ROLEX 24 HOURS AT DAYTONA

The highlight of my year is always our 3 day PTA retreat (coming soon).  The highlight of 'the husband's' year is attending the Rolex 24 Hour car race at Daytona.  I dutifully attend with him but truth be told....would prefer to stay home.

 We are Porsche fans.....and sadly our teams have done poorly for the last 2 years.  Clearly they are lacking engine strength!

 This year's crowd was the largest ever attending......crammed in everywhere there were tent campers.....some more worthy then others of being called a tent.  I can NOT imagine any event that would make me consider tent camping.......well....at least with my current age.

 ……of course there are those who travel in the style……which I'd prefer!

NO.....we do not stay and watch the entire 24 hours!!!!  The race begins at 2:40 PM...and obviously runs through the night which makes for exciting viewing for those hardy folks who stay awake at the track.  

I amuse myself the best I can.  In the Porsche hospitality paddock, artist Bill Patterson peaked my interest.  I watched as he turned a blank canvas into an action painting in about 2 hrs. The painting was then auctioned off to benefit the Austin Hatcher Foundation whose focus is on curing childhood cancers.  This one was sold for over $3,000.  I sure wish I had the knack of blending colors like he does! 

HUNKERING DOWN

I've challenged myself to create a sunset/ocean/beach theme wall quilt....inspired by the many photos that are constantly being generated by family and friends.

Well.....it's easier said than done when translating those gorgeous scenes into fiber!  I've auditioned every piece of hand dyed fabric I made, wearing a path from the 'fabric closet' to my design wall!  

Progress has been so slow because I keep tweaking the design....which would be easier if I tweaked it before it was stitched.  There's already been many, many of hours 'unsewing' and hemming and hawing. But it's getting there....here's a little sneak peak of a portion of the quilt. Keep in mind it's only about half finished.....lots of details to be added. 

I will go back into hibernation mode and emerge when it's done!!!

See how other artists faired with week with their projects:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop Whoop Friday, Crazy Mom Quilts.


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FOLLOW UP - WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA

Last month we participated in Wreaths Across America by laying wreaths on the graves of our veterans.  A moving and worthwhile experience.  To get involved next year in your area, learn more here.

 Of course, what goes up, must eventually come down.....so we joined volunteers to collect the wreaths which will be recycled locally.  It was the first nice day we've had here in weeks....perfect timing!

FIBER JUNKIES - JAN. MEETING - PART TWO

We were all very engaged in our foiling tasks. Me....so much so I neglected to take many photos...here's scant overview....

 Denny used stencils and print fabric.

 Judy likes to document various processes for future use.

 I tried a new to me product which helps give the appearance of 'fairy dust' when foiled.  It's a fusible powder called Bo Nash.....learn more here.

 Sharing an iron caused a bit of a back up at the pressing station and somehow I replaced the foil wrong side up.....oops.....meaning = the end of this piece of fabric as I can not get it off!

Denny had a brilliant idea.  She'd cut a finished quilt, one she didn't want to keep....into large sections to be used as table protectors for hot or cold dishes.  The edges were finished with a tight satin stitch.  To jazz it up....motifs and lettering were foiled to the top.  So very clever!

 Show and tell was a little brief as everyone had been busy during the holidays.  Judy has a fabulously huge design wall in her studio.  It was fun to see some of her collage work in progress.

 Kate and Denny did a Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt project.  Something they both said was selected because they didn't have to do any planning.....instead....just enjoy the process of sewing.

 Denny finished this enormous appliqué quilt.  Due to circumstances in her personal life....she's taken a pause from her otherwise thoughtful one-of-a-kind creations to spend her limited time on simply stitching.

All of us agreed cabin fever was setting in due to the numerous storms our area has experienced this winter.....so after our day together everyone departed cheery and bright.....looking forward to our next FJ meeting which will concentrate on fabric collage.

FIBER JUNKIES 2018 JAN. MEETING

Long time bloggers and readers have most likely experienced special connections with each other.  How fortunate to find connections in this vast world! This Fiber Junkie play date was inspired by Angela Grasse of Princess Bubbles Creates who shared some of her stash of foiling material.  Obviously, that became the subject of our first FJ gathering of 2018.  Thank you Angela!

Before I begin my little report of the day, I want to take a moment to say it was also a bittersweet one.  Our long, long time, sweet, generous, talented member Val has had to withdraw from the group for health reasons. We hope it will be temporary as her quiet, reflective skilled work was always one we wanted to copy.  It wouldn't feel right not acknowledging how much she's provided to our group.

Onward we go....for now with the 5 of us.  We met at Judy's, super organized as always.....examples, supplies, and a demo table set up to jump start our experiments.

 I'm thankful for the foil Angela sent me......

Gen was my table partner and also shared some of her delicious foils.....look at this marbled design!

