Help needed (psychiatric and otherwise)!

I'm home alone today: Pearl is visiting the groomer. While there's something pleasant about not being followed constantly from room-to-room, I've also realized that aside from unconditional love and comic relief, dogs have another important function: they make their owners seem less crazy.

In my case, I find that even though no one else is around, I'm still commenting OUT LOUD about things I'm doing: "It's time for just a little cup of coffee" I say jovially as I sashay toward the kitchen, or "I wonder what the mailman has brought us today" when I'm bored with my work and need a distraction or "That Nora Ephron is something else" after reading a profile in The New Yorker over lunch.

Talking to oneself is bad enough, but I realize I often employ some amusing little accent (well, amusing to me...and to Pearl) when I'm providing this blow-by-blow commentary on my scintillating life. It's probably marginally weird to talk to one's dog like this...but I'm guessing it's beyond marginal to talk to oneself like this. Don't tell!!

Okay, now here's what I really need help with. I made the blocks for this quilt back in early June—the last time I sewed! The pattern is Ingrid Barlow's Boxed Blessings, which I bought in Madison, Wisc. during my quilter's equivalent of being a locavore (I bought patterns by local designers). Barlow made the pattern with more solids, whereas I decided I'd be a stash-buster and use a bunch of Heather Bailey half yards I'd purchased a year or two ago. I added an orange polka dot and a wonderful stripe that incorporates all the colors perfectly.

The problem in June was, the blocks all seemed to fade into one another (bottom photo). So I added striped sashing (top photos) and planned to bind it with the same stripe. I wasn't going to add a border, but now I'm not sure whether a plain fabric border might be just the thing to calm it down. Or perhaps I should take this as a lesson learned about combining multiple prints without the relief of a solid and just let it go.

Any suggestions/comments/advice? I'd love to hear from you!

Summertime and the bloggin' ain't easy

Between a lack of sewing projects to share and seasonal activities, Pearl the Squirrel has been sorely neglected. I'm hoping to actually sew later this week, but for now I'll share a couple of my summer distractions.


First, there was that Iowa phenomenon, RAGBRAI. It's a week-long bicycle ride across the state. Now, I don't ever ride, but I am a driver for my husband's lab; they typically ride one day each year.

It's always quite the scene: thousands of riders from all over the country pedal 400-some miles, converging on tiny towns along the way to camp, and to eat rhubarb pie, pork chops, lemonade, and breakfast burritos. Lots of folks dress up and decorate their bikes and helmets: the bike at top belonged to a man on Team Flamingo.

This year, just 39 percent of the riders were from Iowa. Folks of all shapes, sizes, ages, and physical condition ride (and eat) their way across the state. I can never resist going to watch. (In past years, while the team is riding, I've been known to frequent quilt shops in the area. I usually have to read in a coffee shop for several hours before the shops open: RAGBRAI riders like to get started around 6 a.m., before the heat gets brutal.)

The big, the bold, and the opposite

I've had the opportunity to write two very fun stories in the past couple of weeks. They're for two different publications, on two different subjects, but there was one connecting element...I can say no more, but suffice it to say that it's been a pleasure and I'm a happy girl. (This photo is a clue.)

One of my story subjects reminded me how much I enjoy embroidery. This photo is of a patch I made for my then-boyfriend's jeans when we were in college. I was an embroidering fiend, having done up a blue workshirt and overalls. When it came time to ditch the jeans, I made him give me back to patch, which I recently found in a pile 'o stuff. After my brief dip into embroidery in Lake Tahoe, and after talking with my story subjects, I'm itchin' to be stitchin' (Sorry...couldn't help myself).

You like me, you really like me...

This headline will make sense if you're old enough to remember Sally Field's acceptance speech for her 1985 Oscar...but having more than one person comment to me that they know I've been busy because Pearl the Squirrel hasn't been updated recently makes me think I have actual readers who care...thanks so much!


