Giving Thanks!

I posted some early Thanksgiving photos but I’d like to share a few more.

Kendall is such a lovely girl. She was helping with the clean up as her mom Tina cooked and she did it with a smile and a great attitude.

Sean is arranging his eggs for the deviled egg competition on this lovely silver tiered tray while Lauren looks on approvingly.

The deviled egg competition entries. The winner is on the right. Sally won and received the trophy that I forgot to photograph.  They all were delicious and I loved each one.

Laney was showing off her missing two front teeth. She is always so happy.

Her little brother Ryder also had to show me his teeth.. and he still has all of his!

Our host Andy as he did his pose for the statue activity before dinner.


Setting up the food for the serving buffet and two young men in the background that were very anxious to eat!
Once the eating commenced I forgot to take pictures.

The weather was so gorgeous that we all retired around the pool after dinner.

We enjoyed the view. The pool can be lighted in various colors.

One last picture…these two sure love each other like no others.
What a perfect Thanksgiving.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

We are having a family deviled egg competition today at our Thanksgiving feast. I am keeping mine under wraps!

My secret deviled egg recipe.

Each year I bring the host some hand made special potholders. This year I decided to change up the gift.

In case you don’t know Andy loves Sock Monkeys. These guys can listen to what you say and repeat if back to you. What better way for Andy and Drew to have a conversation. They are limited to 6 seconds each time they have something to say.
When I set them up Denise and Jamie were here. Denise was doubled over in laughter engaging in conversation with these guys.

One Of A Kind Silk Screened And Ice Dyed

I put these blocks on my design wall this weekend.
The silk screen motifs on each of them are something I did at least 25 years ago on perma-press muslin.
Recently I ice dyed them to take away the harsh contrast. Each block dyed with a slightly different coloration which was to be expected. I will probably still rearrange some of them to get a better allover balance,

The two center blocks were printed with a slightly darker color. I was lucky I had a total of 12 blocks to work with so I could make a reasonable size piece.

I intend to cut up this shibori overdyed fabric to use as sashing between the blocks after I trim them slightly to make them all the same size.
This is a project that might not be finished soon….but then again…maybe it will.
It is very low contrast compared to much of my work. I do think it will be a very peaceful relaxing quilt.

Enjoying Their Photoshoot!

I took this picture as soon as they arrived tonight. We had an enjoyable evening and an “interesting” dinner….and that’s all I’ll say about dinner.
Drew was here too but wasn’t having anything to do with photos this time. Didn’t even get a candid one of him. He did a great job of helping….he sets the table, cleared the table and served dessert. I am so proud of him.
Andy left with boxes of Christmas lights, cords and timers and Kendall left with a big bag of felt squares in a variety of colors. I only have to get rid of 130 more things to reach my goal for 2016…and it looks like I will exceed it once again.

Sharing Something Different !

To create this piece I tried some new manipulations. There are no rules, guidelines or lessons to create specific designs.
This one is really quite different than previous pieces.
It is a happy piece with a variety of glorious colors.

Long Island Ice Tea?

Well it is LONG and it was dyed with ICE and the color resembles TEA….but it has no connection to an ISLAND or the beverage of the same name.
This particular piece is approximately 22 inches wide and 2 yards long.
Some parts of it are more successful than other parts.

This is the upper portion and the part I feel is the most successful. I have to admit the overall piece did not turn out anything like I envisioned.
I continue to try new things and some are more successful than others. Some are passable and some are downright duds.
But in reality those ugly ducklings can usually be made into gorgeous swans with additional layers of dye or paint.