The good news is that I made 10 postcards today, all “wholecloth”. Eight are nudes in a series I’m calling Hot August Night…four men, four women. Two are of teasels, just because I love them. (The color, on my monitor anyway, isn’t so great…or maybe it was my camera…the colors are washed out compared to the real thing.) The original plan was to put a few up on my website, send one or two to friends, and send the rest to Virginia Spiegel’s Cancer fundraiser in Houston.

Ummm…well……I like them so much, now I’m thinking maybe my postcards for Virginia will be the other ones, the ones I haven’t made yet (have some fabric painted for some abstract pieces…should be easy to get them made tomorrow). Specifically, I’m thinking it might be cool to mount the four guys (or three or two) together on a separate, quilted base layer, and ditto for the women. Or I could make a pinwheel arrangement…though I think I’d switch the four postcards show to be one of each color….

So…what do I do? Stick to the original plan, make a happy foursome, a pinwheel, or maybe stick to the original plan, then expand the idea into a larger, different piece?

INXS warnings apply…don’t read if you don’t want to know what happened.

Well…..I’d hoped maybe MiG would get it, but he didn’t, so I’m thrilled that JD got it….. maybe he’s grown up some, and has more to do, but he is the one that from the beginning had the music inside his head, and it seems that’s what INXS wants. I’m guessing his mom and sister were up in the balcony, the way he was looking up at someone ready to burst into tears. And it’s really nice that INXS wants Marty to front for them….his style isn’t for me–too intense, but Trees is a wonderful song and I, the non-musical, find phrases of it running through my head. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that I’ve had this tree-thing going in my quilts for the past year-plus. The line is “The trees will give us the answer” is the one that keeps playing…

Anyway, it’s late, the school bus is here in less than 8 hours, so gotta run….. Hope this works for all of them. And that MiG, Suzie, Ty and Jordis all get awesome contracts…their albums I’ll buy!

The best part of the week was Monday, when the Frayed Edges got together at Deborah Boschert’s house in Topsham. We’re sure gonna miss Deb, but are figuring out how to keep this foursome going with one of us in Texas and the three rest of us in Maine. Click here to get to Deborah’s Blog with all sorts of great pictures.

After that, not much to report other than my sons breathed on me and shared their germs. The good news is that I haven’t been sick in ages, and they are well already so this should be over soon! Grumble, grumble…..

INXS warning….don’t read if you didn’t watch the show.

OK……if I had to guess, I think that it is down to JD or Suzie. Suzie has the voice, JD has the music inside his head. Which do they need/want more? Kirk Pengilly had a good comment the other day, that this is getting harder, not easier, as the numbers dwindle. I think MiG is awesome, but am not sure that his voice or his music are equal to JD or Suzie…on the other hand, he’s a great performer and a nice guy, and that’s a good thing when you’re on the road together. Marty’s song Trees is a real toe-tapper, catchy, and hope it turns into a single, soon, just not an INXS single. Meow? Not really….I just don’t think he’s the right “mesh” for INXS. Of course, we’ll all find out soon enough. And it sounds like there will be a “reunion” for the final show next week. Can’t wait to see it, and hope they all get to sing.

Now, back to the sofa. Blug. That’s a combination of blech and ugh. All our anti-fever stuff (ibuprofen etc) is all at least a year out of date, so it isn’t exactly working at a hundred percent, so neither am I. Have to drive 80+ miles to teach tomorrow, so gonna crash. Nite nite…..

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way the bird of paradise block (top) turned out….the bird of paradise is a spectacular flower, and I love the way this design works.

The taro leaf is ripply on the edges; the root of the plant is used for food. I plan to quilt the leaf veins (below) in the same magenta thread used in the satin stitching.

These blocks will become part of a quilt that I plan to call Nourish the Body, Nourish the Soul, with Hawaiian plants that provide food and/or beauty. Each of the nine blocks will finish at 18-19 inches, and be set like a huge 9-patch, with the dark-background blocks in the center and corners, and the light background blocks in the other spots. The finished quilt will probably be about 72 inches square…perfect for snuggling on the sofa. For more pictures of the other blocks, check out my posts on Aug. 22 and 28 (hit the link in the sidebar on the right for the August archives and scroll down…). Hope you like!

Say…I’m thinking about starting a newsletter…just an e-mail with updates from me maybe once every 2-3 months. If you’d like to be included on an e-newsletter mailing list, please leave a comment here or via my “contact me” page on my website, and I’ll start a list. I promise I’ll never, ever share the info with anyone!
All images copyright Sarah Ann Smith

Wow…what a week, both here and on Rockstar:INXS. JD is back, but in a good way….after faltering for a couple weeks, he wowed everyone. I was surprised that he won the voting for the encore performance, but he sure did it up good. Although I’m not a big Marty fan, his “Trees” song was way cool…..I’m not much of a music buyer (so why I love this show so much is beyond me, but what the heck….I’m going with the flow), but I’d buy that one! Suzie and MiG were dependable as always, but neither blew me away this week. That’s OK, Suzie has had a major run and is now looking like a leading contender for new lead singer of INXS. Jordis recovered some of her style in the elimination round last night, and I’m so glad the band was SO encouraging to her…..frankly, I’m hoping one of them or Dave Navarro has already called their agent and said “sign this girl!”. Her style isn’t really that of INXS, but boy is she something….she deserves to be on a record.

I had to laugh when I read Deb Richardson and Deborah B’s blogs…..we all had identical reactions, including to Brooke Burke’s fashion accident on Tuesday…looked like she took a shower and forgot to change out of her slinky short robe….blech. Triplets separated at birth and by years?

Next week…I’m guessing Marty will be the one to go, unless JD really messes up. Reading the blogs (yep…I’m toast….) has been interesting…all of them talking about the pressure, the fun they had (why is a food fight that trashes a mansion fun?????) at JD’s party (though I definitely see they really needed to cut loose, de-stress and just have fun). JD was gracious…..with Ty gone (and may he ALSO get a recording contract, soon) and his thank-filled posts, it was nice to see. Toodles!