August Journal Quilt

The 2 pictures are from last August, when my sister Melodie was here, with her 2 grand-

daughters, Jenny & Sarah. We went blueberry picking with my friends the Meyn family. We had a great time, picking berries from their secret spot. We never even considered going this August, because it's rained heavily, almost every day , but I was remembering the fun we had, & decided that would be a good subject for this month's JQ.

I didn't do much new this time, other than using the fusible black bias to define the edges. The picture, I just painted with mostly Versatex fabric paint, but I also used a touch of Metallic copper paint by Behr.
I did most of this last night, along with my September Journal Quilt, so now I'm ahead instead of behind! I got September done so that I'll have 9 (3 rows of 3) to hang next weekend at the Anchorage Log Cabin Quilt guild show.

Tomorrow I have to work, UGH! & I'm on call. Double UGH! Today I worked on cleaning & vacuuming. I rearranged our DVDs. I'll post a picture late. I don't want to mess this post up (since this is my 3rd try!) September starts tomorrow already. I have a theory that time goes faster the closer you live to the poles (North or South). At least that's how it feels to me!

Rusty ATCs & some Threadplay

I was on call this weekend. Yesterday I got called in for one case during the day, then thought I was lucky. Just as I was getting ready for bed, the phone rang, & I had to go in again. I ended up being there all night long. I got home & to bed at 5 a.m. I was supposed to go back at 730, but since I'd been up since 8 yesterday, I called in sick. Sick & tired more like it. I woke up at 1130, with a queezy stomach & a pounding headache. 3 cups of coffee & 400mg of Ibuprofen later, & several hours of setting on the couch, staring at design programs, I'm feeling human again.

Above are 3 ATCs, & 1 Postquard, that I finished yesterday. One of the ATCs

is going to Christiane K, in Germany, but the other 2 & the postquard are

available for trade. Each one is made with some of my rust dyed fabric, a

Shi-sha mirror, & thread painting. Some hand beading, & hand-dyed silk

Chenneille yarn.

The ATC below is one she already sent to me. I got it in Saturday's mail.

It's so cute. I love the fabric & fiber textures, & all the special details.

These are a couple of my Threadplay samples. I made the

purple flower as a demo, last week when teaching my

class. I intentionally made it's edges a little fuzzy.

A Quilterly Day

I promised to be a little more quilterly today. I worked on making a skirt & was thinking how happy I am with the way I have my ironing board up next to my craft table. It works so well when ironing a large cut of fabric.

Below are several Quards I made this weekend for birthdays (some of which are already past). I'm really terrible about getting birthday cards sent out on time. Frequently I buy or make them a month ahead, & then never get them sent out. Maybe that should be my next New Year resolution.



These 2 are actually pins on the card fronts, to be removed & used.

More Eye Candy of a Different sort

Here is a picture my daughter Michelle took of a ceiling in Los Angelas. I think it looks like a quilt. The next 3 photos were from Pike's Market. I didn't buy any, but it all looked sooo Pretty!

I loved the colors here!
Ok, tomorrow I'll try to be a little more quilterly!

The Underworld Seattle!

I am posting this in the middle of the night, the very early morning actually. I went to sleep around 11 & at 234 our smoke alarm went off. 85 decibles screaming right above my head. My heart is just now slowing back down to normal. Once we reset the darn thing & changed batteries they still contiued to chirp, every 30 seconds. Very annoying, & replacing batteries did no good. So Warren got dressed & drove down to Carrs for newer batteries. This is an electric system with battery backup.

Ahh silence. He's back & it's stopped. G'night!

Will explain the the pics later!

956 P.M. The rest of the story... Friends Ilene & Stu came up on the train from Salem, OR.

They stayed with us our last 4 days in Seattle. One of the fun things we did was take the underground tour of old Seattle. It was quite interesting. The old toilet was a Thomas Crapper original. The alarm & comments on the review site, made me think of the name. TC gave us such a wonderful invention, yet his name has nothing but negative connotations. It also makes me think of the poor Dr. Mudd, who unwittingly treated Abe Lincoln's assasin, John Wilkes Booth, ended up in jail, & there was born the negative connotation for his name.."Your name is Mudd!"

Ok, so I've digressed, but that's exactly how my mind was working in the wee hours of the morning, with the alarms going. I did get to sleep another hour, of restless wild dreaming sleep before I had to get up & head into work.

The old door above, & the rock wall with moss below, were a couple of things I found beauty in, under the sidewalks of Seattle.

Here we were at an Irish Pub for lunch. We had one of those waiters that loved to tease & abuse you, & tell you what you did or didn't want. He was quite funny. That's Ilene on the left, me on the right, & Warren (my DH) is Akwhitebeard, Stu is the mustache guy.

Ilene & Stu about about the same heights as my Mom & Dad used to be. We had a fun time together. They're good people, & I love them. I actually lived with them for a few weeks, when my first husband & I split.

More APNQ Show

First off, if you don't get the whole post, please hit view, & refresh on your screen. My page seems to be loading 1/2 way, then stopping, unless I refresh it.

For your viewing pleasure, here are a few more quilts. I'm , afraid I don't know who made this wonderful flower quilt, above. The above bears is the Innovative Mixed-Honorable Mention winner "Welcome to Kodiak!" by Sheila K. Finzer.
These 2, the one above & below are by Ree Nancarrow. I love Ree's work. She is a fellow Alaskan. She lives in Denali National Park. I envy her living there. It's the most beautiful wild place on Earth. The ribbon was a 3rd place for Innovative Mixed. It's name is "Wetlands Meadows Revised".
I'm afraid the one below is unknow too. I just liked it.

