Where has the Time Gone?

The last two weeks have flown by! I didn't get nearly as much accomplished as I would have liked, but then again, what did I really expect. We had a wonderful Christmas and nearly a foot of snow. Much of the week before Christmas we were snowed in. The driveway became a sled run and my parents had to pick up the kids so we could attend all the Christmas family gatherings.

I did manage to finish all my projects for people outside our immediate family. Most of them I forgot to photograph before wrapping. I guess I was a little too afficiant this year. For the annual Cookie Exchange I made coffee cuffs with red and green ribbon and filled the cups with Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies. They turned out so fun I made more for co-workers, aunts, uncles, cousins and neighbors. I did have a few blue and silver left over so I was able to snap a picture this morning. I also spun and dyed several skeins of bamboo yarn for my sister-in-law and mother-in-law's birthdays (Sorry no picture).

My big birthday present was a new spinning wheel, a Mach 1 from Spinnolutions. I have been having a lot of fun playing with it. I think I have mastered the overspun, chunky yarn! I'm learning a lot playing with the bag of left over fibers I brought home from Art Fiber Fest.

The wine colored yarn I spun from bamboo fiber fill and dyed with Rit dye (it was the only dye available locally). I just love the colors. The blue yarn is a commercial Merino Silk blend I recieved as a gift. It is so soft and strechy. I just love to touch it. The natural color is some type of wool. I'm going have to kit the Kool-Aid aisle nex time to go to the market so I can do some dying!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

I'm actually excited about decorating for Christmas this year! All the Christmas directions are packed away in the depths of the storage unit. Instead of trying to unpack everything, I made (or bought) all new. I continued the blue and white from the walls and trim onto the tree. I think this is the first year our tree actually matched the house. We also went with a flocked tree to appease my dream of a white Christmas.

Green wreaths weren't going to work with our white tree, so bring on the silver spray paint. I also cheated a little and used plastic balls instead of glass. I made a wreath entirely out of glass balls one year, but trying to store it was a nightmare and it didn't survive until the next Christmas. Maybe one day when the kids are older we can go back to glass. For now, I'll be satisfied with "shatterproof."

The stockings are also packed away, so I'm working on new ones. I have the basic stocking made, but I'm not sure if I will have time to do all the beading and embellishment that I want. I'm learning that six heavily embellished stockings are a lot to make with everything else in December. I still have quite the list, so it's time to go back to work.

Cyber Fyber Coming Soon

Three pieces I created this fall from my rainbow of fabric paper and quilted fabrics are off to South Carolina for Cyber Fyber. I still can't believe I'm an invited artist in an exhibition. I wish that I could travel to Columbia for the openning in January, but alas, mom can't get away this time. Cyber Fyber will be a wonderful way to start a new year and I hope it will only be the beginning of a very positive year.

"Interaction" 16" x 23"

"Multifariam" 16" x 23"

"Transcendentalism" 16" x 23"

Once again my husband helped me with the naming. I have to say, he is a lot better at it than I am. I would have come up with something related to the rainbow. Instead, he gave the pieces thoughtful meaning that adds to the "Art" of the pieces beyond just the visual. It brings me such joy that we can work together and he is so supportive. I am truely blessed.

Transcendental Curves

It's reveal time on our Twelve by Twelve blog, so be sure to pop on over and check out the latest Mathematical quilts!

Mounted Mini Quilts added to My Etsy Shop

I actually had time yesterday to add a few things to my Etsy shop. The kids played nicely and hid out in their room. Occaisionally they will do this in an attempt to get out of schoolwork. I had things I wanted to get done so I let them get away with it. The sun also came out so I could take some pictures outside. Photography seems to be a problem in the winter. Usually it is raining or just to cold to hang out outside. The other is that the light has a very blue cast. The sun is so low in the sky. I don't know if there is a setting on my camera that will correct for it or if I need to learn how to use some type of computer program. Just imagine that the paper is a creamy white and adjust the colors of the quilts accordingly.

Roayl Dreams

Sunshine

Swept Away

The Key

Unto Thee

Vibrant Dreams

Red Hot Dreams

My Heart

Exclaimations!

Hidden Dreams

Growing Dreams

Fields

Blossoms

Bloom

Adventure

Off to the Art-O-Mat

This weekend I finished preparing another batch of works to send off to Art-O-Mat. I love the sight of all the boxes lined up and filled with little works of art. Each a small treasure. I had fun making each of these 2" x 3" mini quilts from my rainbow scraps. I then gave my husband the honor of naming them. I love the fresh take he gives them. We joked that he is "Adam" so naming is an appropriate job for him. Let me know what you think.

