Freeeeeeeze Warning!

The last of the crop.

Last veggies from our garden.

It is cold here and will drop to 23 by morning. My DH recently gathered the last of the peppers and green tomatoes from our garden. We're rationing them out hoping to make them last longer. Nothing tastes like fresh tomatoes!

I've been gathering and preserving fall leaves to use in my art. These were submerged in a 2:1 mixture of water and glycerin for five days. The color is not as vivid as I'd hoped, but better than it would have been had I'd pressed them.

Leaves are drained and dried following a five-day glycerin soak.

Brilliant color from Matthew's tree.
He planted it himself when he was about 10.

Leaves are being preserved as they fall.

I'd pressed a bunch of Japanese maple leaves last year from the tree our son planted when he was little. Several were used in fiber art postcards exchanged through the art2mail group. This year the leaves will be preserved in glycerin so that they'll be more pliable.

Above are two fiber art postcards made last year.
Note the darker color of the pressed maple leaves.

Quilter's Dream

Bill and Barry placed the cabinet between the two north windows.

I turned the unit to face the design wall. This will allow plenty of room for table extension and give me a chance to gaze out the window while sewing.

My beautiful new Horn sewing system arrived today! I am so excited about finally having a really good set-up. I'm glad I decided to get the storage drawers which fit perfectly under the cabinet. And I'm already wondering what took me so long!

Barry and Bill, from Creative Sewing and Vac in Charlotte not only brought the unit upstairs, but assembled and set it up for me. They even delivered my repaired Bernina 1530! BTW - I was told the bobbin case I was using was defective. The spring which is supposed to be on the inside was instead on the outside! What??? I'd noticed that the case was completely different from the original and tended to cut the thread, but thought it was a 'new and improved' version. Not. And of course the shop where I'd purchased it is no longer in business. There was also a burr on the needle hook. No wonder the stitch was of such poor quality.

My afternoon was spent at my allergist's and running errands for Thanksgiving. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get to play in my 'new' room!

Studio Update Two

Horn 60" Quilter's Dream

It seems the studio revamp began weeks ago. I made great progress emptying the room and getting it painted, but things came to a complete halt as we awaited delivery of my new sewing cabinet. After years of procrastination I bit the bullet and ordered a 60" Horn Quilter's Dream as well as the storage chest which rolls underneath. The furniture was ready to go but the insert did not arrive until Friday. Delivery has been scheduled for early tomorrow. I cannot wait!

Since this purchase required major coin, I took advantage of a recent sale. The dealer also gave me a bigger discount as well as free delivery. And since I have a tax #, there was no sales tax. I used my Shrubby tax incentive from last summer and added money I'd saved.

The dealer will also deliver my Bernina 1530 which has been completely serviced. And since I was on a roll, I had all my sewing shears sharpened. Also on my list? A good magnifying light. I've looked but balked at the very high price - even with a 50% off coupon from Michael's. An on-line search may yield something.

As for the old furnishings - a Windsor chair was spray-painted red while an old three-drawer chest is getting a new coat of paint as well as new knobs before being placed between the fabric shelves. I'll stitch a colorful slipcover for the threadbare club chair. The old French Provincial desk went to the curb where it remained for about 15 minutes before being picked up. I'm always thrilled when a discarded piece of furniture can be used by someone else.

I can't wait for this to be completely finished. I am so ready to sew!!!

Sleep Study AKA Nightmare on Vail Avenue

What follows is probably more than you'll ever want to know about sleep studies. Read at your own peril.


I'm home from the sleep study having failed miserably. I arrived at the hospital early for my 7:30 appointment. Elizabeth, there for her 5-year follow-up, and I were taken to our perspective rooms where we were told to 'relax.' After about an hour I was hooked up to 27 separate electrodes to track brain waves, eye movement (REM), jaw movement (teeth grinding) leg movement (restless leg) and more. These were placed on my scalp, face, torso and legs. Bands were placed snugly around my upper chest and waist.

Sam, the young sleep technologist told me lights out would be 10:30. What? I haven't gone to bed at that hour for years. But I was quite tired so thought I would be fine. Then the big news. After I'd been asleep for a while, if I was found to have sleep apnea, Sam would come back and hook me up to a CPAP - a lovely little face mask about which I'd already developed a phobia. We tried on three devices which were surprisingly not bad at all.

