Wyoming

I've been on "vacation" for exactly a week but it's not quite over yet. From Minnesota you'd think that Wyoming is crazy far away, well after a 13 hour drive it's not! The drive across South Dakota in it's flat, boring, nothingness leads way to a wonderful and enchanting wilderness. It never ceases to amaze me the majestic beauty. Yes, I'm a little heavy on the adjectives but really...The West rocks!

I've been touring a bunch of historic houses in the area all of which I've been too before. Can't get enough of them. The craftsmanship and the amount of money needed to build them at that time is astounding. Plus they had to ship everything from either the East Coast or over the Rocky Mountains from CA.

One of these "summer homes" is Trails End Historic Site in Sheridan WY.

This arctitectually Flemish Revival home is beautiful!

Carriage house with a bright red modern day horseless carriage.

This reminds me of a magnolia tree but I have no clue what it is. Who cares...its gorgeous!

Love the way the light fixture makes the shadow on the ceiling.



Vibrant wallpaper in the coat closet!



This is the Bradford Britton House. They are (finally) starting on a book about this museum. Basically it is a art museum in a house. Remington, Russel and all other Western artists abound!

( 28 sec. video of Trail End and Bradford Britton)


Bad Blackberry picture from my in-laws house. I love sitting out on the deck!





What 4th celebration wouldn't be complete without a few fireworks pictures. I loved playing with camera settings this time. The cool effects are going to inspire some free-motion quilting designs.






~Happy vacation everyone~

Up North, Crossing Borders and Mermaids

Well Mrs. B and I decided on a border its a wonderful muted Batik with cream yellow and a little brown. Very lovely!

I went to Duluth, MN for the annual quilt show. I would have rather spent more time looking at Lake Superior than quilting...well maybe not. But this town never disappoints.

Some how I forgot to take pictures of some of my favorites but I hope they are represented here by their other works

Faye Hoch did a wonderful circular inspired hand dyed wonderment. It was neon green, red and blue and very well quilted. Above is one of her recent works.

I wonder who did this one?! Oh yea right, I remember.

Loved Tricia Spitzmueller's class about painting backgrounds and using foil, Tyvek and wonder under. I've done a lot of the techniques before, but I take classes to learn from other teachers and how they teach and of course she didn't disappoint. She's such a Kindred Spirit!

This barge was HUGE!

Cocktails at sunset.

Of course I hate to leave vacation but who can't resist coming home to this!

My June loves...

::puddles of rain

::fresh food

::Peanuts, pinch pots and LEGOS everywhere

::someone is "walking" again



::to do lists that actually get checked off

:: as always, teaching

::new discoveries

MNCQ QWASOH... (what?)

Sounds like I'm inventing my own Minnesota rare summer time outdoor squash game, doesn't it! It actually stands for Minnestoa Contemporary Quilters: Quilts with a Sense of Humor. Now you understand why we abreviated it! Every year as part of the Minnesota Quilters Show our group has a special exibit with quilts based on a theme.



After knowing the challenge,what I was going to do and stewing on the concept for many, many, (did I say many) months, I thought since it was due on Friday last week that I should begin it on Wednesday 2 days prior. (I've been known to procrastinate).



Here is my process.



Warning...Scarry Picture Below!





Yes..that is my mouth! Two things come to mind. One. Less coffee and red wine. Two. Bleach!

If you must know yes I did mean to put lipstick on wrong.

I can not draw from memory but I can draw from sight. Hense the pic.

With a crayon I did free hand draw a mouth on a piece of off-white muslin ( 18"x 24").

Then using my clorox bleach pen, I discharged the areas where my teeth are.

Painted the lips.

Painting the face and inside of mouth.

Don't forget the spinich!

I suppose it's not complete without a zit and a hair or two. Painted them as well.

You get it, a painted whole cloth. Then I heavily quilted it. Of course I don't have a final picture of it because I was running out the door looking for a dowel to hang it with. I will take a picture when it's hanging in Duluth for the show. When I choose my concept I didn't think about my mouth hangging up for all the "world" to see. It will be traveling around the country, big teeth and all.

It's title is "How do I look?

Memory Quilt part4

Are you totally bored yet? 4 posts in a row with little progress to show. Well, Not today!

We're nearing the point of no return, a cohesive quilt top!

Almost 2 yards worth of 2" squares for the corner sets

Then I trim off the extra corner piece trimmed to 1/4 inch of stitch line.

Ta da! The first layout of the quilt top squares. I've e-mailed this to Mrs. B so I'm waiting for approval and then I will start stitching away... isn't this fun!

BTW this thing is huge! Almost floor to ceiling, I even ran out of design wall at the bottom!

Memory Quilt part 3

96, 6.5" interfaced squares ready for their corner sets....phew.

Memory Quilt part 2

Mrs. B has been waiting oh so patiently for me to get some progress made on the memory quilt for her daughter. As posted here I talked about the design process and how we are putting together our quilt.
Now its' time to start prepping the fabric for construction. Mrs. B washed and organized the cloths into groups since were are making a wall hanging after the quilt. I've taken those groups and put them into tubs for safe keeping in my studio.
After taking pictures of each of them, I cut with fabric scissors, no rotary cutters in this step, and figure out what would look best for our quilt square. A lot of her cloths have some great details like pockets, ruffles, embroidery that I like to incorporate but sometimes bulky seams get in the way so I have to be creative. You'd think that this step I could whizz through but one space out with the scissors can make my job a lot harder down the road.




Luckily I have a 6.5 inch ruler that helps in the planning process trying to figure out if a space is going to be large enough for a 6 inch finished block.

I always have a time log and picture of the quilt hanging up in front of me!

There are some items that I don't really want to cut...

Look at the hand embroidery and lace on this one.

Following the manufactures directions I use a sheer weight fusible interfacing on the back of each rough cut square section. This ensures the edges of the block won't get all "wonky" and stretched out when I sew them together. Anything that has the littlest bit of give gets interfaced.



Now I can trim them to their final 6.5 inch square.

One done, only 107 left to go!

Out and About

You'd think that I'd just stay home with my ailing hubby and bring him ice packs, water and pillows, well I do, but with 2 youngsters around nothing stays still for very long. And although I wasn't doing anything in my studio I felt a lot of joy going through these pictures. Time with family is always a great thing!

It doesn't feel that I've got much done but there will always be time to craft after my family time which always comes first!

Life

I do apologize to all for not having more regular posts these last few weeks. It feels that I have been running in circles having no real stretches of time for personal projects. I've been teaching oh so many different and interesting classes but alas, have forgotten my camera for each of them. And when the kiddies are tucked in bed I have the energy of a sloth and settle on the couch for an evening of "Lost in Austen" or reruns of "Friends".
On top of it all my husband broke his ankle which will require surgery on tomorrow so we both will be out of commission for a little bit.
I promise to do my best with cameras and projects but I don't want to have you hold your breath because a memory quilt is on the docket for the next two weeks. I will share the excitement of it, that is a sure thing!

