Soul Collage

My dear friend Patricia Daugherty is an artist and member of a loosely-formed group of "girls" (all of whom are well over the age of consent, thank you very much!) who have been together for years for the sole purpose of sharing artworks, techniques, challenges, and fun.  We have slowly dwindled in number, due to natural attrition.  I'm very sad to be so far away from them now, but manage to still see them occasionally.

Patricia and the others have recently been exploring Soul Collage, and I begged her to send me some images to share with you.  Oh my gosh.  These are very typical of Patricia ... visually striking, yet thoughtfully and carefully laid out, with her unique artistic eye for balance, scale, and even humor.  I absolutely love these!  Thank you so much for sharing them, Patricia.

Wild Woman, by Patricia Daugherty

Happy Child, by Patricia Daugherty

More blogs where you can win THE book!

Check out these two blogs in the next day or two, for more chances to win "Masters: Art Quilts, Vol. 2".

8/19: Cheryl Sleboda:  blog.muppin.com  (sorry, don't know why this URL doesn't appear "live", but just copy-and-paste, and it should take you there.)

8/22: Terri Stegmiller:  http://stegart.blogspot.com

Have fun!

And the winner of the Masters: Art Quilts Vol.2 book is ...

Oh, noooo, you're not going to find out in the first line of the post!  First I have to say how surprised and excited I was to get so many wonderful Comments ... some begging and pleading, some intellectual, some pretty hysterical ... this has been so much fun, I'm definitely going to have to do this again.

Well, after much to-ing and fro-ing, frantic hair-pulling, and indecision (OMG, I couldn't make up my mind!  So many great Comments!), I finally chickened out and the final winner has been decided by the Hand of Fate (with the helping hand of my Faithful Little Nugget, FiFi the Wonder Assistant).  We very scientifically put slips of paper with the numbers of each Commenter into a hat (well, actually it was the cat's food dish, but don't worry, it was relatively clean), and FiFi then drew the winning number.

Which was ... #2 YARNGODDESS!  Please send me your name and address privately, Yarngoddess, and I will see that you receive your book directly from Sterling Publishing.

And now ... MORE GREAT NEWS, which was even a surprise to me.  Sterling actually sent me MORE copies of the book to give away, so FiFi very kindly consented to draw again.. #16 KEVIN B and #43 GAIL MYR, step right up and claim your prizes!  I will mail these books to you myself, so please email me with your mailing information.

(If I don't hear from you within 3 days, I just assume you've already gone out and bought your own copy, and I'll then have to pick another name!)

Well, this was too much fun.  Thank you all for joining in the excitement ... if you didn't win this time, maybe next time!  Stay tuned ...

BOOK GIVEAWAY!

UPDATE, 8-18-11:  My giveaway drawing has now closed, with THREE winners!  Thank you all for participating.  If you didn't win here, you still have a chance at one of the next bloggers on the blog-hop for this beautiful book ... here are the next bloggers on the hop ...

8/19: Cheryl Sleboda: blog.muppin.com
8/22: Terri Stegmiller: http://stegart.blogspot.com
8/23: Stephanie Forsyth: thefibernation.blogspot.com
8/24: Janice Paine Dawes: http://thedistoriatedquilter.com/
8/25 Karen Stiehl Osborn: http://stiehlosborn.blogspot.com
8/26: Kathy Loomis: artwithaneedle.blogspot.com
8/29: Diane Lochala http://dianedoodles.blogspot.com  
8/30: Sue Bleiweiss: http://www.suebleiweiss.com/blog
8/31: Gerrie Congdon: gericondesigns.com/weblog
9/1: Marilyn Wall: http://www.marilynhwall.blogspot.com
9/2: Laura Wasilowski: http://artfabrik.blogspot.com
9/6: Sherryl Buchler: http://skb2000.blogspot.com
9/7: Cheryl Lynch: http://www.CherylLynchQuilts.blogspot.com
9/8 Deborah Boschert: http://DeborahsJournal.blogspot.com
9/9: Brenda Gael Smith: http://serendipitypatchwork.com.au/

Good luck, and have FUN!
-------------------------------------------
8-15-11
I feel so lucky to have received this gorgeous book for review from Sterling Publishing (via Lark Crafts), and want to share the wealth.  Please see my review in my previous post of August 2, and if you would like to receive a copy, just leave me a scintillating, exciting, amusing, pathetic, intellectual, or downright begging  Comment, and maybe you will get lucky!

