God says, "Hello..."

I told Mac I don't believe in coincidences.
For me, these are occasions when God sets up a surprise to get my attention.
To remind me that he always gives me what I need.
And more.

Like the day in December after I learned I lost half my teaching load (half my income)...
I'd run an errand after an evening class and coming out into the dimly lit parking lot I spotted a bill on the ground.  In the middle of the lane.  Not a soul in sight.  No one to call after.

Only to say, "Thank you."

Like the next Saturday, I went thrift shopping in town to find ingredients for my work with the plan to open an Etsy shop and sell online to make up some of that lost income.
(Here's the back story - last year, with my pal, Cindy, I saw the Yinka Shonibare MBE show at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.  He's a British/Nigerian artist who uses African patterned fabric to create Colonial/Victorian costumes and poses life-sized mannequins in settings that explore race and culture with both irony and beauty.  [As I'm such a freak about copyright etiquette, you'll have to google his work and see the amazing images.]
Apart from the stunning social commentary, I couldn't get over the gorgeous cloth and researched it until I found Dutch-waxed batiks and learned about their history and manufacture.  The real thing [the best real thing] comes from Vlisco in Holland and costs both arms and both legs, but it is to die for.
Recently I found that my friend, Janice, is also crazy for this cloth and she offered several sites online from other houses who produce nice goods with much better/discount prices.  And she even gifted me with some super yardage.)
So I discovered that the thrift store sorts the donations on Saturday AM and they throw away a half-ton of stuff they can't resell.
Did they mind if I looked at the discards [in the dumpster!]?
Nope, didn't mind at all.
There were cook books and board game components and some fabric I snagged.
It was only when I arrived home to sort through the loot that I noticed the wording along the selvage...

                                                ...what I couldn't get on my own...

When I was in Boise for Christmas, I also got to celebrate Amanda's birthday and offered to cook dinner for the kids and some friends.

What would she like?

"Give me a choice."

I can't think...  Though I have a delicious past, I haven't made a wonderful meal in a long time.

Both A+A (her dear husband), are great in the kitchen and they have a fine library including many terrific cookbooks.  I still wasn't inspired.

She brought out her food notebook and showed me a recipe (printed out from Epicurious online), some friends had made for them awhile back.  Sounded good... short ribs braised in cabernet with Gorgonzola polenta and gremolata topping (mixed fresh herbs).

We found all the specifics at WinCo and the fabulous Boise Co-Op.  (I love that store.)

I began the night before seasoning the meat and chopping the onions and herbs.  It took  most of The Day preparing the feast... browning the ribs in batches, packing all 9 pounds of them in one pot, putting them in the oven to braise in a bath of the ruby wine, removing the tender meat and bones, reducing the cooking liquid and skimming off the fat, thickening the sauce...  It smelled so good.  (So good.)

Andrew served as my (self-proclaimed) sous chef and produced an amazing polenta.

We all sat down to the beautiful plates served with a fresh hot baguette and nice Cab to drink, and after firsts and seconds, agreed it was well worth the effort.  Yum.

And there was dessert!

My students in San Diego are especially good with the 'sharing table.'  They bring in fabric and trim and books and magazines for anyone who wants it. It's usually crowded around the table any time I'm not lecturing.  And I can't resist the lure of more "stash" myself.

Yesterday, about 2 hours into the class, everyone was working on our charity quilts (for children in hospitals - through Project Linus and the Downy fabric softener kids program), and I had made the rounds offering suggestions as needed.  I passed by the sharing table and saw a copy of Bon Appetit next to all the quilting magazines.

Look what I saw on the cover from October 2007...

As many of my 'moments' occur in solitude, I was excited to share the story of our birthday meal with small groups of my students as they cut and stitched.

I'm very pleased to have this old issue of the magazine with our memorable dish right on the cover.  And who could have guessed it would be set right there before me?!

Hello, God...

Christmas in Boise

kid-in-law, kiddo, kid...
✴snow... cold... scarves...
pageant... presents... pink tree...
glögg... gorgonzola... Goldie(locks)...
Scrabble (?)... Skippyjon... sales...
laughter... love... hugs...
GOOD... grateful... gone ✈

Spring Classes Cancelled. Call me.

Thus comes the inglorious email message to end my seventeen years as adjunct professor teaching a host of fiber arts at the local community college.

Any California teacher who hasn't been apprehensive about the future with the current state of the state budget and the legislature's utter disregard for access to public education would be a fool. But of the two college districts for which I work, this was the "sure" one.

The not-so-local community college has kept it's faculty on edge for endless months of daily email updates from The Board, the chancellor, the president, the dean, the head of the department... They are forthcoming!

But all things had been put in place for business as usual here: schedules printed, facilities reserved, Student Learning Outcomes written, and even an extra class assigned to me subbing for a fellow instructor on leave.

It's no wonder we are in shock with a single week of the present semester at hand.

This is 50% of my income.

God comes to us disguised as our life. - Paula D’Arcy

And, once again, I avow that God always provides what we need.

I am now free to pursue teaching additional 1- and 2-day workshops, finishing patterns for retail sale, getting work into galleries, scheduling more quilt guild lectures, maybe opening an Etsy shop...

Oh, boy - what to do first!?!

(Thanks to Mary Tabar, fellow unemployed instructor and pal, for hosting the Textures group last evening for a Discharge Dyeing class. Clearly it was fun and cathartic.)

