Calamity Kim

Cool Way To Search For Fabric On Etsy

Have you seen this? To see selected fabrics in a color range at Etsy, click the related color strip. It's pretty cool.

One Stop Fabric Shopping Blog

Maybe you already know about this site called TRUE UP, maybe ya don't. Maybe ya should! It's a great resource for fabric and links to every online fabric source imaginable.
I'll be back later with a mini quilt monday and bench monday post.
Till then, go
love & stitches,
calamity kim

as good as its gonna get

as good as its gonna get, originally uploaded by calamity kim.

Going to go take a break and see the new Transformer movie. _{We saw The Proposal instead and it was really sweet. It was a nice diversion and we both enjoyed it.}

It's not possible that I just spent 2 days folding fabric.

Is it?

yes, but so worth it!

Creepy Calamity's Lizard & Spider Stew

It's cool enough for a walk this morning! Yeehaw! Does that mean we can go outside again without being wringing wet within minutes?
Ya gotta love living in Florida- it ain't the heat it's the humidity as they say.
Sorry, I just woke up, grabbed a cup of java and went outside to retrieve the fabrics I dyed in tea last night.

I walked around back to see if anyone was awake on the lake and some ducks were already out for a swim.
The cat tails died off in this years drought and now the water level is back up again.
Which makes the ducks happy.
The lizards prefer the sunshine and this guy was already soaking up the rays.
While growing a new tail.
I added some Autumn hues to the fabric stash yesterday after a trip to JoAnn's and Alma Sue's Quilt Shop.
The pink lacy spiders are from Joann's- was surprised to see
something this cool there.
a few bright batiks...
I noticed that Beetlejuice's stripes were a little wider this year.
This was at Joann's also- flocked skellies on chiffon! Spooky!
This should provide an easy solution to my marking problems- you just fill up the cavity with the chalk dust and then wipe it across stencil and it is marked!
I knew there had to be a faster and simpler way than marking with a pencil or pen! I hardly ever mark mine because it's such a pain! (I found it at Alma Sue's)
 I just sew with the flow but with this I can try different templates.
The spider web represents time to me and we have many spiders who live in the flowerbeds around the house who build new webs daily and they are ingenious and quite complex spanning the hibiscus and wooden supports of the awning. They are pretty fast actually and can have a new web up in a day.
I think I'm going to go take that walk now and then come home and get to stitching.
 It's too nice to be sitting in here all cooped up!
Thanks for stopping by-
Have a great day!
Love & Stitches,
Calamity Kim

Follow Me Down The Yellow Brick Road

Guess what Quilting Treasures has created? That's right! A line of fabric for you and me to celebrate our love of Dorothy and Toto too. Coming in December... The line is two color ways cleverly Titled Under the Rainbow and Over the Rainbow. Under the rainbow is sepia toned with all the crystal clear images from the early part of the film and the Over the Rainbow is vibrant Technicolor! I can hardly wait! What a Christmas present that will be!

silhouettes of design

Sometimes, I just fall in love with fabric. My current fling is with this fabric created by Jason Yenter of "In The Beginning" fabrics. I love that the design is emerging from the selvage.  I can see it cut into vertical strips and sewn back together with a solid fabric. Like a convergenge quilt by Ricky Tims. Click on the link to read more about his brilliant work if you aren't familiar with his technique. For those of you who are then you understand thew effects that a simple slash with the rotary cutter can give. Stack and Whack by Bethany Reynolds  is a different cutting theory all together but could still be used with this fabric to possibly achieve fabulous results.
When the Hancock's of Paducah Catalog comes in the mail I am like a kid at Christmas. I always stop what I am doing and make a cup of tea and go sit in my comfy corner of the couch and dream a little dream.

Aren't they lovely?

One Nation Under Blogs Or Anna Maria For President!!!

