AROUND AND AROUND

 Our community is hosting an Artisan Faire Oct. 19th, 40 artist's work will be on display.  There will be some from our community, Heritage Placer Vineyards, plus numerous outside artists.  I have no idea what to expect since this is a new avenue for me.  I'm more familiar with online shoppers, exhibits and working with galleries to sell my work.  Will there be 5 or 500 visitors?

To provide some lower cost items, rather than all art quilts, I've been adding to my inventory of fabric bowls.  Tedious stitching round and around the shape, but the results are so appealing.

Here's a few I recently made, plus a look at one special red/black fabric for an upcoming custom order.  They measure about 12" in diameter.

CAN'T BELIEVE THIS......

Talk about ridiculous......despite selling a ton of stuff before we moved, we truly didn't have time to go through everything complete enough.......soooooo we are actually participating in our community garage sale. I've never seen so many electronic cords, wires etc. in my life - 50 years of accumulation I expect. What doesn't sell will go directly to Goodwill. Sigh...... 

FABRIC BOWLS

Spending time making fabric bowls for our upcoming 55+ community Artisan Faire.....I enjoy making them but they are sure time consuming. The round and around stitching is kinda mindless....good to let one's mind drift from time to time.

AUTUMN HAS ARRIVED

 New piece now available.  Contact me if interested.

AUTUMN GINKGO LEAVES- 13” X 13”

Woodgrain cotton fabric designed by Mary Stori for Kona Bay Fabrics. Authentic Japanese cotton motifs, machine pieced, appliquéd, densely embroidered.  Gallery wrapped canvas & secured in a black wood frame without glass.

**Pebbles are a backdrop only, not fabric.

KOI POND

JUST COMPLETED........ 

KOI POND -  24” x 16”

SOLD 

Authentic Japanese cottons, machine appliquéd & machine quilted with metallic thread. Bound edges & hanging sleeve.

** Clarification....the small pebbles are not fabric, rather they are the backdrop for the photo.

AND I MUST ADD.......GO PACK GO!!!  PACK 16 - COLTS 10.  HURRAH FOR WILLIS!!!!

COMING SOON...NEW WALL ART PIECE

 Busy week has kept me from much sewing but I am slowly plugging away.....no cranes in this one....instead the subject is a Koi Pond. Coming soon....here's a preview.

JAPANESE STYLE QUILTS FOR SALE

As many of you already know, I was represented by a gallery in Asheville, NC before moving to CA. It only displayed local artists. therefore I have quite an inventory and no room to store them.

These pieces would love forever homes. The style is very popular so they tend to sell quickly. Shipped via USPS flat rate, US only. Shipping included. Contact me if interested

CROSSROADS TO JAPAN - 45” x 36” - $500

Authentic Japanese cotton prints, diagonal green grid is my hand-dyed fabric, machine pieced and quilted. Double fold binding & hanging sleeve attached. The size was purposeful.....it's just right to hang over a sofa, above a dining room buffet, an entrance or stairwell wall.

JAPANESE CIRCLES - 42" X 43". - $500

Japanese cottons, pieced, appliquéd, and densely machine quilting.  Outside edges feature double fold binding with colorful flat flange.  Fabric hanging sleeve attached.

PICTURES HUNG

 Why on earth did it take us 5 months before we hung pictures?? Of course quilts displays went up nearly immediately after moving in!!  In part, moving from a 3 story house to a single story changes the amount of wall space one has.

The Man Cave was the last room we tackled.  After unwrapping all the car related photos (most of which 'the husband' photographed, sized & printed, then framed.)  The layout was planned followed by two full days squeezing behind furniture too heavy for us to move to be able to reach the walls.

Measuring, drilling, leveling, and sometimes re-drilling was required.  And here's the reveal.........

LONG AND NOT QUILT RELATED.....CA FIRES

I've grumbled about our difficulty getting acclimated to our move from NC to CA. The negatives are extensive, but I will remind myself why we are here......being closer to our only child (son/family) and admittedly much better health care.   

For multiple reasons, very little sewing has been undertaken this past week, but yesterday the reason was a whopping one and one that was on the top of my 'worry' list about living in CA.

Yup, we were ordered to evacuate due to a brush fire that rapidly spread. It got into the edges of our community, directly behind our clubhouse complex.  This is 5 blocks from us!  We'd heard lots of sirens and smelled smoke while we were picture hanging and chatting with SIL via speaker phone.  So when the text came to evacuate, we never saw it......by the time I did....thankfully it was cancelled within 30 mins. due to the excellent fire fighters we have here.

Some folks lost their fences but as far as I know besides being super frightened when Sheriffs went door to door telling residents they had to leave there were no injuries.  By the time they would have gotten to us, it was under control......appx. 7 1/2 acres burned.  It hasn't been reported yet how it started.  Oh boy, to lose our home, would have been the topper drama of our journey relocating here!

Our area is not really known for destructive wild fires so I hadn't really felt threatened, till now.  And yes, we are now going to make a plan to follow if evacuation is ever ordered again!  

Here are some photos.....the overhead one shows just a section of our big development and how close houses are to each other.  There's lots of empty fields around us and nearly all are already slated for either business or housing.  I commend the owners of the lands as most mow to keep the very, very dry grasses low.

PS.....super sad Packer fan here after their loss Friday night and the injury to our QB.......yikes....but no matter. GO PACK GO!!!!

The big building you see is our clubhouse.

 

HOW CAN BEING RETIRED FIND ME SO BUSY??

I have an inspiration fabric to share today.......the design hit me the minute I uncovered this piece in my stash.......stay tuned....sewing has already begun. 

The scenery here is still so unfamiliar to me........cloudless blue skies daily which brings the negative result of constant heat.....it's been 100 degree days for several months now, today's prediction - 107.  What on earth am I doing living in such an unfriendly environment??  This is 6:45 AM Sept. 6th.....we do our forced march just before the sun comes up, never to leave home till it goes down.  (kidding, sort of)

After major nagging on my part, 'the husband' finally selected car related photos to be hung in the man cave.  It's probably less than half the number that remains.  Selection made (check), layout tested (check), the hanging part begins........