Exploding Brains

I just got back from four days in Ohio…Athens, Ohio (OK, it’s taking me a long time to finish this post, so not really just back…almost a month ago! Hey school ended. Don’t judge too hard.). Where Quilt National takes place. This is my 5th time getting in, and nothing compares to the first time, but it’s still amazing. I wasn’t able to go the last two times…in 2021, there was barely a vaccine, and I was teaching on Zoom, and it just seemed like too much. In 2023, I was still listening to my school district tell me there were no subs, you can’t possibly take time off. I stopped listening to them, because there has to be a balance between work and life, and there hasn’t been. I am glad to have a supportive principal at the moment. So this year, I went. Excited! But even then, I had forgotten the amazing rush of being with like-minded people, artists struggling to create, whatever that looks like, meeting new people, seeing old friends, seeing the art! So my brain is still in exploding mode, and hopefully that will get me through the end of the year.

I didn’t photograph all of the pieces. I get to a point where I can’t. But I tried to photograph every artist with their piece, and details when I felt them. Oh hey! Here’s me. Talking about my inspiration. I kept it short. I read Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes’ Women Who Run With the Wolves when I was in college, and then I had signed up for Audible to listen to books when I quilt and clay, and her books about wise women and crones and Mother trees popped up, and I think I listened to two or three of them. I loved the idea of a Mother Tree/Crone who was trying to protect us all, especially the younger women who might not have the resources we older women have (I’m still not old enough to be a crone, but it’ll come). On the left are all the issues with reproductive rights, telling us we don’t have any, turning women into baby factories. On the right is war, Gaza, Ukraine, there’s bombs dropping throughout this quilt, body bags, people crying. It’s not an easy quilt to explain; it wasn’t easy to make. And I’m glad it got in.

Oh yeah, it has a name: Seeking the Crone’s Protection.

And here it is surrounded by other quilts…love to see what’s around it.

Susan Else’s sculpture Something to Say; to the right, Jennifer Candon’s Metanoia, Peggy Black’s Polyphonic 5 to the left of mine, to the left of that, Ruth de Vos‘ Wings of Freedom, and then to the far left, Keetje Abbenhuis’ Trash in Orbit.

Here’s Peggy Black in front of her piece.

Here’s my good friend Dinah Sargeant with her 100 pieces…holy moly. The piece is called Snaps and is all of her scraps made into little snapshots.

A detail of one of the hundred pieces. Not a small amount of work. She made each into a tiny quilt with sleeves and rods.

This is Kestrel Michaud’s Echoes of Time and Magic, part of her steampunk world.

I’ve read articles and watched videos of her explaining her process, which is similar to mine, but uses technology (computers and cutters instead of scissors).

I had a great conversation with her about her technique and materials, and am impressed she has persuaded her husband to make her artistic life easier (more technological support).

I know that if my hands ever give out, I might need to do the same, head to the computer. Not there yet. Nice to know a process exists though.

Heidi Parkes‘ Nimble Nimble won Best Handwork.

I saw a few of her pieces at QuiltCon this year; it’s a fascinating way of working, especially after hearing about why (and how) she did the arm and shoulder after an injury.

Certainly very different to how I make work. It has some ideas I might be exploring this summer. Inspirational anyway.

This is Russ Little talking about his quilt to the right, More Than Black & White #4, with Helen Geglio’s Mind Map: Compartments behind him. Russ had a fascinating story of the background behind making these pieces.

Also, this is a good example of my forgetting to go back and take additional photos. I was constantly getting overwhelmed by this experience of art and artists, so I apologize for not fully documenting the event.

For instance, this is Gabrielle McIntosh, a math teacher, who was talking about the piles of grading she needed to do (this is Precarious Balance, which is largely how I feel about school on a regular basis).

I meant to go tell her YES. I GET IT. And I never did.

Here is Roberta Lagomarsini’s Home Away from Home.

I took one larger picture where you can see those two a little better, on the right. I think when I went back, there were people just hanging out there constantly (table and chairs?), so that’s my excuse.

This is Jennifer Strauser’s Sweet Surrender, constructed by starting to stitch on the outside edges and then moving in.

OK, crazy small world (or not)…I just finished trying to watch some of the Making Zen online workshops this week (totally failed last year, due to being in Maine) and I watched hers! But I didn’t realize it was the same person.

It’s a fascinating technique.

And then there’s this, Stefanie Neuner’s That’s NUTS, about her atypical child and trying to get them help.

There’s a ton of really special embroidery on this piece.

I know it’s emotional for her and am glad she was invited to be part of the exhibit.

Insane amount or stitching.

Cindy Grisdela explained her leaf/pod shapes and her experimentation with color, in Musings II.

Wendy Richardson’s piece Children of War won an Award of Excellence.

So many pieces about war this year. This one is beautiful.

She spoke about the crosses going up into the sky being those who had lost their lives heading to heaven.

I traveled with a local San Diegan, Juli Smith, who happens to be in my modern quilt guild chapter. This was her first Quilt National with Sweet Tooth, due to the sugar packets she originally designed with.

We had a variety of international quilters, as always, with a variety of ways of communicating with us. This is Harue Konishi and her piece Halu #14. She translated her artist speech for Keri Wolfe to read to us.

Great sense of color and contrast.

Betty Busby’s piece Conflict was an intriguing mix of materials and shapes.

Another war quilt…she talks about these being the aftermath of battle scenes. Here she is explaining how she made barbed wire out of fiber.

Barbed wire that looks dipped in blood.

Susan Brubaker Knapp’s piece What Remains is delicate and beautiful.

When I first started paying attention to Quilt National, you could always tell who had taken classes from Nancy Crow. I think Irene Roderick is the new version of that. This is Laurie Paquin’s Composition 3, and she admits to Irene influence. Her piece reminds me of beetles…or brightly colored cars. The thin lines are intriguing.

She won the Emerging Artist award.

I got absolutely no good pictures of Patty Kennedy-Zafred’s long book-shaped piece, Mercato Del Friuli. It’s behind that head. Whoops! I swear, my brain gives out after a while.

I meant to go back and never did. This is where I tell you to buy the catalog. If you can’t go to the show.

I love Anne Smith’s work. So much recycled fabric used in such a fascinating way. This is Elmore & Duke Reminiscing.

Inspirational stuff.

I often wish I could work more like that…more freeform and textural.

This is Susan Braverman’s Pinot Noir.

I love her perfect circles, all pieced. That’s skill. And the flow from one shape to another.

This is Tania Tanti’s Will You Love Me When I’m Blue.

She paints these…

And then does some pretty intense machine stitching afterwards.

This is Abigail Vargas‘ Bumblebee Jasper.

The fabrics used here are fascinating.

She is also a much more careful quilter than I am.

Susan Shie was not at the opening weekend. I’ve met her before. I would call her one of my early influences in the art quilt world. This is her piece Navalny: 9 of Wooden Spoons (wands) in the Kitchen Tarot.

A crazy amount of writing.

This is Rodger Blum’s Seven Angry Men and One Celestial Being…

The surface is very interesting. I’d like to know more about how he does this. .

This is Trash in Orbit, by Keetje Abbenhuis.

She talked about using a particular shape, three sides and a curved line.

Ruth de Vos was also not at the opening weekend (not surprisingly). This is her piece Wings of Freedom.

The bird wings are beautiful.

Isabelle Dupras’s piece Le grand Tamtidelam a deux tetes is a fun folk piece.

It’s also very different than her other work.

I did ask if she had cats at home…

because of these…apparently no.

Cara Gulati’s Rainbow Spiral Kaleidoscope is fun to look at (and try to figure out).

John Lefelhocz’s piece Ring Tones was intriguing to watch.

His piece is sound reactive, so I spent time staring at it, trying to figure out what it was reacting to…

No real answer to that. Just that it’s reacting. Certainly beautiful and fascinating.

Sandra LH Woock’s piece Day Break is just fun to look at, trying to figure out how she made it.

That website is ancient. Clearly she spends more time making fascinating things than updating it.

This is Danette Pratt’s Scream. I wanted to meet her, to talk to her, but she disappeared. Her piece is on the page next to mine, and she has my mom’s middle name.

Plus holey moley, her stitching, that face; they’re just fascinating.

I like it. I like the hand applique with the slow stitching.

The cool shading here.

Just an amazing piece.

Barbara Schneider is amazing at making fabric look like bark. This is Forest Floor, Tree Bark Fragments, var. 10.

You know, one of the reasons it takes me so long to create this post (besides the day job) is that I search out websites for each artist, and THEN I read their websites. So I just take forever.

This is Barbara Lange’s So Wa Wai. It’s all discharged jeans fabric and there’s an amazing story behind it.

It involves a mom’s love, which is always a cool subject.

This is Heather Akerberg’s Dialectic No. 1, which won Outstanding Machine-Pieced Quilt.

I love that on her website, she talks about introducing her team…and it’s her. And her cat.

From left to right, Louise Silk’s Gabriel: A Mantle for our Steel Town Angel, all of reused materials. Then Sandy Curran’s Survivor’s Guilt. And Shin-Hee Chin’s Viriditas (Greenness), which won Best of Show.

Here is Jean Renli Jurgenson talking about the fabric she used for her piece Hallelujah.

It was a real pleasure to meet Jane Haworth (I own a small piece of hers) and hear about how she made all the chickens in Let’s Talk Color.

She makes some amazing collage pieces of animals.

And her chickens are gorgeous.

I also talked to Sue Sherman, not realizing at first what other work she had done that I had seen. She’s been creating these animal portraits and they’re mind-boggling. This is The King Family, and they are all painted.

Then the frame is made of all the things the animal would like…such as the squid crown.

Real skill in the painting as well…

There is such a wide range of work that is vastly different from mine…it’s part of why I love these exhibits. This is Seen and Unseen, by Kathy Ford.

She was an architect in her former life, so this is a true departure.

More fascinating closeups.

Here’s a better photo of Shin-Hee Chin’s piece Viriditas.

She’s got some YouTube videos of her process that are just fascinating, but she also talked about the role of classical music in her work.

Looking at it up close does not help explain her process!

I could stare at it for hours.

This one, I could have sworn it was flowers until the artist, Beth Schnellenberger, started talking about the two birds in Double Phoenix Rising (it was my first run through…wasn’t reading labels at all).

She uses a technique very similar to mine (so she understands my insanity).

Brent McGee’s work Apollo and Dionysus is fun to look at…very textural and 3D (honestly probably more fun to touch…but you’re not supposed to touch the art).

I spent some time hanging out with Brent and some of the other artists at a winery Saturday night. It was interesting listening to all the ideas bopping around.

Here is Ann Houle talking about her work Bio-Sphere on Fire.

It’s a fascinating piece to look at up close.

As is this one, Holly Cole’s Adrift, which won the Persistence Pays award.

Intriguing use of materials and development of imagery.

Vicki Conley’s piece Flying has crazy details. These are flamingoes…which explains her headband and shirt…

I had just read an article about her traveling and quilting. She has a setup in their camper and it works. Sounds lovely.

