Author: jeanne (Page 35 of 120)

I'm just your basic complicated simple red dirt girl who feels most beautiful when wearing skirts that caper and earrings that dangle. Entering into my Second Life (my tenured phase, I call it), I tell, write, stitch, and perform stories about this time of life when the mythological (and downsized) empty nest is now filled with aging pets, aging parents, a retired husband, and the knowledge that you're living on the finite side of infinity.

The 70273 Project: First Week Recap

February 21, 2016 / jeanne / 0 Comments

One week ago on Valentine’s Day, Love Day, my birthday, I launched The 70273 Project to commemorate the lives of the 70273 disabled people who were murdered by German Nazis, and let me tell you: the response has been phenomenal.

I’ve heard from people in 32 countries.

Have penned one guest blog post.

Have been invited for one podcast interview, two television interviews, another guest blog post, to present at one writing workshop, and to provide a prompt for a writing challenge. (Stay tuned for details and links.)

I hold 20 blocks made by myself and family members.

There are people sending fabric to other people. There are women who are offering instruction to those whose hands have only touched fabric to zip or button or pin. There are women who’ve put fabric and thread in the hands of their husbands. People are planning Block Parties and putting out flyers and emailing others about The 70273 Project. There are so many people posting on facebook and sharing each other’s posts, I’m unable to stop by each one to say Thank you. (Please don’t hold that against me, and if you’ll tag me, I promise to stop by.)

People are tweeting, too, putting me in touch with all kinds of amazingly fantastic possibilities.

The project is being mentioned in digital newsletters far and wide.

Peeps from different countries reach out and ask to be The 70273 Project Ambassador for their country.

Folks help me grow the Thoughtfully Asked Questions page by asking really good questions.

People have designed promotional literature and helped me figure out things and given me digital back rubs.

People continue to subscribe so they’ll stay in the know.

Several folks have suggested venues where we might exhibit the quilts when they’re completed.

Financial donations have been made.

We have a pinterest board (that’s still being updated. Bear with me.)

We’re starting a Make-a-Block-a-Day-for-a-Month on March 1, so stay tuned for more specific info about that.

Well, you get the idea. Like I said, the response has been nothing short of phenomenal, and on behalf of my fingers, the 70273 souls we commemorate, and the disabled people we hold dear, thank you.

Y’all are absolutely amazing. Thank you for all you’ve done and all you’ll continue to do to see this project through.

Blocks Stitched, Painted, and Stenciled

February 19, 2016 / jeanne / 1 Comment

For her first block for The 70273 Project, Margaret Williams cut a rectangle from an old damask tablecloth then embellished it with the two red X’s.

For her next block, she attached the red fabric down with a little blanket stitch to make the two red X’s.

MargaretWilliamsBlock4

Then it was time to play with a little paint. Margaret used freezer paper (you can buy it in rolls at the grocery store or in 8.5×11 sheets at the craft store.) to make stencils for a couple of x’s. She’s not going to trim the blocks until she finishes the embellishing because that might draw them up.

MargaretWilliamsBlock3

Margaret used regular brush and foam brush edge for the other two blocks. Must be sure to put waxed paper or oil cloth tablecloth or poster board – something underneath to protect the surface you’re working on.

And just like that, in the snap of a couple of nights, Margaret has created four blocks. She’s joining me in making a block a day for the 31-day challenge for March. The daily repetition is sure to stretch our creativity and pleasantly delight us with what falls out of our hands as we generate blocks that are as different and unique as the people we commemorate. Won’t you join us and invite others to join us, too? Details coming soon, so be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss the boat.

Goodbye Mockingbird

February 19, 2016 / jeanne / 0 Comments

By now y’all know that Harper Lee, who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, died in her sleep earlier today.

Back in my short-haired days, I took an impromptu visit to Monroeville, Alabama. Y’all just click right here if you want to revisit that trip with me. (It’s worth the zero cost of admission if I do say so myself.)

Then, about two years later, I ~~dragged~~ treated The Engineer and my nephew to a trip to Monroeville. This way to join us on that trip. You’re not gonna’ believe what happened.

RIP, Harper Lee. And hey, tell Boo Radley I said Hey, will ya’? We need more kind-hearted characters like him, and we need more Scouts to teach us how to appreciate them. Thank you for introducing us.

More Blocks in the Making & Mentions

February 18, 2016 / jeanne / 1 Comment

MORE BLOCKS ARE BEING MADE . . .

