Lisa Condi is all sewn up

2009-10-13T04:44:00.000-07:00

crazy days off!

2009-08-26T10:30:00.001-07:00

Monday Andy and I drove to lake Malone in Kentucky to see my old friend from HS, Jennifer.

It was a superb day on the lake, with lots of adorable babies and catching up.

Next Monday is not only Freddy's b-day but also my bff Kristie's. She has taken to knitting with the most clinical enthusiasm and so I have created for her an organizational system for her ever growing needle collection.

16 years ago....

2009-08-19T13:52:00.001-07:00

We made a fantastic decision!

day off!

2009-07-08T12:49:00.000-07:00

A test of the skull cherry design and the atomic napkins my BFF Betty is taking to comicon for the cast of Big Bang Theory to autograph for us a la Lenard Nemoy.

The back of the new chair covering is complete. Zach promised to do the removal of the old uppolstery for me, so perhaps this weekend I can put it together.

Bowling!

2009-06-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

We spent the day doing all things bowling.

Rachel and I schooled the youngsters. Then William and I hit the thrifts and purchased him a new old bowling bag. With a little scrubbing and artistic embellishment he's ready to get his game on.

FINISHED

2009-06-07T17:00:00.000-07:00

The bathroom is finally finished. Just in time considering how busy we are about to be.

We hit the thrifts and yard sales yesterday in our non bathroom completion time. It would seem yesterday was all about light. $2 for the fantastic once hung in a church chandelier. I put a lamp inside it. It make the warmest glow. $6 for the pair of wood and ceramic lovelies for the living room. I'm still unsure about the shade, but we'll see what else shows itself.

the new bathroom

2009-06-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we gutted the bathroom. We are now entering our second week and the end is in sight.

The chaos was all encompassing, with the den as staging area and the living room as the closet refugee camp.

Divi did his part as quality control.

Then the geometric retard cut and installed the trim.

Tonight we install the sink and the rest of the plumbing. We are so close.

2009-05-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

Andy has now graduated High school with the cherry on top of her oppressed experience being that she was not allowed to walk with her class due to her hair color. This is actually a shot of the wig she wore to cover the offensive hair that was then deemed an unnatural color also. She has already moved on to college where pink hair is admired.

GO ANDY!

Now that Zach is out of class for a few weeks I have time off during the week. I have chosen to use my time to try out some things I have found interesting lately. Double Drunkards path and the addition of ric rac in the binding. The pieces are not very even because I was making up the pattern and chose to use my "test" blocks in the final piece. The resulting blocks all have the same size band. I'm thinking of doing this on a larger scale.

PROM 09

2009-05-03T10:44:00.001-07:00

Andy's senior prom was last night.
She rocked the fishtail dress and the beehive.
She was lovely!

sunday!

2009-04-27T05:42:00.001-07:00

After a busy weekend of art openings, high school musicals, antique shows, Yart, and local band CD release parties we were all so ready for Sunday. The weather was so summer like that we busted out the Kool Aide. I finished fitting Andy's prom dress (more on that next week) and Zach fired up the grill.

We ate a wonderful meal with the Ellis'. After dinner Zach started teaching Margo about his favorite childhood hobby, taking things appart.
They were actaully tightening a loose screw. Margo's dexterity with a screw driver is rather amazing.

Easter

2009-04-15T05:41:00.000-07:00

We really enjoyed Easter at Geoff and Rachel's. The kids all played and had so much fun. The grown ups ate, relaxed and hung out.
All in all it was a lovely week end. We are all looking forward to many more of these.

for the boys

2009-04-05T13:12:00.000-07:00

This is Zach's new bike stereo set up.
Stick shift Timmy's got nothing on my guy!

machine hand work

2009-03-25T05:58:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite blogs is a dress a day. The author is a witty wordsmith and she writes about sewing. That is a lovely combo in my book. They have designed t shirts for the site and rather than silk screen the image I have chosen to stay within my element and create a machine embroidery for it. I'm not sure what to put it on (perhaps a fabric pattern envelope), but it was good practice to hone my new digitizing skills.

AbyssCo. art/birthday party

2009-03-14T08:08:00.000-07:00

Last night I opened a solo show at Fangirl's AbyssCo. in Evansville. This kick ass store is owned by my best friend and second biggest fan, Kristie (Zach being the biggest, of course). We combined it with my birthday party since I will be 39 on monday. The response was overwhelming and heartwarming.We had a blast and got to see lots of folks we haven't seen in forever. Rachel C. and her gang drove down from Bloomington a day early just for the occasion, and the Bousemans and the Zetas made delicious cakes. The kids ran and laughed to their hearts content. It was great.

My new piece was recived with all the interest and hilarity I could wish for.

