Happy Halloween

My goodness. Two posts in one day! Unheard of.

I wanted to get these pictures up especially for the grmas and the grpas and all the other friends and family whose doors we will not be able to knock upon this evening!

Avatar Aang and his Water Bending Friend, Katara!

We had such a fun time making these costumes and everyone is thrilled with the results! Avatar is an excellent show on Nick. It's not too popular. (Compared to the likes of SpongeBob, ahem.) I won't be surprised if Claire and Benjamin have to tell everyone who they are. But if you have watched the show, you can see that our costumes are spot-on!

Claire's Katara!

The real Katara!

Benjamin's Aang!

The Real Aang!

It's all about cheap sweatsuits from Walmart, some dye and a few remnants of fabric. In fact, we made Katara's skirt from a sweatshirt. I turned it upside down, cut off the neck and sleeves to make the pointy hem and slide a piece of elastic into the ready-made casing of what would have been the bottom of the sweatshirt. Slick!

We tried to convince Benjamin to actually shave his head, but he refused. (Kidding.) We think this bald cap is about the funniest thing ever! And it really makes the costume.

I just ate another 100 Grand bar out of the candy we are supposed to be giving out tonight. Oops. I hope we don't run out.

Dandelion

Here is my submission for our small art quilt challenge group called 12x12. The theme for our first round was dandelions.


The more I look at it, the better I like it. I wasn't so sure at first. I'm not sure it's completely "me." Whatever that means. Several of the other 12x12 members said the same thing. It incorporates several of my favorite techniques -- handwriting, mixing hand embroidery with machine quilting, raw edges, a bit of surface design. But, is something missing? I'm still not sure.

I used a somewhat improvisational technique of building up a composition of various fabrics. I stitched some. I fused some and some got caught up in the stitching of the piece next to it. I have always been drawn to a layout that is reminiscent of an altar or shrine. It seems like that presented itself here also.

Actually the surface design was added to solve the problem of that white section just overtaking the whole quilt. It was too much contrast. Plus, those embroidered circles are rayon, so they are not only BRIGHT but also SHINY. They needed to be toned down. So I stamped on the yellow/orange circles. I think this also gave the quilt a slightly more focused composition.

I finished with a traditional binding, but gave it some character with a simple blanket stitch extended from the white section on each side -- embellished with a small bead in each stitch. This idea came from "thr3fold" journal, a wonderful publication by Linda and Laura Kemshall.

I am thrilled with this little beaded section. I think it's my favorite element of the whole piece.

You must go see the other 11 dandelion quilts on our blog. I am humbled to be part of such a creative, dynamic group. It's so inspiring.

The theme for our next round is "chocolate." Um, I think I can gather a bunch of research tonight. "Trick or Treat!"

Birthday Gifts

I sure wish I could have celebrated with the Frayed Edges! I just sent gifts instead.


I had a blast stitching up these small little studies. I've been seeing "blue and brown" everywhere, so I thought I'd explore that combination. And I'm not giving up on my obsession with botanical shapes.

I think they are about six inches square. I mounted them on 9x12 inch pieces of matte board.

Notice the positive and negative shapes? Two for one!

Lincoln wanted to come outside to help take pictures.

Happy Birthday Sarah and Hannah!

Dallas!

We had a fantastic time last weekend when my parents came to visit. One -- of the many -- things we enjoyed about Dallas was a trip to the top of Reunion Tower. Wow. What a beautiful day and an amazing view.



Here is another skyline picture -- from Google images.

Reunion Tower is the one with the giant ball on top. You can see the sections of the dome in the family picture. And the blueish triangular building in both the skyline picture and the family picture. (I tried to figure out what building it is, but I couldn't quite track it down. A true Dallasite could tell you. But, obviously, I'm not a true Dallasite.)

It was very windy!


We could see all the way to the water tower in our little suburb way far away. We could see Fort Worth on the skyline. We identified the "grassy knoll" and the book depository. The Cotton Bowl, City Hall, the new multi-million dollar arts center and the Trinity River Corridor. It really did give me a "big picture" concept of the city.

Sometimes I talk with people who have lived in Dallas for years and years and I am stunned to hear that they have never been to the top of Renion Tower. Or experienced other local treasures. As they say... "right in your own backyard." What have you overlooked in your back yard?

**I posted a few more interactive journal kits in my Etsy shop.

Oops

Benjamin was working on a poster to share with his class. He is the student of the week this week. We picked out several pictures for him to print out, cut out and glue on the poster.

He seemed to be having some trouble getting the pictures to stick. He said he liked the glue stick he was using because it was slippery and not dry like the other stick he had tried. But he was also a bit frustrated that it was leaving lots of wet marks. I said not to worry, that it would be dry by the time we got home from church.

