Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Dee Stark

What...you hadn't met this fascinating person?

Dee's Ebay store description is still up...I don't know how long. It's your chance.

Rest in peace, friend.

http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=dee_stark

Remembering A Friend - Dee Stark

One of Crazy quilting's more interesting characters is gone: Dee Stark died suddenly Feb. 18. She was only 43.

I first met Dee while teaching at Nancy Kirk's CRAZY QUILT SOCIETY conference: http://www.crazyquilt.com . She was flamboyant and colorful, full of opinions -- and the first and only person to speak up and lecture ME...while I was lecturing!

Dee's research skills were amazing, and she was always willing to share. She was the first one to find strong evidence of the Japanese presence in Crazy quilting centuries before the Centennial Exhibition ever happened. And she found Russian ties, too... my CRAZY QUILTS book benefitted from her comments and insights.

She was bossy. And thoughtful. Generous. Silly. Warm. Excellent Taste. Beautifully dressed. Outstanding techniques in embellishments and quiltmaking.

She kept me thinking, and I will always remember our long talks in her hotel room while practically everyone else in the place was sleeping. Her book on symbolism in Crazies sits on my bookshelf, and the package of King George souvenir buttons I bought from her is in my workbox. Dee loved buttons --in fact, she collected anything unusual, especially if it was connected with the Victorian age.

In short, she was one of those intelligent, exciting people you rarely come across in life. A fine Crazy quilter, she taught all over the country, as well as in England and France.

She had moved out of a bad marriage in recent months, and was living in a small apartment in New York, closer to her parents. She was gradually cutting her possessions down to the essentials, while continuing to write and teach. (You may recognize her from her company, Victorian Handicrafts.) Her health had not been good for years, and she recently lost a beloved pet.

She loved her privacy, and would disappear a month or two off the radar while working on something. I'd last spoken to her around Christmas, and was planning to be back in touch "when I caught up with paperwork." And now she's gone. A good reminder to me about what was really important -- I would have given up hours of paperwork to be able to e-mail Dee one last time.

I will miss her dearly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


February 25, 2008

Stark, Dee - Delia Elaine 'Dee' Stark, 43, of Clifton Springs died unexpectedly on February 18, 2008. A memorial service will be held at 11:30 a.m. Sunday (March 9) at Woodlane Community Church in Newark. Delia was an accomplished pianist and had played at several area churches. She was a member of Finger Lakes chorale. Delia was a self-taught seamstress and taught quilting in Rochester, Nebraska, California, England, and France. Her specialty was 'crazy quilting.' She is survived by her mother and stepfather, Janet and Dick Norsen of Newark; her father, Richard VanHousen of Clifton Springs Nursing Home; stepmother, Gladys VanHousen of Phelps; brother Daniel (Donna) VanHousen of Webster; nephew and niece, David and Deena VanHousen; husband, David Stark of Albany; stepdaughter, Kristen (Scott) Bater of Holley; aunts, uncles, cousins, and co-workers at Clifton Springs Hospital & Clinic. Memorials in Delia's name many be sent to the Humane Society.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Care to Be Outraged?

Take a look at the horrible, awful, no-good, very bad situation of Ms. Jasper in this article:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/satire/jasper.asp

Don't let the 'satire' subtitle fool you -- a substantial part of this 'welfare queen' profile is TRUE.

I've got more to say on the subject, including a fascinating new book by Adam Shepard...but it's after midnight. And I'm pooped. (Too many books...I see books stacked here. Everywhere. And they're heavy!)

tomorrow...

Saturday, February 23, 2008

Crazy Quilts -- books and reviews!

Well. A staffer and I spent nearly all day autographing, wrapping and packing CRAZY QUILTS books for shipment ... yes, the pre-pub special is going that well. But I feel exhausted...it's been a pretty day, but guess who stayed inside...

Reviews are starting to crop up! Here are some:

Betty Pillsbury (a fine Crazy quilter in her own right):
http://www.greenspiralherbs.blogspot.com/

Mark Lipinski (who I will be a guest blogger for sometime soon):
http://www.marklipinski.com

Violette Severin:
http://www.handquilting.blogspot.com/

All in all, extremely encouraging.

If you'd like a copy of CRAZY QUILTS for your own, come visit the Brickworks site:
http://www.cindybrick.com

We'd be happy to send a copy your way for only $23.95, including shipping! (And yes, we accept Paypal, Visa or Mastercard, and checks or money orders. Your choice.) I'd love to finish off that stack of rapidly diminishing packages!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Birthdays...and Leftovers

Dave's birthday was yesterday. For a guy who's generally amazingly patient, tolerant of all sorts of shenanigans and chaos around him, and surprisingly sweet for such a big 'tough guy' -- well, I just had to do SOMETHING for him. The girlies both agreed to meet us for a birthday supper at the local steak restaurant...a feat in itself. (They both have different jobs -- Jess is in school full-time -- and their schedules rarely coincide.)

So...we get there. Supper was great. (At Black Angus - don't miss the "2for" specials, which are a terrific deal if you order the most expensive appetizer and dessert. By the time you're done, you've paid less than $22 for steak and all the fixings, plus appetizer and dessert. Almost unheard of nowadays.)

And, after waddling through the appetizer and part of the meal, knowing dessert was coming, I put half of the entree and fixings away. (So did Dave. The girlies, being thinner and younger -- 19 and 21 -- shoveled in nearly everything, but took doggie boxes home, too.)

Dave wanted a Sachertorte (a chocolate Austrian cake) for his birthday. But the girlies couldn't drive back home with us to light the candles and have some cake there. So I packed up the cake in the back of the Jeep. There we all were, the girls & me trying to light the candles on the cake in the parking lot -- a brisk wind fighting us all the way. And Dave laughing at his silly women!

We finally got it -- and Dave blew the candles out a few seconds later. (And then we promptly packed the cake BACK in the Jeep, and took off for home!) And it was one of the few moments in my life when I knew that an action that made me look both eccentric & silly also told my husband how deeply I loved him...and he knew it. Happy Birthday, Sweetheart.

This morning showed that the combined contents of our doggie boxes could make two extra meals! First, the baked potatoes, leftover veggies and the lesser quality steak were cubed, some onion added, and the whole shebang fried in a few tablespoons of olive oil. The result: Steak Hash. (And delicious.)

I have one more half-steak left -- enough to slice thinly and flavor a pot of potato soup. With cheese and sour cream added, it becomes Steak and Baked Potato soup...yum. It could also be sliced thin and layered on a whole-grain roll, with a slather of mustard, for a steak sandwich. (Ooh, I shouldn't have written that...)

One thing I've learned: never leave ANYTHING on your plate at a restaurant. (Even kale garnish makes a terrific soup when combined with chicken broth, chopped onion & potato, and slices of bratwurst.) Even if it's only a cupful of something, that food can often be added to or expanded into another meal. And because you've already paid for it, it's a free one!

Are these leftovers great at lunch, as well as supper? You bet. I found this discussion of 'lunch at the office' full of leftover ideas...
http://www.cleverdude.com/content/frugal-lunch-by-clever-dudette/

Now that the fun's over, I'm back to work. Did some appraising this morning -- now on to finishing up some reports (sigh) and doing some promo work for CRAZY QUILTS. (Which is still doing amazingly well.) At least it's gray skies again, so I don't feel like going out and wandering around...

Monday, February 18, 2008

Want to Learn More About Frugality?

Try this blog...and the various sources it lists -- great.

http://jwards.blogspot.com/2008/02/works-for-me-frugal-websites.html

A wonderful President's Day, sleeping in, curled up against the darling husband. Peace. Quiet. Even calm! It's not often we get a chance to just lay around and TALK to each other. Bliss.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Still Alive and Kicking...

Yes, I'm still here.

Spent last week in Michigan with the folks -- my dad, sick with bone cancer, started a new round of chemo. Michigan had blizzard after blizzard last week...and considering the folks had an appointment somewhere every day of the week, it was was interesting, to say the least.

Got home just in time to see the last few minutes of the Superbowl...and brought home a cold as a souvenir. Oh goody.

I'll be in touch in the next day or so.

Don't Get Discouraged...

 one was too big, one was too small...