Sweet Dreams.

This is my latest quilt/wall-hanging. It's one of those projects that I started years ago, had all the parts made, but just needed to sandwich it together & quilt it. I finally did it. I call it "Sweet Dreams", which is appropriate, because I just went back on Weight Watchers, & I tend to dream about sweets when I'm trying to lose some weight!

I was thinking Cinnamon swirl streusel cake.

The fork is probably the first thing that I ever sewed with wire inside to help shape it. It has layed around the studio for at least 7 or 8 years now.

I also made myself a new pin & pair of ear-rings.

& the last thing I jsut finished is another quilted clock. I promised to draw names from people who sent me photos of their, & I got them from 2 people, so it's between Judy & Margaret. I'll put one in each hand & let Warren pick a hand. I'll let you know next posting who won.

Addendum-Margaret G. my pal in Kanab, Utah won.

Sonoma Rose by Jennifer Chiaverini

I have to tell you all, that this is a REALLY  GOOD book.  I was sucked in on the first pages.  If you've been reading the Elm Creek Quilts Novels, I think this is the best story yet. It's another trip back in time, to Prohibition & California. This time the main character is Rosa, who we met in an earlier novel, when Elizabeth & her husband moved to California. Rosa & her children are being abused by her husband John.  Some of the children are ill, & Rosa fears for all their lives. The story is gripping from the very beginning, & is a good story whether or not you've ever read any of the Elm Creek books. 

 It will be available for sale on the Feb. 21st, 2012. I was very lucky to have been given an advanced copy to read, & I'm telling you this is Jennifer's BEST BOOK YET!

Happy Valentine's Day (belated), & Happy Birthday Sisters

Well, this back to full time is making it a bit harder to get my blogging done, but I'm thinking Thursdays will be my day. I did work today, but it was for my pal Mindy, who is off in Hawaii getting some vitamin D. I got home just now (4 pm), where I usually get home around 7 from the hospital. Above is the Valentine card I made for my DH . I stamped the image of the soaring birds on to the fabric of the heart using a fabric glue, which I then sprinkled with embossing powder, & heated with a heat gun. If you try this, just be careful not to hold the heat on too long in any one place, you could burn the fabric.

I have a sister,( Em) & several sisters-by-heart, (Mindy, Ilene, & Kate), who all have birthdays this month. So happy birthday girls, I love you all !

Mindy was here for Super Bowl Sunday, & we (us girls) watched the commercials, then played our own games, while the guys watched the game. Warren being from New England was a little sad at the end of it all.

Mindy's hat was left over from the Women's Ski she had participated in earlier in the day.

Below are Blueberry cupcakes I made  for her cake.

This table full goodies is what I came home to on Valentine's day. Fabric wrapped packages, chocolates, & little luscious tarts from my favorite bakery, The Flying Dutchman.

I found this book in a package on the front porch, left by the mailman. I'm looking forward to getting into it. I love these books.

Warren is really enjoying the retired life. He has been my chauffeur, & cook, & I'm loving it too! I had been a little worried about the cooking part, but he follows recipes well, & has made some really good food! Who knew life would be so good!

Spider Silk Textile

My friend Margaret sent this link , & I thought others might be interested. My arachnophobia makes me shiver to think of how this was done, but the end product is a beautiful textile!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2012/jan/23/golden-silk-cape-spiders-in-picturesPublish Post

DAY CANCELLED ON ACCOUNT OF SNOW

These are views from my windows today. Above is the deck through the kitchen window. Below our bedroom window.

The view out the back door. Those were foot prints in the snow an hour ago. Warren went out earlier, & he had a hard time getting back home. The roads are the worst he's ever seen them. So due to weather, after discussion with a few other ALCQ members, we cancelled the lecture tonight, & classes this weekend. We're going to try & reschedule in a couple of weeks.

I've got the bags packed for classes, & lecture, & will just put the aside & try not to trip over them. I'm going to look upon this as a bonus weekend of time to work on cleaning up the mess I made preparing for these classes!

