Black Friday

Today I spent the day with my 19 year old daughter, shopping for clothes for her as she is giving up hoodies and sweatpants for clothing more suitable for a young woman in business.  I had intended to come home and write a blog post about the 12-12-12 quilt I did and some other fibery things.  But, some how that doesn't seem appropriate.

This morning, I first got word of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school from a Facebook Post by Jane D'Avila.  I cringed....but I didn't know the severity of it, nor the fact that it was an elementary school until I got home. 

I thought back to my days at Wethersfield Historical Society where my job as curator and educator de facto brought me to many elementary schools throughout Connecticut as Wethersfield Historical Society has a program to go along with Elizabeth Speare's The Witch of Blackbird Pond.  Speare lived in Newtown,  and I remember giving a school program to a school there.  You can't help but think about connections to things like this....

When my daughter was in Kindergarten, I volunteered in her classroom helping the teacher, reading to the children and working with the children who didn't have the skills that is expected of of children entering kindergarten.  I remember thinking that kindergartners are really babies, and even first and second graders are still sweet and innocent.  I know that no one is exempt from evil, but it seems particularly heinous that these babies lost their lives.  To think that they were probably thinking about how many days it was until Christmas, their Holiday programs, and general excitement and in a moment it was gone.  The children who survived will forever have this in their conscious a black pall over a season which is often full of hope, wonder and love. 

I also thought about the amount of help that these families and children are going to have to have.  Unfortunately, counseling costs money and in the United States, even co-pays can be out of reach.  At least Newtown is a prosperous community and most will probably be able to handle this, but I know that not all will be able to. 

This area is also one which had many people who were lost in the 9-11 attacks, or they knew people who lost their lives....another burden to carry.  The neighbor in Conneticut who now has a three year old of her own asked tonight  "Does the NRA have a pamphlet to explain this to my three year old?"

People are asking "Why?"  My question is "How can we stop this from happening?"  I think we need to get beyond the people who keep on pointing at the 2nd amendment, and who keep on stating the mantra "Guns don't kill people, people do" and to actually sit down and discuss what can be done to try to prevent this.   Surely there should be discussion of what CAN be done  instead of knee jerk reaction.  I don't think outlawing guns entirely is an answer, but I'll be darned to think what would be the best thing, and I also know that there is a lot about how guns are bought and sold which I don't know about.

I keep on thinking about an anthem by Evrett Titcomb that we used to sing at St. Andrews.  "I will not leave you Comfortless" which is based on John 14: 16-19.  "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you.  Yet a little while, the world will see me no more, but you see me,: because I live, you will live also."



 

Ginger People

"Ginger People" made by Marcia Switzer, quilted by Chris Landis

Isn't this a fun quilt? I saw this at the Champaign/Urbana (Ohio) quilt guild's show in October.  Marcia Switzer is an amazing applique artist...her stitching is perfect and it is only enhanced by my friend Chris Landis' fantastic machine quilting.

My only regret was that I couldn't get back far enough to shoot the whole quilt. 

Misreads and development of a quilt

A while ago, I made the quilt "View from the Abyss," as my entry into Quilt National.  As expected, it didn't get in, but I was encouraged by several people to try it in another show.  SAQA's show "Deux" seemed like a logical attempt, for those people who had never made it into a SAQA show.  I have had pieces in  regional shows, but as a relatively new member to SAQA, I've never gotten into one of the bigger ones.   I read the initial prospectus....but something didn't click.   I reworked "Abyss" so that it was 30" (actually, 32") so it would qualify.  And then I didn't think too much about it...untill I clicked on the entry form just after Thanksgiving....OOOOPS! When I re-read it, I suddently realized WHY they called it Deux.  I thought initially that Deux just referred to a second chance.....but NOOOOOOO....I don't know if it was just my wrong thinking or as a side effect of chemo.  "Deux" is a CONVERSATION between two quilts....and you had to enter at least two quilts.  Well,...ooops.  Quick! Grab your needle and thread and let's roll!

"Abyss" was originally conceived as a representation of depression.  Yes, I entered it into the SAQA exhibition "I'm Not Crazy" but I realized that it probably wouldn't be accepted for a variety of reasons, one being that it was grey and black...and monochromatic quilts often don't make it into shows as ones with brilliant use of color attract more attention....Yes, this is an oversimplification, but it does have a part.  The other aspect is that when the extended description came out, I knew that my quilt was a tad too subtle for this.  "Abyss" was to represent looking up from the dark hole, seeing some hope, and figuring out a way to pull oneself up.  I don't suffer from depression, other than the teenaged angst, except for one time. After I finished my treatment for breast cancer in 1994, I slid into depression and didn't realize it until I recognized that having a Christmas tree up in my living room for a week and not hanging any ornaments on it even though I had a 2 1/2 year old...was probably a good indication that I needed a prod into the right direction.  I had no idea that I was depressed until I saw what I was doing.  This quilt was my representation of what I remembered it feeling like. Veiled...deep...

