I HATE SHARING.....

Two more weeks until the OBX will be crawling with people.

Colorful beach umbrellas,
 surfboards, laughing children
 and shell seekers
 will line the
Cape Hatteras
shoreline.

Once again it will become difficult to find a place to park, find a place for dinner without a reservation ,
and poor Gizmo will have to sport his "leash" (uh  - such a dirty, dirty  word)

Oh how I will miss the tranquility, serenity and freedom.

I flashback to last summer.   I remember that with the colorful and noisy  crowds come
music festivals, seafood festivals, art festivals, fishing tournaments, surfing tournaments, fireworks, early evening boat cruises,
tan lines,  natural blonde highlights, warm ocean water, and balmy summer breezes.  
All things I love.

So I think this week Gizmo and I will start working on the "transition."
From freedom to leashes.  From hot chocolate on the fishing pier to Ice cream on the beach.
From bundled up walks along the shore - to early morning romps in the surf.  We can do this.

Ahh, it won't be so bad.  After all - it's only a couple of months.

The End of House...

HOUSE.

Truly, a work of art.

Very sad to see it go.
But what a way to
say good bye.

So Excellent.

The Simple Life....

My man, my dog and the sea.  Perfect.

WISH UPON A STARFISH.....

STARFISH STORY...
One day an old man was walking down the beach just before dawn.  In the distance he saw a young man picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea.  As the old man approached the young man, he asked, "Why do you spend so much energy doing what seems to be a waste of time?"  The young man explained that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun.  The old man exclaimed, "But there must be thousands of starfish.  How can your efforts make any difference?"  The young man looked down at the starfish in his hand and as he threw it to safety in the sea, he said," It makes a difference to this one!"(*)

Starfish Story, By: L. Eisley

At different times in our lives, we are all the old man, the young man, or the starfish. 

Sometimes, as the old man, 

we don't see the purpose to actions.  

Sometimes, as the young man, 

we persevere and make a difference. 

And sometimes, we are  the little starfish who just needed a little help.

Lately....
I AM the Starfish.

But today, I am so very grateful to be  inspired by the Outer Banks and all the beauty that surrounds me.

Mary Ann (Jean) West & Wanda Matilda Ketteringham

My Mother and My Grandmother

I take you with me every where I go.

Every happiness, every sadness, every triumph, every tribulation...

YOU are HERE with me.  I still need you.

I am who I am - because of YOU.

THANK YOU for teaching me how to love and how to be loved.

I miss you so.

Happy Mother's Day to YOU and GRAM.

Working on Modern Quilt Guild Blocks...

I have started working on the various blocks from my Modern Quilt Guild's block swap.  11 participants - each providing each participant fabric and a basic idea as to what they would like to get back.  Each participant having a bit of creative "license" both with design and fabric.  

I decided to start with the blocks that requested flying geese.  Here are the beginnings for two of those blocks. I am utilizing  paper piecing for accuracy  I like this technique.  No guesswork. 

 I enjoyed making these two sets of geese, utilizing the participants' fabrics, along with some of my own to make a traditional block with a "modern" twist.  Not sure what I'm going to do next on these - so I am  putting them aside for now.

Next up - a chicken block.  This gal loves chickens.  She provided most of the fabric as she requested specific colors and her only instruction - "make a chicken."  Here is my "fused" chicken, along with a vintage wool sunflower.  I plan on doing some hand stitching on this with a machine appliqued edge and maybe some beading on the center of the flower.

I'm not a huge fan of the "chicken" as a design element, but the mere fact that there are 11 different artists interpreting the "chicken" in playful fabrics and colors -  coupled with  the notion of putting them all together in one quilt - is a bit intriguing and should end up being a fun little quilt.

I am liking this exercise.

Oh Heathcliff...

 I confess, I am a professed Wuthering Heights Snob. I've studied it, dissected it, researched it, written about it, read it, watched it and talked about it with anyone who would listen.  (OK, so nobody will listen - but I talk about it anyway.)

Over the years I have read this book probably 10 times, and have seen at least 5 versions of the movie at least 3 times each.

This morning, I stumbled across the two part PBS version which I had never seen.  Seeing as it was only 6:30 a.m., and way to early to work outside, I decided to make a pot of Amaretto coffee, and watch the entire thing on the couch, in my jammies, in one sitting.

The PBS production (Masterpiece Theater) is a  beautiful rendition, with wonderful costuming, realistic setting and perfect casting. I do believe out of all the productions (PBS, BBC, Hollywood, etc.)  this is my favorite - as of today.  And may I add -  Tom Hardy's "Heathcliff," is the delicious epitome my tragic hero.

