Friday, April 27, 2007

more crumbs



Another crumb quilt--someone asked why I call my plaid quilts cowboy quilts--I like cowboy fabric and find they work well with plaids. I love the little boy quality of these quilts, very playful. I may be projecting my life with this playful 9 year old boy!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

insomnia



I have periods of insomnia, nothing terrible, but when I find myself tossing and turning too much, I head downstairs to the davenport. I awoke to a flash, to find Andy taking my picture--quilt included.
Eve and Paul have caught me downstairs, and I thought I had better explain my move was not due to a fight, but that I was trying to protect Andy's sleep. Eve said, "I thought you might be doing this because you were irritated with him." I explained that if I was irritated with him, I would have stayed in bed and made his sleep miserable!
Note the cat--This is the Creature Who Has No Purpose. He escapes the house and terrorises raccoons. He stands in the middle of the road and stares down cars. I really dislike this cat (most cats, actually) but he lives here so I feed him. Andy and the kids adore him.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

monocromatic crayon box




I finished my version of Bonnie's Crayon Box. I have been trying to get a handle on the plaid shirt problem in my sewing space. I tackled the small parts in the blue pile and cut them into pieces for this--put together with no concern for value of light, medium, and dark. I did not use the sashing, butting 20 blocks together, spining alternate ones. This puts in a subtle secondary pattern of a woven cross at the intersections.
Thanks Bonnie!

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

the usual suspects


I belong to a group of wonderful women called "Tuesday Knitters". Our children were in preschool together, and we would get together on Tuesdays to knit. Time has past, children grew, and we now gather yearly on Super Bowl Sunday.
I am a very basic knitter, with it used more as a calming/distracting activity than a chance to showcase amazing skills. My usual output is dishcloths, for crying out loud. But, rearranging a cupboard today brought out this lineup. I loved making gnomes. These are all well played with. I think the ZZ Top guy on the left is one of the first ones I made. I'm sure I made over 50 of them, giving as gifts and to a school shop.
I have lots of bits of yarn around, in small quantities. Time to make more gnomes.

Friday, April 06, 2007

serendipity



Eve and I are just back from a few days in New York, doing touristy stuff, and getting a Chicago angle by visiting the site of our of our favorite John Cusack movies.
We also went to see the play Grey Gardens, about a mother and daughter who are crazy and grow old together.

We took notes.

boys



Seth loves my quilts and my fabrics. A few days ago, when a revolution was forming on LeClaire and a banner was needed for the troops, some of my hand dyed fabric of Robbi Eklow was commandeered.