Finished bedroom

This project began with a vision in the summer of 2003. Laurel had just moved to Chapel Hill, and I stopped in at a fabric store and purchased yardage to make a king sized quilt. I had no idea what design I would use, I just knew I wanted it in shades of blue/green. Over the years I collected fabrics and skills, and began the process of making the quilt about a year and a half ago. After the top was pieced, I cut stencils for the gingko leaves, painted them with Shiva paint sticks. I used a very similar technique to this video.

Then I began the process of quilting a king size quilt on my home machine. I auditioned a lot of threads, but eventually chose a fluorescent lime green. Sounds weird, but it turned out beautifully.

I finished the quilt several months ago, but still needed to make the bed skirt and pillows to complete the ensemble.

It’s done!

Good Words

Playing in my studio is great fun, but every now and then it’s nice to hear a good word. The wall quilt Hope of Spring was purchased on the Haiti by Hand website. I recently mailed it to the winning bidder and here’s what she said.

I am the winner of the beautiful art quilt, "Hope of Spring" that you so generously donated to Haiti By Hand. I received the quilt in the mail yesterday afternoon. The quilt is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! I am proud to be the winner and have your piece displayed in my home. It will be going on a wall in my bedroom. Thank you so much!

Whoooo hooooo! It made my day!

My sister's jewelry

I just dropped in at the Haiti by Hand shop and noticed some familiar jewelry. Further checking confirmed that my sister, Jennifer, has donated three neclaces to help the women artists of Haiti. The necklaces are gorgeous! Get there quickly, they won't last long.

New Lipstick

Every now and then I need to try a new lipstick. Having read somewhere online that Revlon drugstore lipstick was every bit as good as department store brands, I cruised the cosmetic aisle at Target. Suddenly I was back in Woolworth’s on Beach Street. The names of the colors evoked memories of Junior High and giggling with my girlfriends. Here are the names I remember: Love that Red, , Rum Raisin, Soft Silver Beige, Paint the Town Pink , Fire and Ice, and my all time favorite color name, Cherries in the Snow. I think one of my dear friend’s mother wore that shade. I chose Kiss Me Coral.

When I got home and opened the tube, I was again whisked back in time. It looked just like Tangee , ORANGE! Tangee was the miracle lipstick which went on clear, then was supposed to gradually change into your perfect skin tone complement. It was inexpensive, and everyone had it. It never turned beautiful for me. it changed to a hideous shade of pink and smelled funny. Kiss Me Coral didn’t change color, I just had to tone down it’s retro orange. So much for memory lane.

If you want more info about Tangee, including a video and customer comments, check out the Vermont Country Store.

Valentines for my family

For at least 20 years, my husband, daughters and I have exchanged home made valentines. They are all far more clever with words than I am, so I have to compensate with art or sewing skills. For this year’s valentines I bought three decks of cards, pulled out the hearts and jokers and began embellishing. I had made a big piece of stitch paper which I cut and glued to chipboard, and that became the front and back covers. I then put stickers with sentiments on the hearts and bound them all together with a ring.

Since Tom makes my lunch most days after playing tennis…

He is an enabler of my art addiction…

Signature page

Back cover

I didn’t get photos of the ones for my daughters before I sent them out, but they were the same style with different sentiments.

Over the years we have had some great valentines, it is an event we all look forward to.

This fantastic idea came from Heather at Dollar Store Crafts

All about Valentines

I made some valentines for volunteers in our Christian Education program at church. I painted a big sheet of paper with a variety of reds and pinks, then put on bits of turquoise, white, and gold. I stamped some swirls and cut out the hearts. Loving the stitched line like I do, I sewed them to card stock which I had dry brushed with iridescent red paint and wrote on them with a poster paint pen. They are in the mail.

Home Dec

It has rained all day today, and I have been busy sewing. I’m working to finish the pillows for our bed. I decided to do three standard pillows and two 24” squares. Here’s where I am so far.

first 24” square

second 24” square

standard sham. I’m still thinking about whether to add contrasting cording to this. I’m not the best at cording installation, but after three pillows I should get better.

close up of quilting on sham. I just love to do swirls

Happy Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day greetings from the New York Public Library Digital collection.

A valentine for the artist

A floral valentine

and my personal favorite, an Art Deco valentine

Endeavor Launch

We got up and 3AM and drove about an hour to Haulover Canal which is as close as you can get to the launch pad. It is about 10 miles from the launch site. Even at that distance you could see the launch pad. The moon was a golden sliver in the scattered clouds. It went off without delay and was spectacular. It lit up the whole sky, and we could see it for a long time. Just as I heard a woman next to me say, “I thought it would make more noise”, we were hit with a roar that made it feel like the ground was shaking. It was all over so fast, and we headed home and slept for a few hours. Well worth the trip.

Right after lift off

You can see the shuttle just in front of the ball of fire at the top of the photo.

Separation of the booster rockets

Bummer

Last night we went to Buzz and Candy’s home in Edgewater and spent some of the night. We woke up at three and Buzz guided us through the canals and the crab traps to the intercoastal waterway to anchor for the shuttle launch. At T minus 2 minutes, I got word on my phone that the launch was cancelled. We came back to Edgewater, had a nice breakfast, drove home and went to bed for a few hours. Buzz has to work tomorrow, so we won’t be going back on the boat, but he encouraged us to drive to Haulover Canal, just north of the space center and watch the launch from there. Check back and see if we made it. Here’s a link for the countdown

Art in the mail

I’ve been participating in the Stitch Alchemy book study with Mixed Media Art Friends on Yahoo. The author if the book, Kelli Perkins coordinated the bookmark swap, and because I wrote on her blog that I was participating, she included a mini journal along with the bookmarks. The package was creatively designed, and the contents delighted me.

Sand Art

This has been around awhile, but if you missed it it is about an 8 minute video of Kseniya Simonova is a Ukrainian artist who won Ukraine's version of "America's Got Talent." She uses a giant light box, music, imagination and "sand painting" skills to interpret Germany's invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII.

if you missed it, check it out here