Better food in our schools

As you might know, I have a couple of kids in public school. If you have kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, friends, etc., in school--or if you attended public school, you know that the quality and healthfulness of school food leaves a lot to be desired.

Every once in a while I am shocked anew at a school lunch menu that includes fried chicken shapes, corn, rice, and a roll. If you're up on your nutrition at all, you know that this is carb upon carb upon carb. Pair that with the offerings of flavored milk and dessert and all I can do is shrug and throw up my hands in bewilderment.

The schools say they focus on teaching nutrition, yet seem to fall flat on their faces when it comes to practicing what they preach, due in part to strange and arcane guidelines they must follow from the government, which also is not practicing what it preaches (see the USDA's www.mypyramid.gov) when it comes to school nutrition.

I recently signed a petition to update food standards in our schools and invite you to do the same if any of the children you love attend public schools.

I also recommend the recent series Food Revolution--you can watch all the episodes online if you missed them the first time. Several years ago chef Jamie Oliver led the charge to overhaul the school lunch system in the U.K., to such an extent that a friend who lives there says she'd eat at her kids' school as if it were a restaurant, the food is so good. Can you imagine? The food is prepared from scratch, so rather than opening a can of sauce or fruit in heavy syrup, school cooks prepare sauce from scratch and students enjoy fresh fruit. And the food is sourced locally as much as possible.

Food Revolution recounts his recent initiative in Huntington, WV.

Other great resources include The Lunch Box (which includes recipes and menus for schools and action plans for parents, principals, etc.) and the Healthy Schools Campaign.

You know I rarely put political stuff on here (other than it's every citizen's responsibility to vote or shut up), so you know this is near and dear to my heart. Luckily my kids have recognized the lack of quality in the school lunches and frequently pack their own. However, regardless of whether they eat the school lunch, all the kids are getting the wrong message on nutrition from our schools.

You know you're in East TN when . . .

. . . you're sitting in a Japanese restaurant and suddenly realize you're listening to country music.

Observation by my DH at dinner tonight.

Things keep moving forward--even when I don't post!

Sorry for the long absence--we had some lovely company from far away, and I've been working away both on quilts and the prospectus/planning for the art show I'm chairing this summer. As soon as I make one I'll post a PDF of the prospectus for anyone who lives around here.

One piece of good news--my article "Paint with Wool, Sculpt with Stitch" appeared in the April/May issue of Interweave's Quilting Arts magazine.

It's a beautiful issue (as you can see from the front cover alone) and I'm thrilled to have been invited to contribute.

Went to a quilting retreat last weekend--three full days of productivity without cooking, phone calls, appointments, or any other responsibilities. Made good progress on a number of projects and decided I need a couple of weekends like that a month!
Although it's a traditional-ish pattern (I'm calling it a half pineapple), my fabric choices are not. I have used a lovely line of calicoes, but also an oriental and a Marimekko wannabe. I'm also working on creating a bolder and more asymmetrical secondary design than is generally typical. Was going to make it for our bed (still haven't made a quilt for it--the cobbler's children and all that) but DH really doesn't like the green (although I love it), so this'll go up for sale whenever I finish it. The good news? It needn't be king-sized if it's not going on our bed, so I don't have to make as many blocks. WOOT!! WOOT!!

Finally putting together a quilt with my original "Lean-to" block. I will have a pattern (with or without paper foundations) available for this by the end of the year--let me know if you're interested. This small version is predominated by color (obviously). I'm working on a larger version in which the black and white fabrics predominate.

I also continue to work away on Sharon's commission (all handwork), but no peeks until it's done. :-)

Acrylics on Fiber

Artists Deb Lacativa posted a letter she received from a Golden representative re: acrylic on fabric--UV resistance, sealing, various applications, and heat setting, among others. This is a treasure trove of information all in on place. I'm adding it here (my journal) so I remember it--hope you find it helpful, too.

BTW, Deb does exuberant work--check out her website.

Freebie

OK. It's not shiny or precious or fancy, but it is practical, useful, and best of all, FREE!

Advice!

For years I've heard even accomplished quilters fret and stress over the quilting phase of their work. And this anxiety seems to strike traditional and art quilters alike. Intellectually I can understand it--they've just spent something between hours and years on finishing a beautiful top and don't want to ruin it.

But emotionally, I am always eager for the quilting to begin. It's one of my favorite parts of the creation process and I've explored the limits of what works and doesn't over the years, so here are a few tips to make your next quilting project a success. Although the samples are traditional, these are the same principles I use in my art quilts as well.

1. Don't leave your motif floating in a sea of unquilted top

2. Make sure your motif is the right size for the space it fills.

3. Don't forget to fill in the blanks. A fill flattens the background and allows your main motif or the focal point of your art quilt to pop. For example, this:

becomes this:

Neither is terribly complex, but one is much more appealing.

4. Create visual layers by varying the direction and density of your quilting, and allow some motifs to cross the boundaries of your blocks.

5. If you want to emphasize something, quilt it less. If you want to de-emphasize it, quilt it more heavily. You can see how this works in the example above.

Just for fun, take a basic coloring book page . . . and color it as if you were five years old again. Now, if this were your quilt, every place that you colored should be quilted lightly and every place you didn't color should be quilted more heavily.

