EBHQ Workshop with Susan Shie

It’s really hot here again. The pool has been marvelous in the morning. All of the kids are back in school. This might be the first September that no one in our family has returned to school or teaching.

I did a wonderful two-day EBHQ workshop with Susan Shie last weekend. We used brushes, fabric paint, and markers to create a personal response to a theme. We attempted to find that artist from our childhood who expressed herself with abandon, never judging whether the marks were right or wrong.

One of my favorite ideas was what Susan calls Library Time. For awhile I had tried to do morning writing a la Julia Cameron. My understanding of what Susan proposes is that Library Time is a kind of warm-up for the real work. It is a time to “settle in” by writing or drawing in your sketch book. For about 10 minutes, I tried to record ideas and colors as they flowed from my thoughts about the theme. I did not try to make writings that were “good” nor did I feel a need to go back and re-read what I wrote. For me, it was a sort of positive quieting of the inner critic and a sort of personal cheerleading session all in one.

Susan’s diary paintings contain extensive writings, filling up her paintings with texture. Initially, I had no interest in doing work like this but making a personal diary painting was a very joyous experience. What I was unable or unwilling to draw could be filled out with words.

Of course one of the most fabulous things about EBHQ workshops is the up-close and in-person time with the artist and her art. Susan’s art, in particular, is meant to be experienced not as a photo, but in the cloth.

Gelatin Plate Printing

I can’t seem to make the time to get this sandwiched and quilted. This is my water piece for July for the G4: Not finished but better than nothing. The fabrics are all from my print sessions using a gelatin print plate I made from Rayna Gillman's new book, Create Your Own Hand-Printed Cloth.

I used her recipe but didn’t have a foil baking pan. Instead I used a plastic cover that I found in my supplies and lined it with foil. I used 4 packets of gelatin as that was all I had. This was not a case of good planning but the procedure is quite forgiving. My plate is about 8"x 12" and next time I will double the amount of gelatin and use a larger pan, perhaps a jelly roll pan lined with foil, to make a larger plate. The foil permitted easy lifting in and out of the container. With the larger pan, I thought I would use heavy duty foil as that is wider.

The plate is holding up nicely (and also breaking down nicely, gaining some character) in my refrig and I hope to do some additional printing this weekend.

I used a variety of fabric paints from ProChem (blue and golden yellow), and Jacquard (Olive, Sky Blue, Brown). I used what I had on my shelf.

Water and printing fabric

I read somewhere that Frank Gehry remarked that if you know where you are going with your art, there’s probably no point in doing it (or words to that effect). I have no idea where I’m going with my Water piece for the G4. I did lots of watery thinking on our recent tour of So. Cal beaches but I’m sure not there yet.

I recently bought a copy of Rayna Gillman’s wonderful new book, Create Your Own Hand-Printed Cloth. I got mine from my local quilt shop but it is available from Rayna’s blog. Maybe it’s a procrastination ploy but I keep fantasizing about going through the book, chapter by chapter and working through each section, trying out all the tips. Instead, this weekend I skipped ahead to Chapter 4, Gelatin Plate Printing and had so much fun. The recipes are very clear and it feels as if Rayna is just right there, offering helpful hints. The book is loaded with ideas and inspiration. I am on Day 3 and my plate is holding up (or breaking down!) nicely. Just a few more pieces and I’m off to find something to do with all of the new fabric.

Laguna 2

We stayed in Dana Point but my BIL and SIL and their two kids stayed at the Laguna Beach Motor Inn in north Laguna. They had an ocean view and a walk to a beach (Shaw’s Cove at Fairview St. and Cliff Drive and a little longer walk to Crescent Bay Beach, my fav). Did I mention that there’s a latte source across Pacific Coast Highway and a short walk to a pasta/pizza place and a grocery store? The LBMI has a lovely terraced garden and a sparkling pool. The room was very cramped but in addition to the view, provided a small microwave and refrig. I would have been quite happy there – lodgings are for showering and sleeping. Proximity to the beach was key for me – no driving nor parking-spot hunting. There was ample room for a preprandial glass of wine in the garden or poolside. I need to check out Laguna Riviera Beach Resort, Shanny’s pick.

Blogging from Laguna Beach

I tried blogging from Peet’s in Dana Point but Blogger wouldn't let me. This was our first internet connection since leaving home on Saturday. We’re on vacation in beautiful Laguna Beach! The air is clear--no smoky sunrises! I’ll be back at the end of the week. This is a totally stolen image from the web of “our” beach. Weather 75° and perfect.

Hot, hot, hot!

