Mr. Elk is FINISHED!

It took longer than I wanted, but I'm very happy with the result. My last few weeks were spent agonizing over whether to use Shiva sticks - I used a tiny bit to lighten the tongue, and then a LOT behind the eye but then erased it all using some grease/oil spot remover and covered that part up with more fabric! Live and learn.

I decided to finish the edges using a facing - I'd never done that before. It was fun, but I'm going to have to 'block' the quilt to make him lay flat.

Oh joy! Now on to the next project.

My elk has a neck!

Yesterday, I brought my elk-in-progress to my quilt group for critique. They said "he needs a neck - he's floating" and sure enough, what a difference it made!So now I have some painting to do, to lighten up the very-pink-tongue and to 'join' the highlighting just above the ear to the light part above it, with Shiva Paint Sticks.
The final step before the binding (if I decide to do one) will be to figure out where to cut off the right side of the background, if at all.

Elk Quilt Progress

I've been having a blast with this quilt. It just took a while to get started. The background is now finished. I probably won't use it this wide - maybe 2/3 of it. The other 1/3 will be a nice neutral piece for some busy room.

Using Nicole's idea that I love, I padded the backs of some of the fabric to create some depth in the quilt. For example, the tongue has two pieces of batting, so it'll protrude the most. The rest of the jowls have one piece of batting, and so one. There's no batting on the areas that need to look 'recessed.'
From there it's just loads of thread painting to add all the different colors. The final step will be to quilt the face onto the background, and do more thread painting.

How's the quilt coming, Laurie?

A few friends have expressed interest in the process I'm using on the elk quilt. I thought I'd share with those who want to know (and those who don't can just surf off somewhere else!).

First, I took that gorgeous shot that Renee did, and I projected it onto my quilting design wall. So it's now about 20" x 30" or so. Think poster-size. I put some butcher paper up on the wall, and I traced the outline of the elk, as well as some of the places where the color changes a lot. These will represent different fabrics in the final quilt. I made 2 copies of this tracing.

Next, I chose some background fabrics. As you can see in the photo, the background is grey and green, and fuzzy. I wanted to get a 'sky' look but blue didn't appeal to me, so I chose 5 different grey fabrics, and sewed them together in curved strips to come up with this (pinned with safety pins to the batting and backing.

So now I'm quilting this piece.




Quilting means that I'm decoratively sewing this piece from the top, through all three layers of top, batting, and backing.

Next, I took one of the tracings and cut it up so that I had a representative piece for each separate fabric color I wanted. I used the paper pieces as templates, and with the help of Steam-a-Seam, I created "iron on patches" that I'll be able to iron onto one another, for the face and antlers of the elk.

But I'm not planning to just iron on all these pieces to one another, and then iron that piece onto the background.

A good friend and GREAT QUILTER, Nicole, gave me the idea to create some depth to the important pieces, like the tongue, jowls, and eye. These will actually have some batting behind them (using the trapunto method) so they will "stick out" a bit.

Then, I'll do LOTS and LOTS of stitching on the face to make it seem very realistic. This is also called "threadpainting."

Here's an example of another quilt I threadpainted on - this one is completely thread - with the elk, I'll probably leave some of the fabric showing behind the thread.

Anyway - this is keeping me busy lately. Enjoy your weekend!

How can it be end of April already?

I can't believe I haven't written in this blog in two whole months. So much for new year's resolutions. And I even understand that there are a few people who actually read this!

So I turned 48 last week. The numbers fly by now just like the days and months. Warren and I are already planning a cat-skiing trip (no - not bringing the cats, but rather, using big machines called snow-cats to bring us to the top of mountains for 'first tracks') or perhaps a heli-skiing trip (being taken to the top of a mountain by helicopter) for my 50th. Or - there's "guided skiing" which could be really fun. And then there's a possible hut-to-hut cross-country/back country ski trip, which would leave the smallest carbon footprint.

But that's 2 years away!

What's new? Well, Warren's going to be going away for a while to work - in California - so maybe I'll have way too much time on my hands. Maybe I'll actually write once a week again. Anyway, there will be loads more time to quilt. Here are some recent baby quilts.






The latest one in the works now is a close-up of an elk that was in Spring Gulch a few months ago. My neighbor Renee took this great shot.