Susan Lapham has been doing these organic plant quilts recently (or maybe forever?), which totally contrast with the more blocky/improv stuff I’d seen from her before. I love this piece, Field Counts 2.

Jungeun Tark’s piece Tea-Bowl of Mama has some very interesting construction going on.

When I think of experimenting with more textural work, this is some of what I think of, at least in parts.

Lousy picture, sorry; I think that woman walked in front right as I took the picture and it focused on her amazing hair instead of Jean Sredl and her piece Shoddy, made up of waste fibers and other fun things.

She talks in her statement about ‘environmental catastrophe’, which is what this piece reminds me of happening.

Next to hers was Chiaki Dosho’s Resonating.

She moved so fast! She had someone read her statement for her; I found a website, but it’s out of date. That said, her work is fascinating and very textural.

This is a fun piece by Diane Melms, called Swish.

She mentioned that her piece didn’t have any deep story behind it; it was just about color and shapes…it is a fun piece though.

Jan Soules told a story of improv piecing these fish shapes in Two Fish, Blue Fish.

Complicated but also fun to look at and contemplate.

Sarah Spencer’s (aka Io the Alien) work is graphic and in your face, as is the subject of this piece, Queen of Swords, who is Mona Eltahawy.

This is kind of my mood for 2025 (my own Project 2025?), so I love it, and the color. Plus Sarah is fun to talk to.

She’s relatively new to the quilting world, but let’s hope she keeps making these graphic pieces.

I’ve always loved Terrie Hancock Mangat’s work, from way back. This is Vertigo on Cobblestone, which is so accurate for how this quilt feels.

And even better? That skelly under a sheer fabric.

It’s funny that her work and Susan Shie’s are two that I feel really influenced me early on, and I don’t embellish really at all…although maybe I want to? I did crazy quilting, so there is a connection. Terrie wasn’t at the opening, unfortunately.

This is Kathy York’s Where the Walls Have Eyes piece, where the eyes are inside.

I did wonder if it was on the wrong side, because you could only see the eyes from the top, and most of us were too short to see them…but I don’t know what happened with that.

I didn’t take pictures of everything. I always feel weird about that after, like I would have enjoyed staring at Niraja Lorenz‘ piece Abundance, on the right, for a long time, but I never got there. And there’s Denise L. Roberts‘ piece Finding Connections #26, the red on blue piece.

There’s a point when I feel totally overwhelmed.

This piece was so delicate and beautiful. It’s Dawn’s Early Light by Myania Moses.

Linda Steele’s piece Communication Breakdown is about being addicted to being on our phones, but also a fun use of improv and text.

I realized while wandering all over her website that I’ve seen some of her crazy quilts before. She has a wide range of stuff she creates; truly impressive.

This piece, Cellular Entanglement, by Mattea Jurin, is a very cool use of materials.

The clear vinyl plus stitching plus colored pencil work…

She wasn’t there, unfortunately, because I would have loved to hear her talk about her work.

This is Susan Avishai’s Where Do the Children Play?, a quilt about the Hamas attack on Gaza.

She uses a lot of repurposed fabrics and texture. But also, wow, another war quilt, and as I’m finally getting around to finishing this post, the day after my country drops bombs on Iran. Sigh.

Doesn’t matter what your politics are…it’s a valid question.

Here is Regula Affolter talking about her piece The WEF Extra’s #103.

She was talking…sorry for the weird face! I do spend more time listening than I do taking amazing photos (as might be obvious).

This is Gail Sevilla’s Refuge–Uvalde May 2022. Ah yes.

This is a quote from her statement: “Pieced with dimensional pocket that person can fit in.” Because we need those.

Yes, I know I missed some people and some quilts. I can’t do it all. In fact, in looking at the catalog, there’s some I don’t remember seeing at all, which is kind of mindboggling. I did really really really enjoy the trip though. Totally worth all the school stress going in and coming back. Just getting the chance to hear everyone talk about their work and spending time with artists was a boon to my art brain. So I’ll remember that for the (hopefully) next time I get in. Always go. Don’t NOT go. Now I just have to find the extra frame I have somewhere in the house so I can hang my poster from the show…my 5th! I remember when I thought I would never get in. It feels good to get in.

Citrusy Sauce

One of the ways I keep track of the days of the week during school is by the day I blog. And I’m off this week. Missed it on Monday, so did it Tuesday. Yesterday morning had two morning meetings, missed it again, so here I am on a Thursday. It’s not the end of the world, but it does make it harder for me to figure out what day it is. I usually announce to my Advisory students what day it is, and it’s more for me than them, and sometimes I’m wrong, and they think that’s weird, but then a bunch of them have no idea that today is JUNE. It’s June. Finally.

You know there’s two kinds of people in education: the kind that count the days left of the year and count the day they haven’t survived yet (me) and the kind who erases that day from their count because it IS that day. I don’t understand the latter. At all. I have 11 days of school left. One of my principals yesterday told me it was 10 days, and I’m like, the FUCK it is. I feel like those in the classroom know WAY BETTER than admin how many days are left. Grades are due in 9 days, I need to do award certificates, someone else is dealing with breakfast food (I do certificates so I don’t have to do food), I need to figure out what I’m wearing to graduation. Although the way the weather is going, it may be less of a worry than originally. Normally it’s hot and sunny, but it’s been May Gray all last month, maybe 5 days of sun all month, and this morning is just as gray. I’m still wearing socks to school. I know that sounds weird, but usually I’m in sandals by now. My heater is still coming on in the morning. It’s set for 65. Weird.

In awesome news, My Body. My Choice. got into another show, No Boundaries at the Virginia Quilt Museum. It will be on exhibit July 11-October 7.

I love it when work gets to be all over the place. West Coast, then East Coast. Good stuff.

I recently decided not to enter a show because (a) I didn’t really have a lot to enter and (b) the museum show that went with it is a museum that has previously pulled my work due to nudity. I decided it wasn’t worth the stretch to find pieces that might be OK to enter. I would have, I think, if I’d had more work. That’s what I need: more work. The newest quilt (still unnamed) goes to the photographer today. I spent an hour last night ironing it, cleaning it up, and packing it up for delivery. It took 146 hours to make. I started January 1 and finished May 28, but also did another smaller quilt in the middle…which better get into that show. Well. Honestly. It may well not. Oh well. I tried.

But the next newest quilt has been percolating in my head since last October, and although it has existed in many different versions, I know I have limited time to get it done, so I tried to keep it simple. Unlike the last one, where I went all out into Complicated Detail City.

I finished the drawing on Tuesday night…

I don’t actually even know if this is the right way up. It could go many ways. I turned the paper as I was drawing.

And then last night, I numbered it…

I’m usually pretty clueless about how many pieces there will be until I do this. I knew I held back on detail (except for the satellite and the Mars rover…just couldn’t be simple) so I’d have a chance at meeting the deadline. That whole thing where I’m gone for 10 days in the middle is going to complicate stuff. But it only has 545 pieces; I think the one I did in the middle of the last one was about that many pieces, and I was able to finish it in a month. Granted, part of that month was Spring Break, but part of this month will be Summer Break, so I should be able to pull it off. Also, I’m pretty much (almost) done with lesson planning, although I spent an hour last night editing some sex-ed video shorter, and I still need a graphic organizer for that, and an academic question for 8th grade. Unless I blow that off. So I think this quilt is doable. Tonight I’ll start tracing on Wonder Under, finish that by Sunday? Get it all cut out by the following Friday, start ironing to fabric next weekend, be done with that by the following weekend, then trim it all and start ironing it together before I go to Seattle. I can do this.

Already thinking about what will be on the next quilt: womens’ rights, banned books, and owls. What? Owls? Hey the owls fledged! This is 5 weeks earlier than last year. I thought that third owl was an interloper…turns out, there are three babies and they are partying it up in the evenings…I caught all three (blurry, you should try to take photos with a phone in the dark) in the tree across the yard the other night (the third one is further up, around the corner).

And then the following morning, they were up early and messing around…

This is around 5 AM.

I think I was also up at the time, but just to pee and go back to bed.

They are adorable. And loud. Honestly. They are. This group has been practice screeching. Freaks the dog out no end. Probably my neighbors too. Sorry. Not sorry. Taking care of the rat population y’all. I say that, and I had made some juice out of my tangerines and there was a lot of pulp. The rats have been eating out of my tangerines hanging on the tree, and I’m like, I’m not wasting this, so I put it out in a bowl and they ate it all, so now the owls can have rats with a citrusy sauce. Dark, I know. Cycle of life and all.

Someone took pictures of my quilts for me…one of Desert Mother at Quilt National (I don’t have the book yet, but I know the one is the background is Sky Trippers by Dinah Sargeant, and the other one is called Fig, by Maren Johnston).

It’s the first picture I’ve seen of my piece at QN.

They also took a picture at Art Quilt Elements, where Coronawood is hanging.

I don’t have info on the other pieces. I also need to update my Gallery page on this website. So I will. When I have time. Dunno when that will be.

OK. Meeting this morning. Not sure why. Some mom request. Then teaching reproduction vocab (not really teaching…just making them do the things) and finally building bridges. Hopefully. Then deliver quilt for photography, cook dinner, read my book, grade some things? Maybe not. And trace Wonder Under. Hopefully get more sleep than I did last night. I don’t know what was going on, but I don’t think I got more than 3 or 4 hours. Too much awake, uncomfortable, noise, couldn’t switch off. Which sucks. But it’s Thursday, so close to the weekend. Always good.

Fascinating Poop…

While it is awesome and feels really good to get into shows, the paperwork and the prep to get stuff out of the house and into the world is sometimes a bit much. I’ve got two to get ready before Saturday, but am having problems contacting the person I’m delivering to. They keep emailing me, I respond, I get nothing. Then next week, I’m delivering four, so I’ll get those ready this weekend. They’ve been really good about being flexible, which I appreciate, since I can’t deliver during the regular work day. Two nights ago, I was filling out paperwork online and one cell in the form wouldn’t take any answer. Until I put a blank space after it. Don’t understand that shit. Luckily people are mostly helpful and understanding, and it’s just me losing my mind in the background sometimes quietly and sometimes with some force. Day job does not help.

So yeah, I got into Quilt National with Desert Mother…

I think this is the fourth time I’ve gotten into QN with a piece made for (and usually rejected from) another show. This one was too late to enter into the show it was made for. I guess it turned out OK. She was the palate cleanser between the abortion rights quilt that will be at Visions starting this month and the two pissed-off Roe v Wade quilts that have come after. It felt bad to be finishing her during the beginning of the Russia/Ukraine war and all the other crazy shit that was happening, but I needed to make her. So that.

Meanwhile, I’m working on one of the pissed-off Roe v Wade quilts…finally doing stitchdown. I got really stuck in my head about starting this, so hard to get the machine set up (not really) and such a pain to do the stitching (not really). But last night, I finally stitched…

Even though it was less than 30 minutes, it was a start…

I’m figuring 5-6 hours. I could be totally off. But the last one, which is bigger than this, was 5 1/2 hours, so hopefully by the weekend I’ll be done? I don’t have any more meetings this week, I think. I did go to the gym last night, which ate up some time, but I needed it. I need it every week. I got to read my book and exercise. Perfecto.

Tonight is pilates and I have to cook and my parents’ dog will be here, so there will be some adjustments going on, but after that, I should have time to stitch down some more. I’ve just been so tired lately. Anyway. It’s progress. Slow as hell this year getting quilts done. It’s frustrating. I did get good news yesterday that my other 8th-grade co-teacher, the one who will actually plan interesting stuff with me, will be back in a month. Halle-fucking-lujah. Not doing it all by myself! What a concept. Looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, Monday morning, I got to school and this was on my door.

Yeah I figured out who left it (I had two reasonable possibilities), so we ID’d it (tomato hornworm, turns into a pretty cool moth) and housed it…

Our school has a garden that is mostly not doing anything at the moment but producing limes and compost tomatoes, so I’ve been trimming the plants to feed this thing, which must be close to chrysalis stage…

So we’ll see how that goes. It’s very slow-moving at this point. And it makes the most fascinating rectangular poops with ridges in it. Sorry. Forgot to take photos of its poop.

Anyway. So that’s where I’m at. Making art slowly. Exhausted by the day job. Raising a caterpillar.

Cat Interference…

Woke up early, not enough sleep, not enough caffeine, did the Quilt National talk, forgot my headphones keep the sound from showing up from my video, oh well, answered questions…

Photo stolen from the QN Instagram. I’ve actually watched all but one of these. I find them fascinating. You can see all of them (they haven’t uploaded this morning’s yet) and all the artist videos for this year on the Dairy Barn YouTube channel. Also, if you want to see my studio tour with sound (because that was missing this morning), you can see it here.

I know. As a teacher, I should remember how this shit works, but my brain was not awake. So there.

I spent the time cutting out Wonder Under, because I find it easier to listen carefully when I am doing something with my hands…

Which, yes, means I finished tracing last night.

So many cat interactions on this…

It took quite a long time to trace, longer than normal.

More complicated pieces than normal? Maybe. Also maybe that I had to think extra hard about overlaps.

I could just blame the cats. They were in the way.

18 hours and about 6 yards. Now I just need to cut them all out.

Yesterday, the man and I did a little driving reconnaissance for some possible training hikes.

Water is an issue. But he has more physical therapy in store and hopefully will be back on the trail in a few weeks or so.

This lizard…I think he’s the one I follow up the steps sometimes.

He jumps up the steps in front of me like he’s showing me the way.

Anyway. The day is half over, because of the talk and the car had to go in and a bunch of school stuff happened (that gave me a headache) and then lunch and I had to record a video for another art group I’m in and it only took about 17 tries to get the words right. I’m tired because I got up too early, but will be walking later. And cutting out lots of Wonder Under. And hopefully crossing some stuff off the to-do list because it’s insanely long at the moment. Stupid long. Maybe nap. Nap sounds nice. I tried it yesterday but cats interfered. Ugh. Ah well. Whatever happens, art will be involved.

Check Check Check…

There is an insistent cat head bumping my left elbow as I try to type. I managed to get her away from the keyboard, where she was before, but it’s possible that I’m not petting any of these cats ENOUGH for their preferences. OK, now she’s in front of the monitor, so any typos will have to be blamed on Kitten. And she just whacked me and I’m bleeding. So yeah. Cats. I’m also trying to listen to/watch this week’s artist talks for Quilt National and she’s not happy with my not paying attention to her, so now I’m trying to type with a paper towel held to my wrist so it will stop bleeding. Such a joy.

So somehow, the first week of Summer Break is gone. It’s always such a weird thing, that first week. I seem to waste a lot of time staring at things: books, space, social media, TV, the insides of my eyeballs. This year, I cooked a lot of things this week: wontons (very good), blueberry crisp (very good), lasagne from scratch (very good and will get frozen in batches for future eatings), and lemon bars (we had lemons…they fell apart last night, but they were still warm. I will in fact eat them with a fork if I have to). I’m still exhausted, which might be because I stayed up too late ironing last night and got up early(ish…for break, anyway) to watch the Quilt National thing. By the way, I will be participating in their weekly talks (signups are here) on July 30. You can also see me talk about my quilt here:

I don’t remember what I said. I’m going to watch all of them, honestly…just pick the playlist for this year’s quilts, and maybe even watch the ones from 2019. Why not?! It’s either that or I watch another badly dubbed movie like the last one I watched.

The damn cat is back, headbutting my elbow, decidedly nonapologetic about the divot in my wrist from biting me. My fault for having a calico cat. Feisty beasts.

So what have I been doing? Some errands, some garden stuff. Some house stuff. Some organizing. I can’t quite bring myself to clean out closets yet. I’ve found two things I want to get rid of…the rest is overwhelming. I’ve read a lot. I love reading. I’ve exercised for five days in a row…and my hips are complaining. I think that was from pilates on Wednesday, but I might take today off from exercise, since I know I will be hiking tomorrow hopefully (checks weather app…yes, I can hike tomorrow, as long as it’s not in the mountains, because they have a heat wave and I don’t? Whatever). I’ve also been doing art stuff in between all that, working on quilting a 20-year-old hand-appliqued quilt during the day…

I’m just doing the outlining right now; the background quilting will take a lot more thought and time. I’m not there yet.

I did a little embroidery on Sue Spargo’s Homegrown during book club…

Super slow moving on this one. But that’s OK.

And then I’ve been ironing at night, with a little bit yesterday during my quilt group Zoom.

Some bright colors were added for some small spaces in the quilt…

I’m about 6 1/2 hours into picking fabrics, and not done. It’s not an easy ironing job. So many muted colors that have to contrast with each other. I’m in the 300s somewhere, maybe almost done with them. Yah. Almost done, and I’ve already ironed some of the 400s, so I can safely say I’m at least halfway through. I’m hoping to be done with the ironing Sunday, but I’ve put a bunch of social stuff in the next few days, so I don’t know if that will really happen.

I’m meditating every night, mostly with the help of this cat.

Not help. She hasn’t whacked me for a while though…wait, that’s a lie. She scratched me two days ago because I dared to carry her past the little dog for her breakfast.

Yesterday’s walk almost didn’t happen. I finished making lasagne and then decided to walk.

Which is why I actually ate dinner at 9:22 PM. Not the smartest. Ah well. Routine is not my friend during summer.

This was me at pilates on Wednesday when the instructor told us we could do whatever we wanted with the balls we’d been using during class. Hmm. I did not throw it. I just thought really hard about why I was an adult and shouldn’t throw it.

Hey! There’s the girlchild.

Great picture. Love that face. Boston looks good too.

OK. I need more caffeine. And a shower. And to pick up a library book. Because I don’t have enough books to read. Plus make art. And check off about 20 things off the to-do list. By the end of the week, they freakin’ accumulate and I can’t handle it any more. Check check check. Plus tune out the neighbor woman behind me yelling at her screaming children. I’m thinking the ones below me must be at camp or something, because it is surprisingly quiet down there, except there’s the new house being built two properties below that, so there is NEVER NOT hammering going on except when it’s dark. Hallelujah for sending kids to camp though. I think I need to win some money and buy a second home somewhere with a massive amount of property, away from people and roads and builders and everything but nature. I would really appreciate the shit out of that space, but it would have to be real close…like up in our mountains, because otherwise I would never have time to go there. I could have a second studio there with a separate stash of fabrics, yeah? So I wouldn’t have to haul shit up there all the time. It could be the OTHER project that I only work on when I’m there. OR…get a little trailer and drive all over the US during breaks and make art in the trailer in campsites all over. Yeah. Both of those.

Buy Art…

Someone asked me to post the pieces that got into Quilt National and Visions over the years.

2013 Quilt National: Spread Out on the Pavement

2017 Quilt National: Beyond the Concrete

2021 Quilt National (yes, it appears to be every four years…creepy, huh?): Fire and Water

And Visions 2012: Sediment

I enter both shows every time, if that helps you at all. Lots of rejections over the years. One year, the Visions reject made it into Quilt National; another year, vice versa. It’s all OK.

So today’s topic is Top 5 Gift Ideas. Y’all…go buy art. Small business art. They don’t have to be quilters…they can be printers or ceramicists or painters. Buy small if you have to. Commit to one piece of art a year, if you can. I buy one SAQA auction piece a year. It’s my donation, plus I’ve gotten small art by artists I really enjoy, some I knew of before the auction and some I didn’t. Buy prints if you can’t afford the art, or even cards. Send them to everyone you know. So many small businesses, especially in the arts, are struggling right now. I wish I could do more, but I try to buy some every year. This year, two of my family members are getting original art from people I know. It can be a knitted sweater or an embroidered landscape, or a drawing, a bowl, a mug, jewelry, whatever. Just buy art. This pandemic has been devastating to so many people. I know as an artist that so many depend on classes and conferences and show venues, and so much of that has dried up. Sign up for a class, if you don’t want to buy art. Find ways to put your money, even if it’s a small amount, in the hands of an artist.

I worked with my co-teacher today for four hours, masked, in a room, away from each other, with the door open.

We got January planned, although then I came home and spent like 3 hours making digital versions of stuff so my kids could do the same stuff as the kids in a physical classroom. I’m still ahead, though…further ahead than I’ve been all year. I’ve always been starting to plan on Thursday for the following week, usually finishing Sunday night. I need that to chill out a bit. I need to be a little ahead of the game. Tomorrow, we’re doing it again, trying to get February planned. At least the pieces will be in place. Details to follow. I need to make a bunch of videos.

Last night, I stayed up too late, but I finished trimming all the pieces.

That’s almost 16 hours of cutting in the last week. Tonight, I sorted them…

Took me about an hour and a half.

I can start ironing tonight. I won’t get much done; it’s already late, but I can start.

Last night, I drew…

Tonight, I did not. There’s a lot of stressful stuff going on. I’m not forcing myself to draw if I don’t have the mental space. I know there’s a place for that kind of thing; making myself draw when I’m not in the mood makes my brain be more creative, solve problems, but there’s a need for self-care at the moment. So I’m just going with it. I can draw tomorrow night if I want. There is absolutely no point in beating myself up about what I can and can’t handle at the moment.

Be like a cat.

Sleep well.

OK, well it’s already past 10 and I need to be up sort of early for lesson planning. Hopefully the rest of the day will let me get some grading done and get a walk in. Tonight, I’ll iron a bit and get my ass in bed earlier than last night. And hopefully I’ll sleep.

All About the Sky…

December is the month of Instagram’s Top Nine…always interesting to see what OTHER people liked of my posts. When I was younger, I’d listen to the top 106.7 songs (radio station) of the year. Do they still do that? I realize with the whole work-from-home thing that I am never in the car, never listening to the radio. That was the only place I listened. Interesting. So much new music could be coming out and I wouldn’t even know. For the daily blog challenge, today is the Top 5 books…probably not fiction, which is good, because I don’t think I could take it down to 5…like ever. My head has so many books in it, I wouldn’t be able to suss out this one from the next one. The top 5 books are the ones I’ve loved the most recently. I just finished Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir…great book, second in a series, but I think the second book was better than the first, and I loved the first one (Gideon the Ninth). But you’ll have to like some sci fi/fantasy to read it.

So probably, this being a quilty blog challenge, we should talk about quilt books. Probably most people would talk about how-to books or pattern books, but I’m of the opinion, being an art quilter, that you should peruse quilt art and fiber art books, or even just plain old ART books. Tickle the mind with inspiration and ideas and signs of others’ creativity. Book catalogs of the big artsy quilt shows, like Quilt National and Visions…I read those like novels, staring at the photos, reading the statements.

Compilations of many quilts, especially when they expand on the artist technique or intention…

You know, I love picture books.

I don’t want to know how to make that quilt. I’m fascinated with the why and the thinking behind it.

They don’t all have to be quilts to be inspirational…branch out.

I sold most of my quilt how-to books and pattern books years ago. I kept a few, Baltimore Album stuff, some historical ones, some embroidery how-to books, but mostly I have art books now. And I thoroughly enjoy them. Over and over again.

I should be doing schoolwork right now, but I did a lot of that today. Grades are due on Tuesday, though, plus I need to put together posts for next week for all three subjects/levels, plus finish grading all the panicked late work kids are doing, and do some weird engagement thing that I still don’t understand. So it makes sense that my brain is completely shut down at the moment, talking itself in circles actually, trying to decide whether hopefully cautious makes more sense than cautiously hopeful. Fuck me.

I ironed the sky last night. I made a run of 17 sky fabrics.

I pick out my favorites and then try to make them all work together, and in the end, they mostly do. I had a quilt drawing pop into my head just now when I was thinking about this run of 17 fabrics. And it was all about the sky. In a week, well plus a day, I’ll have time to draw it.

Sky pieces ready for ironing…

Fun stuff.

It’s only 10:30 and I’m exhausted. I’ve been exhausted for weeks.

Hi Nova. You are a sweet slightly cross-eyed cat.

I feel like I’m going cross-eyed with tiredness. I’ll go to bed a little early tonight. I still want to iron tonight, and I’ll have to work my butt off tomorrow getting stuff done (what’s new?). But I need a break from school and Zoom. I need a moment with my fabric, y’all.

I’ve Gone to Ground*

Oh brain, mush brain, brain with few thoughts, brain that is still making my left eye twitch like a motherfucker. Oh brain. Stahp It.

So the plus is that it’s apparently Saturday and I finished the copyediting project…sent it off to the author this afternoon, about two hours ago…and then paced crazily around the house, trying to focus on anything at all. Nope. Not happening.

It’s apparently July too. So that’s a thing. June was a freakin’ blur. Still have three community quilts to finish. Tomorrow. Today I am done with shit I have to do.

Yesterday, I copyedited…I went to a beach bonfire in between two sessions of staring at tiny letters with new glasses, which caused a weird 3D thing in the middle of the computer screen…it’s still doing it, but I figure I’ll get used to it. I quit copyediting at around 11:30 PM because my left eye was vibrating too fast for me to be able to read well. Sign of tired eyes? You think?

Then I did a bunch of purplish and pink lazy daisies in the bush on the bottom right, to fill in the empty spaces.

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Then I did nothing. Eventually I managed sleep. Got up this morning and went back to the computer for more. Meanwhile, boychild and the ex worked on cleaning up animals…Simba got a flea bath, Calli got combed. I think Simba’s getting fleas removed here…it’s been a bitchy year for fleas…

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Then the boychild washed both cats, brave man.

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The cats have an appointment next week to hopefully get a prescription flea med that will work better than what’s not working now.

I ordered new quilting gloves, Machingers, the other night, because I realized my old ones were getting really gross and dirty with the pastel and stuff that’s all over the community quilts.

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I usually replace them about once a year anyway…so it’s time.

Kitten recovered from her bath…

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That’s what old pieces of smallish batting are for, right? Covering papers so wet cats can lie where they like?

Then I eventually made it back to numbering this…

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Yeah, it’s more pieces than I expected, and yes, I added the damn spaceship. I’d like to think aliens aren’t adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, but maybe they are. So this one is ready to trace, as soon as I get the community quilts done. Let’s not talk about what else I need to do next week. Let’s just have a little happy dance about finishing the copyediting. Now I can pay the mortgage in the summer. No paycheck after the one I picked up yesterday until the end of August…it’s always a rough time of year. I’d like to say that I want more copyediting work, but if I don’t get a few weeks off, I might go nuts. Been working way too hard. Need some time with art and books and drawing and regular exercise and spacing out. Please.

Oh yeah, and here’s a video of me talking about my Quilt National piece, Beyond the Concrete…it’s a little zoomy around in blurry space at times, but just look away if you get motion sickness and listen to my crazy voice…I especially love where it froze on my face for the preview here…I’m singing along to some song, ooooh ooooh, surely.

Ooooh ooooh oooooh.

*Zero 7, Destiny

Art Brain on Art…

I’m posting at night just to confuse you. Plus my brain has absolutely no freakin’ idea what day or time it is anyway. I think I have to be up at the equivalent of 4 AM again tomorrow too. I think. I survived two flights and a lot of driving in circles.

