This and That---

I've had a lovely extra-long weekend, despite the weather.  I managed to get most of the grocery shopping done Friday morning, braving the storm that left our back patio looking like this when I woke up:

By afternoon, our street looked like this--

It snowed fairly steadily all day Friday and most of Saturday; we finally got a break Sunday, then today was sunny and cold.

All that white stuff made it the perfect weekend to spend time in the studio.  I got my second small Walk in the Woods piece quilted, embroidered (machine and hand), and bound.  I am really happy with how it turned out!  I learned a number of lessons- or, better yet, had some things that I'd 'known' before from all my reading reinforced with this 'doing.'  

While working on the last bits of embroidery, I started thinking about the next Tangled Textiles piece, due in January.  The theme is 'Blue'- a word that I chose because it can be interpreted as a simple color study, or by referencing one of the many expressions or meanings the word has.  I'm leaning towards one of the expressions, but who knows, that could change.  As I sorted my embroidery floss after finishing Walk in the Woods 2, what color am I most lacking in?

The color is lousy in the photo, and I can't seem to get it right with PSE- but it was pretty obvious to me that I need lots more blues in this stash!

I will have photos of this latest piece posted later in the week.  In the meantime, I will be trying to stay warm!

Winter Walking

We had our first snow of the year today- and I decided that my foot was feeling good enough to go for a walk with Shiloh.  I haven't been walking in a couple of months because of a plantar wart on my right foot.  I had it taken off last fall, but it came back- even worse.  My podiatrist took it off again a couple of weeks ago- it has taken that long for me to feel like I could walk, not limp.

So Shiloh and I drove up to Hobble Creek, where I'd learned there is a paved trail.  We found it easily, and headed off.  It was starting to snow, but not enough to make me change my mind.  I also wanted to take some pictures with my Nikon point and shoot.  I'm trying to use it and get used to the settings and it's capabilities.  It will never replace my Pentax DSLR, but I love having a camera that fits easily in my purse or pocket.

We had to cross a couple of bridges.  Shiloh managed to stand still long enough to have a portrait!

I loved the texture and color of the lichen on this tree trunk.

 

I wasn't expecting to see any green leaves this time of year- but these were peeking through the snow and underbrush.

 

It may have been snowing, but Hobble Creek was running fast and furious.  I was intrigued by the movement of the water next to the one piece of ice.

We walked for about an hour- I think we did about three miles.  When the snow on the trail got thick enough that I couldn't tell where it was icy underneath, we turned around.  But it's a trail I'll be going back to when the weather improves!

A Sense of Humor

I have absolutely no doubt that God has a sense of humor, and He enjoys playing practical jokes on earthly beings.  How else to explain the last couple of days?

Friday was gorgeous, in the low 70's, sunny.  Yesterday was almost as warm, although overcast, and I managed to get out for an hour or so and walk the dog.  I went with Shannon's small camera, hoping to catch signs that spring really is on the way.

I had to look carefully for those signs- as you can see, it is still pretty brown/gray out there.

Look closer, though- there is green on the lawns, and weeds on the riverbank.  The river (creek?) is really muddy, fast, and pretty high on the banks- all a sign that spring runoff in the mountains has started.

A little further down, we saw one woman hanging laundry outside to dry.  Can't do that in bad weather!!

I saw lots of a red seed pod or something on the trail.  Later on, I finally figured out which tree it was coming from.

Along the riverbank, there were some bushes with new leaves showing.

I was happy, spring really does appear to be making her presence known!  Driving home, I had to stop at one garden I photograph every year.  Marjan, the gardener, has gorgeous spring flowers.  Most haven't started to bloom yet, but we saw--

 

Perfect!!  Complementary colors the first to be seen in her garden!  The last best part of the day- I wore sandals all day, and my feet loved it.  They are crying to be out of winter shoes!

I won't even show what I woke up to this morning- at least 6 inches of wet, heavy snow.  Give me a break!!  I haven't left the house, I just can't face the cold and wet.

So I've been down in the studio, altering tank tops so I can wear them this summer without embarrassing myself.  I have another summer top to cut out, and sewing it up shouldn't take long.  Sooner or later, the weather will actually catch up to where my brain and heart are.  Hey, the weather forecast says we should be back at 70 by the end of the week!!

Hibernating--

because it's the kind of day where you don't want to be outside.  We haven't been hammered with 3 feet (yet!) like the folks on the east coast, but I still have no desire to venture outside except to shovel the back patio occasionally.  Our chihuahua objects strongly to going outside in the cold, and absolutely refuses to  walk in the snow- so the shoveling is for her.  At least then I can throw her outside without guilt!!

