as my books in print!), assorted folks on the Artful Quilters Ring, and sometimes eQuilter or various art sites.

Four Of Your Favorite Foods:

Ethiopian!
Vietnamese!
Chocolate when I’m not overweight.
Bread–really good, crusty, fresh bread — if French or sourdough, with European-style unsalted butter—HEAVEN in my mouth!

Four Places You’d Rather Be:

For once in my life, I’m happy where I am–at last, contentment. But if I could travel:
Mozambique and southern Africa;
Australia (all of it!);
New Zealand;
Caneel Bay (need a lottery, don’t I?)

Four Albums You Can’t Live Without:

OK…I’m another one that isn’t super into music. But four artists or groups: anything from the Celtic diaspora from
Makem and Clancy (Irish), to
Eric Bogle (Australia),
Loreena McKennit (Ireland or is it Scotland?), and
Peter Paul and Mary.
Oh year…don’t forget Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger, especially together!

Four People You’ll Pass This On To:
A
nyone who wants me too….I’m so new at this I don’t know who to meme, so write me and I’ll add you
Nikki!
Here
Here, or
Here!

Oh wow…some days the piece just works! And I can tell it is working when I keep smiling from ear to ear as I pin it up on the design wall, step back and see how it’s going. And just because I’m truly wicked, I’m going to make you read before you get to see the picture!

Here’s how it began: A while back, I was surfing the web looking for quotations for a collaboration I’m working on. There are three of us working on pieces about the elements…earth, air/wind, fire, water and spirit. I found this one at www.bartleby.com which I just loved:

Earth and I gave you turquoise
when you walked singing
We lived laughing in my house
and told old stories

–N. Scott Momaday

He is described as a native American poet….born 1934 (does anyone know of him or his work? I’m curious to learn more….)

I noodled around with the idea, but while working out at Curves one day had this image of hands coming out of the earth, offering up the turquoise. In December, before the kids got out on vacation, I visited the bead shop in Damariscotta (yo eco!), and bought three real turquoise beads (maybe 3/8 inch or so large…lumpy rock-ish shapes, but polished) and some turquoise colored beads to use.

As I was photographing and tracing and sketching out hands, they morphed from coming out of the earth into offering up the Earth. Then, I was trying to figure out the edges (given the size of cloth I had for background (about 26×30) I wanted something simple and irregular…) I pinned up the green cloth, and decided to do only the sides. I ripped the fabric, then fused it, leaving the slightly frayed edges of the green un-fused. I *think* I’m going to stitch corn leaves and turn them into stalks of corn; with the native American connection, I keep coming back to the corn as symbol of the fruitfulness of the Earth. I’m thinking of using dark, muted green threads so that the leaves are subtle….what do any of you reading this think??? too much or OK?

The white lines you see are chalkmarks…I think I’m going to stitch some blue lines–breath–or wind?–and tuck the quotation into the wedge spaces between the air currents above the Earth. Finally, I’m going to stitch the turquoise nuggets and beads into the heavens above the earth. And I may add some dangly things or sticks top and bottom…hang from a stick (laced on with leather?) and have a stick hanging on the bottom, maybe with a few small rocks and feathers…will see…that may be too much “stuff” or it just might work…)

This time, I’m trying something different with the threadwork. Instead of doing all the stitching at the quilting phase, I’m doing it as free-motion embroidery, the way Ann Fahl describes in her book Coloring with Thread. This has a few great advantages: best of all, you don’t have to bury so many thread tails! Just knot off on the machine by stitching in the same place, and pull threads to the back (which my machine does for me—love those Janomes 6500 and 6600). If your tension is a wee bit off, it’ll be hidden by the batting (oooh, I didn’t really just confess that did I?). Less bulk to maneuver under the machine. When you outline quilt or do background work, the motifs—the planet and the hands, will pop more instead of being compressed across the entire surface by the stitching. The drawback is that you need to hoop or stabilize in some way to prevent unsightly puckering. For the long lines, hooping will be impossible, but it worked great for the hands and Earth.

Alas, I need to do some real “work”–finish the Christmas newsletter (ahem) and mail it, prepare two patterns, once for a private class I’m teaching at the end of the month and get in the mail Monday, open and hook up and use the new CD burner (a gift from a very generous internet friend from Quiltart, who had a “remaindered” one in the drawer after they upgraded their computers…bless you MH!) and the external hard-drive and back up my internal hard-drive regularly ….minor details like that. Sigh. I wanna work on this quilt….I’m a SO jazzed! Some days, it just works!

Carolyn Lee Vehslage is going on a round-the-world cruise and doing art while she’s at it! One of her projects is Fiber Art Cards: Far and Wide, and you can see more about that here donated one of my cards to the cause. I’ve and her collection, called St. Elmo’s Fire (4×6 inches):

I made three other cards in this series. The first, Moonrise, is a bit larger (about 5×7) and I’ll mount it on a painted 8×10 gallery-wrap canvas.

The other two cards, a standard 4×6, show boats at anchor and are called (gasp–such originality! Be still me beating heart!) “At Anchor” and “At Anchor 2”, featuring a sailboat and lobster boat, respectively. I’m planning on mounting both of these on black foam-core and taking them down to the art gallery here in Camden that sells my work (yippee!), Ducktrap Bay Trading Company.