And so it was sleep time. After what seemed like hours of tossing and turning, trying to find a comfortable position for my left knee (torn meniscus) and constantly dealing with allergies, I buzzed Sam to see if I could get to the johnny while hooked up. No. So he had to go through unhooking and reconnecting everything - not once but three times during the night. It was 1 a.m. the first time - and I had slept exactly five minutes in the preceeding 2 1/2 hours.

At one point there was a terrible loud rumbling from one of the machines. If I was asleep when that began, I was no longer so. And every time the door opened I just knew it would be Sam coming in to connect me to the dreaded mask.

The last 'bathroom break' was at 4:45. I learned I had actually fallen asleep about 2 and had slept well for 2 1/2 hours. Sam told me I could leave in about a half hour. I lay awake thinking, "Oh good. I don't have sleep apnea because I was never hooked to the CPAP." Not exactly. I do have sleep apnea but was not asleep long enough to allow a full study!

I left there feeling defeated and discouraged, knowing I'll have to repeat the test. Because I am not able to sleep well, I don't know when this will be done. Additionally, the test was probably expensive. Will insurance even pay for another?

I did have one brief respite from this lifelong sleep problem when I was taking prempro. That was stopped cold turkey following my heart attack. And the sleep doctor took me off xanax - even though I was only taking 1 mg - saying it would interfere with the study. Well so does not being able to sleep!

Sleep apnea is very serious and can be life threatening. It also is a cause of obesity (check), diabetes (check) and heart attack (check). My plan is to have the sleep doctor, my cardiologist and my psychiatrist work together to find something which will allow me to safely sleep. Only then will I give the test another go.

A room of my own. I was glad I'd brought my two pillows from home (coffee cup design) as those furnished were terribly thin. The bed was extremely soft, making it difficult to change position. And it seemed to be higher at the foot which made me think I was falling head-first into a ravine all night.

I watched the shuttle launch while 'relaxing.' Note the camera
which would record my sleep habits.

Wired for sleep. To this hook-up were added an oxygen canula plus another little wire contraption inserted in my nostrils.

Photo credit: Sam

My bed partner. I kept thinking these colorful wires would be so good in my art! Click on photo for a closer view.

The cupboard next to my bed held tons of these air hoses as well as oxygen tanks and other things I did not want to know about.

ZZZzzzzzzzz.......................................

I'm going to undergo a sleep study tonight. Oh my. My cardiologist told me in September he thinks I have sleep apnea. Why? I had complained of swollen ankles. I do not yet understand the connection.

Difficulty sleeping has been a lifelong problem for me. I have a hard time falling asleep and almost never wake up feeling rested. I'm not looking foward to this evening but want to get it over with. I was scheduled for next week but a cancellation allowed me to reschedule. I'm hoping for a good result, as I've been up since 6:15 and am worn out from a week-long allergy attack.

I'll take my camera and have a complete report tomorrow. I know you're excited.

Treasures Unearthed

Years ago I bought an old kitchen cupboard at a yard sale. It now sits in the upstairs hall just outside the studio - turned upside down as that shelf configuration suited me better. Because I'm not putting much furniture back in the newly painted studio, I need storage elsewhere. The last two days I've been culling the cupboard contents, purging actually. In the process, I found these treasures hidden away.

These cigar boxes were hidden in the back of the cupboard.

I'd been looking for the stencil and calico buttons (right side of photo) I knew I had.

I have a huge collection of vintage buttons and sewing paraphenalia.

All of my other buttons are stored together in the studio closet. I can't remember why I decided to keep these in cigar boxes as they've been there so long!

I have a very small collection of old stamps. The set on the bottom was once owned by someone named D D White, as the name is stamped inside the box lid.

I love the circa 1950 graphic on this box.

If you look closely, you'll see the comic book characters on these stamps purchased at an estate sale. I recognize Little Orphan Annie, Popeye and Olive Oyl. Does anyone know the other two? Please let me know if you do.

Veterans' Day

Bill Guerrant

Chu Lai Vietnam 1967-1968
Our son Matthew now has his combat boots.

