DYE DAY TO DIE FOR!!

 It's been well over a year since I had a dye day with pals.....our Fiber Frenzy group of 6 met monthly to 'play'.  I've missed that.

With gratitude I accepted an invitation to join like-minded art quilters to a 'dye day'.  Michelle has the most incredible wet studio set up in her yard and generously not only shares the space with friends, but all her supplies as well.  She was my first fiber friend here and I can't thank her enough for including me in so many activities.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  This is heaven.

To make the most of my time, I decided to concentrate on premixed procion dyes that I used to flat dye a variety of fabrics: PDF, vintage brocade table cloth, the wrong side of older printed fabrics I no longer cared for, and course burlap colored cotton.

I now sport the badge of a day of dyeing fabrics.  Gloves you ask?  Sure but I can never keep them on.....

These are some of my flat dyed fabrics.

What a fabulous day!!!!

COLORS OF THE SEASON

 The holidays are such a cheerful and colorful time of the year......so I'm celebrating with my newest very colorful small holiday art quilt!

                             THE COLORS OF THE SEASON

12” x 12”

Commercial cottons, digital text on gelli printed fabric, raw edge 

machine appliquéd, machine quilted, secured on canvas covered frame.

BACK TO MY WHIMSY ROOTS

After deciding to create some small holiday pieces I've found myself gleefully charging ahead, back to my previous whimsy style....less embellished this time in an effort to maintain a realistic price for shoppers who have lots of expenses come holiday season.

Landscape and botanical themes have been the predominant subjects ever since moving to Western North Carolina in 2006.  The fantastic scenery certainly inspired me.

Yet, I never lost my sense of humor and the urge to move back to the lighter side of art quilt themes has drawn me back in and it's refreshing.  Here are two more 12" x 12" holiday pieces mounted on  canvas covered frameS.  The backs are finished with fabric.  Both art quilts are available now at $75 each.

                                        FROSTY & FRIEND

                                BRINGING HOME THE TREE

IT'S DOWNTON ABBEY DAY!!!!

 So sad to say goodbye to Downtown Abbey, which like so many, I'm a devoted fan.  Today a friend and I are grasping our tickets as we head for the Finale.  Talk about dedication to this show, I have been in a theater only twice in the last 25 years and those were with the grands!

We don't employ kitchen staff like the Crawley's, but we managed a feast fit for one of their lavash dinners.  It's been an adjustment learning to cook on a gas BBQ grill after our entire lives we've used a Weber, Big Green Egg, & Iron Smoker.  Wood/charcoal are not permitted here.  

However, a big positive is the abundance of fresh lamb available in the supermarkets here.....it's a favorite of ours.

Behold the rotisserie leg of lamb, boned, cubed & marinated along with roasted vegetables and wild rice.  Oh yummmm!

GO PACK GO!!!!

Title Town is ready for Thursday night football.  

So are we, are you???

 

FELTED BASKETS

 Busy creating.....just finished 3 cute felted wool baskets for the Artisan Faire. Also available now if interested. $25 each

Use as a catch all for sunglass cases, charging cords, keys etc.
Measures 7.5" x 5.5"

I'm NOT a fan of clutter.....this is how I use one of mine......a kitchen entry catch all.

FROSTY & FRIEND

I continue to create a few small holiday pieces for the Nov. 8, 2025 Artisan Faire.  Here's another example.  Contact me if you can't wait for the Faire to give it a home.

 FROSTY & FRIEND - 12" x 12"

Available now

Commercial cottons, raw edge fused appliqué, hand beading & embroidery, mounted on canvas covered frame.

THE PACK IS BACK!!!!

 We are ready for today's opening game -  Packers vs Lions.......

The best image of all when my nieces met St. Vincent.......

The new Pope may be a Bears fan — but Packers fans have had THIS legend praying on their behalf for DECADES

Manitowoc’s John O’Neill, aka St. Vince, first wore his bishop-style vestments to Super Bowl XXXI as a way to invoke the legacy of Vince Lombardi (since it was the first championship they played in since his death).