I have loved Queen Ann's Lace for a long time. Now you can get it in another of my favorites- silhouette! I was reading my morning emails while I drank my cup o' joe and spied one from Stephen at Fabric.com. They have started a Blog! Now we can get a little inside info on the goings on of a fabric online store/warehouse. I read the post about how they came to be what they are now and was pretty fascinated! I just said yesterday to the Mr, that it takes hard work to be successful! Sometimes decisions are made from necessity or even desperation. Then the result leads you to another place altogether! I prefer to shop for fabric online. 9 times out of 10 I can find what I need at a reasonable price and I have saved myself the heat ( 97 right now, at 9 am) and the traffic and the gas! 

If you haven't heard of Fabric.com then take this opportunity to check em out.
They have some great sales going on right now. If you use the code Blogs you get another 15% discount on your order, but only for the next 48 hours so hurry!
Maybe you can fix your sweet tooth with some of Anna Maria Horner's Chocolate & Lollipops it's on sale -20% off! I love the new Amy Butler Lotus Collection also. It's beautiful. I hope that K's Company licenses this into paper products like they did with Belle. I hope that they license a lot of the designers and then we can have have our cloth and paper too!

What a wonderful world we live in. There is a lot of Crafting Love and soon we will be one Nation Under Blog. I would like to start a campaign for Anna Maria Horner For President!!! Cher and I were talking about it and it would be awesome. She has a large family- surely she can be a Mother to our Country. The White House needs to be redecorated and imagine the Oval Office in Bohemian!!! *teehee* How about Jujubes?

Wouldn't that be nice? To have an Artist and Mother as President? Anna would guide us back to becoming a Nation that values Made by Hand and Home Made. I think that letting all of our goods be manufactured over-seas has ruined our economy. If we all bought American and were proud of what we make then we would be a better country.The quest for saving a few dollars has cost us our pride. Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to get off the subject. Let me get back on it by saying that even though we can't regress to the good old shopkeeper days of the last century, we can get to know our Internet fabric dealers better by reading their Blogs. Sew Mama Sew, The Purl Bee, Sewzannes and now Fabric.com are  just a few of the fabric dealers who have made the connection and the leap. In a world where it's all about advertising and the competition, it's smart to try to make a human connection with your customer.  So if the Blogs feature items and projects made with the fabric purchased from their online shops then how great is that? Then it becomes another outlet for us to strut our stuff. It comes full circle. The Designers, the Dealers, The Customers. We all win.

Now, come on! How cute is she? Wouldn't she make a great President?
She's got some skills!
Wouldn't it be great to have Quilting Bees instead of Riots and Marches?
No War- Just Peace and Quilting.
Just a thought.
I am writing her in on my ballot when I go vote.
I am.
Really.
Maybe we could get more money in the budget for Art & Music in the Schools? Maybe we could make it mandatory for recycling and home Victory Gardens. Maybe we could barter more services and have Farmer's Markets ALL WEEK!!! Daily!
In Every Town!!!
Maybe I am just dreaming.
One Nation Under Quilts.
That would be a great title for a Gallery Show, wouldn't it?

 

Set Your Spirit Free

That's me after opening my mailbox and finding some new fabric from Sew, Mama, Sew.
They had some Heather Bailey, Empress Woo and Sis Boom and Paint by Numbers by Erin Michael on sale!!
Now, I have been getting small amounts of Heather's fabrics and can't wait to see the next line.
I love the feel of it and the crisp colors and the blend of hues.
It is beautiful.
I am not sure what I will make with it, for now I am just trying to keep the drool off. The pictures below are the fabric that I bought, just so ya know, because I am probably switching subjects to discuss my email basket that I just emptied.

Over 400 emails saved by this pack rat for no particular reason.
I never go back and read them. Well, sometimes, I do.
I can never find what I am looking for.

Searching for.
I was filing the apron info ( from a couple of you who are still so patiently waiting for their apron love) and I realized that I just would be lighter without all of them.
Usually Fred takes care of cleaning and maintaining the computer.
I am trying to keep the desktop tidy but some days it looks like the sewing room after a project! Whew! Meeeesssyyy!
So it feels better.