I should have looked more closely. Because it's easy to confuse this:(A glue stick.)

with this.

(A stick of sun screen.)

Yuck. We had to start all over

(All the Interactive Journal Kits in my Etsy Shop have sold. More this week, I promise.)

Interactive Journals

Check out these super fun little journals I made!



I designed them for the mini-workshop that I am leading before the Dallas Area Fiber Artists meeting in November. I'm calling them "Interactive Journals" because they are full of tabs, pockets, flaps, folds and all kinds of other stuff.
Here is a sweet little tab sticking out from the binding.


Here is a giant tag I created from coordinating paint chips and a pocket filled with decorative scraps.

Here is a mini-journal inside the journal.

What might be hidden under the flap? And what might be written on the tiny tag?

There are 24 pages in each journal made up of a variety of materials... beautifully designed papers, vellum, grid paper, a brown paper bag, etc. I designed the Christmas one with the idea that I could make doodles, drawings, lists and notes throughout the month of December leading up to Christmas -- since it has 24 pages! Like an Advent Journal.

I've made kits for the workshop and I know the DAFA members are going to love going through all the items, cutting flaps and mixing up the various elements to make their own journals.

I put a few extra kits in my Etsy Shop if you simply must make your own journal.

I'll also be doing to the program for the Dallas Area Fiber Artists in November. I'll be sharing a trunk show of my quilts and talking about "Getting from Start to Art: 76 Tips to Jump Start Your Creativity." (If your group or guild is looking for a fun, inspiring program, please email me!)

Pokey 'Os

We had such a nice day off from school last week. (Goodness, was it really last week? Time flies.) The kids did not have school on Columbus Day and we opted NOT to go to the Texas State Fair, which is apparently the traditional activity on Columbus Day. Instead, we tried to go to a kids' concert at the Arboretum. Apparently I was not the only Mom who thought that would make a perfect outing for a day-off from school. By the time we arrived, they had actually closed the entire Arboretum because it was full. Bummer.

So we drove back through a bunch of traffic and found our way to a huge two-story Barnes and Noble. I looked at a bunch of magazines including several that my regular bookstores do not carry (like Selvedge). The kids looked through maze books and played at the train table. So fun and relaxing. I love bookstores. Then Jeff met us and took us out for lunch. We all went back to Daddy's office for awhile.

And then we went to Pokey O's.

It was fabulous! I read about it in D Magazine months ago, but it's not exactly near where we live, so this was our first trip. It certainly won't be our last.

First, you pick a cookie.
The you pick one of 15 flavors of Blue Bell ice cream. And then the charming college student behind the counter puts them together into your own personalized ice cream sandwich.
Claire chose the tuxedo cookie and the birthday cake ice cream. Yum.Benjamin chose a snickerdoodle with birthday cake ice cream. (Jeff also chose the snickerdoodle with cake batter ice cream and I chose the chocolate chunk cookie with chocolate and peanut butter ice cream.)
Isn't this just a fantastic idea? It is my new favorite place for ice cream.

Boo!

I had a super fun time making a few fabric pendants on Friday. I thought I had a Halloween t-shirt to wear to the Fall Festival at the kids' school, but what I remembered as a "bedazzled pumpkin" was actually a "bedazzled shamrock." Oops. Wrong holiday.

So I got crafty and made my own festive attire. And then once I made one... I made more.

They are just simple little fused quilts strung on a black cord. But the little dangly goodies make it feel more like jewelry. I loved digging through my charms and beads for coordinating items.

And they're reversible! The backs are simple and modern for the more subtle Halloween celebrations. I listed a few in my Etsy shop if you'd like to see more, or if you must have one for your own Fall Festival! Order quick and I'll get them to you by Halloween.

(Oh yes! The festival was super fun. I'll have pictures on Claire in her costume soon.)

Morning

Before I tackle my list of things to do today: fresh fruit, cross word and coffee. (And a bit of blog writing and reading.)

I actually did some work on my dandelion quilt for the 12x12 challenge. It was going fine until I realized I mismeasured. It's only 10x10. Grumble.

Heart

If you or someone you love has had open heart surgery, you probably have this guy to thank. Dr. Michael DeBakey was recently awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian honor bestowed in the United States. It is equivalent to the Presidential Medal of Freedom, though it is bestowed by Congress rather than by the President himself. (Or herself.) Dr. Debakey was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969. It should also be noted that there have been far fewer Gold Medal recipients than Medal of Freedom recipients. Other recipients include the Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jackie Robinson, Pope John Paul II and Charles Schultz. By the way, Dr. Debakey is 99 years old and still practicing medicine. He is best known for his pioneering work in cardiovascular surgury. But he also invented the concept of the MASH unit (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital).