We made it to Nancy Crow’s Art Barn this morning…

Then had a nice lunch. I recorded a video about my quilt, and then enjoyed two openings, one for artists only, and one for everyone. Then a banquet for the artists, where I really enjoyed talking to other artists. It’s always nice to hear how others make. And why. And with what. Talk of solids. Hand-dyes. Drawing or not. Design wall or not. Windows in the studio or not. A studio? How big. Where. Do we stitch by machine or hand. When did we learn to sew. What did we do to get to this point in our art.

If only I could figure out when to be hungry.

We call the hotel The Sticky Place. That’s not a good thing.

Ohio is beautiful and green.

Quilt National is amazing. And overwhelming. I couldn’t even read artists’ statements. My brain was trying to process images and people and the big picture. My brain drew 17 new quilts while I wandered around. This afternoon. This is not my first time at Quilt National …but it’s only my second, and I missed the last opening, due to a canceled flight.

More about the art later. Right now it’s late (in some time zone) and I’m tired, although I wanna be drawing. Gotta be up in the AM though, so to bed it is. Sleep sweet sleep…let art brain mull over the lines and colors while my body rests.

I Bleed It Out*

OK. So I’m in this weird place between pieces. You know when you finish one, take a deep breath (and I can’t do that yet, because there are three things I need to fix on it, plus I have to do the final iron and dehair for the photographer…once I finish this post), and then you’re flailing a bit…like WTF do I do next? Man I wish I had time for that sentiment at the moment. In reality, I have one that technically is supposed to be done next week (ha! It’s OK…really, I don’t have to finish it until the end of October), another collaboration with the same deadline (also not happening), and then the deadlines mellow out. A bit. Not really, because I have that awesome solo show next July and I need to make things for that. Before March. I think. And there’s one for December, but honestly, December sounds like it’s a million miles away at the moment. It’s OK. I know it’s not. But my brain is resting a bit with the lack of urgency. Don’t worry. It’ll get back there. Plus I have school kicking my butt.

But you know that place. You fold up the quilt you just finished and you pat it once or twice, look around the studio and think, oh god, this place is a mess, and start to tidy. And then hopefully by the time you’re done, the next project is nicely settled in place, ready to go. I know for most of you, that’s not how it works. You take days, weeks, sometimes even months between projects. But I was talking to my counselor about this, that the one thing that saved me after the last breakup and the kids leaving for college was my ability to MAKE…and not just to make, but to throw myself so deeply in it that I was lost, that I couldn’t even feel the bad shit weighing on me. It was the one place I found peace. And it’s often hard to leave that place…to go out into the world. Even though I know I need to do that…not just for work and food, but to socialize, so I don’t hermit more than I already do.

So I’m really looking forward to meeting some of my online quilt art friends at Quilt National, because some of the ones I’ve never met will be there…but also hopefully to make it in time for the opening this time (my flight got canceled last time). Something to look forward to.

Meanwhile, I have three quilts this weekend that need labels and two that need shipping right away. The other can wait a week or so. And the school workload is crazy. So that. Plus finishing the coloring book. And I don’t even know what else is on the list I started writing last night.

So I sat down last night and finished sewing sleeves on.

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I got into the habit of sewing on bottom and top sleeves on all my quilts…they hang better that way. In fact, in the photo below, the quilt you can just see the bottom of? It needs a bottom sleeve so it will hang better. Maybe someday I’ll do that, but since it’s pretty much aged out of the exhibition circuit, probably not. There’s a black cat in that photo too. Basically whenever I sit on the couch to sew or cut, I get surrounded.

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I knew this quilt would need ink. I just like how it separates sections.

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Some just have a little ink. Some none. This one had an hour and a half of ink.

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That’s kind of a lot…but hands. Overlapping.

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And I debated the rocks…but couldn’t stop.

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You can’t just ink one. Anyway. She’s done. She has a name even, but I’ll wait until I have official photos. I think it’s been a while since I updated the Recent Work section on the website. Oh yeah. Like April. OK. So that’s on my list when I get these photos back.

What’s funny is that I always try to make a new quilt for Visions and Quilt National when they come up. I don’t really worry about whether they get in, because it just motivates me to make a big complicated quilt every year. Really, every summer, I do it anyway. But in the old days, when I only made one big one a year, that was my motivation. For the big shows. The big shows I never get into. So I made one for QN. And it didn’t get in. Which is totally OK, because the one that did was made for ANOTHER show, and it didn’t get into that one. So it all works out in the end.

The dogs in the morning…waiting for me to get my act together and put them where they belong for the day.

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And because I know you wanted to see the branch that came down in the night…in the daylight…it ain’t small…

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Gotta do something about that. Probably soon. Sigh.

Oh and I hadn’t opened the most recent SAQA Journal (been a busy month). Someone had told me about the cover before I received it (Jill Kertulla’s baby being born), which is awesome. But then I looked and the Turmoil exhibit was in there. Over the years, I’ve kind of gotten used to having exhibits in magazines and NOT being in there, although a few have popped up. But usually the nudity throws them out.

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But not only did they put in Jill’s Baby Quilt above, but they put in my Goddess of Never-Ending Chaos. Full on vulva shot folks. I wonder if SAQA gets complaints.

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I hope not. I guess we’ll see how this exhibit travels. At least mine isn’t alone in it’s female part goodness. Hopefully that will help. I won’t be in Houston to see this exhibit, unfortunately, but maybe it will come out to California some time.

OK. I need to really finish that quilt (just need one line I missed and two places that need to be sewn down better. And then prep for photographer. And then head in the game for the next one.

*Linkin Park, Bleed It Out