I am ecstatic that tomorrow morning Steve and I are beginning our vacation. We begin by driving to Boiling Springs, PA tomorrow. It's a beautiful and interesting town/area. Very American Revolutionary style of homes and buildings. And there is a fantastic river for fly fishing - which I'm hoping Steve will take advantage of.

Saturday we will drive to Bridgehampton, LI, NY. "The Hamptons". Steve's Uncle Dick just turned 97 and, though hard of hearing, is still quite clear thinking. He has self-published 3 books in the last 8 or so years. One historical about the weather of the Hamptons - he's been doing the weather since he was 17 - and 2 poetry books that are just fabulous. We get to spend the afternoon and night with Dick and his wife, Lillian.

Sunday morning we will take a ferry to Shelter Island and then drive to Greenport where we will catch an hour and a half long ferry to New London, CT ($47!! for the car & driver - I have to pay extra at the gate!, but it's worth the shortcut). Then we will drive to Freeport, ME.

Monday Steve will get to revisit (and likely mourn) seeing L.L.Bean (he was there 30+ years ago when it was the only thing in the area). Then we get to do the lighthouse photoshoot - there are tons of lighthouses in the area. And eat LOTS AND LOTS OF SEAFOOD!! And we will drive to Camden, ME.

We will actually be staying a few miles north of Camden in a cabin resort area where Bob Lacey (Bob & Sheri radio show in Charlotte & nationwide) stays a lot. Camden is supposed to be an incredibly picturesque harbor town. I am really looking forward to that. And more seafood.

Wednesday we will drive to North Conaway NH. We will see the something Birches- a big birch tree area. Looking forward to that. And some personal reasons for Steve wanting to visit.

Thursday - our 15th anniversary!!!- we will be in Manchester,VT. Another personal reason for visiting. It will be a special night for our anniversary, so I hope there's a good restaurant. If not, a good pot roast will do.

Friday - I hope we can drive to Williamsville to see Deirdre Scherer's studio. Susan's partner, Richard, gave me her phone number, as her open studios are generally on the weekend. He also gave me directions to his family's farm, which is nearby, and if we get to visit Deirdre, we will definitely drive by his farm. And then on to New Paltz to see my new great-nephew - Kelso Ronald Woodburn. From his photos, he's adorable. and Keith says he is very good.

Saturday - alas, we will drive home. But I will be much rested and fulfilled with nature, great food, incredible love, and the warmth of family.

So - now we begin that much-needed journey. Later.


Monday

It's been a very productive weekend. Yesterday Steve and I made our monthly sojourn to Winston to Total Wine and Fresh Market. Managed to spend a bunch, but it will get us through the month. Well, the meat, anyway.
I got my most recent fire quilt back on Friday and was thrilled to see that I still like it. I will have to think about where to enter it in the next year or so.
I am even more thrilled that I finished the coleus leaf yesteray. It was a bit wonky, so I threw a damp linen dish towel over it and pressed it and it took the waviness right out. It's more perpendicular than the Lily. So - here it is - what do you think?

Here is the whole piece on a black background. I haven't made the quilt backing for Jennifer to work her magic on yet. This took longer than the lily. Not sure why. Here is a closer up:



Got a lot of house cleaning, some birthday cards, and lots of laundry done. Wednesday, Sept. 2nd., is Steve's uncle's birthday. He will be 97 years old and still an incredibly alert and intelligent man. We get to visit him in 3 weeks when we make our New England trip.

I have to make a not-fun comment here. I have always liked WonderUnder as a fusible. I especially liked reusing the paper backing from it. I got a bad bunch back in the early spring and, after posting about it on Quiltart digest, I got the info to contact the company and complain. Michele was very nice and apologized and sent me an entire bolt of WU, along with their new paper-less WU, and some new thing that has a clear backing. Karen Fridy and I have had some problems again with the new bolts. It has to be a different product. The fusible webbing doesn't want to melt and stays quite stringy. At the same time, the backing is still peeling off in strips and small pieces. I am very unhappy and will let Pellon know. The fusible that has no paper backing is heavy and not a great find. I have been a little hesitant to use the new product, having had few reasons to use fusible at all this weekend. I will be contacting Pellon again. They really need a product control person to be checking this stuff.

that's all for now.

Okay - I'm not blogging very frequently, but I'm trying. Just too much going on. Gosh, it feels like I just bought that car last week.
But what was better last week was taking Sarah and fishing and....(DRUM ROLL) A NEW GRANDDAUGHTER!!! Iris Grace Williams arrived about 5 weeks early and we got to go up and see her. She is doing well, but at this time (born Sat. Aug. 8th and today is August 15th) she is still in the hospital. Ian and Laurie were hoping to take her home by the end of the week because she seemed to be doing quite well, but now it will be another couple of days. So here is the new baby beauty!