The Giveaway will be held at the end of the day, Wednesday, August 18.  Please be sure that your Comment is not "Anonymous", so that I can reach you to let you know that you won, or else be sure to check back here on August 19.  I will be traveling on the 19-20th, but will be checking the blog and emails.  If you win, your copy will be shipped to you directly from Sterling Publishing.  Good luck!  I can promise that you will LOVE this book!

A Prayer for Owen Meany

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had avoided this book when it first became popular quite a few years ago. The title was off-putting to me, as I didn't really want to read a book (especially a long book!) based on religion. However, I love several of John Irving's other books (The World According to Garp, The Hotel New Hampsire, The Ciderhouse Rules, etc.) and when I started listening to books on tape I decided that I could finally give it a chance.

It's a good thing I was listening to it during a long driving trip, because the first quarter of the book didn't really grab me. But since I couldn't really put the book down and pick up another one, I was committed to hearing it through. Wow, am I glad I did! The characters in this book never ceased to surprise me, and I literally fell in love with the title character. The narrator ... Owen's lifelong friend, John Wheelwright ... at first seems a little stiff and self-righteous, but as the story unfolds, you begin to understand him too. As in most of Irving's books, comedy and tragedy seem to always go hand-in-hand.

Since I listened to the book instead of reading it, I don't know how a hard-copy book-reader would have felt about Owen's distinctive voice, which is one of the most unusual and important things (along with his diminutive size) about him. In the audio book, the reader created an "Owen voice" that at first was irritating to me, but ultimately became very endearing. I would highly recommend listing to the audio book for this reason alone.

One my favorite Owen quotes: "Watch out for people who call themselves religious; make sure you know what they mean––make sure they know what they mean!"

I wish Owen Meany were a real person, and I wish I knew him.

View all my reviews

books, Books, and more BOOKS, ARRGGHHH!

I'm finally getting up my nerve to thin out my desperately groaning bookshelves, which I painstakingly (and expensively) hauled from Houston to San Antonio when I moved a year and a half ago.  I couldn't bear to let any of them go at the time, and yet have not had time to look at any of them since.

Right now I'm going through my beading books ... soooo many gorgeous books that have never even been opened or read, but that I just HAD to have at the time!  Many were also gifts from family and friends.  These are truly beautiful books, and so I've taken the step of opening a store at ebay's half.com.  It's pretty easy (if a bit time-consuming) to post the books, and they even have suggestions for sales prices.  I'm selling these mostly brand-new books at ridiculously low prices, but at least they will be out of my house and I will (hopefully) make a few pennies.   These are just a few I'm showing here ... I think I've listed about 25 or 30 so far.

I've put a link (the picture of the stack of books) over in the left column, or you can just click here to get directly to my store on half.com.  You are welcome to browse any time, and be sure to check back ... I'll be posting more books soon ... quilting and art books as well.

Thread Education by Superior Uncle Bob

Superior Threads puts out a marvelous monthly newsletter (aka, "Wise Words from Mother Superior", aka, Bob Purcell, the Thread Professor and self-certified Threadologist, aka "Uncle Bob").  No, he's not really my uncle, but he gives out such wise, wild and woolly advice that he just feels like somebody's comfy/funny uncle.  I'm reproducing below this month's Education portion of the newsletter.  Used with permission from Bob Purcell, www.superiorthreads.com.  Copyright © 2011 Superior Threads, All Rights Reserved. 

EDUCATION: Common and not-so-common Questions Here are some questions (and our answers) asked recently in quilting blogs:

Q. Are all invisible monofilament threads the same?    
A.  No.  Most invisible monofilament thread is nylon and nylon is not a good fiber choice for thread.  It has very low heat tolerance (400 F compared to polyester’s 480 F).  Nylon goes brittle over time and yellows.  That is why very few threads are made of nylon.  If you like invisible monofilament thread, choose a polyester type such as MonoPoly.
Caution: Watch out for a brand of invisible monofilament thread that is labeled as “polyamide.”  That is the chemical name for nylon.  It is not polyester.

Q. Does Superior have any threads made of nylon?    
A. Yes. Charlotte’s Fusible Web.  It is a fusible thread, meaning it melts at low temperature.  This thread is wonderful for fusible applique.  No more stiff webbing between the layers.  Seven easy-to-follow video demonstrations are available on our website.

