a pieced and quilted life

quilt.write.think.grow.

3 quilts that surrounded me as i wrote my research paper. this was taken during the writing of the first draft. a saturday afternoon.

i know it's not quite right of me to have a blog that i effectively seem to ignore. truth is days run forward, marching like ants carrying crumbs to a hole in a wall. each day steady and in line, obedient, moving forward not minding nothing but the destination of night.

(summer heat makes me think of ants)

each day is so steady filled with work, things, children, school, something to keep me moving forward. i think there was a time when i could hold multiple things in my mind, juggle thoughts on top of thoughts, on top of actions, on top of everything else life manages to create. but that isn't so these days. 

i've let go of minute things, grand things, fancy things, festering things and have managed to just let myself be concerned with the things that need taking care of today. 

gratitude prayer. kids. me. edward. kids eat. school work. me eat. e's school work. the twin's coming. the twin's mama. kids eat. kids bored. school work. e's school work. everybody eat. school work. the twin's coming. the twin's mama. mama. brother. sister. school work. e's schoolwork. the twin's coming. kids. kids eat. schoolwork. art class? schoolwork. kids ride bikes? schoolwork. kids make crafts? schoolwork. kids learn times tables? schoolwork. kids eat again? schoolwork. hi mama. schoolwork. e's school work. schoolwork. the twin's mama. schoolwork. knit the twins hats? schoolwork. hi nina. schoolwork. mama... tio mykey's calling. schoolwork. sleep.

that is the constant train of thoughts running through my head. a complete, and constant loop.

did you read closely? yeap..twins are coming in the family. boy and girl...and oooh the things i want to make for them. 

but did you catch my non subtle drift? schoolwork. yeap. constant loop, everything is ordered in some way or another around schoolwork. 

candied maple leaf quilt, jersey fabric. pieced this the last week of june after finishing the big paper.

gee's bend quilt kit i pieced the last week of june, it was to celebrate the paper i had just finished.

as with the last blog...so much has happened since the last time i've set fingernails to keyboard:

1. kid's got bikes.

2. wrote a 20 page paper on african american women writers and quilters.

3. found a church home. yay mag.!

4. read two shakespeare plays.

5. e finished 2 classes. starting 3rd.

6. finished four classes. in fifth and sixth. both of which are finally major (english) classes.

7. sewed 2 quilt tops together.

8. taught my first class at ucr extension. 

9. wrote my first prose poetry piece.

10. made homemade blackberry barbecue sauce.

11. made my first macaroni salad.

12. thought about the day granma died, tried writing about it. cried but eeked out some words.

13. cleaned out half of the garage.

14. hung cheap curtains in the front room and the kid's room so that the only dirty, white, mini blinds left in the house is in me and e's room. small victory.

15. finally replace the broken t.v. me and e have been watching for the past year and the half with the top of people's head cut off. 

16. made a chicken salad that almost made me gag, but the kid's and e liked.

17. ate about 8 cantaloupes, and about 15 lbs. of green grapes with the kid's help. 

18. learned to like, maybe even love fresh blueberries.

19. have my mama tell me we are a match made in heaven because i love to write and she loves to read.

20. ate sun-warmed blackberries from the backyard that made my knees buckle.

21. made a peach cobbler.

22. start reading bird by bird again. along with poemcrazy (first time).

23. attend my niece's quinceria (I know spelling is off but i'm being lazy..), meet my brother's cute dog einstein who scared the gas out of me, to which i went upstairs to keep company with his girlfriend.

24. bought the kids water colors, made them make a color wheel by mixing their own colors, and then set them free to paint as they wished.

