SANDY BRINGS US SNOW!!

Despite the strong winds all night long and continuing snow fall as I type this.....we are still safe & warm....no power loss at all thankfully. What an amazing sight on Oct. 30th.....6" of snow with drifts in some places about a foot!!

I've relapsed and am in full whine mode now after being sick for nearly a week.  However, when I feel another rant coming on....I'm turning on TV where the non-stop pictures of folks who really have it difficult stops me in my tracks.....

MONDAY MORNING....

For anyone else who cares.....whew....the Packers won yesterday....but so did the Lions and Bears....boo hiss

I'm still fighting off the flu/cold so I've had lots of 'seat' time over the weekend to hand stitch.  I amused myself by watching reruns of old TV shows.....the original "Fugitive" and "The Loretta Young Show".  I always thought she was soooo glamorous as she twirled her way into the introductions of each episode.

So...that brings us to today...we are experiencing the affects of Hurricane Sandy....I know....we are hours away from the coast but still....  Cold weather from the North is combining with the the moisture from the storm.....

The wind is blowing about 50 mph, we have snow flurries, and cold temps. (which means black ice here in the mountains)  The trees in my photos don't appear as bent as they are with the wind...but trust me, it's a 'blowin' good up in these there hills!'

Hoping the impact to others along the coast is not as great as predicted....me...I'm hunkering down and fighting the crud for one more day!

AAQI HOUSTON SALE

The annual trek to Houston for Quilt Market and Festival is underway.....I won't be attending this year but two of my quilts will.  They are part of the 2,185 (YES you read that right......2,185!!!) quilts  that the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative will be displaying this year for sale.  If you are going....be sure to visit Row S, (hard right as soon as you enter the exhibit area from the front of the George R Brown) October 31 to November 4th.

I believe my quilts will be available the first night.....so hopefully their sale will bring my contribution over the $2,000 mark raised in the priority quilt category alone!

Please consider supporting this worthy cause.....visit here to see each and every quilt up for sale...donated by quilters near and far!  If you can't purchase one in person, don't forget....each month from the 1st - 10th, priority quilts are posted for the monthly online auction.

 Long Needle Pine  by Mary Stori

Rose Quartz by Mary Stori

57......

With a bit more beading here and a bit more embroidery there.....

this little piece is now complete and ready for a new home......

57.....    6"x6.5"

AVAILABLE HERE

TEXTURED LEAVES

Due to a bad sore throat....my planned activity yesterday was postponed...instead I sat like a slug and did handwork most of the day.

 As you may recall from previous posts, I decided to bind this quilt instead of using a facing due to concerns about the unevenness of where the leaves met the edges.  The background fabric was my own deconstructed screen printing.....of which I used nearly every inch.  Nothing in my stash in that color range worked so I decided to use a muted gray/black print for the binding....thinking it'd 'frame' the design nicely.

TEXTURED LEAVES 19" X 16"

Artist deconstructed screen printed cotton, commercial black/white fabrics, hand appliqued, machine quilted, & bead embellished.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE

 Actually, once it was in place, I felt the look was a little too strong. So, although I hadn't planned to bead the edge, (yet that thought is never far from my mind)....soon the beads were back out and my afternoon disappeared between sniffling and beading.

I think the addition of diagonally placed graphite beads worked to tie the entire piece together.  Click on photo to enlarge.

Detail

NUMBER 57

 Robbie asked the other day, if the numbers 57 had a specific meaning.....oh I wish I could share a really interesting story behind this design...but alas....these are the numbers that fit and were available when I was resist dyeing some wool I had felted.  I wasn't satisfied with my first attempt of surface.....esp. with the blueish beads.....which in person just don't work.

BEFORE

AFTER

 So, I took them off....what else is new....that seems to be my pattern when working with these tiny pieces.....I add and subtract until I'm satisfied!  There's a minimum contrast to the dye which adds to the embellishment difficulty.  It's better now and I'll probably play around a little bit more before adding a backing and perhaps incorporating threads or beads along the edging.  Will keep you posted.

I just hope someone else is drawn to these numbers so it will have a happy new home when I'm finished! 

EXHIBIT NOTICE: HA-HA....MADE YOU LAUGH

Seven members of PTA (Professional Textile Artists), of which I'm a member, have a fun exhibit opening tomorrow. If you are in the Waynesville, NC area anytime through Nov. 10th, consider visiting Gallery 86 on Main Street to enjoy our work.

Here's a preview as Dort, Connie and myself hung the quilts today.  We filled every square inch of the space available with 32 quilts, all featuring a humorous theme. Luckily Connie is tall....our go to girl who was in charge of the ladder & hammer as we hung the quilts AND positioned the lighting.  She and Dort put up the pressure sensitive signage, while I was in charge of 'housekeeping'.

NEW PROJECT

I've been feeling VERY scattered lately due to a hectic 'real life' schedule which hasn't allowed me enough time to sew.

Determined to get calm my nerves, I grabbed a pile of supplies that I'd organized last week and headed for the TV.  We are late to join the fan base of the TV show "Breaking Bad".....but are catching up thanks to Netflix.  So with one eye on the TV and one on my sewing.....I began a new project.

I meant to take a photo of the 'before' but was so anxious to start sewing.....well.....I just plain forgot.

This is another tiny resist dyed felted wool piece.....about 6" x 7" which doesn't allow much room for more surface design.  When I took this photo last night, I'd all but decided to remove the blueish beads - in person they feel too big - however, in the photo, the affect is positive.  Let's see what happens.....

I have a full day today hanging our PTA member exhibit: Ha Ha - Made You Laugh at Gallery 86, Waynesville, NC.  Hope to get some fun photos to share with you tomorrow.

BEADED LEAF QUILT PROCESS

Fall is concentrated car racing season around here......so my time is not always my own since 'the husband' is passionate about the American LeMans series.  We spent the last couple of days at Road Atlanta where I spent time celebrity watching.  Dr. McDreamy (Patrick Dempsy) was one of the drivers....who unfortunately crashed his car about 2 hours before the end of the 10 hour race.  Happily, he wasn't hurt.  

Mr. Ashey Judd (Dario Franchitti, who won this year's Indianapolis 500 race) also drove a car.....

The recent get-aways explain my lack of progress on my leaf quilt.....

With little spurts of time, I managed some simple machine quilting.  From the start I expected to use a facing method to finish the edges, however now that I'm at that point, I'm dubious.

Why??  Because two of the appliqued leaves extend to the edge....meaning with a turned facing, there would be 7 layers in those sections.  That's looking for trouble.  So, instead I'll be using a very narrow traditional binding.  Hope to get at that tomorrow.....

Oh....here's a Sooty report for those of you who asked.....if you find conversations about other peoples pets boring....stop reading now.  (I would if I was reading someone's blog!)

First......she seems to have escaped any and all problems that could have developed from her snack of my felted faux rocks.  Impossible as that may seem!

But, her bad behavior resume continues......when we picked her up from the doggie boarding facility, they reported her behavior was good & bad.  Bad??  Not our Sooty!!  Oh ya......she is now an escape artist besides being a chow hound!  In her defensive, any dog that can get out of a kennel space that is tiled on 3 sides and fitted with a chain link fence door is actually brilliant....and perhaps they need to rethink the way it's set up.  And....though she wasn't harmed she certainly could have hurt herself......  We are very limited here with dog sitting options.....the search will go on.... and I'm sure Sooty's adventures will continue!

FALL IN THE MOUNTAINS

For the last 5 days, I've taken a photo from the same spot on our front porch.....documenting the change of our valley/mountain view...  Lovely, isn't it??