Notes from a Bird-brained Quilter

Northern Spotted Owl

2011-04-03T17:00:00.001-05:00

While visiting my sister who works for the USFS in Washington state I was fortunate to be able to go out with one of the Northern Spotted Owl researchers to attempt to find one of these rare birds. I got the call 1/2 hr. before we were to leave so I hurriedly got dressed. We met and hiked in on snow shoes about 1 mile up a mountain into a fir forest hoping to find one. Boy, it was a great cardio workout getting there and all that running up and down the stairs the past month paid off.

Once up the mountain to an area where he'd located owls in previous years he began imitating the call of the No. Spotted Owl. He paused several minutes between calls and after the 3rd attempt I saw an owl fly in and land about 50 feet from us. I began snapping photos fearing it would disappear but little did I know how tame this species is. It sat on a bare fir branch gazing at us with those enormous brown eyes. I can't begin to describe the feeling one gets gazing upon such a magnificent bird. He looked for and found a band on the owl's leg from a previous year's banding.

First View of the Owl

While following Stan up the mountain I'd noticed a plastic tube with holes in it attached to his backpack. I wondered what it was. Inside he had mice that they raise in their office area. He took one out and placed it on the ground. The Owl quickly came down and grasped it flying back up to a fir tree. He was hoping to get it to lead us to a nest, but the owl quickly ate it. He figured the owl was especially hungry so he released a second mouse. This time the owl flew to a nearby fir broom, a deformed, gnarled mass of fir branches caused by mistletoe growth, where they will most often build nests. We followed it there and found that the owl was stashing the mouse. It sat and watched us waiting for another mouse. A third mouse was released on the trunk of a huge fir tree and the owl immediately came in and grabbed it from the trunk. Again it stashed it.

Mouse in talons

Reluctantly he released his last mouse and again the owl stashed it. Again she waited for another mouse to be released and when one didn't came in quite close to beg. He said he never gives an owl more than 4 mice since they will quickly relate humans to giving them food which could produce disastrous results.

The final mouse caught not 6 feet from us

After the 4th mouse was released Stan got out his notebook and found the owl we were watching to be a female. They should be on nest by now and it's usually the males that come for the released mice to take back to the female at the nest. This was not a good sign since it could mean something had happened to her mate and there would not be a nest this year unless she found another mate. He'll return in a couple of weeks to check the area again. This particular female had been banded as a chick and was 13 years old. She probably would have mated the first time at age 3 yrs. and had been in this area since that time.
He said there are more males than female No. Spotted Owls in the forest. They just had to find one another and she might have to move from this area to do so.

Waiting for another mouse

There are four groups of two researchers in the northwest area of Washington and Oregon who look for, and keep track of the owls and their nests. They work from 2-10 pm daily. Stan and his partner cover 100,000 acres of forest usually out alone but in radio contact. Necessary to aid one another and for safety reasons. They must constantly be on the alert for the silent Mountain Lion and occasional bear. (He found fresh tracks in the snow, a bit early, in the area we were at.) They go out at night and listen for owls. If heard they mark the area on a map and return early evening and call the owls in as he did for me. Hopefully the released mice will lead them to a nest.

After the nesting time they work on compiling their data and turning it into a central office. In his recording notebook he has all his data from the early 90s to the present. I asked how many nests/pairs they found yearly. In 2010 they found 12 pairs that resulted in 7 nests down from 75 nesting pairs in 1992. This does not bode well for this species. Last year they found a male Spotted Owl mated and nesting with a female Barred Owl which produced offspring called 'Sparred Owls.' My sister was able to hold one chick while they banded it.

All I can say is a big THANK YOU Stan for an amazing experience and beautiful bird.

Spring!!!

2011-03-22T08:07:00.001-05:00

The snow drifts are about gone. Only a few left in our grove but firm enough to walk on top of rather than sink into. The grass has a slight green tint to it meaning Richard will have to get the lawn mower out ad read to go in another month and my tulips are beginning to poke through the ground! The only bad part is that all those noisy, obnoxious grackles have returned from their winter vacation south. Now, I do love birds but these characters are not on that list.

A busy week. Tonight I have a drawing class again. I've always loved to draw but have gotten out of the habit with all that fabric to take care of in one way or another. So I'm hoping this will jump start my interest in drawing more once again. Last evening I drew a Sedge Wren singing from his marsh perch.

