Fish Out of Water?

This wonderful fish sculpture is on the bank of the Santa Fe River.


These days he really is a fish way out of water ... Because the nearby river is dry.



There was thunder as I walked to Tia Sophia's for lunch. I hope there is rain to follow ... even if I get wet walking back to the office.

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Revisiting the Cotton Robin

Earlier this year, I participated in a Round Robin, organized by Julie.  Everyone in the group made a center and sent it, with some fabric and guidelines to Julie, who figured out which other people would add the borders (twice) and back, quilt and bind the quilts to finish them and send them home.

Exactly who made the quilts was a big mystery until the big reveal. I really felt challenged and had a blast.

This was the center I received first.  I loved everything about it ... except that–before I had read the enclosed notes– I wanted to do with it the thing the quilter explicitly said she didn't really like.

And so I decided to add three different borders and add a bit of whimsey to the design ... and some of the bright color she said she did like.  I also changed the proportions and made it a rectangle.  I wanted to leave a lot of room for whomever followed me with the second round of borders.

Below are photos of the quilt-in-progress that I sent on and the finished quilt with second borders by Julie and finished by Gwen.


The quilt went home to Laurina.  I know that everyone doesn't like words on quilts and I was taking a bit of a design risk, so it made me happy to notice that Laurina had also added words in a border for another quilt in the group.

The second quilt-in-progress had such a great and intricate first border, I wasn't sure how to follow it. 

Andrew designed and pieced that incredible paper-pieced wonder.  As I was considering possible border designs, at times I wasn't sure if I should praise him or curse him. 

I decided that because the piece had such a formal feeling, that I would add classic, framing borders with mitered corners, letting all that work that Andrew did shine, extending his blue outer edge to emphasize all those precise points (surprisingly with a completely different fabric from my stash that was a good color match)  and leaving some space for some pretty quilting. 

Here is Andra's quilt, with borders added by Andrew and me, finished by Laurina.

 

The last quilt-in-progress I received was a stunning finished top. Begun by Tami, with borders added by Julie and Jay.  I had so much fun finishing it ...  and discovered a trick that I know I'll use again. 

 
 

I wasn't sure how to quilt the polka dot circle in the center of the quilt. I liked the idea of cross-hatching but knew that if my lines weren't perfectly straight, because of those polka dots, it would be painfully obvious.

Here's what I learned: by USING those dots as a guide for my lines, I was able to sew perfectly straight and evenly spaced lines WITHOUT marking.

This was so easy and seemed so cool to me that I imagine myself using polka dot fabric with the intention of quilting it like this.

Another interesting thing about those polka dots.  The fabric in in the center is different than the polka dot fabric in the skinny border and they are both different than the polka dot fabric I chose for the backing ... but even when you are holding the quilt in your hands, you really can't tell.

And then there was my quilt.  I had this crazy idea that was somewhat squashed by two job changes and a long-distance move over the course of the robin.

Because I had TWO sets of these fabric samples, I thought it would be interesting to make two starter blocks and make a nesting robin quilt of my own to see what would happen to my twin quilts, separated at birth.

Here are the blocks I made.



I knew I wanted to do stars with fussy cut diamonds cut from that crazy, not exactly striped fabric you can see at the bottom of the samples ... but I guess because it's been a while, they really didn't turn out as perfect (and flat) as I wanted.

But you honestly cannot tell in the quilt that was made from the star on the right by Laurina, Nan and Andra.  I am calling it, A Star is Born.

 

It's twin is still waiting to be "born."   I'll be sure to post them both when I'm done.

You can see more of my in-progress photos in my Flickr photoset, Cotton Robin and photos of all the Cotton Robin quilts on the Big Reveal post of the Cotton Robin group blog.

I'm a Sucker ...

I am a sucker for good graphic design ... and I love this train.

 

The New Mexico Rail Runner travels between Santa Fe and Albuquerque ... and looks good doing it.

There may be some artifacts from my windshield, but that storm rolling in when I took this photo Monday afternoon was real and much appreciated.  The little adobe casita oven has even cooled down a bit.

