Big Frog

An Open Letter to Annie Copeland, a wonderful lady who works very hard to make a lot of people happy.
Hi Annie, I've been thinking about you for the last couple of weeks, and just wanted to post a snapshot of something makes me smile every single morning when I come in to sit down at my computer ... your Big Frog, who hangs on the wall just behind my monitor. Here he is ... isn't he the sweetest thing? His big buggy eyes and goofy smile make me laugh every time I look at him! Not even counting all the other things you do, I just wanted to thank you for making such a wonderful, whimsical piece of art that simply makes me happy.

Your friend,
Linda

A Confusion of Weasels

"A Confusion of Weasels". No, that's not really what this is about ... but I took a picture of the glorious bundle of goodies that my friend Shoshana sent me as a surprise, and the fuzzy brown-and-grey stuff at the top of the picture (which is actually some gorgeous Alpaca roving) did remind me of a Confusion of Weasels! There's also some yummy red wool roving for needle-felting.

Also included were some wonderful pieces of hand-dyes, and some beautiful hand-marbled fabrics from Marjorie Bevis ( http://beta.blogger.com/www.marbledfabrics.com ), a piece of Shoshana's favorite burgundy silk, some wide goldy-greeny-bronzy trim from a sari, some fantastically fun fuzzy yarn, something weird and black that I-don't-know-WHAT-it-is-but-it-looks-really-NEAT (note: Shoshana later informed me that this is Black Misty Fuse!), a package of beee-yu-tee-ful Swarovski crystal beads, and to top it all off, some dark Dove chocolate! (Inside the chocolate wrapper is printed something really sweet ... never having had Dove chocolate before, I'd never seen this ... "Happiness is sharing chocolate with a friend." (And she also tells me a secret about chocolate: If it comes from a friend, it's not fattening!) Can you tell that there is already a bite taken out of one of the chocolate pieces?

Thank you Shoshana, you are so Chocolatey-Sweet!

Sunflowers - Sold

I haven't posted pictures of this quilt before, because it was going into some shows, but now it has been sold, so I can post some images of it ...

"Sunflowers in the Mist" was started in a Phil Beaver class in 2005, so the shapes of the sunflower petals are his. He taught different techniques for fabric painting, to get the flowing, pebbled look for the sunflower colors, as well as the raw-edge applique/quilting method. The fabrics, layout, and quilting designs are mine.

Above is the full quilt, 38-1/2" x 65". For some reason I don't have a larger image of it.

A detail to show some of the raw-edge applique/quilting.

It took me over a year to be ready to let go of this quilt. I'm discovering that I need to hold on to favorites for a while, until I'm ready to let them go out into the world. I know that this particular quilt will have a good home with someone who loves it as much as I do.

These last two pictures are of the back, to show the freehand quilting.

An amazing gift

My friend Maggie Hunt (whom I've never actually met in person), decided to make my day, my month, my YEAR, by sending me 19 - count 'em, NINETEEN - fiberart postcards from her own collection! My mostest favorite one of all is this one ... by Maggie Her Ownself ... entitled "Forever" ...



Thank you, my sweet friend Maggie ... what a wonderful, unexpected gift! (Here's her blog, which I've added to my links, because she always has something interesting added ... http://scquiltaddict.blogspot.com/ )

An unexpected gift!

I just had to post a picture of the gorgeous fiber postcard I received from Frances Holliday Alford in tonight's mail. I hope the picture comes close to doing it justice. Thank you Frances!


(You really must click on the picture for the enlargement, in order to see the detail ... you really must!)

The Last of the Quilt Festival Pictures - I Promise!

Maggie Winfield from Colorado ... a really funny and fun lady, I wish we lived closer so we could be buddies! "Never give up! Never surrender!"


Maggie's fabulous shoes ... I wanted to take them off her feet and wear them home!


Isn't this a great shot of Maggie? She made the headband (she makes lots of them to wear all the time), and this one did double-duty as a tiara.


My first autograph signing! The Journal Quilt Book.

Still More Festival Pics

Jeri Riggs and I were giggling over our JQ pictures in the Journal Quilt Book


Here I am with Carol Moore and Ruth Moore ... two very classy ladies.


Me, Patti Gamburg, and Jeri Riggs, on our way into the QuiltArt Reception.


Lynn Douglass at the A-1 Quilting Machine booth.


Lynn didn't like the original photo, so I fixed it for her!