So it's been a while ...

since I've blogged. I've been working like a doggie and it's been good work. Our big challenge this year is to create and use virtual spaces to collaborate with others and innovate. Virtual classrooms, virtual workrooms, virtual meeting rooms.
It works pretty well except for those times when you just really really need to get up at a white board with a few other people and diagram out what you need to say. Even the virtual white boards just don't do the trick. Or - when it's a contentious subject and everyone wants to talk at once (see my previous blog) - it's hard to synthesize a lot of speaking at the same time, when you're all on a conference call. But it's better than getting on a plane.

Today though, and yesterday, I got the opportunity to take a few days off and ski. The snow is incredible - powder sometimes up to our knees. We skied Vail yesterday and Copper today. Man, does Copper Mountain have some LONG runs!! It was crazy windy but once we got going, it was awesome. It sure does feel good to lay down though. :)

Visual Cues ... in a Virtual World

Last week my neighbors and I were walking together, easily conversing, interrupting one another, and having side conversations. It was flowing 'fine' - normal, I'd say. One of our conversations was about how hard it is to talk on the phone and have side conversations and interruptions. For example, three of us could all walk and talk at the same time and little would be missed. But put me on the phone with Gail, and have my husband walk into the room and ask "Where are my car keys?" and I'm distracted and cannot concentrate on both his question and Gail at the same time. And the latter is the hardest.
Why is this?
I brought this question up in a meeting at work the other day, where there are all KINDS of smart people who have PhDs in these kinds of things. One cognitive scientist-type I work with said that visual cues play more of a part in our auditory conversations than we think. For example, while I could see Warren coming into the room to ask about his keys, Gail couldn't. She didn't pause in her part of the conversation and I had no way to signal her with eyes, a head-turn, or anything, that I need a half-second to divide my attention.
Then I thought about instant messaging, where again, we don't see one another. There are two things that immediately come to mind that have tremendously helped to make instant messaging more like talking:

1. The emoticons. As we know, a picture is worth a thousand words. And there are so many to choose from now - it's great to have a wink, a smile, or a sad face to express instantly what might not be able to be put in words. Call this a 'virtual visual cue' that you can send WITHOUT feeling like you're interrupting someone who's chatting.
2. The message on the status screen that the other person is writing. Perhaps you're in a multi-person chat and you're writing something. Half-way through, you see that another person is writing. That's a visual cue that perhaps someone wants to add something, has a question, or needs a clarification. No one has 'said' anything but you can see that you might need to pause.

Think about virtual visual cues the next time you're on the phone or in a chat discussion. Maybe with certain people (who tend to talk and keep talking) you have a signal - you press a phone button or something - that means you want them to pause for a minute. (I wouldn't try this unless the people on the phone have all agreed that this is acceptable behavior - it might come off kind of rude otherwise.) Or maybe your instant messaging is always kept to one sentence or less. Maybe you just pause more often, and ask (whether on the phone or in a chat) "What do you think" or "Are you with me" or something - to make sure that it's OK to go on.

Back to Work

It's actually good to be back at work. I love my job, so that makes it easier, but more likely I think the reason is that my legs are just happy to be sitting still under my desk instead of working so hard on the ski slopes. They need a break!

At work, I'm invigorated by new ideas, perspective, and challenges. I'm hoping that some of my work in IBM Learning can fold into President Obama's and VP Biden's new task force to help the Middle Class grow stronger. It may sound a bit cliche, but I want to make a difference.

Last night my book club discussed our latest reads, The Audacity of Hope and Dreams from my Father. Our president makes some points that shows he really gets it: on religion and its place in government, on knowledge workers and the economy, on the responsibilities of citizens and corporations. I hope he can make some changes fast, and quell the Right by continuing to appeal to the idea of bipartisanship. It makes sense! The polarization in this country has gotten us into a world of trouble. We all need to cooperate, and responsibility often involves sacrifice.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it SNOW!

Vacation is a wonderful thing. It clears your head from what's going on at work, reconnects you with your family and friends, and is just plain FUN.
This week, we're at Breckenridge with some great friends, skiing our brains out. I was so worried last week (see my second blog entry) that the weather would not cooperate and that we'd be skiing on ice. And guess what? It's been snowing almost non-stop since we got here! Today we skied in 4-6 inches of powder. It's cold, but it's better than having ice in the morning and slush in the afternoon.
Every year for the past 21 years (with a few missed years when we lived overseas), I've been coming to Breck to ski with ex-work-friends. It's the same group, plus or minus a few, every year. It's the only time most of us see each other, and it's like we haven't missed a beat. We just pick up where we left off, catching up on kids and grandkids, jobs and retirement, work and vacation news. It's like a living Christmas card each year with these 20 or 30 people.
This year we had one car accident (thank goodness these folks were OK and they wanted a new car anyway), one new baby on the way, and one retirement. We're lucky this year! Some years we've lost some friends, and it's not been so happy. But our friendships have grown closer and closer - eventhough we spend just these 8 days together, once a year. I'm grateful for this.

