One half Century: That went quick!

OK, so I am 50 years old today. For some reason, I feel great! My husband threw a party for me over the weekend. Last night I went to a woman in town and got a henna tattoo up my arm. It's major league cool. Here, have a look:

I'm in school again, taking Public relations and Philosophy. Whoa, that philosophy is dense stuff. Or, maybe it's me who is dense. I can read an entire paragraph in a text by Descartes, and realize that I did not understand it at all. I start again, and try really hard to concentrate, and next thing you know, I'm thinking about what to have for dinner. It's tough. It's a lot of re-reading.

I sold something on Etsy a couple of weeks ago. That seems to strike when I least expect it. I almost forgot how to complete a transaction.

On Sunday I went to a quilt show run by the local guild, The Courthouse Quilters. They have the show in a historic mill, which is cool. I was kind of disappointed. I try not to be too judgemental, but, I have these ongoing gripes about modern quilting. There were many really nice quilts, but, I can't be impressed if you made it from a kit, or you just bought a line of fabric that is all coordinated. To me, it is very exciting to find my own fabric. Quilts made from coordinating fabric have a slickness that I find unappealing. My next big gripe is that 95% of the quilts were not quilted by the person who made the top, and were quilted by the same 5 people. OK, so you don't pick your own fabric, and you don't quilt it yourself, am I supposed to be impressed? Our great grandmothers used to make really cool quilts using whatever they could get their hands on. I know we are past using scraps, but there just does not seem to be any soul in it anymore. What do you think?

Printing on Fabric and Other Stuff

Cathie over at This Girl's Art asked me how I print on fabric. It's a piece-O-cake! Of course, you need an ink jet printer. I have included a link, with instructions that recommend treating the fabric. I have to admit, I've started skipping that step. I guess you can't wash it. I warn people not to wash my art quilts anyway. I think that gets me off the hook. If anyone has any compelling reason why I should treat my fabric with Bubble Jet Set before printing, I would like to hear it.

The main thing you need to do is stabilize the fabric so it can get through the printer. I use a 8.5"x11" sheet of sticker paper. I peel off the back, stick it onto the fabric, and then I trim the fabric to the edge of the paper. I have access to this kind of paper cheap. I've also heard about ironing on freezer paper, but I have not tried it. One thing I would recommend, before printing on your prepared sheet, print on a regular piece of paper to make sure things are centered the way you want them, or not too close to the edge. Just set that weird fabric that you've created paper in the print tray and print. I'm amazed at how well it works.

Out of several awful pictures of me, this was the least awful

So summer is almost over. Damn it! I love summer and it always goes so fast. Last weekend I went to Cape May to hang with friends that rent a house every year. It's really nice of them to invite us, and we always have a great time. At Cape May, one of the hot spots is a bar called the Brown Room at Congress Hall. Congress Hall is a large, old-fashioned hotel that was amazing in it's heyday, then hit the skids, then was bought by investors and restored. All the hippest ($$$) people stay there. So anyway, I like hanging out at the Brown Room. Drinks are expensive, but you get some superior people watching. There was a wedding taking place at the hotel, (there almost always is) and that makes it double fun. Sometimes when it is very crowded, we go outside and drink on the veranda.There is plenty to see out there, too. I really love to wear dresses, and I was wearing the nice one my husband bought for me this year. I keep buying more dresses. I just bought one today from a vendor that was at work! It was only $15. I was powerless to resist. There are just endless pretty dresses, I wish I could somehow discretely take pictures of the dresses I saw others wearing. Then I could "collect" dresses. Really, it's high time that I started making art quilts about dresses. That reminds me, I just registered for Fall classes. I begin on Sept 20. I'll be all jacked up until Dec 11. I took Public Relations and Intro to Western Philosophy. I've always wanted to take a philosophy course.

Really rambling here.

The next day:

As you may be able to see below, I have the same picture in here 3 times. It took 3 tries yesterday to get this picture to load. Now it is there 3 times, and I can't select any of them, or any picture on this page, to delete them. I really think that Blogger is dreadful and difficult to use. I'm not going to let them reuin my blog post. I'm going to post this anyway. What's the diff, really? Are you put off?