I don’t remember it ever being this hot. My thermometer on the shady north side of our house registered a high of 101° yesterday. Today is supposed to be even hotter. I have my Featherweight set up in the new space. It’s much cooler there so I made a few more blocks yesterday when it was too hot to even think about doing anything else. I’ve been getting my swim in at 6:30 AM. It’s quite delightful but the smoky haze has returned and with it the red sunrise. I hope to remember to take some sunrise pictures at Orinda Park Pool…

Zeus II

I’m still working on the studio re-do. I’ve made good progress but still haven’t installed my Featherweight. I’ve been drawing instead of piecing. This is the second try of the Zeus photo. I had an idea that it would be fun to make a drawing and perhaps print it on fabric and do some stitching. I’m working on Zeus III. The first two were supposed to be drawings just to draw, using copy paper and a UniBall Vision micro, a new pen for me. I added color by getting out my Pitt pens. Zeus III is on print paper and I hope to play with some watercolor.

Zeus

Steven’s roommate Hassan is the “parent” of Zeus, a pit bull puppy. I was very anxious about pit bulls in particular and college seniors having enough time to properly “adopt” this puppy but I must admit that he is a very lovable pup.

I was amazed that this dog became such a big part of the boys’ senior year of college. During our visits this year we were able to spend some quality time with him, including a digging party at the beach. And of course he was at the graduation party. This sketch is from a picture—photographer unknown but surely one of the dear boys on Del Playa.

This and That

I’m playing mom (we had a wonderful time in Santa Barbara for Steven’s graduation but he came home and promptly popped a strep infection) but I am also doing some piecing. It’s my reward for a beginning a massive clean-up that is long overdue. My plan is to move Steven into Andrew’s room and take over Steven’s room as my studio. I’m giving up the fabulous upstairs while Steven is home. It was originally a “family room” which I had taken over as my studio. Actually, I have taken over the entire house and it’s time to organize and consolidate.

Rebecca Rohrkaste, colorist extraordinaire, showed a Postage Stamp quilt at the EBHQ “Show and Tell” (the November meeting each year) a couple of years ago. We were all agog and inspired. She cut 1-1/2” squares and started putting together 2s and then 4 patches, etc. It was very inspiring, especially for all of us who save scraps. I thought that if I put a pile of squares near my Featherweight, I could piece when I felt like it and eventually, I’d have something. I decided that I would take some 16-patches (4 x 4) and use some of my Kaffee Fassett fabric that I’ve been hoarding. Here is a sneak preview.

Roses and Quilts and Summer

A friend of mine once remarked that anyone can make a spring garden because Mother Nature does all of the work. Well, spring is over. I've been planting seeds and deadheading and weeding and I'm about to do some ripping out. I need to be feeding if I expect to have very many more roses before next spring. The lemon basil is up and I am beginning to see some bean green. I have beet and cilantro seedlings and the Thai basil is poking up.

We had both boys home for the last weekend in May and that was so great. We will all be together again for Steven's graduation on June 14 in Santa Barbara.

This small quilt was what I came up with for February 2008 and the G4 challenge of Crazy, Crazy in Love, Crazy Love, or whatever the challenge was. I found these “crazy” log cabin blocks in my WIP file. They were inspired by a quilt by Jean Wells.

Cilantro and other stuff

I do love singles. Alas, this is another unknown, also a "gift."

Lots of weed pulling and fertilizing and mulching. There's lots more of that to do. I planted more basil. This time I’m trying Mrs. Brown’s lemon basil (Ocimum basilicum citriodora, an heirloom variety from Renee’s Garden Seeds). I also am trying a new method of growing cilantro that I read about on the Sunset Magazine site. I still hope to plant beans and peppers and beets.

I'm In the Garden

It doesn’t seem possible but it is raining. We haven’t had rain for months. This has been the driest spring since forever. Our rainy season is just about over and we won’t get any real rain until next autumn. Our regional water people have declared that our reservoirs are low and we are officially in a drought situation. We will be penalized for not cutting back on our water consumption. Ratting on your neighbor is encouraged. I am savoring the moisture and I am enjoying spring while I can.

One more tall-bearded iris

Elusive blues!
This one looks much more blue in the garden.

The garden in May: Tall-bearded Iris

I really am making art but I can’t resist posting these. A new one opened up today and I will take her picture tomorrow morning.

Happy Mothers' Day

My friend Linda gave me the seeds for these sweet peas. I think they are April in Paris and that they came from Enchanting Sweet Peas of Sebastopol, CA. At first, it seemed that very few germinated so I threw in all of the old seed that was collecting in bins and baskets in the garage. There are still spaces in the rows but I've been picking a handful every morning.

Sweet peas are wonderful to contemplate but it's all about the fragrance: intoxicating. I will definitely grow these again.

One of these years, I'll get to Sebastopol for the open garden in June.
Thank you, Linda. Happy Mothers' Day!

Focus?

Air 1
12" x 12 "

Somewhere in the not too distant past I resolved to try to achieve some. If I honestly consider what I have accomplished in the last 5 months I would have to be happy. It's just that my “to do” list is always very optimistic. Of late, I have been having just too much fun. There was the trip to New York. Last weekend was Twain Harte. This week was “get something done in time for the G4 meeting on May 8.”