25. kid's spent a day with abuelita while i taught class mentioned in #8, which was more a huge accomplishment for me than them.

i know i'm leaving something out. but i had to draw the line and stop somewhere. the point is that so much happens, so many little things that i want to find ways to capture but I just don't always have time. one day they are big things, the next day they are minuscule in comparison to the current day.

i also don't travel with my camera anymore. that really effects my blogging. i just don't have the time and patience to carry and compose shots outside of my iphone most days.

the bad thing with all of this is that i sit here to write and everything comes pouring out at once. i want to say so much.

like that i'm taking a shakespeare and creative writing class right now. and how reading shakespeare feels like walking on a beach with flip flops. each step takes muscle, but you know you are surrounded by something to be revered so you step on...hot sand and all.

like how i had a huge, breakthrough in a story this morning. and how i'm so excited that i had to just write something to keep me from eating cheap lemon sandwich cookies and cold cantaloupe slices. and how the story is coming to me in bits and pieces, snatches of dialogue, images of streets and people walking, carrying on with their business while life dances around them in a tight jig. 

like how i finally know. writing is the definitive me. and how i hear dialogue and see characters walking around me, living their lives or how at times they pester me tapping me on my arm saying "i'm ready to tell you that little bit now" when i'm in line at the grocery store or the boy, girl and me are playing sequence, or i'm in shakespeare class drawing conclusions about old england.

like how amazed i am with my children and how patient and kind they have been to me and e as we have had to commit so much of our (family) time to homework. and how going to church has been something they love and look forward to. and how they have become a part of our school life. i read shakespeare to them when they are bored now, they like the sonnets more than the plays.

like how me and e faked like we had "furniture shopping" money and went to a few local furniture stores with the kids window shopping. and how we haven't had new couches since we bought our first place in 1999, a condo...and then bought a house in 2000 to which we added a couch and even then we could only afford ikea. so that our "furniture" (if you can call it that) is old, raggedy, slightly embarrassing and worn with kid stains and marks. and how now we feel sort of grown up because we hung curtains and put our feet down and told the kids "no more toys in the living/dinning room." but truth is we can only do so much on so little of a budget, so patience reigns.

like how i think we have finally settled into a rhythm with both me and e being in school though he still waits to the last week to write his papers which means i get stressed out along with him and pull all-nighters along with him. and how though we got it now, on 8/15 the kids will be starting school and things will be disrupted all over again as i try and balance homeschooling with meschooling and eschooling and what ever things life seem fit to throw our way.

one of the mini quilts I'll be teaching how to make in this weekend's class.

there's a lot of living going on in my life. a lot of excitement. a lot of easing up of tension, doubt, worry and just moving with a sense of faith and trust. 

i don't know how i'm going to get where i need to go in this life. i just figure i'll write, quilt, bake and garden till i get there. see what comes. see what images pop and strike my fancy while the train moves. see what stories scream the loudest to be told and what pictures demand to be made and hung on my walls.

hope this finds you well.

the happy ki

p.s. all pictures taken on iphone. not bad, eh?

that somebody called me

has it become the norm that my blog is no longer a blog, but a random update of what's going on in my life?

i hope not, but i'm afraid while i continue to adjust to university life it may be the case. there has been many times that i've wanted to come and share, but the amount of work on my plate for me to devour has been an obstacle. (not to mention i'm in the middle of dealing with mother nature and father winter and trying to get my summer vegetable garden established.)

obviously, so much has happened since my last post. i'm now five, going on six weeks into my first session. our semesters are broken up into eight-week chunks so by month's end i will be done with my first two classes. although the classes are only eight weeks long, we cover sixteen weeks of material, which is why we are advised to only take two classes per session. the work/study load is large.

it has truly been something to write about. the differences between going to school as an adult vs. a young adult are astonishing to me. i would like to say that i wish i had this level of maturity as a young adult, but that would not be true. for one, i was mature (maybe too much for my own good) and even beyond that i believe there is value in the experience of being "young and naive." (not dumb.)

as a young woman, i did not know who i was. at all. i knew who i wanted to be (an advantage in those early years), but i did not know who i actually was. there is a difference there. if you would have asked me then i would have told you: i want to be somebody. i wanted to be a somebody, a woman who lived and affected change, thought, ideas in the world. i did not want to be a woman who lived life on the sidelines. no, not me. i wanted both of my feet firmly planted in the center of life.

so here i am. 34 years young and knowing who that somebody called me is.

i have learned so much these past five weeks. i am not the same woman. everything about me has changed. the way i see myself. my understanding of my strengths. my religious faith and understanding. my understanding of my life purpose. my organization and time management skills. my love for my family. my sense of gratitude and appreciation for life. it literally goes on and on.

