What I Should Have Done Today

This is what I should have been working on today:





























This is what I did instead:















A "quick" visit to the sewing show netted a few treasures. There are some African woodblock prints, batiks and some wonderful thread. The bag of thread was a deal. I came back to the booth three times, dithering whether I should spend the $30 for a bag. Pick up, put down. Look at all the colours. Leave, repeat. The woman at the booth on the third time said "you've been back three times, I give it to you for $24". Okay. Thirty spools of rayon thread for less than $1/spool works for my frugal tastes.

I was a bit disappointed in the show this year, though. I went expecting to find some specialty threads like last year, but one booth specializing in crazy quilting supplies with silk ribbons and more wasn't there this year. Over half the space was taken up with sewing machines. Must resist, must resist. I saw an Elna for only $1099, much more decked out than my machine. Must resist, must resist.

I did wish I knew what the colour palette for April was going to be. I could have picked up fiddly bits (not that I need more) in the colour palette. Oh well, it is probably a good thing. This way I think I spent less money than I might have otherwise. Must stop thinking about that Elna though!

Innocence

Wow, this was a busy month. Every time I think I'm catching up, something else is added to my to do list. I agreed to help a friend teach a tango workshop for beginners at a community centre. It is this weekend, but it meant that Tuesday I had to go in early to tango so we could practice. But, I finally finished the first idea for the TIF Challenge. I'm not sure if I like it, but my daughter does, so I'm going to give it to my granddaughter.












A detail shot (because it's all about the details):

















That gives me Friday and Saturday to whip chapter two of my NaNo into shape for my writer's group on April 6th. That wouldn't be so bad, but it needs a complete overhaul. Ah well, it will be so much better. Maybe. Of course, it might take another five or six re-writes.

Then yesterday, I discovered I hadn't missed the sewing show after all. Except it is this weekend. That would be the same two days I have to finish the writing and help teach tango. Hum, somewhere in there is a wedding dress too.

Details

I've been thinking more about details. In my writer's group, we were each to write a story for one member to fill in the details. When offering critiques of our writing, Josh often comes up with convoluted backgrounds for characters. We were joking around the last time we met and decided that each of us had to write a story for him to fill in the details.

This is what I wrote. Of course, it is missing all the details. Go ahead and fill in your own!

Mumbai could hear his women below, their cries prickling the soles of his feet, pressed hard against the cold planks of the ship’s deck. He was powerless to prevent the fate about to befall Kantha. Mumbai thought of the promise he’d made, regretting it once again. Now it was too late to take it back. It might be too late for everything. Sighing, Mumbai broke his contact with the deck before he was caught.

These self-important pale men, fair of skin and eyes had no right to chain him like this. They were like demonic ghosts. The tallest white devil strode back and forth down the rows, tapping a whip against his thigh in rhythm to the chanting--chanting he could not hear.

Beside Mumbai sat three others. On the bench beside him were four more. And behind him—an entire crew pulled in rhythm, their chanting heard only in Mumbai’s head. His manacled arms clanked an offset beat. Chant, stroke, clank. Chant, stroke, clank. On and on. He thought the sound would never end.

Kantha cried again, screams of agony disrupting their rowing. The rhythm faltered, and the white devil raised his whip in threat. Growling, Mumbai started chanting again, and the rhythm quickly resumed. The white devil stayed his hand, scowling at Mumbai in anger. Once again, the whip beat in rhythm to the unheard sound.

Mumbai risked a glance at the shore, hazy in the distance. It was at least two days away. He shivered, partly in anticipation and partly in dread. Inside, Mumbai could feel its pull, chanting to him in time to the rhythm in his head.

“Do you think to stop it?” The devil leaned in and whispered in Mumbai’s ear. Mumbai hissed in shock, and the devil laughed. “You are powerless to stop it. Don’t even try.” A whip across his back emphasized the devil’s point.

The cries from below stopped abruptly, the silence eerie. Mumbai splayed his toes flat against the deck of the ship, trying to feel what was below, but nothing reached him.

