Bee my Valentine

Every year for years I have made Valentines to send to friends and family. I do this instead of sending Christmas cards. I used to make woodblock prints, or silk-screen prints, but in recent years I have made a small piece of fabric art that I have photocopies made from. (here and here) This year time got away from me, so I recycled an image. I used the quilt I made for the Twelve by Twelve group's "dandelion" challenge.

The tagline is a terrible pun, but it reminded me of the valentines I used to give and recieve as a child. I could hardly wait for Valentine's Day. Even though I always loved making things, I wasn't the kid who made her own Valentine's back then. Oh, no. I could hardly wait to buy my box of Valentines and see what hilarious lines the clever Valentine fairies had come up with that year. I carefully punched out each valentine from the background card they came on and addressed one to each member of my class at Jefferson Elementary School. I was very careful to choose Valentines for the boys in my class that made no references to love, kissing or anything that could be construed as a sign of affection. The jokier the better. If there was an animal portrayed, especially a pig, those were the ones the boys got. It was not cool to give gushy Valentines to boys. Valentines were deposited in our specially decorated shoeboxes prior to the inclass Valentine Party (sugar fest). I kept all my valentines for years. Wish I still had them. They just don't make them like they used to.

Valentines

It is Valentine's Day for about 15 more minutes, so I thought I better hurry up and wish you all a happy one. I hope it was a great day. Good day here. The grandchildren loved it and were very sweet with their valentines. Marco, 3, had what seemed to be a special one to show me. It was from "Gracie," a little girl he goes to daycare with. My daughter had some wonderful valentines and messages from her students. She is grappling with the fact that she and her fellow teachers here have voted to strike next week. It's a difficult thing, standing up for what you know is right, but important. I feel like there is a lot of public support for the teachers, but there are ugly things being said, as well. They can't let it get to them. She worries about her students most of all.

The impending strike, some heart-wrenching news and the aftermath of our big snow storm have made for a challenging week around here. Good to end it with valentines and love and chocolate.

I have shared my valentines here before. I make them every year and send instead of sending cards at Christmas. I had pegged last weekend for getting the prints made, then putting them all together and addressing them. That would have involved going to FedEx for prints and buying paper and envelopes. I would have had plenty of time to get them in the mail, but it snowed and snowed and snowed last weekend and we didn't leave the house and the valentines didn't get done. They were finished last night and in the mail today. If you are waiting for one, they are coming...

Did I ever tell you that I met Ray the day before Valentines Day, 44 years ago? It was a Friday the 13th. Don't believe what they say about Friday the 13th.

Love, Terry

Be My Valentine

My valentines are going out late again this year. The reason I started sending valentines instead of Christmas cards is that I just couldn't get them out before Christmas. Maybe I will start sending Easter cards, now instead of valentines. Ha!

I have been getting all the parts ready and will fold and stuff letters and cards into envelopes tonight while we watch the Olympics or whatever else looks good on TV. So if you are waiting for my valentine, you can expect it next week some time. Sorry. But you know I love you, don't you?

I used a heart design I have used before and updated it. The colors are not so typical for Valentine's Day, but I like that. Those are beads along the top and bottom edges. I love valentines. I love hearts. I send a letter along with my valentines. It is like other peoples' Christmas letters. Boring to some, no doubt, but since this is the only communication I have with some people I like to keep them updated. I thought about adding a picture of Ray and me to the letter, but couldn't find a good one and we were not in the mood to take one today, so I went outside and took a picture of our front door. Just as I was getting ready to snap the picture Grace settled herself in front of the door. I liked that. Then I fiddled with it in Photoshop to give it a more hand-drawn appearance and plopped it into the letter. I hope it says, "Come and see us—you are always welcome."

My Valentines

A couple weeks ago I showed you the small piece that I made to use on my Valentines this year. You can see it here. Here are the finished Valentines, ready to be put into envelopes along with our letter. Ray came home from the Post Office and said, "Look at the cool stamps that I got for the Valentines." They are cool. They are Gee's Bend quilts. The family picture on the letter was taken at Thanksgiving with the turkey. (and I don't mean Ray—or Andy—har, har!) I just realized I published a very similar picture a year ago.

