First Fruit Flowers

Kaffe Fassett - Spectacular Quilts

2010-10-18T10:24:00.000-07:00

Well, the time has finally arrived. It's silly how much I've been looking forward to just being in the same room as the textile artist that has inspired me to quilt, knit, do needlework and explore mosaics. I have been buying his books way before I ever tried any of these things. Especially the quilting books, I would salivate over the pictures yet I was too chicken to ever give it a try. Finally a new quilting co-worker came along and showed me the basics.

Kaffe Fassett will be in the Bay area for a few days - I am going to his lecture tonight. I believe he is going to be focusing on his latest book - "Simple Shapes, Spectacular Quilts". Then on Wednesday I'm going to one of his all day workshops. I just want to be in the same room as he and his team, to just absorb and take it all in.

I'm also excited because I'll be staying at the Berkeley home of a former roommate (some 20 years ago!). We lost touch after her first marriage and only recently became re-acquainted through Facebook. Tomorrow is a free day to hang out in Berkeley as well as haunt the Gourmet ghetto - which is within walking distance from her home. We have a dinner reservation tomorrow night at Alice Water's Chez Panisse Cafe.

More to come, I'm sure . . .

There's Always A First Time

2010-10-17T14:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it . . . I created my first "Art Quilt".

Last year, my visit to the International Quilt Festival inspired me to no end to one day aspire to make beautiful art quilts. So far, I've thoroughly enjoyed putting together quilts by using patterns and fabrics from my favorite textile artists. And I'm content to continue in that manner for a while longer. However, I had purchased a bit of fabric while at the Quilt Festival with the hopes of using it for my interpretation of Klimt's "The Kiss". Realistically, that quilt is a long way off so I decided to make a wall hanging for above the bed in our Master Bedroom.

The fabrics that I considered

My inspiration

Buttercup loves to sleep on my works in progress . . .

There are definitely things I'd change - I wanted to do uneven and crooked pieces yet I didn't know how to achieve that result.

I think it's alright for a first attempt, a first time . . .

And it fills up the blank space above the bed

2010-09-23T10:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my birthday - we had a wonderful meal at the Manzanita Restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton in Truckee.

We've been spending the week at Lake Tahoe.

Vacation mode has settled in nicely.

2010-09-22T20:02:00.001-07:00

Wordless Saturday

2010-07-31T18:52:00.001-07:00

An Escape From The Heat

2010-06-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

June Project Updates

2010-06-27T15:05:00.000-07:00

It's almost the end of June, the summer heat has arrived, and quilting endeavors continue . . .

Hannah and her new quilt - she said she wanted blue and purple and that's what she got! I made a quick trip up to Oregon to attend her high school graduation and give her the quilt. Plus I had a chance to see all her brothers, of course!

And to continue with the same colors - I finished the quilt top for the Diamond Quilt!

Last night I finished the binding on the Jewel-Toned Quilt . . .

The quilt top was originally made into a curtain at our old place and I finally

finished it up for the family room sofa.

Can you believe it - I make Ross watch his Tennis games with a head-set on . . . the grunting of the players gets on my nerves (ha)!

Poppy and Buttercup have perfected how to spend a hot summer day . . .

they are my role models!

Going In Another Direction

2010-04-11T17:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I decided to do a different quilt for my niece Hannah’s 18th birthday/high school graduation quilt. The one I originally set out to make would have been too big (the one shared in my last blog entry). Plus I was feeling uptight about all the diagonal pieces – wasn’t having much fun because I was worrying about critical eyes judging my handiwork (not Hannah, just others). I really do like the pattern (and Ross does too) so it looks like that one will stay with us.

I think that when you make a quilt for someone else that it should be made with joy and gladness of heart. I love just thinking about the person while I’m putting together a quilt for them – sending good thoughts of peace and comfort and letting the love flow. Since I’d already shown Hannah the fabric (I had her choose the color combination from a couple of choices – Amy Butler’s modern pastels or Kaffe Fassett and Philip Jacobs bold and colorful prints.) Well the deep colors had won out (a girl after my own heart) and so I bought more fabric and put together this very blue, green and purple (with some pink) quilt top. I cut the fabric out last weekend and sewed the top together this weekend. It’s quite a busy quilt with so many patterns yet I’m hoping that a certain young and talented girl will appreciate it.

Hannah is hoping to go to Culinary School in the Fall. In addition to studying the culinary arts she is also planning to study Textiles. It’s been a windy weekend and the rain started a few hours ago so it’s been easy to stay inside and sew. I still have a couple of months to get the quilting finished.

Yesterday was kind of a funny day, I found myself drawn to the color pink and only realized later that maybe it’s because I’ve had all this blue and purple around me lately. It started with a morning online order with Jackson and Perkins for some bare root roses – one side of the front yard I want to landscape with soft colors – pinks and lavenders. More about garden plans in my other blog “The Making Of A Garden”. After ordering a bunch of pink rose bushes I went up to the Auburn Quilt Show and proceeded to buy a bunch of pink fabric pieces at their “Country Store”. These are a few of my favorite swatches . . .

How Do You Get Out Of A Quilting Slump?

2010-03-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

Not sure what's going on - I haven't been real motivated lately to make progress on my latest project . . . the Jewel Toned Quilt for the Family Room. I put together this quilt top a couple of years ago, one of my first ever quilts, while we were staying in a wonderful house by the ocean at Sea Ranch. We used it as a doorway curtain panel at our old place. I finally got around to piecing it together and have completed the "stitching in the ditch" yet the pattern also calls for hand sewing squares in each window - something I am not good at! Plus my hands hurt in no time at all. The thought of stuffing this big thing through my little sewing machine neck to free motion some squares seems daunting so it's just been sitting in my little studio, with no progress being made.