Kitty Sorgen is stitching up a blue streak, and I love it! Yesterday you saw the blocks she stitched on her ferry commute, and today she sends snaps of her latest stitchings and writes:

“I’ve purposely pieced the white fabric on this one to represent the perceived ‘flaws’ of the murdered innocents. This one is also machine pieced….hope that’s ok. Lots of prayers being stitched into these blocks…….”

As for her question if it’s okay that she’s piecing the white fabric together, yes, it’s absolutely okay. I like that each block will be different . . . just like each of the 70273 people were individuals. That’s just the way it should be. And I love the mindfulness and love Kitty infuses into each of the blocks she makes.

Margaret Williams‘ first block is made from an old damask tablecloth. You don’t have to buy new materials to make a block (unless you just want to. Far be it from me to keep anybody out of a fabric store.). Just poke around and see what you already have on hand.

And when I posed this morning’s facebook question: “What’s gonna’ make this (or has made this, depending on where you are in the world) a day to circle on the calendar and draw stars around?”, Susan Howell Graham (we grew up together, though she – like a whole lotta other people – is younger than me) answered thusly:

I can’t wait to see Susan’s blocks. She’s been wanting to learn to quilt, you know.

Do you have blocks in the making? I’d love to see them – you can send them via email, post on my facebook timeline, or post on your facebook timeline. (Be sure to tag me so I don’t miss anything.)

TONGUES ARE WAGGING . . .

“One square or 1,000, we can help make the invisible visible. We are all less able when there is hatred instead of love.” ~ Sarah Meredith

“I may even try to sew, which is an idea I never imagined I’d entertain. I don’t know much about fabric drawing either, but this is a good cause to learn on.” ~ J. Clement Wall

“Yes, yes yes! I would love to be involved and I will see who else I can get involved in this over the pond … I am also thinking about Fine Cell Work too and maybe they would get involved … Now all this is something I didn’t expect to wake up to and start buzzing about!!” ~ Lucy Iles Horner on Facebook or luxyloo11 on Instagram

CURIOUS MINDS ARE WONDERING . . .

Linda-Marie Davinroy Smith asked another good question on Facebook: You’ve listed 3 different sizes of blocks, do you need equal amounts of each size? Will all 3 sizes be incorporated into one quilt, or is each size being used for different sized quilts?

The answer: While we may make some quilts using blocks that are all the same size, we’ll mostly mix it up and make quilt tops using blocks of all the 3 different sizes. “So feel free to throw us a challenge,” I told Linda-Marie, “and make some vertical blocks.”

Keep those blocks going and questions coming, y’all – keep spreading the word – and subscribe so you’ll stay in the loop. We’re not even a week out, and already there are things in the works that you don’t want to miss.

On behalf of my fingers, the 70273 souls, and the disabled folks we hold dear, thank y’all.

The 70273 Project: And On We Grow

February 17, 2016 / jeanne / 4 Comments

Less than a week after Launch . . .

BLOCKS ARE BEING MADE!

My friend Kitty Sorgen made a couple of blocks as she rode the ferry yesterday and sent me these photos. Isn’t that a beautiful commute? Here’s what she had to say:

“Had an hour long commute this morning on the Kitsap from Friday Harbor to Anacortes. It’s like ‘old home week’ when we ride the ferry……seeing all your neighbors off to do shopping or having doctor appointments. This morning I sat stitching my first blocks as the islands slipped silently by in the misty morning.”

“The black spots in some of the reds represents to me the darkness of heart there must have been in someone who could have participated in such a plan as this.”

Kitty on Facebook

WORD IS GETTING OUT!

Yesterday I received an email by Hilke Kurzke of Büchertiger Studio & Press is a German national who now lives in the UK, a book artist, and the mother of two disabled boys. She read about The 70273 Project and has not only started her first (I hope there are more) block, she featured the project on her blog today. How’s that for fast turnaround! And, as if all that isn’t enough, she’s invited me to pen a guest post, too. I’ll let you know when it goes live. You know I will.

Where to find Hilke:

QUESTIONS ARE BEING ASKED!

Over on Facebook, Merle Halliday Westbrook, a talented, fun, and funny woman I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in person, asked the title of the documentary we were watching when the idea for The 70273 Project lighted on my shoulder and whispered in my ear. It’s a multi-part documentary called Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution. The few sentences about this atrocity appears about 2/3 of the way through the first episode of the first season. (They don’t mention the number 70,273. That came from my subsequent research.)