Q.  How do I know what needle to use for quilting, sewing, embroidering, and piecing?
A.  We listen to the professionals -- those who do and those who teach.  The majority tell us they use the Topstitch style needle for nearly all applications including piecing (#80/12 needle), embroidery (#90/14), quilting (needle size depends on the thread size), general sewing construction/crafting (usually #80/12).  The only exception is when sewing on knit fabrics and they use a ball point needle.
Top secret revealed: The bestselling brand of home machine needles puts the exact same needle in the Topstitch and Metallic needle package.  It's the same needle.  One needle, two packages = double the sales.  Save your money.  You do not need to buy both.  This explains why we no longer sell metallic needles.  The Topstitch style is the needle preferred by the professionals.

Q.  What determines if a thread is for hand quilting?
A.  Strength.  Hand quilting puts a lot of repeat stress on thread so it requires a strong thread.  Traditional hand quilting thread is coated or glazed with wax or starch which makes the thread rather stiff, slick, and strong.  Our hand quilting thread is Treasure, a coated cotton.  Some high quality non-coated threads such as King Tut are also perfectly fine for hand quilting.
Caution: Do not use a coated or glazed thread in a machine.  The coating will rub off and gum up the machine.

Q.  What’s the difference between a piecing thread and quilting thread?
A.  Size.  When piecing, we want the thread to be fine enough to make a flat, smooth seam. A medium or heavy thread will not do this.  Choose a fine (#50) thread for piecing.  MasterPiece was created as the ideal piecing thread.

Q.  Is it OK to piece with polyester?
A.  Yes, if you are careful when ironing the seam.  A high-heat iron can melt polyester, so turn the iron temperature down to low or medium.  We prefer to play it safe and piece with cotton (MasterPiece) so we can iron the seam on high heat with no risk of melting the thread.

Q.  What thread should I use for quilting?
A.  There are many choices.  Polyester, cotton, metallic, variegated.  Please refer to our Thread Selection Guide.  And, it is perfectly fine to use polyester thread in your quilt.  It will not tear the fabric.  That is the biggest myth in the quilting world.  Here is a good article on this topic.

Q.  What is filament polyester?
A.  Most polyester threads are made of multiple filaments (continuous strands) of polyester twisted together.  If there is only one single strand, it is a monofilament thread.  Most polyester threads have many polyester filaments twisted together.  A 3-ply polyester thread has three strands twisted together, but each of those three strands are made up of many micro-strands twisted together.  A top quality 3-ply multi-filament polyester thread may have as many as 144 strands (48+48+48) twisted together.  A low quality polyester thread may have only 18 strands (6+6+6).  The labels do not state the number of micro-strands.  If you have wondered why you absolutely love a particular polyester thread, it is probably due to the high number of micro-strands.

Q.  My dealer told me that using prewound bobbins will void the warranty.  Really?
A.  Your dealer is wrong. No sewing machine company makes such a claim.  In fact, most sewing machine companies sell prewound bobbins.

        (Comment inserted by me:  The following is MY favorite Question AND Answer!)

Q.  Is it true that Superior is the only brand I should use because other brands cause global warming, the swine flu, and other problems?
A.  Thank you.  This is my favorite question.

I would highly recommend signing up for this newsletter right away ... it is so useful and entertaining ... I've posted only a small portion of this valuable resource.  Don't miss Bob's Superior Joke of the Month, either!  There's a big sign-up button right on the front page of the Superior website.

Quilt Festival at Long Beach, 2011

Memory Seeds by Barb Pozek from the Celebrate Spring! 2011 Special Exhibit

Wow, I just watched the Virtual Tour at the official website of Quilt Festival at Long Beach ... well worth the 10 short minutes.  Pour yourself a cup of tea and enjoy.  Be sure to check out all the Special Exhibit pictures, too.

Masters: Art Quilts Vol. 2

I was excited to receive my copy of Masters: Art Quilts, Volume 2 in yesterday’s mail, and couldn’t wait to review it for you here.

Curated by Martha Sielman, this second volume of “major works by leading artists” has been eagerly anticipated by those of us in the art quilt field, as well as those who collect and appreciate fiber art as Fine Art.

Ms. Sielman is well-known as the Executive Director of Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA), and has earned her stripes as a professional artist, author, lecturer, juror, and arts administrator, with too many professional credits to name here.  Suffice it to say that she has created another masterpiece with this book.