Tomorrow evening we will attend my grandson's induction into the National Honor Society. He's a great kid and not just because he's my grandson and well deserving of the honor. Thursday I have to do laundry and pack. I'm headed off to Washington state to visit my sister for 10 days. Ahhhh...

Post Card Trading

2011-02-17T14:58:00.001-06:00

It's time to trade postcards with people from all over the U.S. and some abroad. This happens about twice yearly. Themes are always given and people sign up for a particular theme, make fabric postcards to fit that theme, and mail them off to the recipients. This trade I signed up for 'Fruit' and 'Birds'. The latter shouldn't surprise you. I finished them today. For the fruit theme I chose to use a pear and both a red and a black cherry. Who knows why I chose such a combination. They're made entirely from fabric scraps of which I still have plenty left. For the bird theme I dug out my old college (so you know they're old) set of linoleum cutting tools and cut a pair of herons into a small block and then printed them onto a mottled green fabric to represent a marsh. Always fun to make but even more fun to see what creations I'll get from others on these same themes.

Peekhole On A Winter World

2011-02-01T17:00:00.001-06:00

The latest challenge for my on-line group, Fast Friday Fabric Challenge, was issued last Friday, the fourth Friday of the month and was to depict dimensionality in a quilt or Trompe l'oeil pronounced Tromp loy. Most of this type of work is very realistic and I jumped at doing this. While looking over the links for this challenge I happened to remember a picture I had drawn several years ago and surprisingly was able to grave the correct sketch book even. But I was even more surprised at just how many 'several years ago' was. Seems I drew it in 1980! Still worked... So I took a photo of the pencil drawing and then printed it onto an 8" x 10" piece of fabric. The 3 faces weren't as dramatic in black and white so I used colored pencils to give their skin and shirts some color. I quilted the faces very little so as not to lose their power. Yes, all the pine needles are individually cut averaging about 1" x 1/16" in size. Only took a few hours one evening.
Then, since I love birds, I put a lovely little White-crowned Sparrow on a branch for the father and sons to look at. The shadows are all thread painted. It's 15 1/2" x 17".

Again, a Long Time Away

2011-01-28T11:42:00.000-06:00

I'm not a very good journalist so not a good blogger either. Since I've last been on we've made a trip to Kansas City to the NCAA Division I volleyball tournament to take my granddaughter and enjoy her for the weekend. She's an avid fan and great vb player herself at only 12. Misty Mae Trainer posed for a photo with her.

The first of the year we ventured south to Arkansas to my daughter's wedding. It was a nice ceremony albeit a bit cool on January 1st. The day before it had been wonderfully warm. Too bad it couldn't have lasted.

From there we trekked south into lovely Mississippi and drove a bit of the wonderful Natchez Trace, on to Biloxi and the warm Gulf breezes before ending up in New Orleans and the French Quarter enjoying the food and street jazz there.

Home again and I worked for 2 weeks at the local quilt shop while the owner was away. While there I made a table runner and 3 throw size quilts for her to display in the store and eventually sell as kits. I had started a 4th but didn't finish it so brought it home and finished it this morning. Not my colors but a lovely quilt anyhow.

Autumn Maple

2010-10-27T18:55:00.001-05:00

This piece is the latest on-line challenge piece for my yFast Friday Fabric Challenge group. The challenge is revealed the 4th Friday of each month. This month we were to choose a Haiku or write our won and then illustrate it using fabric with an emphasis on thread work in the quilt. Haiku is a Japanese form of Poetry written with 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second line, and 5 syllables in the last line and usually about nature.

This is probably the least variety of fabrics I've ever used in a quilt, just 4 different pieces. A year ago I bought the hand-dyed fabric from Laura Wasilowski at the Des Moines AQS show. Once home I wondered why, but it worked well as the background for this piece so I'm glad I bought it. It was shades of light grey-blue, light rose-pink, and light yellow. The first two reminded me of a dreary fall sky telling one winter would soon follow the loss of leaves. I chose a maple tree because when I looked out my window the day the challenge was announced, my maples were loaded with gorgeous leaves that were beginning to fall. Once started the light yellow was too light so I darkened it with a light wash of color with paints and quilting.

I quilted leaves on top of the fused pieces on the ground and then decided to do the same with the tree. The tree's leaves actually ended looking more like oak leaves, but they'll do. I decided to add a fence row disappearing over a distant hill to fill the space in the lower left corner. It ended at 16" x 26 1/2".

