SEPTEMBER 30

Holiday stocking prep.

SEPTEMBER 29

Fabric pull for adding more Christmas stockings.

SEPTEMBER 28

Nancy Crow's work is amazing!

SEPTEMBER 27

We lived in a townhouse for 14 years, which meant no gardening, just flowers in pots. We now have a messy, bird/pollinator friendly yard full of random wildflowers. I have been harvesting some of these and dyeing watercolor paper with the results.

It's been very haphazard and slapdash (what great words!). But this pinkish paper and thread are the result of turning Black Eyed Susan flowers (rudbeckia) into dye. Yes, the yellowy-orange and black flowers made pink dye. Strange but definitely fun.

SEPTEMBER 26

The library system back in Madison had a copy of this book on Nancy Crow's lifetime of quilting.  Thankfully, the Pittsburgh library system has a copy as well.  For reference, this book is 2.5 inches thick and weighs almost 5 pounds. It is wonderful!

SEPTEMBER 25

More time with LA today so reading, not making.  Really appreciate when artists share their process and studio space with us.  Nancy Crow is particularly generous in doing this.

SEPTEMBER 24

Spending time with our granddaughter, LA, so reading about quilt art.

SEPTEMBER 23

This current quilt is an improv quilt. No rulers, just cut pieces of fabric and sew them together randomly. This is WAY outside my comfort zone, which is the whole point.

I did sneak in a couple of half square triangles, though, which is my preferred quilt block.  Anyone who knows anything about these quilt blocks will know that they are ruler INTENSIVE.  It's something like eight measured cuts for a single HST trimmed block.

The two HSTs in this piecing are ruler free. Still a little fussy though.

SEPTEMBER 22

Piecing some more...

SEPTEMBER 21

Pieces, pieces everywhere...

SEPTEMBER 20

And more piecing...

SEPTEMBER 19

More piecing.

DON'T BE AFRAID

This statement is a double edged sword.

Reassurances of ‘don’t be afraid’, ‘trust us’, ‘don’t worry’ are the big lies told by people who want to sell us snake oil or worse.  You can be pretty much guaranteed that they will get what they want (your money, your time, your attention) and you will get stung.

When you hear these kinds of statements whether from a salesperson, a website, or even an employer, you should be very afraid. All the rules have changed and the stakes are your freedom and creativity.

On the other hand, choosing to use your time and creativity to make art, to make a difference, to take a leap into the void can feel like the scariest thing in the world. But it’s really just the opposite.

Assuming someone else has your best interest at heart is foolish and dangerous. Controlling your own life, your own time, and your own talent is the safest thing you can do these days.

Leading the way by your example and your art can truly make a difference. Go ahead and make what you want to make. Make what you need to make. And share it with world.

Don’t be afraid.

SEPTEMBER 18

New project started.

SEPTEMBER 17

Starting to cut fabric.

SEPTEMBER 16

Fabric pull for new project: all washed and pressed.

SEPTEMBER 15

Second best part after sewing the binding is the crinkly post dryer reveal.

SEPTEMBER 14

The binding is done. Will wash and dry tomorrow.

WE ARE NOT ALONE

We are certainly not alone in the challenges of the past year.

My best friend, JK (pronounced Jake) back in Wisconsin, spent a large part of the 2018 summer defending against continuous high water flooding in her not-on-a-flood-plain neighborhood thanks to unprecedented rainfall.

JK’s spouse had two major surgeries just a couple months apart, both with lengthy recovery periods. And as I did, JK retired in early 2019.

Like me JK is also a quilter and an artist, trying to show up, keep working, take joy in the process, and contribute something creatively meaningful in the world.

So many artists over the age of 50 have been working at their art and their practice for most of their lives. Lives that included/include raising children, earning a living, caring for elderly family members, getting downsized and being made redundant, and being laid low by illness (theirs or others) to list just a few. And yet they still show up in the studio, at the drawing board, in the workshop.

“Art is anything that is done well.” (John Dewey)

A whole lot of us have been showing up and doing things well for one hell of a long time. We deserve a very big round of applause. Right before we get straight back to work.

SEPTEMBER 13

One and a half sides to go. The hand sewing really is the reward for everything that goes before it.

SEPTEMBER 12

The very best part of making a quilt. Hand sewing the binding on the back.

SEPTEMBER 11

The quilting portion is done.

SEPTEMBER 10

Spent most of the day with granddaughter, LA, so no quilting was done. I did read a quilt book during nap time though.

SEPTEMBER 9

Slowly but surely, 7/8 of the way done.

SEPTEMBER 8

Quilting about 3/4 of the way done.

SEPTEMBER 7

Being accountable: what I worked on today.

SO HOW HAS YOUR YEAR BEEN?

For the past 12 months, give or take a couple, my life (our lives) have been turned upside down. 
 

After five years in Los Angeles, our then-pregnant daughter and her husband decided to move to Pittsburgh, PA, where he had accepted an attending position.

Coincidentally and nearly simultaneously my husband began consulting on a local foods / economic development project in, you guessed it, Pittsburgh.

So we committed to moving to Pittsburgh at the end of 2018 after 41 years in Madison, Wisconsin. With the vagaries of the real estate market, the requirements of pension plans, and the necessary insurance requirements, it ended up being early 2019.

When I agreed to the move, I had never actually been to Pittsburgh. Until I started looking at maps, I didn’t even realize that Pittsburgh is nearly in Ohio it’s so far west in PA. (No, geography has never been my strong suit.)  Everyone I spoke with about the move knew someone from PGH, lived there once upon a time, or visited regularly. And everyone loved Pittsburgh.

So at two weeks of age our granddaughter, LA (pronounced L.A.) flew cross country with her parents to PGH. We arrived the next day by car from Wisconsin to meet LA for the first time. It was, as any grandparent will tell you, love at first sight.

To everyone’s relief, I also loved Pittsburgh. The folks in PGH are some of the kindest, most thoughtful, and genuine people you will ever meet.

After two weeks with LA, and her parents of course, we headed home to start the process of selling/buying houses, retiring from my paid employment, and figuring out all the things that went along with this.

My dedicated husband, while working one week per month in PGH, spent every spare minute looking first for a neighborhood and then for a house in a city he barely knew outside of professional meetings and hotels.

It worked though, and we found a perfectly charming and slightly quirky house on a virtually dead end street with a fabulous yard/garden and lovely neighbors.  But we still had to sell our house in Wisconsin, in the winter.

My New Year’s 2018 resolution was to get rid of everything we owned, or at least a reasonable portion of it. Before the actual decision to move, I was already sorting and winnowing our possessions. We had been at our current location for 13 years so despite having winnowed before that move, we still had a lot of stuff. Once the decision to move was made, the purging went into high gear.

Anyone who has ever sold a home knows what a treat it is to make it look like no one lives in your house while you are, in fact, living, eating, sleeping in it. Thankfully we did not have small children, just a cat who loved to ride over to the lake in the car when there were showings. And the house did sell for our asking price on New Year’s Day 2019.

But the buyer was leaving the country for a month so could we close in 6 weeks? Change paperwork, extend retirement date, redo pension/insurance docs.

Then 3 weeks out from closing my husband was diagnosed with cancer. Surgery was required. Not knowing what follow up would be needed or for how long, we decided he would have the surgery done in Pittsburgh.

It is definitely good to have doctors in the family. Our son-in-law’s brother is a specialist for this very type of cancer. He contacted a local (WI) friend who saw my husband immediately, and who then called another colleague in PGH who turned out to be the go-to guy in the US for this type of surgery. Three weeks after the move, surgery got all the cancer. No chemo, no radiation needed.

And then I had a heart attack:  Just 65, no family history, few if any risk factors. Being a woman the heart attack did not present like one. It just felt like I was coming down with the worst virus ever. Thankfully my son-in-law insisted that I go the ER not urgent care, or home to just take it easy.

It turned out to be a tiny little baby heart attack that left no damage, but it did alert us to what turned out to be a 90% blockage in one artery. Along with my titanium hip and surgical steel elbow, I now have a shiny new heart stent and six months of cardio rehab.

Through all of this I have worked very hard to stay connected to my art. Sewing machines and art supplies were packed away for months. Some days it was hard to even remember that I was an artist.

It’s only been in recent weeks that I have really been able to focus again on my work. And that’s what this blog will be about: making art over the age of 50 with all of its attendant advantages and disadvantages. A way to stay focused, connected, and accountable for showing up and doing the work.

Here goes nothing and everything!