As Sally Used To Say “Squares Aren’t Square”!

This is the quilt that unintentionally started my series “The Colors Of My Life”.

Jared is now a sophomore in college but he was much younger when this show opened.

One dark square makes a quilt complete.

This was the first piece I designed on the wall of my then new studio.

It’s ALMOST a tessellation. It needed the gray squares to make it work.
There are 20 pieces in this series and I love them all. I enjoyed playing with color, value, optical illusions and the third dimension in this series.
Nine years ago my show Quilts Of Another Dimension opened at Anderson Arts Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Some Of My Favorite Things

I enjoy putting favorite things together so I can enjoy them.
This view shares a variety of favorite things: Family items, art I’ve collected from local artists and artists around the world, family photos, favorite books, pieces from some of my collections and even a few pieces of my own work.
The cabinet was design to fit this particular space by the late Hans Hansen and manufactured in Denmark. It was shipped here in pieces and then his employees put it together in this spot.  You may know I love Scandinavian furniture and I dearly love the pieces with rounded edges.
I enjoy seeing this each and every day. 

It’s A Working Studio Again

I'm happy to be working on various projects in my studio again. I use the design wall to hang works in progress or fabrics so I can study them to get ideas and inspiration on how to use them.

Another corner of the studio. There are 5 current works in progress laid out on the bed. These are ones that I hope to work on soon. You can also see many older works in progress hanging on the racks at the foot of the bed.
My studio is a pleasant and inspiring place to work. I also have art hanging on the walls by others as well as by myself. I try to change out my work often with the help of my son Greg.
It’s a great feeling to have the studio reorganized and also to have purged so much I no longer need.
Now if I could only find some 48 hour days!!!!!!!

Green Bay Packer Clogs

I wore my Green Bay Packer Clogs for the first time this season.
They didn’t work and we didn’t win.
SAD

Phone Charm

My friend Robbie Porter Payne beaded this phone charm for me.
Each side of the triangle is slightly more than an inch.
The beads are iridescent which doesn’t show on the photo.
Her beading skills are AMAZING. I am so lucky to have wonderful talented friends.

Happy Fall, Y’all!

Smoke Plant Reborn

This smoke plant was about 20 feet high as it didn’t get trimmed before last winter.
It was cut right down to the ground in early spring and came back looking so pretty.
It is a fast grower and I love it’s colors.

Happy Birthday To Me Video

https://www.facebook.com/kaysorensen/videos/10216683275385175/?t=0

This is the cute short video of my grandsons and my son singing Happy Birthday to me and blowing out the candles!

More Gorgeous Birthday Flowers

My son Jeff and grandsons Cooper and Caleb came over last night with flowers, a card and a cake for my birthday.
Caleb (4) picked the color and they are gorgeous.  He also decided he had to change into some of his best clothes before they came over!
They sang Happy Birthday and I did a short video of it. I posted it on Facebook as that is the only way I know to post videos! So if you want to see if and are on FB it’s there for you.

Who Or What Just Turned 10 Years Old?

No, not me!!!!
I started my blog Quilts + Color on September 14, 2008.
I had no idea what I would be doing but wanted to share my work and create a personal diary for myself.
34 people viewed that first post! The most views I ever received on one single blog post was 13259 on Sunrise- Sunset Quilt Tutorial.
It was the first of 2342 post I have shared.
Although my main emphasis is on my quilts and color I share a wide variety of subjects unique and personal to me.
I have no plans to stop.
The benefits have been great. When I want to know when I did something, when the flowers bloomed, or anything else I can find it by finding it on a post. I have met some of you on line because you read my blog. I have also met some of my blog readers in person I didn’t know before. I’ve also found some long lost friends because they read my blog.
It’s a great way to shut down for the day as I try to schedule my blog posts for the next morning at the end of the day.

Birthday Flowers

Greg and Julie always send flowers for my birthday.
This year they did one better! The hand delivered them and were here with me.
Gorgeous fall bouquet.

Remembering Georgia (O’Keefe) Is On The Wall

While I was taking the last stitches to add the casing to this quilt I realized that it was the perfect quilt for this wall in the breakfast room.
I try to change the quilts on display occasionally.
I am lucky my son Greg is always agreeable to help.

