Quilt Out Loud party

After a wonderful party with family and friends I was greeted with a beautiful morning.

But first I had to rescue some ants that for what ever reason (only they knew) were stranded on the floating candles that Rebecca had put in the pond for our enjoyment.

Only then was I able to sit and enjoy the paper with my cup of coffee.

And this is a wonderful place to have your coffee first thing in the morning before all the noise of the world invades .

With all my heart I would like to thank my loving daugther Rebecca, my wonderful sons Jason and Aaron for all the help that they did in the house and the garden in preparation for this get together. My sister-in-law Audrey was a big help, with out her and Rebecca I don't think that I would of pulled this off.  Also my friend Bunny Goode who was the catalyst for bringing me to the attention of Mark Lipinski and Jodi Davis of Quilt Out Loud,  qnntv.com who came and I hope had a good time with us.  There is more to this story  and when I have the information I will be shearing that with you.

Art Quilt Michael and Mary

A very long time ago , around 1970-71 I sketched a somewhat racy picture of myself and Michael on a piece of notebook paper. You can see that the picture is fading with time but the memories are still strong. I came across it after having to look at  more paper work. The act of making this wall art hanging has keep me occupied during the long evenings. It is 23"-13" and is mostly hand sewn.   Hope that I won't be shocking our children by posting this on my blog  :-)  My Michael might be gone from this world now but not from my heart.

                                                                             

In 1998 I made what I call "The Mushroom Gatherers" , two young elves ,who were in love sitting on a bench in the woods.

 Many, many years later a friend emailed us a photograph that he had come across while checking out a site called "Upstage". Upstage was a coffee house in Asbury Park in the 60'  that all the up and coming musicians played in, including my husband Michael. So about 3 or 4 years ago we get to see a picture of the two of us on our second date, very cool. It was a real surprise to see after all this time.

Now, what I would like to point out is how similar the photo and the two elves look. From the color of what I am wearing, my flower shirt, the girl elf is wearing floral tights . Michael is wearing his buck skin jacket( very hip for the times) the boy elf has a buck skin hat and you can't see in the picture but he has a leather vest on. Even how I made the elf's hand around the girls waist, you would of thought that I had copied from the picture. Just have to wonder...

Eyjafalljokull volcano Iceland Pictorial Quilt

Fabric wall hangings, a new creative outlet. Very enjoyable. I looked at many photos of the volcano that erupted in Iceland last spring and I was fascinated with the pictures that were taken at night, with the green northern lights dancing in the night sky behind the plume of smoke.  The smoke I felted onto the fabric using Icelandic lopi wool. 

Once I started looking for the reds that I needed for the lava I was amazed at what I had on hand.  I shouldn't have been surprised, fabric hoarder ... and some of them glow in the rigth ligth!!

Some weeks ago I had been out with my friend Bunny at a wonderful quilt store called "Quilting Possibilities"in Forked River NJ. Like I needed more fabric but they had a great selection of prints that work well in landscapes.  I tried to catch the force and beauty of nature. It measures 18"-27".

Hot Flash ! A Celebration

Something very nice happened. Don't know if it is bad form to bring this up myself but... The artist Pamela Hastings has included me in her new book, "Hot Flash! A Celebration". To share the pages with  my friend and fellow artist Janice Anderson and so many talented women is a thrill.  Poets, Fiber Artist, Painters, a feast for eye and mind. If you would like to have a look at the book go to www.pamelahastings.com  the book is on Pamela's blog.  That is Janice standing next to me in the very nice photo that was taken by Mo'a Romig-Boyles.

A Very Red Couch

We inherited my husbands, mothers, cousins, couch that was just sitting there unused for years. I liked the look of it, one long cushion and sturdy . Well built, good bones you could say. So I estimated it needed 11 yards, was off by one yard to much, no pattern to fuss with and very red.  Don't think that my fingers will ever be the same.

                                                             

Art Quilt Ancestors

Many years ago while working at JoAnn Fabric's I started to think about making a wall hanging of Viking ships coming to the shores of Iceland.  So I bought the fabric that I thought looked like wood and the ocean and night sky and this is what came out of that.   The wall hanging is about 18"by23", mostly cotton fabric,  it is crocked, but I was winging it.  This has been a lot of fun, wonder what the next project will be?