So...I thought my "conversation" between the pieces would also include "Reaction" --how I have been dealing with my stage IV diagnosis this time around.  I knew that I wanted to have lots of loose threads, coming unraveled as it were.  I knew I wanted it to be on a quilted white background representing the happiness and fluffy life that most people experience.  I wanted to have a sliver of shiny gold representing my life, getting progressively narrow as my time runs out.  A red line would run through the gold and it would be on a black background.  But...what black?

I went to JoAnn's and bought several possibilities which I tried out.  This one was a linen suiting.  The threads unraveled nicely and it had a rather smooth background to contrast with the white panne velvet I was using for the body of the quilt.

The second thought was black burlap as I thought the contrast would be even greater and it would show nicely.  However, the open weave of the burlap caused it to "read" grey, not black and it was a little too much.

The third choice was a polyester black "oriental" brocade.  I thought it would be good because of the play with the quilting I had in mind for the background, although the raveling on this one would be a bit fuzzy. As much as I liked the chrysanthemum mon idea, I didn't think it worked as well as the smooth, plain field of the linen.

I quilted the background with interweaving lines of gold thread.  I was snarling greatly at my Bernina because it has a habit of having too tight a tension just before you hit the needle....not the upper tension, but inside.  In addition, the large cone of thread constantly had the bottom whipping around the core and catching, causing the thread to break.  Not fun.  Plus...it always takes me a long time, especially with metallic as you need to keep your speed a little slower than if I was quilting with cotton threads.

So here's the finished version.  I have been on chemo since November of 2010, with a couple of short breaks.  I just had  a P.E.T. scan on Wednesday last, and I am pretty sure that the cryptic message my oncologist left telling me he would call me today (Monday) because he needed to talk to me about the PET becaue "It was complicated"  doesn't bode well. I feel like my options for life are getting smaller and smaller, just as the gold narrows on the quilt.  The raveling of the black and on the gold represent my life falling apart.

I don't know if this is enough "conversation" between the two pieces or not, but it does fit into my series on my journey with breast cancer....I regret it has become so much a part of my life-I was first diagnosed at age 34; the initial stage IV diagnosis was in December, 1997 and I know I have lived longer than most, but I'm not too thrilled with the fact that I've failed on three protocols so far with this recurrence...four if you count the Zometa/Faslodex shot.

I feel like I really have to put it in high gear to make quilts, use up some of my stash and to get some of the stuff out of the way so my husband and daughter don't have to deal with it...I suppose it seems pretty silly.  But then...I'm often pretty silly!

Here's what the "View from the Abyss" looks like now that it is 32" wide rather than the 27 it started out as.

Here it is now.  Below, you can see again what it started out as.  Which do you like better?  

Santa Claus

Today, December 6, is the feast of St. Nicholas, a Turkish Bishop who became the patron saint of children, Bankers, Sailors...and prostitutes (St. Nicholas supposedly saved some girls from becoming prostitutes when their parents impoverished state had slated them for this profession as they didn't have doweries.)

In several European countries, particularly the Netherlands, Sinter Claus comes visiting and leaves toys and sweets for the good girls and boys and punishment with switches for the bad boys and girls.

This custom led to the American adaptation of Santa Claus which was furthered by writings of members of the old Knickerbocker Club and of course, Clement Moore's "Twas the Night before Christmas."  I recommend Stephen Nissenbaum's "The Battle For Christmas" as a fascinating and well written history of the origins of Christmas observances in America.

I have a collection of Santa Claus figures...started when I was about 3 years old with the gift of a neighbor.  I added to it in the 1990s.  This particular one was given to me by my friend Martha.  This santa's robes were made with a section of crazy quilt trimmed with ostrich feathers.  I used to struggle with the cutting up of old quilts, but I came to understand that sometimes this was the only way that any of them would be saved.  I suppose in some ways it is just the continuance of an element of quilting, taking old worn out things or scraps from garment constrution and giving them a new life.

At any rate, this Santa Claus is now one of my treasured pieces.