“Don’t.” One word was all that was spoken, but it was enough. Mumbai curled his toes inward in recoil. Chant, stroke, clank, the sound continued. Dread built with each stroke of the oar. It wouldn’t be long now.

“Yes, good. Good,” the devil whispered in his ear again.

Promises made, promises broken. If it wasn’t for his promise… Glancing furtively at the devil, Mumbai placed his toes flat against the deck once again. This time, Kantha’s shallow breathing whispered through his toes, fueling Mumbai’s resolve. The whip came down hard on his back, breaking the chanting to a million fragments in his mind. Breaking his connection to Kantha. At least he knew she was alive. For now.

Mumbai smiled inwardly. He’d bought them a small amount of time, but it might be all he needed.

“Again,” the devil ordered. Rather than risk another whip across the back, Mumbai started to chant again. The devil watched the shore, appearing disinterested. Mumbai knew the truth. The marks on his back proved the devil’s interest.

Turning abruptly, the white devil stared at Mumbai, chilling him to the core. “Do it now,” he ordered. It was time. Mumbai had only one chance. One chance to save himself or to keep his promise, a promise he did not want to keep.

Splaying his feet flat, Mumbai started to chant out loud. The noise roared around him, evil, noxious. Bile rose in Mumbai’s throat and he choked it back. Kantha cried in agony below him, and Mumbai wept, bitter tears of anguish. He’d kept his promise, but Mumba wondered if he would miss his soul.

It's All About the Shoes

This was the idea that wouldn't go away, so I just did it. The border is small details of shoes. I used photos printed onto fabric. For the border, I made 1/2 square triangles from the shoes I'd printed. It created an interested effect. If you look closely, it is possible to see a bit of heel, buckles etc. Kind of interesting.



Now I can go back to working on the other idea I originally had for the TIF March challenge. It is interesting how this one is coming together. Originally, my inspiration came from William Blake's poem Augries of Innocence. The flowers almost have a feeling of innocence to them. Strange how that works out.



Yesterday, I did the first fitting of the bodice for my daughter's wedding dress, so I guess things are going along on the time track they should be. I still feel somewhat overwhelmed with what I have to do, but that will pass after May when the wedding is done. As long as I don't remember what I have to do this week that is.

Possible Direction Shift

I might change directions for the March TIF Challenge. This one will get made no matter what. I've been pondering over "My Favourite Thing". Of course, shoes top the list. This comes from a woman who only owned two pairs of shoes four years ago. Now I own--give me a minute here, um ooh, four pairs of Comme il Faut, three pairs of Lolo Gerard, three pairs of Tango Brujo, a pair of Madreselva, and several assorted others. Oh, and a pair of Neo Tango.

The idea that has been swirling around in my head (kind of pushing everything else out) has to do with several of those favourites. In Buenos Aires, I fell hard for shoes and brought nine pairs back. I've bought three additional pairs of top end tango shoes since I've come home. I surf the web looking at new styles and colours frequently. Ah, it's a love affair. Who knew.

So I took photos of some of my favourites, heels (yeah, ooh I love, love, love stiletto's), positioned and took more pictures. In Photoshop, I played with filters, applying various styles. I've printed this out on fabric already:



And this will probably form the border so that the finished size winds up 13x13:



This would work for the March TIF too. It is a detail shot of shoes, and with tango, the ability to dance well is all about details. From the perfect pair of shoes, the correct posture, the embrace, and more, it is a dance of details. I'm still working at my first idea, but this one keeps pushing at me. Guess I'll try to do both, but the shoes will probably get finished first.

Disassociation

Those of us who dance serious tango know the feeling. The one you get when your torso and your feet don't actually move together. They are like two separate entities joined at the navel. In close embrace, feet don't tangle with your partner, two bodies move as one unit with four legs. It is pure bliss.

So last night, I had a conversation with someone (who shall remain nameless). We were talking about connection, the level of dance in our community etc. So far, so good. Until this individual pointed at a lead and indicated that he was one of the leads that didn't connect correctly. I mentioned that he didn't have a full enough torso connection, but that he was one of the few leads that was able to disassociate. And was told he had to or he'd "get in the follow's way". Um, yeah. That's the whole point. If you don't disassociate, you get in our way. And we get in your way. Our feet tangle, and we have to resort to strange methods to keep from getting stepped on.