So here's just a quick post of a future project. I haven't had time to do much sewing, between traveling and writing and having house guests over the 4th (my wonderful daughter and son-in-law visiting from Austin—we had such a relaxing and fun weekend with them).

My daughter admired my Birdie Sling and the one I'd made for her cousin and I quickly volunteered to make her one of her own. We went to Home Ec and picked out these great fabrics (with the help of my younger daughter, as well—she still hasn't asked for one, but I may well break her resolve one of these days).

Back to reality...

If Pearl the Squirrel has any readers left, I'll be amazed. And I just have time for a very quick post. After my trip to Lake Tahoe I returned to home and work for three days, then left again, this time for the opposite coast for my niece's high school graduation. I had a great time with my sister and her family and my niece Anna seemed to genuinely like the Birdie Sling I'd made for her. The day after graduation she transferred the items from the bag she usually carries into the Birdie Sling and took it with her to Busch Gardens. High praise, I thought!

Here's a picture of Anna and me at her graduation dinner. We ate crab cakes and she's holding her bag (and a very bright future). Here's to you, Anna!

The Sunday night blahs...

Sunday nights are a challenge for a lot of people. One of my sister's used to call it "the Sunday dreads," as in dreading the return to work on Monday morning. I like my job and the people I work with, but sometimes I still have that moment when I wish the weekend could go on a little longer. A couple of years ago I decided to make Sunday nights a sewing night and that helped—I actually started to look forward to the end of the weekend, because I'd set aside time to stitch.

Although I really have no reason to complain tonight, I'm feeling all the more challenged about returning to work because I've been on vacation. I had the amazing good fortune to spend five days in Lake Tahoe with some quilting friends, new and newer.
Six of us gathered at the most gorgeous home on the shore of Lake Tahoe and learned to paint on fabric from Mary Lou Weideman, who recently took a class from Susan Shie. Mary Lou drew on her art background and gave Susan's painting and writing techniques a "Weideman twist." (That's Mary Lou wielding a paintbrush on the right and Molly on the left, learning from the master.)

I've said before that I'm not an artist and several of us felt intimidated about drawing and painting. But everyone was encouraging and had a great time. I didn't actually get the words on mine yet, but I did enjoy the painting a lot...once it was drawn on the cotton I had that wonderful feeling I used to get when I colored in a coloring book: the pleasure of choosing and combining colors and just zoning out as I filled in the blanks. Lots of good thinking time, along with great conversation and an opportunity to admire everyone's creative spirits (and eat M&M's).

Our hostess, Lynn, was an absolute delight and made us really feel at home. I sometimes felt wrong looking at my work and not at the views, but there was always time to take a break, walk down the beach, or just step outside and check out the mountains and the water.

We also enjoyed some time in town, including at the Red Hut Cafe, where we purchased what became our uniform (left to right: Molly, Cherise, me, Mel, Robyn, and Mary Lou on the dock of Lynn's home).

It was an inspiring week and on top of it I learned how to applique from Mary Lou and Mel got me all excited about making yo yos (that's her at the sewing machine, with a stack of her Liberty of London yo-yos in front of her). Here's what I came up with:

Third time's the charm...

I've made my third Birdie Sling and I'm very happy with this one. I used all Amy Butler's fabrics and I think the scale of the fabrics suits the size of the bag quite nicely. I hope the person for whom it's intended will enjoy it—it's destined to be a gift later this month. (A shout out to Anne K. of Pearvana for the bags-on-trees photo idea!)

I also made this little bag from Terry Atkinson's Tag Along Tote pattern. I've sewn a few quilts using Terry's patterns and always been pleased by how well-thought out they are and the clever ways she puts blocks together. In particular I made a star quilt that she designed so that it was impossible to sew over the star tips—perfect for someone who's not a perfectionist...like me!

I bought the fabric and pattern at River City Quilts, a great shop in Mankato, Minnesota. It's a little hard to find, tucked away in a strip mall, but the shop is a delight, as are the women who work there. I've stopped in when I visit a relative who lives in town and always been pleased by the number of patterns, the range of fabrics, and the different takes they have on kits. I was very tempted by a quilt that featured purple, orange, and yellow batiks. Sounds fairly wild, and it was, in the best possible way.

