Today is Joe's Birthday

Today my husband turns 53. I bought him a 20 year old bottle of port, and I had a picture of myself enlarged for him. I know that sounds vain, but he had been bugging me for that for ages. It was a picture he took of me on our trip to Nova Scotia in 2007, and for some reason he really loves it..

I also did that on-line picture-book of our most recent trip, but I ordered it late and it is not here yet. I'm anxious to see how it comes out. If I like it, I think I will do a book of my quilts. It will be my own personal monograph!

But back to Joe, I discovered that he shares a birthday with the Sufi poet and mystic Rumi. I found this out on the Floating Ink blog. Check out this post to read a very beautiful poem, which I will now have to share with Joe.

Now on Etsy...

Here is the piece I had been referring to as the Depression quilt. I have formally named it "A Small Story," and it is now on Etsy.

The size is 31" x 22"

Clown-O-Riffic

Ladies and gentlemen, submitted for your consideration, an example of mid-century low-brow craft, Clown with a Black Balloon. Unfortunately, my efforts at restoration resulted in some of the "crystals" being vacuumed right off of the surface. Damn shame, that. I don't intend to keep this in my life very long, so enjoy it whilst you may!

My Camera is Lost

It's so annoying, losing things all the time. I believe that the amount of stuff I lose is connected to how crazy work is. My brain breaks down.  I am as busy as I can be and the one staff member I have left is sick, so forget it. It's all over for me and my short-term memory.

I wanted to show the "treasure" I found behind the chimney, but now I can't. By the time I find the camera, the moment will have passed. Kate's camera is out of batteries, as it always is if I need to borrow it.

So anyway, I found a clown picture. It is so bad. I think it is one of those crappy craft kits that were around when I was young. There was a plastic outline of a clown, and the crafter was to fill the spaces with some kind of colored plastic grit, so that it was kind of a cheesy mosaic. I had to vacuum the brick dust from it to see what it was. The lips are so big on this clown, that at first I thought it was a fish. I guess you will see it eventually.

In other news, I finished my Great Depression quilt. I have it at work to see if I can get one of the photographers to take a picture of it. Then I will have something else to put up on Etsy.

The insulation arrived for the attic project. Depending on the weather this weekend, some of that might get done.

Minor Demolition

I haven't been posting much. You know the story, I've been busy, blah, blah, blah

Some progress has been made on the Great Attic-to-Studio Project.

First, Joe stood up all of the boards he had cut in front of the porch. Then he went on the porch roof and I would grab the boards and push them up to him until he could reach them, then he put them through the window. He was then ready to start putting a floor down in the third section of the attic.  He was hoping to start working on the insulation, but it needs to be extra-wide, and he wants formaldehyde-free, and that is a special order. We'll get that next week. Here is Joe getting to work.

I made a joke that I could start dismantling the chimney, but he thought I could do it. He gave me a hammer and a wide chisel that he called a brickset. He said to just put the brickset under the corner of a brick and give it a whack. It was almost alarming how easily these bricks came apart.

I knocked the mortar off the bricks and put that stuff into pails and had quite a pile of bricks next to me in a short while. The bricks were wider than modern bricks I have seen. I am excited about using them somewhere in the yard.

I had imagined having to take wide swings with a sledgehammer to get the thing apart. Joe says the old mortar is not so good, and I would never have this easy a time if I were to attempt to take apart the modern chimney that runs up the outside of the house. While this was relatively easy work, getting the buckets of mortar out of the attic was not. I definitely got a workout there. I still have a lot of bricks to get down from up there. I am so happy to have this done, it was blocking the only actual wall space there is in that area.

There was a space between the chimney and the side of the house that was stuffed with crumpled-up pieces of that weird paper that is all over the attic. I was removing that as I took off layers of brick. Also, the chimney itself was filled with brick and mortar from when they disassembled the part of it that used to go out through the roof. I had to dig that out as I went down. I kept hoping I would find some kind of treasure. Well, I did! I want to clean it up a little before I present it in my next post.

Art Club Flies Again

Flying by the seat of my pants, that is. This is a great way to get teaching experience, because everyone is so forgiving.