My World...

of china, glass and broken figurines is becoming an artful cake plate!

Collecting these precious relics from the dinner table on and off and on for about 15 years, I've longed to repurpose them in a mosaic project.

Happily, my HS friend, Vickie, invited me to join the girls for a day in her well-appointed garage (she's a fine woods craftswoman), to begin the process.

I've purchased and read a library full of books on the subject. I've examined the mosaic compositions at juried fine craft shows. But there's nothing like DOING IT to reveal the nuances that lead to good work - better supplies, best tools, inspired techniques.

What a gift to have the time to enjoy their company and muddle through together. Naturally, Vickie and I chose round bases and I used too much adhesive at first, allowing the tesserae to slip and slide from their carefully engineered positions. After what seemed like too much time working to remove the excess goop and realign the shiny bits, I found a way to successfully seat them on the sanded ceramic surface and make satisfying progress.

Our work time was deliciously interrupted with Vickie's wonderful cooking. 'A light lunch' included sourdough paninis full of muenster and mango chutney, and a tender chicken salad perfectly seasoned and dressed with fruits and nuts.

I feel like I had a vacation!

Thank you, Vickie.

Schefflera BLOSSOMS!

Here they are -- first time ever this tree's shown flowers! (At least in the 17 years I've been at home with it.)

Having grown up in So Cal and seen 'umbrella trees' everywhere, this is news to me.

There are photos of spiky, reddish blooms in Google images, but nothing quite like these.

Being nothing of a botanist (except for the rigorous "Spring Wildflowers" science class at UCR - with the trudging up and down the rocky hills of university reserves in the late 80's), I attribute the spectacle to the fact the house was "tented" 18 months ago.

All the shrubbery has been impacted by the chemical cloud to deter termites. And I think they live on...

HOT, HOT, HOT... but look at these skies!

Pretty warm weather for cleaning up the garage, but I'm making progress and can now enjoy an uncluttered work bench - yeah, tools! More (packing) boxes and bags recycled... More yardage sorted and ready to be dispersed... Making room to work on messy projects out there...

During the afternoon heat I'm in the house designing a major quilt for the fall semester (?!).

I've unpacked 55# of gorgeous, soft, soft, soft merino wool roving and packaged almost 200 bags-full for felting.

Taking a 20-minute nap in the hottest time for a little renewal.

Consuming lots of icy beverages.

Missing all the San Diego girls.

Watching the clouds go by.

IQS Long Beach - Truly a Festival!

This is my favorite image from the weekend (Friday/Saturday)... absolutely luminous color, subtle shift in hue and value, compelling composition.

It looks like dyed silk panels placed side by side in a frame (about 10' x 12') and welcomes guests to the elevators in the Hyatt lobby.

One after another amazing quilts in the special exhibits. I decided to make a list of the things that grab me in a quilt (artful or traditional):

- layered rectangles (Aryana B. Londir, Stacy Hurt)

- exciting fabric patterns together (Mickey Beebe, Ann Horton)

- rich color (intense and complex, usually strong value)

- slanted line/shape (Joanell Connolly, Luella Morgenthaler)

- geometric composition

- coarse textured fabric (Laura Fogg)

- hand stitching (Karin Peirce, Leslie Gabrielse)

- torn edge/raw edge strips

- almost all hand dyeing (Carol Henke, Sandy Gregg)

- folk-style figural images (Pamela Allen, Bodil Gardner)

Staying overnight felt like I had a real vacation and gave me time to chat with friends.

(One-day visits make me feel rushed to see all I can.)

I volunteered in the SAQA booth Saturday AM and enjoyed sharing with visitors about this fine organization devoted to educating and encouraging quilt artists.

And it was good to see my rooster again -- he's traveling in the IQS Town and Country exhibit.

When a piece of work has been gone for awhile, you can look at it with fresh eyes. I like what I did.

Happy is as happy does...

The proposal itself didn't have as happy an ending as the mania did! I didn't get the commission.

A couple very sad days followed the news as I practiced my mantra, "If at first you don't succeed, try not to look astonished." Or something like that...

And as is my custom, I best work out 'hard stuff' by making art.

I started a series called 'I Get the Blues' that will face up to some of my worst moments! In reality, they'll be pretty funny, maybe.

The Fourth of July was wonderful with the kids here and then I had four days with Esly that couldn't have been any better. She is happy and funny and fearless. What a good role model!

All my SDCCD/Point Loma classes ended yesterday as a result of the California budget debacle.

Palomar classes continue as scheduled! (All colleges make independent choices as to what kinds of cuts they make and who/how many will be affected. No quibbles about how this is done. Education is in a chokehold.)

With half a semester to go I've organized some workshops for those eager to study more artful quilting. Details of each will follow, but here is the schedule:

F/S, July 31/Aug 1 - Art Quilt Cafe/Pillow Angel Workshop in Falbrook

S/S, August 8,9 - Felting Workshop at Quilter's Paradise in Escondido

F/S, Aug 28, 29 - Art Quilt Cafe/Color Workshop in Fallbrook

Sun., Aug 30 - Artful Log Cabin Workshop at Quilter's Paradise

I'm blessed to be able to throw yet another iron into the fire...

ENOUGH WITH THE QUAINT ADAGES!!!