Under the Dining Room Table

New Year's Day Mystery Quilt

2012-01-04T13:19:00.005-06:00

Planet Patchwork (http://www.planetpatchwork.com/) does an online mystery quilt every year on New Year's Day, along with other days of the year, where participants can choose their fabric , follow instructions that are posted each hour and end up with a fun quilt top. I've done this a couple of times with mixed results. The first one, called Sno Business, I loved and The Hubs uses it all the time. The next one I disliked and took it apart right away.

This one is called Chips and Strips. It's very fun and I like it! This is a crappy picture, but when I finish this I'll take more. I already know how this will be quilted (geomterically along the zig zags) and I know it'll be used.

Naaaahhhh it's not art...but it's fun!

My word for 2012

2011-12-29T21:50:00.010-06:00

Two years ago, I joined the Quiltart mailing list, and there was a discussion about choosing a "word of the year." My first word was "Freedom." I was having a hard time dealing with a lot of things in my family life and I wanted freedom from my negativity about my situation. I even wrote out the word and stuck it on my wall.

Last year, I chose another word, but I never wrote it down, nor did I blog about it. So, days later, I completely forgot it, and have not been able to remember it since.

Well--the Christmas celebrations are over, and a new year is coming soon. I've been thinking about a new word for the coming year. I wrote about my search on the QA list, ending with the phrase "it'll be a brand new year with fresh hope", which paraphrases something that Mrs. Griswald said to Clark on their drive to California in the movie, "National Lampoon's Vacation."

One of my fellow artists pointed out that my new word sounds like..."hope!" So there it is, then. "HOPE" is my word for 2012. Thanks, Diane!

Hope is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best. It is an expectation and a longing; it is to look forward with confidence.

There is hope that I will complete a good number of old projects and UFOs this year.

There is hope that I will do at least half of the Fast Friday Fabric Challenges. There is one challenge each month--last year I didn't complete any of them! I'll shoot for six this coming year.

There is great hope, because I've made it a true goal, that my studio will finally be painted and organized by the end of January--a goal with which The Hubs will help.

There is also hope that I can concentrate on new work with limited distractions.

I'm looking forward to 2012; it'll be a much better year than 2011. I'll be sure to write my word down on a slip of paper so I don't forget it.

Addendum: I recently visited a blog by a fellow Quilt Art poster: Terry Grant in Portland, OR (http://andsewitgoes.blogspot.com/2012/01/intention.html) and she makes little banners for her yearly words. I decided to do the same thing. Stay tuned.

Another attempt at organization...

2011-11-15T18:20:00.017-06:00

Lately on the Quiltart email list (http://www.quiltart.com/) there has been a discussion about re-organizing sewing studios and spaces. Which made me think of my own studio space.
Since I haven't been doing too much in the studio lately--it's become as though a tornado has blown through. How does that work? I'm not in there, so it gets messy??
Well--I know that I'd run in there, quickly do a project and run out without cleaning or straightening up or putting things away. That's what happens when you're the Queen of Procrastination and you're always rushing to finish something. And now--in the throes of making Christmas gifts and decorations and such--this is not the time to clean either.

So I promised myself that, in January when all the holiday stuff is done and gifts are given and deadlines are met, I would reorganize the place. I need to empty out the studio, have the ceiling fixed, paint the whole room, clean out the closet and rearrange things so it's much more manageable and efficient.
(Ahahahahahaha.....sigh. I have said this to myself about a dozen times since we moved here--there are still boxes and totes waiting to be unpacked...But--it'll be a brand new year with fresh hope. )

Well, this is before:

My room is our spare bedroom with lot s of windows--one in a charming dormer--with a good sized closet. I can't get to the closet right now--too much stuff in front of the door. I have a sewing table and another desk at which I make my jewelry, a tall table that is my cutting table and my ironing board. Most of my fabric is kept in plastic bins in "kits", meaning they're projects for which I have fabric and an idea or pattern.
The biggest bugaboo is how to store batting and pillow forms. They take up a lot of room...

Anyway--that's my beginning. Tune in to see the end. (The end of clutter, that is....!)
Oh--I am sorry. I'm watching "The New Girl" with Zoey Deschanel while I write this, and I was compelled to say something kinda dorkey.

Oh ok....

2011-10-13T11:58:00.009-05:00

Well--it's been almost 19 months since my last post. Did you miss me? Nah--I know.

Since my last post, a number of things have happened in my life, and I've allowed them to derail my artistic efforts. That's right--I've ALLOWED myself to be distracted and divert my attention away from making art--indeed--even sewing or quilting anything! I haven't been in my studio, save for making a few pairs of earrings or to iron table linens, for months!!

A few things have been significant: The birth of my first grandchild, Lukas Brian! The death of my father, Benedikts (here they are together last year.) My mother-in-law, Juta also died earlier this year. The growth of our business (good news!) The deterioration of the condition of my back, despite an attempt at physical therapy this summer.

All these events and conditions have served to frustrate and distract.

The family issues have come to close, with the resolution of estates and probates, so I can put that behind me. Our computer business is humming along nicely with the addition of new employees and some new management software, so all is well there. My back...well it's still a pain in the arse, but with more PT and some weight loss, I can live with it.

I also kind of dropped out of the Milwaukee Art Quilter's Group. I love the concept of all these great fiber artists getting together to do group challenges and show their work--but the deadlines for the challenges and show were killing me. And this is driving me crazy!

On one hand, I like having deadlines--they force me to have a bit of discipline in finishing some art. On the other hand--they've becoming quite stressful for me, so I've just let them go by without making anything!

(I did make a commitment to finish one challenge so that it can be shown with all the others at the Wisconsin Quilt Museum this coming winter--I will definitely finish that!)

Anyway--this goes back YEARS! I have started and not finished probably dozens (DOZENS!) of projects. Is it that I have no discipline? Am I afraid of finishing for some reason? Are the things I make not good enough? Am I just nuts?

I just don't know.

What I do know is that I better do SOMETHING or I really will go nuts. I have a need, as all artists do, to express myself through fabric, painting, something. Many years ago, I read "The Artist's Way" and did alot of the exercises to bring out the artist in me. I don't remember a lot of it, but I do recall that our art ebbs and flows. There are times when you are filling your vessel, and times when you are pouring it out.

I've been filling my vessel for a couple years now, and I am ready to let it flow out. With some self-discipline and some serious studio time, I can make art. I can.

Meanwhile--here are just a couple pics I've taken over the last 18 months to inspire some art in me:

It's not art, but it was fun

2010-03-17T11:52:00.006-05:00

I just finished a little baby quilt for my friends Heli and Erik who had their second son, Laas, in January. I can post a pic now, as I finally sent it to her last week.
It was made from two packs of charms squares that I received as a gift at our last quilt retreat in Reedsburg. I used the squares to make pinwheel blocks and added some yardage as borders and backing.
The funny thing is, the very first quilt I EVER cut and sewed into squares was given to Heli at a baby shower before her first son, Juhan, was born. It was flannel cut into strips and made into a rail fence pattern. At that time (about 5 years ago), I knew nothing about machine quilting--just a little about patchwork. So, I tied the quilt and used satin for the binding.
After that, I started reading magazines and books about piecing and sewing...and the rest is history.

