Something Quilt Related

Don't faint anyone, I'm actually going to post something quilt related. I finally finished this quilt top and it is ready to go off to my friend Barbara so she can work her quilting magic. I don't have a long arm machine and I rarely choose to wrestle with tops this big any more. The fabrics used are mostly "civil war reproduction", something that will be sure to delight my friend Joan. You might have noticed that these aren't my usual colors, but they are definitely hers. The log pattern is based on an antique quilt and uses 3 1/2 inch center squares and 1 1/2 inch strips. I like the impact of the larger squares.

Every year I make a quilt for someone in my quilt group, and I receive one in return. In our little group, those who want to participate draw names in January and we exchange quilts at our annual Christmas party. If you want to see last year's exchanges, click on the "Quilt Posse Christmas" photo in the sidebar. Of course I will share photos after our party in December this year.

I have a few little art things on my design wall, but with Thanksgiving coming they will just have to wait. Besides the work that pays the bills, we have been doing LOTS of work around the house, "deep cleaning" in preparation for company. Last weekend we moved furniture to steam clean carpet and climbed on ladders to chase the spiders away and clean ceiling fans. Fun stuff, eh? This coming weekend we will tackle the outside, washing windows and sprucing up the flower beds. I'm afraid that between the squirrels and gophers some of my flower beds are looking pretty pathetic.

Camel Dairy

A couple of weekends ago Jerry and I decided to hop in the car and drive up to the closest local mountains. The small town of Julian has an "apple festival" every year and they sell wonderful cider and apple pie. Here is some of the scenery from the drive.


We had to stop in Santa Ysabel along the way and buy bread from the famous Dudley's bakery.
It has been quite a while since we took a "scenic drive", what with the price of gas and all, but we used the small car and didn't feel too guilty about it.

I had been hoping for even a little fall color, but it has been a long, hot DRY summer. Even in a year with rain, we do not have the kind of glorious color seen in other parts of the country. When we were choosing trees for the yard, liquid amber trees were among my choices since I wanted a touch of fall color to remind me of what "real" fall is like. Alas, my little trees are still steadfastly green so far. They will eventually change to a lovely red and the mulberry trees will turn yellow, and that is about the extent of our fall color.

One last interesting bit. On the way up we passed a camel dairy. Yes, camels. I had trouble getting my head around that one, but apparently camel milk is not only nutritious but lactose free. At this point, I don't think there is anything being made for human consumption, but they do sell soap and use the camels for a variety of purposes (living nativities, for example). That first photo I took has camels in the distance.
All in all, it was a lovely day.

Dawn of a New Day

Work In Progress

Recently, on the Quiltart list, there has been some discussion about working styles. How do you get an idea and then work through to the completed piece? Some people like to plan everything out carefully before diving in and some like to work strictly from intuition, allowing the piece to evolve and tell them what needs to happen as they go. I have tried both methods, but my best working style falls somewhere in the middle. For me it takes all the fun out to plan everything first, but on the other hand I like to warm up a little and play with sketch or paint before I turn to fabric. Here is one of the small "warm up" paintings I did with the concept of overlapping transparent square shapes. I used acrylic paint watered down to the consistency of watercolor. I still like to use watercolor, but it takes many patient layers of color to get to brightness, so acrylic is better to work up a concept quickly.


What you have on hand once you start working also affects outcome. I thought some about using transparent organza but discovered I didn't have enough of the right colors. I ended up using some hand painted cotton, silk and cheesecloth.


Of course you have to add color and texture with the lovely threads.

Here is the work in progress. You will notice that it bears little resemblance to the painting, having evolved considerably in the making. You have layering, square shapes, some transparency, and hopefully some feeling of depth or looking out into different planes.

The great thing is, I will go back to the concept and do more small pieces and each one will be different.

Fantasy Library

This is NQR, but I know a lot of you are book lovers. Imagine having the ability (money) to create this library in your home. Beautiful!
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-10/ff_walker

Welcome Clara Anne!

Since I showed you the baby quilt, it seems only fair that I show you the baby. My great-niece Clara Anne arrived in the world on September 18th. She is named in honor of two of our favorite (and dearly missed) family members. As her dad said :

She was apparently pretty pleased with her luxury confines because it took almost 19 hours of coaxing and a generous relocation package to persuade her to join us in the real world.

Here is the new little family. They all look remarkably good after their sleepless night and hard work. Due to the wide range in ages of my husband's siblings, I have been a "great-aunt" for many years, despite my 'ahem' relatively young age. Needless to say, we are all happy and excited to welcome this newest member of the family.

The Wedding Shower

After days of yard work, housework, furniture rearrangement, and decorating, the day of Carrie's wedding shower finally came. This picture was taken just as the guests began to arrive. The tables looked pretty, the food was delicious, and a great time was had by all. Fortunately for me, it was a team effort and many hands made light work. Besides sharing the cooking, we were able to combine our plates and glassware to get enough for the party. We served a nice brunch (egg casserole, potato casserole, fruit salad, leaf shaped muffins, juice, coffee, mimosas). We had a little mishap with an exploding champagne bottle, but after a little mop up everything was fine.


And here is the quilt we made for Carrie. You can tell by the smile on her face how much she liked it. We always save the quilt to be opened last, kind of a finale to the wedding shower.

And here we all are together. Another happy chapter in the book of family quilts.

Wedding In Lake Tahoe

Carrie with her dad.
Beautiful Lake Tahoe.

Carrie with her mom.
The Happy couple.

Here are some pictures from my niece Carrie's small wedding in Lake Tahoe last weekend. I was not there since they opted just for parents and siblings in a private ceremony. I think the setting is lovely.

This is the couple who will receive the last family quilt I showed you. It came back from the quilter with very nice stipple star quilting and it looks great. Time to get the binding sewn on and hand it off to those who are finishing the hand work (thankfully not me.) I am giving a wedding shower for them on Sept 14th and we will present it to them at that time. There will also be a big party for family and friends in October at her parents' home.

It has been a busy week at work. Campus is crowded with returning students and it always feels like a shock after the peace of summer. In the evening I have been gradually changing my decor from "summer" to "fall", even though it has been hotter than heck and there is nothing fall like in the atmosphere. I do enjoy the decorating rituals though.

It's also time to change the flowerbeds and remove the spent annuals. This weekend we will scout the nurseries and garden stores to see if there are any mums to plant yet. Time for fall color!

Work In Progress, Quilt Show Loot, and a Surprise

To the left is the little painting (on paper) I showed you a couple of days ago, and to the right is the fabric version, a work in progress. So far I have used my new SG paints, shiva sticks and a stencil. You can also see where I used the blue painter's tape at the beginning to mask off some white areas. I have quite a bit of work left to go. The SG paints are the nicest I have ever used for fabric. The colors are creamy and easy to mix and the resulting painted fabric is not stiff, which should make it easier to add thread work later.

Yesterday I went to the San Diego Quilt Show with my friend Barbara. It's a small show, but I had fun and found a few treasures. Here is the loot:


I got some very nice batiks, blenders, hand dyes, and one special piece of hand painted fabric by Mickey Lawler (That green one in the middle). Her Sky Dyes book is what got me started painting fabric in the first place.

The most amazing thing happened on my way to the quilt show. I was standing at the crosswalk and I looked over and saw my blog friend Debby . I didn't immediately realize who she was, only that I recognized her. It gets even funnier. We chatted for a few moments and realized that we had worked for the same company in the same office 30 years ago. I NEVER would have put that together since I barely remember what I had for lunch yesterday, never mind who I worked with so so long ago. (Plus, Debby looks WAY too young for her age, which is pretty close to mine.) Anyway, it was really nice to meet her at last and hopefully we can get together again some time.

The Flip Side

Everything I have posted lately falls in the realm of "family quilting", so for a change of pace I thought I'd share something a little more creative. "California Poppies" is shown above, still a work in progress since I haven't done any quilting yet, and I'm not even sure if the composition is finished. (My design wall is blue, that is not a border on the quilt. Sorry, my photography skills need work.) This one is not going anywhere, except maybe on my wall, so I can show it here. I do like what I have so far.

I think I am calling this one "gathering storm". This is one of those "abstract into nature" paintings I love to do. (It is on paper, not fabric.) Techniques used: watercolor, acryllic, pastel, pencil and collage. I like parts of it very much, but there is a little something lacking. Contrast maybe.

Here is my favorite. It is part of my "river rock" series. Techniques used are the same as above. It seems a little unfinished, but I think I am just going to start another painting exploring the same theme rather than rework this one. I hope to be able to translate some of these into cloth, or maybe a combination of paper and cloth.

A New Quilt Top

Things have been busy here, and in anticipation of the latest family wedding, here is the new "family project" quilt top We have a family tradition to make a Christmas quilt for each newly married couple, and this is the latest one. It takes quite a bit of coordination to get everyone to participate, but it is fun and it makes a very special contribution to the wedding gifts. I am planning the wedding shower for my niece Carrie, to be held on Sept. 14th. I have decided on a brunch menu, complete with mimosas. We will probably get silly and have a lot of fun, something I am counting on. This is the 7th "family project" wedding quilt I have seen to conclusion. Trust me when I say that it would be far easier to do it all myself, but the enthusiasm and camaraderie of the project makes it all worthwhile.

On the "artful" front, there is another quilt I am working on that I will share soon. In recent times, it has put quite a damper on blog sharing to have so may restrictions on what can be shown, but I think this one is not going to be entered in a show so I can feel free to share it.

Recently I spent quite a lot of time going through my art supplies and discarding everything that was no longer useful. I have also resumed my watercolor painting and sketching and I feel great about it. Even if a lot of what I produce is not worthy of sharing, I am enjoying every minute of it.

On a more somber note, my 93 year old FIL Clyde is in the hospital tonight with symptoms of weakness, low blood pressue, and pneumonia. If you are so inclined, remember him in your prayers.

Quilts for Babies

I've been taking a break from blogging for a bit, but here is some of what I have been working on quilt wise. Last month and this we have had special celebrations for babies in the family. Little Emily had a one year old birthday celebration and my nephew Jeff and his wife Jean are expecting their first child (a baby girl) next month. Back in 2006, I blogged about their wedding, and now they are moving on to the next phase in their lives.

Showing the front and back, and also a closer view of the "chantilly" quilting pattern.

Jean's nursery colors are pink and brown, and she definitely has a modern sensibility in her decorating style. After browsing the current selections out there, I tried to pick fabrics with a "modern vintage" feel. She was really happy with her quilt, and I think I got it right.

Here is a picture of Amy receiving the quilt I made for Emily. It seems like no time at all has passed since I blogged about the baby shower, and here we are more than a year later celebrating the first birthday. This very simple quilt was the perfect choice for Amy's old fashioned romantic taste. It was amazing how much prettier it looked after quilting. She was so happy, it made me feel great. Hopefully little Emily will like the quilt too. I wanted a cute picture of the baby sitting on the quilt, but no way was her mom willing to put it on the ground despite what I said about it being easy to wash. Sitting next to Amy is my terrific 93 years young FIL Clyde. Emily is just one of his great grandchildren.

Besides the baby quilts, there are three more weddings this year. Two will be family projects (more fun but difficult to organize) and one will be for some long time friends who are finally tying the knot. My quilt art has been on the back burner for a while since lately it's been all about the quilts for special occasions.

In other quilt related news, besides hostessing a couple of sewing days, I made a last minute trip with my SIL Diane to the Long Beach quilt show. Fantastic quilts! I came home inspired, but so far the most I have done is fiddle around with my new Stewart Gill paints (they're wonderful!) I'm sorry I didn't connect with any blogging pals, but I guess that's what happens when you don't plan ahead.

Quilting Retreat In Temecula

Last weekend I went on a three day quilting retreat in Temecula, CA at the Vina De Lestonnac. I attended with eight of my quilting friends, but there were about 25 or so women in all. We had plenty of relaxation, stitching, and fun. The trip was organized by the "Memory Lane" quilt shop.

Our meals were prepared and served to us in the dining hall, and we had simple clean rooms with attached bathrooms. As you can see, the grounds were lovely and peaceful. Vina De Lestonnac is in the middle of a group of beautiful vineyards. There is a church and small convent there, and they make money by renting out their facilities for retreats, both religious and secular.

The first picture was early in the day when we still had some of the "June gloom" clouds, but it was sunny and warm in no time at all. This was a good time of year to go because in the summer it gets HOT.

Here is an easy baby quilt top in pretty pastels. I may or may not add another border.

I also finished up a little beach quilt using mostly Kaffe Fasset fabrics. I tend to pick simple projects for gatherings like this because, let's face it, for me it is primarily a social event. I just don't have the power of concentration to visit and sew something difficult at the same time.

We also had a "bag making" session, and several of us ended up with some cute customized purses. Special thanks to our friend Carla who started the ball rolling and acted as "teacher" for us. Unfortunately, the "purse" group pictures turned out pretty blurry.

On Saturday I left the retreat and took a side trip with Jerry up to LA. Our son Andy and his
girlfriend were visiting her sister in Manhattan Beach, and it was just too close for us to pass up a chance to visit. What we didn't count on was four hours of crawling traffic. By the time we got there, we had only a couple of hours to be together. We headed on over to the Farmer's Market and had a meal before driving them to LAX. By the time I got back to Temecula that evening, I was really glad that I had one more day of peace and quiet and NO traffic.

Checking In Again

Image from "fedegrafo" at morguefile.com

Morguefile.com is a great place to browse for inspirational photos. You are allowed to use them for free and without getting any special permission, though most photographers do retain copyright. Great for artistic inspiration. I rarely use a photograph directly, but find they are great for sketching and color inspiration. Terms of use are on the website.

I took down the post of my "Roots and Wings" piece since it came to my attention that even though you can see all of the show pieces here http://www.flickr.com/photos/studio-259/sets/72157604132217537/ , we are still discouraged from posting on our blogs. Not sure if I have this right, but I didn't want to take any chances. Rian, thanks for taking time to comment, I can always count on you!

I have found myself spending less time in blog land lately, but I did just finish a fantastic book. If you are looking for a good read, try People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks. I got my copy here at the library and it's probably available at yours if you don't want to buy it. Worth owning though, it's an excellent read. I have been trying in recent years not to buy so many books since after a while storage gets to be a problem. Same with fabric and art supplies, though I am a little less successful in that area. I look around our overfilled house and think "simplify, you MUST simplify". That is kind of a buzzword these days, but it is true. The clutter of life takes over if your don't work to keep it under control.

Checking In

As you can see, I've finally gotten to use my new space and am working on a happy mess. I'm having great fun using the inks and markers along with my fabric collage. Guess I'm on a "blue" kick lately. Blue room, blue themed project. Maybe I''m trying to make myself feel cooler. The last couple of days have been way too HOT for April.

Outside in the yard, (you can get just a peek at the dirt and rocks through the window) things are a mess as we proceed with creating the water conservation landscape. Just in time, too, since we got a notice that water charges are going up again. We must use water to keep the fruit trees going, and even on drip irrigation it gets expensive. After we are finished, almost everything will be on drip. Traditional sprinklers that spray out into the air waste water through too much evaporation. Things will be a little dull outside until we get the plantings in, but at least I have my indoor flowers. I love flowers and the little potted ones last longer.

I don't know what little Nikki thinks of all this, but she has claimed her spot in the new space.

My New Studio

Here I am, only a week ago, sewing in a very crowded space. No sooner had my son left with the last of the things he wanted, I got to work on his old room. LOTS of painting and cleaning and furniture moving later, here is my NEW sewing space:

Notice the wall bracket, just waiting for my new LCD HD TV. I might have to wait a couple of months to get one. In the meantime I have my old boom box to listen to audio books from the library. There is also my trusty IPOD for music.



Take a good look, it will never be this clean and tidy again!

A Family quilt, A Big Thank You, and a Happy Dance

Here are just a few things I've been up to since I last wrote. Pictured is the wedding quilt that we have been working on as a family project for the last couple of weeks. Actually, several more family members than are pictured had a big hand in the construction of this quilt top, but these are the gals who were present as we finished the last border. The quilt has been handed off to my friend Barbara, and it awaits her magic touch with the longarm.

I received a nice surprise from Deb in the form of a PIF challenge gift. She sent me a beautiful tassel, complete with lots of textured and multicolored fibers and charms. (You can see pictures of what she made if you visit her blog). It hangs in a place of honor in my studio, reminding me that it's time now for me to get busy on my own PIF (pay it forward)gifts.

My third exciting bit of news is that my piece "Roots and Wings" has been accepted into the Fiberarts of Southern California show "The Voice That is Great Within Us". This is their first juried exhibit, I believe, and it is mine too. I am thrilled to be included, and will share the website for the work when it is posted. I know it is my best work so far, and it it is beyond exciting for me to know that I will be showing it. So, a little "happy dance" for me.

Another reason I am feeling wonderful today is that my son is home for a visit. It has not been that long since I saw him, but I am "soaking it up" because it might be a while before the next trip. He is emptying out the final things he wants from his room, and then it will be free for us to do with as we will. Of course he will always have a place with us anytime he needs it, but I DO have my eye on his larger room with better natural light for my new workspace. I have been looking at studios online, at sewing furniture, at design walls etc etc.
I am feeling mainly indecisive about the whole thing from the paint color on (bright and cheerful or neutral?), but I do know that focusing on a future fun project makes me less sad about the finality of all this moving out and moving on.
Any suggestions about "must haves' or "be sure to avoids" regarding setting up a studio are much appreciated!

A Fine Spring Day

These are "file" photos from my yard, taken last month. Today is supposed to be cloudy and cool, a good thing if you are working in the yard. Jerry and I have busy days planned, but we are working on different projects. He has hired some help and rented a "sod cutter" to remove most of the grass portion of our yard. Around here "grass" is something of a euphemism, mixed as it is with all varieties of weeds. The cleared area will be the new home of some garden paths and beds of drought tolerant plants, our effort to use less water in our arid region.

My projects, for today at least, are indoors. I will be doing a quick house clean, throwing together some crock pot chilli and setting up sewing tables for a group. We are doing a family wedding quilt since another nephew will be getting married in June. A few years back we started this tradition and it is always fun. Since it is hard to know how the bride wants to decorate her home, we do a "Christmas" quilt. This seems to have worked out well. So far, we have all the blocks made and up on a design wall. Today we will do the quilt top assembly, add borders and piece a backing. I have lined up my friend Barbara to do the quilting on her longarm so we can have it ready by April 19th (the shower date).

In case you were wondering, my trip to San Francisco last weekend was fabulous. I didn't do any shopping, but I had a great time walking the neighborhoods and some of the parks with my son Andy. I got a good feel for how he is living, and now when we talk I can picture him in his new environment. Lots of good quality family time with some of the other relatives too. Our weather was just perfect, made to order. It really could not have been better. San Francisco has such a good system for so many things that are lacking here (good public transit, better and easier recycling for EVERYTHING). We make every effort, but it is nice to see "green thinking" as part of government.

San Francisco Here I Come

Right after I blogged about our early "summer" weather, things cooled off considerably and we even had some rain. Although there is no rain in the forecast right now, this was probably good preparation for my trip to San Francisco. I am leaving tomorrow for a long weekend in that lovely city, and I am especially excited to spend time visiting with my son Andy. He has been home to see us, but this is the first time I will see where he lives. He has lots of plans for us, and I am looking forward to them all. This is not my first time in San Francisco, so there will be no need to do the usual tourist things. Instead I can focus on his neighborhood (Haight). More family will be visiting at the same time, so we expect to have a lot of fun together and a very special Easter celebration. I only wish Jerry were coming along, but he will be stuck at home babysitting the elderly pets. Sadly, I think we will be travelling one at a time as long as they are still with us.