The person I was talking to figured that with less connection to our torso, this lead would dance better. I wonder where the idea that disconnecting rather than disassociating is the answer. It might seem like the same thing, but it isn't. Personally, when my lead disconnects, I hunch my shoulders in an attempt to reconnect, throwing off everything. If I disconnect as well, I get stepped on, or lose my balance as I try to follow their body.

The lead starts with the chest. All the intention is from this connection. Our torso's should connect from the navel to the collar bone (more or less). There is this new "V" embrace, but the connection is still from the waist up. If you lose connection in a molineta, it breaks the rhythm. Disassociation will help to prevent the loss of connection. First your torso moves into the circle, then the legs follow.

This video from the Portland Tango Festival in October shows what I mean. Watch how little room there is between lead and follow. Murat and Michelle, Nick and Tara and Somer and Agape are amazing. (Nick dances with Murat part way through the video and Tara and Michelle dance together, just so you know who's who).


Once you've felt it, you can't go back. In the meantime, I try to explain how it works and hope more leads (and follows) figure it out.

Overload

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed lately. It is my own fault. At the beginning of the year I added several projects as I needed to be busier than I was. Looking long-term, I knew if I had more on the go, one aspect of my life would have to fall into the background as a result--you know, I can't do thus and so because I'm too busy. Now that the reality is upon me, I wonder if I have what it takes to carry through with dropping what I need to drop, or if I will instead let slide other things I've added more recently.

Yesterday, I had a bit of a panic. I have a 600 word story to write for my writer's group. For some reason, I thought it had to be submitted tomorrow, and I hadn't even started it yet. Eep. I came home from work and pounded out 297 words. What happened to the 1,666 I wrote every day in November? Then I discovered I had another week, so left it. That is when I realized I might choose the easy path, rather than the harder one.

I still haven't done much on Bekah's wedding dress. I suppose I could cheat and consider it my TIF March project, as I always pay attention to detail when I sew (properly finished seams, careful zippers etc.), but that wouldn't be much fun. Besides, I'm loving the process of the TIF challenge.

It is also making a difference to how I view my writing. I would have finished the 600 words yesterday without a second thought, but now I'm analyzing how to take it further. Instead of the obvious conclusion, I'm thinking of tricky endings.

Ah well, off to sew a bit on the wedding dress and then maybe some editing of my NaNo before bed.

Grain of Sand Background

I've got the start of a background for my idea for the March challenge. I've cut out "flower" petals and need to arrange them on top and start to applique.



The perfectionist in me needs to fix the spot in the middle where the greens join. It is off by less than a 1/4 of an inch, but hey, this month is about attention to detail. Seems like a good place to start.

Thoughts on March

This month's challenge is to think on the small things in life (the details). Sharon comments that "sometimes the small things become emblematic for something larger".

Pondering this yesterday, I thought of how our lives (or mine anyway) is about the details. Thinking of the past in the last two months, I can see how a small action or comment changed my life forever. I remember reading William Blake as a teenager. I knew many of his poems and could recite them endlessly. A snippet of one came to mind as I pondered the small things, but more, how the small things are a symbol of larger things.


To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
William Blake, Auguries of Innocence

An idea came out of this--flowers on a surreal background, the centers different sizes, each one a planet in our galaxy.

I fully believe that each small action (kindness or otherwise) has immense effect on not just us, but those around us and as a result, the world at large. So small things are in effect large things. Okay, and I promise I won't beat you with the symbolism.

SpiroFinished

Thanks to everyone who gave me input regarding whether to crop the quilt or not. In the end, I split the difference and cropped most of the blue off the one side (although not as much as I'd thought of initially. I also decided to put a regular binding on it, adding a small amount of the light blue from the challenge colours.

So here is the finished quilt.



I'm still not sure I'm happy with it, but the deadline is here, so there you go.

