mmm.... coffee.....

everyone take out their safety pencils & a circle of paper

remember that awesome avocado green singer sewing machine i coveted?   i called to ask about it yesterday & he still has it, but now he's not sure if he wants to sell it.  (which i totally understand)   i found the machine you see here when i was in maine.   it's a very similar model, not quite as fancy, doesn't have all the extra stuff, but i'm going to take it in next weekend & see if he can swank it up a bit.   now don't get me wrong, i absolutely love my little Necchi & my mom's Pfaff, but wouldn't it be sweet to have a sewing machine that combines the two?

this one (hopefully) sews both straight & zigzag in addition to some fancy stitches controlled by the tabs on the top.   you can get these round "keys" that screw on & make other stiches, too.   the motor runs, but the belt must not be hooked up right because the needle only goes up & down when you hand-crank it.   and the smell, oh the smell!   this has obviously been sitting in a garage for many many many years - it smells just like my dad's old cars.   check out that sweet rhombus-shaped suitcase!

(today's post brought to you buy emily's fancy macbook!  i hope to have one of these myself very soon...)

ain't we lucky we got 'em, good times

really?  are you sure i'm here?  i'm not still in maine?  sigh.  it was a whirlwind of a weekend that has deposited me back at work far too soon.  not that i'm unhappy to be at work, i love my job, but the library doesn't have lakes to swim in & yard sales to pick through.  or a giant 25lb cat wanting to play & keep me awake all night & a sweet not-so-little deaf kitty just wanting a little attention.  besides morty & mocha, there is also mike & marsha to stay up late with, battle at Crash Team Racing, help with crosswords, eat lobsters with & talk to...


oh, um, also, i got several inches of knitting done on my first sweater, i'm almost finished quilting the cirlces on that wedding quilt & i bought more books for a never-realized bookbinding project!

i rode my bicycle past your window last night

there's where i spent all of my mom's money: the Busy Thimble's booth (from Litchfield, ME) my source for gorgeous brown & pink fabrics.  and where i spent all of my money: Quilter's Express to Japan (Lewisburg, PA) i think i spent hours unfolding all the incredible japanese fabrics in Susan's booth!  photos of my fabrics coming soon, but i did make an album of all the quilt photos that i took at the Maine Quilt Show!  (it's just to the right on this page)  i included the quilter's name & dimensions of the quilt, if you have the booklet from the show you can look up each photo yourself because their title is "MSQ" then the # they were assigned.  perhaps when i have some time i'll add the titles...  sorry for the poor quality of some of them, they're meant more for my reference, but i thought some of you'd appreciate seeing them, too!

now you're older and i'm wiser, we design synthesizers

i'm not so sure this all needs an explanation...  it's maine.  and i love it.

on the shore path in Bar Harbor & across the new bridge from bucksport

my friend bob & his cabin & his beach & town band playing in bar harbor

inside On Board Fabrics & mary & my mom at 2 Cats for breakfast

mary & my mom before we left & julie showing my mom her lurid quilts that refused to be photographed clearly...  there's so much more, i'll be back soon with it - i have almost a hundred shots of quilts from the quilt show in Augusta & i still need to photograph the fabric i bought.  (besides the show, we went in about 7 different quilt shops around route 1!)  i didn't get any photos of mike & marsha, but i did get to visit with them & have some tasty Coastal Coffee, i have photos from the library picnic & swimming at art's on friday, a shot or two from patricia's bbq on saturday & tomorrow we're showing wonderful things from the collection to our students so i'll probably take more then...  wheee!

or it's just not strong enough to cover this

i have returned from maine where the
weather was far nicer compared to
here in little rhody.  sadly my crappy
little hand-me-down computer has
finally died!  the adapter will no longer
work & the battery is long dead.  so you
will have to wait to hear from me til
monday, but for now enjoy some
photos of cups of coffee that i enjoyed
during our little road trip.

my life is like an artichoke

i know this is all you really want to see, the quilt i made while visiting my parents down south!  but i also threw in a montage of photos from the whole week at Hilton Head, South Carolina & Stockton Springs, Maine.  i have been itching to make a full-size quilt with my new... style?  technique?  not sure what to call it, but here it is 40x50"!  it now has a 1/4" seam binding out of the dark blue batik.  all the fabrics are batiks except for that turquoise sunflower print, i tried to take it out of the mix, but it just tied everything together so perfectly.  the bottom half is one large stripey piece.  the photos are a little blurry, but i think you can get the idea.  so now how the hell should i quilt this thing?