More Festival Pics

Here I am with Virginia Spiegel, in front of the Fiberarts For A Cause Exhibit. See her website http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/NewFiles/ACSFundraiser.html for all the exciting information on the fabulous work she accomplished. I was proud to be even peripherally associated with her effort.



My friend Leslie Jenison from San Antonio ... we get to see each other every year at Festival, but never for long enough!


Franki Kohler was kind enough to come and introduce herself at the Reception ... what a sweet and fun lady!


My buddy Larkin Van Horn ... whattagal! (Gee -- in this picture, we sort of look alike!)


Larkin's fabulous beaded neckpiece ... there are no words!

More Quilt Festival Photos

That's Sylvia Weir, making the little devil horns behind her friend's head! Sylvia introduced me to these two gals ... sisters! ... on my first day at Festival, and I really liked them ... Linda Jackson and Jackie Mauer. Wish we all lived closer together so we could party!


My very dear friends Sharon Dixon, Lynn Douglass, and Jamie Wallen (I'm squeezing in there on the right.) This was the last night after Festival, and we were all VERY tired!


Ann Meyer, Martha Harrell, Mary Ellen Hahn, Patricia Daugherty, and Gloria Kohnen ... my Art Girls! We had a wine-and-cheese party the same night as the QuiltArt Reception, so there was much hilarity!


This is what happens when you are the only one awake at 7:00 in the morning, with nothing else to do but play quietly with your new camera.

Quilt Festival Pics

At long last ... some pics from the 2006 International Quilt Festival in Houston ...


Leslie Riley teaching her mixed media quilt class


Jamie Wallen's DVD Workshop ... fantastic!



Bonnie McCaffrey teaching her portrait painting class.


that's me with Bonnie McCaffrey.

A fiber art postcard by Claire Fenton

Talk about serendipity! I had just reached the page in the new Journal Quilt book with Claire Fenton's "Window of Opportunity", and had been admiring both her artwork and her vision of "diving into a new world", when this postcard arrived in my mailbox! I'm telling you, there have been too many similar coincidences tied in with the fiber art postcards and the journal quilts for them to be ... well ... coincidental! Is it happenstance, serendipity, fate? Or is it really just a matter of "coincidental synchronicity"?

Whatever it is ... it makes me happy! Thank you so much, Claire, for my wonderful new fiber art postcard! (I had bought one of your postcards from the FFAC drive last year, so now I have a mini-Claire-Fenton collection!)

Here's a link to Claire's website if you want to see more of her work ... http://www.clairefenton.com/about.asp

Fiber Arts for a Cause Postcards

As promised, here are the 4 fiber art postcards that I came home with from the Houston Quilt Festival. Virginia Spiegel has been spending the last 18 months of her life raising money for the American Cancer Society ... a "little project" that she and her sister Nancy started out in honor of their father. Here's Virginia's FFAC website, for more information:

http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/NewFiles/ACSFundraiser.html


And now for the wonderful little 4" x 6" fiber art postcards ... as you can see, they each speak for themselves. My only problem was coming home with only 4!


Sandy B. Uman's "Breast Cancer Stamp":




Giny Dixon's "Untitled":




Jan Rowan Miller's "Mrs. O'Rourke's Mother":





Anne Copeland's "Bear Totem - Strength":




Must ... have ... more ... fiber art ... postcards! (They're addictive.)

Postcards from my Local Friends!

Here are some belated (or are they just really, really early?) birthday cards from my friends in my Beyond the Borders art quilt group here in Houston. This is so much fun ... receiving ART for your birthday! What could be better?

Liz (aka "Destructo the Magnificent") sent me this cool postcard called "Rust, Mold, & Spores, Oh My!", and it is overlaid with a very irridescent sheer fabric that is hard to see in the photo. It's yummy!

Sara actually gave me this Fabulous Fish while at our last Retreat, and I got to see her making it. Looooove the offset fish and the threadwork, also the hand-dyed fabric.

Nancy started this postcard at the Retreat too, but wouldn't let me have it until it was finished, and I received it at our BTB meeting today. Ohmigosh, "Caribbean Beauty" is truly named! Exquisite applique, threadwork, and painting. (Nancy, you disappeared before I could thank you properly!)