This Q/A has now been added to the Thoughtfully Asked Questions page. Keep those questions coming, y’all.

~~~~~~~

Don’t forget to help get the word out about The 70273 Project (Thank you).

Make a block . . . or at least make plans to make a block.

Subscribe so you don’t miss anything.

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Presenting Block 2 of The 70273 Project

February 16, 2016 / jeanne / 0 Comments

Today – block 2 of The 70273 Project.

This is a 9.5″ x 12.5″ block.

As you can see in this closeup,
I stitched down some transparent white ribbon
stitching it down all around to prevent the edges from curling up
These quilts will be handled and transported a lot,
so a girl has to think about this kind of thing.
On top of the white ribbon, I stitched down some narrow
sparkly, festive red ribbon using a technique called couching.
Here’s a video if you prefer ~~live~~ recorded action.
It’s a very simple stitch. And I do mean very.

Ribbon turns a studio into a gym

if you’re a grandcat.

I’m hatching an idea about a 31-day challenge.
You know, create a block a day for 31 days.
What do you think?
It’s a surefire way to turn your creativity loose.
I just need to work out a few details in my head.
Stay tuned for more info.

On behalf of myself and the 70273 people we commemorate,
thank you for telling at least 3 people every day,
for making blocks,
and being a part of this project in whatever way(s) you choose.
Keep those good ideas and questions coming.

And before you go, don’t forget to subscribe.
We deliver to your front doorstep every morning
and we never break a window.

The 70273 Project: Fabric Info & Sizes of Blocks

February 15, 2016 / jeanne / 43 Comments

Today we’re gonna’ talk about making blocks for The 70273 Project, but first . . .

Less than 24 hours after launch, response to The 70273 Project has been quite exciting. I am plum (does it have a final “b” or not, I always get confused) tickled with the positive emails, Facebook posts, tweets, and Facebook messages I’ve received from all corners of the world. Yes, we are already a worldwide project! And get this: if everybody actually makes the blocks they’ve said they would, we only need 70,000 more blocks!

People have offered to host block parties in their homes and in local senior centers, help stitch the blocks together to make quilt tops, send money, quilt, asked me to pen guest blog posts, requested interviews, and plotted ways to host digital block parties just to give you an idea of the emails and messages I’ve received today. I declare, had today’s response been any more heartwarming, my heart would be a pile of smoldering ashes right now.

And boy oh boy have people helped get the word out, and let me tell you: that’s a tremendous help. Thank y’all so much, and please don’t stop. These 70,273 people deserve this. And now, about those blocks . . .

WHAT KIND OF FABRIC TO USE

Pretty much any kind of fabric is okay – 100% cotton, cotton/poly blend, wool, felt – those are all okay to use for the base of the block as long as it’s white or slightly off white. I’d prefer you steer clear of upholstery fabric because it’s thicker than other fabric, making it harder to stitch. And double knit is bad to stretch, so unless it’s absolutely all you have on hand, I’d ask that you steer clear of it, too.

As you can see in this first block I made, my white fabric is actually a white-on-white, which is fine because in fabric math white + white = white.

9.5″ x 12.5″ (24.x cm x 31.8 cm)

6.5″ x 9.5″ (16.5 cm x 24.2 cm)

3.5″ x 6.5″ (9 cm x 16.5cm)

BLOCK SIZE

The blocks you send me (the white fabric) can be any of the following sizes: 3.5″ x 6.5″ (9 cm x 16.5 cm) or 6.5″ x 9.5″ (16.5 cm x 24.2 cm) or 9.5″ x 12.5″ (24.2 cm x 31.8 cm). And when making the X’s, please allow a 1/4″ border all around to give me room to stitch the blocks together.

THE TWO RED X’S

In future blog posts we’ll talk about other ways to make the two X marks on the white base, but for now here’s the first block I made. Using a simple up-and-down stitch, I used scraps of red ribbon (off a Christmas gift) to make the X’s. (And no, I’m not a child of the depression or a hoarder.)

Oh, and as you see in the photo, it’s okay to let your knots show. Make the two red X’s any way you want, just be sure that:
~ there are two red X’s on each block
~ there are no letters of the alphabet, words, names, or numbers on the block – only two red X’s.

Why white?
Because white represents medical records, the only information assessing physicians used to make their life and death determinations.

Why two red X’s?
Because once two of three assessing physicians paced a red X on the bottom of the medical records, the person was murdered. Two red X’s equal one person.

Why no letters, words, names, or numbers?
