As NYP comes to it's last stitches...

Since I decided to use this one part of NYP for the FLORA challenge in Quilts Around The World I thought I may as well publish it here today. Be sure to go to the link to see many very beautiful quilts being uploaded as we speak. You may recall I did a thread painting portrait a while back from a photo (on the back of the linen)...but Madam for whom I am making the larger piece wished for a more whimsical...folk art look...so I decorated my portrait with pomegranates, hearts, felted, beaded and embroidered flowers. This is half of the focal point of NYP.

Bottle of Pills, Calms Nervous Nelly, + best friend= eye exam and treats!

Get up in the morning and take one Lorazepam 1 mg...proceed to clean house...feel self slowing down a bit, but turn to art quilt and find threading invisible thread seems easier than last nights attempts; also able to sew on remaining pieces until all pieces are now sewn on to NYP art quilt. Feeling drowsy...take one piece in need of hand embroidery and go sit to do this with ease. Return to sew it in place. Able to sew standing up some shiny buttons with sparkly beads to flower centers for more pizzaz and sparkle. Hamsa sewn on and arm in place.Tried couching green yarn for vines but found this task needed a clearer mind so will put it off one more day. A few repairs made here and there. Stood quilt up. So big and rather heavy. Will need strong curtain rod to hold it well. Back continues to look clean with invisible thread barely showing, and now a few dark green stitches for couching of vine work. By 2:40 I took the second 1mg pill and became more foggy. And figured it was not a good idea to continue quilting. Best friend Patty arrived to drive me to my appointment. I've been promised by the pharmacist that I will be good an loopy from pills as not to c are what doctors will do to me. (This Time) Well I am able to follow most instructions and pass test without too much resistance. Dr might not have said it just like that, as I did have some cringing reactions and demanding waiting periods between torturous things done to me. He seemed to have a tad more patience than previous docs. He was able to complete all tests. And he did tell me he could find no more tears in my eyes THANK GOD. I'm good until next year. He told me to please take three pills before next years visit. Patty held my arm as I stumbled out of his office. And we easily found our way to Fenton's. I still had my unused Gift card for this Grand Ice Cream store in my purse. A gift from Patty for Christmas. So in we went to assure all discomforts and traumatic events buried deep in my mind. She had a root beer float and I a small hot fudge sundae with coffee ice cream. I'd hope it would bring me out of my sleepy, drowsy, state! But I write this now through blurry eyes (probably from all the drops poured into my poor eyes earlier in the day. I dare say I Will sleep well tonight...and drats what the scale says tomorrow. I earned this treat! ! For now all physical tests are behind me and it seems to me i have passed all with flying colors. Good to go for another year! The only things I have not gained in aging so far is a sense of bravery and courage. They continue to elude me at least in terms of the physical body.

Sunday and all it's Sunshine

What a sweet surprise I got on Sunday morning when my phone rang and I picked it up to find my little grand daughter on the other end. She wanted to tell me that they had just made a batch of grapefruit juice using the grapefruit I had brought them from the tree in our backyard last I visited. She told me so much. I do believe this is our longest phone conversation to date. She squeezed her grapefruit by hand and her brother used the machine. I asked about school and she told me: "We have new math books!" (mind you they are just five and in kindergarden) But, she said, "we do not have homework yet". (Thank goodness!). "We are learning to read!" When I asked her how to say Good morning in Hebrew, she said "Boker Tov". (that is correct!!!) So they are learning to read and write in Hebrew and English! They are off to Flordia for a vacation to Nana A. and Grandpa H.'s home for Passover! She told me they had a sedar at school and made seder plates in art class. I asked what she put on her sedar plate and she said "salt water". She said more but it was hard to hear all with brother drumming in the background. They are also going to go to the zoo in FL. And hope to see "elephants!" Well, proud and happy grandma just had to share all that. She had to end the conversation as "I have to pee!" Don'tchajustloveem?

Repeat Benicia weekend...Plus Sailboats.

It is so green here after all the rain. A warm sunny day and an easy ride to Benicia again this time for breakfast (we did not eat any of these beautiful freshly baked scones...

but we did return here

and I did order the Bagel With Everything again (smoked salmon, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, cream cheese and capers! What are capers anyway? These little green things taste so good with the salmon. It's a mouth watering mix for breakfast with a decaf latte with cinnamon sprinkled on the foam on top.