Cookbooks

Today was the Batty Binder's Holiday gathering...and as usual with Batty Binders, we always bring in food, enough, as President Teresa Brown says, to feed a small country.  For several days, I've been thinking about the cookies you see at left...home-made gingersnaps from an old recipe my family has made since at least the 1950s.  We called them "ginger crinkles" .  Many people make them...a molasses spice cookie, chilled, then rolled into balls and rolled in sugar.  Very simple..a little time consuming only because you have to refrigerate for at least an hour and roll all the balls.  But yummy.  One of my favorites, and as I found tonight, a favorite of others.  I made a double batch as I know they are one of Lynn Mosher's favorites as well, and we all bring something to share for our Thursday stitch ins.

It's been a while since I made these...and I remember the hand printed recipe card I made out when I was in high school, but I was pretty sure that the recipe was also included in the First Congregational Church in Athens, Michigan's book my mom compiled in 1978/1979.  I love this cook book, not only because it has most of my family favorites in there, but because it has recipes from my friends and their families as well.  Looking through the book as to who submitted the recipe brings to mind all of the people, many of whom were old when I knew them and are long dead now.  Who can forget Zepha Spencer, or Ethel Reebs who was the choir mistress of the all men choir?  Little white haired ladies who put in recipes calling for a "quick" oven or for pinches of salt? Some of the recipes can be submitted as just a list of ingredients...you are supposed to know the method and I do as I grew up in the kitchen watching, then later working with my mom.  I don't know if my own daughter would be able to do it...her interests growing up were not in the kitchen, although she did have an interest in cake baking, frosting and brownies...and she got sort of a reputation as being a great baker of those items...and I'm happy to say that I convinced her that home-made frosting and brownies rather than mixes were the way to go.

I think the best recipe books and the best recipes can be determined by the number of splotches on the pages.  A good recipe, and a good cookbook, has lots of them as it shows use.

This was my first cookbook.  My mom gave it to me as a Christmas present in about 1976 or so....the same year she gave it to my sister who was just starting her life as a married woman.  It was also the book we used when I was in Mrs. Beck's Home-Ec. class.  You can see the amount of wear on the edges.  I still use it...even if it does have a habit of calling for too much salt and too much baking soda...but if you know the recipes and know the usual proportions, you can tell if it is too much out of whack.

A great cookbook I discovered this summer was one my niece Katie gave to her newly married sister Beth, Michael Ruhlman's Ratio:  The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of  Everyday Cooking. It is a great book and gives you a lot of information on method as well....and it gave me the code for making the best light and fluffy baking powder biscuits....

So...I suppose you're wondering about the cookie recipe.

Ginger Crinkles

1/2 c. shortening (I usually use butter or margarine or a combination of the two.  When I was a kid, we used Crisco, and I think if you used butter flavored margarine that would be fine too.)
2 c. brown sugar (packed)
2 eggs
1/2 c. molasses (I prefer Grandma's which is a light molasses, but as a kid, we used B'rer Rabbit light molasses but sometimes Black Strap molasses which gives a stronger flavor and a bit of a tang from the sulfur).
4 1/2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking soda (1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon if you want to go faster)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger (I like using fresh grated ginger.  I keep a hunk of root in the freezer and grate it as I need it...it is much fresher than using ground).
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
granulated sugar....It's prettiest if you use a coarse ground sugar, but I only had the regular table sugar so the grains are less noticeable on this batch).

Cream shortening and sugar.  Add in egg and molasses.  Blend in remaining ingredients except granulated sugar. Cover the bowl and chill a minimum of one hour (making it the day before and stuffing it in the fridge overnight works well).

Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  Shape dough into rounded balls, about 1"- 1.5" in diameter (or a little bigger, but not tooo big).  Roll the ball in granulated sugar nad put on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Bake 10 -12 minutes or just until set.  I usually set the timer for 11 minutes.  Immediately removed from baking sheet to cool.

These make a ginger cookie which is crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.  You can leave it for a tad longer to make it crunchy throughout.  This is actually the recipe for a double batch because they aren't that much trouble to double it and the recipe halved is for 4 dozen cookies....if you make them small...I made about 6 dozen using the doubled batch and that will give me enough to take to tomorrow gathering as well as tonight's.  Plus a couple to eat myself.  These freeze very well.  

Ear Worms

No...not real worms...a tune you get stuck in your head and you can't get it out.  For the last three days, I've been thinking of Saint Saen's Saen's Symphony 3 in C minor...sometimes referred to as the Organ Symphony...but more familiar to most people as "the Theme from Babe."  I love to sing....and I don't do it much anymore...but this is a piece which cries to have you dancing and singing...even if you're just mimicking the instruments.

