It Was A Very Good Year 2016

January was a time I looked at some of the ice dyed fabrics I had created deciding what to do with them.

This piece was created in February. In this picture it has not been quilted yet…but it did get quilted.

Knitting in March lead to the completion of this big beautiful scarf.

April meant another Racine, Wisconsin Washington Park high school reunion at my house in Florida. We appreciate each other more each year.

May meant the arrival of my Minnesota son and the drive to pick him up in Orlando with my Florida “kids”.

June was a month spent finishing a lot of pieces for my 2017 solo show in Kenosha, WI.


July meant the arrival of my Minnesota family. It also is the time for the big family July 4th reunion at my brother and sister in laws lovely home on the lake. I think this year it was bigger than ever with some faces we hadn’t seen in a long time.

August meant pizza and music in the gazebo with both son’s families…at least as many of them that could make it. It sure is a fun time.



September saw us celebrating mine and my granddaughter Kierstin’s birthdays.

October saw my return to Florida and the return of my flamingo tree.
In November I celebrated Thanksgiving with my Florida family.

December marked my return to frigid Wisconsin. We celebrated Christmas day at Jeff and Heather’s lovely decorated home.
These pictures share just a few highlights of a wonderful year. I had lots of houseguests in Florida, some special visitors from near and far in Wisconsin, spent time with some super friends and met some really special new friends.
I did spend a major part of the year creating and finishing pieces for my solo show which is fast approaching.
Just because I don’t have pictures of all the highlights of my year doesn’t mean they weren’t great. Often I get so involved in what is happening I forget to take pictures.
If you are curious about more of the year you can always look back on my blog posts and see the rest of the year…so much to see….so little space to share!
I am a lucky lady who gets to enjoy life to the fullest.

The Art Of Christmas Part 2

These packages are carefully placed and spaced for maximum impact.

A beautiful tasteful way to decorate the kitchen chandelier.

Looking into the breakfast room from the kitchen area.

Santa is watching as we head into the family room.

Fireplace in breakfast room.
That’s all for this post but stay tuned…yet to come….Exercise room/Green Bay Packer Man Cave….Whimsical Decor and family members.

The Art Of Christmas

My daughter in law Heather has taken Christmas decorating of their home into fine art.

As I write this she is probably out shopping for new gorgeous things to add for next years extravaganza.

This white fluffy tree on top of the piano must be 6 feet tall and it revolves. Of course she added other special touches like the smaller trees and don’t miss the reindeer on the mirror. It is hard to get an accurate color photo with all the lights.

The adjacent archway which separates the entry from the dining room.

The dining room all set for a special dinner.

No spaces has been left untouched in the family room! Even the animals are wearing their Christmas hats.

Another view of the family room with Jeff, Heather and Tracy doing what families do today!

So as not to make this too long I am finishing this post but I’ll be back with more decorations, family and art for you to see soon.

Merry Christmas

When I look at my red souvenir glass I always think of Christmas!

I have gifted many pieces of this to my family and I hope they also think of the Christmases when they received it.

Dye Test…..3……

I realized after the doing the first two dye tests I wanted a more limited palette.
I knew I wanted the turquoise/blue colors combined with a red.
I had three different reds so I decided it would be a good idea to test each on in a similar way.
I did not end up choosing the one I thought I would.
I chose the one at the bottom of the picture. It has a lot more red in the sample, but that was not because of the dye color I used. It was because I accidentally dumped a half a jar of dye on that piece.
Being satisfied with the colors to use I was able to dye this fabric which I previously shared on a blog post.

This is the completed 4 1/2 yards of fabric that I dyed for the project I was creating. The finished item will be shared at a later date.

Dye Test….2…..

After seeing how dark the first ice dye test was I attempted to make a lighter piece with the same colors.
This was also not what I had in mind to create….
It is lovely and I know what I will do with it but I still have to use what I like here and test the fabric and dyes again.

Dye Test….1…..

This is a beautiful piece of ice dyed fabric. Unfortunately it was not what I was striving to create for a special project.
All is not lost as it will be used for something else.
With ice dyeing the results are not predictable. Even when you are trying to duplicate something you have previously created there can be a big variance in what happens.
Merrily I’ll roll along and try again………….

Dean And Jean!

