Still here ...

Yes, my blog and I are still here, although both of us have been very quiet lately. My art has had to move to the back burner in the past year, as we have moved my 92-year-old parents to be near us here in San Antonio. They are now living in their own house just a block away from us, so I spend a lot of time with them. Mom hadn't driven in years, and Dad made the very smart-but-difficult decision to give up his car and his driver's license before anything bad could happen, and as a result we 3 siblings take care of errands, doctor's appointments, etc. Believe it or not, we actually love it! They are two of the sweetest people I've ever known, and being with them at this stage of their lives is a privilege.

My Dad, as "The Coffee Cowboy"

My beautiful Mom

Now that their house has been found and purchased, the move made, new doctors found and "vetted", adjustments to everything in their lives made ... I'm hoping to be able to get back into the studio a little more often. If any of you are still out there, thank you! And stay tuned.

Beading and Viking Knit

I recently found some pictures of some of my early jewelry-making, and thought I would post them here. (Some of them may have been posted in earlier years.) I had actually forgotten having made some of these, and looking at the pictures gives me the "beading itch" again.

carved fish, beaded as pendants

I used deer hide on the back, leaving the carved figures revealed.

Candyland bracelet

Czek star button bracelet (detail)

Gilded Limes bracelet with vintage button closure.

Hands Down - bracelet (detail)

Modern Camouflage bracelet with vintage button closure.
I believe this may have been based on a pattern by SandFibers (Carol Dean Sharpe)

Cute little pendant built around a rubber O-ring.

Shades of Copper bracelet
also a SandFibers pattern (the tube-shaped closure, which was new to me)

Steampunk Necklace
I sold this several years ago, and wish I still had it.

Another Steampunk Pendant that I sold ... what was I thinking?

What can I say? I was really into Steampunk for a while.
I still like it, just haven't made any in a long time.

Strawberry Limeade, with rolled bead closure.

Viking Knit Necklace and Bracelet Set
The necklace has a globe-shaped locket and the bracelet has a flying pig. I made this set for my mother in 2009.

Detail of locket on Viking Knit necklace

Detail of Flying Pig charm on Viking Knit bracelet.

Now I feel like doing some more Viking Knit ... it really turns out beautifully, and I'm sure I still have some sterling silver wire ... hmmmm ...

More Quilt Festival photos from the 2014 show

Here are the last of my Quilt Festival pictures ... next year I'll be sure to take a "real" camera rather than my phone camera, as I wasn't really happy with the quality of these images. Still, good enough to enjoy and remember good times and beautiful quilts!

Above is the introduction to the Dinner @ Eight exhibit "Reflections", by Jamie Fingal.
The exhibit itself is curated by Jamie Fingal and Leslie Tucker Jenison.

Not all of my pictures turned out, but here are some of my favorites from the Reflections exhibit:

Cottonwood Reflection by Cynthia St. Charles

Groovin' on a Sunday Afternoon by Barb Forrister

Haiku by Lyric Kinard

Matisse and the New London Skyline by Leslie Tucker Jenison

Amazements of Tender Reflections by Wen Redmond

Read and Reflect by Lesley Riley

Reflections of Our Fathers by Desiree Habicht

The Parable of  the Dragon and the Sheep by Susan Fletcher King

Troubled Water by Larkin Van Horn

These next quilts are from various categories, but all are art quilts.

Rockin' Cat by Barbara McKie
This may be my favorite quilt of the show. The cat and the background are from two different
photographs, and they meld so beautifully that the cat is quite camouflaged. I loved the surprise.

Shared Destiny by Patricia Kennedy-Zafred
This quilt won a First Place ribbon in Digital Imagery.

Sheer Joy by Pam Holland
This was another small Silent Auction quilt that I would have loved to own.

The Dogs by Shannon Conley

The Visitor by Susan Fletcher King
(still one of my favorites!)

Three Times Three by Peggy Brown
I stood and stared and this quilt for a good ten minutes ... enthralled.

Umbrellas in the City by Terri Krysan and Page Johnson
(this quilt won Second Place in Mixed Technique)

Unequal Until Death? by Randall Cook
This is the one quilt that I wanted to quote the Artist's Statement for:
"The couple depicted has spent 22 years creating and living their lives together.  The lack of marriage equality makes their marriage less than and not equal to heterosexual marriages.  Depicting the couple in a somber and "un-couple like" representation, with portions of the figures as mere ghost-like approximations, is an attempt to convey some of the emotions involved with this inequality."

Randall Cook with his quilt, shown above.
I'm sorry I don't know in which category his quilt won the ribbon,
as I can't find it on the IQA page.

Unfinished Arrangement by Peggy Brown
A small Silent Auction quilt.

Windbreak by Mariane Williamson

Women of the Desert by Janneke de Fries-Bodzinga
A small Silent Auction quilt.

Worry by Virginia Greaves
This quilt won Third Place in Art-People, Portraits, and Figures.

I had quite a few more pictures that, unfortunately, were not clear enough to publish. I have tried my best to give proper attribution to the artists, but if you see any errors, please contact me with any corrections.  Please enjoy my little quilt show!

Houston Quilt Festival 2014

I made my first quilt in 1976, and have attended the Houston International Quilt Festival every year since it began showing at the George R. Brown Convention Center. It's an overwhelming experience, but for those of us who go every year, we eventually learn how to navigate the "most important" aisles ... the types of quilts we are most interested in ... and try to (mostly) avoid the vendors' booths.

Since I am mostly interested in art quilts, those are the ones I took pictures of ... here are some of my favorites. (Sometimes it was impossible to get a clear shot without one of the black metal statement stands getting in the way ... apologies for that.)

Bedolina Threads by Maggie Vanderweit

Can We Talk About the Steak? by Barbara Yates Beasley

Dazzling Dahlia by Andrea Brokenshire

Direction by Lyric Kinard

Dotting Inside the Box by Sandi Snow
(this quilt won First Place in Art-Abstract, Small)

Drips by Sherri Lipman McCauley

Floppy by Enid Weichselbaum
(this sweet little piece was one of the Silent Auction squares ... so simple and adorable, I meant to
go back and bid on it, but ran out of time ... and money!)

Fly Away Butterflies by Charlotte Hickman

These next three images are of the same quilt ... "Frame of Mind" by Flora Joy. You see a different person depending on where you stand in relation to the quilt. Flora describes her inspiration and a hint of her technique in the statement below the pictures. She won a second place ribbon in the Digital Imagery category.

Galaxy by Lynn Koolish

Gone Fishing by Kim Ritter

Identity Crisis by Suzan Engler
(this won an Honorable Mention in Digital Imagery)

Mangolicious by Ellen Lindner

Panning for Gold by Lea McComas
(won First Place in Art-People, Portraits,and Figures)

Penelope's Poppies by Laura Wasilowski

Pouring Cats by Christina Belding

Red-and-White Exhibit, from the front of the hall.

from the other side ... spectacular!

And now for something completely different ... just a couple of "people pictures" ...

Liz Broussard, all dressed up for her String-It-Up class. Too cute!

Maggie Winfield, adorable as ever in her ca-ra-zy Halloween bat/skeleton outfit,
found time to meet me for a hug-and-chat before I left for home on Friday.

More quilt pictures to be posted tomorrow ... enjoy!