Monday, February 16, 2009

Mishmash Monday


1. My mind is a-wonder with the strength of the internet. The powerful work of Debra Spincic who has collected materials from all over the world to make 20 quilts for homeless teens and now she's making 25 baby quilts for teenage mothers -- all with donations from all of you.

2. There is also a quilt initiative to make quilts for the Australian Bushfire victims that Paula Hewitt sited on her blog. The pattern they picked is a maverick star (image from Quiltville tutorial)... which even me, a nonquilter, is going to attempt to try since if mine end up kind of wonky -- you may not notice as much; there's a Flickr site here. Today is Galileo's birthday and he once said: "I've loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night" which I think fits this project very nicely.

There's also an Etsy site to purchase items where all the money goes to the bushfire relief efforts so you could either donate an item to sell or purchase an item knowing it benefits someone else. The site has raised $8,000 so far.

3. Someone asked me where my November BJP was. The answer is that the November BJP is in the "encrustation phase" where I'm experimenting with many types of leaves -- some are beaded -- which is taking me a long time to pull together. Rather than be behind all year, I'm staying current and working on my November piece when I get the time.

I found this book very helpful and inspiring in making my leaves --


I also used it to make this rose on the lapel of my January birthday dress though I used size 15 beads and made it much smaller. There are many other wonderful patterns such as a marguerite, pansies and a thistle (which is my fave).


4. We watched a romance movie for movie night-- my selection of course -- Jack walked around all day be-moaning the fact to anyone who would listen that his mother had picked a RO-MANCE of all things to watch for movie night. It's a Chinese movie called The Road Home with English subtitles.

It was W-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l -- Beautiful cinematography and a story of a woman's 40-year love for a man and how she demonstrates that through her love of weaving and cooking. I could SO relate to the weaving part just not the cooking... you may need a kleenex or two if you're touched by such things and it's only 1.5 hours long...

5. Jude Hill of Spirit Cloth just finished her Love is a Gamble quilt and the slideshow she put together is a treat for the senses -- I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of her techniques -- very thought-provoking...

6. My birthday horoscope told me to finish up my commitments before I start anything new. Slowly since January, I've been trying to get caught up on things I owe people and tasks that are long overdue. I have given myself an arbitrary deadline of the end of February. That leaves me six purses to make in two weeks -- often I'm asked to donate a handmade purse to silent auctions as a fundraiser. So, if you see purses in the future, that's why.

7. Today's a national holiday so Jack has off from school. We're going to bike into town and grab some brunch.

8. I'm reading Black Dahlia for the 1% Well-Read Challenge and hating it.... but I'm reading it anyway...

Here's to making mash from mish on Monday!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

WOW! Thanks for sharing that book! I'd love to know more about beading up some beauties like those leaves you made. The necklace you featured from the book is divine! :)

a2susan said...

Diane Fitzgerald is one of my all-time favorite beaders. She is also a very nice person.

Enjoy your day with Jack! Maybe he'll be inspired to cook another gourmet meal again soon!!

a2susan

Anonymous said...

i watched The Road Home years ago and i still have its promotional poster in my old room at my mother's house. i took it off a wall at the school i was attending at the time.

i loved every bit of that movie. i wanted to just run and run in the beautiful countryside. and how quiet the girl was, saying everything with her eyes and her cuisine. i remember the scene when she repairs the windows of his classroom with new paper. that seems a perfect act of love because she never attended his calsses and remained illiterate her wohle life but she accepted and loved even the parts of him she couln't understand.

did your son like it after all?

you make magnificent bead creations. i can only thread the beads on a string and call it "necklace".

Susan Elliott said...

To Susan -- I am a new "beader" so I'm not too aware of who is out there. After your comment, I went to amazon and saw that Diane Fitzgerald has a new book that looks wonderful coming out in March.

To Eva -- you captured some of the most beautiful moments from the movie in your comments; I too loved that she took care of and cleaned his school while he was away and the papercuttings on teh window made Jack say "Now, that's really nice of her, Mom" and yes, Jack really loved the movie.

Camilla La Mer-Soul Art Dolls said...

I love the Galileo quote! I am sure that your stars will be wonderful...How did Jack fare with the Chinese love story complete with subtitles...that does sound like a bit of a stretch but, then again, you do have an amazing son. Maybe he loved it too!

jude said...

hey thanks!

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