Take-along handwork

I can't just sit in a meeting, listening and taking notes. I have to have some needlework in hand. The last couple of years my take-along project has been English paper pieced hexagons using silk neckties. These hexes are 2" unfinished. The "flowers" that I am making are just over 8" across. I've made 50 thus far and will keep going until I have 200 or so,or until I am thoroughly tired of them (which I'm not, so far). It is very unlikely that I will run out of ties; I have four file boxes full.

When people ask what I'm doing I stop short of explaining what the fabric is. They rub a hexagon between their fingers. Some get it: "Silk?" to which I say, "And what's made out of silk?" Again, some get it: "Ties!" But just as many can't figure out the fiber or the source.

Breaking Through Barriers: AAUW Convention 2009

The 900+ participants at this 46th biennial convention cast important votes, listened to inspiring speakers, and learned about new initiatives. They reunited with longtime friends and made new ones. They will return to their branches with renewed energy and enthusiasm to "break through barriers to give all women and girls a fair chance."

http://www.aauw.org/convention/conv2009/upload/convention_today.pdf

The bylaws changes that the delegates approved include:
* one member/one vote for future elections
* flexibility for branch and state leadership
* one board for the Association (which is now AAUW (501.c.3) and the allied AAUW Action Fund (501.c.4))

The proposal for extending membership to anyone who shares in AAUW's mission was defeated.

Kudos to the Bylaws Committee for their two years of thoughtful collaboration, and to Bylaws Chair Caroline Pickens for her presentation of the bylaws to the body.

Both Ruth Sweetser, Association President, and Barbara O'Connor, Foundation President, led AAUW well during their terms. Carolyn Garfein was elected president for the 09-11 term.

Other convention highlights:
* Preconvention tour of historic St. Louis
* Keynote by Lilly Ledbetter
* Presentations by Rep. Rosa DiLauro (D-CT) and Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA)
* "She-E-O" featuring corporate CEOs Arlene Harris (Jitterbug) and Erika Feinberg (ActiveForever)

This was my fourth AAUW convention, but due to conflicts with ALA Annual I have not been able to attend since 2001. It was gratifying to see so many people whom I knew from years ago, and to meet in-person those I'd met online. As always, I was impressed and inspired by the women who have invested so much of their time, talent, and treasure in AAUW over the years.

On to St. Louis!

Watch this space, the sequel

Note to self: next year, stake those peonies!

The peony on the dining table is in a Kohler vase. (Kohler tested its glazes on this particular shape of ceramic vase. In antiques shops near Kohler/Sheboygan they are very expensive, but I found this and another just like it in a shop in Union Grove, WI, for just $15.)

For the language mavens

Books about language abound these days! Two new releases that we are reading (full disclosure: DH has finished them and I am still reading them):
* In the Land of Invented Languages, by Arika Okrent.
'Esperanto rock stars, Klingon poets, Loglan lovers, and the mad dreamers who tried to build a perfect language.' I've long been intrigued by Esperanto, but not enough to search out fellow Esperantists to learn it -- but apparently there are lots of people who have. Okrent, a linguist, goes back to the 17th century in her research about invented language. (An appendix lists 500 of them; who knew?)
www.inthelandofinventedlanguages.com
* Origins of the Specious, by Patricia T. O'Connor with Stewart Kellerman. 'Myths and Misconceptions of the English language.' It turns out that many of the 'rules' that we who aspire to good grammar practice are relatively recent. (As Okrent writes, 'Forced tradition + time = real tradition.') O'Connor's essays include 'User Friendly,' about those Texas road signs that declare, 'Drive Friendly.' It turns out that 'friendly' 'has been both an adverb and an adjective since the Middle Ages. In fact, 'friendlily' is the klutzy latecomer--it didn't arrive until the 17th century.' Or, about double negatives: 'I wasn't until the 18th century that a sentence like, 'I didn't see nothing' was pronounced a crime against English..'"
www.grammarphobia.com
Have you noticed that in recent years expository writing has taken a decidedly conversational turn? The author is more likely to interject first person opinion and address the reader ('you'). I think that's the influence of e-mail; surely people who study that sort of thing have already researched the trend.