Why do I find this interesting?

Dr. DeBakey operated on my mother's heart when she was just 5 years old in 1947. Her surgery was notable because her sister Pat had the same ailment and operation. They were even published in the local paper in Minneapolis.Mom says they discovered the problem with her heart at her kindergarten physical. Apparently there was a valve that didn't close properly which meant the blood sloshing around where it didn't belong. When they discovered Mom's problem, they also tested her two sisters and my Aunt Pat had the same trouble. Mom says she was very concerned that Joanna and I might have problems when we were born.

Aunt Pat was operated on first because she was older and stronger. (And she's still strong! She just came through a complete hip replacement with flying colors!)

In addition to my mom and Aunt Pat, Dr. Debakey also operated on Boris Yeltsin.

Mom remembers being in the hospital for three weeks and that she got painful penicillin shots every four hours. She would cry and scream and was quite a problem for the nurses. So sad, really. She says Grandma and Grandpa had to stop coming to visit because she would become completely hysterical when they would leave. Can you imagine?

Grandma wrote in Mom's baby book:

December 1, 1947
Kathy had her patent ductus operation Nov. 7. It was successful. Dr. Shapiro (our family practice doctor and diagnostician) gave her an 8 out of 10 chance of being cured and it was curable the same as Patty. Her X-rays are clear now and no trace of murmur left. Dr. Wagenstein was chief surgeon during operation. Kathy was in oxygen tent for 3 days and nights because her blood pressure was acting up. She was in surgery 4 hours and used no blood. The opening was extra large and easy to locate. She was in hospital for 2 weeks and walked one week after surgery. Feels fine and full of pep now and should pick up weight. She weighed 35 lbs at 5 years at time of operation. Thank God we are thru these operations and have our little girls well and safe with us.

She doesn't note Debakey here, but everyone in the family seems to know that he was involved.

Mom has a big scar on her chest. When I was a kid I always thought it looked like a fish.

Mom is still "fine and full of pep" all these years later. Thanks to Dr. Debakey.

Domestic

I've been sewing a ton over the past three days. The very worst kind -- home dec! Yuck. But I'm pleased with the results and now I can clean it up and move on to other things!

I made seven pillows -- four for the window seat, two for the couch and a tiny accent pillow for the rocker in the living room. Actually the tiny pillow was too tiny, so I'm going to make another one slightly larger. So actually, that makes eight pillows. With cording!
Here you can see I also made four placemats and four napkins. Please come over and we'll have some little tea sandwiches and cookies. We can sit right here at the table. The placemats that were on this table can now be used on the back deck. That's good since the table cloth we have been using outside is way too small.

Then I got crafty and made some tags for these baskets under the window seat. Now everything has its place and surely the kids will put everything where it belongs. (One can hope.) They say "homework," "art supplies," "work books" and "toys and stuff." I bought the fabric for all these project over a year ago. And now I can cross it off my list with a big red marker! Yeah!

Mixed Media

Not the art "mixed media" but actual "media" -- and a mix of it.

You Tube

I've seen some super funny videos on You Tube lately. Seriously, can you imagine how much time one could "waste" just clicking from clever video to clever video? Let's just say, a lot

This is a very witty, smart, musical rant about Pachelbel's Canon in D.

Not tired of Pachelbel? Here is another witty and much more sentimental but still quite funny version of the famous canon.

And while we are celebrating singing, parodying parents, check out this. Yowza. I need a deep breathe after that.

Books

Well... I haven't read much of interest lately, but Elizabeth Gilbert, author of "Eat, Pray, Love" will be on Oprah on Friday. I've set my dvr. I know you've all read it, so you might want to watch it too.

I did finish the NYT Crossword puzzle in less than 12 minutes this morning. Ah, I love the Monday puzzle. Can we file this under "books?"

Movies

Jeff and I are loving "Long Way Round." It's a documentary about Ewan McGregor and his friend Charley and their motorcycle trip from London to NYC -- the long way round. Yes, just one short plane trip from eastern Russia to Alaska. We're about half way through the second dvd and they have just left Mongolia and are back in Russia.

Wow. I just discovered that a new documentary called "Long Way Down" is coming out this month. Same guys rode from the tip of Scotland to Cape Town, South Africa.

TV

All four of us are so excited that the third season of "Avatar" is finally airing on Nick. In fact, I believe a Katara costume is in the works for Halloween.

I'm hoping Casey wins "Top Chef" because not only will she be the first woman to win, but she works here in Dallas, so I might actually get to taste some of her food!

Totally enjoyed the season premier of "Brothers and Sisters." And now I'm going to watch "How I Met Your Mother."