Apron

2009-03-02T08:07:00.000-08:00

Last week at work I cut so much fabric that I wore hole in my new shirt. I am just short enough that the button on my jeans hits the table edge every time I lean across to cut. I have remedied this by making a new apron.
I love the pattern even if my spacial retardation made it a little tricky.
I only had to rip out one seam.

Inspired Women in Art

2009-02-21T07:19:00.000-08:00

Last night was the awards ceremony for the Arts council's yearly show at the Women's hospital, Inspired Women in Art. I was told that I was one of the winners but nothing more than that. It was really fantastic to see all the amazing local art that is being created. It's so cool to hang with so many talented women. I love to see what everyone else feels driven to create and how they execute it. Zach and Andy had prior commitments so Jesika was my date. She's not in any of the shots because she is behind the camera as usual.

Claire was a winner in the 3D category.

Jean looks very excited about my first place win, as was I. I was just a little to terrified to make any sudden movements.

new chairs!

2009-02-13T14:02:00.000-08:00

In the 70's when my folks built our house in WVa my mom saw an add for this beautiful butcher block table that was perfect for our new kitchen. I believe my dad had to travel to another state to get it. It was our family table my entire youth. I have eaten literally thousands of meals off it's warm smooth surface. It was relegated to storage when there was no longer a need for seating for 5 in the kitchen.
When Zach and I bought our house my parents gave it to us. It has long been a perfect center to all the shared meals with our freinds and family.
We have however never had matching chairs. Today we are moving on up to the eastside my friends. I found the perfect chairs at a very practical price. I like it like that.
Now all we need are some dinner guests.

lanterns

2009-02-12T06:15:00.000-08:00

This is a new sample for the shop. The Asian fabrics are so cute and the pattern was easy and quick. I'm making a second one with embroidery in the center to hang with it.

the wall

2009-02-08T13:37:00.000-08:00

The bath room wall is still growing. Jes won't be over to rearrange it this week so I muddled through it.

ice storm snow day

2009-01-28T09:01:00.000-08:00

In the past 24 hours we were hit with 2" of ice and 5" of snow. we spent the early part of this morning sitting in the dark listening to the trees explode under the weight.
we were lucky to have only lost power for a few hours. Our family and friends in E-ville have not been so lucky. We are expecting house guests as soon as they dig out and get up here.

We lost a few tree limbs. This one took out the cable. It's OK we weren't using it anyway.

I think I'll just let my car have a few days off.

finally a desk!

2009-01-17T07:42:00.000-08:00

I began to become aware that I need to replace my computer desk early last summer. I started to look for desks at the thrifts and even perused all the computer furniture departments at the local office supply stores, to no avail. I knew that it would eventually turn up and it has.
I found this beauty last Wednesday. It is in such great shape and is so perfect for the space. I love it!
And then as if finally finding the perfect desk this week was not enough the thrift gods have chosen to smile upon me again. Z and I stopped at a thrift in Jasper on our way back from the 3 degree birthday hike. I walked to the back and found the other 5 mugs that match my favorite mug. I'm sure everyone thought I was insane squealing about some dirty paint covered coffee mugs. I then jokingly told Z that in the sewing stuff area there would be a box of the metal embroidery hoops that I've been using to decorate the bath room. There was not a box of them, however there were 4 of the elusive and interesting ovals. Those are sure to turn up in next weeks post about the growing bath room wall grouping, but that must wait until I decide what to stitch out on them and Jesika comes over to arrange them aestheticly.

balance

2009-01-11T12:30:00.000-08:00

the party's over

2009-01-04T08:44:00.001-08:00

After weeks of constant celebration we chose to end the xmas break with what else, a dinner party. I made tons of enchiladas and Z made a new Garnachas recipe (it's yummy) and T & L brought a lovely bag of mexican sweets to cap it all off. We were able to lure T & L out and what would a dinner party be without Miss M and her entourage. All in all there were 10 of us including bbs and teenagers, and it seems a good time was had by all.

The cats are learning to share the sunny spot.

Here is an actual full face shot of A's new piercing. It's still a little swolen but healing well.

new years eve

2008-12-31T20:31:00.000-08:00

This is what Andy chose as her 18th birthday gift; how very Clan of the cave bear.

I spent the early part of my morning creating some form of carrying device for my xmas bonus (that I dig by the the way). It seems that unless you have a pocket to go with your i Pod nano you are up the creek. I chose the broach approach. I combined a pin back, vintage fabric and some plastic sheeting to make this casual and handy holder.
Z & A are annoyed by my inability to hear them but it's nice to have weird Al and they might be giants at my beck and call.

