Two Very Special Sisters

Pat and Denny are two very special ladies.
They are two of my newest friends and I am so thankful to know them.
Pat is a quilter and Denny makes beautiful jewelry.

Christmas Decorating 2019 First Group

It's amazing I was able to do as much decorating as I did as I gave my middle child a whole truckload of some great things I had stored in the garage.

I thought there were 2 bins left, but I gave it ALL to him.

I added some things around the base of the tree and it looks different with the new quilt.

I did save a bin of greens and berries so I was able to add to this vignette to make it Christmasy.

I'm sharing the top 2 tiers of my corner bakers rack that holds some souvenir ornaments and other items that have meaning for me.

I do love adding Christmas cheer and this year it's all in the great room.

Lunch With My Hometown Friend Carol

I finally am close enough to settling in that Carol and I were able to have lunch at Toppers.
We always have so much to share.
Carol is SO talented and if it involves fiber or art SHE can do it.

Great To See My Friend Eileen

It was great to see my friend Eileen Mirr today. It's the first chance we have had to see each other since I returned to Florida. We are long time friends from Wisconsin and our lives have overlapped in so many ways and still are.
She also recognized the quilt as it hung in my husbands office and they both worked at the same school.
I took 4 pictures of her and they all were great. It was hard to decide which one to use. I chose this one because it really shows off her gorgeous hair, her vibrant outgoing personality and her shirt looks great with the quilt.
We each settled in Florida almost accidentally. And add to that we only live about 10 miles from each other. 

Size Matters When You View A Quilt

When I look at this quilt I made years ago in a reduced size and the landscape orientation I see a secondary pattern I didn't see when looking at the actual quilt.

When I look at the actual quilt this is what I see.  I call this a blankie size quilt which is perfect for taking a nap. This has been used a lot over the years and the batting is now thin and flat. It is hand quilted.

Why Am I Giving Kevin And Jessica This Quilt?

It's a baby shower gift! 

It is a quilt made for the baby to use and cuddle, not to hang on the wall. They are waiting for the baby to be born to know if it is a girl or boy so this should be loved by either one.

It is hand quilted and I hope it will be used and eventually worn to shreds out of love for it.

Long Time Friends We Followed To Florida

Lynn and John stopped over today to help me with something.
This quilt hung in my husbands office and Lynn was his amazing assistant. It was actually completed in 1995 for the schools open house and his new office.
I am glad to have a wall large enough to display it again.

Boys Wil Be Boys

So many little boys act up when it is time to have their picture taken. Most of them grow out of it.
I am still waiting for my middle child to grow out of it.

One of his goals in life is to either not have his picture taken or have a bad one. He was being difficult this day.

I only had to take 25 pictures to get this one which shows how handsome he is and the quilting on the quilt.

Another Vistor

Two trim men...who is the oldest or are they the same age?

Denise returns with Jamie. 
Lots of fun seeing people I've missed all summer.

First Visitor With Newest Quilt

I remembered to take a photo of my friend Denise with the new quilt when she visited. (Lynn visited yesterday but we were so busy talking I forgot to take a picture)
You get to see more of the quilt than on the last blog post that showed it.

A New Quilt On The Great Room Wall

After 15 years it was time to change out the quilt in our sunroom. My son Greg single handedly hung this 100+ inch quilt.  He is a perfectionist and it is hanging perfectly.

I had to take this photo at an angle as we will have to do some furniture moving to get a straight photo.
The pieced areas on this quilt were created as soon as I got a triangle ruler, probably 30 years ago, from commercial fabrics. I designed the quilt at that time but had no way to get gray fabric that shaded from light to dark values at that time. When I learned to dye my own fabrics I was able to create the fabric and made the quilt. 

Antique Post Office Desks

These are the two post office desks I have in my studio. They are the perfect place to store and display my yarn,

This is the one I acquired very recently. It is a standing desk while the other one is a sitting desk. I am guessing since this one is smaller it came from a smaller community. I love them both.

Halloween, Snow and Dinosaurs

It snowed all day on Halloween. This is the earliest snow we have had since 1926. 
Trick or treaters were very disappointed.

Only one trick or treater made it to my door. It was this hardy dinosaur.
Looked like my youngest grandson Caleb!

It's Totally Finished!

It took a while to figure out the best way to hang the towels so they were accessible and attractive.
Yes, it's totally completed and a pleasure to use.

Fine Tuning Our Remodel

Once you use and spend time in a room you become aware of what is missing.

