Wurzerl's Garden

One of my favorite blogs to visit is Wurzerl's Garten. Wurzerl has to be one of the most talented and knowledgeable gardeners I've ever met. Whenever I visit her blog I am totally mesmerized by not only her knowledge of nature and flowers, but of her amazing ability to transform her little corner of cyberspace into the most amazing visual and intellectual -- natural adventure. I wanted to thank her in some way for the hours and hours of pleasure I receive reading her stories and looking at her pictures so - I selected one of my favorite pictures - a lovely Hepatica Transsilvanica - she has photographed, and transformed it into a little art quilt just for her.

I recently received a lovely little 6x6 from Fannie wherein she utilized Neocolor II crayons (see post below with the sunflower.) I am so enamored with Fannie's technique, I decided to give it a try myself on one of Wurzerl's flowers. Because I typically work with acrylic paint -- this was an adventure for me. Water Soluable Crayons are a little unpredictable (as are my Tsukineko Inks) as they bleed and you have to be good at anticipating their "bleed" so as not to ruin your design. I don't have Neocolors, but I do have Aquarelles which I think are basically the same thing -- watersoluable high pigment crayons.

Here is an abreviated version of my procedures:

First, I selected the flower I wanted to make (top pictured left.) I then blew the photograph up on my photocopier to fill 8 1/2 x 11.

I decided upon a white organza for the base fabric - a choice I was hesitant on - but ultimately am happy about because it gives piece a nice shimmery quality. I sketched the flowers out on to the organza with graphite. Then I laid in some flower and leaf color with Tsukineko Inks.

After the ink dried, I went back in with the Aquarelle crayons and put in some detail on the petals and leaves. Then my favorite part - the stitching. I created the center of the flowers by freemotion stitching with shiny blue rayon thread around the yellow Aquarelle center. I then went about the piece and free motion stitched details in the petals of the flowers and the leaves.

With that done, I went back in with some holographic thread and did some basic fill in quilting around the flowers and leaves to fill up the background and add more shimmer.

To finish the flower off -- I added some dimensional paint for the stamens of this flower which I think really made it come alive. I still have to bind it -- and my next post will be about asking your opinions on which of four fabrics to use as I am stumped.

Please be sure to stop by Wurzerl's Garten - but make sure you have poured yourself a nice cup of tea first -- as I'm sure you'll be there a while. And Wurzerl -- if you're reading this -- I hope you like my interpretation of your lovely Hepatica Transsilvanica -- it's my way of saying "Thank You!" for all the joy you bring. XO

Fannie's Work is Amazing....

Take a look at this gorgeous and unique sunflower that I received from Fannie. Believe me when I tell you that the picture does not do this justice. It is absolutely stunning. Fannie utilizes Neocolors II in her work which, if you are not familiar with them, are these cool little crayons that are highly responsive to water and act like watercolors, but are very pigment dense. After Fannie lays down the neocolor picture, she then freemotion stitches an image with black thread and the results are spectacular. I immediately fell in love with this technique and have been working on a piece myself. Visit Fannie's blog for a real feast for the eyes. She is one talented gal!

A Giveaway -- In Honor of Spring !!!

A Heart for You.......

To enter - you must leave a comment under this post with your name and e-mail address as well as..... your favorite childhood memory of Spring!!! That should be easy.

Friday, March 28th - before I go to bed (the winnner to be announced Satureday) - I will pick a name from all the posts and maybe do a little search for the winner for another prize like I did last time - as y'all seemed to enjoy that.

Good luck. Now you have until 10:00 p.m. Friday March 28th to enter - so let's hear those memories.

How We Celebrated the First Weekend in Spring....

Sabrina has been saving her allowance for the last three months for a drafting table from Jerry's Artarama. So - she did a little drawing....


And while I worked outside --- she did what she does "best" - she stared at my from inside the windows... (she's not much of an outdoor girl - DOESN'T like to get dirty and sweaty - she doesn't get that from me, that's for sure...)

I did a little planting under the cherry tree on the side of the house - where I love to sit.... The jeep comes in very handy for carting dirt around in the trailer - it's like my own little John Deer (with a great stereo!)

