strike, lockout, blessings

   Here is the picket sign I carried, hanging out at my house, and the poster I made for the city council meeting. The blessings in disguise calligraphy is not by me, just a reminder.
And here we go again, next strike May 1,Tuesday.

rhea as a young lady

 

  I found a photo of my grandmother Rhea age about 16 with her hair in buns over the ears. She had gorgeous thick hair. This was way before she ever knew us. I did this little painting from it, to get to know her better.she made it to close to 100, but this is before all that.

old portrait

    I think my brother roy took this glamour shot of me around age 17, when he first started doing photography. Wish I still looked like that. Very 60s.

fruits

  I have been trying to grow grapes all my life. The little vine in my yard wouldnt do anything and now all of a sudden I have fruit. I am thinking of taking some up to Mendocino as a literal tithe, the first fruits and all. They taste good too.
I love the song we used to sing at Webatuck," and every man neath his vine and fig tree shall live in peace and unafraid."

  Here it is , and every woman neath her vine and fruit trees, shall live in peace and unafraid.

landscape of grief quilt photos

landscape of grief, quilt for my father

   I made this quilt as a mourning quilt when my father Daniel Crystal died. I had to take a ride on the grief train, whether I wanted to or not. I made it from regular fabrics, photo transfers, and pieces from his flannel shirts. Later I made a couple scarves from his suit. I put in animal totems ( wolf, bear, eagle, owl) and images that made me think of him.The photo transfers include the earliest Crystal family portrait, where he is a determined looking 12 year old, and a photo I took of him sitting on a boat on the beach in Humboldt County on a visit. in Jewish tradition, you tear your garments. I tore strips of his clothing and made a fringe.In the ninepatches, I included some words about him: activist, photographer, lawyer and teacher, father and friend, humanist and mentor, anti-fascist and gadfly, a loving and generous man, survivor, collector and magpie,gardener and nature lover, writer, scholar, fighter for social justice. made 2001 and exhibited at one of his 3 memorial services. Daniel Crystal November 16 1913-May 9, 2001,
for pics see the next entry.

revels with matisse,new photos

  I got the quilt back from Lydia and took some new shots. This one will be on display at the Kaiser show this winter probably. Made to celebrate Hope Hale Davis' 100th birthday.sShe lived another year and was still teaching right up until the end. They dont make them like that anymore. She was truly a salty New England lady. Lydia has kindly loaned it back for me so I can share it.  She retains the pink slip.
Shown 2012 in the Ala. County Arts Commission Show at the Oakland Courthouse , and the E.B.H.Q.  show. I guess I will have to give it back soon. The little elf with the leaf hat is a photo transfer of a painting I did, me as a little girl photographed by my father and then painted by me, grown up.

things I learned from Dan

things I learned from Dan
 my father

never give up
stay in school
how to swim
fight back
dont cross a picket line
talk to the picketers and find out what it is all about
be politically active
speak out
read, read, read
go to the library
write
take pictures
dont get upset about things that can be fixed with money
love kids
love your family
forgive your brothers
call your father
make friends
ask about people's children
work hard
go to the museum
go to the concert
go to the meeting
get fresh air in the country
walk
love animals
if an animal follows you home it is yours  (loki)

fight for freedom and never stop

quilt dreams poem 1997

  This was a good year for quiltmaking and poems.


quilt dreams

quilt dreams
they follow me everywhere
popping into my head with the least encouragement
just passing by
wanting to be made
in the mad zen joy of doing
so little time for so much glory
me first me first me first
fighting me and the worries of my unpaid bills and the dust and weeds and
spiders and insanity of these times and my awful job that pays well but just
not enough
promising ravishing seducing
just a little more
I've finally got the skill the visions the gift multiplies itself when I'm not
looking
quilts wanting to be seen to be said and is there room enough for me?
7/2/97

"there is vitality"

  This was said by Suzannah Berrigan about age 8.

  There is vitality, a life force, which is translated through you, into action, and because there is only one of you, you must protect it. It will never exist through any other person, to be lost in the planet, it shall not be found.


deep....from a child....

sewing in my pajamas

sewing in my pajamas

sewing in my pajamas
I take out various pictures of you
and my golden fabrics
change the needle
iron the lining
coffee keeps me warm
and love keeps me working
Janis Joplin seems like
the right music
all that joy and pain of yesterday
yeah

6/96 for alina


gifts of the imagination

gifts of the imagination
pester me
while I ought to be paying bills, weeding the garden, changing tires
mopping the floor
sure you have to weed to get roses
but I'm only going to live to 100
so I'd better get to work on my quilts

sister sister

sister sister

reading your book
in my white cotton pajamas
it burns me like a letter
from all the mindys of my life
full of joys and woundings and deep soundings
and some wonderful words
thank you for writing it
and thank you for loving me
all this time

      "deep calls to deep
       all thy waves and billows
      have gone over me"

if I am your western lighthouse
then you are an anchor
to my own soul
making the sea bottom
my friend
you give me back a token
of my courage
and make me want it all  again

1996 sally crystal to mindy thompson fullilove

lifechant

lifechant/lifesong

come in life
drive out death
come in love
drive out fear
come in hope
drive out hate


This is a drum chant I wrote around 2007.

burning

burning

I am a burning coal in your heart
I am the song you sing inside
I will wash you free inside
and in my cleansing fire
I will burn healing in
healing in your life
I will burn you deep inside
sweet peace steal in my soul
sweet kindness of the Lord
waters of the holy life
will wash me deep inside
2/2/92

healing poems

Here's an assortment for you.