If you are a longtime reader of my blog you may know that Jean is one of the special people…my FIRST friends. She was the first person I met when we moved back to Wisconsin from Ohio. Her son Dean is here visiting for the holidays and will be joined by his wife and daughter when school is out. I think Dean was about 13 when I first met him.
We had lunch at our clubhouse and it was so much fun to catch up with Dean and his family’s life as it has been quite a few years since I have seen him.
Jean and I try to get together about every two weeks for lunch.
Love living her where one of my main responsibilities is having visitors and lunching with friends.

What Is On Today’s Agenda?

Clue number 1

Clue number 2
This has been in the works and planning stage for a long time and it is on today’s schedule.

Merry Christmas Y’all

I have done minimal decorating here this year. I’d like to share all the vignettes with you.

This is how we say it in the south!

I hadn’t thought of this as a Christmas decoration when I filled the jar with limes, but with the simple addition of a Christmas decoration it is one.

With all the gold metallic fabric in this triptych of 3 small images it was hard to get a realistic photo of it. Trust me, it is lovely.

Christmas in a corner

I keep Red and Blue Santa the rooms width apart as they seem to be having a discussion of who is the REAL Santa!

Is this Flamingo Tree a Christmas tree? Some would say yes and some would say no.
So don’t forget to say “Merry Christmas Y’all” to all you meet!

My BFF Came All The Way From Texas To See Me!

BFF Kellie is on the right…Her Mom Barb on the left. Love those smiles.
Well, maybe she came to see my friend Barb too who is her Mom!

Saturday night they had a Christmas party with a photo booth and my BFF Nancy is hamming it up with me.
Tuesday night we did the Garden Club Christmas Home Tour in our golf carts. What fun.
A quick trip packing a lot into 5 days.

Ohio Florida Small World

We have a community online group here in Florida. Susan is on the right in the photo. Somehow I found out she was from Sylvania, Ohio. Nancy (on the left) and Sally (in the center) are from Sylvania.
I mentioned to Susan that I had a good friend here in Florida who was from Sylvania. (Sally and I met when we both lived in Edon, Ohio about 54 years ago). One thing led to another and somehow we found out that Susan had met Nancy when they both volunteered at a golf outing in Ohio. Nancy had told her she had a sister who lived in Ocala and raised Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and gave her Sally’s information as Susan was considering getting one. They never did connect but somehow she realized that my BFF Sally was Nancy’s sister.
When Sally and I realized Nancy would be in our area for an extended visit we decided to get a lunch arranged with all of us. Nancy had no idea that Susan would be there so that was a surprise for her. It was also the first time Sally and I had met Susan in person. If you had been a mouse listening to our conversations you would have thought we all were well acquainted for years.
We had lunch at our clubhouse and then came back to my house where they got to see what I have been working on and also see my welcoming quilt and my unique home.
I know Susan is someone I expect to see more of. We have enjoyed many of the same parts of the country and I enjoyed visiting with her. When we were setting this up she made a comment about how it is so good to make new friends and I certainly agree.
Who would have thought that when Sally walked across the street in Edon to welcome me this friendship and all that it is would be so strong today?

Christmas Lights!

This is an annual blog post.

It is the home of a family member who shall remain anonymous.
I am sorry I couldn’t get the entire yard in the photo.

Just imagine the tall trees as you drive up the hill with red and white lights on them to resemble candy canes.
And full size Christmas trees brought in on both sides of the driveway as you drive up too.

And….the day after Christmas the family member hits all the after Christmas sales to buy more lights since these are not nearly enough!

Ice Tapestries and Shibori Quilts

The opening of my solo show at the Anderson Art Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin is now less than 2 months away.

I am just going to share some random quilts from the approximately 80 quilts I have created for the show.

All of the quilts started out with white fabric which I painted and dyed.

I will have the entire art center for my work…8 galleries filled with glorious color.

There are a variety of sizes of pieces in the show.

Many of the pieces are part of coordinated series.

I hope this sampling of the quilts in the show makes makes you want to see all of them in person.
The opening reception for the snow is January 29, 2017 from 1-4 pm at the Anderson Art Center
121 66th St
Kenosha, WI 53143
The show runs through March 8 and the Art Center is open from Tuesday- Sunday 1-4 pm.
I hope I will see YOU at the opening.