Eye on the Prize

It seems I'm getting all my blogging done today, along with all the other little odds and ends that pile up on my to do list.

I have been getting a little time in my studio here and there, so this is my latest completed work.

I called it Eye on the Prize because it does sort of look like an eye to me, but also because "keep your eye on the prize" is a phrase I often repeat to myself when I'm have a difficult or discouraging day. The prize, of course, is living a joyful life doing the things I love and being with the people I love.

If you've been following my blog you might recognize that this was one of the pieces that I started in the Nancy Crow workshop that I took last year. I had been in such a rush to complete the top at the workshop that I had just randomly sewn some sections together, but I had never been quite satisfied with them. It hung on my design wall for a long time while I glared at it, trying to figure out how to fix it.

I finally just took all the sections apart, found more unused sections, and more of the left over fabric and then rearranged and reconfigured the pieces. I am much happier with this new version.

Another new technique I used with this piece was to face the edges instead of using my usual narrow binding. I didn't want a binding to detract from the composition.

While I was out photographing this piece I figured I might as well snap a couple of shots of some older quilts that I somehow never took pictures of.

This first one is called Color Blocks 1 (obviously, I meant to do more - still might!) It is a take on the graphics used on the cigar band of a Cohiba Cuban cigar.

The blocks are joined by zippers. This is so that you could rearrange the composition and zip it back together. Another idea that I meant to explore more. Color Block is hanging in Room 14 in the carriage house.

This next one is called Card Trick. This is not the best of photos because the wall is showing, but I wanted to take a quick shot in case it sold before I got any photos!

It is currently hanging in upstairs hall of the carriage house (next to the McKnight).

My next task is to get these up on my website. Maybe tomorrow. ;-)

February and March Landscapes

I finally finished the two landscapes that I was working on.

This is the March landscape and the one below is February.

It is always interesting to look at the pieces as photographs. For some reason I always see an aspect of the piece that I had not noticed while I was working on it. Maybe it is because the photograph puts some "distance" on the piece and while I'm working on it, it is too much "in-my-face" to notice some details.

In any case, I am happy they are done. Both are 15" x 15".

Gardening in My Mind

My daughter just posted on Facebook all of the things that she just planted in her garden in California. I just had to sigh. Yes, I do miss the good practically-year-round gardening weather in California.

It is not quite warm enough to start planting here in upstate NY, still might get a cold night. But even when it warms, I think I'll have to pass on the new and just work with what we have at the moment.

But I can garden in my mind. Jackson and Perkins is tempting me with their 2009 roses. Here is a beautiful example:

The Summer of Love Hybrid Tea Rose. So appropriate because we are close to Woodstock!

I think this would be a good image to work with when doing a color impression quilt. Maybe that will be my next project.

I'm almost finished with the landscape pieces. Still doing the final edges and hanging sleeve for the back.

We have a little break between workshops, so hopefully I'll get some studio time. The next one starts April 30th, although we do have an art therapy group coming in this next weekend for their group retreat. They even hired a yoga instructor for one day!

Forget About Coloring Easter Eggs!

Here is what I colored for Easter!

In case, you've never met me -- red is not what I was born with. But I always wanted to give it a try since my brown hair did have natural red highlights.

I needed to brighten up my day, week, whatever. Maybe I miss coloring easter eggs! ;-) Good thing my hairdresser didn't have any blue, pink, or purple dyes!

Counting Sheep

Yesterday I was feeling a bit low, probably from lack of sleep, so I started counting sheep.

After dinner I was browsing the internet after a search on "wool sheep" and "how to raise sheep". Yes, I know this is crazy, but I was to tired to think straight! ;-)

There are lots of interesting sheep varieties and the wool on the wool varieties certainly looks fine and soft. Hmm. Maybe a couple of sheep would look nice on the "back forty" (really the back 4)! Yeah, right! Like I need another job.

Well it is fun to dream.

I'm almost finished with two more landscape quilts. Just need the finishing edge. I was going to call it quits with this series, but then what happens . . . I go outside and start looking at the trees and think . . . Hmm, there is more that I can do to improve this series. Sigh, it never ends. Thank goodness!!

