Almost a New Year!

Wow. Time really does fly! Keri reminded me last night that I hadn't blogged in a long time, so I'm trying to catch up. Christmas has come and gone and it's nearly a new year. I guess one of my resolutions should be to blog more frequently. I'll certainly try.

Someone on the Quilt Art Digest posted on their blog about name tags for Christmas packages. I thought mine were pretty cool. Here's what they looked like:

I took photos of everyone and made tags. The idea was so that Sarah could pass out the gifts without having to be able to read. Great concept, but she was too involved in her own gifts so Ian played Santa.

And here is our little Christmas Princess in her red and white velvet dress.

She was obviously too engrossed in getting her present opened to even look up for me to take her picture. But that's what gifts are for.

In the last blog I posted some photos of the tissue box covers I made. I ended up making 11! They were so easy and so much fun. Here's the one I kept for myself. Pretty ingenious, eh?

The fabric is a hand dye from Lyric Kinard. It just screamed fish bowl. I drew some goldfish and stitched on along with some cool "coral". Simple, but fun. Now I have to redecorate my bathroom around this! The box covers only take about an hour and a half, a little more if you thread paint and/or embellish, as I did with most of them.

And if I don't have enough photos of my little princess, here's one Christmas night. She and Mommy were dancing to Bella Dancerella. Sarah is wearing an old nightgown of mine tied at the waist with a Christmas ribbon.
Mommy doesn't like me to post photos of her, so I cropped her out. I couldn't believe how much energy Sarah still had at 8 p.m.!
So - our Christmas was wonderful. Fast and furious as always. I hope everyone out there had a wonderful holiday and now we are looking forward to a New Year. Wow. Seems like last year was the new millenium.

Resolutions? Yes, I'm going to make some. Some common and usually broken. Some, I hope, will stick and make me a better person/mother/wife/artist. Guess we'll see. So -
1: I resolve to go to Curves 3 times a week to get my exercise and keep my husband from constantly asking me if I'm going to go or are we just paying them for empty space. Oh - and lose that 10 lbs I've gained since last February. Hopefully Curves will help with that.
2: I want to begin the Where I Stand Sunday on my blog. I love the concept and I am always curious to see where they are.
3: I am taking a beading class at Quilt University beginning Jan. 23rd. I really want to try to embellish a bit more. I think that will also help me move in a different direction with my art. A little less realism. Maybe. Or just realism with a few beads. We'll see where that takes me.
4: I want to reorganize my studio. There have been some wonderful suggestions on Quilat Art Digest on how people have done theirs and I plan to look back at some of those for inspiration and help.
I think that's enough. If I keep any of them, I'll be way ahead of the game.
How about you? Have you made resolutions? Or have you given up on them? I'd love to hear from you!

Advent Calendars and Tissue Box Covers, plus

Well! I can't believe time is flying by so quickly. A few weeks ago it was Labor Day, last week was Halloween and now it's Thanksgiving. Holy Cow! Where is the time really going? Is there a hole somewhere that swallows up chunks of time like the sock monster that steals single socks - never to be retrieved? It certainly feels like it.

Last week we had our first snow of the year. Before Thanksgiving! That's a big deal in the Central Piedmont area of North Carolina. Okay, so it was only a dusting, but schools were delayed 2 hours and it was cold and windy enough that the dusting remained in the shadows all day. It was very pretty and not a driving hazard, so we loved it. Okay, you weathered Yankees, laugh at us! I used to be a Yankee, but I've been in the south so long it's kind of crept into my bones. That's a good thing.


November is National Adoption Awareness Month and working for the NC Kids Adoption and Foster Care Awareness Network (the state's resource exchange), we are invited to attend a lot of events across the state. I had the opportunity to attend a "Calling Out" ceremony in Hickory, NC. The name of each child in foster care waiting for a permanent adoptive home in Catawba County was written on a balloon and as each name was read, the person holding his/her balloon released it. Not to fear for those concerned that balloons end up in the ocean or water to choke sea/wildlife. It was so cold that nearly all of the balloons withered immediately and fell to the ground. It was a nice gesture and I was glad to attend and show our support.



I mentioned that a couple of weeks ago Steve and I drove to Seagrove, NC - the land of potters. Cady Clayworks is one of my favorite potteries there and we managed to purchase several Christmas gifts. Steve also purchased mine - which won't find it's way under the tree, but is great exactly where it is. Cady carries more than pottery. They have baskets, candles, some wall art, and this...