i am maintaining an a+ in both of my classes. i have consistently earned perfect scores in my overview of the bible class (which is very difficult and requires a tremendous amount of studying the history and theological movements and developments of the bible) and i have also consistently written perfect essays in my composition class. (this week i have agreed to help tutor a few of my fellow students write their papers.)

my english comp. teacher has already talked to me about pursuing a master's in english and has told me that i would be perfect for the program. she also told me that i am a gifted writer with a very bright future ahead of me. i cannot begin to explain how much that meant to me. it was completely unsolicited and throughly needed.

deciding to go back to school, assume the financial debt, and take the energy and time away from my family while i pursue my education was difficult. the last thing i wanted to be as a mother is selfish. however, the feedback from my instructor confirmed that i had made the right decision and am on the right path.

beyond that, the spiritual education i'm receiving has been another confirmation that i made the right decision. i now understand the value of going to a religiously centered school. my professors are filled with a great level of humanity and care for their students. i am truly being honest when i say that i feel the love from my professors. beginning class with prayer reminds me of being young, sitting at my grandparents kitchen table and praying with my grandfather for understanding before i started my homework. 

my bible studies professor says the exact same prayer my grandfather use to recite with me. amazing and beautiful.

to say that my faith has been enhanced, encouraged, and strengthened as a result of my christian studies class is an understatement. we are not studying from a christian-centric basis, we are studying from a historical and cultural understanding basis. in fact, most of our studies have centered around judaism and the history of the ancient middle east. i have learned how christianity grew from judaism, how islam has biblical roots, and i can say that my appreciation, tolerance, and understanding of western religions has been greatly enhanced.

the other thing that i have noticed is a different feel of camaraderie amongst the students. i have noticed that there is a helping attitude that is prevalent amongst the students. i don't feel a sense of competition but a feeling of togetherness. not a "cum-ba-ya" sort of thing, but just an underlying sense of camaraderie. 

i guess it is obvious i'm completely happy with my college decision.

And finally, the good news of this week is that i got my graduation date. yay! i wanted a spring graduation so i will be walking the stage may, 2013. my favorite number is 3 so i am thrilled. if i wanted i could of made the cut for graduation december, 2012 but i choose to aim for 2013 for a few reasons.

first, the number 3, silly i know, but i love that number. second, i wanted a traditional spring graduation. third, i am aiming to graduate magna cum laude (3.70-3.89 gpa) at least and taking a reasonable amount of classes makes it easier for me to balance school and family. (so far i have a 3.61 and if i get a 4.0 this session it will be a 3.64 which is cum laude.) and finally (the most important) is i believe e will graduate spring, 2013 also. i want us to walk the stage together because we are truly the best team i know of. well the little lady and guy are a great team too.

i have all of my classes planned to the end, and have registered out through the next year (which is when i'll be finished with my major classes). i have about 17 units of g.e.'s that i'll need to finish once i'm done with my major rotation. i start my major rotation classes this summer and will be finished at the end of summer 2012.

other happenings?

-i finished my first short story, pigeon, and sent it off for a literary contest. yay! i will probably simultaneously submit it somewhere else too...just don't know where yet.

-sadly, e's father had a heart attack a day after his birthday mid-month, but thankfully he is making a full recovery. it was a horrible few days for us, but a blessing that he got the care he needed, and made it home to us safely.

-i finished a commissioned care bears quilt...which was a very challenging project. i made a quilt out of about 50-60 vintage care bears. hard, hard work. it will be on display next week and hopefully i'll have some good pictures to share of it. 

-i have been invited to teach two art quilting classes this summer at UCR extension. 

-i am finally (we have had an unusually cold and long winter) going to be getting started planting my summer garden, which will focus on heirloom tomatoes, different varieties of squashes, and lots of herbs and a few flowers. we also started a new bed last weekend (well e did...lots of digging that i could not do) and hopefully we will be planting it this weekend (again, weather permitting)

-i'm planning on being in a fiber show this may, and if all goes as planned it will coincide with my short story, pigeon, and i will do a reading at the show. still gotta talk to cos about that, but i don't see a problem.

-got a new mbp! triple yay!