Reaching Effects

How do we make our mark on the world? Cure cancer, fight hunger, world peace, right?!? Lofty goals are admirable and some people can actually think and do that big! Me, I'm happy the reaching effects that I can do, like teaching my love and passion for anything fiber. Its' not to say I don't have lofty goals and reach for them but I just wanted you to think today about your circle of influence. The things you do, people who you come in contact with every day can have a great impact on you and you can impact them!

Last night I got and e-mail from my sisters sister in-law, Meredith (catch that) , who sent me pictures that she took at the Rodeo and Livestock Show in Houston I wanted to share them with you. I got me thinking about how 10 years ago before I started quilting and before I met Meredith I didn't even give a thought to how fabric was joined together, stitched and cared for and what that final quilt means to its maker. Maybe it was because I was in the throngs of my 20's and was too self absorbed to notice the meaning behind actions, but I care now. These quilts and every single one that has ever been made has love in it. Love of the time it took to make it , love of the skill, love of the quilter, it's recipient. I think this is why we craft quilts, pure love!

Memory Quilt part 1

I've been doing memory quilts for a while and haven't ever shown you the process I use to design and construct one.

My current client, we'll call her Mrs. B, has requested a 54" x 74" quilt to be made from her daughters baby/ toddler cloths. She also requested that we make a wall hanging...but that's for another post...

After I receive the quilt contents I photograph all of them so that I may use them to design the quilt using a software program call EQ5. Not only does it give us a good visual representation of what we are trying to achieve but it gives the client piece of mind before I even touch the cloths.


Mrs. B and I have been e-mailing veraciously designing the quilt to be exactly what we want and here is what we have come up with!


The traditional block is called snowball. The corner sets will be an off white and the border and backing will be pale yellow. The placements of the blocks is not set. That will be decided once I can play with them up on the design wall.

Thanks Mrs. B! I'm having a blast!

Cover Up

I should be tackling all the other "to do lists" before this one but I couldn't resist my great friend Jen after she said.."I need a check book cover." She showed me her current system of transportation of that albeit archaic necessity to pay bills that can't be paid electronically (gasp!) She had hers held together with an binder clip..oh how appealing!

These were made from scraps from the multitude of crayon bags made this weekend. Elastic for a pen, register holder and a flap for the important carbon copy!

Jen is now on her way to sunny Florida for vac-a. Hopefully this will cheer her up when she returns to the hinterland still wallowing in winter:(

Apologies

I know my postings have been neglected lately but I have good reason. It seems my creative wings were needed to up date and add inventory for the shops lately. Both were due today and I'm glad I've got the rest of the weekend to rest.

Totals are... 12 bracelets, and 27 crayon bags. I also delivered the hair clips posted about here.

On Monday I will be starting a memory quilt. Can't wait to show you the process of doing one for a client the next couple weeks. I will detail the process and show you all about it!

Have a happy weekend!

Weekend goodness

We went to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha, MN this past weekend. There were so many eagles right along the river. Great exhibits! During the weekends of March they have special programs relating to the eagles and why they choose the lower Mississippi as their home!

Peregrine Falcon!

My kids had eagle eyes!

We participated in Earth Hour on Saturday...I enjoyed playing cards with my favorite husband by candlelight!

I hope to have something "crafty" to show soon. After spring break and shop deliveries. I'm getting into high gear with more art quilts and less jewelry!

I'll keep you posted...

Inventory

7 crayon bags, 5 bracelets, 2 necklaces off to the Minnetonka Center for the Arts shop!

The heavy

This is what I'm working on for the MN quilters show in June. I've had it up and down off the design wall a half dozen times trying to talk my self into finishing it. Looking at it now, I know it has some spots where it needs help. (that's why it's not done yet)

Lately I have been influenced by painter Raquib Shaw and Quilter Shawn Quinlan. If they can do it so can I! (Right!?)

Ikea Project Patchwork Event Finale

The Project Patchwork event was great this past weekend. My favorite part was seeing all the different interpretations of the same batch of fabric.

Here are some quilts that I thought were just amazing!

In this photo, mine is the one on the far left, top row. The one that won the $1,000 studio makeover was the poppies quilt right in the middle (intersection of the walls).

My hope is that they raised enough money to support their children's fiber outreach programs!

Sew 'n Sip

I love getting together with my girlfriends to chat. But you can only go to dinner so much before it starts putting a hole in your wallet. I wanted to have a girls night in and teach my friends what and how I teach art quilting. Then , I was asked to do a pivate art quilting workshop so others could share the fun. Sew 'n Sip combines a girls need for a drink and a gaggle while having a crafty evening! For all the details visit www.sewnsip.com.

Art Quilting Gallery show

Last night's open house at the Eden Prairie City Center was for the selected art work from all schools in the district. I asked that Campus Connections be a part of it too.
I am so proud of the work that the students did in this class! Here is a really bad picture of the display. The lighting was poor and I didn't have time to fiddle with my camera. The open house was a huge success! Totally packed with parents and kids enjoying the works of art! This is the section from the school my boys go to taken before the mobs!
So very proud!

Patchwork Purse Pouch

Coversation between Me, Myself and I

Me: "What should I do with these fabric scraps?"

Myself: " You could make a quilt?"

Me: "Are you kidding me? Let's add it to the 6 I already have unfinished!"

I: "How about giving them to your mother?"

Myself: "Doesn't she already have bins full of them?"

Me: "Yeah, let's not go there..."

Me: "I could add them to the bin for the art quilting kids"

I: "But don't they already have a bin too"

Me: "Screw it! I'll just go read the 300+ blog entries I have on Google Reader"

Myself: "Isn't that the coolest thing, saves so much time, all in one place!"

Me: "Aha! Look what Erleperle did with her scraps...."

I: "Perfect idea, but make it horizontal flap not a vertical one. I hate digging as much as you do"

Me: "No...I hate it more"

Spring Flowers

I wish, I wish these flowers were coming out of the ground! With another winter storm on it's way (currently raining which will turn into snow) I'm wondering if spring will ever come! March is still filled with snow storms up here but my sister explained she was wearing shorts in Atlanta yesterday. Oh my, I wish it was warm.

I've been teaching a lot lately which is always good, but my creative side has not been stretched for a while, hence the lack of significant posts. So yesterday I reworked a bunch of flower clips I'd been needing to rearrange and voila, spring flowers! Most of these will end up at Minnetonka Center for the Arts shop but I'm planning to save a few for Esty.

Maybe spring will come but I'm not holding my breath till then. I just will have to be content with other spring fancies.

Ikea Project Patchwork Event

I'm so proud to be apart of this. Come and see some fabulous Fiber Artists work!

Snowy Day

Do you think I need to replace the seal under my front door?

Quilted Canvas

This summer I e-mailed Quilting Arts Magazine with an idea for an article. I got an e-mail back asking for more information and more pictures. Boy was I excited! They ended up not accepting it but as they say in the Oscars, "I was just proud to be nominated".

I think it is a fairly easy process, just a little finagling with your machine and it works just great.