By limiting the number of artists to 40 (in this 412-page book), Ms. Sielman has been able to showcase a fairly wide range of each artist’s work, along with a satisfying, but not overwhelming, amount of information about each artist and his or her working philosophy and/or techniques.  Each artwork is named and dated, with the size, materials, and techniques also indicated.  (One of my pet peeves about some other books is not being able to tell how large or small an artwork is, so this is a big plus for me.)

The artists showcased here are pulled from a truly international base, and the quilts  reflect the most sophisticated kind of artwork of any genre.  For instance, Emily Richardson’s quilts of silk organza and acrylic paints could easily be mistaken for abstract oil paintings. 

Genevieve Attinger’s graceful portraits and nudes could be straight out of an old master’s studio, with the addition of her delicate stitches.  Pamela Fitzsimons’ highly textured Australian landscape pieces are painstakingly created by hand, from dyeing to stitching. 

For a refreshing take on land- and seascapes, take a look at the collaborations of Gayle Fraas and Duncan Slade.  They combine realistic landscapes with unusual framing elements that make you stop and look again … and again. 

Linda MacDonald enjoys inserting humor into some of her environmentally sensitive message quilts.  Although some see her graphic images as similar to comic-book art, they always remind me of delicate wood-block cuts.

In addition to Ms. Sielman’s introductions to each artist, there are short quotations by the artists scattered throughout each section.  One of my favorites is by Laura Wasilowski:  “Fabric scraps are like starter dough.  The possibilities are endless.”

This book is large enough to allow for good-sized images and a few detail shots, without being an oversized “coffee-table” book.  I do wish there had been room for more (and larger) detail shots, but then the book would have had to be much bigger and heavier!  The paper is very high quality, and the photography is superb.  Highly recommended as a gift or for yourself.   Although I often give books away, I’m keeping this one!

Disclaimer:  I received this book for the purpose of writing an independent review.

Pictures are back!

In VinoVeritas, 2008 (SOLD)
24x36"
Found medical book pages, inks, ceramic cabochon, glass cab, beads, stitching.

Finally ... I found the time to figure out what happened to all my pictures which had disappeared for the past two years of blog postings.  Thank goodness they are all (or at least mostly) back now, and I didn't even have to re-insert them individually like I was afraid of.

Since I don't like to post anything without a picture, I thought I'd just insert "In Vino Veritas" above, since it was one of the few images on my laptop.  Now maybe I can get back to posting again!

A birthday postcard

My friend Liz Broussard sent me a beautiful fiber-art birthday card ... thank you, Miz Liz, I love it!

"Garden Clippings", 4x6"

The Antechamber revealed

It's here!  The book (catalog) for Dinner at Eight's current exhibit, "The Space Between", is now available for ordering at Blurb.com.  Here's the direct link ... you can even preview all the pages.  (Thank you again, Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison, for curating this beautiful show, and thanks to Loris Bogue for creating the book!)

Now that the catalog is published, I can show my entry, "The Antechamber":

The Antechamber, 36" x 48"

The Antechamber is an entryway, a waiting room … the space between.  The space between city and country, stress and tranquility, sophistication and simplicity.   I want to step through this antechamber into that other world.

Materials:  printable silk fabric sheets; silk dyes; cotton, rayon, and metallic threads; iridescent medium; Tsukineko inks.

Techniques:  digital altering, silk painting, machine quilting, hand-painting with inks.

I hope you get to see this exhibit in person, opening at the International Quilt Festival, July 29-31, in Long Beach, California.  If not, treat yourself to the catalog for some wonderful fiber art.

Book Review: Quilt National 2011

This beautiful hardback book presents, in striking color photography and detailed-yet-concise descriptions by the artists themselves, the 86 works of fiber art that were accepted for the 2011 exhibition at The Dairy Barn Arts Center in Athens, Ohio.

Quilt National is possibly the most prestigious juried art-quilt exhibit in the U.S., and has been called “the premier international showcase for contemporary quilts” by The Wall Street Journal.  As a fiber artist myself, I know that it takes tremendous talent, imagination, and determination to ultimately have a piece accepted by Quilt National.  Many fine artists try for years and years before finally (if ever) having work shown there.