Zig Zag the easy way

A couple of weeks ago I found a blog tutorial on how to make a zig zag quilt without having to piece triangles. http://beesquarefabrics.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-make-zig-zag-quilt-without.html

I forwarded the link to several of my online groups. I then decided to take my own advice and try the technique myself. Not only did I piece the top, I've finished the entire quilt! Here are photos of the front and the pieced back. It's approximately 53 x 62.

Hearts and Flowers Hug Quilt

"Hearts and Flowers" was made by the Magpies for Marian, one of our group whose mother passed away earlier this year. I coordinated the project, set the blocks, and quilted the top. The quilt has now been presented to her. Now I can post the photo without risking spoiling the surprise! Marian said that yellow was her mother's favorite color and that she loved flower gardens, so the choice of pattern was perfect.

The block is at Quilting.About.com (click on the "free blocks" link). It's what I call a potato chip block -- you can't make just one! I'm going to suggest the block for one of the online swap groups.

Watch this space, part 2

(Hmmm, Blogger didn't allow the seventh photo.) We bought two more "Leksvik" tall bookcases from Ikea (we now have eight of them) to accommodate DH's books. This photo shows the boxes of books that he's decided he can live without. There is a big garage sale in our near future, and the Friends of the Library sale will benefit, too.

We have many iris in our garden. All of them are this pretty blue/purple.

Watch this space

The first five photos are of the peonies in our back yard. They are going to be glorious in just a couple of weeks! DH planted a dozen tomato plants and a bell pepper plant today. That's the extent of our vegetable garden--but if all goes well, we'll have a nice crop (supplemented by the bounty at the farmer's market).

Happy birthday, DGB

Today would be Dad's 91st birthday. Here are photos from May 5, 1959 -- 50 years ago today.

The wall clock was one of the birthday gifts. It hung in the kitchen for years (decades) and was sold in the estate sale in 2002. I saw the same clock in an antiques mall a couple of years ago (not ours, since Mother had painted the frame white) and seeing something so familiar in such a different context was quite a surprise.

My sister and I had chickenpox that week. Perhaps we're smiling as a distraction from scratching?!

Really Big Quilt Show report

Julie and I spent yesterday at the RBQS at the Rosemont convention center. This was the 7th year of the show. I went in 2003 and 2004, but have not been able to attend since. The quilts on exhibit were stunning . (Photos of them are posted elsewhere -- check http://www.quilts.com/ as well as other people's reports . Surely there are a few Flickr photo sets by now.)

We met our Baseball Swap friend Alice, the proprietor of Della Jane Hand Dyes (http://www.dellajane.com/) and closed up the show with her. By 7 p.m. the place had about one customer to every three vendors. We enjoyed dinner at Harry Caray's, and had our photo taken with his likeness.

I was Very Good and didn't buy very much, though the vendors certainly had wonderful wares. My purchases:

* 6-1/2 yards of fabric: some reproduction shirtings, double pinks, and cheddars (plus an irresistable bronze); 3 fqs of black-on-black; and--the splurge--DaGama cottons from South Africa in red and chocolate. (I love, love, love those DaGama prints! (www.dagama.co.za)

* Two full-price garment patterns. (One of which is a master pattern for multiple designs.)

* 10 patterns for $20--the vendor (wholesaler of Schmetz needles) had bought the inventory of a pattern distributor (I figure that it's better to spend $2 than full price for a pattern I may not make ).

* Kai scissors, which cut slippery fabric with ease. (Thanks for the recommendation, Dawn.)

Now, Sunday: a rainy afternoon, perfect for sewing!

Judith Krug

The library world lost one of its champions last Saturday when Judith Krug passed away. Judy was the founding, and only, director of the Office of Intellectual Freedom at the American Library Association. Since 1968 she worked tirelessly for our First Amendment rights. She helped libraries large and small deal with censorship challenges. For most in our profession she was not only the voice of intellectual freedom, she was its persona.
http://www.ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pressreleases2009/april2009/oifkrug.cfm
I was honored to know Judy personally. She enriched the world by her presence. She will be missed.

