As if I didn’t have enough to do already, we are thinking of moving to a different house in the area–same school district, though.  So in addition to selling off mom’s household stuff, trying to keep up with my quilting career, raising two kids (one of whom is a teenager…’nuf said), eat, sleep, walk the dog, et cetera, we are getting the house spruced up.   The dear, departed Yeti-dogbeast (read about him here and here) left his marks on the house literally:  major scratches on the door from the garage to the house, so I needed to fix them.  Alas, there was so much to do that wood filler the color of the door wasn’t gonna do it, so I went to regular wood filler:

Yep.  That light stuff is ALL wood filler.  I didn’t get the molding done perfectly, but it is a whole heap better than it was.  Then primed:

And finally painted to match the interior walls…mo bettah!

So does this mean I have time to sew?  Alas, no…. life is happening in a major way, but at least the house is looking better!  And keep your fingers crossed that we find a buyer for our house SOON!

Moms across Maine are celebrating:

It is Back To School Week!!!!!!!!!!!

Every year I take a picture on back-to-school day.   They are getting less and less cooperative each year.  Here is the older one, this morning–looks thrilled, eh?

And the younger one, who started yesterday (he cooperated a bit after stern words from his dad):

And this morning they couldn’t even stand on the rock next to each other for a nanosecond…this is all I got (notice the death-glare from the teenager LOL!):

I waved goodbye, wished them a wonderful day, and punched my fist into the air in elation as I entered the garage…WOOOT!   I am taking the WHOLE DAY off (after I finish this blogpost and one for the next post) and sewing! WOOT WOOT WOOOOOOT! Normalcy (well, what passes for it in this house) returns!

When I told my beloved sister in law, Joyce, that I would be able to come for a long weekend, she asked what I wanted to do!  Well, most of all I wanted to be with Joyce and meet her friends, but I thought…hmmm…How about the Getty?   I’ve been inspired by photos of the Getty on my friend Deborah’s blog (see here for her pics) and some photos of the Getty in Lura Schwarz Smith’s fabulous book, Secrets of Digital Quilting, From Camera to Quilt (click here to go to Lura’s website, the title links to the book on Amazon or buy an autographed copy from Lura here).  Well…get ready folks.   I seriously shortened my list of photos…and I still have over 30 to share!  So I’m going to break this up into several posts….

The photo above is walking up to the top of the hill to the galleries from the main entrance.   To back up a bit, admission is free, but parking isn’t.  You must park at the bottom of this tall hill that looks out to the Pacific Ocean, then take one of the frequent trams up the hillside. The sheltered-from-the-elements space is carefully designed to move MANY people efficiently.  Here, the maze of waiting lines:

I loved this view of the blue skies through the trees…even the leftover bits from the ivy or clinging vine on the wall seems like art…

And on the tram (blurred the faces since I have NO idea who these people are and can’t ask permission to include their faces!)

Then you see this incredible statue of a swimmer by Aristide Maillol (one of my FAVORITE European sculptors…late 19th c.):

Here is Joyce at the start of our time (before we got pooped and sore feet!) on the way to see the Leonardo exhibit:

The buildings themselves, by architect Richard Meier, are a work of art, and the landscape is another work of art (more on that in a future post).  My breath is simply taken away by the stunning lines, curves, shapes, the subtle play of the smooth- and rough-faced stone, the perfect pairing of the color of the stone with the blue of the sky and the green of the trees:

And a better photo (tho gives less of a feel for the grounds):

And more:

Even the white interior balconies, railings and skylights were stunning in their simplicity and line:

And of course the color and contrast in the tables outside–you could buy food there or bring your own and eat in the shade of the umbrellas–love the lines and circles and stripes and shadows and the one blue bottle cap on the chair seat….

WOW!  Wait till you see the next photos….

The Leonardo Exhibit, by the way, was phenomenal.  Because these works were on loan, photography was not allowed, but I saw ACTUAL journal pages, in sepia ink by the master himself and…drumroll..one was of a DRAGON!   He liked dragons, too!!!!!!   To think, those pages are over 500 years old, and the lines made were made by Leonardo himself…. utterly mind-blowing!

Besides my husband and sons, my most favorite family member and dear friend and soul-sister is my sister in law, Joyce.

She was married for eons to my older half-brother, who is now up in heaven cracking jokes with our other brother and daddi-o-o-o.  Joyce and I talk often, e-mail even more often, and despite the fact that she is 17 years older than I, well…we could be sisters, and not having one, I am just amazed that the she feels the same way.  But, I hadn’t been to her house (near Los Angeles) to visit since Paul and I were engaged, in late December 1982. Yep, EIGHTY-two.   As hubby was making reservations to travel to Arizona for the family trip that followed my teaching engagement, he realized the best connections were through Los Angeles, and he could overnight there and he and the boys could visit Joyce.  That got ME to thinking that *I* needed some sister-time, too.   So I booked my extra days at the end of the family trip so I wouldn’t be stressing about the teaching.   Oh what a JOYFUL STAY!

In the picture above, we are sitting in her wonderful garden, sipping wine and enjoying her doggie on the first evening (remember, this is LA, land of perpetual spring weather).  Her house is several blocks back from the Los Angeles bay and has this awesome view:

And nearby, she and her friends go for breakfast on weekends at Cafe Milan, a local coffee house that serves some food, and is their home away from home. It was such a treat…I’ve been hearing about Inge and Susan and Judy and Frances for years, and got to meet all but Judy…. What a wonderful bunch of fun and vibrant women!

There were a few entertaining signs in this little mini-mall / enclave… I don’t think they were intended to be quite this hilarious, but I had to share.  First, from the dentist’s office:

and the multi-purpose medical (?) care clinic on ground level:

And I just have to share one of my favorite things from Joyce’s house…I’m not sure if this stove was original to the house, but I SO want one just like it!   She and my brother had it fixed up, it works like new, and OH it has a soul!  Whooda thunk it, I have kitchen-range-envy!

This year my local quilt chapter, the Coastal Quilters (part of the state guild, the Pine Tree Quilt Guild) decided to change our annual challenge (now in its third year) from 10×10 inches to 12 inches wide by 9 inches tall.  The reason?  So that after the challenge participants can, if they wish, donate their quilt to Ami Simm’s Alzheimer fundraiser.  The donations are auctioned and the proceeds go to benefit Alzheimer’s research.

In past years we were challenged to interpret a photo (Here–scroll about halfway down to see the ropes and buoys quilts and here for my buoys quiltlet) or use a little bit of EVERYthing in a grab bag (Here and here).  This year, we each received a fat quarter of a black and white print:

Obviously, this is AFTER I got to it with the fabric paint and scissors….ahem.

Once the challenge debuts at Maine Quilts (in Augusta, Maine, last weekend in July), I’ll share the others’ pieces, but for now you can see how I painted the fabric (above) and  used it.  My quilt consists of white fabric (painted blues), the challenge fabric (painted blues, green, and blond-brown hair colors), beads and sequins (mermaid’s tail) and yarn (couched to the top to “frame” the piece).  Actually, this piece shows her swimming UP; when our guild president held up the quilts, she held the mermaid with her swimming down (second photo) and I think I actually prefer that way!  What do you think?

And swimming down:

And a close-up of the tail:

It was fun to do.  Although Mama doesn’t have Alzheimer’s (that we know of ), she does have deepening dementia.  She can’t remember how to work the remote for the TV, and sometimes when she can figure out the phone she’ll call and say “Sarah, this is your sister.”  I think I shall donate my mermaid to Ami’s fundraiser…I’ll let you know more when I get it sent off and donated.