Favorite Sandwich?

Some other bloggers have been posting answers to the current meme. I just want to tell you about my favorite sandwich... coke vs. pepsi? Diamonds vs. pearls? Morning vs. night? All of this pales in comparison to the...

Green Turkey Sub from The Yellow Sub in Lawrence, Kansas

I suppose it would be good from any of their other locations, but it just wouldn't be the same to me.

The green turkey is a sub made with whole wheat bread, deli turkey, salsa, cream cheese, guacamole and bacon -- TOASTED!

It is a messy delight! One time when I was visiting friends here and there across the great state of Kansas, I stopped at 10 am to get a green turkey because I wasn't sure when I might come to another Yellow Sub. Gosh... it's been too long. I can't even remember the last time I had one. And, yes, I've tried to replicate it at home and it's just not the same.

The Bacon Turkey Bravo from Panera is a decent substitute, but leaves me feeling nostalgic for the great plains and the sounds of the bells ringing from the campanile on the campus of The University of Kansas.

Rock Chalk Jay Hawk!

Cast Your Vote

Our "Meet the Artists" event is Saturday afternoon. The Frayed Edges have been shooting emails this week worrying about what to wear and whether anyone will come. Arg. Didn't we all promise not to stress about any little details when we first planned this show?

Ok, so in order to alieviate my own decision making and add some humor to this whole deal I'm offering the following outfits for you to vote on. Remember it's Saturday from 4 to 6 and it's at a coffee shop --- it's not a fancy gallery cocktail hour kind of event. (Though if any of the other Frayed Edges want to go formal, I think that's grand!)

#1 Blue Springy Blossoms (I bought this skirt when we were in Maryland this weekend. I think some new sandals might be in order. Something lighter -- in color and shape. Hmmm, if only I had several hundred dollars with which to buy one of Manolo's recommendations. But, Payless is having their Buy One Get One Half Price Sale...)


#2 In Homage to Christo (Kate turned me on to the huge rack of orange jackets at Goodwill. Brand new only 95 cents... but all in petite sizes, which works for me. This outfit definetely needs some faboo necklace which might have to be procured with a trip to the bead store later this week.)



Metro Red (This is pretty simple, but a little funky. Those red pants fit great -- they were a good purchase even though they cost more than 95 cents. The sleeves are sheer and there is a bit of beading on the shirt. )


I can hardly wait to read your comments. Please be kind... I'm certainly not "America's Next Top Model!"

Don't Spill Your Cappacino!

Kate and I hung our show at the Little Dog Coffee Shop in Brunswick, Maine last week. I think it looks really good. I've finally got some pictures. They were a bit dark and I lightened them in Photoshop, but I think they are a bit grainey. Oh well.

And, of course, if you're going to be in Maine, please give me a call, I'll buy a cuppa and show you the quilts in person. (I'll even let you touch them.) Plus our "meet the artists" even is next Saturday, April 30 from 4 to 6. (I still don't know what I'm going to wear... maybe the super spunky orange linen/denim jacket I bought at Goodwill for 95 cents.)

Do you recognize my arch collages on the pillar in the foreground? Those are Kate's two wonderful brown pieces in the back and my red flowers.


Another view. I didn't crop out the customers so you could get a real feel for the place. Usually it's busier. But I took these pictures just before closing. The quilts above the couches include my two funky pieced pieces, Kathy's wonderful heron, Sarah's amazing Brooks and Branches and three of her wonderful journal quilts.


And another view. This is our big gallery wall. I'm not sure if we'll sell anything. But it sure brightens the place up and it's been a good experience. Those short tables in the middle of the shot are the ones they had just brought in from the sidewalk.

Out and About in Maine

We had a super weekend with my parents. More details soon. In the meantime, here are some pictures of our hike up to the top of Bradbury Mountain. You realize, of course, that in the state of Maine, the term "mountain" is used a bit loosely. In that, a three year old can climb it by himself and not whine too much to be carried.

Wood on the path to the summit of Bradbury Mountain



Rocks on the way to the summit of Bradbury Mountain. Don't worry a quilt inspired by rocks is forthcoming. I painted the fabric for it at the last Art Quilts Maine meeting.



The summit of Bradbury Mountain. I guess I didn't take any pictures of the view, which was quite specatular. I'm sure my dad (pictured in the background below) did, but I don't think we swapped picture files before they left. Oh well. Next time.


We also had a super fantastic time walking along the beach at Harpswell. We were there at like 10:30 am and no one else was around. We walked up the beach for quite a way picking up shells, drift wood and sea glass. I've hunted for sea glass before on busyier beaches during more seasonal months with no luck. We hit the sea glass jack pot this weekend. Yes, a sea glass quilt will also be forthcoming.