Fourth of July on the Plaza

Independence Day in Santa Fe begin with Pancakes on the Plaza, an event that combines food, live music, art and classic cars.

I didn't have much of a plan for today, except I knew I'd walk to the plaza and check out the pancakes and art.

Although I arrived soon after things officially began, the pancake line was impressively long, those people below are at the head of the line that was ...

 

 ... so long that it started on one side of the plaza and continuing across the Plaza to the other side and into the row of artist's booths, making for quite the pedestrian traffic snarl. 

I decided I didn't need pancakes and would check out the art instead. 

That's where I discovered Ginger, the coolest cat I've ever met, calm and oblivious to the chaos around him.

I bought a lovely mixing bowl with a spout and handle in a style similar to these pieces from Ginger's owner, Sandra Garcia.  It will be perfect for making ... my own pancakes.

I am not nearly as cool as Ginger the cat when it comes to big crowds in close quarters, so, after I finished my tour of the artist's booths, I headed away from the Plaza in search of coffee.

The line in the coffee shop was also pretty impressively long, but at least I could see from beginning to end.

I left the house not knowing if I would decide to spend the day as a tourist or come back and work on some quilt blocks, but at the coffee shop, I decided that a cool calm museum environment would be perfect, so I walked over to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.  Even though I had checked their website, I wasn't really 100% confident that I'd find them open on the holiday ... but I did.

There are no cameras (nor large purses or bags, day packs, knapsacks, totes or shopping bags) allowed and so I cannot visually share anything beyond this image (from their web site) of an oil painting from the exhibit, Georgia O'Keeffe and the Faraway, Nature and Image. It is called, Part of the Cliff.  Along with all of the fabulous art at the Museum, it was fun to see her camping gear, jeans and tennies from the 1940's as part of this exhibit.

I did bring home some images–on a handful of postcards of some of the NM paintings and the book, Wideness and Wonder, The Life and Art of Georgia O'Keeffe. It was an impulse buy, I didn't look too closely at the words in the gift shop and was pleasantly surprised by the first paragraph:

Georgia O'Keeffe's first visual memory was of the patchwork quilt she used to sit on when she was eight or nine months old.  She vividly remembered two patterns: white with small red stars and black with a red and white flower.

During a docent's talk in the courtyard, she described the 1930's Model A station wagon that O'Keeffe drove on her faraway adventures.  Another museum visitor in the group mentioned that there was one similar to it, though not a station wagon, in the classic car show, so on my walk back home and back through the celebration on the plaza, I went looking for and found it.

The range of cars (and at least one motorcycle) was amazing.

Here are a few more that caught my eye--click for a larger image if they catch yours.

 

I'm not sure what the status is on public fireworks in Santa Fe tonight, since there's a ban in place for the state ... but maybe I'll spend the evening celebrating my independence with a little sewing.  I haven't done nearly enough of that since I moved to Santa Fe and I think a little bit of creativity today would do me a lot of good.

How did you celebrate the day? Did you have fireworks?  BBQ? Some other local tradition? A parade?  

Waiting for Godot the Mover

I arrived at my storage place just after 11 AM and then proceeded to have a series of phone conversations with a U-Haul-recommended mover in which I described where the self-storage was located and he just couldn't seem to figure out where I was.


During the last call, I handed the phone to the Manager of the place, then listened to him say all the same things I had said ... but I guess it finally clicked (or maybe he just needed to hear it from a man to believe that there really was a storage place where I was telling him) and the mover found his way here and the UNloading started at 1PM.

When they finish, I plan to return the truck at a U-Haul dealer that's close enough to walk back to my car and then I am going to pick up something for a late lunch and go hang out with the kitties.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Santa Fe, New Mexico

Note to Self

The big truck is not only taller than I used to and longer than I am used to, it is also a bit wider--as I was reminded at my last pit stop when I walked around the truck to gas up. Yikes, that was close.


Believe it or not, I was able to squeeze between the truck and the pump enough to see the screen and tap through the options and pump my gas.