Beautiful yard art. I love how you can see the shadow on the fence behind them. We had to move the praying mantis that he bought me for Valentine's Day and I think it's hysterical how he looks like he's sneaking up on the flowering tarragon.


A few weeks ago I asked the Quilt Art Digest for some ideas on making an Advent Calendar for Sarah. I received several interesting suggestions, but many included using traditional patterns that I wasn't familiar with and not really ready to tackle for this kind of project. Susan Brubaker Knapp sent me a link to her website (http://bluemoonriver.com/) (sorry - I don't know how to make links on the blog yet)where she has a fabulous pattern for a gingerbread Advent Calendar. It was very cute, but I didn't really want a pattern. I did, however, borrow her method of attaching the days/numbers and will pay her for the pattern for that inspiration, as I don't know that I would have come up with that method. But I am happy with how it came out.

I had also mentioned on the QA digest that I wanted to make tissue box covers for Christmas gifts. This started a good thread of people discussing what they make, why they like or don't like making gifts, and some who seemed to consider it again. I had made a house a' la Jane Davila from the Quilting Arts Gifts magazine, but wasn't sure how to connect something with an attached top (the house roof is glued on). Thanks to Karen Fridy (www.designerstitches.blogspot.com) for her simple explanation of making a "cross" and stitching the sides to the top first. Karen, it was so easy I can make them in my sleep now, and I am a total visual learner. Here are the two prototypes with only a little threadwork for embellishment on the redish one;

So now Thanksgiving creeps up stealthily and before we know it - it will seem like next week will be Christmas or Hannukah. Wow. But I am close enought to be ready. Lighter budget this year, some handmade gifts and lots of cheer. I hope all of the Americans have a wonderful Thanksgiving and that all of the Candians had a great one, as well.
So - see ya later!

Something new & fun

I amazed myself last week. I actually made a fabric handbag. ME! I just don't follow patterns well, but Karen made it so easy that it only took about 2 1/2 hours. And I love the fabric colors.

It's very fall-ish and Thanksgiving-ish. I definitely want to make more, but I need heavier fabric or to quilt it really well. It's not very substantial. Plus, it needs a board or something in the bottom to give it something to stand on.

My Uncle Dick has not been doing well and his birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. Mom told me that all he wanted was one of my cards. I have trouble coming up with designs for fabric cards for men for some reason, but I remembered the leaf piece I did for the Alzheimer's Art Quilts Iniative (the Stay-at-Home challenge) and thought something like that would be just the ticket. I went outside and gathered more leaves to scan and reduced their size. Cutting the little buggers out wasn't easy, but I think it turned out pretty good. Actually, I liked the first one so much I made a second one. I had a lot of leaves, anyway. I threadpainted the leaves with copper metallic thread and I really like the effect. I had some fabric that I had done just a litle rusting on, so I used that as the background.



I'm hoping Keri & Sarah will come down this weekend. We are going to Seagrove (NC) for some Christmas gifts. Seagrove is one of several towns in a two-county area that is known for generations of potters. Jugtown owned and run by the Owen family are probably the most famous and one of the spots we will definitely hit. The potters are spread over quite a large area, so you really need a map and be aware of who you want to go see. There are some sections where you can just walk around to a group of shops sort of huddled together, but mostly you have to drive from one to another.

This is the entrance to the Jugtown store. We always find some really neat things there.
So - maybe that will get most of my Christmas shopping done.
Later!

Lots of new work

Well, I've been pretty busy again. Making Christmas cards, which I can't show you here. I made another piece for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Iniative, which I forgot to size for this.
But the big news is that 2 people sent me photos of my Forest Fire quilt in Houston! I was so thrilled to see them. Sherry Kleinman had a beautiful piece in our spring PAQA-South show and I sent her (along with the other artists) photos of her piece hanging in the show. Also the catalog. And then she kindly reciprocated with three wonderful photos. Here is the best one:


And then my friend, Jeanelle McCall in Texas, sent me a fabulous photo with this note:
"A lot of the comments I heard about yours was WOW I can really feel the heat. Yours was FABULOUS. You were there in spirit!!!
: >
Jeanelle"
Thanks for that, Jeanelle. And if you haven't seen enough of this quilt, here is Jeanelle's photo.



I've also finished my commissioned piece and am pretty thrilled with this. Steve isn't. But that's not unusual - some of my favorite pieces are not his favorites, and some of the ones he goes wild over I am sometimes almost apathetic about. So - tomorrow I'll find if the person likes it. Yikes. Here is a photo, although it really doesn't show up well - I tried lots of angles and distances and lights. It just doesn't want to photograph well. But here it is anyway.




