Happy Valentines' Day

Here is the card that I made for my husband's Valentine...a pair of love-birds!  We have enjoyed watching the cardinals and other songbirds at the feeders this winter.  And this afternoon, I enjoyed watching from my basement studio window as a chipmunk scampered around on the ground underneath the porch feeders.  

Valentine's Day

This might have been my nicest Valentines Day ever!  It was twelve degrees at our mountain cabin, twenty-six degrees in Raleigh, and we went to the beach at Sanibel Island!

First we went to church.  When we were here last fall we found a church that we liked very close to my brother's home.  Jeff and Anna went with us yesterday, and they liked it, too.

Then we went to Sanibel.  A plus for me...they were having a lovely Arts and Crafts festival.  I did not purchase anything, but it helped feed my soul to see all the lovely artwork.

And being on the beach with my sweetheart was very special.

He gave me some beautiful roses.

And for an extra sweet treat...some Norman Love chocolates!  We fell in love with Norman Love the last time we were in Fort Myers.  Oh, my, his candies are works of art as well as delicious treats.

Today we will drive to Sarasota for the first of the radiation treatments.  I think it will be so much easier for Charlie this time.  I hope so.

Some Valentine's-y Quilts

Happy Valentine's Day!  I thought I might show you a few quilts I have made over the years that might fit today's theme.

First up, Something Girly, one of my most successful quilts.  It is actually a wholecloth quilt from a rather sheer fabric.  Batting is trapuntoed and cut away to form the hearts and feathers.  Then, a layer of bright red is layered behind the white to create the pink background color.  After quilting, I added more color with Tsukinko inks.



Something Girly



Next is a smaller version made the same way.  It was donated to an auction to benefit one of my favorite charities, SAFEChild of North Carolina.



Heart's Delight



The next one was made the same way, but has couched fibers around the edges instead of binding.   This one was auctioned at Heritage Days for the Capital Quilters Guild.

Ring of Peace

The next one is a fabric collage that is quilted and mounted on a painted gallery-wrapped canvas.  This one sold for $45.00 at another charity auction.

Sweet

Anna's Quilt has lots of hearts and other girly things.  I made it for Anna when my nephew Jason married her mama and her little sister Lacy was born. 



Anna's Quilt



Second-Hand Rose was part of the Breaking Traditions traveling exhibit for over a year.  This one is really different.  I used an embroidered linen skirt from Good Will as the border.  The very shiny background is Textiva fabric, which is what Angelina fibers are before they are shredded.  Then it got some fabric, silk flowers, ribbons, applique, Swarovski crystals, and what-have-you.  The beads on the outer border are hand-made by wrapping fabric and fiber around a pencil and gluing them.  I still have this quilt.

The next one is sort of Valentine-ish.  I made this for the Capital Quilter's Guild's annual Quilts for Kids challenge.  I believe this won Second Place.  U used various patterns to make lots of things that little girls would love.  The border fabric was the challenge fabric, and I used lots of hand-dyes to coordinate.  These quilts are donated to Neo-Natal Intensive Care Units at local hospitals.



Garden Party



I hope you have a day filled with love...or that you love what you are doing today!

A Colorful Valentine

With all the art journaling I have done over the past year, is it any wonder that my Valentine for Charlie looks like a journal page?

This was done mostly in felt-tip pen. The moon and stars are painted with silver Lumiere paint. I splattered some drops from the brush across the sky in addition to the larger heavenly bodies.

One of the adventures we have booked for our upcoming trip to Hawaii is a trip up the Mauna Kea volcano.  We will see the sunset from the top (altitude 14,000 feet), and then descend to a less chilly elevation to watch the stars with telescopes.  The company will provide parkas and gloves for the trip to the top so we don't have to drag our winter gear to Paradise.

I have actually started packing and organizing already- most unusual activity for me.  I am getting so psyched!



Happy Valentines' Day!

Today is Valentine's Day.  My sweetie and I decided not give anything but cards this year.  We have a rather romantic trip coming up in just four days which will be our Valentines and Anniversary and about every other occasion!  (Hint:  Aloha!)

Would you like a virtual Valentine's Day quilt show?  I will trot out my most appropriate quilt for Valentines' Day...a painted shadow trapunto wholecloth I made several years ago called "Something Girly."  Also known as "Trouble!"