Supplies: pre-stretched canvas 8x8 or 8x10, fabric or acrylic paint, brushes, decorative fabric, muslin or light in color scrap fabric, batting, scissors, thread, sewing machine

1. Place your decorative fabric on top of your batting which is on top of your scrap or light colored fabric. Sew around the areas you want to use as your decorative features.


2. Cut out the pieces you sewed around
3. Paint/decorate the plain canvas to desired colors and theme
   



4. Glue stick fabric pieces to the canvas, this is just a temporary hold before we stitch them down. Keep in mind you will not be able to sew about and 1/2 inch from the edge of the wood frame. So your design should be towards the center the the canvas.
   
5. Using a light box, window or light fixture, flip over the canvas and draw the outline of your shapes on the back of the canvas. .


6. Take off the presser foot to your machine.
   
7. Place canvas pencil side up/canvas top down on the bed of your machine.
   
8. While canvas is resting on the bottom of the machine attach the darning/quilting foot. For most machines the wood stretcher of the canvas is to thick to get under the presser foot with out removing it first.
   
9. Lower feed dogs.
   
10. Quilt 1/4 inch along the inside of the line you drew. Repeat until desired effect with multiple stitch passes increasing slightly outward toward originally drawn line.



11. You will have to move the canvas in order to cover the lines.
12. When finished you will have some over hang where you weren't able to sew the fabric down. You can either sew it over again or cut off the excess. (that is what I'm pointing to)
13. I went back in after quilting to add some more dimension with more paint and oil pastels

The effect is cool, it's very dimensional! I had a good time!

Journal cover class

Look at the great designs done by my 3rd and 4th grade class doing marker print covers!

Here is a quick tutorial!

1.Lightly glue stick or white glue colored paper onto front of journal. Flip journal over to dry.

2. Draw design on Plexiglas with markers

3. Spray lightly with alcohol. 3 full squirts should do it (no more than 5 squirts) you should see immediate results with the marker bleeding

4. Place light colored paper on top of marker to make print.




5. Go back in for detail with marker.


6. Iron paper lightly to make it flat if you sprayed with too much alcohol and it starts to curl up.


7. Lightly glue stick print on top of journal.

Inspired by a project in Sherrill Kahn's Magic with Markers book.

Nickel Quilts Workshop

What a beautiful setting to sit and sew by today. The past two years I've been able to participate in the lectures and workshops of my mothers quilt guild. Last year my mother did the program, next year I was chosen to teach Art Quilting.

This year Pat Speth, author of the Nickel Quilts series of books, was here to teach us some techniques. I have to be honest, I haven't pieced a traditional quilt in years! Since I started Art Quilting, I haven't felt the need to go back to that. Even after this workshop, I'm not thrilled with the precise methods required for traditional piecing. Too many rules, I think!

Everything is based off of a 5" block. She has an unbelievable treasure trove of quilt blocks made from the variations of cutting and sewing these units together. A very easy concept but it does take time to cut and sew everything. She has a great teaching style which I hope to incorporate into my teaching gigs. Above, I am almost finished with my half-square triangles.

I was getting confused on which square pairs where going in which directions. Even writing it down didn't help a whole lot.

Scraps that have to be good for some use!


Here is a layout of the quilt I did. I tried laying them out in one of her patterns but I wasn't happy with the composition, so I made my own. I used my Primrose Gradations fabrics, not because of the colors (so sad to say) but because they were already cut into 6" squares and I didn't have time to hunt for fabric the morning I left home. I was very happy with the way it turned out. I hate to say it but the picture doesn't do it justice. The colors are way more vivid in person. Can't wait to piece it together...look for it in the shop soon.

Vacation part 2

On the way up the Gondola this morning, I was a little jealous of the people who were sipping Mimosas in that gorgeous hot hair balloon this morning. On the other hand I could be stuck at home in the dungeon (a.k.a. my studio).

No. 1 and I on the lift this morning!

No . 2 says "you can call me Mr. Ski Man now". At 6 years old, he went down his first black diamond today as a proud mama watched on (white knuckled and grimacing- and it wasn't him).

What they call "cords" here... the lines from the groomer vehicle wheels.

"Let's race".... Nana and I nixed that real quick.

I'm taking a workshop from Pat Speth on Saturday. She's the Nickel quilt lady, making traditional quilt blocks using a combination of whole and cut up 5" squares. It's not my first choice in quilting but I'm bound to learn something. More on that tomorrow!

Vacation

The to-do list over, only quiet time for reflections and family time now! My parents are back from their travels so we decided to visit them in Colorado. Instead of wintering in Florida, my parents who love to ski, bought a condo here about 10 years ago. Our first day out was very 'wintry'. Snow, wind gusts and 8 more inches of new powder made for a tough day for our little ones.

After 10 years of renting skis, I finally have my very own!

I love it here , so peaceful and quiet. I can't wait for tomorrow, should be sunshine and blue skys. Unfortunately you'll have to withstand some more gratuitous pictures of my vacation next time too. Don't worry, I'm still crafting when I get home from the slopes but taking a great mental break from coming up with new creative projects. Ahhh vacation!

Messenger Bag

I whipped up this messenger bag for the kids school fundraiser last night. I have just a huge stack designer sample fabrics that I am using for these bags. Since I only have one 18" square of each design, I have to be creative with color selections. I can never pass up a blank canvas on the front flap and had to add some surface design.

The bag is lined with a pocket under the front flap and one on the inside near the bottom. Each pocket is the width of the bag. The one inside had been divided into 3 separate pockets

Every time I make one I add more pockets. Next time I want to do pockets on the sides for cell phone/keys. and one on the back of the bag.

Heart Day

When I woke up this morning my hubby was asking for a lot of help.

"Grab me the eggs, will ya?"

"Can you get a bowl for the eggs so I can scramble them?"

"I need a cup of coffee while your up"

"Defrost this!"

"Did Geoff send you that e-mail yet?"

"Toilet is plugged!"

"Is your cell phone dying again!?"

" Don't you have to finish that 'thing' for the 'thing'?"

Who knows how many more I will find today.

Infinitely better than those diamond earrings that I wasn't expecting anyway!

I Love You too, Honey Bunny!

Valentines for school

My "crafty non-crafter" sister sent me a picture of her kids valentine presents for class.

As for me I bought Nerds and Fun-dips for the kids and had them write their names on it....Show off! (he he )

Campus Connections Finale

Everyone did a smashing job on their quilts. Some even did two in our class time! Our art work will be on display at the Eden Prairie City Center for the month of March. Open house date is still up in the air but I'll let you know when it is.

Thanks again for all your support!

Prep day

I feel like I'm spinning my wheels here. I jump from one project to the next without completing any of them so I must prioritize....

This weeks major to do list:

1. Finalize COMPAS /WAITS application for teaching art quilting residencies in schools
2. Make crayon bags, bracelets and rings for the Textile Center Shop Jury application
3. Make messenger bag for the kids school fundraiser

----------------------------------------------------------

1. Application says "summarize your experience (artistically, teaching and other) and describing why you wish to work with children through this program."