Now, I need to get busy and finish some postcards that are overdue for my friends ... tough to live up to these gals, but it's good to be "pushed". ;^)

Fiber Art Postcards from Remote Friends

In the process of "remote shopping" for those who couldn't attend Houston's International Quilt Festival last week, I received some beautiful fiber art postcards from some "remote" friends ...


"Moonlight Mist" by Beverly Hart has curved piecing and applique, with a judicious use of Angelina fibers and metallic threads ... just breathtaking in person ... I'm afraid you can't appreciate its shimmering beauty in the photo:






"Columbia River Gorge, Oregon" by Peggy Schroder is an intricately threadpainted landscape that almost takes me there. Even the clouds have dimension because of Peggy's delicate quilting stitches:




Beverly and Peggy, I can't thank you enough. These are wonderful gifts from the heart that I will treasure and add to my tiny-but-growing fiber art collection. Some day we will meet in person ... it "must" be!

Study for Unbridled Passion by Denise Havlan

Here's the other gorgeous piece of fiber art that grabbed me by the throat and demanded that I bid on it at the Silent Auction at Houston's Quilt Festival last week. It's a 9x13 study for the larger quilt that Denise Havlan had entered in one of the main Exhibits . The larger quilt is spectacular, but this smaller one is every bit as colorful and exciting. Here is Denise's website www.denisehavlan.com to see some of her other work.

Tribal Head by Scott Murkin

Ohmigosh, I was so excited to have WON this fantastic piece of fiber art by Scott Murkin ( www.scottmurkin.com ), at the IQA Celebrity Mini-Quilt Silent Auction at the Houston Quilt Festival last week! And couldn't wait to share it with you here. It measures 16" x 16", is subtly embellished with natural beads, and speaks for itself. Be sure to click on the image to get a closer view.

Rusted Cotton Print

Well, I thought I'd rust this yard-and-a-half of a sweet little calico white-on-white print that I've had for about a million years, since it was going to rot on my shelf otherwise, so a couple of weeks ago I took it out on the patio, stuck it in a jellyroll pan (I don't think I ever made jellyrolls in my life) with some rusty tin boxes, and poured some vinegar over it. I kept meaning to pick it up and bring it in to wash it, but the longer it stayed there, the yuckkier it got, and the more I kept putting it off.

Finally I got up my nerve and unwound the nasty thing from the now-nearly-disintegrated tin boxes, whacked it a few times against the trunk of the oak tree (nearly scaring the resident squirrel into apoplexy), gingerly carried it into the house between two fingers, and dumped it in the washing machine along with an old beach towel for ballast. One Hot-Dryer-Load later ...
Success!

Ruby Red Birthday Wishes

A gorgeous postcard arrived in yesterday's mail ... a fabulous pieced, embellished, and quilted fiber-art postcard from my friend Elaine. It's so exciting to receive something so special in the "snail-mail". Thank you Elaine!

Earrings

This is what I do at night while "watching" (actually, listening to) TV. I make earrings with some of my favorite beads. (Beads ... Beads ... BEADS! Cannot get enough of BEADS!)

Peyote Amulet Pouch

This is my first peyote-stitch amulet pouch, approx. 2-1/2" x 3-1/2", with a 26" bead chain. The closure is actually just an exaggerated fringe attached to the back of the pouch, and tossed over the front to keep the bag closed while being worn.

My friends were amused to discover that my "amulet" hidden inside, the first time I wore this piece, was a 40%-off coupon from Hobby Lobby.

Ndebele Lariat

Another Ndebele rope necklace, but this one is made with the tinier triangle beeds, and is 48" long, with sterling silver beadcaps.

Santa Fe Door

I started this piece in an Esterita Austin class a couple of years ago at the Houston International Quilt Festival, and had never finished it. When I was looking for something as a starting point for a "memory keeper" for a party for my parents' 63rd anniversary next week, I remembered it. Once I realized that it just needed to be trimmed down in size and bound, it became the perfect solution. I fitted it with a large pocket on the back to hold the anniversary cards, menu from the dinner, and other memorabilia. It can be either hung or used as a small table topper. It measures 13" x 18".

more fiber art postcards

... and a few more ... soon to be sent off to Virginia's FFAC postcard sale at the Houston Quilt Festival.



"Doppelganger" above left, and "Gothic Redux" above right.



"New Growth" on the left, has a base of hand-painted fabric with copper, leather, and beads. "Liz's Gleanings" on the right, is made with goodies gleaned from my friend Liz's leftovers. (On second thought, I'm keeping that one!)