mmm.... coffee.....

i'll just type it up on my invisible typewriter...

i've been terrible about updating over here & i'm sorry.  things have been pretty great & i've been super busy, but i'm going to try to fill you in on what's been going on for the past week or so - in mostly picture form:

my birthday was on friday, it was swell.  besides being taken out to lunch a couple times last week, i made a big dish of baked ziti friday night & some friends came over, they brought cupcakes, blintzes, presents & themselves.   it was one of those great get-togethers where there's all these different people who are mostly unconnected except through me, but because they're all super cool they all got along.  art baked a cake for me in my fancy bundt pan & even made this super sweet sign to go on top:

he's been staying with me for a couple weeks while they're waiting for the house his sister bid on.  it's been really fun having him around.  he's the cleanest, most organized roommate i've ever had: he cooks dinner, washes dishes, cleans the bathroom & even throws my towels in the laundry!  i'm getting a little spoiled. 

last week we made caramel apples one night & candy apples another.  i've never had either of them, they were both fun to make, but eating the candy apples was a little unnerving since my front teeth are porcelain.

one night i came home & he had crabs, mussels & quahogs steaming.  this past saturday his sisters came over & brought lobsters & steamers!  seriously, spoiled.

oh yeah, the alumni sale!  that happened the weekend before & it went really really well.  i wasn't able to bring as much as i wanted, but i sold more than i expected so, sweet, no complaints.  the creatures were a huge hit, i'd forgotten just how much fun they are to sell.  i had quite a few people come up to the table who had bought them in past years & were excited to see them once again.  i'll definitely sew a pile of them for Craftland.

i'll try not to stay away for so long again - i still have to catch you up on 2 weeks ago when my family went out to Shelter Island....

when we've got a yachting question we'll come to you

it is completely the wrong time of year for honeysuckle to be in bloom, but the weather in Providence is so weird that there are also crocuses popping up around town.  this is what i love so much about walking everywhere.  yes, there are often times i wished i could drive & owned a car, but then i would miss out on little things like the smell of a random honesuckle bush... 

today is all about the little things, like a delicious little cup of illy coffee from my french press, toasty scrambled eggs with crispy little local potatoes on a Taylor Smith Taylor plate & piles of little strange creatures multiplying everywhere:

oh, have i told you about that yet?  after about a 2 year break, i'm sewing strange stuffed creatures again!  people kept asking about them & i realized that i still have a reputation as the girl who makes those little guys & i like that.  i'm really enjoying it, i'm tired of fighting with vinyl & these are so satisfying.  (if you're a new reader, check out this album for more info) i took the day off from the library to stay home & get a jump start on my weekend of sewing.  i only have the next 3 days to get as much done as i can for the upcoming RISD Alumni Sale because i will be out of town the week before.  it's crazy, i know, but i'm trying to make it work...  wish me luck!

gasp & swoon, i just caught the vapors!

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World's Margarita Cupcakes:

is this the first time i've posted a photo of this particular recipe?  i've actually made them several times, but the icing is so runny they melt if not kept in the fridge.  this time i started with the vegan buttercream frosting recipe & replaced some of the soymilk with the tequila & fresh lime juice.  it came out perfect - it has the flavor of the margarita icing with the stiffness of the buttercream.  i also made vegan mocha cupcakes with coffee-buttercream frosting, but i haven't frosted them yet.  why am i making all these delicious cupcakes?  because tomorrow is our little neighborhood block party!

(apologies for my sleepiness, photo taken pre-coffee) i shaved my little head last night - it's been 2 years since i stopped buzzing my hair off.  i have both enjoyed & hated having longer hair, but never got comfortable having my hair professionally cut with any frequency... okay, i went once.  once in two years i paid someone* to cut my hair & yes, i loved it!  yet, here i am again, happily cutting it off myself & besides, it will only grow back.

*she's amazing:  Jocelyn at the Trade Secret in the Providence Place Mall

anything that we can afford to lose, see that it's lost

i was sitting here on my couch thursday evening when i was suddenly overwhelmed by the desire to embroider an octopus on one of my quilts!  so (instead of eating dinner) i scurried into my studio & got to work on a sea of blues, greens & blue-greens.  i cut & pieced most of it together that night & added the long strips of silk & green edging this afternoon. 

now i'm sketching swirly stylized cephalopods while watching Pirates of the Caribbean, trying to decide what looks just right...  earlier today i watched an episode of Lobster Wars -  i am still feeling influenced by my recent trip to maine & missing it dearly (especially with this hot & humid weather that makes me want to shave my head) but all i need is to look back over my photos for inspiration:

uh, that's a horse with a sword on his head & he guards my hopes & dreams

aha, there it is: three little quilts all in one afternoon signals the beginning of holiday sewing season!  perhaps it was the trip to maine, the trip to Point Judith, locating a misplaced pile of fabric, eating an entire plate of eggs, toast, bacon & potatoes at the diner this morning & not being hungry for the rest of the day or maybe it's just the gorgeous weather we're having... 

which ever one it is, i don't care, i'm just happy to be sewing quilts in my studio again.  it's been too long, dear studio, i am sorry to have neglected you & your beautiful stash!  i'm considering moving all my fabric out of that room & into the middle room of the apartment. does that sound crazy?  i've got a huge blank wall that all my shelves of fabric would fit nicely along...

that first one (which is actually the last one) started with a strip of woven ribbon, the next grew from a piece of "abby" fabric (i often buy fabrics that i think my friend abby would like just because i think she'd like them) and the last one is reminiscent of a larger quilt i made for my sister to give as a wedding gift.  i'm gearing up for the RISD Fall Alumni Sale Oct. 6 & (hopefully) the Foundry Artists Show in Dec.  i also just realized that the application for Craftland is almost due so if you're thinking of applying, hurry up!

"i'm sorry i thought you were someone else." i said, "i am."

wait, did that just happen?  it all went by so quickly, 6 nights in maine, 5 days working in the coffee shop.  sigh, now i'm home & that's nice & all, but when i wake up tomorrow morning i won't be greeted by all this warm & furry cuteness:

i'd better get to bed, i'm still on the wake-up-at-6a-schedule.  good night!

let me just, uh, put the axe away...

there's a little peek at a quilt i've been working on for quite some time now.  i finally finished up the hand-quilting & binding, but haven't given it to the person i made it for yet...  i'm packing, updating my ipod, doing the dishes & leaving for maine today!  etd is noon & i've got a lot to get done before then so:  hello!  goodbye!  see you in a week!

it makes me think of a magical place that becomes less comfortable over time

this past saturday teresa & i visited with tara, drank delicious coffee at Amherst Coffee, bought gorgeous fabric from Valley Fabrics, ate classic diner food at the Bluebonnet Diner, bought sweet papers from essentials & played with the Wii for the first time.  it is always fun to visit tara & her cute house!  here are my fabric purchases, they seem rather dark now that i'm looking at them - perhaps i was influence by all the rain:



hopefully these new fabrics will be the inspiration i need to accomplish more quilt sewing...  i have so many ideas in my head & not nearly enough energy to get them all out - the couple days i spent handling the panorama at work were suprisingly exhausting.  it fell on me at one point, too, i have a huge bruise on my shin, but an unimpressive bruise considering one of the longest paintings in the world bashed into me.  (don't worry, the panorama was unharmed)  my plan is to do a little cleaning after work tomorrow & friday then sew a few little quilts to bring with me to MAINE!  i can do some embroidering in the car & perhaps while lounging beside a lake...  Art & i are going up for a week to help out at Coastal Coffee in Searsport, do a little yard sale thrifting, lobster eating, some swimming & a whole lot of relaxing!  i am so very excited, here, look at these photos from last year & daydream with me...

who is a cartographer to tell me where the mountains are?

just in case you need to do this some day, here is how you digitize a panoramic painting!  i'll be spending most of my time this week in the Ann Mary Brown Memorial handling this massive watercolor painting with my coworker Mae & Peter Harrington, curator of the Military Collection at the John Hay Library. 

A crew of photographers from Boston have been hired to digitize the entire 4.5 high by 273 feet long, double sided, panorama about the life of Giuseppe Garibaldi which was completed in 1859 by J.J. Story with figures by Henry Selsun.  in the mid-nineteenth century people would pay to watch a moving panoramic painting, the scenes would be scrolled by & a narrator would read an explanation.  when this project is completed i believe you will be able to watch it online & even listen to a new recording of the speech.

besides being about 150 years old, this painting travelled around a great deal so it has had many assorted repairs done to it & was once conserved by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  it has everything: delicate japanese paper repairs, heavier paper repairs (above left) that were painted to match the original watercolors, filmoplast tape & a great deal of hand-stitching along the fore edge (above right) because the painting itself is on paper & the edge is lined with canvas.

end of history lesson for today, kids.   thank you thank you, everyone who came out for ArtBeast in Somerville this past saturday, i had a lot of fun & sales were great!  the shop Magpie in Davis has been restocked with vinyl goodies & i'm done with craft fairs until October, but now i suppose it's time to start sewing quilts for the holiday season...

we make our own stock, but by all means use stock cubes if you have no self esteem

someone is making a mess in the kitchen baking vegan margarita cupcakes...  hmm, if i don't eat 'em all i'm going to bring these to ArtBeat on saturday & share them with the other crafty ladies!  they're still cooling, but i tasted the batter & it was deeelicious.  and yes, they are indeed from the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World cookbook.