The Haiku was written and the quilt over half completed when I decided to change the last line which I personally like better, but others may disagree. Here are both versions:

Leaves, orange, red, gold
Gnarled maple dropping its crown
Which is last to fall?

Leaves, orange, red, gold
Gnarled maple dropping is crown
Earth's winter blanket.

Eastern Trip

2010-09-18T10:14:00.000-05:00

We arrived home from a marathon 10 day east from Nebraska. We went first to Kentucky. Of course, whenever we go through Paducah I have to stop at the quilt museum. Some of my favorites were again hung and lots of new ones, too. Always an inspiration. Next stop was Mammoth Cave where we went on a strenuous 4 1/2 mile walk in 4 hrs. through the cave with a very knowledgeable guide. Last stop in Kentucky was Louisville where we toured the Louisville Slugger bat factory and Churchill Downs. The latter was our favorite stop the entire trip. What a great museum they have and informative tours.

Next stop was Cuyahoga National Park in Ohio. It's quite different from the national parks one is used to seeing in the western half of the U.S. This one is for people use and use it they do! Bicyclists and walkers/joggers all over the old towpath. We took the train ride from the north end to the south end and back. Great way to be introduced to the park. Then we visited a couple of spots after that.

Onward northeast. We stopped overnight in New York state. I'd hoped to visit the Roger Tory Peterson museum but it was closed Mondays and Richard didn't want to wait around another day. So we headed on to Niagara Falls. Previously I'd seen them half frozen in November 14 yrs. ago. They're much lovelier with sunshine and green surroundings. They've changed the area lots since I was there before, too. We chose to pay big $$ to go up into the tower on the hill above the falls to eat and view the area from up high. Glad we did. It was awesome to see the falls this way.

After walking around the area for a bit we headed out again and stopped at Niagara on the Lake. They have a lovely old town with a neat shopping area which we spent time walking around. I also managed to make it to two of their wineries.

We then drove to the Jordan, Ontario area and spent the night in a hotel along Lake Ontario. The water was calm and one could see Toronto in the distance across the lake. There was even an old wrecked ship not far from the hotel. The next a.m. we drove into Jordan and westward stopping at a few more wineries, tasting and buying. At one we were introduced to the ultimate chocolate to be eaten with wine, Brix. Try some. You'll definitely like it if you like chocolate.

In one parish we found a small bakery which I convinced Richard to stop at. We walked in and I was amazed! I haven't seen that assortment of pastries since a child. So many cookies, tarts, turnovers, etc. that you can't imagine. We bought a few things for samples and later when we ate them the delicious taste lingered in our mouths for quite some time. Good thing I don't live closer or I'd be the size of a hot air balloon!

On to Michigan City, Indiana to visit some friends there. We met their adorable new Golden Retriever puppy, Moose (aptly named for those big feet), had supper together and a nice visit. We left later in the a.m. and managed to avoid the Chicago rush hour traffic. We were able to drive all the way home that day even stopping Madison County Iowa to see the old covered bridges there and which, especially the 'Roseman Bridge', were brought to national fame by the book and later film, "The Bridges of Madison County".

Leaving a Comment

2010-08-11T17:02:00.003-05:00

PLEASE, if you want to leave a comment to any of my posts you must post it in English so I can read or I will not allow the comment to be seen on my blog. Thank you!

Stormy Night

2010-08-09T10:47:00.000-05:00

It's been an unusual weather year in 2010. After one of the worst winters I can remember the snow melted and then it turned dry. Of course, being married to a farmer with dry weather and his crops life isn't the best during this time. But then the faucet opened in late June and it hasn't shut off. We had record amounts of rain in July and August is off to the same start. The heat I can handle. It's the humidity that's stifling and we've had our share of that this summer. The worst weather seems to just go around us which is fortunate for the crops but we have 2 months to go before harvest begins. But, the mosquitoes are here and the worst in 3 years. They love it!

Late yesterday afternoon the clouds began to form and gradually it got darker and darker so that it was more like 9 p.m. than 5 p.m. When it began to rain it dumped! We got over 2" in less than an hour. The winds blew but no trees fell. I just have sticks to pick up all over the yard before I can get on the lawn mower yet again. I'm surprised the poor thing hasn't given up and died after the workout I've put it through this summer mowing every 5 days. Anyway, we were lucky in the wind department. All around us big trees were uprooted some falling on cars, houses, and campers in campgrounds along the river. We lost power shortly but not for long.

