Friday, February 6, 2009

Egg finishing...




This hand-painted canvas from Associated Talents is finished into a shaped Easter Egg. This sweet little egg is finished with a periwinkle ultra suede backing and is trimmed with woven grosgrain ribbon. The bow on top is made from polka-dot ribbons, lace, and pearls.

Pillow - Flowers with Brush Fringe



From this photograph I can see I will never again photograph on a dark background. Whoops! This is a great pillow - the textured background of the piece is echoed in the same-color-yellow/tan chenille fabric. There is twisted cording trim, green velveteen fabric frame, the chenille fabric frame, then a beautiful brush trim that matches the twisted cording and the leaves in the design. Design by Ewe and I.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

MOHAI today...

This morning we headed down to the MOHAI in Seattle to meet up with some other homeschoolers for a field trip day. Most of the Seattle-area museums are free on the first Thursday of the month. It is a great opportunity to rotate through the museums and we usually time them so we catch the traveling exhibits. Unfortunately, they were changing over from one exhibit to another so it didn't take that long for us to go through the museum. I've read all the signs and the children like to play on the interactive exhibits. Brad did read signs and watched the movie about the Seattle fire.

We had lunch in the frigid lake air and then walked on the bridges through Marsh and Foster islands at the base of the 520 bridge. We made it over to the arboretum side but turned back rather than continue on - people were really cold!

The history fair is coming up and Victoria picked "Mongolia" as the country she wants to do a report on. We stopped at the library and she picked out a few books, a DVD, and two cookbooks all about Mongolia. I was really impressed with the selection there without having to reserve (and bring in) any books. Right now she's watching the Ghengis Khan movie.

I picked up the The Fine Art of Kimono Embroidery that had come in on interlibrary loan. What a gorgeous book! So many times they just show the kimono with no explanation and it's hard to see the detail because it's so far away. This one shows the kimono, then on most there is a close up detailing so you can see her detailed stitching. At the very end there is a key that lists the techniques used in each piece. It's very grand.

Most of the pieces in the Kimono Embroidery book were inspired by The Tale of Genji, a Japanese novel written hundreds of years ago. I'll confess I'd never heard of this book, but after seeing the pieces inspired by it I'll be reading the book!

Ok, Ghengis Khan movie is over so we're off to the post office to mail tax information to the accountant!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Children and life planning...

I've mentioned before my children's odd life goals. Take Victoria's desire to rule China and Russia together. Madeline changes her mind daily about it - right now she's in "I'm going to be a Princess mode."

Travis, dear Travis, is obviously going to be a professional debater. Truthfully, all three of the children will be great debaters. Not so much philosophers as just-plain-likes-to-argue debaters. They come by it honestly as Brad loves to play devil's advocate and I am a Taurus and just don't like to change my mind.

Travis, young Travis, is learning how to argue and cajole about nursing. Now, between the three children, I've nursed for six years. A few years ago a study was published about women who long-term breastfeed are less likely to get cancer. So, I figure, I've hit six years and I can be done. :-) I very seriously told Travis when he was two that he needed to start working on weaning. I told him a few months ago that when he's three he doesn't need to nurse anymore. Leading up to his birthday I told him that when he's three he'll be a big boy and doesn't need to nurse any longer.

His reply? "I'm not big! You're big. Daddy's big. Taria's [Victoria] big! I'm little!" When asked about Madeline, he replies that Madeline is little, like him.

Now, I've had to change the tune because we've also been using the "Big boys use the potty" line and I really don't want him to say he can't use the toilet because he's too little.

So, we work down the amounts we nurse and then I sort of cut the nursing short, much the same way that mother cats just get up and walk away. He'll try and call me back with "There's still milk in there!"

Other times, he'll try and cajole me. "That shirt is a wow! I want to nurse!" or, when I hold up a finished needlework piece, "Wow! I want to nurse!" or "I'm sleepy, I want to nurse." It's odd to me because my girls were so non-verbal that we really have no idea if this is how three-year-olds sound.

I remember, and still love, Lucia's comment that when people ask her about when she's going to wean her son she tells them she's working on it. She adds in her head "it may take four years!" Surely I won't be nursing a four-year-old. Right?




***Additional note. Please don't send me "helpful" comments like "Just cut him off" or "Let him cry it out." Those aren't helpful. I'm not really asking for help - I know he'll end when he's ready.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

PNB 2009-2010...

The subscription renewal form for Pacific Northwest Ballet came in today's mail. Upcoming pieces include:

Balanchine's Coppélia
Romeo et Juliette (Saw in Feb. 2008)
Artifact II
Mopey (chor. by Marco Goecke - see his unusual Nutcracker on Youtube)
Lambarena (1, 2, 3)
Waterbaby Bagatelles from Twyla Tharp
Balanchine in America Festival, including Serenade, Concerto Barocco, Square Dance, and The Four Temperaments
Also listed were new works from Ulysses Dove, Jiri Kylian, and Val Caniparoli.

I'm most excited about Coppélia. Léo Delibes wrote the score and it is, without doubt, my favorite piece of classical music. The plot, like most ballets, can be rather laughable, but oh - the music! Whenever I'm stressed while driving it is the piece I click my ipod to and then I swing away.

The Waterbay Bagatelles looks very interesting. I like Twyla's pieces!

Still to come this year is Broadway Classics. "Take 5, More or Less" is brilliant. I found this little bit online, but it's rather disappointing - SO much better in person and when you get to see the entire thing.

Youtube is always fun to watch ballet on - you never know what you're going to get. I love the comedic pieces - Go For Barocco I and II, for instance. My daughters LOVE this one from the movie "Center Stage".

Anyway, I do think I'm going to renew for the year. I have a few months before I have to do so (and pay!) and I will also be waiting for the final calendar to come out.

Monday, February 2, 2009

PNB Balanchine's "Jewels"...

I took Victoria today to see the "Jewels" ballet at Pacific Northwest Ballet. I do love ballet! We had seen "Rubies" during "All Balanchine" last year but this was my first time seeing "Diamonds" and "Emeralds" in person. There - I'm all done with the quotation marks. :)



Of course, I love the costumes. Truly 8 times out of 10 I love the costumes! They were glittery and floaty and just fancy. Very fun.



The dancing was mixed for me - perhaps most of the regulars just had the day off but honestly I wasn't impressed with Emeralds. I couldn't figure out if one ballerina was 1/4 count fast or if the other ballerina was 1/4 count slow.



Rubies was fun - bright and fast and sharp.



Diamonds was very elegant - floating dancing with great solos. The ending was a big whoosh!



This was the first ballet we attended in which Victoria has ever fallen asleep. Anyway, the next one is "Broadway Hits" so that should be more exciting. :)

Sunday, February 1, 2009

The Everyday Table Topper quilt...

This is what sharp points *should* look like. :)



This is a Moda fabric collection, called "Tranquility", and the pattern is "The Everyday Table Topper" from Charmed and Dangerous.

I pieced and quilted this this evening and hand stitched the binding. Very fun! Right now it's displayed on an end table in the living room. I store some of my finished quilts folded up on the below shelf.