Some previous editions of the Quilt National book have not had, in my opinion, the excellent quality of photography that this 2011 edition displays.  Each image is large, clear, and, as far as I can tell, color-correct.  Many of the pages also have detail shots, so that the reader can see a closer view of the piecing, painting, stitching and other minutia of these works of art.  It is especially exciting to be able to see the fine quilted details.  The artists’ statements are all well-written and interesting, adding yet another layer of personal enjoyment to the images.

I received this book in consideration for writing an independent review, but having now reviewed it, I can honestly say that I would have bought it anyway.  Definitely a keeper for your library, this book can be ordered directly from Lark Crafts or through Amazon.com.

P.S.  Deb Boschert has posted a unique review of this book on her blog.  If you are interested in unusual, if unofficial, statistics about Quilt National entries, take a look ... it's quite fascinating! 

Grrrrrr ...

Apologies to all who have written asking about my blog pictures ... for some reason most of them for the past two years have disappeared from the blog.  I'm working on figuring it out, but haven't had much luck yet.  I'm posting a picture here, just to see if it "takes".



Section from "Speaking in Color"



A little tribute to Mariah

Not to get maudlin, but I miss my little Mariah-cat more than I can say.  Sweet Meg reminded me on my Facebook page of the tiny little artquilt I had made years ago, in a workshop at QSDS with Susan Shie.  It was all about Mariah, and I thought I'd post it here.  (Thanks, Meg, for reminding me of this little piece!)

Mariah Needs Her Mama
3-1/2" square

Just in case you don't want to twist your head (or your computer) upside down to read the stitched text, here's what it says:

Mariah needs her Mama 
She purrs even while she's biting me - ouch!
No bouncing!
Sandpaper tongue
Sweet sharp kisses
Only crunchy food, please!
Velvet fur and tuna breath, Yum

There is a little shisha mirror, and she's wearing a collar tag that says "Be good".

I'm so glad I made this, back in the days when Mariah was young and lively.  Thank you, Susan, for the wonderful class and this little memento that I probably never would have made otherwise. 

If Mariah (and her Uncle Buddy and Aunt Peaches) aren't allowed into Heaven, then I'm not going either!

Printers and Another Rant

I came so close to buying the absolute wrong printer for my needs today.  (Cue violins)

Wait, let me back up.  My trusty (Hah!) HP Photosmart Plus printer died an unnatural death earlier this week, just months after the 1-year warranty expired.  I had a hard time forcing myself to do all the research all over again, to find the best printer (for a decent price) on the market for printing on fabric.

I really wanted to try one of the new Kodak printers, and sent out cries for help on the internet for those who might have used it for printing on fabric ... to no avail.  To be honest, I didn't try really too hard, just hoped someone might have already made all the mistakes before I did.

"Luckily", I ran into the Kodak sales rep at an Office Max, and he was such a terrific salesman that I very nearly bought the thing on the spot.  However, I had promised myself that I would do my "due diligence" and try out everything possible first.

Snake oil salesman

But, oh boy, it sounded so great ... cheaper (pigment-based) ink cartridges, interchangeable among all Kodak printers, cool new features, it was even cute, and had a relatively small footprint.  And Kodak is famous for printing PICTURES!  Plus, they were going to give me a cool little $99 video camera as a bonus, THIS WEEK ONLY! How could I go wrong?  OHHH, I wanted that little baby!  (The very smart salesman "didn't know" how it would work on fabric, "but it must be good, because we're famous for printing pictures!")

Kodak 3250

Then, on top of that, the salesman slipped me an ad for a $50 credit at Best Buy this week, if I traded in any other old printer, broken or not, for any Kodak printer.  Hot Diggity!  Combined with a $25 gift certificate generously donated by my brother, this little dude would only cost me about $25!

But still, determined to do my research ... I came home and looked for customer reviews ... which were mostly bad.  Among other issues, "fantastic prints on photo paper, crappy prints on plain paper".  This did not bode well for printing on fabric.

So today, armed with my stack of beloved-but-costly Printed Treasures and Jacquard Silk Sheets, I trekked down to the nearest Best Buy and tried out a lot of pigment-based-ink printers, including the Kodak.

On both floor models of the Kodak (operated by the Best Buy techie), the sheets jammed without exception, and what partial images I could make out were absolutely awful.  The Kodak printer prints beautifully on photo paper, but not even marginally well on fabric.

