Simple Pleasures

Early this morning, my friend, Terri, sent email with some sage advice for my recent defeated state of mind:

Treat yourself to something nice, even if it's just a good cup of coffee or a drive in the country.

So, I made myself an iced latté and, since I knew Terri was awake (and had also mentioned in her email that she had no real plans for the day), I decided to have a cup of coffee with her, and picked up the phone and called her. And what a coincidence, she had just made herself a cup. I talked too long–I was procrastinating my day ahead–but it was thoroughly delightful.

She was sitting outside on her balcony . . . I was inside with windows shut and air conditioning on. I am currently trying to teach the cats, Johnny Be Good and Grace Hopper, the meaning of the phrase "It's too hot." They sit in front of the French Doors and look longingly in my direction, no doubt wondering why we no longer leave the doors wide open for hours so they can enjoy the fresh air and chase the occasional fly at their leisure. This morning it was 85 degrees at 5:30 AM. It really was "too hot" to entertain the idea of turning off the AC and opening wide the French doors for them . . . but, they continue to make me feel like a bad cat-mom, as they stretch out in front of the doors, roll over on their back and call me over to scratch their bellies and flirt with me. I'm pretty sure that cats have a very different idea of how hot is "too hot" since they seem to love to lie on the bare, hot concrete floors in front of the sunny windows, but I haven't given up on the idea of communicating the concept of "too hot" (for me) to them.

I have been waiting a few weeks for another "cold front" and another "cooler" 90-degree day or two, so I could move the things I have in storage in Irving to my newly acquired storage in the building, but the cooling thing wasn't happening so I've spent the last two days driving back and forth and moving just about everything anyway, despite the triple digit high temperatures, despite the Orange Alert, bad air quality conditions. I'll make one more trip tomorrow morning to pick up my bike and everything that I can move myself will be moved.

After my second trip today, Brenda, the manager of the storage facility had another great suggestion for me, that I go to the fountain in Millennium Park and just

Enjoy the spray

She said the fountain had been turned up full force. She thought I should wait until the sun wasn't so high in the sky so I didn't fry my pale self . . . so at the end of my long day, I decided to go check it out.




I thought a picnic dinner sounded good (and meant no cooking when I got home), so I picked up a torta at a restaurant near the pet-friendly motel where I lived with my two cats when we first arrived in Texas. I am showing you a small photo because that yummy torta really was almost as big as my head . . . but it was so tasty, even if I could only finish about one third of it.







Here was my "table-side" view . . . OK, there weren't any tables, but that didn't matter. Did I mention that as I drove to the restaurant, I saw a sign that said at 8PM the temperature was 100 degrees? But the sun was just beginning to set; there was a slight breeze and it was actually very pleasant by the fountain. I confess that I dined on the side of the fountain that was away from the spray, but walked around the fountain afterward to enjoy the full effect. It was heavenly.



The people-watching was also great. You might notice in these photos that some of the people in the park were enjoying a bit more than just the "spray" from the fountain.



The kids were having a blast. Though I wondered how the parents of a couple of them were able to compel their offspring to come out of the water before the sun had completely set, their joy was so obvious. I saw so many great photographic opportunities, I really regretted not having my camera. I think these iPhone photos hint at the energy and beauty there.

Today was so much work and so hot, and at this moment, my back is killing me–I am sure it will feel much worse tomorrow–but I am thinking about the simple pleasures that marked its beginning and end and my thoughtful friends who made a tedious day really pretty wonderful with their advice and suggestions for me. How incredibly lucky and grateful I am to have people like Brenda and Terri in my life.

Oklahoma Boomer Quilt Block Pattern

The Ladies Art Company first published the Oklahoma Boomer block in 1898. I have always loved this block and couldn't resist including it for the block lotto in our year of traditional blocks . . . it's just a happy coincidence that I saw a production of The Wizard of Oz a couple weekends ago and keep seeing the Tin Man, an alternate name you might see used, as in Judy Hopkins & Nancy Martin’s 101 Fabulous Rotary-Cut Quilts.