-not volunteering as much anymore, sadly, but i did do a children's sewing workshop for the metropolitan museum last weekend which was tiring and fun.

-tulips popped up last week in my garden!! 

i think that is all. i hope this past month has been as rewarding and enriching to all of your lives as mine has been. go after life, and live with your feet fully planted in the center of living!

live your purpose!

luv...ki

yellow shade :: a simple poem about art

gone.

and it feels like forever now.

it feels like never again

it can be

like rainbows that dissolve in sunlight

 

i can be sick about it

cause it feels threatening enough to my life

my happiness

like loosing hope

 

gone 

as if u forgot how

it was

as if stolen glances had to be

paid back in bouncing checks

of a broken life

as if it was only a phase

 

life imitating art

art playing life

a frida and diego living that passed

without painterly affairs or

big stone necklaces

chocking the neck of it all

 

abandon the it of it all

and stand it there like dried out paint brushes

unable to be soaked, cleaned, and shaped again

 

leave it to film like skins...gloss and matte

but mostly matte

cause living, u do it dull now.

 

u used to have ferrules for fingernails...

ur hands were like brushes...leaving brushstrokes

in my life

 

what are they now,

ur gone?

 

beautiful pink halfmoons writing

about what u can't paint

 

dream of hansa yellow hearts falling

between partly phthalo blue cloudy quinacridone skies

love (yellow shade) is there

---end poem---

today and the past few days i've not written much...but this poem wanted to come out, so i let it. i miss painting, quilting, art making...

but the drive to write is stronger. to tell this story i know like a song. a beautiful one.

it is difficult being a person who lives in color and not finding the time to stroke it across a wood panel, or stitch it together with limp, and soft fabrics.

i try to write artfully. let all the art my eyes see seep into the words, shape the letters, and paint my sentences into scenes...

but sometimes, like today...it isn't enough.

i imagine it is like the necklaces frida kahlo wore, thick around her neck, choking her and making her beautiful at the same time.

i need to find balance...a peace with this bilingual way of living.

i feel like a philandering artist when i write, and know that i am doing it well. shouldn't i be painting? no this is what i should be doing..i respond quicker than i can speak it.

but doesn't the paint, the fabrics miss me. my hands? my eyes? my way of seeing color and relationships between things like i do. this way of speaking through art. telling stories and writing poetry with needle, thread, and old washed up fabric.

if i paint then i feel like i'm cheating on my story. ignoring the fine craft of writing for paint brushes that are worn in and broken the way i've chosen them to be. 

where is the balance? 

i think today i may just paint...and while i paint think about my story...see what a scene would look like in art. or maybe i should play with fabric and quilt the background of a scene. i could switch back and forth...telling the story in words than in color, than in words, than in fabrics...till

it all makes sense.

maybe.

paint or quilt today?

luv, ki

colorful stories dancing around me...

 

my color palette for this series...

my house is a mess & my garden is thirsty...

there is a riot of color around me. 

my job is to help the colors speak their peace. say what they want to say and move the way they need to dance.

i'm holed-up in a small back room...full of sun, fabric, paint and leather...writing, reading, sewing and sweating underneath a blasting fan and jazz.

i've finally found the space within me i needed to "quilt" again...

 

 

strips, scraps, squares and pieces...that didn't make it in (yet)

i've started to talk to my fabric scraps, strips and pieces...

what do you want? is this place better? would you like to be next to him/her? what would you like to say? i'm i arranging this right?

between writing, sewing/quilting/piecing, reading and scooting out to yoga classes i've learned to be still and watch for the stories to fall. 

 

quilt sneak peak...

i love making art that tells a story, i used to think i needed pictures of things -- eyes, hands, mouths, houses or birds -- to tell a story but i'm learning that stories can tumble out of other spaces.

likewise, learning to write fiction has opened my eyes to all the stories around us...i'm learning to deeply watch and listen to the words falling around me...and sometimes those words aren't audible..sometimes their gestures...implications...almost conversations. 

i don't know yet how comfortable i feel writing fiction...my voice comes from things i've lived...walked through so i'm trying to find my footing writing from a different place.

i do know that everyone has their own truth...and as an artist no matter how/what you create, your truth will be told.

