Between Threads

A Photo Blog........

2011-11-20T11:15:00.000-08:00

It's not that I haven't been in my studio since August. I've actually had some good studio time, but I've also taken time to hit the trails for some exploring and photo shooting. Now that the temperatures have dropped and the days are dark, the studio time will increase. My computer is filled with photos I've taken on recent outings, so I've got much inspiration to work with. Here are just a few of my photos. Enjoy..........

A dramatic sky over the Talkeetna mountains ~ Alaska

Devils' Club

A beautiful Alaska day ~ Matanuska glacier

Autumn in the Chugach mountains ~ Alaska

A hint of Autumn ~ Pennsylvania

Just a touch of red ~ Pennsylvania

The birthday princess ~ Kenley Ella turns one!

Rock texture ~ Colorado

Red rock characters ~ Colorado

Poof!

Horseshoe Canyon ~ Utah

Tree texture

Interesting designs on the rocks ~ Utah

Contrast

The Great Gallery~ Horseshoe Canyon ~ Utah

Abandoned building~ Sego Canyon~ Utah

Sand dune figures ~ Utah

Autumn in the desert ~ Colorado

Nannie's little helper. Soon she'll be my studio helper!

Fabric Deprived? I Think Not!

2011-08-25T00:13:00.000-07:00

There's a quilt in that mess........... somewhere.

I'm on a mission. My mission is to create two quilts for our cabin, from scraps of fabric. It seems everyone who comes into my studio tells me I don't have much fabric. Well, I'm here to tell you........I have plenty of fabric, and I swear those fabric scraps reproduce while I'm sleeping. I keep sewing strips together, glance over at the pile I started with, and I don't think it's getting any smaller!

My approach to this mission is to sew several different components, then attempt to assemble them into a visually desirable quilt. I must admit, I'm more interested in the utilitarian aspect than the aesthetic aspect of the quilt. We're talking remote Alaska cabin here. Warmth rules in this mission!

Large quilts are not what I enjoy doing, so we'll see if I really end up making two quilts. Hmm.........I'm seeing some potential wall size quilts in that mess, how about you?

Back to the Blog

2011-08-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

I've tried the web site/ blog combo, and have decided it's not for me. So........here I am with a re worked web site and back to my old blog. Hopefully, I can keep this up a bit better than I did my last one! You can visit my new web site at www.nancydobson.com

I'll post more soon!

Time for a Change......

2011-01-08T15:08:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! I have been thinking about combining my web site and blog for awhile now. I'm hoping this new format will help me keep things updated on a more regular basis. Please visit my new web/blog at www.nancydobson.com

I'm still learning the new set up, so will be changing things up often, I'm sure!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-12-15T08:43:00.000-08:00

Wordless Wednesday

I Love Trees.............

2010-12-09T18:26:00.000-08:00

I love trees, so I jumped at the chance to make another tree quilt. My Mom was admiring a quilt on my web site, so I decided to make something similar for her birthday. I've been experimenting with dyeing and painting sheer fabric, so decided to use some on this particular piece. With a combination of thermofax screens and brushes, I created a piece of fabric to use as an overlay for the background piece of my quilt.

I used pieces of the sheer fabric, over hand dyed green fabric for the background. For the trees, I painted birch like characteristics on beige silk fabric.Before attaching the leaves, I stitched the background and trees. Once the background stitching was complete, I attached the leaves and stitched them down. A bit of bead embellishment was the finishing touch for the quilt.
And, since we're on the subject of trees............. Have I mentioned that I love trees? While visiting family in Pennsylvania, the sunshine on the trees caught my eye. I had to grab my camera and head outside to capture the light filtering through the branches.

I also love dogs...........Bailey is patiently waiting to go back in the warm house.

Joy.........

2010-10-13T12:46:00.001-07:00

Not many words are needed to describe the photos here. The circle of life continues. What a miraculous event.............. such JOY.

Welcome Kenley Ella! A perfect score on 10/10/10!

Think Pink and All That Girl Stuff.....

2010-09-28T09:49:00.001-07:00

The year was 1982, but seems like yesterday, when we were filling a nursery with all those wonderful baby items, anxiously awaiting the arrival of our little bundle of joy. Now, our little bundle of joy and her husband are filling a nursery with everything befitting of a baby girl, anxiously waiting for their precious little one to arrive. Filled to the brim with little pink outfits, ribbons and bows, Baby H will be a fashion statement from head to toe! We call her Baby H until her Mommy and Daddy decide on that special name for her!

In addition to all the new gifts that will be showered on the baby, there will be some sentimental items. This quilt was made by my Aunt Kay, and was waiting for our Jessica when she was born. I'm sure Baby H will enjoy it as much as Jessica did!

My mind wanders back to when I was a little girl. I still have some of my favorite things. The little blue dress that made me feel like a princess.....

The sweater, knit with much love by Aunt Kay. Every time I pull this out, I feel the warmth and love that she gave in her life. She was a very special person, who I miss dearly.
And, I can't forget "Dr. Bryan". Our family friend, who was also our family doctor, gave this little stuffed animal to me while I was in the hospital for hip surgery when I was two years old. Of course, I had to name it Dr. Bryan! This is one well loved stuffed animal.....

Being a quilter, I wanted to make a quilt for the new baby. Jessica, Stephanie, Katelin and I had a fun time at the quilt shop, picking out wild fabrics......
I don't typically bind my quilts with satin binding, but this type of binding also holds some sentimental value from Jessica's childhood, so I decided to use it on this quilt. It's wild and wonky, but I think Baby H will have fun with it!

So, the nursery is organized and the quilt is finished. Come and meet your family, Baby H!

The Constructing and Deconstructing of a Whole Cloth Quilt.......

2010-09-07T08:57:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I showed a small portion of a quilt I was working on. I sometimes work spontaneously, which can be a good or bad thing! Getting ahead of myself before thinking my idea through can lead to ripping stitches out, or, in this case, cutting the original idea into three pieces.... and ripping stitches out. However, these little glitches can sometimes have serendipitous results!

The idea behind this quilt started with an exhibit opportunity for AQuA. The theme was "Singular Sensations", and the quilt had to be a whole cloth piece. I began with the above fabric. When pulled from the dye vat, the images of poppy flowers came to mind, so I went with that subject.

I had the not so bright idea of quilting the fabric first, then silk screening over it. After the quilting began I realized it wasn't such a good idea, so opted to halt the quilting and do the silk screening first. Two screens were made by cutting stencils from freezer paper. One of poppy pods, the other of grass. These stencils were then ironed directly on the screen. Using textile paint, I began the screening process, and was having such fun with this process that I didn't take the time to step back and look at my progress. The poppies and grass were sprouting on the fabric like a fresh rain had just passed through! I overdid the screen printing on one side of the fabric, which resulted in an unbalanced piece of fabric. I decided to cut the fabric into three pieces, and after rearranging them, rather liked them in their new order. No triptychs were permitted for this particular show, so I had to decide whether to choose one of the three pieces for the show, or forget the show and continue this as a triptrych.

Realizing that each piece could work on it's own, I decided to continue with the piece on the left. By this time, my quilting design changed from the original plan, so I ended up ripping out some of the original stitches to make way for the new idea. Once I got that chore out of the way, I had a great time with the quilting!

I usually don't work in such unorganized chaos, but looking back on the whole process, I'm glad I did it this way, as it was a learning process for me. And to top things off, I got accepted into the show, and received a juror's mention!

Singular Sensations will be shown as a special exhibit at the Pacific International Quilt Fest, which will be held October 14 - 17, 2010 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, California. http://www.quiltfest.com/activities.asp?id=7

Time Flies...........

2010-08-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

Has it really been two months since my last post? I'm not sure where the summer has gone. Oh, wait...........we haven't had summer! We are in our 31st consecutive day of rain here in south central Alaska, and it's still raining as I write this! Well, there's not much one can do about the weather, so may as well make the best of it!

Through the dark days and cloudy skies, I've managed to stay quite busy in my studio and beyond. I spent a week dyeing fabric, silk screening, thermofax screening, and painting fabric. I'm really enjoying playing around with different screen printing techniques, and it's something I want to continue to explore. Here are a couple of screen prints I've done. The birch trees are from a photo I took, then had a thermofax screen made. I pulled a few colors through this screen to get the following effect.

This screenprint was made by putting clear print past in a syringe and drawing the "grass" design on the silk screen. Once the paste dried, I pulled the dyes through the screen, and got this result.
The following piece is one of my hand dyed fabrics. I planned on using the whole piece for a quilt, but my plan changed as I progressed....... nothing unusual for me! I would be in serious trouble if I had to follow a pattern or directions of any kind.

Although I can't show the whole finished piece yet, here is a small portion of it. I'll show the completed quilt soon.We've had a glimpse of sunshine here and there. On one of those rare occasions, I grabbed my camera and headed outside to take advantage of the freshly fallen raindrops on the flowers. My delphiniums were so water logged, I had to cut them way back. I'm glad I got a few pictures before they were too far gone....... We've managed to fly to the cabin in between the crazy weather, and have enjoyed our time there. We finished the railing on the other side of the loft, and are now working on the pony wall in the loft. It will be great to have that area "almost" finished. Of course, the cabin will never be "finished". What would we do up there without projects??...........Perhaps, enjoy the beautiful scenery and wildlife........Our little boy, Tryggur, having fun in the meadow.

How are you spending your summer?

Nature's Art.........

2010-06-15T19:38:00.001-07:00

The Dobson team has yet another project in the works. It seems the projects are ongoing with us, but we enjoy the fruits of our labor.

We've been building a log cabin on a remote lake in Alaska for the past several years, and are now working on the finishing touches. We've been sleeping in the loft without a railing for quite some time, and decided we better put safety first, in the event one of us should happen to take off in our sleep one night. It would be a mighty rude awakening to step off the loft to the living room below.

Last summer we collected black spruce logs and twigs, then peeled them so they would be dry and ready to use this year. We put our nephews to work on this project while they were visiting from Pennsylvania! If anyone wants to visit us at the cabin, they can be guaranteed they'll be put to work!With no professional knowledge of what we were doing, we started our project. It helps to have an engineer husband, who enjoys figuring how all this stuff is going to fit together! It was my job to figure out the positioning of the logs and twigs, so I liked that!