2008-12-30T20:23:00.000-08:00

18 years ago today Andy was the cutest tiny girl. Now she's the cutest grown ass woman, time flies when you're having fun.

happy birthday kiddo!

christmas

2008-12-26T06:42:00.001-08:00

We began the xmas eve festivities at out house with Andy and Rick's gift exchange. He loves to indulge her morbid fantasies, so to go with the electric chair he made her for their 6 month anniversary he created a portable bed of nails.

We then headed to mom and dad's, where Marshal and William sported their shades and Mary waited patiently for PRESENTS!

After much eating, drinking, presents and merriment we kissed the kids good bye and put them to bed.

Xmas morning at our house was it's usual hilarious and fun filled self.

We hope you all had as much fun as we did this year!

2008-12-23T18:51:00.000-08:00

dear Santa, I want.....

2

2008-12-22T19:40:00.001-08:00

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!

3

2008-12-22T02:02:00.000-08:00

Saturday Darby came and played with us for the last time before she moves away. We all had a blast.

4

2008-12-20T20:38:00.000-08:00

A good time was had by all!

5

2008-12-20T04:30:00.000-08:00

So this poor little tailless kitty showed up a few weeks back and she was hungry so I fed her. Now she has a very large fan club.

It does entertain our actual cats though.

6

2008-12-19T04:30:00.000-08:00

I wonder who she grew up to be.

7

2008-12-18T04:59:00.001-08:00

They look like floating ornaments to me.

8

2008-12-17T05:46:00.001-08:00

This is a lie. We did not get any snow last night only a little ice. BUMMER!

9

2008-12-16T02:23:00.000-08:00

1975 Elkins,WV

10

2008-12-15T01:56:00.000-08:00

Margo is ready for the predicted ice storm!!!!

11

2008-12-13T18:08:00.000-08:00

Who loves cookies?

12

2008-12-13T04:12:00.000-08:00

Today is a twofer. Zach is not constrained by the man made parameters of the Xmas holiday and therefore does not suppress his urge to give a gift as soon as possible. I always look at it and make him wrap it for later, Andy however uses it as a bargaining chip for pre-xmas gift opening.

what kid wouldn't?

Here she is last night opening her first present from her parents (Rick's folks are as bad as Z).

Basket Case, a true cult classic.

13

2008-12-12T04:34:00.000-08:00

Some folks actually put real trees in their houses.....
imagine that!

14

2008-12-11T04:32:00.000-08:00

What the F ?
Those silly Unitarians

15

2008-12-10T06:04:00.001-08:00

The stockings were hung on the electric chair with care in hopes that no one would get hurt.

16

2008-12-09T05:36:00.000-08:00

Sometimes life is all about taking the high ground.

17

2008-12-07T17:44:00.001-08:00

Rachel's right she does look a bit like me......
I think I will call her mini me!

18

2008-12-07T07:37:00.001-08:00

Miss P and LeeLoo are my sewing impediments, I mean helpers.

19

2008-12-06T06:00:00.000-08:00

All I can say is, X-mas card preview.
Keep it under your hats.

P.S.
Happy Birthday MOM!!!!!!!!

20

2008-12-05T05:19:00.001-08:00

Andy will not have green hair this X-mas but it's a great memory anyway.

21

2008-12-04T06:00:00.000-08:00

Have you been good enough to get an alien ornament this X-mas?

22

2008-12-03T05:38:00.000-08:00

A little childhood memory for G & F. Andy used to use it to put milk on her cereal.

day23

2008-12-02T05:51:00.001-08:00

We love upside down laughing babies!

24 days

2008-12-01T05:30:00.000-08:00

As a warm up for the Schmalz Christmas eat, drink and sleep a-thon, Zach and I spent the week end cooking. MMMMMMMMMMM

25 day til X-mas

2008-11-30T10:15:00.000-08:00

Last year for my favorite niece and nephew I did a photo advent calendar by email. This year I thought I'd post it. So starting tomorrow the photo fun begins!

OK, I can't wait here is the first shot a day early.

We chose to illuminate the electric chair instead of putting up a tree this year. I'm sure Tim Burton would approve.

spin!!!!

2008-11-22T19:56:00.000-08:00

Kids I have and love!
(surly as they may be)

Kids I don't have and Love!

The focus of all good thoughts.

the bathroom wall

2008-11-13T05:39:00.001-08:00

The bathroom wall project is growing. Every time I find an old metal hoop at the thrifts I make a new addition. This is a great way to use the embroidery designs that I had to have but don't want to create an entire project for.
I love some instant gratification.

I've had lots of fun combining vintage fabrics and contrasting embroidery designs.