My plan was to supply everyone with a wine bottle. My husband and I worked really hard all summer, and we managed to drink enough wine to supply most everyone with a clear bottle. (I have no idea how much of the wine we drank this summer came in a green bottle, I didn't save many of those) I had tissue paper in several colors for everyone to tear up and glue to the bottles. Then I had labels for everyone. I put the labels in PowerPoint, and I figured we could go on the computer and type in the potion names they came up with. I brought it in on a disk. I made sure I would have use of a computer and a printer. Unfortunately, I assumed that the computer would have Microsoft Office installed. That is so common, but... NO. They have virtually no softwear on these computers! I have no idea what they do with them! Without that softwear, I figured I needed to go to plan B, which was that we draw our own labels. No one cared except me, so no problem.

Before I investigated the computer situation, I gave a little demonstration about how to glue on the tissue. When I came back, I had some people that were already finished, some that were gluing giant pieces of tissue to the bottles, and some that not really doing it at all. So, I had to get that situation under control. I asked everyone to think up a potion for the project before coming in, thinking that would save some time. Only Kate thought of anything ahead of time. So I went around to try to help people think up some kind of interesting potion. This can be like pulling teeth. Most of the time I ended up making different suggestions until I said something they liked. It's times like those that I think that maybe my expectations are too high for this group. But that is part of the learning process for me, I suppose. Kate came up with a couple of good ideas, for example, a potion called "Creep-Away," for certain situations on public transportation, but in the end she came up with a "Teleportation" potion.

When  Everyone had a decent label, I handed out stickers and jewels to decorate the bottles. Everyone got pretty involved with that, with a minmum of arguing who was hogging up all of the sparkly spiders.

Pretty much all of the participants have signed photo releases, but just the same, I will only post this picture of Kate. See the
Art Club Blog for other pictures and the potion ideas.

I'm thinking of fabric wall hangings for a Christmas/Winter project. My day to do that is December 1st. The only way to do this is with iron on fabric pieces, which I will have to plan out ahead of time. More on this as I figure it out.

Good Deed Nearly Done

I had a pretty good weekend where getting things done are concerned. The Good deed Quilt is totally quilted and the binding strips are on. I just need to hand-sew them to the back. I'm generally pleased at how it came out and VERY pleased to be nearly finished.

When I was finished machine sewing the quilt, I decided that enough was enough and I had to get control of my underground lair. I am a terrible slob and it was becoming difficult to work. So I put everything away, and straightened up my stash. As I did that, I got a flash in the brain and long story short, I now have a new top to quilt.

I'm making steady progress on the Great Depression quilt. I worked on that while watching Turner Classic Movies last night. I saw Wuthering Heights and another movie called Devotion. I've always had a little trouble with Wuthering Heights, the story is just so miserable. I also don't much care for the 1940s Hollywood treatment of these period films, but I did watch it. Devotion was actually about lives of the Bronte sisters. I think some of it was fabricated, but, good outfits, anyway. Ida Lupino was really beautiful in that film.

I also did a lot of work on the vacation photograph book. I just want to proof it again and I can place the order. I've never done one of these and I'm afraid of missing some stupid mistake. I want to give this to Joe for his birthday, which is September 30.

I've got Art Club on Tuesday, and I am getting all of my stuff together for that. I think I mentioned that we are making magic potion bottles. I have been scrubbing the labels from wine bottles. I remember, back in the day, I used to leave a wine bottle soaking over night and in the morning the label would have floated to the top, completely in one piece. Then you could decoupage it or collage it, or whatever. Not so any more. Some of these bottle have such tenacious glue that nothing but Goof-Off will get rid of it. I still have 4 more bottles.

I Lost My Heart

I had this heart that I made around Valentine's day last year. For some reason I never photographed it or put it up on Etsy. So I decided to bring it in to work today to scan it or take a picture. Somehow, I lost it. I have been extremely scatter-brained lately, so I might have put it down around here somewhere. I looked all around my cubicle. I may have left it in the bathroom when I got here? But no, I did not go to the bathroom first, I went to my desk first. And I keep doing that crazy THING. You know that THING? Where you keep looking in the same place again and again. Will it suddenly be there? So far, no.

Work is so very busy right now. I'm truly at the edge of what I can do. I keep getting e-mails from people that will go something like this: "Hi Chris, here is the address to send the posters..."  And I'm thinking what posters? And then my brain snaps and I think, "HOLY SHIT! THAT'S RIGHT, I FORGOT!!!!!!!!!!!!"

That happened 3 times this week, where I would have completely dropped a job if someone had not mentioned it or followed up, or I happened to find an e-mail under some junk on my desk. Sometimes I am amazed that I mange to hang on to this job.