I'm leaving work in about an hour. I work an extra hour Monday through Thursday and get a half day on Friday. It's called Summer Hours, and it is a stroke of genius. Why can't they do this all year, all over the world? Anyway, I'm going fabric shopping. A couple of weeks ago my husband went on one of his ride a motorcycle like a crazy person weekends, and I redecorated our bedroom. I want to make a new quilt. One of those quilts that are more about blocks and strips of gorgeous fabric than about any real patchwork. (In other words, easy)

I'm also going on a date tonight with my husband. Tonight is an anniversary for us. It marks when we started "going out" the first time, when we were kids. That was THIRTY SEVEN YEARS AGO!!! I might wear my new dress.

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Quiet my ass

No New Job for Me

My interview was not so great. Within 15 minutes both myself and the interviewer knew the job was not for me. I wish they had done a better job of describing the position; it could have saved all of us a lot of trouble. I sat down and looked at this job posting with my current manager, and he agreed that it would be a good fit. Then it was revealed to me that I would be doing financial forecasting and, although the job was called "Associate Production Manager" it became apparent that the position really is that of an account executive. Even if I thought I could do it, I'm not into that kind of responsibility and pressure. I apologized for wasting the person's time, he did not seem the least bit annoyed, and said I should keep the interview appointment with the next person. He called it an informational interview. That actually turned out great. The person already knew I was not suited for the job, but we spoke for an hour. She gave me good career advice and we talked a lot about the state of the company and employment in general. I felt better after that.

I did have a hard time going to work today. I am so burned out and now there is no hope in sight, for the near future, anyway. I don't even care if I make more money, I just want to do something different.

Fairy of the Woods, now on Etsy

Fairy Quilt in Progress

So here is Kate's quilt. We've got a big space to fill at the top, I believe it will be text. I think she wants the words "Fairy with Mushrooms." across the top. I said we could think on that a while. Mainly I want to think on how to go about it.

In other news, my son turns 25 today, happy birthday Drew!

Also, The nice folks at the Schweinfurth Art Center left a message on my answering machine and told me that it really was just one side of the quilt that needed to be 20", so both of my entries are eligible. I wonder if I will get in?

Fashion Diet

I read something in the NY Times that  I found  intriguing. It's about people who have taken this web challenge where you pick six items of clothing from your existing wardrobe and only wear those pieces for a month. (underwear doesn't count) Can you imagine? One of the things I liked about the article was that they showed the people they interviewed and the clothes they picked and their different combinations. I can admit to you that I have a stupid amount of clothes. I lost weight this year and I found that, rather than finding a piece of clothing that looked good and thanking my lucky stars and buying it, I now find many, many things that look good and have trouble not buying them. I am starting to get out of that famine mentality and getting more sensible. Just the same, I think I own about 7 summer dresses, 10 skirts, a million tank tops and t-shirts etc. Even when I've gone on Motorcycle trips with tiny side bags as luggage, I've managed to take more than 6 pieces of clothing. I just went shopping today, as a matter of fact. I applied for a job within the company I work for and I have 3 back-to-back interviews on Tuesday. I don''t own a suit. I hope no one expects me to wear one, because our company went casual years ago. I do have a black blazer and a black skirt. I just bought a blouse that seemed a little more  business-like. I wonder if I will get the job? I wonder if I really even want the job? Whenever I think about getting a new job, I think, "What if I really hate it?" That's just an excuse for not making a change. We'll see what happens.

In other news I have been quilting Kate's Fairy quilt a little every night. I used metallic thread in my sewing machine for the first time. I tried it once and it became a dreadful tangled mess on the back. At that time, my sewing machine was new and I was kind of intimidated by it. I tried the metallic thread again and it is just fine. And sparkle-y! Pictures soon, I swear.

A Very Productive Weekend

I did a ton of art work this weekend. That means I spent way too much time in the basement, where my sewing area is. There is a project going on to make the attic my new work space, but it is all contingent on my husband, and whether or not he feels like working on this project. The summer is a complete loss, he only wants to ride his motorcycle(s) and his bicycle during the summer. He lives to be outside, and he is not wasting any summer day being inside. Unfortunately, he starts getting depressed during the fall, so that also stands in the way when the summer is over. But I digress.

