Australian Paintings

My friend Hilary gave me these two Australian paintings on a flexible canvas. Not sure what to do with them, I wouldn't want them to be washed. I have a lot of Australian fabrics that my parents brought back when they traveled there a couple years ago, perhaps combining the two in something. I love the symbols, and need to research what the heck these images mean.


Australian Turtle painting

Australian Worms or???

3 Picture Day

Debra over at A Stitch In Time named yesterday 3 Picture Day. Here are my three pictures (one day late, story of my life!)

The Good Mornin' Picture! It's warm enough this morning to put out Merriweather our parakeet on the deck. He sings with all the birds, crows, bluejays, mourning doves, he knows all of their songs by heart.

The Midday Sniff! Zelda with her sooperdoopersniffer nose checking out the tulips, and hyacinths. What a warm day today, 80F at noon. I swear I can hear everything growing in the brilliant sun after all the soaking rains.

Hiding at Night! This is my studio cat, Pele. Her full name is actually Gato Peligro (danger cat). She had an accident as a kitten (her brother knocked over the scratching post somehow, hitting her in the head. She almost died, and we thought she'd be blind. But instead she's just weird, so she fits right in at our house! She doesn't come out during the day, lives under the futon couch in my studio. After everyone is asleep and quiet, she finally comes out to try to get her brother Rexie to play. I love the green eye reflection in this photo.

10 Things

Got this from Mary Beth Goodman's blog: There's a meme that apparently started on LiveJournal - List ten things that you have done that your friends and readers probably haven't.
This is a lot harder to come up with than I thought.

SO Here are my 10 things I've done, I bet you haven't:
1. Held the women's track record at Laguna Seca and Sears Point for class in a car club.
2. Performed in the opening celebration of the UN in Vienna with high school band.
3. Played on a cruise ship going down the Rhine River in a dixieland band.
4. Went to the US Festival in 1983.
5. Had a giant cell bone tumor at the age of 17.
6. Killed pet cat by a freak accident when he got trapped in the garage door opener :(
7. Rescued banana slugs from being run over on the driveway.
8. Went to a Billy Grahm event and a Dead Kennedy's show within the same year. Guess which one was first? Heehee.
9. Got into a fight in 8th grade about politics, all the kids were dissing Jimmy Carter, and saying Ronald Reagan was going to "save" our country.
10. Sat at a table next to Rick Springfield in a restaurant and didn't ask for his autograph.

So what about yours?

What Kind of Yarn Am I?

You are Mohair.
You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with
others, doing your share without being too
weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely
refuse to change your position once it is set,
but that's okay since you are good at covering
up your mistakes.


What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Scary Movies

Last night, there was a big rainstorm, lots of wind and heavy rain. My husband is out of town right now. So after getting the kids in bed, I decided to watch the movie I had just received from Netflix, a thriller called: Identity. Here is the blurb on it: Ten complete strangers are stranded at a remote desert motel during a raging storm and soon find themselves the target of a deranged murderer. As their numbers thin out, the travelers begin to turn on each other, as each tries to figure out who the killer might be. This spine-tingling thriller stars John Cusack, Jake Busey, Rebecca DeMornay, Clea DuVall and Ray Liotta.
Ok, note the entire movie takes place during a raging storm. I was watching this really scary movie during a raging storm. What was I thinking?!! Man oh man was I scared. But did I stop watching it, oh no, of course not. That is the point of watching scary thriller movies, to be scared. So it worked. I was scared, and I didn't get murdered, that just happened in the movie. And I didn't get to sleep for a while after that. But oh well, that is what naps are for, right?!

Out With the Old In With The NEW!

Goodbye Sweet Cruella! You've served me so well.

Hello New Sweetness! Finally!! There is so much to learn with this new-fangled machine. I'm loving it already, so quiet, and easy. I will master the auto needle threader sometime soon. Maybe even tomorrow, we shall see. As you can tell from the picture, Rexie thinks its a very nice new paperweight.

I've finished my doll for the Guardian Doll Challenge for Quilting Arts Magazine , now to send her off across the country. She did end up with a rather Big Head, but she is a Guardian after all. And she reminds me to Take Time. Note she is equipped with a star wand to bonk me on the head if I forget this. Slow down and Take Time.
Oh, and for those who are superdooper observant you will note that she is made out of.....scraps, why of course! But from what project? Oh the Ugliest Blanket in the World of course, see post below. Felted wool is just lovely to bead on, really much nicer than other fabrics I've used.
And I used lots and lots of beads gifted to me from my former neighbor and fabulous bead artist, Virginia Clark. I wish she had a website to share with you, her stuff is really something to behold. Oh, and the perfectly sized star wand is from Artchix Studios.

