About Time Pieces

I have finished the thread painting on my 3 pieces on "The Ravages of Time".

I wish I had kept track of the hours that I spent on these.
The Port Townsend truck is my favorite. Dee asked what kind of stabilizer I used for my thread painting. I like "Sulky-Totally Stable" iron-on stabilizer for this kind of work. I also use wash-away and "Heat-Away" for other types of threadplay. The largest thread painting I've done was about 24 x36" on a queen sized quilt.

I also made these "Time Flies" for the show.

Threadpainting, Combat Fishing & Wildflowers

This is what I've been working lately. They are "The Ravages of Time". The first, above is "The Ravages of Time-Eklutna". These are photos I took at least 6 years ago.
This 2nd one is "Hope"
The 3rd is "Port Townsend". I'm so glad I got this picture the year I did, because the next time we went there the truck was gone. I really love old rusting trucks & cars. I snap pictures of them when ever I get the chance.

This is another clock I've made for the "About Time " show that I'll be a part of in July. It started with an orphan block that I made several years ago in a David Walker class.

The background fabrics are some that I painted in the Embellishment classes that I taught this past winter. The design on top id from using Shiva Paint Sticks,

& rubbing with

my antique block underneath the fabric.

I finished the clock on Monday while setting on the bank of the Russian River, watching the Combat fishing for this season's first rune of Red Salmon.

My DH & his friend Ellis took the ferry across to the other side.

There they are right across the river from where I set up my little beach chair in the sunshine, & stitched away.

Warren is in the purple & green jacket, & Ellis in the black sweatshirt.

This little guy came right up next to me, while I sat beside the river.

I found some interesting textures along the way.

June is a great time for wildflowers.

These wild roses are the sweetest smelling roses of all.

These Lupine are some of my favorite wild flowers. I have 4 separate plants growing in my yard now. This bunch is from the bottom of our hill.

Colors

Sorry I left that old post with my mug up for so long! Thanks for all of the good advice, & nice words! I have been very busy lately. First of all I was sick the the upper respiratory crud that knocked the wind out of my sails for a whole week. I still have junk in my lungs, but it's getting much better.

I have been working hard, trying to get my guest room ready for company. Also working on pieces for my show in July. I have 3 very involved thread paintings that I want to get finished this week.

Last Wednesday was a gorgeous day. I took this picture off my deck, of Flattop, the most climbed mountain in the Anchorage bowl. I looked through my spotting scope & there were at least 50 people up there that evening. I checked again at 1130 pm, just before heading to bed & there were at least 30 still up there. It never really gets dark here now, so people get pretty ambitious.

Thursday I had Calendar Girls at my house. We ended up inside, because the day was cool & gray. We laughed so hard, I needed my inhaler, but it was good therapy!
Carol Wight Jones received this quilt from Jan Wills. It was her baggie that Jan got & made this from Carol's stuff.

Carol made this spectacular piece from Jan's stuff. I thought it really looked nice on my quilt rack, but Jan wanted to take it home. The focus fabric was an antique kimono that Jan had bought years ago, & never decided what to do with it, until this baggie challenge came up, so she threw it in her bag! Smart girl!

I have been happy to see some of my flowers coming back finally, after the devastation that our yard has been through, with the construction on the house. These are Forget-me-nots. I also have some Lupin blooming , which I'm really excited about. It only took them about 6 years to really develop after transplanting them.

I did finally decide to go for the color. The grey looked tired to me. I had a hard time getting a picture that actually shows the color. It is very subtle. I used Ash blond, & it still has grey, but it's brighter, not so dull. I really appreciate so many thoughtful replies. I don't like spending a lot of time or money on my hair, but this only took about 40 minutes & didn't even cost $10.00, so I think that's OK.

To Dye or not to Dye?

That's my question! Speaking of dying, I felt like I was until yesterday! I caught the bug my DH suffered with all last week, & it knocked me flat since Thursday, but yesterday I felt better & today I'm sure I'm going to live.

I went to the store today, & while there decided to get my hair cut. I had been trying to let it grow long, but it was just driving me crazy. (Some would say that's a short drive.)

Anyway...this is now my natural color, & I'm kind of thinking I could live with it. I would truly like your unbiased opinions. Should this 55 year-old Granny stay gray? Or should I throw on some ash blond & make it look like high-lights? Is the gray a bad color with my yellow toned skin? That light is on the ceiling BTW, not my head!

Thanks for all the nice comments on the last quilt. I feel especially complimented by those long armers like Deb G, & Vicki W!

Fiesta Round Robin

That's what I would call this if it were my own. "Fiesta Round Robin". This is a client quilt that I finished this week. I used rulers & got more comfortable with them.
I also did more feathers.

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.

This week I have ordered more thread for the next client quilts, & am working on my own thread paintings for the show I will be involved in during July.

I've only worked 2 days at the hospital in the past 4 weeks. Quilting has been my life lately & I'm loving every minute of it.

My poor husband caught a bad cold right at the end of his last rotation at work (the hazard in being a Respiratory Therapist). He has been vegetating in the recliner, or in front of the TV a lot lately. I'm keeping my distance, hoping to avoid his fate. Making soup, & feeding him, but otherwise staying away!

Food, Fun & Felting

Yesterday we went out to Girdwood , to one of our most favorite restaurants, the Double Musky Inn, to celebrate both my birthday, & Tasha's (my son Corey's girl). Hers is just the week before mine. Corey just got back into town from Nome & will only be here about a week before he heads back out for the summer.

Speaking of summer, we're all a little worried that ours might be over already. We've had a glorious spring & now the last 2 days have been cool & rainy, & there's fresh snow on some of the mountain tops!
We got to the restaurant right when they open (a smart thing to do), & got seated in the atrium.

I even had a real drink, a peach Cosmo. It was tasty!

Corey says "Hi".

The food there is spectacular. I ended up having most of my meal for dinner today, because I couldn't begin to eat all of it.

I love the fused glass fish here.

& here. All the Mardi Gras beads are fun too. It's a Cajun menu.

Today I went to my friend Kate's house for a play date. Around the corner from her house I saw these little guys just sitting on these blocks like they were little yard art.

Kate's kids were all home. Hannah made popcorn the old-fashioned way, & Kate put a few too many kernels in the pot. It was pretty funny when the lid blew off.

For hand work to do at Kate's I took my needle felting supplies, & we had a great time playing. Kate had never needle felted before. She made this little Forget-me-not pin for her sister-in-law.

I decided that I should try to be a better Auntie, & make graduation cards for my 2 great-nephews that just graduated, & 2 friends girls here that graduated too.

This was the first, symbolized the "road of life",

then I switched to the "river of life" on the next 2.

The last one I made a Pansy pin,

& mounted it on top of a goofy looking butterfly, that started out as leaves, & morphed while I wasn't looking.

Wendy's Poppy

Gee, Thanks for all of the nice birthday greetings! You are all SUPER!

This is the customer quilt that I've worked on for the past week. I went for quality, not speed on this one. I delivered it to her today & she was very happy with it.
I used Holoshimmer threads on the flower petals to give them more life. I also did the complete binding & sleeves for her, as she is going through Chemo right now, & just doesn't have the energy to do it herself.