A Painter

 I will always remember my mother-in-law as a creator and explorer, she loved to cook healthy meals, she attended yoga retreats in younger years, she changed religious beliefs often, the general route she followed took her from Roman Catholic to  Lutheran to Roman Catholic and finally to Buddhism. Had she spent more time in Florida she would have made it to Judaism as she was very interested in the religion of her new friends she was meeting here. And I will always remember her saying "all I want to do is paint" when asked what activities she wanted to do after moving from California to Florida. However she did do more than paint. She also joined a Spanish class as well as three painting classes. She passed away early this morning. These are a few of the paintings she did shortly after moving to Florida.

And this is a quilt I made for her by photographing her painting, printing it onto fabric, then adding some tulle and fabrics. I can see more of her paintings either becoming quilts or inspiring some quilts .....

Inspired

The past two months has been a fun and rewarding time spent sketching, planning and creating my first challenge quilt for Tangled Textiles. I've been wanting to try out some new techniques and this was my opportunity to do just that. I enjoy Terri's cup quilt (from her Etsy shop) each day as I work in the kitchen and her mosaic technique has been saying 'try me, try me!" so I used her technique for the background of my games quilt.

I was really happy with the background but had to keep going and those last few steps were challenging. For more on how I got from background to 'Net Play' and the other wonderful creations from fellow Tangled Textiles members head over to the blog.

Happy playing whatever your game!

Reading and Games

 I finally broke down and bought an e-reader. With summer vacation approaching I wanted to be able to load up a few books onto a single device rather than fill my suitcase with books. I also wanted something in color so the Color Nook is now my new toy. Of course I needed a little carrying case so this is what I made .....

 I can slide my reader in one side and keep paper notes in the additional pocket on the same side. On the other side I have a notepad and a spot for a pen and a stylus. The outside is in the batik fabric and it has a velcro close. I'm ready for summer reading!

Over at Tangled Textiles the clues to our chosen game quilt are being posted so I thought I'd share my first attempts at some fabrics for my quilt. I have lots of sketches including some done on my new reader! But I can't share those for awhile yet. I have to respect the reveal date of June 15th.


My friend Jackie invited me to her place earlier this week and four of us experimented with Dyna-flow paints. Jackie had the supplies and knowledge and generously shared it all with us. I created a few pieces of fabric that may make into my games quilt.

Some Photos from the FAU Potters Guild Spring Show and Sale

There was lots more including a wonderful variety of sculptural and functional pots. Our next show will be in December.

Postcard Swap

I signed up for 3 Creative Studios' postcard swap with the theme of 'Buried Treasure'. Immediately the treasures of my garden came to mind and the idea of the cycle of buried treasure as the seeds sprout, grow, develop seeds and grow again. I used some of the dill seed that so amazed me this season. I had no idea that dill weed would grow taller than me! And the beautiful flowers were so symmetrical and stunning. I was able to keep with my style of using seeds, tulle and yarns.

Postcard steps: Created background by overlapping fabrics and cutting together so they could be fused to my cards base without added bulk.
Tacked dried flowers in place, sprinkle seeds and cover with tulle. Quilt with clear thread.

To add some recycling to the project I used a cereal box and old file folder for the backs.

Finally, zig zag two rounds of fuzzy yarns. Recipients can give the fuzzies a hair cut if desired! Postcards from the swaps can be seen at 3 Creative Studios Flickr Postcard group.  Fun swap, thanks everyone!

FAU Potter's Guild Spring Show and Sale

We just set up our show today at the Ritter Gallery, FAU Boca Raton Campus. This will be the first time we've held the show in the Ritter Gallery. If you are nearby stop by and visit! The show runs Thursday through Saturday, 10-5 each day.

As I've been mostly packing and unpacking the past week so I haven't taken any photos of clay or fiber so here's one of dinner a couple nights ago .... veggie stir fry before the sprouts, nuts and snow peas were added. Have you had your veggies and legumes today!? Hope you're having a great week!

Back to My Roots

I haven't been into shows much for the past few years except for the occasional gallery show. However when this one came up and a clay friend who had done the show said how fun it was, I decided to apply. No tent needed and it's only one day. So Saturday I'll be part of Art Rock at The Armory in West Palm Beach!

I'm not limited to one medium so I'll be debuting some of the sewing I've been working on. In addition to mostly clay I'll take a few art quilts, cards, notebook covers, etc. My roots are in fiber and sewing so this should be fun!

Top photo are composition notebook covers using some of my stash. I have plans for some fun embellished ones hopefully to be made this summer. Next is a journal quilt that I almost left as a quilt but it became a journal as the size was perfect for the papers I had cut from old unusable letterhead.

I bought a deckle ruler which I really like for some of the edges when putting together a journal. And I still love those fuzzy yarns and trying out those fancy stitches on my machine!

 Now back to my soy beans and tofu .... I'm making "hiyayakko" (fresh cold tofu) to take to our book club meeting tonight. We read "Hotel on the Corner of Sweet and Bitter" so the food theme is Asian. Although I love fresh tofu I've not made this before so should be fun!

Have a great weekend!