While I am thinking about or working on art quilts, I find it fun and relaxing to do a little something like this, especially for friends. It's wonderful just to finish something, it gets me out of my head and into the world for a bit, and it cheers my heart.
I just learned another friend will be having her third daughter this summer, so I have fabric all ready for her baby quilt. And, of course, my own grandchild is due in July, so I'll have a few things to make for that little rug rat as well. Fun!

A Good Trade

2010-02-09T23:14:00.005-06:00

I almost forgot to talk about my trade! A couple weeks ago when I posted my first batch of snow-dyed fabric, I mentioned that I did not care for one of the pieces:

I got a lot of nice comments about all my snow-dyed pieces, but a lot of people liked this one in particular.

One person, in particular, loved it: Diane from Texas, who had posted some snow dyeing of her own on her blog. And I loved them! I loved her oranges--she loved my fugly. So...we traded. I sent her the burgundy/yellow/blue piece, and she sent me...a gorgeous hand-dyed silk scarf!

Here it is hanging on my workroom door (right ext to my QA calendar...) Even though it would be excellent for a quilt, I can't bear to cut it . I'm gonna wear it!

More snow-dyes and other stuff

2010-02-09T18:48:00.009-06:00

Right now its snowing like a summbi*ch, and it won't stop for another 6-8 hours. So I already have more fabric soaking in soda ash to do yet more snow-dyeing. Here are a couple pieces I did last weekend before the old snow melted away:

Looks like great sunset/sunrise fabric. Or something else!

I also got a "commission" this week--to make 12 pairs of black, white and pink earrings and three bracelet sets for my daughter, Julie, who is the manager of a White House Black Market store in Seattle, WA. She'd like to give them as gifts to her staff. So, I whipped 'em up and packed 'em up and they are on their way to Seattle right now. That is, if the Fed Ex plane can get out of town with all this snow flying...

Her store sells only black and white clothing, along with an accent color that changes with the seasons. Right now it's pink. Hence the pink beads.

I am very happy with the lot of them. I hadn't done any beading for a long while. A few summers ago, I made a load of jewelry and hit the art/craft fairs around southern Wisconsin. It was great fun. I had a canopy and tables and all. I sold a fair quantity and made a little money--enough to pay for all the fees and travel and even had some leftover to buy more beads.

Notices have been coming in about the art fairs scheduled for this summer. I have half a mind to do it again. We'll see...

A fun project finally finished

2010-01-24T15:57:00.016-06:00

Sometime last summer, I agreed to take part in a quilt challenge on a quilting message board of which I've been a member for upteen years. Most quilters on the board do traditional quilts, but a few of us have ventured into the art quilt world. So--this challenge was for an art journal quilt. The challenge moderator, Cie from Florida (http://cieangel.blogspot.com/) sent us a little packet of stuff to use--a piece of calico, an assortment of trims and buttons, a couple teeny crocheted pieces and even some beads. We were to use 70% of the fabric and all the trims. The piece was to be merely 8 1/2 by 11". I honestly don't remember when this challenge was due, but I'm sure I had plenty of time to do it. It was, unfortunately, just one of my little projects that got pushed aside for other things.
Anyway, I was inspired right away by the calico. It reminded me of my mother--not that she wore calico often--but it had a retro/old fashioned feel. It also reminded me of full-skirted shirtwaist dresses woman wore in the 50s, so I had my idea.

This is "Washday". This is the whole piece, and a pic of the detail.
The calico is used as the grass in the background. I wanted it to look different than it does in the dress, so I painted it. I made the clothing from scraps, and used the trims in the packet to embellish them. The little bloomers are my favorite, although I like the way the dress turned out. The sky and cloud are commercial fabrics.
It does remind me of my mom, as she hung clothes on the line every week, even in winter, when the clothes would freeze stiff then dry. We had a ringer washer, and that, along with the clothesline, made washing a full day chore. As a child, I helped her by handing her the clothes so she could hang them on the line using those old, one-piece clothespins. When the spring-types ones came on the market--she was very excited. They were more fun!!
I still miss the scent of my clothes after they'd hung on the line all afternoon. I do not, however, miss the scratchy towels. Mom never spent money on fabric softener!
Even though I have a modern washer and dryer, I still try and hang sheets on the line very chance I get, to re-capture the feeling. I now wish I could find the old clothespins--I liked those better.
I managed to use a little of most of the trims. A piece of yellow ribbon, a few buttons and the tiny bugle beads were all that I didn't use. The pic is my leftovers.
This was a fun project. It is also my very first journal quilt, and I thought it fitting to honor my mother. She died more than 12 years ago, and I still miss her every day. But--I know her spirit is well and is with me.

Snow Dyeing

2010-01-20T09:16:00.010-06:00

I've wanted to try snow dyeing ever since our MArQ meeting a few weeks ago, where Nancy Kimpel showed us her snow-dyed fabrics. They were really gorgeous. So, since I had a free weekend, and since we still have several inches of snow on the ground despite the warm temps last week, I tried it.
Now--I took a fabric dyeing class with Nancy back in August, but I have not done any since. Fortunately, I found my notes! So last week I scrambled around town looking for dyes and soda ash and urea.
No one in town carries urea (even Farm & Fleet!), so I never did find it. Now I'm wondering if my results would be different if I had. Looks like I'll have to get it online.

I checked with Nancy to make sure I had the steps right, and plunged in.
Here are the results:
These two, I thought, came out really nice. Good marbling and nice color. Since I want to do a few sunset/sunrise pieces, these will come in handy. But then...I saw this one:

Fugly.
Note to self: Never again try to combine burgundy, bright yellow and navy blue. I guess I'll be able to use bit of this--the red into the yellow is kind of interesting...but...well, we'll see. These were done by the method Nancy and others have used: fabric in the bin, snow on top, pour dye over, wait. When they were finished, I had a goodly amount of dye left in the bottom of my bins, so I threw a couple more pieces of fabric in them. Only one came out:

The others were pretty muddy. But, again, I may be able to use bits of them for something.
I now realize what it is about hand-dyeing that is so compelling:
Random reinforcement!
You try a few techniques, and things don't turn out exactly as you pictured. So you keep trying. Now and again, you produce a beautiful piece of fabric. Then, thinking you can duplicate it, you try again...and again...just knowing that the *next* one will be perfect! Just like gambling! You just never know when you're gonna hit that jackpot!

I am totally addicted!

The Word for 2010

2010-01-03T12:39:00.008-06:00

For a few weeks now, people on the Quiltart list have been discussing words for 2010. The question asked was: What word would inspire you, drive you, excite and motivate you as an artist in the coming year.
Many responded with really good words; words with which I would agree: create, forward, joy, anti-procrastination (which I think we agreed was accomplishment or energy...), explore, stretch, play, ME!
My word for this year is

I wrote it on a piece of paper and stuck it to the wall just next to my (Quilting Arts) calendar and above my ancient radio/cd player. Since I cannot work on anything creative without music, I will be sure to see it every day. The reasons I chose this word are very personal, but mostly it's because last year, I found myself stymied and bogged down by obligations and responsibilities that were not of my own making. I didn't create as much as I wanted to, and even though I attended two retreats and a couple of classes, I feel like I didn't accomplish enough, art-wise. It was a frustrating year in many respects.

So--now it is 2010--a brand new year with fresh hope. While the same obligations and responsibilities still exist for me, I have decided that I shall grant myself a sort-of freedom from them. Certainly, I would not shirk my duties, but neither will I let them get in the way of what I want to do for myself. Just a different way of looking at them...not as barriers, but simply necessary chores which I will be happy to dispatch.

