Quilt and Ponder, Quilt and Ponder. Next.

Tonight it felt like home. Allie had some friends over to play cards and while they played, I worked on a quilt and helped Stacey get the web server switched over. I didn't want to seem unsociable, but I am on a very tight deadline for this quilt. Most of my unscheduled time here at home will be devoted to it. As they wanted to use the table, I moved my sewing machine to my desk in the living room. I love where my desk is placed. It's in the far corner underneath my bulletin board and the window. Looking out, I can see the flowers on the deck to the left, the swimming pool and green lawn below, and a wide sky open before me. It's a wonderful place to work, to meditate, to let my thoughts flow over themselves like a river shifting around stones and sand. It's one of the reasons I like to quilt. In a repetitive pattern like this one, you don't have to think much. You pick up one purple block, one yellow block, and you sew them together. Next. This goes on for a very long time, especially with this pattern. But I'm enjoying the quiet time, the time to ponder, to mull, to just be where I am right now with no demands to pay attention to anything further than a yard away. What a gift of space to let myself fall into.

365-09 #153

Someone Watching Over Me

Katie and I sprang $2.50 each for pizza tonight. My friend asked on facebook if we have similar pizza topping preferences. I replied that we both like cheap pizza, so yes, our preferences are similar. We have spent the evening watching a movie and hanging out on our laptops. Katie has been working on e-mail and "cruising", I'm working on a pillow for my friend with pictures on fabric. It's one she hired me to make and I think it will look neat when I'm done, though, I will admit, as soon as I left her and the fabric store, I called my quilting teacher and friend for help. Usually I have little to no problem handling such projects on my own but with the cording, something I haven't tackled before, I thought the advice of one wiser than I would come in most handy. When the tough get going, the tough call Marjorie.

Did I ever tell you I draw stick figures? They are my therapy, kind of like poetry. They express things in images that might be difficult to put into words. I have a whole collage of them by my desk doing different things. They ice skate, hold hands, read, give presents, dance, pray, hold the Torah, climb trees, fall down, draw, receive oxygen, and all manner of things. One is even a story told in three progressive pictures. The first figure is holding a high stack of boxes, the second has been crushed by a rock and the boxes are strewn everywhere, the third is crying while trying to get up. I was in a dark place when I drew that one and it's one of my favorites. I still draw them when I need to, they have become like little friends who keep me company as I type.

Someone who keeps up with this blog has asked about employment since I haven't mentioned it lately. I am doing classified substituting with the school district right now. This includes things like classroom aid, special education, office, and library work. It doesn't help my income level since unemployment takes out of its check what I earn, but it blesses my hands with work and extends the time I can claim. God has amazed me with the work he's given. Thursday I was in classrooms at a high school and Friday I was in the office at a Middle School. As I am still congested in my chest, I was very grateful for these assignments. I like elementary but it nearly always means recess duty in the cold. God takes care of us and I am so grateful he does. I am still looking though, for permanent, full time work. There were three siblings in my family out of work at one time, my brothers have work, so I have been told it's my turn now. Hear that God? It's my turn.

Have a great start to your week!

365-09 #53

Oregon State Fair Results for Stacey's Quilt

While I was making Stacey's quilt, many people said I should enter it at the fair. I told them it would have to be Stacey's decision as the quilt belonged to her. Well, the day I gave it to her, without me mentioning a thing, she exclaimed that she wanted to put it in the Oregon State Fair the next summer. Sounded good to me!

So I filled out the form, dropped the quilt off, and have been anxiously waiting for a week and a half until the fair opened to see if I had gotten anything. Nervous as all get out, I made my way over to the quilt walk in the Jackman Long Building this afternoon, (It's pretty cool), to find "On Tap: Stars and Swirls". There on the second aisle to the end of the walk,I fianlly found it, that purple and pink beauty of a quilt with a beautiful touch of blue on the side. FIRST PLACE!!! I was also pleased to see, the quilt was quite unique among the other winners surrounding it. After basking before my art, I found the glass cases holding the smaller textiles. On a somewhat last minute decision, I had decided to enter the matching pillow and bag as well. I figured people might as well enjoy looking at them too though I didn't think they would win anything. Boy, was I wrong! FIRST PLACE for the bag!!! AND, for the pillow? FIRST PLACE!!! Everything won a blue ribbon! (GRIN)

But here is what takes the cake. On the pillow, was also a purple ribbon with "Special Award" lettered in gold. Some organizations in Oregon sponsor awards for various competitions. On the card was written "Grandma's Attic". Tonight I looked it up and saw they award $25 gift certificates to those who earn best of class. So not only did the pillow win it's own competition, but it got best of class as well, which is AWESOME!

Of course I called Stacey who is down in California this weekend so I could share the moment with her. She was overjoyed, though not surprised, and was very proud. Marjorie, my friend and quilting teacher, was also thrilled to hear my news. She takes first when she enters the fair and though I am not even hoping to ever reach her advanced skill level, I am glad to see the trend rubbed off a bit on me. Wohoo!

I'll post pictures of all three creations after I take my camera to the fair on Sunday. If you're there Sunday evening, you'll find me filling in for my fellow author friend, Dolores Dahl, from 7-10, at the author's table in the Jackman Long Building.

For now, my favorite part of the fair is usually the calligraphy, paintings, and photography. Tonight I spent a lot of time looking through those with hopefully more photography to look at on Sunday. The calligraphy is always so beautiful and touches my poet's heart to no end. Here are some of my favorite quotes that I saw this evening:

-"Every artist dips his brush in his soul and paints his nature into his pictures." -Henry Ward Beecher

-"A Poet must write if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself." -Abraham Maslow

-"We must define ourselves by the best that is in us, not the worst that has been done to us." Edward T. Lewis

-"When power leads man towards arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man's concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of his existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses." -Sen. John F. Kennedy

-"In your light,

I learn how to love.

In your beauty,

how to make poems.

You dance inside my chest

Where no one else can see you,

But sometimes I do,

And that sight becomes this art."
-Rumi

We Took First!

The quilt I made for Stacey took first in its class at the Marion County Fair! I am excited other people get to see it and perhaps have creative ideas of their own. I called Stacey right away to let her know and to say she was BEYOND thrilled would be a vast understatement. As she says, the quilt has taken on a life of it's own. I learned so much from making it and still enjoy learning ever more deeply it's message of taking the chance on really living your life and treasuring the friends who walk, and dance, with you along the way.