Two Trees Too Many

The last two days we have had "entertainment" in the yard.
There were two trees that were huge and past their prime. It was time for them to come down.

The tree trimmers appeared yesterday before noon.



I took this photo from my second floor studio window. This was shortly after he climbed into the tree and started cutting it down. You can see from how high he is if you look at his location (see the red in the tree) and compare it to the buildings, people and fence. All of these photos are clickable so you can see larger photos.

The last time he trimmed one of our trees it made me nervous to watch. This time I almost enjoyed it and also enjoyed watching how they handled each branch as the 2 men on the ground guided it down.


When he would get in places like this it did make me a little nervous.



This position made me nervous too.



I had plans to meet a friend for lunch so off I went leaving "the boss" in charge. When I got home after our 4 hour lunch this was all that remained of the tree.



They were back early this morning to finish taking down the trunk. I caught this photo of the crotch of the tree falling as I took the photo. This was an extremely large piece.



These are some of the pieces of the trunk before they disposed of them.


It is all cleaned up now. Tomorrow they will be back to take down one more tree. It is not even 1/4 the size of this one, but it does have to go.

I really hate to see a tree come down. These trees were in danger of blowing over if we had a bad storm and would have blown over onto the house and shed.

Most of the time when you take a tree down you feel there is an empty space. The rest of our trees are so big and there are so many that you won't miss these. We still will not have sun in the yard for more than a few hours a day in a few very small areas.

Racine Washington Park High School Class of '57 Reunion

Last week I was fortunate to be able to get together with 4 other "girls" from our high school graduating class.


I had not seen any of these "girls" since we graduated 53 years ago. What a lovely groups of ladies.
I recognized each of them immediately. Look at those happy smiles!

What fun to catch up on our lives over the intervening years.
Children, grandchildren, jobs, spouses, friends - we could have talked for many more hours.

'Til me meet again next year!

We met at a lovely restaurant on the lake in Cudahy, WI - The Sheridan Inn. The food was great too. Although the company was the star of the show.

Where Do I Begin

My life is continuing to be busy. I am enjoying every day and every minute.

Guests, family, Ladies Who Lunch, selling on eBay, organizing and getting rid of things, enjoying our perfect weather - can it get any better than this?



This was another one of the things in the boxes of my "vintage" clothes from my attic. Jessica loved this and it fit her perfectly. It matched the new sandals she bought that day. The ones she modeled this time were NOT polyester double knit. I can't remember exactly when I made and wore this but it was many years ago! This was one of 3 that went home with her.



I found this shirt I had embroidered for my husband and Blake loved it. It went home with him and he plans to wear it at college.

I am very flattered that my grandchildren love these things and will be wearing them.

I'll try hard to be back with posts more often.

Jumping Good Times

When my family was here this weekend I enjoyed seeing a photo of my oldest grandson Blake and 3 of his friends JUMPING while he was in Spain studying this summer.
I didn't realize you could catch a photo like this so easily.



When I was taking the departure photos I decided to see if I could take a JUMPING photo and it worked. I had to work fast as they were in a hurry to leave and the mosquitoes were eating them alive.
Fortunately the cooler weather (and a Bounce Dryer sheet in my pocket) have helped drive away the mosquitoes.



My youngest grandson was her for a while yesterday. I showed him the jumping photos and he wanted me to take his picture JUMPING.
Here it is. He really worked hard to do a good jump as you can see.


Until next time I hope you have a JUMPING good time!

I'm back!

It's been a busy time in my life. I have been very busy organizing and getting rid of things. I've had a very busy week on eBay.

This weekend was a wonderful fun and family filled time.

My son Greg, his wife Julie and their 4 children were here for the weekend. I always enjoy spending time with them.

Greg spent a great deal of time working on my computer and other devices. This is my first post from my new computer.


On Sunday morning my sister Karen and her husband Clay joined us for brunch. Karen brought her fabulous berry muffins. I am not sure whether the recipe came to our family through Karen or my sister Connie. I have to mention both of them so I don't get in trouble. If you have sisters you may understand!

I have other family photos to share with you soon.

If you look closely you will see one of my quilts in the background.

It's Only Just Begun - Week 4 on eBay

I'm still busy with finding treasures in my closets and auctioning them on eBay.
Sunday evening I listed 26 more pieces.

This week they are ALL BLUE FISH clothing.
Even after I get done selling off a large part of my collection I will still have enough to keep me in style for years to come.