Because two red X’s equals one person – the death sentence of one person, to be more exact, and words, letters, names, and numbers distract the brain from the emotional message we’re making here. When you see a room filled with quilts made of blocks with two red X’s, I imagine it’s going to be quite moving. Were you to see a name or initials or a word or even the number “70,273” thrown in, you would be immediately distracted. Words, names, numbers, and such engage the brain, and we are a project designed to engage the heart.

One more very important step: Once you’ve finished your blocks, please download, print, complete, and use a safety pin to attach the Provenance Form to your blocks and mail to the address on the form.

HOMEWORK

Y’all get your pencils out and write down your homework assignment.

Make a block. (Or at least gather the materials to make blocks.)
Using social media, the phone, or smoke signals, tell at least 3 people about the project.
Subscribe to the blog so you can tune in tomorrow when we’ll talk about . . . well, I don’t know just yet exactly what we’ll talk about, but it’ll be something related to The 70273 Project, for sure.

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Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

February 12, 2016 / jeanne / 0 Comments

Books

Letting go . . . non attachment . . . honorable closure . . .

Furniture: gone.
Clothing: outta here.
Dishes: history.

I spent the last two months of 2015 clearing out, letting go, getting rid of, and I called it Operation Make Space for Possibility. It was fun and freeing, hard work and exhausting. (It was also quite effective in unexpected ways, but we’ll talk about that later.)

The one thing I couldn’t go near was my bookshelves, my book stacks, my book piles. Just couldn’t do it. So I sat with my books asking why it was so hard to part ways. “You think you’re not smart without us being within reach,” they told me. “We are stepping stones in your life story garden. We wrapped our pages around you to validate and confirm things you already Knew but were afraid to say out loud. You thought it was magic how we always appeared at just the right time, and you’re right, though you misspelled it. It was Magic. We’ve shared some good times, and now it’s time for you to step fully into the Abundance mindset and trust that you will Know what you need to Know when you need to Know it. And that what you don’t know, you’ll be able to find. So why don’t you let us go leap into the hands of some other woman who’s Ready.”

And with that, we come to an agreement. With no deadline in mind, I spend time with each book, letting it fall open to 3 places to show me three things she wants me to remember. I take a photo of the cover, make notes in my journal of what she wants me to hold onto, then I put her in my library bag and wish her well on the next leg of her journey.

We Never Had a Problem Sharing

February 2, 2016 / jeanne / 8 Comments

MaryChambers2

When I met her, she was on her hands and knees planting tulip bulbs around the patio in the backyard while Pepper, the Corgi, made laps around the base of the biggest pine tree in the yard in an apparent effort to build a moat or dig the tree up. We’re not sure which.

I met her 43 years ago, long before I got the memo saying Mothers of the Groom were to wear beige and keep. their. mouths. shut. Not knowing any better, I invited her to join my mother and me and go shopping for my wedding dress, among other things.

We took sewing classes together. We cooked together. We had long talks.

She put mustard on grilled cheese sandwiches.
Ask me how I found out.

MaryChambersWeddingAnnouncement

She was beautiful in the way young women were beautiful in the 1940s. Mr. Chambers told me that had it not been for the war, he probably wouldn’t have married her. “Well, you would have been a damn fool,” I assured him.

They were married on October 2, 1942 by an Army Chaplain in Hobe Sound, Florida. The bride wore a brownish dress with a matching hat that had a veil that tickled her nose. How do I know? I asked her.

AllDressedUpOnCruiseShip

When I asked her about the most adventurous thing that happened to her while traveling, she didn’t tell me about dressing up and winning the prize for her ~~obviously convincing~~ portrayal of a drunken hag on the cruise ship, she told me about how she played gin rummy with a sergeant all the way down to Bermuda where her new husband was stationed in World War II. Her first job as a married woman was as a court martial secretary, and who was there on her first day on the job but the sergeant she’d played so many hands of gin rummy with. “He was a bigamist,” she told me. “He had THREE wives.”

She could be funny – like the time she sent me a pair of clear plastic salad tongs for Christmas with a note that said “Try these with spaghetti.” Sometimes – when I disappointed her, for example – she wasn’t particularly funny.