Judy had stacks of silk screens we could borrow.....an easy way to add a design to be foiled.  To store her screens, she screens the design onto a file folder, making it so handy to preview the motifs without having to look inside each folder.

 The bottom of this photo shows the silk screen, and a scrapper used to push liquid adhesive through to the fabric.  The lighter area shows the gray adhesive on my light blue piece of wool felt.

 It's now all screened and set aside to dry for about an hour.

On an ironing surface, I placed the wool felt, sheets of gold foil covered with parchment paper and firmly pressed/rubbed with a warm/hot iron until the foil was released from its cellophane carrier sheet.  I love this one.

 Here I used a squeeze bottle of liquid adhesive......much more difficult to get evenly dispersed lines.  I wanted to create all over designs since the wool felt will be made into baskets for my booth at Woolworth Walk.

After drying....and not as completely as it should have been due to the uneven lines of glue.....I used both silver and red foil.  Not as successful but okay for a beginner!

More to come....please check back....

UP TO MY ELBOWS

You are being spared the dozens of audition photos I've taken while struggling to find the right combo of fabrics and positions for my new ongoing project.  It's a sunset, ocean, beach scene....... in case you can't tell.....which I don't blame you..... 

 After wasting some precious indigo fabrics for the sky portion, (thankfully it was only basted), this top section was totally rejected. Why couldn't I see it didn't work before taking up so much time?!?

New fabric options for the sky....again lots of cutting, pinning, basting since what I felt would work were only small pieces.  Seriously, I've worn a path from my fabric closet to the design wall, to the work table and back.  

I'm determined to 'get it right'.......some more progress has been made and I'll be reporting back very soon.

FELTED COASTERS

Sometimes after completing a brain teaser quilt, it's enjoyable to switch gears....  These coasters are new additions for my space at Woolworth Walk, downtown Asheville.

Despite being fairly putsy to make, they are good sellers.  For whatever reason the colors are not very true.....both sets are far brighter, bolder.....

Linking to:  Nina-Marie's Off The Wall Friday, Sarah's Whoop, Whoop Friday, Crazy Mom Quilts.

SUPERMOON - first new work 2018

 I don't keep track of the number of pieces I create in a year.....but I will note that this is the first for 2018.  Talk about great timing....with the fabulous show the Supermoon provided for all of us several days ago.  

However, that was not the inspiration for this piece...just a coincidence. My idea came after seeing a photo my childhood friend Doris posted on her Facebook page.  She takes the most beautiful sunrise/sunset photos I've ever seen.  Though in the end, my piece is really nothing like her photo....but the fabric choice was based on her picture!

Ice-dyed silk noil, stabilized with lightweight non-fusible interfacing, sheer over cotton - hand appliqued moon.

Process of trees being appliqued.....

SUPERMOON  20.5" x 18"

AVAILABLE HERE

Ice-dyed silk noil, cotton and Ultra-suede hand appliqued, machine quilted.

SEWING CENTER RECOMMENDATION

Let me start by saying I'm not associated with this company......just a very satisfied customer.  Living in a rural area....I'm so very limited in regard to service and supplies for my sewing equipment.

Brubaker's Sewing Center in New Holland, PA makes it easy to do business with them, no matter where you live.  Expert repair service and very knowledgeable owners.  They have great buys on machines and can efficiently take care of your current ones. Their shipping policy is fantastic!

  Click here for a link to their website.....or call and speak to Amy or Glenn Smith with your questions. 

FORGET THE COLD SNAP - SPRING COMES TO WOOLWORTH WALK

It might be freezing in most of the country....but Judy and I braved the weather and revamped our Woolworth Walk booth. Out with fall/Christmas pieces and in with bright cheery looks for spring.  It really is just around the corner you know!

 This is the new look of my space.

 And here's Judy's....I didn't capture her lovely scarves which always look like spring is in the air!  Be sure to check them out if you get to downtown Asheville....we are in booth 235, lower level.

We also changed out some of our quilts that greet shoppers as they enter the gallery.

 This is one of my newer pieces...displayed for the first time.

"Oriental Dreams"  60" x 60"  

 Judy added these two great pieces.....both so very cheerful and good additions for some lucky shopper.

There are over 100 artists' work on display in the store.....stop by if you are in the area and prepare to be inspired.

NEW YEAR - NEW WORK

A new project in the works....what a great way to start the New Year!

I've had this piece of ice-dyed silk noil (left) on my design wall for a couple of months, along with an ice-dyed linen napkin and eco-printed silk motif (right). The later came together fairly quickly and is already in my online gallery for sale.  However, a design for the other piece kept eluding me.

 After following many dead end paths, I'm now on a roll.....

 Of course a roll doesn't mean the construction is going quickly....hand appliqué can be so tedious when sewing through a stabilizer, not to mention the 3 layers that make up the moon.

Instead of tackling the many year end tasks every household must face, not to mention my little cottage industry, I spent the first day of 2018 happily stitching away while binging on episodes of "Vera".