I am a pioneer in

the wilderness of love

unknown territory

I go forward

waiting for the time 

and place to settle

9/00

bags full of wonder

backs full of aches

leanne rimes and bonnie raitt

christmas carols for the new year

macintosh dreams

saved 2 lives last night

but my mind is full of blood

cant dream any bigger

than paying all the bills 

for once

12/97

tangerines

a secret garden full of tangerines

doves call

dove in the morning

calls me 

to a higher life

1997

boneyard

I dont live in the boneyard anymore

I am here now

and the painful travels of the past

need not hinder me

I step into

my bright future

me and God

I'm gonna make it

new

6/97

old songs

new songs

old singers

old friends in music

remember and enjoy

let your spirits rise

on the feathers of memory

be a child again

and take wing

never lose hope

never lose heart

be happy in small things

and old blessings

be wise in small things

and thereby find contentment

the stars are free  

flight

who raised up these mountains

straight in dusky rows

arranged them all with care

so we'd find peace out there?

who drew paths for rivers

and sent them to the sea?

who made this place beautiful

and made a place for me?

11/21/83, 

  written flying over the appalachians

2 more hoarding poems

setting me free
from weight of sin
truckloads of moldy books
scratchy LPs and misc crazy writing writing writing
obsession writings
oh Lord lift me
from my life
from loads of fat and credit and debts
and pounds of guilt

moving on
to joy and exercise
and simple pleasures
lift me Lord
from the frozen past
from my quicksand
of the old
forward and onward
to my own joy
thank you

It cost so much to get free
but I hafta lift the load
to dump it
otherwise I'd hafta keep on
carrying it

another, undated, same era

love takes it all away
the dirt of the past
the pain the burden and the anger
the hate
He leaves only
the marks on our soul
where the past has been
but the weight is gone
and the spirit made light
can then rejoice
and sing
and walk
by faith


     I am thinking of our God as the beautiful loving grandmother. She takes it all away but leaves the scars on purpose. Love, Sara

the defense of asheville

Another poem I wrote, about Asheville N.C., meeting the gardeners and sculptor friends of my mother, they had created an amazing garden and even more amazing steel tyrannosaurus rex sculpture about 10 feet tall, thank you Felsons, and Roy Crystal. When I wrote this "green" was not an advertising word.

the defense of asheville

thor and gaia
in their beautiful home
defend asheville
from the filthy poisons      the grinding crushing roaring metal beasts
crushing her seedlings and her children

      her rivers must flow clear!
      waters blessings must not be corrupted

DEFEND !
we all must defend!
how can we grow if we eat and drink poison?
we will die like the dragons
with his metal beasts
thor joins the defense
we are meat after all
let us not be eaten by our own creations
the road fights the river
if we are not green beings
we will die

1997 for the felsons and for my brother roy crystal

hoarding, archeology, and my father

I loved my father, he is gone now. He would give you the shirt off his back. Brilliant and troubled, he was a hoarder. My inheritance was the things he taught me, the love he gave me. Here are some of the poems  I wrote about hoarding. I studied this from close up, the psychology world wasnt into talking about it then and there were no tv shows.  When we moved once in East Orange, we had the big moving van for our family stuff and another one for the books. I am still mining the hidden treasures found in his apartment. And yes I too am a collector, I believe it is genetic. I try to keep some order though.

fatherly love, junkshop blues

lost in a million jillion pieces of junk
your ambition  your drive
your clarity
my father
if only
you could have kept yourself
I wouldnt feel guilty
about not calling you
because I feel even worse
when I do
6/11/94

these written in trying to clean out, sort, and close his apartment and storage unit

archeology 1

doing battle with
dirt disorder
lies anger
hurt pain and mess
years of traveling with blinders
your love for others but not self
I work for order
and manageability
I let myself feel
the pain hurt anger love
all the mixture
the present and the past
all mixed into piles
and piles
and piles
and feeling
I let myself forgive
I let myself return
11/14/90

archeology 2 / messy apartment blues

letting go of the past
will open up new doors
I kneel in the filth
with prayer in my heart
fighting the mess
with hands and heart
I search for the trails
of our love
and our childhood
I do not fight off
the bad memories
I feel them
and forgive
and start on
another pile
11/15/90

archeology 3

sitting on the dirty floor
and sorting through
the things we left behind
searching for our childhoods
amongst the debris
and the fullness
of too many words
I long for home
and fresh green places
I dont know
there's never enough
to give to him
on any level
and all this stuff
is way too much
and our hearts
and our minds
must be satisfied
now we walk away
the task is done
it's enough
and I want to
go home
11/16/90

aunt esther's quilt photo again

aunt esther's quilt ( old quilt lll)

aunt esther's quilt

I am remaking the quilt
someone who came before me
great aunt esther's quilt
medallion star
N.Y. beauty
someone's best quilt
now it is faded and torn
but I feel your presence
and your blessing
as I go forth
each day in life
1840 to 1998
I honor your stitches
there are blood stains
did they come
from the Civil War?
were you a slave?
a mother?
was the quilt stolen
from the South?
abolitionist?
or did it keep someone's son warm
on the battleground?
another time
another place
calling me
make me again
so others can see
the joy and sweetness
of our time