I was very inspired by large wall paintings by Sol LeWitt at MOMA. One in particular was a grid and what I remembered were red, blue, and yellow crayon lines that reminded me that I am a quilter of fabrics. I got out my hand-dyed fabrics. I had been thinking about greens following some posts by June Underwood about green.

Our theme for for the G4 for April was air.

Work in Progress

Maybe I was inspired by Del’s skinny strips. I like skinny strips, too. These are pieced. After doing all of that fusing for the chickens it is really fun to be piecing. These are all my hand-dyed fabrics. The G4 theme for April is Air. We met today. More later.

Pool's Open

First swim of the year at Orinda Park Pool.
And that's just about how it looked. There were two other swimmers. The water was fine. I did about 30 minutes (500 free, 250 breast, 250 kickboard).

Got Firewood!

I should have taken a "before" picture so you could have seen how dramatically different this looks. We had a ginormous cedar tree removed on Wednesday. About 2 months ago, a very large limb from this tree fell onto the neighbor's property. We were afraid that the tree, which was leaning thataway, would go and take out the whole neighborhood. This woodpile looks bigger in real life. Can you believe how ugly that shed is on the neighbor’s property? So much for borrowed landscapes. I am interested in any suggestions for quick solutions for ameliorating this situation. Long term I have it covered: I will plant something wonderful in the autumn. This area is subject to depradation by deer and did I say that there is full sun now?

New York, Day 1

We are in New York!

This was the first time Robin, Linda, and I had traveled together. We have been talking about this trip for a long time but none of us had been to New York recently. We agreed about museums, shopping, the theater, walking, eating, and we are very compatible, but Monday was the day that we had to actually do it. We had a plan: Coffee! Walking! Museums!

We knew Starbuck’s could be our fall back coffee position, but we really wanted to go local. Monday was experimental. We needed coffee and we picked the first coffee place that seemed local – I think it was PAX. Research would continue.

MOMA is open on Mondays! The Met, the Whitney, the American Folk Art Museum are not open on Monday! We walked to MOMA at 53^rd and Fifth, stopping into St. Patrick’s Cathedral on the way. We got to MOMA just as it was opening, actually, just as Café 2 was opening. We made a quick decision to combine breakfast and lunch while there were no crowds.

Café 2 is really just a museum cafeteria but as they say, "taken to sophisticated new heights." It features "rustic Italian cooking of the Roman cantinetta or rosticceria style of seasonal Italian foods with handmade pastas, cured salumi, artisanal cheeses, panini, salads, soups, and simple desserts." It was perfect! I think we could all recommend it, especially if all you've had is bad coffee on your first full day in New York.

We all had the bruschetta plate with a choice of three from a selection including mozzarella with olive tapenade, tomato jam, cured tuna with black olives and lemon, broccoli rabe, prosciutto with roasted butternut squash) and we shared a salad of cannellini and fava beans.

We saw the show, “Color Chart: Reinventing Color 1950 to Today.” It explores the the “lush beauty that results when contemporary artists assign color decisions to chance…” and was hugely inspirational. More than forty artists were represented, including Ellsworth Kelly, Gerhard Richter, Frank Stella (“Straight out of the can; it can’t get better than that.”), Andy Warhol, Sherrie Levine, and Damien Hirst.

Then it was on to see our favorites from MOMA’s amazing collection including Cezanne’s The Bather, Van Gogh’s Starry Night, the Fauves, the Impressionists, the surrealists, until we were exhausted. I should have Robin prepare a post about how she discovered that she could use her iPhone to access the museum’s audio tour. We shopped at the museum stores and then I think we began our cupcake research (it is all beginning to blur). Could we have done that much in one day? Was Cupcake Café (9^th Avenue between 38^th and 39^thStreet) on Monday or Tuesday? It was not worth remembering, anyway – okay coffee and pretty cupcakes but forgettable in the taste department.

Andrew met us after work for dinner at Mesa Grill. This southwestern-style restaurant by celebrity chef Bobby Flay sparkles on Fifth Avenue between 15^th and 16^th.

We started with goat cheese “Queso Fundido” with rajas and blue corn chips, barbecue pork and Oaxaca cheese quesadilla with hot sweet cabbage relish, and grapefruit, Peach, and Flay’s prize-winning margaritas.

Robin had ancho chili-rubbed chicken with roasted tomatillo sauce with queso fresco, which was yummy! Andrew had the grilled lamb chops with cilantro-mint chimichurri and potato celeriac Anaheim chile gratin. Linda and I had the New Mexico-spice rubbed pork tenderloin with bourbon ancho chile sauce which was served with a sweet potato tamale with crushed pecan butter. We ended our meal with the delicious chocolate, brown-sugar souffle pudding with pecan flatbread crunch, but I don't know how we ever ate another bite. We walked back to the hotel. Weather: a little warmer than Sunday.

