Sunrise, and the Tulip Poplar tree is a spectacular vision of color, drenched in yellows and pale greens. My view is from inside the crown, so the intense colors are criss crossed with a lacework of branches, made dark by the recent rains.

Tags: fall leaves, tulip poplar

Raining, cold, wind blowing the leaves off the tulip poplar, pale gray overcast making the day darker, water sounding the gutter drains, cozy and dry inside.

My first memories of rain.......I am 9, alone, huddled in a fort made of wooden crates and pallets. I can smell grass, newly wet dirt, soggy cardboard,and pine. My hair and shoes are wet, but I am cozy and warm inside my little nest thinking that this is the best place on earth to be at the moment.  The FORT, built by my siblings and neighbor kids, was located in the middle of a vacant lot next to our suburban  house in Los Banos Ca. We played all summer outside, no organized sports or lessons, no school for 3 months. We just played, it was great. Rain meant time for school, less to play, I spent as much time as I could outside, even in the rain.

Windshield wipers droning on long car trips while I daydreamed, laying tucked up on the shelf, under the back window. DEE- DI- DOV- ER

Stomping in puddles till my boots filled and made the bottom of my toes wrinkle.

Floating home-made boats down the curb gutters with my little brother.

Face up, catching drops on my tongue getting my glasses wet, and soaking my already tangled mop, darkening it from strawberry to rust.

Tags: forts, rain sounds
Current Location: home
Current Mood: nostalgic

I tend to forget about many of the small sewing projects I have made over the years. Most of them are one of a kind, made for friends and family for specific occasions. I enjoy thinking about the end user as I merrily create in my quiet studio. Her is my production schedule for this month.

3  Tote bags      Made from upholstery and drapery samples, made in 2 weekends with Lorna  for my friend Elaine who donated fabric,
                          one I made for  Audrey, and one, was mostly made by Lorna, for herself.
2 sachets           Made from drapery sample fabric and lavender from by garden for my niece Licia
6 bean bags       with rice and lavender for Licia's kids, Savannah and Charlie
1 skirt                 for Audrey, with buttons up the front, made from  a favorite shirt belonging to my 'now to skinny for it'  husband Joel.
                          The white linen, with little red and blue boats on it.
1 shop apron      Made from a pair of Jeans for Joel from his old pair of size 42 levis that no longer fit. Yea Joel!
11 warmers        Made from a new green fleece blanket, filled with rice and lavender ( one minute in the microwave) I modified a
                           pattern from my sister to make a strap handle on each end of a 2 foot long by 6 inch wide pillow that feels and smells
                           wonderful wrapped on the back of the neck. It also serves as a door or window snake to keep out drafts on windy 
                           winter days.
12 warmers         Made from tiger print fleece, to be filled with rice.
16 t-shirts            Royal blue purchased t-shirts, modified with superman logos, and iron on letters to form the name of the student on
                            the back
14 capes             Red silky superman capes with blue satin ribbon ties for our classroom.

Shared my tulip poplar quilt with the kids at school yesterday. We have been learning about fall/autumn, collecting leaves on our Monday mile walks, and creating some beautiful paintings and projects. I made this small wall quilt using the leaves from my Tulip Poplar tree as inspiration to show the color changes the leaves go through. It is also heavily beaded and has some sparkle to it. 

Twenty minutes before it was time for the class to go home for the day, the daily announcements from the Principal came on through  the speaker in our classroom.  I was sitting in my rocking chair waiting with my rolled up quilt, and as soon as the announcements were over,  one of the 1st grade boys popped up  next to me, announced the rules and introduced me to the class  like a little mimic.

"Announcement 1, You must sit on the carpet."
"Announcement 2, No talking."
"Announcement 3, No leaving the room." 

"I would like to introduce Mrs Harrison and THE FAMOUS QUILT! 

He was a regular little "Vanna White " jesturing to the parts of the quilt while I talked. Such a little comedian, cuteness incorporated.

I am learning more and more about Autism, delayed development, and how their little minds grow. I'm really enjoying the 3 hours spent with them every school day.

www.facebook.com/album.phpJoel has lost 6 inches from his waist, creating a new recycling challenge for 10 pair of perfectly good pants. The Levi's are easy, I created a shop apron in one hour for my sweetie. Joel lifts the bottom up and covers his workbench, so he can keep small parts from falling on the floor. He is inventing a new Sax ligature.

Here is the recipe.

I cut out the zipper
Cut out the inseams and save  for the ties DO NOT CUT OUTSIDE SEAMS OF PANTS. 
Straighten up the seams, by cutting off the v-shape of the crotch
Sew up front seam, then zig zag the raw edges to the apron.
Attache the bib, made from the bottom portion of a pant leg.
Place the  bottom edge, wrong side of bib 1/2 inch below top of pants wrong side and sew. 
Flip up the Bib to finished position and sew across, working from the back side of the apron.
Insert the ties 2 inches into the waistband and top stitch.
Attach neck strap or ties
Fold over all the raw edges once, and zig zag.

Tags: denim, jeans, recycle, sewing, shop apron

David E. Weekly Everything about her was joyously supersized, the product of a creator eager to ensure no part (lips nor heart) was underdone.

Good Morning,

Thanks for the help with my paper quilt, two heads are better than one when it comes to quilt strategies. I drew an 8 " square on copy paper, added the curved lines, and printed 3 per square, so there will be a surface to glue the cut pieces on. I hope they fit in the laminating machine.

Ron and Deb brought me a star gazer lily arrangement, and home made soap when they came for dinner at 6:00.

We enjoyed strawberry lemon aid over crushed ice, garnished with mint and lemon slices, along with mushroom squares topped with melted gorgonzola. Joel demonstrated his new invention by the fire in the living room, and they enjoyed my wall quilts.

Since it was raining, I had to nix the outdoor bbq and set the little glass table in the kitchen. It was fun to set a fall table using my leaf dishes, and a simple zinnea bouquet on a rust linen tablecloth.

My red oblong quiche dish was perfect to serve the chicken in a green basil sauce. The pasta bowl was filled with ribbons of egg noodles tossed with browned butter, and I used the blue print chinese serving dish for the home grown tomato caprese salad. A large tossed green salad and warm, sliced french bread filled out the simple menu, served buffet style on the counter.

I brought out a crystal bowl with cut up fresh peaches and blue berries and a plate of chocolate chip cookies that had survived the snitchey grabbers.

We took our coffee down to the theater in the sound room, and watched Duplicity with Clive Owens and Julia Roberts. Deb has a corporate law practice, so this witty and well done movie was a perfect choice.

Since they arrived at 6:00, we made an early night of it and said our good byes by 10:00.

I plan on working on our quilt squares after school today. We sure had a fun week end, thanks for coming.
Love
B.

Chicken recipe
Process basil, toasted pine nuts, garlic, a bit of oil
Mix it with white sauce seasoned with freshly grated nutmeg
Spoon it over chicken breasts
Bake @ 400 for 20 minutes.
Serve with extra sauce.

Mushroom squares
Melt a clove of garlic in 2 T. butter, and saute 3 cups of mushrooms
Process with 1 cup bread crumbs, one egg, salt pepper.
Bake 350 20 minutes in a spring form pan
Cool, cut into squares and place on parchment lined pan one inch apart
Top with gorgonzola cheese and pop in the oven just before guests are due.

 

 

Big fat wet drops played a syncopated rhythm on the wrought iron gate outside my bedroom window, waking me at 3:45 am.

 

Where are those big eyed, pajama clad munchkins of mine that stood in the doorway counting the minutes between flashes of lightning and the boom of thunder, one one-thousand, two one-thousand, in the middle of the night, cheering, and celebrating the mysteries of nature?

 

I stood outside this morning before dawn,  inhaling the dusty scent of  the driveway cobblestones, newly wet from an end of Summer rain, missing my children when they were children.

4 days off= Santa Cruz crab feed, and 700 pages of reading with my feet up in my own back yard. Yesterday I had a hike through 60 acres of pear, prune, fig, apple, and persimmon trees followed by a wonderful buffet served in the packing shed and enjoyed under the trees with the Fox family.

I am staying in San Fransisco for a week in Dan's apartment on Judah between 14th and 15th street. Baby Andrew arrived 5 days ago, and one of my grandma duties is to entertain a very loud and busy 2 year old Thomas, Elita can focus on baby Andrew. 

City living is strange and exciting for a suburbanite like me.  The Muni has  two over head  cables that  have a distinctive whine, as streetcars full of people barrel down the hill, metal wheels scraping the tracks, 20 feet from the front of the house. It's like an old sit com here, conversation pauses while the train passes, shaking the apartment.  The hills here are giving me a workout, especially with a 30 pound two year old and a basket full of groceries to push up the incline.  Thomas and I have a grand time on our walks, singing our ABC's  to strangers, enjoying the smell of  exotic foods wafting from small cafes and finding all sorts of nooks and crannies with luxurious plants and vines that seem to sprout from the sidewalk.
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