Art in Bloom

Every year MOFA, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, hosts an exhibit called “Art in Bloom”.  Various groups, garden clubs and floral designers create floral arrangements based on a piece of art that is on display in the museum.

My sister and I made a last minute decision to go yesterday and literally met up on the same speeding subway car. I took the commuter rail to Boston, texting my sister when I got to the subway, so she was able to leave her office within minutes of my train departing the station and meet up with me several stops later.

We were both excited to go to this event because it coincides with another exhibit at MOFA called “Quilts and Color” showcasing quilts from the Pilgrim and Roy Collection.  This turned out to be so much more than we expected.  We’ve all seen  antique and vintage quilts on display but seeing them at MOFA elevated the quilts from beautiful examples of needlework to fine art!  They looked as much at home hanging on the museums walls as the museum’s other art collection.  

 

Some of these quilts looked like they were illuminated from within.  My sister compared it to looking through a stained glass window. This is not all of the quilts from the exhibit. I started off taking pictures with my iPhone but it switched to video mode and I couldn’t get it switched back. 

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We ran out of time before we could see all of the flower arrangements but what we did see was wonderful.  These are not your average florist bouquets.  These  really did match the artwork they represented.  From the quality and scale of the flowers that I saw, I’m sure the arrangements put a considerable dent in some budgets. 

So even though the “Blooms” part of the exhibit ended yesterday you can still see the quilts which will be on display through July 27th.  I hope my pictures will entice you to want to see the rest!  Here is the link to the museum’s website, if you’d like to learn more. 

Gail :)

Ducklings

I hope you all had a nice Easter.   I did.  This year, we also celebrated my little sister's 53rd birthday which fell during the week.   

It was great to have my dad with us. As I've mentioned before he usually makes excuses about holidays but this year he was eager to go when I picked him up and he really enjoyed himself.  My dad was very complimentary of my sister's wonderful cooking as we all were.  Of course, we overdid the dessert table but that's always been the case in our family.
God forbid we should run out!

 

My sister makes wonderful popovers for every holiday!  She always sets a beautiful table and "the ducklings" were a big hit as they marched around the center.  My brother-in-law colors eggs for each of us every year so that we can do the the traditional Polish "egg" cracking war-- the last egg left without a crack is the winner and brings luck to the owner.  After dinner, Calvin had fun hunting for eggs around their yard.  At almost four, he didn't need very much help finding them this year.

I've posted the instructions for the ducklings, if you'd like to get a start on next Easter, lol.   They would also be cute added to a spring wreath or for baby shower favors.  I know of several baby showers coming up this summer. 

I also created a "prim" version too.  My prim version was actually a happy mistake that I filled it with catnip and is now in Ernie's "toy box". 

Well, that's it for today.  I'm off to start some seeds and paint some flower pots!   Have a wonderful day!

Gail

Are your ducklings in a row?

It’s a bit chill here this Easter morning but should warm up enough for us to have an egg hunt for Calvin later this afternoon.  Hope the Easter Bunny is very polite this year when he drops off your basket and doesn’t nibble your tulips!
I feel like I have all my ducks or should I say “ducklings” in a row—well maybe there’s one non-conformist in the group,  but sometimes things don’t turn out the way you plan and sometimes they turn out even better.
Last year I saw these little Prim chicks and thought I could duplicate them.  I used to do a lot of soft-sculpture Prim dolls and these little chicks looked pretty simple. So I bought the materials I thought I needed to make them for Easter 2013.
I’ve been staring at the supplies in my sewing room for the past 12 months and several times  nearly discarded them because I don’t do a lot of these little craft projects.  Luckily, (maybe it was the influence of the spring equinox and the full moon) I got the inspiration and urge I needed to work on these and what do you know--chicks became ducklings! 

Aren’t they cute!   They sort of developed their own personality just like real baby ducks.  My sister and I raised six baby Peking ducks when we were children and each of them had a unique personality.  
These little ducklings will be marching in line across our Easter dinner table, but they’d be cute for baby shower favors too!  Each measures about 2 1/2 inches by 3 inches.   If you’d like the pattern and directions, click on the "Duckling Instructions" on the left side bar.

In the meantime, Happy Easter and I hope you have all of your ducklings in a row!


Gail :)

Keeping Busy

Since being out of work, I have been using my free time to go through this house and do some sorting and de-cluttering.   I need to make room  in case my dad should be moving in.   I took two lots of clothing to a consignment shop after going through each bedroom closet and I put a cardboard box in the garage for donation items that I find while I’m doing household chores.  Having the donation box in the garage and out of sight prevents me from having second thoughts after I’ve made the decision to let something go, but if I really have separation anxiety after a day or two or if I can re-home items with someone I know,  I can still retrieve them.   My decisions are based on the “the one-year rule” .   If I didn’t wear it or use in in the last twelve months and have no known use for it in the next twelve months, then it needs to go.   Sometimes I make exceptions to this rule for gifts I’ve received from family members and close friends.   