I am parting with some fantastic pieces this week. If I haven't worn it it is time to share it with someone else out there.



This is one of those rare pieces that no one wants to give up. I decided it is time for someone else to enjoy it since I never even wore it. And you are probably asking how could I have enjoyed this if I never wore it?
Well, I enjoy just looking at these special pieces and studying the details and colors.



Another lovely outfit, with each piece for sale separately.

I've tried to do a color or theme story each week. You can see "the rest of the story" for this week at:
http://shop.ebay.com/bluefishquilter/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1

I have heard from some of you who had never heard of BLUE FISH clothing.
There is nothing else like it.

I have also received so many thank yous from happy buyers who appreciate the fact that I am offering these things at very affordable prices. So many sellers have the prices so high buyers can't really afford them.

Although the company is still in business in Taos, New Mexico the prices are quite high. But - the clothing is worth it. I like to think of "Cost Per Wearing" when I buy something.

It outlasts any other clothing I have worn. That is why I have so much to part with - it still looks great and is in great condition for the most part. They use organic cotton. They are very environmentally conscious, using each and every scrap and making it into something.


I hope you are enjoying these posts that have nothing to do with quilting but everything to do with color!

Week 3 ends tonight

Tonight concludes the third week of selling things on eBay.
I should be seeing results in my closets by now, but I still have a long way to go!


This week most of the things I am offering are either FLAX or BLUE FISH clothing.



Some of my favorite casual things from BLUE FISH


More BLUE FISH in one of my favorite colors.



A more sophisticated business like FLAX outfit.

I have spent a great deal of time washing and ironing the things, taking photos and writing the auctions.

They will all end between 7 and 9 p.m. PST this evening (Sunday).

If any of you want to see the auctions you can go to:

http://shop.ebay.com/bluefishquilter/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1

I have also spent a lot of time this past week getting new auctions ready that will start between 7 and 9 pm. PST this week and end next Sunday, August 15th.
Thee are almost all BLUE FISH clothing, a highly collectible line.

I'm treating this like a job - a job that will help me clear some space.

Sun Spots?

This is another work in progress that I created at least 10 years ago.
When I made it I was not so sure I liked it.



10 years later it looks a lot better to me! I dye painted a piece of fabric making use of the fact that the dyes will spread slightly. I designed this attic windows quilt to effectively use the piece of fabric I created.

Although I am still keeping busy posting my eBay things, I have found a few moments today to get a few quilts out to layer and get ready for quilting.
Once I have them layered I can work on the quilting in stolen moments now and then.

LOST

How many of you think of the TV show when you hear the word lost?



LOST is the working title of this quilt. I had made some other pieces to go in the center of this and I cannot find them.
I am guessing I might have thought they were scraps and thrown them out.

I often tell people if they make something and they don't like it that they should put it away for 6 months and when they take it out see if they like it then.
That was the case with this quilt. I made the sections but did not put them together.

I put them on the design wall, took a photo and printed it. When I looked at the photo I really liked it. Not six months later, but over 6 years later.
Today I took it out and fused the sections to a piece of batting.
I am going to have to resolve the center issue. This was done with a lot of scrap fabrics so I do not have many of those fabrics available to remake the center. Maybe if I wait a few days the LOST sections will turn up!
And maybe I will decide I like the center just the way it is!

Dream Along With Me - A Perfectly Neat Organized Home

I've had a hard time finding time to write a blog post recently.

Why, you ask?

I have been conscientiously working on getting things straightened out, organized and disposed of in my studio.

I have spent a lot of time the last two weeks listing things on eBay. I realized that one source of clutter in my studio was things I meant to list on eBay - so I decided there was no time like the present and last night I posted 20 items to close next Sunday evening. It takes a lot of time to take a decent photo, edit it, measure the garments, write the descriptions and fill out the form for the auction. Then after it sells there is the packaging and shipping to be done.

Last night and this morning I packed the items I sold last night, printed the labels and had them shipped. I have 4 more to ship and I will be able to start thinking about what I am going to list next week. I am starting the prices very low and so far everything has sold.



This may look like a jumbled mess to you, but it is really all carefully washed, ironed and stacked in piles of things in related categories.

I have bulging closets of like new collectible clothing: Blue Fish, Flax, Oh My Gauze, Eileen Fisher, Nothing Matches, etc and I am listing lots of it on eBay so I'll have a little more room in my closets. Would you believe I was running out of hangers. That was the breaking point!