While working toward my Bachelor's in World Literature at NC State, I wrote an honors paper on Heathcliff as a tragic vs. Byronic hero.  To this day, I still cannot, with complete conviction, slip him into either category.  I really think it depends upon what version you are reading or watching, and who is playing Heathcliff that pushes him in one direction or the other.

I recall Sabrina telling me once that she was of the opinion I rated the movie versions of Wuthering Heights, " according to the degree of "hotness" of Heathcliff."  "That's ridiculous," I remembered quipping. I laughed and pretended I was  amused by her comment, but secretly I was insulted.

Interestingly, with my viewing of this most recent version of the story, I find myself thinking...
Hmmmmm, could Sabrina be right?  Could I possibly be THAT shallow that I base my "educated" opinion of this movie upon the, as she puts it, "hotness" of Heathcliff.

I feel the need to reflect.
Let's see, the four productions and Heathcliffs that immediately come to mind are:

Ralph Finnes;
Sir Lawrence Olivier;
Timothy Dalton (left); and
Tom Hardy.

Ok, now, let's rate them according to how good I thought the movie was:

Ralph Finnes ----  good

Sir Lawrence Olivier -- really good

Timothy Dalton --  even better

Tom Hardy  --  THE BEST

 Now let's add the Heathcliff rating:

Ralph Finnes ----  warm 

Sir Lawrence Olivier -- hot 

Timothy Dalton --  really hot

Tom Hardy -- super HOT

OMG......Sabrina was right. 

 I AM SHALLOW.  I AM BASING MY OPION OF THE MOVIE UPON HEATHCLIFF'S HOTNESS. I'm disgusting.  

Oh well. Sorry Timothy. You are a good Heathcliff, and it has been  good while it lasted.  But there's a new Heathcliff in town.
At least.... for now.

Ahhhhhh Saturday Mornings.....

There's No Place Else I'd Rather Live

I saw my fist whale this morning while we were about four miles off shore. So graceful he was. So peaceful. Pods of dolphin everywhere I looked. Surreal. And now, back on shore, back to reality, its still amazing. Just in a different way.

Too Cold to Go for a Swim....

But a nice long walk was just what we needed. A beautiful breezy, cool day on Hatteras. Oh how I love it here.

Prom 2012

Our beautiful girl - and her "men" as she would tell you.  Her two buddies, Blake and Adam on the outsides and Dylan, the love of her life in the middle with her. 

Somehow, I think she's happy.
Somehow, I think I'm happy.

Love you Honey.
This is only the begining.

BOHO CHIC..

I met  up with Usha, my favorite textile designer and NYC shop owner when I attended the Mid-Atlantic Quit Festival a month or so ago.

 Every year I purchase the bulk of my higher end batik fabrics from Usha as she really has some of the most unique, hip fabrics  (from India) that I've ever seen.  I fell in love with this particular design as soon as I saw it.  It's so - earthy, so Bohemian. And I adore the colors.

I made myself a Nook cover from this and embellished with a vintage circa 1920's mother of pearl button. (I actually made two and  listed one on Etsy)

 I bought a few yards of this gorgeous stuff and would really love to make a peasant dress if I can find a good pattern.  I can just see it with my vintage Frye boots on a crisp autumn day.  Where can I get vintage (1960's) patterns?  Anyone know?

In the meantime, also been working on the hand torn shot cotton piece.  Working on that piece is meditative, as it's hand work.  I've been layering silk dupioni and bits of wool.  I like how this is coming along.  Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet - but am enjoying the process.

So Pretty....

 A lovely hand made modern mug mat and a gorgeous tea cup  presented to me by Sylvia at our Sunday meeting of the Triangle Modern Quilt Guild.  I adore it!

At the meeting everyone who is participating in the modern block swap distributed their pattern, fabric and instructions - 11 in all.




I've gone through each packet now, and I DO have my work cut out for me.
Many blocks are improvisational, but there are quite a few flying geese blocks and several appliqué blocks.  I've never done flying geese via paper piecing, so I tried it last night and it took me a few minutes, but I think I've got it down and they look awesome!!

I'm going to do a "practice" version of each block with my own fabric so I don't cut into someone's fabric and ruin it by doing something stupid. And... I'll have an entire duplicate set of 11 blocks for myself.

I love learning new things and extending my comfort zone.  It's been a while since I've pushed myself creatively.  I've missed that.

Oh... Hi Simba!

Mosaic Saturday.......