Soon, it became tradition, and he’s been wearing the garb to every home game since

Maybe he’ll catch a game with Pope Leo someday…

THE GREEN & GOLD IS BACK!

 Yippie......it's Packers Season! Sunday they will be taking on one of our arch rivals.....The Lions...... So just in time for tail gating:

The Green Bay Packers unveiled new concession items for this season at Lambeau Field on Wednesday! New snacks include the Loaded Big Pretzel – Bavarian big pretzel, sharp cheddar cheese sauce, crumbled brats, fried sauerkraut, beer cheese mustard sauce, beer mustard. Available at Johnsonville Tailgate Village.

BRANCHING OUT

SOLD - guess I need to get busy creating new designs!!  

With the later date this year of Nov. 8, 2025 for our Artisan Faire, it seemed sensible to offer a few holiday themed small pieces in addition to my current inventory of art quilts.

Here is an example.  It's wrapped on a canvas covered frame with a fabric covered back, measuring 12" x 12".

Available now if you can't wait till the Faire.....

5 FIRS & 1 BIRD

12” x 12”

Commercial & gelli printed cottons, raw edge machine appliquéd.

Secured on a canvas wrapped wood frame.

 

TRUCKEE RETREAT

It's a treat to spend time in the mountains....astonishingly majestic and beautiful.  Our son purchased his 'happy place' several years ago, as a vacation and weekend escape from Urban city living.

I had fun creating an art quilt of the home using a photo as my guide.  Kuro Kuma translates to black bear in Japanese.

THE REASON FOR OUR MOVE

We were encouraged by our son (okay pushed) to move from our comfortable life in the mountains of NC to Northern CA where adjustment has been difficult considering our lives have only been in fairly rural settings for the last 30+ years.

How fortunate we are to have this fantastic human looking after our best (growing old) interests!  Though he and his family live 2.5+ hrs. West of us, their 2nd home is less than 2 hrs. in a setting we are bonded to.  Truckee.....which is in the Lake Tahoe area.

Labor Day weekend has been such fun.  At times I'm surprised to find I can't or shouldn't be doing activities that would never have given me pause 10 years ago.  We spent an entire morning at Tahoe City Tree Adventures.....an astonishing play land for the hardy.  Zip lining is the main feature with other aerial challenges interconnected.  It's a massive place and just plain darn interesting to watch the various attendees succeed or sometimes have total 'frozen with fear' moments (talked through  by parents and staff).

Here's some of the views.....2nd two photos are our youngest grandson who has great athletic skills.  I have a couple of videos but yet again Blogger won't allow them to be posted......  I'll try submitting to my Facebook page instead.

Our son's home had a bear break in when it was under renovation

and empty at the time.  It broke in through a window and left his marks on the dry wall....now framed.  They suspect food had been left in that area of the house by the contractors which attracted the bear.  A good reminder to always use caution where there is a large bear population....problems are rare but they can happen.

MORE COOKING FUN

 This weekend will be all about grilling and of course for us that means Wisconsin brats!  However, since my egg supply is still abundant  (yes perhaps I was hoarding now that egg prices have come down)..... Our evening meal last night featured grilled dill salmon on a bed of braised fresh spinach over toasted English Muffins, smothered with a VERY generous amount of Hollandaise Sauce.  (I had a fresh lemon that needed using which actually is what led to the menu.)

Hoping you all have a fun filled Labor Day weekend with friends, family & of course lots of good food.

CREATIVE COOKING

Do you follow recipes when you cook?  Just like my long time habit of not using quilt patterns, with the exception of baking, I rarely use recipes.  Avoiding wasting food OR fabric is second nature to me.

I try to use fresh produce which requires a fairly quick turn over.  So when I realized there were still 15+ russet potatoes in my pantry, it was time to get creative.

