Catching up

We had a fantastic visit with my grandson. It was a week chock full of fun stuff. I signed him up for a horseback riding lesson and he loved it so he got 2 more. He is a natural. (Got the genes from his grandmother!) We went on a nature hike and learned about using native plants for things like sunscreen, insect repellent, making tools for harvesting, etc. We went to the Children's museum, the Science Museum, the Aquarium, and the Butterfly garden. We took a tour of Southwest Wildlife conservation center where they rehabilitate injured animals for future release back in to the wild. We did kitchen science experiments. We spent the day up at Wildlife World zoo. We cuddled at night and I read to him. It was a busy week and I enjoyed every minute of it. I took Will back to New Jersey and spent a couple of days with my daughter and my twin granddaughters. Whew! I was tired when I got home but it was well worth it. Will said he wants to come back. Best accolade ever!

On a more serious note... I have been clipping my cats nails for 8 years... on Sunday she took exception to it and sunk her teeth into my hand. At first I thought I had nicked her, but quickly realized that the blood spurting was mine! I washed it out and Ned insisted we head to ER... probably a very wise idea. They took an ex-ray to determine she hadn't broken a bone then hooked me up to IV full of antibiotics. They suggested I see a hand surgeon the next day to rule out any tendon, nerve, or other damage and gave me 10 days worth of horse pills (antibiotics) to take. I can barely get them down. Doesn't look like there is any physical damage but still have to be vigilant about infection. My house looked like murder and mayhem. There was blood everywhere. I have limited use of my left hand for a bit. I have an awesome husband.

There are irises blooming in my courtyard.

I started quilting another piece.

I need a bit less excitement.

Excited!!

My almost 7 year old grandson is coming to visit us for a week. I am super excited. I have all sorts of fun things to do planned.

In the meantime I have been busy. I am still cleaning up and cleaning out and have come across stuff I started but never got around to finishing. First up is a piece of fabric I had played around with after dyeing... it was nothing special. I decided to treat it with some discharge paste then over dye it. I quilted it this week. It is not my style. It is a small piece that I have named Chaos II (yes, there is a Chaos I).

I also quilted a piece where I had played around with surface design. This one I like and I will probably revisit this technique. This is called CityScape.

I also finished a piece I hope will get accepted into "In Full Bloom" in Houston... sorry, not photos at the moment!

I have a few more pieces in the pipeline that need quilting and I have an idea for a new one.

I am happy my muse is back but she will have to twiddle her thumbs for a week!

Death spiral?

Ugh! Quilting a large piece in a spiral is deadly boring, takes forever, and you are quilting blind. Until you get to the end you have no idea what it is going to look like. I seem to be in the "what ever was I thinking" mode.

Thankfully, I am close to the end. This ought to be done in about an hour .. hope it doesn't come out looking like crap!

Not quite procrastinating...

I have finished my purging and reorganization. Some really ugly placemats (never finished) are going to a friend whose hubby wants to practice his free motion quilting..... good use for them!

Kind of wonder what I was thinking when I chose this combination!!  They will be gone in a day or so as soon as I get to the post office.
Ned helped me move stuff around and I no longer feel so claustrophobic in that room.

I have 2 pieces that I want to quilt but I still break out in hives when I think about doing them...I still hate quilting. I am hoping to start one of them tomorrow. The other is a dyed piece that I want to quilt as it is. However, I cannot think of what to do with it... do I leave it as is or do I chop some of it off? I am open to suggestions.

I played hooky today and did nothing but read... it was a good day.
 

Once upon a time...

in a kingdom far away.... well, not quite. My stuff has been taking over so I decided some (almost) spring cleaning was in order. In my piles of stuff I came across this book and all the triangles for octagons I cut out. Those were the days  I was just starting out and had no idea I could create my  own stuff. Conundrum... what do I do with this all?

I actually still like the fabric, however, it really has been ages since I followed anyone's pattern. There must be enough to make a queen size quilt. I am really torn here. I hate to waste perfectly good fabric...on the other hand what would I do with this when I am done?

The cleaning is cathartic. I have thrown out so much crap and I am reorganizing as I go. I have a while to go but in the long run I am going to be happier not being overwhelmed with so much that I will no longer use.

Enjoy.

Happy Hour:Drunken colors

I finished my quilt. This piece had lots of help from Lucy.. she insisted on sitting on it while I sewed the strips....they are not all straight, hence the name.

I am pleased with the way the colors play with each other here. If you didn't know already, I love color.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. Ned and I went to a local Arts fair. I think I am jaded. With few exceptions I see the same old, same old stuff. ...nothing I would love to bring home.. just is well, we have no room.

Next piece is going to be different for me. It is a surface design piece; my biggest problem was how to quilt it. I figured it out! I am just waiting on my new batting to arrive and I will tackle it.

Enjoy.

You haven't heard from me in a while...

I am still here!
I stopped blogging... I stopped doing a lot of things, but life has a way of revisiting itself so I am hoping to blog more... assuming I have something to say! For whatever reason I found it easier to post on Facebook than on here.
My 5 year hiatus from creating art appears to have come to an end. Part of my issue was a sewing machine that pretty much failed me... as did the dealer. I cannot say the manufacturer was much help either. I had a lemon. The issue has been resolved but it was very costly and I will not be recommending this company to anyone. Frankly, their customer service stinks. Moving forward....

My first foray back into sewing was to make my 3 year old granddaughters tee shirt dresses with tulle skirts. Here are 2 of them:

My next project was a small art piece... nothing spectacular here.. just getting my feet wet. I really love Ginkgo's and was just playing. Most of the fabrics used were my hand dyes.

  I had a small piece lying around that I think I used as a rag when I used some silk paints.. it's been a while. However, I have an upcoming piece that I wanted to quilt spirals or circles on so I used it as a practice piece. I am going to frame this one... I am hoping it will find a new home when I do.

Did I mention that I really hate the quilting part?

My current piece is just a fun color piece. I combined my hand dyed fabrics with some commercial ones. It is in the process of being quilted. I had a lot of help with this one.. in fact Lucy has had a lot of input into this one!

I should be finishing up the quilting tomorrow.

I have been using Warm and Natural batting for my projects but I hate it. I have issues with bearding. I did put out a query on one of my lists and got several great recommendations to use instead. I ordered a different batting and will try it out.

Once I get this done, I have a another in the works... it will be strictly a surface design piece.. The fabric has been "ageing" as I couldn't figure out a good way to quilt it. I have come up with a solution. I hope I don't screw it up.

My fun news is that my almost 7 year old grandson with be visiting us over his spring break... I am so looking forward to spending time with him.

Stay tuned.