The summer of 2010 has already surpassed the summer of 1993 for the most rainfall ever and we still have most of August to go!

Scrappy Stars

2010-07-17T09:46:00.000-05:00

I have waaaayyyyy too much fabric stashed away. I think I could make a queen-sized quilt for everyone in my small town of 1,200 people. So I decided one way or another I'm going to start using some of it up so I can justifiably purchase some of those luscious new fabrics out there right now. I have a scrap quilts pattern book and found this lovely stars pattern. It went together rather quickly and I like the way it turned out. The only problem is that one has to purchase all the background and border fabrics to finish the quilt. I decided to make this one longer and wider than the twin size quilt in the book. It's a dorm size quilt that in the near future my granddaughter can have to take to college with her. Her friends there can autograph the yellow border strip and anywhere on the stars. Hopefully she'll like it.

Spring Thaw

2010-07-09T17:30:00.004-05:00

I just finished this 22" square quilt today. An on-line acquaintance gave me permission to use a photo he'd taken. I constructed the Eastern Bluebird way last winter and then put it aside until a few days ago. After I got started once again it went quickly. I decided to try a bit of realism using a real tree branch stitched onto the quilt. Easy to remove and replace later or omit entirely. I will donate it to the Nebraska Ornithologist's Union to use as a fund raiser. Hopefully it will make them some creditable dollars and make someone happy.

County Quilt

2010-06-20T18:09:00.000-05:00

Memorial Day weekend a member of the Nebraska State Quilt Guild called to see if I would make a block representing my county to eventually be on permanent display with blocks from Nebraska's other 93 counties at the Nebraska State Fair. Sure, I didn't have anything else pressing to do and how hard could a simple 12" block be? Well, a week later when she sent the specs on the 'block' I found it was to be 28" square! A rather large block but much easier to work with. Next to come up with something that represented Dixon County where I live. The only historical importance I found was we are the only county in Nebraska to lay claim to having had a volcano. But, it wasn't really a volcano just a chemical reaction from iron pyrite and the limestone bluffs along the river. How would I show steam coming from a river bank anyhow? But, we do have the Missouri River as our northern border and there are some pretty spectacular views from those bluffs. So I chose to show the view one might see looking from the oak tree covered bluffs meeting surrounding farm fields and both eventually stopping at the Missouri River below. Across the river is the flat flood plains and farm ground of South Dakota. The area also teams with wildlife. I've included our state bird, the Western Meadowlark, and mother and fawn White-tailed Deer.

I'll keep it until after I do my trunk show for a guild in Iowa on July 20th and then send it off to be framed by wrapping 2 inches of the quilt around a wooden frame. This is the reason for no binding on this quilt.

High on Fungi

2010-06-02T15:40:00.000-05:00

The latest challenge for my on-line Fast Friday Fabric Challenge group was to choose a fungi, depict it abstractly or stylish, and choose either a complimentary or split complimentary color scheme. I am usually one who does very realistic art quilts so this time I stepped out of my comfort zone and went completely abstract with my fungi. I chose to do a split-complimentary color scheme and used purple, yellow-orange, and yellow-greens. I decided to look at a typical fungi from beneath. I broke the head into various waves alternating them with the folds seen under the mushroom with spores. I quilted in either a circular design on the center and outer rings to swirls on the middle purple ring. To simulate some spores on the orange and green I added some beads. When completed I couched different yarns along each wave for a more funky effect. I used a simple decorative stitch over the orange/green seams beading on top of them. The binding 'fell' from a shelf and I decided to use it since although black it contained the colors of purple, orange and green. This was left over from a larger quilt I'd made last winter. The quilt was pieced together using freezer paper and registration marks. No fusible was used in this piece. The quilt measures 15 1/2" x 18".

Retired!

2010-05-21T15:18:00.000-05:00

As of today, May 21, 2010, I am officially retired from teaching! It was hard to walk out the door yesterday for the last time and know it will be harder still when everyone else returns to school in August. But I'm sure I'll quickly get over that when I realize I can sleep in and come and go as I want anytime during the day and week!

I'm still hindered by my foot surgery. The doctor says I have to wear this lovely, hot, knee-high, steel-framed boot through next week yet. That makes 7 full weeks! Then I'm to try to get into an athletic shoe. That should be interesting since my foot and leg are still swelling. I can't drive until mid July since braking the car would put too much pressure on the ball of the foot and hinder proper healing of the tendon and ligament. Ah well, at least I'm halfway there. But it's not a good time to be dependent on my farmer husband. I'm stuck here at home since he's out farming and doesn't have time to take me anywhere. I'm in desperate need of a haircut and am beginning to look like a shaggy dog!