As the sun set tonight, I crossed the New Mexico border at Texico, New Mexico--a town whose name always makes me smile as I pass through it. I like the symmetry with Texarkana, too. I wonder if there is a town with a Texas + Oklahoma name somewhere along their shared border? I also gained an hour as I entered Mountain Time which made the day in the truck seem not so long ;-)

I am settled in a hotel room with a to-go salad and a plan for a hot bath and a good sleep ... and another stress-free day tomorrow.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Clovis,United States

On the road again

According to the AAA TripTik ap and Bing, I am here ...




... doing this. I admit to a bit of fear of finding gas stations along the route that will accommodate the height and length (and turning radius) of the truck. The mechanic scared me with the tale of another driver in a UHaul truck like mine who had a quarter of a tank but "ran out of gas" when going up a hill in North Austin and was forced by the police to back down the road in neutral with no power steering ... I don't want that to be me on this trip.
Here's one more Texas scene from this pit stop ... and now I am on the road again.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:County Road 281,Zephyr,United States

Progress Report

An interesting thing happened when the movers came to load my belongings into the big truck. They wanted to move it to position it a bit better for loading and ... it wouldn't start--no gas.


For the 90 minutes that it took them to load the truck, I was on the phone, mostly on hold, with U-Haul making the argument that it was really bad customer service to give me a truck with enough gas to travel something less than 10 miles-especially when they claimed that the 50 gallon tank was a quarter full.



Two hours later (3 1/2 after my call to U-Haul road service, the mechanic showed up, with his wife riding along, confirmed that I was, indeed, out of gas and put 10 gallons in my tank.

The ordeal has worn me out ... Tomorrow is another day and I think I'm going to have some dinner delivered (too bad I cleaned out all the take out menus earlier today), try to get some sleep in the empty apartment and get an early start tomorrow.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Are YOU Going to Drive the Truck?

This morning, when I dropped off the van--a local rental--and picked up the truck--a one-way to Santa Fe rental, the manager asked, "are YOU going to drive the truck?"

It is a little daunting ... but I did manage to drive it back to the apartment and park it in the space between two carports and miss the tree out front.

I was reminded of my first U-Haul adventure, when I drove a truck-full of my belongings 2400 miles from Sonoma, California to Ann Arbor, Michigan.  I stayed with quilter friends in Utah and Nebraska and the husband of one of the friends was out of town, but told his wife that he would like to have met a woman that would drive a U-Haul across the country.

This morning I assured the manager that although I wasn't sure if I had driven a truck quite this big, I did manage to drive a truck towing my vehicle through snow and ice for 1200 miles. I blogged about that trip, here.

This is a very big truck--I actually reserved a smaller one, but when U-Haul offered a larger truck at the same price, I took them up on their offer ... remembering how, despite assurances from the movers in Michigan that all my belongings would fit in the truck I had rented, ultimately they didn't.  I'm not looking forward to driving this beast across Texas, but, at least, I know that all my belongings will fit.

When I drove from California to Michigan, the truck broke down in the middle of nowhere, Wyoming and I waited for almost 5 hours for help.  When I drove from Michigan to Texas, the trailer (with my car on it) had a flat and I was on the side of the road, dodging snow plows, after only about 5 minutes on the road.  This truck was supposed to have a 1/4 tank of gas in it, but the fuel gage is resting at less than empty--cross your fingers for me that after it is loaded and I'm on my way, I make it to gas station in time ... and that there are no vehicle problems.

One more time ...

One more time with feeling? I have come back to Texas and am hoping that the third time IS a charm and my plans to complete the move out of my apartment go a lot better than my last trip ... which was supposed to be the last trip.


I started before dawn this morning, so I could drive across town to my storage place before the morning commute turned the highway into a parking lot. After everything was in the van, I made a quick stop at HEB for a couple pounds of their store brand coffee beans, the "Houston" Taste of Texas which has pecan and praline flavoring and coconut flakes.


Then it was time for a breakfast taco at Taco Deli--not an especially appetizing photo, but my "Otto" (with puréed black beans, avocado and bacon) was yummy.


