thelmasmith

Today I’m basting the turn under on the Debian spiral. About one third done I decided to sit down and take a break. I thought that I could sit in my easy chair and do this task. UM. no.

I’m standing at the ironing board with surgical tweezers, a pressing cloth to make sure the fusible reinforcements do not get on the iron, scissors, ivory silk thread and a number eleven straw needle. The trifocals go on and off depending on the demands on my vision.

A close up of the inside and outside corners.

Then a look at Mr. Lincoln and Peace. Early spring mornings in Sonora are the best.

Today’s work on the small Debian quilt was slow. I worried until I went to sleep last night about how I was going to assure accurate placement of the logos detached parts. So, this morning I put the big, pattern copy on the copier and put transparencies in the tray. It will work.

There is one problem with transparencies. You must not let them stack up in the print tray. Senora Rosita Gordita is sitting on the evidence.

A nice bit of evidence, too, The Epoch Times. I picked it up at the Seventeenth Street Market. It says, “began as a weekly Chinese newspaper, Da Ji Yuan, for Chinese people living outside of China.

The English edition launched in September 2003 on the web and in print in 2004 in New York. It is currently published in eleven cities, and in ten languages in thirty countries.

I’ve been telling my friend and website administrator, the Spider, that I would make use of the debian logo he sent me more than a year ago. Debian is the open source software that is the basis for Ubuntu, and myriad other open source software systems. Here is the logo as I received it.

The smaller of two enlargements, getting parallel lines marked so that straight of grain can be maintained. There is one almost twice as large that will go on an ivory background and will have the debian of the logo added at the bottom to balance the design.

The red silk for the logo, itself, fresh from the washer and dryer.

The silk in a macro image. It appears to be hand spun and hand loomed but I do not know if that is true. Look at the interesting weave that shows before ironing. As I got it ironed I let it flow into my old leather armchair. Next time I looked that way Little Smoke Cat had made herself at home. I hung the silk on the coat hook on the workroom door.

The beginnings of placing the image on the batted quilt ground prior to beginning appliqué.

The placement of the mirror image, freezer paper, pattern on the ironed silk.

The rough cut pattern adhered to the silk. The pattern is mirror image and on the back.

The right side of the silk logo. It is still rough cut with the freezer paper on the back.

The pattern with almost all the freezer paper cut away. Bridges of paper remain to hold detached bits of silk to appliqué in place.

This is the point where I need to turn the extra under. In fact it will be pressed over the back of the freezer paper in as many places as possible. The silk is prone to raveling. It is too late this afternoon for me to decide whether to add fine fuse to the points and sharp turns to help control the raveling.

FineFuse is a tool that is a mixed blessing. It is probably the softest of the synthetic fuseables and no longer on the market. As soft as it is I question whether I want to use it with a fine straw needle and silk thread. So, I’m shipping this blog and thinking the situation over.

Photo of Cesar Chavez compliments of Google Image. Thank you!

Here’s an invitation that came to me by way of the Tucson Pima Arts Council. It highlights my favorite radio station, KXCI. You can listen to community radio any day or night if you have a high speed modem. KXCI is not a PBS station although some of their funding does come from there. They are community born, community grown, and community supported.

All sorts of programs from Ruby’s Roadhouse Texas Two Step, The Blues Review with Marty Kool, electronica, ethnic, you name your favorite sort of sound and you can find it on the KXCI playlist. I find that it’s always Democracy Now when I’m driving home between 3:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon.

So, Friday you may like to tune in. The exploration begins at 9:00 US Mountain Standard Time.

Cesar Chavez birthday celebration,

KXCI explores the legacy of Cesar Chavez
Friday, March 30
Community Radio Station KXCI 91.3 FM Tucson explores the legacy of Cesar Chavez beginning at 9am on Friday, March 30 (the day before what would have been his 80th birthday). Feature interviews with local educators, community leaders and activists as well as historical segments from TUSD students. These spoken word spots will be interspersed through a border blend of music that will include selections from the United Farm Workers’ movement, soulful sounds of that turbulent time period and contemporary socially relevant songs. Bob Diaz, host of KXCI’s “Chicano Connections” will get the music going at 9am. Music mixer Danny Meza continues from 11 to 1. DJ Javier, host of “Sabor del Barrio” will make a special appearance from 1 to 3. Cesar Chavez was a 2nd generation American who was born and died in Arizona. He was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Mother Teresa. On Friday, March 30, KXCI will observe the legacy of the man who continues to provide inspiration to millions of people.

Here are a few more links if you want to learn more about Cesar Chavez.

www.azcesarchavezcoalition.com/index.html

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa/chavez

http://clnet.ucla.edu/research/chavez/bio/

http://www.chavezfoundation.org/cesarechavez.html

It was looking so good. But I had to dump the three laundry baskets that had not been touched for years. The fabrics need sorted out by kind and type, evaluated, and either kept in inventory or sent on to other good homes.

Then I dumped the baskets.

The dark mass at the left is actually a pile of what I call “rag rug silks.” These are very rough silks that are woven out of either waste and/or the broken cocoons of silk moths that have survived.

So, global warming and goofy weather being what it is, summer has come to Sonora temporarily. With it has come a stuffed up head, and all the symptoms of inhaling too much very fine dust.

The sort out is waiting.