We even found a garage sale nearby and went in to see what they had. I left a funky old suitcase behind...but I got a flat magnet with cute women drinking sodas on top; and some cool orange fleece (total 35 cents)....and I saw these beautiful daisies that always remind me of Teri C.

Then we headed to the wharf. This is a shot of our shadows on the water.

where we stood looking out at the sailboats going by. I think it was Patty of PAK ART Blog, who asked me to take

lots of pictures of them.

Maybe she will help me identify them for you.

It was a really beautiful day. Fun being together. Stayed for a while there. Then took the back roads home slowly. Enjoying each others company and the scenery. I hope your weekend was ever much as pleasant. What did you do?

Thank You!

You are all being so patient and supportive as I work on this NYP! I wanted to tell you how much your encouragement is helping me keep on keeping on. Today I got the taxes to the tax lady! I was able to quickly get the few things I'd forgotten. And promised to do a better job next year collecting and saving receipts. We talked about my art making being a "home hobby" right now, as I told her the bit of $ I'd made this past year on it. She said when (I said if) I made a significantly larger sum in the future we would call it a "business" and I could start taking deductions for my art books, mags, thrift store buys, art materials, art shows and art retreats, classes, etc. etc. etc. Now THAT was exciting! How many of you do this already I wonder? How's it going for you? Guess I better get out a new envelope for receipts just in case! ;-) I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend where you are. DH just came in to ask my plans for tomorrow. Seems he wants to go to breakfast in Benicia again. There is a fleet of West White Potters he wants to see sailing on the waters there. Guess what photos you will be seeing on Sunday?! LOL

Be Warned: Boring Post!

In school I rarely if ever procrastinated. But at tax time I will put off getting it all together until the last possible moment. I consider "doing taxes" one of the worst possible tasks in my life.

I have gathered all the necessary data, or almost all, and I know the tax preparer will find something I have forgotten and I will have a few days to gather it so she can file my returns...but I find all this very taxing (yes, pun intended)...trying not to use the word hate...but obviously have a strong dislike for what I have to do in the morning (go over all my gathered papers; add up columns; hope I have it all/most all...and get on the road in time to go to my appointment and hear the outcome. Can you see a few tiny hidden stitches done in invisible thread on the back of NYP?

So far so good as far as a "clean back" goes.

But nothing has been sewn onto the top yet!

The front.

Very little of this green on top and gold on bottom silk will show around the many

pieces yet to be placed and sewn down on the top.

What more will I add?

What embroidery stitches will be appropriate additions

or not?

Does anyone else suffer severe DOUBT when coming to the end of a long

arduous art project? Do you ever feel you are a fake?

Will the emperor be found to be wearing no clothes?

Stay tuned.

Not sure this is a real T.G.I.F.

Grateful On Thursday and Another Tease!

Very lucky me got a special gift in the mail this week from Margaret of WaterBlossoms Blog. I loved that Margaret told me that these particular beads were chosen by her for me especially saying: "the rich elegance of the beads reminded me of your love of religious tradition and the heritage you are passing along to your grands and sharing with all of us!"...

They are very very beautiful and I will treasure them, thanks so much. And then look at the intricate detail of her art in this wonderful heart art ATC. Peg, your art is so beautiful. I love your style. Be sure to visit her blog if you have not yet had the pleasure. You will enjoy it!

I borrowed this book from my daughter after starting it at her house while babysitting a few weeks ago. I couldn't put it down. I loved it. I recommend it as something quite different and oh so well written.

And here is another tease: a pile of pieces waiting to be sewn to the foundation of my NYP!

Grateful to be alive and well.

Grateful to have time to create.

Grateful that after tomorrow our taxes will be filed.

Grateful the Health Reform Bill passed and was signed by President Obama!

Grateful for wonderful supportive comments from blog friends.

Grateful for friends in non-virtual life too.

and Grateful to BOTH my children this week

for invites I'll tell more about in MAY!!!

;-)

Don't you just love surprises?

What I am Doing!!!!

