Long ago and far away, I used to listen to the music and storytelling of Utah Phillips (1935-2008). I’ve seen him in person, both in live performances and around town in Nevada City, California, where I used to live and he spent the last 21 years of his life.
He sang stories about hobos who rode the rails and looked for a friendly house to request a “square”. I once sent a note backstage that he could come to our house for a bed and a square anytime.
Fanciful versions say that the slang “square” or “square meal” came from sailors who ate from square wooden plates. But others say it’s an American phrase, first used to describe anything that is fair, honest, honorable or straightforward: a square deal for example. Or a square meal- a substantial, balanced plate of food.
My day is filled with square meals and snacks, eaten in circles- around the clock, around the food groups, around the plates and glasses, and sometimes literally round- grapefruit and numerous cups of Earl Grey Hot with milk come to mind. Is it lunchtime yet?
March 5: “Square” Meals Are Not Always Square
February 27: Come Visit My Sewing Room
Bobbins make my world go around. With the bobbin held in the bobbin case, the hook race arcs back and forth, forming lock stitches at a dizzying rate of about 800 stitches per minute. While my sewing machine performs these hundreds of small miracles every minute- perfectly formed stitches- I perceive my quilting progress at the slow rate of about 18 inches a day.
Circles on the bobbins, circle motions in the bobbin case, cycles of the creative process repeat themselves with each project, the rotation of the earth, the revolving of planets around the sun, galaxies spinning around the universe, time marching on a circular path from October 10th to October 10th and I get a year older with each orbit. The wonder of life in our universe is everywhere.
February 20: Mysteries of the Multiverse
Today my quilting ground to a halt when I discovered that I’m out of Schmetz Jeans/Denim 70/10 needles. I’m never out of needles. In fact, I do have dozens of packages of needles, just none of this type and size.
I used up all my Jeans/70 needles quilting my latest quilt, which is about 90″ by 100″. I’m halfway finished with the quilting, and I like the results with the combination of needle, thread and tension setting. I change needles every few hours: I don’t drive with flat tires and I don’t sew with blunt needles. So I go through a fair amount of needles on these longer, never ending projects!
I crisscrossed Bend looking for this kind of needle. No luck. One clerk tried to talk me out of using a Jeans needle, telling me I shouldn’t be quilting with it at all. But that’s why they make all sorts of needles, so you can match up the sewing task and the thread type with the perfect needle.
I called quilter friends. No luck. One friend said I was thinking too much about it, just go up to an 80/12. She’s half right- I do over think things on occasion. But not this time.
I don’t think I’m being obsessive about it. What’s that expression? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it? How about: If you’re getting good thread tension, don’t change a thing?
I have bags and bags of “yellow stuff”, collected for a color challenge quilt. Instead of using the actual objects, I scanned and printed the images on fabric.
I’m sure I have another yellow quilt in me…maybe two or three. In the meantime, I’ll enjoy the textures of my Yellow Stuff.
February 13: Yellow Stuff
My right brained friend Pat volunteered to help me, her left brained friend. Little did she know that four hours later, we’d still be sitting on the floor with more to do! (Other quilter friends are really happy I didn’t ask them!)
This quilt is all about precision, with over 400 pieced triangles, many hundreds and hundreds of intersections that must line up, and a pieced back that must line up with the front. Oh boy! Pat kindly put up with all my attention to detail after detail.
After carefully measuring the batting, and after spending hours on the spray-basting project, we discovered the batting wasn’t quite as long as the quilt top. Pat made all sorts of helpful suggestions: just cut off the end of the quilt, make the quilt into curtains for her husband’s truck, and put the quilt sideways on the backing- so what if the birds fly sideways on the back of the quilt?
Pat said I could share these ideas if I make sure to say she was joking. (You were joking, right?) Pat’s real suggestion, because she knows me: start over with a new piece of batting. She’s right: I’d hate to settle for a 3″ strip of batting pasted on after all this effort.
So we measured it using the Pat Method. No measuring tapes this time. We rolled out the batting from the roll, over the backing fabric, and after visually confirming it was several inches longer, I cut it.
It went faster the second time- by now, we were quick and adept at crawling around like dogs on our hands and knees. Next: stitching a grid with water-soluble thread. Next after that: start quilting- on my little Bernina 155. That’s sure to be entertaining!
Down The Hatch!
The squirrel has learned the secret of the Sasquatch in the Red Coat: peanuts. Or maybe Mr. Squirrel has a Blue Jay Identity Complex?
The sounds of spring are in the air, even as we still have snow on the ground and below freezing temperatures. It’s the sound of the busy little birds- the nuthatches, mountain chickadees, and junco’s. When they return to Sunriver, spring is sure to follow.
As winter comes to an end, so am I finishing a quilt project started ages ago. Although it was never officially a UFO (UnFinished Object), I did put it aside quite a few times. With spring comes the birds and new projects. Oh boy!
While working on my third book, “fast, fun & easy Incredible Thread-A-Bowls”, I had to shop for objects to use as molds. I found this online, and I had to have it.
We use it to collect outgoing mail. It’s about 16″ in diameter and 4″ deep and heavy: it’s enamel covered metal washers and disks.
February 6: Around and Around
The next best thing to fabric shopping is eating a good lunch while lingering over the fabric finds. In the last week, Pat and I went to Sisters. After shopping at the Stitching Post and seeing an art quilt exhibit, we went to Angeline’s for lunch. Happy Birthday Pat! She is now nine months older than I am.
This week we went to lunch at Soba Noodle in downtown Bend before browsing quilts at an annual festival of quilts at the Aspen Ridge Retirement Community in Bend, Oregon. This photo shows Pat and I with our favorite (wait)person. He remembers our favorite food items and is always smiling: thank you, Phil- you make the world a little better place.
At my house, chickens sit on nests of thread. Well…maybe not, but how else can I explain my dozen or so storage boxes of thread?
January 30: I like thread.
P.S. I’ve never met a thread I didn’t like. I use all sorts of fiber types, finishes, colors and name brands (not limited to these because I’m sure to leave somebody out, in alphabetical order: Aurifil, Coats & Clark, Gutermann, Madeira, Mettler, Signature, Sulky, Superior, YLI).
I piece with Aurifil Cotton Mako and Superior Masterpiece- both 50 weight/2 ply threads. When you sew fabrics together with a skinny thread, you’ll get better results: the thread takes up very little space compared to a thicker thread.
If you can’t find Aurifil in your hometown local shop, go to www.pumpkinvinecorner.com for a wide selection, great price and fast service.
