Three postcards sent as a series, taking the idea from my good friend Deborah.

Red and Green

I've been working on something a little different for me. A small break from all the birds that are taking over my mind. I found inspiration by accident, at a local gallery in Portland. It was a full sized quilt, hanging on the wall, twenty large red squares with circles of green moving out from the center circle. Like a pebble dropped in the water. They were all machine sewn and mostly from solid fabrics. But it was red and green, complimentary colors that I think have gotten a bad rap. Christmas colors. But they are stunning together. You SHOULD be able to look at them and not start singing 'here comes Santa Claus' under your breath.
Random cuts, raw edge applique, hand sewn with embroidery floss. I think I'll sew them together without lattice and then machine quilt the red parts somehow.
My colors are a bit washed out, but you get the idea. This handwork is very relaxing, done while listening to Barbara Kingsolvers newest book, The Lacuna. A great read from a master wordsmith.

Bunnies

Made from a damaged quilt found at a local salvage store. They're multiplying. The little pocket in front will hold a small handmade journal soon. Hopefully.

Peg Bag

Made from old linens and hung from an antique wooden hanger. Cross stitch was already there. I know somone who will really appreciate this.

Vegetable Bags

I received a huge box of old linens from a friend who was on her way to Goodwill with them. Hand towels, napkins, tablecloths. I shared some with friends and then started using some to make bags like this. I sewed one of those green plastic bags inside, but then realized the limitations of that so next time no bag. Green bag can go inside pretty cotton bag, then the outside bag can be washed if needed. I also noticed Soulemama has made some cotton bags to store her homemade bread in. Today, another project and hopefully tomorrow, pictures.

Okay, Deborah. your turn.

Morning Weather Report

With 'suggested' overnight snow, this seemed appropriate.

Trouble Focusing

It's a rainy, dreary day here in Maine, the kind of day you hunker inside and keep the fire going. And take stock of all the projects one has going on. For instance, I have 4 new books that when I ordered them I VOWED to myself that I was going to go through them and DO THE EXERCISES. Have I? I've looked at them. The end.


So then, I find an old book of embroidery stitches at the library and think I'm going to make a sampler and LEARN these stitches once and for all....this is it so far.



So then, after not seeing the results I want, I have moved on to papier mache. Papier mache??? I have a lot to learn, but probably won't because I don't have the patience these days.

(I think it will be a pumpkin.)

So on to knitting. This has been very rewarding. I can sit and knit and watch an episode of Lost and before you know it I have a finished mitten. OR sock. Maybe I should just stick with that.

Short attention span. Wonder what it is I'm trying to avoid??? Need to think about this.

I'm back for a one night stand. I have something I want to share because it has come out great and I'm excited about it. This:


Despite the fact that I haven't been blogging,I HAVE been reading others and catching up on books and magazines. I find myself looking for blogs that are similar to Sara Lechter's and Jude Hill's, ones that reuse old and thrifted fabrics in a way that gives a rich new life to them. Not as new garments but little pieces here and there for arts sake. And the handwork element. The quilting stitch done by hand, sometimes with thread, sometimes with floss. The results are magical.

To me anyway. So this little bird for October is done with some curtains and old linens I had hanging around as well as a perfect nubby pair of drapes I found at Goodwill (all that of white in the background). THe pumpkin and table are bits and pieces of commercial and found stuff and the bird is all commercial fabric.

I found the frame at goodwill for $3. It framed some sort of heavy cardboard poster which I covered with gesso, glued the fabric around the edges, then glued the bird to the center after all the handwork was completed.

Bruce and I have been watching the first season of LOST for the past few weeks. We're a little behind the rest of the world it seems since season 6 is coming up in January. Anyway, for all you LOST fans out there, I'm calling this, 'John Locke' and hopefully you'll see the humor and remember HOW HARD he tried to get into that hatch.

Off to Freeport today to pick up my purse I left hanging on the back of my chair in the restaurant the other night...I hate it when that happens.

Leaving for a Bit

In case anyone has noticed, my attempts at blogging a bit more have failed, so I'm thinking I need to take a break for a little while and lessen the guilt of so much time between posts. I will be back, though. Sometime.

Lazy, Hazy Crazy Days

I've been lazy this summer, not posting very regularly. But the weather has turned nice for a change and I just go through the day doing this and that and before you know it, it's time for bed. I know I haven't blogged in a while when I have to put my user name and password in. We've done a lot of family stuff, and I' ve NOT done a lot concerning anything creative. Except for this day:


when frayed edges spent the day at Sarah's dyeing fabric. This is one of my pieces which I have no idea what I'll do with. But it's pretty and gauzy so it will work well in something. Sometime.