For those who happen to have a copy of Judy Hopkins & Nancy Martin’s 101 Fabulous Rotary-Cut Quilts, I will reference the same Alpha characters for each piece, so you can reference your book, it is helpful to you. Their version of the block is the same size (6 inches, finished size) but is made from three fabrics, instead of our two color blocks.

The main challenge in making this block is careful measuring and cutting and sewing that 1/4-inch seam. You also have an opportunity to make and work with a template.

Fabrics

For the July Block Lotto, we'll be making this block in two colors, a cream tone-on-tone (TOT) print BACKGROUND fabric and your choice of RED or BLUE TOT main (BOOMER) fabric.

Make a template

If you were making multiple blocks from the same fabric (or don’t mind wasting some fabric), you would cut the large triangle head (A) by cutting a 3 1/4 inch square and cutting it twice diagonally. But since I’m going to tell you that you cannot repeat your BOOMER fabric in more than one block . . . the easiest thing to do is to make a template for that triangle. If you have card stock or template plastic, you can make a template by cutting a 3 1/4 inch square and cutting it twice diagonally and using one of the triangles for your template for the head (A). If you don’t, grab a standard size business card.


Most standard sized business cards are 2” x 3.5”





It will probably be easier to work with from the back, so flip it over.



Trim it so that it’s 3 1/4 inches wide.



Align the 45-degree line on your ruler along the bottom edge and cut an angle from the bottom right corner.



Flip over your card and repeat. Your template is ready to use.

Cutting

Use the template to cut the Head (A) piece from your BOOMER fabric by aligning the longest edge on grain on your fabric.

Again, if you don't mind wasted fabric, you can also cut a 3-1/4 inch square and cut it diagonally twice and use ONLY one of the resulting triangles.


For the rest of the BOOMER pieces, you'll need:
One 1” square for neck (B)
Two rectangles, 1” x 2-1/2” for arms (C)
One rectangle, 2-1/4”x 2-1/2” for body (D)
Two rectangles 1” x 3-1/4” for legs (E)


From the BACKGROUND fabric, cut:
Two rectangles, 2” x 2-1/2” for above arms (F)
Two rectangles 2-1/2” x 4-1/2” for below arms (G)
One 1-7/8” square cut once diagonally into two triangles, for sides of head (H)
Two 1” x 1-1/4” rectangles for sides of neck (I)
One 1-1/2 x 3-1/4” rectangle for between legs (J)

Sewing the Block

1. Sew the center sections together first. If your block is going to come up short . . . best to find out right away, right?

As you are sewing the background to the head, the neck and the legs, press toward the dark. You don’t have to worry about any matching seams in any of this part of the block, so you can focus ENTIRELY on those 1/4 inch seams.

After all the backgrounds are attached, sew the sections together and . . . moment of truth time, measure the center section. From top to bottom, it should measure 6-1/2 inches.

Then sew the background pieces to the arms. I pressed the seams on those UP, which means the top seam is pressed toward the BACKGROUND, so I would have opposing seams at the shoulders–the ONLY matching seams you have in this block.



2. After putting the center together, adding the arms is easily done . . . and so are you ;-)

Be a "Smover" (one who smiles & moves)

It's a short 3 minute video.

Apply it to work. Apply it to life.

Are you ready? Let's smove ;-)

It Was a Dark and Stormy Midday

A major storm passed through the Dallas Fort Worth area last night and it's still raining outside . . . and inside my loft. After a restless night of waking to thunder and lightning, I thought I'd sleep a little later than usual, but my cats had other ideas and were quite vocal in their desire that I get out of bed and attend to them this morning.

I imagined it was because their food bowls were empty. I never imagined it was because their food bowls were filled with water . . . and that there was a large puddle of water at the other end of my itty bitty loft and that the rain, still pouring down quite hard and blowing sideways, was also raining inside . . . and that my dining table and chairs were sitting in water and rugs were wet.

I quickly moved furniture and picked up watere-soaked rugs, grabbed towels to mop up the water and tried to keep up with the water pouring in as best as I could. It continued to pour in Not from just under and around the French doors, as I imagined, but from the top of the door frame, above the windows as well, from where the raindrops would bounce and propel themselves quite far into the room. I put down a dry, folded towel at the point the rain was falling inside, to soak it up and prevent it's spread. My cat, Johnny, promptly decided to play . . . because, as we all know, to a cat, everything is a toy, even a dry bath towel.