Warren cut notches in the logs and placed them into the side board with lag bolts. He then cut the pegs on the cross posts with a hole saw and hand saw. I roughed up the ends with a chisel, then we used a belt sander to even them out a bit. This is what you call winging it or trial and error! The next step was to decide on placement of the shaped wood. Much like designing a quilt, we moved pieces around until we were satisfied with look. Rather than taper the posts down, we wanted to do something a bit different in the small area to the left, so opted to use a very curved piece of wood for the main rail.
With a coat of stain on all the pieces, we now have a finished railing on one side of the loft! Next trip to the cabin we'll work on the other side.
To be continued...........

Desert Muse.................

2010-05-18T21:15:00.000-07:00

The vibrant colors of the environment are an inspiration to me. From the soft green of the sage,to the bright colors of the first trees and flowers of spring.

Every living thing has such interesting patterns and textures.

The deep red rock, reaching to the cloudless blue sky is so intense.

The ancient ruins continue to tell stories of cultures deeply rooted to the land.

The sun casts complex shapes and shadows on the landscape, creating an intense exhibition of abstractions. This spectacle of nature is the muse for my recent small works.

Spontaneous placement of brightly colored fabric squares are meant to evoke an image of the quintessential desert vista. This has been a fun project to work on, and a great way to use some of those odd size pieces of hand dyed fabric!

Latest Quilt.........

2010-04-24T07:21:00.001-07:00

After taking aerial photos of glaciers and rivers for several years, I have finally started my latest series. This is the progression of my newest quilt, Glacier Study # 1: Crevasse. I purchased a wide format printer, which has been great for printing off the photos.

After auditioning several different pieces of my hand dyed fabrics with the photos, these are the final color choices.

Photo be Frank NoradPhoto by Frank Norad

photo by Nancy Dobson

This quilt has been juried by Rayna Gillman into the AQuA show "Abstractions", which will be a special exhibit at the Denver National Quilt V Quiltfest,April 29 - May 2.

A Fiber Full Weekend..........

2010-03-21T07:48:00.000-07:00

I took some time off from working on the house renovations to work on my entry for an upcoming show. It's fabulous to be working in my new studio. What a wonderful space. I bought a wide format printer, and am having fun exploring different quilt ideas, using my photos printed onto fabric. Stay tuned for more on that subject.

The AQuA meeting was held yesterday! I always look forward to the meetings, and seeing all the wonderful work these artists are capable of. We turned in our entries for the "Abstractions" show, which will be part of the Denver National Quilt Festival April 29-May 2, 2010. Now, the digital images will be sent to Rayna Gilman to be juried. These photos just show a sampling of the 23 quilts that were entered. It's going to be a great show!

More exciting news! Jane Aldoretta has re opened Fabric Arts Studio in a much better location!

The natural daylight in the space is wonderful, and the area is big and bright, with plenty of room for classes and creating. I'm so proud of Jane for following her dream to make this happen. Best of luck to her in the new space! Look at the rust dyeing station! The bins are full of rusty objects for creating beautiful fabric.

Gjeneve (left) and Jane share the excitement at the grand opening. Jane has a nice retail space in the front, where she is selling threads, books and other fiber art supplies!

Jan Rickman's colorful quilt adorns one of the walls........

Jane's quilts brighten up the back wall, along with a nice screen for giving presentations.

The Grand Valley is very lucky to have a space like this!

Ruby Tuesday

2010-03-02T08:22:00.001-08:00

My Ruby Tuesday post. I feel like this ruby red tray has been attached to my hip the last several weeks. All the work will be well worth the effort!

Ruby Tuesday......

2010-02-15T21:17:00.001-08:00

This is my photo for Ruby Tuesday

I loved seeing this dragonfly on the tail light of our truck. I had to take a picture!

And the winner is...................Roxane!

2010-02-12T08:41:00.000-08:00

Congratulations, Roxane! You are the winner of the postcard quilt drawing. I will get it in the mail within a few days!

100th post & Giveaway!

2010-02-08T10:35:00.001-08:00

This is my 100th post! Wow! To celebrate, I'm giving away one of my postcard quilts. Leave a message on my previous post or this one. I will put all names in a hat and draw a winner!

I spent a wonderful weekend at the 2nd annual Fabric Arts Retreat at the Red Cliffs Lodge, near Moab, Utah. It was quite snowy in the desert, which made for good sewing weather! We all made progress on our projects. Jane, pictured above, is the owner ofFabric Arts Studio in Grand Junction. She did a wonderful job of organizing this event. She also took time to work on her red and white quilt, in between taking photographs of the snow and red rocks!
Sandra had the best slippers of the bunch. We decided we should have a slipper contest next year!
It was fun wandering around everyone's table to check out the beautiful creations being made.
We took some time out on Saturday afternoon to go in to Moab to do some shopping. The quilt shop It's Sew Moab was a fun place to get inspired, and the yarn shop Desert Threads was full of fabulous colors and textures. Angela, Jan and Rita spent some time relaxing and enjoying good conversation. Most of us walked away with bags of goodies from both stores. We ended the shopping excursion with a nice dinner at the Moab Brewery. What a great place to eat! Some of us went back to the lodge to work on our projects into the evening.Sandra Hoefner and Jan Rickman have quilts in the new book 500 Art Quilts! It's a beautiful book, full of fabulous works of art! Congratulations to them!Angela had fun working on paper pieced houses. She's got quite the neighborhood going there!
Sisters Carol and Maxine had a very productive weekend making fun seasonal pieces. Maxine flew all the way from Michigan to spend the weekend with her sister. What a fun reunion!

I had fun working on a Lady of the Lake pattern, using my hand dyed fabrics. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of that! I'll post one at a later date. It's currently all put away in a bag for the time being. I have some dry wall mudding and sanding to do, then my permanent design wall will be installed! I'm looking forward to putting that to use! So, off to work I go..........

Until next time..........

This and That.............

2010-01-26T07:04:00.000-08:00

I arrived in Colorado on January 7 to much more snow than I expected. Seems they had an unusually cold and snowy December here, so I've been spending some time shoveling our driveway. The past week has warmed up nicely, so the grass and pavement are becoming more predominant.

My new studio is getting close to being in working condition. We thought the leaky roof had been repaired, but that's not the case. Fortunately, it's only in one small area. Once I get the design wall up I'll be ready to start spending a lot of time in there, in between the house renovation.

We did take a break from house remodeling to enjoy an evening of jazz and wine. We attended the Mesa State College faculty jazz quartet and wine tasting at the Wine Country Inn in Palisade, Co. It was a very enjoyable evening. The quartet is a very talented group of artists, and the highlight of the evening was a special guest appearance by Lisa Pegher . She is an amazing percussionist. She has been visiting several schools in the area, including Mesa State College. Her passion was evident as we watched her play the drums with such intensity.

The AQuA group has several upcoming shows, so I have a lot of work to do in my studio. Hopefully, I will have some pictures to post soon.............as soon as I can get a break from tearing down walls in the house!

I've just realized that my next post will be number 100 for me! Wow........I never thought I would last this long at blogging. To celebrate, I'm going to have a drawing. For those who leave a comment on this blog and my 100th blog, I will draw one name to receive one of my postcard quilts.

Until next time!

No Time For Hibernation............

2010-01-05T09:00:00.000-08:00

One would think I've been in hibernation with the little posting I've done, but I've actually been quite busy. I hosted bunco in December, so decided it would be fun to give a little gift to each of the girls. I dyed silk scarves to place at each of the twelve seats, and it was so much fun to see everyone wrapping scarves in every configuration imaginable! Some were quite creative, to say the least! What a fun evening, and a great way to kick off the holiday season!

My husband asked if I would make a baby quilt for a co worker. I had a stack of 4 inch squares of brightly colored prints, which I thought would work well for a baby girl quilt. I went to the quilt store and found some polka dot fabric that worked perfectly with the prints, along with some dragonfly fabric pulled from my stash. Now, what to do with all of them? After some slicing, dicing and sewing back together, this is what I came up with. Nothing too fancy, but nice and bright!
Now, it's time for the family to arrive for the holidays! Craig and his girlfriend LeeAnna arrived from Grand Junction on the 21st, Warren arrived from work on the North Slope on the 22nd, and Mark and Jess came on the 23rd! There's nothing better than having the sounds of laughter fill a home! We had a fun evening of decorating the sugar cookies. Kids are never too old for this project!

Mark was in charge of making breakfast for Christmas morning. He's busy frying up some bacon for the egg casserole, which was very tasty!It was fun watching Craig use his culinary skills...........and we had fun eating his fabulous creations! I would gain a lot of weight if he was cooking for me every day!After a wonderful Christmas with family and friends, we headed up to the cabin for a night. It took several hours to warm the cabin up, so we enjoyed a glass of wine in our snow gear while waiting for the wood stove to do it's job......The scenery was spectacular! This was the sky at sunrise.......
and the Goddess tree was welcoming the daylight.
Trust me, this was a bit chilly ..........
We had a good workout snow shoeing around the lake. It was fun to spend time at the cabin, and once again, I hated to leave.Jessica and I spent a day at home making perogies. I am not Polish, but my husband has Polish roots. His grandmother came to the USA from Poland as a young girl, and brought with her traditional Polish recipes! I've made them a few times, and they are well worth the time and effort! Jessica is rolling out the noodle dough.......

cutting the shapes..........We stuffed most of them with mashed potatoes, but decided to try a few with sauerkraut. They were both delicious!
After forming and stuffing, they get dropped into boiling water........then they are fried in butter...........oh my.......... what a taste treat! Now it's time to hop on the treadmill!
So, the holidays are over and I had some dye that needed to be used up! Here are a few of the results........... I've put them all in a box and they're on their way to Grand Junction, where I'll be heading very shortly. I'm looking forward to getting my studio space set up and working on the new place. We have our work cut out for us this winter!

Until next time..........

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T09:44:00.000-08:00

May your day be filled with laughter and love of family and friends!

Human Hibernation............

2009-11-20T17:42:00.000-08:00

I feel my body going into hibernation mode. The days are darker, and the temperatures are hovering around zero degrees. It's something I try to avoid, but the pull is forceful. The heat of the fireplace beckons me, and cuddling up with a warm blanket and a good book seems to be much more frequent these days. Like the trees standing dormant in the frozen air, the creative flow has slowed to a trickle. It will flow again, once I get my toes back in the studio. Until then, I'll just dream of warmer days.............