Then on to drop off my DVR at the cable company and back home to finish packing.

While in Santa Fe, I have not missed Austin traffic nor the sticky hot summer weather, but I really DO miss all the great regional products and produce at HEB (and Central Market), the inventive tacos at Taco Deli, the always great service from Time-Warner ... and the strong 4G cell signal in Austin that is non-existent in central Santa Fe (grumble grumble AT&T).

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Austin,United State

Saturday Morning at the Opera

On Saturdays from June 2 through August 25, The Santa Fe Opera has Opera Insider events on Saturday mornings. 

Opera Guild members will welcome guests to the theater at 8:30 AM with coffee and muffins. Below, we are gathering after our coffee and being welcomed by someone from the Santa Fe guild. 

 

Unfortunately, inside the gate, no camera nor cell phone usage is allowed.

The Insider event starts at 9 AM, when an Opera staff member talk about his or her specialty. I chose to attend today because the Costume Director, David Burke was the designated speaker.

The talk was briefly interrupted by a gun shot test on stage. As we sat and talked about costume design, one of the sets for Tosca was being assembled on stage in preparation for a run-through today.

Afterward, we broke into small groups for backstage tours, led by docents.

We were treated to some history and a tour that took us all around the campus. We peeked in on bustling costume department, crafts group (which included the milliners) and wig makers. We chatted briefly with a carpenter who was putting the finishing touches on an incredible hand-carved table and a seamstress who was pushing a dressmaker's dummy wearing a beautifully embellished skirt, part of a design for which we had been shown the illustration earlier.

We saw the water treatment facility--water from the roof is used to water the surrounding landscape and toured the dressing rooms, the orchestra waiting area and the stage manager's area in the wings.

And then we went shopping in the Opera store ;-)

Once outside, I played with the landscape photo option in the point-and-shoot camera I wooted earlier this week.

Look close (or click for a larger view) and you can see that that the woman in the white t-shirt appears in the image twice: leaving the gift shop and approaching her friends on the bench/flower garden.

The International Folk Art Museum

Friends have noticed my lack of doing tourist things. It's hard for me because of everything I know I should be doing.  I couldn't put the stress of everything aside.

But I knew that I could really use a break and so spent an hour or so om Sunday afternoon introducing myself to the International Folk Museum on Museum Hill. I suspected it would put me on visual overload and I knew it would force my brain to drop juggling all the errands and concerns.

It worked.

I visited two of the exhibits.

First, a colorful room full of a relatively small number of the 106.000 pieces donated by Alexander and Susan Girard.  Pieces were grouped and arranged in colorful boxes or placed on top of other displays and hung on the walls.  It was organized cacaphony–apparently, all of it organized and specified by the donor.

   

The visitor's guide mentioned that African figures like these likely influenced Picasso. I definitely saw it, too.

Another favorite was this Moroccan yarn painting.  The designs are created by pushing yarn into softened beeswax.

 

My planned destination was an exhibit of traditional Macedonian Embroidered dress called, Young Brides, Old Treasures.

 

This is a Miyak Wedding Dress, circa 1900. The exhibit included garments from 1880 through 1950.

You can see all my iPhone photos of the day on Flickr, in my photo set Museum of International Folk Art.  I apologize in advance for the quality of some of them ... I am still on the learning curve as an iPhone photographer. 

You can also check out the Museum's Flickr photostream (for MUCH better quality images) here.

Blue skies, the week that was, and why I cut my hair

 

I took this photo of San Miguel Church some time ago–with my iPhone as I haven't yet done anything about replacing my beloved dead Nikon camera.  I loved how well it captured the blue skies and was reminded of it this afternoon, as I walked past and big fat raindrops fell from a dark sky.  For the record, it isn't always blue skies around here, though for many days so far, the skies have looked exactly like this. 

