I’m happy to let you all know that the very able and talented Kaitlin Meadows will be taking over this blog very soon.  You will still be able to gather the latest buzz about storytelling in Tucson, Southern Arizona and our neighbor to the north, Phoenix.

Kaitlin Meadows and Penelope Starr at Antigone Books

I’ve had a lot of fun writing this blog for the last 3 years. Thanks for following along with me.

Just in case you are reading this Wednesday afternoon, you might head over to Fluxx tonight at from 6 to 9 p.m. to hear six tellers at “SOMOS/ Stories of Our Youth” telling personal stories from the Latin@ LGTBQ Community, family and allies. Also featured is music by Salvador Duran and an Art Exhibit by Latin@ LGTBQ artists and allies. Cohosted by Sarah K. Smith and Jerry “Che” Diaz, this event is free with donations accepted. Fluxx Studio & Gallery is at 414 East 9th Street Tucson. This event is cosponsored by Odyssey Storytelling, Wingspan’s Puertas Abiertas, and Fluxx.

Mark Goldman, a storyteller and promoter in Phoenix, puts out an interesting email newsletter called News from Storyteller Mark. The last issue included the interesting and useful “tip for story creation” below. He was inspired by an article by Sherry Norfolk called A Story About the Power of Story on the National Storytelling Network blog.

Here’s a tip for story creation:

Dig out a photograph you have. Could be old, new, of you or a friend, or a place you visited. Or it could have nothing to do with you.

1. Write down who and what you see in the picture, everything.
2. Write down who or what may be there, but is not visible in the picture.
3. Describe What is happening RIGHT NOW in the picture.
4. Describe what happened BEFORE the image in the picture.
5. Describe what happened AFTER the image in the picture.
Somewhere in step 3, 4 or 5, SOMETHING NEEDS TO HAVE CHANGED.
You should now have a beginning, middle and end…a story.

If you are looking for storytelling events in the state, check out AZStoryevents.com, another website Mark manages.

My 10-year-old grandson and I were cleaning out his overstuffed dresser drawers, getting rid of the t-shirts that where too small in anticipation of a trip to Target to buy some new ones. The reject pile was growing and I was getting nostalgic remembering the ones I had bought for him over the last few years. I asked him to tell me about where he got some of them and we began to reminisce.

In a flash of inspiration I decided to make a quilt out of these memories for him. I stuffed my suitcase with little t-shirts and headed back to Tucson. The last time I made a quilt was about 25 years ago and I knew that a lot had changed. New technologies like rotary cutters (with razor blade wheels) and self healing mats were just the beginning.

I spent lots of time talking to the nice folks at Cactus Quilt Shop and Jo Ann Fabrics  getting information and buying tools and supplies. I found out that I had to iron on fusible interfacing so the knit fabric wouldn’t stretch and that they sell special pins that are bent to make pin-basting easier. And I watched some very informative videos online such as How To Tie a Quilt at the Quilting In the Rain blog.

I took pictures of the process to share with my grandson so he could appreciate all the steps that went into making it for him. But best of all was when I delivered the finished product last week. He was thrilled and so was I!

finished quilt

He carefully assessed the whole project and then began to notice individual blocks. Seeing the picture that he had worn on his chest for a number of years brought back memories and he could tell me the story of where the shirt came from or where he wore it. One example is the large block of a gila monster from the t-shirt I bought at Tohono Chul gift shop for him after he broke his arm and had a bright orange cast. The black and orange lizard matched the cast quite well.

He especially liked the Malcolm X Elementary School emblem, the school he attends in Berkeley. He’ll be able to cuddle up under those memories and tell those stories for a long time.