Recent reading

I've been here all along. I just haven't been blogging. Truthfully, not posting hasn't been problematic. I get a great deal of e-mail via the online groups to which I belong. I'm on Facebook and Linked In, though I don't often post to them, either.

In March I presented the program for the Clara Cummings Book Club, a Waukegan-based group. Preparing for that consumed my reading time for a good six weeks. I can't devote an entire book review to just one book. (I tried that once, long ago, and it was a disaster.) Instead I talk about a half dozen or more. The "spring selections" were:
* Bold Spirit: Helga Estby's Walk Across Victorian America, by Linda Lawrence Hunt
http://www.boldspiritacrossamerica.com/
* The Women, by T. C. Boyle
http://www.tcboyle.com/page2.html?2
* American Wife, by Curtis Sittenfeld
http://www.curtissittenfeld.com/
* Emily Post, by Laura Claridge
http://www.lauraclaridge.com/
* The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shafer and Annie Barrows
http://www.guernseyliterary.com/
* I Feel Bad About My Neck, by Nora Ephron (no website)
* Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog, by Kitty Burns Florey
* Script and Scribble, by Kitty Burns Florey
http://www.kittyburnsflorey.com/

Also in March I was the speaker at meetings for two different P.E.O. chapters. I planned to show the film Let's Face It (http://www.letsfaceit.tv/) and lead a discussion of this thought-provoking film. On three previous occasions the DVD has not played properly, and I suspected that might happen again so I took the CCBC books and bibliography with me. I was glad I did -- at one house the DVD would not play. At the other it did. Go figure!

More mileage yet: I gave the book talk for the Prime Timers, a lunch group at Grace Missionary Church. And, a finale for the season: I'm on the program for the AAUW-Illinois state convention in Decatur next week.

Meanwhile, I've added two more books to the stack, courtesy of reader's advisor extraordinaire Nancy Pearl. The author is Stephanie Kallos. Nancy recommended her second novel, Sing Them Home. I listened to it and loved it, so I got the audio edition of her first novel, Broken for You. Wonderful! I compare her to Anne Tyler.

.....Now I'm reading Driftless, by David Rhodes. It is set in rural southwestern Wisconsin (the driftless region, which was not scoured by the glaciers). http://calitreview.com/1577 He writes like Wendell Berry or the best of Jon Hassler: such exquisite prose that it hurts to read it.

An apron for a bee? Something's brewing @ the library

Last evening I made an apron for Sting, the library's bee mascot. Sting will be in the library lobby to promote our cafe. Not too long ago drink-and-food were strictly prohibited in libraries. Now that water bottles are ubiquitous, and that ours is a caffeinated nation, we allow covered beverages in the reading rooms. The library is nowhere near any place to get coffee. Patrons have had to bring their own or do without -- until next week, when the cafe opens!

I found the perfect accessory in my box of vintage kitchen linens. The red-and-white checked towel looks just right on his arm.

(For more about the ZB Bees: http://www.cityartproject.com/ZionBeesProject/zionfinishbees.html)

Ugly Fabric

I went to my vintage fabrics stash for the uglies. Here are photos of the candidates. I chose the green/orange/purple floral to make four 6.5" "Old Maid's Puzzle" blocks.

Colorado, day 1

First day in Colorado -- my friend-since-kindergarten met me at the airport. (She's a nonquilter, nonlibrarian, but in addition to childhood ties we share P.E.O.) We drove out to Golden to the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum. There are two exhibits now: "California Gold," featuring 19th century quilts that use a butterscotch yellow by that name. (Some of the quilts, made in different places in different years, even have the same California Gold print!) A couple of the quilts were not quilted -- demonstrating that some UFOs can become museum pieces! The second exhibit, "Speaking in Cloth," featured the work of six Pacific Northwest art quilters, each of whom contributed six quilt to the exhibit. No picture-taking was allowed in the galleries.