“How’d you get along with your mother?” I once asked her.
“OK,” was all she said.
“How’d you get along with your daddy?”
“GREAT!”

After a morning of taking her mother to the doctor or to get groceries or just out for lunch, Mrs. C would call me: “Hello?” I’d answer, not knowing who was on the other end of the line because those were the days before caller i.d. (or even answering machines, for that matter).

“If I EVER get like my mother,” she’d say skipping the greeting and going straight to the point, “kick me.”

(Too many times to count, I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying “Bend over” cause let me tell you: she was the spittin’ image of her mother, though she fancied herself to be just like the daddy she adored.)

The first house we bought was right down the road from them, and because she liked to drop by during the day to take her friends on a tour (she liked what we did with the place, and she specially liked that I made the macrame headboard just like the one in the picture she tore out of a magazine for me) or to drop off two pies (a cherry pie for me and a strawberry pie for The Engineer – we could eat them back then without consequence), we gave her her own key to the place. She sewed the curtains for the front window . . . and she never quite forgave me for agreeing to leave them when we sold the house. I wish I had them right about now – I really do – but the buyers wanted the curtains, and we were young with many curtains yet to come, so those curtains stayed with the house.

MaryPlaysGolf

Years later, we bought a house in a new subdivision, and while the in-laws were out having a look, they spied a house one street over that captured their interest. Because they had long lived on the same street and because they lived in a beautiful house, she invited me to lunch to ask what I thought about them buying that house and moving there. Without a moment’s hesitation, I told her to buy it, and when she asked me why, I told her it was on a golf course, and I knew – I just knew – she’d enjoy playing golf.

MaryChambersHoldsNewbornAlison

They did move, and she did learn to play and enjoy golf, and as a bonus that I never even considered, when Alison was born, Mrs. C. was right around the corner and ready to help. I don’t know what on earth I would’ve done without her. I really don’t.

When we were first married, I watched Mrs. C. closely, and not just because watching people closely is my favorite kind of entertainment. I watched to see how she related to Nancy and Mr. C. and her boys. I watched their family communication model, the family dynamics. I took in how they related to each other. She taught me a lot without knowing it. A lot, I tell you.

I wish she’d never started smoking, but if that is too much to ask, I wish she’d been able to stop smoking. I have things I long to ask her, you know. Things I long to talk about. Things I long to apologize for. Mostly I want to thank her (again) for raising the man I married.

MaryChambers1

Today is not just Groundhog Day, it’s Mary Chambers’ – my mother-in-love’s – birthday.

the night that changed everything

January 27, 2016 / jeanne / 7 Comments

JeanneAndyFormal

a girl walks into a bar
and when the bartender asks
“what’ll you have?”
she says
“you.”
43 years ago tonight.

no joke.

it was luck that brought us together
and love that keeps us together
the kind of love laced
with gratitude and respect
with patience and kindness
the kind of love that deepens
with age.

he continues to bring out the best in me.

i love to make him laugh
to hear him lay out the future
and ask my input
to watch him load the dishwasher
(because he does it right, you know).

i don’t tell him
(and more importantly i’m not sure
i show him – because words can’t touch it)
often enough
how much i adore him.
that needs to – and will – change.

i don’t ever want us
to grow stale
or feel taken for granted
and that takes effort,
you know,
conscious, dedicated effort.

Pennsylvania27jan16c

my daughter and i went to a thrift shop
here in pennsylvania today
and it occurs to me only now
what i brought home:

Stretchnsewbook

his mother and i
had the most fun
taking these classes together.
we made t-shirts,
skirts, even swimsuits.
give us some of that dotted paper,
some thread and a length of double-knit fabric,
and there was nothing we couldn’t make
and nobody we couldn’t dress.
i miss those days
and i miss her.

Delftthimble

and this
ceramic delft blue thimble.
we visited the delft factory
– the engineer and i –
on our honeymoon
(our second honeymoon)
in september
43 years ago.

we met on january 27, 1973
became engaged on april 1, 1973
and said “i do” on july 31, 1973.
there was no need to wait cause
i knew a good guy when i met him
oh yes i certainly did.

Author: jeanne (Page 35 of 120)

The 70273 Project: First Week Recap

Blocks Stitched, Painted, and Stenciled

Goodbye Mockingbird