Giving Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving

Gobble, gobble.


Almost out from under a big deadline and then I can actually post new art again!

Journal Quilt 07

Here's my Journal Quilt for 2007. This is the third time I've participated in the Journal project and I'm sorry to see it come to an end. Next year I'll be exploring weekly journals on my own. I've got a few ideas already...

Quilting Arts Gifts Issue

The Quilting Arts Gifts Issue hits the news stands today. I contributed two articles to it and, as always, the crew at Quilting Arts did a fantastic job with the photography and layout. All of the contributors were asked to make a holiday card for the issue as well and mine is a Peace Beetle. Nevermind that I made that up, it could become a new iconic holiday symbol, right? I started with a piece of watercolor paper (90# Arches), embossed it, added mulberry paper with stamped letters (Paz is Spanish for Peace), printed a beetle onto a piece of batik, stamped it with a Chinese saying and overprinted it with a found object, topstitched and painted the edges and finito! Maybe all of my Christmas cards this year should be Peace Beetles. Watch for one in a mailbox near you...

My articles are about creative wrapping with fabric (good for the earth!) and table settings. The rest of the issue is terrific, -- as soon as I have time I'll be trying out some of the projects. A bunch of the people I met in Houston last week have articles in it and Elin does too. I have to start thinking about ideas to submit for next year's issue.

Happy Halloween!

My friend Julie and I are down in Houston, Texas at Quilt Festival this week. Pokey encouraged all of the vendors in the Make It University section to dress up tonight for Halloween - so we did! She claims John forgot to pack her costume, but she did have on a great witch's hat. Mmmhmmm. Coming back from changing into my costume I encountered the girls from Fiber On A Whim. Here's Kristin, looking completely adorable.

Here's Jan and Karla, in full All Hallow's Eve regalia. Their booth is right around the corner from ours and it's great to finally meet them in person. They're even more fun in real life.

Back in our booth you can see that Julie really got into it, complete with black lipstick, huge false eyelashes, broomstick and striped stockings. Doesn't she look great?

And here I am, dressed for a night out with the coven. My outfit was not complete without these incredible shoes:



We got a lot of trick-or-treaters at our booth and gave out a ton of candy. We were a little tired at the end of the night, but we had a great time. Happy Halloween!

An abstract and tagged...

I live out in the woods, but close to a major city. The woods mean abundant shade, which means lots of ferns. Their forms are so ancient-looking, aren't they? I abstracted this photo and made a small quilt. Besides being hardy and beautiful, the ferns have also proven to be deer-proof, something that nearly nothing else has accomplished in my garden, aka the salad bar. I should give up on the dream of riotous color and plant more ferns...



My friend Natalya has tagged me to reveal 7 random facts about myself. Oh boy.

1. The last time I went to a salon for a haircut was over 10 years ago, but I have a dog that has to go to the groomer every five weeks.

2. I think ice cream is an acceptable breakfast food.

3. When I lived in Peru a famous artist composed a poem to me in Aymara, the language of the Incas.

4. I sing really loudly in the car when I'm driving by myself, usually off-key.

5. I don't hold grudges.

6. I have colored-grapheme synesthesia and I can't imagine living without it.

7. Visual chaos makes me anxious.

I'm tagging Liz Berg, Terry Grant, Lynne Croswell, Tricia McKellar, Pam RuBert, Karen Stiehl Osborn and Gerrie Congdon.

New Work with a new product

Although I'm working toward a big deadline for a secret project I can't talk about yet, I did make two new pieces last week that I can show.
Pescado Verde, 2007



These pieces were made using a new product that's being released at Quilt Market at the end of the month. As soon as I can talk about it I will, and everyone's going to want some of it!
Mariposa, 2007

Lots of secrets, how intriguing...

Make It U Workshops in Houston

I'll be at Quilt Festival in Houston at the end of the month vending and teaching. The Country Quilter/Flourish! will have a booth in the Make It University section of the show where Pokey Bolton of Quilting Arts/Cloth Paper Scissors and all the other cool kids are. Join me for a Make It U workshop in Stampmaking for Textile Artists on Friday and one for Making Your Own Embellishments on Saturday. My friend Julie will be teaching Three-Dimensional Needle Felting on Thursday. If you're coming to Houston, please stop by booth 1162 and say hi! I'm looking forward to meeting some virtual friends IRL and to putting faces with familiar names.