I will be also listing other things that are not clothing in the next few auctions.

As I am writing this post I am thinking maybe I should list some of the sewing/quilting related items I have to sell at a fixed reasonable price on my blog and they will be available to anyone of you who might be interested. What do you think?

I think it is time to get back to work. See you again soon!

Night and Day

If you have been following my blog for several months you may remember this piece of fabric I created by dyeing and stamping with one of my stamps I carved. At the time I showed these fabrics I had no idea what I was going to do with them. The colors in this begged to become an accent in my living room.



I created this skinny decorative pillow that is equally at home on the black or burgundy chair. It is a nice size to place behind the small of your back for comfort. It is also just lovely to look at.


When I start doing something in a room, one thing leads to another. I removed some items from the bay window in the dining room and carefully placed the stain glass window against the window. Soon we will hang this window here which will make it even more effective. The art doll is one of those items that I have placed so many different places in my home. The brown glass vases echo the colors in the window.


And it's puzzle time again for those of you who love them!

A Bushel and A Peck

Did you think I forgot to blog today?

I was waiting to bake these amulets so I could put them on the scanner to get a better picture for you.



These are SOME of the amulets I baked today. I am going to be doing other things for a while as I have enough to last me for a long time unless I a lot more company than I expect!

I left the file size very large so you can click on it and see them up close and personal.

Getting To Know You

I have spent a fair amount of time the last few weeks getting my new computer and other devices set up and working. Today I thought we were done. Not quite so!


One of the issues we ran into was the fact that colors that looked close to perfect on my old computer showed up almost neon on my new computer. We made 2 changes to the color system.

It was a challenge to figure out how to really see what was happening.

I decided the best way to evaluate things was to take a picture of this particular quilt "In Living Color" which I made from Jinny Beyer's original 100 palette fabrics.
I then downloaded it to each computer rather that cutting and pasting from one to the other.
With the quilt in hand we held it right next to the new monitor and tried to see how close it came to the colors of the fabrics in the quilt.
We were able to see where the colors were off and adjust the new computer to closely replicate them. I have to say I am still not 100% satisfied with the way I see them on the new computer.

I had heard how different monitors show color differently and this made me a believer. I am still using the old computer to do my blog posts but I will switch very soon. When I do I will note it on the blog and I'd appreciate it if you let me know if you notice a big difference.

I posted this quilt in a larger size than normal. If you click on it you will be able to see the colors and fabrics very clearly. If you have some of Jinny's original palette fabrics you may want to compare them to my rendering.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

There is a man in my life who has only been part of my life for a short time.

Sometimes I wonder if he really loves me or if he only loves me for my amulets?


This is the new container I found to present them in. It has a place of honor in the center of the table in the informal dining room.



Each time he visited me he showed an interest in the large yellow amulet. I told him my friend Sally has one like that and I think that is one of the reasons he is attracted to that particular one. He and Sally have a common link - or do I mean had a common link. In fact last time he was here he even used my phone to call her long distance.
He did go home with that one tonight.

So who is the mystery man I wonder about?



Yes, it is my grandson Cooper. He found this hat in the donation box and had fun modeling it. He doesn't mind if you call him a cute little girl, so long as you call him CUTE!
And his connection to Sally? She raised his puppy Murphy that he is in love with. What a great boy meets dog relationship they have. He also is taking horseback riding lessons and Sally also has trained horses. His phone call the other night was just imaginary. It is so much fun to hear a 4 year old play make believe on a phone connection. He talked to her about training the puppies!

I am still busy getting all my tech stuff working and adding new things faster than I can figure out how to use them. My quilting is taking a back seat as I get things set up.

I'm also listing more things on eBay which is making the studio neater and less cluttered.

So that is a day in my life, even though lately each day packs several days of activities into one day!

Tessellation Tutorial - Lesson 6

If you are working along with me you should have all your shapes traced and cut out.
You have NOT removed the paper from the back.


These are all the pieces I have cut out. I had 10 fabrics and I cut 8 or 9 from each which means I have about 85 shapes to design with.



You will need some fabric to iron to the the fusible side of your Pellon fusible fleece.
(I did not include this in your supply list as I felt if you already are a quilter you probably already have something you can use.) If you don't you will need to purchase something for this.