Bed in the Grass

Sharks in the Garden

Off Kilter

Red Mountain

Sharks at Sunset

Breaking Forth

Sunset Looking West

Skyscraper at Sunset

Biten

Lawn with Lawnchair

Lizzard

Mountain Majesty

Darkness Encroaching

Hot Daze

City Sunset

In the Shadow of Greatness

A Lot of Reading to Do!

Okay, I'm not going to be able to use all these bookmarks myself, but I just love the colors and textures of the fabrics, papers, yarns and ribbons. I can't help but touch and fondle them. I can capture a touch of the rainbow each time I pick them up. A little touch of peace and joy among the chaos of life.

How I wish I could just focus on that and block everything else out for a few minutes. I am so easily distracted by all the noise, rarely can I finish a thought in my head. I can't think straight with talking or music in the background or even a little person staring at me watching what I'm doing. I'm always listening for the urgent that I can't focus on the important. Tis the life of a mom I guess. Do you have the same problems or are you able to keep all the little distractions from taking over? Any tips to achieving a one track mind?

My First Craft Fair

I did my first craft fair last weekend. I needed something positive to focus on and my friend Mandy convinced me to join her at a fundraiser for the local Pregnancy Resources Center. The vendor fee went directly to a good cause so I didn't really have anything to loose. For a week and a half I was busy making Tea Gift Boxes, Mini Treasure Box Ornaments, Inchie Ornaments, Cards and Bookmarks. I also brought some framed pieces and mounted mini quilts. Everyone was impressed with the work. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of customers come through so sales were a little slow. I did enjoy the day hanging out with friends and came home with a few extra dollars in my pocket. Now I have decorations for my Christmas tree and Christmas cards to send out. And if I manage to get organized, I'll get a few more things up on my Etsy site.

P.S. Forgive my spotty posting -- my kids are now doing a computer based homeschool curriculum and have discovered the internet so I have to fight for my computer time.

Home (?) from Art Fiber Fest

I really wish last week and all the house stuff hadn't have happened so I could still be basking in all the fun and wonderful things I learned at Art Fiber Fest. I had such an amazing time. The people were wonderful. I was immediately welcomed by everyone who had been coming for years, including Gail, Betsey, Laura, Debbie, and Carol, and we were quickly old friends. We stayed up late (okay, late for a sleep deprived mother of four) talking and working on projects in the dorms with all the girls. We were often joined by Darlene, Pamela, Teri, Gwyn, Alma, and Lori . I was also befriended by Jodie and her stepmom Susan. They had travelled from Arizona and Hawaii. Everyone was so accepting and encouraging.

The first day of classes I took Lisa Engelbecht's Book of Intentions. We worked on creating an ABC book based on our dreams, goals, and hopes. I have to admitt that I didn't get very far. I got hung up on the lettering and wasn't happy with anything I did. I enjoyed painting the backgrounds but that was about it. I did at least learn that I don't find my handwriting on fabric particularly beautiful. I'm sure practice would help, but I don't think that is a direction I really want to focus upon. It also didn't help that I didn't get any sleep the night before. The beds were awful and my back hurt from the springs. There was also a light right outside my window and I could hear everything someone flushed the toilet. I finally gave up sleeping around 6am, showered and went for a walk. The next three nights I folded up an extra blanket and used it to fill in the dip in the bed and cusion the springs. After that I slept I was able to sleep at least a little.

The next day I learned Nuno felting from Mary Stanley. I love my scarves that I made. We felted wool fiber onto silk chiffon scarves Mary had dyed for us. For the first I accidently got an extra long scarf that had sneaked into the pile. I am so happy that I did because the length was perfect. I felted some vibrant mohair locks I brought from home and some whispy merino wool in cool blues and purples. On the second scarf I took a more aggressive approach. I added two thicker layers of wool and also tucked some metallic yarns under the wool. I then felted the back side with swirls and angellina fiber. The scarf ended up much shorter from all the felting. It makes a great accent piece.

The last day I took Tracy Lampe's Funky Chunky Yarn Lumps. We learned to spin thick, chunky yarn on a drop spindle. I absoluelty loved it. I love to just touch and play with fibers. I got to do that and make something wonderful at the same time. Plus, I have very dry skin and working with the wool was magic. All that lanonlin left my hands feeling beautiful. The dark red yarn was my first batch. We used natural colored roving and then dyed it with Kool-Aide. This is a combination of Grape, Strawberry and Lemon. The red was definetly the strongest color. I then made three more "lumps" from fibers Tracy had previously dyed. I came home with a garbage bag of fibers and ready for a spinning wheel.