I decided that I better get going on Hannah's 18th birthday/high school graduation quilt. After a lot of cutting I laid out the pieces yesterday. It's too big for my design wall so I had to lay it out on the living room floor - ugh, my body was sore after that one! Maybe I should have paid attention to the size of the quilt - it's going to be my biggest yet. What was I thinking?

I love the colors of the fabrics - it's a Diamond quilt from Kaffe Fassett's book "Kaleidoscope of Quilts". I bought the fabric from Glorious Color, which is owned by Liza Prior Lucy (she works closely with Kaffe on his fabric lines and books).

Now the problem is, I've never sewn diamonds before and I can't figure out how to get the pieces to be even. And it's not clear in the book instructions. I keep sewing and then ripping out the pieces. I think I may have finally solved it . . . we'll see.

There are a lot of pieces to sew together!

An Attempt At Felting

2010-02-15T14:11:00.000-08:00

One of our most favorite finds since we moved into Placer County is the High Hand Nursery in Loomis, CA. Situated at the site of an old fruit packing company, the place includes a dreamy nursery, a wonderful cafe in a conservatory and a few shops and collaborative art gallery. We were out there on Friday night for the grand opening of their Flower Market.

We also stopped in at the Tin Thimble and I spotted an interesting class being taught the next day to make a Wet Felted Vessel or Purse.

They still had an opening for the class so I signed up for a new adventure.

Well, adventure it was. Not sure that it's my thing - the process included seemingly labor intensive efforts in wetting the wool and then later working it, and working it, to get the fibers to mesh together.

The class was taught by Carin Engen and the wool that I purchased for the project was all Corriedale Wool that she had hand dyed. She had some wonderful samples of projects and fun stories shared throughout the workshop.

I started out with the intent of making a purse yet that would have been more wet rubbing and after 3 hours I was tired - I settled for a "vessel" - an end result that only a mother (and loving husband) could appreciate.

I don't think I'll be making any other felted items anytime soon. Certainly not something as creative as Carin's garment featured below - what fun!

Pansy Needlepoint

2010-02-06T12:18:00.000-08:00

My first attempt at needlepoint . . . pansies . . . maybe I shouldn't have picked such a large project. I'm about halfway done - I have issues with my hands so can only stitch a little at a time. I'm itching to buy another kit from Ehrman Tapestries yet promised myself that I wouldn't order another one until the first one is completed. I started that habit with my approach to quilting (buy as you go and don't stock up) yet that didn't last for long.

A Favorite Thing

2010-02-02T18:01:00.000-08:00

I may be a new quilter yet one of my most favorite things is the building up of my Kaffe Fassett stash. Thank you Quilthome.com for selecting me as this week's "link of the week".

A Grove of Trees at Sea Ranch

2010-01-24T15:03:00.000-08:00

Calling It A Day

2010-01-17T18:27:00.000-08:00

I am now giving myself permission to stop being creative for the rest of the weekend. Finished the curtain panel for the bedroom

Then I started in on a "throw" to go with the quilt I'll be putting together for the family room sofa. I had put together a quilt top as a curtain panel for our old house a year or so ago and now plan to use it on a quilt. Today I took out the scraps from that quilt and started playing with a small lap quilt/throw for the same sofa.

It's been raining all day and it's expected to be wet for the entire week.

I think it's time to just stop for the day and enjoy the rest of the evening in a non-creative way. Now if I could just tear my husband away from his work . . .

Cabbage Rose

2010-01-11T21:48:00.000-08:00

The Most Amazing Sunset . . . And Guitar Playing

2010-01-10T16:26:00.000-08:00

late yesterday Ross and I headed over Hwy 49 from our home to Placerville,

passing by Coloma and Cool (CA)

the sunset was absolutely amazing - truly the most

beautiful one I've ever seen

the western sky was yellow and orange

the eastern sky was pink and purple

After our stop at Zia's in Placerville (a new gelato and coffee place that my friend Shari recently opened) we headed to Shingle Springs to a home concert featuring internationally acclaimed guitarist Alex de Grassi. My husband is on his email list and had found out that he was going to be in our area. Turns out that the home concert was held at the home of a former co-worker - he used to sit across from me and next to Ross (yes, Ross and I also sit near each other at work - it's sick, I know). The Wall Street Journal describes Alex as “Flawless”. Billboard Magazine says “Intricate finger-picking technique with an uncanny gift for melodic invention.” Alex has performed throughout Europe and Japan, as well as Carnegie Hall, Telluride and Wolftrap.

Ross was in heaven and I got a kick out of seeing how thrilled he was throughout the concert to watch this man play. He was so happy and amazed at his talent. I was a bit tentative about the whole idea of sitting for a couple of hours just listening to a guy play the guitar yet I have become a fan as well. It was a nice way to spend a Saturday night.

This Man Brings Me So Much Joy and Happiness

2010-01-08T17:57:00.000-08:00

The doorway to 2010

2010-01-08T13:01:00.000-08:00

I just have to share this picture that Rachel Ashwell featured on her blog - it is absolutely lovely.

A Great Way To Spend A Monday

2009-12-28T18:45:00.000-08:00

time off from work - ya gotta love it
after sleeping in and a late morning smoothie at 11 AM
(thank you Ross),
a day of sewing followed

in between top stitching on the "blue" quilt (and loads of laundry)

i was cutting endless triangles

for an "Optical Squares" curtain panel for the doorway between the master bedroom and bathroom (i'm not sure if 'doorway' is the right term - there is no door, thus the need for a curtain panel)

what was i thinking? this is not going to be a quick little project . . .