I did sit outside by the pond and soaked up some much needed sunshine today. Some birds were skeptical about my sitting there but eventually came to drink and bathe. Others scolded me the entire time. I also
took some pictures of my flowers that are so pretty right now.

Surgery

2010-04-21T17:02:00.000-05:00

Last week I finally had surgery on my foot to determine what was causing the pain I've had for years but had become more pronounced the past two years. Since inserts, alcohol shots, and taping didn't offer any relief surgery was the last resort. The surgery lasted 2 hrs. and fortunately the cause was found. I've had little pain the past week and get the stitches out next week so then I'll be free to shower again!

I had my foot surgery follow-up appt. today. Once unwrapped I was surprised how little swollen the foot actually was. I also got a better explanation as to what Dr. Eilts did to my foot vs. what Richard 'thought' he heard from him last week after the surgery. He removed the small bunion and then put a pin in the big toe to move it over and get it into better alignment to keep my foot from rolling inward when I walked. But the big surprise was what was causing all my pain in the first place. Dr. Eilts said it's the first time he's ever seen this even though he'd heard of it. Anyway. at some point in the past I stepped wrong and the tendon pulled jerking a 'chunk' of bone about the size of the push top on a ball point pen from my second toe. He said it could have gone un-noticed for several years. The last 2 it's really been bothering me and that's when it probably moved into position to drill a 1/8" hole in the ligament beneath the toe. So, he removed the bone chunk, shortened the tendon, and repaired the hole in the ligament. I get the stitches out next week with a splint remaining on the toe to further heal the tendon and then I should be good to go he said. I still have to wear my lovely knee-high boot for a few weeks and use crutches, but hopefully the pain will be gone in the future. The pictures were really interesting to see.

Sounds like I may be able to travel a bit after all this summer IF I can walk on the 2" incision on the ball of my foot.

Latest FFFC Challenge

2010-04-02T19:20:00.000-05:00

Each month I try to do the 4th Friday challenge for the FFFC on-line group. This month's was undersea, thread painting, with a non-traditional binding. Needless to say, the sea is quite foreign to a Nebraskan. So I came across a book I forgot I'd owned, photocopied a page of sea stars, added a batik border that fit with the colors, added color with thread painting and wetted colored pencils. My attempt at thread painting white coral in the right corner didn't show on the quilt so I used Solvy stabilizer and made a new one that I attached loosely making it dimensional. The green plants coming in from the left with a seahorse hanging on helped to add depth to the piece. I rather like the outcome coming from a landlubber.

Winter's Creations

2010-03-07T09:24:00.000-06:00

Being snowed in LOTS this winter has really given me time to create different quilts. Once I retire in May I'm hoping to get back into drawing, painting, photography, and whatever else along with my art quilts. Yesterday I finished a 14" x 40" quilt that I plan to give to the elementary for my retirement. The two children are students in my class this year and both very sweet kids. I'm 'hoping' the school will like it enough to hang somewhere in the office area where those coming into the school for business will see it, but who knows, they may choose to roll it up in a drawer someplace. Even though it's completed I won't give it to the school until early August since I have been asked to do my first trunk showing for a quilt guild in southewestern Iowa. I'm in the habit of giving away many of my quilts and will need to keep them now so I'll have plenty to share with this guild in July.

Weather

2010-01-25T09:51:00.001-06:00

What a horrible winter we're having here in northeast Nebraska! After 2 major blizzards since just before Christmas and after dropping over 2 feet of snow coupled with the previous 9 inches, daily fog, cold, and an ice storm last week that has left people without power since last Wednesday everyone is hungry for some sunshine no matter how cold it is. Late yesterday the snow started to fall again. Although we only got 2-3 inches we're having 40-45 mph winds which has managed to fill in the roads with 3 foot drifts again and the seventh snow day from school. We'll be going all summer if this continues.

But I have gotten all my UFO's (unfinished quilts) done and started some more. One I even tossed after having it half completed for the last 5 years and decided it wasn't that good anyhow. The biggest quilt I finished was one I'd started in a class with Scott Murkin. I arranged the blocks in a dark to light format putting varied width strips from top to bottom and left to right of purple in-between the blocks. I quilted it in a wavy pattern to complement the wavy blocks. I finally took pictures of it this a.m. and hope to work out something with vining Morning Glory over the quilt to resemble it climbing on a trellis. If I don't get it done it will look fine as is, too.