1. baby wonderland quilt, 2. echino patchwork quilts, 3. a wonderfully wonky anna maria horner string quilt, 4. Tufted tweets quilt in orchid & grass, 5. Rubik's Crush quilt, 6. Innocent Crush Rectangle Squared quilt, 7. quilt giveaway!, 8. DS picnic quilt, 9. graduated rainbow quilt top, 10. converging corners quilt top, 11. a lovely llama quilt, 12. la la la la llamas!, 13. echo patchwork quilt, 14. A Colorstory ~ Nature's Elements, 15. silk fiber ATC's for each month, 16. Festival de couleurs,   (please click on any of the photo titles to go to the original photographer's flickr)

Shot Cotton Deliciousness....

Not sure what this is yet - other than a mosaic of frayed edge shot cottons on a linen ground.   What is shot cotton?  It's fabric that is woven with two different colored threads - one for the warp and one for the weft, creating beautiful movement when the light hits it and when the edges are frayed.  I adore frayed edges and the organic feel they give to textiles.

Next, some type of hand stitching will be applied  to the squares and then perhaps "pebble" machine stitching in the negative white space.  Still pondering and enjoying the process

Any ideas??

Sketchbook Monday...

Did some work in my sketchbook this weekend.

Using my trip in February to Yellowstone as my inspiration, I started working on two pine tree themed journal pages.

I'll be working more on these when time permits.  I found a great poem by Rilke that I think I'll add to blue page and maybe do a little journaling on the
"spattered" page. 

I get great satisfaction from painting with watercolors.

A Blustery Day on Cape Hatteras...

...but nobody seemed to mind.

My List is Getting Smaller...

This month - I've crossed two MAJOR things off my list - I saw Elton John, and graduated from Harley Davidson's Rider's Edge Program.

SEEING ELTON JOHN IN CONCERT - CHECK!

I've been in love with Elton John since I was a little girl.   Our seats - only about five rows back - were situate where I could see the keys of his piano go down as he played, and see the emotion in his face as he sang.  He treated the audience to over 30 songs from his vast repertoire - ending the concert with a heartfelt and emotional version of "Your Song" - which, having heard that song as a young girl living in  Ohio - brought tears to my eyes.    It was a magical night.

LEARNING TO RIDE A HARLEY -
CHECK!

Last week I spent a grueling and empowering three days learning to ride a motorcycle.
Three days of reading, studying, riding, falling (ouch!), getting up and falling again,
wanting to quit - but NOT, and going back for more - I did it.  I passed the written test, got my permit, attended the school, passed another written test, and most importantly passed the driving skills - Definitely taking me OUT of my comfort zone.  But I am proud to say - out of a class of 13 - I was the only female, intimidating at first, but later empowering.

I've been riding for 20+ years behind my husband - and loving every minute of it.  But now - on to my next adventure.  And while I have no intention of giving up my seat behind him, I am looking forward to occasionally going solo.

Not now Gizmo..
Maybe later.

Silly dog.

The best almond lattes...

In the universe. Jubala.

Sketching & Watercolor in Mixed Media Journal

 

I've really been wanting to work on my painting skills for quite some time - watercolor, in particular.

I came across a class offered by one of my favorite sketchbook, fiber artists - Jane LaFazio and decided to give it a go.  I missed the first week as we were on Montana, but I eagerly got started on week two as soon as we got home.

Had such a nice day searching for "complex" objects in nature (as the assignment required) followed by sketching them out in pencil and micron pen, and then adding color with  Prang Watercolors.  I've loved Prang watercolors (and crayons) since I was a little girl.  Heavily pigmented and luckily still around after all these years - the colors really are beautiful


  

 I think I'm going to love this class.

Sweet Montana.....

I miss
 you already.








Just returned from spending a
week in Montana and Idaho.
No kids,
no computers,
no cell phones.






 Just my man... and I,
two snowmobiles,
5 feet of snow,
below zero temperatures,
and hundreds of miles
of trails through
 Big Sky Country.






.,
I think this guy
remembered us from last summer.
He looks like he recognizes me.

Only last summer it wasn't a snowmobile we traveled on,
it was a Harley.  Instead of cut offs and tank tops, we had on snow suits and boots.  Instead of feeling the sting of sunburn, we
felt the bite of freezing, cold windburn.  I continually marvel at how traveling those same roads in the winter - could be such a world away from the roads we travel in the summer.  A different planet, no... universe - more dramatic, less forgiving, and yes, even more beautiful.
White, pristine and brutally frigid - yet full of so much life.  They say, "The greatest predator in Yellowstone - is Winter."  I do believe that.
Only the strong survive.


I've lost count on how many times I've been out West.  And while we've been there many times,
Each time  - I see it with new eyes.

Each time I experience new emotions.

Each time, I vow to return.

Montana,
take care of yourself and 
all of the special creatures
who have been entrusted to you. 
Be kind to them.
Nurture them.
Watch over them - 
 for they are all so very special.


Until we meet again.