One Image Game

Here is the view of my worktable covered with stamped cards from the One Image game I'm playing in. Thirty people stamped or applied the same image to 30 postcards, self addressed and postage-stamped them, and sent them to our game host RedDog. She runs a mixed-media group that I'm in, called Traveler's H'Art. Each artist then got one of each postcard to play with. And we get the completed arted-up versions of our original stamped cards back in the mail. This is FUN! But also hard. As Chimpy McFlightSuit would say "Hard Work, it's Hard Work." By the way, this is why I need both a wet studio and a dry studio. Or at least space for a wet desk. So hard to combine the two. I have to completely clean up and put away each thing to work on the other. Otherwise, stamp ink and glitter and paint get on my quilty stuff. Sigh. Poor me.

Lunaea's card, her one image was the moon. Boy is it hard to photograph black and sparkly stuff! But if you know Lunaea, you know she needs sparkly.

RedDog's image was the seated 50's woman. Words are "Sigh...why can't i just relax and have fun like mary?" Had a bit of an eeek, when I was dabbing water on the water colour pencils, the ink from my words went away. Not sure if it was the slick paper or what, but I faked it with a pen re-do.

The words are "Get an eyeful", the one image was the empty mason jar. Used watercolour oil pastels on this one. It was a nice bumpy watercolour paper too.

The words are "Reach for ART", one image was the large hand. I think this is my fave so far, and I must get that big hand stamp. I love hands, hands and eyes or both together.

ECO's one image was the square Keppler journal. My stamp smeared a bit, but I think it looks like it is spinning in motion.

One image was the super girl and shooting star.

One image was the girl with the satellite head. The background stamp is made of exces stamp strips left over from cutting out new rubber, glued down to a base. I can't throw anything away, can I?!

One image was the circular celtic knot design. Not done with this one yet. That's some of my handmade paper in the background.

Last Week's Works all in one lump

Round Robin for Nadine (mine is on left) I later unsewed when I remembered they were supposed to be blocks not a completed strip, duh. At least I remembered this before sending them on to Delores. Now on to the next person's, Diane sent fabric with hers, deep brown and blues/whites, so we shall see what I come up with for that....

Cut up Felted wool sweaters. These sweaters have been around my workroom for a year. I read about recycling old sweaters by washing and drying them to felt them, then sewing together in an attractive warm, couch blankie. Soooo, after months of collecting cat hair (ewww) and being washed and dried many many times, they were definitely felted! Some did better than others, they started out thicker, and higher quality wool yarn. One sweater was burgundy, one was each, one blue with white and blue stripes, and another dark grey. Not the best colour choices in the world, but that was what was available at the St. Vinnies the day I bought them.

So here it is....drumroll....The Ugliest Blanket in the World, but oh is it cuddly and warm, and my kids are fighting over it. Not husband though, he is slighty allergic to wool. The trick will be to keep it away from Zelda the dog, who sheds so much it will turn white instantly...

Straight and narrow challenge quilt, more quilting done with a decorative stitch in a varigated thread, and trimming of edges. Still not done though.

I'm taking a Celtic knot sweatshirt workshop with Quilt University. These are my four fabric choices on top of the celery green sweatshirt.

Judy Martin Books

Judy Martin has one of the best monthly newsletters, really funny, and always has good links to interesting non-quilty stuff. This month it was mailboxes. Anyways, her books rock! Very clear instructions, and innovative yet traditional blocks, lots of stars, which I love. And she put one of her latest books that I never had gotten around to buying on huge sale, so I thought I'd pass on the info.

Here's what she said: "Whatever the reason, the people have spoken with their wallets and said
$21.95 wasn’t going to get it done on a scale large enough to rid me of my remaining thousands of books. I have lowered the retail price of Piece ‘n’ Play Quilts to $7.95. That’s about 64% off! For the price of one single pattern, you can have a 96-page, all-color book with 12 complete patterns, including quilting. It’s a good book, and at this low price, you can afford to find out. Then you can afford to buy multiple copies and give them as presents. "

Oh and also, I swear by her point trimmer tool for making binding strips.