Happy Birthday, Bruce

There's a birthday in our house today. Next year he'll be able to sing the real words to "When I'm 64". Yikes, we're old! But isn't this the best mug? Chalk talk. Just write your message, erase and write another depending on your mood. Hmmmm, you may see a lot of this. Thanks, Trish.

End of Vaca

Our vacation at Bayside is over for another year. We had a blast and made the most of all the family time together. We Tie-dyed T-shirts.

played wild and crazy games with our cousins,


attended a dance class,


decorated and flew the BEST gliders, a dollar store deal which provided HOURS of fun,

someone got engaged under the stars sparkling on the ocean, and we had a:

TOP CHEF COMPETITION!
(secret ingredient: blueberries)

Borrowing the idea from my friend Deborah, I planned one of our many dinners to be a friendly competition. A couple of weeks ahead, I told all 8 couples what course they were responsible for and what the secret ingredient would be. I was not disappointed with the wide range of entries. For appetizers we had Stilton Blueberry Cheese and Crackers, and fruit kebobs with blueberries (of course). We had two delicious green salads with blueberries and different dressings. For bread we had mini biscuits and blueberry butter, along with blueberry and ginger muffins. We had three entrees: pork with a blueberry sauce, black and blue sliders (delicious!) and chicken crepes topped with a blueberry sauce. Dessert was either a chocolate chip cookie topped with fruit and blueberries, a blueberry tart, or the most amazing blueberry cheesecake thing. Oh yeah, the special cocktail of the evening was pomegranate-blueberry martinis. Gone in a flash!
During the cocktail hour I had made up different games to entertain the kids. We had three 'write the answer' games: Identify the cooking implement, identify the pastas, (Deborah's idea) and a taste test consisting of 5 different potato chip flavors.

(guessing the chips)

The last and best game I called, "Play with Your Food", a take-off on the original game. Each kid got a base of a rice krispie treat, some toothpicks, and a bevy of building blocks. Marshmallows, gum drops and candy corn.

And prizes were awarded in a number of categories:

most delicious

stickiest

tallest, without falling over

most toothpicks

another stickiest

widest

most celestial

We also had prizes for the least toothpicks, best first eaten, and best hairdo on a structure. Silly games but lots of laughs and memories.

This is a very small part of the lovely village of Bayside on Penobscot Bay. My family rents several cottages during the same week and we have kids, bikes and meals from one end to the other. It's the sort of place where you can still let the kids go and just BE KIDS. Our cottage is the white one behind the far left porch. This is the first time in this cottage and it will definitely be the last. We have a very grumpy neighbor. He and his wife either don't like kids, are very territorial or maybe just don't like us. We're quiet and respectful, but everything is just so close together, it's hard to not be seen or heard using even regular voices. His porch is right above ours so it feels like he's right there. I think he exudes hostility just so we won't sit out on ours. He's the exception to all the other friendly, smiling, welcoming people we chat with on our walks. Bruce says not to give him the power to ruin our time here, and of course he's right, but why do people need to be nasty when it takes so little effort to be nice? It might also help my mood if the sun would just stay out and warm things up for more than one day....I left my down jacket home. And it's nearly August.

It's Done!

Grand Manan Herring Gulls, hand dyed and hand painted fabric using fabric paints and oil sticks. Thread painted. Machine and hand quilted. A little bit of everything. DONE!!!

Budding Artist

I have a very artistic grandson. It isn't even his first choice of a thing to do when he's bored. That would be something technically oriented, or maybe something to do with a sword. But while his dad was unpacking a new machine, Carey was snagging the cardboard pieces and, unbeknownst to the grownups, was using the shapes of the pieces to dictate what to draw. I painted the backgrounds for him but he's promised to paint in the figures for me. For a fee.

Cape Breton is as beautiful as everyone said it would be. Sweeping vistas,




lighthouses,


wildlife,

new shoes.

Rain here too. But the days we hiked and paddled were hot and sunny.

This is in Margaree Harbor, on the west side and just as you start to travel up the Cabot Trail. Wish you could smell the wild roses that covered this banking just ahead of my kayak. And we found a nesting area of gulls. I've lived off the coast of Maine all my life and I've never seen baby gulls this small. Who would have thought those noisy, raucous things could be so downy cute.

It's raining. Again.

Gifts

Three special gifts for three special people.  Birthday, anniversary and graduation.  The gifts themselves aren't that spectacular, but the wrapping is wonderful. There's pleasure in the details.  At least for me.

They're getting bigger

How do they all fit? And could they be any cuter. This was the last picture before they flew the coop.