It wasn't blue skies for me last week either ... but that had nothing to do with the weather.  I headed back to Texas, with assurances from a national moving company that I was all set for a move–I had decided it would be worth paying the $$$ to avoid 12-15 hours of driving a truck across Texas.  To be safe, though, as a fallback plan, I also reserved a moving truck for just that purpose and some guys from a local mover to load the rest of my belongings into it. 

The National Mover's representative, weaved and ducked via telephone for a couple days then finally, I talked to someone that told me that there was no way they had actually scheduled my move, nor could they schedule me for about 6 weeks ... and when time came to pick up the rental truck, despite my confirmed reservation, they had no truck for me.  Since I now had no truck in which to be loaded, I apologetically cancelled the local movers and bought a very expensive airfare home.

About thirty minutes after my arrangements were made and paid for, the local moving truck company–to whom I had reached out 8 hours earlier–called me back to let me know they found a truck for me.   

As I was deciding what, among everything still in Texas, I could bring back on the plane and packing a large suitcase, I spontaneously decided I couldn't stand my growing out bangs anymore, found some scissors and chopped them off.  I thought I was trimming just enough for bangs just below my eyebrows ... what I got was at least an inch and a half shorter.  I look like nothing so much as my second grade school portrait ... and it looks like those bangs could have been cut by the second grade me, too. 

As soon as I did it, I knew I was acting out of that feeling that if everything else is out of my control, at least I can control my hair.  It's a good thing that hair grows ...

Sunrise at SAF

How early is it? That's the reflection of the sunrise on the windows of the Santa Fe airport.
The plane is here and looks ready to go ... and so am I.




I hear that it's been raining in Texas--it's a good thing, but I selfishly hope it stops before I pack up some furniture and sone more household items, load them into a truck and make the drive across Texas ... again.



Update ... Apparently the plane is not "ready to go" ... and we're all being reassured that they will be able to reschedule our connections ... anyone want to hang out with me in Dallas if I get stuck there?

- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Santa Fe

Public Art and My Adventures in Santa Fe

Today is the first day that I wasn't running some kind of errand at lunch since I arrived in Santa Fe and started the new job.

I took my camera and played tourist, walking to the Plaza, enjoying the music, chatting with the artists whose carts were set up along the edges. And I took photos of it all, too, with the idea of coming home and blogging about my blissful midday moments.

Instead, I came home and finally dug out the cable to upload all the photos I've taken so far. Most look like white squares. I hope it's a low battery issue or I accidentally changed the settings and that there isn't something wrong with my camera. And so, here is plan B–a photo taken with my iPhone. This sculpture sits in front of one of the State of NM government buildings.

I don't know who the artist is or what meaning is attributed to this piece of public art, but I love him (or maybe, her?)

Sadly my first Santa Fe adventure happened here. On Monday, after feeling lousy all weekend and waking up dizzy and wheezing, I went to urgent care with what I thought was the usual challenge of adjusting to the high altitude here. I thought the doctor would give me an Rx for O2, but instead he told me that my oxygen levels were fine and referred me to the nearest ER for tests to make sure I didn't have a pulmonary embolism. 6 hours later, I was told, no embolism, no infection, no heart problem ... probably just the altitude.

A few days later, I am feeling better and better and thinking that it really was just a matter of altitude adjustment ;-)

It's probably a good thing that my camera isn't working–I might be tempted to share a photo of my bruised wrist, forearms and elbows. Between the nurse on duty and the doctor using ultrasound, they probably made a dozen attempts to get a large needle in one of my veins. They never succeeded, but I am walking around with gruesome proof of their efforts.
 

UPDATE: Yesterday I found the plaque identifying the sculpture.  I couldn't resist taking a photo of the inside/other side of the head.




You can see more of James Tyler's  Brickheads here:

Tyler Sculpture

Will I become another Victim of Santa Fe Style?

This guy caught my eye and completely charmed me as I passed a gallery with him and a few of his friends in the window a couple days ago. But I wondered if bringing him home to the casita was the first step on the path to becoming another victim of Santa Fe style. Today at lunch, I went for a closer look anyway. He's about 18 inches tall, carved from cottonwood by Matthew Yellowman.

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone