Monthly Archives: March 2020

One of my closest friends during the second half of the eight years I lived in Tucson was a wonderful woman named Jill. We’ve kept in touch since I left, and occasionally she appears in my dreams and I wake thinking I need to go back for a visit. Last week, in the midst of the COVID-19 self-isolation, I picked up a birthday card for her during a frantic grocery run. When I got home, I realized the envelope was not with the card. There was no way I was going back to the grocery store, into that anxiety-filled pandemonium. … Continue reading →

I made a bag for my friend Ellen’s Whovian daughter, Esther, three-and-a-half (!!!) years ago. Ellen and I had lunch a couple of weeks ago and she told me Esther’s bag was worn out from being loved to death. She asked if I could make the same bag again for Esther. The fabric I used for the first bag was an “Exploding Tardis” print. I had just a little Tardis fabric left over from the previous make and wondered what bag pattern would work with that amount of fabric. I settled on the Greta Wristlet Clutch from Teresa Lucio Designs, … Continue reading →

When I found my half-sister, Debbie, back in March of 2016, when she was 80 and I was 65, I was welcomed with open arms by her entire extended family. I flew to northern Arizona six weeks later to meet Debbie face-to-face, and also got to meet both her daughters. Cindy, who is about seven years younger than I, lives with her mom. Cathy, about five years younger than Cindy, who lived in Orange County, CA, at that time, drove to Arizona that Saturday to spend Mother’s Day with her mom and sister. A year later, Cathy’s daughter and her … Continue reading →

The first person Jas introduced me to after we met was one of his closest friends, a woman who shibori-dyed fabrics and made beautiful contemporary art quilts from those fabrics. Her creations are pretty stunning, as you can see if you check out her portfolio. She and her husband invited us to dinner at their beautiful home this past Saturday night. She graciously told us just to bring wine, as she knows that I do not pride myself in my cooking. So I knew I had to make something. A number of years ago, when cleaning out her studio to … Continue reading →