Hi all! March will be a busy month with Joshua in wrestling meets every Saturday and Eli in a karate tournament at the end of the month, so my next classes will be in April, which is going to get VERY busy! This is a good thing!

I’m happy to say my venues for teaching have increased by one to include Mystic Maine Quilts in Gardiner, near Augusta. For all of these stores, please contact the store directly to reserve and pay for a spot in the class. Nobleboro classes (207-563-8445) are usually 10-4, Cote Brothers/Auburn classes are 9:30-3:30 (207-782- 5922, and the one at Mystic Maine Quilts (207-582-0312) in Gardiner is from :30 to 3:30 also (Bring a bag lunch if you’d like…I usually stay in the class area to help students work as much as they wish).

April 21, Saturday: Machine Quilting at Maine-ly Sewing, Nobleboro
April 22, Sunday: Machine Quilting at Mystic Maine Quilts, Gardiner
April 28, Saturday: Postcards at Cote Brothers, Auburn
May 19, Saturday: Machine Quilting at Maine-ly Sewing, Nobleboro
May 20, Sunday: More Machine Quilting with Decorative Threads at Cote Brothers, Auburn
June 16, Saturday: demonstrating machine quilting at the Saco Art Museum, part of the Art Quilts Maine exhibit
June 23, Saturday: Decorative Stitch Machine Applique at Cote Brothers, Auburn
to see the sampler I made for this class, click here . It is a great way to learn how to use all those fun stitches on your machine!

summer highlight:
August 2-29: The Frayed Edges group show at the Camden Public Library, at the corner of Main Street (Hwy. 1) and Atlantic Street in downtown Camden, Picker Room.
August 11: Meet the artists reception, 1-4 p.m.

and in fall:
October 19, Friday evening: “With a Dash of Color,” trunk show and color lecture at the Amoskeag Quilters Guild, Manchester, NH
October 20, Saturday: Class for Amoskeag Quilters

Last Wednesday I had the good fortune to be invited to give my trunk show, “With a Dash of Color,” to the Island Quilters of Southwest Island, Mount Desert Island, Maine. Many of you may have heard of Acadia National Park, which takes up a good portion of the island, and Bar Harbor, the more well-known town there. Even in the tail end of winter, it is beautiful up there!

On the way up Highway 1 (the old Atlantic Coast Highway), I was able to cross the new “Narrows” bridge at Bucksport. It is the awesome new structure in this photo, with the old bridge (which will come down eventually) behind it. Unlike other suspension bridges I’ve been on where the cables are on the outside edges of the bridge, here the cables are in the center, with a lane of traffic on either side (leaving me feeling exposed and skittish driving across!).

For once, I remembered to take pictures of my set-up before the talk, with my quilts laid out on the tables, and for-sale items on the right along with my journal quilts.

Have I said recently how I love the internet? Turns out I was invited to speak because Maggie…in this picture in the red shirt taking a picture of me taking a picture of her!….has a friend in Florida who knows me and my work from being on the Janome 6500/6600 yahoo group! So here I am, just under 100 miles away from Southwest Harbor, connected by someone well over a thousand miles away!

The trunk show is just that: my life in quilts, from my earliest pieces to my most recent. But, I thought if I’m going to be paid for talking about my own work, the least I can do is teach folks a little something while I’m at it. So, I incorporated a lesson on working with color into it. Instead of sorting the quilts chronologically, I have sorted them by color schemes: achromatic (black-white-gray), monochromatic (one color), analogous (next to each other on the color wheel), triadics (red-yellow-blue or orange-green-purple), double complementary and polychromatic / rainbow.

Long-time visitors to this blog may remember that I did a tutorial series on color a while back; if you’d like to look at it, visit the February 2007 archive. Scroll down to February 17 and work your way forward in time!

After the talk, folks were able to come up and get a good, close look at my work:

And at my patterns for sale and quilts:

On the way home I stopped at the Quilters Cabin in Orland, Maine, which had this beautiful scene at the edge of the parking area:

Isn’t Maine just beautiful?

And further south, I took pictures of the Narrows bridge from the Bucksport (north) side:

I’m happy to say that my teaching schedule is set for the next few months, so my next post will include my schedule for now through the end of May! Hope to have a tidbit for you, too. Back soon and happy sewing, Sarah

We interrupt our regularly scheduled blogging for cheering! (and, OK … I give up…blogger is refusing to let me “fix” the errors it introduced in the font…hope you can read the end of the recipe…no matter what I do it won’t change font or size….sigh and snarl!)

Yes, at llllloooooonnnnnngggggg last, we have a proper winter snowstorm here in mid-coast Maine. And unlike south of here in Portland and environs, and here two weeks ago, the snow did not turn to rain (which turned to slush and then ice) in the later afternoon. For the past two weeks, the mid-coast area has been a virtual skating rink, melting off only a few days ago. (Update: DANG! During the course of writing this, it has turned to rain !!!!! PPPPffffoOOOOOOEEEEEYYYYYY!!!!!)

This morning we had six inches of fresh snow. So what do you do on a no-school Friday? Why, shovel and sit and play! If you are Yeti, you play couch potato out of doors and bask in the glory of a thick coat and your element:

If you are Joshua, you get ready:

You launch:

and you land:

If you are Eli, you dig a cave:

and then go in head first:

If you are Mommy, you take pictures of cool patterns, like the falling down woodpile:

Our neighbor’s perfect tree:

and bark:

And if you are still a Yeti, you ask to stay outside a bit longer!

Then you make pea soup (recipe at the end):

Then you bring the dog in….alas, we didn’t use the flash (Eli was taking pictures and didn’t realize). How do you get that much snow off that big and hairy a dog? Why grab the push-broom!

Sarah’s Split Pea Soup

Here’s my recipe, which makes a very thick soup. If you like yours not-so-thick, add more water:

–2 slices bacon
–1 pound turkey kielbasa (if you like less meat, use half) cut into lengthwise quarters and cubed
–1 yellow onion, chopped
–2-3 cloves garlic peeled and smashed
–3 carrots, chopped very finely
–2 Yukon (or Aroostook) Gold potatoes, chopped finely
–1 bag (one pound I think) split green peas
–2 bay leaves
–herbs (I used a Penzey‘s blend, Sunny Paris, which has shallots, chives, green peppercorns, dill weed, basil, tarragon, chervil and bay leaf.
–3 16-oz cans chicken broth
–4 cups or more water

–Saute bacon in a dutch oven.
–Add 1/3 to 1/2 of the turkey kielbasa and brown it.
–Remove the browned kielbasa from the pan and saute the next batch until done.
–Remove bacon and kielbasa from pan.
–Add chopped onion and saute.
–Add smashed garlic and saute briefly.
–Add ONE can of chicken broth to de-glaze the tasty brown bits on the bottom of the pan.
–Add finely chopped carrots and chopped potato.
–Rinse split peas and (if needed) remove any small stones or twigs. Add to pot.
–Add remaining TWO cans of chicken broth and two cups water.
–Sprinkle on some seasoning and add bay leaves.
–DO NOT add salt or pepper yet…the salt in the chicken broth and pepper in the kielbasa may (or may not) be enough.
–Raise heat under pan and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to lowest setting and simmer.
–Stir every so often so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan and scorch.
–Taste test, adding salt and pepper if desired.
–IF the soup is too thick add more water to desired consistency.

I made my soup in the late morning, then turned the heat off. 45 minutes before dinner turn the heat back on under the soup to warm it up slowly. I added about two more cups of water at this time.

I also made croutons. I save our heels from bread loaves (the boys went through half a loaf just in French Toast for breakfast today!!!), then shave off the crust side and cube. Spray a jelly roll pan (or half-sheet cake pan) with Pam, spread cubed bread one layer deep, and spray again with Pam (I use regular on the sheet, Olive Oil Pam on the cubes). Broil for about 2 minutes…watch it like a hawk! It burns in a nano-second…and don’t ask how I know this. Don’t use the shelf level closest to the broiler…go down one. Pull out pan, “toss” the croutons, and return to broil for 1-2 minutes.

I thought I might do a series of brief notes with quotations from Aimone’s “Design! A Lively Guide to Design Basics for Artists and Craftspeople.” So, let’s begin at the beginning. Here is the opening of Chapter 1, The purposes of design (p.14)

…The purposes of design fall roughly into five categories: Descriptive (to document the visible world), narrative (to tell a story or send a message), emotive (to evoke a mood), utilitarian (to perform a practical function), and decorative (to creatively arrange design elements, such as color and shape). Keep in mind that most designs serve more than one of these purposes. In fact, overlap is almost inevitable. Usually, however, one design purpose is primary, and the success of any design can be judged by how well it achieves its purpose.

In a day or so, I’ll upload photos of my lecture on Mount Desert Island Wednesday evening, then my upcoming class schedule, and maybe even (if I can find the photo so I can scan it) me doing one of the scariest things I’ve ever done in my life….walking on the edge of the aquaduct outside of La Paz, Bolivia…..but more on that later. Now, I’m off to the sofa. Eli breathed on me. I feel icky and achy, and that’s after two extra-strength Tylenol and tea. Brrrrrr…….

Here, Eli waits his turn to test.

And Joshua racks up a few more wins at Saturday’s wrestling meet. (An aside: tried to post this yesterday, but blogger wasn’t cooperating! Hope to add quilty /fabric content on Friday– I made a new blouse from quilting flannel, and today I head to Mount Desert Island to speak to quilters from SouthWest Harbor, the rest of Mt. Desert Isl –home to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park– and from Ellsworth, just over on the coast.)

Monday night, however, was Eli’s night. He and several others, kids and adults, tested for new belts at Tae Kwon Do karate. Stripes, intermediate ranks as you progress from one belt to the next, may be awarded during regular teaching sessions or at testing sessions. Here, Eli is performing a kata, a series of steps simulating moves one would take against multiple attackers:

Then, the students perform one-steps with a fellow student (in this case Adam, who also got his green belt and is Eli’s class at school!):

Eli is also studying Ishinriyu Japanese style karate with 4-th degree black belt Sensei Pete Bishop. This is a great honor for him, since Eli is really the first kid Pete has invited to study with him; usually he works only with red belts (which is one under black) and above! The two worked on what is called “environmentals”, a sequence of steps practiced with an “attacker” so you can see exactly what situation is being simulated. Here is Eli with Sensei Pete:

When you need to re-tie your belt, or get a new belt, it is considered respectful to turn one’s back to the ranking belt to make any adjustments. Here, Eli has been awarded his green belt, and is tying the knot:

Then, everyone bows to the newly advanced practitioner:

And for an update on wrestling season:

Saturday was the six-team meet (most are 3-team meets), including the ever-awesome Mount Ararat school. Of Joshua’s five matches, one was a default (no one in his weight class on the opposing team, counts as a “win” for Camden-Rockport), one was a loss to the boy from Mount Ararat—not only do they have a huge team, they are all good, and THREE were pins! Yeah Sport! Here’s the opening move in one match:

And here’s a slightly blurry “win” (they move too fast!)