Next, I decided to confront my basement sewing room and the UFO’s and stash fabric that lurks there in the dark where no one is  the wiser but me. (insert scary music here).   I eliminated five boxes of scraps which were really just fabric “crumbs” and   I merged two boxes of strings into one mixed box of neutrals and colors  and kept only strings that were at least 1” wide by 6” long.   From now on I only plan to keep fabric scraps that have at least three square inches of usable area.   Don’t worry, even with these new restrictions I still have plenty of scraps left!

After that I listed all of my UFO’s and made a calendar item for my iPhone and laptop so I get a daily reminder about the next project on the list till it’s completed.  So far I’ve completed nine of my UFO Projects in the last month and a half.  The only problem is that I have twenty-five more to go! 

 

Baby Quilt for my neice’s baby shower—now it’s a 1st birthday quilt!

(my first attempt at a scalloped border too)

 

Flannel Self-binding receiving blanketsfor friend’s new grandson.

 

New micro-fleece kitty cushions for Ernie.

 

Patchabilities Kit (Monthly Mini #7, Set 3) purchased in 2010

 

 

More pics to come—the other projects were on the previous laptop.

So that’s what I’ve been up to lately—how about you ?   

Gail

Phew!

My new laptop came with Windows 8.1 and it has been a bit of a technology culture shock. Even though I own a “smart phone”,  it just seems crazy to have a touch screen on a computer.  I feel like I have walked into an unfamiliar room.   I was extremely happy with Windows 7 but I guess Microsoft has to make more money and in order to do that the tech buyers have to be kept interested.

One thing about 8.1 is that it does not come with Windows Live Writer.  It has to be downloaded separately.  I panicked a little when I did not see it  in the preloaded “apps” (programs are no longer called programs?) but after some web searching, I did find it and was able to download it as a separate “app”.  

I now feel just a teeny bit more comfortable with this new set up. 

Change is good, it stretches our limits and challenges our resources, but sometimes you just need to find a familiar space.

 

 

Gail :)

Positive Thinking

It's been two weeks now since the disappearance of MA flight # 370.   Two hundred and thirty nine souls were on board but there are five times as many anguished parents, relatives and friends on the ground waiting and hoping for news.

I have been praying each day since the flight went missing for a miracle--that some group will come forward claiming responsibility for hi-jacking Flight 370 and are now demanding ransom for the safe return of the passengers and crew.

As time goes on that scenario seems less and less likely but it is still possible.  I believe in miracles. We see them everyday and often don't even realize it.

I know the power of positive thinking--in my own life I have seen it work--just imagine what our combined powers are if we all send out positive thoughts into the universe that this flight is found and that there are survivors and even if the outcome is not what we hope, finding this missing plane and knowing it's fate will bring some solace and closure to those left behind. 

Life is miraculous!

Gail :)

Lessons Learned

I haven't posted  this month but a lot has been going on.  I have been searching for a job and have gotten some good feedback and interested queries about my resume.  It seems to me that the job market is much better than even a year ago, though I know there are still many who are out of work.   I'm still keeping my fingers crossed though that I can find something close to my dad's house, which would make it possible for me to stay there during the week.   .  

Since my last post, he has had two trips to the ER.  The first was after a middle of the night call that his BP was very high.  I raced down to take him and we sat around for 5 hours waiting to be seen.  Turns out he has not been taking the new meds that were prescribed for him because he read the enclosed contraindication statement--didn't like what it said and threw out the pills!

The second trip to the ER I was there.  He had taken the barrels to the curb for rubbish pick up day and slipped on ice and fell.   Luckily there were no breaks, but he managed to debrade the skin off of his left hand and needed stitches. 

Because of these two ER visits and on the recommendation of the Visiting Nurses, my sister and I have been told that he must see a neuro-psychologist for an evaluation or he can be removed from the home as "a senior at risk".   Well we have the appointment, now comes the task at hand of telling my dad and getting him to keep it.  We have learned that it's best to wait till the last minute.    So far he has cancelled all of the social services we have tried to arrange for him--meals on wheels, visiting nurses, home aid!

So what other new things have I learned lately--well, most of you probably have the good sense to know this, but living on the edge as I tend to, I learned a very costly lesson this week about drinking hot tea in close proximity to an electronic device!  [Sigh].  As a result, I'm writing this post from the replacement device sans any beverages!

But in spite of everything that has been going on, I have still managed to complete a few projects which I'll share pics of soon.  I'm also planning a virtual yard sale HERE on my blog!   I've gone through my stash of fabrics and patterns and have a pile of items that I need to rehome. 

More soon--once I get the hang of Windows 8.

Gail :)