Here's our table at the moment--

The storm is supposed to stick around until Friday- glad I'm off work the rest of the week.  I started on my IT! piece yesterday, and I'll be down in the studio all afternoon.  I may even forego my workout today, that's how much I don't want to drive!

I'm thinking I am changing what I'm doing- I'm just not that happy with what I have so far.  So I'm off on another idea that involves playing with Google Earth, something I like to do anyway.  Dinner is already taken care of, I have a big pot of chili in my new enamelware Dutch oven.  The oven will help keep the house warm, and the smell is heavenly!

It's Gonna be a White Christmas

Here's the view out my back patio, 6 am this morning.

Even with the warming temperatures predicted for the rest of the week, I'd bet we'll still have plenty of the white stuff- it continued to snow until mid-afternoon!

I'm counting the days until I can hide in my studio and forget about work!!

Snow and Cold--

is what we woke up to today.  After a lot of it has melted off, here's the view up our street towards the mountains.

It has been a weird year for foliage.  Most of the trees are bare, but a few are still hanging on to their leaves.  I love the fall colors against the white snow!!

The kids and grandpa went out back and made a snowman.  He's all dolled up in bright colors!!

 

It's a good day to stay inside.  I've been working on my IT! piece- after almost deciding to hold off finishing this one and do something else.  This afternoon, we are all going to see the latest Harry Potter movie, and we have a nice pot roast in the crock pot.  It's a short week at work- so right now, life is looking good.  Stay warm- or if you are fortunate to enough to be in the Southern Hemisphere this time of year, enjoy the warmth!!

^%#@/_$% Snow!!!

Can I just say I have had enough, I am sick of the white stuff??  This is what I stepped out to this morning when Shannon and I went to the gym--

It's cold, it's windy- after the gym, a perfect day to stay inside in the studio.  I managed to get two holsters made for a couple of massage therapists at Shannon's work.  Her's tore, and wasn't fixable, so I took it apart to use as a pattern and made her one with hand-dyed fabric.  She came home with three or four requests for more.  Once we got through the pricing issue (no, I am not willing to make and sell them for five bucks, sorry), I had orders.  So now they are done.

I'm waiting for the photo reveal tomorrow for Interpret This!, I'm thinking about how I want to be thoughtful with this one, try to move a little slower and more in the sketchbook.  We'll see how that works.  I'm in Salt Lake next Friday volunteering at the Home Machine Quilting Show.  Two hours volunteer work, and I get in free for the day.  On Saturday the 15th, I'm at a workshop for CEU's.  So I already know that my weekend time this month is limited.  And I know that June will be even worse.  Maybe I will just have to punch through the fatigue at the end of a ten hour workday and spend an hour or two at night during the week in the studio.  Or take a mental health day off work- I like that idea!

It has been a good week for the gym- I made every day except Wednesday.  I love it when my work schedule is free enough that I can do it during the afternoon instead of after work!  I've learned that the gym is pretty empty then.  I'm just trying to approach this as healthy, not weight loss- although that would be nice too.

I think I'll dredge up some energy and get some housework done so I don't have to worry about it tomorrow.  Hope your weekend is a creative one.

Good Grief!!

We are officially sick of winter, but he doesn't seem to care.  We woke up to this Easter morning-

and now this is what I'm looking at out that same window.

The only good thing about spring snowstorms is the snow melts quickly.  We're supposed to be in the 60's by Friday- I sure hope the weatherman is right!

I have been doing some drawing for the April Interpret This! challenge.  I've set myself some challenges with this one- I will not trace off the photo, I will choose one design element and work with that.  I do have some ideas percolating, I just hope they aren't obvious, trite, or banal.  Being not literal does not come naturally to me when it comes to visual design!

Elizabeth Barton has a wonderful blog, mostly about design.  She really makes me think, and her recent post about working in a series resonated with me.  So I'm trying to take that approach with this photo.  Repeat after me- I do not need to tell the whole story in one piece.  I do not need to throw every technique I know or want to know into this piece.  It is ok to tell one part of the story.  I'm signed up for her Quilt University class which starts this Friday, I'm really looking forward to it.

In the meantime, I'm ignoring Old Man Winter who doesn't want to head for the southern hemisphere, and picking up my sketchbook.

I'd rather be hiding out in the studio. . .

because it's been COLD all week, and it's starting to snow again- as if we haven't had enough already for early December. If I knew all this was going to magically go away on 2 January, I could live with it- but the likelihood is that we'll be dealing with cold and wet and snow well into March.

Here's the current view of our street, looking east towards the mountains-



Yeah, the mountains you can't see because of the low clouds full of snow!

I have actually been spending time in the studio. I've been cleaning and reorganizing, and got my first (to me), anyway, 12 by 12 piece done. I think the reveal on those is next week. And, I pulled out the very first quilt I made and looked it over.

My son Ian called this week, asking if we had any homemade Christmas ornaments I'd be willing to part with. I did, actually, and then remembered a box of his stuff at the top of our coat closet. I pulled it down, and there was the quilt. Wow.



It's a Margaret Miller Sizzling Strips quilt- one I had great fun rotary cutting the strips for at Primary Children's hospital in Salt Lake when Shannon was there with leukemia. It was great therapy for me. I still love the design and the colors, black and red remain a combination I use- check out our living room!

What struck me was the dearth of quilting! I took this one to a quilt shop when they had just gotten a longarm and were starting to quilt for their customers. At that point in time, it was all about the pattern and colors in a quilt for me- the quilting was just there to hold the layers together. As I recall, the shop was so new at this, they didn't even charge me for the work they did. It's quilted in an overall clamshell pattern, not that close.

What a difference fourteen years can make! Now I'm thinking about the quilting when I'm designing and constructing the top. Even my not-so-closely quilted pieces, like Out of the Blue, have more quilting than this one!

But this will still look good on a wall, so I'm sewing a sleeve on it before I send it off to Ian in Chicago. I hope he still likes it!

And here's hoping you are staying warm and cozy, and having a relaxing and creative weekend.

Summer, Where Are You??

I'm having a hard time believing it is mid-June. Usually by now I'm complaining because we've gone from the 70's straight to the mid-90's. We did have a nice, slow warmup spring- and we've stayed stuck there.

Thursday night we went to a Kelly Clarkson concert at UVU- outdoors, in the baseball field. DJ and a friend stood in line for four hours so we'd get on the field in the first rush. Bentlee and I joined them about an hour before they opened the gates. It rained off and on all day- then cleared in the late afternoon. Still, it was cold for June. I dressed in four layers, all long sleeve.

We started out on the field, closer to the stage. Then we figured out that the only way we'd see anything would be to stand, so we moved to a hill where we could see sitting down. (I half thought about taking a picture of the lovely butts surrounding us- but refrained!)

It stayed dry through the opening act, then started to rain when Kelly came on. Here's our view of the stage-



And here's the view towards the stands where the expensive tickets were. By this time, I was not only in four layers, I was under an umbrella and had a blanket wrapped around my legs!



It eventually did stop raining, and I got this great shot of a rainbow off to the south.



I continue the work on the baby curtains. All that's left is the tabs, and sewing them in the curtains.



And, Shannon and I dyed two shirts that got stains on them that wouldn't come out. My tank top used to be yellow, now it's cafe au lait- which is what I stained it with! Shannon got chocolate on her white shirt, and decided a purple one would be great.



I need to get stressed about some upcoming deadlines. Our WAQ group met Friday, and Kathleen showed some awesome fabrics she did playing with marbling materials. Her Microscopy piece is almost done, and it was awesome too. So why am I feeling so bereft of inspiration? Maybe this crap weather has something to do with it- here's the view from our street just an hour ago, looking west.



Depressing, no?? Where is the SUN???

No Visuals Today--

although I have been working on stuff. I've got a lot of beads on Tsunami, maybe 75% of what I want to do. No color, just clear beads in a couple of sizes to play with the light when the quilt is hung. I am liking the effect.

And, the sweater is almost done- I'll be sewing on the buttons tonight, and that's it. A good learning sweater- next time I will snug it in at the sides in addition to the four darts I did in the front and back. I already have the yarn for the next project.

It was an eventful week in many ways. I did come home for a couple of hours to watch Obama's swearing in and speech. I have been pleased with the vast majority of steps he's taken in his first week, and can't believe the difference in my attitude. No more snarls and swearing when the president is on TV or even mentioned. I will be praying for his safety, well-being, and wisdom, as well as the safety of his family. We so much need for him to succeed!!!

My surface design group met last Wednesday, and I took a bunch of stuff (including the dryer sheets) for our exchange table. I was very happy to see almost all of it taken. I came home with a smallish piece of hand dyed silk noil, and a half finished piece that the owner decided she didn't like. I did- especially the colors. I'll be putting both up on the design wall to let them talk to me for awhile. We're having another show at the Covey Center here in Provo, and want to have at least part of the show be the works created from this 'green' challenge. I think it will be fun!

