cordeliaknits

I'm back!

No, I didn't take an impromptu vacation (I wish!), nor was I committed or hospitalized or imprisoned for my inability to check things off of my looong To Do list.

It's not nearly that exciting.  My internet (and in fact, the whole wireless network at school) has been down for 5 days!  I just got home from my meetings this morning and found it is back up, Thank the Lord!

This is just a quick post to let you know where I've been, and, barring any further network interruptions, that I will be back to my more-or-less regular blogging.

And, for those of you who asked for pictures of the animals and how they interact with each other, here you go!  I snapped this picture a few days ago when I turned from my seat at the desk to see that Deacon and Peanut were sharing the bed for their afternoon siestas.  Of course, I woke them with the camera, but they soon went back to sleep, mostly ignoring each other.

It's a delicate balance of animal personalities that we balance here these days.  Occasionally the dogs chase Deacon, or he growls at them when they get too close.  Other times, they all gather in the same area of the flat and ignore each other.  I think this is good preparation for our upcoming move to the trailer, which is a much smaller space!

Cute overload

Baby Calliope loves my pooh bear!

And I love her.  Wish I could babysit all the time!  She's just so damn cute and sweet and has a great disposition--except when she's hungry, wet, or constipated, which was her issue a few hours after these pictures were taken!

It's a good thing her mother is a friend and a really good mom, 'cause otherwise it would be very hard for me to resist stealing this little one!

another friday

I have no new pictures for you, except for this one, which I took on Telegraph Ave. the other day while stopped at a light.

I still have overdue papers to write, and tons to do this weekend, including spending my whole Saturday at a Confirmation retreat.

I started another knitting project in class yesterday, but since the recipient reads the blog, I'll have to wait a week or so to post it.

I would give just about anything right now for a few days of vacation or retreat, somewhere quiet and beautiful and without any homework or responsibilities.  I would knit and read novels and cuddle.

Adam, my mentor at church, suggested I try to take a little trip like that after graduation, but I'm not sure how I could swing that, both time and money-wise.  Any ideas?

where am I?

Well, my friends, I am in the midst of the last month of school.  Also known as Senioritis!

I am doing some knitting in between freak-outs.  As you can see, I'm working on another vertical drop stitch scarf, this time in bright pink!  It's going more slowly that the last one did, mostly because it has no deadline, and is mostly classroom knitting.

I have some papers to make up, since I was under the weather last week, and I am swamped with stuff at church.  It's hard to believe, but my internship ends just three Sundays from now.  It will feel very strange to be 'just' a member, and no longer a minister there, even though I am only the Minister in Training.

Les, meanwhile, is working on fixing her bike, working on helping me pack up my stuff (a monumental task, as Sisterknits can attest), and working on figuring out how we are all (two adults, two dogs and a cat) going to fit in her 28 foot trailer come May 30!

She is also reading for FUN, since she decided to audit her Bible class, and is no longer doing the homework.  Lucky her!

just one more quilt post

Les and I both liked this quilt, made from a '50's printed tablecloth!  I don't think you can really go wrong with rickrack, can you?

Here's a really detailed one.  Love the bark on the tree and the use of flowers (presumably) cut out from printed fabric.  The quilting on it was gorgeous too--must have been done by a long-arm quilting machine.

Finally, I am really into doors and windows right now, and I love the colors and imagery in this quilt. 

My favorite part is the block down at the bottom that looks like a cloister with a dark brown walkway.

The quilt show was very inspirational, and unlike the bead show that I have gone to at the same convention center, it wasn't just endless rows of vendors, which was refreshing. 

The big room was circled with booths, and then the quilts were hung in many rows all through the middle of the room.  There were SO MANY quilts!  I got a lot of inspiration.

The fabric selection at the booths was a little disappointing, however.  I expected more variety, and to see fabrics that I haven't seen in the stores around here.

I suppose I'm just spoiled by good fabric stores now, though, because there were only a few designs that I hadn't seen and really liked.  I am into batiks right now, and one booth had a good selection of batik fat quarters, but it seemed to me like I could get the same or very similar fabrics at the store anytime.  Also, I didn't have a project in mind for them, so I didn't feel like fishing through and picking stuff out that might or might not work well with what I have at home.

I have started hand quilting the Japanese panel for Les.  It's going to take a LONG time, but I am excited about it.

more quilts and future plans

Loved this chicken quilt!  Didn't think I'd ever say those words, as chicken imagery has never really appealed to me, but the colors and fabrics in this quilt just worked so beautifully together!

This one will definitely go in my inspiration file, just based on colors alone.

I couldn't resist this one, as ravens have a special place in my heart (my first tattoo was of 3 ravens!).  I think the background fabric is hand-dyed.  GORGEOUS!!!