Quilt Content

Les Poules Jolies
33" x 45"

These chickens have been in the works for almost two years. Memorial Day weekend of 2006, my friends Alice, Pat, Janine, and I had a girls’ art adventure in Mendocino. We stayed at the Mar Vista Cottages, at Anchor Bay, near Gualala. It is a very special place: the cottages were built in the thirties; they have kitchens, woodstoves, and porches with deck chairs; there is a large garden and guests are encouraged to pick herbs and flowers; and best of all, there are hens and fresh eggs every morning. I took many photos of the Mar Vista hens and made a small study but couldn’t seem to get going on a larger piece that would be more appropriate for Voices in Cloth, the biennial show of my guild, the East Bay Heritage Quilters (EBHQ) . I was still putting stitches in it on the morning it was to be delivered to the show, the first weekend in April.

The show was fabulous. I helped with set-up on the day before the show opened and had a wonderful time working with a great group of volunteers. As the show went up I was very inspired by the marvelous quilts from guild members. I went to the show on Saturday, April 12, where I finally met Del Thomas.

Happy Earth Day!

It seemed that a picture from the garden would be appropriate.

Here We Are!

Girls’ Trip to New York, Chapter 1

On Sunday we flew from Oakland to JFK on JetBlue and arrived in New York on time at about 5 PM. Is every airport in the country in a constant state of construction? We had to take a shuttle from our gate to get into the terminal. But NY is very organized. We went to Ground Transportation and a line of travelers were efficiently ushered into waiting cabs. It was overcast and threatening rain, but none appeared. The drive from Kennedy to Manhattan was remarkable for the traffic in Queens which our cabby dodged and the many flowering trees. April is a wonderful time to go to New York!

By the time we reached the New York Helmsley Hotel on east 42^nd Street, we barely had time to change out of our travel clothes and dash to meet my son for dinner. He was waiting for us at craftbar, Broadway and East 20^th . This is the more casual Tom Colicchio restaurant my travelling companion Linda and I had learned about as avid Top Chef viewers. My handsome son, Andrew, was waiting at the bar and we were shown to a spacious banquette. We were sustained by wonderful breadsticks while we perused the menu. We loved the pecorino fondue with hazelnuts and honey appetizer.

Robin had the escarole soup and the orecchiette with fennel sausage, roasted tomatoes, and ricotta salata (which was delicious!). Linda and I had the baby beets with blue cheese and walnuts, and the daurade with potato gnocchi, morels, and ramps. Andrew had the sirloin with smoked mushrooms, jalapeno, and lime; and the crispy potatoes.

Since it was our first night, we had to have dessert. We shared the butterscotch pudding with gingersnaps and the hot fudge sundae with coffee crunch ice cream. Ah, excess!

So we walked 24 blocks up Park Avenue, back to the hotel, with a slight detour at Grand Central Station and called it a day. Overcast, chance of rain, high of 53°F, low of 40°F.

Homemade Power Bars version 1.2 MOCHA

I'm just back from a whirlwind visit to New York. Before I left, I made a batch of power bars so I could bring some to Andrew. I finally made the recipe with mini chocolate chips. I added ½ cup to the dry ingredients. When I poured the hot syrup on, as you would expect, the chocolate chips melted. There was no visible evidence of the chips when all of the syrup was incorporated. The interesting thing was that the coffee flavor was enhanced. Two tasters asked whether I had increased the amount of ground espresso. I had not. I would not say that the flavor was chocolate-y with this amount and this kind of chocolate (I used Nestle’s minis because I felt the scale would be right.)

I will try it again with other kinds of chocolate, like Ghirardelli dark chocolate (baking bar) because I love that chocolate. I will roughly chop it but I suspect it, too, will melt. There is no advantage to using chips except ease of mixing and I’d rather go for great flavor.

Version 1.2 adds 400 calories to the recipe or 25 calories per bar if you cut it into 16 bars.

Homemade Power Bars -- Update

Well, I did the calculation and it's not as bad as I feared: I made 16 portions from the recipe and I calculated that this would amount to (drumroll, please!)

230 calories per bar.

I haven't done a real nutritional analysis but I feel better about them now that I know this.

I found this link about snack bars that provides some perspective. This was written by a nutritionist.

So in summary, these bars have whole grains, protein, fat, simple and complex carbohydrates, and are simple to make.

Homemade Power Bars

I’m always looking for something that I can make and send to my guys. Steven is in Santa Barbara and Andrew is in New York City. I discovered Big Sur Power Bars at 101 Cookbooks and I think it is a winner. In addition to the recipe, there is a video that shows how easy this recipe is. I’ve made it several times as written and I am about to make some modifications for all of the chocoholics I know. I can’t decide between mini-chocolate chips and cacao nibs. I guess I’ll just have to try the recipe both ways. The bars would be great as “emergency” food – to have in the car; for a quick “breakfast” bar; or as a pick-me-up late-afternoon snack.

Don’t be put off by the coconut if you are not a fan. I had doubts and I would ordinarily omit it in a new recipe. Maybe my tastes are evolving. It doesn’t really taste coconutty – the coffee flavor is what predominates.

