The first, Stitched Collage by Sherrill Kahn, provides even more inspiration to create beautiful painted and stamped fabric and embellished art quilts.
The colors on these projects make me drool. Sherrill manufactures a line of rubber stamps called "Impress Me" and uses them to create background fabrics and papers for collage, as well as embellished buttons and and jewelry. Her stamp sets are expensive- $25.00- but you get quite a few designs per set. Of course, Lyric teaches how to carve your own stamps from white vinyl erasers. Sherrill also has designed fabric lines that mimic the design elements of her collaged works. Between these two fabulous artists, I have so much inspiration.But wait...if that is not enough, I decided to splurge on a new book by Violette, of the whimsically painted house and painted, glittered, winged van. She has been inspiring me for several years now through her blog, U-Tube videos, and magazine articles. If you search my blog for Violette, you will see an art quilt that I made from a line drawing she created for a Cloth, Paper, Scissors challenge. Not to mention the blogiversary package I won from her, or the little "house-head" I purchased from her etsy shop.
Violette's book is an idea-starter for journaling, Journal Bliss: Creative Prompts to Unleash Your Inner Eccentric.
What a fun collection of artwork and techniques! This book would be a godsend for those who are a little bit afraid to think of themselves as artists, or even as "creative." Although you may not be into "journaling," these ideas would translate easily to art quilts or even scrapbooking. Here are some of the chapter titles: Fanciful Lettering, Bodacious Borders, Doodling, Groovy Backgrounds, Funky Envelope Art. Okay, so maybe "groovy" went out with the hippies, but those of us who remember the wild colors and free expression of the sixties and seventies (beautifully recreated in the movie Across the Universe) know that groovy can be a good thing.
After all this, I will have no excuse for anything I create to be boring or ordinary.
I still want to be groovy.
I am probably going to quilt these on the long-arm to get them to lay down a little flatter. You can't exactly iron them flat! And something needs to be done to improve those thick fern fronds.
A pair of bluebirds has produced a bumper crop of eggs in their nesting box. I don't know that we have ever had five eggs in the same brood. 
Our bluebird box has a hinged door that you can open to view the nest. Today, Mama and Papa Bluebird were very unhappy when I opened the door. I was being dive-bombed as I tried to take the picture. Usually they just fly off to a nearby tree and watch. They are probably my second-favorite songbirds.
Let me tell you, this project was quite challenging for me! Not the patchwork, which were easy squares. I made the bumpers in one long length, to be tied with ribbons at the crib corners and other locations. The big problem was my choice of batting. Not one, but two layers of high-loft batt! I wanted it to be soft. But with all that stuffing, these bumpers were unmanageable. I decided to quilt along the white strips and then along the square borders. The edges are top-stitched...except where the whole deal was too fat to fit under my sewing machine foot! Anyway, they look good. My niece Melinda sent pictures, including this one of the corner of the quilt with Ragen's name quilted in.
It was interesting to see how the students reacted to me in my old-fashioned looking dress and hat. 
After that, Charlie and I worked in our yard the rest of the weekend. He cut grass, trimmed, and raked up pine cones and branches. I planted flower seeds, weeded, and bathed the dog. It was good to get these things accomplished. 
I hope you also had a good weekend!
I was not the only member who came home from the meeting thinking, "I need to get busy and make some quilts!" Once again, I was impressed with how much better the quilts look in person than they do in pictures on the Internet. They just don't capture the sparkle and detail. Cathie must be a Seamstress Supreme, for she has made garments included in the 
Doesn't it look like she is sailing in beautiful blue tropical waters? She is! 
Although the seasons are usually several weeks behind us in the mountains, there were definite signs of spring, including the daffodils I planted along the driveway.
Just slightly less than 6" x 6", this one is a shiny and sparkly interpretation of the surf lapping the white sands of the beach. The blues and greens of the waves are made from silk and wool fibers, yarns, and Angelina. 
Both waves and sands are accented with tiny beads. 
I made the background with my Babylock Embellisher, and machine-quilted on my Bernina. This little quilt is finished with zigzag stitching, and features a backing made of an ocean water theme fabric.
It is 4" x 6", and can be sent right through the mail for a fabulous greeting to a friend. Or, like the other pieces, it can be framed like a small piece of art, or set on an easel. Again, the piece was made on my Babylock Embellisher with various yarns, fibers, and tulle. It is machine-quilted with shiny thread to a stiff piece of interfacing called Timtex, and then fused to a painted piece of watercolor paper. Zigzag stitching finishes the edges.