 

 my herb garden this morning...

self portrait(s) in muggy heat and personal sweatshop...

so i'm following my thoughts...the muse. gave her a comfortable place to sit and watch the sun trail across the sky and i'm hoping, hoping she'll stay for a while (even in this muggy heat).

the piecing is done...now its time to hand quilt.

summer's getting along just fine...

be peace, ki

the toothless wonder & me sews a quilt (top)

and yes, she was a big help! her counting and math skills showed up when mine went out the door. 

she also has a fine knack for choosing fabric collections and did I mention her chit-chat is great company?

mother-daughter time is priceless...I'm soaking her up! hopefully we'll finish this quilt soon...and clothe those 5 little ladies! 

luv, ki

savour it...

 

inferences.

today i'm piecing a quilt...listening to the rain as it treats my house unkindly..

 every quarter to the hour i seem to stop...

                    don't loose yourself in the pink...turquoise and violet...

                    don't name the bird in the print...let him fly...

                    inferences are drawn this quarter...

sewing amongst burst of color on a day appliqued with grey nimbostratus clouds...

inferences write themselves in my mind...

piecing color is like falling in between the pages of someone else's life written in times roman

                    savour it.

                    i tell myself don't run the pedal so fast...

                    slow down your eyes...

                   don't let them run from thought to conversation to description and similes like a run on sentence   

i speak in run-on's

                   stop running the fabric through the feet so fast...finger them...

the next quarter i want to study the rain drops collecting on my pane...collecting in the seal.

                   like emotions...rain water on stormy days collect and find a way of puddling...

                   some places...not convenient.

                   the colors on the fabric run, bleed...

...like run on sentences...the drip in my kitchen...the roof leaking on my east bedroom room wall.

i piece this quarter quietly listening for the words 

.......end poem......

 

 

today is a beautifully stormy day...despite the water finding its ways in various parts of my house...smile. reminds me of the sunday night 6 days before my wedding...the rain came fast...a leak started as soon as edward went home...in the span of a 30 minute conversation..the leak burst at the roof seams and down came water..plaster..paint...and my tears. within an hour i could see the clouds moving across the sky through a peep hole...and the sky clearing.

we were exactly 6 months into being new homeowners...

 

 so i have the sneaky habit of looking up when it rains...looking for where the water will fall...today i found 2 spots...

it's been a stormy week for us here in cali...yesterday my post were stifled by the tornado warning...and the incredibly bad hail, and thunderstorm we were in. i called e telling him i felt like we were in the middle of a tornado...he laughed than said "well get away from the windows."

jokes on him...i turned on the news...and one was brewing...

tornados in southern cali...something to write about.

 

 in case my words were taking too long of the scenic route through my brain and out my fingers...i should tell you i'm in the throws of two really delectable things.

piecing a quilt...and reading twilight: new moon.

today i felt like i was half bella...half me...and e was edward and jacob depending on the tone of his voice...

i'm rushing through both...trying o savour it but not really succeeding.

 

 i should explain that i haven't wrote much lately because i've been neck deep in hand piecing...sewing and finishing my art work for the upcoming feb. show...but then it would just suck because i finished them...turned them in...and didn't snap not one flippin picture. 

boooo me.

i worked my fingers off the last 2 weeks...so i'm rewarding myself with some pleasure sewing and reading.

 

5 layers on my bed, in order: electric blanket on high, sheet, down duvet, thin quilt coverlet, handmade wool-filled quilt. and i'm usually still cold (with the heater on)...i'd never survive in true winter weather. (ooh and i keep a heating pad on me too!)

reading under many layers...

peace, ki

quilts for haiti....

hello beautiful people...

i'm sure all of you are aware of the devastation going on in haiti...as i'm sitting here thinking and feeling i wish i could do something...my mind shifts to quilts...and warmth...

i'd love to get a group of people together and make quilts and softies to send to haiti...i'll do the footwork...but i can't make too many by myself...

if anyone is interested...let's talk...if you know someone who may be interested...pass the word.

there is nothing like wrapping yourself up with the love of a quilt...

as the country heals so many people will be left without anything....we can help.