Warren's Retirement Dinner

My apologies to those who read this blog for it's quilting content. I promise the next posting will be back to quilts.

Things got a little wild at Warren's retirement party last night. We had a small get-together organized by some of his friends, at Simon & Seaforts. 

They were a lot of fun, & the dinner was really good.

Gifts were opened, & Tim Tebow was mimed by one of the nurses teasing Warren's buddy Will.

Ellis gave Warren a book that was appropriate for our Wednesday evening crowd,

& the group gave him some nice tappers for his kegerator. They also gave him a nice Visa gift card.

Retirement

It's official, Warren has retired. I will be working full time now so I can have insurance. It's been fun working part time, but my leisure days have ended. I'm going to do 4 - 10 hr shifts starting Feb. 13th. I'm still waiting for an official position & will carry COBRA until then. I'm going to keep Thursdays off, so I can continue to go to Quilt Guild.

THANK YOU!!!

I am being a total slacker today.  I should be at my quilt guild meeting, but have been out every day for the past week, & am just plain tired. We had the hospital "Holiday" party last Friday evening after I had worked all day. I really hate going to those parties, but Warren always wants to go in case he should win something (mostly he's hoping for the PTO-paid time off), that's usually given out. Of course we didn't win anything, & now that he's going to retire, I swear I will never go again, no matter how much longer I have to work there! 

The photo above, was a picture of Joyce's purse. She works with Warren. It's made from felted wool beads. I thought it was too cute!

Last night we went to the PAC to see "Beauty & the Beast". Of course you can't take photos of the performance. Disney is finicky that way. Although there were people everywhere snapping shots of the stage with their iPhones. I had my iPad in my purse, & only shot the carpet (below),

the ice sculptures outside,

& these 2 little beauties in the lobby. They were so cute.

Below are my souvenir streamers that we were shot with at the end of the "Be Our Guest" number. The performance was fun, I love Emily B. who played Belle. She is a very spunky girl, & had a beautiful voice.

Gaston & his sidekick were great too. I have to say though, if I had the opportunity to go to another Disney stage performance, I'd go see "The Lion King" again, over "Beauty & the Beast". LK is still my favorite.

THANK YOU TO ALL YOU WHO SET ME STRAIGHT ON THE QUILT PARTS. YES I AGREE, AFTER SEEING IT YOUR WAY, THE TREE IS A STOP SIGN. (I was thinking, autumn, school starts, & the apples above are shaped just like the stop sign too..). The perspective on the 4-square & the hopscotch are from the air, where everything else on the quilt is from the side, so I was trying to figure out what the were from the wrong perspective. THANKS AGAIN FOR HELPING ME OUT. I'm going to add binding & the sleeve, then will photograph the finished quilt & post it soon. 

I"M STILL ASKING FOR PHOTOS OF ANY QUILTS OR ARTWORK OR CRAFTS YOU WOULD BE WILLING TO SHARE FOR A SLIDE SHOW HERE IN ANCHORAGE AT THE GUILD.

JUST TELL ME WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO MAKE IT. IT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE TO HA A PHOTO OF THE INSPIRATION, JUST THE STORY. PLEASE?????

Thanks to Judy who has already generously shared several photos!!!

What is this?

I am quilting this school themed quilt that will be given to the a local school next month when we hold my classes there. It was part of the deal for using they facility. The person who made the top, left Alaska years ago, & donated this top to our Comfort Quilts at the ALCQ.  I was quilting on it today, & realized I have no idea what this section of the quilt is supposed to represent, other than a red tree. The blue & purple checked block below, & the purple, yellow & green squares below that are part of the "playground" area on the quilt, but what are they?

I should be able to finish the quilting on this Saturday. Yay!

We are getting hit with another winter storm. Tons of snow falling in the Anchorage bowl, & still coming down. We had about 10 to 12 fresh inches this morning before I left for my Calendar Girls. I just barely made it back up the hill, & we have about 16 inches more & still falling now. If they don't plow our road tonight, I won't be getting to work tomorrow. I suppose I could finish the quilt then though! There is a bright side to every problem, right?!