And my bonus son, Ian, with his beautiful daughter...

Last weekend we also took Sarah fishing. She had a blast, Keri had a blast, and even though he would never admit to "having a blast", so did Grampa. We went to Finch Park in Lexington, NC and this was taken by Keri and it looks so cool in black and white. You can just hear someone whistling the theme...

Sarah was so excited when she caught the first fish - it was very tiny, but the next one - a blue gill, was a keeper. She decided she caught it, but Grampa needed to get it off the hook. Keri had to walk back to the car for the bucket and after that, Sarah kept trying to feed the worms to the fish. (Guess he'd learned his lesson). But Grampa was explaining the high science of fishing to Sarah...and named her "Worm Girl" so she could bring him the worms. So we all became "Worm Mom", "Worm Grammy", and "Worm Grampa".


This is a photo of a really cool tree stump laying on the ground near the pond. I have not PhotoShopped it or done anything to it. I don't think it had been burned, but it was very cool. I will have to find a use for this, furshur!

Is that cool, or what?

I totally forgot to post this picture of my finished Dandelion Fuzz. I had threadpainted it months ago, but wasn't sure how I wanted to finish it off. So = I just did. I like the way it came out. It's a small piece - about 9" x 12"? I added beads for the "water droplets" and I like how they look.

I think you can see the beads on that, but just in case, here is a closeup.



This afternoon I had a visitor to my goldfish pond. It was really pretty funny because I collect frogs and have them posted around the pond. Some have been assimilated into the periwinkle around the stones, but some are very conspicuous. So - a real frog - the very first one - on a lily pad! He appears to be facing off against the big daddy frog I bought in Blowing Rock...


So today I worked on my next total threadpainting some more. Ran some errands. Bought some country cd's I'll give to Keri. And had fun. Tonight I made a new gelatin mold -(the one I made 2 weeks ago I screwed up - only put half the needed gelatin in), so I'm trying again. Tomorrow I will play with that again. After I give Bev a haircut... for those of you who don't know - Bev is my mother. Laugh-a-minute in-your-face-with-fun-Bev... Can't you just see it?

I know it has been a loooong time since I posted. Too much going on, too much to pinpoint and too much to try to recount. So I'll just start this past week. So much even with that!

First - I have a new great nephew! Keith & Mary had a baby boy on July 15th and named him Kelso Ronald Woodburn. Kelso is Mary's maiden name and a pretty cool name. I am hoping they will call him Ronnie, after Keith's Dad & my brother, but he's a gift, whatever they choose to call him. So -here's Kelso Ronald - (as long as they don't call him that!)


It was a really busy weekend - Keri came down and we did the WWPW (World Wide Photo Walk - you'll have to google it - it's too complicated, but a blast!) in Mocksville at the RayLen Winery. Got lots of photos of grapes and some cool leaves (and much more) in a two-hour period.


Next - I got into my car a week ago Tuesday and my AC didn't come on. Found out that the compressor exploded in the AC system, sending shards of metal all through it - to the tune of $3,000 to replace the whole system. With 94,000 miles on it, needing $500 worth of tires, and the 90,000+ ($600) checkup, we decided to nix it and get a new one.
I do love it, but it was totally unexpected!

Sunday morning Steve and I took the new ride up to Stokes/Surry County so Steve could check out the river for fishing. It's a beautiful river with lots of rocks in it - cool drifts. I was disappointed that there were so many trees along the river bank that I could barely see the river, but I found spot where I could...


And, one of the best parts of the week! I finished the Asiatic Lily some time ago, but couldn't decide how to mount/finish it off. After some collaboration with a very talented quilter friend, we came up with this - I think the quilting is exquisite and I am proud to be partnering with her on this.



And here is a bit of a closeup (I've had to really lighten up the lily in order for the black on black quilting to show up):


Peter & Jill came back from Italy yesterday and came over for dinner. Unfortunately, they don't have their photos yet. We did have a great visit and made fun pizzas.

Duh

Thanks Zoe! She just showed me how to make a hyperlink so you can click right on the name and go to it.
www.zoenelson.etsy.com
Main Street Gallery in Blowing Rock, NC
Hands Gallery in Boone, NC
Artist Alley in Southern Pines, NC
Carlton Gallery in Foscoe, NC


Karen Fridy - Karen Fridy - http://designerstitches.blogspot.com/
Ann Flaherty - http://annflaherty.wordpress.com/

My friend Zoe Nelson just awarded me the One Lovely Blog award. How sweet! She is a jewelry artist in Boone, NC. She sells her gorgeous silver jewelry in the Blue Ridge Mountains and online in her etsy shop. You can find and purchase this wonderful artwear at these places:

www.zoenelson.etsy.com
Main Street Gallery in Blowing Rock, NC
Hands Gallery in Boone, NC
Artist Alley in Southern Pines, NC
Carlton Gallery in Foscoe, NC

You must pass this Lovely Blog award on. First, post it on your blog, giving props to the person who gave it to you. Then, pass the award on to other bloggers. I'm afraid mine might not link cuz I'm really techno-challenged blogwise. And I don't know a lot of people who have blogs, but here goes:

Karen Fridy - http://designerstitches.blogspot.com/
Ann Flaherty - http://annflaherty.wordpress.com/

Need suggestions

Here is the sign hanging on the entrance to my cubicle at my current job:

Dear Aunty Em -
I hate Kansas. I hate you.
I'm leaving and taking the dog.

Dorothy

I think that says it all.
____________________________________________________________________________

I've been working on another threadpainting. It's small and I'm not thrilled with it at this stage, but the practice is good for me. So I've posted several photos I've taken recently of the flowers in my yard, trying to decide which one/s might be most attractive threadpainted. I'm considering a series of them - since I do love making flowers in any medium.

Here's #1 - the Rhodendron (shhh, this is actually in my neighbor's yard). Nice shadows on this one.


#2 is the Wild Orchid - not too much interest here, I think. Too much same color.




#3 The Poke Berry - This is kind of neat, but a lot of the same/close colors. Could be really difficult to find threads just a tiny bit off enough to see the changes.



#4 My purple Iris - I really like this one. Interesting enough? Those striations could be really difficult...



#% - and the last one - my White Asiatic Lily from last year. This is similar to the yellow one I just did. There are no interesting shadows on this one, but the pink markings on the white are nice, some shadows on the petals, and the leaves and mulch in the background are a bit different.



So - anyone out there? Favorites? suggestions? I have some more at home I'll post later in the week.

I broke a tooth on Sunday, so I had to stay home and go to the dentist Monday morning. Of course - a temporary crown. I took the rest of the day off and got my quilts ready to send to Sacred Threads. I love that show, but getting everything ready to send is a real pain. I just realized last week that I had 2 pieces accepted! There was only one letter in the acceptance packet when I received it and since I had done this 2 years ago, I didn't read the rest at that time. So one night last week I started going through everything to refresh my memory of what I had to do and realized both pieces had been accepted! I emailed Lisa to be sure and they were. So Monday I got them both packed up, hauled them to the UPS store and said goodbye.
"The Stories of Women Are Told in Their Hands"


And my "Self Portrait"


I am so happy to have a job, which I will be starting July 1st in the UNCG Dept. of Nutrition, but it will be sad to say goodbye to my 10-year stint with NC Kids Adoption and Foster Care. Our cube farm has been the perfect gallery backdrop for all of my quilts, which I have exhibited several times a year. My new office is very small and it doesn't appear that I will have anywhere to hang even one. But - I have a job and for that I am extremely grateful. I hope everyone out there who is in need of a good job will find one.

Wow! I didn't realize it had been so long since I'd posted to my blog. I wanted to wait until I had a "real" piece of free style machine embroidery finished, and now I have one.

But first - for those of you who haven't seen it on my Facebook page -

I GOT A JOB I GOT A JOB I GOT A JOB!!!

I found out Friday at 5:00 after having the interview at 3 pm Friday. Then I got even better news - that I will be keeping my current salary! What a wonderful day!

And then today Keri called to tell my she had won $500 in the Power Ball lottery. What a terrific weekend! It could only be better if Steve were here, instead of fishininmichigan. But it's his annual trip and he deserves it. He's thrilled for both of us - now he can retire next May as he'd planned.

My aunt Allie, who visited at Easter, bought me a beautiful Asiatic Lily for my birthday. My birthday was the day before Easter and hers was the day after Easter. We planted it, but it didn't bloom til I came back from the workshop with Carol Shinn.

Here is the original photo of the whole stem blooming:



Here is the full photo (12" x 12") of my free style machine embroidered Lily. As you can see, it is reversed from the original. One of those things easily forgotten when printing the photo.



Here is the detail photo showing the shadows:



I documented my hours on this for future reference for myself. I put 36 1/2 hours in the stitching. I can't tell you how much thread I used because there are so many colors blended. I can tell you that jus in the dark green background I used 1 whole spool plus probably 1/4 of a second spool. There are 250 yards of thread on each spool. There are layers and layers of thread and it's pretty heavy, but also pretty good and flat.

I am pretty happy with the end results, but I'd love to hear comments on what you think. I need to continue practicing my fm stitching skills, but I also need to decide where I want to go with this, style-wise. Would you buy a picture like this of just a flower, or would you want something a little more interesting and unique? Like maybe a collage of parts of the flower? I appreciate whatever you offer for suggestions.

I also finished a small quilt, but I can't show that here in case certain people look here. Next month.

Thanks!

Springtime? and Workshop

I am back from Carol Shinn's workshop at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops. I learned so much I can't believe it! But first, springtime was just beginning to peek through in the Catskill Mountains of upstate NY, but here is what greeted me when I got home.


My Lilies of the Valley opened up while I was gone.


And my Solomon's Seal in all its splendor


I was thrilled to be able to spend several days with my buddy, Karen Asherman, at the workshop. We hadn't seen each other since Lowell Quilt Festival in 2006, so it was great fun and we both learned a lot. Here's Karen at the cutting board, with a view of Carol's work table under the overhead mirror.


Here is the porch where Karen, Carol, Kathy & I shared our pre-dinner glass of wine each night. The porch was just the coolest! It was too ironic to learn the names of everyone in the class - Jeannie, Jenny, Jody, Judy, Karen, Carol, Kathy, & Leslie (and a guest named Lynne!) And of course the owners Kim and Mark! J-M. Oh - and one person who cancelled - Martha! Too funny.


This is the gob of (mostly Judy Sebastian's) thread I collected at the workshop. It will show up again in another form.

Here are Carol & Judy checking out some of the work. You can almost make out Carol's piece behind her. It's breathtakingly beautiful, but I don't have permission to post it. I know she is entering it in a really BIG show, so don't want to preempt anything.


So - here at the pieces I made in Carol's workshop. We began with just practicing the direction of the stitches (top left). She then had us stitch "across the color wheel", blending stitches using many shades of each color and keeping the stitches in the same direction. This was very difficult, but the most important for me (top right).


The next step was to draw and paint shapes on white fabric, which we then fused to a piece of canvas backing. When the paint was dry, we stitched over the picture, practicing keeping all of the stitches in the same direction. That's a lot more difficult than you would think, especially with pears. You can see the distortion that so much thread causes (bottom left) - my bottom pear looks like my pregnant goldfish! Carol suggested I do a contour effect around the pears, which turned out to be much harder than I'd expected, having to keep the stitches going in the same direction!
The last piece (bottom right) is of the center of a leaf that Carol had printed out on a iron on transfer sheet. We transferred it to white fabric and then fused it to canvas. Instead of straight stitches in the same direction, I meandered my stitching around in small circles. It gave it a more organic feel and looks more like underwater fan or coral than a leaf. Carol said the purple part is too fat and I should go back and take some out (by adding more blue/green over it), but I have moved on.

Below is the first piece I've made since the workshop. It is a Black-Eyed Susan.

I was happy with keeping the stitches in the same direction, but I really needed more shades of yellow and orange. More thread!
Here is more of a closeup:

I am working on a much more ambitious piece now, but don't want to show it until it's finished (in case it really sux!) I will photograph it in various stages to post later.

Woohooo!! Hudson River Valley Art Workshop!

I am leaving in the morning to drive to upstate New York. Tomorrow night I will stay with my sil, Susan and hopefully get to see my nephew, Keith, and his wife, Mary. Mary is pregnant and due in July. It will be terrific to see them. And as good as that is, Thursday I get to drive to Greenville, NY for a workshop with Carol Shinn at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshop. My friend, Karen Asherman, is driving down from Saratoga Springs to take the workshop, too. This will be so much fun. Not looking forward to the drive up and back, but definitely the rest of it.

Carol Shinn is an extremely talented artist and machine embroiderer. Her work is so incredible - layers of thread that blends so well, it looks like a painting or photograph. I've done quite a bit of threadpainting, using a variety of techniques, but I can't get the blending she gets and mine wants to warp. I must learn her secret to keep it from warping!

I'll return next Monday, so I'll report how it went.

Advice Needed - Thread Lace

Nearly all of my work has been realistic or representational and I have wanted to try my hand at some abstract or simplie collage work. I am finding that I am being drawn to really well-executed collage with simple lines and not a lot of extraneous "stuff". I have been experimenting with different techniques to use in collage, but now find that they are pretty "important" pieces (to me) in themselves and I am really unsure of where to take them. I need some advice/suggestions/HELP! on where to go with these pieces that seem to be "whole works", for want of a better description.

The first piece I'm posting is Thread Lace. I took handfuls of thread that I had been saving in its own wastebasket along with some ribbons, trims, etc. and laid it all out between 2 layers of Vilene (heavier water soluble stabilizer). I machine stitched it all together with several different threads - a green/blue variegated, orange, and clear monofilament. When I thought it was stitched enough to not fall apart when I immersed it in water, I put it in the sink and dissolved the stabilizer. Here is what remains:



I love this on the black background and I love how it turned out. But what do I do now? I love it, but it needs something more. Yet, not so much that it detracts from the main body of lace. Perhaps a particular edge treatment would help? Hand stitching? I wouldn't know where to begin. Beading? The trim in the lace already looks like beads, but I guess more could be added. I'd love to work this into something to enter a show, but it's just kind of "there" right now...
Here is a little more detailed image:


Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!