Joe is gone for the weekend again. He rode his motorcycle up to the Adirondacks. He says there isn' too much more riding time left in the season, so, he had to go. The progress on my studio is nil. Next week he is on call, so he will have to stay around the house. That is unless he gets a lot of "emergency" plumbing calls. You would not believe the sense of entitlement some people have. Would you pay top dollar to get a plumber in on a Saturday if your toilet was clogged? You might, but what if you had 2 other bathrooms? Do you think you could hang on until Monday? The best one ever was a woman who called to say the she had a pipe leaking in the basement. Joe tried to get a handle on how bad the leak was. He asked her if she could put a pail inder it until Monday. She complained that she was alone, and she was pregnant. SO??? Is it somehow a danger to your pregnancy to put a pail under a pipe? Or to have leaky pipes in the vicintity? Or maybe a princess should not have to endure such hardships?

Please.

But anyway, looking forward to the weekend. Maybe something interesting will happen.

What, No Sale Today??

Well, the day is not over yet...

Someone asked me about the quilt Pebbles in a Shallow Stream. How big and how I made it. The size of it is 52" x 25"

First, I thought of the concept. Don't even ask me how that happens. Ideas literally just "flash" into my brain. This is the best way I can describe it.

I had the background fabric, which looked like sand to me. I then went through my stash and picked out fabrics in colors and patterns that looked like stones. I pushed it out there a little bit, thinking about a beach I visited on  Mount Desert Island, Maine. There is the most amazing variety of beautiful stones on that beach. They actually have a sign that warns you not to take any. I suppose the beach would be stripped bare after a while.

Anyway, I then cut a piece of each fabric, maybe 8" square. Then I ironed fusable web on each piece. Then I cut that into strips of various widths. Then I cut the strips into chunks. I do that to all of the colors. I trim each chunk around the edges, sort of rounding them out so they look like pebble forms.

Now for the fun part, I begin to put down the pebbles. That includes stripping the backing paper from the fusable and ironing everything down in a "pleasing arrangement." Then comes the super fun part, the quilting. I think it is the quilting that brings it to life. I don't expect to ever ask anyone to do my quilting for me. I used a machine, of course, and made sure I ran over the edge of each pebble, then in-between each pebble. This way the pebbles ended up being raised a little. It felt good when I ran my hand over the surface.

The person who bought it says she loves it. That's cool. I think I will make another one like it some day.

Bad But Exciting: Update

I finally spoke with someone at transportation and the poor crazy guy is suspended from the bus. If he is allowed back on, he will have to have an aid with him. This can't be easy to arrange. I'm sure this is causing his family a lot of grief, but I'm glad it is turning out this way. Kate feels relieved as well.

There is so much sadness in the world.

Bad But Exciting

As some of you know, my daughter, Kate is developmentally disabled. She takes a public transport bus to her job at a supermarket every day. So far, this has been working out really well. Kate is always relating the stories of her busmates. Generally, there is some kind of a problem if you are on this bus. It  is usually a mental or physical disability, but can also be anything that keeps a person from getting to a job, such as a DUI conviction (That's how it is in the US. If you don't have a car, you have a problem.) She usually calls me when she gets out of work to say she is on the bus and all is well. Yesterday, I missed her call and she left a message that went something like this: "Hi mom. I'm on the bus. Call me when you get a chance, I have to tell you what happened. It was bad, but exciting."  So, I called back. She launches into this story about a guy on her bus. She has mentioned him before. Once he asked her to marry him. She declined, telling him she was already married! Kate is really cute, so she has a lot of guys after her. She said that yesterday, this guy wanted to take her picture, and she refused. He immediately got all belligerant. He started calling her a witch, and began to make threatening remarks. He said he was going to corner her and take her picture anyway. When it was time for her to get off at the supermarket, he went after her. This is not his stop. Kate pushed on the bus doors so he could not get out, and the bus driver forced the doors closed.

Kate ran inside and got herself composed and ready for work. When she went to the front of the store to punch in, there were police and an ambulance taking this guy away. Apparently he continued being crazy after Kate got out.  My son, Drew, volunteers for the rescue squad in that town. He was on last night and asked about the situation. They know the problem guy at the squad, and he has a history of this kind of behavior. Kate says she heard that he was "normal" once, but something happened and now he is crazy. Who knows what that is about, but I have called the people at county transportation to find out if he is going to be on the bus again. No one has called back yet. This is a big headache for me. I can drive Kate to work on the way to my job, but the bus thing is better for all of us. We'll see how this shakes out.

Meanwhile, good things are happening. Kate says that on that same day she asked if she could ever help out in the floral department at the supermarket. It is Kate's dream to do this. She was told they would train her to work on the holidays, and she can get some extra hours. She is thrilled! She said that between the incident in the morning and the news that she could work in the floral department, she was dizzy.

In other news, another sale on Etsy. No joke, man, isn't that crazy?  This time it was a few collages. No big money made, but it still makes me happy. Every sale is a kind of validation, you know?  I have to run back to work, lunch time is nearly over. A couple more things. I received the art I ordered from Seventh Magpie. So incredibly cool. And I have been escaping into the world of a new blog I am following, Self Taught Artist.

Ever fantasize about what it would be like to chuck your entire life and start over? Check it out for her on- going experience.

The Good Deed

I generally have a number of projects going at any given time. Here is one I revisited this weekend. It is my good deed quilt. Someone I work with, Vickie, came to me with an unfinished quilt. It was really just a shoe box with some blocks and pieces and extra fabric. Her mom started making this quilt with her friends, but died of cancer before she could finish. Vickie asked me if I could complete the quilt, which had been hanging around for years. I had very mixed feelings about this right from the start. For one thing, I don't really like this quilt very much. It is very mediocre, and so cute-country circa 1990. Vickie agrees. At the same time, people made this with their hands, and Vickie's mom must have died so young. (Vickie is not even 40 years old) I am not in the frame of mind right now to be piecing quilts, however, that part was mostly finished. I was just going to use what was there. I decided to take on the project. I laid down some rules. I had no idea when it would be finished, but I would finish it. I also would not take any money. Not taking money frees me from having to make this thing perfect, and let me tell you, it isn't. A lot of the corners don't quite meet up. Some of this was what I was given to work with, but some of it is my own crappy workmanship. I had only 8 completed squares, but I had one orphaned embroidered center square. I worked up a quilt square using the chicken, and I was ready to go. I took that picture yesterday morning, but since then I have set it all up and machine quilted six of the squares. This will be ready in no time! I showed Vickie this picture and she was pretty excited. She does not sew at all so to her this looks like a miracle.

I'm on a Roll Here

Yesterday evening Joe was looking at E-mail, and I came up behind him to give him a hug and look over his shoulder. Second e-mail down had the words Etsy Transaction in the subject. Amazingly enough, another sale! And a good one, too.

Pebbles in a shallow stream will be with a new owner in Michigan soon. I gave the option to hang this one vertical or horizontal; the new owner picked horizontal, so I've got a long sleeve to sew on. The money for this one needs to go toward the studio, I suppose, but I think I'm going to join SAQA with a little of it. Does anyone belong? What do you think?

Corporate Crap

Today I went to a "face to face" at work. That is when the big boss of your department talks to everyone about what is going on. We have a lot of changes occuring where I work, and at these events you will hear about how it is all going.

I like to attend these things for several reasons. For one thing, it gets me away from my desk. Also, it makes me look like I care, even though I could care less. I am also fascinated by executives. I think they are kind of like aliens. I like catching the weird phrases of corporate speak. One I picked up today was "...visibility into the travel spend."  Spend is a noun in this case.

I just admitted that I could care less, but this shit is all these people think about. You can tell when they speak, how passionate they are. I guess this is how you make the big bucks. Then I look at them, particularly the women, and I think, You make all that money and this is what you decide to wear?

At the end, they take questions. I have never been able to think up a decent question, even once. This is why I am so reluctant to go to school for any kind of corporate subject matter. I just don't care.

When I go to these things I always bring a notebook. I jot down any ideas I happen to get. Today I got an idea for a series of  art quilts called Fantastic Costumes. It sounds fun. I have no idea what it will actually end up being.

Here is another art quilt that arrived.  Red and Green Butterfly is the Etsy shop it came from. 2 more to go!

Additions to My Fiber Art Collection

Here are the two fiber art pieces that have arrived so far.