i'm not naive, i know that right now money is needed...and the needs are so acute that the thought of a quilt seems feeble...but to hear that so many people are out on the streets, with nothing...i think about warmth...and love...in time they will need warmth, love and hope.

give it some thought.....

peace and love, ki

p.s. if you know of a group already organizing...please let me know so that i can join them and help spread the word...

twenty-ten :: 2010

twenty-ten!!

i love new years...i love the reflection and the new beginnings of things starting anew...starting fresh!

something about closing one chapter...and turning the page and beginning another just plain excites me.

i feel refreshed...energized and ready to start another year...another chapter...

somehow as last year started coming to a close...i found myself removing myself from behind the lens of the camera...from in front of the keyboard and monitor...and just soaking up my family...and life...

i never realized how busy i was...until i was sitting down with the kids...eating breakfast and watching the price is right...just sitting there with them...yelling out prices to the screen...getting excited and bummed...and seeing who could guess the most accurate prices...i know...they're only 5 and 6...i have an unfair advantage...but they surprisingly are not half-bad.

so yes...there is the truth...i was the most non-productive...happy...price is right watching...playing with my kids mama on the block...full clad in p.j.'s and a good attitude...it was a ball!

apparently i was living it up so much...i didn't snap a one darn picture...not a single one on christmas day...or the day after...and so on...and so on...

but i can tell u we had a ball! just me...e...the kids...and of course charlie...

the biggest news around here on christmas day was the lil lady's new sewing machine and best friend penny...and the lil guy's and edward's new electric guitars...

and me...well...santa edward baby  came up with a scavenger hunt...with riddles and secret messages from the kids...with things hidden throughtout their rooms and what not...and after a few poems...riddles..giggles from the kids...and secret jokes and words (that i had to figure out)...i found this hidden within the kid's toys:

 

 

a new learning toy for me!

i've been curled up...walking around...riding around...everything...with my new best friend to my face...in true nerdy fashion...(though i haven't fallen yet)

i've read about 1,000+ pages already...in the past week...

finished:

1. the help (in 2 1/2 days)

2. twilight, book 1 (in one day!!!)

3. artisan bread in five minutes a day

currently reading:

1. the darkest child

want to read:

1. twilight, books 2, 3 & 4

2. the glass castle: A memoir

3. half broke horses: a true-life novel

4. water for elephants

5. all of jane austen's books...

6. little women

7. little bee: a novel

my list is long...really long...and e is starting to wonder if this was not a good idea...as i've already asked him for a monthly amazon book allowance.

we'll see how that goes for me.

goals...

i love new year resolutions...and i've got them...i've got a lot...but most importantly i want to:

1. sew again...

2. quilt like a maniac

3. cross-stitch and embroider 

4. bake bread regularly

5. plant flowers and bulbs (not just veggies)

6. teach the lil lady to sew (hand and machine)

7. learn how to knit socks (anyone want to take this up with me?)

8. read a number of books a month (as much as i can afford)

9. weave lots of towels

10. write more (poems, mini children's stories)

11. make as many of my own clothes as possible

12. get rid of the mini-blinds still plaguing my windows

13. take the kids to the getty, moca, lacma, griffith park observatory, the brewery art colony, venice beach & la brea tar pits

14. participate in more art shows (not including the one next month)

15. join a quilting bee (preferably one online...any suggestions?)

i really think i could go on...but those are the most pressing...

i have lots of work to jump back to...i have a deadline of the 17th for the upcoming art show i'm in...and i'm literally "into the thick of it" *sings the backyardigans*...

but i will share this:

 

 

e bought me this collection of fat quarters (and some charm packs...and other sewing knic knacks) also..and though i have some quilt patterns that i'm so anxious to do...i just love this fabric collection so much i had to find a pattern that would show off the large scale prints...there was no way i was going to cut this beautiful fabric into little pieces...nope.

so off to the local fabric shop (met some wonderful new quilt friends...)...spotted this quilt on the wall and just couldn't keep my eyes off of it...it features kaffe fasset patterns...and it really shows off large scale designs...so i bought it...and some extra kaffe fasset fabric for the border and binding...and batik for the solid squares...

heaven!