Bookmarks and Bags...........

2009-11-13T21:26:00.000-08:00

After a quick trip to Pennsylvania to visit family, I got back to adding more quilting stitches to the bargello quilt I was contemplating last post. The stitching lines are closer now, so I feel it's finished. I'm now ready to move on to some new projects, but there were a couple of things I wanted to do before any new quilts begin.

AQuA is holding a book fair at the Grand Junction Barnes & Noble in December. This is a fundraiser for the group, and members have been asked to make bookmarks to hand out to the public. I made a dozen of these little things in a jiffy. I have made them before, so it was a very quick project. To make your own, all you need is card stock, fabric, fusible web, and embellishing threads and yarns. I like to fuse two pieces of card stock together to make the bookmark a bit sturdier. You then fuse a piece of fabric onto the card stock, put a hole through the middle, and feed the yarns through. A very quick and easy project. I used scraps of painted canvas for these particular markers.
Once those were finished, I got busy making a Schlep Bag. This is a great pattern by Carol A. Coski. I've made several of these as gifts, and everyone seems to love them. This particular bag is for a very special someone, who is having a birthday next week. I better get it in the mail soon!
Winter is in full swing here in Alaska, so I'm sure I'll be spending a lot of time in my studio! Now, on to some new projects!

What, A Quilt??

2009-10-25T13:38:00.000-07:00

Yes, I really do quilt! Seems I've been side tracked for quite some time, but it feels nice to be back in my studio, finishing up a few things that have been sitting on the back burner....this bargello quilt, for example. I'm making this for a friend who fell in love with a larger version I have hanging in my house. I made it in different colors, and also used a design from the book Bargello Quilts, by Marge Edie.

I love the process of making a quilt, but when it gets to the quilting stitch design I often get very frustrated, one reason this has been sitting around for so long! I knew I did not want to follow the wave pattern for my quilting design, so I pondered what to do. I began by printing a copy of the quilt, placing tracing paper over the top and drawing several quilt stitch options. I decided on random diagonal curves, which criss cross each other, but now how do I want to transfer this design to the quilt? Typically, on my smaller quilts, I use a flexible curve to mark my drawing lines, but it is much too small to cover this quilt. I decided to use string. Inexpensive, easy to move around, and I can recycle it when I get my fabric dyes out. These leftover strings will work great for tie dyeing and wrapping fabric for shibori. I placed the strings in the desirable locations, then marked my stitching line with a colored pencil. Now, for the quilting......
This quilt measures 59" wide by 67" long, which isn't that huge, but it's larger than most quilts I make. Every time I do a large quilt, I tell myself I will never machine quilt another one. I've heard of being out of physical shape, but is it possible to be out of "quilting shape"?? My shoulders and neck were sore, my stitches were uneven, stitching lines out of whack, and I was getting very frustrated moving that behemoth through my machine. I really admire you quilters who can manage large quilts on a regular machine. It's not for me, I tell you! Could it possibly have something to do with lack of patience??

So, here is the finished product. I'm still debating on whether I need to make the quilting lines closer together. I think I'll let it hang on the design wall for a few days before I make my final decision, but I would appreciate any comments or suggestions you may have.... as long as your comment isn't to rip the whole thing out and start over!

Next time I decide to make a large quilt, I'm going to call one of my long arm friends!

If It's Meant To Be.........It Will Be.........

2009-10-11T20:12:00.000-07:00

My blog has not been very quilt related in quite some time. There is a good reason for this.... I haven't been quilting much lately! Life is a journey, and it's been quite the trip the past several months.

When we first decided to purchase a place in western Colorado, never in our wildest dreams did we imagine we would end up with a piece of property directly across the road from the Colorado National Monument. We were happy with our little 1905 built home on the edge of downtown, but you see, I have this thing for the red rocks.

A friend told us about a piece of property for sale, which piqued our interest. Directly across from the Colorado National Monument, 2 1/2 acres, views, house, outbuildings. OUTBUILDINGS, you say? This caught my attention! As much as we were interested, we thought it was too much of a long shot to even attempt this property! We would have to sell our existing home to purchase this, and the way the economy is, the chances were slim to none that it would happen. We decided we HAD to go for this, so put our house on the market. After three months on the market it sold, and amazingly, our dream property was still on the market!

We closed on the property last Thursday, and have been getting settled in since. The views are spectacular......

A lawn tractor left in the shed was a bonus............. but there is some work to be done on the property. I'll be working on getting the one outbuilding turned into a studio, but check out this space...........

I know it's a mess now, but it has POTENTIAL!!!! I can't wait to get busy creating here!

Of course, with the good comes the bad. The house is livable, but needs some work.The pet odor was too much to take, so we pulled carpet out. This is what's left. Let the work begin!

But, with views like this, the work will be worth it!

It was meant to be................

Journeys........

2009-09-19T21:01:00.000-07:00

Journey: passage or progress from one stage to another.

I've been on a journey this summer. Celebrating milestone birthdays and weddings, spending time with family and friends, enjoying the beauty of nature.... (with some hard work in between!)

A warm embrace, my niece and her new husband enjoy their first dance....

and a bit of laughter.......

A bee busy at work.....

Poke Weed

Whether it be visiting and celebrating with family and friends, exploring the wonders of nature, or letting our minds wander....we are all on a journey. Savor each step along the way.

A Fish Story..and Other Fall Tales....

2009-09-06T22:11:00.000-07:00

Where has the summer gone? I can't believe it's been almost two months since my last post. This has been one crazy season. That studio time I thought I would have is not happening. I've managed to create a couple of small pieces, but that's about it.

The weather has been unusually nice this summer, so that means I tend to take advantage of outdoor activities, rather than spend time in my studio.

Warren and I have spent a lot of time at the cabin, which translates into a lot of work!! We enjoy our time there, so giving up studio time for cabin time is a fair trade, in my eyes. We managed to get some major projects underway this trip in. We got all of the interior logs stained, and flooring in the main part of the cabin completed..........MAJOR accomplishments!

Our cabin sits on the shore of a beautiful remote Alaska lake. We had the privilege of taking part in stocking the lake with rainbow trout. Every two years, Fish and Wildlife supply the lake with baby trout (trout fry just does not sound good to me!). Warren arrived with a cooler full of two bags containing 1,700 trout, ready to be released into their new home!

We immediately loaded them into the canoe and looked for the perfect spot to release them. Of course, Tryggur wanted to help! Warren released one bag........

and I released the other...........

How exciting to be a part of this adventure!

The day ended with a spectacular full moon. It was bright enough to light up the cabin. We contemplated taking a moonlight canoe ride, but were too tired, so opted to enjoy it from the back deck...........
Let's hope this weather holds for awhile!

No Studio Time = Inspiration Time.........

2009-07-16T22:39:00.000-07:00

I must admit, I've been missing my studio time. Summer in Alaska is something to enjoy, especially when the temperatures are in the seventies and eighties..........a rare phenomenon here in south central Alaska! Although the studio has been vacant , the ideas for new work have been overflowing, with all the beauty that lies before me on a daily basis.

As I climb into to the back seat of the Super Cub, my excitement starts to build. My husband and I are off on a fishing adventure to Prince William Sound. I have only flown over this area in a commercial jet, and am always in awe of the scenery. To realize how close we live to such vast wilderness is a surreal experience, so to fly over this area in our small float plane is quite a thrill for me! I tend to complain about sitting in the back seat of the plane.........it's a control thing, I must admit, but I have nothing to complain about on this day.

As we take off, the haze becomes more evident. Wildfires are burning in several parts of the state, which is the one down side of the warm, dry summers.

Even with the haze, the scenery is breathtaking. The subtle colors cast on the mountains and glaciers give me the sense we have flown into a watercolor painting.

As we fly over Eagle River Valley, Crow Creek Pass and Girdwood, I take note of the textures and colors beneath me. Glacial ice........crevasses appear to be infinite in their deep blue depth.

Once through Portage Pass, we are flying over Prince William Sound. Dancing like diamonds, the morning sun shimmers on the water. The haze in the air casts an eerie, yet beautiful calm over the entire space.

Coves and islands, surrounded by glaciers and emerald water............

Weather like this is a rarity in these parts, but on this day..............I am in paradise....

New Work..........

2009-06-21T09:56:00.000-07:00

I have just finished up my newest quilt. I typically don't create political statement quilts, but AQUA is having a show based on the theme Atrocities: Women and War. I love this group, as it pushes me to work outside my comfort zone and discover new things.

I am intrigued with the history of the lachrymatory. These are small, narrow-necked vases found in ancient Roman tombs, thought to have been used to catch and keep the tears of bereaved friends. They are still used in present day.

I envisioned tear bottles overflowing and decided to create a quilt based on this idea.

Lachrymatory: Tears Overflowing

Lachrymatories overflow with tears of sorrow and despair. Tears of war. Women being brutalized, raped and denied any sense of worth. Losing children to land mines and terror. When will the madness stop? Legend has it that when the tears evaporate, the mourning process is complete. Will the tears ever evaporate, or will the bottles continue to collect tears of war? Tears overflowing………enough tears to flood the universe with an ocean of peace.

Soggy Weekend...A Photo Journal....

2009-06-02T09:21:00.001-07:00

Walking the docks of the Seward boat harbor conjures up all kinds of stories in my mind. Thousands of masts rising to the sky. Where have they been, and where are they going? An adventure on the sea lies just beyond this quiet harbor, nestled between majestic mountains, where misty clouds roll in and out, and signs of winter still cling to the landscape. I want to know their stories....Paint, weathered from years on the water must have tales buried among the chipping layers. And, who is this Isabelle? A wife left behind, to hold down the the fort at home? A Mother, a sister, or, perhaps a mermaid?

Oh, the tales these vessels must hold! Of love and loss, fishing and crabbing, whales breaching, waves crashing. I want to know their stories....

As I try to imagine a life at sea, we head back to the campground on the shore of Kenai Lake. The water is calm. Casting a hue of such brilliance, as if someone had covered the bottom of the lake with turquoise and emeralds.
My mind begins to wander....The old dock washed up on the shore, the burned trees in the distance, the driftwood that has made it's home here, perfectly placed among nature's treasures.
I want to know their stories....

A Colorful Adieu.....

2009-05-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

There's an explosion taking place in the desert. Like a painter dabbing an empty canvas, nature has once again created a masterpiece among the arid landscape of western Colorado.