I like pretty backings on my quilts. I also like fabric that has enough pattern to it that it will hide less than perfect quilting.
This fabric does not coordinate with my choices enough to be used on the front of the quilt, but it makes a perfect back. It was something I had in my fabric collection.

Make sure you follow the directions for fusing this to the wrong side of the fabric and fuse it very securely to stabilize the fleece for the next step in the next lesson.

Decisions, Decisions! - Work In Progress

This is number 4 in a Series.
The first was a jacket and 2 and 3 were quilts that are hanging in my guest room.

This piece is fused. At this point the fabrics are fused to a sheet of Wonder Under.
I will be fusing it to batting, adding a backing and quilting it, all hopefully in the near future.



I still have to decide if I want to turn this 180 degrees before I finish it.

Another option is to crop something off the top or bottom.



I could also choose to hang this crosswise.

These are just a few of the decisions I make when creating art. It is important to listen to the piece and let it help me make my decisions.

So far this one hasn't spoken up loud enough to tell me how it wants to be seen. I'm listening and soon it may say something important.

Amish Pathways Revisited

Amish Pathways is another quilt from the class Quick Kids Quilts.
The piecing on this was done in a very short afternoon.
I used a very unique group of colors and did not make it for any special place.

The thing that makes this quilt work so well is the original motif I designed and used in various configurations on both the squares and the border.
It is hand quilted. PLEASE CLICK ON THIS PHOTO AS YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THE QUILTING.
When it was done it worked perfectly in our kitchen.
The kitchen is open to the sun room and at the time I made it the furniture was covered with the same fabric you see used as a tablecloth.

Both the sun room furniture and the dinnerware and table linens are now at home in Florida. The furniture is now mint green and resides on our lanai!

Of course Amish Pathways is tonight's puzzle.

How Long Does It Take To Make a Quilt - Rerun

I decided to look at what I had posted a year ago today. I think this is worth sharing with you again. I know many of you were not reading my blog then so this will be new to you.

The answer to the question can be a day or years.
This quilt took several years as I couldn't decide what to do with the simple irregular curved pieced center square. I made that square as an exercise in a David Walker workshop. It was not interesting work without a lot of additions. It was only a base to use as a starting point for something that would work.
I added yarn, applique leaves and spirals to add interest. The entire center section was done with fabrics I had painted with the exception of the spirals.

At this point it was put on hold for a few more years while I decided what to do next.
The next addition was 2 more squares behind the original square. Fast forward another year. The orange square was added at that time and it was all appliqued onto the background. Almost finished? NO.

It also took quite some time to decide on the quilting pattern. Grids in central squares and curved lines on the background created the quilting. It was finished with facings rather than binding. Whew!! That sure took a long time.

I don't know if you suffer puzzle withdrawal when I miss posting for a day or more but I do. So here is Contemplating Sea Leaves as today's puzzle.

Sometimes Life Gets In The Way

This post is being written Thursday night to be posted Friday morning.

I had a message tonight asking if I was going to post another Tessellation lesson.

I certainly am. I have a new computer that is being set up and Windows 7 has created a few issues which are taking time to resolve. That has taken the time I could be working on the lesson.

I am sitting here watching a BIG rain, thunder and lightning storm. There is no TV connection available so my entertainment is watching the storm.

The electricity is flickering on and off. Let's hope it stays on and then the only thing I'll have to do is reset a few clocks.

Even with the camera set for night snapshot I can only get almost black photos so you won't be able to see what I am seeing.


After weeks of cloudy rainy weather I knew I needed a bright stylish raincoat. No tan trench coats for me. I made a raincoat out of this bright print and sprayed it with a water repellent. It was really a sharp coat but I gave it away years ago. When I was excavating the attic recently I did find the hat I made to wear with the coat. I had to have made this in the late 70's or early 80's.

Me And My Shadow

My grandchildren have done polymer clay with me from time to time.
They leave their leftover clay canes or projects here when they don't want to work with them anymore.
Many of the amulets I have been making include some of that clay.

My oldest granddaughter has done some great things with clay but seems to have lost interest in or outgrown what she created.



While cleaning out a drawer today I found these discs she created. I decided to string them to make a bracelet for her. If she doesn't like the bracelet she can easily take it apart and do something else with the discs but at least they are out of the drawer and won't be spilling each time I open it.



I strung the discs on a transparent stretch cord. It is long enough to go around my wrist twice and I'm sure on her wrist it will do this and be looser.