And, we are back to winter here. Last week was unseasonably warm- more like March, except we also had the dreaded inversion. (Translation- it's no different that the southern California smog I grew up with, only in winter!) This weekend has bee rainy, then today it started turning over to snow. So our front yard, which had all the snow melted off, is white once again. And it's not the famed dry Utah powder, it is heavy, wet snow. Bleaghhh! The storminess is supposed to continue at least through tomorrow, then stay colder. Oh well, at least the storms blow the smog away.

Don't know how much creative stuff I will be doing this week. I have to get serious about getting taxes done. Since I am not that organized, it is a bit of a feat. Hope your week is more fun than that!

Is it spring yet???

Obviously not, as much as many of us here would like the answer to be a resounding "YES!" We have had a steady stream of storms blow through, most of them dumping snow on top of the growing snowdrifts. I'm sure the skiers are loving it, but we have had enough.

This is the view from our sliding door which leads to our small backyard patio. There are two steps from the house to the patio- that should give you an idea how deep the snow is out there.



Those pieces of wood by the gate are a safety gate, the kind you put in front of stairs to keep toddlers from going there. In our case, it's to keep Annabelle the cat from escaping under the fence- not that she would try it now!! Poor Sadie sinks in up to her belly when she goes out there. And we are getting another storm tomorrow- joy.

So it is a good time to stay home and play in the studio. The February TIF is posted, I'm in the brainstorm stage for that one. I think it will come together a bit smoother than the January challenge, and I'll post more on my thinking later. This morning I got back to my tree. I started to pin and scrunch the cheesecloth I'd dyed onto the painted batting, and decided the colors needed to be toned down- especially the green. So I not only overdyed the two pieces I already had, but I grabbed the couple of yards left on the roll and threw them in a 'parfait' dyepot together. I did a layer of mixing gray, a layer of Sabrecon brown, and a layer of Safari gray. I decided just to let it batch a couple of hours instead of my normal overnight, so it is already washed out and hanging on my nifty Ikea dryer.



I tried layering it over the painted batting, and I think I was successful with the overdyeing. Mayber later tonight I will start pinning and scrunching again, and since I now have plenty of cheesecloth, even layer that. We'll see.

I'm also knitting again. I've wanted to make myself a cream colored vest for a long time, and finally found a mostly cotton yarn I liked. Best of all, it is chunky, so it will knit up fast. I got this far last night--



I really wanted to find yarn to start on, I'm working the polls Tuesday and want to have something to do with my hands when it slows. So between that and a book, I should be fine- that will be a very long day!!

Tree, Part 3-- and more Winter Wonderland

We've had snow almost every day this week. I am so glad our snow removal is taken care of by the HOA, I think this is the most snow we have seen in a winter since we moved here! I couldn't resist taking this shot when I got home from work tonight.




I played around with the painted WonderUnder, first cutting out a shape and fusing it to my paint sample on the batting. It worked, although I learned to let it cool for several minutes before removing the paper from the fusible. If you don't, it tends to take more of the paint with it than I wanted. It really does get all wrinkly as it dries, making the texture even more interesting.




So tonight I cut out a bunch of curvy shapes, and fused them to the tree. Here they are all fused down. I think I rather like the effect!




And here it is with the cheesecloth laid over it. That will be my next step, fusing wrinkly cheesecloth down and free motion stitching. Hopefully this weekend, along with more work on the TIF challenge.

Cold and Snow

I will admit I am not much in the mood for blogging this weekend. Our lovely long autumn has come to an end, winter is officially here. And I have the photos to prove it. Here's the view from our front yard, which faces south.



And our little back yard, looking out onto the common area--



I am looking forward to the day the only snow I see is on national news. Fortunately, our HOA takes care of snow removal, so we don't deal with that part- but it is still a pain.

Nothing much quilty going on. I'm sewing curtains and valances for the windows in our living room. After 2 plus years, figured it was about time. My new issue of Quilting Arts arrived Friday- with a wonderful article about painting batting and using it as fabric in a quilt. I think that is how I will do my tree on my autumn mountains quilt I'm hoping to have done by April for the HMQS in Salt Lake. But I will need to study some trees to get a good idea of what tree bark really looks like, and play with paints and small pieces of batting.

So if this sounds rather blah, well, that pretty much describes how I'm feeling. Maybe some quality time in the studio will help, but that will have to wait until later this month.