Painting Triad

Painting with O'Keeffe

John D. Poling
1999
ISBN:  0-89672-381-X
759.13

I hate to even tag this with the "Good Books" label, but it was an informative read.  Perhaps the additional, "Screw You Department" will also suffice.

I found this book at the library, at the end of my favorite go-to shelves of 740-759.  (Watercolor 751.422)  The title, "Painting with O'Keeffe" and a quick flip through made it sound interesting enough to check out.  However, it was not what I thought it would be.

To begin with, Poling is not the best book writer.  No offense and I am a fast reader, it took about 30 minutes to decide to keep reading.  If you can stay with it, you'll learn about some the eccentricities  of artists and their orbiting realm of people.  Friendship, jealousy, accusations, bitterness.  Usually the makings of a romance novel.  Not of an attempting tell-all.  What was Poling trying to accomplish?  Other than to tell his side of the story perpetuated by O'Keeffe and Juan Hamilton.  I honestly thought  the paintings' titles "A Day with Juan" was about John Poling - an endearing nickname O'Keeffe had for him?  Wrong!

You may just want to skip through until you get to the painting part, which is a good lesson applicable to artists of any medium.  Seeing how O'Keeffe planned her paintings and a shout-out reference to the Pigment chapter of Max Doerner's "The Materials of the Artist and Their Use in Painting" was an interesting peek behind the curtain for me.
The pettiness and resentfulness on all the players' parts - not so much.  Why is it necessary to bring this up over 20 years later?  How is this relevant beyond proving the naiveté of the 70's and someone trying his hand to claim of fame.  Without context, what is truth?

Be sure to read the two articles by Hope Aldrich from The Santa Fe Reporter in the Appendix (B & C)  You may want to read them first, then the book and come to your own opinion.
(And learn how to say, "Abiquiu")

Going Kondo

It all started with this book I picked up at Target, Marie Kondo's "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up"...

then clearing out a few drawers...

to a totally needed studio makeover!

It is now actually a room I can go into and create instead of a dumping ground/storage unit.  It felt great to release and donate all this stuff to go on to bless others who need it now instead of me keeping it around for a someday.

First trip - 167 pounds!

Second Mile weighs their donations - after several trips, I easily topped over 600 pounds of patterns,
fabric, books, notions, furniture, a lamp, vintage clothing, quilting and craft supplies. . .

Last round of bins filled with quilting and seasonal/holiday fabrics

Here's one of the shelves'  space vacated. . .

Now I can actually browse my bookshelves!
(with space to expand)

One library still accepts magazines - there went the Stampington, Mollie Makes and Martha Stewart Living magazines. . .that should net some serious cash for the Friends of the Library at $1-$2 each.

One of several stacks and several trips!

We donated books undercover of the night in the Book Return at one library, bagfuls and handfuls at a time.   Another library branch was delighted to accept even more books.   The book donations spanned two different counties, three different cities!  Four books went to readers out-of-state!

Just what fit in this camera frame!

Inside edition - Cupboard space!

Walk-in closet you can actually walk into!

Valentine's Day decorated machines on display

Everything neatly stored in sewing baskets and boxes!
(The pink on the left is "vintage" as it was given to me when I was 7!)

What a difference!

Coffee Nut

In my travels, I love to try new coffee and tea places, (and shop grocery stores to check out their coffee, teas and spices...I can get lost for hours roaming the aisles.  I'm talking to you, Wegmans, and now Coles and Woolworths in Australia).

Woolworths is a grocery store in Australia!

Last visit to Rochester, Lori and I spent HOURS in here!
They also sell wine by the glass in their food court, FYI
; )

Let's not even get started with bookstores, Harry Hartog.  (More on that store later.  Suffice to say they had the nicest clerks who actually knew something about books and had wonderful suggestions which I accepted.  Lesson-up time, Barnes & Noble!)

A spinner, to boot!

I had to buy an extra suitcase to bring home all my tea and books.  Good thing I travel light to get to my destinations only to travel heavy on the way home.  And add to my luggage collection.  (Thank you, Travelite!  A very lightweight and purple-bonus! suitcase from Australian Luggage to hold all my finds and treats.  And an easy way to shop/bring my packages back to the hotel. )  As one friend so nicely put it, "How lovely!  A suitcase filled with tea and books!"

Anyways, I love the Yelp app and will use it to find even more coffee and tea places, even some undiscovered right here in Houston.  (Stay tuned for Tea2Go, which turned out to be less than 4 miles from one of my walking trails.  Talk about incentive!  Extra lap? Yes!  I will walk two extra laps for their Chocolate Cake tea!  Seriously good.)

