Family Christmas Quilt Gifting

This year the quilts each family member got to choose from were larger than last years.

I came up with  new system so everyone could see all the quilts and then pick one as their turn came up.

Nicholas helped me set up the system. We put a number on each quilt.

My two assistants, Nicholas and Blake took turns showing the quilts so people could see them all before it was time to make a choice.

You can see how intently everyone is watching the quilts. I suggested they either keep track of their favorites on their smart phones or with paper and pencil.

Thanks to Nate I have a full record of ALL the quilts available to choose from.

After all,the quilt were shown Cooper picked one person at a time to choose a quilt. This year we identified people by their year of birth rather than their name. The reason for this will be made clear in a later blog post. 

Everyone walked away happy and there are still several great quilts for another day.

Family Christmas

Today was a day for anticipating the family Christmas.

The Minnesota kids are relaxing before the evening family get together.

Santa Jared made sure everyone got the correct gift bag with their birth year on it. No more names, everyone had a birth year to identify them as we did 4 different rounds of gifts of family memorabilia.

Cooper is the youngest grandchild and the one who looks forward to this tradition more than anyone else each year.

I will have more to share and more pictures soon.

Sparkle For The New Year

These 3 sparkling things were tree toppers I bought on clearance after Christmas last year. I could see that they had possibilities to be used a different way.

I took the part that clamps onto the tree off and now I can just put them anywhere I want.

Gorgeous Flowers

This is the beautiful arrangement I got for Christmas from Greg, Julie, Blake, Stephanie, Jessica, Nicholas and Jared.

It has enough sparkle to ring in the New Year!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from me and my family.

He Looks Like He May Be The Real Santa

Even though he is not wearing red he sure looks like he might be the real Santa!

Do you think he is?

The Imposters?

As Christmas draws near there seem to be more imposters that think they are Santa.

This guy is all dressed in red but there is something that makes me think he is not the real Santa Claus. 

The house is over run with guys trying to make me believe they are the real Santa.

This guy has done a better job making himself look like Santa but I can tell he's not the real one.

I'm not giving up though as I know the real one is somewhere hiding out in this house.

Last Ice Dye For A While

This is another surprise as the mixed colors of dye broke into colors I never expected.

It is the first almost neutral.poece I have created.

The more I look at it the more I like it.

Amulets Are Back

I had several,guests Friday who had never visited before so they each got 2 amulets. The others got 1.

I thought I was running low on the amulets but when I arranged them in Color Flow order there is still a great variety to choose from.

It's been a while since I played with my clay. I expect I will be making more and also possibly some other things with the clay in the next few months. I do love making them.

Mitchell asked me how long it took to make the one of the ones he picked? I never thought of how long each one takes before as I get lost in the process and just enjoy making them for several days.

Florida Family Dinner

I made sure my camera was out and ready to take pictures last night when my FL extended family was coming for dinner.

I blew it....didn't take one picture. Sometimes we get so involved in photographing an occasion we miss out on the occasion itself.

Brenda gifted me with this towel which says it all.

Everyone seemed to be in a nice relaxed pre-holiday mood.

The only one of the family missing was Ben as he lives a couple of hours away.

Patriarch Andy was really experiencing and enjoying his family.

I was so happy Sarah graced us with her presence and happy smiles. 

I was told Drew was bringing his girlfriend....but said "girlfriend" looked more like his football playing friend Trevon of many years,

Mitchell wanted to know if I had baked cookies as he remembered those I had baked for Thanksgiving. I ran out of time and didn't get any baked. I offered to bake some then and there if he would help. He declined so he'll have to wait until next time.

Allison and I spent time looking at some pictures on my iPad trying to find pictures of my granddaughter Kierstin. Allison reminds me so much of Kierstin at that age, 

And last but not least. Brenda! What can I say about her?

While I was relaxing with the family after dinner Brenda and ? Got the kitchen all cleaned up and even hand washed all the large items,

Sink was spotless and she was the first one to use the newly dyed clothes!

No we did not drink the wine. Another gift from Brenda...what a perfect way to dress up a bottle of Andy' favorite!

I made a BIG batch of spaghetti sauce, enough so there was a lot left for them to take home even after  everyone had plenty to eat. I did not use Andy's secret recipe since I didn't want to pay him his required 25 cents royalty for each serving! I have though in the past sent him the required 25 cents with PayPal.

Of course Drew served dessert...two kinds of ice cream and chocolate sauce.

I really enjoyed having them here and most of all enjoyed seeing how they all were enjoying each other.

Ice Dyeing With New Palette

I used a totally different combination of colors than I have used before. 

They were mostly mixed colors with a few pure colors included.

There is almost no way you could tell what colors I used as they mixed and blended to form new colors.

I believe the reason I keep coming back to creating these mandalas and other ice dyes is two fold: the patterns that are serendipitously created along with the colors that appear. 

What next?

Always Something New When Ice Dyeing

The mandala effect was somewhat lost on this rectangular smaller piece.

I am sure I will find a use for it but I feel it needs something added (or subtracted).

I found it interesting the way the colors were bright near the edges and subtle in the center. Good or bad, that is one or the things that is out of my control when ice dyeing.