I'll just have to keep hunting for old metal hoops so I can fill the whole wall.

pillows and cat baskets

2008-11-10T07:21:00.000-08:00

It occurred to me as I pulled into the parking lot at work the other day that I should teach what I know. I am usually able to create most things just from a quick visual overlook, a skill that served me well in my last job where nothing had a pattern. I realized that I have made literally hundreds of self corded pillows and that I might have a trick or two that most folks don't. So I put this together for a class on Dec 12. I used Mark Lapinski's black and whites for the log cabin (it's nice to have exact opposites) and Mark Hordyszynski's red, white and blacks for the cord, center and back.

I also wanted to play with cloth baskets. I've made a few less bags than pillows in my day but not by much. I ran across vlijtig's (http://vlijtig.blogspot.com/2008/11/here-it-is.html) tutoial on whipup and had the perfect fabric waitng. I made mine dramaticly larger but LeeLoo thinks it's just right.

One more thing before I go. Please remember that tomorrow is Veteran's day. I would like to thank all who have fought and are currently fighting to keep us safe and free. My biggest thanks to my brother Geoff. We love you!

WOOT!

2008-11-05T05:22:00.000-08:00

CAN I GET A, HELL YES!

2008-11-04T05:57:00.000-08:00

Perhaps you should go VOTE!

6 months

2008-10-29T06:04:00.001-07:00

So Andy and Rick have now been dating for 6 months. Andy loves Rick and we can totally see her point. Rick as you may or may not know is a super dude who is very creative and attentive. His past hand made creations have been very cool and thoughtful, last night's set a very high bar for future projects.
Nothing says I love you Andy like a hand made electric chair. She was floored and thrilled.
We are planning on letting it be the X-mas tree a la Nightmare before Christmas.

Mary's quilt

2008-10-12T14:17:00.001-07:00

So I have been working on Miss Mary's birthday quilt since I finished Miss Margo's birthday quilt. I've had the embroideries done and was waiting for the right fabric to make itself known.
Sat I went to a yard sale held by one of our fabric reps. She sold her samples by the pound (a lovely idea to be sure). I purchased 16lbs, more than enough to fill the couch.
In all of this treasure was a group that answered the call of MaeMae's quilt. Here is the pieced top. I hope to have time to quilt it soon. I will be backing it in purple wedding satin (because my girl knows what she likes and she likes wedding satin!). I'm not sure what challenges the satin will present in the quilting process, but there is only one way to find out.

busy

2008-10-11T15:59:00.000-07:00

who knew working everyday would cut into my blogging time?
So here are some random images to entertain you.

Margo

2008-09-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

already knows how to sew

and walk

what will she come up with next?

Manheim steamroller

2008-09-27T15:34:00.000-07:00

My friend Betty took her plaster garden gnome on her cross country trip to LA, photographing him along the way. There was talk of him traveling to Germany with me, but I am a light traveler and would not stand for the extra weight. Betty quickly solved the problem by using her new toys to make one out of thread.
He was a wonderful traveling companion; fitting neatly into my camera bag.

He first went to the Staats Theater.

Then the wall paper museum.

The museum of DEATH!
( I almost stepped on a bunny moments before this was taken)

Then we stopped at the garden at the bottom of the little mountain and a rocky spot at the top.

more Germany

2008-09-25T05:10:00.000-07:00

Kassel has many museums. My second favorite being the wall paper museum. My first being the museum of Sepulkralkultur , duh!
The wall paper museum is filled with some of the most amazing things. They have an entier embossed leather room that is made of hand sewn pannels. I did not get a picture because it was a dark room and the leather reflects the flash something fierce. Anyway here are some select favorites.

The 70's tunnel.

Manheim hanging with the wall paper makers.

A tiny guilded, embossed snail

Art Nouveau

and last but not least the metalic lady with one nipple showing who wants you to jump through this hoop! I have trouble envisioning this in somones house. I'm sure they are interesting folks.

shall they dance

2008-09-20T15:53:00.000-07:00

IKE

2008-09-14T16:08:00.001-07:00

Hilariously, unlike our Texas family IKE kicked our asses. He showed up with lots of straight line winds and we lost 1.5 trees. we spent most of the day chain sawing, but there were many "bright" spots. First off some total strangers stopped to help us remove the tree from the road ( good Karma), next the weather was nice if very windy, and it gave us lots to do since we had no power until about 5. We have most of it cleaned up and will just settle in to our original plan of the final episode of Dexter season 2 (thanks K).

Germany part 2 nightmares and details

2008-09-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

This one's for Geoff. It's just like I remember it.

The rest are the loveliest buildings in Kassel.

germany part 1

2008-09-12T05:25:00.000-07:00

Upon my arrival Fred and I created this lovely birthday apple crumble from the fresh apples he and Lily had picked at their friend's garden platz. This photo does not lie. It was delicious!

Then Fred and I pondered what comes out of the white box, before Lily returned from Duseldorf. We all had a good laugh before collapsing from the length of the day.