I will make it again
and put it in the quilt show
to honor you
now
10/98




I have a box of fabrics saved and have started the 2nd version of this quilt resurrected. The original is huge and a very difficult version of Mariner's Compass and N.Y. beauty, with exceptional vegie dyes. I have seen some of the same fabrics in several quilts of the 1840s era. It was found at a yard sale and I believe it may have been used for car work( shudder). It lives in my closet until it goes to the next generation's keeper. I hope to take some new photos of it for you soon.

moving poems

2 versions of the moving poems; when Mindy left Ca after the earthquake.
Sorta the same frame of mind after the strike, doubting change from Sutter Health the evil empire.

postits

boxes and fresh starts
I find new places to go
with my own abilities
time to go
time to stay
we move on

mindy moving poem/folks
   giving room to all the people in myself
I feed my soul on hope
and confirming dreams
surrounded by cardboard and postit notes
of future destinations
I find new places to go
with my own abilities
time to go
time to stay
we move on

scrystal 1/19/90

martin

the march on washington with martin luther king
I was there
thanks parents for taking me
I will never forget that day


martin

martin
I remember his words
that I shivered on a hot day
knowing
the truth that went far past that day  of people as far as I could see
all looking for a healing
a mending of that tear
so we could pick up our heads
and learn to be together

I was there
I heard him                             Isaiah 58

the voices of the slaves
cried out to be heard
bleeding and lonely
children torn from their mothers
fathers   sisters   brothers
made nothing and nameless
lost from their birthdays
their grandmamas
the stories
their honor
their gifts
                       so we honor them now
in our memories
and seek to mend the tears in the whole cloth
of this nation


mlk day 1997
sara crystal
for mindy



copyright 2011 sara crystal all rights reserved

on strike

One day strike all across california, nurses going out to save their profession.
Locked out 5 days.
see my facebook postings

dear friends

Thanks for coming. I have just about finished the first draft. Thanks for your patience with all my mistakes. It's my first blog and I dont really know what I am doing and I had a wrestling match with iphoto along the way. Next step, I will be redoing some photos and posting more writing. I have been trying to share with you the fruits of my labors for the last 25 years of quilting and crafting and writing. I have been posting from the film prints I took along the way. Now I am going to go back and take new pictures and refine the portfolio, and fix my grammar. This has been fun and I love you all. copyright everything here except the typewriter quilt sara crystal 2011 all rights reserved.

magical planet 1

I made this to go to Japan to comfort the people after the disasters. From ART AGAINST THE STORM. Made the top in two days but it still took a while to get there. All I have to do is do the label and redo some photos. Here it is in my backyard in May before it was quilted by Madelin Wolf.

Its one of my favorites so it is hard to give it up but it is going....
Now it has gone and I hope it blesses many.

ben's quilt pic

ben's quilt

Ben Crystal my nephew graduated from Oberlin but it took a couple years to get his freedom quilt done. He finally got it. Congratulations Ben.
He gave me a nearly impossible list of things he wanted on the quilt, but I did it, so there.

typewriter quilt

I did not make this. It was at a quilt show and I just love it.Dear maker, I hope it is ok that I borrowed it, in honor of the University of Orange and writers everywhere.

1930s logs

I found this top, not sure where I got it anymore, maybe Houston, or Marin, anyhow I had it quilted by Madelin Wolf and its very cosy to sleep under. Its a classic log cabin with narrow strips done in the 1930s.

another griffin

This is the bar at the Mendocino hotel in Mendocino, I would love to take you there Griffin for your drink of choice and some great fish and chips.

more from josh thompson's quilt

Dont know why I never thought of a clever name for this quilt.

revels with matisse quilt

This quilt has come back to me but I havent done my next photo session for the blog, here's an old shot.
Made for Hope Hale Davis, my grandfather's sister.

Inherited by my cousin lydia.

griffins 1

Collecting griffins to eventually make something for my stepbrother Griffin Hale. Isnt that the coolest name in the world?

the merchild's garden

curved piecers in hats pic

curved piecers in hats

here is a cool old pic of my minigroup the curved piecers. we had a hat party. I post this in honor of orange, the hat city. I am wearing my purple "magic hat", it makes the men look at me. we are holding another antique quilt I collected. I love to put that one out for independence day.

aunt someone's stars 3

More pics of the old blocks reclaimed.