Then there were 6!

I took the skinny little scrap of fabric I had left over from the 5 ATC's & made a 6th! Just for the fun of it. No they aren't going to be a set! I've already got the lastest one addressed & ready to mail to Suze as a thank you for all the times she's given me computer help! & now she's helped Jenny Bowker after I made a plea for her. She was getting spammed on her blog site, & it was terrible. I love reading Jenny's blog, her travels & life are so extrodinary, & she writes beautifully.
Just thought you'd like to see them all together once. I had to laugh, when I read Ali Honey's comment on the last bunch. It reminded me of when I was little, I always had to take the 2 slices of bread that were right next to each other, beacuse I was worried they would miss each other if I didn't.

Playing with My Blogs

Since I hate to post anything without a picture to look at, here's a couple shots of the apron I made for the Fiber festival. I was in charge of the dolls.

Today I added banners to all 3 of my blogs. I figured it out after following the link from Jen's blog. I used Mandrin Design's free template & inserted my own photos in place of their's, then added my own words. If I can figure it out anybody can. I noticed Deb G has been working on hers too. It looks neat! I'll have to play more to see if I can make my side bar look fun too!

Our young moose friend spent most of the day laying in the shade in our front yard, chewing his cud. Broccoli spent quite a while watching him. Sorry, I didn't snap a picture. I spent a couple of hours quilting the Barn quilt. I still have quite a bit to go, but if I can stay home tomorrow (which is the plan right now, I'm over-staffed, unless someone calls in sick), then maybe I'll finish before June!

5 More ATC, Or 1 piece of Wall Art?

I got tired of working on The Barn Quilt last evening, & decided to make up some more ATCs. These were simply done by cutting up one of my own hand dye-painted-printed pieces, & stitched free-motion with the same black thread I had been quilting with for the BQ. I was too lazy to even change the thread. I liked how they turned out though, so if someone doesn't speak up soon & claim a trade for these, I may just quilt up a background piece & slap them on it as one piece!!! Let me know if you want to do a trade!

A Visitor, & Exploding Laundry!

Look who just stopped by for a drink, & a little rest in the shade of my yard!

The above photo is some of what I removed from 3 cuts of fabric, after Warren washed them with Aunt Ethel's vest (below). The vest apparently wasn't washable. I used several sheets of my lint roller to clean up the mess that was left after shaking the fabric out as much as I could.
My gears are turning now.....hmmm... Can I use these in an art piece? The vest will be reincarnated into a pillow for Aunt E. to use behind her back!

The Birthday continues

The picture above done by Leedy, came in the mail today from my friend Ilene. It says, "My friend is someone I can Count on". Very cute, & very us! I thought it should set right between Woody & Buzz, since friendship is what they're all about. My daughter also sent me a Paul Simon CD, & a mix that she put together, so I think I'll finally break down & go buy a CD player so that I can listen to them. We have one in the living room, but I want one for the studio. The living room CD player is full. It has 200 CDs in it. I'll get a small one for me.
Below is my design wall again. I'm starting to line the edges with ATCs & cards & a Postquard that I've gotten from other bloggers. I need a whole bunch more to fill in, SO IF ANYONE OUT THERE WANTS TO TRADE AN ATC, LET ME KNOW!!! An ATC is an Artist Trading Card. They are 2 1/2"x # 3 1/2", & must only be traded, never sold! They can be mixed media, paper or cloth, quilted or not. A little tiny expression of an individual's art.(This in red, is posted in reply to my Michelle's question). The 2 girls below are also on my dark side blog.
I got a kick out of Four Dinners reply on my last blog. That guy is a hoot. I can't remember the last time I was called a "Babe'. Thanks fella!

It's my Birthday today

Today is my 52nd birthday, & I'm spending it at home alone! No, don't feel bad for me, it's a treat! Auntie E went to day care & Warren went to his usual Wednesday lunch with his pals. He asked me to come, but I really wanted to stay home & enjoy the peace & quiet, & it's warm & sunny, so I took this crazyclock project out, that I started over a year ago, & did some hand work, sitting out on the deck. It probably wasn't good for my skin, but it was wonderful for my soul!
This card came from my friend Kathy in Michigan, to wish me a happy birthday, & the picture below, I hiked out to the end of the driveway & snapped this picture of Flat Top Mountain, one of the most frequently climbed peaks in Alaska. I prefer this view of it, not being fond of standing on loose shale at high altitudes!
It looks like the Books win the vote so far. I guess I'd better get busy!!!
& if you want a good laugh READ THIS!

