Studio thread holder

Hi, the group I belong to on line "fiberarts of southern california" recently had a discussion about how to store thread. I thought I would share with you what I came up with to store my thread. Right now it is sorted into types rather than colors, but that could change. The storage units were gotten at a garage sale and they are old card catalog drawers from a library. They are right behind my sewing machine so I can just reach back and open a drawer and get my thread out. They are protected from the sun because they are closed and work great. Hope you enjoy the photos. I also got news that I have two quilts going to Houston. One for the "Tactile Architecture" and another for the "In Full Bloom" special exhibit. I am doing a very happy dance right now. I cannot post those pictures until the exhibit opens in October but it gives me the incentive to keep on trying....Have a great day, the sun is shining and all the flowers are blooming.

Here is a quilt I just fininshed for a challenge for my local group. It was called Cha-Ching. It is hanging in a local bank, so they wanted something to do with money, and something from a hardware store that would cha ching when wiggled. Mine is called "The Color of Money, and I found some great and colorful money from other countries and incorporated them in to the quilt. I will try and take some other photos of the whole group and post them soon.

Postcards

I have started doing some postcards. They are such fun. Here are a couple that are finished. Hopefully I will have lots done by June and can have them for sale in our annual Art in the Garden event. I am not really sure how much to have them for sale for, if anyone out there has an idea it would be greatly appreciated. I think that 30% will go to benefit our local Grants Pass Museum of Art, which is a great thing. I have lots of ideas, birds, flowers, Oriental, just lots. Will post as I get them done.

JujyFruit

I forgot to publish this one, called JujyFruits.

Rogue Art Quilter continued

Hi, I am not really sure how to publish my photos very well yet. Seems if I write first and then try and enter a photo from picassa it imports all the photos instead of just the ones I want. Anyway, I am doing it with separate posts for the writing. The photos below are represented by Nestle Crunch Bar, M & M's, Almond Joy, Dots, Life Savers and KandyKorn.
I pulled my Tarot yesterday on the Vernal Equinox, and the cards really told me what direction I should go. I have been sort of disenchanted lately by show rejects, the cost to enter shows, and sort of deciding to just give away all of my art quilts to my family and friends. The cards say different. I can give them away if I want, but also that I must share my talents, face the world head on, act and step forth. I must also accept recognition, which is very hard for me. The cards also say that a wondrous event is about to take place, and that I must overcome my doubt and fear, trust my decisions and aim towards the light. They say that I will also have a wonderful revolution filled with new inspiration. I must energize my spirit, and devote my time with the utmost love to carrying out the work I do, that I must soar higher. Every card coincided with the others. Now I know my direction. I will try and do an art quilt a week and see where it carries me.

Rogue Art Quilters

Fabric of vision show

Here are some photos of our art quilt groups latest show in a beautiful fabric store called Fabric of Vision. Lots of great talent. The theme was candy, we all chose a candy bar and made our quilt from our vision of that candy. Some people were quite literal and other abstract. The whole show looked very cohesive and was very fun.

Once in a Blue Moon

Here is another quilt I made sort of recently. It was made for a challenge with our local Art Quilt Group, the theme was color, and I randomly picked the color blue, the quilt had to be made of all blue hues. This hung in the local bead shop for "First Friday Art Night" and then stayed along with the others from the group for a month. All the wonderful colors put together looked wonderful. Each quilt was the same size so it became a very cohesive show. And, best of all, this sold to someone who needed a present for their nephew's wedding, his name was Blue and he was getting married on a day with a blue moon. Guess it was made to happen.

Think like an artist

Things have been busy, lots of small quilts in the making and I am taking a class with Pamela Allen on line entitled Think Like an Artist, with weekly assignments. I will post week 1 assignment as well. I am mailing off my entry to Tactile Architecture" today, in plenty of time I think. You never know. I am also working on a few others for other entries. I would like to enter the Long Beach show since it is a premier show and I love the themes, being a Southern California gal many many years ago. My puppy had surgery last week, he swallowed a pin! I watched it happen and they don't exactly exit cleanly, especially in a 7 pound little one. So, the new thing is to teach him to stay completely out of my sewing room, I am sorta messy when creating and don't want that sort of thing to happen again. Quite the expensive surgery! Who would have guessed.

Hi, Its been so long since I have written in this blog, but, this is a new year, with new resolutions. There has been lots on the burner, with little down time, even to quilt. I have been working on one quilt for "Tactile Architecture" and I think I might actually get it done. This winter has been wet, cold, snowy and generally wonderful for us. We usually get constant fog the months of December and January, and with all the storm activity there has been little or no fog. We got to spend the holidays with family both here and in Mount Shasta City. The puppy is keeping us busy as well. I am trying also to finish about three other quilts for end of January deadlines, and since none of them have even been started, this might not be accomplished. But, today I actually mailed a couple of entries in to shows, so at least that is done. Once it is done it never seems so bad, but getting to it is always so hard and I procrastinate terribly. Every time I go to download photos and burn a cd for entry, I get befuddled and never quite remember how to do it. But, I usually figure it out and get it done....I will post a couple of random photos taken recently for everyone to enjoy.

Painted Changes

Hi,
I thought I would post the changes to my Hummer quilt after I got all the good advice from the quitart group. I ended up using copper iridescent paint and some gold iridescent on some of the feathers as they traveled up the right side of the quilt. The threadpainting just did not do it justice. I originally had this beautiful hand dyed piece that I could not bear to cut up so the bird emerged from the center. The quilt prior to painting with the copper and gold is shown under a previous post "Murphy Bed" and it is hanging behind the bed. What do you think of the changes? Does anybody have any suggestions for more improvement or change.
Other than that, this fall has been busy working, playing with the puppy, playing with the grandsons and attending their various sporting events, and some studio time, trying to figure out what to make next and looking at all the looming deadlines for entry and thinking that I might not get there this year.
I am also gearing up for my trip to Houston the end of the month where we are taking some classes and just having a general good time. If I am lucky enough maybe my Journal Quilt will actually be displayed there. That would be fun.

New York, New York

Well, what a summer....have had no time to post for a while, and no time to quilt either. After I got back from Sacred Threads I prepared for our trip to New England for my dh family reunion. We took two weeks and covered lots of fun places thanks to all the good advice from quiltart group! We spent time in the Amish country of Pennsylvania, all of the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, then spent our time going down the coast from Portsmouth, NH all the way down to Grenwich, CT where the reunion was held. Lots of pretty country, lots of humidity that we Oregonians are not used to. We even spent a couple of days in NYC, quite the culture shock from rural Southern Oregon....lots of fun.

Then, on a sadder note, my father passed away (I got the notice while sitting in Central Park), so we came back home and I got on a plane to help my mother in Southern California. A very nice celebration of his life, and another family reunion of sorts was there. Lots of reflection, time sitting on the beach in San Clemente, and comfort for all.

Now, after about 6 weeks of go, go, go, I am home and getting settled again. Hopefully to post a little more often here. Here are a couple of photos of the trip to New England. The first is my dh and sons at Grand Central Terminal, and the other is Pennsylvania. Maybe someday some of the photos will turn into art quilts.

Luigi

We have a new little puppy. He is a Papillon and is named Luigi. Love at first sight. Here is a photo of him and my niece at her high school graduation. He is 13 weeks old and a doll. I am so excited, we registered today for classes in Houston. Hope we get at least some of them. It will be so exciting to be there for the first time. I am trying to figure out how to get links to this blog so the world can see it.
I also got great news the other day. My quilt shown below "Once in a Blue Moon" sold. A woman came in to the shop where it was hanging, and just had to have it. She was going to a wedding of her nephew that night, his name was "Blue" and he was getting married on a blue moon. I just had to sell it to her. Seem things just happen for reasons.
I have been busy trying to figure out inspirations for some challenges coming up in the near future, but am not getting inspired yet. One is for the SOST quiltart challenge, and two are with my art quilt local group of wonderful women. It is so hot today that it is hard to think, much less create.
So, instead I burned some CD's to enter in art quilt shows. Guess you can't get in if you don't enter, so here I go. I am going to post the photos next, after this posts.....am still learning