And I Planted some Hostas..... (which Vicki NOW tells me the deer will gratefully devour - thanks for telling me NOW.... :)

I took a break and played frisbee with a very patient Gizmo who was waiting outside the backdoor for me to come and play with him.... (Tobie is Sabrina's dog and you'll notice -- that while Gizmo is with me every minute outside - Tobie (like Sabrina,) is NOWHERE to be found) he is inside taking a siesta on the fainting couch!!

When I was almost done outside - I spent time trying to decide what to plant on this hil in the backyard l (besides the hideous lariope that are there) as nothing wants to grow there because it gets way too hot on the curve of it in the summer.... I'd love to do a mass planting of lavendar and cover that hill - maybe that's an option to consider. That's a big hill and that's going to be ALOT of work.

I also spent a good part of the day dodging Sabrina and her camera as she LOVES to torment me and take pictures of me for her scrapbook -- but for some reason -- only when I'm at my very "best"or in the most precarious situations.. I was in the middle of a sneeze in this one.

Later in the day, I did a little reading outside on the downstairs patio. Late Sunday morning, I baked a carrot cake from scratch for Easter Dessert... I'm not showing you a picture of it because it's not frosted yet - and it's a bit crooked!! My cakes always come out crooked - not sure why.

Finally - one of my favorite chores - giving the kids a bath. Oh how they DO love their baths (almost as much as I do) and they are so good!! I fill up the sink in the garage with nice warm water and bubbles and they're in heaven. I LOVE my pups!

What a great way to start the weekend. What did you do? Did you spend it with family? Did you spend it enjoying the peace and quiet??? However you spend it -- make it memorable! XO

P.S. Blaise worked on our taxes all weekend AND poor Sal had to work all weekend.

Did some Painting & Stitching this Weekend....

I painted and dyed some cheesecloth and linen this past week. I love working with cheesecloth -- it's airy properties make it fun to experiment with layering. Here are two 6 x 6 pieces I worked on this weekend using dyed cheesecloth, linen, wire mesh, hand embossed copper shim and some copper foil I had laying around. I free-motion stitched with copper and purple metallic thread and embellished them with Swavroski Crystal, amethyst stones and glass beads.

One of these I'm going to use as a giveaway and one is promised to someone already. I love working with 6x6.

Cathie et Sabrina dans des leurs nouveaux bérets français leur ont envoyé toute la manière de France......

Andrea, vous sûr savez rendre deux filles américaines très heureuses. Votre attention et bonté sont profondément appréciées. Nous avons combattu l'excédent qui a obtenu le rose -- Sabrina gagné ! Grande étreinte à vous mon ami ! XO Cathie

Bonjour Andrea. J'adore mon béret rose ! Comment avez-vous su que le béret rose serait mon favori car il est l'une de mes couleurs préférées ? Je me sens très français quand je le porte. Je l'aime particulièrement parce qu'il y a juste un peu de cheveux d'Oscar là-dessus ainsi j'estime qu'il est avec moi partout que je vais ! Je l'aime tellement.

Votre ami, Sabrina. XO

Eye Candy Sunday......

It was a busy weekend. Friday was Sabrina's BIG show -- she took a 1st place Blue Ribbon (out of 12 schools) for her watercolor sunflower. So that piece won a blue ribbon at her school level AND the regional level. (Good Job Honey!!) Below are pictures of both her 1st and 2nd place pictures.

In between working outside on the herb garden and filling up bird feeders, etc., I did manage to get some work done on Dear Jane. What a !@#*$!@#*$!@# delightful experience this is. The pieces are so small that I end up sewing and ripping apart each block at least once or twice. I am quickly learning the importance of absolute zero tolerance accuracy with regard to cutting, and sewing that "scant" 1/4 inch seam allowance. I can see my efforts improving little by little, and by the time I'm done with this -- my skills should be formidable. I got 6 blocks done.

I did get this cute little cutting mat/ironing pad and a tiny little iron to iron the teeny tiny pieces because my regular iron was too huge to deal with those little 4 1/2" blocks and I kept burning my fingers. It was a bit on the expensive side (about $50 for the set) but worth every penny.