The mailing list changes a little every year. Sad to say, people die, they move and don't send their new address, they cross us off their list or we just lose track. Seems like sometimes the person you worked with and ate lunch with every day drifts away after you or they leave the job and intentions to "get together" never materialize and then the Christmas cards stop and there isn't much point in sending a Valentine. There are some people, well one anyway, that I never hear from, but I keep sending the Valentines to. She's not good at communicating, but I still feel a connection.

Lots of people seem to dislike form letters with Christmas cards (or in our case, our Valentine) but I enjoy getting them from other people and I still send mine. I try not to be braggy or enumerate all our purchases of the past year, as some folks seem to do, as in "When Jr. was accepted to Harvard we were afraid we wouldn't be able to afford the new sailboat, but then Roger was promoted to V.P. of marketing and his bonus turned out to be exactly what the boat cost!" Blah, blah, blah. I try to stick to things that people might be interested in reading.

It also seems like every few years lately we have gone to a family reunion where either Ray or I have reconnected with a long lost cousin and they get added to the Valentine list. It is interesting to me that for years we lost track of cousins, or seldom saw them. As we get older we all enjoy getting together again. I remember how much my parents enjoyed reconnecting with their cousins in their later years. Someone once said that the older you get the more you value people who knew you when you were a child. That would be mostly siblings and cousins and it rings true for me.

Valentines

I am all ready to start putting my Valentines together. I have done this for years. I originally started sending Valentines and a yearly letter because things were just so hectic around Christmas that I was not getting Christmas cards made and sent as I used to. Now it seems like the Valentine is also a big rush to finish and mail in time.

I had my hearts printed at Kinko's on card stock and sat and cut them out in front of the TV the other night. Ray wrote most of the letter and I dropped in photos of Emily's wedding—our biggest event of the past year. I have printed mailing labels and have red envelopes to send them in. I have printed my message and cut out the two shades of red paper to the correct size. Now it is a matter of gluing, folding and stuffing.

We are leaving for a short trip early in the morning. Maybe I can work on Valentines on the plane. Maybe not.

Even though I end up rushed every year, the Valentines are something I really enjoy doing. As I address each one I think about the person it is going to and usually write a little note in the margins of the printed letter. In most cases they go to friends we haven't seen for a long time and to family. I think about what these people mean in my life and how years can go by between visits, but I cherish that slender thread that continues to connect us. I found a quote that I considered using on the Valentine or in the letter. I didn't use it, but it does express the way I feel, so I will share it here.

"A good friend is a connection to life—a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world."

- Lois Wyse

Making Valentines

Leigh asked about making my valentines. She thought perhaps I was sewing a bunch of them to send. No. I send valentines instead of Christmas cards, so I am sending something like 60 of them.  I used to make Christmas cards. Every year  I made a block print or little silk-screen print. It got to be too much, especially when I was working in retail and Christmas was crazy already. So I started making valentines instead and have continued. They used to be prints, like the Christmas cards, then I made a few using Illustrator to create a digital graphic. For the past several years I have made a fabric valentine that I photograph and print multiples of. I usually combine the little print with pretty paper. This year I have a dandy new tool that has streamlined my operation.

The green machine is a Xyron machine—a simple hand-crank device that will apply adhesive and a paper backing to a sheet of paper. You can see my sheets of hearts on the right. I run each one through the Xyron and it turns it into a big sticker. I cut a heart out, then peel the paper off the back and stick it to one of those little rectangles of goldy-green paper. That is then applied to a slightly larger piece of lime green card stock.

I added a bunch of little hearts to the sheets, just because there was wasted space between those large hearts. I can use them as stickers to seal the envelopes or for something else. The Xyron machine was a Christmas present and you can switch out the sticker adhesive cartridge for one that will laminate paper. It is made for scrapbook enthusiasts, but I think I will find a lot of uses for it.

First little piece of 2007

Don't forget the Kim Family Auction that will be going on until Sunday. So far it is going fabulously.

Kudos to Gerrie, Lisa and Stephanie!