More Progress on Landscapes

I got a quick shot of one of the landscapes that I'm working on. This is after I added the trees. I like that the pinkish fabric in back of the trees gives it a different "feel" than my previous winter landscape.

I'm still working on the trees in the next of this series. But I've come down with a miserable Spring cold and don't feel like doing anything in my studio. Maybe in a couple of days.

Being Drawn Out

Every time I see an artist who is fine and talented at drawing, I resolve spend more time drawing. Of course, I've also resolved to start practicing the clarinet again and to learn to speak the Spanish of my father, but thats gotten no where either. But I guess I don't have to beat myself up over it. It's ok to keep resolving. Certainly if I give up resolving it will absolutely never happen.

So I resolve to spend more time in my studio this year.

Yesterday I spent some time on the landscapes that I started. I didn't get any pictures, but I did make some good progress. The trees are finished on one of them and I'm in the middle of the second one. I'm debating about using a ink to add the hints of budding leaves. Our Maple trees have red buds and the Lilac are green. I was also considering using beads. I'll have to see which works best.

What's in The Works

A discussion came up on the Quiltart list about "what's on your wall". My design wall doesn't usually have my current project but more likely the project that I am waiting for inspiration. When I get stuck I hang the thing up so that I can stare at it for a while and sometimes I'll get ideas for it while working on something up.

So here is the state of my design wall at the moment. The red/blue/white piece is from the Nancy Crow workshop of last year. I have some ideas for it, but it will have to wait until I'm done with my current work. On the bottom is the latest of my winter landscape series. Above the and partially hidden is a piece called Winter Leaves II. It's waiting for a frame.

Then above that is my drawing/pattern for rabbit to be used in the future and a photo of the harbor scene that I used for my Kingston Festival piece.

Here is the real design "wall" - the table next to my sewing machine.

I'm working on two more winter landscapes. I've completed the backgrounds and now they are ready for trees.

This one is sort of a February/March landscape as I've added some more pinkish color to the landscape.

Then this one is moving more towards Spring. I used some light greens in the foreground.

And while I'm giving a tour of my studio, I might as well show you my inspiration bulletin board.

Ok, so it is not so much just an inspiration board as a collection of stuff!

On the knitting front, I'm working on another sweater. This one is using a wool/cotton blend yarn. Nice and soft and fun to knit. Really shows the pattern. It is the back of the sweater.

And, of course, I always have some socks going. These are in a wonderfully soft alpaca yarn from Misti Alpaca. Love these cool blues and greens.

On something totally un-fiber related, Mark finally had his bonfire last night. I don't see the attraction of setting things on fire and watching it burn on a cold cold night, but it did create this one interesting design. Doesn't it look sort of like a horse in the flames?

How Could You Go Wrong with a Blue Rabbit

I am trying out a new blogging application called Blogo and their logo is a blue rabbit! It is suppose to be super simple to use and you don't need to be in a browser to create blog posts.

You can also just drag and drop photos to the blog from anywhere on your computer, and then drag them around in the blog post until they are where you want them to be. Cool. Here is my test pic. This is Mark and I on our wedding day - we eloped to Reno! That was in 1992.

It also lets you crop the photos in blogo.

More winter landscapes

I just finished another version of my winter landscape. This is fun! The title is "Upon Another Winter's Day".



This one is 15" x 15". I used more fabric variations and tried to represent different types of trees. After making the first one I had noticed the maple trees that I can see outside my studio window and saw that all of their major branches started down low and reached all the way to the top. I thought I had really blown it with the way I did the trees on the first piece! But then I noticed the trees outside of Mark's office window (which is where we keep the espresso machine - my first stop in the morning after taking the dogs out for a quick walk) and saw that their branching structure was very much like the trees in the first landscape.

I have more ideas for variations on this theme, so I can't want to have some more time in my studio.

But at the moment I am tackling (yes, I watched the Super Bowl - yaa, Steelers!) the task of sorting and organizing our attic storage area. Boxes are still in there that have been untouched since being put there by the moving company - 5 years ago! I'm trying to eliminate as much stuff as possible. I already posted the first batch of stuff on eBay today (my seller id is kimiscbd). Sorry, no fiber art related stuff yet, but I'm sure there will be before I'm done.