The most economical source that I have found for brown rice syrup has been Whole Foods. My Trader Joe’s does not carry it. I haven’t checked at the Berkeley Bowl yet but all of the ingredients are on my Bowl list. All of the items are readily available at my nearest health food store. I think the theory of this recipe is to use more natural, whole foods. Instead of using all sucrose, or high fructose corn syrup, raw sugar and this rice-derived sweetener with more complex sugars, is used. Here is another link for brown rice syrup written by a self-identified consumer advocate.

The only problem with these bars is that it’s hard to stop eating them! And I’m afraid to do the nutritional analysis – they are so yummy!

I'm Back!

I’ve been very productive but have nothing to show for it. I’m working on another monoprint in my tree series for the Gang of Four Vernal Equinox challenge. I’m quilting my entry for Voices in Cloth, 2008 EBHQ show. I had jury duty for two days last week. I’ve started some basil seeds and I’ve been weeding the garden. Ah Spring!

Mole poblano

The reveal for the current 12 x 12 group Chocolate Challenge is today, February 1. I was so inspired by the work this group was doing that I decided to set a goal for myself to do a journal quilt every week. Most of my journal quilt work has been 12 inches square. It was so fun to read about the groups' research that I started thinking I might take the chocolate challenge. I started this last week, when I was stuck for a journal quilt idea. I had been thinking about skinny strips and decided to do some piecing. The first thing that came to mind was mole poblano. We honeymooned in Mexico and I had a personal goal of tasting as many preparations of this wonderful sauce as was possible. A quick check of Wikipedia has this:

Mole poblano is prepared with dried chile peppers (commonly ancho, pasilla, mulato, and chipotle), ground nuts, spices, Mexican chocolate (cacao ground with sugar and cinnamon) and a variety of other ingredients. Mole de guajolate (turkey) is widely regarded as the country’s national dish.

My version has chocolate, dried chile peppers, and fresh red and green jalapeños.

Blue Vase

Well, so much for staying focused. I spent Saturday with Yvonne Porcella ! Well, not exactly. I shared her with 20 of my closest EBHQ friends. Yvonne was the guest speaker for the January 28 meeting of the East Bay Heritage Quilters. She taught a class on Saturday on her methods of making quilts using fusible web and machine applique. This is the still life I did. On Monday she taught a wearable art class. I would have loved to make the jacket that she is taught on Monday but I am staying focused on quilts.

I didn’t get a lot done in Saturday's class. I find it hard to work with all of the distractions. I had been feeling bad that I was taking a class and starting another project instead of working on my big-ish piece. But instead, I decided that the class was a kind of warm-up exercise. I had been a little stuck for whatever reason. I am now putting "take a class" in my bag of tricks for getting over bumps. Of course I totally didn't plan it that way.

I really wanted to meet Yvonne and spend time in her class. For me, she is one of the founding mothers of the studio art quilt phenomenon. Her vibrant colors are not unusual today but they were when she began in the 70s. And how about those amazing kimonos!

Early Spring

This is still journal 3 of 2008 but I added hand stitching to the trees in an attempt to draw focus to them and away from the "background." I had been looking for a way to create what I "saw" in my walks in the woods, putting the emerging green of spring into softer focus. Coming upon this piece of fabric which had been screen printed was exciting. Quilting the line of the trees was interesting but didn't seem to be enough.

I'm not so sure about my "no rules" approach to my goal of weekly journaling but I am satisfied that I am making work.

Journal Quilt Week 3 of 2008

I thought about not making something last week because I am trying to get something done for my guild show. The East Bay Heritage Quilters have a show every two years. Every member may exhibit one quilt and one piece of wearable art. It’s an amazing guild. It’s a wonderful show. I’m not even at the point of having some pictures of the work in progress.

On Friday, while cleaning up my work space, I found a piece of fabric that I made in an EBHQ workshop with Kerr Grabowski. I cut it up and started quilting my tree shapes. This fabric was screen printed with thickened dyes, using Kerr’s deconstructed screen printing techniques. I had intended to do more hand stitching on this piece but I decided to take a look at it first. I mis-positioned it on the scanner bed and got this image. I’m going to leave it for now and get back to my EBHQ project.

Trying to stay focused

I always think I should have a photo to go with a blog post, so I haven’t been blogging much. I am trying to stay focused on my weekly journal project and I am working on a large-ish piece (about 36 x 48) for the 2008 EBHQ show, Voices in Cloth. The show is a little later this year, April 12 and 13, but it is still at the Oakland Convention Center. Here’s a picture of one of the Opportunity Quilts for 2009. This one is by Judy Jensen. Read more about it here

Resolution : Focus

The Gang of Four had our January meeting. We had selected Resolution or Resolve as our prompt. I have been much more interested in the tree thing I’ve got going than the concept of resolution. In the course of this project, I did spend some quality time thinking about the end of 2007 and what I accomplished. I have been subscribing to the EDM listserv (check out EDM Superblog) where there has been a huge discussion of goal setting for 2008. Somewhere I found a link to Christine Kane’s blog and I loved her idea in her December 28, 2007 post about choosing a word for the year, rather than resolutions.