Also, congratulations to Anne R. She'll be receiving a copy of Diana Rupp's book. I admit to being a little disappointed in the number of comments I received, considering that the give-away prize was really quite exceptional. But thanks to those who entered. Wish I could send you each a copy!

Line dancing

Okay, so call me sick, but I love hanging out my clothes to dry. When I found out we were leaving California and moving to the Midwest, I told my husband there were three requirements: a screened porch, air conditioning, and a clothesline. I hung clothes out on Memorial Day and there must be something wrong with me, I took so much pleasure from it. Nothing like textiles waving in the wind. This photo is actually of the quilts I sewed in 2004, my first year of quilting. I thought it was more pleasant to share than a shot of underwear fluttering in the breeze.

And don't forget! There's still time to enter the give-away and win a copy of Diana Rupp's truly wonderful book, Sew Everything Workshop. It's got tips, how-tos, and ten patterns included. Just go to the last post and tell me why you love fabric. (And if you have a chance, hang a textile on the line and think of me.)

Yellow in the garden and a yellow give-away!

I'm afraid of late it's been the garden vs. Pearl the Squirrel, and the garden's winning. If you live, as I do, where winter is relentless, the opportunity to be outside is too tantalizing. (These are very tiny, late-blooming jonquils—each flower is literally the size of a dime.) The garden wins because it's finally possible to put things in the ground and anticipate lush hosta foliage, deep pink and purple petunias, and fresh sprigs of basil and mint. And being outside just feels so good.

That is, until the last couple of days, when gnats started their dive-bombing mission. I've swallowed more than one, and when I let Pearl (the dog, not the blog) outside I've taken to carrying a hat. I spend the entire time swatting gnats off my ears, neck, and face.


Work projects have also made time for blogging scarce. But you can help me with one of them. I've been thinking a lot about my relationship to fabric and why I've chosen to express myself through textiles. What is it that draws you to fabric or yarn, that makes you long to caress it, use it, and yes, buy more of it? Is there some memory of learning to sew or knit as a child, perhaps, or the colors or textures of fabric, or the way it allows you to produce something unique? Leave me a comment that tells me about your passion for fabric, what it means to you, and why. (It needn't be long, or even a complete sentence!)

On May 31 I'll choose a winner. And that lucky winner will get something written by someone else who is totally smitten with fabric: the talented Diana Rupp (the subject of my profile for Stitch). She's the proprietor of Make Workshop in NY and the author of Sew Everything Workshop, a fabulous, sprial-bound volume with how-to tips on everything from choosing the right fabric to what to look for in a sewing machine. Although the book bills itself as a beginner's guide, there are wonderful projects included for those with a range of skills. Leave me a comment and this fabulous book just might be yours!

Quilt Capades

Our longtime friend, Dianne, shared with me a quilt she had made for her daughter Leah's high school graduation. Leah was an ice skater all through her school years and each year her ice skating group had an elaborate performance. Hundreds (well, more than 100) kids were involved in each annual production and there were lots of numbers, from the adorable little, little tykes group "dances" to the high school seniors, who often performed a dramatic, romantic duet. These productions always involved amazing costumes, created from all sorts of glittery, stretchy, super-bling fabrics and trim. Dianne somehow wound up in charge of costumes and worked with a talented seamstress to get the costumes designed and made.

Leah graduated from high school two years ago and Dianne had a quilt made for her using pieces of fabric and embellishments from her many costumes. The background fabric and backing is silk, so the quilt feels amazing (well, at least the parts that aren't covered with glitter or sequins). Sadly, I don't know the name of the woman who made it, but I though you might enjoy seeing this creation.

Dianne can touch any fabric on the quilt and remember the costume Leah wore. Suffice it to say, Leah is NOT keeping this in her college dorm room: Dianne's got it home for a few more years.