Continuing the Countdown - 13 more days

This picture was taken about 8 years ago.
We made the ice luminarias in 5 gallon buckets. They were beautiful.
This may be the year that we will have enough snow and cold to do it again.
But I think for some things "once is enough"!

When you read this I will be on a plane headed for Wisconsin. This is some of the art at Mitchell Field in Milwaukee. Or I may already be home depending on when you read this!

This is the sign at the departure area after you go through security. I think they made up this word because I couldn't find it in my dictionary. It does show that someone has a sense of humor.
I do hope there are no delays related to the weather and if they are, I hope I can keep my sense of humor. I'll be bringing knitting to pass the time.
I'm travelling very light - no suitcase which makes things easier. It's that darn computer that is a pain to travel with!

The countdown continues: 14 more days until christmas

This was one of my Christmas Trees last year and you can expect to see it again!
Will there be any Rubik's Cubes in the packages under the tree?

Almost Crazy Christmas Quilt

Almost Crazy Christmas Quilt

In a private collection

I have finally finished this quilt. I felt it had to be perfect and some days it's harder to create perfect art. Yesterday and today where the right kind of days. I LOVE it.
It is 21 inches wide and 28 inches high. It has a casing on the back so you can insert a wood slat to hang it.

To see a closer view of the detail you can click on the photo and see it in a larger format.

Counting down: 15 days until Christmas

Santa has bolts of fabric. I suppose Mrs. Santa will be making quilts through Christmas Eve.

I have had my first visitor from Bahrain on my blog.

Spectacular Medallion Quilt

My students have done some amazing work over the years. This medallion quilt was created by Char Burns for her son.
She had taken a machine embroidery (thread painting) class from me previous to making this quilt. Her son drew the wolf and she embroidered it.
Some of the things I covered in the class were how to choose fabrics and integrate the borders for a cohesive quilt.

If you analyze the borders you can see they are really very simple. Her choice of fabrics with the proper amount of contrast is one of the things that makes the borders and the entire quilt work.
She also gave careful consideration to each and every corner with a design that worked in the corner.

She had never done any stenciling so I gave her a quick lesson on using freezer paper to stencil. She used a real leaf for the pattern. She used more than one color of paint to tie the colors of the leaves into the colors in the quilt
She certainly accomplished her goal of making a stunning masculine quilt for her son.

This quilt was pictured in Ladies Circle Patchwork Quilts when they visited Wisconsin. It was photographed on our bed and it did indeed look stunning there.

Many faces of Christmas - Countdown 16 more days

All six different photos on this cube are memories past and present of Christmas.

Amulets to share with my friends and their friends!

When you visit me you will see this tray of amulets on the entry table. Each is a piece of polymer clay art I have created and signed.

Please take two of these when you visit me. Keep one and give one to someone else.
They symbolize friendship and good luck.

Here is a closeup view of some of them so you can get a sneak preview before you visit. When you come again chose one more. You then can give that one away or you can give away the one you picked on your last visit.

You can keep them in a pocket, your purse or out where you can see it.


I have this one sitting on an end table by the chair I often sit in.

If you would like your amulet to have a shine you can rub it on a piece of cloth, your clothing or with your thumb.

You can study these as you work the puzzle which uses my all time favorite puzzle cut - lizards.

The countdown has begun - only 17 more days until Christmas!

Where do I begin?

I am often asked how I start a project.
Whether I am making a quilt or decorating a house I need someplace to start.
For me the art often begins with color or colors.


When I decorated the great room in Florida I chose silk in bright colors for my pillows.


I like to use a run of color - in other words, each color is related the the previous and the next color.



This run of color is almost a rainbow or color wheel.


These pillows were made from affordable Molas I purchased on eBay. They each feature a tropical bird.


In reality I don't consider them Molas since they are appliqued. To me a Mola is reverse appliqued.

Each Mola was framed with Dupioni silk. Silk takes color so beautifully.

Even though the colors were chosen to create a run of color, I do not use them in color run order on the furniture. I relate them to the things that are near them to accent the colors.

Of course I had to use the bird puzzle cut for this one!

Who made this quilt? - and an important blog date!

