Being Thankful

The sun was coming from the west and the shadows began to get a bit longer. Then as we stood there chatting, a breeze began setting the fabric strips, each with a message of thankfulness, each brightly colored when originally tied....slightly fluttering.

This is how most of my visit with Val Kamikubo went this week. Peacefully keeping you a place of thankfulness.

Val and I live within 15 minutes of each other, have kids around the same age, and have a love of all things fabric in common, but we had never met before Twitter. Now, we've been tweeps for quite a while and have been able to share in person as well. So, I just had to stop in and visit her 2011 Thankfulness Installation. Starting back in January Val began taking strips of fabrics each day and writing something she was grateful for on the fabric and giving it to the elements.

I really went to experience it for myself, but there were a couple of questions that I found I was curious about. Has having this here made a difference in how you feel? Val shook her head yes, and said it made it hard to remain upset when just a glance made you appreciate all. Do the neighbors think you're crazy? Laughing quietly Val said no, but one friend said she really should have put it out in the front yard. With 10 strips going up each day Val has been working through some of her creative options to do with it all when it was time for it to come down.

Here for you to enjoy are some pictures of Val putting up a strip for the day and pictures of the wall as well. As you take a look at them I suggest two things...

Think about something you are thankful for
& Imagine the breeze just fluttering through all those lovely reminders

A Long Ago Summertime Collection

What was the first thing you started collecting?  I seem to recall trying to collect sand castles...my older sister Sherene was there giving me sage advice on how to build a proper turret, and boy I did love those castles. But, they all were taken away with the waves...this must be the reason I started picking up the shells. A bit of a memory that could be kept in your pocket, taken out later, and bring back the 'feel' of being at the beach.

In the early '80s, while living in Florida my bff, Kathy, and I had wonderful days wandering in the sun and searching out these little plastic charms. No beaches for us, we loved to wander the flea market on Sunday, and these little bits are the memory of those days. It is no wonder that even with a long distance move and what seems like a zillion years I still have these, and boy have they needed a cleaning. Finally this week they got it!
Hope you enjoy these small, funky '80s plastic charms. The necklace has 50 of them.

Anthology Fabrics

One of the benefits of living in Los Angeles is that it is the home to some wonderful businesses....including some incredible fabric manufacturing companies. New on the scene in the last couple of years is Anthology Fabrics. And please don't equate new with a small line of fabrics... anything but can be seen in the showrooms, and website pages of this fabric-maker. Since they first came on the scene I was attracted to the strong colors and intriguing designs, and yesterday I was able to lucky enough to walk through their facilities.

The showroom was amazing. Kind of a room of opposites for besides all the fabrics lined up -- ready to run your hands over and definitely a treat for the eyes, the room was adorned with modern furnishings and spiced up with an old treadle sewing machine and framed batik stamps.

But, I loved walking through the warehouse. Stacks, and stacks of colorful fabric awaiting shipment. So much creative opportunity in one BIG space.

I hope you get a bit of the feel of the place and a little inspiration rubs off from these pictures.

Woolie - Fun

I am home for a bit and taking advantage of some studio time and general home time. Feels great to have all my stuff close at hand so when an idea strikes -- the magic begins. Over the last week I've been working on a new project and incorporating some of the fun new products that I found at the Long Beach Quilt Festival. One of the these was Soft & Stable (wonderful stuff -just right density for bag construction and other fun things, too!).

The project came together quickly so I when I got to one of my favorite steps (making a closure) I had a grand time pulling out a woolie from my stash jar and stitching & beading it up. Here's a few snaps that show the way.

(want to make these little woolie's yourself? wool and kits are available on my website)

Ground Clouds?

love the quiet of the early morning... not a cloud in the sky,
but there were flowers to inspire along the way

The Quilt that Disappeared in the Night

Ok, ok, this might be a bit of an exaggeration. The quilt I'm sharing here is one that was specifically made for the Quilts on the Wall special exhibit - Bridges. When the opportunity first presented itself there was no instant inspiration... and it wasn't until much later (and much closer to the deadline) that the light bulb went off and idea presented itself. I was happy about this for my good friend jo Griffith was overseeing this juried exhibit and had asked me to participate if I could. So, the quilt was made.... the title 'Watch Where You Step' and the piece pleased me, but off it had to go. First to jo, who then handled working with the jurors and hanging crew until it finally appeared at the Long Beach Quilt Festival this past weekend.

I was all excited, seeing the piece once again after abandoning it at such an early age. Excited, too that I was going to get to have it back -- I even made a special place for it to hang at the front of my home, but I must have skipped over the part that it was to be traveling. I really thought this was a one time deal -- oh, well, it will come home eventually. The picture below is of jo, who is such a great handler of all us quilt artists and an amazing promoter of us all. I could not help snapping this as she wisked away the quilt(s). Thank you jo.... for ALL you do!

And, thank you all for listening to me wine a bit, but I think anyone can understand wanting just to get back a piece of artwork you let go of way too early. Hope you enjoy seeing it here, and seeing jo in the second photo wisking it away to be packed up and sent on to... I think the next stop is in PA.