And what about this one?  Not super artsy, but pretty cute, eh?  Well, we saw it at a booth and thought how sweet it is for a baby quilt, so right before we left the quilt show, Les bought the kit for me, so I can make it for our future baby! 

This "someday baby" might very well be of Mexican descent, since I'm leaning towards foster-to-adopt, and Hispanic children are the fastest growing population in foster care, at least in California.  And that would be nice, because Les is Hispanic too!

In other future planning news, my profile has been sent to many churches in the past few days, and I've heard from one so far, in rural Michigan (only about an hour and a half away from the festival land, for those in the know). 

I don't know if I'll consider them yet, as I'm waiting for the church profile to arrive, but it sure is exciting to imagine stuff, now that possibilities are seeming more possible, if you know what I mean.

quilts

Well, the quilt show on Saturday was great fun, and I got tons of pictures of gorgeous quilts, so I's going to be difficult to decide what to post.

This one was really cool.  It's made entirely of steeped, dyed and painted, hand-sewn teabags!  This quilter must drink a lot of tea, because the artist's statement said that she has been making teabag quilts for the past several years!

Here is a detail of one of my favorites, I think it is called "A View From the Bay."  The detail was great, and the quilt was done in several panels, as if modeled after several photographs lined up panoramic-ally.

Here is Les' favorite quilt of the day (who knew she's the traditional type?), a king-sized wedding ring quilt in blues.  It was very lovely and obviously took a lot of work.

At some point in the afternoon, Les snuck away and bought this Japanese cotton panel.  Her Chinese astrological sign is the Rabbit, and she loves waves, so this one was perfect for her.  I'm planning to quilt it entirely by hand, so it will take a while, but it will be a nice summer project.

OK, that's all for now.  Later I will show you what I'm knitting this week, and some more trailer park pictures, 'cause I know you love those!

sun and a big old dog

Thanks for all the picture requests!  I'll start with some sunny pictures for those of you in gloomy climates.

Here's the view from my desk at work.  You see, even when it's always beautiful out, we still have to work--that's the bad thing about mostly lovely weather!

Thankfully, Friday I only work until 2, so I was able to get out in the sun (and the 85 degree temps!!) with the dogs in the afternoon.

Here's Asha, romping on the quad.  She also loves to roll around in the grass, as you can see.

And one more for today's Asha pictures.  This was taken last weekend while I was hanging out at Les' trailer.  It was chilly last weekend, but I wanted to be outside, so I'm wearing her camo coat and huddling under a Harley blanket.  As you can see, Asha is posing regally, as she is wont to do.

OK, y'all.  Today we're headed to a quilt show (!) so I'm hoping to have some great pictures to show you from that excursion.

Hope your weekend is as sunny and warm as ours is!

what to blog?

I've fallen into a trap again--the trap of not posting because I don't have any new and/or interesting pictures to post.  I know I can't do too many posts without pics, or you'll all get bored and stop reading.  So what can I do??

I've been working on a few new art quilts, but I don't have pictures of them yet, since they aren't done.  I'm working on a new scarf that I'm mainly knitting on during class, but again, no pretty picture of that either!

Tomorrow, though, Les and I are going to a quilt show at the Oakland Convention Center!  Hopefully picture-taking will be allowed, because the lady at the fabric store told be there will be art quilts there!

In the meantime, why don't you leave a comment and let me know what you'd like me to take pictures of.  What do you want to see more of?  Sunny Berkeley?  Knitting and sewing?  Me and Les?  Animals?  I'm open to all suggestions.

happy tuesday

A Tuesday with no classes or appointments is a wonderful thing!  My usual class was canceled today, and I didn't realize it in time to set up any church meetings in its place (phew!), so I have a day to myself today!

I have been quite productive so far, and actually FINISHED AND SUBMITTED MY PROFILE!!!  Now, for those who aren't in the know, the profile is like a big old resume that will get me a job in a church.  I finished the writing of the essays and all the little parts and got all my references in a few weeks ago, but I have been waiting for the draft to be approved by my conference minister, which happened yesterday afternoon! 

This morning I got the profile guy in Ohio to open it back up for me, I made a few changes to the essays and edited a few things, and clicked on the button that makes it all final!  This is a big deal because a) Now I'm not allowed to change anything in the profile for 6 months, and b) within a few days, churches all around the country will receive my profile and start wishing I would come to be their minister!

In other Happy Tuesday news, I took a walk in the sun, got some iced coffee, ate yummy leftovers for lunch, and now I'm going to do some sewing!  I might even start a paper that's due next week (which is what Les thinks I should be doing right now) after I have had some good art time.