Happy Animal Wednesday! This NYP is the largest art quilt (other than a traditional bed quilt) I have made. And the traditional quilts I made were long ago (almost three years now) and I had forgotten why I liked working smaller. Much smaller. This piece is 4 feet by 3 feet in size. So today I made the foundation on which all the smaller pieces (26 so far) will rest. The foundation is the "sandwich" which includes a back, a middle of batting, and front. I made them like a pillow case sewing around the edges of the pieces with wrong sides facing each other leaving an opening to use for turning the whole thing right side out. If it sounds confusing it's because it is. LOL Then I pinned colorful silk fabric to the top and sewed that on as further background color for the smaller pieces that go on later. (layer #4). One cool thing about the fabrics I used. This is the back and the material was a linen curtain with loops at the top for hanging. So I left them in place and they can now be used to hang the quilt when it is finished. (no need to sew a hanging sleeve!)

I draped it over the recliner so you could see it's size. Tonight after pinning this whole piece (the silk on the front, which you do not see here, to the top and then pinning all four layers together. I then proceeded to hand quilt it.

I used invisible thread so the stitches would not be seen, especially on the back. I am hoping I can sew the top pieces on in such a way that the back will be left fairly clean. I may be fooling myself that this is even possible. In which case I will have to sew a fifth layer to the back to cover my stitches when I am done to have a "clean back". As there are plans to add some special touches to the back of the quilt.

More hours have gone into the making of this art quilt than any other piece I have done so far, and there is still a lot of work to do. But I can honestly say I am enjoying each phase of the process. Thanks for letting me run this by you.

Oh, and Henry says have a happy Animal Wednesday. (He feels just a little put out at night lately with me sitting and sewing and his dad grading papers!) Poor Henry.

Bloomin' Tueday

I saw this big red geranium outside a pharmacy on my noontime walk last week and just had to have it. It's in a pot in front of our house right now. I love red geraniums. I have a big one on the back patio too that has been growing for years now. My purple lavender plant is in full swing in front too with some lovely white bulbs blooming as well.

and some yellow too.

Rosemary in front, and a big pink bush in back make for a colorful spring front yard.

and last but not least another peek at my NYP!

How much more bloomin' Tuesday can this be?

Archdtype Collage Cards Week III

This has been a very busy and fun weekend for me. The sun shone brightly all weekend long, meaning I enjoyed outdoors as well as in. I got my fingers in dirt planting a bright red geranium in front of my house, something I have not done in a long, long time. I made two trips to the thrift store, and you KNOW I always come home with goodies from there. And I got a LOT of time in to work on my NYP (textile art quilt), a Global Postcard, and a traveling book page. (although I did get stuck on the latter and it will have to wait a bit longer. I also had a call from my son in Oregon, and an invite to spend Mother's Day there with him and his family (my older two grand kids, ages 16 & 19) and he got us tickets to Cirque Du Soleil! So needless to say, this weekend ROCKED for me. I also went to the third session of Soulcollage (R) with Hannah and group. Our focus today was on finding our Archetypes (think Carl Jung). I am posting some wonderful cards done by the others in the group first. We had time to listen to each artist share the meanings they found in their card(s) and to add what we thought we saw as well. I will let you come up with your own interpertations and feel free to leave them in the comments section here as to how each card speaks to you...as the gals said they'd be looking in this week. Card One: Card Two:

Card Three:

Card Four:

*** The next three are mine. I only spoke about this first one. Note the calendar of days in the background. I call this The Timekeeper.

Starting at the bottom you can see two children, a boy and a girl creating art, one with chalk on the ground, the other (left) in sand. Others noted the circles made from the red circle and the sun the boy is drawing and saw "cycles"...

On the far right is a clown, the part of me who laughs at my aging process, perhaps as the woman he is with is still young enough to still be looking good! (LOL I just thought of that now!)

On the far left is a very, very old crone of a woman, but her feet are still planted firmly on the ground and she can still see to knit. The fish in the middle is my joy of creativity NOW jumping up in the air and off the page! Me going outside the borders as long as I still can! The more I look at this card the more I like it!

