2011 Holiday Open Studio - Coming Up Quick!

I'm happily heading back into the studio after a wonderful
Thanksgiving break...
What's Next?
Getting ready for my Holiday Open Studio.
Hope you're close enough to stop by!

What ever became of winter

This past week, like everyone else here in the US, I've been busy with family, friends and of course food. My big contribution to our TG festivities was pumpkin pies...having mastered the family recipe people just drop off their pie plates for filling. Six pies later, and an email picture sent off to my sister in Hong Kong for holidays, I was done.

I even had a few minutes to put my mom to work pinning 'winter'...


She's headed home today...and I'll be picking out yarns to begin the couching.
...just in case you've not had enough pie here's a bit more!

Oh, Thank Cuteness:

When I saw this little project I was immediately entranced. I love seeing all the pictures of the cuties around us and what a perfect time of year to to say thank you for all the cuteness.

With that said I immediately set out to think of all the cuteness I could possible share. Hmmmmm.
I've got a couple of really cute - troublemaker, cats: but Edgar and Nikki in all their cuteness barely tolerate having their pictures taken. This said I was reminded of another 'once' cute -- now, wouldn't dare call him cutie, soul who just barely tolerated his mom taking a picture character.

The picture I'm sharing is of my son, Aragorn.... once this young man who was tolerating his mom's request for a clown photo. I had to pull this off the wall above my desk and scan it --- yes, this tells you a bit about it's age.

He has always hated this photo, and though he is now a grown man, with home and family of his own he will always be my cutie.

Winter - Next Beginning

this was the stack that awaited me on Saturday morning....

A quilter friend of mine who spent many a day helping me stitch up projects for my new book made the comment that she now understood how getting the top done was really just the beginning of what was to come.

Well, she is right. With the quilt top done, for me, the fun begins.
But to get you caught up.
Yesterday started with a pile of pieces and ended with a finished quilt top.
Today that top is hanging and all sorts of things are being contemplated as I go forward.

this was my last piece..
and, notice I use masking take instead of pins on the freezer paper

no room for a great picture of the quilt top, but I think you get the idea

Now, I have to go find some batting.....

and, start picking out yarns for the couching. Hmmm.
Happy Sunday!

Winter - Beginnings

The raven in my winter quilt is happily
sliding down the hillside in his plastic saucer.
Here are the initial drawings,
the pattern blown up,
and a stack of raven-like fabrics.
Now, I'm ready to start piecing it all together!

Is it Winter Yet?

With my batteries re-charged I dove into my next project. This is the last of the seasons quilts that have been traveling over the last several years in an invitational exhibit called Noble Seasons. Personally, I chose early on that each of my season quilts would be the same size, and each would be a place where ravens could fly. And, the idea for my winter piece has been percolating all year....

I got a great start and will be sharing the day-to-days of creating winter, but I thought I would share my earlier seasonal contributions today.

Spring - It's In the Air

Summer - Bounding Thru the Woods

Fall - A'Maizing

If you have a chance the exhibit of Noble Seasons - Fall
are hanging at the Soft Expressions Quilt Gallery -- Anaheim, CA

Battery Re-Charge

I love my small Nikkon camera but over the last month or so it has been giving me grief. Never holding a charge and dying just when I needed to take a picture of this or that during my 'book' phase. This all ended this morning as a new battery (finally purchased) was slid into the charger. I was hoping for a quick charge to get my camera behaving before setting out for a bit of recharge for myself. And, voila! This new little beauty charged in record time and I was off.

My own personal re-charge started when I picked up my friend and fellow quilt teacher, Susan Carlson, for a bit of LA run around. Susan has been visiting several quilt guilds here. Her own home sits along the Atlantic coast in Maine, so we went off wandering along one of my favorite local Pacific beats.

The road led along the rocky coast through Palos Verdes, where we stopped for a bit of Japanese food. The perfect  weather, and great company. made it really hard to leave this lovely spot, but we pulled ourselves away for a bit of a wander through Angels Gate- where we saw the Korean Friendship Bell and also the Angels Gate Lighthouse...

Here are just a few pixs from the day. I hope they give you a bit of a re-charge, too!

The Crate is Closed!

This is my 300th posting to my blog, and I should really not be surprised by the fact that something that I couldn’t believe I was going to do has turned out to be quite a bit of fun. It’s fitting too that that first posting was right around Thanksgiving(2008) and when I went back to read it, it would pretty true about what’s happening right now. My mom is visiting soon, and I’m feeling a need to head out to take in a bit of LA stuff…like shopping…maybe tomorrow.

I am grateful for all the things that remain relatively constant … like turkey at Thanksgiving, but I am also grateful for all the amazing twists and turns that continually spice up the journey.

 The crate pictured here is one of those twisty turns. Why a crate? Yesterday this crate was filled with all the ‘stuff’, manuscript, picture stiff and of course quilts. All for my next book. YEAH!

 It’s exciting to work on a book--to be able to fill the pages with all sorts of things you want to share--but, it is even more exciting (and a bit scary) to pack it all up and ship it to your publisher.

Why a picture of the crate?

It is now turned over to others, and while I would love to show you all the stuff in ‘the crate’ it all must remain a mystery.

So 3 years and 300 postings have brought me to this wonderful spot. Exciting and bit scary. Happy it is on it’s way, grateful to my wonderful friends who helped me, inspired me, and yes pushed me when I needed it.

What’s next?