It's raining, it's pouring

.. it is rainy season here in Arizona and we need these rains desperately.... OK, so a day or two would be good but forecast is for all week! It is also the time of year I scalp my rosebushes so I get lovely blooms and growth in the next few months. Roses bloom here all year round although the high yield is usually spring and fall. I severely cut the canes back (it hurts me) and I am richly rewarded.  Won't be able to spray till the rains stop. Here is a photo of the last of the roses before the haircut.
Last week was spent working on my pansy quilt for my 2nd class which was yesterday. No more photos till I finish it.. hopefully this week. I really did learn a lot from this class which will be useful for other projects.
Today is a busy day. It is install day for the new frame for my sewing machine and a new cabinet ( I was lucky enough to sell my old cabinet to a girlfriend who has a winter place here and needed one). My sewing room got a (necessary) clean up so we could move things around. .. found stuff I forgot I owned! Hopefully, I will be up and working by this evening although using the frame will be on hold for a while since Ned is going out of town and the machine is too heavy for me to lift on and off myself. This is OK because I have a lot of other projects in the works that need my attention.
Other (not) fun thing to day is a visit from the exterminators... seems like the treatment for termites that was done several years ago did not work so well... when we moved stuff around in my sewing room we found evidence of termite damage in the baseboards. Not sure what exactly this entails at this point but thankfully we do not have to pay for it.

Since there isn't much I can do today, I made some pumpkin muffins... yummy. I love Trader Joe's. I stock up on the mix (yep, I am lazy) before Thanksgiving because it is only seasonal. Today was a good day for baking.

Geisha's

This is the year I have decided to buckle down and do more than just piddle. I want to work on my techniques and get more serious about my art.  This piece, The Path Not Taken, is the first of I hope several larger (for me) pieces that I hope to complete this year. It is 42" x 45". I would like to be able to enter some shows, other than local ones, so I need to focus more on actually working on my art. I am happy with the way this one came out, including my stitching. The majority of fabrics in this quilt are my own hand dyed and Shibori pieces. There are 3 small pieces of commercial fabric and one small piece of silk from Jane Steinberg. I have done some hand embroidery on here as well as machine stitching. I think I threw everything at this! It is appliqued with trapunto,  and stenciled using paint and paint stiks. The piece has a story but I will save that for another time. I have screwed up my courage and have entered this into 2 shows. I could use some luck.

Chained to my sewing machine!

I have spent the last 2 days working on my class project so I do not fall behind. I finished all the piecing today and get to start on some of the thread work to hide all the mistakes! I might actually be ready for class 2 next week! It actually looks like a Pansy. I was very leery about the colors I picked out as I did it on the fly. Turns out I am quite happy with them.

So far I have been able to stay focused on a project....but this is only the 1st week of January! I am hoping to really do some quality work this year rather than just playing around. It's time I got serious if I want to advance. 

First post for the year 2010

If the first couple of days of the new year is a harbinger of what it to come, then overall, I like it. I have managed to sneak in a book, Steve Berry's new one, "The Paris Vendetta". Not nearly as good as his others, but not terrible. I think he is beginning to fall into the the same formula rut some of the other big authors have. Oh well, it is not as if I do not have enough to read! We went to see a hilarious movie with Meryl Streep... "It's Complicated". We laughed ourselves silly.  The end is a bit bittersweet, but good. I took part 1 of a 2 part class my girlfriend is teaching locally. It is upside down applique with lots of thread painting to come. While I haven't used anyone else's pattern in years, I thought I could learn a bunch from this class. I have lots of homework before the 2nd class. This is going to be a Pansy.. of course my colors will have no resemblance to anything she had in mind! I need the free motion practice and the thread painting practice.

I am looking forward to a productive year with lots of opportunity to learn and advance.

Happy New Year 2010.