Morning was among the many proofs during this visit that my brother is a wonderful cook.

We headed out to view Fred's favorite area of Kassel. These pix are a tease, I still have to sort and crop all the glorious architectural examples for our viewing pleasure.

home again home again

2008-09-09T05:38:00.000-07:00

I am back, after a long and uneventful journey.
Life has taken many an odd turns in my absence, the very least of which is that I arrived home with 2 dead batteries for my camera (hence no pix on this post).
I promise an excruciatingly long picture post ala "want to see the slide show of my trip?" in a few days when the dust settles.
now I must do some serious sorting.

surprise!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-08-30T11:29:00.000-07:00

So as you know tomorrow is Kristie's 30 ten and Freddie's 37. Many happy returns!
Lily and I formulated an evil plan and I arrived in the fatherland after 2 planes, 4 trains and 24 hours. Fred was surprised if a bit chastising. I love it when a crazy ass plan comes together!
Thanks to my gang and all who had a hand in this fun and crazy surprise.

elizabeth

2008-08-21T05:57:00.000-07:00

We were joined this past week by Andy's dear friend Elizabeth. She and her family moved to Seattle a few years ago and we all miss them all very much. We are so glad she could come to town and hang with "the children of the corn" as she calls us.

There was of course a SIG reunion of sorts for most of the weekend.

Then thanks to Rick's intense powers of observation and adorable gift giving skills, the girls each had a coke and a smile.

and finally after a day and a half at Andy's high school Eli and I embroidered some fantastic fish onto her new mega high top converse.

They are now officially bad ass!

She's off to Hailey's for the rest of her trip. we miss her already.

Love is....

2008-08-20T08:52:00.000-07:00

So, 15 years ago today Zach and I made it all legit! What a fantastic idea that was. I am grateful everyday that we are lucky enough to have each other. Here's to 60 more!

new

2008-08-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

Here is my new piece. I am taking it down town to the arts council gallery this morning to hang it in a group textile show. I can't wait to see the other artist's work in this show. They are all so talented and I am glad to be hanging with them. I will be interested to see how it looks at a greater distance, since there is no space in our house where you can stand back and look at it.

first day of school

2008-08-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

Today is Andy first day of her senior year. Here are 2 shots just for some perspective, one from kindergarten and one form this morning. She is even more adorable than ever. It would seem that posing for first day of school pix makes her stand a certain way....

birthdays

2008-08-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

There are many birthdays approaching in Aug. Margo, Damian, Griffin, and on the last day Kristie and my bro Fred. Now Fred said he wanted pants made from the fantastic peacock fabric I found, but neither time travel to the 70s nor living in Germany would make that acceptable. So I've chosen to embrace the their current language and make them a markt bag. I lined the inside with heat and bond so damp veggies are no sweat. They should be able to carry anything they need home in this roomy new bag. Now I just need to get it mailed. Let me know if ya'll need anything else from this side of the ocean and I'll put it in your box.

bb blanket

2008-07-29T07:19:00.000-07:00

Here is the pieced top ready for quilting. The colors are more like the ones in the last post. They are not really this severe.
I will be making this type of quilt again. It's super quick and very cute.

kids, babies and kitsch

2008-07-25T05:36:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago I saw an interesting way to display small pieces of vintage fabric. They were inserting them into embroidery hoops and hanging them on the wall.
I loved the look of it with one exception. The screw on the frame. I'm not sure why (perhaps it's some 80's flash back) but I couldn't get past that. It just felt like under those amazing vintage fabrics hid a lace duck hot glued onto some "country blue" fabric with bad lace around the edge.
I have made several unsuccessful attempts to create this look without the dreaded screw. Yesterday I came across the answer, vintage metal embroidery hoops. I had seen these long ago but they did not come to mind while trying to solve this dilemma.

They are perfect. They are a lovely tarnished gray and have a very subtle spring instead of the offensive screw. They are lined with cork for a good strong hold as well. The thrift only had 3 so maybe some rotation of fabric will occur and I will no doubt be on the hunt for them from now on.

Regardless I love them!

Andy and Margo are the cutest red heads I know!

(Jes read no further lest you ruin the surprise)

Margo will be one very soon and with the new machine I have begun her birthday quilt. The illuminated letters are fantastic and the fabric I found is adorable. I have the design worked out in my head so it should be done very soon.

This will be the front with a nice dotted soft yellow flannel for the back.

SPOOKY

2008-07-24T04:28:00.000-07:00

This is one of the new Halloween embroideries I stitched out for the shop. I used it to try out the other facets of my new machine. It did quite well.
I had hoped to do some free motioning practice and then work on my big piece but Andy wanted to stitch out a design and we spent a lot of the day just perusing the many possibilities. She has done a fair bit of sewing herself this week. She moved the old viking into her room and has altered several t-shirts. She is also almost as enthralled by the embroidery machine as I am.