I made this small piece (about 8" x 8") to use for my Valentines this year. I send Valentines and a letter every year instead of Christmas cards and for the past few years I have made small fabric pieces to use on my cards. No, I won't make a gazillion little quilts. I will print small photos of this one quilt and mount them on a card. You may recognize the little mandarin orange. It was one of the last ones left from the bag Emily gave me before Christmas.

We are going to be gone for the first two weeks in February, so I want to get my Valentines ready before I leave. Sometimes I search and search for an appropriate quote to use on my Valentine. Sometimes I use song lyrics. This year I think the single word "Love" on the pictured heart will suffice. It seems to cover everything I want to say this year.

Rituals

I continue to work on the invitational "Rituals" piece. It is a large piece for me, so it is slow going by my usual standards. This is a smallish section.

You may remember that a year or so ago I was working on a large piece for an invitational show and became so frustrated I vowed that I was not going to do that again. "That" being make a quilt in a prescribed size and theme that was going to make me frustrated and unhappy with the outcome. So why am I doing this? I thought about it and decided that I needed to open my mind a little and try larger work as long as I could think it through, come up with something meaningful to me that could be effective at a larger size. I am also trying to make work that is personal and meaningful to me. This all ties into my 2012 word, "intention."

A small story that I hope isn't too sad or morbid. I know of a woman, who is about my age, who was recently diagnosed with a terrible kind of cancer that will almost surely kill her within the next year, give or take and depending on her response to some experimental treatments. She has an online journal that I read periodically and I think about how I would react. She is brave, matter of fact and very, very honest. She is packing her life, right now, with all the things that matter to her—family time, walks in the woods, books, music and friends. I hope I could face such a fate with the same seeming calm and determination. Reading her journal and thinking about what she is doing with the time she has, made me realize that our life is defined by the things and the people and the causes we love. And that is what whatever work we do should be about.

My ritual is making and sending valentines each year. It is not about valentines. It is about friendship and the delicate threads of connection. I make valentines, write letters and as I cut and paste and write and address envelopes I think about each person and what they mean to me. It is my heart I am sending and reconfirms the connection whether it is old and fragile, new and tentative or strong and tested. My piece has many hearts on it. At one point I thought I would stitch words into the background that referenced the messages that accompany the hearts, but decided instead to add the black stitching as a kind of representation of the complexity of small things that connect us to our friends—quirky, irregular, but in its entirety a kind of network of memory.

If my quilts become a series of "what I love" this one will be friends. I love my friends.

Sweet valentines

Valentine's Day is kind of a silly holiday when you get right down to it. Proving your love with a gift on one day of the year is not proof at all. But of course I'm not about to turn down flowers or candy! I guess what I really mean to say is that expressing love is nice any old day and it doesn't need to involve a gift. But lucky me, I got a beautiful  bowl planter planted with primroses and bulbs and gorgeous things to give the front porch a touch of spring even though it's still February. I got a pretty little heart-shaped dish. And then I got that card, handmade by my granddaughter with her Mom's help. Now that is worth having a holiday for. Just look at that little handprint. There is a crayon drawing inside that she told me is a "muffin" and even better was her pride and pleasure in presenting both Ray and me with her special valentine creations.

Valentine's Day really is great fun for kids and I think they do learn how satisfying it is to do something special for people you love. I remember how I loved making valentines as a child, giving each one a special touch just for the person it was going to. Even children who do not make their own valentines, I think take pride and pleasure in picking out special cards and giving them. Maybe it teaches generosity and a loving spirit. Maybe it's not a silly holiday after all.

It was beautiful day today. My lovely new porch pot made all the other pots on the porch look pretty scraggly, so I picked up a flat of primroses at the grocery store to plant. Just look at that pot in the corner. Disgraceful! Gracie was enjoying the sun and the flowers, I think. She is nearly 18 years old. She moves slowly and her voice, never very melodious, is really crackly now, but she still gets around the yard and finds the sun. Later I planted the primroses, cleaned up the pots and swept the porch. A little frog hopped across the porch as I was working. It really felt like spring is coming.