I haven’t been drawing every day but I have been drawing and more importantly, I have been working in my sketchbook. When I am overwhelmed with a blank page in my sketchbook I will break the page down into boxes and doodle in the boxes. I took that approach in designing this piece. It was actually the only idea I had. I decided that the important thing was to make something that was 12 x 12, rather than getting caught up in the “making a masterpiece.” I enjoyed just getting it done. I knew what would go in some of the boxes. I finally settled on the irregular grid and filled in the boxes that I was sure of. I treated this quilt as a sketchbook page.

In my initial research, I had come up with ideas like fireworks, streamers, and confetti which I thought might be ideas for quilting motifs. As the piece turned out to be a kind of whole-cloth quilt, I didn’t really have space for extra quilting. But I did have that spool of metallic thread which I had never used. I was afraid of the issues that might develop but I experimented anyway. That was good. Our next meeting is in February and the prompt is crazy or love or crazy and love or crazy in love.

Winter

This is the third journal quilt I've finished in the 12 x 12 inch format. My goal is to finish something every week for 2008. I continue to be interested in trees and line. In looking at my sketchbook, I noticed that trees have been a recurring motif. I feel as if there is much more territory to explore. Can this be a series? In this piece I experimented with monoprinting with acrylic paint on a Plexiglas plate.

Storm Update

I just went out and there are many downed branches. There is lots of flooding: clogged drains, trees downed, creeks rising. Power is still out in five neighborhoods in our village. The winds, which were the biggest problem, seem to have temporarily abated but heavy showers and thunderstorms are still predicted for the next day or two, and a “very wet pattern” will continue until perhaps Thursday of next week. The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous weather warning for the entire area. I emptied out the rain gauge which was up to 5 inches.

The Sierra Nevada is bracing for perhaps the biggest snowstorm total in the last 50 years.

Big Storm!

The big storm that forecasters have been warning us about, hit with full force here on the eastern side of the Berkeley Hills. We just regained power after a 2-1/2 hour outage. I suspect that we are one of the lucky ones. There are reportedly over 200 separate locations in the Bay Area that will require work. We have had very high winds and have had 4 inches of rain since yesterday. A portion of an old fence on our property blew down. We have two sump pumps going, now that we have power again, and so far so good. But there is a torrent pouring down the hillside behind us. If I get a chance, I will go out and take a picture of our “waterfall.” It is still blowing and raining and more rain is predicted. This is actually a series of three storms that are moving into California. We haven’t had such a big storm since the New Years’ storm of 2006. I hope Christine at Winnowings on her island in the Delta is okay. Now I’ll go check on the pumps!

Winter Solstice II

After finishing Winter Solstice I, I had an idea of simplifying the tree shapes using only lines. I was still fascinated with the greys. I had been in the garden and had noticed that there was a lot of green for late December: the lichens and mosses have sprung back to greenness; the freesias are popping up; the Daphne odora , with bright green calyxes, is loaded with buds and looks as if it is ready to burst into bloom. I was also having so much fun with the hand stitching that I wanted to do more.

One of my goals for 2008 is to post something that I’ve made at least once a week.

Winter Solstice I

The Gang of Four (pending some other appellation) met in early November for the first time. We are all young artists, at about the same place in our careers. We are close to each other in age but our children range in age from 13 to 24, so our parenting responsibilities are not the same. I believe that our goal, for now, is to encourage each other to make more art. We plan to meet about once a month. We were inspired by the Twelve by Twelve gang and have adopted that format with the idea that we might make smaller format work that we could show together.
We decided to challenge each other to meet in December with a fiber response to the winter solstice. It was very exciting to see everyone’s work. In addition to making more work, another of my goals is to do a better job of using my digital camera. This was another scan with my new scanner.

Seasonal Content

I saw this on the Mason-Dixon Knitting Blog and couldn't resist it. Those girls are hilarious. By now the post is buried in the archives but Kay wrote:

"I'm embarrassed to report: my interest in collegiate a cappella remains undiminished. (Symptoms d'une femme d'un certain age: fluctuation of estrogen levels, and yearning for harmony and rep ties.)"

And I thought I was the only one who loved this kind of thing.

Happy Birthday, Ludwig!

It's Beethoven's Birthday. We should celebrate!

Working Small

This is the first really small quilt I’ve tried. It's 6" x 7" I think of it as a prototype of sorts, as I have decided to work small for the time being. I love how Terry Grant (August 30 entry, Almost Finished) has mounted her work on fabric, so I have been experimenting with that.

This is the first time I’ve used my new photo scanner, an HP G4050. This would be a great step forward except that my latest obsession is with the 12” x 12” format I’ve been seeing and thinking about from the 12 x 12 blog. Inspired by their creativity, I’ve started a small group. We are doing a 12 x 12 about once a month and we are off to a good start. Pictures to follow.