Another thing I am excited about is having my friend, Lynne, who owns the quilt shop, has finally broken out of her block/box and stepped up to the artquilt plate. She decided on her own after hearing about the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative, to make some herself. She's really proud of herself and thrilled at joining her first Yahoo Group challenge, and I am thrilled for her. Here are her fabulous little (9" x 12") art quilts.


This one is called "Pieces" - for obvious reasons, but how cool of her to transfer her love of traditional blocks into something so cool for the AAQI.


This one was done with her new die-cut machine, but she was clever (and artistic!) enough to also make the shadows. The colors and layout are very good, too.



And this is my favorite. She calls it "Out of the Box" - which is perfect. Her traditional quilt is literally spilling out of the box it is in. The quilt falls out the front about 1" and is perfect. Great job, Lynne! I am really proud of you for jumping out of your box!

New Work!!

Can you believe it? It hasn't even been a week and here I am posting again. I'm proud of myself!

I had such a productive weekend and I'm blown away about it. I have so many projects going on that I often walk into my studio, pause, look around, turn around and walk out because I can't get my head straight about what to work on. That didn't happen Saturday or Sunday and I managed to get so much done.

The rusted fabric from Lois Jarvis for the Stay At Home Challenge arrived Friday and it was beautiful. Very simple, but I loved it. Last week when we drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway, I picked up some colorful leaves that were lying on the ground. I stuck them in my sketch book and forgot about them until this past Saturday. I got them out and laid a few on the rusted fabric. They looked great, so I scanned them into the computer and printed them out on cotton fabric. The copper metallic thread was perfect for FM stitching the leaves and then FM quilting around the rust areas. I think it came out pretty cool.

This will be auctioned off probably in November at Ami Simm's Alzheimer's project - to bid go here http://www.alzquilts.org/

I also realized that IQF is now open and several people have posted their Journal Art Quilts that got juried into the 2008 Elements exhibit. I wanted to compare the two forest fires - the first one that was accepted into the Rocky Mount Arts Center represents Eastern NC with it's scrub terrain and pines.



Below is the one juried into the 2008 Journal Quilts exhibit and represents the NC mountains. This is what I had in mind when I began my forest fire obsession.


I am also working on a sun for our Deputy Director. I wish I had thought to take photos as I went along, but I didn't. I worked on that and another project for a coworker and will try to remember to get photos of them. And I made another 4 or 5 Christmas cards. I am moving right along, I tell you!

The days are shorter

I've not been keeping up as regularly as I've wanted, but I continue to try. The days are getting much shorter now and it's still dark when I get to work in the morning. That's probably the worst thing about fall and winter for me. I leave my house at 6:20 a.m. and get to the office at 7:00 a.m. and it's still dark. And it's not like there were enough hours in the day when it was still light in the morning and at night! I hate it. But my favorite thing is watching the leaves turn color.

Steve had a terrific idea last weekend and we took a day trip up to the NC mountains. We went north to Mount Airy and then jagged left to Low Gap. We drove down the Blue Ridge Parkway and got off around Wilkesboro. It was a gorgeous day with the sun shining on the leaves which, while not quite at their peak, were still beautiful to see.



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We thought this was a really cool sight - seeing the moon just above the tree tops on a bright sunny day with a buzzard floating through the air.


I forgot to post the photo of Sarah riding the pig on Main Street in Lexington. They came down a couple of weekends ago and I took them and Nana out for lunch at Noah's Kitchen. The food was great - fabulous sandwiches - and they have live music on Friday nights. Of course, as with most of the restaurants in Lexington, no alcohol. Makes for a good family atmosphere. Anyway - after lunch we walked up and down Main Street so Sarah could see the pigs. Lexington IS the Barbecue Capital of the World, so of course we have pigs! And this weekend is the Lexington BBQ Festival. Unfortunately, it's supposed to rain. I really hope not - it's a huge deal for the town.

Mommy won't be happy that she's in the photo, but she had to hold Sarah's hand to keep her from sliding off. Back at the house Sarah decided to work in the garden. From this photo she's more plumber than gardener. She's the Plumber Gardener!