Bees celebrate as they plunge into the cactus blossoms, vigorously extracting pollen by diving into the center of the flower. Nature is such a miraculous event to observe!
Beautiful color and texture on this rock makes an impressive back drop for the yellow blooms.

These are just a few of the cacti covering this area. In a few days the entire hillside will be bursting with color. What a spectacular sight it will be!

From desert to glaciers, I'm heading back to Alaska, where the landscape is drastically different from where I've been the last several months, but no less beautiful.

I'm blessed to live in two such alluring places.....

A Little Rusty............

2009-05-07T20:13:00.001-07:00

After spending some time at the metal scrap yard, I finally tried rust dyeing. I'm not sure which was more fun...scavenging through all the fun junk at the scrapyard, or seeing the results when I unwrapped the fabric from the rusty treasures! I soaked fabric in a mixture of 1/2 vinegar and 1/2 water for ten minutes. I then wrapped the fabric around the rusty objects, covered it with plastic, and let it sit overnight.

Once unwrapped, I soaked the fabric in saltwater, rinsed, washed and ironed. Here are a few of the results! I'm very happy with some of the textures I got from this process.

So, I managed to bring an extra piece home from my scavenger hunt. This piece of rusty metal was laying in a heap, just calling my name. I thought it would make a great yard sculpture. It was quite an adventure getting it in my little Jeep, but I was determined. Warren just gave me that look........you know..........the "you are very strange" look. I had plans of framing it with copper tubing or re bar, but Warren.........the one who thought I was off my rocker........came up with framing it with 4 x 4 posts. For a cheap piece of rusted metal, I think it turned out pretty cool! I think my husband has quite the artistic eye!
I think I'll be going back to the scrap yard to find more treasures. Now, I want to learn how to weld.........

Collage Mania!

2009-05-04T07:09:00.000-07:00

Collage Mania preview is now open! 384 fiber collages donated by 161 artists are available for viewing now! Collage Mania opens May 5 with a minimum donation of $80 for each artwork and continues May 6 and 7 when the donation minimum drops to $40. This is a great way to purchase wonderful art work for a great cause, with all proceeds donated to The American Cancer Society.

For more information go to
http://www.virginiaspiegel.com/CollageMania09Directions.html

House of Cards 1
by
Jennifer Solon

Gravid
by
Beth Wheeler

Happenings..........

2009-05-01T07:14:00.000-07:00

There's been a lot going on around here the past few weeks, so thought I would post a few pictures of some of the events.

A few posts back, I showed a piece in progress for the St. Mary's Hospital rehabilitation room. We finally finished it, and it was dedicated to the hospital last week. Here is a picture of the finished piece. They plan to use this in different areas around the hospital for meditation purposes.
Jen came to visit us in Colorado, and we enjoyed showing her some of the Jeep and hiking trails around here. We took the Jeep up Top of the World Trail, off Utah highway 128. That is one rough road, so Jen and I ended up walking part of it. After bouncing around the Jeep for about an hour, we all decided to park, and walk the rest of the trail. A nice ascent led us to one of the most spectacular views I have seen. We came to a sheer drop off, where the Fisher Towers were below, the snow covered La Sal mountains reached to the sky, and the grand vistas gave us all a sense of awe. A very special place, indeed.

Warren's sister, Jill, and brother in law, Gary, came for a visit. They arrived in the morning, and I quickly took Jill to the Fabric Arts Studio, where we had a fun afternoon of learning how to use the thermofax machine, and the technique of deconstructed screen printing. We had so much fun, and I'm looking forward to using both of these techniques in my future projects....I just need to figure out how to get my hands on a thermofax machine!

Jill working on her thermofax screen print.

Here's a screen that I did.

Another day of hiking led us to the Fisher Tower Trail, which Warren, Jessica and I hiked to the half way point earlier this year. With the red rocks towering above, I truly have the sense I am in nature's cathedral.

Notice the climbers on the top.... pure craziness.....

We had some fun days of hiking and wine tasting, but Jill and Gary had to head back to Pennsylvania. Great memories.......until next visit............

Now, on to the next hike. Do you get the idea Warren and I like to hike around here??? Earlier this year, we attempted to hike the Rattlesnake Arches Trail. It's a fun, but strenuous hike, with many canyon crossings along the way. We reached a point where we decided we would run out of daylight if we didn't turn around, so opted to save it for another time. There is an alternate route open April 15 through September 15, which makes the hike much shorter. We drove about 13 miles, then started hiking. This is a great hike of about 3.5 miles. We had the option of turning around at the end of the trail, or hiking up and through the last arch. We opted to climb through the arch, which was great until I looked down!! We managed to scramble up the arch and over the other side. I must say, it was quite invigorating!

This is the arch we climbed up and through to the other side.

What was I saying about pure craziness??

A view from the other side, once we made it through.

Here are a few of the other spectacular arches we saw on our hike...........

I'm going to miss this place when I leave for the summer........

Wade Into Your Well of Creativity...

2009-04-14T07:17:00.000-07:00

Water flowing deep beneath the ground sometimes needs to be encouraged to percolate to the surface. The same goes for getting our creative juices flowing. We sometimes need to search deep into our soul to find that one small seed to bring our ideas to fruition. With daily practice, and awareness of all the inspiration around us, creativity can infiltrate into the pores of our creative being. I believe everyone has a creative vein.

The Art Quilt Association will be having a special exhibit at Denver National Quilt Festival, April 30 - May 3. The theme is Aquifer. Several posts back I had started my piece, and I thought it would be fun to show the process of making this quilt.

My idea started with a very rough sketch. When I had the basic shape decided, I enlarged my drawing to the size I wanted to work with.

I wanted to use some sheer fabric in this section, and just happened to have some organza I had painted earlier.

Once the lower section was pieced, I had to decide on the remainder of the background...hmm...I'm liking this hand dyed piece for the upper section. Now, to get the figure in the proper place, and what type of fabric should I use to create the figure? I decided to paint some organza to pick up the rust color of the background piece. Do you get the feeling I like working with sheer fabrics?

Now, I need to decide how to embellish and quilt this piece to convey the feeling of wading into the well of creativity. I doodled and sketched a couple of ideas...

By adding bright colors percolating up from the murkiness, I hope to give the sense of one's ideas accumulating into creative freedom.

The mirrors are added for a bit of reflection.....

And, here is the finished piece..........

I enjoyed working on this piece, and hope you've enjoyed the journey of my creative process!

Visual Meditation..................

2009-04-04T18:19:00.000-07:00

I love photography. I have much to learn, but still enjoy capturing the beauty that surrounds me while out hiking the trails. These are the places I go to find peace.

If you have about twelve minutes, grab your favorite beverage, sit back and relax. I've created a slide show of photography I've taken on my adventures in Colorado and Utah. Enjoy this visual meditation.......

A Fun Afternoon of Work..........

2009-03-31T18:49:00.000-07:00

I've been asked to help create a wall hanging for the rehabilitation center at St. Mary's hospital, in Grand Junction. Kathy had a rough idea of what she wanted, but was unsure of how to start. I drew up a plan, and we met today to work on it. Jane graciously opened her studio, and amazing fabric stash to us. I wish I had 1/4 of the fabric she has!!! The three of us got to work, cutting and fusing the pieces. Check out those great rust dyed pieces Jane made.....and, the quilt by Rayna Gillman, who will be teaching at Jane's studio in April!

Kathy is busy cutting out the "stained glass" pieces. She is a joy to work with.....so excited about the whole process!

We've got a few pieces in place...........

See Jane...See Jane working on water......
and, here's where we ended for the day...........
We had a productive afternoon! I'll work on getting things stitched down, along with trees and flowers added. This is a fun project, and I'll be posting more pictures as it progresses. We're going to meet again next week to put the borders and finishing touches on it. Stay tuned..............

A Touch of Spring & A Good Cause...........

2009-03-29T17:09:00.001-07:00

The weather has been a bit cool and cloudy this week, but we did take advantage of the few nice days we had to get outside and do some exploring. We took off in our Jeep to do some four wheel'in in Utah.......It's a guy thing, I tell you! Just off Utah Highway 128 is one of many dirt roads, which lead to some incredible scenery........as if the scenery is not incredible on the main road! Traveling these bumpy roads makes me admire the pioneers who traveled across this rugged land in wagons. Even with the modern conveniences like good shocks, good tires and comfortable seats, we still got jostled around a good bit! I can't begin to imagine what travels were like back then, other than very difficult! I've decided I would not have been an admirable pioneer woman! This area is the Dome Plateau, with several arches, and those beautiful red rocks that I love so much. There were far too many roads to venture on in one day, so we'll have to return to this spectacular place.

We ventured down Utah highway 128 a few miles to see a partially built, abandoned cave house. Some brave soul decided to build a house in the rocks, but must have decided it was not the best idea. There was a brick wall, cement staircase, and I'm sure a lot of blasting to get it to the current stage. We did not spend too much time in there, as you could see where chunks of rock had fallen from the ceiling. That would be a rude awakening.........or not!

Today was a very windy day, a good day to finish up some pieces I had started for the Collage Mania, which will take place in May. I started this little piece a very long time ago, but decided to get it finished up for the fund raising event.

"Growth"

The piece below is based on a photo of thistle I took last year.

"Thistle"

The Fiber Art for a Cause fundraiser has raised over $ 170,000.00, which has been donated to the American Cancer Society! That is amazing!

$6,250.00!!!!

2009-03-27T07:59:00.000-07:00

This is how much was raised in three days for the American Cancer Society, through Virginia Spiegel's Invitational Fiber Art Reverse Auction. Congratulations to Virginia, the artists and patrons for a job well done! The next big event will be Collage Mania, May 5 -7, so be ready to purchase more wonderful art work for a great cause!

Fiber Art For A Cause....

2009-03-25T15:52:00.001-07:00

Sir Winter McDormant
by
Roxane Stoner

It's not too late to purchase some wonderful art work for a GREAT cause! Virginia Spiegel's Invitational Fiber Art For A Cause~Reverse Auction is now in progress. This is a fund raiser for The American Cancer Society, so go check it out now!!

Noshi Ribbons
by
Gerrie Congdon

Okno V Dom/ Window Into the Home 2
by
Natalya Aikens

And my friends think I'm organized.......