The first one is called "And Moon" by Kim Hambric. I really like it, but the coolness of it was really not apparent until it was in  my hands. There is more drawing and stamping than I had realized. I am kind of regretting not getting a bigger piece from Kim. (The size is 4.5"x6.5")

The second one is called "Factory Sunset" The artist's name on Etsy is EmmaKlee. I had no communication with her at all. It just showed up. It's OK, just kind of weird. This one is 15" x 20.5"

Joe returned home from the motorcycle rally in one piece yesterday, which is nice. I showed him the attic, and we talked about what I would like to do. I want white walls. I can only imagine how much more appealing the whole space would be if it were bright. Joe wondered, did it have to be sheet rock? He did not think we could get it around the corner to go up the stairs. I am sure he is right. He said Luan might work because we might be able to bend it to get it around the corner. That suits me, as long as it is white in the end. There is an old, non-functional chiminey that ends before it gets to the roof. It stands against the one thing you might call a wall in the space. We talked about taking that out. One either side of this chiminey are two windows. One of them has a lame replacement window in it, the other is boarded up from the inside. I want to open it up again to let in more light. Joe says that's OK, and he would to replace both of those windows. I would also like some decent lighting. At present there is one bare bulb. He's OK with that.

He says he will start right away. Of course I will help as much as possible. We will start tonight by taking measurements. Then he wants to insulate. I wonder what all this will cost?

Frou Frou Flag

Just added to Etsy,,,

All is Well

Here is a picture of the attic before I started emptying it. Scary. 

Please notice the paper attached to the rafters in the next picture. I think this was someone's idea of insulation. It has an aluminum (?) backing on it. It is very brittle and comes off in small pieces. On top of this, there is quite a bit of soot and dust on the paper. I'm sure a new roof was put on when that paper was there. When you pull it down, what a mess. I thought I was going to get black lung. I filled 2 large contractor trash bags with the stuff.

Now, the one side of the attic is clear, but the other side is totally crammed. (The attic is divided in half by the stairs.) The rest of the house is a disaster, too.

I have such high hopes for using this space as a studio. Joe says he will put up sheet rock and heat the place. The fact that I will have no real walls is a drag, but I will make do. Stay tuned.

I did a ton of work on the two quilts I have going. I think I can have them both up on Etsy within a week.

Finally, I have received 2 of my art quilts, and I am quite pleased with them. Show and tell soon.

Warrior Angel

Here is another item that has been shipped from my big Etsy order. This is from the UK. The seller is

The Seventh Magpie. I came upon her blog by accident right after I bought this.

To Do This Weekend

1. Empty out one side of the attic.

This is really a ridiculously intense thing, and should really be the only thing on the list

2. Work on the vacation picture book

3. Gather up all the supplies for the next Art Club (Sept. 22)

4. Help Kate work on her latest small quilt

5. Sort through fall and winter clothes

6. Stop in on Riverfest, an event in Frenchtown this weekend

7. Hang up the green man

8. Fill the bird feeders

9. Force Drew to clean his room.

10. Go to the library to find first-hand accounts of the Great Depression

Oh My God, What is this?

I just googled myself and found this.

It looks like a weird paraphrase of one of my posts. I'm definitely a little freaked out. Who did this? (Someone from Quebec apparently) Why?

Creativity, Continued: "Art Critics"

Once again, I find that I want to make a post about comments I have recently received. We have a lively conversation going, I like that.

Here is part of a comment by Idaho Beauty: "Sometimes having people not commenting on your art can be a blessing. Recently an enthusiastic friend who does not make art herself but fancies herself well educated on it blatently told me what she would change about several of my pieces. Her comments made it very clear she did not understand the work."

Yes, I have been there. As if you did not do it exactly the way you wanted to do it. Another favorite is when people try to decipher the MEANING of your work, and no one asked them to try! I once drew a picture of my X-husband lying in bed. That's it. It was pretty straight forward. I had someone "guess" that he was sick, and was lying on ice cubes to take his fever down.

WTF???

Who has giant ice cubes in their bed?  Pink ones? Maybe she mistook it as an exercise in surrealism.

Sam Quilts want to see the cake. Well, that was years ago!  I can't find a picture of it anywhere. I drew it for you:

So there you have it. The Zenith of my artistic output. It's been down hill ever since. Actually, this might be the best drawing I have ever done. At work, with highlighters!

Finally, I know someone suggested a name for my doiley quilt. I liked it, but I can't find it in the comments. Marty, was that you? Maybe you just sent a separate e-mail? When I find it, I'm using it.

Flower Cake, My finest Moment

Once I made this cake that looked like a flower. It was just a regular cake, but I made a frosting flower at the top; the single flower covered the whole top of the cake.

I could not believe the way my family raved about this cake. I took the idea from some woman's magazine, but I am pretty sure that, in their minds, this is my best work to date. I have never gotten a better reaction to anything else.

This post is for Kim, who just left a comment with a sort of similar story.

People understand cakes.