Oh, and I discovered that although yes, the Kodak ink cartridges are less expensive that Epson's and HP's ... they are also much smaller and contain less ink.  So any perceived savings is probably just that ... perceived.  It's one of those things that's hard to quantify, especially since ALL the manufacturers are so cagey, not to say secretive, about revealing exactly how much ink their cartridges contain.

I finally ended up with another HP Photosmart Plus, since it even uses the same inks as my dearly departed printer.

HP Photosmart Plus

And as long as I'm sort of ranting about manufacturers and big-box stores, not a single printer had a brochure available for the customer.  They "must be all out of them."  And I had to practically demand that the techie-kid break open some new ink cartridges so that I could test the HP printers.  Not a single one of the "demo" printers had enough ink in them to print a single picture.  When I asked "what is the customer supposed to do, just buy it on faith?", the kid just shrugged.  I had to threaten to go to a manager before he would take the trouble to ask for permission to do it.  (Evidently, the marketing reps for each manufacturer are supposed to come by occasionally and replenish the inks in their printers.  The kid said that the HP guy hadn't been there this week, so I was just out of luck.)  As the kid was opening all those little ink cartridge boxes, he even took the trouble to admonish me that these inks were "very expensive", and that the store would have to swallow the cost.  I just stared at him, open-mouthed.  I couldn't even think of a snappy comeback.

Techie-Kid

I'm just getting really, really tired of having to demand simple customer service.  The kid who "helped" me was more interested in playing on his iPhone than he was in assisting me.  Not to mention, I had to track him down and drag him away from his computer in the first place.  I swear to goodness, I'm nice most of the time!  Why do these people seem to be on a mission to force me to be a crabby old lady?

To quote Paul Lynde in a Bye Bye Birdie song, "What's the matter with kids today?"  Modified to add, "What's the matter with Business today?"

AAARRRRGGGHHHHHH!

R.I.P. Mariah

My beautiful, loving little cat Mariah, 14 years old, had to be put to sleep this past weekend.  Her brother/best friend is still roaming the house calling for her, both of us broken-hearted.

Mariah loved boxes.

Mariah and her brother, sunning on their bench.

Funny haiku

I'm sooo tempted by this merchandise, especially with this haiku by The Selfish Seamstress:

Sew something for you?
It's not that I don't have time,
I just don't want to.

On Color

No, not an academic treatise on color, just a little haiku that popped into my head this morning.

Yellow, green, blue, red

Quinacridone Burnt Orange?

Colors on my mind.

Poetry Month

Oh, where have I been for the first two-thirds of this month?  I just now realized that it is Poetry Month, and I don't have a thing to wear write!

Hmmm ... well, at least a little haiku for fiber artists ...

Nodding at my desk.

Fiber art comes easily,

Poetry is hard.

The Space Between - Interview

I was so thrilled to be juried into the invitational exhibit "The Space Between", co-curated by Leslie Tucker Jenison and Jamie Fingal.  And today was my "day in the sun", when I was the featured artist on their Dinner at Eight Artists blog.  Please take a look, then be sure to read about the other artists too ... we are all just fascinating!   ;^)

Sharon's winning quilts

My friend Sharon Dixon is a ribbon winner AGAIN ... 

1st place

2nd place

Well deserved, Sharon ... gorgeous quilts!

Maggie, Oh Maggie

My friend Maggie Winfield just sent me a couple of pictures that I just have to share.  She's dyed her hair a ... sort of ... magenta? 

Of course, she looks adorable as always, and even shared some pictures of a couple of her latest creations.

Check out the cute little top she made from a recycled dress she got from Goodwill.  I love the little "fascinator" hat ... and don't forget the shoes ... Lordy, how could we forget the shoes?

And she's been drawing & stitching faces lately ... here's one she's put on the back of a jacket.

I love to trail around with Maggie when she's out on the town.  Admiring glances follow her everywhere, and I get to bask in the reflected glow.  She's giggly and fun too, as you might guess, and you're never bored when you're around Maggie!

The Space Between

I was thrilled to learn this past weekend that my 36x48" art quilt, "The Antechamber" had been juried into the Dinner at Eight Artists' new exhibit, The Space Between.  Here's a little sneak preview, just to whet your appetite.

The Antechamber (detail)

The curators, Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison, invited a number of fiber artists to submit their work for the exhibit.  It will first be viewed at the International Quilt Festival in Chicago, sponsored by Moore's Sewing Centers, followed by the IQF in Houston, once a sponsor is found.


My entry for last year, "The Key", is still traveling with their Beneath the Surface exhibit.  It started out in Chicago and Houston, sponsored by Mistyfuse, and will next be seen at the IQF in Cincinnati.

The Key

If you have a few minutes, give yourself a little mini-break and go to the Dinner at Eight Artists blog to read some of the Artist's Profiles that are starting to be posted for this year's exhibit.  Today's profile is by Judy Coates Perez, yesterday's was by Susan Brubaker Knapp, and the first one was by ... drumroll, please ... Yvonne Porcella.  These are all fascinating artists, and I'm inspired by each of them.  Go ahead, indulge yourself, for just a few minutes!  You'll be glad you did.

Rant Success: (Or at least a step in the right direction)

After having written a scathing letter (see my original Rant here) to David Green, owner and CEO of Hobby Lobby, I received an emailed response from a regional manager.  My two major issues were lack of management visibility/accessibility, and the insulting practice of confiscating backpacks at the front of the store before allowing the customer in to shop.

(Sorry, the above-pictured backpack is no longer available.)

Although I failed in my attempt to reach Mr. Green personally, I will say that my complaints were readily received, and I've recently received another letter from the regional manager, assuring me that both issues have been addressed at a regional meeting:

"We had a yearend meeting with San Antonio mgrs Friday laying out the great customer service guidelines we expect. At all times every hobby lobby has a member of mgt and should of been available upon request. Proper scheduling was discussed to make sure we have employees available for our customers.
We appreciate you letting us know about the backpack issue and the store has been directed not to be asking anyone to leave backpacks at front."

It's kind of nice to know that sometimes you can make a bit of a difference, just by speaking up.  I'm feeling rather proud of myself this morning.  

Is this kid ready to pick yet?

My sister just found an old Polaroid picture of her son that our Dad had altered, years ago.  I knew he was artistic, but he was doing mixed-media collage before I ever heard of it.  He had taken a cut-out photo of the kid, glued it onto a picture of his garden, and tied him on a bean pole with a piece of twine!  Just had to share this ...

What do you think?  Is he ripe for pickin'?

Some photoshopped fun

Just for fun ... hours and HOURS of fun ... some old black-and-white photos I have prettified with some "hand-tinting" techniques in Photoshop Elements.  These are some pictures from my parents' stash ... I don't think they are family; probably children of friends, back in the '40's and '50's.

Original photograph, ca 1940's.
I could have removed the crinkled fold-marks,
but decided that I like them in this case.

Colorized in Photoshop Elements -- "hand-tinted" look.

with my "crinkled paper" texture added.

Original photo, probably from the 1940's.

"Hand-tinted" look, via Photoshop Elements.

with "Golden" texture (by Kim Klassen) added.

New Grace machine quilting frame

Many of you know that when I moved from Houston to San Antonio last year I had to sell my beloved "Piglet", the A1 longarm quilting machine.  I really thought I'd "get over it" after a while, but I found myself missing the longarming experience more and more.

After months and months of researching on-line (and not wanting to wait until the next Houston Quilt Festival to try some mid-arm arrangements) I finally took the plunge and bought the Grace Start-Right frame, to use with my Juki TL-98E sewing machine, which has a 9" harp (or "throat", as it's sometimes called).

Not only was I concerned about which frame was the best for me, but also which dealer to buy from.  After much sturm und drang, I finally settled on Kathy Quilts, on-line.  There are no local dealers for the Grace frame in San Antonio, and this one seemed to have the best service.

back view of Juki on Grace frame.

I called and spoke to Lynn, co-owner of Kathy Quilts, and he answered all my questions to my satisfaction, so I placed the order through their on-line ordering page.  In very short order, stuff started arriving on my doorstep!

Sharon to the rescue!

Now, who among us can boast the kind of friend who will travel 3 hours from Houston to San Antonio, just to help you set up your new quilting frame?  Me, that's who!  My dear friend Sharon Dixon made the drive last week, and we spent a whole hilarious day setting up the frame.  Of course, then we had to reward ourselves with Mexican food and wine that night, and a whole day of just goofing off the next.

How about a little review of the Grace Start-Right frame?  First of all, I purchased the 5' long frame ("crib size"), because I really don't quilt bed quilts anymore (I have my buddy Sharon to do that for me!), plus I don't have the space for the queen-sized frame, which is the only other size the Start-Right frame comes in.