My cats are incredibly spoiled

I was just looking at Briony, curled up on the bay window in the sun, using her stuffed-animal cat as a pillow. Of course by the time I got the camera, she'd moved. But here they are, lounging in glory during their early-mid-afternoon naps.
Briony

Gabe

So ... they are sooooo spoiled (how spoiled are they, you ask?): they have their own toilet. That's right - this past fall I bought them/myself a CatGenie. This thing is incredible. And Green! The washable cat litter is made from recycled plastic bottles. And you never have to change it! The litter gets washed and disinfected at every 'flush.' Watch the video if you don't believe me.
OK, so that gadget is about as much for me as it is for the cats. But how about this? At night, they sleep curled up to me. If I have to move, I carefully pull my legs up, turn over, and inch them back down without bothering their sleep - I do this in my sleep! Ah, they've trained me well.
When it's Snackie Time, Briony comes into my office, holds her tail up completely straight, waving the tip of it in salute, and meows. If I reach over to pet her, she runs just out of reach. If I get up, she starts making her way to her bowl, looking back to make sure I'm following her. She leads me right to it and waits patiently while I scoop her food into it. Or, in the morning, if she wants to go out for her ten-minute jaunt (where I watch her like a hawk - or hopefully better than a hawk!), she leads me to the front door. She knows I'm no dummy!

I don't mind being a slave to my cats. They're my kids!

Conservation, Participation

President Obama (Yeah! It feels GREAT to write that!) talked a LOT about citizenship and social responsibility in his inaugural address today. How we, each of us, need to take responsibility living in this country. We cannot assume our government will solve our problems.
I walk around my block and I see lights left on all day and night, and cardboard and bottles in peoples' trash instead of recycling. These things are SO EASY to change.
Responsible living is NOT just for hippies and democrats! It's for everyone.

Participate in each moment, in our world. Volunteer. Help out. It feels good!

Oh - and the White House website has a new look - it's AWESOME. Check it out, subscribe to their RSS feed. Connect!

What's up with this weather?

I hear nothing about how cold it is out east, and there were flurries in the Steel City yesterday. We are supposed to be having winter here, darn it! And today it was 51 degrees at 7am. This is just not right!
Of course, all the Boulderites are out today, it being a holiday for many, with their dogs and their strollers, enjoying the sunshine. And I'm praying for snow!

Is Global Warming only happening in Colorado?

I'm hoping this weather can be sent to Washington, DC, for tomorrow's inauguration. I wish I were going to be there! What an incredible thing our country has done!

OK - so what is this all about?

People have been asking me about blogging for a few years now. I've always loved to write, but blogging just seemed so ... well, selfish. I mean, who would want to read about what I'm doing, what I love, where I'm going? And Twitter! I mean, really. Who cares what I'm doing right now this very instant?
But I'm mellowing. I write a 'Christmas Newsletter' every year that tells people what Warren and I have done during the year, and I get a lot of good feedback on that. I guess blogging is an extension of that. So in 2009 I'm going to give it a try. My goal is to write at least weekly.

My first post is going to be about balance. As you can see from the title of this blog and the description, I love cats, quilting, computers, art, and friends. I also love walking, skiing, books, coffee, wine, some television, cooking, and LOADS of other things. It was really hard to come up with the "TOP" things on my life list until I thought about them in the context of "what would I take with me in an emergency evacuation." That really narrowed down the list - everything else became noise. When I asked myself, are these the only things that are really important? The answer was definitely no, but all the other things are balanced out.

That's kind of hard to swallow at first. It makes me feel shallow, scattered, to have so many things I consider important. I know a lot of people who are so focused, and have such passion for certain things - I wonder what I'm lacking. But then, I have finally settled into the feeling of balance. Of having a lot of things I enjoy, a very happy life rich with diversity. Diversity in pastimes, in people, and in interests. I guess I have a lot of hats. I like it this way.

I'm sure in the future I'll write about this quilt project or that book or wine. But for now, it's about balancing all these things.