Stilling Thinking

This isn't right in my head yet. Aargh. Maybe soon. I'm sitting at work still musing over this piece and trying to figure whether I like it. And so I pick at it like a scab. I cropped it in photoshop just to see what it would look like. Maybe it's a good thing it is at home so I don't cut it to pieces before I completely make up my mind. Any preferences which looks better?


Cropped:


Not cropped:

Spiro Finished (almost)

I'm almost afraid to show this now. I've received more compliments on the previous look, much to my surprise. I wasn't happy with anything from the very start. On my design wall, it looked lost and unappealing without much to draw me to look closer. Cropped and on a computer screen was another matter.

So here is the almost completed quilt.



I'm going to bind it, but with a facing instead of a narrow binding. The finished size is about 16 1/2" wide x 19" high.

This month proved a real challenge (huh, go figure), but I enjoyed the stretch. I felt very much that I had to take this idea further to make it work. Some ideas I had didn't work, but now, two days from the end of the month, I have a thought on how to possibly make my initial idea work. Hum, more playing might be in order.

Progress--Finally

After a weekend away, I'm finally making progress on this month's Take It Further Challenge. I had enough put together to work on it in between milonga's when I was in Portland, but didn't get much accomplished. Ah well, there is still one more week left in the month.

Now for some quilting. And maybe beads.

ValenTango—A Reflection or Two

It is quite possible I'm becoming a tango festival junkie. I love the passion, the energy and the shear number of bodies. Watching the young hot bodies dance is an experience all its own. I spent pleasurable moments in between abusing my feet watching footwork, hip movements and embrace. Ah, bliss.

At Gordon's recommendation, I made sure to attend all the alternative milonga's. Hipbone (that fits tango doesn't it!) was hot and crowded, but the vibrancy more than made up for the heat. The venue is funky, but the heat almost made it too much. Here, it is evident that there is a subtle change in dance among the younger crowd. A higher skill level is necessary to dance the way these kids are. Grounding of your foot, the necessity to collect, the pause are all integral. The dancing is much more a dance of pause and move, pause and move. It is wonderful to watch and even better to dance.

I've been perusing websites looking for a tango festival in July that was mentioned. After discovering that many of those hot bodies I saw were internationally renowned teachers in Portland "for fun", I finally found what I was looking for. Nora's Tango Week runs from July 4th to 11th in San Francisco. Hum, guess I know where I'm going next.

Spiro Frustration

My idea for the TIF February is based on a Spirograph. It was one of my favourite toys as a kid. One problem quickly arose. They are no longer available. At least not in the same form that I remember. Chapters online shows a new version, but Toys 'R Us doesn't, at least not in Canada. I didn't bother to head to Chapter's locally to see if any were in stock, as it was easy to see that the set isn't what I remember.

I found a Klutz book with a similar product to the new version of the Spirograph, and took it home to play with. If you have a good idea, don't mess with it! This just doesn't measure up. All the circles are the same size and the dynamics of creating the spirals are different. I persevered... I'm stubborn, just ask anyone who knows me well.

After much trial:






And error (more error than trial, actually) I might have found something that will work. It will be very ephemeral, but with quilting may get the idea across. We'll see.




My biggest concern is that I'm going to run out of time. I have until Wednesday to get something together, and then won't be able to work on it until next week as I'm heading to Portland on Thursday for Valentango. Woo hoo! Oh, and a friend booked the hotel online for me. He thought it was near the tango venue. Instead it it near the largest fabric store in Portland. Fabric instead of shoes? I think I can live with that!

Further thoughts on TIF

I've been contemplating the idea of the February challenge. Several ideas have come to mind, but I'm not jumping up and down over any of them. None of them fit with the idea of taking things further.

Yesterday I bought supplies for one idea, but still don't know if this is one I want to do, after all, those of us of a certain age all remember the first moon landing. It doesn't feel original enough to work on something that is so much a part of all of our psyche (but maybe that is the best reason to do it).