Jan was working on this cute quilt that will be donated.

Jackie had fun checking out my new iPad, with our host Jean looking over her shoulder.

We played with the "photo booth" APP, & did so kaleidoscope images. They look quite quilty!

The one below is the same image as the last photo. I took it at Moose's Tooth  last weekend.

Museum Day & New Year Resolutions

In this new year of 2012, I resolve to be a better blogger! I will post at least one tidbit of  fun information or link to something interesting no less than monthly! I also resolve to get my new web page built before my next birthday in May! I try to make resolutions that are achievable, so I don't feel like a failure!

For my first "tidbit" here is a fun link that you can go to, download one of your own photos like I did on the one below, click on the enter button, & it will generate a color palette for you from your photo.

We have been having a real winter this year. Lots of snow. I took this picture a week ago, we've had another foot of snow since then.

The Anchorage Museum had a free day today. It was "Hobby" day, & I was invited along with all the other quilters from the ALCQ guild to come & share our hobby with the public. Because of the snow, the turnout wasn't as big as it might have been. I loaded up several smaller quilts, & a couple of lap-sized ones, & a quilt "sandwich" with a big needle & thread to be used by the public if they wanted to try a few hand stitches. A sweet little girl named Sophia decided she wanted to try her hand at it. It had been in a hoop, but the hoop ended up being more challenge than it was worth.

Ruthe & I, along with my DH were the only ALCQ people that showed up. A knitter named Ann sat with me for most of the time, & we chatted with the public. It was a fun afternoon.

Afterwards Warren & I had dinner at the Firetap, & used a gift certificate I got for Christmas from Wendy & Tracy. Thanks Tracy & Wendy! 

& Thanks Ruthe for showing UP!

I have a favor to ask of all you quilters & artists...

Thank you to all of you who sent us your concerns over the fire. It really wasn't that bad, & my blisters are healing quickly. 

Now for my question. ..I am presenting a lecture in February. It is "Inspired Design-Finding your Own Voice". Part of it will include photos of design inspiration, along with some of the things that I have made from that inspiration. I was thinking it would be fun to include the work of others in the photos. If you have a photo of something that inspired a piece that you made, & would like it to be shown in a slide presentation during my lecture, please email your pictures along with the info you want shared. I intend to make a handout with web addresses for folks to take home, so they can explore more too.

My email is akquilter1@acsalaska.net

For each person willing to share, I put names in for a drawing. I will make 2 quilted clocks, to be sent to 2 people whose names will be drawn January 20th.

We have been getting a lot of snow falling this winter. My brother said there was nothing for cross-country skiing in Michigan this year. You should all come to Alaska if you want to play in some snow!

I thought I should show a couple of back side views on the 9 patch quilt that I made for my DH.

I got a wonderful pile of beautiful stuff from my girlfriend Kathy (the Woodland Quilter) in Michigan, for Christmas. It is a Crazy Quilt just waiting to be made. It was all wrapped up in a yummy silk Pashima that goes perfect with my favorite brown slacks.

The little bags held, beads & trims,

There was a pair of little scissors, with a thimble (that fits perfect), & a needle case, & a luscious bundle of velvety fabrics, in my favorite color group.

Below is my cup of tea,(fancy tea from my DD for Xmas). The tea bags are so cute, they make me happy just looking at them. It's "Tea Forte". In front of the tea, is my Kindle. I'm still loving it 3 years later. Just under the Kindle is the new gift from my DH, an iPad 2. Yes I will still use the Kindle. The iPad is something like a fusion between the Kindle & my computer. I'm still learning how to use it. I haven't been able to set-up my email account on it yet, but have realized that it will make keeping up with all the blogs I like to read much easier.

I loaded my Kindle contents on to the iPad, & bought a guide book to help me learn my way on this cool tool!