The fact is, I work in the basement. It's dark and damp and here is a new twist, we have CAVE CRICKETS lately. I don't think they hurt you, but they are really scarey looking. The icing on this dreadful cake is that I am a terrible slob. My space generally just gets worse and worse, until I can't take it anymore and then I clean it up. It takes hours and it is hard to spend that much time down there, even doing fun things, much less cleaning a hellish mess.

Despite everything, art was made. I wonder what I would be like if I had a lovely, well-lit space? The really good news is that I got Kate to make a quilt. It is hard to get her going, and she does not seem to be able to get it together enough to self start a project like that. I began by inviting her to make something. I pointed her to her small stash of fabric. She has some novelty prints and a few otherr fabrics that she has picked out. She also has unlimited use of my fabric. She picked out a fairy themed fabric, and she was off and running. We chose some background fabric. I usually make suggestions like, "You will need a fabric for the background. " and let her pick, then I will say, "What else do you want to put here?" She decided she wanted mushrooms with her fairy. So we went through the process of picking fabric for those, then she drew mushrooms in her sketch book, and we copied them to the back of the Wonder under and she cut them out and ironed them on. Then she decided she wanted logs with moss. I did not think it was such a great idea, but she definitely wanted it. She also angled the logs in a way that I would not have done it, but I have to let her have her own way, because otherwise, I might as well make the thing. In the end, I think it turned out great. I will do the machine quilting, but I will get her to do some hand work. She has sold three little quilts in the past on our etsy site, but hasn't sold much lately. I have no pictures right now but I will see what I can do this week.

I noticed that I have a couple of new followers on this blog (which is a miracle, since I hadn't posted for 3 months) so, for those who don't know, my daughter Kate is developmentally disabled. She is a member of the ARC and a Special Olympic athlete. She is nearly 27 years old, has a job and travels to it on public transportation. She doesn't read or write very well, but has really taken to Facebook. In some ways it is like having a young teenager in the house forever.

Garden 2010

QAQ entry

Today I am shipping a CD with images to QAQ: Quilt = Art = Quilt. I have never entered a quilt competition before. Someone at work gave me an entry form months ago, but I had until August 20 to enter. Usually I find out about these things two weeks before the deadline, and I don't have anything that meets the criteria.

So, I got my act together and prepared an entry. Right as I was about to ship, I read over the entry form once more and realized that the requirement for size, 20 inches, must mean that each side of the quilt must be at least 20 inches. At first I had imagined that at least one side must be 20 inches. Looking back, I have no idea why I thought that. I'm pretty sure that if I stopped and tried to find something else to submit, I would end up just not doing it. I wrote a letter to the judges explaining that I realize that one of the entries is not eligible and thanked them for considering the other. That's it.

Where to Begin?

I was finished with college classes on June 11, but it has taken me a long time to get "back," so to speak. I have 2 draft posts that I never finished or published.  I really jacked myself up but good this past spring. I took 2 college classes and one of them was very intense. Also, it is very busy at work that time of year. And, it's hard-core garden time, at least if you expect to enjoy flowers over the summer. So, long story short, I was busy. But, things are good. I began easing myself in by reading whatever I wanted, not text books. I had 2 Quilting Arts magazines that were still in plastic. Then I went to the library and got random, interesting-looking books. Then I started looking at my sewing machine. I started poking around in the unfinished project pile.

I went on vacation. Joe, Kate and I went to the Adirondacks and did some hiking, swimming and kayaking. We also visited good friends that live up there. We had a blast.

This is us on top of Porter, one of 46 high peaks in the Adirondacks. If you climb all 46 peaks, you are a  46-er. Joe has decided we should be 46-ers, but as of now we have climbed 2, Cascade and Porter. That took us 8 hours. We were so whipped at the end, but I am happy we did it.

We came back on Wednesday, and everyone went back to work on Thursday, except me. I had 2 delicious days to myself! That's when I started to sew. By the weekend I had 2 new pieces to put on Etsy, plus something I finished months ago and never got around to putting up. When I posted, I got a message asking if I wanted to post directly to facebook. That must be new, right? So I did.

Now I am back at work. It is some kind of gift that this place is dead quiet. Usually, when I go on vacation I am greeted with chaos when I return. I have virtually nothing to do. OK, now here is a very cool thing. I met someone in the hall here at work that I am friends with on facebook. She saw my Etsy stuff, went to my site and bought something! I haven't sold anything since March. Today is such a good day, and it's only noon.