While in Miami, we found Puroast, by taking a serendipitous wrong turn in the Brickell area downtown.  They had just opened less than two weeks earlier amidst all the construction in that part of the city.   Sadly we discovered it the day before our return to Houston.  What a cute little place and great coffee.  I so would have bought their little red rooster winter coffee cups had they been for sale, too.  Yes, I offered.

I could totally hang out here

After enjoying a yummy Bourbon Pecan latte, I picked up a bag to take home, along with a box of Vanilla Nut K-Cups.  Their deal is their coffees have more antioxidants and less acid than other brands.  To me, as more a tea than a coffee drinker, they tasted great.  Bonus for the other benefits.

Alas, I hadn't been able to find the Puroast Vanilla Nut locally.   I did find their dark roast K-cup at HEB, but I'm all about the odd and offbeat flavors.  And starting to panic as my Vanilla Nut supply dwindled.

Yesterday I stopped by CoffeeIcon in Katy to see if they may have it or could order it.  They didn't but would suggest it.  However in the meantime, they offered Don Francisco's Vanilla Nut as a free take-home sample.

the one to beat. . .

Local Winner!
Don Francisco's Vanilla Nut

While I was impressed with Puroast's claim to have less acid and more antioxidants, Don Francisco's Vanilla Nut punched it out and had a more vanilla flavor and a very pleasant nutty aftertaste.  Puroast seemed a little bland in comparison, but still very smooth and not bitter.  I would buy it again if I ever find it in the stores Puroast does not seem to stock this flavor on their website.  And I will be going back and grabbing some of the Don Francisco's Vanilla Nut for my refill box.

Dr. Wayne Dyer

What an amazing person!  But what a legacy he had and has left for us.

My Dad gave me a copy of this book back in 1980
If he passed Dad's muster, then you knew this guy was the real deal.

His Facebook page is posting these each day

Right now Hay House is offering the chance to watch his movie, "The Shift" for free until September 8.  It's a two-hour movie, which I forgot to mention when I sent the link to a friend, but it goes by so quickly and most certainly will resonate with you, too.  Here is the link --  http://bit.ly/1MZ0ijj or if that doesn't work, click on the movie title.

Also, several of his books in the eBook format are specially priced at $1.99 on Apple http://apple.co/1KIPDt1 Nook http://bit.ly/1NasxNF and Amazon http://amzn.to/RiEQgU  I'm thinking this deal will be good for the month of September, but why wait?  Grab them now!

I also use and enjoy listening to this Moses Code mediation by Dr. Wayne Dyer and James Twyman, "I am - Wishes Fulfilled"   I try to listen to one, or even both of the 21 minute mediations at the beginning of my day or in the afternoon when I need a recharge/reset/recentering.

Introduce or reintroduce yourself and your higher self to Dr. Dyer.  You will be glad to have his guidance, insight and him in your life.

Threading Your Viking Husqvarna 1100

I bought my Viking 1100 in 1989, when it was considered top-of-the-line.  I've had and used it all these  years without any problems other than a couple of tune-ups/cleaning.  This was the last machine Viking Husqvarna produced before they went full-tilt into embroidering sewing machines, beginning with the #1 and #1 Plus (#1+).  The 1100 is a gem and apparently there are still quite a few used machines  popping up.  Grab one if you find one.  I adore mine.

Anyways a few years ago, I sung my machine's praises on a sewing machine meme on the Sew Mama Sew website.  Here is the link to my June 7, 2009 blog post.

Fortunately because it is very user-friendly, it is unfortunate the 1100 had a small, slim instruction book-let...which the odds of it still being with the machine if you find it used, are pretty remote.  However, there are a couple of solutions.

One, I took pictures of my threaded machine so you can see how simple it is.

Two, there are two books you may still be able to find, written for Viking Husqvarna sewing machines.    Check Amazon (Amazon currently has several used copies of both, starting at 1 cent!  One penny!  The shipping in the US is around $3.99),  eBay or your library, which can also do an Inter-Library Loan if they do not have it on their shelves.  This was a great series of books in the late 80's/early 90's.  I had friends even snap up the other machine books because they were so well-written and had such a great presentation of learning to have fun with your sewing machine, of any brand.

A Step-By-Step Guide toYour Viking
By Jan Saunders

The better of the two is "A Step By Step Guide to Your Viking" by Jan Saunders.  It has a photo of the 1100 on the cover.  If you have the 1100 or even the #1 or #1+, you will have fun with this book as your machine's companion.  Published by Chilton Book Company, 1991.  The ISBN is 0-8019-8014-3  Library Call No. 646.2    244 pages, paperback.  Not only does it have cool projects, but it is the definitive book on all the stitches on your cassettes from A-D.  (Husqvarna Viking subsequently updated the 1100 with two more most interesting stitch cassettes (eyes -F21 & F22 and a mouth -F23 to use on doll faces!), the E and F, before focusing on the #1+ and thereafter machines.)  And the standard and also most of the cool specialty presser feet for the 1100 and its 900 series predecessor.

Know Your Viking
By Jackie Dodson with Jan Saunders

And if you happen to have found a 900 series Viking Husqvarna, particularly the 990 which came out before the 1100  (I had the 940 before I traded it in for the 1100), you'll want to try and find "Know Your Viking" by Jackie Dodson with Jan Saunders.  Also published by Chilton in 1988, ISBN: 0-8019-7870-X  194 pages, paperback. More fun projects and tricks.  This book really helps explain how to design and use Pictograms.  You will want and need to look for this one, too!

Threading your Viking 1100 is easy -- the only hole you need to thread is the needle eye!  The process is all glide and slide.

I may even try to do a iPhone video later, and you can see how fast and easy it is to thread your Husqvarna Viking 1100!

I have a separate post next about winding your bobbin.  

My machine likes the thread coming from the back of the spool
and in the horizontal position

Different thread brands may flow better off the spool if it is upright

First thread guide-it just slides right around and in

Side view

See?  It catches and goes right in.

I usually place my thread  in the thread guide to the right
But if you are using two threads, put one on either side!
The thread also slides easily into the take-up lever seen on the left

Slides right into the check-spring, too

I like to put my spool and bobbin threads up and out of the way
They are actually being held by the side thread cutter!

This is from the Step-By-Step Guide to Your Viking

From the 1100 manual

From the 1100 manual

Update May 14,  2016 - How to sew in reverse

The 1100 does sew in reverse and you can program it to also do so.  See the upside down U with the arrow pointing down next to the buttonhole symbol?  You can hold that and it will go in reverse.  These two symbol buttons are also used to make your own customized button holes and program them to repeat.  (to create standardized  button holes, use your A card)  However -- you can also utilize this feature to create a permanent reverse stitching no matter which stitch you are using (as long as the machine is on and until you tap out) by pushing that upside down U/arrow button twice.

Update 9-28-16 --

Here are photos of the Viking Husqvarna 1100 one-sided concave bobbins.  The pink threaded bobbin is an aftermarket replacement bobbin, which works just as well as the green threaded bobbin (see the "H" imprint on the convex side.)

Aftermarket bobbin on left (pink)
Original Viking Husqvarna 1100 bobbin on right (green)
See the H inside the  crown at the top
This is the convex/rounded out side

Concave side up

I was able to find them on eBay several years ago.   If you were to place the bobbin standing up, with the "H" on the right, you will see the right side of the bobbin is convex and the left side of the bobbin is concave.

Concave left side, Convex right side

I hope the photographs will indicate this well.  It will be obvious when you are looking at and comparing them to the ordinary typical bobbins. You can also feel it with your finger.  ONLY THE CONCAVE BOBBINS WILL FIT in the Husqvarna Viking 1100.  The bobbins are inserted concave side into the bobbin holder.  Or if you have the original "H" marked bobbins, insert so the H faces you.

UPDATE April 17, 2017
Someone had asked what the plug and power cords looked like.  The outlets are on the lower right side of the machine underneath the bobbin winder.

On the left is the plug/cord for the foot pedal, on the right is the plug cord for the power.

Smaller one is the foot pedal
the one on the right is for the power

This is for the US model.  I hope this helps!

Biblical Proportions

Of the almost 3 inch size!

This is/was an antique Bible I had as a little girl.  I bought it for 50 cents at an antique show when I was six years old.  It had several little illustrations throughout.  I remember being so excited it was over 100 years old!   I had no idea then miniature books were so collectible.    (Though I did like my mid/late 1960's Big Little Books.)
Depending upon different sources, its value has increased to $50-$200.  Not a bad investment!  It was printed in Sandbornton, New Hampshire in 1835 and gifted on June 25, 1840.  Here's an interesting article about Sandbornton.

I recently gave it to a friend of mine whose birthday was the day after this was inscribed (not the year!)  and is studying to become a Deacon.

Read This!

The Repurposed Library - 33 Craft Projects That Give Old Books New Life

by Lisa Occhipinti
ISBN 978-1-58479-909-2 2011 Library Call No. 745.5  www.locchipinti.com

I have seen altered books in magazines such as  "Cloth, Paper, Scissors", but never anything like this.  

The book was not only a visual delight to page through (haha), but intelligently illustrated with step by step instructions, and cleverly written.  A bookmobile mobile (shown on the cover), writers blocks, a play book to hold your cards and a set of dice…Even book tatoos and a Kindle keeper! I also liked the kitchen tool holder (also on the cover)---made out of a cookbook, of course.  These projects go way beyond the Girl Scout folded Christmas trees and angels from phone books and Readers Digests spray painted gold, sprinkled with glitter and a styrofoam ball glued on top projects.

What a fun and inspirational read of a unique craft book, about books!