i was informed that quilt shop batiks don't run...none of that madness...so i'm in love on a whole 'nother level...

i cannot wait to get started piecing this quilt! but i have to finish up my art work first..pft! i keep thinking i should just cheat...and do some cutting...but i know...once i get going...stopping will be an issue...so i'm going to wait...sigh. double sigh. wait make that triple sigh.

i hope the new year has came in with lots of peace and joy....and i'm wishing you all a year full of:

peace balance joy health prosperity spirituality creativity 

love & peace...ki

(fairy tales) in the studio, 15 december 09

 

i've got some great artist friends. i really mean it.

one of them is curating a big show this upcoming february on: play

and being familiar with my work he thought i'd be a great fit, along with a handful of other wonderful artist.

this is wonderful for me...i seem to be in a very childlike phase of creating...and to be honest i hope i never "grow" out of it...

my work for this show...will be about a particular little girl....

ahem...

she lives in the middle of a big rough city, but dreams (and to some extent believes) that she lives in the center of a farm...in the country. 

her nearest and dearest friends are the collection of baby dolls she has. amazingly she is the only one who knows a pretty big secret: her baby dolls are really alive...they have personalities, likes and dislikes...and amazingly...they are really animals. tricksters.

her and her "friends" have much fun...they bake cookies in tree stump ovens, and jump rope with elephant trunks...they slide on giraffe necks...and they also put to good use the sugar vine growing around her yellow barn house. 

yeap...she lives in a yellow barn people.

atop a mountain.

i know...she's really lucky...(and kind too).

well...anyway..i don't want to give away too much of the story...here is some shots of the works (and sketches) in progress:

 

 

 

 

 

two pieces so far...i'm thinking there will be 3-5 pieces in this "mini-series" we'll see...at least 3...maybe more, possibly more.

these are all "mini" art quilts..not too big...manageable...all of them hand-work, except for some machine seam piecing. (okay mostly machine seam piecing)

by the way...i tea dyed those fabrics...they smell so fruity and earthy...tea staining, hand work, animals and little girls? what could be better? honestly?

i'm excited..so darn excited.

i should have more updates by or towards the ending of the week. that is if i don't get too distracted...something "big" is coming in the mail tomorrow...can u guess what?

happy playing!

peace...ki

this and that...that and this...let's play catch-up!

i cannot believe its already mid December!! I've taken to writing love letters to my fleeting lover time! as he is truly evading me these days..

its like i'm in a long distance love relationship with time...he comes...fleeting into my life...only to leave me hanging and longing for him to stay around longer.

one day i'll marry time!...until then...i'm happily very busy!

so let's get down to business...what the heck have i been up to to stay away for...i don't want to know how many days?

1. homeschooling still...going well...kids are amazing

2. started going to acupuncture...and its working!! thankfully...

3. wonderful holiday rush, more orders in a couple of weeks than I've ever had (thank you wonderful customers!!)

4. finished up a 3 quilt, quilting commission

5. looking at schools, and wondering when and which way i'll finally finish my degree

6. creating my facebook fan page, won't you join please?

7. tea staining fabric 

8. creating artwork for an upcoming gallery show (February, 2010) on: play

9. and finally creating a bag and writing a corresponding article for haute handbags magazine (woohoo!)

let me be honest here...even though it gets "hairy" sometimes...i crave being busy...i crave it like i crave kisses and hugs from my lil loves...and do-nothing, veg-out time with e...its just better to have something to do..than to sit with idle fingers...staring back at me holding nothing.

now that i'm caught up with shop orders, and i think my holiday rush has passed...i'm happily getting excited and working on all sorts of things...

i'm really excited about the upcoming art show...as i'm going back to cloth...working with art quilts...and falling in love all over again with quilting. this time i'm changing it up...working in smaller dimension...and doing it all by hand (except for piecing some seams).

i'm also excited about the upcoming article in haute handbags...i just sent my article out this morning...and will wait with my fingers crossed, eyes closed and breath held till it comes out. i've been told its coming out in april, 2010...but sometimes these things are held over to another publishing...so we'll see. nothing is set in stone...till its well...set in ink. ha!

the month is almost over...i'm so freaking excited about the holidays i really can't stand it...but i'm excited to get started baking and crafting this week...i've got plans...and plans...and plans...lets see how many of them we i can get done.