Patterns vs Book, what would you like to see?

Here is a view looking northwest from my front porch at 11 pm tonight.

To the comments on my previous post:

Am I selling patterns or when is the book coming out? Hmmm... I'm not sure on either account.

Actually this past weekend I spent most of Saturday writing the patterns, for 2 different styles of my reversible purses. I was trying to decide, should I just publish the patterns idividually, or should I turn it into a book, with all the trimmings, including my hints on design, quilting & embellishing, & all the variations that I've explored?
I'm leaning toward a book, although, I have the pattern just about complete for the little purse shown here below, on the previous blog. All I need do is get the photos, or drawings for illustration done. The words are written.
Please, tell me what would you rather see?

Latest Reverse-a-Purse

Here's my lateset Reverse-A-Purse. Just finished yesterday. The feather print is a piece of vintage silk I got from my favorite ebay seller Pilgrimhands. On the eye of the feather, I did a circle of thread painting, & placed a Shisha mirror. The purple triangle is a bit of cotton Baitk, but the body on this side is a crinkled black silk, making it an elegant little evening bag.
The reverse is my hand dyed cotton, with a cotton varigated thread, & a lovely iridescent glass button, that this photo doesn't do justice to. This side is good for casual wear.
Detail of the Shisha mirror.

May Journal Quilt

It's seems no matter what order I load my photos in, they come out different, very random. 'Sigh'. Oh well, here it is, May. The subtle green mossy looking stuff dangling below the sun, is some of my thread play. It actually says MAY, but is somewhat hidden (there I go with the hidden words again). Shisha mirrors on the 4 corners. The unusual tile-like stuff is actually soft squishy plastic , that is used for padding inside a cast(for a broken bone),I colored it with my fabric markers.
The black around the edge, is the Warm & Black batting that I used. I let it be the edge. No binding. The sun face is a glass tile that I had bought originally to put in my new shower, but when I did the tilework, I forgot I had this, & didn't find it until I was done, so I thought it'd be fun to incorporate it into one of my JQs. The 'flames' I did on wash-away stabilizer with Sulky Holoshimmer thread & bits of hand-dyed yellow wool rovings, then added the Oliver Twist hand-dyed red cotton thread.
The green material under the thread play mossy green, is a cotton Lame', that I burned with my cautery pen, & distressed it with a heat gun. Can you tell I like playing with dangerous tools?

Play Day, More ATC's

I spent most of this afternoon making ATC's, I have a couple more people who want to trade, & am looking for more, so please contact me if you'd like one from me. I am putting all I get all along the edges of my design wall, & will need a few hundred to complete the borders. I could make them myself, but would prefer to trade to have a collection of all of your works out there!!
So, even if you don't sew, but like to do collage, rubber stamps etc., contact me Please!
These have a bit of felted silk, all but one has a little Shisha mirror, & the black bits are my shibori pole wrapped silk, that I discharged then over dyed. I'm making it go farther by using it this way.

Dyed Quilt Batting

These are 2 quilts I've made with hand dyed batting as a feature in the quilt. Quilting Diva Laura had made a comment about this on my design wal post. The detail photo above is the truer color for this Aussie challenge quilt, which I have shown here before.
The piece below was our Fiber Festival Chinese block challenge. The blocks were blue & white bear paw blocks that I over dyed, & stamped with copper paint...hey, maybe I am really a dyer!
The border on this piece is more quilt batting, that I dyed, & left exposed, because I liked the texture. I gave this to my friend Kathy because it goes with her house, she has it hanging on her wall. I also turned the blocks inside out on this piece, because the color was better from the wrong side, so it has raw edges. It's a fun piece.