In this year, I will have freedom.

Freedom from fear, failure, doubt and self-pity.

Freedom to create, accomplish, enjoy and take joy in my art and my life.

A little perspective, maybe...

2010 Mystery Quilt

2010-01-01T18:06:00.006-06:00

So, even though I decided to devote 2010 to making more art quilts, I spent the first day of this new year making a traditional one. I participated in the Planet Patchwork's (http://www.planetpatchwork.com/) New Year's Day mystery quilt, where instructions are posted every hour, and you make the quilt top not knowing what it will look like when it's finished. I've done one of their one day mysteries before, for New Year's Day, 2007.

I used commercial fabrics by Moda; the Berries and Twigs collection from last year. I like the way it turned out.

This is a quick pic. This weekend I'll try to sandwich and quilt it with a leaf motif. If I don't get to it, it'll be a good project to take to my quilt retreat in April.

Christmas Roses

2009-12-29T00:10:00.005-06:00

OK--so I haven't finished any kind of a quilt in the last few months. It's been busy at work. The holidays were hectic. I had other stuff to make and finish, none of it particularly artistic. But--since I've done a little bit of floral design, I thought I'd make a centerpiece for my Dickens Christmas party this last Saturday.

Since the Dickensians were really into roses, I got gorgeous red roses from my friend Monique, owner of Rose's Flowers in Wauwaotsa, WI (http://www.rosesflowershop.net/ --a shameless plug...) along with some ornamental cedar branches. I also used a few pheasant feathers, ostrich feathers, pine cones and faux berries that I had lying around.

So, this is how it came out:

This was atop a four-foot tall glass tower that I put in the center of the table. I wanted something spectacular that didn't take up any room on the table, as we were serving dinner family style and needed the table space. I like the way it turned out. Maybe a new career for me??

Christmas Wallhanging Contest

2009-12-08T10:02:00.005-06:00

One of the nice quilters at the Quilts Your Way forum mentioned this website and their Christmas contest. Since this is generally for traditional quilters, and I have a lot of traditional quilts laying around, I thought I'd enter. http://www.quiltinggallery.com/ I also have their logo here on my blog.
The small wallhanging I entered was one I made last year during the fall Reedsburg retreat. I found the pattern and fabric at one of my favorite shops, Homespun Fabrics in Endeavor, Wisconsin. http://www.homespunfabrics.net/
It's a very cool place in a small outbuilding next to a big barn on a working farm. The owner and her daughter design patterns under the name "Contrary Wife Designs". I found the most gorgeous and elegant Christmas fabrics there--way nicer than anything I've found here in the "big city".
Its one of the few times I've ever bought a pattern and fabrics all at the same time, and actually followed the pattern! It was paper pieced, and the pieces were sewn together in pie fashion. It's the first time I've ever done that as well, and I have new-found respect to those who do kaleidoscope and Lonestar quilts. I confess I had to beat the middle into submission with my iron...having all those seams coming together was a real challenge. So--I looked at that as a "design opportunity", and added the jewel embellishment.

Its all about the dogs!

2009-10-10T07:26:00.006-05:00

I have finally been catching up with some emails and postings and such, and discovered that Lynn Krawczak, fiber artist and curator of the "Breaking Traditions" quilt exhibits, has posted pictures and information on her blog about the "Home" exhibition shown last month at the American Sewing Expo in Novi, Michigan. Read it here:
http://www.btaqe.blogspot.com/

For me, it is very exciting to have my quilt, Beau and Georgie's Excellent Adventure, hanging with all the rest. It was a fun piece to do, and I was happy to donate the quilt for such a good cause, A Place To Bark:
http://www.aplacetobark.com/

On Lynn's blog, you'll also find stories of people and their rescued animals. There's a story about out dogs, Gracie and Georgie, who were rescued by two different animal shelters and found good home with Tommy and me. Read that here:
www.btaqe.blogspot.com/2009/06/new-beginnings-sunday_21.html

Tom saw the pictures of the exhibit and told me I am now an internet celebrity! Hardly, but I feel one step closer to calling myself an artist!

Eye of the Quilter

2009-09-01T16:37:00.006-05:00

The good folks at Quilts, Inc. have a great idea for a special exhibit at the upcoming International Quilt Festival in Houston. Instead of quilts, they are calling for photographs that inspire quilters. I wasn't paying much attention to it, but since today was the deadline, I did send in one photo. It's one that I posted several weeks ago--a February sunrise that I manipulated in Photoshop.

I have a few more that I considered, but I love this one. Here are more!

I've already started on a quilt using the February sunrise. The others...I don't know. Stay tuned....

"Darjeeling"

2009-08-27T10:31:00.007-05:00

My new quilt, "Darjeeling" is finished. I delivered it to the Anaba Tea Room yesterday. http://www.anabatearoom.com/. It will be part of group show by the Milwaukee Art Quilters. The theme is "To a Tea", and all the quilts are inspired by...tea!
At first, this theme was not particularly exciting to me--I don't drink a lot of tea. Coffee gal here. Also, at the last couple of meetings, a lot of the members were showing their quilts, most of which involved tea-dyed fabrics. They were all gorgeous and I was rather intimidated by the creativity and workmanship. But, again, that's something I don't do, either--tea dyeing. I had nothing in my head for this theme, until I saw a number of pictures of workers picking tea in both India and China, and was inspired by those. I chose to do a quilt of an Indian woman, mostly because I love the saris they wear. (So, really, this quilt was inspired not by tea, but by fashion!)

Doing a portrait quilt is something I've never done before, but I wanted to figure it out. I got a lot a great instruction by reading a couple of books. I started with "The Art Quilt Workbook", by Jane Davila and Elin Waterston. http://janedavila.blogspot.com/ Such a great source for a beginner art quilter such as myself. Then I got a copy of "Portraits for Fabric Lover" by Marilyn Belford http://www.marilynbelford.com/content/start/ and used a lot of those techniques. I learned a lot about threadpainting from that book, mostly that it's really fun!!

Of course, I appealled to the vast knowledge of the people on the QuiltArt mailing list wen I got stuck.

The background, basket and most of the leaves are commercial batiks, and her scarf is also a commercial quilt frabirc. The rest of the fabrics are scraps of different silks I had lying around. While choosing them, I found fabrics from which I had made ball skirts, tunics and vests. Pieces of my entire "after five" wardorbe are in this quilt!

The sari is accented with a blue trim I had, and a piece of gold trim that was sent to me by Janice Paine-Dawes (see the above post). Thanks, Janice. I also used a bit of the green fabric I had dyed in my class last week (see the post before that). Thanks, Nancy!

Detail:

I'm happy with this. But I am most excited about actually having a piece, for sale, in a gallery with real artists.
If it sells, I'll not be able to live with myself I'll be so ecstatic! Crossing my fingers...

More Dyed Fabric Pics...and a nice surprize!

2009-08-27T08:44:00.004-05:00

I have another picture of the cool fabrics I dyed in my class last week with Nancy Kimpel. As I mentioned before, we dyed one fabric in one color (the yellow), did some dye diluting (the greens) and then used two colors on one piece of fabric (the green and yellow together). I have all sorts of stuff in my head for which I can use these.

Also, a few weeks ago, I offered two Unlimited Possibilities magazines to the first person who sent me an email. The winner was Janice Paine-Dawes, an art quilter from Arkansas, http://www.blogger.com/profile/07627735016408777385 . She (being the sweet person that she is!) then sent me a package chock full of fun things: tulle, FQs, embroidery floss, vintage rick-rack (which is the most fabulous warm gold...) and a length of gold trim cut from an Indian sari. That trim was perfect for my tea quilt. Thanks so much, Janice!

Finally I can breathe again....and another sneak peek

2009-08-25T22:17:00.010-05:00

So I've been working like a crazy woman on this portrait quilt for the MArQ group show at the Anaba tea room which opens next week. The quilts are due at the gallery by Thursday at the very latest. Again--I am the queen of "just under the wire".
But...it is finished! And I can finally take a breath.

However, I have not yet taken pics of the whole thing, yet. They will come later. Until then I can post another sneak peek. Here is a couple of detail pictures of the tea lady's eye and cheek, just fused and then with threadpainting. This is the first time I've done anything like this, and I'm pretty happy with the result:

Last week I took a break from working on the tea lady, and attended a fabric dyeing class given by another member of MArQ--Nancy Kimpel. She was gracious enough to host a class in the gorgeous basement of her lovely new home out in Lake Country. She has a studio (and a stash) of which I am very envious, but that's another story.

Anyway, I've never dyed anything save for a pair of black gauzy pants that had faded, so it was a real treat to learn this. Nancy explained the low immersion process very well. First, we did a fat quarter in a single color (I chose yellow). Then we dyed a series of FQs in increasingly diluted dyes (I chose green). The last dyeing we did was using two or more colors on one FQ ( I chose yellow and green. I must have been hungry for bibb lettuce.)

I was very excited to get them home, throw them in the dryer and iron them. I even used the darkest green already--in my tea lady quilt!

I think I'll be dyeing in the future. Ha! Oh...I could inject a whole pile of "dyeing/dying" puns in here right now, but I shall restrain myself.

Breaking Traditions "Home"

2009-08-14T21:32:00.007-05:00

Since tomorrow is the postmark deadline for submissions to the Breaking Traditions 2009 Exhibit, I finished and packed up my 12"x12" quilt...today. Just under the wire as usual. I've been working on my tea-picker portrait so much, that I almost completely forgot about the Breaking Traditions quilt. The idea for it has been in my head for months, but I had never put it together. I finally confessed this to my husband, Tom, who had noticed I was getting crabbier and crabbier.

So, for his own self-preservation, as it's not a pretty sight when I am moody, he helped me make plan for completing this quilt. The motivation for me, besides wanting to contribute to a worthy cause and having my work shown at a big show, was the threat of having to cook for him for a week (!) if I did not reach my daily goals. It worked, because each day I made sure I finished my task! I'll do anything so I don't have to cook. Anything.

The theme this year was "Home", and since the exhibit is benefit ting A Place to Bark, an animal shelter, my "home" project had to include my dogs! It started with three pictures I had taken over the last couple months. I printed them on silk, and fused them onto a background made up of green grass fabric, and blue sky fabric. I sandwiched it, then did some thread painting and free-motion quilting. The result was a silly little quilt called "Beau and Georgie's Excellent Adventure: Up on the Woof". It features the dogs ON our house with pics of some of my garden flowers around the house; hydrangeas, clematis and violets.

I also made a tree out of some batiks and did some thread painting on the dogs, the trees and the flowers. I am generally happy with it. I am disappointed that the shadow of the green fabric can be seen behind the house, but this is the first time I've printed on silk. And I did that because my (old crappy) printer has a very hard time with the printable cotton, and since I didn't have time to run and do my printing at the office, I used silk. I love it--it prints so easily and nicely, but it has its drawbacks, as I learned.

I've included some detail pics, too. I enjoyed doing the thread work--I will be doing that a LOT in the future.

Sneak Peek

2009-08-06T17:34:00.005-05:00

I've been working on a quilt for the Milwaukee Art Quilters group, for an exhibit entitled "To a Tea". It is a potrait quilt of a cheerful Indian woman picking tea leaves. I'm afraid I may have bitten off more than I can handle...but if it all works, and I can get it all together...(and with all due modesty) it'll be really cool!!

So I took a couple pics of the hands and the little pieces that make up the highlights and shadows. And that brings me to my problem.

Usually, after fusing fabric pieces, I stitch around each piece to anchor it to the background. However, this is the first time I've had such teeny little pieces. How do I stitch them down?

These fabrics are all silks--some dupoini, some sueded silk and some crepe-back satin, and even though they are all backed with fusable interfacing, I'm afraid that the little pieces will either ravel, or be completely obluterated by the stitching, even with a very fine needle.

I've thought of covering the areas with tulle then stitching over that--but I've never done that. What what color shall I use? How is the stitching done? Yikes!!! So much I have to learn.

So here are the pictures. The pieces are fused to each other, but not to the background. They are on my teflon sheet; the stripes are the ironing board (cheery, eh?)

I will consider any and ALL suggestions as to how to do this. I know there are people out there who can teach me!

Old News

2009-07-23T10:10:00.014-05:00

Yesterday, a couple of my very good friends, Reet and Mari-Ann, took the drive up from Chicago to visit with Juta and me. We sat and chatted, Reet took us out for lunch, we ate a lot and had a great time. It was nice to see them again; it had been a few months.

Reet reminded me of a little project I started last winter--one in which she was kind of involved! My husband and I were at her house for a party back in January. I love her home, as it is filled with wonderful artwork done by several artists friends. When I read about Lynda Thompson's postcard challenge a few weeks later, I thought of one of Reet's paintings. The challenge was to make fiber postcards featuring a raven, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Edgar Alan Poe's birth. The painting I thought of is one of blue/black birds soaring in an orange background. To me they looked like ravens, but they are swallows. Even so, I asked Reet for a few pics of it, so I could print them on fabric and play with the images for the challenge.

As it turns out, I didn't use the images. But I did create a postcard with words printed on fabric, dark chiffon on which I painted trees, some thread painting and, finally, appliqued ravens. It's called "Raven Go Now". I realized yesterday, when Reet reminded me of it, that I never posted a pic here, though I did post it on the challenge Yahoo group. Awwwww my first fiber postcard...I'm so proud...*sniff*

So, there it is, then. I still have those swallow images; eventually, something will come of them.

Quilting, but not "art"

2009-07-09T09:50:00.010-05:00

Lately, I have had a hard time actually creating any "art". My creative spirit has been squashed a little. I need to fill that vessel again, but I'll talk about that later. Sometime.
Anyway, when I feel like this, I fall back on just spending time in my sewing room. I've been soritng scraps, pulling out stuff for a future yard sale, organizing other stuff.

Before I thought about doing art quilts, I made quilts for other people. Making quilts for friends, family, special occasions, has always been a big motivation for me. As I make the quilt, I always think about the person for whom it is, an that helps me get out of "myself".

So I made a quilt for a good friend of mine. I asked him a while ago, as a joke, if I should make a quilt for him. He emphatically said "NO!", probably because he thinks all quilts are flowery and Grandma-like. So I made one with fabric featuring tires, spark plugs, gears and tools. I can't post a picture yet, as I need to quilt and bind it, and then give it to him! I don't want to spoil the surprise! But I made the top in one weekend, and it feels good to start and finish something.

Something I can post is the Spring Mini-Quilt I made for a swap sponsored by the Quilting Bloggers group (see the logo to the right). I'm a little late, as the quilt should have been mailed out by the 21st of June, the day of the Summer Solstice. I used a pattern I bought years ago, and put a little bit of my own spin on it. The pattern showed three panels like this, all of them rectangular. I made just one panel, and curved the top to make it look like a niche in a wall. I thought it was a good idea, until I tried to put that border on it! But--I figured it out, and it turned out well. I did a little bit of thread painting on it, and added a few crystals on it to mimic dew.

I also have a detail shot:

I'll pop this in the mail in the next few days, and it'll be on its way to my swap partner in the UK. I hope she likes it!
Since this is a swap, I received a cute little quilt from Chris Wheeler of We Love Quilting (http://www.welovequilting.com/)

She made an adorable Grandma's Fan doll-size quilt for the swap, and I was the lucky recipient.

I'll be hanging it in my sewing room (if I ever get it painted). Thank you, Chis! It's darling.

Even though I am not working on art this very moment, doing these quilt projects has restored my soul a little.

As does seeing a great sunset. A few months ago I posted a pic of a gorgeous winter sunrise taken from my backyard.

http://underthediningroomtable.blogspot.com/2009/04/rainy-saturday.html

Yesterday there was a breath-taking sunset, of which I took a pic from my front yard! I think I'll be manipulating this picture, as I did the other one, and it'll turn out to be a good companion piece to the sunrise.

The gears in my head continue to turn...

Out of the kitchen and into the garden but not in the studio

2009-06-14T15:17:00.007-05:00

The last few days have been consumed by the project of installing an hardwood floor in our circa 1939 kitchen. We bought the floorboards last week (they are pre-finished birch) , ripped out all the layers of tile and vinyl, and began laying the floor yesterday. It was tough for me due to my bad back (The Spine in the Form of a Question...Mark) but I was able to help a great deal. I even did all the cutting on our brand new miter saw. Power tools!

The whole story is on my other blog: http://www.itsmetonim.blogspot.com/.

Today we started in again, but my poor body could just not keep up. So I was kicked out of the kitchen.

Since then I've been mostly sitting quietly, listening to the air compressor while Tom finishes the floor. I'm not even able to do anything in my studio! I did manage to take some pictures in the garden. The hostas are suddenly huge, and I caught them just after they were watered. I love the texture and the water drops. I'm sure these will end up in a new quilt somehow.

Scrappity Scrappy Scraps

2009-06-11T22:19:00.009-05:00

I got some time in my work room today, and did I sew anything? No. Did I paint, or sketch, or think about any of my myriad undone projects? No.

I sorted scraps. Piles of scraps. Scraps I've been saving for probably seven or eight years, most of which are these itty-bitty pieces that I would never actually use!

So I threw the bitty bits away. I saved bigger pieces to cut into 3" squares. I saved the batiks and hand-dyes for art quilts and applique. The biggest pieces I folded and will keep for future project. And the pieces I know I'll never use, I packaged up and will sell at a future yard sale.

This freed up a whole corner of my studio! I feel as though I took a good step towards organization. A baby step.

And actually, it as fun thing to do. I took a little trip through time, as I found pieces of the quilts I've made over the years. The baby quilts, the Christmas gifts and projects, the quilts I made for sick friends and family occasions.

Tomorrow, I have a huge drawer full of more scraps to sort. But it'll be easier, since I did the hard part today.

The only thing is, I need a way to store the pieces of fabric that are bigger than little scraps, but not as big as a fat quarter. (Does this make sense?) I have a nifty storage unit for my FQs, and I have that nice big drawer for yardage, but it's the in-between pieces that I'm finding difficult to store.

If anyone out there has a suggestion, please let me know. I"m stymied!

The Red Shoes

2009-06-05T22:42:00.008-05:00

Today, I watched one of my favorite movies: The Red Shoes, about a small ballet company in Monte Carlo. It was made in 1948 and almost every scene is a work of art! The set decoration and the costumes...fabulous. The direction is really dramatic, making for the best shots of the actors, all of which are super-stylish. I especially love the scenes in the Paris hotel room after Boris leaves Monte Carlo looking for his ballerina.
So, I did a weird thing, and took a picture of the scene on the TV. The paneled walls in in this room are painted China blue with gold moldings. All the room accents are also gilded. Then there are these huge purple drapes and rose-colored chairs. All in heavy velvet. Boris himself is wearing a red velvet smoking jacket, and at one point in the scene, he tears open the top button to reveal a gold satin lining. The whole movie is great eye-candy, as well as a great story. I need to make something in those colors. Or...take a trip to Monte Carlo right now!
Oh...I suppose I broke some copyright law by taking pictures of these images while they were transmitted to my TV set. If so, don't tell anyone, OK?

What's blooming?

2009-05-26T18:35:00.013-05:00

I haven't done anything on any of my art quilt projects for over a week. I am so distracted by MIL in the hospital, our sick dog, Beau (who is better now than last week) , garden chores and who knows what else. I think I have SO many things to do and finish, that I'm just paralyzed when I think about it. I end up doing nothing except what I am very comfortable with and don't have to really think about--like my traditional quilting.

But--our flower beds are shaping up and things are finally blooming. Here are some pictures of pansies, lilacs, columbines and bleeding hearts. Lots of purple things, much like my Flower BOM!

All these pictures cheer me up and remind me of the beauty of Spring, even when I'm losing my mind.

More BOM Blocks

2009-05-14T19:35:00.006-05:00

I made two more blocks for the Flower BOM on which I've been working for two years now...

I trashed the 14" block I made a couple weeks before and made another one.

This pattern is called Duck Foot in Mud--not really a flower block. But, I used my floral fabrics and the green, and now they do look like flowers.

I also made another 6" block--a little basket block. Once the quilt is completed and quilted, I'll fill the basket with 3-D flowers made from one of the florals and embellished with beads.

So--all the main blocks are done now. With the setting I want to do, I need to make about 36-38 small 4" filler blocks. They will be a number of diferent patterns; I have to figure that out yet...

Unfortunately, I can't work on this project for a while, as I need to get going on several challenges whose deadlines are looming. I need to make four fiber art pieces in the next three weeks. Wish me luck!

Musical Tastes

2009-05-09T15:16:00.006-05:00

I always listen to music while I'm sewing or painting or beading; generally light classical and baroque, or "New Age"--what Tom refers to as "yuppie elevator music". It's soothing and calming and not very demanding to the ear. Perfect for letting my mind wander and concentrate on my project.

However, sometimes I really want to hear some hard rock. Then, out comes the old stuff: Led Zepplin, Ten Years After, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, The Doors.

In high school, I always loved the hard rock when all my girlfriends were into Joni Mitchell or Neil Diamond or other "soft rock" music. Yawn. The boys always admired my taste in music--it was a lot like theirs! Now that I'm a 50-something mom, I still love it. Is that odd?

The other day I ran across a CD that my younger daughter, Julie, recorded and gave to me for Christmas a long time ago. "Mom's Rockin' Christmas". It has songs by Puddle of Mud, Linkin Park, Limp Biskit, Tool and other 90s bands. Most are long gone, but they had some great one-hit wonders. It even has a great head-banging version of "Smooth Criminal" by Atom Ant.

Thanks, Julie. It reminds me of my high-school days; different bands and different sounds (and definitely different words--I had forgotten how many F-bombs are on that disc...), but the teenage angst never changes. Oh, and don't tell the BMI people--they'll get mad....

Changes a-coming

2009-05-07T21:23:00.006-05:00

I've been very unsettled the last week or so. Ever since my "faux heart attack". (Thanks to Jeanne McBrayer for that term...I've used it alot.) Even so, I've managed to be sorta busy. Tom and I worked in the garden all weekend, saw a concert given by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra where they did the 1st Violin Concerto by Bruch with Frank Almond as the soloist, attended the monthly Milwaukee Art Quilters Group meeting, shopped for a new white cardigan to replace the one on which I splashed tomato sauce and bought shoes instead, and attended a meeting of the planning committee for the Grace Foundation fund-raising event. http://www.givinggrace.org/
I managed to get into the workroom only once, and worked on another block for the Flower BOM. Which I should have been working on any number of projects for assorted challenges instead, but did not. Too distracted. I have a million quilts flying in and out of my head--every time I see an unusual object, a sunset, a bird. I just can't seem to settle down and work on a one of them!!

One reason I'm so gefroozled is that we have some big changes coming--my mother-in-law, Juta, will be moving in here next week. She is 90 years old, and can no longer live on her own. She is not happy about being dependent on us, and we're not particularly happy about disrupting our household, but you do things for your mom...She's from the old country, and taking care of family is just what we do. Kinda like drinking vodka. Its just expected.
So she's been busy packing all her stuff, and we've been busy getting a room ready for her.
I hope Juta will be comfortable here, especially now that its spring. She always enjoyed sitting in the backyard and bird-watching, and she'll be able to do that again. Well, we're family and it'll all be OK.

Today a small storm rolled through the area right before sunset. I watched the dark clouds float off to the east just as the sun popped out in the west, and lit up the trees behind our yard. Then as it got darker, I was surprized to see a beautiful almost-full moon.
I guess tomorrow will be a brand new day with fresh hope. Here's a pic.

Another quilt flying into my head...

My Prize and Go Red for Women

2009-05-01T22:18:00.017-05:00

In looking over all my recent correspondence, I discovered that I neglected to post about the neat art quilt I won on Jeanne Turner McBrayer's blog: http://allthingsquilty.blogspot.com/.

She had a drawing a few weeks ago and I won! She sent me the coolest small quilt--it's called "Tropical Waters:, and it, indeed, reminds me of the Caribbean (I was there once...) With it she included an ATC and her calling card, embellished with yummy blue and purple fibers.

So, thank you VERY much, Jeanne, for holding a drawing. I am just thrilled with my prize! Also,please forgive my tardiness in thanking you publicly.

Well... I haven't been in my workroom in a few days, but I have a somewhat good excuse. I had a little chest pain episode Wednesday, and they put me in the hospital! What a fuss. I've had weird chest pains in the past, but this was different. Along with a pressure in my chest, I had pain in my jaw and I broke into a sweat. Not good.

So, since I was already driving on the freeway (!), I just passed my office exit and drove to the ER. There was a lot of fuss, questions, monitors, etc. as the pain just faded away. I felt fine once more, but they insisted I stay overnight for observation, and undergo some more tests in the morning. It was then that I thought I should have gone to work and forgot about it. But--everyone I spoke to insisted that I did the right thing.

Anyway, all the tests came out fine, and I found out I was in better shape than I thought! So, my heart is fine and I learned you can really never fool around when you have chest pains!

For more info on heart disease in women: http://www.goredforwomen.org/

I think I'll get myself a red dress and send some cash to the AMA!

P.S. I had my husband take a picture of the curtain that was hanging in the ICU room when I was waiting to go up to the cardiac floor. It was two shades of spring green with really cool grey flowers on it. I'll post it when he emails it to me. It was a great color scheme for a quilt!

Hmmmmm...

2009-04-27T20:20:00.003-05:00

I looked at my blocks again, and I don't like the big one. I love the little pinwheel, but the big one is not pleasing to the eye. I need to make another 14 inch block. Maybe this weekend.
I'll also begin on my sunrise quilt. I picked the fabrics for it, and I'll start putting everything together. Right now, though, household and family obligations call me. *sigh*

Oh--I took a pic of a teeny moth on my window this morning. Just for fun.

No more rain! No more rain!

2009-04-26T21:27:00.008-05:00

Remember those words from Woodstock? (oop I really dated myself right there...) We have had rain 5 out of the last seven days; a lot of it!! It's getting old. The backyard is a lake, and the dogs haven't been out for any length of time for days and days. But--I did get to the workroom for a while today.

I worked on the sunrise quilt for a short time, but I really felt the need for some good old fashioned piecing. I just wanted to get re-acquainted with my sewing machine.

So I worked on an old UFO--the Flower BOM from the Quilts Your Way Forum. www.quiltsyourway.com/forums

It was started in 2007 and was conceived by one of the members there, Lisa from Texas. She did a great job of finding blocks for us to make--all of them flower-themed. All my blocks were done, but I decided to do a different setting from the one she suggested. I found a nice sampler quilt setting in an old magazine, and worked out a similar one the blocks I had made. But, I needed more of them, so today I made two more, and started another one. That one is paper pieced, and I couldn't finish before it was time for The Amazing Race. I know, lame. But true.

So here they are. They look to be the same size, but the pinwheel is 6", and the other one is 14"!

I also took a pic of this interesting little pile of schnibbles left over from trimming units for another quilt I made last winter. I love the colors. I'm not sure what I will do with them, but I don't want to pitch them just yet.

Maybe I can make even more schnibbles and do an impressionistic quilt a la Noriko Endo.

Rainy Saturday

2009-04-25T12:56:00.008-05:00

Perfect for working on a project without feeling guilty about not being in the garden.

This is a picture of a February sunrise in our backyard.

I decided to manipulate it a little with my trial version of Photoshop. Before this, I was a Photoshop virgin, but I must say I'm hooked. I've been trying all sorts of stuff with it. I thought about simplifying it a bit by taking out some of the trees, but I kinda like the chaos of them.

So here's the pic after I played with it and got to where I really liked it. I really just saturated the colors a bit; warmed up the sky and cooled down the snow. Then I printed it on a piece of fabric.

Now comes the really fun part where I get to expand on it. I'll add more fabric, paint some stuff and maybe add some beading or other embellishment to emphasize the contrast between the hot and the cold.

I goofed up...

2009-04-24T13:18:00.002-05:00

I had a personal deadline to get some stuff done to be shown at the Art & Soul Gallery www.artsoul-gallery.com for the West Side Art Walk, which happens tonight and tomorrow.
I did not make it. In fact, because of family obligations, I haven't been in my workroom for over a week. It's very upsetting. I feel as though I let myself down, along with my friends at the gallery. I mean, they certainly have a huge array of beautiful art and jewelry and useful things there, so my contributions will likely not be missed, but it was a small goal that I did not reach.
I just need to shake it off and get back to work.
There are, however, two wee art quilts swirling in my head, and I've done some preliminary work. Bluebirds and sunrises. Stay tuned.
Also, I've signed up for a few challenges at various websites and forums, so I need to put on my thinking cap. Or just go for a walk. I get such great ideas....

Online Quilt Festival

2009-04-21T21:43:00.007-05:00

Even though I did go to the IQF in Chicago, I'm participating in the Online Quilt Festival on Amy's Park City Girl's blog:

parkcitygirl.blogspot.com/

Here is my old Hearts wallhanging, one of my favorites. It was one of the first quilts I made, back in 2004, maybe...

