Making

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Delay

Good Morning Everyone –

Watercolor J.F. here (and looking pretty good I must say, albeit a might pale) with a message from my maker.  Due to technical difficulties, Week Three of Colleen’s Campaign to be a guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon will be delayed.  Tune in tomorrow.  Same bat-time!  Same bat-station!

Hello Everyone!  Hello Jimmy!

Welcome to the second installment of my campaign to be a guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, further showcasing my talents and interests. Have I also mentioned that I am house trained and eat very little? You’ll notice the improved video quality (the sound actually matches my mouth!), though Milo the cat is ever determined to have his voice heard.  It is election season, after all, and just so you know, I am by no means shirking my civic duty with this campaign.  Voting is important!  The only disappointing bit is that my scan of the painting I made turned out uber-creepy (watch the video if you don’t know what I’m talking about) and not at all blog worthy.  Sigh.  Hopefully I can remedy this before next week.

Be Well –

Colleen

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Here it is, my friends, quilt number two, aptly named Strawberry Fields.

I am so very, very pleased with the way this turned out.  I love the combination of colors – the deep red paired with the acid green is so darn cheery, a sunny country morning in a field of strawberries, not to mention all the cute polka dots.  Have I ever shared my love for the polka dot with you?  Zowie!  It is ever so true.  I fretted a bit over the arrangement of the squares, wondering if I should try for random or the highly organized fashion that is the end result.  I just don’t think I have that in my genes.  I am an ordered person, so I’m glad I did it this way.  It’s very pleasing to follow lines of strawberries, dots, and greens.   The fact that I got the binding right this time (many thanks to the Connecting Threads tutorial on YouTube) is the juicy sweet strawberry on top!

If you’re wondering, I didn’t use a pattern.  I had a particular size of batting left over from my first quilt, so the size was determined.  When I looked through my stash, I loved the combination of the mixed greens, polka dots, and strawberries, but it wasn’t nearly enough fabric.  So I went to Fabric Depot, samples in hand, and found the right combination to tie it all together.  Rather than have the back be entirely polka dotted, I decided to really tie it in with the front, so it’s almost a continuation.  I like it!

Speaking of liking, sweet Paris likes it too, so much so that I think she believes it is HERS.  As I was tying it, she tried to get up on my lap, not once, but four times, eventually lying on a corner on the floor, not budging.  I got up to turn the music down, and she immediately took her place upon it, growling when I moved her back to her little spot.  See that menacing look up there?  Very real!  Once I finished, we shared it, me happily, Paris somewhat grudgingly.

It should come as no surprise that I think I am a quilter now and kind of wish I had discovered it sooner.  It is such pleasing work!

Last week was pretty hot here.  Super, retreat to the basement kind of hot.  And what does one do in the basement besides row on the machine or watch the old television, the one with the screen that occasionally turns bright red?  Why make a quilt, of course!

I had never made one before, and I, like many other people I know, have what seems to be a giant stash of fabric begging for just such a project to be made with it.  In particular, this beautiful Japanese cotton (running down the center of the quilt)  that Sarah bought me on one of her trips there.  I’d been contemplating what to do with it for ages.  A dress?  A blouse?  A bag?  When I started putting pieces of fabric together to decide what to quilt, I knew this was just the right use for it.

It was pretty simple, a total of ten pieces, including the batting, as I had no intention of drawing it out or starting something I would not finish because I bit off more than I could chew.  I am very pleased with the looks of it (the hubster likes it, too).  Not to mention, it’s just the right size for cozying up on the living room sofa on cooler days.

Now that I have the confidence, along with much more fabric in my stash and a piece of batting, don’t be surprised if you see another quilt here soon.  It is summer, after all, and there are bound to be more hot days requiring time in the cool basement.

Oh, and the beautiful baked good up there?  That’s a clafoutis, made from the recipe I posted here.  I used the Raven’s Heart plums that are in season now.  Aren’t they gorgeous?  They taste delicious, too.  I might add.

Have a lovely week!

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Hello friends!

I’ve made a few changes around here, as of late, and thought I’d share them with you.  First, and most obvious, the watercolors.  I’ve been wanting to get back to them for quite some time now but always found a reason not to, like sitting around on my duff (as my Grandpa used to tease me), watching senseless television (LOST is on tonight!), or surfing the web, looking at other people’s sketches.  This last one is the most silly, really.  I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent (on my duff) in front of the computer looking at other people’s creations then lost all motivation to make anything of my own.  What kind of sense does that make?  Exactly.  So, here we go.  I thought of making a pledge to post a photo of something I’ve painted at least once a week (even if it is a bit lopsided), but a tight knot of “accountability panic” formed in my belly.  I am not as evolved as I would like to think – so hopefully I will, but maybe I won’t.  Darn Geminis.

As for the other something new, I have taken a job with my naturopath.  I went in for my well woman exam about a month ago, and she asked if I would like to help out a couple days a week.  Not only was I extremely flattered that she asked, but really excited.  How wonderful to have the privilege of working in an environment about which I am very passionate and making a little money, too.  Something I haven’t done for three years!  As well, the hubster is happy that it will get me out of the house a bit more.  This may surprise you, especially since I am such a social gal here on the interwebs, but I am quite the loner, and interacting with others will save me a lot of one-sided conversations and needless worry in my head.  Truth be told, I often prefer being alone to the company of other people.  When I was a kid, I arranged the furniture in my room so I could be in it, with the door open (closed doors meant mischief to my mom – and with good reason – I’ll tell you below), yet hidden from view.  I would lie on the floor, thoroughly engrossed in a book, while eating dry cereal from a brown paper sack (there’s probably a deeper meaning to this last bit).  At those times, I would delight at being in a Little House on the Prairie, a Secret Garden, or with the Girls of Canby Hall for the whole of an afternoon.  I am not exaggerating when I say that was the height of splendor – still is, though I no longer need to hide.

Two stories that lead to no closed doors for Sohn children – my brothers and I, in some wild fit of boredom one summer afternoon after swim lessons, devised a game.  We tightly rolled our beach towels and put rubber bands at the ends, to keep them together.  Then, we blocked out any bit of light in their room, stuffing a pillow in the window and another towel under the crack of the door.  Once we had the desired amount of darkness, we chose one of us to be “it” and then blindfolded and whipped said person (all the while shouting wu-tang!) until they grasped the towel from the offender, and that person was it.  It was all fun and games until we broke the light fixture a second time and could no longer lie and say that we had no idea how it happened.

In another wild fit of boredom, we decided that my brother’s Little Tikes football toy box resembled a space ship.  One of us would get inside and the other two would smack things on the side (asteroids!), rock it violently back and forth (turbulence!), and spin it on the floor (a black hole!).  When we decided that this wasn’t enough, we sneaked a roll of duct tape and sealed the lid shut before pushing our brave astronaut down the stairs (crash landing!).  Here, we were, rather unfortunately, interrupted by my mom hearing the crash (she must have been out back hanging up the laundry?) and the duct tape being hidden somewhere.  Ahh, childhood.  It’s a wonder we made it out alive, being such geniuses and all.

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