Cravings Satisfied

2009-12-26T18:27:00.000-08:00

i've been craving some Macaroni and Cheese for a few months now
so I finally made some - it was yummy!

we had a quiet Christmas day and evening

it was a beautiful day

Peace on Earth

2009-12-24T18:32:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas - may the birth of the Prince of Peace be ever-present in our holiday celebrations and may His love be the most precious gift that we could ever receive.

A Blue Quilt . . . A Really Blue Quilt

2009-12-23T21:30:00.000-08:00

Hmm, okay . . . so I'm off to make a quilt to snuggle under in the living room . . . here are the fabrics that I will be using . . .

How did I end up with so much blue? I went on and on in my last entry about my love for color (and desire to learn more by experimenting with bold colors and prints). This one is definitely going to be a challenge for me.

Will these colors go with the direction I hope to take the living room?

This quilt needs a border - even though my attempt at a "fussy" cut for the black border is pathetic!

Hmm . . . here is the quilt top shown in a bit of the living room (with the first quilt I ever made, same basic pattern, temporarily hanging on the wall) . . .

I'm starting to like it more and more . . .

Two Weeks of Bliss

2009-12-21T18:27:00.000-08:00

The much anticipated holiday vacation is now upon me - finally! I've started a list of things I want to do over the next two weeks - but first . . . I finished two projects recently. I thought I'd make a rainbow quilt in honor of my new quilting studio and to symbolize my current journey to learn more about color. For the time being I still continue to be completely satisfied with purchasing fabric packs online - esp. fabrics designed by master colorists such as Kaffe Fassett and Philip Jacobs. I am a huge fan of their work - first discovering Kaffe and then more recently Philip Jacobs. I feel like I'm learning about colors by working on projects that they have designed. I have all of Kaffe's quilting books as well as his knitting and mosaic publications. I was buying his books way before I actually ever made a quilt or learned how to knit. I'm not sure if I'd be so into quilting if it wasn't for their work. I'm somewhat younger than most quilters I've encountered to date and I've learned so much about the subjectivity of color and fabric design preferences - yet when it comes down to it we're just drawn to what we're drawn to. I know a lot of people don't like my quilts because they are so busy and so full of so many different colors and patterns. Yet I don't care what people think - I'm doing this for me. Most of my fabric purchases are ordered online and when I open up those packages my heart just soars with happiness and excitement. I decided to not keep the "Raindow" quilt in the studio - currently it's hanging from the upstairs landing.

Then I decided to finally tackle quilting the pink and red quilt top that I finished awhile ago - the one my husband and I affectionately refer to as the "Karen On Acid Quilt". A very, very colorful quilt! This one ended up having a lot of problems - log cabin squares cut on the bias that had a lot of "issues". This is the first quilt with a lot of free motion quilting - still a tough for thing for me and have decided that this will be the quilt for office/studio snuggling.

So, for the two weeks of bliss list . . .

quilting - make a quilt to snuggle under in the living room; take quilt top used in old house as a curtain and make a quilt for the family room; make bedroom striped curtain panel; if time, start Inin's quilt.

read, read, read

redesign and organize blog - and make entries. read through new book purchase: "Blogging for Bliss - Crafting Your Own Online Journal" by tara frey

work on garden landscaping plan

breathe, stretch, breathe, stretch

work on the pansy needlepoint

sleep in and go to bed late

go on a walk every day

bake

make soup and learn how to make curry

pray, plan and think about how to take appropriate actions - re: fragile job situation

Quite a list - I wonder how many of these things I'll actually do. Or maybe I'll just sit and look out the windows like our two new cats . . .

I'm Back

2009-11-08T20:53:00.000-08:00

Where on earth have I been - can't believe it's been so long since I've written on my blog. Promise to get better!

I'm finally quilting again . . . the move was long and stressful yet the boxes are almost all unpacked

My quilting studio/office is coming together

I went a different route from my last space - lost the green and went with white furnishings and bolder colors

Everything has it's place

I ordered a portable design wall recently and it arrived in the mail a couple of days ago - somehow I now feel like my little quilting studio is complete (for the moment anyway)!

I am so happy to be sewing again

I promise to be back again real soon.

Home Sweet Home

2009-06-20T23:41:00.001-07:00

Isn't it lovely - this beautiful sampler arrived in the mail this week and, in addition to just being a wonderful addition to my home, it arrived at a great moment (more on that soon). Late last year I was aching for my own "Home Sweet Home" embroidered sampler. I have coveted the one we had growing up for so long and have hinted to my mother that she should leave it to me in her will. Hers is a simple piece and I can't really explain why I've loved it for so long - maybe it's just because it feels so homey and is connected to the homes I lived in while growing up.

I started searching the internet for a pattern to make my own. I came across a pattern at www.tpartyantiques.com that I really liked. After ordering and receiving the pattern in the mail, and knowing that I had too many other projects going on at the time, I inquired with Susan from T Party Antiques about the possibility of commissioning the project out. She recommended Janet McCaffrey (primrosedesign.com) who is the artist and embroiderer that drew up the Home Sweet Home pattern that she had sold me. Janet agreed to make it for me and some time later, this is what she came up with. We both decided to bring in more colors with the flowers and I am very happy with the result. (Thank you Janet!)

About the same time that I commissioned the piece from Janet, I mentioned to my mom about what I had done, again rambling on about how much I liked her “Home Sweet Home” sampler. Well, wouldn’t you know it; she sent it to me as a Christmas gift. So now I have two!