I also worked on some "folk art" sketches for a kid quilt I'm designing. I want to do a "whole cloth" Egyptian Cotton with folk art applique -- so I've been sketching out some little applique designs for whatever.

Finally - here are Monica's package (I can't show you because she'll see it and I want it to be a surprise!) and Tammy's package (the sunflower wall quiltlet ready to go out in the mail. Monica has been working diligently on our art doll for charity - so she hasn't been around much. I'm hoping she'll have pictures up of the doll soon as we are all getting anxious. Tammy's package went out last week but was returned because the address label did not stick the paint on the envelope (duh!).

Finally, I'm working on another little contest in honor of ONE YEAR of blogging which - came and went without me even knowing about it. Oh well. Anyway, I'm working on something for that and certainly want to make it interesting - So... keep your eyes peeled as details will be coming about that sometime this week. Tammy wants me to do another hide and seek as she really enjoyed going through my suitcase and drawers!!! Maybe I'll do something in my closets this time -- you guys should have alot of fun going through those. We'll see what I can come up with.

Anyway - Have a great week. And remember, inspiration is everywhere -- create something wonderful! XO

Road Trip 2008 Planned....

The airline reservation has been made and the map is on the wall. We've booked our 2008 excursion -
Destination...... Everywhere.

This year instead of the Harley - we're jeeping it all across Colorado and Utah - with Moab being our ultimate destination.

Moab is on the southwestern tip of the Colorado Plateau, a unique geological feature that encompasses more than 130,000 square miles of the "four corner" states. I understand the unique attributes of this place very well because I did an honors paper on the Colorado Plateau in college. I actually travelled out there, took soil samples, rock samples and studied the geology and landformations for months.

Without going into detail and really boring you, suffice it to say that the Moab area which was once full of lakes, glaciers and waterfeatures, is now dry - exposing over 2 BILLION years of geological history by virtue of sediment and layering. You can touch and smell earth which existed over 2 billions years ago. Every time we head out there I never come home with less than five pounds of rocks, pods, dirt and sand. And yes - I would leave my favorite pair of Kate Spades in the trash if it meant either the shoes or the rocks gotta go in order to get my suitcase through that scale at the airport! And while I come from "five star" hotel stock (admittedly my family is made up of bunch of hotel snobs - but I love 'em!!) NO HOTELS on this trip. We typically camp for a few days and then head into town and stay in a hotel or at one of my family's places in Aspen or Lake Tahoe. But this time -- we are totally going au naturale. With the jeep Blaise and I can head off the main roads and go up into the mountains or down into the gulches and find a perfect spot out in the middle of nowhere to set up camp where we will stay for one night and move on in an effort to traverse as much terrain as possible. (NOTE TO SELF - remember to hide "unsensible shoes" better this time in suitcase so they don't mysteriously end up "M.I.A." only to find them under Blaise's side of the the bed when we return home.)

In any event - the trip is a few months away so we are now in the planning stages. But I'm one of those wierd people that get almost as much pleasure out of the planning and fantasizing as I do the trip itself. It all comes together as one event for me which is cool because instead of just a 10 day vacation - mine lasts for months.

Finally, and I promise I won't talk about it any more until AFTER it happens -- comes the most important part of the planning. I now have a few months to do a total revamp on my body, health and stamina and I have to get myself into the best shape ever. I really started the first of the year (that was one of those resolutions I wouldn't tell you about .) Well -- I have LOTS of work to do and I've totally changed the way I am eating and exercising to accomplish major health overhaul on my 5'1 (on a good hair day). I've done this two other times in my life - once in my 20's and once in my 30's -- Now that I'm in my (um - this is the hard part) 40's it's time to do it again .

Have a great Sunday. We're off to church - then I'm planting, sewing, reading and baking today. Do something spectacular today and BE INSPIRED!!!

PS - NO that's not us on the vertical incline - it's just some crazy guy - but gives you a good idea of the Extreme Moab - where NOTHING is off limits!

Dear Jane - Chapter I

Well, after auditioning just about every interesting print with contrast I could find (I even cut some up and arranged into blocks) -- I've decided on doing my Dear Jane with this cool Kaffe Fassett print as the tiny sliver of unifying "focus" fabric that I am going to put in every block, with white dimples as the primary fabric and perhaps, and this dotted Mary Engelbreit print and/or this variety of "dimples" in all the colors that complement the Kaffe Fassett print as little punches of color in the blocks. This should make a nice clean yet visually interesting piece.