I've decided to put together a little picture stroll...of everything that's happened in the past few weeks...what's a post with out tons of pictures?

let's go!

yummy food

vegan cornbread...for my dressing....so tasty!

simi-vegan homemade thanksgiving dinner...only non-vegan item is the chicken (e will not go totally vegan...), this is e's plate...so the candied yams were missing.

p.s. i did make 2 vegan sweet potato pies ( i ate an entire one by myself that weekend...no joke) and a vegan pecan pie...which the boys ate...they were too devoured for pictures...the other sweet potato pie is in the freezer, vacuum sealed (so that I wouldn't have eaten two in the weekend by myself)!

shop stuff:

beautiful tomato red petal bag made for a lovely customer jenn...i ♥ her!

 

front...

back...

inside...

pencil cases...

inside pencil cases...

this lovely set of goods and zakka was made for a wonderful customer's 3 year old daughter. these are some old deer-skin hides from her deceased father...that i made into bags for her (earlier in the year) and now for her daughter...with accompanying pencil cases (2 for her, 2 for her brother)...

this was one of my favorite projects...i channeled my 7-year old self...and designed from things i remember drawing at that age.   

new moo cards...love the new case..though i love the old ones too.

my 3 designs...

 

yogi tea bag tags i've been saving... 

i've been organizing all my embroidery floss as a productive "unwinding, vegging out" project at the end of the evenings...

thanks to a promotion with verizon fios (and good cyber monday sales)...we got a new laptop...for almost free...its not a mac, but i and e have loved using it during the evenings...this means i can finally get his large desktop out of my studio (yay!!!) and have more storage space...and the room officially to myself! 

my only wish for it being mac is so that i could use photoshop on it...so i could blog from it...i have elements...so i'll install that eventually...it is already loaded with eq6 and this!

my side of the bed this morning...and last night...while working on my article...i kept taking breaks to look at the new books i've gotten recently...and brush up on my sewing techniques. i'm being very ambitious in the new year...making all my clothes! stay tuned!

 

i got this wonderfully beautiful card friday night...just because, from the boy...look at the worm in the lower left hand corner...and the lady bug in the sky amidst the falling colored snow...and aren't i cute in my pink dress? that's charlie our bird on the tree limb in case u were wondering...this was the greatest gift!

we decided to homeschool in my studio today...like we did before the kids started kinder...this is today's lesson books that we had to cart upstairs...see why i'm so busy? one day's worth of lessons!

my sweet boy...getting ready for school this morning...in his guitar p.j.'s that he's been refusing to take off until santa brings him his electric guitar...sigh...gotta love childhood...

 

my lil lady...who always comes to class dressed...and accessorized...while me and the lil guy look like bums...she wants to start designing her own clothes...wait till she sees what "santa" brings her to help her with those ambitions!

art work in process...more later on the kikasa blog...

my latest collection...weaving yarns...can't wait to have time to weave again! my towels are already stained up from much use at the dinner table!

 

and finally...a sneak peak of our christmas so far...we got our 2 trees a couple weeks ago...decorated one of them...and will be decorating the other tonight...can't wait to share more christmas pics!

so there...this is the jest of what i've been up too...of course there were wonderful meals that i didn't get to snap pictures of, holiday cookies...and gingerbread dough...rain and hail storms...

its been a rush, these last few weeks...i'm so excited to bring in the new year...to celebrate the holidays...i literally can't stand it! i've never been this excited about a new year...like now!

i'm excited to see what wonderful things the universe and i dream up together!

peace...ki

p.s. i hope to stop this binge...purge..blemic posting schedule that i'm on...but truth is...i can't make any promises...when i do post...i'll make it worth while!! i know i'll be back soon...something special is coming in the mail wednesday...i wonder if you all can guess...one of the pictures gives a good clue!

thanks for accompanying me on this journey...thus far...we're almost 3 years strong!

p.p.s my sis is back! pay her a visit over at www.neosewmama.typepad.com she's had some amazing life changes...wonderful...go tell her hi!