Post number 300 —sharing the love

So, how is that for a cheesy title! This is my 300th post on this blog. It's not that I am so big on mileposts— numbers 100 and 200 both passed without any awareness on my part, but when I started to approach 300 it got kind of exciting. It would have been hard for me to imagine back at post #1 that I would ever get to 300. I wondered, at the time, if I would even sustain any interest in this blogging business beyond a month or two. In quiet, but profound ways, blogging has changed my life. When I started I saw it as a way to share my artwork. It has evolved into a way of sharing the beautiful things that touch and inspire me in my everyday life. In the beginning I thought I would keep my thoughts fairly impersonal and after all, who really cares about my personal life? Some bloggers, in fact, remain entirely anonymous, but that just doesn't feel right to me and personal things creep in. I hope I maintain a certain balance. Sometimes I feel a little embarrassed by how self-indulgent keeping a blog is and I know there are people in my life who think it is just wierd or the height of narcissism, but others of you get what I'm doing and accept it for what it is.

Now, here is the "sharing the love" part. If you have been reading for awhile you might remember the image at the top of the page. It is a little quilt that I made to reproduce for my Valentines this year. It was the first piece I made this year. I still have about 5 of the Valentines left, as well as the original little quilt. To celebrate my 300th post I'd love to give them away to people who, for some mysterious reason, keep coming back and reading this blog. Leave me a comment, saying you'd like one of my Valentines. If there are more than 6 of you who respond in the next 48 hours, I will hold a random drawing to send 5 of the reproduced cards, and I will randomly choose one person to receive the actual quilt. Ray will supervise the drawing to make it all fair! It's my way of saying "thank you" for making me feel like I am part of the community of bloggers and friends who somehow find something worth reading and commenting on here.

P.S. Your comments about Emily's surgery and our scary hospital adventure were so supportive and kind, especially in light of the fact that most that commented have never even met us face to face. Thank you so much. She is home from the hospital and healing nicely. The baby is a tremendous blessing. As Emily told me this morning, "It is almost impossible to feel down with this little ray of sunshine around."

Tunes

We love our tunes. Ray picked up this CD at Starbucks the other day. They really have great music at Starbucks. This one is a collection of love songs, just in time for Valentines Day. I also love the art on the CD cover. Aren't those great shoes?

A week or so ago I was with my friend and her husband at Starbucks and they were playing this CD. The song that was playing was "Suzanne" by Leonard Cohen. I nominate "Suzanne" for the most romantic song ever written. My friends didn't seem to be familiar with it or Leonard Cohen—inconceivable!

"Suzanne takes you down to her place near the river
You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night beside her
And you know that she's half crazy
But that's why you want to be there
And she feeds you tea and oranges
That come all the way from China . . . ."

Big sighhhhhh . . .
Maybe you had to have been there, somewhere around 1967. But, that's the magic of music. A song can take you right back to a place and time and you remember how the light looked and who was there and how the room smelled. I think that is why the music of your youth is the music you love all your life.

Besides Leonard, the CD has Frank Sinatra and Smokey Robinson and Sara Vaughan and Nina Simone and a fabulous version of "My Heart Cries for You" by Serena Ryder. I had never heard of Serena Ryder, but this song is dynamite. You can check out the CD on Starbuck's site here. Just listen to a little bit of "My Heart. . ." It's the last one. #16. Bet you'll like it.

Oh, and here's Suzanne



Happy Valentines Day, all you romantics!

Whew

Did you miss me? It has not been a real blog-worthy week.  I have learned that one of my "introvert" traits is that I only talk when I have something to say, so I guess that applies to the blog as well. I've been busy with stuff. I have had several meetings this week, which is a mixed blessing. Driving all over the place, but being with friends and getting things done.

My "shweeshwee" project is coming right along, but I have no photos to show. I will. Soon.

It is valentine time. I worked on the valentines today and made the shocking discovery, when I went to buy paper and envelopes, that Paper Zone has closed. That is really distressing. Wonderful store.  I got so much beautiful paper there and I haven't a clue where to go now. So that put me in a bit of a funk. Paper Zone—gone. I bought envelopes at Staples. Boring, cheesy envelopes. Fortunately I had a supply of this deep red paper (purchased at Paper Zone)  from another project. The best part of making valentines is the great paper. Sigh. Tell me, tell me, if there is still a good source for beautiful paper in the Portland area.