While in the craft store, I remembered a recent conversation on spirograph. This was one of my favourite toys when I was young. That sent my mind in another direction. Hum, are they even still available? I couldn't find a spirograph though. The closest was a Klutz book with elaborate wheels, but this might have potential. Now my mind is working on how to bring something out of this nebulous idea percolating at the back of my mind. Oh gee, there is something else I remember--percolated coffee.

What To Do?

Hum, don't know where to go with this piece. Originally, I thought to embellish it once I quilted it--something I haven't really tried in the past. After I appliqued the light strips on, I had to let it sit to figure out how to quilt it. Now, I have no idea whether embellishments will work.



I've sewn on beads, I've taken off beads. I chose different coloured beads and sewed those on. And took them off. I kind of like the leaves, but my daughter thinks it takes away from the simplicity of the piece. Yeah, bummer. That's what I was afraid of. On to February and this can sit on my design wall for a while. Like Juanita said, maybe it will whisper to me. Instead of yelling like it did with a few of those bead choices.

How Old Am I?

The Take it Further Challenge this month is "what are you old enough to remember?" In no particular order, just remembering:

I remember Neil Armstrong taking the first step on the moon. My brother and I sat in our living room and watched in awe. I must also have watched the second moon landing as I always thought the moon landing was near my birthday even though it was in July.

I remember when penny candy was actually less than a penny. My brother and I would get a quarter once a week for our allowance and part of it was spent on little black jawbreakers that were five for a penny.

I remember disco. I was too young to get into the clubs to dance, so I would slather on the makeup and sneak in. I guess no one was as vigilant back then as I can remember spending many a Saturday dancing my fool heart out. Not much has changed--I still love to dance my fool heart out!

I remember Atari and the games that went with it. Hey, I remember Pong, the first computer game ever.

I remember peddle pushers. Now we call them capri pants. Mine where hot pink. I always wonder at the reasoning of my mom allowing a red head to wear florescent pink pants, but hey I was a kid.

I remember eight tracks. Enough said.


I remember when we used to talk to one another. I mean OMG, WTF does TTFN mean?

I remember drive-in movies (and the A&W Drive-in). Every Saturday my mom and dad would take us to A&W for Chubby Chicken. Then we would head to the drive-in for a double feature. I remember trying to stay awake to watch the "mom and dad" movie every single time. And never once did I manage. I also remember waking up just enough when we arrived home to know dad was once again carrying me into the house. And loving it.

I remember the Cold War. And the end of the Cold War. To this day, I have a love of Bond movies. I read every Ian Flemming book he ever wrote, watched every Bond movie, read Le Carre and Graham Greene. I wanted to be a spy when I grew up. Ah well.

I remember Twiggy. She was the first thin model. Now we can't get away from them and the image the portray. Anorexia anyone?

I remember how great it once was to look back, the sweet nostalgia of remembering the good times in life. Thanks Sharon for helping me to reflect on those pleasures. Ah, I needed that.

If I ponder it some more, there will be more that I remember, but now to figure out if there is a quilt in there somewhere. If not, the colour scheme for this month is pretty cool too.

Thoughts on Colour

I've been playing around with the colours for the Take It Further Challenge. I strip pieced greens and purples together and then appliqued strips on top in the lighter purple and ecru.



It is interesting how the lighter strips appear varigated. I like that effect. My problem is, I don't know where to go from here. This is the place my quilts usually start talking to me. They tell me how to quilt, the colour of thread to use, etc. But I can't figure it out.

I am afraid to quilt over top of the strips and ruin the subtle effect it has right now. Originally, I thought to add beads, but again, I can't decide if that would ruin what I've started. What to do, what to do? I is a good thing this is the second quilt, not the first as I wouldn't have finished on time!

Take it Further (Take Two)

The other night, I pulled purple and green from my fabric stash and sewed a few strips together.



Originally, I was thinking of fading light on windows, but once the strips were sewn together, it seemed more watery. I reminded me of deep woods and hidden fairy lakes. I'm adding strips of the lighter colours and am thinking of possibly embroidery ferns or applique...



I have some amazing varigated thread in my collection and access to a wonderful store that carries everything from cotton to silk thread (many hand dyed). Will have to let the piece speak to me and see what it says now.