Take It Further Challenge for October

The October Take It Further Challenge was to think about your textile work space - how do you feel about it? What role does it play in your life?

I wanted some sunny yellow fabric since my studio represents such a happy part of my life. While the dyed result is much more yellow (and green) than it looks here, it isn't as sunny as I wanted - but that's part of the fun for me. My studio is a place where a kind of magic happens, where things don't necessarily look or happen like the image in my head but where they take turns and curves that delight me and end up better than they began.

I'm not sure yet what I'll make with this goodness, but I'm excited to be on my way.

Another kind of magic - this afternoon I spread out cardboard in a sunny space in my back yard. I put some leaves on top and added 20 bags of top soil. The bags had been in the back yard all summer and each bag must have added 20 pounds of water to the 40 pounds of top soil. All through the next five or six months the soil underneath will soften and the grass will mulch into it and in April or May there will be a new space for peas to climb on the fence and for planting tomatoes. The space in the front yard that housed tomatoes this year will have peppers next year.

In the upper left of the picture above you'll see a tree with red berries. I don't know just what it is, but it looks pretty.

From last night, here's a picture of Steph and Nora at the Aranoff. The Wizzard of Oz was as good as they both hoped.

Things To Try

I want to try a flannel rag quilt for Nora. I don't know if I can have it finished by Christmas - there are lots of other things on the list - but if I can do two squares every day, then maybe . . . I'll start it out, then give you directions.

This morning there was snow on my truck - just a little, but enough to let me know that the cold is coming. Tonight I just know I can hear the wind howling around.

I want to try this space heater for my studio, or the bathroom, or wherever I need it.

And I want to try actually programming the thermostat that I had installed last year but never programmed because last winter I was home all day. Hmmm, I just realized it's the same brand as the space heater - I didn't plan it that way.

And I really want to try some nice warm slippers, with the theory that if my feet are warm the rest of my body will feel warmer too.

Tomorrow I want to get some bags of topsoil to put in the back of my truck. Just a little cold moisture on the road has reminded me how light the truck is in the back end. A little extra weight makes all the difference in keeping it going straight down the road.

Tomorrow - the Ruby Slippers

Tomorrow is the day Nora will be putting on her ruby slippers from Bridget and going downtown to see The Wizzard of Oz. Really big stuff for a little girl who asks to watch the movie almost every day.

I took over her jumper tonight. Here she's checking it out, right before the buttons went on.

We decided to shorten it a little - the pattern was really long. Good deal, though, the cut-off piece made two hair bows.

Then came a little dancing and a little "Off to see the Wizzard" stepping down the hall.

Friday Fill-In # 98

simple jumper pattern for Nora's blue gingham jumper. I really, really like this pattern, and it has buttons on front, too.

Friday Fill-Ins. Answers are in bold.

1. Please feel free to give me constructive criticism on my art work. Just keep it constructive.

2. When I've baked a white cake, I can't stop from sniffing it occasionally, even if I'm not eating much processed sugar. Chocolate cake, too, a little, even though it's that vanilla smell that I really love.

3. My favorite thing to cook is Thanksgiving dinner. I enjoy making everything, love all the side dishes, like making the list and doing the shopping.

4. Sewing and quilting are something I can't get enough of, but you already knew that. And reading. And walking in the door of home.

5. That's the thing I love most about Thanksgiving dinner, how it all comes together. I start with something and freeze it, do something different the next day and freeze that, just do a little at a time and then when Thanksgiving comes things are pretty much ready.

6. Mean-spirited people always make me think to myself, what the heck. Luckily, most people display some generosity of spirit and I don't think "what the heck" too often.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going out for a quick drink and a little dinner after work, then sewing the top part of the jumper, tomorrow my plans include work, then finishing the jumper and binding the quilt, and Sunday my plans include going to church and hanging the quilt. Here's the deal: I didn't make much progress on that quilt yesterday so I'm going to bind it and then quilt it later. It already has stitch-in-the-ditch quilting so it won't shift, it has all that candlewicking, and people will be seeing it from at least 20 feet away, so it will be fine.