Oh and how about that full carton of eggs in the refrigerator not to mention fresh spinach that was looking a bit limp?  It's time for quiche!

I'd read that substituting frozen hash browns instead of a pie crust can reduce calories.  I'm not sure how accurate that is but that concept would help to reduce my potato supply.

Like creating a quilt, sometimes first attempts require tweaking.  The cheese, spinach, onion quiche with a baked grated potato crust was really good.  However, next time I will cook the potatoes prior to grating and pre-baking, because by the time the quiche filling was added and baked, the outer rim of the 'crust' was a bit too crips, even after covering with foil.  Try this approach yourself.

PERFECT UNION

 Our community Artisan Faire this November will now be held exclusively outdoors, so my previous wall space will not be available.  Larger pieces will be impossible to exhibit until the 'under construction' larger new clubhouse is completed. I've decided to reduce my inventory of larger art quilts to avoid lengthy storage.  Visit my online gallery....I'll be making changes asap in pricing but if there is a piece you are especially interested in....connect and I'm sure we can work out details.

In the meantime.... my newest piece - $175 

For some reason the center quilt within the quilt is fuzzy....but not so on my Facebook page....if interested visit there or holler and I'll email you a photo.  I'm getting very dissatisfied with the quality of this blog service and am looking into switching...however with so many years of content I'm finding that very challenging.  Stay tuned.

PERFECT UNION - INDIGO & ROADSIDE WEEDS

20” x 23”

This ‘QUILT WITHIN A QUILT’ was created using the reverse side of genuine rare vintage Shweshwe & Kashmel Indigo cotton, printed in England & South Africa under names such as 3 Cats.  Machine pieced and quilted.  Married with thread painted weed motifs and densely machine quilted.  Faced edges with fabric hanging sleeve attached.

MY HAPPY PLACES

 Those of us who have multiple happy places consider themselves very fortunate.

Of course my studio tops my list, but a very close 2nd is the kitchen.  I've always enjoyed cooking, especially if there is a special reason to do so.

I've been busy this week preparing for out of town company.

A lunch menu:   Greek pasta vegetable & feta salad, homemade pita bread with Tzatziki dip, followed by what may or may not be a 'cleansing finish"......... Homemade meringue shells filled with mint ice cream and topped with homemade Chocolate fudge sauce from my cookbook.

I happened to have egg whites left after making hollandaise sauce to coat fresh salmon cooked on the grill....so why waste them?  My trusty pastry bag was a kitchen item that didn't make the trip across the country...so a large spoon to form the shell had to do!

I've never made pita bread before.....the shapes got better as I baked each separately.  The baking stone was so heavy I was unable to pull the rack out of my 500 degree oven which would have made placement of the rolled out dough more precise.  Instead each one was deposited onto the stone with the aid of a rolling pin..... not always successfully.  However, the taste along with my homemade Tzatziki dip is super.  Hope this makes you all hungry!!

BACKGROUND QUILTING

 The indigo piece I've been working on moved one step closer to the finished concept I envisioned.  It was tense there for awhile.....after machine stitching weed motifs, the batik fabric was so distorted I feared it would be a total failure.

Hummm, it had been spray starched, stabilized, stitched using a walking foot, very carefully stitched I might add....but still it was a mess.  After setting it aside for a few days I wondered if it could be tamed with quilting.  To my astonishment, it worked.

Onward....stay tuned....

INDIGO BLUES

 Who doesn't love indigo?  A stack of 'made in England' vintage genuine and rare block printed Kashmeri indigo cotton prints has been staring me down for quite awhile.  Most are small pieces featuring charming prints which are also subtle and very appealing when viewed from the back.

The calmer reverse side of some from my collection has now been patchworked together to act as a background for an idea that will no longer stay silent.  Hopefully it will work. As the design issues are under consideration, enjoy viewing this unique fabric.  And YES I will be piecing more to show off the wonderful prints in a future project.