When I was going through and organizing the stuff in the drawers, shelves and containers in my Florida studio I found this quilt. I looked at it and thought "I wonder who made this quilt?"
It took me a minute to remember I made it. It is definitely not my usual style. It is a mixture of silks and cottons and is fused. It is a cheerful quilt. It has not been quilted but I finished the edges. I may quilt it and I may not!

I have mentioned before I started blogging on September 14, 2008. I had no idea what I was doing or where I was headed. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and also documenting much of my work and various other things.

Eventually I found out you could track the number of visitors to your blog and where they are from. One year ago today I started keeping track of the number of visitors.

I am overwhelmed realizing in just this one year I have had 45535 visits to my blog from 104 countries. The newest country to visit my blog was Tunisia on November 11, 2009.

Thank you to all of you who visit my blog and come back again and again.

I know my puzzles are one of the things that keep many of you coming back. I've been told many of you find them addictive. A good kind of addiction for sure.

Santa's Christmas Stocking and Candy Cane Dreams Tea

In our community we have a club called Tequila Rose Tea Club. Each year the club sponsors a Spring Tea and a Christmas Tea. They are such festive happenings.
Ladies volunteer to set a table that represents the theme for that particular tea.

Each table has a hostess who sets the table and a butler. The men in the community serve as butlers and serve the food for each course of the tea. There are 4 courses and the tea ends with a Tequila Rose liquor toast.

In addition to the butlers several of the ladies serve as tea pourers and circulate and keep your tea cup full.

This table did not use the typical reds and greens. It was just lovely.

This table did an excellent job of representing the theme and no detail was left out.

She had full chair covers decorated with the candy canes.

This is a closer view of her lavish centerpiece.

Here is another table that interpreted the theme in a very creative way.

As you can guess the limited number of tickets available for this event sell out immediately. I did not get a ticket this year. The room is open for those of us who didn't get tickets to come in and view the tables and decorations 45 minutes before the tea. In the past I have served as a hostess twice. It is something I have enjoyed doing.
It is also one of the few times we get a chance to really dress up and many of the ladies also wear hats.

I chose this centerpiece as my puzzle for tonight. Enjoy!

Christmas Decorating is done

I've finished the Christmas decorating in Florida. My Oaxacan frog is holding two ornaments to match those on the tree.

I made this arrangement for the coffee table. Yes, my coffee table is turquoise. It is my grandmothers library table which we cut down and antiqued years ago. Recently we took it to an auto body shop and had it painted turquoise.


I love amaryllis. To me they are a christmas flower. I have to admit I leave these out year around but the branches are definitely a Christmas item.


I hung the guest towels in the guest bath and decided that was it for this year.

The house has a holiday spirit but it is definitely not overdone!

I hope you enjoy tonight's puzzle.

My New Great Studio

Many of you have seen the photos of my Florida studio on March 13, 2009. I decided to make some changes since I am sewing more this year.

I have moved my sewing machine to the great room. It has a perfect view of the TV as I sew. I also have a view out the sliding glass doors of the golf course. I can open the sliding doors to enjoy the glorious weather. I've even considered moving the machine to the lanai! This is also a perfect set up if I have a friend come and join me to sew since a sewing machine can be set up on the kitchen table or the small folding table I have.
I am keeping the ironing board in the other room for now. I will get more exercise and in a small house like this you don't get enough exercise.
The bar you see behind the machine belongs on the lanai but we have not moved it out there yet. It makes a perfect place for me to put things I will need as I sew.

I wanted to layer and baste this Eight Point Star for a One Arm Quilter and figured out a way to get a large enough area. I brought my folding table into the kitchen eating area and wedged it up against the peninsula counter. Even though there is about a 1 inch height difference it worked perfectly. I taped the backing down with painters blue tape and layered the batting and the quilt top. Now it is ready to quilt any time I have the inclination to do so.

A studio can be created just about anywhere you have a little space if you really want to sew.

Oh, Christmas Tree!

I put up the Christmas tree today. Certainly not a traditional tree. It took a lot of research to find a purple tree. The lime, magenta and black ornaments and the garlands were easier to find.

It took me 10 or 15 minutes from start to finish to put up the tree and decorations on the prelit tree.



The reason I can do this so fast is because I simply wrap the tree in Magenta Saran Wrap and put it out in the garage. I even match the color of the Saran Wrap to the tree and my house!
My plan for this evening is to turn out the lights and watch TV.
Tonight's puzzle is a close up of my tree.