WOOO HOOO!

wavy

2008-07-20T12:22:00.001-07:00

This morning I dragged the wavy chair out of the club house and set to redoing it.
I vacuumed all the baby spiders and their mommies out of the backside and then dragged it into the living room. It is as heavy and unwieldy as it looks.
It did only take a couple hours to upholster.

As you can see Wesley likes it just where it is.
LeeLoo helped me the whole time by sitting on some portion of it every time I turned it over. She was not even deterred when I rocked it as hard as I could.
The decision now must be made regarding the additiond of legs.

take'n it back

2008-07-19T12:26:00.001-07:00

So I've been searching for a "new" chair or love seat for the living room to fill the space left by the silver tone and then I remembered that I already own it.
I think we put the wavy chair away 5 years ago. This wonderful family heirloom is going to rise again, with the help of $3 worth of perfectly matched fabric.
I'm going to pull it out of the club house strip the old upholstery and vacuum out all the spiders tomorrow and I'll be reading in it by tomorrow night. This will be the second time I've recovered this chair. It's a little tricky but not too bad.
During Zach's childhood it was covered in lt. pink fun fur. I did leave that on when I recovered it the last time (for nostalgia's sake). As you can see from the pic. LeeLoo is making sure the new covering is good enough for us to sit on. It's hard to believe you could match a 50 yr old damask as well as I did.
This other fabric is some I just couldn't leave at the flea market considering it is amazing and was $1 a yard.

new class

2008-07-15T06:41:00.001-07:00

This is the model for my new class. It's a super simple and very handy.

Here is the finished pillow I made from the patch I made the other day. I'm sure it will end up in Andy's room when I'm not looking.

good advice?

2008-07-13T08:09:00.000-07:00

This hand embroidery is the first in a series. I was going with, advice to give Andy as she grows up and prepares to be on her own as a theme and can you believe it degenerated into silliness. There are several others on their way including wear clean underwear, don't go in the basement, don't talk (or IM) to strangers, and zombies require a head shot. I'm thinking of combining them all CRAZY quilt style, with lots of decorative stitching along the seams. we'll see.
This is just more fun from the embroidery machine. I'm thinking pillow for the kid. I'll probably do several rows of log cabin around the design and striped piping.
Yesterday the bees were kind enough to let me harvest a few lbs. of the lavender we share, in the back yard. Now the house smells delicious.
and then we have the funny shot of the week
Can you tell that LeeLoo likes Rick the best? She walked off the coffee table and onto his side the other night and just sat there until he got up.

9 x9 is?

2008-07-08T06:05:00.000-07:00

As part of putting the new machine through its paces I wanted to try out the quilting stitches. It has several. The one I used on the vintage 9 patch top was supposed to look like hand quilting. It doesn't really, but I will say this machines quilts well.
I haven't free motioned with it yet but I'm sure I will soon.

SCORE

2008-07-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

On the list of things I obsessively buy you will find: mary janes, hand bags, old lady dresses and antique typewriters.
I cannot explain the latter. they are just so attractive to me. I am not a writer but I do love several of them.
Today I came across this mint condition Remington Rand Model 1 (late 20s early 40s).
It has the sweetest action EVER!
I spent most of my lunch at the park with Zach typing on it. How utterly sublime.
It seems this little puppy is worth some dough on the old type writer market (about $500) but oddly not as much as it's neighbor on the sideboard, Mr Smith. It would seem he brings down the tidy sum of $750 in really good condition, sadly he's lived hard and so we'll just keep letting kids write invisible tales on him forever.

prints and stitches

2008-06-27T06:08:00.000-07:00

Here is the early stage of my new piece. My printed fabric from Spoonflower arrived along with the notification of our impending stimulus check. It was a good day. I've already painted the light gray and appliquéd the black. I'm going to press it to set the dye and start gathering thread for my quilting. I'm sure you can tell from the photo that it's huge and really cool.

This piece is some hand embroidery that I'm doing as a warm up for some up coming pieces. I love that the hand dye floss bled when I rinsed the wash out marker.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

2008-06-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

some days suck!
my bro really is one succinct mofo!

BUSY BUSY

2008-06-15T15:43:00.000-07:00

Well my weekend began with a test drive of a new embroidery machine. These thing are so freak'n cool. They also will completely absorb you if your not careful. I am amazed that more women don't wander into the shop disheveled and starving. I am astounded at how quickly time slips away when I start playing with this thing.
I have finally finished my purse and I love it!

Then I finished Zach's chair cushion for his desk chair. He chose to have this monogram upon it.

I also produced these items just to see what this puppy would do. I was pretty pleased with the results.

