Bridge: Arc in Air

Bridge
20 1/4" x 16 1/2"

This is Bridge, my piece in the Florida in Fabric II exhibit at the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts in Melbourne. If you get to Melbourne you can see it through August 23. It won a Director's Choice mention.

I love to run across bridges, and in this piece I'm trying -- through flying words, shiny fish, and translucent color -- to convey what it feels like to be in the middle of a bridge on a gorgeous day. The arc reminds me of the William Powell Bridge in Miami, and the words are the first stanza of a poem I wrote about the marvelous people I have encountered on that bridge over the years -- including a one-legged woman who ran across on crutches, a man who always ran backward, and the faithful who on some Sundays were baptized in the shallow water on the far side.

 I sewed the introductory first stanza using free-motion stitches:

Arc in air

blue air

blue air shining

shining like bait fish

fish in a silver net

caught in the sky

Chips off the old chocolate block

Sometimes I want to smash something and know it will end up delicious. Like a couple of days ago ... I  hammered 8 ounces of Kallebut, the best chocolate, on the step outside our kitchen door. Talk about satisfying! There were shards and lumps, sweet and dark multipliers of the 3-inch thick wedge I started with. (I made sure to put the chocolate in a plastic bag first.)

It made the best chocolate chip cookies I know. Here's the recipe, and I've copied it below too. It's worth the $1/ounce you will pay for chocolate, and the $6 (minimum) for two vanilla beans. You won't make them often. Think twice before sharing.

Zingerman's Funky Chunky Dark Chocolate Cookies

1 2/3 C. flour
3/4 t. baking soda
3/4 t. fine sea salt
2 vanilla beans
1/2 C. butter, at room temperature
1/2 C. firmly packed muscovado or dark brown sugar
1/4 C. plus 2 T. sugar
1 large egg
8 oz. dark chocolate, broken or chopped into bite-sized pieces
4 oz. walnut halves and pieces, toasted

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Whisk together flour, soda, and salt.
3. Split the vanilla beans lengthwise with a small, sharp knife. With the tip of a small spoon, scrape out the seeds into a large bowl. Add the butter and mix together. Stir in the sugars and egg and mix until creamy. Gradually add the flour mixture. When thoroughly combined, stir in chocolate and nuts. Chill dough 10 minutes in the refrigerator.
4. Line two baking sheets with parchment. For each cookie, form 1/4 C. of dough into a ball, then press out on the cookie sheet to about 1/4" thick and about 3 1/2" diameter. (You can also make smaller cookies.)
5. Bake one sheet at a time for 7-10 minutes. (We like them crisper, so I baked them for 13 minutes.), or until cookies are golden brown and baked through. Cool on the baking sheet for one minute, then transfer to a rack.
6. Serve hot or cool. Store for up to two weeks. 

Bits of color

I'm in that neverland of fever and the edge of grief. My mother died and then I got a terrible cold. They are hardly equivalent, but combined serve as a reason for me to do very little. It's perfect for cutting out 1" squares of cotton and gluing them to index cards, as directed by Elizabeth Barton in her book Inspired to Design. She says the more you actually handle color the better you become at using it in your quilts. I know she's right, but ... actually doing it feels less than effective. Which is perfect for now. So above you see my green family, bright and dull, along with a monochromatic selection of four greens. Aha! red is next, and ...

Jewels

Mom loved jewelry. 

Following her lead, I once collected button earrings and pearls, but I've evolved into mostly a dangly-earring person.

An exception: I love this pin, which was Mom's. 

She might have worn it on purple velvet.

Its new home is my splattered painting board, which is fine, since Mom also loved color.