My Bags are Packed, I'm Ready to Go...

It has taken most of the last two days, but I am ready to head to the mountains!  I'll be taking a watercolor class all next week with Fealing Lin, an artist from the Los Angeles area.  She paints gorgeous, colorful portraits that glow with light.

I have even cleaned my paint palette and loaded it up with fresh paint!

I never did find my tabletop easel.  I also could have used my light box, which has gone missing, and an entire block of Watercolor paper that I bought on sale earlier this year just for this workshop!  That is the fun of moving.

I probably own about 60 paintbrushes, both my own and the ones that belonged to my dad.  But I will need to buy some more, because I need some big round brushes for this technique.

It should be so pretty to drive back and forth to  Cheap Joe's in Boone, NC, from our cabin each day.  Nothing like October in the mountains!

It is getting pretty here, too.

The workshop does not begin until Monday, so we have three full days of mountain fun ahead.

High School Reunion and Revisiting an Old Project

It has been cloudy or rainy for more than a week now.  I am ready for some October blue skies and vibrant autumn color!

Saturday, Charlie and I attended my forty-fifth Cary High School reunion.  Man, how did that much time go by?  It was held at a beautiful location on Montague Lake in Apex.  There was a nice shelter so the drizzling rain did not dampen the spirits.

Can you find me in this photo?  You would be doing very well to find me since I am partially hidden.   My blond head is in the back right behind a lady with a black jacket.  There were lots of people taking pictures so maybe we will see more of them soon.

We had a couple of visits with Dave, Emily and Baby Charlie over the weekend since we kept our Granddog, Roo, for the weekend.  She absolutely loves Kasey's fluffy tail, so one of us has to keep watch close by.  So far both dogs have been smart enough to get up and move when Baby C comes to pet them!

I have had a hard time trying to decide what artwork and quilts to hang in our Raleigh home.  All the wooden slats for hanging quilts seem to have disappeared...or at least I couldn't find the right slats to fit the proper quilts.  I went to Lowe's and bought two eight-foot long pieces of lat, a saw and miter box, and my very own lightweight Black and Decker drill, and now I am in business.

The box made by Stanley Tools has adjustable clamps (the two black pegs) to hold the wood in place.  There are slats in the yellow box where you insert the saw to get a straight cut.  When the board is cut to the width of the quilt, you drill holes in both ends, insert in hanging sleeve, and then you can hang your quilt with two nails or screws.  No more waiting for sweet DH to help me saw and drill.  I am woman, hear me saw!

I have really been trying to fix up the bedroom that will be my painting and sewing studio.  It has been very difficult because the movers piled it with furniture and boxes from floor to ceiling.  I actually unpacked and set up my sewing machine yesterday, and will try to hang my design walls and pegboards on the walls this week. 

While I was rummaging through the boxes, I found this little forgotten piece that i started a few years ago.  I was making quilts in the style of Larkin Van Horn's Shards after taking a workshop with her through Capital Quilters Guild.  

I had already found my bead box, since I was working on the flower challenge, so I started adding some embroidery and beads to the piece for fun.  It was already machine-quilted

Now it looks like an undersea scene.  I'm not sure I like the word sincerity on there (which was printed on Extravorganza)  so I might paint over it.  I think I need some seashells at the bottom.

The other pieces I made in this method were mounted on artist's gallery canvas and sold at a benefit auction for $45 and $60.

I am leaving on Thursday to go to our mountain place, and I won't be coming home for ten days!  I signed up to take a watercolor painting class at Cheap Joe's in Boone.  More details to come!  Meanwhile I have to find my tabletop easel, which has still not turned up.  I might have to buy a new one while I am at Cheap Joe's!

Freeze Frame Quilts-PAQA-South Exhibit

Here are some more photos from the current show at the Page Walker House in Cary, NC, titled ARTQUILTSfreezeframe.  

There are several display cases in the lobby with artwork for sale from PAQA-South members, including Lyric Kinard and my art quilt bee's own Antoinette Brown.

I think this one is Sunflower by Susan Brubaker Knapp.

And this one is one of Lyric's.  She had two pieces titled In Search of the Old Ones:  I and II.

On to more quilts from the actual Freezeframe exhibit, which features quilts inspired by photographs.

I love the exuberant color and textural quilting in this piece.  I neglected to take a picture of the label to identify it, but I think it might be Urban Environment by Magenna Brink.  I will try to verify.

From the city to the forest...this lovely piece is Fireline by Nanette S. Zeller.

The actual photo inspiration is displayed next to the quilt

 Here is another quilt displayed next to its photo inspiration.  Very close to the original! Lily #1 by Eileen Kane.

Here is an interpretation of a seasonal theme by Susan Brubaker Knapp:  Heirloom Pumpkins.

More next time! 

Flower Challenge

Last Monday, the Anything Art quilters met, and four of us had our flower challenge quilts with us.  Here they are, side by side.  None are bound yet, and some still have not trimmed the batting/backing.

It is remarkable that of all the possible combinations of flower quarters, the first and second above used almost the same quarters in the same places.  And the second and fourth have similar blooms, as well!  Toni's is finished, but she was not able to attend.  So there will be five flowers in all.

Most are now at least partially embellished with beads, buttons, sequins, paint...and a nice variety of leaves and stems.

We are still working out how to join them to make a group quilt for our guild's show next year.  

After our meeting, we ate lunch at The Loop in Cary, and I had a very unique and delicious 8" Mediterranean pizza with artichoke, feta cheese, and sun dried tomato.  After that we went to the Page-Walker House in Cary for the latest art quilt exhibit from PAQA-South.  The show was titled Art Quilts Freeze Frame, showcasing innovative art quilts inspired by photos.  The original inspirational photo is shown next to the quilt on display.  Some were very literal representations, and others were much more abstract.

I will show a few in this post, and others later on.

My favorite was this wonderful tree, full of character, gnarly aged branches, and silky leaves.  It is a tree in Kiawah Island, I presume a live oak.

Angel Tree, by Patricia Smith, 22" x 40"

Another that I loved was Blue Desert, by Roxanne Lessa, a local art quilter.

One of the first quilts at the entrance to the show is this little beauty by Eileen Williams, Coastal Sunset.

This one has a beautiful glow.  It is Orion Nebula and NGC 1975, by Christine Hager-Braun.

I hope I have the photo in the correct orientation.  For some reason, Blogger is putting a lot of my pictures in sideways!

Here is a nicely done portrait quilt.  Sometimes I think the quilting on broad expanses of face make the portrait look odd, but this one is very effective.  

John, by Sandy Curran



Here is a different take on a portrait quilt from a photo.  I was reminded of Andy Warhol!

                       

Last week I went with my husband on a business trip to Chicago.  I love to visit there.  The afternoon of our arrival was fairly clear weather, so we decided to walk over to the John Hancock Building and visit the observatory.  Great views of the lake, shoreline, buildings, and Navy Pier.

The next day, Charlie had meetings, and I walked down to the Art Institute of Chicago to immerse myself in beauty.  I love the Impressionist painters and got my "fix" of beauty, but this time I found my way to the America Windows by Marc Chagall.  They are very large, six windows that take up a whole wall.  They are beautifully lit stained glass windows with lots of symbols representing the arts as well as American history and the history of Chicago.  Love them!

  

I also stumbled across a whole roomful of beautiful glass paperweights.  So much beauty in small objects!

When I walked back to the hotel through Millennium Park, I enjoyed seeing the Cloud Gate again, AKA The Bean.  It is cool to see the skyscrapers reflected along with all the people taking photos of their own images.

There was an interesting sculpture display on one of the walkways in the park.  There were a multitude of six-foot tall pigs with interesting paint jobs.

When you are in a big city like Chicago, it is fun to come across bits of whimsy like these fanciful sculptures.  I also love that Chicago has beautiful gardens in Millennium Park and all along Michigan Avenue to soften the harshness of all those skyscrapers.

Thanks for visiting, and sorry for long time, no post!  It has been a very busy time in my life between moving, babysitting, traveling, and trying to get our mountain house built.  But life is good!

Mountain Sunset Quilt Revisited

Another quilt that I recently hung in our new kitchen is Mountain Sunset, shown here on the wall next to the sliding glass doors to the deck/balcony.

I made this quilt in 2009 on my embellisher (needle-felting machine.)  You can read about the process here.  I based the scene on a photo from one of our sunset trips to the Christmas tree farm on the top of the mountain where we have our cabin.  The mist was setting in, and the trees in the foreground glowed luminously as the sun set in glorious color in the sky.

I used lots of layers of sheers for the sky, a dark green velour for the hills and trees in back, and some Angelina for the sparkle.

 I quilted over all the layers, adding branches and foliage to the foreground.

We had planned to go the mountains this weekend to meet with the contractor for the new cabin, but he now wants to wait until he gets the official blueprints.    Since we are babysitting for our grandbaby this weekend, it will be much easier to do that at home and not have to take her on a long road trip.  So, I can't wait for a weekend of baby love!

Red and White Friendship Blocks

We had a great time in South Carolina.  We met with our builder and contractor and signed on the dotted line to get our new cabin built in the mountains.  We might even be in it by Thanksgiving!  Now I am getting pretty excited!  Charlie's brother Grady lives about ten miles from the cabin company, so we spent the weekend with them, mostly sitting on his back deck and enjoying the refreshing cool weather.

When we got home, there was a wonderful surprise waiting for me.  My Whacky Ladies Bee made me an astonishing gift...a whole box full of red and white sampler blocks!  What a surprise!

Here are some of them laid out on my ottoman.

I have been in the Whacky Ladies since about 1995, but they are all in the northeastern part of Wake County or even Franklin County.  Since they meet at night, that would be a rather long way for me to drive by myself (minimum 45 minutes.)  They decided to surprise me with this wonderful array of red and white blocks.  You may remember the one that Carolyn made and Donna quilted that I was so crazy about.

I think that was their inspiration for the color scheme...not to mention that my college colors are red and white!  Some of the blocks even have fabric featuring the NC State mascot.

This is one of the most unusual.  Carolyn has been taking some block-of-the-month classes for some time now, and has quite a library of unusual block patterns!

This one that Irene made is an exquisite pineapple log cabin.  A perfect choice for a quilt for our new home!

And Donna took a picture of the ladies holding up their blocks, and made it into a quilt block for me!

I was very overcome and also thrilled by this wonderful gift from my quilting friends.  Quilters really are the best!