Here are smaller versions of a painted trapunto quilt.  The first one is "Heart's Delight."

 The next one is "Ring of Peace."  These last two were each donated to a charity auction.

Here is "Second-Hand Rose," made from an embroidered linen skirt I got at the Goodwill thrift store. It has some very shiny Tinzl and lots of flowers and beads.

I had forgotten all about this one.  I made it as a prize for the Pink Artist Project.  It was inspired by an article in Quilting Arts magazine.  The lady who received the prize in the drawing had just buried her husband.  I got the most wonderful letter from her!  Sometimes things are meant to be.

Here is one I made for my granddaughter Lily's room. It's called "Cute as a Lilybug."  There are lots of Swarovski crystals shining on this one.

And here is her quilt on the bed.  It's called "Carolina Lily," of course!

I hope you have a special day with someone you love!

Hearts and Flowers

Happy Valentine's Day! To celebrate, here are some fabric postcards featuring hearts and flowers. The first two are brand-new, and are made with some of my "mixed media techniques" altered lace and ribbons and non-traditional patchwork.

The others are various needle-felted, embroidered, patchwork, machine-quilted postcards from the past. Some are available in my Etsy Shop.

Valentine Fabric Postcards

I have been busy making more fabric postcards. All of these were begun on my Babylock Embellishing Machine.

I think this is my favorite of all the fabric postcards I have ever made. I achieved the colors and layering effects that I was hoping for. It started out with a hot pink felt backing, to which I punched down strips of cotton fabric, silk, roving, and some striped ribbon. To that layer, I added silk and wool roving and a little Angelina. I covered all that with some of the same rainbow organza from the Trash to Treasure project. I stamped some flowers with blue and blue-green paint. Then, out with the heat gun to make some of the organza disappear and reveal some of the hidden layers.

Then I did some free-motion quilting to Peltex with black thread to add images of flowers and hearts. The edging is a combination of blue and red rayon threads.

The back is painted watercolor paper. This one is not for sale...I have a special artistic someone in mind who I think would like this.

Joy, 2009

The next one also has a layered look with a bit of dimension. Well, this one has a little bit of everything...beading, hand embroidery, sparkly yarn on the edging...I call it Love is Glorious.

Love is Glorious, 2009

The next one has a sort of artsy look to it. Silk and cotton fabrics were cut in heart and flower motifs, needle-punched to a cheerful orange/peach/pink print cotton, and then machine-quilted in black thread. My favorite new binding is to wrap a strip of rainbow organza around the edge and machine stitch it down.

Hearts and Flowers, 2009

And finally, the winner of the Sparkliest Postcard of the day: Secret Love. This one started out as lots of silk and Angelina needle-felted to a piece of coral chiffon (the scarf I bought in the mountains.) Then I added some free-motion machine-quilting, but I did not like the look. So, I added a message. :) You still could not see the word Love, thus the name of the card, but when I outlined it in black ink, it was not so secret any more.

This one also features a wrap of rainbow organza around the border. This is what the back looks like.

Secret Love, back, 2009

I am almost finished with an embellished purse that is very girly-looking. Hope to post it next!

Valentines Day Recap

I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day. I spent part of my afternoon getting my hair cut, getting my watch repaired, and delivering Jean's quilt to her. I sat and visited with her and Gary for awhile, enjoying my first taste of Vernon's diet gingerale.

When Charlie got home, we exchanged Valentine's cards. He gave me one of the musical ones that plays "You're Still the One" and also brought home two quarts of strawberries and a lovely bottle of red wine. I made a funny card for him that included photographs of Charlie and me as babies and as young marrieds some time in the early 70's. The main idea was that now he has less hair, but still has nice buns! (True!)

Interesting true fact about my baby picture: it was used as the model for an advertisement for Johnson and Johnson baby products! My dad was a commercial illustrator in New York, and often used Polaroid photos of models when drawing or painting people. This time he loaned my modeling services to a friend who had the J&J account!
I also got Charlie an electric toothbrush for our mountain cabin. Before long, we will have all the comforts of home in our little retreat! Another non-traditional Valentine. Last year I gave him a gift certificate to DaVinci's Pork store!