What I Will Be Wearing In Houston

This is the jacket that I just finished this morning. So like me to be soooooo last minute! I haven't made a piece of clothing for myself for probably 25 years so I don't know what possessed me to do this. Could be that I will be going to Houston with 2 friends who have really beautiful jackets of their own that they have made. Everything I used was stuff I had. I started with a black sweatshirt and a gorgeous piece of Ricki Timms fabric that I have looked at for a while but couldn't decide what to do with it (part of the problem being that I just didn't what to cut it up!). I winged it from there since I had no pattern and only some instructions I found on the Internet. Didn't turn out too bad for a first try but not show quality. If you are in Houston and see me walking around just give me a shout to say hello.

My Journal Quilt in Houston

Now that the Houston show is underway I can show a full picture of my journal quilt 'Flight Over Greenland'. This quilt is based on a picture that I took when I was returning from a business trip to Denmark. I was sitting in business class and

everyone was watching movies so all the window shades

were closed. The pilot announced that we were flying over

Greenland and that in was a really beautiful sight. I opened my window shade and was stunned by the simple beauty of this scene. The sky was an incredible blue and the snow covered mountains surrounded by icy water glistened in the bright sun. I always have my camera and immediately started taking pictures. This was not a popular thing since I was letting in light and I did get some dirty looks from the people around me. I knew that this had to be my journal quilt so I could share this incredible sight and hopefully help people appreciate our beautiful earth.

This piece is painted whole cloth with Angelina fibers added to give sparkle to the water. The 'window' is painted shirt interfacing. If you are going to the show also look for my quilt 'It's All Relatives' that appears in the Quilting Arts 2009 Calendar and will be displayed in the Quilting Arts booth and my quilt 'Birthday Wishes' that is in the judged competition.

Rusted Fabric Experiment

I love this piece of fabric! I have wanted to try rust dying for a while and the other day I was rummaging through my husbands shop and found a few chains and bolts that were good candidates for the experiment. I took a piece of PFD fabric wet it and wrung it out. Then I soaked it in vinegar and wrung it again. I then wrapped the rusty objects in the fabric and put the whole thing in a plastic garbage bag, squished the air out and tightly closed it. I let this set for about 2 1/2 days. I then rinsed it in salt water (I read somewhere that that stops the rusting process) and let the fabric dry. Finally I ran it through the washer, dried it and ironed it. I really thought that the color would fade when I washed this and was amazed how it did not. I will definitely do this again.

Georgia Quilts - It's Actually a Winner!

Last weekend was the first Georgia Quilts Quilt Show. My quilt 'Peak Performance' took 3ard place in the large wall category. This quilt was started over a year ago when I hand painted the background and then added the foliage and foreground with various fabrics. For some reason I really didn't like the results and let this be a UFO for around 10 months. I finally added borders and extended the scene into the border.

I attempted to finish this several times with no luck. Just when I was ready to cut the piece up I found out about this show and was determined to finish. I free motion quilted the leaves on the border and then was disappointed that they did not show so I painted them with soft pastels and highlights of gold fabric paint. This still is not one of my favorite pieces but I guess that it was worth finishing.

What I did this weekend.......

As I mentioned earlier I have been in a rut as to what to work on next so I decided that I would do a small piece from start to finish over the weekend. First, I looked through some photos that I took last year in Louisiana and did a sketch. Then I painted sky, water and trees on a couple of scrapes of PFD fabric. I then added the grass fabric in the foreground. It's from my stash but I did cut it up to get the look I wanted. After quilting I thought it still needed something so I painted in the bird and added trees to the grassie area. The grass and trees are heavily thread painted to give the piece more interest. Finished size is 12 x16 and I think I will mount this to matt board and frame it. It felt good to get something done!

Loot From Fabrics.com Warehouse Sale

Late Friday night I got an email telling me about this sale. I was really torn about going since the last thing I need is more fabric! After going back and forth with myself I decided to set my alarm and go on Sat. morning. I mean I only live 15 min. away and that is with a drive-thru stop at Micky D's to get some really needed coffee...... I have never bought fabric from this website since for me part of the fun of fabric buying is the actual touch and feel of the stuff. I really did restrain myself and this is what I got.....9 lbs for $36 with the pieces ranging is size from 1/2 to 3 yards. So much for not needing any more fabric........

Quilts off to New Hampshire

Two of my quilts have been juried into the 'A Quilters Gathering' quilt show that will be held in Bedford, New Hampshire on Nov 6-9. The one pictured here is called Daydreaming and is about 17" x 17". The other is Flight Into Fantasy and is featured on the right. Daydreaming won a 3ard place in MN and Flight Into Fantasy won 1st places in Indiana and Georgia and a 3ard place in Utah. Wish me luck!!

Quilting Arts Magazine Oct-Nov - Suzanne's Quilt

Check out page 79 of this issue and see the 'Going Green' piece of my good friend Suzanne Balis Freed! Suzanne has been a quilter for a long time starting with the traditional route. She has saved thread blobs (those bits of string that come off the fabric when you wash it) for years and her piece is made up entirely from these leftovers. Congrats Suzanne for getting into THE magazine for art quilters!

Georgia Quilt Show

October 16-18 is the date for the new Georgia Quilt Show and it will be held at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth. My piece 'Peak Performance' was juried in and will debut at the show. I need to take a new picture and will post one soon. The Atlanta area has not had a major quilt show in that past and they hope that this will be an annual event. Please stop by if you are in the area.

What to work on next.........

I have finally caught up with my quilts.....well at least the ones that had deadlines attached. I had put myself in a position where I really felt that I had over committed and fell relieved to have gotten some of the weight off my shoulders. Of course I have UFOs but these are things that have no deadlines or I am not sure if they deserve finishing.

Now the big question......what to do next?????? I have been down in my studio a couple of times this week and made some half hearted efforts to start something new but nothing has clicked. Sometimes I get in the trap of 'so many ideas so little time' that I can't get started on anything. Time to take a minute and look at what I have and what is important to me at this time. What idea can I turn into a project that I can be passionate about and dive into completely? What do you do when you are in this position?