February 28 Block

Day off work today, so worked on Grandma's quilt all day.  Eileen's favorite color is shiny.... Mary

February 27 Block

More fabrics from Grandma's quilt, bright springy colors.  Tomorrow is just three weeks to the first day of spring!  And the sun is supposed to shine.... Mary

February 26 Block

Some fabrics from Grandma's quilt.... Mary

February 25 Block

Last night's snow never appeared.  A big wide whole opened in the cloud cover, and we had an afternoon of sunshine!  It may be gray and grim all around us, but today the sun shone down.  Hope does spring eternal.  My younger daughter has taken her sleeping bag to the Capitol, and I'm off to work on Grandma Fitz's quilt.  Happy weekend.... Mary

February 24 Block

I am officially DONE with winter!  Five minutes of sunshine in the past week.  Snow tonight and again on Saturday.  Freezing rain and snow on Sunday.  Snow on Monday.  Nothing above 35 degrees.  Did I mention I'm DONE now?  Sunshine, flowers, green grass, budding leaves, it's not that much to ask.  Keep the protesters warmer and drier.  Not that weather will slow these good folks down.... Mary

February 23 Block

Seems like diagonal stripes keep popping up in my blocks.  Maybe that's just the way life feels at the moment, slipping sideways.  Anyway here's today's block.... Mary

February 22 Block

Each week at our WSQG meeting, my friend JK and I, after we've done our five minutes of complaining and moaning about what's wrong with our life/world, we often say, "Well at least none of us have a diagnosis."  That changed for my family this week.  My delightful mother-in-law, Kate, was diagnosed with cancer.  It would not be a good prognosis for a young person, and she is 86.  So it's time to start on a hospice quilt.  Sadly, there will be lots of scraps to use in my daily squares.... Mary

February 21 Block

This was really fun to do!  A million (well, not quite) shattered pieces all sewn together to make a beautiful whole.  A metaphor for life?  Mary

February 20 Block

In honor of Presidents' Day tomorrow, a log cabin square (if a bit wobbly and off square!)  Politics as we are seeing it these days, reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from that great First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt:  "Most of the good work in the world is done by people who weren't feeling all that well the day they did it."  We just have to keep getting up each day and doing as good a work as we can, no matter how we feel.  And these days it's a challenge to feel good about government.... Mary

February 19 Block

Our younger daughter, Eileen, participated in the Polar Plunge today to benefit Special Olympics.  The local firefighters cut a large hole in the lake ice, and folks get pledges to support their jumping into the icy waters.  Afterward there's a hot tub and warming tents, but first you have to jump into the water of a lake that has been frozen for months, then emerge into the 35 degree air!  So glad there are folks who do this to support a such good cause.  But it just made me want to see tropical flowers and feel balmy spring air.... Mary

February 18 Block

A little color to round out a long, grim day at the end of long, grim week.... Mary

February 17 Block

Tag, you're it!  As little kids, both of my daughters were "allergic" to itchy tags, so I had to cut all the colorful and sometimes bizarre tags out of all their clothes.  Since I still have a shoe box full of clothing tags, I decided to recycle some into today's block.... Mary

February 16 Block

It feels like a great dark wedge is being driven through the heart of Wisconsin, our beautiful, kind, neighborly state.  There are protesters sleeping in the Capitol, students walking out of classes, politicians refusing to speak with their opponents.  It is truly heartbreaking.

Complete disclosure:  Through the University of Wisconsin, I am a state employee.  My job is a lower rung, office support position, so I will be greatly affected by the legislation before the Wisconsin State Assembly.  I am not, however, a single parent struggling to raise my children.  These are the people for whom I am most concerned.

