Snowed in, and happy!

It snowed all day yesterday. We have around 10" of snow with ice on top. It was gray, cold and nasty. Perfect to dye fabric! My son had 2 t-shirts for me to dye so I roped him in to assist. I dyed his shirts as well as about 7 yards of fabric. Part of the fabric is a really nice, soft, fine muslin; the other was an old cotton bed sheet. The results! Oh yeah, LOVE IT !

Today the sun is out and the snow is bright and great to show my colors. I do need to dye some greens, just didn't have enough jars to do that yesterday.


This is my most favorite piece from yesterday:

I love how the red and yellow blended and it looks alive and happy!

I also really like this piece. I just used my brown and golden yellow dyes, wadded up the fabric and let the magic happen!


These pieces have inspired me. I have sketched my next 2 art quilts and now just need to get them done. I have started one of my Christmas quilts, so I will get it pieced first.


As info, I dyed all these by the method for low-water immersion dyeing in "Color By Accident" by Ann Johnston. I didn't use her color color recipes, but did use her process.

The view from my front door...

Well, the weather forecasters got it right this week!

They called for the winter storm to make its way to us, and it did! Looks like we have around 6" with something cold and fine still falling. It started about 7 last night while we were at our opening reception. since it had been forecast, we did not have high hopes for many people to come, but we were pleasantly surprised and had about 20 hardy, quilt-loving souls that came. We really enjoyed talking to all these people and I actually sold a wall-quilt! I do have to give a special shout-out to these loving friendly people of Stokes County, they have been so very warm and welcoming since my husband started working there a year ago, and it seems to me, we are all just getting closer and building such wonderful relationships! It is so great to feel wanted!

An update on my Dad, he sees the cardiologist on Tuesday for a Stress Test (as if he weren't under enough stress as it is!). We are praying that they can then reschedule the brain surgery to remove his tumor very quickly. His vision is blurring more and we have noticed the timbre of his voice changing, but that could be the result of the ringing in his ears affecting the way he hears himself. We really do appreciate your prayers and thoughts for him.

On to quilting stuff! since I haven't been in the studio much, I thought I could tell you what I learned from this first exhibit experience! Here it is: sew your sleeves in the back (there are so many tutorials on that here in blogland, just Google "quilt sleeves" and you will get great advice!); we used i" x 2" furring strips from the local lumber store, we cut them to fit each quilt. These strips are pine and come in lengths of 6 ft, 8 ft, etc. We then placed an eye-bolt (available on the hardware aisle) into each end. We used the ones that were about and inch long. You do not need a super large size, they will not fit on the museum hooks. I would also advise taking a bag of stuff with you "just in case"! 
This should include:
Extra eye-hooks, masking tape, scissors, needle and thread, straight pins (for the ID and/or price tags), wire and wire cutters (in case your eye hooks won't fit), a pen and your business cards. I took most of these items (except the eye hooks, wire and wire cutters, guess what we needed?) and we ended up using all of them!

We committed to another show next year, so I need to get busy! Piece On!

Hangin' Quilts

So January has been jam-packed for my family and me. I taught my first Free-motion class, so I had to prepare; my husband put on a first-ever multi-business event which I assisted; our son has had a full battery of allergy tests and is allergic to everything (well, duh); my father is facing surgery for a brain tumor, which had to be postponed today due to a newly-discovered heart problem (no stress or worrying here, folks!); my mom and I are having our very first ever joint quilt show, which we hung today. Yes, it has been quite tense in my little part of the world. I haven't gotten in as much sewing as I would have liked, but I have been involved in related activities! And now, our quilt show is hung, the opening reception is scheduled for Friday night (if we do not get snowed out), my father's surgery is in limbo, and my son is going on allergy therapy. But, one thing at a time, one day at a time (to borrow a sports cliche). The quilts look fabulous and I am so excited for this opportunity. Here is your own, private personal tour: 

As you walk in the door, you see my quilts "Wonder", then "Sunset Rendezvous". On the back wall is my mom's hand-quilted and appliqued "Anna's Blue Baskets":

Turn to the right and see my "Bali Masks", "Citron View" and mom's "Kelly's New York Beauty" (yep, she made this one for me!) Mom is good!

 

Then on the large wall, you will see (from right to left) mom's "Radiant Sunset", my "Perception Supernova" and mom's "Starlight Starbright" (I told you my mom is good!)

On the back wall of this section you see the rest of mom's "Starlight Starbright" and my "Perception Change".

It is a neat space, the building used to be a bank! The show is at the Stokes County Arts Council's "Apple Gallery" at 300 Main Street in Danbury, NC and runs from now through February 23. The gallery is open Monday-Friday, 8:30am-5:00pm. 


Please keep my dad in your thoughts and prayers. Thanks!

Design Wall Monday

It rained here so much yesterday and last night, that we started looking for an ark! We had 4" of rain! It was dull. drab and gray all day, but the deluge geared up after dark. So what was I to do? Quilt, of course! Or in this case, piece! Since I had finished Penumbra, I wanted to do something a little smaller and quicker. And I had ordered fabric from Connecting Threads and it had arrived Saturday, so I had a new collection of FQs to play with. This was the first time I had ordered from them and I was very pleased! The fabric has a great hand, the colors are bright and the collection I purchased, Cheep Talk" is just too cute! So I began a baby quilt. (soory it is blurry, I will take a better shot once it it complete!)

I have a friend who expecting this summer. She doesn't know the sex, and wants to wait, so I thought this group would be fun for either boy or girl!
I love the little birds:

I also ordered several 4 yard cuts to use for backings. They have a group of fabrics on sale for $2.96/yd! Plus free shipping on orders over $50. I ordered Monday afternoon and received on Saturday! Nice to discover a new source. 

First Completion of 2010

Feels good to have a completion! I started this on December 26, and just finished the binding today! I call it: Penumbra.

This is my first "circle" quilt and 1 I can check off my 2010 goals list. I received the templates for this block from my quilting professor friend, Layne. She gave me the 7" and the 3 1/2" templates. It was challenging, I did quite a bit of unsewing, but I learned a lot and I am thrilled with the results! This quilt measures 62" x 68", most of the fabrics are from the Arcadia collection from Moda, but I did use a hand dye (the solid turquoise) and my favorite Amy Butler Orange Dots. The back is dark brown with white polka dots that I found on sale.

I used this as my demo piece in my Free-motion class last weekend. I stitched it in an undulating Asian-inspired design. This stitch pattern seems easier than the stipple to me and my students thought so as well. I used YLI machine quilting thread in "Sticks and Stones". This is my second quilt with this color, I love it, it is a great blend of light, medium and dark neutrals that complements a variety of colors.


I am keeping this one!