Here is a link to my favorite fabric designer, Kaffe Fassett. His is a really interesting story -- and his artwork (fabric) is just glorious in every way. He has a way of bombarding colors together that creates a mood of power and passion and in many ways reminds me of Taos and the West - as they are so NOT afraid to combine unlikely colors and elements. Andrea, you may find his story particularly interesting, and Tammy, you may find his fabrics interesting because they are a great springboard for crazy quilting. I have known people who utilize fabrics with patterns such as these (the bold Kaffe Fassett print above) for crazy quilting and for art quilt pieces because the color elements in the fabric lends itself to some fantastic beading - simply by following the design in the fabric. FYI!!

Have a great weekend guys. I think it's going to be a fun weekend because as of now - it looks like the "men" are all going to be out and just the girls at home - which always makes for some partying in the studio!!

I'd love it if you guys would give me a shout as to what you think about alternative fabric selections. Let me hear from all of you because even though you may not work in fiber, and express yourself as a "beader" or a "painter" or "collage artist," your eye for color and texture speaks volumes and I so respect your opinions. I'm not sold on any of these fabrics yet as I plan on playing with this just a bit more before doing any "hard core" cutting. The only thing I'm certain on - is the KF print which will be the focal. Everything else is still up in the air. Let me hear from you - okay??

Tammy LOVES Sunflowers.....

Tammy and I are doing a little private trade and she told me she likes Sunflowers (and cows?) so...... in honor of Sabrina's first place ribbon in her school ( grades K-12) art show - I used her fabulous watercolor piece as inspiration - and created this little folkart piece for Tammy. Since her piece won first place, it now goes on to a larger show with many Christian schools that takes place on March 14th. We'll see how she does. In any event, Tammy will shortly have a reproduction of a first prize winner and maybe a grand prize winner !! I hope she likes it.

Be sure to visit Tammy's blog and check out her folk art crows she stitched. I love them and MUST have one. I don't know what it is but I've gotten into a folkart frenzy -- I am fascinated by it. I guess it reminds me of Ohio - I don't know. But I love it. Click here and I'll take you right over to Tammys to see her crows and her SNOW pictures which always make me homesick!!

Artists LOVE to Share......

I came home after a wonderful weekend to a little brown box in my mailbox -- from Grace. What was in the box, well - take a look. Look at all of these beautiful glass beads and teeny tiny doll form. What to do with these - I have no clue -- but Grace has a tutorial on her blog (along with some stunning beadwork she has done. ) Be sure to check out the doll she made to donate to the "Bead for the Cure" cause here, that is currently holding an auction on e-bay -- she is absolutely stunning. Also check out Grace's blog to see her other beautiful items AND a wonderful beading tutorial. I can't wait to try this -- although I'm not so sure of the outcome - I'm gonna give it a go! I'll be sure to post a picture when I have her finnished. But don't hold your breath -- it's gonna take a while to sew all of those miniscule beads onto that little doll!

We're Back - Safe and Sound.....

Hey Guys!!! It's so nice to be missed. I've gotten lots of e-mail (all of which I will answer shortly) and even some goodies in the mail!!! We had a great time even though the mountain goat (my jeep) has a broken axel (Hmmmmm, I wonder how that happened - I was really, really careful climbing up that huge rocky hill behind the new Super Wallmart they are building - I promise!!!) Anyway - we had to take the Harley and let me tell you -- with 40 degree temps at 60-70 mph which equates to a 30 below windchill factor AT LEAST!! I froze my 1!@#$!@#$ off. But we had a great time - pictures and details to follow.

Anyway, while you are waiting for me to update (I have much to share!!!) which I won't finalize until probably tomorrow, here is the trailer and the soundtrack for a movie that I want you to PROMISE me you will see - and then -- come and talk to me about it. It's one of those stories (it is a TRUE story,) that affected me very deeply -- and made me see things in my own life just a bit differently. Isn't that what great literature is supposed to do??
XO
C~