Bamboo Bird

I got some LOVELY snow-died silk from Beth at Quilters Stitch Together for my birthday. I got the courage to cut into it last night for a soon-to-be-disclosed project - and this scrap got made into a postcard. The black is actually also from QST - a cotton hand dye that I "stiffened" with gel medium and then backed with Steam-A-Seam 2.

Play Ball!

This is a donation to the AAQI. It is made of a piece of silk somebody gave me - maybe it was once a dresser scarf or the like? It made for a perfect whole cloth piece - I just quilted the cone flowers on it (sort of echoing the flowers in the background pattern) and bound it.

WORLD QUILT FEDERATION SMACKDOWN

Four Quilting Heavyweights Face Off to Fight Alzheimer's
As many of you know, the charity nearest and dearest to my heart is the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Next month, from November 1-10, we are being treated to an opportunity to raise thousands of dollars for Alzheimer's research. If you follow the AAQI link above, the link to the Smackdown quilts is front and center - even if you are not a quilter you just have to go take a look at these four phenomenal pieces of art, donated by four of the top names in the quilting world. There is applique, there is trapunto, there is exquisite piecing, and my personal favorite is Fading by Hollis Chatelain - an amazingly beautiful piece of thread painting.
So, even if you are not wealthy enough to participate by bidding, come join me next week as I act as auctioneer for this fabulous group of quilts!

Basket of Flowers

This digital art was done in response to a challenge on Dezinaworld. The background paper is by GypsyCoutoure and the lace is a Stampington freebie. The little girl was also a free image from a challenge blog, but I can't remember which one . . . my apologies!

Snowy Path

I guess, as much as we don't want to admit it here in Chicagoland, we're in for another winter. I took this picture last winter and made it "artsy" in PSP. Yeah, snow is sometimes a pain, but sometimes it's really beautiful. These prints can be found in my Etsy shop. Thanks for looking!

My quilt used in a book by Lyric Kinard

On page 102 is a small 9x12 quilt (which has been donated to the AAQI) that I made for Lyric Kinard showing the design principle of Motion and the design element of Shape. So as not to give away too much of Lyric's book, I just scanned my bit of the page . . .

Ami was on the radio!

If you're reading my blog, you're probably aware of my dedication to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. Ami Simms is the founder and driving force behind the 501(c)3 organization raising money for Alzheimer's research. She did a radio interview recently that was very moving and explains a lot about why she's doing what she's doing. You can hear the podcast of it here:
Ami's Interview Podcast and you can read her blog about the experience here: Ami's Blog.

My Studio

I had all my supplies, sewing machine, and cutting table crammed into a little alcove off my living/dining room. One day I looked at the dining room table and chairs, which were a little worse for wear, and decided to give them away on freecycle. After that, I switched rooms - I moved my studio into the living/dining room and moved my couch, recliner and TV into the alcove. I live alone and don't cook, so wasn't worried about dinner parties! I love having the space to work and I have great light with patio doors and the dining room overhead fixture directly over my work table. Which is made with deep file cabinets stacked to counter height with a 60x72 table top covering them. Perfect!
I arranged my sewing machine, design wall and storage carts on another two walls of the room and have a wall of completed quilts that I haven't sold or given away on the 4th!