Not All Ice Dyes Are Mandalas

This is another of my newest ice dyes. It is about 42 inches square. This is one of those where the dyes that had some reds in them took over some of the other colors even though there was a very small amount of red dye.

A New Application For Ice Dyeing

When I,do an ice dye I like to place something below the main piece I am dyeing.

I didn't have any fabric ready to take the dye so I grabbed some flour sack dish towels and some terry cloth dish rags.

Since they were all 100% cotton they took the dye well and the colors work in my kitchen.

The Third In This Series Of Ice Dyes

Although this was created in a haphazard manner, the finished piece still has some interesting patterning. The colors are darker than they appear in the photo.

Another New Ice Dye

This one was done at the same time as the last one I shared. You can see the colors are similar. The patterning is quite different, yet the basic way I manipulated the fabrics had something in common.

Another Florida Ice Composition

This is one of my most recent ice dyes. 

It was done quite differently than previous work and I am very pleased with it.

More Ice Dye Experiments From The Queen Of Ice

I am always playing and experimenting with my dyeing.
These two were done at different times.
I did somewhat similar techniques, but with enough of a difference that they are quite different.
Some fabrics beg to stay whole and others beg to be cut up.
Of course it is not just the way I manipulate the fabrics, but the way I choose and use my colors.
Often someone asks me how I will use a fabric I just dyed.
I usually just put it with my other dyed fabrics and eventually some of them speak to each other and they become a work of art.
Some of them cry out to be overdyed.
They also can be discharged but I very seldom do that because of the chemicals involved.
I LOVE WHAT I AM DOING WITH THESE DYES AND THE ICE.

Ice Dyed Mandala NEW

Each time I finish one of these I just get more and more excited.

I could never imagine what is going to happen when I put the dyes on the ice.

This one has some unique patterning like nothing I’ve done before.

Could I repeat it? Never.

Each time I manipulate the fabric in a new way and that is what keeps me coming back again and again.

Of course the colors also thrill me……. I think I should change my middle name to COLOR!

How Many Christmas Lights Makes A House Merry And Bright?

I have posted this photo before. It is not my house but that of a very close family member.
It was taken several years ago.
There were so many lights it could be seen from across the lake.
The number 120,000 somehow sticks in my mind.
I do remember that there were so many lights they couldn’t use a lot of things in the house as there wasn’t enough power!

More Ft Myers Friends

When I was in Fort Myers I also saw another friend from my youth.

Bill Dawson, on the far right was a high school classmate who I saw at our 57/57 reunion in January. We lived in the same neighborhood for several years before high school.

This was the first time I had met his wife and I really liked her.

Pictured: Fred Smith, Sharon Smith, Me, Sue Dawson and Bill Dawson.

It’s true…..everyone moves to FL eventually although Bill and Sue have been her longer that Fred, Sharon and myself.

When are YOU moving to Florida?

I Just Returned From Ft Myers

I spent 4 days in Fort Myers, Florida with some of my best long time friends Sharon and Fred Smith.

We always have such a great time when we get together.

Our history goes back many years to the time we had young children.

The days were filled with reminiscing, looking at photographs of the “gang” and our many trips together along with the planning parties that were as much fun as the trips, eating, and being out and about.

They always have such great ideas of things to do in the area.

We went to a wonderful shop called Victoria’s when I had resolved not to spend a thing. It was so much more exciting than what I had expected.

We also viewed some lovely model homes in the area.

Of course we did lunch.

They are the kind of friends who you never miss a beat connecting even if we haven’t seen each other for a while.

And Fred chauffeurs Sharon and I around willingly and patiently waits while we shop.

First Ice Dye Mandala Of The Season

Every one of these mandalas are completely different designs.

I would have a hard time picking a favorite as each new one has something that no previous one did.

I was able to combine colors differently for this one.

Like so many of the others when you look closely at parts of it you will see shapes that suggest something to you.

I can’t wait to do more of these.

Now that I have the dye studio set up it will be easier than it was when I did this one and the other recent pieces.

I just hoping the weather stays warm as that is one thing that contributes to the success of my ice dyeing.

An Ice Dye Surprise

I was totally surprised with this one and I love it.

The colors blended and changed for a relaxing piece.

It is another one of those pleasant serendipitous surprises.

I Finished My First Batch Of Dyed Fabrics For The Season

I dyed a parfait of 3 different colors. It is always a big surprise how they combine to create unique fabrics.
If I did this again with the same three colors the results would not be the same.
This is one of the things that keeps me coming back again and again.
UPDATE: For those of you who like numbers as I do I have to share that as of 9 a.m. this morning I had another palindromic number of views on my blog: 620,026!

New Dyed Fabrics.–Still Wet

I know some of you are just as anxious to see the fabrics as I am so I am posting this picture of two of the pieces fresh out of the washer.
There are secrets hiding in them.

Here are the other 3 pieces I dyed. They are also wet.

Now I am going to dry them and iron them for the final result.

It is always a surprise.

Another Afghan In The Works

This time I am knitting with very neutral colors.

It is a bigger challenge as I don’t have as many colors to work with and also am limited in the amount of neutral yarns I have.

But I am sure it will be awesome when finished.

I don’t know who I am knitting this for.

Will it be you?