Reason #47 For Not Quilting

Simon Schama Bound & Finished

Incidentally, I got into his next series, Simon Schama's Power of Art, and I highly recommend this to anyone (anyone over 13, that is). Since he is an art history teacher, this is his passion. He takes 8 famous artists and talks about how tortured they were, and how their art reflected the times they lived in. I loved it. I look at these quilts as geneology of the future. My grandchildren will be able to see what the fabric styles were like and what I did with them.

Vacation Aquisitions

So you're on vacation (remember those days?) and you're at some bazaar or open air market. There's some unique local handmades that really touch you, but mostly it's row after row of the same old kitchy Made in China tourist magnets. Most of it's junk, I know, but here's a testimonial for buying a little bit of tacky on each vacation.

Tracey collects miniature landmarks from her trips: London double decker bus, miniature Eiffel Tower, etc. And on a small shelf in her room at home, it all looks magical. My mother-in-law collects magnets from the places they visit (and sometimes bring one home for us) and I love how it looks at home. Vacations get better the further away we are from them. For instance, I revel in the magic of Disneyland much more six months after we were there and my children are still talking about the Dumbo ride, than when I'm actually getting sick on the Dumbo ride.

A few years ago, while my in-laws were living in Hawaii for a few years on an LDS mission, we went to visit. My daughter woke up at 4AM EVERY morning for all 10 days, and my son was generally afraid of the ocean waves. It took an hour of windy road to drive anywhere in our cramped rental car. However, at the Aloha Statium Market, I bought the above pineapple sampler. It's not hand done, and they were everywhere, but I've hung it in my studio and it reminds me of that far away time of fresh Dole pineapple smoothies, the Waikiki Aquarium, and discovering Thai food for the first time.

For my 21st birthday, I went to Paris with Tracey and Mom. We sat on our luggage in the spare compartment of 2 trains to ride out to Mont St. Michel overnight. I loved it, and there were TONS of little stores all selling the same souveniers. I bought a few tapestries like the above, and this little purple Paris drapeau. It's been a decade and I haven't done anything with them yet, but I will. I'm getting closer. And I'm glad I bought them.

So next time you're lucky enough to escape, buy a little something tacky to bring home and do something fun with. I've found that a whole lot of the same souveniers on the pier in San Francisco all look the same there, but one special one looks like memories at home.

Fabric Sample Sale

My neighbor came over on Friday and told me about a fabric sample sale a lady was having in her garage over the weekend. Apparently this woman's husband is a fabric vendor, and twice a year they sell the left over samples. I'm so glad to have heard about it, and even more glad to get on her mailing list. I'll let you all know when she does it again in the fall. Here are my great finds:

This is my favorite, a big piece of this vintage Superman from her stash. My son has been wearing it tied to his neck ever since I brought it home. (He just saw this picture flash up as I'm typing and he got so concerned that it's been made into a quilt already. I'd hate to ruin a man's cape!)

And since I spent over $25 (no big surprise there!), they gave me this sweet charm pack.

The Simon Schama Quilt

It may be weird to name a quilt after an old British historian, but this quilt will always make me think of Simon Schama.

One of my quilt goals for this year is to do 2 quilts entirely from my scraps. I loved this IKEA fabric (black border), so I pulled colors that went with it, thinking I'd just make enormous 25-patches of each color, thanks to an inspiring scrap quilt of my friend, Erica's. And then I started watching the 15-part History of Britain, written and narrated by Simon Schama. My mother is a big Anglophile, so the kings and queens of Britain always interested me. And then in college I went on a British Literary tour and fell in love with English countryside myself. (I would insert a picture of me at Wordsworth's house or in front of Hadrian's Wall at this point, but digital photography hadn't found me yet then.)

As I watched the show, Schama kept visiting cathedrals and castles and the floors were all black & white marble checkerboard. My scrap quilt kept evolving, even before I started sewing, until the checkerboard of the churches of England crept into my quilting. They definitely didn't have this kind of color in their tiles for most of English history, but the black contrast does the job.

I'd also like to digress at this point, that although I quilt and watch British History series, I am still only (almost) 31 and like to do plenty of things more "my age", whatever those activities may be.

My Favorite Books

My birthday is coming up, and I thought it might be devilishly romantic if my husband made sure I had a used copy of all of my very favorite books. I told him about it and offered to make a list, and he loved the idea. And then as the days wore on, the idea lost its sparkle. I guess it's something I'd rather do for myself.

I know there are lots of sites to list books you like, but I don't really manage those very well, despite being an avid reader and lit major in college. So I've included a list on the side of my blog of my very most favorite books. I like a lot more, but these are the ones that top my list.

Blue & Cream Block Exchange

My quilt group gets together twice a year to exchange blocks and last weekend was our fun (see next post's slideshow). This is really the only time I get to see my old friends. I enjoy seeing what everyone is doing, and deciding on the next quilt project to do together. I have no idea what I'll do with these blue & cream blocks. I'll let it stew until something inspires. Our next project is an Aunt Grace pinwheel variation and since I haven't done any 30's quilts for several years, I'm ready again.

Another Quimper Find

I got the day off on Friday, and Tracey and I played in the Sugarhouse area. There are so many fun shops down there, it was nice to get out and get into some of them. We also tried Indian food for the first time, and I highly recommend the falafel at O, Falafel on 21st South.

We went into Home Goods, and I'm glad there's not one closer to me. I'd be spending money in there all of the time. Among other great finds, I found this tablecloth that reminded me of the Quimper fabric I posted about last week. I'm going to use the stripe on it for the border of my quilt, and the center of it for the backing.