If you have specific questions, feel free to contact me.

I offer classes that addresses these sorts of issues, including "Designing Great Quilting Schemes" and "Sculpting with the Quilting Stitch." If your guild or group is interested in a class and/or lecture on either topic, I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers, Cindi

Oh, Happy Day!

Well, I've been working on my post about quilting strategies, the free goody I promised a month ago, but have to post this first.


This quilt, "Labyrinth II" has been traveling with an educational trunk show for the past year. It was selected along with 54 other pieces from the show to become part of the International Quilt Study Center's permanent collection. I'm so honored that my piece was selected to help represent the state of contemporary art quilts.

Good Fun with Art/art

I read two wonderful posts on the history of Art/art by Sandra Wyman on her blog, The Dyer's Hand, yesterday:

Saturday, 30 January 2010

"There really is no such thing as Art"

and

Wednesday, 9 January 2008

A Brief History of Western Art

"In the beginning there were things that needed to be made and makers who made them. . . ."
-----------------
Enjoy!

Baby Blues

My mom introduced me to the cartoon strip "Baby Blues" either just before or just after I had my first, and I've felt their pain all these years . . . and been glad to know someone else feels mine . . . and been so grateful to be able to laugh at myself and the challenges that are monumentally daunting in the moment, and so yesterday once we've overcome them (like getting my first to sleep through the night).

After a particularly contentious weekend when we were all particularly contrary, my husband and I had the same nearly hysterical reaction to today's strip. (That'd be Jan 24, 2010.)

Why stop there, though. Baby Blues had an archive. Go there. Go directly to there and enjoy laughing at yourself. We are!

Grandma's Shawl

I'm supposed to be sketching one of the two remaining quilts I have to design for a Quilting Arts magazine article that is due in a week, but procrastination is an important part of my creative process, so I'm feeding my creative side by posting. Really! Just ask my mom!

Anyhow, my Grandma made knitted and crocheted and beaded and plastic canvas stuff for us when we were young. She and Grandpa whipped up wonderful meals of pot roast or turkey and lefse (like potato tortillas) and komla (potato balls) and butterhorn rolls and grape salad. We had homemade buttermilk pancakes or oatmeal for breakfast, and there was always plenty of kringla (soft cookies) and krumkake (crumb bombs) to keep 9 people happy for several days.

Grandma always smells good and her skin is like silk. She has always listened when I shared the little trivial things that were important to me. And I could feel her quiet, low voice and Grandpa's rich, deep one way down in my heart.

Being at their house was like visiting a wonderful other world of special food, music, familiar old toys, tea parties, and all-day playtime, and I always cried when it was time to leave.

Grandpa is gone now, and Grandma, now in her 90s, lives in a retirement home 14 hour away, so it's hard to make sure she knows, every day, how much we love her and how often we think about her. I made her this shawl and some neck warmers--and some krumkake--for Christmas in the hopes that they will speak for us when we can't be there. 'Bout time I made her something comforting and wonderful!

Free Stuff Soon!

Don't get all excited--I'm not giving away anything shiny or colorful . . . or green.

However, I'm madly working on a new talk that will partner with a new class and I thought, "You know, there's some information that every quilter needs to have . . . and I have it written down . . . so I think I'll post it."

I had time to think that but not time to post it since I have two talks this week and an article due for Quilting Arts next week. Hopefully this'll remind me to post it the week after that!

So check back then to find out what the heck I'm talking about and to see a few images from my new talk!

New Study

Well, I'm not doing much work this week. Between appointments for me and appointments for the kids and even an appointment for Speedy the leopard gecko . . . and cleaning the house and studio . . . well, I guess that's work in the real sense of the word, and I'm doing a lot of that, but not much of the creative sort.

However, last night while my youngest was at clogging class (another one of those little things that makes life worth living!) I did up a new study for a continuation of my "After the Storm" series:

This'll be a new large-scale work eventually. I'm working out the construction details in my head right now. As usual I'm making up several new techniques 'cause, hey, what's life without a little adventure and tears?!

I finally broke down after years of coveting them and bought a set of 24 Prismacolor artist markers.

If you've ever seen them you know why I waited so long--they are stupid expensive!! And really, how good can a marker really get?! Well, folks, assuming they last longer than the average marker, I am in love with them and am not experiencing any buyer's remorse.

The set has all my favorite lurid colors (as you can see above) and does things no other markers I've ever used can do. Lights can go on top of darks and change what's going on. For example, I added a tan color over my field of grain to fill in the bits of white and darken things up a little. That it did, but it also created the "waving" effect. Which led me to several of the experimental techniques I can't wait to try.

Besides, the case is really, really cool! :-)

And Another One's Done

Well, I've been so busy doing that I haven't done a lot of blogging--a happy problem I think, at least for me. Here's what I finished yesterday:

After the Storm III

6" x 4"
(c) 2009 Cindi Huss

Working on another "After" piece in fiber as well as a dimensional painting. Also on my plate:

• Hand quilted/embroidered commission for Sharon Roat.
• After the Storm: At Sea large-format quilted sculpture.
• A couple of articles for Quilting Arts magazine.
• Lecturing in January for First Frontier Quilters Guild: "Can't-fail Quilting Design"

Looks like winter is going to be hopping! All that will definitely keep me out of trouble.