2009-03-19T23:57:00.001-07:00

I must say, I do like to be organized. However, when I start working on a project there is stuff flying everywhere! Case in point...I've been working on a project for Collage Mania 2009 , a fund raiser for cancer research. I finished this little number tonight, so my studio is a bit more organized than the posted photo above! I can't stand clutter for too long! I started with some fabric I dyed with the shaving cream method, which was in my last post. Hand dyed cotton and painted organza make up the flower. I then embellished it with stitching and beads. I finished it by placing it in a black mat, so it's ready for framing.
Hopefully, this little piece will find a good home!

How About A Little Shaving Cream With That..............

2009-03-04T10:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the Tuesday Dye Club at the Fabric Arts Studio. Jane asked if I would do a demonstration on shaving cream dyeing. This is such a fun technique, which I like to call adult finger painting! A solution of water, photo-flo, glycerin and dish washing soap is mixed, then let to rest for several hours. Once ready to dye fabric, the "solution" is mixed with Procion dye powder. This mixture is then added to shaving cream until the desired color is achieved. There are many ways the shaving cream can be applied to the fabric. It can be "painted" directly on the table in the design of choice, laying the fabric over the painted design and gently patting or braying until the dye is transfered to the fabric. It can also be brushed or stamped directly onto the fabric. There are no rules here............just fun! Once the fabric is dyed, it needs to be "batched". The fabric is placed between layers of plastic for about twenty four hours. Once the curing has taken place, the fabric is ready to be rinsed and washed.

Chris is having fun with stamps...

Here is one of her finished pieces. Nice job!
Carol has placed her fabric over the dyes she painted on the table...
Tana and Laurie are having fun!

The beautiful quilts adorning the walls are made by Rayna Gillman. She will be teaching workshops here April 14-17!

This is one of Tana's finished pieces. I love the marble effect of this one!
Jane is into saving everything these days. These are the paper towels we used to clean up our excess dyes. They look quite pretty, don't you think? Hmm..... I wonder what she has in store for these?It was a great day in the studio! I'm anxious to see what everyone does with their beautiful pieces!

Mt. Garfield...Conquered!

2009-02-19T17:28:00.000-08:00

Warren and I decided to go for a hike today, and it was quite a challenging one at that! We climbed Mt Garfield, which rises to an elevation of 6,765 feet above the town of Palisade, Colorado. Heading east from the main trail head, we hiked the Gearhart Mine Trail, which was a "gentler" climb up the mountain. After our descent down the main trail (basically straight down the mountain), we decided it was also a more scenic trail.

This area is known as the Bookcliffs. These sand and stone cliffs are beautiful in a very mysterious sort of way. They look very unforgiving, but at the same time are so texturally interesting. There are also wild horses in this area, but unfortunately we didn't see any this trip. The following photograph shows Interstate 70 way down below!

This guy is really contemplating, don't you think?

A bit of quilt inspiration..........

We were almost to the top of the mountain, when we came across ice and snow on the "trail", which was basically rock climbing. After a few tense moments.....and a bit of coaxing from Warren, we made it to the top! My camera was in my backpack so it wouldn't get damaged from hitting rocks..........or falling off my shoulder, so no pictures of that part of the adventure. It was quite a view from the top, looking west over the Grand Valley.

After spending way too much time getting the camera propped up on rocks and sticks, I managed to get to the pose in time! This is a view facing east from the top of Mt. Garfield, with the Grand Mesa in the background.

So, we made it up the mountain........now we need to get back down!

Red Cliffs Retreat................

2009-02-08T19:13:00.000-08:00

Is it possible I'm turning into a quilt retreat junkie?? Never in a million years did I think I would enjoy going to a quilt retreat. Packing gear and supplies for two days of sewing in a room full of women, instead of staying home in my own safe haven, where no one can see what I'm working on.... and to room with someone I hardly know??? Are you kidding me???

I just spent a glorious weekend at the Fabric Arts Studio quilt retreat. We stayed at Red Cliffs Lodge, which is nestled among the red rock canyons and the Colorado river, near Moab, Utah. It was such an enjoyable weekend. This group of women has been so welcoming to the "part timer" from Alaska! Jane( pictured below) is the owner of the studio, and coordinated the retreat. She did a wonderful job of getting everything organized........thanks, Jane!

Here's Susan working on her "house" project...........
and here's Rita working on her coiled rug..........
Jan, Christie and Marla busy at work.........

Marla was the overachiever of the group! She cut and pieced this beautiful quilt together in two days.......way to go, Marla!

This is just one of the many beautiful quilts Jan was working on........... Cathy, at left, playing with paints on fabric. It turns out we both grew up in northwestern Pennsylvania.........small world! On the right is Angela, who was my roommate. She is a very talented quilt artist and a great roommate! My " Aquifer" piece is sitting on the table in the foreground. I was making great progress until my sewing machine decided to act up. Luckily, it started working fine when I got back home!

I could not be this close to the great outdoors without a bit of hiking! I tagged along with Carol and Maxine. Maxine came all the way from Michigan to spend the weekend with her sister Carol! How fun is that?? We hiked to Corona Arch, which is a FABULOUS hike! Exhilarating, beautiful, FABULOUS!! I sputtered that word many times during our hike! Here are a few pictures I took along the way.......

Maxine on the left, Carol on the right...........
Awesome.....................

Corona Arch...........

Wow..............
Needless to say........I had a great weekend............

Family, Photos, Fun........

2009-01-31T08:50:00.000-08:00

We've got both the "kids" in Grand Junction this week, and it's been so much fun! Jessica is visiting from Alaska and Craig is back from Denver, after finishing up culinary school at Cook Street School of Fine Cooking.

I have several photos to share, since we've been busy taking some nice day trips. We took a drive out Escalante Canyon Road, stopping by Captain Smith's cabin. This is a very interesting historical site with spectacular views. I've posted pictures of this before, so won't add too many of this site. Of course, Warren and I each had to pose with our daughter!

We've all been in traffic jams, but how often do you get in a "cattle jam"? We enjoyed watching this cattle drive, especially since we own herding dogs. It was interesting to watch the dogs at work! They don't let those cows stop for anything!Speaking of spectacular views.....Warren, Jess and I took a hike to Fisher Towers. This is located on Utah highway 128, which is the back road to Moab. Since we wanted to make a few more stops on our day trip, we decided to hike to the half way point of this trail. We will most definitely go back to finish what we started. I sometimes wonder why we humans build huge cathedrals, when nature provides such spectacular places to worship the creator......... just something I ponder.....

Jessica aptly named this the Dr. Seuss spire.............

I've always wanted to be tall and skinny, so couldn't resist taking this "self portrait"! Look at those long legs! Ha!After our hike at Fisher Towers, we headed to Gemini Bridges near Moab, Utah. Warren and I mountain biked this trail several years ago, so thought it would be fun to drive the Jeep this time. Here is a picture of one of the "bridges". Pretty amazing sight, but I sure didn't want to get too close to the edge!

Here is the view from the "bridge". The contrast between the desert and the snow covered mountains is so dramatic..........

Warren and his toy.........
Back home with the kids. The neighbors must think we're crazy.... sitting outside in January! Those crazy Alaskans..........

Jessica heads back to Alaska today, where the temperature is showing about 5*. I wish I could pack some of this Colorado weather in her suitcase! I'm going to miss her!

So, I Had This Idea.................

2009-01-16T20:12:00.000-08:00

Aquifer..........An underground bed or layer of earth, gravel, or porous stone that yields water.

This is the theme for an exhibit opportunity for the AQUA group. My plan is to "wade into the well of creativity". After doing a very rough sketch, I decided on a technique, and got started on my idea. Have you ever realized you picked the wrong technique, once you got started?

I'm using cottons and sheers for this part of the quilt. Rather than using the freezer paper piecing technique, I wish I would have started out using a reverse applique technique. I'm too far along to change my plan now, so I will keep with the program! Once I finish this section, I will evaluate where I want to go next.

We'll see if it turns into anything!

Cook Street 180 October Class

2009-01-13T16:49:00.001-08:00

My son is finishing up his Culinary School experience in Denver, and just shared this slide show with me. I thought I would share it with you! He'll be heading to Italy and France for more training, then will hopefully find a nice job here in Grand Junction. After seeing these photos, I'm thinking I better start walking for two hours a day! That is some very rich looking food, but oh, so beautiful!!

Cook Street 180 October Class

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: students cooking)

From One Extreme to Another.........

2009-01-10T19:03:00.000-08:00

I was in the deep freeze of Alaska a few days ago, where the temperatures have been below zero for the last two weeks. As bone chilling as those temperatures have been, the scenery is some of the most beautiful there is. The bright blue sky against the white mountains, heavily frosted trees, and the beautiful sunsets this time of year did make me wonder why I was leaving.

After arriving in Grand Junction, it didn't take me long to realize why I headed south! It is winter in the desert, but the temperatures are reaching the thirties during the day, and the sun is shining brightly. It feels like spring!
With paintbrush in hand, I got right to work shortly after I arrived here. My friend, Jane, has opened a new business, Fabric Arts Studio. It's a wonderful studio, with everything the fiber artist needs. From a dyeing station, to a long arm sewing machine. From a photography wall to a thermofax machine........she has thought of everything. I offered to do some faux painting for her, so I got the break room done in the color of her choice before her open house, which took place today. It was a lot of fun, and what a great way to meet people! She was having a sale on items she no longer needed, so the stations were not set up the way they normally are. The loft upstairs is her private studio, which will also be used as a place for out of area teachers to stay. It's such a great place, and I wish her the best of luck in her new venture!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-25T09:42:00.000-08:00

Holiday greetings to friends and family.......near and far! May you all have a joyous time with your loved ones this holiday season. Best wishes for a healthy, happy 2009!

Sun, Sun, Sun.........Here it Comes............

2008-12-21T23:46:00.001-08:00

Today is a day to celebrate! It's the shortest day of the year, and that means...........we will start gaining a bit more daylight every day until June 21! Bring on the sun!
I just had to do something to celebrate..........
Happy Solstice!!

2008-12-14T15:28:00.000-08:00

Living in the mountain shadows of Eagle River, the sun disappears early in the day. The late sunrise and early sunset make it hard to get motivated, but it is beautiful when the air is cold and crisp. At around 1:50 this afternoon, I stepped out on the back deck long enough to snap this photo of the sun setting behind the mountain. As I look toward Anchorage, the sun is still shining brightly. I'm not complaining.........at least we're getting sunshine instead of gray, slushy weather!

I have finally returned to my studio to do a bit of work..........or play, whichever you want to call it! Jessica (my daughter), and friend Stephanie, joined me for a morning of creating beaded hors d'oeuvre servers. They are a snap to make, and so much fun! We used turkey lacers for the skewers, and I was amazed at how hard it was to find them this time of year. Luckily, Jessica saved the day by finding them at Bed Bath & Beyond. There are several great bead shops in Anchorage and Eagle River, which made it easy to find a nice variety of beads to use. Of course, we had to dig into my bead cache every now and then to find that perfect bead! Arranged nicely in a box, these make perfect little gifts. The girls wanted crepes for brunch, and since this was only my second time making them, I got some much needed technique practice in......and no....there will be no pictures of me flipping crepes!

I have a lot of painted canvas from various painting sessions, so I decided to use some of it to make book markers. Everyone needs a book marker, right?

I started by cutting black card stock into two inch lengths. Once I determined the width I wanted for the canvas, I cut and fused it to the card stock. I decided to fuse another layer of card stock to the back side to make it a bit more durable. Once they were fused together, I added some decorative yarns through a hole in the top, which I reinforced with a metal eyelet.

Pretty simple, but fun and colorful!

Dark Days of Winter....

2008-12-06T10:42:00.001-08:00

It seems this time of year we have to make our own light, so what better way than candlelight? The wonderful aromas floating from the kitchen, and the question "Where's the yeast?" prompted me to go see what was going on. I'm typically the one doing the cooking around here, so I was surprised and pleased to find Warren working on a bolognese sauce and bread sticks. I almost felt like I was walking down a cafe lined street in Tuscany! The bolognese sauce was served over linguine, and the bread sticks and Chianti were the perfect complement. The movie Cinema Paradiso and some wonderful eggnog cheesecake made a nice finish to an otherwise dark, dreary Alaska day. Now, off to the treadmill I should go!

I feel as though I've been hibernating, but I've actually been very busy in my "den". Not much work going on in my studio, but a lot of home decorating taking place these days. I've been painting the master bedroom and bath, and Warren and I made a fabric headboard to go with our new bedroom furniture. A few more accessories, one more nightstand.... which seems to be lost somewhere, and the rooms will be finished. Now, on to the next project.............. maybe a little studio time?

Catching Up.................

2008-11-06T05:46:00.000-08:00

It's been a very long time since I've posted anything, so I thought I would do a little catching up.

After a busy summer working on quilts for my September show, it's been a nice break to work on some simple strip piecing. I'm making this bargello quilt for a friend. All that's left to do is the quilting and binding.

My friend Jen makes quilts for her kids for their 18th birthday, so she brought her squares up to my studio one day. We had fun playing around with different arrangements, and this is the one she decided on. The back will be denim squares, and will be constructed with one side having raw edges. I think it's going to turn out pretty cute!

Warren and I have been in Pennsylvania since last week, and were pleasantly surprised to see there is still a bit of fall color in the area. The weather has been beautiful....much nicer than the summer we had in Alaska!

Yesterday was a road trip! I love road trips! My sister in laws, Mother in law and Mom went to Cambridge Springs to Campbell Pottery. What a beautiful place! Set in the country, they have renovated an old barn into a beautiful gallery, with pottery on the upper two floors and rotating art shows on the lower level. We picked a great time to go, as there is a wonderful fiber arts show currently on display.

Warren has been busy working on the "Done Roaming" Dobson camp, and I've been busy helping my Mom & Dad "update" their bathroom. My Mom had the old seashell wallpaper ripped off, but it needed a lot of patching, sanding and priming before any painting started! I spent a few days painting and glazing the walls. We had fun shopping for accessories.........I felt like I was on one of the HGTV shows! Here are a couple of pictures of the finished room. I call it Mom and Dad's new spa!

Dad and I finally got a walk in this morning. What a peaceful morning, with the fog hugging the trees. The fog lifted, the sun came out, and we've had another beautiful Indian summer in Warren, PA. We'll soon be heading back to Alaska, where winter has settled in for the season.

Quilt Inspirations..........

2008-09-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

I've been in Colorado for the last two weeks. If this is autumn..........sign me up! Shorts, tank tops and sandals every day. I could get used to this weather!

My sister in law was here for a visit, and we had so much fun hiking, exploring wineries, galleries.....and enjoying the beautiful scenery, which has given me some new quilt inspiration!

Above are close up shots of mica on the Mica Mine trail. It's a great little hike, with some amazing geology.

I need to get a flower book, so I can identify the beautiful flowers I see on hikes around here. This reminds me of an Indian Paintbrush, but not sure that's what it is. Anyone know?

I discovered I have allergies around here this time of year. I'm blaming it on these beautiful yellow bushes!

Roxane.........this one's for you!
Photo taken in Colorado National Monument.

Oh, How I love textures!

.......and more textures!

O.K....There are signs of Autumn up in the mountains!

Azura, a beautiful little gallery/winery overlooking Paonia.

A view from Terror Creek Winery in Paonia, CO. What a beautiful setting, and a wonderful Pinot Noir!

And..... a photo of grapes from Two Rivers Winery, where some of the great local wine comes from!

I hope you've enjoyed my Colorado photos!

The Show Goes On.........

2008-09-11T18:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I had my doubts, but I actually created enough pieces to hang my solo show at Snow City Cafe! The title is Between a Red Rock & a Hard Place: Textile art inspired by adventures in Colorado and Alaska. I've been very busy this summer, and am excited about the pieces I made. The opening was so much fun! The show will be up through September, so if you are in the area, please stop in to Snow City Cafe and take a look!

The Goddess Tree

2008-08-14T19:15:00.001-07:00

It all started with a tree………I call her the Goddess Tree.

A few years back………

It was a lovely day at the cabin, but it was time to hit the trail before daylight faded to night. Heading down the trail on the snow machines, we were enjoying the spectacular mountains, which seemed to enfold and warm us in their majestic beauty. As we made our way around a curve in the trail, there she was. Arms reaching to the heavens, as if she was praying. A tree, dead and rotting by all standards, but the moment I saw her, I knew I needed to put her in a special place, where she would have new life. I know many people don't approve of moving a tree from it’s natural habitat, but this tree was rotten at the base, and would have succumbed to the elements soon, most likely breaking the limbs, which are so perfectly shaped. I’m happy to be giving this tree a new life. She’s been at the cabin since last year, and I’ve been making plans for her since she arrived.

After searching far and wide, Warren and I found the perfect burl to create the goddess tree head. I got my tools out and started chiseling with the hand and dremel tool, creating a very primitive face for her.

Now, to attach this to the tree………….. Craig and Warren drilled a hole to attach an all thread into the tree. Next, the same thing was done with the burl……….. And voila! The goddess has a head! Now, for the fun part!

When our cabin was delivered, all the logs were bundled with metal strapping. Confident that I could think of something fun to do with this, I decided to keep it at the cabin. I’m glad I did, as this turned out to be the perfect material for goddess hair. Of course, Warren thinks I’ve really lost it at this stage of the goddess tree saga, but I had a plan, and no one was going to stop me……………

I drilled holes into the metal strapping, and using a piece of copper tubing, I wrapped the strapping to give it some curl. I then screwed the strapping into the burl.

As I find the proper elements, I will add them to the tree. Another work in progress has taken hold at the Dobson cabin.....but for now.......she's enjoying her new digs.............

Take time to see..............

2008-07-06T23:43:00.000-07:00

Never lose an opportunity to see anything that is beautiful.
It is God's handwriting - a wayside sacrament. Welcome
it in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Take time to explore your surroundings ..............It's amazing what beauty and inspiration lies right outside one's doorstep..............

2008-07-03T23:38:00.000-07:00

For those of you celebrating....

Happy 4th of July!!

I've been very busy in my studio, and it feels so good!!!

I'm getting ready for the September show I'm having at Snow City Cafe in Anchorage. I have wanted to do pieces that reflect my experiences in both Alaska and Colorado, so I've decided to title the show "Between A Red Rock And A Hard Place". I'm concentrating on getting the quilt tops well on their way, then I will do the detail / finishing work later. I still have A LOT of work to do, but feel like I'm making good progress! Below are a few shots of what I've been working on.......

These are detail shots of the piece I've been working on, which is the "Between A Red Rock And A Hard Place" quilt. I'll show the bigger picture when it's a bit further along.

This was a fun little experiment with collage. It's paper and dyed silk on a muslin base. I used diluted glue to adhere everything, so it is pretty stiff. I will try doing some stitching on it, but not sure where else this one is going! I haven't done much collage work, so I would like to explore this technique a bit more.

The focal point of this piece is a photo printed on organza. I want to keep this very simple as far as piecing, but will bring more elements to the design by doing some heavier stitch work.

These are just a few of the pieces I have in progress. Hopefully I'll stay on task!!

A Few Days at the Cabin.............

2008-06-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

Warren and I spent five days up at the cabin, so no quilting progress made..but we did get quite a bit of work done around there. I took this photo out the plane window while we were flying back home on Monday. The weather was pretty cloudy, rainy and cool most of the time we were there. The sun did manage to peak out for a few hours everyday, making it possible for us to get some stumps pulled, the fire pit area leveled out, and some of the never ending pile of brush burned.....and...... a head for THE goddess tree............but that will be in a much later post!

People still use outhouses, you ask??? Well, when you have a cabin out in the middle of nowhere............. (I could say something here, but I'll behave). I decided from the start if we're going to have an outhouse, I'm having fun decorating it! I did the tile work quite awhile ago, but finally got around to staining the floor this trip. The final coat ended up being much more amorphous than what is shown in the photo. All it needs now is a protective coat, then it's on to decorating the walls..............yes, this is a continuous work in progress.........and yes, Warren just shakes his head and let's me be..........
On the flight home, I took some photos of the mud flats, which I find incredibly beautiful. The mud flats are the tidal flats along the Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm. I enjoy the view from the plane, as the shapes and colors change with each flight.

It will be a couple of weeks before we head back up there, so it's back to the studio for me.........

Studio Tour

2008-06-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday, The International Gallery of Contemporary Art organized a studio art tour, an event where several Anchorage area artists open their studios to the public. You can click here to see a list of the participating artists. Roxane, Jennifer and I had a great time visiting many studios.

It was very interesting to see how each artist organizes their space.... not to mention seeing some great art work, and visiting with the artists. Some studios were in the artist's home, some joined together and rented warehouse space, and others ranged from large warehouses to small offices.

After a wonderful afternoon, we ended the day at Jessica & Mark's house (daughter and son- in - law) for a delicious dinner. Stephanie and her daughter Katelin also joined us for an evening of good food and conversation.

While on the subject of studio tours, I thought I would post a few pictures of my studio. I really love being in my space........... and I'm actually making some progress!

Enjoy.........

My work table and fabric stash.....my friends tell me I need more fabric, but I think I have plenty!

My design wall (which is a bit chaotic right now), fabric dyes, paints, sink and storage........I can always use more storage!

Procrastination + Inspiration = Progress

2008-06-04T23:05:00.000-07:00

I have a show coming up in September. One problem.....I don't have many quilts to show. I'm not sure why I've been procrastinating, but something has been keeping me from my studio. Once I get going, I'll be going full speed ahead, but it's been a slow process. Have I been gathering ideas, fearing failure of an acceptable show, or is my muse just taking a long hiatus? I haven't been forcing it, other than jotting down ideas and quick sketches when they pop into my head..........usually in the middle of the night.

I finally spent some time in my studio today.....not much, but at least it's a start. It felt good to be back in my space. I pulled out some things that I had started awhile ago, put them on my design wall, and we'll see where I go with them. The above photo is one I took in Arches National Park this past winter. When I started going through my fabrics, I saw this piece that I dyed last year, and I thought they somewhat resembled each other. This may have some possibilties........

After working on this piece for a while, I decided it was time to get my camera and take the dog for a walk up the hill. The lupines are in full bloom , so thought I would get some pictures to inspire me. There's nothing like getting outside to get inspired!

So, I feel like I'm finally getting back into the creative mode. I'm just hoping I can stay on track now. How do you motivate yourself to get moving when you're in a "rut"?

Ahh, Summer in Alaska...........

2008-06-01T23:38:00.000-07:00

I've been back home for a couple of weeks now, and have been busy working in the yard.........and taking a few nice hikes. Roxane and Curt invited me to hike near Eklutna Lake with them this afternoon..... a nice diversion from hauling several wheelbarrows of dirt! It was a nice climb through the woods, opening up to a beautiful view of the lake. The weather was a pleasant temperature for hiking, but a bit chilly once we reached the overlook. You can see from the photo that summer is slow in arriving! I've lived here for over twenty years, and have never hiked this trail, however, I've enjoyed the mountain bike trail that meanders along the lake, ending at a trail head which leads to Eklutna glacier. This is where our drinking water comes from..........looks pretty good, eh?

Although I miss the warm sunshine of Colorado, it's good to be back home...........

Surprise!

2008-05-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

Wow, I thought I quietly cruised into my fifties while I was in Colorado...........until I walked through my front door Saturday evening! My friends and family decided I should not be permitted to escape celebrating my 50th just because I was in Grand Junction, so they waited for my return and schemed a surprise that threw me for a loop! They really pulled one over on me, I must say!

Roxane, Patty and Lorraine diverted me for the afternoon, with a nice lunch at Glacier Brew House, a stop at Nordstrom, and a visit to the Anchorage Museum of History & Art. I was told it was the only time Patty could get together while she was in town from California.......silly me! In the meantime, as I left my house, my daughter Jessica, and friend Stephanie were on their way to my house to prepare for the big surprise. They pulled it off without a hitch, and we had a great time! I'm sure glad I had at least cruised through the house with the vacuum cleaner the day before!

The grill was ready for halibut, salmon and chicken, and the kitchen counter was transformed into a beautiful spread of appetizers, a nice variety of wine, and some killer chocolate brownies, made by Roxane..... YUM! Unfortunately, Roxane came down with one of her terrible migraines while we were on our way back from Anchorage, so she missed most of the party.........THAT was very sad, but I'm glad she's feeling better now!

I think my 50th birthday celebration is officially over now.........what a fun, stretched out birthday this year! Thanks to all of you who gave me such a wonderful party!!!! I am truly blessed with great family & friends!

The day after the party, Warren and I headed up to our cabin. It was my first time in this season. We saw moose, tundra swans, a loon..........and beautiful mountains. We still have a lot of work to do on the place, so hopefully we'll be spending a lot of time up there this summer.

Now, down to my studio to get some work done!

Building My Stash....

2008-05-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

During my last session at the dye vats, I ran out of fabric. I still had a lot of dye concentrate left, so I decided to cover it well and put it in the fridge. By the time I got around to ordering more fabric, I was a bit concerned whether the dye would still be good, since it had been sitting in the fridge for close to two months. I'm glad I didn't throw it away, as I got some great colors. I dyed 18 yards of fabric, so my Colorado fabric stash is slowly growing. It is a bit of a challenge dyeing fabric in the space I have here, but I managed to do it without making a huge mess! When there's a will, there's a way!!

When dyeing fabric, I typically use the low immersion dye method. Ann Johnston's book Color by Accident, is a great source of information for this technique.

Now, I'll have some fabric to work with when I get back here!

I'm off to Alaska, where I'm anxious to do some more fabric dyeing in my studio!!

Sweet Surprises... Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

Groggy, I stumbled down the stairs to make my way to the coffee pot for the morning wake up. I was greeted with a beautiful plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a card from my son, Craig. I'm not sure when he did this, since he went to bed before me last night, and had to be to work at 6 this morning, but he sure made my day!!! Thanks, Craig!

Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there!

Stop to Smell the Flowers................

2008-05-10T18:29:00.000-07:00

In just a few days I'll be leaving this beautiful Colorado for beautiful Alaska. I have truly loved spending time here. Getting familiar with the outdoor activities available, and enjoying nature's beauty has been quite energizing and breathtaking.

Craig and I took a great hike yesterday. We went to the HorseThief Canyon Wildlife Area and hiked a loop that took us along a dry, slick rock stream bed, through a basalt rock canyon, with the shear red rock cliffs towering above.

While walking the trail, I noticed a beautiful cactus in bloom. On closer inspection, I realized there were caterpillars inside the blooms! I thought this was pretty amazing, so I had to get some pictures. I wish I would have spent a bit more time adjusting my camera for this photo op!

I've taken time to smell the flowers, touch the textural rocks and trees, listen to the bird's songs...........I'm taking much inspiration with me from this visit.....

WOW!

2008-05-08T16:46:00.000-07:00

Wow! Collage Mania raised over $12,000.00 in two days. That is truly amazing. Kudos to Virginia Spiegel for all the work she has put into this, and many ohter fund raising projects!

Collage Mania: Fiber Art For A Cause

2008-05-06T07:22:00.000-07:00

Virginia Spiegel is a very talented and generous artist. She is the driving force behind several fund raising events to raise awareness and money for The American Cancer Society. Today is the last day of Collage Mania. If you are interested in getting some great works of art for a minimum bid of $40.00, then check it out. There are still many wonderful pieces available!

Desert Blooms & Barrels

2008-04-29T08:48:00.000-07:00

We've enjoyed having Warren's sister and her husband here the past few days. They're visiting from Pennsylvania and are enjoying the Colorado landscape. We've put several miles on the car, exploring the area around Meeker, then heading to Rangely and up over Douglas Pass. It was a beautiful drive, but winter is still hanging on in some of those spots!

We spent a day enjoying the wineries of the area. The Grand Valley Winery Association hosted their annual barrel tasting event. We enjoyed comparing the different flavors each winery has to offer. Of course, they served some fabulous food to go with their wines. Canyon Wind Cellars served a small skewer with a slice of elk meat, a baked cherry and a slice of pepper........delicious with their Tempranillo wine. Carlson Vineyards offered a nice variety of wines to sample, and Il Bistro Italiano ( my favorite bistro in Grand Junction) catered the food. Fabulous pasta, tender lamb, and to top it off, Brunella, the owner, made crepes with baking cherries cooked with liquor.. and chocolate......oh, yes......and did I mention there were some good wines, too?? We ended the barrel tasting at Graystone Winery, which is a port winery. They make two ports, both of which taste wonderful, as well as the food they paired them with! Stilton cheese, candied pecans, spiced walnuts, chocolate covered strawberries, oh... and Starbuck's truffles......yum!

Yesterday, we headed to Moab, Utah. Route 128 is a beautiful way to get there from Grand Junction, driving along the Colorado river, through red rock canyons. Once we got through the canyon, we headed to Arches National Park and enjoyed a few short hikes to view the amazing rock arches. When you think of how old these formations are, it does make one feel very much in awe of the world around us.

The desert flowers are beginning to bloom, so I took a few photos to share with you. Eventually there will be some quilts along this theme!

Friends & Formations

2008-04-19T20:04:00.001-07:00

Friends are a special gift. Hopefully, we're all fortunate enough to form lasting friendships in our lives. I had a visit from my good friend, Roxane. She has been in California visiting her relatives, and in Flagstaff, visiting her daughter.... and was nice enough to drive from Flagstaff to Grand Junction to visit me! We had a wonderful week of hiking and exploring. To start the week off, we had a nice lunch at Rock Slide Brewery and Restaurant, where my son Craig works.

We also took some great hikes. I have several photos to share with you! The next two photos were taken on the hike we took to the Mica Mine. What a magical place, with glistening mica scattered all around, and huge chunks of mica still in the rock. We had a great time climbing around the old mine, then headed up past a waterfall, where we did a little climbing until we came to a perfect spot to eat our lunch and take in the beautiful scenery.

This shape in the rock is very interesting. Do you see a profile here? Pretty cool!
The next hike we took was just west of Grand Junction, near Fruita, in The Horsethief Canyon State Wildlife Area, where we headed down into Devil's Canyon. The formations were truly amazing.

Roxane remembered her hiking shoes, but she forgot her backpack. I thought she was ready to go shopping with that purple bag.....tourist extraordinare!
This formation looks like a little village, complete with windows and doorways.
Warren, Roxane and I took a hike to the Dominguez Canyon and realized we didn't take enough water for this one. The day was quite hot, and we were all ready for a big drink of water when we got home, but what a beautiful hike it was! I just can't seem to get enough of the red rocks...the colors and shapes are so spectacular, and change with each turn in the trail.Just past a large waterfall, we enjoyed viewing this petroglyph covered rock. There's a sense of mystery as we imagine going back in time.....
As if the scenery wasn't spectacular enough, I spotted this big horn sheep in the rocks above the trail while heading out of the canyon. He was quite comfortable with us being there, as he let us snap several photos of him.
So, that's my photo journal until the next adventure! Hope you enjoyed it!