I doubt you would even notice the soap dish in the niche if I didn't point it out. I realized there had to be a neater way to store the soap. The wall plaques add interest to this wall.

We changed out the unattractive LED light bulbs for LED vintage look light bulbs. 

This vignette includes a Native American sand painting, and objects I have collected on my travels.

I love soap rocks for both their beauty and their content. I spent hours on the computer looking for a soap dish to compliment this. I finally found it right here in my own house! It was a gift from Greg and Julie.
I think I am almost done with this project, although there is one area that still needs a finishing touch!

I Love Functional Accessories

This functional accessory was made necessary when I had to have somewhere to put washcloths by the shower.
Both the barrel table and the basket arrived here today. We already had found the washcloths and they were already rolled to put in the basket.
I was not disappointed about each item and the way they worked in our space.

Day 36 - It's Done

Mirror, lights and a few accessories  add a special touch.

The corner tub with accessories.

The glass was added to the shower wall.
The project is finished except for some tiny details.
I will be completing it with a few more functional accessories.
I hope you love it as much as I do.

Day 35 - Wall Color

The walls are now faux painted.
Just a few more things to complete and it will be time to use the "new" room.

Quilts Radiating From The Center- Rerun

 

A majority of the quilts I made for my solo show Ice Tapestries and Shibori Quilts radiated from the center.

Long before I started making those quilts I found many of my most effective quilts radiated from the center.
I do find this interesting as I consider myself an asymmetrical artist and yet these are some of my favorite most successful quilts in my opinion.

It is amazing I ever finished piecing this quilt. I can't tell you how many times I lost/misplaced pieces of it and there was no more of the fabric available.
Yes, I am studying this quilt to decide how I would like to quilt it to enhance the design. That may take a while!
This could have been the entire quilt if I had not found all the pieces. It includes a lot of hand applique so it travelled with me to many different places.

It was my attempt to create this quilt in hand dyed fabric.

This is one of my most successful quilts and is a prize winning quilt. Everyone who sees it, quilter or not, stops, looks, studies it and comments.

Here is another work in progress. I am also waiting for it to tell me how to finish it! I am continuing down this center radiating path with my current ice dyes until I change course. Of course in addition to that I am working on finishing works in progress at this time.

Dyeing Color Family - Third and Last Color - Rerun

 I love to look back 10 years and see my personal color family. 

I have finished doing all the dyeing for my Personal Color Family.

I am so pleased with them. They are indeed Kay colors.
My favorite season is right now - FALL. These colors are so much like what I am seeing right now as I drive around the county.


This is the third lightest value of the turquoise. You can see that some of them are not turquoise but a blend of the turquoise and the two previous colors.



This one is for Deb! She said she loves to see all the fabrics when they come out of the dryer jumbled together. I do too Deb!



Here you can see all the fabrics sorted into their respective piles.



This is the entire 343 swatches I dyed in a side view. You can see the lighter colors on the left and they deepen as they go to the right.

Since I have other priorities in my life at the moment I will put them aside and work on them in any available time to get them ready to send to my Color Family Dyeing Swap Friends.

It really has been fun and I would love to do more dyeing RIGHT NOW but that isn't going to happen. I will instead enjoy the other wonderful things that are happening in my life.

Day 32 - Real Working Fixtures!

We have faucets!

and a shower fixture!

Day 31 - Inspiration To Combinations

The tub stayed and provided the inspiration and limitations we worked around. The colors of the stained glass are not accurate in this photo.

Here is one example of how I chose the colors and materials to make this work.
If has been an exciting project working with a contractor who gets his people here EVERY day.

Day 30 - Counter Top and Shower Grout

 It was so exciting to get the quartzite counter tops and the sinks installed today.

The shower walls and niche look amazing after they were grouted today.
This project has occupied me for longer than 30 days as I spent at least a month planning and sourcing the materials and fixtures we used. 

Day 29 - Shower Progress

The niche is finished. I love how well the quartzite and the glass tile work together.

The shower ledge is also quartzite. 

The shower is almost finished.

Day 28 - Shower niche in progress

This is quite a complicated project creating this niche with Quartzite and ceramic tile.  The artisan who is doing the work is the best tile person I have ever dealt with.

Day 27 - Time For Some Glitz

As we near the finish line glitz and glamour are starting to appear. I was so excited when I saw how beautiful the iridescent glass tile looked on the shower walls.