Reverse-a-Purse Class

This evening I taurght my Reverse-a-Purse class, & had 2 exceptional students, Kathryn & her cousin Sarah. Kathryn chose to do the Envelope style purse, & did more complicated quilting, so didn't quite get finished in the time alloted.
Sarah chose the Messenger Style purse, & managed full speed ahead on her little Singer Featherweight, to finish with a little time to spare.
Here she is showing each side. She did Great!
And to the former student who took my pattern & started selling my purses labeled "Your-name's Originals", no, I'm not teaching your method of ending the cording, but I am addressing Copyrights & ASK the teacher if you want to sell her designs!!! (Ok, so maybe I'm not as over it as I'd like to be. I'm still trying.)

Mother's Day Bouquet

Here's a sweet little bouquet that came from my DS & DDIL in Kwajalein, Brandon & Laura. Thanks kids, I love you.

Happy Mother's Day

Here's another ATC that I made today. It's going to go to Scotland. Wish I could travel with it.

I'm feeling better. Still coughing, but not as often, so I'll go to work in the morning. I always hate it when I waste a weekend off being sick. Why can't I be ill on a work day, & use up some of that sick-time?

There are little tiny spring green leaves on the birch trees today, & the big fat slow mosquitoes are out. They're not nearly as bad as the little tiny fast ones that show up in about 3 or 4 weeks.

Warm Spring Day in Alaska

This is the view that I see from my kitchen window. I snapped the picture from the roof of our bedroom, which will soon be our new deck. Warren is working hard on building his "Quilt Deck" He is going to make it a Log Cabin design using different colored boards.
Broccoli was instantly in the window, when I decided it is finally warm enough to open up the windows. I'm still ill. My head & chest are congested, but I'm coughing productively, which is better than the dry hacky cough I suffered from earlier in the week.
I spent part of the day working on my May Journal Quilt, & a little bit on the Barn Quilt, & still adding touches to the Sculpin Mask Quilt. I feel rotton & have no ambition, but did sit in a chair in the sun, & added some beads to the mask quilt. That felt nice. It's warm enough today, that by tomorrow I think we'll have leaves on the trees. I always love that spring green!

New Design wall is up.

Broccoli is holding down the Barn quilt for me, so I don't lose it again (it's a long story).

I am posting a picture here of my new design wall, made from Quilter's Dream Cotton Batting, that I hand dyed using a mix of leftover dyes plus all the black that I had on hand. It turned out looking more of a federal gray-blue, but will do for now. The things hanging on it are for illustration purposes only right now. I just grabbed what was handy to see how well things stick to it. Even the green lame' fabric stays fairly well.

Hoot!

We went to the movie last night to see "Hoot", a story that takes place in Florida, & is about burrowing owls.
The story was slighty corny, but cute, & I will buy the DVD when it comes out, because I did really enjoy it. First of all, I learned about these cute little owls, the kids in the movie were cute, the Barney Fife cop character was handsome in a way poor Barney never was. The scenery was a BEAUTIFUL side of Florida, that I've never seen when I've been there (I told Warren, this is the side that Kathy tells us about). This movie made me want to live there (don't worry Warren, I still love Alaska). & I enjoyed Jimmy Buffet's music.
After the show we got home at 1130pm, the sun was still setting in the north-west (it does that here, this time of year). There was a wide band of salmon pink sky, while over head it was dusk. We went & soaked in the hot tub, the steam felt good in my burning lungs. I still have the hacky cough, & slept poorly. Between the cough, & heartburn from reflux because of popcorn & a handfull of peanutbutter malt balls (I told Warren don' EVER let me do that again!) I don't think I'll eat at all today, I feel like.........well, you get the idea. Back to my Wgt Watchers!!& down to the studio! I want to finish that barn quilt, & I think I may need a nap later, when my stomach feels better.

Hand Dyed

I guess I should've clipped my nails before using old latex gloves to protect my hands, while trying to dye a queen-size cotton batting in a bucket. Puts new a new meaning to the term "Hand-Dyed".

Oh, the scar here is another quilting injury. I hit the tip of my iron when spreading fabric out on my ironing board, to press. Colorful aren't I?

Thursday

I feel blah today. I've had a sore throat for 3 days, & something going on in my chest for 2. Dry hacky cough with occaisional loose rattles.