There is so much anger and fear, you could cut the air with a knife.  I am mostly saddened by the complete lack of common civility, the utter denial of dialogue, and the total disregard, once again, for the people who are struggling to feed their families and to keep health care coverage for them.  The economic mess was not the doing of the average worker, but it is the most vulnerable who will again pay the price for the mistakes of politicians and business leaders over the past decades (Republicans and Democrats alike).  And I fear the agendas at work here have very little to do with the welfare of the people of Wisconsin and everything to do with the national political ambitions of those involved.... Mary

February 15 Block

Stack o' batiks.  Trying to get to bed early tonight.... Mary

February 14 Block

Happy Valentine's Day!  I'm finding that 3 inches is not a lot of space to work within.  I'll just have to do a lot with beads I guess.... Mary

February 13 Block

General Chuck Yeager, the fastest man alive, was born on this day.  Gen. Yeager was the first man to break the sound barrier in his orange X-1, the "Glamorous Glennis", named for his wife. Up, up and away into the wild blue yonder.... Mary

February 12 Block

"Do, or do not.  There is no try." - Master Yoda.  Earlier this week, my younger daughter, Eileen, got a yellow bangle bracelet that has this inscribed in large, black letters around it.  Then today, it was a chapter heading in the book I'm reading, Creative is a Verb, by Patti Digh.  It appears to be one of those moments when the Cosmos is trying to tell me something.  It's why this project appears to be working: I'm not trying to spend more time in my studio.  I'm not trying to make more art.  I'm just doing it every day.... Mary

February 11 Block

Today is the anniversary of Thomas Edison's birth.  After reading the section on illumination in Bill Bryson's book, At Home, my appreciation for the invention of Edison and Joseph Swan grew immensely.  Lighting prior to the electric light bulb was dirty, labor intensive, expensive, and, well, dim.  The amazing thing is that for centuries women created the most phenomenal handwork and quilts by this faint, pale light.  How lucky we are to have incredible compact fluorescent, daylight bulbs to work by in the evenings!  Mary

February 10 Block

After the many, many seams in last night's block, I decided tonight would be simple.  There's springy green and flowers but only two seams, so it can be an early to bed night.

All four of the amaryllis flowers are in bloom now.... Mary

February 9 Block

After work I had my semi-annual haircut and got 4" lopped off my braid, nice healthy ends again.  As I bemoaned the fact that I had no idea what I was going to do for tonight's block, my daughter suggested I make a braided quilt block.... Mary

February 8 Block

Today my department at work was realigned from Physiology into Neuroscience.  Dotted Man was the logo for the Department of Physiology.

This image is of a neuron.  Both were printed on to a muslin sheet before being bordered with other fabric for today's squares.... Mary

February 7 Block

Six weeks until the first day of Spring, not that I'm counting or anything. 

It helps a lot that there are paper white narcissus and a bright red amaryllis blooming on my kitchen table right now.... Mary

February 6 Block

A four square windmill today.  Not too bad with the center matching but a tad off on the ends of the squares.  Oh well, I've got 340 more chances to get it dead on.... Mary

February 5 Block

I've never made a fabric yo-yo before.  It was really fun and amazingly easy!  This square will have to have beads on the background because I would hate to ruin the puffiness of the yo-yo.  For truly phenomenal yo-yo quilts, check out the work of Shin-hee Chin.  I've seen this piece at a quilt show, and the photo barely does it justice.... M

February 4 Block

Happy birthday, Clyde Tombaugh!  Perhaps not a household name, but Prof. Tombaugh was born and raised on a farm just outside my hometown of Streator, Illinois.  He was a self taught astronomer who went on to discover the planet Pluto.  I know that Pluto has been downgraded from planet-hood, but not for those of us who grew up with the story of young Clyde spending winters on the farm looking at the heavens.... Mary

February 3 Block

Happy Year of the Rabbit!

Here's the January 7 block with the center beaded.... Mary

February 2 Block

It was unanimous this morning.  None of the groundhogs (especially those that did not actually show their furry little faces) saw their shadows.  Let's hope they're right, and it truly is an early spring!  Today's block, of course, needed to be shadowed because it feels like there will be no end to winter at the moment.

Even though the official snow fall for Madison was a mere (yikes!) 16", you'd never know it from the 5' drift in front of our kitchen window.  The corner of the house where the kitchen meets the garage makes for a perfect little wind vortex, and we get impressive swirls and drifts.... Mary

February 1 Block

We are having a blizzard tonight.  The wind and snow hitting the window next to my sewing machine sound like sand blasting.  Illinois is getting hit even harder, and points south are getting ice storms.  I'm taking a furlough day tomorrow and not leaving the house.... Mary