The excitement around the neighborhood last week was the cat up in the tree. The cat visits our backyard regularly because we have bird baths & bird feeders all over the place. She thinks it's a smorgasbord of songbirds. Well - on Monday the 13th of Oct., she found herself stuck in a tree in our neighbor's yard right behind us. I didn't know who she belonged to and assumed whoever it was would come looking for her. By Wednesday when she was still up there - and higher than before - I asked my across-the-street neighbor, Dot, who the cat belonged to. She took me to Marc's house behind her and he came over, but couldn't get her. It was Saturday before he could get someone with a ladder to help him out. That someone with the ladder turned out to be Terry, my dil's father. What a small world. Well, Lexington IS really really small, but still...
So here is Marc rescuing his cat - she doesn't look happy, but she was.



I've been working on a commission piece for the Deputy Director of our Center. She wants a big sun with oranges & yellows, but it will hange next to the opening to her living room and the furniture is burgundy. So I've been working with that. I'll post a photo in a few days. I promise. I also managed to get 15 Christmas cards made and haven't taken any photos of them yet, either.

I just signed up for the Staying At Home challenge - with the International Quilt Festival opening in Houston next week, those of us on the Quilt Art Digest who can't go decided to make a quilt to donate to Ami Simms' Alzheimer iniative. Lois J offered to give whoever wanted to make one a piece of her rusted fabric, so I'll wait til I get that and then make another Alzheimer quilt. I'll post a photo of that, too. I promise.

Exhibits and Returning Work

It's been too long since I last posted. I've been meaning to, I just didn't have the photos I wanted with me when I had time to write. So much has happened that now I don't know where to begin.

The opening for the PAQA-South Member's Show - "ARTQUILTSreflections" was a big success. This is a wonderful exhibit showcasing members from PAQA-South (Professional Art Quilter's Alliance-South) and there are some outstanding talents in the organization. Janine LeBlanc, who does the graphic work for the shows, managed to take some fantastic photographs and create a website for viewing the exhibit online. Janine claims she's never done a website, but she's certainly done an outstanding job with this one. You really get the sense of being there. Please check it out, and if you can get to Cary, NC before Oct. 29th, be sure to go by the Page Walker Art and History Center behind the Town of Cary offices. Use this to see the exhibit.
http://web.mac.com/janine_leblanc
For some reason, it doesn't seem to want to make a link, so you might have to copy and paste it. It will be well worth it.

Okay - the long-awaited Cutie Patootie photos from 2 weeks ago when we went to Raleigh for the PAQA-S opening reception. On Saturday Keri and took Sarah to the park that edges Granny's property. It's a great park with fun things for kids to play on.



Lynn Krawczyk has done a terrific job with their Breaking Traditions exhibit this year. She is donating all of the entry fees to Virginia Spiegel for the American Cancer Society. The theme this year was "With One Voice" (in case you missed the earlier post) and each piece had to be 12" square. She hung them side by side like blocks to make a huge quilt. Here is the link to that. You have to click on each piece to read the artist's statement. There is also a link to purchase a printable catalog. Most of the proceeds will go to Virginia for ACS.
http://www.fibraartysta.com/breakingtraditionsmain.htm
Sorry - another cold link.

I received word via email today that my "NC Forests: Under Fire" is being returned from the Rocky Mount Arts Center, and my Journal Arts Quilt "Welcome to NC's Beautiful Beaches) is at the post office. It has to be signed for and the form was left in my mailbox on Friday. Today is a federal holiday, so I guess I'll get it tomorrow. "Beaches" has been gone for a year, so I'm really anxious to see it again.

Keri and Sarah came down over the weekend, but I will post later in the week about that when I get those photos sized. I'll try to get them by Thursday. In the meantime, I'm trying to get Christmas cards done and I'm working on a commission. More about that later, too.

One of the girls who works with me purchased a piece from me last week and is thrilled with it. She bought it as a wedding gift to a very good friend. Now she wants to purchase a piece for herself and is showing everyone she knows who likes art my website. Maybe she'll bring in some new collectors. That would be grand.

The weather has been glorious for the past several days and will continue to be so until the weekend (of course). It has been in the mid-70's and sunny, but by Thursday & Friday it will be in the low-mod-80's. Then Monday back into the 60's. I love Fall, even if it does screw me up.

New projects

Well, after doing all the regular house stuff yesterday, I managed to start something fun that I didn't have to make. It's a house that Jane Davila showed how to make in Quilting Arts magazine. I wanted to try one and it was so cool. I was using copper metallic thread and ran out yesterday. I was pretty bummed about not beign able to finish it, but then thought - "This is practice. I can use other thread." So today I finished it and I plan to make more.
The roof came out a little wonky because I didn't make it exactly the size Jane gave instructions for. But now I know what to do. Also - she didn't suggest zigzagging off the edges - but I did that and I like it better.


