What a concept, I actually got some quilting done!

Chair, Improved with color and cloth!

I do seem to be in procrastination mode, though.  I need to start a quilt for a juried invitational.  I did sketch out the idea and pull some fabrics.  I decided I need to dye some fabric, so I have washed the silk and hung it to dry, and plan on dyeing that cloth on Monday.  But did I do anything else on that quilt?  Nope.  Instead I had a tidy attack in the studio, then decided that after a year-plus of fabric hanging over the back of this chair (and falling off again, and again, and again), I needed to actually QUILT the fabric and turn it into the cover I wanted.

Mom’s desk chair. Well made. Seriously dated. And just blech.

The chair came from Mom, after she died.  It didn’t sell in the consignment store and is a well-made chair, albeit one that looks exactly like what it is:  a chair an old lady bought in 1972.  Ugh.   I really don’t like chairs with cane backs.  The fruitwood finish is pretty dated and icky, too, but I’ll deal with that later.

And, Janome America (thank you!) upgraded me to an 8900 on their artist/teacher program, so of course I needed to take it for a test quilt-drive, right?   Turns out I am in love yet again with these Janome machines.  I have lots of playing to do with this one, but really like the cleaner view around the presser foot, the quiet operation, ease of use, fabulous tension… sigh!   Love these machines!  And so thankful that Janome-America has supported me these many years.

Perfect excuse for not working on that quilt.  So I took a length of this wonderful, cheery floral and quilted it.  I grabbed some teal fabric I’ve had for about 15+ years (bought to be a backing and then not used) since it would be on the inside and not seen.  As it turns out, the teal looked really good and I ended up using it for the binding!  I hadn’t planned on doing a binding; I was just going to turn the quilted fabric like a pillowcase and slip it over the back.  But the teal blue really added to it, so I added bindings.

And from the front. Next: re-cover the seat with something that goes better than plain old cream.

Also, about a month or so ago, someone on a list I’m on recommended a Martelli’s quilting ring and had a discount code to use if one ordered during a short window of opportunity.  The discount took the price from “are you KIDDING?” to”expensive but I want to try it and at least it is a business expense for me.”   So I ordered it.  About 2/3 of the way through quilting yesterday, I remembered I had the quilting ring (I bought the 11″/large version which you can see/order here) and should actually TRY IT.  I like it!   Some folks on the Yahoo Janome group I’m on (for 6500-8900 machines) had mentioned using two of Sharon Shamber’s red hoops, stacked, but said this was easier.  I agree!  Here’s the hoop just tucked under the foot (there is a cut-out that permits slipping under the presser foot).

The Martelli hoop on the chair cover as I was quilting it.  On the left of the hoop you can see the cut-out for slipping it under the presser foot.

And here it is moved all the way over to the harp, a large space, on the Janome 8900.

And moved as far right as it can go. This is the large, 11″ hoop on the Janome 8900. Both knobs are visible, useful and don’t get in the way.  You can also gently grasp the hoop itself to maneuver it.

Even though I am VERY experienced at free-motion quilting, I can see that using this hoop will help me on some sorts of movements…longer smoother lines especially.  For small detailed work, like intricate quilting on a face or small space with lots of direction changes,  I think using my Machingers gloves may still be the best, but this hoop worked very well and was easy to adjust to using.  In particular, the knobs and the thickness of the hoop are friendly to arthritic hands.  Unlike the red hoops from Sharon Shamber and other hoop-type devices, the bulk of this one means you don’t have to use that pinching motion that hurts the thumbs.  I can rest my fingers outside the hoop, hooking my thumbs around the knob and move the quilt underneath easily.

When you get to the edge, the grippy stuff on the bottom of the hoop has a propensity to grip the machine/table surface when a segment of the hoop is off the quilt.  There are a couple of options:  pin some fabric/hand towel to the edge to give the hoop something on which to rest.  OR, as I discovered (photo below) the size of the hoop is so large that you can swing it up and let it hang over the center section of the machine until you are around the corner! You don’t have to break your thread and remove the hoop…just swing it up out of the way. Also useful if you need to change the thread and/or bobbin.

You can (at least on my machine with this large hoop) temporarily get the hoop out of the way just by swinging it up and hanging it on the center of the machine. Useful for corners where too much of the grippy on the bottom is on the table surface instead of the quilt.

Cool beans!  That’s it for today.  In less than two hours (I’m writing this a day ahead of it going live on the site, so it is Friday morning as I type) I head out for the next Wrestling Tournament, the second and last of the overnight trips for this season.  I’ll post to FaceBook if I can!