This next card has a progression of time as well. I remember reading The Family of Man in the late 1950's early 60's perhaps? I was very moved by the photography of people from all over the world, many moods and times. The Traveler archetype comes to mind. The hand in the center and the crystal ball on the table are not me-s in that I do not believe in such things, nor do I have a crystal ball to tell me where my life is going. But the woman with the cats in the lower right corner is of an age and I see her and the woman in the center as wise and perhaps they represent my Wise Woman archetype. They seem to SEE ALL

and to be All Knowing. My third card was made quickly and did not get any attention from me yet at all. I see the Mother Archetype in the bottom left surrounded by little children. The couple going up stairs represent my anemia and animus (male and female parts). Maybe they are going upstairs to make more children. LOL My son and his wife want a child, so maybe the grandmother is pointing them in that direction.

The crowd of people in the background are all relaxed going in every direction but not in a hurry.

I leave the rest up to you for interpretation.

If these were your cards what archetypes of yours would they represent?

Thank you Hannah for yet another most interesting Sunday afternoon session!

I enjoy all that we talk about. &&&&

AND we made history tonight

as the Health Reform Bill Passed!

Ted Kennedy is smiling down on us tonight!

And a lot of other people are smiling too for good reason.

Gorgeous Day!

I spent a good part of Friday in the sunshine. These beautiful camellias are in full bloom on a bush in our backyard. They are just gorgeous this year! And so many. My fig tree is starting to leaf out and even the little figs have begun to grow! I worked on three different art projects. One I can't show, but I am aching to as it came out so cute. It's a post card I made for Cat in our Global Postcard exchange. But I have to mail it and wait for her to post it on that blog. So keep checking in there in about a week! I did also work on my "Love" card for an Artshine Traveling Book page. Some of you may recall this photo. It's my grandparents dressed as Maggie and Jiggs for a costume party many years ago. They are to me the epitome of love, as they shared a true love for over 60 years. I sewed paper photo to muslin and surrounded it with pink and red woolly bits. And wrote using the free motion foot the word Love! This is a small hint of the NYP I am devoting a lot of time to. I hesitate to show it full on yet, as this is but one of many parts, and I want it to be a full surprise for the person for whom I am making it. Therefore, you have to wait too. ;-) Have a wonderful weekend!

Date Night Out on the Town; The Old West Trio, Sketches and Cappicino

How do they make this picture on the foam of my cappuccino? It was so pretty I almost didn't want to drink it. But I found that I could sip the coffee and the picture stayed till the very end~ Nummy~! DH came home from work and said let's go! We headed to El Dorado Hills (a scant fifty minutes from home) to hear the Old West Trio again! We had really poor seats at first so I sketched DH and the side of the one singer/player I could see. (the female member). I hadn't sketched in a real long time...

But later in the evening people started leaving so we grabbed the front row table and got front row seats!

the music is so good. You really ought to Google Old West Trio to hear them for yourself.

I requested the Coyote song and they played it as their finale! Thank you Old West Trio!

I love when we go out like this. We got home really late...poor DH has to get up in a few hours to go to work. Me, I can sleep in as long as I want. I'm still pretty wired on the decaf coffee drink.

But I have the day off to stay home and play. I have a lot of art that needs me.

&&&&&

Oh, I also came home to an email inviting me to sign up for an Art show in Davis at the Davis Art Center in August! I can enter three pieces of art. You know I'm going to do it too!

I'll be entering pieces to be judged for the juried show in May at the local art gallery here!

I might get a spot for another 2nd Friday Art About in Davis in June. I guess I better go to bed now! Enjoy YOUR WEEKEND...mine starts NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lots of Gift Art On Grateful Thursday!

This wonderful Picasso Nude came early from Marianne for our "N" in the ABC ATC blog swap! So sensuous and beautiful. Thank you Marianne. I do love your art so much. Cat made this watercolor postcard for me in our Global Postal Postcard exchange! So colorful and spring like. Her art is simply delightful. Thanks Cat. This really made me smile.

And then I met a new blogger, and had the gal to enter her giveaway, which I then WON!

This is hand dyed in the snow fabric. The colors are vibrant. And she gave away a huge amount so there is plenty to make something really special with.

Thank you so much Wil. And I hope this brings you many new followers to your wonderful blog.

And my dear friend, Suki, asked if I might be interested in reading this book. It has a Jewish theme and is on my bedside table waiting for me now.

Thanks Suki for your thoughtfulness.

Life is good.

I'm glad to have this opportunity to thank each and every one

of you who takes the time to come to my blog, read what I write,

see what I do, and especially for taking the time to leave

a few words now and then.

I appreciate you so much!