I've finished all but one of the birthday cards I need for the remainder of 2008, but can't post most of them here because who knows who might be lurking? But I can post this one that I made for Steve for our anniversary because he's already seen it. It doesn't show up well in this picture, but it has some foil on it. Those blobs on the sides. This is the Chinese character for Love - or as close as I could replicate it.

Our anniversary is Wednesday - the 24th. We'll be married 14 years. Seems so much shorter. We're going out to eat at La Carretta - Mexican restaurant.

Friday we're going to the opening reception of the PAQA-South Member's Show at the Page Walker Arts & History Museum in Cary. We're staying at Granny & Abbie's til Sunday morning so we can visit and not just run in and out. Hopefully we'll get to see Sarah, too. Keri took her to a neighborhood carnival yesterday and she got to ride a pony. I didn't get to join them, but Keri sent me some photos. Looks like she was having a blast!

Hopefully there will be more photos of our Cutie Patootie next week. Can't wait!

The Cube Gallery

I decided, since I don't hang my quilts at my house (no available wall space) that I would bring them to work and hang them in the cube farm, thus "The Cube Gallery". Also, I am preparing to send 3 of them off to shows, so this has given me an opportunity to see them all hanging around the office.

Here we have the outside of my cubicle, just to the left of the entrance. My "Self Portrait", the "Threadpainted Butterfly", and the "Lichen Tree". Our Deputy Director wants my "Self Portrait" because she says it feels like her. I suggested she give me some adjectives, likes, attitudes, other things and let me make one of/for her. She wants a larger one, anyway. She still likes mine so I will likely make one similar, but larger.


Here is the long wall outside my cube. From left to right we have "The Stories of Women Are Told In Their Hands" (which now 3 people have wanted to buy, but it hasn't even been entered in a show yet!), "Angel of Grief: A New Dawn for the People of New Orleans", my fake mola "Two Ducks, Two Lizards, and the Sun" (or something like that), "Steve's Trout", "Psychedelic Steve", and "Welcome Sarah". Interspersed are some postcards.


This shows the second section of cubes and it holds "Eye of the Gull", "Parrot Head", and "Paradise", which is the other piece the Deputy Director wants. yay! I will take it home and put a sleeve on it so she can hang it when she takes it home.


This is a not-well-known Matisse called "Coffee" that I recreated in fabric in Marilyn Belford's "Artist's Revisited" class several years ago. This is hanging outside Sinthia's cube. Sinthia is one of the people who wants my "Stories of Women" piece, so I suggested to her that she get someone to take photos of the hands/arms of who she wants in it and we will make one of her family. She loves that idea. She also wants me to make a piece for a friend's wedding present. Wow. 2 commissions and 2 sales! And another person was asking about the cards. I think the cards are great and a fabulous value - a little piece of art for next to no investment.


I thought this piece that I made in Lyric's demonstration at the retreat in Charlottesville would brighten up the fax area and give people something to look at while they are waiting to send or receive a fax.



And last, but not least, my fun convergence piece really brightens up my cube. I really like this here.
So, tonight I am taking them all home to put sleeves on those without (we all know how tedious it is to sew the sleeves and put labels on, so we don't do it until we have to). Then they'll be ready for whomever decides they can't live without them.
Terri, the Director, also said she wants two pieces in the hallway by her door - a rotating gallery. We can put slats in the back with that 3M tape that doesn't destroy the walls/paint and if it's on the slat, it won't hurt the quilt, either. What a great opportunity for exposure. I'm feeling very appreciated right now.


This is one of the birthday cards I made last week. I can't say who it's for because she might read this. But the Director also really liked it and said she might have to have it. I can always make one more! 8>)
I'm hoping to have time to make a lot of Christmas cards and that they will sell here. Also, some not-Christmas cards that people might want to give as gifts - those little pieces of art! Gosh - I'd better get to work. I'm taking tomorrow off to get the PAQA-S quilts prepared and shipped and then the JAQ ready to send to Houston. After all they've been through with Hurrican Ike, and to have to worry about getting the International Quilt Festival up and going. Which reminds me, I still haven't got my NC Beaches piece back from last year's JAQ exhibit. I'm sure I will get it soon.
So - here's to another weekend of productivity! and to hoping hubby goes fishing Saturday!