We logged three letterboxes this weekend too. The first boxes after the long winter.

One New Picture and An Alternate Use for Your Fabric Stash

Here's a picture of the small fiber collage I wrote about yesterday. It will be hanging in our show.

Attic Window, newly improved and mounted on a cedar shingle, about 6.5 x 16 inches


We had our local guild meeting last night. I really enjoyed it. Here's the best story of the night. One gal who was there appeared to have injured her nose in some way. Maybe she had something removed, or fell and scraped it up... I'm not sure. But she had a big bandage on. Rather than just have the white gauze and bandaid showing, she went to her stash and found a fabric that matched her skin tone, cut out a triangle and put it over the bandage. Can't you just see her standing in front of the mirror comparing swatches?

Four Stars

Frayed Edges met on Monday and it was a super fantastic day. I'll give it a big thumbs up and four stars!

Frayed Edges is my small art quilt group. There are just four of us. Me, Kate, Kathy and Sarah. We connected through Art Quilts Maine, the state-wide art quilts guild. We were all really looking for a smaller group of artists who we could really connect with and it has turned out to be an absolutely amazing group.

We spent a good bit of time preparing for our show at the Little Dog Coffee shop. Kate and I will be hanging the show tomorrow night. (Yikes!) We discussed pricing in depth. I've come to the conclusion that -- for me at least -- one of the most important tools in pricing is discussing it with others. We all feel confident and open enough with each other to be honest and come to numbers that feel right. As Sarah has posted on the QA list, an important determination is how much you are going to feel happy selling it for. In some ways, this supersedes all that stuff about cost of materials and time, price per square inch, blah blah blah. We're all fairing new to selling our work. I think we ended up with very fair prices that as we become more successful we will be able to raise. It was also helpful to compare the pieces between us that are similar and then price them in the same range. We have 32 pieces to hang and they range in price from $30 to $650.

Actually I'm pleased to report I sold one of my fiber collages. My friend Anne came over for dinner on Tuesday so I gave her a "preview" and she bought Transform. She said she "just loved" it and I was thrilled to sell it to her.

Several months ago I sent a small piece to Somerset Studio to be considers for publication in their upcoming issue that has the theme "portals." I was rejected. But the piece is back in time to hang in the show. It felt a bit unfinished and needed something. You know how small quilts risk looking like potholders or placemats? The Frayed Edges had the PERFECT idea to mount it on a wooden shingle. I would have never come up with this on my own -- another immeasurable benefit of a small art quilt group. Benjamin and I went to Home Depot yesterday where I found an unbound pile of cedar shingles. I asked if I could have a couple and the gal in the orange apron said, "I don't see why not." I was able to dig through for one that was the right dimensions and had some interesting wood grain. Free! Even better. It looks really great now. I'll post a picture later. (The link above is before I sent it off.)

We also had a great lunch. I made Rachel Ray's Ham and Rosemary Scones. And we had Hannaford brownie bites for dessert.

Kathy shared some of her hand dyed fabric all beautifully packaged in cigar boxes. We all felt so lucky! And she was glad to share with friends who appreciated her generoristy. (You know how some people just don't get it about FABRIC!!! Well... we all did lots of ooohing and aaahing and fondling because we LOVE fabric.)

And we also did a notebook cover swap. We used the pattern from the last issue of Threads to make beautiful covers for 5 x 8 mini legal pads. They were all different and stunning and now we each have something to make notes in during our little get-togethers. I should have taken pictures of the notebooks. What was I thinking? Next time.

Vicarious Guilty Pleasures

The Frayed Edges met on Monday and we had a super fantastic day! I reported to them some of our guilty pleasures and they admitted some of their own. Since two of them made me respond with audible gasps, I thought I'd share them with you for your own gasping pleasure. I won't report the names to protect the "innocent" since I didn't get permission to share with the whole wide world.

Some unnamed art quilter, when she is alone in the house late at night, likes to put a couple of tablespoons of butter (real butter) in a ramekin with a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar and microwave it until it is carmelly candy goo ... this is where we expected her to say she puts banana slices in it, or dips vanilla wafers or spreads it on toast or something... nope... eats it straight with a spoon. Ah! Decadence.

Another unnamed art quilter takes the "eats it straight with a spoon" concept to the next level. Get this. Sweetened condensed milk right out of the can! Yikes!

Completed Self Portrait

I decided it's more of an "autobiography" than a self portrait.


Here's a detail of the writing, stamping, quilting and construction.



Here's a detail of some of the "collages" which make up the bottom border and the yellow ribbon from which they hang.