In the process of moving my art and craft supplies to the new studio, I ran across things long forgotten, including a set of card-weaving cards. Funnily enough, I had recently wondered if I still had them. I need new handles for a beautiful basket I bought in Mexico a few years ago. The fiber handles got very brittle and last summer on our trip they broke. I learned card weaving many years ago and always loved the wonderful patterned straps and belts you could make without a loom. (Google "card weaving" or "tablet weaving" if you want to know more. Tons of info on the web) So I bought some supplies this week, really simple cotton crochet threads, and started weaving new handles for my basket. It is something I can do in the evening to stay awake! It goes rather quickly, but you do have to pay attention to how you turn the cards to achieve the pattern. It needs to be pretty long, so I will be at it for awhile.

One of my meetings this week was to start planning the next Washington County Open Studio tour this coming October. I am going to be handling the registrations. I am really looking forward to having my studio open for the first time. It is a good incentive to get a lot done in the coming months.

Happy Valentine!

My valentines are not ready. As I have in the past, I made a small fabric piece that I will photocopy and send with my annual letter. Time got away from me, so they will be late. These valentines are what I do instead of Christmas cards. So, to those to whom I mail an actual card—it's coming. For everyone in blogland I send you this valentine greeting. I love you all!

Now, you can help me decide something. What color paper should I mount the print on?

End of the week

OK, now that's what I'm talking about. Serious, real paper. Found at The Peddler's Pack in Beaverton. They had a little room just filled with paper. This is what I have been looking for. I'm not sure why it has been so important to find this store. I don't need paper right now. I had enough in my stash for my valentines, but the knowledge that my source had disappeared was upsetting. I love this kind of paper and have been a big consumer for booklets and yearbooks and, of course, valentines. Paper I can put through my printer, or cut up. Paper in a variety of weights. I'm very happy to know where to find it when I need it, because when I need paper I need it now. Whew. Now I can move on. And did I mention that they also have rubber stamps? Good golly, I have never seen so many rubber stamps. I looked at every single one and I did not buy a single one, but I came home and ordered a rubber stamp of a pair of scissors from an Etsy seller. As I was looking at all those rubber stamps it suddenly occurred to me that what I really need is a pair of scissors stamp. In all their gagillions of rubber stamps they did not have scissors. All this retail exposure this week has made me a crazy person. I need some alone time. And to stop buying stuff.

Finished another project today. Remember my card-weaving project? I finished the weaving and today constructed new handles for my beautiful Mexican basket. It had stiff basket material handles that were worked into the sides of the basket and they broke almost immediately. I sewed my woven strap to some natural colored webbing to make it even more sturdy and made strap handles that really support the basket. I think these will be very strong and secure and I like the way it looks.

And before leaving the studio I tried out the polka dot stencil that I made yesterday using my new hole punch tool. I used a little sponge to daub white fabric paint over the stencil onto some fabric. Looks a little like snow, don't you think?

Clunker

Every year I make Valentines to send to my friends and relatives. I don't send Christmas cards anymore, so this takes the place. Sometimes it is digital art, sometimes a block print or silk screen or some other kind of print. I decided that this year I would make a little piece of fabric art and scan and print for my valentines.

I think I was a little pushed for time and fresh out of original ideas when I attacked this chore like it was, well, a chore. Above you see the result. A clunker. That's what my Dad always called something that just didn't work no matter what you did to it.

This little piece is stiff and clumsy and uninspired. I could see that as I was working on it, but I just kept pushing it and hoping something was going to save it. I should know by now that uninspired work doesn't ever suddenly get good just because you will it to. That's why I decided to share this embarrassing little relic rather than simply stuff it into a corner somewhere. As I thought about it later I realized several things about doing art.

First, it just doesn't work to start with a ho-hum idea and then hope that your color choices and fabric choices and execution will make it shine. Nope, ho-hum is ho-hum. (and you squander your favorite fabrics on unworthy projects--like that red stripe--boo hoo!)