While I was there ordering Piece 'n' Play, I also picked up two of her other books that I've always wanted (so much for saving money by buying on sale, hah!!), The Block Book, and her Ultimate Rotary Cutting Reference. Judy's big concentration in teaching is on being accurate first, and not having to trim away extra to make the block the right size. And I need all the help I can get on learning that!

Puzzle of the Day

Hey, my quilt is puzzle of the day today. It makes a hard puzzle, took me 5:55, which is about 2minutes more than usual on this size of puzzle, go see how fast you are. This week is featuring all quilts, so every day will be a different quilt artist.

German Poo Protestors

Just thought you all would appreciate this one. Wonder what Condi will say about it?
Police hunt poo protesters
Police in Germany are hunting pranksters who have been sticking
miniature US flags into piles of dog poo in public parks. Josef
Oettl, parks administrator for Bayreuth, said: "This has been going
on for about a year now, and there must be 2,000 to 3,000 piles of
excrement that have been claimed during that time." The series of
incidents was originally thought to be some sort of protest against
the US-led invasion of Iraq. And then when it continued it was
thought to be a protest against President George W. Bush's campaign
for re-election. But it is still going on and the police say they are
completely baffled as to who is to blame.
More at: http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1248811.html

Classic Pin-up

Since we are getting closer to V-Day and all, try this quiz to find out which Classic Pinup you are. Here was my result:


You're Lili St. Cyr!


What Classic Pin-Up Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Tsunami Quilt Block

Tsunami Block got finished off and sent to Marta in Spain. Hope it gets there by 2/14. There may be time still for YOU to do one. So get off the computer and go do it. Here is the info again, at the Tsunami Quilt 2005 . And there is a Flickr website with photos of lots of the blocks submitted so far.

Ladybug

A 3"paper-pieced Ladybug for Adrienne, just because. She likes ladybugs. And she made me one a while ago. So there she is. I hardly ever do paper piecing, but I always like how it turns out. I forget how to do it if I don't practice occasionally! Use or lose it rules in my brain these days, DO NOT ask me any calculus or statistics questions. Oh and this green fabric that I used was soooo soft, almost sueded. Pet, pet. I got this pattern from a page of Mini-Block swaps , that's a good page of minis, cats, swans, a snails trail, and insane pineapples. Oooh, I gotta put that on the list of rock band names for Zach, Insane Pineapples.... the list is getting longer. He better keep practicing that guitar huh?
If you have any suggestions for me to add to the list, let me know!

Marie's Angels

So, Marie was first with her Swamp Angels, aren't they great? I need to get mine made up and sent out to the Mavericks that are in this swamp. We call our swaps, swamps because of a typo years ago, but it suits us I think. This block can be found in Alex Anderson's book Simply Stars

Sexy Rexie

Rexie picture taken by Zach. He's getting good with the camera, I love the framing of this shot. What a beautiful cat we've got, thankfully he puts up with us hassling him with cameras. I think he looks a lot like a breed called Ragamuffin , maybe who knows? He was a pound kitty and we are blessed to have him in our household.

First Iris of 2005

First Iris of 2005! I love irises. I won an iris drawing one year after voting for my favorite at the iris show at the mall. There were so many beautiful varieties. Some were brown and purple or yellow and white, ruffled and not. Sigh. But they haven't come back in a few years. Maybe this year? Here is a photo gallery at the iris society website, beauty! Oh and please disregard the gigantic dandelion growing behind it. Time for some weeding now that it isn't quite so mucky in the backyard.

CQFA Row Round Robin

So here is the first CQFA Row Round Robin that I received from Nadine. Beautiful Asian fabrics and a curvy/square block, what shall I do to contribute a row to this great start. Hmmmm. That's why it is up on the design wall, so that it can talk to me...

Straight and Narrow

This is the Straight and Narrow Challenge piece that I made on Friday and Saturday. Not sure if it is "done" or not, but I'm liking it so far.

Keiko and Friends

I made "Thanks Debbie! " out of blocks I started at a CQFA meeting where Virginia Schnalle taught us the circle technique from one of Keiko Goke's fabulous books. Debbie gave me some of her fabulous hand-dyed fabric to make the blocks, thus the title.
So this little quilt (only 14" x 10") got sent off to the Keiko and Friends show that Laura Wasilowski is hosting.