Thinking Hard About Creativity

Today Idaho Beauty has a good post about creativity. She is directing us to a podcast about breaking down perceived barriers. That would be the kind we erect ourselves. http://43folders.com/2009/08/04/enough
Really, it's about just getting to work. You can be as creative as all hell, but if you can't make yourself work, it's all over before it starts.

Here is a tidbit from a numbered list on this site:

"Making Art. Yeah, I know. We're not supposed to talk about making art. It upsets people because it sounds all fancy. Screw that. I think one definition could describe art as anything you make and care about that nobody but you really needs. Which necessarily makes it important."

How freaking delightful is that? I think that's a pretty good definition of the things I make. I feel like my art is kind of esoteric, in that I think a lot of people don't understand why I would even make it. When people look at your art, hesitate and say, "That's interesting." It generally means that they don't know what else to say. They don't have the words for it. It isn't beautiful, they can't say they like it, they don't want to insult you, they don't want to seem stupid. This is just an observation, not any kind of judgement. I'm cool with almost any criticism. That is one thing about college art classes. The critiques are brutal, you need to get a tough skin in a hurry. It is just very important to make the things that are important to you. That is your voice.

I think I have mentioned this book, Art and Fear: Observations On the Perils and Rewards of Artmaking, by David Bayles and Ted Orland. This book actually set my head straight about making my art. I was thinking about this book when I was listening to the podcast, and sure enough, it is on a suggested reading list at the end. I suggest checking it out if you can get your hands on it.

My Etsy buyer already has her stuff, and she seems pleased. I am told the package smells like the lavender soap I included, which is a relief.

Also, I hear that one of my purchases has been shipped! The farthest one, from Australia. Here is a picture:

Time again for Art Club

Remember Art Club? That is the art program I am developing with our county ARC (ARC = Association of Retarded Citizens) I started this because, quite frankly, I thought I could do a better job! The head of recreation at the ARC was more than happy to let me do my thing.

I last posted on that blog in May, which was when we did our collage project. I have another one coming up where I am having everyone make magic potion bottles. I have been collecting clear wine bottles all summer (hic!) and cleaning off the labels. I will have the artists decorate the bottles, but for me, the main event is the potions. I will have labels and I asked everyone to come to class with an idea for a magic potion. I think that will be fun.

Yesterday I got home from work and went right back to work... on the Depression Quilt. I'm happy to say that I put this thing together using only materials I already had. I printed some images onto fabric, but I have included buttons from my collection, an old flour sack, sewing notions, an actual photo of farm people I found at an antique store, and old embroidered patches. The fabric on the border is from a set of reproduction feed sack squares I copped at the last quilt show I went to.

I don't think this is the final arrangement. I will have to look at it some more. There will be a big blank spot where I hope to embroider the words from a personal account of a dustbowl experience. I was up late last night searching to internet, but it looks like I will be stopping in at the library.

Joe is off to the Finger Lakes this weekend for a BMW motorcycle rally. He always does this on Labor Day weekend. I see it as a mini vacation, when I tackle some major project with no distractions. (Even though his distractions are delightful.) I'm going to pick up the clean-out-the-attic project again. Dreadful, but has to be done if I hope to make a studio for myself.

Death by Misadventure

I was listening to NPR on the way to work this morning, as usual. They had a story about Rolling Stone drummer Brian Jones, who died 40 years ago. He was found floating in his pool. The guy did a lot of drugs, but there has always been rumors of foul play. They may reopen the case now due to some kind of document that has surfaced. What struck me about this report was that case was originally ruled "Death by Misadventure!"  I love that! What great words. So British. How many people die through a misadventure? Plenty, I think. I immediately called my husband when I arrived at work; he also loves  a clever phrase.

In other news, I've created my own economic stimulus package by using a lot of the money from my recent sale and buying fiber art on Etsy. I'm so excited!!! I ordered something from the UK, and something from Australia. Also, someone from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and somewhere else in the US. I'm telling myself that a few of these things are gifts. How dare I spend my own hard earned money on myself?

One more thing, I feel like I am getting my creative mojo back a little. Maybe it is making a sale, maybe it is the sudden change in weather. (It has turned cool and dry. I wore a sweatshirt on my walk this morning.) I gathered a bunch of fabric etc. from my dungeon workshop and spread it out on the floor in the living room. I want to do a collage quilt built around an image that I have had for some time. It is a picture of a woman taken during the great depression. I like building a story out of a picture. Here she is: