New Project!

Well, newly started. I've had the cross-stitch pattern for about 10 years. It will be a Valentine gift to myself, full of hearts.

I'll post a picture of the design later ... but look! I've started!

Maybe I'm getting my creative mojo back after all.

Time for a Meme

Whenever I go through a creative dry spell, I reach into my bag of blog tricks for ideas. Today I pulled out this meme as a writing prompt. 

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW the piles of snow have turned to ice. The street is slick as snot as I cross it to get to the mailbox. One piece of junk mail. Ugh.

I AM THINKING about what trouble my daughter Jeanne and I can get into when she comes for a visit tomorrow. (Hooray!) Baking? Crafting? Puzzle making? Massage?

I AM THANKFUL FOR a warm home, my husband's love, hot food, iced tea, a sense of humor. Not necessarily in that order.

FROM THE KITCHEN some sugar cookie dough is calling my name. Valentine cookies, perhaps? Snickerdoodles?

I AM WEARING my pussyhat. It's cold in our home office and I lose too much heat out the top of my nearly bald head.

I AM CREATING a life that I love. Also ... I may start a new cross-stitch project this week.

I AM GOING to a painting party for the first time. I'll be with a group of women and we'll paint decorative "pallet" signs to decorate our homes. Mine will have a Valentine theme.

I AM READING The Wisdom of Menopause by Christiane Northrup M.D. I didn't realize just how wise I get to claim to be!

I AM HOPING that all the protests around the country will encourage our lawmakers to formulate true immigration reform. I'm hoping Congress will step up and help the president understand that the executive branch is one of three branches ... he is not a king.

I AM HEARING the hum of my computer. My husband's yawn. The refrigerator running.

AROUND THE HOUSE is a feeling on contentment. This is a cozy place to hang out.

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS is an extraordinary night of restorative sleep on crisp clean sheets. It gives me energy and focus ... and helps my skin to glow.

A FEW PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK? The aforementioned visit from my eldest. Some deep cleaning under the fridge and stove. Watching a movie based on a book I really enjoyed, Paper Towns. Probably writing more letters to my senators. And let's hope a few more nights of extraordinary sleep.

How I Spent My Sunday

1. Reading a book that is just a slog to get through. I've been trying to get around to reading this non-fiction, informative book for 10 years. I'm just over 60% done with it. But, boy, is it a trial.
   
   
2. Writing letters to my Senators and Congressmen. I think I wrote a total of eight letters today on the subjects of cabinet confirmations, the defunding of Planned Parenthood, and the immigration ban. I felt awful after that, having put my emotions on the line while keeping them grounded in logic and reason.
   
   
3. Laundry. This I didn't mind at all. I get to sleep in crisp, clean sheets tonight. Every week, it's a special treat for me.
   
   
4. Went out to dinner at one of my favorite places. But the restaurant was not fully staffed, and the cook burned my food.
   
   
5. Had a Pecan Mudslide from DQ to end our dinner on a high note.
   
   
6. Watched Mythbusters. The final show of the final season. It went out with a bang.
   
   
7. Watched a lot of YouTube videos. This was my favorite for a good laugh:

Be A Part of It All

I've stayed away from the news most of the day. When I checked in, I heard the good news that the courts put a stay on Mr. Trump's order to ban particular folks from particular countries from entering the United States.

I am heartened by the protestors at the airports around the country. So many of us want to be a welcoming people.

One of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Gilbert, shared this story today of a woman in a Muslim country who welcomed her and brought her back to health when Liz fell sick in a far-off land. It's well worth a read.

Elizabeth Gilbert's Life-Changing 

Story from Indonesia 

(That You Haven't Heard)

Coping

There are times when a glass of ice cold fruit tea is the thing helps me get through the day.

Demons

I haven't been feeling very creative this week.

Maybe because of this:

The agitation the country is feeling this week is resonating in my bones.

So I wrote three more letters to government officials to express the concerns of this informed citizen.

My Desire

I keep trying to find some of this:

I want to help build a better world.

I've been very animated since the Woman's March. I've been called to action. I've written letters, and will continue to do so. I share my letters with other women to give them a starting place to write their own letters to our country's leaders.

I want to be part of this building a better world thing - perhaps with a louder voice than I've had in the past.

Snow

We've had a "warm" day today, with temperatures hovering just over the freezing mark. What light precipitation we had melted as it hit the pavement. By late afternoon, the temperature dropped just a bit. The precipitation rose just a bit. Ideal conditions.

As I took the trash bin to the curb for tomorrow's pick-up, I lifted my face to the sky to feel the snow brush my cheek. Then I looked down at my dark sweater where I saw some perfectly formed, whole flakes.

I hurried inside to get my camera, attaching the macro lens. I tried to add an extension tube, but I don't have that technique under my belt yet, so couldn't figure it out quickly. The sun was fading. The temperature could change at any time.

Camera in hand, photo background under my arm, I headed to the front porch. I alternated between holding the black backdrop in the open air, then scurrying to the porch to take some photos. Even with a wide open F-stop and high ISO, it's tough getting photos once the sun goes down.

Handheld. Yeah, I need to learn to quickly set up my tripod, too. I might also try and get a handle on the macro flash unit waiting on my shelf.

But for a half-hour's effort, and a little bit of editing, this photo isn't too bad. It felt really good to be back in the macro saddle.

Melty Melty Drip Drip

It's icicle time of year. They're forming around the edge of the roof.

Each year, I attempt to capture a drip. Getting them in focus, however, is a test.

Ah, Honey, I'm So Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiired

It's been a rough day.

I got so amped up about the events of yesterday
that I had a hard time going to sleep,
then a hard time staying asleep.

The backlash against the March today ...
sucked all the air out of the room,
out of my lungs.

I like feeling the way I did yesterday.
Like I wasn't alone.
Like there was still hope for the less fortunate among us.

Today I wrote to my Idaho senators regarding confirmation of a cabinet position.
It's a little step to uphold my end of the democratic process.

Women's March

I've been blown away with the Women's March on Washington and all the sister cities. I've known about the march from the inception and thought I might go to the event in Boise, Idaho or Spokane, Washington.

In the end, I stayed home, wore my hat all day, and was constantly flitting from the TV to Facebook to the computer, round and round, sucking in as much info as I could and posting more political posts on Facebook in one day than I did all last year.While watching the coverage on TV, I marched in place for an hour, just to feel a part of it.

Why did it matter to me so much?

Well, my irritation with Mr. Trump started with that Access Hollywood tape. Like so many other women, it dredged up from my past old memories that I'd dealt with and didn't think I'd need to address again. HOW DARE HE? How dare any man talk like that about women? How dare they do things like that to women? How dare he invade my dreams at night and cause restless nights of sleep? How in the world could this be OK in a president? Hadn't we dealt with such actions in presidents in our recent history? How dare WE consider electing a man with a history of this repulsive behavior?

So, there was that.

But the kicker was learning that Mr. Trump made a habit of not paying people for the work as laid out in the contracts he made with them.

I haven't worked outside the home in a while. I've been lucky that I was able to stay home and raise my daughters. I did work part time for a while. Gratefully, my husband's job is such that his salary is enough to meet our needs, and neither of us spend a lot of money on excesses. We're homebodies and enjoy simple pleasures. We've always lived within our means.

But when I DID work, it bothered me so much that, in one job, I had more education than the three bosses over me, but made just over minimum wage. There was not a lot of room for upper mobility in that job. I did advance quickly and, indeed, even earned "Employee of the Year" faster than any other employee in that department.

So I know what it's like to not be paid what I was worth, something many women deal with. BUT AT LEAST I WAS PAID FOR ALL THE WORK I PUT IN!

I can't imagine doing my work, fulfilling my part of a deal, and then getting paid only a fraction of what was promised.

I can't imagine the folks who voted for him believe Mr Trump will follow through any more as a president than he did as an employer. I do not believe he will fulfill his social contract.

The most accurate predictor of future behavior is recent past behavior.

There are many other reasons I think he is a poor choice to lead our nation. But if I had to pick, these are my top two reasons.

From the beginning of the idea of this march, I didn't see it as an anti-Trump protest. I saw it as being against many of the ideas he purports. I saw it as a way to say, "We're watching. We're not going to allow you (Mr. President, Congress) to change laws that are helping the disenfranchised and poor without insisting that you hear our voices. We refuse to go backwards. We refuse to pretend we can live an insular life and not be a part -- indeed a leader -- in a global economy."

As a country, we are so blessed. There are ways to help those in need here at home without cutting out the rest of the world. We can help the world rise up together. I truly believe it. It's one of the reasons I make a loan through Kiva nearly every week. Those that have help those that have not.

So, today I joined the hundreds of thousands of women and feminists all over the world. I marched with them. My heart remains with them. My words support them.

We will do more than march.
We will act.
We will hold to accountability.
We will uphold our end of the democratic process.

A Sea of Pink

:: shuddering ::

... this day ...

:: covering eyes and shaking head ::

but tomorrow ...

#womensmarchonwashington

#pussyhat
I'll be marching at home

Ice Waves

After weeks of snow and below freezing temperatures, we had a warm-up today. The foot+ of compacted snow and ice started bending and shaping itself.

It's "cool" watching the ice curl under its own weight

click for larger image

and form waves, dripping from the deck railing.

Grandma's Knitting

A few days ago, my cousins and I were talking on Facebook about our grandma. Kathryn (daughter of Joe), Kim (daughter of Carmen aka Cody) and I (daughter of Tony) chatted about our different talents and abilities and whether or not they are inherited. Kim makes some lovely crafts. You ought to see her wreaths. Kathryn likes to cook and likes dogs. My primary love is needlework.

Our grandma loved her doggie. Queenie would sit by Grandma's side as she rested and did needlework. Grandma was a great cook. I'll never forget watching her make pasta from scratch. It was like watching a dance. She also loved to knit. She had three or four pair of slippers on her needles at any time. When she came to visit, she'd open her bags and we'd get to pick out whatever color of slippers we wanted. Then we'd get a running start and see how far we could slide on the linoleum floors in the hallways.

In 1965, while my mom and dad went to the New York World's Fair, I got to stay with my grandma. Some memorable things happened that week, like dancing the jerk with a next door neighbor, helping Grandma make apricot jam from the tree in her back yard, and getting to stay up "late" and watch Peyton Place before getting tucked into bed.

It was during that week that Grandma taught me to knit. Or tried. I'm left-handed and she was right-handed, so it was a bit of a test. She was so patient! She taught me just the knit stitch, with the hope of making a narrow-but-long strip of garter stitch that could be put over a wooden hanger and used so clothes wouldn't slip off.

Well, I may have knit about four inches, with several dropped stitches! It was pretty frustrating. Grandma sent me home with the ugly gold yarn and double-pointed pink knitting needles so that I could keep working at it. I never finished. Even if I had, I didn't know how to bind off!

Mary Ferrianolo
aka Fortunata Mary Midili Codispoti

But I'll never forget how good it always felt, snuggled up on the couch next to my grandma. You see, I was named for her. In my adult brain, I'm sure she loved all of us. But the little Mimi girl in me still wants to think I was special. I always felt special with Grandma.

Anyway, as we cousins were chatting a few days ago, I told them that I still have the knitting needles Grandma gave me when I was 8 years old. I like how over the years, the one earned the nice bend at the tip. I doubt that was from knitting. More likely, one of my seven brothers was using it as a sword or spear, flinging it across the room or shooting it out of the blowing end of the Electrolux. I know they did that with the broom from Charmin' Chatty's Cinderella costume. But that's another story.

I'm pretty sure I have the last pair of slippers my grandma made before she moved from Idaho back to California. If I can find them, I'll take a picture. They have an extended story, too.

Prepping for the 21st

I won't be at the huge march in Washington, D.C. I won't even be at the mini marches in Spokane or Boise. Even so, I plan to make my hat this week and wear it at home on Saturday. I can be a part of the Women's March on Washington in a small way.

We women are not leaving the public arena or allowing our issues dissipate. Hear us roar.

Nice 'stache

Today I got another photo app to play with.

Havin' a little fun on a vacation day.

Quilt Layout

After considering several options and laying things out on my "design wall" (aka living room floor), I came up with this layout for the quilt. That blue is ... very very blue. But the green and orange squares in my mom's stack looked even worse when laid out next to the softer pink and yellow. Plus, the quilt had to have a llama, right?

This photo is very fuzzy and it's nearly impossible to see the outlines of the animals on the colored squares here. That's OK. I took the photo so I have a record of what goes where once the squares are embroidered. I don't want to have to make this layout decision again. I got the animals to all face each other and be amused by each other. Reminds me a bit of The Brady Bunch.

The squares are about 9 inches right now. After washing and trimming, they'll be about 8 inch squares. I'll add some kind of border to each square, probably a solid color fabric. And I'm thinking about some kind of print between the squares. I'm guessing the finished quilt will be someplace around 36 inches wide by 48 inches high. I like hand stitching, so I may quilt it by hand. I've been meaning to learn to make prairie points for years, so this might be a good excuse to try that technique when I bind it. I haven't considered what kind of backing.

So many decisions to make! Ahhhhh!

I'm not sure about any of this. I'm "talking out loud" and throwing ideas against the wall. We'll see what sticks as this project progresses.

At least I know my next steps: embroider these six squares.

To be continued ...

Kitten

The is the second of the quilt squares I embroidered. I attempted to make it look like a calico cat.

The results? This is where my mom was more free with color than I am. Whatever. It's cute.

Lamb with Butterfly

So here's the first of the quilt squares that I stitched, trying to match my mom's style.

Precious.

Luckily, this one is centered on the square well.

What's Next

An embroidered quilt!

When my mom died 19 years ago, among her sewing treasures I found these quilt squares. They reside in a bag with a whole bunch of non-stitched squares on white, pink, yellow, bright orange, bright bright green, and nearly-electric blue squares. I'm not sure when she started stitching this quilt, or for which of her 19 grandchildren they were intended. So not being able to part with them, and not knowing what to do with them, they sat for nearly two decades on my shelf.

This year, I'm making a concerted effort to do some downsizing. Nothing radical. One item per day is enough for me to feel accomplished. In looking over my shelves, these quilt squares came to the fore.

Now I have something to do with them! My daughter Julie and her husband Jeff are expecting a baby girl in May. I've decided to embroider some of these squares and make them into a quilt for our new granddaughter. This way, Baby Otto will have something from her great-grandmother and her grandma.

There are some issues with the quilt blocks, though.

1. The fabric Mom stamped on is very thin, so I will need to do some interfacing. Even then, I think some of the carry-over stitches on the back will show through.
   
   
2. The stamping on several of the squares is quite close to the edge of the quilt blocks, rather than centered in the squares. (Note the yellow flower on square with the deer wearing an orange scarf). I'm going to have to take that into account when I square the blocks before sewing them together.
   
   
3. My mom had an odd sense of color. She always liked grayed tones mixed in with bright tones. I did my best to match floss colors with the squares she finished, then added to that color pallet to expand my options.
   
   
4. My mom and I don't have the same embroidery style. Her stitches are much larger than mine, plus she had a playful side where she freely added embellishments. I tend to be a "color within the lines" kind of gal. Or as my son-in-law said, I'm "orderly." (He hit that on the nose!)
   
   Mom embroidered the four blocks in this photo. I'm trying to match Mom's style so the quilt will be cohesive. So far, I've finished stitching one square. I think I've decided that it's OK that things don't match precisely. It will be apparent who stitched which blocks, and that may well add some charm to this four-generation quilt.
   
   
5. It doesn't look like Mom washed the fabric before she stamped the images on the squares. Some of the fabric is 100% cotton, like a muslin. Others look like a cotton/poly blend. I'm hoping that doesn't become too much of a problem, but I'm afraid it might due to possible shrinkage. I think I may need to wash the squares before squaring them up and sewing them together. I could use some advice on this matter.
   
   
6. The style of animals on the various squares morphs a lot. These four squares, and 3 or 4 others, have a hand-drawn look. Some of the other squares have animals with more cartoonish shapes (for lack of a better word). They don't exactly go together. It's likely just fine, but I need to noodle out which designs to use and how to place them for a cohesive quilt that I'll find aesthetically pleasing.
   
   
7. Then there's the little concern that I haven't made an entire quilt by myself since college. I'm going to have a learning curve here. With my personality, that often means thinking about something for months before starting the process of hands-on working through the problem. And, well, I have just five months.

So, this will be interesting! I like that I can think of it as a series of little projects, stitching just one square at a time and showing my progress. That will be the fun part. Maybe by the time the embroidery is done, I'll have worked out the other technical issues.