I am more organized lately and it helps.
I have some super secret projects going that I wish I could spill the beans on but it will have to wait!
I am really considering not sleeping but that just won't help.
That Craftbot Clone would sure come in handy, wouldn't it?
I sold some stuff in the shop yesterday and have been wrapping and boxing this morning and will be off to the friendly neighborhood Post Office just as soon as I warm up some of last nights General Tso ( only medium hot to limit the fire shooting out of my ass later) and then back to the sewing room where I am so close to finishing some projects that I will be totally jumping for joy when I get them boxed and in the mail!

I am happy with them (and will show you after the chicken, monkey, smoochie, doll quiltie,and polkadotpixie) girls all get their love. Then I am getting busy with the Doll Quilt Swap II and then I am going to the beach!( Or to Tally to see my boy and his sassy half! ) any who- y'all have a happy Monday....

The Magic Mailbox

'I've always relied on the kindness of strangers,' Blanche DuBois
well, maybe she was on to something!
I couldn't believe that  more Blogger Babe Goodies were waiting in my Mailbox again today! Wow! I am truly Blessed by kindness.
This time it was from Jennifer of infinitymoremonkeys.blogspot.com Behold the lovely Vintage treasures!!!! and I got 3 wishes!!!! Lucky me! Thank you Jennifer- very, very, very much!

Trouble knocked on the door, but hearing laughter, hurried away. Ben Franklin

That is my favorite quote by Ben Franklin. I love the thought of Mr Trouble personified- just as I love anthropomorphic vegetables and vintage dancing toasters and tea pots.

I guess it comes from my childhood and the illustrations in the fairy tales or stories or maybe my Grandmother Mae's kitchen towels.
She would embroider on everything. I wish I had some of her pillow cases and doilies, but my Mom has only given me a few quilts so far.
Yesterday I was overwhelmed with 2 boxes of beautiful vintage embroidered linens and table cloths and fabric and crocheted doilies and smock aprons and BARK CLOTH curtains!

The delightful Miz Smoochie Lips aka Tia was kind enough to give me all of these wonderful fabrics to use in my creations. From the bottom of my pounding heart I thank her.
She will get an amazing apron full of her salvaged treasures!
I am not sure I will be brave enough to cut some of them, but I will try.
I like re-purposing and as long as the fabric still holds together I will use anything in my collages or clothing items.

I have lots more pictures on Flickr if you would like to go view them.
I need to spend my time sewing not loading pictures here today- so there are only a few to whet your appetite...I also have taken some pictures of a few vintage embroidered linens I have had for many years...I always wonder why the creators didn't finish some things- like did they die?
Were they so critical of their work that they deemed it unworthy of completion?

I will never know, but I have a feeling that if they had completed them then those wips would have never found their way into my hands and I would never have admired and lovingly held onto them all these years.
I secretly love to iron- I love the smell of the steam and the repetition and the way it looks afterward.
I hate housework and do bitch about it ad nauseum but I love ironing.
I can remember hanging the clothes on the line with my Grandmother and then her taking them down and into the house where she would iron them on the closed in back porch.

The view from there included her flower garden with rows and rows of gladiolas and baby's breath and roses and hydrangeas and poppies and the asparagus bed and the red veined rhubarb.
Beyond that was a huge field of sweet grass that my Grandfather let the local college (Warren Wilson) cut and bale each year as a donation for their livestock. In the distance were the Seven Sisters mountain range that nestles the town of Black Mountain.

It was so beautiful and I had wonderful summers chasing firefly's at dusk, hoeing, mowing, toting rocks in the wheelbarrow down the hill to the creek.  My Grandmother worked hard everyday- washing, ironing, harvesting, canning, freezing and setting by rows of beautiful canned goods on the basement shelves.
I am so lazy compared to her and her Mother, but that's what all this advanced technology has done for us- given us more free time to do the things we really enjoy.

I have mixed emotions about some new fangled advancements though.
I was recently told about the new Clover gadget that makes YoYo's in seconds- I have even started seeing it in my Mary Engelbreit and quilting mags.
I still don't want one.
I like making the yoyo's the old way.

It's easy and simple and soothing in it's hand-held repetition.
Call me old fashioned.
I am.

Tuesday follows Monday

There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic. Anais Nin

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There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. Anais Nin

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A leaf fluttered in through the window this morning, as if supported by the rays of the sun, a bird settled on the fire escape, joy in the task of coffee, joy accompanied me as I walked. Anais Nin

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Why is it so hard for me to make a decision?
I have to choose all three quotes because one just isn't enough.
They all encompass how I feel.
My Dad called last night with good news about my Mom's surgery.
A sigh of relief escaped my weary heart.

It is always after the crisis that I  relax and then realize just how worried or upset I had been. Holding my breath.

I am not ready yet for more loss. I tried to explain it to my brother, when I called to tell him the news. He said what difference does it make? If you are ready or not?

I have this imaginary room where it is all white.

White bench.

White angel sitting next to me with wings folded around me as if I were a baby bird to be protected.

I can handle anything in that white room. I have the strength I need to stand up and hold my head up high and walk out the door.

But only after a space of time spent curled to the softly beating heart of the angel.

Only after measuring out my hurt like so much fabric to be cut by the yard.

The pain from losing a parent is more fabric than I need at this particular time.

When the time comes and the decision is out of my hands anyway, I will accept the loss and cut up the pain in tiny, easy to swallow pieces and take them in, washed down with my tears and swallow the lump in the back of my throat that threatens to choke my life away as well.

I was so afraid that she would not make it through the surgery.

Nightmares every night.

Zombie days just waiting.

Trying to stay busy so that I wouldn't think about it.

I am so relieved.

My Dad didn't drink or eat anything all day.

His voice was craggy and hoarse.

I should have been there to take care of him.

I can only do what I can and he graciously said he was glad I didn't come, like I might have been killed on the highway.

My brother thinks quick is the best way to go.

Lightning.

Heart Attack.

Sudden car crash.

Instant.

Gone.

I say the shock of someone I love dying that quickly would just give me a heart attack.

He laughed.

He said I worry too much.

I only know what I feel and I don't feel ready to let go of either of them.

I love my Step-Mom. She is my true Mother. After 40 years she is the only Mom I've ever had. My real Mother never loved me or wanted me. She had other fish to fry.

I love my Dad and have come to terms with his strictness and discipline and can understand now, that he did the best that he could. He  just wanted us to grow up and be good people. From his point of view he was probably terrified. Unable to ever bend he just snapped. The Army will do that to you. The 60's were a time of unrest and civil disobedience and free love and bra burning was tough to take. I was too young to be a problem but he went round and round with my older sister and brother. Now it is just reminiscences about and retold with each player rewriting their own personal story the way that they remember it. Or choose to remember it.

Selective memories. I know I only choose the happy ones.

Somewhere down the hall from my white room there is a door that I never open.

A door to the room of forgotten memories.

This door has a nice thick seal around it so that none of the pain or sorrow can ooze out and sully the lovely carpets in the hall.

I once read a book called Weaveworld by Clive Barker and it held me spellbound in the story of a world woven into a carpet...

Your world is what you make it.

Mine is a happy place filled with rainbows of pure colors and blue skies and happy golden dogs ready to play!

Cupcakes and balloons and teddy bears...flowers and swing sets and children blowing bubbles....

No sickness, no death.

Take a deep breath.

relax and let the warm feathers settle around you.

comfort & joy

everything will be OK

Dreaming in Color

I saw this over at Liquid Sky and had to share it with you.
It took awhile to load and I have DSL but it's worth it. Actually, I watched about 7 times after it loaded. Then I yelled for Fred and the dog to come and watch it, too!!
There is so much Beauty in the world. I added a bunch of blogs and sites to my sidebar today.( I changed the color a little to, a softer aqua. #99FFFF.) I wanted to move them from other bookmarked files. I am a blog packrat too! I hope for my birthday I can get some of Heather Bailey's Fabric for Free Spirit. It's so pretty. Not much else going on today....Here's some pictures...