My response, last part of very long paragraph 3:

Since beginning teaching professionally I have learned from each one of my experiences. Many situations relied on quick thinking and prior
experience to come up with a favorable outcome. Not every situation has afforded me the luxury of a perfect outcome but I believe those experiences have made me a better teacher.

See why I have to work on this... It's like vomit on paper!

~~~

2. Bags, Bracelets and Rings (oh my)!Crayon Bags: done!

I made a different "model" this time. The one on top is made for larger crayons so the littlest of budding artists can enjoy them too.

I started my painting of the paper I laminate for the bracelets. See here for tutorial. This time I added oil and chalk pastels to the line-up of materials I use to create the design on the paper

Ring tops are done for the most part. Just need to attach seam binding for the band. But I need to check inventory and pick the prettiest!

~~~

3. I made some with no pattern for Articulture in September and I am hoping I can recreate one without having to rip out all the mistakes I may make. Very similar to the artist sketch bag I made but bigger and no pencil pockets.

Only 3 days left to achieve this with three teaching jobs, two sick kids and a partridge in a pear tree!

Sick day

We must have had a good time celebrating.

Yesterday, No. 1 napped for a total of 6 hrs. This morning fevers for both kids... We have an inch of milk, No. 2 will run out of required meds this morning, dentist appts. for 3 of 4 family members canceled.....sigh... but I get to spend extra time with my dearest ones before heading to Girls night tonight...perfect timing!

Birthday gifts

Precisely at 7:46 am this morning my eldest, who's 9th birthday is tomorrow, informs me that he "needs" to bring goodies to all his classmates to help celebrate his terribly important day.

Well, after 10 minutes of scrounging around we came up with pencils, notebooks and stickers for all 21 students! Knowing how much superfluous stuff we have makes me want to spend time in every drawer in the house, digging out! I wish I had time for pretty closures but time was of the essence so twist ties will have to do.

This sure helps with that first layer. All that and he was out the door at 8:11....Time for a coffee break...that or a Valium!

Marker Madness

Yesterday I spent a few minutes working on an upcoming class about marker prints and I wanted to finalize all the details. Here is a stack of blank books from barebooks.com

The idea came from Sherill Kahn's "Magic with Markers" book, which I like very much , by the way. Using Plexiglas and alcohol you can make many prints with permanent markers as your medium. This picture was taken after just one printing. I have tried this on Pellon interfacing, cotton fabric and paper but I have never tried printing right on the cover of these blank books

I think it turned out OK. I'm not real wild about my design (see my mojo blog post...don't think it's back yet) but the execution is what I was aiming for. After the printing I went back in for detail with more marker magic!

De-clutter

In an attempt to organize and clean out my house I've used Craig's list to post a lot of things I don't want anymore. For the next three days I am having a magazine open house.

It's really quite ridiculous the amount of magazines I had. Plus a girl friend brought over some of her copies too. I'll be happy when they are gone!

15 minutes

Here's what I call a 15 min. brain break. I take a reproducible image print it out on fabric, usually faces...I do this by the sheet and then keep them in a folder till I need them. Set the timer...Ready, set, go...design in 15 minutes with no theme in mind when I start.

I try to do these so I don't get bogged down with the details of a larger composition and to just let my brain just imagine with no preconceved direction. After stitching the pieces down with embroidery floss I go in and have fun with machine quilting. By the way it is only 8 x 11 inches. Give it a try...

Campus Connections Part 4

We're in the final stretch now.

Next week will be the last day of sewing. Some have even started the embellishment process.

I'm always amazed the transformation process of not only the quilts but the students as well.

The first days of stitching everyone is always quiet and reserved. But these ladies have really made it turn into an old fashioned bee. Talking about their likes and dislikes, laughing constantly, being genuine to themselves with their untamed imaginations.

Fiber Necklace

Last summer I made a bunch of fabric beads to make earrings. After earring burn-out, I decided to try a fiber necklace with what I had left. I got my inspiration from "Fabulous Fabric Beads" wild fiber necklace. I didn't really follow the directions to well because I wanted way more beads than called for and also the dimensions for the fiber strands was incorrect. I looked for a correction on multiple sites and interestingly there was none. 17" for the fiber strands... It wouldn't even make it around my neck. So I went with 27". Much better.

I won' t be able to wear it anytime soon....bummer. It's going into a display for my upcoming Distinctive Adornments class at the Minnetonka Center for the Arts.

Lost

I lost my mojo and I want it back! I think it fell out of the car on the way to the grocery store or maybe it was while I was in the laundry room. Hopefully I didn't lose it cleaning the bathroom and might have accidentally flushed it down the toilet. Well if you see it, send it my way.

Maybe it got sick of me nagging it and ran away along with all those other rebel mojo's that are smoking by the railroad tracks. It must come back when it's ready to, but when... next week, next month. Dear God, don't make it next year!

<<>>

I know of someone who got theirs back. Try her or her. I don't think she ever lost hers.

Be patient my mojo will be back... I have hope!

a line

I was surprised to see a line outside (in 0 degree weather) this Sunday when a local fabric store, in the process of moving, slashed prices to 80%. Is fabric really worth a line? I guess it depends on how much it costs! People do some interesting things in times of crafting hardship. BTW, half of us were sitting in our cars until the doors open. I love fabric but I also like to be warm.

Some Alexander Henry, Bernatex, Supplex (the red Hawaiian fabric -I've never worked with supplex or aloha girls before) plus some black and whites for my Art Quilt Composition class. Most were a dollar a yard.

Happy Monday!

Campus Connections Part 3

These wonderful students are becoming great stitchers! Today we continued our sewing and most will be stitching for next week as well. Although it doesn't take long to execute a design sometimes the process of completion takes a little bit longer. But don't worry, we'll have these done in no time!

Join my parents in ANTARCTICA!

My 64 year old parents are avid travelers. They have been to 6 of 7 Continents since their first expedition in 1994 to Israel. Usually they travel by themselves around 6 weeks by backpack, making their own itinerary by reading "The Rough Guides" and "Rick Steves Travels" as a starting point. They did use a travel company to guide them through parts of Africa and also on their current expedition to ANTARCTICA. I'm still having a tough time rapping my head around it! They are finally making their trip to the last Continent.

They are on the National Geographic Endeavor which left the port of Ushuaia, Argentina on Sunday. We are lucky enough that there is a blog set up by National Geographic for various naturalists to explain what is going on and what they see on the expedition. You can follow along on their almost two week journey here. It looks as though they will update at least every other day.

Here is an excerpt from the first blog entry posted yesterday:

For students of Antarctic exploration and Shackleton buffs, this is hallowed
ground. The thread of history connects us today. Eight thousand miles away the
nation’s capitol is immersed in the presidential inauguration. In the lounge of
the National Geographic Endeavour, through the magic of satellite, we hear our
new leader’s address to the world. As the speech concludes we get our first
views of Antarctica and complete our day by cruising the shore where 93 years
ago, unable to contact the outside world, brave men waited for their leader to
bring them home.

Just Amazing!!

Of all the exploring my parent have made to Tanzania, China, New Zealand, Denmark, just to name a very few, this one takes my breath away. You can hop on a plane to the south of France but who can say they have been to Antarctica.

No school fun

Remember these when we were kids! I inherited this set from my aunt who's kids are just now having kids and I supplemented with some from my own childhood collection. My eldest, pictured above says "Mom , I'm not an artist. Can I just do the colored in one?"

Jack, who is always drawing me wonderful pictures of scenes from his imagination, picked a blank canvas to color his thoughts on.

Watching them shrink is always half the fun of making them!


I had to join in too, of course!

Sunny Sunday

Hope your weekend was full of fun and relaxation!

Valentine hair clips- tutorial

I've had a lot of requests on how to make a simple valentine hair clip so here you go!

Supplies

• felt
• scissors
• button
• hair clip
• needle
• embroidery thread
• pin

1. Make a heart template out of thick paper by folding it in half and drawing half a heart.
   
2. Cut out template.
   
3. Trace around heart onto felt.



4. Cut out two hearts.




5. Pin both hearts together.
6. Using 3 strands of embroidery floss, sew a blanket stitch around the out side edge of both hearts.
   
   
   
   
   
7. For the center of your hair clip, you can cut out smaller hearts out of felt or purchase pre-cut shapes. They sell these next to the felt sheets at Michael's. Some come with sticky backs, that's OK, we will glue them down so they will stay permanently.




8. Sew the button on the outermost heart.


9. Glue the smaller hearts together and then glue them down on the bigger heart


10. About an inch away from the edge of the back of the heart, cut a half inch slit using pointed scissors in only the back heart. This will assure you of an invisible clip.



11. Insert clip as shown.




12. Enjoy!

Campus Connections Part 2

Today we finished up our detail fabric and learned how to sew. This definitely is my favorite day of all that I teach in this class because we're not only making progress on our quilts, we are learning a life skill.

I wish I had more pictures to show but I was so busy helping them with knots, tangles and mishaps.

Here are some of the visual aids I use.

Next week we tackle the rest of our sewing and maybe start the sparkly stuff... Embellishments!

Ikea Patchwork Project Part 2

I first posted about my Ikea Project here, so I won't bore you with the details agian, but I'm having a blast putting this together!





Because Ikea fabric is a heavier weight than traditional piecing cotton for quilting, I had a feeling that the seems would be very bulky if I had tried to piece a quilt together. I've had this design in the back of my mind for a while and wasn't sure how to execute it. So far I've ripped the strips of fabric and weaved a design. There is going to be (hopefully) some funky quilting and some fabric paint involved.

It's coming together pretty well. Only 2 weeks until the due date... no problem. (AHHHHH!!!!)

Tornado

I wonder who has gone through my studio and messed it all up?

I hate to bust everyone's bubble that all of us artists work in this tidy space so there is no visual clutter, making sure our minds are clear for inspiration. Pshaw!

You'll never guess what I'm going to do this morning. Stay tuned for the all famous after shoots if your heart can stand it. Just be thankful I took a picture of the "clean" side of the room.

My "helpers" lazily under my sewing table. Maybe if I sing "The Work Song" from Cinderella they will jump up and get to work. "Hey, we can do it! We can do, we can do it, we can help our Cinderelly".

UPDATE:
Very ironic. Forgot to take a picture of the "after clean-up" and started on another 2 projects... Go figure.

Flower Pail

Can't get enough of making these cute pails...

Here is another version. Template is here and tutorial is here. Enjoy!

I'm green(er)!

6 months ago our cloths washing machine broke. We had a friend who had an extra, oddly same make and model.

Last week our dryer died...

Knowing the cost savings from electricity and water we plunged into the land of high efficiency. The outright expense was painful but we did get a 15% rebate from the store and then our city also has a rebate program.

There was a floor model electric dryer on supper-duper clearance and all we had to do is buy the washer and the stand as well. My wonderful husband installed a "220" electricity, whatever that is, because our old dryer was gas.

I am so happy... It's quiet and fast!!!

I, yes me , installed a water heater blanket and hot water pipe insulators that same day.

Yeah Earth!!!

I promise to post more projects this week before I head to the Road to California on Thursday. I can't wait to learn ( and be warm)!!!

Ode to my sister

We come from a long line of frugal family members. One might call us cheep, well, they would definitely call my dad cheap. One quick example: My dad still wears daily the sandals he bought in Key West in 1980. They are now entirely made of duct tape, but he still wears them (and they work, he would say).



My sister, who lives in Atlanta, is always letting me know what great deals she gets at the grocery store: "Look, they paid me money to buy this box of granola bars"! She has a shelving unit in the guest bedroom that has products she has purchased on sale and with a coupon, doubled of course, with their purchase date written on the products with a sharpie so she know when she should use them. Brilliant! Although recently she has stopped shopping at both grocery stores because she's working full time in a part time job and runs the house. I digress....



As for me the non-long-range-planner-free-spirit of the family is not quite up to duct tape sandal standards. I do clip coupons and shop thrifty but not to the extent of my sister. But there are limitations to saving money that I have no control over, I LIVE IN THE NORTH! Everything is cheaper in the South. Laundry, groceries, housing.... they all cost less money there! Everyone has double coupons. We have double coupons one day a week and there is a limit of 5! You can get a shirt laundered and pressed for 1.09. Me, I have to pay $2.59 (with coupon I might add). Yes I am bitter! Also prohibitive to saving money is time. With me being busier then ever, like the rest of the world, I haven't spent the time go through each ad in the Sunday paper and write down the deals and clip coupons until......

Today!

I purchased all of these items for $37.21 (+tax). That might seem like a lot but I got some big ticket items here. I've "painstakingly" broke down the actually retail cost of each item below.

2 maxi pads .49
1 oatmeal 1.29
2 children's Tylenol7.48 (reimbursable by the FSA account)
1 laundry soap 5.99
1 shampoo -.01
1 hand soap .64
3 peanut butters 5.00
2 soup 2.00
1 wipes 2.79 ('cause I'm to lazy, oh I mean, to busy to clean)
1 dish soap .54
1 hairdryer 11.00 (I've been walking around wet for about a month now)

So there you have it! As the cash register lady was ringing all my coupons she said "This lady came in bought 60 bucks worth of stuff and paid $1." Yes that would be my sister....I'll never be as good at saving money as the rest of the family but I think I did pretty well today.

UPDATE:
Here is my sister's shopping trip...
18 oz Quaker Oats (4): buy one get one free – gross price $5.58 – subtract manf. coupons of $2.20 – net price $3.38 (.85 per can) – 3 of these went to the church food pantry
6oz Colgate Toothpaste (4): buy one get one free – gross price $6.00 – subtract manf coupons of $6.00 – net price FREE – 3 of these went to the church food pantry
Celestial Seasons Tea (2): buy one get one free – gross price $3.49 – subtract manf coupons of $1.55 – net price $1.94 (.97 per box)

Subtotal $5.32 plus tax of .60 is a grand total of $5.92!!!!
See...

Campus Connections Part 1

Today and every Thursday for the next 6 weeks I get to showcase the wonderful work of the 3rd and 4th graders I'm teaching! They are learning about Quilting, Art Quilting to be specific and how enthusiastic they were today. Listening intently as I explained the history of Quilts, their purpose, materials and the elements of art. Sounds like a lot but trust me they will retain a lot of this. I use a lot of visuals to help explain what I'm doing. Plus I'm a little goofy and what kid doesn't like a goofy adult!

Most of the pictures below were taken less than 10 min from beginning. They work fast!

They learned the difference between background and detail fabric.

"Background...it's behind the detail"

Our quilt theme is either food or family. Every student interprets this differently. Could be a solo picture of an item or incorporated into a much larger scene. I love their untamed imaginations!

Every piece of material will be stitched down by hand!

Fabric to pick from....heaven!

Be back next week with more insight and pictures on how we are learning to quilt!

Caregivers: Of course I can't explain everything we did today but you understand some things must be shared between the students and their someone special! I'm just here to get the ball rolling. Don't forget to ask questions of your wee one!

Students: If I didn't get a chance to take a picture of your quilt, no worries, I'll bring my camera next week!

Valentine Pail Tutorial with pattern

I thought I'd share this quick little craft with all of you! Should take between 30min to 1 hr. per pail depending on your design and stitching abilities. The template has the supply list and diagram of pattern placement.

1. Print out this template and arrange pieces to be traced onto felt and cut them out. Instead of using regular scissors try pinking scissors for a different look on the top edge of the pail.


2. Once cut out, create your surface design on each of the sides. Keep in mind that if you stitch things onto your felt, the bobbin thread will show on the back since this is not lined. I prefer to glue the design on. I've used pre-cut felt hearts , rick-rack, green felt and a button for the design but this doesn't have to be a valentine pail, it could work for any special holiday. I have also added a little more detail by stitching on the leaves.


3. Using 3 strands of embroidery floss, stitch one side of the pail together using a whip stitch or a blanket stitch.
   
   


4. Take your bottom circle and beginning on either end of the pail start stitching the bottom on like you did the side until you've gone all the way around the circle. Don't worry if it feels a little funny at first, just keep turning the circle as you go!


5. Then stitch up the remaining side.


6. You can now add a decorative stitch around the top of the bag.
   Let me know how it turns out!
   

Quick Books

No not tax time already, although, I'm not looking forward to the mound to paperwork!


I found these Canson (really nice) bound blank comic books in the clearance bin at Michaels and figured that they could use a little fabric love. The fabric came from my Mecca , Purl Patchwork Soho where I was lucky enough to visit last lovely spring. Who can't resist this anxiety ridden boxer, who reminds me of my anxiety ridden English Pointer, Mattie! The rectangle on the side is a remnant of painted laminated paper that I use for my necklaces and bracelets. A little raw edge sewing on sunny day! I made four of these and of course only have pictures of one ( and a half, another one is sitting on the right).

Now gratuitous pictures of "My Purl Heaven"

Love, Love, Love the simplicity of the wall decoration. Who doesn't have hoops sitting around!

Couldn't believe how narrow this place was! Ohhhhh the fabric!

Lovely!

The "clearance" basket from which I chose my treasures! I tend not to buy yardage anymore since I work on such small scale.

Unbenouced to me, Brenda snapped this one. Caught red handed!

I'll be back, Purl!

Better

...(big sigh)... Looking at the samples I made for my last set of hair clips made me want to give up on this project completely. I wasn't very happy with them and I didn't like how they photographed. And if something doesn't look good in a picture, there is something wrong (besides my photography skills). So I pressed on and come up with this...
The center two hearts are commercial pre-cut felt but the true red one is by my own hand. I'll make them with and without and see what I like best. Just wanted to get used to the layering.

The back... I was asked to have several options of clips available so I purchased in addition to my regular hair clips, alligator clips, traditional lapel pins and what I call "roller" pins (to hold hot rollers in your hair). The first two alternatives are easy to work with but the "roller" pins I found it difficult with their massive amount of (tacky) aluminum visible.

Here is the back of one of the "roller" clips. I added Velcro to the inside so it would actually stay in a child's hair. I'm still not so sure about working with these (they look so cheep).

Sorry for the back to back hair pin posts, my angst needed to be vented!

Great week coming up: Kids back to school (you can't see but I'm jumping up and down), Three new teaching jobs, one Velcro sheet project (more on that later) and product due to stores on Wednesday. It feels great to be off vacation!!

Valentine hair clips

I took some time out to think about more types of hair clips due to what my clients have suggested or requested.

L to R: Progression of first experiment to last. In the middle one the arrow is in three pieces. In the last picture the arrow is all one piece of felt.

This one was my favorite of the three. Although looking at the picture now, I think it needs some white stitching and a button or beads in the middle. What do you think?

Pellon- my friend

This summer I took a series of classes by Sherrill Kahn on surface design techniques. I had a ball!! Then I bought her book "Magic with Markers". She uses Pellon interfacing, markers and alcohol (to make them bleed). Here is one of my experiments.

I love how funky it turned out and it spices up the perfect jeans and t-shirt day!

2008-2009

To be frank, 2008 sucked for us as a family. I will always remember this year for its struggles and not so much for the wonderful times we had. It's very unfortunate to think of the glass half empty but I'm not going to paint a rosy picture if it is gray! But I have hope for 2009. I hope I can use those challenges we faced as stepping stones that I can use for years to come. As everyone has their roundup of 2008, I'd prefer to look forward rather than back.

2009 will be filled with a serious shift in a job for me. I'll be teaching art quilting, fabric modification or whatever you'd call it a lot more. I'm very excited to finally be able to share my passion for fabric to many more people.

Although being a teacher is great I love to be a student as well. I get to enjoy my favorite teacher, Pamela Allen, at Road to California in January. IQA - Chicago in April (if I can convince my husband), Minnesota Quilters in June and that is just half the year!

So I salute to you, dear readers to a wonderful, fiber filled 2009! Off into the sunset I go...

P.S. Good luck with the knitting, you know who you are. Thanks for passing that on, Mom!

Ikea Project Patchwork part 1

On September 2nd I stood in line at the Textile Center for a chance to be one of 50 fiber artists who get to make a quilt to be donated to Ikea for funding of the Textile Mobile, art in schools and summer cam programs. Those quilts will be exhibited and sold on March 21st, 2009. I was number 29!

Now seeing as how the deadline is January 30th, and The Holidays-Part 1 are over, I better get started!

I was given 4 yards of 4 different Ikea fabrics to create a maximum 48"x 48" wall quilt. Here are the three I am working with:

Although I'm not allowed to show pictures of what I'm working on I can show you some process photos. Can you guess what I'm doing?... More details to follow!

For more information about the challenge, click here or the thread and spool above.

Husbands away the wife will play

No, get your head out of the gutter. In my studio I will play in...

I need therapy, I'm totally addicted to these things. Made 8 last night. Crazy!

Ring-a-ding-ding

For a while I've been trying to recreate some of my favorite jewelry pieces in fabric form. The ring having been the hardest is the last in my series of jewelry attempts. Guess what it is made of....?

...A fabric button cover, a little batting and 1/4 double fold bias tape! I did add some embroidery floss and a couple of beads for a pizazz factor. Trickiest part was the sizing of the ring. This one is really small, only fitting on my pinkie finger but is so easy to snip it off and add a new one. Groovy! Can't wait to make a billion of these things!

The next Holiday!

I hate to jump the gun a bit but seeing all of the Valentine stuff in the stores (while Christmas clearancing) reminds me that there isn't much time, that holiday always creeps up on me. By the time I get the holiday decorations down and put away, whammo Happy February! So today I embarked on a cute craft idea. Obviously, I'm into totes right now. Everything I do is tote related. Mommy ones, Daddy ones and whee little baby totes like this one. I bought the felt tote itself from Target with some really bad ribbon and dirty felt for $.25 , yes a quarter and assumed I could do better than the sweatshop children in China, poor things.

All the felt and stitching was done by moi. I think it turned out pretty well for a one hour project. Now only 6 more to go!

Tote size is about 6" square with a round flat bottom.

Merry Chirstmas!

Moments

::drifting away in thought

::sharing holiday greetings

::excitement draws near

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Holiday break

...Over the country and through the traffic to my sisters house I go.

--ivy and holly

--music and family songs

--the glow of Christmas time

We will be returning home soon!

Saturday fun!

As I said on Twitter, I was at the mall, no not shopping, but helping out with mall goers who wanted a break from the hustle and bustle of the season. It was a great respite for Moms wanted to shop alone or ones who were waiting hours to visit Santa.
Snaps from the day.

There also were sculptors demo-ing their craft...I couldn't get enough!

Traditions

Feeling Stitchy had a comment extravaganza where she asked bloggers to comment about holiday traditions. Like a lot of people I have many childhood memories. But I wanted to comment on the traditions that my husband and I are creating for our two kids. Way back when (oh 8 years ago I think) I made this (horrible) tree skirt out of bad Joann's felt and muslin. It was what I had on hand at the time of course because I'm doing this on Christmas Eve. Every year on this bad craft we print the boys hands with paint and write the date with the Sharpie. It's a tradition I enjoy sharing with my boys who could care less now but hopefully when they have their own children they can look back with great memories.

Bookmark #2

The collaboration that goes on between artists amazes me!

Liz and the staff, from Articulture are the ones who suggested I make a bookmark which I made and posted a few days ago. Yesterday I delivered more product to their shop, told her about the book mark and that it would be sold for $7. She was fine with that but also envisioned something simpler and more affordable like the $2.50 book thong. (which actually is selling very well, only 4 left). Here is what I came up with. It has a combination of the book thong beads and the art of the textile fringe. I was worried that the knot in the middle would hinder the book closing but it seemed to work just fine! Next time I will use 2 sided fabric so it will be seamless and instead of the stitching on both ends, I'll just knot it.

They have suggested so many things that can be tweaked either to make a more versatile product or more user friendly. Two brains are better than one!

Note: After I posted, I did a little more exploring and decided to twist and stich down the middle to add a little more visual interest. Still, I love the knots so I will keep that!

Crafty non-crafter

I remember when my sister's dinner repertoire included only spaghetti and mac and cheese and her idea of crafting included a used Popsicle stick and paper. She sent me this e-mail yesterday with picture attached. The subject, "Your lame sister"

Your blog has me inspired…

The girls made book thongs (!) for their
teachers for the Holidays. I packaged them in a dollar store mug with a
cardstock poem (which I wrote, don’t get too excited on my verse), inserts of
cocoa, biscotti, and turtles. You could do this with both hands and one eye tied
behind you back…but for me, this is my A game.

Indeed this is an A game for her and I couldn't be any more proud! You've come a long way babe!

"White Christmas"

And I don't mean the white fluffy stuff outside (although we did get a fresh batch last night). My Aunt Ila has surprised me with a wonderful treat last night. "White Christmas" the musical was playing in town at the Ordway. What a production! All the fan fare and costumes I'd imagined. In the second scene the ladies were in their dressing gowns. The red head (can't imagine why I'm attracted to that?) was wearing this gorgeous Staten modeled print burgundy robe with all the pleating on the bodice to make it full, round and oh so lovely. It must have had 7 yards of fabric in that thing. I wish I could have taken pictures.

That is what I want for Christmas!

Thanks Aunt Ila for a great time!

Bookmark

I promised myself I'd clean the bathroom before I posted...no such chance, I'm too excited!

I've been thinking about how I can use fabric in everyday items. Not to say that Fabric Wall Art doesn't have its place but its not a very useful sort of item is it. Pretty to look at though.

Anyway, Liz from Articulture said that my beaded book thongs ( gosh, I hate that word) are not selling. Enter... Fabric bookmark.

Here is my first experiment. Took longer than expected, I had to figure out how to use the button hole stitch (again) . Happens every time.

Liked it so much I listed it on Etsy.

Ready?!?

Clear skies and wind from the North can only mean one thing for Minnesota. Last night with the windchill around -15 F , it took our breath away.

Today I will spend the afternoon huddled in my studio, ignoring the bitterness outside.

The day I broke my favorite cup and saucer , a dear friend Tammy surprised me with this new mug. Just as beautiful as my old one but with more love 'cause it came from a friend! Maybe today won't be so cold after all.

"What is that?"

I was asked that question this week by a prospective customer.

I've been busy making bracelets and crayon bags for two local vendors. They are keeping me very busy and I haven't had much time to do any other projects. :( You may have seen the crayon bags here in a recent blog so I won't bore you with those details again. But since I'm immersed head to toe in these projects I'll give you a very brief tutorial on the bracelets.

Here are the supplies:
1.lightweight card stock
2. paint ( neopaque and lumiere)
3. stamps for the paint
4. 2 Self-Laminating sheets
5. fabric (1/2 inch strips)
6. elastic band
7. Crafters "The Ultimate"Glue
8. beading thread
9. beading needle
10. beads
11. 1/16" hole punch
12. scissors
13. paper cutter

Steps:

1. paint paper

2. Laminate paper
3. cut paper in 3/4 inch strips
4. cut paper into 3/4 inch pieces with rounded corners
5. punch hole in paper pieces
6. wrap elastic band with fabric
7. alternate 4 beads, paper piece, 4 beads, 1/4 inch all around fabric wrapped elastic band.

Here is the finished product! (Not the same paper or fabric but you get the point)

Here's where I skipped the painting part and went straight to a old children's book. Same principals though.

I saw a picture in Sherrill Kahn's Creative Embelishments book with very, very little description about the bracelet. After about 50 now, I have it down to a science. The reason I made this tutorial so vague is that I want you to put your spin on this project and make it yours!

Ooops

My favorite cup and saucer. :(

Affirmations

I had a great time last night with the Mom's Group! They are such a diverse and devoted group of women. Second to their unconditional love, they are best known for their truthfulness (a quality we need in girlfriends, right?!) Many were cajoling me about my intimidating presence. Hello, it's me were talking about! Yes I'm honest, have red hair and like to wear nice cloths, but does that make me intimidating??! I always thought I was approachable, sincere, and sweet. I know for sure that I'm a food snob, particular and candid ( just to name a few). That comment took me by surprise. I'm not by any means hurt by their words, because it's not like they meant I was The Terminator, not that kind of intimidating. They mean a distant, aloof type of intimidating.

I really am very thankful for their candor. I wish we could all know something about ourselves we didn't know before. A girlfriend doesn't need to say " Wow, your putting on some pounds" or "Your hair looks greasy today, didn't you shower?". I already know those things for myself. Something other than "Your sweet" or "great outfit" would work. Something that get right to the heart of the matter.


We have these affirmation jars where when we get together we write encouraging notes to the other people in the group so if they are having a bad day, we can pull one of these slips out and we are instantly perked up by their comments. I am always thankful for those small bits of paper. Even if they do take me by surprise!

I had to.

For the last year I have entered pretty much every show the Textile Center has had except the basket making one ( for obvious reasons) and the Members only show, "Common Thread" (I felt I didn't have anything worthy ready). Before entering the " Nothing New" show, I had dabbled in using found objects but had not delved into them like this. The challenge was to use 50% recycled materials using fiber related materials for a mixed media composition. Of course it was a lot more challenging than I thought. Here is my entry.


I found this canvas at a thrift store and embellished it with 100% recycled materials. Egg cartons, cheesecloth, laminated paper left overs, grass cloth and many, many tea bags were used, just to name a few.

My greatest fear was that the juror would look at it and suspect I just hot glued a bunch of crap on to this canvas and turned in a form. I probably spent more time and effort into this piece than I have anything else in my career. Sadly, it was not selected. But all is not a loss. In experimenting and going through this process I have learned a great deal about recycled materials. So much in fact that I have put together a syllabus called "Manipulating Recycled Materials" and am teaching this class at two venues this Spring. Coincidentally one of them is the Textile Center! Full Circle, I tell you.

So you see why I had to post this. This art will probably never see the light of day except for the class demo. Take a good look because after today, it will collect dust in my studio for a long, long time 'cause I like it!

Christmas Spirit

We are thankful to live in a climate that celebrates the glory of nature for all four seasons. Every year we wish for but don't always receive a White Christmas. No doubt we get a cold Christmas no matter what we wish for.

After a beautiful snow storm the sun finally popped out to egg me on to the final stretch of Christmas decorating. This picture captures the unmarred snow yet to be trampled on by kids and dogs much like my Holiday Spirit this year.

Experiment gone...right?!

Wet felting is my favorite new friend. This fall I wanted to try something out of the box for me and was so happy with the results. Who knew bubble wrap and a bar of olive oil soap would do it for me! These felt buttons, as I call them, were stitched together and then backed with cotton (so it isn't itchy) and made into a necklace. Fun times!
Nuno Nouveau by Liz Clay

I'll be teaching this class March 2 nd at the Textile Center.

Lunch!

My friends are wonderful women!
I've been so self absorbed in my own transactions and projects I did not sign up for the Inaugural Mom's Group Cookie Exchange. And if you know me at all, I love to spend time in the kitchen baking up a storm. But with so many pots on the fire (and they are not in my kitchen) I gave myself a break this year.
Low and behold they made some extra for me.
I could not have assembled a lunch that had more love baked in.
Thank you my dear ladies, I am truly touched!

Late night...again!

Why is it always that I rummage through a drawer at 9:00 at night and am inspired to do a project!
I did this white work with 11 other birds in mind for a lovely quilt. (I think you know where I am going with this). I had this one and 3/4ths of other done before I abandoned the gargantuan project. In crafters terms it hasn't been around all that long, only a year. Sometime, I'll finish the other one...maybe another year.

One note of angst: I wish I could take photos of my projects like the ones I see everywhere else like Soulemama and Posie Get Cozy just to name a very few. I really need insider tips on how to stage pictures the "Etsy Way". There must be a secret Etsy photo club where everyone else is a member and my nose is pressed against the glass looking in. Am I back in high school?

...list it on Etsy? I think I will. Knowing someone will love it just as much gives me "warm fuzzes".

Winter Home

I was inspired by something I saw on Flickr Craft Pool. Thinking I may quilt the background first and then add one layer after another. Definitely going to make it into a tote but I need to add one red bird at the top of the stone wall to make it sing!

Old times

An out of town husband and no assistant coach lead me to a place I haven't been since college. Coaching 7 first graders came as a delightful surprise. I wasn't nervous which should have been my first clue. Isn't it always when you are nervous you do a better job. At least it is for me. Anyway, the first 5 minutes it was, "oh yea, I'm in charge...what do I do?!". I harkend back to when I played ball and rattled through the drills I liked the best. Almost all were too hard to try or too hard to explain: "OK pass to the person, cut, run toward the basket, set a pick.."...I don't think so. After another painful 5 minutes I asked the other team's coach when do we start the game. "Is now ok?" he asks. No hesitation from me...games are more fun anyway.

An odd number of players puts rotations in a bind. Having to tell a kid he has to sit out another 4 minutes until the next substitution was absolutely painful. The look on their faces was of utter disappointment. Like when you tell a kid you have to leave the playground after you just show up. I assure each one, " You'll go in next time, don't worry. I'm sorry. Everyone has a double sit out. Get ready for your turn."

We did very well for a bunch of rookies lobbing a ball 8 ft into the air to make a basket. We're not supposed to keep score, but the kids have no problem remembering. It's easier than remembering where we put the socks we took off 30 seconds ago.

My son tells me we won. "Well", I say, "as long as we did our best." giggle, giggle.

Small bits of time

As the last days December wind down, the to do list gets longer, holiday obligations increase and deadlines approach I'm taking time to be sitting with a cup of tea, and wishing the days would be longer so I can spend more time with those who need me the most.

Cutie Bag

I listed this yesterday on Etsy.
They have been selling out is the local shop I make them for. The owner has called three times now for replacements. This time I experimented with more "boyish" colors. Not as cute a previous girlie bags, but of course rushed them there without taking pictures.

I think the next set of three will be Paris inspired with pink Eiffel tower fabric. Adorable!

Artist sketch bag

I've had a lot of luck putting these little bags together. Making them inspires me to venture out for my own artistic adventure.

I had a pile of designer fabric samples hanging around and with a little experimenting, voila. My friends at Articulture kept suggesting different designs everytime I finished one. I think I'm on my 7th experiment with new additions on try number 8 in the works. Of course each addition add more time but I'm having a blast!