Latest News

Summertime! I am going strong on my many projects: working on the second draft of my novel (YAY!), making art for my NCWCA  Art Tag group adventure. This round’s theme is Germination. I’m also co-facilitating a 12 x 12 group with a couple months to go.

I hope you are enjoying your summer and whatever you are passionate about whether that is making things, writing, photographing, blogging or just being happy to be alive. You deserve to have the life you want. Make it happen! What have you got to lose?

If you are considering hiring me to finish your project or restore your quilt, be sure to check out the discount page at the right. I look forward to meeting you and discussing your project.

Beginning the New Year

It’s been too long since I’ve posted. I’m glad that2014 has passed. It was a somewhat difficult year in spite of the fact that I had some good things happen.  including my renewed interest in writing a novel and a year-long commitment to making 12 pieces of art in a 12” x 12” format. (Probably the main reason I have been so remiss in blogging.) I hope to correct that this year. More blogging, more art= more happiness!

Here is a photo of a piece for the 12″ x 12″ challenge.

Map

 

Mixed Media Stitch Finalist!

Before I injured my back, I made a piece for the Cloth Paper Scissors “Mixed-Media Stitch” challenge.  I found out yesterday that I am one of the finalists.! I will send in my entry and, hopefully will be included in an upcoming issue of CPS magazine.  This really was an uplifting piece of news.  This piece represents the healing I have been doing over the past year.  I am not finished yet, but my heart is healing.  I used a quilted practice piece, folded tea bags, embroidery, a gold Lumiere paint wash and a cardboard heart with glued-on eggshells colored with Adirondack Alcohol Inks. the twig is coriander painted red.  I enjoyed creating this piece and look forward to doing more eggshell mosaic art pieces.

My Healing Heart

My Healing Heart Closeup

May

Where is the year going?  It’s May already and I have missed posting here.  I have had a lot on my plate as many of you know.  There are some good things happening, though.  I have completed an art challenge and have finished and delivered my quilt to the Berkeley Public Library for their yearly quilt show.  Can’t wait to see it hanging.  Here is a picture of the challenge piece.  The box was found in the recycling bin, also found were the hoop earring, the chain, the washer and the small hanging object.  My saved, embossed needle threaders that had lost the threader part complete the piece.  I save all kinds of odd bits and pieces.  They are all art materials to me.

Trash into Treasures ALN Challenge

I will show a picture of the Lotus quilt later.  I still have to take it off my camera.  The snapshot will have to do until I put up my new design wall.  I hope to construct it in the next week or so.

What projects are you working on?  Leave me a comment!  I enjoy hearing from you.

Just Thinking

I have been hard at work finishing quilt projects and working on my library show quilts.  Tax time is upon me and I have not finished yet!  Yikes!   I have also spent a lot of time dealing with my DH’s appointments in the last few weeks.  The good news it that everything is stable and his vena cava is open; patent (long ‘a’ vowel sound) as his oncologist put it.  However his sub clavicles are still occluded. So, blood thinners are still needed.  At least his hair is growing back.

I am so done with all the health care issues.  Because he is disabled, he still qualifies for MediCal.  There is a new program we just found out about that will help reduce the over 1K/month in share of cost he is expected to pay.  This is prohibitively expensive.  We found out that MediCal only looks at income, not expenses when making their determination. Had we been able to pay just a bit more, we never would have had to give up our Kaiser coverage!  As for me, for the first time since my early 20’s I am without health insurance.  There is a  county program for low income people, however I make too much money.  I would have to gross half of my average monthly income from my business to qualify.  I don’t meet any of the  criteria for other programs such as Major Risk Medical Insurance Program or Pre-existing Condition Insurance, for example.   I had better stay healthy until I am 65, if Medicare is still around, that is!

Sorry about the ranting.  I just had to get it out.  There are undoubtedly many other people who are worse off than I am.  I am thankful for what I do have.  I am thankful that my husband is surviving his ordeal.  I am thankful for my creativity and my perseverance in believing that I can make my art in spite of everything that challenges me and gets in the way.  My friends and family have been my support in this difficult time.  Tomorrow will be a better day.

I will have new posts with pictures of challenges, photos I have taken and other art work soon.  Please check out the April Special if you have a quilt to be quilted or a restoration.

New Quilting System

For the past couple of days I have been experimenting with a new quilting system given to me by a dear friend, the Flynn Multi-System .  This configuration allows me to quilt 45″ wide quilts without having to pin them using my domestic machine.  I am limited to about 6″ or so of quilting space which will work as long as I don’t have large quilting motifs to quilt.  As I get more proficient with this new “toy,”  I may get longer Electrical Metal Conduit so that I can work on larger quilts. Of course,  I would love to own a long arm machine.  Maybe someday!

It feels good to be spending more time in the studio.  I am also working on my ALN challenge: Trash into Treasures.  The rule for this one  is using all found or thrown away materials.  I like to call it all detritus.

Take a look at the March Special to your right.  I’ve also added a page called Quilt Preparation Guidelines that should answer some general questions you might have.

My Last Cup of Tea

My Last Cup of Tea

This is my last image from the “My Cup of Tea” ALN challenge.  In this one I used the Curves adjustment to change the colors.  It is quite striking.  I have been enjoying my adventures in Photoshop.  I have also been creating some textures of my own and used the one I made from gluing my dried tea bags to watercolor paper on this photo as well.  I believe that I am ready to move on to other photos.  Four manipulations of this image is quite enough.

Next up is the October ALN challenge, Dia de Los Muertos… Day of the Dead.

Another Cup of Tea

My Cup of Tea, Textured

Here’s another manipulation of the original “My cup of Tea” photo.  I used a free texture from Kim Klassen and had a lot of fun with it. Scroll down to compare this image with the original.  I have one more manipulation to post and then I am on to other things.  Today’s post is short, I know!  I need to get back to work after doing nothing for a few days.

Anniversary

It has been one year since I started this blog!  I can’t believe it.  I know that I could post more often and that is a goal of mine for the second year.  I like the fact that my posts are varied, although, I don’t know if that is the best approach.  I see a lot of blogs that are very focused on one thing.  I find that my interests are so many, I don’t want to limit myself.  Perhaps some day I will create a blog that is dedicated to quilting, or making artist’s books, or painting, photography, etc.  Sounds like I would need more than one!  For right now, I will continue to make my blog a place where I can jot down my thoughts, show my latest work, or pictures of my grand kids.

Here is the first manipulated photo for the ALN “My Cup of Tea” challenge.  I used  a “vintage-look” Photoshop recipe from Kim Klassen.  It is the first one I tried and the one I had the “Aha” moment with enabling me to create the effects that Kim gets seemingly so effortlessly.

Vintage, My Cup of Tea

My Cup of Tea

Unedited Challenge Photo - My Cup of Tea

Well, I have made a good start on the next  ALN challenge :  My Cup of Tea.  In fact, I have edited the photo in Photoshop and will be posting the three  images that have resulted over the next few weeks.  I got some great information from photographer  Kim Klassen’s blog and found out how to edit my pictures and also use textures that she makes for great effects.  I will post a link when I can get it, which I can’t right now while I am composing this post, evidently.  I should have thought of that before I started this post!  In any case, she is a wonderful person who generously helped me through a problem I had due to the fact that I have an older copy of Photoshop.  She gives away awesome textures; just sign up for them.  Check it out!