Wall Of Quilting Fabrics And Projects

I don’t know if you remember what this looked like before? I got rid of a lot of the fabrics that were here. I also added things that were elsewhere. I moved some things to the two side sections.
Yes, there are some empty spots. I will likely fill them with some things from the studio storeroom which will make those things more accessible….but not right now.
The biggest change is I now have like things together.
I also put things I don’t need to access often on the top shelves. The things I use most often are on the most accessible shelves.

This is what it looked like before I started purging and reorganizing.
When you compare the two pictures you can see a HUGE change.

Studio Purging And Reorganization Finished

For all intents and purposes it is done.
Does that mean I have everything in apple pie order?
Not by a long shot.

I still have things to get rid of and things that could be more organized. They will not impede my working in my studio now.

Yes, there are boxes of donations that need to be brought down and out. Also empty boxes and bins that I may store for the future.

Some projects that are visible on my radar so I know they should be tackled.

A tea cart full of projects to be finished which includes some small things for when I don’t feel like working on BIG projects.
Yet with all this said, to me it is a big improvement and makes me want to work and I AM working again.
If you expected to see a beautifully staged studio I hope you are not disappointed. This is a WORKING studio.
After over 3 months of work, IT’S ABOUT TIME!
What you haven’t seen yet is my fabric storage shelves and you’ll see them before too long.

Black And White Shibori

The combination of black and white can be very striking.
These are all the fabrics I found in the basket.

I did not arrange these to make a composition. They are just arranged to fit the available space on the design wall. I even had to put some fabrics on top of others to make things fit.. After I took the photo I rotated it 90 degrees so you could scroll down and see each piece a little better. The total measurement of what you see from top to bottom is over 16 feet.
As usual I have no idea how I manipulated some of these fabrics.
I am so glad I found these fabrics and I am quite sure some of them will be showing up in my work in the near future.

Luscious Hand Dyed Fabrics All Organized

These are my hand dyed shibori and ice dyed fabrics all organized and ready to use.
The only ones that aren’t here are the very large ones.

These are most of my solid hand dyed fabrics. Many of what you see are piles of gradations of a color or blends between two colors.
Looking at all these dyed fabrics in both pictures in the flesh really stirs up my creative juices.

Millennium Quilt 8 Went Home With Kierstin

I had been the custodian of 4 of the grandchildren’s quilts I made.
Kierstin was so young when she received it she doesn’t even remember the quilt nor the party we had with the 4 local grandchildren.

Here she is taking a swing at the Millennium piñata. She was not feeling good that night but she made it up to see the New Year in both in New York and locally on TV. She was so excited as there were fireworks on the TV and looking out the doors the neighbors were also shooting them off.
My hope is that each one of the grandchildren treasure their quilts as an heirloom and they are able to someday pass them on to their grandchildren and beyond.
Each one is king size and uses 2000 different fabrics. I made one for each of the 8 grandchildren.
All the other grandchildren have theirs already.

The Purging And Reorganizing Life Of A Collector

Some of you may remember several years ago when I would set a goal to get rid of the number of items corresponding to the number of the year it was.
I was very successful and always met my goal.
I have not done the goal setting for several years but I continued along that path.
If you open this link you can see the where I was June 2nd.
http://quiltspluscolor.blogspot.com/2018/06/more-studio-viewlooks-like-i-was-either.html
This year I set a very serious goal to purge and reorganize my studio. I have been working on it for over 3 months now and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. But that light is still dim.
If you walked into the studio today you might ask me when I was going to start doing this.

I have donated over 50 boxes of fabric, about 40 bolts and many other items to various charities, family and friends.

This is the next group of fabrics ready to donate to the ladies who make the quilts for Lutheran World Relief.
Now before anyone tells me I can’t use these priority boxes they are from a class of Priority Mail that was discontinued. I asked if I could cross out and use them and I was told very emphatically NO. So I fill them, they pick them up, they return them and I refill them. A much better use that sending them to a land fill.
I spend hours up there just about every day. It takes time to decide what to pass on, what to keep and where to put the things I am keeping so they are most accessible.

Just a few of the boxes that have seen better days and are going into the recycle bin as well as a bag of trash or two.

It is not just the studio. There is a 12 x 14 foot storeroom attached to the studio. I am now working at the far end of the storeroom.
Will I reach my goal? I am determined to finish this in the very near future.
In case you think that is all I do up there, I want to let you know I have been working on a few projects so I remember why I have this dream studio in the tree tops.
AND IN CLOSING, REMEMBER, STUFF EXPANDS TO FILL THE SPACE AVAILABLE!