On this Veterans' Day let us honor all of our service men and women. My husband served as a journalist and combat photographer with the Americal Division in Vietnam in 1967 - 1968. He remains forever changed.

The armband Bill wore in Vietnam along with his Vietnam service ribbon.

Happy Anniversary, Matthew and Suzie!

Matthew and Suzie

Today is the anniversary of our son Matthew and his wife Suzie. Surrounded by family and good friends, they were married three years ago today on the beach at beautiful Emerald Isle NC. We wish them many, many more years of happiness together. Happy Anniversary!!!

Photo credit: Claire Corbin

Studio Update

The studio is completely painted - walls, ceiling and trim! Yeah! Chip did a beautiful job, even returning to push bookcases back in place and reinstall hardware. It's so wonderful to have at least one room fresh and clean.

My sister was upset and tried very hard to convince me to paint the room a color instead of white. But I was adamant about having a totally neutral background against which to judge color. This will be an art quilt studio with color coming from my textiles.

I'm currently at a standstill as my Horn cabinet has not been delivered. It's in town, but the dealer is waiting for the acrylic insert to arrive. I want the largest piece of furniture to be in place before making final decisions on placement of anything else.

In the meantime, I'm sorting through boxes and boxes and boxes of things - deciding what I absolutely will need. I do not want the room to be crowded and/or cluttered. I'm finding that I don't want to mess up the newly painted walls either. But I must eventually have a bulletin board and a large design wall.

Ours is an old house built in 1926 with hardwood floors throughout. Before doing anything else (after a thorough vacuuming by Chip) I washed those in the studio and then applied two coats of wax. I love the shine! It makes my happy.

This is the wax I used. It does a nice job on old wood floors in need of refinishing. And it's the closest thing I've found to Glo-Coat, my favorite wax from the 1970s. Both it and the product above are Johnson products.

Unloading the bookcase gave me an excuse to cull the contents.
Selected works are being placed slowly.

I also emptied one area of my fabric shelves.

I purchased one more ClosetMaid drawer system at Lowe's.

We'll use a hollow core door for the top once final placement is determined.

I straightened the contents of each drawer, removing what was no longer needed. My hand-dyes are stored together.

I have a growing vintage fabric collection.
These are just a few of them.

YES HE DID!

Barack Obama
44th President-elect of the United States

I am OVER THE MOON about this election. YES I AM!!!!

VOTE TODAY!

My niece Kari chats with Michelle Obama who held a rally in Las Vegas yesterday at the college where Kari's daughter attends preschool.

For more photos and politics, visit my blog: http://yellowdogdemocratrants.blogspot.com/

Photo Credit: Josh Chenier

Studio Revamp

I emptied the studio except for the fabric stash. Thankfully, the shelves were movable as is. An empty room always looks so much bigger than it actually is!

My cellotex bulletin board shown here was removed.

The wall behind the ladder is my design wall. Using adhesive velcro, I'll hang new flannel once the room is completed.

As you can see from the windows, these photos were taken on a very cold morning last week.

I'm taking advantage of this time between quilts to revamp my studio. I began about a year ago, but didn't get very far - mainly because I had SO MUCH STUFF in the room. Our nephew Chip, who'd come by to give me an estimate for painting, suggested very politely, "Aunt Ellen...........have you ever considered getting a pod?" A pod???? Moi????? That was in March.

Once I'd delivered the wedding quilt to Rebecca, I got serious about clearing the room - a process which took me six days! Everything came down from the walls. Boxes and boxes of things were gone through. A car full of fabric and art supplies went to an art teacher, others were taken to the thrift store. Tons of files and papers were put into recycling. Then I began moving furniture out, placing it across the hall in Matthew's old room. I did leave a path so that I can continue going through things this week while the studio is being painted.

You really can't appreciate how much stuff was removed from the room unless you see photographic evidence. Brace yourselves. Below are photos of the studio before it was cleared for painting.

My DH asked if I really needed to keep the desk, barely visible in this picture. "Yes" I replied. "It holds my stereo equipment!" The Spic 'n' Span bottle is proof that I once thought about cleaning.

I'd used a printer's type tray for thread.

Once every flat surface was covered, I had to use the floor for storage.