Creative Thaw

While the snow and ice hasn't thawed, I finally got a moment in my studio! Thank goodness for deadlines or I might not have made it back in the studio until Spring (or at least after chocolate season).

I had promised to create a piece for the Studio Art Quilt Associates (New York branch) Trunk show and I was already late! So looking around my environment for inspiration, I recalled the winter landscape I had enjoyed on the way home from Albany last week. I was marveling at the slight pinkish tinge to the sky, just at the edge of the tree top line, that turned to bright blue as it went further up in the sky.



I call it "Upon a Winter Day". It is 12" x 12" and after its run in the trunk show, it will be donated to the SAQA auction in November.

I used a rotary pinker to cut out all the elements, because I didn't want a hard sharp edge between fabrics, and then stitched them in place. The trunks of the trees are strips of fabric, but the rest of tree is thread painted.

Had such fun creating this that I'm itching to make some more based on the same theme.

A Creative Freeze

Ok, so it has been cold here lately, but I exaggerate about the complete freeze of creativity. It is true that I haven't had the time or motivation to do anything fabric art-wise, but I have been knitting, sewing curtains, sewing chocolate show display booth table covers, photographing new chocolate creations! Of course, the only thing creative/artistic in this list is the photographing.

My husband/chocolatier has been creating some new vegan confections (due to popular demand) and he has discovered that I take more creative photographs of the finished product.

If you check out the Life By Chocolates website, you'll start to see more of the product pictures featuring fabric backgrounds and maybe some other fiber art materials!

The next two photos are of our chocolate bars. The first one has the bar resting on some gold raffia ribbon that I have used as a binding material on some of my art quilts.



This next pictures has the chocolate bars resting on a couple of spools of Superior Threads Rainbow thread. I love this thread and the colors go great with dark chocolate!



This next pic is of the new Vegan Tea Set truffles (tea-infused dark chocolate). I have them sitting on top of a ceramic cat that I bought on a Brownie fieldtrip to San Francisco many moons ago (when I was of the age to be in the Girl Scout Brownies!)



Here is my knitting chair-warmer! Bree, a 80 pound Rhodisian Ridgeback, thinks that she fits just fine curled up behind me on this wingback chair. I don't think this is helping my knitting, but at least my back is warm.



We also had a nice long visit from my daughter, Adina, over the Thanksgiving holidays. We made our annual trek to Webs yarn store in Northampton, MA and managed to load up on more yarn no matter how hard we resisted. The shopping spree was Adina's birthday present from us.



I'm crossing my fingers that I get a change to get back in my studio before too long.

Glacier Park in Montana

I never get tired of going to Glacier Park. I think this is the 3rd or 4th time. If I could have a home in one other place it would be in Montana. It suits me like a snap button shirt and John Deere boots. ;-)

Here is Adina at the edge of Lake McDonald.



The water was crystal clear. These pebbles are under water.



We were there on a calm day so the reflections in the lake were stunning. I could sit and glaze at this view all day.



This is on the way up to the summit.



We were lucky that on the day we visited the "Going to the Sun Road" was at least open as far as the Logan's Pass visitor's center. They were started to prepare the road for the annual winter closing and this road is now closed (as I just saw on the park website.)



This was shot at Logan's Pass, where there was a bit of snow on the ground and quite breezy. We would have explored for a while up there, but it looked like rain was on the way, so we drove back down to Whitefish for a nice dinner lakeside and then returned to our inn for an evening of knitting.



The next morning we got up early again and headed back to Seattle to catch our flights home the day after that. Of course, we had to stop at Paradise Fibers in Spokane on the way back.

This vacation was way too short and since I got home to pure chaos, it seemed like a distant memory the second I got to the inn. Sigh. I love being home, but I am looking forward to our next mother-daughter adventure!

On Sunday, I'm giving a lecture for the Hands Across the Valley Quilt Guild in Amherst, MA -- close to my favorite yarn store. But I'll resist a quick stop over because Adina will be coming for a visit for Thanksgiving and a trip to Webs Yarn is sort of an annual tradition.