I had to buy something in the gift shop to commemorate my visit. No, not these patchwork bears -- instead, FQs of 19thc reproduction fabrics.
We then went to Boulder ("the People's Republic of...") and continued our visiting as we windowshopped along the downtown pedestrian mall. Lots of interesting boutiques. When a friendship goes back as far as ours, getting together is a wonderful catching-up. It had been eight years since our last in-person visit.

New flimsies

This was a mystery quilt that members of my quilt guild did way back in 2004. I had assembled the center and put the project away in a box. When I took it out earlier this month I found out that I had pieced the triangle border and cut the wide border, so all I had to do was sew the borders on. (It's about 64 x 64.)

This is similar to a quilt I made at the end of December, 2007 (see the blog post for that date). I used the same-sized blocks -- 1.5" x 6.5" strips pieced into squares, then cut on the diagonal and re-pieced -- but more of them.

Looking out my front door

Double Delight and the lumber room

Here's my version of Double Delight, Bonnie Hunter's first quilt design for the new year. I followed her fabric recommendations closely. I am very pleased with the way it turned out!

Our house has a room in the basement that could be used as a bedroom (the previous owners had it set up that way). It does not have an escape window, however, so I hesitate to even consider the room for sleeping occupancy. I use it as a store room -- or, in more colorful parlance, as the lumber room. As Brewer's Dictionary explains it, "Lumber: formerly a pawnbroker's shop. From Lombard, a banker or moneylender. In medieval London, Lombard Street became the home of Lombards and other Italian merchants who set up as goldsmiths, moneylenders, and bankers. From the 13th century they flourished as pawnbrokers."

Last week I posted a picture of the lumber room in disarray. I spent several hours rearranging it, and here 'tis. The books/magazines here are those for sale (on Quilter's Flea Market and, I hope, Sew It's For Sale) as opposed to those to keep which are on shelves in my studio.

2008 in review: Annual Reckoning

Here's my last quiltmaking for 2008. The blocks were made in 2005 as the RCTQ block-of-the-month. I attempted to set them in early 2006 but ran out of enthusiasm. I got them out this past week, and voila! This is how they turned out. I like the way the bright colors float on the "outer space" background print.

Since 1998 I have tracked my fabric consumption and acquisition; since 2004 I have tracked the expense for that fabric. (The Reckoning does not include batting, thread, books/patterns. It does include fashion fabric.) I can't figure out how to import a spreadsheet or a table into a blogpost. If you want to see the complete story, e-mail me.

In 2008 I used 375 yards. I bought 529 yards. I paid $1483, or $2.80/yard.

My accomplishments for 2008:

* Started and finished

12 quilts (lap-sized and larger)

9 wallhangings

5 table runners

1 tote bag

17 pillow cases

2 pantsuits

2 jackets

2 two-piece dresses

* Finished

8 quilts (UFOs from previous years)

* Created

12 flimsies (unquilted tops)

366 HeartStrings Blocks

I emptied 87 spools of thread.
Here are photos of my studio, taken this morning. The storeroom is extra-crowded with additional furniture from the parsonage, now resident in my -- our! -- house.

Fiesta for Christmas

In 1977 when I lived in Brenham, Texas, I went to Mrs. Minnie Lee Sampley's estate sale (she was moving into the nursing home). [She died in 1986 at age 96.} I bought a dark blue bowl for fifty cents. I bought it only because it was old and pretty.

I soon found out that it was Fiesta Ware. Even in 1977, fifty cents was a bargain for "an 8" cobalt nappy, no chips."

Since then my collection has grown. There's the large salad bowl my former boyfriend gave to me when I moved from Brenham; the cracker dish that was a wedding gift; and the bargain: plates, cups, and saucers in yellow (a dozen of each for $250). Whenever I think I need to divest myself of some of it there comes an occasion where the bright colors are perfect.

Such was the case this Christmas. The green plates go perfectly with this vintage tablecloth. (Finding that meant a pleasurable hour...okay, hour and a half! going through the vintage linens boxes. I had completely forgotten that I had this particular tablecloth.)