When I wasn't sewing I came across this filthy but fantastic lamp. I thought I was going to get away with just washing it but it ended up needing to be rewired as well. Luckily I can read and follow instructions. It looks lovely in the living room.

Last but in no way least is the most amazing yard sale find ever! Zach and I blew off yoga Saturday morning and hit the sales. This photo shows our 2 big scores. The boots win best bargain of the day at a whopping $ .25 and the unicycle we scored for $10 from a guy who had been telling folks he didn't want to sell it all morning. I think he was won over when Zach admitted to our having had a tight rope in the back yard at one point. I am sadly too short to ride it but I'm sure Zach and Andy will be cruising it down the road in no time.

WOOO HOO

2008-06-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

My new best friends at Spoonflower are printing this image onto a yard of kona cotton for me. I am so freaking excited! This may be the opening of a door to many large and very hand worked pieces. Since my old printing process left much to be desired in that department. It should be here in a week. With this and my artist grant announcement coming in the next week. I will be very busy trying to keep my mind on other things (to keep the crazies away).

project #1 The ugly desk chair

in about an hour with some amazing upolstrey fabric I purchased for $1 the old chair now looks lovely.

Andy also has one like this perhaps her's will be next. but not today as I have the day off and it's half price day at the thrifts.

hair-larious

2008-06-10T19:08:00.000-07:00

300 pictures

2008-06-07T16:27:00.000-07:00

That's how many I offloaded from my camera this week. Starting with this one of P and LeeLoo fighting over Zach's gym bag.

Then we moved on to the demolition shots of the buildings at the intersection of Fulton and the Lloyd. They are all being torn down to put in a cloverleaf. A great thing for downtown traffic and lots of fodder for new work for me.

Then we have Andy's new hair.
This is actually a series that we took at the corner grocery store, when we realized how many products actually matched her new do. I may post the rest of them. we'll see.

Moving on to friday night.
Murphy's Law played at 1123 and of course no night out is complete without Andy being serenaded by a punk rock legend.

sunday sunday sunday!

2008-06-01T19:26:00.001-07:00

This one was left out of last weeks post. Andy and I painted the mailbox yellow and Andy added the spots later in the week. We are hard to miss now. She plans on painting her entire house like this when she's " grown up".

We found a shirt she really liked and used it to make a shirt she loves. She sewed a fair portion of it herself. She will love the serger before too long I'm sure.

The weather is warm enough for some time in the sprinkler!
We've had extra kids all day. O, how we love it.

We also had a sighting of Margo's new teeth. That brings us to a grand total of 4.

GOT MILK glass?

2008-05-31T13:30:00.000-07:00

This morning Z called me to say that our now deceased neighbor's possessions were being sold in their garage. I finished my coffee and sauntered down the street to check it out. I was in no hurry since I knew that it really began yesterday and was surely picked over. I do love an old lady yard sale though. There were few items of interest: lots of canning jars, an old sewing box, one of the most frightening house coats I've ever seen, hundreds of glasses, and what seemed to be a clothing brush with a zipper pocket on the back ( I did not open it). There was however one thing that caught my eye. It was a large box of milk glass (something I have been really liking of late). So for $5 I have gained several sweet new pieces. Now I just have to find a spot for them. HMMMMMMM

LOTS OF STUFF

2008-05-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

This is the new and improved version of the bag I designed.
Andy of course has already claimed it.

I will be creating the fabric for mine. I have started, perhaps it will be done next week.

Now that the weather is nice I cleaned out the club house so that I could cast some acrylic.
Andy and I both chose some images and I poured the several layers to make them. I did learn that the ice tray method works better than candy molds.

This is the actual impetus for all the casting. Rachel may recognize the base ingredients. I have titled this piece "damn it Divi!"

My final project this week was some silk screening. I used some new and not very successful techniques. I will be sticking with the mod podge method from now on. I decided to add some free motion work over the top to help integrate the design. I like how it looks and will be doing much more of it.

this week

2008-05-24T19:47:00.000-07:00

We started this week with Rick's graduation.Rick is Andy's new dude and he's totally cool. we moved on to silly mom and Andy my space shots, followed by her bailing to go to a pool party with Rick. summer is offically here (and she is a senior , just ask her!).

Luckily, Margo drove her folks up for some wonderful grilling, fresh produce and great company. followed by.....

great tunes on Zach's new (obscene) speakers

and SWINGING!

LIFE IS GOOD!

