Some Pictures From Brazil

I was in Sao Paulo Brazil earlier this month and am just getting around to posting these pictures I took. I love taking pictures out of airplane windows and this first one is the sunrise over Brazil. I was pretty tired after a ten hour flight.


This next picture was taken from my hotel room and you can get a sense of how big Sao Paulo is. It seems to go on forever.

The light was great on this roof top pool at my hotel.....forgot my bathing suit though...


Arriving back into Atlanta after another ten hour flight very early in the morning . The moon was full and this picture does not do the scene justice.

May Journal Quilt

I have been in a real creative slump lately so I thought I would do a journal quilt to get me moving again. I am calling this one 'Morning In the Garden' and it measures 9" x 11".
I bought some watercolor crayons about a month ago and last week was playing around with them and painted the large flower and green fabric on the left. This started as a larger piece on its own and I even added batting and backing and did the quilting and thread painting. Then I decided I hated it..... out came the scissors and I cut away the right side. I stated looking through my stash for a fabric to put it on. I laid what was left of the original piece on the orange/yellow fabric and added another layer of batting and backing fabric. I stitched down the orange flower and leaves (through all 6 layers) stuffing fiber fill under the flower petals to give them a 3D look. I also intentionally ironed in all of the wrinkles I could get on the leaves for additional texture. I then quilted the orange/yellow fabric. It still needed something else.

The black flower stems on the lower right are made from self adhesive cord that I found on clearance in the scrap booking department. The small blue flowers were made by cutting two, about an inch in diameter circles from organza and one from a silver fabric. I then layered the silver circle between the two organza circles and did an anchoring stitch in the center to hold them together. Out came the heat gun and holding the circles with long tweezers, I heated them until they melted into the flower shape I wanted. I did over do one and had to toss it but the others came out ok. The heat gun will melt the organza quickly so it can take a little trial and error to get it right. I then stitched down the stems and flowers and added beads to the centers. Still not done....... I used puff paint to add the stamens to the center of the lily and used Shiva paint sticks to add some highlights.
I took this picture from a side view trying to show the dimension in this piece. Click on the photos to get a larger view and better sense of the dimension. I think I might mount this to a painted canvas.

Look What We Had Above Our Front Door

All spring we have been watching this nest right above our front door. We didn't notice it until it was already built since we always drive into the garage to enter the house. You can see that it is sitting on a ledge that is about 2" wide.


These pictures were taken last Friday and the mom was not too happy with us. We tried to hold off on taking pictures since we didn't want the mom to be too upset. Pretty tight quarters for four little birds. Glad we finally took pictures since today all the babies have flown away.

Aids Memorial Quilt Panel

I am in a small group called Fiber Art Fusion that meets on a monthly basis. One of the members, Margaret Betz, organized a project for our group to create a block for the Aids Memorial quilt. This quilt celebrates the lives of real people who were loved and lost to HIV/Aids. You may remember the famous photo of the quilt spread on the great lawn in Washington D.C.

A block is 12 feet square and is made up of 8 panels that measure 3' by 6' each. We divided into groups of 3 and each group created a panel. This is a picture of the panel that I helped create with my friends Vickie Meredith Lord and Suzanne Balis Freed and is in memory of Fela Kuti. He was a famous Nigerian musician and activist and you can read about him here.

If you or a group you are associated with are looking for a meaningful project and are willing to donate a little time and materials, there are many people waiting to be added to the quilt. The Names Project will provide all of the information you need to create a block or just a panel. You receive a packetof information about each person. Some of them containg personal items and a family contact so you can personalize the panel. This has really been a meaningful experience. To find out more about the quilt and how to get involved here is the link - Aids Memorial Quilt.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Today is my birthday. A day to celebrate and really appreciate all of the great things I have in my life. I usually keep my blog art related but today I thought I would share a couple of my favorite pictures. The above picture was taken in Disney World in September 2007 and is of my granddaughter Julia, my daughter Tricia and me. We have another Disney trip scheduled for the fall.


This is my husband Joe and Julia on the same trip. Today I plan to do a little work in my studio, pick up my GD after school (she is just finishing kindergarten) and have dinner tonight at a new seafood restaurant I have been wanting to try. Life is good.