It is a gorgeous piece of music...and when you hear it, especially in person, it is extremely moving.  It is a piece of great power and the organ's ability to send the music reverberating through your chest emphasizes it.   Jonathan Hodges wrote lyrics which are beautiful, even if most of the time people truncate it.  Yvonne Keely and Scott Fizgerald brought it out in 1977, basing the music on a section from the second movement.

Keali'i Reichel had a go of it in reggae style....and it actually works. You can hear it on this site AND read the gorgeous poetry of the words...the whole deal, not the short version which is extremely repetitious.

However, the most beautiful rendition of this section is a Gloria which was fitted to it and sung by Libera.
I encourage you to check out the symphony here, but the Libera version is a must listen...and you'll share the same ear worm as I.

Working on Design

Recently, a lot of chatter has been going on over at the Quiltart message list about technique and design.  I feel that quite often, it is easy for quilters to be seduced by techniques and to ignore learning the elements of good design...or to explore other areas of the quilting world for that matter.

You see, techniques are fun.  Learning the elements of design and finding your voice....well, that's more work.  I own several books on design, and have thumbed through most swearing I was going to take the time to work through them....even buying a bajillion erasers to carve into stamps as suggested by one of the books.  Good books on design include Lyric Kinard's Art + Quilt; Jane Dunnewold, Claire Benn and Leslie Morgan's Finding Your Own Visual Language;  Ann Johnston's The Quilter's Book of Design; and Joen Wolfrom's Adventures in Design.

The Miami Valley Art Quilt Network is hosting workshops.  In the past, they had one group which met in the evening in Centerville...which usually takes me about 45 minutes to get to.  Therefore....I often didn't go.  Sue DeSantis and I often grumbled about starting a new group on the north side of Dayton...particularly this fall when the night-time group changed their meeting place to Yellow Springs, which is even farther away for us.  So, Sue set up a meeting held the last Friday of the month on the Northwest side of Dayton.  Five of us have been meeting following the same lessons and format that the south group is doing...The two people who are leading the southern group, including one who has taught elements of art before, hand over the assignments and exercises to Sue, and she leads our group.

We are working through Joen Wolfrom's book.  Carroll Schleppi and Marilyn Doyle set up what we are supposed to do.  So far, we have been reading through the book and doing a couple of the exercises here and there, usually with some more restrictions thrown in by Marilyn.  I admit...sometimes I feel like I am a petulant child.  Especially with this last exercise.  Marilyn gave us the pile of color chips and we were supposed to pick one of our least favorite colors...I chose the dusty pink...which I don't particularly like...and think of as puke pink.  We were then supposed to add up to 7 colors to go with it.  This was my color chip line.  Then we were to make a quilt based on one of the exercises.  To be fair, the size requirement was 8 1/2" x 11"  I initially wanted to do them 12" x 12" as I thought that it might be easier for my hands to handle.  I was thinking, though, I prefer a rectangular format for the most part and the other aspect of  Carroll and Marilyn's madness is that we are going to put an exhibition up in one of the church galleries once we have finished.  Therefore, I thought better of my larger size and thought for the sake of looking well when they hung the show, I would do the recommended size.

The next part came a lot of thinking.  One of the options was to do a designed based on the Fibonacci sequence or Clifford Circles.  I researched it and my head was swirling with the math....Nope.  The colors reminded me of the organic patterns from the 1950s.  I remember in particular a set of end tables my mom had in black, pink, gold, white and sagey pink with shapes reminiscent of protezoa.  So....I did a sketch...and this is what I came up with.  I kind of liked it...but...by this time, I was right up against the deadline.  It was Thursday evening...and the class was the next morning.  So...I thought this would take me too long...especially if I wanted to do a good job on it.  I also thought that once again, I was over-thinking this.  So....I just decided I would dive in and just do it.

So, this is what I came up with.  I am not quite done with it, as I wanted to put a series of gold beads down the diagonal running left to right with the batik piece in the middle...only the house seemed to have eaten the beads I had in mind.  While looking for them, I did find some others that I want to put on as a fringe...and I also wanted to add some hand stitching with perle cotton.

I admit, I was being pushed by a comment that either Kathy Loomis or Karen Musgrave made a week or so ago...about people who signed up to do things...then didn't.  I admit, I am way behind in doing the Fast Friday Fabric Challenge, the Sketchbook Project and Sew Cal Gal's Free Motion Challenge.  But..I have resolved that I am going to really try harder at doing this.  Even though I balk, it is only through doing the work that you will get better...So, there you have it!


Once again, I am participating in the Off-the-Wall Friday's quilt posts on Nina-Marie's website.  If you follow this link, then you'll be able to see others who are posting on fiber arts as well!