This is a Test

This is only a test. It is always a test. This is what happens if you scan a quilt and then send it to Blogger with Picasa.

Now we know that the scanner works!

Rosegarden Quilt

2007 Journal Quilt: My story

This project had several requirements including a size of 17" x 22" in the vertical direction; and that the design incorporate at least three techniques from the Creative Quilting book. I had never done any beading so I tried that in the "bubbles" in the water and the pots on the deck. I love Pamela Allen's big stitch embroidery and I used that as well. I really love seeing hand work in fiber art. I am probably happiest with the quilting. I had so much fun with that. The quilting really tries to tell a story: this year I gave myself permission to call myself a swimmer.

We have been members of this pool for almost thirty years. Our two sons learned to swim here. I began quilting here with my dearest friends, The Poolside Quilters. We sat by the side of the pool and quilted while our kids swam back and forth during swim team workouts. Both boys retired at age 18 but I didn't really start swimming until three years ago. When I began, 25 yards left me breathless. It was not unusual to feel panicky half way across the pool. I grew up on the shores of Lake Michigan and I learned how to swim at the Y, but I never really swam for fitness. This year was my best "season" ever. By mid-July, I was swimming a mile (that's 1760 yards, 71 laps, 45 minutes) and I averaged 4 times a week. All of that information is quilted in the "water." But the pool was also a wonderful, magical place at 6:30 AM with the sun rising, only a handful of swimmers around, and the crows! The pool closed for the season on October 29, and will not re-open until the beginning of May. I am looking forward to getting back into the water.

2007 Journal Quilt

The Pool

A Page from My Book
Journal Quilts 2007 - Journal Quilt Project
inspired by Creative Quilting: The Journal Quilt Project, Karey Patterson Bresenhan, ED.

After three years of living vicariously through the Journal Quilt Project on the QuiltArt listserv, I finally joined in the fun. This piece was inspired by a summer of swimming at the neighborhood pool.

No-Knead Update

This is my 10th loaf of No-Knead Bread from the New York Times' story on Jim Lahey’s recipe. It is a very forgiving recipe .

There is a very cool video showing Jim Lahey making the bread.

You can also still read Mark Bittman’s article
about Jim Lahey.

The recipe and the video are about the same bread but be warned that there are differences.
In this loaf I used bread flour, and a chef (about 1/4 c. of the dough from the day before–I dissolved it in a portion of the total 1-1/2 c. of water that I’ve settled on) for leavening. I varied the salt, increasing it to as much as 2 t. but Rick says it’s fine at 1-1/2 t. In the last few loaves I’ve been using kosher salt.

My initial rise is 18-24 hours, depending. I shape, let rest for 15 min. and then turn in to a banneton lined with a kitchen towel. I’ve been using coarse corn meal instead of wheat bran, to keep the dough from sticking to the towel. My second rise, in the banneton, is 2 hr. total. The last 30 minutes, I heat the oven and the pot to 450 degrees. I am using the 3 qt. ceramic pot pictured in my earlier post. The first 30 minutes of baking is with the top on. Then I remove the top and bake an additional 22 minutes. The crust is crackly, the loaf sings, the smell is divine, and the bread tastes delicious. You should try it.

What I'm Listening To

Rick brought home the most wonderful CD: Gabriela Montero
Bach and Beyond. These improvisations are magical. She is a Venezuelan-American pianist with a classical career yet she has diversified to make this and another disc, and she has gigs at Joe’s Pub in Brooklyn. How cool is that. I wish she was performing in the Bay Area.

The Bach disc is her second recording.
The Amazon page has some sound clips. But one doesn’t really get much sense of the improvisational nature of this recording.


Her first CD is called Recital. It includes works by Chopin, Falla, Granados, Ginastera, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, and Scriabin. It was released in 2005
Listen to an NPR review that has excerpts. It really emphasizes her classical playing. I have not heard this CD.

NY Times Bread Video

It looks like the video of Jim Lahey making his No-Knead Bread is still available. Try this link: Bread Video .

The recipe given in the video is slightly different than the Times' printed recipe. There is a link for that in my earlier post. In the video, Jim uses 1-1/2 c. water (which is what I've been using). He doesn't show the second rise. I have followed the printed recipe. When Jim says instant yeast, he means regular dry yeast, like Fleischmann's.

The pots -- NY Times No-Knead Bread

The yellow pot is marked 3 qt. It is ceramic.

The orange-y pot is a "Mario Batali" pot made by Copco in China. It is enamel on cast iron with a cast stainless lid knob.

More No-Knead Bread

I have my 7th loaf of no-knead bread in the oven. This looks to be the high-bold loaf I have been searching for.

I have been experimenting with the recipe and have made the following discoveries.

I read at World Table, a Sullivan Street Bakery site which to Jim Lahey has posted, that when Mark Bittman said instant yeast, he meant regular, granular yeast, like the Fleischman’s that I used in the first loaf. However, I had purchased Red Star Quick-Rise which also contains sorbitan monostearate, and ascorbic acid and I have used that for the last 4 loaves.