My friend Cathy Neri, of Quilt Books Unlimited (visit her awesome booth at shows) sent me this clip on FB, and I just had to share, as you all know how much I adore our pug, Pigwidgeon.  Enjoy (and I’ll share what Cathy said:  spew alert…don’t have a mouthful of anything to drink!):

Well, it is clearly winter in Maine!   Now that Eli is in high school, wrestling begins around Thanksgiving and winds up in early February (in high school it began late January and ended the very end of March), just in time for the coldest and snowiest weather outside.  Currently we have warmed up to 21 F, with a wind chill of 7.  Hmmm.  Good day to stay indoors!

About 11 a.m. this morning. Notice the plow pile that is taller than the car and about 35 feet wide?  The snow on the walk is more than knee-deep!  When Eli shoveled them later, he measured:  24 inches deep in spots!  We didn’t get that much in snowfall, but it blows like crazy on our hill.

This is the view out the door this morning….that is hubby’s car and the snow plow pile.  We have received all that snow since the 26th!  Sheesh!  Snow is still coming down.  Well…coming down sideways with the wind!  Our drive wasn’t plowed when I got home last night and I slid sideways into the plow mess on the side, so will call AAA later this morning to pull me out!  Our wonderful neighbor and plow guy came when I called about 7:30 to plow and put down sand for me, but no luck getting out on my own.  So he drove me up to the house (a quarter mile from where I was stuck) and then finished plowing.  Then Paul got home several hours and inches of snow later, and he got stuck, too!  He got his car up this morning though, so only I need AAA!

So why were we out in this mess?  Well, this weekend was the Noble Tournament, the biggest, most competitive high school wrestling tournament in Maine.  There were 41 schools and over 400 wrestlers!  That’s a lot of sweating, mostly male, bodies <grin>! Eli did well for a Freshman, and came up against some serious competition.

The Meet is large: four mats going at once to get through the 400+ wrestlers on Day One.  PS:  Eli learned that Noble (the high school) is an acronym for North Berwick and Lebanon, the two towns!  Cool!

Eli’s first match again a kid from LaSalle in Rhode Island he lost by just two points.  He was seriously irked with himself, as he felt he could have wrestled better, but he worked hard and never gave up!  It was hard for Eli because in all of 7th and 8th grade, he lost a grand total of ONE match!  Welcome to high school and the big leagues and being the youngest again.

Eli is in red. The LaSalle boy has his arms in control, so Eli is arching up to keep from getting pinned. He managed that, losing only 5-7.

Alas, it ended this way, but still Eli didn’t let the kid pin him, despite being there:

Eli got out of this scrape…you can see the ref’s hand on the left where he is down on the mat looking to see if Eli’s shoulders are on the mat. Fortunately not!

On the way down to the meet earlier in the day, I pulled over in Appleton, about 3 miles from home, to snap this picture of the valley looking east–this is for Debby H. and all of you who prefer your snow vicariously:

The view from Route 131 over the valley; Sennebec Lake is down below the crest of the near hill.

Back to the meet:  Eli won his second match (also on day 1) handily:

Eli dominated in this match. Here he has his right are wrapped around and under the opponent’s right arm, with one hand on his neck to then lever and turn him over on his back.

And another move: grind your opponent into the mat so he can’t move. Erk! Here Eli is  doing that under-over-twist thing again.

For his third match on day 2, Eli  lost 11-0, his first shut-out in about three or four years!  They had removed one mat and opened up more bleachers, which made seating more spacious.

Despite the fact that the Massabesic kid (who was in the State finals last year, meaning one of the top two), Eli was able to be in control for a bit of the match, and there were several times where the ref called a “stalemate” and had them get up and return to starting position. On the lower left you can see Asst. Coach True Bragg in the black shirt.

Most of the match, though, the boy in green dominated.  He looks like a Junior or Senior.  My personal theory is that boys grow like dog years.  For every calendar year, they get 7 years of growth/strength.  If you take two boys of equal skill and weight, but one is two years older, the older boy will absolutely be stronger.  So Eli did a great job NOT getting pinned and taking him to stalemates.

About 2:20 pm after Eli was out of the matches, Paul came and suggested that, since Eli was out, I might want to head home as the storm was coming.  I decided that I could wait until it was all over at 8:30 and drive home tired, in the dark, in the driving snow, or I could be sensible.  For the first hour on the way home I regretted leaving, but the more I drove and the more it snowed, the happier I was that I was that much closer to home.  A two and a half hour drive turned into four hours.  The interstate speed limit is 65.  They had a storm speed limit up of 45.  Everyone was driving about 30 MPH!  At least here in Maine, folks are sensible and go only as fast as conditions allow even if the limit is higher.  I got to the bottom of the drive at 7.  Finally got to the house (3/10 a mile uphill) about 40 minutes later.  Thanks again to Alex!  Paul, Eli and the schoolbus got back to the high school after midnight and to the bottom of the drive at about 1 a.m.  I finally got back up and watched a Project Runway episode while I waited and worried.  It took them over half an hour to try to get up the driveway, then walk!