The last workshop at the inn is next weekend (with Larkin Van Horn -- there is still room in the class for any of you last minute sign up type people!) and then I'm hoping to finally get back in my studio.

Bound for Montana

We were on the road to Montana at the crack of dawn. Not even the local coffee shop was open yet! I had to be content with a little chocolate for a caffine fix.

We took the ferry back to the main land and had smooth sailing from there on. It was funny the way the GPS system kept insisting we return to the road while we were in the middle of the water.

We drove straight through to Spokane - our first destination. We just had to stop at Paradise Fibers, a yarn shop I had discovered when I was searching for some Chunky Misty Alpaca (a fabulous soft and thick yarn) on the internet. Too bad I forgot to take a picture, but this shop was located in back of an adult "book" store! It wasn't in the same shop, but in the building behind. It was a very unassuming front door as it looked like the back to a warehouse -- which it sort of was -- a warehouse of yarn! Once you were through the door you were immediately in yarn paradise. Both Adina and I dropped some cash at this place. The people who worked there were very helpful and friendly and gave a great tip of a place to have lunch. Again, my memory fails me, but was within 10 minutes of the shop and had delicious food and great mint lemonades.

This is a shot from the Wild Horse monument, looking away from the momument and back in the direction we had come.



Here is Adina, with the horse monument in the distant background on top of the hill. I know it is hard to see in the photo, but it was composed of a "herd" of horse silhouettes. A marvel sight!



Finally we arrived in Montana. We got there probably between 8 and 9 at night. Whew, that was one long drive. Our lodging was at the Hidden Moose Lodge in Whitefish. We immediately when to our room and went to bed.



Our room was on the left hand corner, right where the walkway is leading.



We were going to be in Montana for two full days, so we decided the the first day was going to be devoted to exploring the town and shopping! We made a good haul. (No, Nordstroms is not in Whitefish! That was from Seattle.) Adina was being good and buy mostly Christmas presents. (She is so organized!)



I bought myself some John Deere cowboy boots! It's been a very long time since I bought cowboy boots and I was pleasantly surprized to find that they now came in a round toed style! My feet can't take the pointy toed ones any more. But these were very comfortable. I got the John Deere colors only because it was the most practical color choices for wearing around the inn and our crazy dogs -- besides I like green. There was a very pretty patchwork boot, but I was afraid the dogs would scratch them up in no time.



I also got several long sleeve shirts, including a flannel one with snap buttons! I love snap buttons. I use to make my own snap button western shirts. (I wonder what happened to them?)



I can't remember the last time I actual bought clothes for myself. It was wonderful fun, especially shopping with Adina!

So that was our shopping Montana day. The second day was our touring day when we drove to Glacier Park.

Whidbey Island and the Four Sisters

The story continues . . .

Before leaving downtown Seattle, we, of course, had to visit the flagship store of Nordstroms to visit the shoe department. Adina found a few things to try on (not shoes) and so we saw the very elegant dressing rooms!



After our shopping, we had lunch at a wine bar. I forget the name of it, but Adina is making a face (just for fun) because she hadn't wanted to come in the place because it was a wine bar! But it turned out to be an excellent place for lunch (even if you don't like wine.)



Then it was off to Whidbey Island. It was fun to take the car ferry - something I hadn't done since I lived in PA.

This is the view from the front door of the Saratoga Inn on Whidbey Island. It is owned by the Four Sisters, Inc. The name of the company was part of the reason I choose it as a place to stay! It was a lovely inn and the staff was very friendly and helpful. They even packed us a nice bag breakfast on the day we left because we left at 6:30am.



Here is Adina on the front porch.



The first day we walked around the town of Langley, which is where the inn is located. It was a very quaint town with beautiful views of the sound. We even found a yarn shop. That evening we found a fabulous little restaurant, Prima Bistro, for dinner and discover that they had my favorite - sweetbreads - as an appetizer. That settled it - we came back the next night, too! Everything was delicious.

The second day we drove around the island, stopping in Coupeville for lunch and also discovering the small shop that was used in the movie Practical Magic. We drove up the island as far as Oak Harbor -- mainly because I had forgotten to bring my camera battery charger and had to get to a camera shop where I can get a replacement!