I Cleaned My Studio

The Frayed Edges are meeting tomorrow. Yippee! So, I cleaned my studio -- not that they would expect me to, but I've finished up the current works, so I usually like to have a clean slate before starting the next project.

I've got several little things to do to prepare for our show at The Little Dog Coffee Shop: labels, sleeves, hooks, trim threads. So, that will probably take up the rest of this week. Then my parents come to occupy the studio for a long weekend. So, at least it had to get clean by then.

Plus, I get a kick out of seeing pictures of studios... so I thought I'd share mine.

I looked briefly at a cool site called Wonderful Graffitti today. They make vinyl letters. And I thought it might be cool to order some artsy-inspirational quote to put on the slanted white ceiling. It's a severe angle so you can't hang anything on it, but sticky letters might be cool.

And speaking of studios: check out this one! Yowza!

Studio/Guest Room Before (all my fabric and stuff goes in the closet)


Studio/Guest Room After (I can even put that ironing board in the closet and I will when the guests come.)

Guilty Pleasures

Hmmmm. I love this. But, I especially Karoda's wonderful attitude of not feeling guilty. Good on you girl.

So, I won't say I'm guilty, but I am sometimes I'm a bit embarrassed to admit...

I've never missed an episode of America's Next Top Model! All four seasons, I've seen them all. And loved every FIERCE minute!

Did You Miss Me?

I'm writing this on Sunday morning, hoping that if I try to post something new it will magically make my blog reappear. It's been MIA for a couple of days. I can get to my dashboard, but the blog itself doesn't show up. I've got emails from a couple of you. Blush. It's nice to know I was missed. Ok, I'll give this a try and see what happens.

Tidbits

Did I tell you about Benjamin's obession with green? He did this all on his own -- picking out all the green m&ms and other candies from his Easter bounty. (While wearing his Halloween shirt!)


I have to tell you that the self portrait is sucking the life out of me. It's not that I'm not pleased with it... I'm just missing any motivation to finish it up. And really, it's almost done. What's my problem? Man, it's so bright. I just want to dive into my brown drawer for a relief. If the "deadline" wasn't this Saturday, I would just put it away for awhile. So, here's what I have left to do.

• Make 10 more inches of some kind of collage to complete the border which will go along the bottom, under the house.
• Figure out how to "hang" the collages from the bottom since it needs some open space to balance out the open triangles at the top.
• Submit to the idea I already have about hanging the collages even though it's going to require a trip to the hardward store and the fabric store and more work than I really want to do.
• Go to the hardware store and the fabric store.
• Hope Benjamin takes a couple of long naps and finish the quilt.
• Reward myself with chocolate.

I'll keep you posted.

What's Going On in the Studio?

I finally redid the sky. I like it much better. I haven't sewn it to the tryptic yet. Maybe later today. The white strip has text from Genesis 1 about the second day, when God created the sky. I'll post several close ups of the self portrait when it's all done. It's supposed to be done by Saturday to share at the Art Quilts Maine meeting. That's the group that issued the challenge in the first place.

Progress on the self portrait



These are a few of the "collages" for the bottom border of the self protrait. The red and orange one is a map of the USA with beads in all of the places I've lived and a little house milagro that Kate gave me from her trip to NM. The green and yellow one is my NAME. I associate a lot of my identity with my name... so here it is. And the blue one, which will get more embellishment, is a baptismal prayer from the sacrament of baptism from The Book of Common Prayer. I need to make a couple of more collages to fill up the bottom border. Possible themes: chocolate, Tridelta, Disney World.



This is the project I worked on at the quiltathon (see post below). I did all the quilting on "Spring." I turned out pretty well. Maybe I'll post a close up. I am working on a seasons series in this same style and format. Winter is done except for a bit of embellishing and I've picked out fabrics for summer. Now to bind Spring and add a bit of embellishment.

Linny the Guinea Pig

My kids and I always get a huge kick out of these two clever videos on nickjr.com. Unfortunately, there is not a direct link to these masterpieces. But they are so great, I am going to give specific instructions for you find and enjoy them. (Especially if you like classical music...)

• Go to nickjr.com
• Click on the orange and yellow circle on the middle left of the screen.
• Click on the green video camera in the upper right corner of the screen.
• Now click on "All Videos" in the lower right.
• Now you've got a bunch of rectangles with thumbnails of several videos. (If you've got kids, or a child-like sense of humor, and nothing better to do, you can hang out here for a bit.)
• Look for the thumbnail of a guinea pig wearing a space helmet. This one is Linny in Space.
• There is another of the guinea pig in an aquarium.
• Enjoy.

I suspect there are tons of amazing short videos all over the internet. Someone posted an incredible video of a guy making sand art recently. I've forgotten where. But if you know of other interesting videos, I hope you'll share!