ACADEMY AWARDS

2008-05-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

Last night at Andy's school they presented Academy Awards for this years theater season. Andy has had a wonderful year being involved with all things drama at this new school. She made repeated attempts to do so at her last school and her talents were ignored. Her director here has used her abilities very wisely and Andy has really blossomed because of it. She won best actress for the fall drama "lend me a tenor", and best ensemble cast member for "hello dolly". She was lucky to have even been able to attend since she was out of school all week with a very nasty case of salmonella. The whole night was fun and hilarious (one wardrobe malfunction, Janet Jackson style, that most folks didn't notice but was confirmed by the photos I took of her at the podium). thank god for the netting on that dress.

the 70s

2008-05-16T14:17:00.000-07:00

I came across this coffee mug at the thrifts today. I had to have it. The design was such a soothing step into my childhood. I remember lots of things with this "flavor" and I remember loving them all. I sense a new desire to collect things of this nature coming on. I don't think I'll fight it too hard.

where's your girly purse?

2008-05-14T14:21:00.001-07:00

I spent some of today working on my sample for the class I'm teaching in July. The one on the right is my class sample, made from an old skirt. I think I will do a series of old skirt classes as they come in great fabrics and have decent amounts of salvageable fabric in them.
The other is my pattern that I will refine. I'm not totally happy with the shape, but I can fix that. It only takes 2 fat quarters and is reversible. It's fast and easy. I'm sure it will make a fun class.

new vintage the warm up

2008-05-13T05:49:00.000-07:00

Several months ago I purchased some fantastic vintage fabric. 4 yards to be exact. it's enough to make a very kick ass dress(my favorite kind).

I didn't want to just slice into this treasure without a solid plan (unlike me I know, but we all grow up sometime). I found a pattern I liked and some interesting and reasonably priced cotton to make a test dress. it's coming along well, if slowly. My hand is giving me very little trouble (wooohooo).
As you can see Miss P is always a good helper, perhaps I'll teach her to hem.
I have altered a few parts of the pattern and so far like what I see. the neckline is a bit deep (I'm not much for cleavage , on me anyway).
It does lend itself to a ruffle across the bust to mimic the ones I added to the sleeves.

I also chose flat pleats around the waist instead of gatherers. I have plenty of back and require no help in that area.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

2008-05-11T08:46:00.000-07:00

I just want to wish all my mama's out there a happy day!

I am grateful every day for the life I have and the folks
I share it with.

My daughter is one of the best people I know and I am always proud to be her mom.

balloons for a funeral?

2008-05-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

Today really did suck.
the vet that was supposed to come and put Sam down "flaked" and called me to lie about why they were not going to come and put down my beautiful but agedly crippled dog, leaving me to hunt down another assassin. I was able to procure another, but then had to load my weak yet independent dog into and out of the car. this took an excruciating but decision affirming amount of time. Sam was feisty enough to use his only attempt (in his life) at biting a human to nip at his reaper. I was sad and proud at the same time. Zach was with us and buried him when we came home. I was so grateful.

inversely
the children came home and blew up 100 balloons for their favorite teachers B-day.
so our house was filled with love and laughter.

I have no strong opinion about today other than that my eyes ache.

FUCK!

Tomorrow is going to suck!

2008-05-06T04:39:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time ,13 years ago, a woman came into my work. She was talking to my boss about this dog she had who was just too hyper and how unless she found another home for it she was going to have it put to sleep. At that point I already had one large very hyper dog and so my boss sent her to me. I was appalled at the thought of her killing this young dog for being a young dog and promptly drove to her house to retrieve him. I called Zach first to tell him I was going to "look" at the dog. I'm sure he knew that that meant "we're getting another dog". He wasn't new even then.
Andy and I went to the house walked right up to the most beautiful dog I'd ever seen put a leash on him and took him home.
Since then he has been the sweetest, most loyal and hilarious dog we've ever had. I forgot to mention HAIRY. Sam was always ready to romp especially in the snow. He could always be found within 3 feet of me and whined every time Zach would hug me. He was always gentle and patient with everyone especially children and babies.
Over the past year he has really started to show his age (up until then strangers who encountered him always thought he was a puppy). The last few weeks have forced my hand, in that I promised him and myself that I would not allow him to suffer in any way when he got old. The past week the weakness in his hind legs has left him unable to stand on many occasions, truly forcing my hand. Tomorrow under the trees in the backyard the vet will come and euthanize him in my lap. We have tried to make these last few day as happy and comfortable as possible. He has only eaten candy corn, pork rinds and table scraps. I think he is enjoying that. we'll bury him out back with his kitties and be grateful to have had 13 years of love and happiness with him.

CINCO DE MAYO

2008-05-04T17:06:00.000-07:00

All this started with the most amazing sugar skull patch on etsy purchased from lizmiera.
It was 8X10 and let's just say, inspiring.
add to this bit of fantasticalness the new sugar skull fabric I purchased in Paducah and you have a recipe for the best messenger bag I now own.
I'm sure I will rock it all summer!