These are the self portraits from Quilting Arts Magazine's booth. The one in the far upper right was made by Karoda's friend Valerie White. The one below is another Alaskan, my friend Roxanne Stoner.

The quilting on this was wonderful. It won "Best Traditional". It is "Springtime Roosting Robin", by Lynda Lynn. It was from a pattern by Kay Buckley, Magical Medallions".
I found more pitures from the show on Gerrie's, Melissa's, Nikki's, & Terry's blogs. I wish I had spotted them. I would have introduced myself.

Blog Experiment & APNQ

Here are some of the quilts from the APNQ show. Just a sampling of some I admired.

You my notice a change in my Blog page here. I had noticed that other blogs I've been reading weren't as limited in the number of photos per post, that mine are. I had only ever been able to post 5 photos max. in 1 posting. This has 8. I changed templates from "thisaway Rose" to "Minima". 9 seems to be the max on this one,(I deleted 1, then tried to replace it, after typing the text, & wasn't allowed to add another. So I learned something else here too). There is another template out there that I've counted up to 40 on one posting. I'll be trying to figure out what it is, but for now, I'll stay with this, as I've wasted about 2 hours setting this up.

I'm afraid I didn't keep track of who made what here,but I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do.

This one I remember, was the best small quilt, & was made by Heidi Lund. I got to know Heidi 2 years ago at APNQ when we were on the same "Take Down" team together. Her work is wonderful.

This is also Heidi's. This is the 2nd consecutive show that she's won "Best Wearible", which means with these 2 awards, she has won 3 different sewing machines in the past 2 years!

Way to go Heidi!
Sorry for the shadow, I have a new camera & am just learning how to use it!

These quilts below, were from a special antique quilt exhibit, in a separate building. My

Mizpah 2, & Just Peachy Bowl were displayed here too, although I didn't think to take pictures. Duh-uh.....

Walking Seattle

Our 1st full day in seattle we walked a good 6 miles. I promised myself I would walk everywhere I could to avoid gaining the usual pound per day when on vacation! I actully managed to lose 1/2 pound this trip! Thanks only to all the walking we did.

The 1st photo is a gallery in the older part of Seattle where the Gee's Bend quilts were on display. I first heard it was there from Brenda , she had mentioned on her blog that she had gone to the Greg Kutcera Gallery. So we hot footed it down there to see them in person. It's funny how they affected me. I had seen the PBS program about them, so I knew some of the history, & when I tryed to explain it to Warren I got all choked up. I wanted to cry. They really aren't pefectly executed quilts. Judges at a quilt show would elimintate them at a glance, but the stories behind them, the conditions in which these woman lived & created, & the graphic impact of their designs are very moving.

I saw lots of architectural inspiration on the buildings along the way

& Pike's market was a cacaphony of sights & sounds & smells. Talk about sensory overload!

The sidewalk here, remined me of one in Barcelona.

Errand Day

Today was one of those days where I feel like I wasted the whole day just running around. We took Aunt Ethel to her Dr. appointment, then spent several hours driving around town running errands. The one good thing, was Warren was doing the driving, so I was able to read while he drove. I'm reading a really interesting book called "Life Paint and Passion " by Michelle Cassou & Stewart Cubley. I'm excited because I'll be taking a workshop down in Homer, in October with Stewart, & the best part is I get nursing CEU's for it! Which means the union will pay for about 1/2 of it!

When we got home, I spent hours on the computer writing class descriptions & revising supply lists, & then sending them out to Coupville Arts where I will be teaching next April29-May 2, 2007. It happened as a fluke. I Wrote to inquire if they would consider letting me teach, & put either right before or right after Rayna Gillman, so I could offset the cost of taking her class by teaching my own, & they said YES! So I'll be seeing you next May Rayna! Whoo-hoo!

The ATC above is fron Jen at Bayou Quilts, & the one below is from Margaret the Digital Gran. they were waiting for me when we collected all the mail that came while we were in Seattle. Aren't they BEAUTIFUL! What a lovely welcome home gift! Below are 3 pieces of fabric that I mixed with some rusty pieces of metal & some vinegar, Zipped them in a plastic bag, & forgot about them for 2 weeks! The bits in the lower right of the picture are silk Shibori fabrics by Jane Steinberg from the Quilting Arts booth at APNQ . I got to meet editor Pokie Bolton's husband, she didn't come because she was heading to England for a show there. These little bits of silk, & a dichroic glass bead are the only things I bought from my trip. I'll try to post pictures from the shows in the a.m. Right now it's already after midnight, & the Dish Network guys will be here at 9 a.m. to get us into the 21st century! I'll be able to watch H&G TV! & Warren will watch ESPN. I put the old TV from the living room in my studio along with the other 5 disk DVD player so I'll always have entertainment while I'm playing at my artwork!

Home From Seattle

We went to Seattle to celebrate my DD's birthday.
We had a really good time.
This was the view from our room at the Camlin. We went to the Ladro Cafe in the bottom of the round tower building, every morning for coffee. Directly below our room was the pool & hot tub.
Darian & I used the pool a lot! The weather was HOT & this Alaska girl felt like she was melting.
We did a lot of fun stuff & spent time with friends Stu & Ilene from Salem, Oregon, toured the city on foot, went to the APNQ show,& I will share more later, but right now I've got tons of stuff to do just to get life organized !