Now for the next part of this story . . . I have been waiting months for this new sampler – not really in a hurry because I had received the one from my mom and have been dwelling in the pleasure of that addition to our home. It makes me smile every time I see it. I actually have been struggling because I couldn’t really think of the right place to put this new anticipated sampler. Then we had some disconcerting news, we just recently found out that the little house that we are renting is in foreclosure and that we would need to move.

We’ve been confused as to what to do – do we just rent another place in our beloved neighborhood, do we move to another part of Sacramento, maybe closer to work? And our work situation is unsure. The contract that both my husband and I work on is up for re-bid and we may find out in the Fall that we don’t have jobs. And if we do win the contract there are rumors that we will move our offices “way out” to Roseville. We weren’t sure if we should buy a home or wait. We didn’t really think we could buy a house because we don’t have a large amount of money in savings – certainly not the 20% that we thought we’d have to have. And then we were certain that we wanted to stay in the downtown area – we love the older homes, the mature trees, the character, the wonderful restaurants and cafes.

Last weekend we ventured out into the suburbs, just to rule out a new home – to confirm that that is not a lifestyle that we were interested in. I have made it my life’s ambition to not live in a suburban tract house, the sort that all my friends and co-workers seem to favor. Well, we did it. We bought a big ‘ole house in Lincoln – it will be ready in September. So, we signed all the papers on Sunday and the new “Home Sweet Home” sampler arrived in the mail on Monday. It was a sweet sign that we are embarking on a good thing and that anywhere that we live can be home. In the long run we will be getting so very much more of a house for the money out in the sticks then we could ever get here in East Sacramento. So now we’re just hoping that our jobs do relocate to Roseville – it will be a much shorter commute! Here’s to hoping and a lot of prayers. And now I definitely have many options as to where to hang this new sampler!

Veggie Pick-up #1

2009-05-10T20:15:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to be dedicated to writing an entry this week even though exhaustion has now set in - and maybe the effects of a glass of wine as well. We picked up our first box of veggies this week from the SoilBorn Farms CSA program. Actually using the stuff may be harder than we think yet we are up to the challenge!

There have been many articles in recent times about the benefits of eating local, fresh and organic produce and we followed suit and joined this CSA (Community Sustainable Agriculture) program. I figured our first box would contain a lot of greens for the early season and boy was I right! We received collards, bac choi, lettuce, arugula, mizuna, green garlic, spring onions, kohlrabi, red russian kale and grapefruit. I was such a dork - I didn't know what half this stuff was and at first I was looking the items up on the internet and comparing pictures to the actual products. Then I remembered a cookbook that I had picked up years ago - 'Vegtables' by James Peterson. Found some pictures and the endeavor went more smoothly after that. I made a yummy taco salad the night we picked up the box (Tuesday - Cinco de Mayo) and then we didn't touch the stuff again until today, which wasn't the best decision. We lost a few things - the refrigerator crisper was already a bit full and a lot of the greens just went in the fridge and proceeded to freeze a bit. What we couldn't use went into the beginnings of our compost heap.

Late today, after a long drive through the country and a couple of hours working in the garden, I tried a few recipes. Actually started some Collards with Ham Hocks before venturing to work outside. I've never made collards before nor have I used ham hocks. I think I've only had collards once in my life! Also made a "Long-Stewed Red Kale" recipe from Alice Waters 'Chez Panisse Vegtables'. Yummy - cooked the russian red kale with bacon, carrots, onions, garlic and topped off with some time cooking in cream (we used soy cream) Very good! Ross loved it, stating that the dish was restaurant quality and then I told him that it was an Alice Waters recipe. Definitely will be making that again! I also sliced the kohlrabi and sauted in butter for about 20 minutes. I'd certainly never heard of nor , obviously cooked with, rohlrabi before. Yet we'll definitely make that again as well. Ross cooked a pork tenderloin and the whole meal was wonderful. We had a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon from Revolution Wines (a local urban winery in downtown Sacramento). So we definitely ate a lot of items that were grown and distributed locally. What a fun adventure this is going to be!

Today's Completed Projects

2009-05-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

Well, the rain is good for a lot of reasons, including giving me a chance to finish some projects. Finally finished the Coneflowers - my first attempt at free motion quilting as well!

I really need to learn how to take pictures - just can't seem to get it right.

Also finished a baby quilt for Prakash and Bindu - very colorful and fun.

Another creative weekend - what fun!

Spring Flowers Before The Rain

2009-05-03T13:13:00.001-07:00

Spring's First Bloom

My First Miniature Garden

2009-04-05T18:10:00.000-07:00

I put together my first miniature garden yesterday. It's something I've wanted to try for some time now.
My sister Teresa makes these adorable little people - fairies and wedding cake toppers - I always thought they needed a little garden of their own.
I came upon a sample of a mini garden in a garden antique store last weekend in Sutter's Creek and that was all the inspiration I needed. I dug up some little plants from my garden and also used some bonsai that I already had.I did a bit of websurfing yesterday after I made my creation - who knew there was this whole little community of people that love to make these tiny gardens?I think I've found a new passion . . .
I feel inspired . . .
The garden turned out just as I had imagined it would.

I've done what I've done, the way that I've done it, for so long now. Maybe it's time to do what I do in a new way . . .