Second, this project started out with the focus on the final product and the process was unimportant. The result was that it really wasn't any fun to make at all. You can tell that, can't you? There is no fun in its gloomy little face.

Third, I actually tried to copy myself here, which is as bad as copying someone else. I made another heart several years ago that I really liked (you can see it here) and it seemed like maybe there was a formula there that I could just plug into to produce something quick. Doesn't work--different time, different place, different inspiration.

So, I'll just chalk this one up to a clunker--not my first, nor my last. And my valentine will be something else. Actually, I had this idea pop into my head and I made a little sketch. I have been working on it. If it turns out to be the perfect valentine image I'll share it. But I may not. I'm not sharing another clunker.

Annual Beach Retreat

I belong to a small group called STASH (some Thursday at somebody's house) sometimes, THE GRATEFUL THREAD sometimes and just THE GROUP most of the time. (It has taken us a long time to settle on a name.) We usually plan a retreat weekend in the late winter or early spring. This last weekend we went to Oceanside, Oregon and rented this house.

Last year when I blogged about getting ready to go to the beach with my quilting friends, Gerrie wrote in a comment:

"One of my fave activities, getting away with my quilting friends. Can I come next time?"

Well, what do you know? Since that comment over a year ago, Gerrie has moved to Portland, joined the group and yes, came to the retreat. Can you say, "life of the party"?

She spied the crab hat hanging in the hallway of the beach house and modeled it for us.

The house was very comfortable and had several nice quilts and other artwork hanging throughout. We especially loved the mosaiced glass window and the "Be nice . . ." sign over the back door.

The window seat was a favorite spot for handwork and enjoying the view outdoors. We could even see the ocean through a little opening in the trees.

Beth had expressed interest in making a house similar to one I made in January. So I brought some patterns I made for whomever wanted to try making one. Beth and I each worked on a little house. Mine are the orange parts on the right. Beth chose a great stone fabric for her little house.

We sewed, we laughed, we ate (very well), we shopped and had ice cream for lunch and visited the Latimer Quilt museum. We all posed for a group shot before we left on Sunday.

Left to right: Linda, Gale, Gerrie, Beth, Reva, Terry. We miss Terri who moved to Washington D.C. and Kathie who is now an editor for American Quilter, but are so pleased that Gerrie and Reva, also a newcomer from California, have joined us. I love this group.

You can read and see more pictures of our weekend at Gerrie's blog.

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A Walk on the Beach

You never know what the weather will be like on the Oregon Coast, but we lucked into a beautiful weekend and enjoyed a couple of great walks on the beach.

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I am finally mailing the Valentines and little quilt to people who won my Blog #300 celebration drawing. There are a couple of you who haven't emailed me a mailing address. I still have your Valentines and will send them if you send me your address.

A productive Sunday

I woke up this morning with a list in my head. Things that needed to be done. Time has gotten away from me, as it seems to do. My bird class is this coming week. Today I gathered up my supplies and got all my materials and samples ready.

I printed patterns and instructions sheets.

I printed the patterns on a variety of colors of card stock. I like to cut my patterns from card stock and trace around them. Colored pieces are easier to see and harder to lose. If each student has a different color they will know exactly which pieces are theirs.

In addition to teaching the class on Thursday, I am doing a demonstration of my fusing technique on Saturday. I needed a little project to use for the demo. Since I need to make a piece for my valentines this year, it seemed like I could kill two birds with one stone and use my valentine to demonstrate the technique. I came up with a design and pulled my materials together. Ready to go with my demo now.

I also started thinking about the next 12 x 12 colorplay challenge. The colors for this round are blue, green and brown. You can see them here. I think this is a popular decorator sort of color scheme right now. Not my cup of tea at all. Just not colors that appeal to me in any of their shades and tints, but that is why they call it a challenge, I keep reminding myself. Awhile back I bought a fat quarter of a print fabric that I thought might work well for one of my teacups or bowls that I was making. Remember those? I ran across the fabric today and realized it almost had the challenge colors. Here is the fabric.

Brown and blue for sure. The green is really more of a teal color. And the addition of that coral-y red and some gold added the warmth that I feel the color scheme needs. I used my Inktense permanent watercolor pencils to make the teal leaves more green.

 

Closer, I think.

The fabric may or may not end up in my 12 x 12 piece, but it has given me a little more positive feeling about the colors.

Christmas Cards

Well, here it is December 1 already. How did that happen? I always think that the first of December is the beginning of the countdown to Christmas. Tonight as I was driving home from Emily's house I saw a lot of houses lighted and decorated for Christmas. I don't start with the decorating this early. I get pretty tired of a Christmas tree after two weeks. I can't quite deal with a whole month of it, but I am getting myself mentally prepared.

Last December I shared the cut paper Christmas trees I made many years ago. This year I thought I would share the Christmas cards I have made over the years. I stopped making Christmas cards about 20 years ago and went to making Valentines instead. I didn't date all the cards I made, so I'm not sure of all the years, but I do know this first one was 1974 because I wrote the year on it.

That was also the year we bought our first house in Pocatello, Idaho and that was the subject for this card. It is a linoleum block print. I carved two blocks—one inked white and one inked black to create the two color print of the house in the snow.

Andy was a little over a year old and Emily had not yet been born. The house was my pride and joy. It was built in 1924 and a tiny little house, but really beautiful, with a leaded glass window in front, coved ceilings, a beautiful staircase and original bronze and amber light fixtures. It had a ghost that I sometimes saw out of the corner of my eye, standing on the stairway. Could have been my imagination, I suppose, but my mother saw her too.

I have loved all of our houses, but this one was really special. I hope someone is loving it and taking good care of it now. We sometimes drive by it when we are in Pocatello and it always looks just as it did when we owned it.

Assembly line

Thanks for all the input on the valentine color! You can probably see that I came up with the solution suggested by a couple of you and mounted the little crow print first on black, then on red. It was the perfect combination in my opinion. Also good because I had a package of red paper leftover from a previous valentine project and enough black as well. I also had a box of envelopes from a previous project too, so the valentines cost next to nothing to make this year, except that I had to go buy a new color cartridge for the printer to print the letters. Whew! Those cartridges are expensive. So now I am assembling, printing, addressing and will get them out the door in a day or two.

This guillotine is one of my favorite tools and makes it so much easier to do paper projects. This was something I claimed when we emptied my parents' house after their deaths. My dad used it to trim photos that he printed in his darkroom and I assumed that was what it was made for. Just recently my brother told me that it is not, in fact, a paper cutter, but a belt cutter, made for cutting rubber belt material. (For machinery, like conveyer belts, not to hold your pants up.) My dad was a mechanical engineer and owned a machine shop, which was probably what it was purchased for. I was incredulous. I googled "belt cutter" and sure enough, there it was. It is the best paper cutter I have ever used! You can cut a goodly stack of paper very accurately and easily, though not very large sheets of paper. Obviously, Dad had figured that out.

And so it goes...

I see it is more than a week since my last blog post. Where does the time go? I have been blogging—just not here. I decided I needed to revive my drawing blog, Pen, Pencil, Paper—Draw! and have written a couple of posts there. This one is actually related to my fabric art. It's about creating a sketch for a future fabric piece.

I also posted on the Sketchbook Challenge blog about the theme of the month, "Sweets."

On the home front, I finished my "Red Domes" quilt, which I will post when I get good photos taken of it. I am pleased with it and looking forward to another in the series. I have an idea, but have a few more pressing projects in the works before I can start on it.

Last Friday I took a day off and rode over to Astoria, Oregon with Ray for the day. He had a business meeting there and I went along for the ride and the scenery. It was a gorgeous day. Astoria is the oldest town in Oregon and very historic, and it sits at the mouth of the Columbia River, where it flows into the Pacific Ocean and is famously gray and rainy—almost always. But on Friday it was gloriously sunny and the sky was a brilliant blue. I wandered around town and took a few phone photos. This shows that great sky and the former John Jacob Astor hotel building.

Inside this building was a charming antique shop. The sun streaming in the big windows gave the old treasures a real glow. I didn't buy a thing, but loved everything I saw—the building most of all.

note the silhouette of the old sewing machine in the window

I have been working on my valentines and got them in the mail yesterday.