Happy Friday, everyone.

Time Away

You've seen this quilt before, but when it came back from the show in Berea it was telling me that it needed more quilting and some beading. I think I was in a really minimalist mood when I made it. I sat in on a lesson earlier in the week where the instructor recommended using small pieces of plastic shelf liner to help push the fabric during free motion quilting. My hands appreciated not wearing the gloves - it was a good tip.

This afternoon I took some time off and rode the shuttle to Cincinnati.

I learned that even though it's getting colder, the Duck is still in operation.

Passengers ride to the dock on Newport city streets, then the Duck serves as a boat on the river.

Newport on the Levee (where I get on the shuttle) has holiday decorations up.

My favorite art store in downtown Cincinnati has some great children's things that make me glad that Nora has both a birthday and Christmas coming up. I got a couple of bottles of cool ink for myself, too.

This is the Aronoff Center where Steph and Nora will be seeing the Wizzard of Oz on Sunday.

And here is a promotion for it.

Look at those spike heels on the ruby slippers.

More about the afternoon later.

Oh-So Brief Visit

Patchwork stocking, design by Martha Pullen

Sarah came into town late enough Monday night that it was really Tuesday morning. Before I went to work on Tuesday, we went to the Mammouth Cafe (as in the big, woolly beast, not to be confused with Monmouth Street, which is where this coffee shop is located.)

I always love their breakfasts, even though I'm not much of a coffee drinker. And Steph treated me to a Starbucks decaf on Saturday, so I've had my quota for awhile.

I had the breakfast pannini with eggs and Italian cheese, minus the onions, since I don't like those, and the Italian sausage, since I don't eat meat. Even with two ingredients missing, it was wonderful. The apples there are the best ever. It might be worth going just for those.

Here are Sarah and her friend from the North Carolina Arboretum, where they both work. They were on to Michigan this morning.

And here are her friend's darling shoes. Don't you love them? Oh, and their owner Winnie was delightful too.

Sarah and Winnie spent the afternoon with Steph at the Cincinnati Art Museum and Krohn Conservatory (yes, it's the plant kind, Jane) and had dinner at Steph's house with Bridget and Helen. After dinner, everyone watched - guess what? - the Wizzard of Oz with Nora. I was working late, so I missed all that.

Still Here

I'm still here, still trying to adjust to the time change and the chilly weather, still working many hours, still trying to kick this virus for good. Sunday I spent lots of time in bed - not all, though, Hancock was having their Veteran's Day 1/2 off on notions and I couldn't miss that. I don't know how many notions I need, I just know it's lots. And the local grocery was offering a $13 rebate on a 20-pound bird plus a $15 mail-in rebate. Couldn't miss that either. And my laundry had reached ridiculous proportions and something had to be done about that.

The quilt above is the candlewicking quilt, just one small border to go and then it will be machine quilted. And not free-motion quilted either. I'd love to have it finished by Thursday so I can go to church and have it hung for the Thanksgiving season. After Thanksgiving it will turn into a shop sample for awhile. The instructions said to use silk, but silk doesn't live in my world very much.

Same thing happened today when I made a sample for the Martha Pullen Gift of the Month. It's a darling crazy quilted holiday stocking and I used calico instead of the recommended silk. It was a fast project, thank goodness, and I've discovered an iron-on tear-away stabilizer that I love. I'll try to have a picture of the stocking tomorrow.

Once the quilt is done, I want to make a blue and white gingham jumper for Nora, and that cheers my heart. She and her mom are going to see the Wizzard of Oz play in Cincinnati on Sunday and Bridget will give her ruby slippers for an early birthday present. There just has to be a blue-and-white checked jumper and a white shirt with blue ric rac around the neck to go along with those slippers.