2009-04-01T21:56:00.001-07:00

I was able to get in touch with a certain lifestyle, or “place of being”, while I was out on medical leave and I think I am now mourning its loss. Is it really a loss or is it now a matter of striving to get back to that state by instilling new disciplines and ways of doing things, new ways to go about how I spend my time? One of the thoughts echoing through my mind recently goes something like this – “I've done what I've done, the way that I've done it, for so long now. Maybe it's time to do what I do in a new way.” This thought courses through all the aspects of my life – from the way I spend my time to the way I interact with co-workers and approach my role in projects at work. I am yearning to be more serene, calm and quiet yet my character seems to scream out at times for attention and credit for contributions, for the chance to add my voice to the mix. I ache for that quieter approach to life. I learned during my medical leave that so much that centers around my work life truly does not matter. I think I always knew that yet somehow I learned again that it is so unimportant and temporary. The projects come and go. There is nothing wrong, and everything right, with doing a good job, about being detailed and thorough and to produce solid results, but I have realized that it’s just a job. I could leave my work life tomorrow and be perfectly happy (as long as it was my choice to leave and not someone else’s – ha!)
Recently I was struggling with similar thoughts when I was going through a rough patch at work and I wrote down some words of encouragement to myself on a card and put it on my desk. I thought I did this a few months ago yet I just looked at what I wrote and was surprised to see that I wrote this a year ago . . . April 2008: “Work is work. Try to remember that the things outside of work are the things that truly matter, these are the things that truly nourish and bring you fulfillment. The gardening, yoga, quilting, reading, having delicious meals – the homemaking. The gentle arts, the creative pursuits. The chance to share life and love with a wonderful man. These are the things to cherish and live for. Do your job and do it well, yet always remember it’s just a job.” One of the realities of my time at home during my medical leave was the quieting of the noise in my mind. The endless internal chatter did not cease yet it eased up. In the early days of my physical healing there was the normal pain and discomfort associated with my condition, which translated into many thoughts running through my mind. And there were feelings of isolation as the days and weeks went by with no contact initiated by my co-workers or even really friends. My loving husband was there and he was incredibly giving and consistent throughout my convalescence. My family reached out with calls and cards and even some flowers. There was, however, hardly any contact with co-workers. This was the start of my deep realization that, what I thought was like a family, really isn’t, at this period of time anyway. I have had prior seasons of work life where the team I was involved with did feel like a type of a family but this isn’t one of those times. I experienced such a sense of freedom and inner peace as my mind did not think about work, contemplate situations and scenarios, or even process my work thoughts and activities out in my dream life. That work part of my conscious thought drifted away and it was heavenly! I was able to start tapping into other things that seemed at the time, and even more so now, to be the things that really matter. The homemaking, the creative pursuits. I also experienced, concretely and for the first time, a sense that I could be weak. Not just physically weak, which I was, yet also emotionally weak. Wait, that’s really not the right word – not weak, maybe the word is dependent or vulnerable. A bit needy. Being that I was single for so long and didn’t marry until my mid-40’s, I’ve never been able to really rely on someone else. I’ve never had someone there that I could turn to for help with the daily things of life, and I didn’t know what that could feel like. I can always turn to God, which I do, (a lot!) and I concretely have experienced and know of His intimate “workings” in my life but I have never known, as an adult, the loving support coming from a person that I could touch and feel (and talk to). I’ve always had to be strong and that’s been a natural part of who I am. I am a capable person and can do most things for myself. Yet during my illness, and then recovery from surgery, I needed someone. I needed Ross. He did so many of the things that I normally take care of. He was so giving, so very loving. And something happened – tenderness grew, a dependency, as well as shyness around others. A quietness like something I’ve never known before. I know what it is to live in a quiet home and have a simple and uncomplicated life – I had that as a single woman and I have that now in marriage. I have always loved that sense of peace and simplicity about my life – yet I’ve also always had a balance where I had to “go out into the world” and be around the noise, the activity, the people. And I’m nearly always an outgoing person. Yet I felt myself cowering away from that – almost like I didn’t need that in my life and I didn’t want it. I wanted to stay in my safe cocoon where I was loved and treasured and everything was calm and beautiful. I felt the creative juices flowing and the desire to just create a life based from the home instead of being a part of Corporate America. My current dissatisfaction with the work world frightens me. I am indeed grateful to have a job, especially in these troubled economic times (even in spite of multiple salary reductions), and, as Ross likes to say, “We get to go to work.” I certainly do not want the opposite – I don’t want to be out of a job. I’ve just found myself day dreaming more and more about this “other” life that I can control, where I can choose what I want to do with my time. Now that I have actually experienced what a life can look like, can feel like, where my mind and spirit is calm and quiet for days at a time, now that I have lived that reality a bit, I feel like I am mourning its departure. It’s been nearly 3 months since I’ve been back to work and there have been moments when I have felt downright miserable. Going to work each day, being at work during the long daylight hours has been hard for me. The days have felt so long – so very long! When I first came back there was activity and some project deadlines yet in recent weeks the work has slowed down and I have been in that dreaded spot of being between projects. Now things are picking up, new projects are starting, yet I still struggle with the long work day and yearn more for what I had a taste of during the winter months. And I’m seeking the changes that I need to make in order to usher in more chances for creativity and for nourishing the inner life. As hard as it’s been to change these ingrained habits, we are truly making progress on what we want our life to be about, how we spend our time. It’s the time during the evening hours during the work week where we’ve struggled the most. We are now trying to get some form of exercise every day, as well as focus more on being creative and reading versus watching TV. And I love to work in the garden in the late afternoon and early evening time period. I tend to leave the creative projects for the weekend because I am thrashed by the end of the day and just want to gel in front of the TV. We’ve radically picked up on the amount of time we exercise (more about that in a future entry) yet the result of that is it’s later in the evening before we have dinner and lately we’ve been ending up in front of the TV again. We are trying to limit ourselves to one hour of TV a night (we love our DVR) yet there are too many shows that we like to follow. The nights where I have put in some sort of creative activity are the nights when I feel more rejuvenated and I go to bed in a different frame of mind. I think it’s just going to take time for the new habits to form and it’s my responsibility to make the necessary changes. It’s up to me to change the things that I do and the way that I do them.

