Somehow I was tagged twice, by
Tracy and
Helen. Lucky for me they were at the same time, so I figure I only have to do it once.
The rules are:
1. Once tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post rules on your blog.
3. Post 7 weird or random facts about yourself on your blog.
4. Tag 7 people and link to them.
5. Comment on their blog to let them know that they've been tagged.
Now for the seven weird or random facts.
1. I rode a bike today for the first time in twenty years. My husband rides quite a bit and wanted me to join him sometimes, so he bought me a bike. I told him to forget the Tour de France, I wanted a bike for riding through the french countryside, complete with a large basket for flowers, wine and bread. So that is what I got. We still need to find the basket, but it does have a large cushy seat and automatic shifter. Now I just need to find somewhere to ride it that isn't all hills!
2. I can shake my eyeballs. This was quite the talent in high school, but I hadn't thought about it much since then.
3. I can't sleep with socks on, even though my feet are always cold when I get into bed. It drives my husband crazy when I use him to warm them.
4. I was part of the math club in high school and attended the Mu Alpha Theta convention in Huntsville, Alabama. We weren't allowed to leave our hotel rooms at night so my girlfriends and I convinced the security gaurd to buy us candy from the vending machine. We did manage to smuggle boys into our room also.
5. My husband and I date breifly when when we were 14. I came home from a party with his shoe and had to get it back to him. The first time he met my mother he called her mom! We broke up after he stood me up on the ferry to Seattle. We reunited celebrating our twenty-first birthdays, married a year and a half later, and have been together for over 11 years.
6. As a kid, said I wanted 13 kids. Four has me about over the edge, so I think we'll stop here.
7. I know how to kill, pluck and clean a chicken, but I pray I never have to do that again.
Now it's time to tag seven other people. I never have been good at picking people. I was always the last picked for the team, often taken as the handicap--that's what I get for being the youngest in the neighborhood. My Christmas card list can get out of hand because I don't want to leave anyone out. I think I will just pick seven random people from the One World One Heart giveaway. If I don't pick you please don't feel left out. I appreciate you coming to read this!
The first set of "Dreams" I created was "Swaddled Dreams." The white cloth and pastel colors reminded me of babies. I'm sure we all have little dreams that are just beginning to grow that we keep tightly wrapped in our hearts. When our oldest was first born we would swaddle her so tightly that we kept checking to make sure she was still breathing. If we didn't, she would get her arms out of the blankets and hit herself in the face, waking herself up. She was so new any freedom would work against her. Our dreams can be the same way. When they are first born, they need to grow in a safe environment. But soon they are strong enough to face themselves and eventually the world.
My second set of "Dreams" I was hesitant to create. I try to keep my artwork possitive and joyful. So many messages in our culture focus on the doom and gloom and I don't want to contribute to the negativity. Despite that, "Fallen Dreams" just wanted to be created. I added a touch of sparkle to the black background and used shimmering silver thread to try to capture a sense of hope, even in the darkness. Despite their death, there is still hope for redemption and joy. I trust that these were pieces that needed to be made and the people who need to recieve them will.
"Touch of Bling" was created from some of the scraps that I have had hanging around since last fall. I have been meaning to do something with them, but never seemed to have the time. I already had the shimmering silver thread in the machine, so I just kept sewing away. I love the colors with the sparkle, but of course that would make sense since I created them.
Now to go finish getting them ready to send off into the world.
My next step was to start adding fibers to the cross. It now has a nice soft feeling. I used fufts of three different yarns and little bows of another. Next I'm planning on adding wire spirals and searching among my stash for anything else to add to the cross. Then I will work on the border. 
I learned after the third quilt that #2, the circles, was not my husband's favorite. When I first showed it to him, he of course said it was nice. But then when I showed him the next, he told me how he liked it much more than this one. Oh well, you can't win them all. For this quilt, I sewed circles onto painted watercolor paper. I didn't use the fabric paper for the background and I think that might have been part of the problem. Even with multiple layers of watercolor paint, the paper just looks flat. To add some fun, I added buttons onto each of the larger circles and small brads on the smaller circles. I then added the fabric paper border. I didn't leave quite enough room to sew it on securely, so I used some purple duct tape on the back to reinforce it. Hope my daughter doesn't mind that I stole it out of her craft drawer while she was sleeping. The edges I finished with copper tape.
