Friday, February 24, 2012

oranges and blues

This week I have been working on my rose star quilt blocks but doing the part that isn't ready to show yet which is selecting fabrics cutting them and basting & wrapping them on the paper pieces to get them ready to hand sew together. I got new fabrics last week and finally a nice selection of oranges to make a real red orange rose-star! That is going to be fun to assemble in the coming week. I was delighted when Keith came home on Tuesday from shopping for his floral creations with a bouquet of real orange parrot tulips from the Whole Food's market. Wow they are so spectacular they really lifted my mood every day since they arrived.  I got right to work sketching them Wednesday morning before my trip to the clinic for my quarterly check up. Good news everything is fine says my groovy guitar playing lesbian doctor and so I was again lifted and with the sun shine and warm weather, I went out on 14th Street and decided to take a look in our favorite second hand store across the street. Miss Pixie's is mostly cool furniture but they have lots of little ceramics and glass things as well as art on the walls. I saw this blue vase first thing in the door. It felt so good when I picked it up and handled the textured surface. The shape is pleasing and unusual and the decoration is a line ornamentation that is much like I used to draw on my journal pages. It totally appealed to me and I thought to myself, "do I have money for this today?" I walked around and continued to look to see what else might catch my eye and eventually pulled out my clip of money and found about $30 in my pocket so I could afford an $8 vase if it still was the best thing in the shop. There was a hand sewn Dresden plate quilt in the back for $85 dollars much like the one at home Mom has from her grandmother. It was in pretty good shape on the front but the back had some strange brown stains on it that were a bit hard like varnish or something that doesn't belong on fine quilts. I decided I wasn't in the market for a quilt like that and then thought about cedar chests which they always have a few of in this shop. I would love to have one to put my fine pieces of quilting and blankets in for storage. I do not have money for one now and there isn't any room for one unless I give up some other furniture in our little apartment so that goes on the someday wish list for now. In the end, I decided the little blue vase would bring me much joy for this week. I celebrated my good news and the good weather with the purchase. Got it home and soon it became part of the daily ikebana project Keith is doing so I know it was a good thing to bring home. Meanwhile the responses to my orange tulips were strong and enthusiastic. Can't beat a good tulip for a winter day's mood lift.  
The other fun thing that I began this week, besides cutting out more rose star blocks, was reading the new Vincent Van Gogh biography. Vincent Van Gogh The Life It is the first ever complete story of his life that fills over 800 pages in a big volume that has one of his self portraits on the cover. I wasn't sure it was going to be a good read but on the first night I began I was hooked wow these guys know how to tell a story. I know Vincent is one of the worlds most favorite artists. I like that he was so productive and drew and wrote tons of letters and sent illustrations he drew of his paintings in the letters. I wonder how excited he would be to live in today's world with the Internet and the quick and easy sharing we get to do with photos and blogs and emails? His story is one I am delighted to get to know better I can relate so well to his love of flowers and landscapes and portraits that look a little funky cause I think mine do too. I just wish I had a orange beard and blue/green eyes like he did otherwise I don't have much envy for Vincent's life of misery he was a real outsider if ever there was one. 










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