The Flowers Are Taking Shape

2009-03-29T22:01:00.001-07:00

I've made some more progress on my latest project - a couple more leaves and stems to complete and then it's on to the "Renegade Thread Play" . . . Not sure what happened with the rest of the weekend. Beautiful spring weather - we made a trip up to Daffodil Hill today to join our gourmet camping group on a picnic. Wonderful drive with great views, some creative inspirations and precious time with my hubby! More later . . .

Why Didn’t I Ever Take An Art Class in High School or College?

2009-03-22T22:09:00.000-07:00

I took an interesting class today – “Fusible Flowers: Cone Flowers” at the Quilters Corner. The class taught us Melinda Bula’s flower technique which involves building the flower in layers of fabrics and then adding sparkle with her "Renegade Thread play". Basically a paint-by-number technique. It’s kind of funny – I had obtained this book about a year ago about making “Cutting Garden Quilts” and the book contained fabulous pictures of these flowers made with all these bits of fabric. Being a new quilter I thought “someday I’d like to explore this further”. More recently I noticed this particular class was being taught and I thought it sounded similar to what was featured in this book. Turns out that the book was written by the instructor of the class, Melinda Bula – what a great surprise that was!

The picture shows my flowers in their early stage – I have a lot more cutting of fabrics to do. Perhaps I’ll document my progress on this blog as time goes on. Melinda taught us to conquer our fears and to know that something “doesn’t have to be perfect, just pretty.” She was a great teacher and such an inspiration. Onward to new adventures . . .

Spring is in the Air – it’s time to start Gardening

2009-03-20T22:28:00.001-07:00

It’s been so beautiful the last few days, the tulips and freesia are starting to bloom, the leaves on the rose bushes are lush, the beloved forget-me-not blossoms are beginning to emerge, and I’m aching to get out to the raised beds and prepare them for the Spring and Summer.

We decided to not grow a bunch of veggies this year because we now have a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership with SoilBorn Farms (http://www.soilborn.org/) here in Sacramento. We’ve been on their waiting list and just received word that we’re in! Each week we will pick up a box of assorted vegetables and we are looking forward to trying new things and “eating close to the source”. Just yesterday two books I had recently ordered arrived in the mail – “Slow Food Nation's – Come To The Table” and the Alice Waters cookbook “The Art of Simple Food”. We are totally on board with adopting the philosophy of eating food that can be traced to its source and that is produced without chemical and/or industrial processes. We now have a couple of Alice Waters' cookbooks and instead of just reading the recipes we are going to actually cook some of them (and be sure to make a visit to her Café in Berkeley). So, the raised beds will contain more herbs, flowers and probably just some tomato plants. We have a threat of rain this weekend yet I’m hoping to get out into the dirt and get my hands dirty.

Some Ideals To Strive Towards

Eat locally & sustainably

Eat seasonally

Shop at farmers’ markets

Plant a garden

Conserve, compost & recycle

Cook simply

Valori Wells Giveaway - What A Way To Start A Creative Day

2009-03-07T17:36:00.000-08:00

My blog giveaway gift from Valori Wells arrived in the mail today. I've been following her blog for close to a year now and from time to time she has a giveaway - her latest was in honor of her 100th blog. And I was one of the lucky recipients. Some fun spring colors - hmm . . . what will I use them for?Today also included pinning my next quilt which, incidently, is made up of Valori's fabrics from her Olive Rose collection. This will be our camping and picnic quilt. I'm also going to experiment, for the first time, on the free motion quilting skills I recently learned in a class. Until now I've just been doing the stitch in the ditch and straight lines type of quilting.

I used some of the blues and greens from Valori's Urban Flannel collection as the back of a quilt I finished recently for Lesley. I like it a lot and the quilt turned out to be double-sided . . . either side makes a great top!

Valori's blog can be found at http://valoriwells.typepad.com/

Have fun with her creative and inspiring work.

Thinking About Blogging Instead Of Actually Blogging

2009-03-01T14:50:00.000-08:00

I found this cute little journal to jot down ideas of topics to blog about . . . it may be as far as I get today in actually writing something . . .

I Waited Years For a Valentine - Dare I Say It . . . It Was Definitely Worth It

2009-02-24T12:56:00.000-08:00

Darling Karen,

Please forever by my

V ery few men know the kind of
A ffection and sweetness and
L ove that I receive from you
E veryday, and
N o other man can ever know
T he softness and beauty
I n your eyes when you are
N ext to me and we
E mbrace and hold each other tight.

I love you forever,

Ross

How Am I Spending The Weekend? Finishing Up Lesley's Quilt

2009-02-07T18:21:00.000-08:00

Lesley's birthday is next week and I've got to get her quilt done. She says her favorite colors are green and blue - I sure hope they still are because there is definitely a lot of green and blue in her quilt!