I hand-appliqued the hearts, then did some free-motion quilting with red thread. It was the first free-motion I think I did, and I was hooked from then on.

Split Personality

2009-04-19T11:28:00.005-05:00

I've decided to create another blog on which to post all my musings about life and love and family and all things personal. It's called It's me, Toni! , something that I usually say when I call someone on the phone. I'll record any significant (o insignificant) family events, thoughts, happenings, etc. Here is the link:
http://www.itsmetonim.blogspot.com/
I will keep my Under The Dining Room Table blog for posting my art works, works in progress, events I attend, exhibits I see...that kind of thing. Artsy things.
So I invite everyone to read and follow both blogs. I'll try to make them both entertaining and interesting.

In my art world, I finally finished my small "Mushrooms" quilt. I added the words "ma istun seene otsas" (I'm sitting on a mushroom) with a stencil I made and some bronze paint. I like it.

I also recently made this tote bag using a pattern from a magazine, and some pre-cut strips of shabby chic fabrics. I was lucky to have just the right piece of ball fringe in my stash for a cute accent. I carried this all thru the IQF, and it served well.

Is it art? No, but it took a little creativity and some workmanship, so there you are.

I Do the IQF

2009-04-18T21:46:00.007-05:00

Yesterday was the first time I went to the International Quilt Festival in Chicago, IL. I drove down in the morning, finally found a place to park my car (to the tune of $13!) and went to the show.
The first thing I did was find the "Make It U" and check out the workshops. I was lucky enough to see Ms Pokey Bolton demonstrating some art quilt techniques, so I had my picture taken with her.
I was kind of star struck...
my first quilt-world celebrity!

And no...I usually don't smile in pictures...
I smile with my eyes. ;)

Anyway, then I shopped the show. I picked up some dye kits, some patterns, and a few things from Betty Blais' Embellishment Village. It was a pleasure to meet her, and we chatted a little about the artquilt.com list. It was nice to put a face to a name.
I also met the nicest woman while sitting outside having a little lunch. Her name is Beth, and she was working at her mom's booth, Mary Flanagan's Woolens. They have a huge selection of hand-dyed wools, patterns, kits, etc. I bought a selection of pastel-colored fat-eights. Gorgeous! Here's the website:
http://www.mfwoolens.com/index.htm

I also ran into Terri Kirchner from MArQ working at the BBD Creations booth. It was nice to chat with her, too.
Later in the day, I looked at the SAQA exhibits, and all the other quilts. I was absolutely blown away by the fabulous art. Its really hard to describe the variety and the excellence, and how inspirational they are. They just have to be seen...

Finally, I attended the SAQA/artquilt.com Wine & Cheese Reception. Two more MArQ artists were there: Casey and Kasia, with whom I had a nice chat. I also participated in the Tiara Parade while wearing my old Esto "muts"--the embroidered hat with ribbons I used to wear while folk dancing. I'll post some pics soon.
I'm already looking forward to next year.

Our Dory 1995-2009

2009-04-16T21:42:00.008-05:00

Dory, the big dumb chocolate lab that belonged to my MIL, was put down today. I will not pretend that I liked that dog a whole lot, but it was sad, nonetheless. For all her neuroses and bad habits, she was a very sweet dog and was a great friend and companion to my MIL for 12 years before she had to give her up. Once she came to live with us, she was still neurotic and her shedding drove me nuts, but we liked to play out in the yard together, and she always sat outside with me while I worked in the garden.
We had an understanding.
Even though Dory lived most of her life in Morton Grove, IL, she spent a lot of time at our house over the years. Every time my MIL went into the hospital for one reason or another, Dory came to stay with us. She was a spirited, out-of control pistol of a dog for the first few years. She'd annoy and bother us for hours on end, until one of us would take her out to the big field next to our apartment building and throw a stick for her to fetch. Over and over. For an hour. Till she fainted, sometimes. That dog lived to play fetch.

And today, Tom took her out to our yard for one more game of fetch before we drove to the vet. Dory's arthritis was so bad that often she would just sit down before bringing the stick back. She was in such pain all the time...it was hard to see her that way.

Well, I hope she's running and playing freely and pain free in the huge dog park of the Great Beyond. We'll miss her.
These are pics of Dory last autumn in our yard. Georgie will miss her, too.

Need to get my camera back!

2009-04-09T08:11:00.002-05:00

Since my last post, I've seen the quilts at the Anderson Art Center in Kenosha, had a couple of doc appointments, gone on a quilt retreat and attended the fun wedding of a woman I've never met.

The quilt exhibit in Kenosha was beautiful. Kay Sorensen's "Colors of My Life" quilts look deceptively simple, yet are really very complex. The color and value placements of the fabrics is brilliant!

My doc appointments were very successful. I've had facet injections in my lumbar spine that have been helpful. It's been such a long time since I've had no pain--I'm not quite sure what to do!

The Reedsburg quilt retreat was great fun. I love getting together with all my quilty friends. Most of them do very traditional quilts, and, frankly, I am getting bored with that. But not with the fellowship we have. We talk and laugh and giggle and stay up late and just relax, all while sewing. What could be better!

I have a group of internet friends with whom I've corresponded for the last 7-8-9? years. One of them lost her husband to cancer a few years ago. However, she was able to get her own life back together, and found love once more. She was married last weekend up in Marinette, WI, and I had to go--even though I had not met her face-to-face. But--when we did meet--it was like we'd been friends forever. It was a fabulous wedding, and a fabulous weekend.

My other friend did take pictures, so she needs to send them to me so I can post them.

Oh--and I need to finish the couples' wedding gift. I just didn't get the chance to finish it before the wedding. I guess it'll be a surprize for them after their honeymoon!

With all of this--I haven't had a minute in my workroom. I worked on a couple of things while at the retreat, but they are traditional projects--a tote bag and a regulr pieced quilt top.

Pictures will be up the moment I get the camera back. I promise.

So--here's a pic of good old Beau--just so there's something to look at!

Still gathering inspiriation...

2009-03-28T11:01:00.006-05:00

Today my horoscope actually told me to do my chores before I could do the things I really want to do!! Spooky...since that's exactly what I planned on doing.... I've already cleaned the bathrooms, and am on my way upstairs to organize my closet. I am giving myself ONE HOUR to do this. Then I'm going to hop in my car and take a little field trip to Kenosha to see a couple of quilt exhibits. One at the Public Museum is a quilt show by a local guild. The other is Kay Sorensen's exhibit at the Anderson Art Center.

Here's a link to her blog: http://quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com/

She does beautiful work, and I'm excited to see it in person. Yes, I know. That show has been there since January, and it ends tomorrow. OK, so I am the quintessential procrastinator! Anyway--I am sure seeing these quilts will add to my inspiration vessel.

I have also been organizing the work room, and getting stuff packed to take to the Reedsburg retreat. Oh my--I can't wait. Three whole days of nothing but sewing, followed by a trip up to Marinette to attend a wedding. What a happy week next week will be. Of course, I'll miss my hubby, and the doggies, but it'll be fun.
Since I haven't worked on anything, really, for weeks now, here is a pic of my FIRST art quilt. It was an "ugly fabric" challenge at my second retreat in 2006. The challenge fabric was the blue and pick stuff that I used for the ground near the horizon. I wish I had more--I'd add it to my ugly fabric quilt!

National Quilting Day

2009-03-21T18:01:00.005-05:00

Today is National Quilting Day, and I actually worked on a quilt! A traditional quilt. My ugly fabric quilt. I now have 12 blocks, so I can put the top together. I think Ill use a sashing, only to have someplace to rest the eye,since all the fabrics are really garish and, well...ugly.
I hope all the other quilters in the world are having as good a day as I am.

Oh--this is a direct quote from my horoscope today:
Original ideas are blasting out of your brain so fast that it's hard to keep up with yourself.
I wish someone would tell my head--things seem to be stuck...

Old Friends

2009-03-20T16:10:00.005-05:00

I belong to a forum at QuiltsYourWay.com, a quilty message board. One of the members posted a pic of herself as a child out on the Canadian prairie back in the 50s. So cute.

It made me think of my childhood friends, and I realized what a nice childhood I had. Even though my parents were divorced (still a somewhat scandalous thing in the early 50s) and we were rather poor, I never wanted for anything. My mother was a wonderful seamstress and made clothes for me well into my 30s! Which was a good thing, as I was tall and skinny and had really long arms. Store-bought clothes that fit were very hard to come by.

Over the years, she made several Estonian folk costumes for my sister and me. We wore them at any big event when all the Estos in Milwaukee got together:
Mother's Day, when all the kids in our group performed for the community, Christmas, Jaanipaev (St. John's Day--the Scandinavian mid-summer festival) and Estonian Independence Day, which marked the end of WWI and independence from the Russians (the first time!).

Here is a pic of me and my friends Kathy (middle) and Sylvia at the old International Institute, a meeting place for all the ethnic groups in Milwaukee.
We've been friends since we were born. And I still see and talk to them now and again.
I am very lucky to have such great old friends!

So old, so old.

2009-03-18T19:42:00.006-05:00

So I had an appt with an orthopod today. I've had back problems for about 4-5 years now, and had another MRI last week to see what's up. Well--turns out I have the back of a 70 year old. The discs in my lumbar spine have deteriorated to the point where I've developed a pretty good scoliosis. So--my spine is slowly collapsing. And with that comes pain and stiffness. *sigh*
No wonder I'm almost 2 inches shorter than I was 5 years ago!
Now I need to see another physician to control pain so that I can exercise more and lose weight, which is the best thing for my poor spine! If I can shore up the back muscles by some weight training, they will better be able to support the spine, and it won't get worse.
Tommy wants to get an inversion table, so I can hang upside down. I guess it couldn't hurt, and I may get back an inch or so!!

Since I did not get into the workroom for a few days, I have no current work to post. So, please to enjoy pictures of my children at my DD #1's wedding January, 2008

She was absolutely stunning that day (well, she is every day!) and her groom was totally charming.

And this is DD #2 making a toast to the Bride and Groom. Isn't she beautiful?

Happy St Patricks' Day

2009-03-17T21:13:00.002-05:00

Everyone's Irish today, right?! So Happy Saint Paddy's Day to everyone. To celebrate, we had Taco Bell. Yum.

Just Monday

2009-03-16T20:56:00.005-05:00

Well--nothing out of the ordinary happened today.
We had our weekly employee meeting today to talk about the week's projects, I balanced the company checkbook, then went home and enjoyed the warm weather with two of the dogs. Dory and I played fetch till she got tired (she's 14y/o...pretty old of a big choco lab) and Georgie went next door for a short playdate with Striker, the golden. They ran and ran.
It was a glorious March day. Too early for any crocuses or daffodils coming up, but warm nonetheless. No studio today, but I did make a great (kinda) lo-fat dinner for Tom , who had a very hard day. He liked it.
So--since I didn't work on anything today, I'll post a pic of Georgie--the cutest dog in the world.

I discovered I have no picture of Dory. I'll have to take one before she goes to that big fire hydrant in the sky.

Filling the Vessel, Part II

2009-03-15T20:15:00.004-05:00

In my most recent quest for inspiration, I've discovered a great amount of fiber art on blogs, websites, etc. It is at once awe-inspiring and frightening. I am amazed at the variety and the creativity and the level of workmanship of the art I've seen. And it scares me to death!

Like a lot of budding artists, I am very afraid that my work is not "good enough". In my head, I know that it is acceptable--better than some, not as good as others. But in my heart and in my gut, I want it to be "perfect", something that art never is, I don't think. Well, unless you are Mozart. Or da Vinci.

So--I just have to suck it up and put my work out there. I took a baby step by taking my little Mushrooms quilt to show at the Milwaukee Art Quilters Group, some of the most talented fiber artists I've ever heard about. I got a good response. That was kinda fun! The next step is to enter something into a show or contest.

I'm working on that one....

Also--for your perusal, please to enjoy this fabulous pic of Mount Rainier that my friend Carol (aka Twofatcats on the QYW Forum MB) took from her house in Washington State.
Pretty spectacular, eh?
She was nice enough to give me permission to use it, somehow, in a quilt.

This is truly inspirational....

Filling the Vessel

2009-03-14T21:07:00.002-05:00

Today my husband and I took about 4 hours and cleaned his mum's one-bedroom apartment. Yep--took us four hours! Kind of a mess.
Anyway--I got a lot of good thinking done while scrubbing the tub. I was wondering why, lately, I was not getting a lot of "art" done while in my work room; I've been letting myself get distracted by all sorts of stuff. Then I realized...I've been "filling the vessel". I've been reading, doing internet research, taking pictures, looking at artists' work. With these activities, I've been sorting, in my head, the quilts I want to make, and prioritizing them. I'm not sure how long this phase will last...
Not too long, actually. I have some deadlines coming up!

Update: I did find the spellcheck feature, but I need to find out how to re-arrange lettering on the title block--it's just not very...elegant the way it is. Any help would be appreciated....

What's on my design wall?

2009-03-13T23:41:00.014-05:00

One of the members of the Quiltart email list asked this question earlier today. Now that I've figured out how to post pics on my blog, here is what I've been working on.

First is a small quilt, Mushrooms, that's not quite finished yet. I want to add these Estonian words to it, so I wrote them out on a piece of muslin and was looking for a place to add them, but I don't like them. So I've just printed them from Publisher using a handwriting font, so we'll see how that looks.
Any suggestions would be appreciated, BTW.

Then I just finished a little pillow for a friend of mine. It features a transfered image on silk that I picked up at the last Original Sewing Expo in St. Charles, IL , last fall. I made a pillow using colors from the image, and added buttons and a beaded fringe on the ends.

Lastly, I whipped up two more blocks of ugly fabrics. At our Reedsburg quilt retreat last October, we all made blocks of the ugliest fabrics we could find. There was a drawing--and I won! There were seven or eight blocks, so I'm adding a bunch more to make a throw. The left block is from the drawing; the right block I made the other day. Who knew I had so many ugly fabrics in my stash!??

Friday the 13th...

2009-03-13T09:28:00.001-05:00

The first of a short series of significant March days. Friday the 13th is followed by
Pi Day (3.14) , and the Ides of March (3/15), when Julius Caesar was supposedly assassinated. Wow, I'm excited now.

So, this is the first post of my blog. This is where I plan to post all my observations, rants and artwork. Now I have questions:
How do I post pics?
How do I jazz it up?
Is there spellcheck?

These are important issues.

Well, stay tuned...