refocusing

It is a good thing I got new glasses. As of last night, we have completely refocused. Up until now, we have been living our lives, doing things that needed doing. We both still have one more cleaning at the dentist, but otherwise we are finished with the annual doctor visits. We held our yard sale and made a trip to Goodwill with the leftovers. Our vehicles are registered for another year or two. The jeep is all serviced and ready for a long trip. We had a final (for now) visit with family and friends. We have both fielded phone calls from our employers. (They had reasons to call, but I think they really are just checking to see that we are still committed to returning.) So, anyway, we are now in full-on scramble mode. We are hitting the road Friday. This Friday. We have to think of everything we have been putting to the back of our minds. It is so crowded back there now, that we are worried we won't get everything back out. We will be in the middle of Nevada when we remember the coffee pot is set to come on at six the next morning. Or, worse, that we forgot to pack our shoes. Here is an example. We haven't even left here yet, but last night we were working the numbers to decide if we will ride the ferry or drive out when we leave in September. The cost is about a wash, but the ferry has to be booked and paid for by July. If we drive, the bills won't come until November. If we drive, we can leave on September 23rd or 24th. The ferry doesn't leave until the 26th. Decisions, decisions. Now where am I keeping that list.....? P.S. Peggie will post some pictures. If only to stop my nagging.

Ouch!

Okay, maybe not ouch. Casey gave us a pretty gentle hand slap. But she was right. When you are busy having fun it is sometimes difficult to write. For me, the problem is that I don't have my computer with me. Peggie has no such excuse. She has that genius (not just smart) phone.(Peggie says: yes it's a genius phone but still kind of small and more labor intensive than a laptop. Remember, I was on vacation.)

Looking at our previous post, I want to point out some things. That cowboy is my father when he was twenty-something. He spent the first thirty years of his life as a real cowboy. Not much after that. The three brands across the top are real brands registered to my father and grandfather. The copper border on the state is real copper foil that Peggie distressed then sewed on. New York was good, but spending time with family was great. Which reminds me; of the three things I wanted to have happen, only the rocky road pie came true. But that is fine with me. It is always good to have rocky road pie. And when I left, there was still some remaining for Karin.

As always, we love going to Manhattan. For us, just riding the trains is an adventure. As opposed to an "adventure" which we did not have this trip. Yay! We went to the regular biannual quilt show. It is held in a place that is way too small for all the people who come to it. But it is Manhattan, which is also way too small for all the people anyway. This show was only so-so. The Tucson show has more interesting quilts. But after I got tired of looking at quilts, and before Peggie did, I sat and watched people. Boy, is that fun. I was having the best time. Then we had to go to the local fabric shop. DUH! Because it is near the venue of the show, it was also packed with people. Me and about forty women. In a space that comfortably handles ten. Some women were discussing the other big quilt show in town. A temporary showing of a private collection of quilts. From modern to 300 years old, and all in red and white. It was on our itinerary for another day. When we went, we thought it was fabulous. If you are like me, it is hard to imagine that 650 quilts, all in just red and white, could be interesting. You know, "if you've seen one, you've seen them all." Not so, my friends. Not so. First of all, whoever designed the hanging was brilliant. I can't describe it. You will have to get it from the pictures. But I will explain that the building was more than large enough to play football in. And while there was a large crowd, the arrangement gave plenty of room to move around. Secondly, no two quilts were alike. That's right. Actually, 651 different quilts. Different only in the patterns. The colors were all red and white. Not reds. Not whites.

We did not get to go to Storm King to see the sculptures because they weren't open for the season yet. In Arizona we just don't think about things being closed for the winter. But in NY they do. We did take Ariana one day and went for a drive into the wild north lands. We only got as far north as Poughkeepsie, but we were wandering on small roads and seeing the "back country." At times we might have gone as far as half a mile without seeing a house. Or not. We saw lots of private schools. Some boarding schools, some day schools. Very neat old buildings everywhere. All in all we had a wonderful time being grandparents. Ariana is amazing. (What grandchild isn't?) Greg's kitchen is NOT complete. But they were able to beginning moving into it while the finishing touches (paint and tile) are still to come. Peggie wants to add the pictures, but she is busy with other projects right now. So watch this space for the next posting to include photos.