2009-02-01T16:25:00.000-08:00

I recently joined Facebook (go figure - something I never thought I'd do) and it's been a kick to get reconnected with people from the past. I keep receiving notes from people about their "25 Random Things About Me". I finally broke down and wrote a list . . .
1. I cringe when I receive emails, or in this case Facebook solicitations, for a list of 25 random things about yourself, yet I want to be gracious and figure that if someone is going to take the time to come up with 25 things to say about themselves then I should appeal to their plea and follow suit. Maybe it’s also because I’m afraid what I say will prove that I’m a bit dull.
2. I’m not good about responding to personal emails – after being on a computer for most of the work day the last thing I want to do with my free time is write and respond to emails. I find the whole thing a bit impersonal. However, I hate it when you take the time and send an email or Facebook comment/note and then you never hear back from the person.
3. I love to put peanut sauce in my homemade cheese and turkey panni’s. Yum.
4. I’m addicted to the dark chocolate covered ginger “pieces” from Trader Joe’s after dinner – with another glass of red wine, of course.
5. We’re weird about our wine consumption – we tend to buy a lot of wine when we go out wine tasting yet feel like we have to save it for a special occasion. So we drink a lot of table wine (i.e. cheap wine) during the week and the good stuff just sits there! Same with candles, why don’t I burn then on a regular basis instead of hardly ever?
6. I’m really spoiled because my husband likes to cook – he puts together our morning smoothies, our lunch and makes dinner on most nights. Rough!
7. I am trying to cook one new dish a week – currently working through the Martha Stewart Cooking School Cookbook to help strengthen my skills.
8. I don’t like to shop and the Amazon Prime membership, with free shipping, has revolutionalized my online shopping habits.
9. I absolutely hate to shop at IKEA – the one way in, one way out, maze makes me anxious and tense. Yet the Swedish meatballs at the beginning of the trek are good.
10. We do almost all of our grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s and Corti Brothers. I haven’t been to a traditional supermarket in months.
11. I love riding my purple Cruiser Bike (it’s an Electra Karma – with a wicker basket too) to Trader Joe’s, the library and out to breakfast or lunch on the weekend. Between the two of us, with our collection of bike baskets, we can fit all our groceries, books, etc. in one trip.
12. I finally like my hair even after all those early years of being called names like “Hedge Head” and hearing statements like “what’d you do, stick your fingers in a light socket?” To this day I still don’t like the Solvang boys from high school very much.
13. It is my life’s ambition to never live in the suburbs in a house that looks like everyone else’s. It’s either the city or the country for me. Give me character and mature trees vs. the new and a big garage as the front of the house any day. However, the lack of electrical outlets in our nearly 100 year-old, character-filled (yeah right) house is quite frustrating. And I’m always cold.
14. I’m not very good with the technical side of life – ever since we put in a silly home theater system I still get confused about turning on the TV and how to switch to the DVR or DVD functions. I’ve only had a cell phone for about 5 years and a personal laptop just a couple of years ago (got tired of lugging my work laptop home every night). Funny thing is, I work on technical project teams at work, as a business analyst. Half the time I don’t even understand what the techie guys are saying and I glaze over when they try to mentor me.
15. Ross and I have never had a fight, or even an argument, yet it sometimes gets tense when we’re driving in the car. I think it’s a control thing – and you see things differently when you’re in the passenger seat, yes?
16. I’ve also learned how to compromise – I hate talk radio so we listen to NPR or nothing for our daily commute and then books on tape or music from a CD for the long drives.
17. I would be extremely happy if I never had to drive to Rancho Cordova again. Not a pretty place. I wish we worked downtown, close to home.
18. It scares me to think that I may never leave my current employer and the whole Corporate America thing. I’d love a change yet I don’t want to go somewhere else to do the same basic thing.
19. I dread Mondays and enjoy Fridays. I love the weekends. Yet I am thankful that we have jobs and that we “get to go to work”.
20. I’d love to be one of those people that could say that I love what I do and it doesn’t feel like work yet I think that’s really called Retirement.
21. Retirement scares me because my husband gets to retire way before me – what’s it going to be like having to go to work when he isn’t? Our dream is to be able to retire at the same time.
22. What I really want to do is start my flower farm – I’ve got the whole thing planned out in my head, down to the street I want the thing to be on. Of course I need lots of money so it’s an “if we win the lottery kind of deal”.
23. I also daydream about our dream house a whole lot. The floor plan, the furnishings, the garden. It’s amazing how much time I spend thinking and talking about it. I’m really convinced that we will actually win the lottery one day.
24. I love, love, love having my feet rubbed.
25. My husband and I consistently snuggle together every morning and again at night – it’s my favorite time of the day. Yet we can’t sleep if our bodies are touching (yet we do keep trying).
26. I like the at home version of myself so much more than the work “Karen”. I was recently off of work on medical leave for two months and got more in touch with the serene and calm side of my nature – felt more creative as well. I could totally do the Domestic Goddess thing.
27. I feel very blessed.

2009-01-18T22:06:00.000-08:00

Here we go with another food entry - I've got to learn more about taking pictures to truly capture the beauty of the meal - the pictures included below are poor. I thought another blog entry would happen before Sunday but that was not the case. Ross and I are both trying to cook at one new thing a week, usually on a Sunday. Ross wanted to make a Seafood Paella for dinner so I chose a breakfast item - a breakfast tart. I found the recipe in a recent version of the NapaStyle catalog. The finished product tasted better than it looks - and it was indeed yummy!

Ross' Seafood Paella was also tasty - the recipe was taken from the "Cooking with all things Trader Joe's" Unofficial Cookbook. We are both big fans of Trader Joe's and shop there at least once a week.