Eventually, he abandoned his toy and I was able to use it as intended. Later, he would begrudgingly perched on top of it as is and watch the weather through the glass. The rain slowed a bit temporarily–and stopped blowing sideways–and I was able to take this photo of the skies above City Hall at 11AM. It's quite a contrast to the hot, bright sunny days of the past few weeks.



Since starting this blog post, the skies have opened up again and the lightning and thunder have been non-stop. I think Johnny has even joined his scaredy cat sister, Grace Hopper, deep inside a cabinet as away from the excitement as possible and I'm going to turn off the computer as soon as I finish this post. I won't be surprised if we lose power–this is pretty spectacular . . . and the water is pouring in again. Gotta run and grab some dry towels.

A New Adventure

I've always been a fan of leaving the car behind whenever possible and last Friday, I finally bought myself one of these . . . and planned to take the trains and buses whenever I can wherever I'm going for the month of June.

We'll see how it goes. So far, pretty good.

I managed to bus my way across town to meet a friend at a coffee shop on Saturday morning. That's Baylor Medical Center beyond the bus stop.

Few cities have perfect public transportation systems, and my pass won't take me every where I need to go, but it will be interesting to see how much I'll be able to use it.

On the walk from the bus back to my loft, I walked through this interesting passage between buildings that continues outside under an arbor.





As you walk through the arched passageway, you get a peek into a gallery that you completely miss, if you're driving by. It's a nice benefit for pedestrians.

My Name is Sophie and I am a Lapsed Blogger

Early this morning, Neka, a newly met friend and fellow job hunter–recently moved to Dallas from Ohio–sent me this, in an email message:

LOL! Just thinking someone needs to hire us...we're "work-a-holics"...when we're not networking, we're on the computer late at night and real early in the morning. This will come to an end soon. :)

Whether you refer to it as being "pre-employed," as one of the large DFW career transition groups prefers, unemployed, or–my personal favorite–on the hunt, looking for a job easily consumes more time and energy than any job I have ever had and I've worked in some pretty intense start-ups . . . as a consequence, quilting, knitting, and blogging about quilting, knitting and other fun things have fallen by the wayside.

. . . and yet, lately I find myself thinking about blogging about my job hunt, as a way to share the information I find with my fellow hunters and let my friends and readers see what I'm up to . . . which is sometimes interesting even if it isn't creative and filled with fiber eye candy.

Of course, I'd still need to find the time . . . and this morning, I found the answer, on Jodie's Ric-Rac blog. Crafters are the most creative problem solver's aren't they? All I really need is a Craft Clock.


As Jodie says,

When everyone around is flagging at 11pm - you can keep on rockin' through until 13 or 14 O'Clock and still get plenty of beauty sleep.

See more images of her wonderful answer to time management here: In All Good Stores.

Cactus Pot Quilt Block

The Cactus Pot quilt block was first published in the Oklahoma Farmer Stockman, on January 1, 1930 in a monthly column that was included in the journal in the 20's and 30's called Good Cheer Quilt Patterns.

FABRICS

You'll need three fabrics for this block, which I will refer to as CACTUS, POT and BACKGROUND .

Note : if you are making this block for the May 2009 Block Lotto, at least one of your fabrics–it can be any of the three–must be be a flower print.

CUTTING

From your CACTUS fabric:

One large triangle*, cut from a 3-7/8 inch square cut diagonally

Two 2-3/8 inch squares*


From your POT fabric:

One large triangle*, cut from a 3-7/8 inch square cut diagonally

Two small triangles, cut from a 2-3/8 inch square, cut diagonally


From your BACKGROUND fabric:

One large triangle*, cut from a 3-7/8 inch square cut diagonally

Two 2-3/8 inch squares*

One 2 inch square

Two 2 inch by 3-1/2 inch rectangles

Note: The squares and triangles marked with asterisks* will be used to make half square triangle units. If you like to round up and trim afterward, these pieces can be cut larger.