I fiddled with the salt. In the first six loaves I stuck with the recipe and used 1-1/4 t. sea salt. In loaf 7 I used 2 t. kosher salt as per the discussion on eGullet . It has loads of wonderful feedback (191 posts over the last week) and lots of pictures.

I also SCOOPED the flour into a 1 cup measuring cup and sort of shook it to level it. I have been going with 1-1/2 c. water since the second loaf. I use coarse corn meal on my kitchen towel for the second rise. On this loaf I did my second rise in a banneton and I think that helped support the loaf during the second rise. It also made it easier to plop into the preheated pot–no burns, less cornmeal flying around the kitchen..

After all of the excitement of the first few loaves I went to Sur la Table to price a 5.8 qt Kiwi colored Le Creuset that I had been coveting. Instead, I bought a Copco enameled cast iron pot with a metal handle on the top (a lovely pumpkin colored Mario Batali model–6 qt. size – half the cost). I had used that for several loaves. For loaf No. 7, I went back to the ceramic pot (3 qt.). I baked it at 450 degrees for 30 minutes, top on, and then 22 minutes with the top off. I got the best oven spring on this loaf and it is the prettiest yet. Have to wait to see the inside and taste it.

7th Loaf

No-Knead Bread

I know, I know. I haven’t been blogging. I knew when I saw the article in last Wednesdays’ New York Times about Jim Lahey’s bread recipe , that a new/old obsession would take over my being.

So I just took loaf number 4 out of the oven and I’m blogging about this because I need to talk about it.

I innocently started with loaf 1 to avoid cleaning my studio.

I didn’t bother to try to find out what instant yeast was. I was so impressed with this recipe because it seems as if it requires nothing special. And in the video, Jim Lahey emphasizes that the recipe is very forgiving.

In loaf one I used three cups of bread flour measured by SPOONING the flour into the cup. I followed the Times recipe (not the video ) and used 1-5/8 c. water. I used 1-1/4 t. sea salt and 1/4 t. Fleischmann’s Bread Machine Yeast (ideal for all RapidRise recipes). It contains only yeast and ascorbic acid.

Since I hadn’t baked bread for a few months, I proofed the yeast by putting it in about 1/4c. warm water (1/4 c. of the 1-5/8 called for in the recipe) that contained a pinch of sugar. Otherwise I followed the Times recipe.

Of course the probable reason for baking bread last Wednesday was that our heating system was on the fritz and it was cold in the house but I put the bread to rise on top of the refrigerator with the idea that it was the warmest place in the house.

I actually let it rise for 24 hours. I baked it in a 3 qt. ceramic casserole with a lid: preheat oven at 450 degrees with pot in the oven for at least 30 minutes. Plop bread into casserole, seam side up. It seems disastrous but shake the pot and all is well. Put lid on and bake for 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake an additional 15-22 minutes, et voilà!

I should have taken pictures but I didn’t. Go to Toast to see what my dough and bread looks like. It’s so amazing. What crumb! What crust! The loaf sings! My house smells fabulous!

Update

It has been almost three months since I posted an entry. What have I accomplished in this interval? A lot, actually. I’ve done workshops with Sue Benner and Miriam Nathan-Roberts that have helped enormously in my design and color studies. I just completed my third workshop in the Drawing to Increase Creativity series with Hollis Chatelain – portraits! And Melody Johnson doesn’t know this but I’ve started a “mentorship” with her! Her tutorials on dyeing have helped me to focus my interests. I am so thankful for the generosity of these teachers.

I think that I started this blog because I thought it would give me a chance to show my work to people who don’t know me. I could not continue without the feedback I receive from friends and family but I know they love me. I think that the reason I don’t use my blog for the reasons I started it is because I still lack confidence: confidence in both my written work and my art. For the next three months I will try to silence that inner critic and just do the work. My goal is to post frequently, perhaps once per week.

Rather Fabulous: EBHQ and Voices in Cloth 2006

I can't believe that I'm so fortunate to be a member of this wonderful group, the East Bay Heritage Quilters. The biennial show of one of the largest and oldest quilt guilds is this weekend in Oakland, CA. This show is always so terrific and this year's special exhibit puts it over the top. The Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection features works by Ruth McDowell, Jill Rumoshosky Werner, Elizabeth Barton, Libby Lehman, Sue Benner, Noriko Endo, Dijanne Cevaal, Jean Ray Laury, Carol Taylor, Sylvia Einstein, Joan Colvin, June O. Underwood, Valerie Goodwin, Freddy Moran, Jane Sassaman, Cynthia Corbin, Caryl Bryer Fallert, and more.

This is a non-juried and non-judged show. I was delighted to submit my quilt, Yellow Pot. This was created from a study I made in response to the first Simple Still Life challenge. I wish I took part in this every month. Thank you Debra Roby for providing the inspiration for my quilt.