2009-01-18T21:47:00.000-08:00

My First Chicken Roast

2009-01-11T19:45:00.000-08:00

OK, silly thing here . . . I roasted my first chicken tonight (my husband just called me a roasting chicken virgin). As I said in an earlier post, getting more comfortable with cooking is one of my goals for 2009. My aim is to go though Martha Stewart's Cooking School cookbook yet tonights meal comes from NapaStyle. I had to try out our new Cocorico Pan with a roasted chicken. Whole nine yards - stuffed the cavity with lemons and rosemary and roasted yummy veggies including portobello mushrooms, potatoes, onions, carrots. We enjoyed the meal with a bottle of 2006 Greg Norman Pinto Noir. Yummy - maybe this cooking thing isn't so hard after all!

2009-01-11T19:44:00.000-08:00

At my age does it seem unreal that this is the first chicken I've ever roasted?

2009-01-11T19:43:00.000-08:00

2009-01-10T15:53:00.000-08:00

Knitted Wonders

2009-01-10T15:52:00.001-08:00

My newest hand-knitted gem from my mother arrived in the mail today – fingerless elbow gloves! My mom has made me a couple of other fingerless gloves to help ward off the chill both at work and in my home office. I recently asked her if she could make me some long ones and this is what she came up with – aren’t they great?

She has made me a lot of sweaters, hats and gloves over the years. Below are some other recent treasures . . .

2009-01-10T15:52:00.000-08:00

2009-01-10T15:51:00.000-08:00

One of my mom's sweater creations - picture is taken at the Sea Ranch Chapel

2009-01-10T15:50:00.000-08:00

Socks actually are a turn-on for my husband (who knew?), especially hand-knitted ones!

2009-01-10T15:48:00.000-08:00

Hats, hats, hats . . .

2009-01-10T15:47:00.000-08:00

My favorite hat

Life as a Collage

2009-01-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

I seem to be drawn towards things that appear as a collage, be it art or the way I live my life. Thinking on my little office and craft studio, it is such a mixture of so many different interests and items. I am drawn towards mosaics and colorful quilts with lots of different colors and patterns. I’m thinking that this new blog will turn out to be something of a collage, a collage of the different areas in my life, a journaling of sorts as I proceed through the New Year.

I’m still surprised that I’ve even begun a blog – it’s certainly not something I’ve contemplated for any amount of time. And I don’t envision myself as much of a writer and can’t imagine others being that interested in reading my words. My goal is to do this for myself. For many years I used to keep journals yet I haven’t written much in the last couple of years. Maybe if I type up journal type entries then I’ll keep up on it. I’m willing to give it a try. I doubt I’ll even tell anyone that I know that I’m writing a blog – I’m drawn towards the anonymity.

This whole blog thing started after I came across the publication “Artful Blogging – Visually Inspiring Online Journals” put out by Somerset Studio. What a beautiful and inspiring publication. One of my hopes with this blog is to tap into my inner artist – I think she’s in there somewhere aching to come out. I’ve never taken a formal art class and exhibited no real potential in childhood art endeavors. Yet I am drawn to colors and textiles and again, things that are a Collage. Some of my friends actually think I’m an artistic person yet I think it is due to how I live my life and the things that I surround myself with. Yet to actually create art – that’s where I’m being drawn.

My hope for this blog is to explore and document many different areas of life and to incorporate some of what I’m hoping the New Year will be about. I plan to share some of the beautiful and simple things that come to mind as well as concretely develop some thoughts and words on the following topics:

Develop more clearly my vision and maybe even a business plan for my dream of one day opening my “First Fruits Flower Farm” (thus the origins of the name of this blog).
Talk about my newest endeavor – putting together quilts. Not your grandmother type quilts but colorful and fun quilts with fabrics from designers such as Kaffe Fassett, Amy Butler, and Valori Wells.
Try to keep myself accountable to fitness goals, to try to become a more active person. I’ve never been much of “a sporty type of girl” yet my husband is an athlete and he is ever trying to get me to be more physically active.
Another accountability area – staying on track with my plan to work my way through Martha Stewarts “Cooking School” via an independent study through her new cookbook. I love to buy cookbooks, we have run out of room for them all, yet cooking intimidates me. It’s funny because friends and co-workers may think I’m a good cook yet I rarely cook - I find it stressful and exhausting. I’m the type that reads the recipe over and over again as I cook because I feel insecure about the whole thing. My goal is to become more confident and make at least one new dish a week. My husband does most of the cooking (one of his best qualities) yet he enjoys it when he can have a night off as well.

Anyway, enough of all that. I think what I’m trying to say is that I want this blog to be a Collage of the many different areas in my life. Awhile back a co-worker friend house-sat for me at my little cottage. This was before I was married and I had lots of “Karen” things all over the tiny place. She wrote this poem at the conclusion of her stay:

Collocated Collages

She offered me shelter
Within her home
Within her art
And everywhere I looked
There was color
And everywhere I saw
There were flowers
And everywhere I went
There was heart

There were beaded wonders
Amid fine threads of lace
Collocated collages of love
And voluptuous Victorian nymphs
A constricted Japanese parasol, brown and dour
A blue-gowned curlylocks
Shocked by her own audacity
Cavorted beneath the armoire
She kissed him at the train depot
While he kissed her in front of the café

Dahlias dallied with the roses
That nestled near the nasturtium
That nested under the gardenias
None of them talked to the cacti
Far away on the front porch

But time fled
I left
The color
The art
The flowers

But not the heart
For it resides within.

Sue Armstrong

A New Year, A New Adventure

2009-01-01T16:56:00.000-08:00

Starting a blog, are you kidding? What on earth would I say? What would I share? Would it be an avenue to explore dreams and attempt to define them, to grow them? Would it be something to challenge me to see the beauty in the simple things and to share what I find beautiful with others? Will it be a way to journal some of the happenings in the life that I'm living? A new year, a new adventure . . . I wonder how it will all turn out.