SEWING THE BLOCK

1. Sew the Large triangles of Cactus and Pot to form a square. It should measure 3.5 inches.
2. Use the 2-3/8 squares of Cactus and Background fabrics to make 4 half square triangle units. They should each measure 2 inches.



3. I find it helpful to lay out these units plus the square of background fabric, to make sure I have the cactus points going in the right direction before sewing them together . . . at least on the first block or two.

Sew two strips, one with two triangle units and the other with two triangle units and the background square.



4. First attach the strip with the 2 HST units.



5. Then add the longer strip to the other side.



6. Next sew the two small Cactus triangles to the end of the Background rectangles.

You need to be very gentle when sewing and especially pressing these because of the bias edges at the “bottom” of this step.



7. After these are sewn to the sides and, again, gently pressed to avoid stretching, the remaining, large background triangle (which should not be cut larger, will fit EXACTLY, to complete the block.

I left the “bunny ears” on the sides to make it a little easier to align the triangle at the bottom. If you trim first, the points will overhang a little so that after the seam is sewn, you have a straight edge.



You’re done!

Very Mary and Synchronicty

Very Mary had a giveaway on Friday and I won! Thank you, Mary.



And, as it turns out, some of this sweet floral upcycled, fabric will be just perfect for the lotto blocks we're making for May . . . hint, hint, hint. Isn't Synchronicity a wonderful thing?

Best Intentions

April is National Poetry Month . . . and while I had the best of intentions to write, publish and honor National Poetry Month on my blog this month, it hasn't been happening, has it?

But when I saw this cartoon, on the Savage Chickens Blog, I had to give a passing nod to The World of Poetry and share.

Powering the Entire State of Texas by Solar

A recent study released by Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization, and several environmental organizations has concluded that solar technology alone could supply electricity for the whole state of Texas.

Isn't that simply amazing? Read more here.

A Shared History

Michael Emerson, the talented actor who plays Benjamin Linus on Lost, worked as a freelance illustrator for The Boston Globe in the 70's and the 80's. In this interview with Jimmy Fallon, you can see some of his work (he also reads a children's story . . . as only he can). I also worked at The Boston Globe briefly in the 80's.

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Maybe we passed one another in the mammoth 24/7 cafeteria where everyone ate. I still remember the blue and black chairs in that space: you sat in a black chair if worked around the presses and might have ink on your clothes; you sat in the blue chairs if you didn't want to end up with ink on your clothes. Otherwise, eveyone ate together and the place was always buzzin'. There was a baker in the kitchen and the pastries in the morning were to die for . . . I probably gained upwards of 10 pounds working there . . .

Sunday Drive

Standing on a hillside, completely surrounded by bluebonnets, I felt a little like Dorothy, approaching the Emerald City, in the field of poppies, with flowers as far as the eye could see, intoxicated by the aroma.

It was incredible. And all that fresh air, blue skies and beautiful nature really inspired some design ideas today.

Obviously, I opted for getting out of the city for some nature over going to the art fair today and went in search of bluebonnets and . . . found them: alongside the highway, in meadows and pastures, in front yards, on hill sides. They were spectacular.

Here are a few photos from the afternoon. Click for larger images of any of these. The gate on the left says Bluebonnet Hill. The "Hill" itself is on the right.





This pair of artists really made me wish I had the confidence to set up an easel and spend the day painting as the parade of camera-toting tourists like me passed by.

Even these guys, grazing among the bluebonnets attracted quite a few admirers along the side of the road.




I wonder if there's a term akin to leaf peeper for everyone who, like me, followed the signs and enjoyed the countryside today.

The trail, while well marked, at some point led me in a big circle . . . I confess, at that point, I pulled out my iPhone and asked it to navigate me home–I really need to remember to put MAPS in my car. As it turned out I was only about 10 miles back to the highway and familiar ground. Yay!

My Sunday afternoon drive in the country took me back to my childhood; I know my dad would have loved this day. When I came home, cooking a big pot of beans and rice, like he would have done, just felt so right, too . . . and it smells like it might be ready soon. Bon appetit and happy Sunday.