in addition to fabric buying & quilt making, there was christmas tree decorating, cookie baking, walking on the beach, and yes, even a little driving!  then, sans my luggage, wednesday night i got off the plane & hopped into Art's little beetle with bookstore kristen & zipped up to visit Mike & Marsha again for New Years.  i ate 2 lobsters one night, went to Belfast for First Night, & fell in love with the small kitty Mocha. that's a photo of me down below holding Morty their other cat so you can truly appreciate how large he is!

 

knockabout club in the tropics

 
aww, isn't the lobster cute?  and tasty! yes, i'm still thinking about maine!  here are some photos of must-have-meals: crabmeat roll, coffee & popovers, & lobster.

thank you all for helping with the coffee fund, i'm up to $12!  my landlord took pity on me & lent me his old coffee maker.  that was after he tried calling me before 8:30am & found me a bit cranky...  i feel guilty being so forlorn about my lack of coffee when so many are much worse off down south.  have you seen that Crafters United has a shop set up on etsy?  it's great to see so many crafters reach out to help, i hope to have something up on it soon.
  i've spent my weekend tiling in the kitchen, cleaning my studio, sewing little quilts & trying to make the whole apartment look presentable.  it's quite sad & lonely in there, it echoes because two rooms are completely empty now that abby moved out.  i still haven't found a new roommate so if you know anyone nice...  i did show the apt on sunday, but that was awful, she clearly didn't like me & barely looked at the room.  i forgot how intrusive & hurtful it is to let strangers in to scrutinize your home.  i don't want to go through this again, it makes me think seriously about living alone.
in a cabin?
in maine?
filled with reproduction fabrics?
in many shades of brown?
(that's the Busy Thimble in Litchfield, ME)
we had our second annual block party on sunday & it was awesome.  perhaps not as many people came, but it was much more comfortable this time & my orange chocolate pound cake was a hit.  i got to know some of my neighbors better & even met someone my own age!  i think i need to have a little bbq this weekend, perhaps an "erica's apt is lonely & empty please fill it with friends" kind of bbq.  maybe i will ply them with cheap alcohol & stuff them with food so they have to crash on my couches...  this is starting to sound like a plan...

green grass of tunnel - Múm

here are some beautiful photos i took in maine.  i love the limited color pallette, rich green leaves, bold blue sky & natural rocks...  these are begging to be quilts, i definitely have enough blues & greens, but i would need some grays...  it's hard to keep my mind focused on boxes & mats today with all these lovely ideas swirling around!

the cheerleaderening begins

  so i have returned.  well, i actually came back sunday night, but the last few days have zipped by.  maine was gorgeous, as always, the weather was perfect & the people were wonderful.  teresa & i drove up on tuesday, heading straight for my favorite fabric store the Busy Thimble, Litchfield, Maine & then on to dysarts the trucker diner where i was mocked by an unusually large platter of onion rings.  there was also a yarn store & some crabmeat sandwiches along the way...
  i don't know what to do about the computer since, as i realized after buying all that fabric, i'm broke!  wow.  i haven't been this broke in... years.  i will try to stay late at work to load some pictures for you, but i'm not sure when since i'm itching to finish those quilts i started before vacation.  suddenly there isn't enough time!  it's my fault, really, for having so much fun this summer: i was lazy & relaxed & now, as a result, i am penniless.  i guess i'm not too sad about it, i can pay my rent & eat food & i love my job - so i'm still pretty damn lucky!  now if only my roommate abby wasn't moving away, then i could sleep better at night...

some!

i had an amazing time up in maine for new years. my friend Art, drove us up to visit his friends Marsha & Mike. they built a little cabin in the woods & live there with their giant cat. they were so nice to me even though we'd never met before, fed us lobsters, provided coffee, took us out & let us sleep in. every time i visit maine i want to live there, at least a few months of the year! i definitely have to learn how to drive first... i have so many pictures i want to post, but for now here are some of the new fabrics i got in my travels to the south & the north: