TRIP TO THE FRUTERIA

I am so excited to be traveling to Oaxaca next month. Oaxaca is fiber-central and alive with dyers, weavers and the like...a virtual fiber feast. It also is bursting with other traditional arts and crafts of Mexico which I know will be the source of much inspiration.

Once a year I make a "women's trip" to a Mexican destination. The past few years, we have gone to the Guadalajara area for shopping, exploration, and good fun, but this year a few of us had Oaxaca on the brain. Airfare was amazingly cheap so a date was set and word went out among the ranks. We future travelers are now up to about nine and all are doing a little bit of research to share with the group so we can make the most of our time there.

I love to visit Nancy Crow's website to see what new pieces she has up her sleeve, what's going on at her barn, and trips she has planned (fantasy land for me!). I remembered seeing a Oaxaca trip advertised so I clicked to see what her trip included. In the accompanying photos, there was a wonderful shot of a local market scene, with the foreground devoted to the colorful signs of fruit for sale. I instantly knew I wanted to reproduce that simple shot (minus the stands in the background). Black fabric and some medium-value colors skew-cut for signs were where I stitched in the names of local fruits we have here in Mazatlan. My signature bleaching pulled out the color in the words, buttons added and the whole piece trimmed. Simple and fun! With all the time in the world, I would find myself at the quilter's vegie stand, meat market, taco stand, ice cream stand, cheese mart, etc.

For now, more research is on my list and dreaming of new inspirations.

DECEMBER QUILT JOURNAL

Terry sent out the theme for December's Quilt Journal project back in mid- November. "In Grandmother's Kitchen" seemed like a wonderful way to reminisce about holidays past, loved ones, etc.

Today I finished my "Grama's Kitchen" piece which was one of the many projects on my list as I awaited my new foot pedal from the states. I loved the theme Terry suggested but the reality of it was that not many visions of interest popped into my head. Of course it could be an imaginary granny from times past with soups simmering away on the woodstove, etc., but my grandparents were older and had simple but relatively modern (uninteresting???) kitchens. BUT, one thing that kept coming back to me was the can of Bird's Custard in our cupboard that I always questioned why it was there but never used. It had such a distinctive label and always caught my attention as a young girl. That can must have been there for years!, with my mother's intentions to make Nanaimo Bars, but never having to because they were my Grama Gertrude's Christmas specialty. Every Christmas we looked forward to those fantastic treats and to this day they remain one of my favorites. So I got the can from the internet, printed it out and attached it to the center of my design. I followed that with a bit of foil to highlight the can. Then I sewed in the letters that I next discharged with my bleach pen. I finished up with some fill-in freemotion. Now I wanted to wash out the bleach product so did a quick soak to get it out of the fabric, and lo and behold I sadly discovered that some of the color from the custard can also washed out. There are always lessons to learn, aren't there? Next time (on pieces where I use bleach), I will think carefully about the sequence and what needs to be protected from washing. Oh well. While I was at it, I put together a cover for my journal pieces which are now consolidated into a real book with temporary rings of zip-ties. I'll look for those metal rings at our local papeleria. A future to-do item is to print out brief stories of each journal piece and print out on fabric that I will attach to the back of each. I love the stories that go along with our creations...each and every piece and person has an interesting message to convey.

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN

Last week Santa arrived at my doorstep with a special present, simply wrapped in plastic and bubble wrap. Santa's name was really John, and he was the kind messenger who delivered my new foot pedal to me. Of course I was getting nervous about whether or not he was actually going to make it out of Sea-Tac airport with all of the snow, cancelled flights, etc. After sitting on the plane for 3 hours, waiting for the de-icer, he and his family finally took off, leaving the snowy, ultra white state of Washington (and beyond!) behind, and headed for a warmer destination in Mexico. I'm not sure who was happier, he and his family to be here, or me with my new foot pedal. My projects were stacked high, waiting for binding, quilting, piecing, etc. My hand work has seen its limit for awhile and now I have my sewing station is back in action.
Christmas here was a quiet event and with mild weather, unlike many other areas north of us in the U.S. and Canada. A nice dinner with friends on Christmas eve followed the Mexican tradition of celebrating on the 24th and relaxing on Christmas Day. The local parties on our street went until the wee hours (5am) and we happily stuffed our window wells in our bedroom with classy 2" pink styrofoam that is our new sound barrier! It helped immensely and we'll be using it again on New Years. Parties among the ex-pat community have been abundant and we've had a wonderful share of holiday cheer and good food. Now back to sewing!
I send wishes for a happy, humble, healthy and humorous 2009 to all my family, friends and fellow quilters. We all need lots of laughter these days. And may projects abound!
(The rooster above was an attempt to use a good amount of hand stitching while I waited for my foot pedal. I had to try lots of steaming and stretching and gathering to size the finished product into something that resembled a rectangle. So much for my stitching, but once again there are lessons to be learned. He now resides above my kitchen sink and brings happiness to my home.)

MY MONDAY MORNING

Every Monday morning, I head out to the local pharmacia and wait for a ride to a community center located on the outskirts of town, about 20 minutes away. The driver's name is Toy and she is a 70-something powerhouse who has been committed for years to a local group of women, Mujeres Trabajadores (Working Women). For me, their group's name is the Sewing Ladies, as sewing is their means of financial support. They meet once a week at the community center, and up until this year, their Monday meeting consisted of some sort of sewing lesson/tip, an English lesson, an Al-Anon meeting (as most have some sort of dependency issue happening in their family), and organizing their one or two selling ventures (at the cruise ship terminal or a local hotel) for the week. I have been involved with them for the past two winters and I have been trying to get them to step out of their comfort zone of placemats and aprons and add a bit more personal expression to their work. This year my friend Bev (their English teacher) and I have returned to find them immersed in personal development classes, with choices of art, cooking, singing, etc. They are loving these opportunities, and when we arrive Monday morning they are busy at the table with their paints and papers at hand. We observe from afar and chat in our simple Spanish with the the one or two stragglers who arrive late or who decide not to partake that day. OR Velma arrives with her new baby girl and we get to hold her for awhile. When the art teacher terminates the class for the day, they scramble with their stacks of donated fabric, plan projects, divvy up the pieces, and sign up on the schedule to sell their wares. Even Toy's Al-Anon meeting has taken a back seat. Perhaps in the new year we will be able to get back on track, but for now we are there as friends and supporters. Every week I am awed by their fortune to have been organized over ten years ago, and now they have evolved into a strong and sustaining network devoted to financial advancement, skill development, spiritual quest and friendship. It's inspiring to watch!

AN INTERESTING MEDIUM

Our nearby plazuela (Plazuela Machado) is once again the home of a most interesting creative endeavor - sand sculpture. These artists take this once sand castle activity to new heighths with their representations of lovely scenes that capture one's imagination and gives every viewer a sense of awe over the craftsmanship displayed.

This year we are blessed with a nativity scene, complete with rats and chickens and angels and perfectly crafted bales of hay. A week ago, the sand was delivered to a corner of the plazuela by dumptruck, and slowly the artisans sculpted, with spray bottles and delicate scalpels, this lovely scene. We watched the process with wonder and amazement. Now our nightly pass through the social scene of historic Mazatlan always includes a stop to see what new embellishments have been added. And every morning the scene is just as it was left the night before; daily we see grafitti added at every street corner, but this is left untouched.

Last year we were honored with a pirate/buried treasure scene. I think this rat was there too.

And what will next year bring?

It is interesting to think about working with a medium that disappears over time. It seems to me that for these artists it is all about the love of creating. It reminds me of another place I lived that touted a similar "disappearing" medium - the ice sculptures of Fairbanks, Alaska. Here today, gone tomorrow, never to be forgotten, and always viewed with awe and appreciation.

EMBRACING THE ARTIST WITHIN

Recently I was fortunate to be a part of local yoga teacher, Mo Geraghty's retreat "Embracing the Artist Within". It was a call to draw from within, to reach inside to our true selves, to be open to creative experiences, and to look at the strength and power of the written word in the form of journaling in our lives. As a facilitator of a class that taught silk painting to a group and also as a participant in the sessions, I loved the soul-searching and sharing that I experienced and was renewed in my own creative quests.


Yoga, writing, food, the peace of Stone Island, the comraderie of new and old friends, sharing my own creative journey, and a day at the spiritual grounds of Las Labradas were highlights for me.



Dianna, our animal lover, connects to a new friend on stone Island. And the petroglyph below, (one of many) connected us to the universal journey humans have experienced since the beginning of time. Thank you, Mo, for organizing and facilitating this inward journey.

MAJOR PROBLEM!!!!

Lo and behold, the foot control on my trusty Bernina 910 went out two nights ago. My machine is now out of commission and as you can imagine, I am not happy.
The first quest was for another pedal that we could just change cords on with the help of our amazing electronics guy, Gilberto. Tom went to the local Singer dealer (the name of his shop is CASA CONTENTA) and bought a new pedal for 250 pesos (about $20). For 30 pesos, Gilberto changed the wires and Tom returned home with my new hope. Wrong! I plugged it in and nothing happened! (We hope Gilberto can replace the original wires and we can get our money back!)
Now my quest went to the internet. I first wrote to my friend Janice in Mount Vernon, WA, who manages the Humane Society Thrift Shop and she takes home every machine that comes in for her husband to refurbish, and along with that activity, she has shelves full of parts. Janice, can you help me?
Next I called the wonderful Bernina repair man, Kevin, at Huckleberry's Fabrics in Comox, B.C. His advice was to get some super glue and secure the broken part. He warned me that a new one would run about $300, and $5 in glue couldn't hurt. Unfortunately, I already knew that my foot pedal needed more than glue.
Then to google dealers etc., and with this I found out that I needed a specific model of foot pedal: 347 or 367. Onto e-bay and I found a dealer selling those for $249! Please Janice, I hope you have one.
Out of the blue, I googled "Bernina dealers in Mexico" and up came a site for the Ajijic (near Guadalajra) Quilt Guild. I wrote to the email address with questions etc. and was happily greeted this morning with a letter from Marianne telling me about 2 contacts in the country. Plus, I have become acquainted with a fellow quilter and now know that there also is a Guild in Mexico City! I also shared with Marianne that my friend Anne from Mazatlan just moved to Ajijic so of course I am planning to visit there AND connect with new quilting friends.
Sometimes problems have the most interesting outcomes!
Now a letter from Janice has arrived and she is in Minnesota, but she will check on her return. Be patient Maria!
In the meantime, I am doing all the other things I love to do that don't require a machine. I just bought a new 3 set DVD from Dharma titled "Learn How to Tie-Dye". I finished the video set last night and found Tom and Martine to be great teachers. I learned new tips for my own dyeing and now know how to make a beautiful mandala. This morning I prepped 4 pieces, soaked them in soda ash and now they are air drying to be dyed in a few days.
I'll dye up some linen napkins this afternoon, and move on to some hand sewing later, but my quest for my Bernina 910 foot pedal continues.
Anyone have a spare one hanging around?