Taking a break

Even though the weather is cool and cloudy - perfect for working in the garden - I'm taking a break from this planting madness.

Feather reed grass now line the patio and tufted hair grass keeps company with manzanita in the front yard.

feather reed grass along one side of the patio

tufted hair grass next to manzanita

Still more to plant and other madness. Next: the pineapple sage. Planted only two months ago, I must move it to complete the feather reed grass along the other side of the patio. 

pineapple sage next to stake

This root-bound maple tree might survive long enough to get in the ground. Maybe here by the front porch.

variegated Japanese maple in pot with sedge

And what to do with this camellia? I was slowly shaping it up until someone thought he'd do me a favor and hacked pruned it while I was away. It's now a dense mass because I haven't touched it since. 

10-foot camellia

I'm off to the gym. Downward dog was tough on Monday. Elliptical trainer was tough on Wednesday. Today I will be adjusting weights downward. The old body needs a break and more recovery time.

Bad at the nursery, mad in the garden

Are you as bad in the nursery as you are in the fabric shop? I am.

a week's purchases

I've 22 plants: 6 feather reed grasses, 4 blue oat grasses, 4 tufted hair grasses, 5 Japanese forest grasses, 1  Japanese blood grass (can you tell I'm partial to ornamental grasses?), 1 euphorbia, and 1 Australian astroturf (can it grow into an alien pod like these babes?).


Could've / would've been more if the nurseries had them. There is room in the garden for them all. Unlike fabric, at least I have a good idea where each one will go. 90% of them anyway. Yours truly will be working madly in the garden. 

first one planted yesterday evening: blue oat grass

three more this morning

ready for next five - feather reed grasses here

First Friday favorite photo - July

How do you do . . . ?

Update:
For another perspective on Sandy Ciolino's machine quilting workshop, see this post by Annette Guerrero. Annette was already an accomplished quilter when she took Sandy's workshop. What could be better than endorsement from another quilter?!


My apologies if you've seen the rest of this post before. Due to technical difficulties and user error, the rest of this post was temporarily un-published.

How do you do IT? Machine quilting I mean.

quilting Orange Rhyme

So many decisions. What designs/patterns/motifs to quilt? where to apply it?
Quilting to stand out or blend in? contrast or complement the quilt top?
And thread: color, solid or variegated, weight, fiber type.
Let's not even get into batting.
Use the walking foot? or are you comfortable with free-motion?
Quilt on a home machine? or on a mid or long arm? 
Do your own quilting? or have someone else do it? 

I've pinned my hopes on getting answers from Sandra Palmer Ciolino. She's teaching a one-week machine quilting workshop at the Crow Barn in October. 

I've already taken a basic introductory class, and a two-day workshop with Sue Nickels. I've followed Leah Day, Heather Thomas and Angela Walters online. I've stitched up many samples from The Free Motion Quilting Project. 

beginner designs

But I still don't get it - I have not mastered free motion quilting. Okay, admittedly I haven't practiced consistently. Yes, I know, practice, practice, practice! Two to three hours a day for beginners; more if not particularly gifted. Yep, that's me. 

the only finished project with fmq

My last quilt was intensely stitched with a walking foot.

lines up to 3/16" apart

Sure wasn't much fun getting the bulky thing to turn around under the machine arm. Free-motion would be the ticket to avoid that. Someone said, "don't let your skills limit what you can create". So my goal is to master fmq. 


A whole cloth quilt is not for me. Instead a perspective that'll work with abstract improvisational compositions. In time I may figure this out but I'm impatient. If fmq will never be my thing, then I want to find out soon. 

Sandy is a fabulous machine quilter using her domestic sewing machine. Check out her gallery of recent work on her website. I've heard much praise for her last workshop. She has quilted for Nancy Crow - that's alone is quite an endorsement. Plus she's a sweetheart to boot. 

There's room in the workshop. I'm hoping it'd be a go. Worst case scenario, it won't and might not be offered again. So won't you join me in Ohio for the workshop? Would be good for you. But really - full disclosure here - I'm asking in my own self interest.

Under construction

Neighbors on one side told me they were remodeling their bathroom. The project has expanded to the kitchen, the roof and the exterior. One day recently contractors were jack-hammering out their front steps - solid concrete - while neighbors on the other side are cutting stone for their patio. Construction in stereo.

I'm in a remodeling mode too. In the garden I've moved three existing plants, put new ones in the ground, regraded the soil along the new-ish fence, and dug up five gallons worth of calla lilies rhizomes. I put the container of roots at the curb with a sign to take them. They were gone in flash.

In the house, I've taken a major step toward the new studio:

new studio storage ready to load up

It only took a month to assemble due to multiple breaks and waits for more hardware, tools and muscle power. In another two or three months I might even be working in this new studio.

Meanwhile, in the current studio-cave, a quilt top undergoes remedial reconstruction:

squared for re-assembly

I'd tried to make this into a quilt sandwich twice. First the batting bearded like crazy. The second time I noticed one side was significantly shorter than the other. Why didn't I see this the first time?! It bugged me that no amount of tugging would square it up. Un-sandwiching began an odyssey of identifying and fixing the unsquareness. Turns out each of the three larger areas down the center needed trimming.

This was my very first improvisationally composed quilt top. I must've thought ruler cut pieces would sew up square. Goes to show I've learned a few things since.

Portrait of an artist

There's still a pile of stuff to put away from a two-day deconstructed screen printing workshop with Kerr Grabowski.  After fabrics have been batched, washed and dried, I'll share the results.

In the meantime, here's a gem - the result of a fun little exercise arranged by Kerr:

Kerr paired us up, gave each of us two minutes to get acquainted, then instructed us to print a portrait of one another. My partner, Sherri doesn't consider herself an artist, but isn't she wrong?! I love it!  She has charmingly captured the real me.