On the way back down to Langley and the inn, we found a great little pottery shop and discovered that they were also having a fiber art exhibit! So Adina bought a nice set of mugs and I admired the fiber art of Janet Steadman. Beautiful work!

This is a picture of the sunrise as we left on Tuesday morning at the crack of dawn.



So began our 10 hour drive to Whitefish, MT.

The Silence is Broken

Wow, its been close to 2 months since I last posted anything. I still haven't had any art time, but I thought I'd pipe up and let you know that I haven't disappeared under a pile of leaves. (I've been raking leaves for quite a while and most of them are still on the trees!)

In the last two months I may not have had any art time, but I did get away for a wonder week vacation with my daughter in Seattle and Whitefish, MT. It ended too soon. I'll be posted pictures and such from this vacation, for the benefit of family members who have been asking to see pictures for weeks! Then I'll get back to the fiber art stuff.

Here is the happy adventurers at the start of the trip.



Our first night was at the Sheraton in downtown Seattle. Adina arrived in the afternoon and I arrived in the evening. We picked a downtown hotel for our first night so that we could walk to the Pikes Market the next morning.

The vast colorful array of fruits and vegetables did, I admit, make me long for the long growing season of the west coast -- just a bit.



Adina took lots of pictures of the displays, too.



Lots of displays of seafood, too.



We had breakfast in a little cafe with a great view of the harbor and then continued walking around the market vendors. We came upon the very first Starbucks location. There was this cool 4 person band playing out front.



Here is the inside of the Starbucks. The line was long but we had to get a latte, just to say that we had. ;-)



We did find a nice yarn shop in the area and I bought some yarn. Unfortunately, I know forget the name of the shop! But it was within walking distance of Pikes Market.

On the way back to the hotel to pick up our car, I saw this street scene and had to capture it. It reminds me of the architectural drawings of my father.



From Seattle we drove to Whidbey Island, where we'd stay for the next two nights.

Time to Play At Last

I was lucky to have the time last week to join the workshop taught by Lesley Riley here at the inn. Who knew roofing material could be such fun! I'm talking about Lutradur a synthetic fabric-like material that can be painted, stitched, stamped, cut, burned, heated, and transferred onto.

Here is the mixed media book that I started in the class. Still a lot to do to finish it, but it was great playing with the image transfers and the Lutradur. I'm definitely going to have get me some more of that stuff!



I also finished hanging/setting up the exhibit we're having at the inn of work by the Califoria Fiber Artists. I have posted pics of exhibit on our inn blog. So check it out.

Fiber Art / Quilt Art Workshops for 2009

I must be on a website update roll. I just finished updating our website for the Hudson River Valley Art Quilt Workshops with all of the information about our 2009 workshops.

Two down, two more to go.

Finally Some Web Progress

I'm finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. I have uploaded my updated website and now have pictures of my newer work and also more importantly, information about the workshop I am teaching this year!

I still have to do some more tweaking and update the "What's New" page (I don't know why I left that for the last, but I did.)

We are between workshops today and the sun is shining. It looks like a beautiful day to work in the garden, and since I just repaired the garden cart I should start doing some much needed trimming, but my back is hurting like crazy. So maybe I'll use that as an excuse to spend this glorious day in my studio!

Still Laboring on My Site

It is an endless process managing a website. Just when you think you're nearing the end you discover that there are updates to be made on your updates.

Today I worked on updating/creating the second level gallery pages. I added small image versions of all the new work (or older work that I finally had photographs of). While in the midst of this I realized that I needed to update my art catalog datebase with all of the new work so I would then have the detail at hand to update the website, with things such as size and price. So now I have to tackle that project.

Next I'll have to create the detail pages for all of the images. This is the page that shows a large version of the image and other information about the specific work. Gads, I could spend weeks on this.

So I've had no time in my studio lately, which make me long for winter. Here's picture of what I'm talkin' about!



I'm going to have to do a winter quilt one of these days. I'll have to start collecting white/grey fabrics.

So to keep myself from going innsane (not a mispelling ;-) I've been knitting (mostly socks) during the few short moments when I can keep my eyes open before going to bed.

I know this not exactly exciting blog commentary but it's all I've got for the moment.