I'm posting a view of the road from the end of our driveway. Trees are still bare, but will soon turn green. We live at about 1800ft above sea level, & it is 0.8 mile from our drive to the road at the bottom of our hill. It's a steep grade & we've had some great sleding parties sliding down this hill. I've also had some really frightening moments driving on icey days! We've only ended up in the ditch, smashed into a neighbor's car once. That was a lovely spring day that froze in the evening, & nobody was making it up the hill. None of us could believe it. One guy was in the ditch on the corner (a lawyer, who specializes in car accident claims). His car was hit 5 times that evening! We ended up parking down the hill & hiking home all the neighbors together, laughing at the absurdity of the whole situation.

The actual horizon line here, is above the tops of the tallest trees in the foreground. You're looking at the mist of the Cook Inlet in the distance, & there are big white mountains beyond that just don't show up.

I bought some Dream Cotton queen size batting today, that I'm going to try to dye to use for my design wall. I also got some more Angelina fibers (just because I get the teacher discount at the quilt shop now, I figured I needed them!) I also went to the Black Elk Leather & Beads Shop to buy feathers for the Sculpin mask quilt, & of course I had to buy some beads. I got a few black & gold vintage beads that would be nice for one of my Good Time girl dolls, & a couple of pretty buttons that will probably end up on a purse.

Back To Teaching

Here is Natalie proudly wearing the flower she made in my Threadpainting class last evening. I had agonized over whether or not I had wanted to continue teaching, because of the former student who took my purse design & started mass marketing them, & now I'm back, & I really did enjoy it. Most of the class had taken classes from me before, & had been glad that I was back offering something a little different. Natalie is one of the repeaters. We did discuss the copyright issue a little at the beginning of class, even though it's not as relevant to this class, I figure it's something that I want to try & make people more aware of. Bottom line, if you take a class from someone, before you start mass producing & selling what you learned, ASK THEM!!!!

Threadplay Flower & Adult Day care

I found this fun little link. It's like a color wheel you can play with. & if you haven't noticed I have a 2nd blog here.

This morning I made another little threadplay flower-pin. Much like the one I made for my grand daughter's purse, which I already sent to her. I decided to make another for myself, to show a completed example for my class tomorrow. It has a mirror in the center.

Today Warren & I took Auntie E to a place called Daybreak. It's an adult day care center. I had no idea we had one so close to our house, & it seems like a wonderful place. Auntie E got very nervous, I think she thought it was a nursing home when we first went in. She had a small stroke this past Tuesday, & her speech has been affected. We are concerned about her being home mostly alone when I'm working & Warren is sleeping (he works nights). The people were very kind & friendly & I think she's going to love going there when I'm working. I'll take her at 730, then Warren will pick her up at 3 when he gets up. The cost was almost nothing, we were shocked at how cheap it was. The daily rate is what I thought they'd charge per hour, but it's government funded for now at least. It's nice to know there is some good in what the government is doing.

Pear Salad

Our favorite pear salad recipe came from my late sister=in=law Peggy. I frequently make it & grilled fish fillets, & that's the meal.

The salad is just :

1 pkg of mixed baby greens
1/2 c pecans
2 oz. of a good blue cheese crumbled up
1 pear diced

Dressing:

place in a jar:
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 c Splenda (or sugar)
1/2 T celery seed
3 T Balsamic Vinegar
mix these well to dissolve the salt & sweetener then add
1/2 c Canola oil

ADD THE DRESSING AT THE LAST POSSIBLE MINUTE. THIS SALAD GETS SOGGY & NOT NICE IF YOU LEAVE IT SWIMMING IN THE DRESSING TOO LONG.

Another very good variation of this salad that I have made, is substitute strawberries for the pears, then use Poppy seed instead of the celery seed. YUMMY!

Don't try to subtitute a different kind of vinegar at all (very bad idea---yukky!) Olive oil can be used instead of the canola with fair results, but canola is much better in this. I've tried these variations out of necessity, because I realized at the last minute, dinner was about ready & I'd run out of something, except for the strawberries with poppy seed, that was shear inspiration from the lovely strawberries I had at hand.