This & That..........

2008-04-08T13:50:00.000-07:00

Things have been busy around here the past week. I had the bright idea of ripping wallpaper off in our bedroom. Now, this house was built in 1905, so just imagine how many layers of wallpaper were on the wall! After one wall in two days, with many chunks of plaster coming off with the wallpaper, I decided that wasn't such a good idea. I should have taken pictures, but I was into it up to my arm pits, so to speak, and by the end of the day I was so sick of looking at that wall.......the last thing I wanted was a picture to remind me of the "fun" I had! I did get the room painted with a faux finish that resembles plaster, so it turned out ok. I just need to hang some things on the walls to spruce it up a bit. So........that was an experience I don't plan on doing again anytime soon! And I was just beginning to think it would be fun to "flip" a house! Silly me! Warren can be very glad he was on the slope working when all of this was going on!

After that fiasco, I needed to get out of the house. My son, Craig and I went for a great hike into Rough Canyon , which is just a few minutes drive from our house. More great canyon country to explore, AND it was some great quality time with my son........and Tryggur the dog, of course!

Back to this old house.......... we have one bathroom upstairs with a very nice looking tub, but not a very practical tub for showering. We decided to have a shower built in the bathroom downstairs. As the workers are busy tearing things apart down there, I need to keep the dog and myself out of their way, so where better to spend the day than in my studio? It's amazing how much more I get done when I actually spend time in here! I've made some progress on my piece,which will hopefully hang at the Mesa Verde National Park later this summer. We'll see if I can get it finished before I head back to Alaska. There is still a lot of work to be done on it, including bead work, but here are a few shots of my petroglyph guy, so far. He's not finished yet, nor do I have a title for the quilt, but it's getting there..........

One last thing for today.......I got some great books in the mail! I ordered a couple of books on Western landscaping, to hopefully get some ideas on what to do with the yard here in Colorado. The other one is a book that my friend Roxane recommended.... Mixed Emulsions, by Angela Cartwright. I have just started browsing through this one, and it looks like it will be a great source of inspiration and education. I'm anxious to try some of the projects out.

Back in the Red Red Red Rocks!

2008-03-30T21:08:00.001-07:00

Our daughter and son in law came to visit us in Grand Junction! The weather was great, so we were able to show them the beauty of the area. We spent a day up in the Colorado National Monument, hiking on some of the great trails. What a spectacular place!
They were only here for a couple of days, but we managed to give them a pretty good tour of the area. Hopefully, they'll be able to stay a bit longer next time they come to visit!
Warren and I headed out on our mountain bikes for a nice ride yesterday. It turned out to be a very challenging ride, to say the least! I ended up walking a good portion of the trail, as it was too steep and rocky for this novice mountain biker! I'll take my camera next time, so I can show the rocky drop offs that were freaking me out!

Egrets & Orchids

2008-03-28T06:54:00.001-07:00

Just a quick post today. I'm back from Florida, but wanted to share a few pictures I took just before leaving. Enjoy!

The neighborhood egret was out and about, so I spent some time watching and photographing. What a beautiful bird!
We went to an orchid show, and I've never seen so many varieties. Beautiful colors, textures and aromas filled the room.
This was my favorite display.

I believe this orchid is called a "Butterfly Orchid".

The Sunshine State

2008-03-20T16:43:00.000-07:00

I've been spending the last week visiting my parents in Florida. The weather has been beautiful, and the freshly squeezed orange juice is amazing! How nice to just go pick an orange or grapefruit off the tree when you want it! I would love to have fruit trees in my back yard!

I'm also enjoying the wide variety of birds in the area. We spotted this Wood Stork while driving the other day, so I had to stop and take some photos of him. He was putting on a show for us, as if he knew I had my camera lens on him. There are a few resident Egrets in the area, so I need to have my camera ready the next time I see one. They are beautiful birds!

There just happened to be a quilt show going on in Venice last weekend. My Mom and I enjoyed viewing all the quilts and vendors, while my Dad and brother( who was visiting from Connecticut) were very patient while we took our time! The quilts were beautiful, and of course, I had my favorites! Here's a picture of the men waiting for us to finish our rounds!

We headed down to the beach to catch the sunset, along with a lot of other people! What is it about the sunset that draws people to it?? The serenity of the waves lapping on the sand? The pondering of another day's passing? The mysterious wonder and beauty of the world?

We took a little trip up to Crescent City yesterday. It's about a five hour drive from where my parents live in Englewood. My brother and sister-in-law live there, so I couldn't be this close and not see them! I hadn't seen their home since they purchased it, so was pretty excited to see where they live. The trees in their yard are amazing, and my obsession with trees and leaves was evident with all the pictures I took in their back yard! These are just a few of the photos of the giant live oak trees towering in their yard. They are magnificent trees, with Spanish moss gracefully hanging from the heavy branches.

Aren't these trees just incredible? I'm back in Englewood for a few more days before heading back to Colorado, so I'll be enjoying this Florida sunshine a bit more!

Dyeing in the New Digs.....

2008-03-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist this photo opportunity when I opened my bedroom curtains yesterday morning. I love the reflection of the trees on the pavement. It looks like a delicate layer of lace over the pavement. OK, so that was kind of random, but I just couldn't help myself!

I decided it was time to dye some fabric in my new digs. Now, I know things look very organized in these pictures, but after a few tiny splats of dye on my computer and sewing machine, I decided that organized is the only way to be while dyeing fabric in this room! I guess if I would have been "organized", I would have put my sewing machine and computer away before I started!

I left the fabric in the dye vats over night and got them all rinsed out this morning. After running them through several wash cycles, I decided to air dry them in the beautiful Colorado sunshine. As the fabric was drying, I was raking up the yard, discovering the new growth sprouting up all around. I still can't get over the fact that things are sprouting in March!

Don't these fabrics add some great color to the landscape??
I don't know what I was thinking when I only ordered ten yards of fabric from Dharma Trading! I dyed all ten yards, and it doesn't look like much when it's all washed and folded! Since I didn't bring much fabric with me from Alaska, my stash here is pretty small. I have quite a bit of dye left over, so I'll be ordering up some more fabric very soon!

Murphy Bed Finished!

2008-03-04T19:37:00.000-08:00

The Murphy Bed is finished, and we're ready for our daughter and son in law to come and visit us later this month.........and Roxane in April! It was a fun project......for the most part! We're not crazy about the handle design, so may eventually do something different with those. The handles are a pretty important part of the bed. The two center handles are to hold on to while pulling the bed down, and the two outer handles are actually the feet of the bed, so they definitely need to be there. Warren would like to router the edges so they don't look so blocky, but that means another new tool..... imagine that!

Although the cabinet is wide at 64", it only sticks out from the wall 16". I think it's going to work out great for a studio/ guest room!
Here's what it looks like opened up. I think it needs a quilt or painting on the wall behind it, don't you? I better get busy on that!

Out & About

2008-03-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

We've been having such beautiful weather that we've decided to enjoy the outdoors rather than spend our time finishing the Murphy bed. The bed is in place and ready to use, but needs to have trim painted and put on. I'll post that when it's finished. In the meantime, we've been enjoying the beautiful Colorado countryside. I still can't believe we're outside with just a sweater or long sleeve shirt on in February/March! The temperature reached 67* today, which is a warm summer day in Alaska!

We've had some fun adventures the past few days. We took a drive to the Escalante Canyon on Wednesday. It was another gorgeous drive into ranch country. We came across a cabin that was built into the side of a boulder. It was built by Captain Smith, who was a tombstone engraver. Quite a unique place. Here are a few pictures:Thursday and Friday we hiked about 10 minutes from our house, up near the Colorado National Monument. The hiking is great, with gorgeous views of the red rocks, and some very interesting geologic formations.

We decided it was time to buy some mountain bikes, so tried them out today. We headed west of Grand Junction to the Rustler's Loop trail. It was a lot of fun, but realized we need to get our butt's in gear if we want to ride the harder trails! Actually, for a couple of old farts who haven't done any serious mountain biking in a few years....and a new hip for me.....we did ok! I have a much greater respect for the extreme mountain bike riders, that's for sure!

We may try to hit the trail again tomorrow. There is so much to explore around here!

It's All About "LUV"

2008-02-27T17:22:00.000-08:00

My nephew is engaged! Ben & Liz have entered a wedding sweepstakes and need votes! I'm posting this on my blog so hopefully you'll join in on the fun and vote for them! Weddings are so expensive, and to see them win this sweepstakes would be so cool! All you have to do is go to www.luvtoyota.com and register to vote for Benjamin Blick and Elizabeth Bearer. You can vote every day until March 14th!
Thanks for your help!

Construction Zone

2008-02-26T09:16:00.001-08:00

Well, I had a studio for a few days, anyway! Warren and I are constructing a Murphy Bed for the studio/guest room, so I had to put my tools away for a few days. We're moving right along, with a few glitches, of course! Is it possible to construct anything without running into at least one problem along the way??We're hoping to get this finished within the next couple of days. The weather is beautiful, so we would much rather be outside than inside! I'll post more pictures as we progress.

A Little Studio Time

2008-02-22T09:59:00.000-08:00

I spent some time in my studio carving a linoleum block, then printing it onto fabric. I began sketching a design onto the 4" x 5" block, then carved the design with the carving tool. Being a novice at this technique, I managed to complete the carving without stabbing myself, so thought I was off to a good start! Here is the finished carving.
With a brayer, I rolled acrylic paint onto the block, then placed fabric over it. To make sure the design was getting onto the fabric I used a plastic straight edge to rub over the fabric. I continued this procedure until the cloth was covered, then went over it again in a horizontal format.
Once the fabric was covered with the block imprint, I brushed a watered down acrylic over the entire length of cloth. My goal is to make the fabric look primitive. I'm hoping to use this in a piece I'm making for "Canyon Visions", a show that the AQuA group will have on exhibit at the Mesa Verde National Park this summer.

I'm going to work on this a bit more, maybe adding a few more layers of paint or foil. Hopefully with some perseverance I'll achieve the "look" I'm after, and it will end up in a finished piece of work.