Shiny!

Time for a new iron.

Finally went for one that used TWO big words:

"Pro" and "Master".

Hope that'll help the leaking problem these awesome

('cept for the leaking problems)

Rowentas  have.

 

Ain't she purty?

Almost as sweet as this...

 

And this,

which my 9 year old daughter designed.

(We've been watching a lot of Project Runway...)

 Hope your late summer/early fall has been just as delicious.

Say No More Sunday

 dust bath.

 beautiful girl.

 the next one.

 on your marks, get set . . .

 . . . create.

say no more.

happy midsummer to all.

Result and a Musing

As promised. 

A cute dress/smock/tunic? for me.

It took more than the prescribed two hours.

But I did listen to my script while doing it.

So, half a point for me, half for work.

(Can't wait to wear it to work tomorrow with some cute capri leggings!)

And, yes, that is a picture of me on the shelf behind the left shoulder.

In 1970. on my 5th birthday.

In honor of my director telling us to do something for ourselves today, 

on our one day off 

(any answers about the "why only one day off" thing?),

I  shall muse on this picture for a moment.

I love this picture of me.

As a kid growing up on Cape Cod, 

I rarely dressed in anything other than t-shirts and shorts,

especially in the summer, when my birthday was.

Shoes were stupid by late June.

So to see me in a special white fancy dress

(and there was clearly some crinolin under there)

helps me remember the special-ness of this Day.

Birthday Number 5.

Five Whole Years Old.

And the flowers.  Clearly with some roots still attached. 

Yanked straight out of the ground, they must have been.

And why not, in late June,

demand from the Earth a few of her newly hatched buds

to accessorize a 5-year old wearing a rare white dress

on Her Birthday.

I'm standing on the deck of my house

(probably barefoot)

and I can smell the hibachi smoke getting ready for the 

"What do you want for dinner, Susie? HAMBURGERS!"

birthday dinner.

I'm smirking.

Smiling, but closed-mouthed, 

because, as a 5-year old, 

a big open-mouthed smile

(probably a few teeth missing)

wasn't representative of my being 

A Big Girl.

You can see my dimples, which my father always called

The Holes in My Cheeks.

I like to go back there, to remember and remind myself

of this pure moment

almost 42 years ago.

That was a sweet musing to give myself on this,

My Day Off.  

I hope you don't mind.

Just follow the directions

I've been severely instructed by my director

to spend significant time (at least 2 hours) by/with/for myself on my One Day Off.

(um...how many other jobs only get One Day Off?... just wonderin'?)

 So I grabbed this delicious blue linen.

And I pulled out this Japanese pattern. 

 (I don't know Japanese.)

But I figure it out, and 

I. Am. Going. To. Make. Something. For. Me.

Because that is what I've been instructed to do.

Sometimes it is a relief to follow instructions.

Pix of finished product will be posted soon, :-)

back in the saddle (again?)

So, I'm back.

  Chain-stitching 3 commissions.

 Listening endlessly to the 60-page script I'm supposed to know by

*gulp*

tomorrow.

 Helping friends celebrate their love.

Happy for the slight loosening of the noose,

 at least enough to enjoy spring colors, inside....

.... and out.

Alewives Forever

I think I've talked about these folks before.

A small company in Maine.

Alewives.

But they provide such honest, and wonderful products: fabric, yarns, patterns, etc.

and it is received without any sense of effort.

Only Joy.

And they are so happy to share the wealth.

Rhea included these two gorgeous long pins in the wrapping!

So sweet!  And so Pay-It-Forward - like!!

Those pins will go to great use.

And I will think of Alewives every time I use them.

Long Live the Small Business.

Thanks, Alewives!

Say No More Sunday

Too Much Milk in the Batter

A long time ago, a dear friend and his then wife were making waffles.
Their marriage was near its end, and so
most things for them were strained and stressful.
To this day, my husband, said friend and I will use the phrase
Too Much Milk in the Batter
to describe particularly overwrought, stressful moments in our lives,
recalling the image of our friend and his wife hovering over their bowl of batter,
their cigarettes hot with constant puffing,
fretting the too much milk in the batter.

That is where I am now.  I've got way too much milk in the batter.

I'm blessed, even lucky, in fact, to have such a plethora.
But, just like milk in the batter, too much of a good thing can ruin the outcome.

There is the wedding decor/quilt. This, at least, is pretty much done.

 170  blocks for guests to sign, and then to be made into a quilt.

 16 centerpieces for tables.

the bin.

pennants for decor.

And then there's this.  At least this, too, is just about finished and out the door.

A sweet throw for a friend getting married in 2 weeks!
Her favorite colors:  blue and purple.
I just love those little flags!

Oh, and this....

A commission for my theater company.
A quilt based on the Madeleine L'engle novel "A Wrinkle in Time".
It will be raffled off during the run of the show.
I'm attempting to quilt a universe.  With hand-stitched hexies.
Good luck with that, right?

And of course, there are stacks and stacks of things waiting.
Another commission waiting in the wings.

And.  The Thing that is most Occupying my mind.
I have to memorize 60 pages in less than 3 weeks.
(ok, I already know 7 pages of it. So it's only 53 pages.No biggie, right?)

These are all wonderful things to be given to do.
Some of them (all, actually, except for the memorizing 60 pages thing)
I am being paid to do.
Which is what it comes down to anymore.
Unfortunately.
As an artist, theatrical and fabric, anything I "make" is a product.
And that means Time is Money.
As an artist, everything we do, (and you know this), needs to make money,
since we make so little of it for what we do.
(which is why the 60 page memorizing thing is LAST on the list)
And if we have
Too Much Milk in the Batter,
the batter can't be used, and therefore is a waste of time
and time is money.

I'm tired of living this way.

Oh, and did I mention that I have two children, a husband, and a house
to manage?
In all my extra time?

Puffing hard on my cigarette,
Yours Truly.

Catch up

I know, I know.  Too long.  

It's not for lack of stuff.

There's been tons of finishes.

Babies born.

Auctions donated to.

Commissions completed.

More auctions donated to.

And generally some joyful work done.

But,  needless to say, Very. Little. Blogging.

I accept that I'm not good at this bloggy thing.

But lately, I've just given up, and that ain't right.

So I'm gonna keep trying.

Hopefully you'll stick with me and cheer me on!

Now I have to get back to work - 

Nora's Wedding Decor and Quilt!