So that’s it for now!  I hope to finish a book about some people called the Red Paint People who lived in Maine 4000 (yes, four THOUSAND) years ago today and tomorrow, then start a quilt for a juried invitational exhibit.  It’ll be good to get back to fabric and thread!

Having a lovely post-Christmas lull, painting and enjoying being holed up in the house!

Winter blew in on a Nor-easter today. Currently it is 27 degrees, we have inches of snow, it is still coming down and, as it has most of the day, the snow is blowing past the snow sideways.

This house is so cozy and snug… perfect for staying inside and catching up on art.  I recently shared two in progress pieces for my watercolor lettering class with Val Webb.  Here they are, colored in:

The interlaced knotwork, watercolored. I need more practice, but I’ve learned so much including how to make it look like the center bit is rounded!

And here is the “S”:

Part-way there. I’d love to have a plum colored background, but my skills aren’t quite up to that yet. I want to practice more then see if I can put deep plum around the “S” and outside the yellow border.

I’m pleased with the shading on the yellow knotwork (my own design!), but the turquoise is a bit overworked.

Today I did this scroll. Getting better, bit by bit!

And just because I couldn’t resist….

Showing Pigwidgeon the pug ornament he, Eli and Paul gave me for Christmas. Can you say CUTE? PUG-LOVE!

And we’ll end where we began…with the snow blowing sideways!

Off the side of the living room porch.

The oldest ornaments go up near the top of the tree, safe from cats, dogs and my own general klutziness.  The little dog and blonde angel (just left of the balalaika) were present decorations from my cousin Anne when I was about 6.  The clear glass snowman (left of dog, hard to see) is even older.  The reindeer on the far left is also from Anne.  The two round crystal were ridiculously expensive; purchased when I was in my mid-20s and are Lalique crystal and BEAUTIFUL.  Plus I love cardinals; bought this one in Kalispell, Montana, on a trip to take a class with Hollis Chatelain in 2002.

Another tradition that goes back almost as long as I can remember is listening to this recording of The Night the Animals Talked.

Mom gave me a record when I was a girl…probably when I was about 8 or 9, that included the story “The Night the Animals Talked.” She gave me a small record player, pink with white, with a gray fuzzy turntable the size of a dessert or salad plate.  And every Christmas Eve, I would listen to this story and the soothing voice of the cow.

As vinyl records gave way to cassette tapes, I recorded it from album to tape, and  continued to listen to it every single Christmas Eve without fail.  Then CDs arrived, but no CD version of it, so I kept up with my cassette.  Finally, the last boom box with a cassette player died, and I could only sit in my cold car in the garage and listen to it there.  Then I sold that car and (duh) my new car plays my iPod, not cassettes.  2010 was the first year I couldn’t listen to this version.  I googled it up again this year, and lo and behold, I found it!  So in 45+ years I’ve only missed once.  I’ve now got it on my iPod, but thought I’d share with you here.

Found at: FilesTube

(NOTE…DRAT!  They appear to have changed the way the website works and now want you to create a free account.  Hmmm.  NOT.  Thank heavens I have my copy on my laptop.  You can find the later, 1970 ish, TV version on YouTube.  Part 1 is here and part 2 is here.  Sorry about that.  Same story, but the voices just aren’t the same.)

Grab a cuppa cocoa or cheer, close your eyes, settle back for a few minutes, and listen to the gentle voice of the cow as she narrates the story ….

Another very oldie but goodie is my now-one-eyed Santy Claus, who is tucked in behind a small blown-glass chipmunk. S. Claus is at least 45 years old. The squirrel is from a set Eli and I bought at LL Bean in Freeport about 6 years ago.

And some of the newest ornaments: Eli (I’ve taught him well!) came home from Australia in 2011 with an ornament of the Sydney Opera House. In the upper left corner is the tip of a ferry from when we lived on San Juan Island, ditto for the bald eagle on its nest in the lower right corner. The tall white hat is a Sucre woman’s hat from Bolivia, and the pink flamingo I couldn’t resist when we visited Key West this past summer, and the dog on the right was for our dearly departed Yeti, the ginormous dog-beast.

May Peace and Love, Good Health and Joy

be with you and yours through the coming years.