I wanted this model over the other Grace machine quilting frames, because it is steel instead of wood or aluminum.  It also came with a Power/Speed Control, which works quite well with my Juki.

Tongue firmly clamped between teeth, I started quilting.

A couple of things ... some of the table parts arrived bent, and so were hard to put together with the supplied nuts and bolts.  It's kind of amazing to me how this can have happened, because the steel is impossible to bend with bare hands and a hammer.  Nevertheless, with some elbow grease and some ingenuity, we finally got it done.

The back "table" part of the setup is evidently being manufactured in a different place than their original, so it was actually defective in some aspects.  Nevertheless, once again we were able to overcome these little obstacles and get everything together and working properly.

The only other drawback ... actually the major one ... is that the Power/Speed Control does not have a "needle up/down" capability, which I consider to be of supreme importance when longarming.  (I keep using that phrase ... longarming ... because this is essentially a "short" longarm setup.  The machine head moves over the quilt sandwich, instead of moving the quilt underneath a stationary machine head.)

Now for the good points.  This thing is made like a tank, and is not going anywhere!  Once it is set up, it's still light-weight enough to shift around a bit if I want to, but it is extremely stable, with no bounce.  Each foot has a leveler on it which is very easy to use with a small hand-held wrench.  My machine is perfectly balanced on the frame, which I never seemed able to quite achieve with my longarm!

And the movement of the machine on the frame is truly incredible.  It is as smooth and floaty over the quilt top as my A1 ever was ... and that's saying a lot.  The wheels are set up differently on the tracks, which seems to make a big difference ... take a look at the website if you're curious.

All set up and actually quilting (well, "scribbling" is more like it.)
(Note: I ultimately moved the Power/Speed Control to the right handle.)

I did not want or need the "extras", such as the Sure Stitch Regulator, Quilt CAD program, or laser lights for following pantographs, so I basically got the "bare bones" unit, saving quite a bit of money in the process.

And here's the BEST part of all:  my dealer, Kathy Quilts, was extremely responsive to all my questions and concerns (even my complaints) AFTER the sale, as well as before.  These days, that seems to be almost unheard of.  Lynn was especially concerned about the issues I had with the back half of the table being properly fitted.  He forwarded my detailed letter directly to the Grace Company, so hopefully they will be making corrections right away.

If you decide the Grace frame (of any size) is for you, I can't recommend Kathy Quilts highly enough.  Their main goal and focus seems to be customer service, and that goes a long way with me.  Check out their videos on their website and on YouTube.   (WARNING!  Turn your volume way down before starting the videos, then you can turn it back up ... there seems to be a big discrepancy in volume from the intro to the body of the video.)

This is a commercial picture of the Grace Start-Right frame,
lifted directly from the Kathy Quilts website.

And ... holy cow! ... I just looked at their list of 6 videos on YouTube, and see that Lynn wasn't kidding when he said he would make a new video of how to install the lamp on the frame.  I had asked him about it, and he said he would go ahead and get one going.  (This was just a few days ago!)  Looking at their videos made a huge difference to Sharon and me in getting set up.

I'm looking forward to quilting more, now that I have my "longarming" experience back in my grasp.  (I don't do big, looping designs anyway ... all my freehand quilting tends to be tiny and detailed, so this is perfect for me.  Plus, I have the option of upgrading my machine to a deeper harp, one of these days!)

An old-fashioned Proposal

In going through more of the photographs and paperwork from my Mom & Dad's house (they've moved into a lovely new retirement community, but had to downsize considerably), I made this beautiful discovery today.  It's the letter written by my grandfather to his prospective mother-in-law in 1917, asking for my grandmother's hand in marriage.

I was so touched by the old-fashioned sensibility of asking for a daughter's hand in marriage ... but upon closer inspection, it is clear that he is stating their intention to be married ... that same month ... and is basically just going through the formality of asking for her mother's consent.  His sentiments are obviously sincere and sweet, though, and I feel so lucky to have found this treasure.  I don't even think my mother remembered having it; at least I never heard her mention it, and I know I had never seen it before.

I even love the discolored and deteriorated condition of the pages!  Thank goodness for scanners and Photoshop, which allow us to preserve such ephemera even as they are slowly disintegrating.  I would urge anyone who has such treasures in their own family to do it now ... preserve copies in whatever way you can ... these precious memories won't last forever.