Philosophy 333

Do things really happen in three's?
Well, it is now the third month of the year. Ariana is three years old. Peggie has finished three quilts in her Arizona series.
But that isn't the question.
This year there have been three tragedies with connections to our lives. So, if such things really do happen in threes, good. We are ready for that to be over. (mass shooting, Austin, tsunami)
I don't mean to trivialize all the other tragedies (imagine if you lived in Libya right now) or to ignore that others have suffered more directly, but I really don't want anything to hit any closer to home than the three mentioned above.
So let's go for three good things. Casey could get that new job, Greg's kitchen could actually get done on time and on budget, we get to eat Rocky Road Pie at Mom's 86th birthday party. Yeah, that would do it.

It's a color riot!

I've spent quite a bit of time lately working with rust-dyed fabrics and while that's been very enjoyable I've really missed color! Last week I decided to get into my scraps and pick out only bright colors. I made this top using the "quilt as you go" method. It's about 36" square. It's finished for now but I may be adding another element on top. We'll see.

And, great news. My sewing machine is fixed and we're heading out to the eastside to pick it up and bring it home. I managed to get along without it but really missed quite a few features. And, my 40 year old machine started acting up when doing free-motion stitching. Not a good thing.

Philosophy 201

Today I will make my seventh visit to a medical professional in the last six monts.
I now know why retirement is necessary. While working, I did not have time for seven medical appointments in six months. And I am not even in poor health. So far.
Yesterday we were going to attend a spring training game. One of only two scheduled in Tucson this year. Being efficient, we combined the outing with a stop at the library and another to drop off our taxes. We arrived in the vicinity of the ball park right on time. As did several thousand others. Traffic was backed up in both directions for half a mile, including up the freeway offramp. We waited in line until nearly game time, having gained about half the distance to the parking lot. Then we let the nasty wind and the delay force us away. Today we read that the game was a sellout, with taffic still backed up in the third inning. D-backs lost 12-1, so it was a good game to miss.
Some bad news. My cousin's son has been missing for over a week. For a while, no news is good news, then, with time, it reverses. His body was finally discovered in a river. Sad. But at this point, knowing is better than not knowing. Our hearts break for those who knew him and loved him. R.I.P. Austin Bice.

Aw, shucks...

It doesn't take much arm twisting to get me to post another art quilt. After a little research at the library, we found these family brands. Cool, huh?

The plan is to replace the yarn with rusted barbed wire. I just haven't gotten to it yet but it's gonna happen.

Sewing machine update...

The main powerboard is the problem just as I expected. Because my machine is rather old, what? 19 years? old? they have to send away for a new powerboard. The store did some good negotiating with me to get me to buy a new machine--price marked down, floor model available with full warranty, free cleaning next year, 12 months interest-free financing, $50 store credit, $200 trade-in on my machine (cough-cough). I've decided to postpone a new machine and have my old one fixed. I really like it. It will take about 3 weeks or so. I guess that's okay but I do have a two-day workshop in April so I need it by then for sure.

My oldER machine, did help me finish this. Well, it's all finished except for the "hem" (read--handwork). It's 24"h x 19"w but no title yet. I had a good time making it, and learned some new things. One of which was threadpainting using a 40-year-old machine worked just fine. On another happy note, about a year ago a group of us (about 12-14) formed an organization, Fiber Artists of Southern Arizona, aka FASA. We sent out a CD of work in December and have been accepted for our first art show which will take place mid-August through mid-September at the Jewish Community Center. While I won't be here for the opening reception, etc. my work will hang in good company. We've also just purchased a domain for our website and each artist will have a link to a personal page. Some already have personal websites so those links will show too. I'll let you know when the website is active.

It's a good thing I got that smartphone that practically cooks and cleans as I'm spending lots of time in my studio! Between Bill and the smartphone, really, what can I add?

Our drive to Sierra Vista by way of Sonoita for a quilt show on Sunday was beautiful. It had snowed here at our house but it was even prettier on the drive.

The picture above was taken in the morning and the next one was taken in the afternoon.