I also belong to the on-line group, Fast Friday Fabric Challenge, in which we are challenged on the 4th Friday of the month to create a small quilt to fit the challenge in one week's time. Teaching doesn't always give me time to do these but the past two I've completed since I've been snowed in so much. December's was to choose a commercial package from our cupboards and use the colors on the product to create a still life quilt. I used a Jolly Time popcorn package and created the little orange and green 8" x 10" quilt using the package colors. This month's is to choose 3 colors, their shades, values, and tints, use a 'winged thing' as subject matter, and fracture or break up the design. 'Fairy Blues" is the result of this challenge.

Today I'm working on a commercial pattern that I bought several years ago. I've not used one of these for a long time. I'm so used to creating my own that following someone else's design is different. Good thing I have such a big stash of fabric so I don't have to worry about not having a particular color to use.

Poor Blogger

2009-12-12T18:43:00.000-06:00

I've never been very good about journaling and since a blog is basically a journal I guess that's why I don't post very often.

Lots has happened in the way of quilts since my last post. At the Siouxland Samplers biannual quilt show in September I won 8 ribbons including Best of Show for my homeless man quilt, "Disheartened Sage." The week after that I had to immediately send the quilt to Paducah for judging since it was juried into the AQS Des Moines show the last week in October. It didn't win anything there but it was an honor to have been chosen to have it hang with so many other wonderful quilts. I even got to see it hang and had my picture taken with him. Right after getting home I received a phone call from a very nice woman wanting to purchase him. So in the middle of November I exchanged 'Sage' for a check. It was sort of like letting go of one's child but I know he is being well cared for and will be for many years to come. I can visit him in Omaha when I want she told me. I just may have to do that sometime.

The wall was bare where Sage had hung and the annual Stuhr Museum of the Prairie annual quilt show was approaching and the theme was animals. I'd had a photo taken by Lynea Hinchman that I'd wanted to make into a quilt for quite some time now and got at it. To her two Ring-billed Gulls I added 3 more smaller gulls that I painted, cut out, fused to the background, and then quilted down. I also added some rock cliffs and water. The background is quite bright from anything I've used before but I felt was just what a pair of white gulls needed to set them off. Looks like a sunrise or a sunset.

Next up will be a simple scrap quilt either enlarged to a queen size or completed as a throw size for some future gift probably.

Poor CRV

2009-08-03T14:03:00.000-05:00

Last week Richard and I took off on a quick tour around western Nebraska. It is truly lovely this year with all the green after 7 years' drought. And a bonus of very cool temps of 3 degrees below normal was a bonus for the otherwise desert climate. We finally made it to the top of Scott's Bluff National Monument. Richard has lived in Nebraska all his life and me over 40 years and it's a first for both of us. Spectacular views! Go up if you're anywhere in the area.

The only down side to the trip came east of Alliance (Car Henge area). Richard was slowing to pull over on a side road for me to drive when he saw a car cross the center line and come straight at us! He swerved to avoid a head-on collision and the other vehicle hit and broke the driver's side mirror and scraped the back side of the CRV damaging the molding mostly but also bending the rear wheel so it's a bit wobbly to drive. The other driver admitted falling asleep. She was only an hour from her home and still had a 3 hr. drive to Denver to pick up family members there at the airport. I hope she made it safely. Luckily no one was hurt. Trying to drive with the cracked side mirror is hard since everything is quite distorted.

I took the CRV in for a repair estimate this a.m. and I'm glad I'm not paying for it! The other insurance will also provide me with a rental car for the week it will be in the hospital. Good thing, too, since I need to start working at school next week.

Maine

2009-06-21T12:04:00.000-05:00

We just returned from a wonderful, albeit a bit rainy, trip to Maine and Nova Scotia. It's a very lovely place and I hope I can return someday with more time to spend there.

Our initial visit to Acadia National Park was a foggy, rainy one. But on our last day in Maine the sun was out so we opted to go there again. What a difference the sun makes! The views from atop Cadillac Mountain are some of the most spectacular I've ever seen. Go if you haven't been.

We worked our way up the coast to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The weather wasn't any better there. We headed to Cape Breton Island and found our first sunshine so decided to drive the Cabot Trail. Of course, the north side of the trail was foggy and drizzly so the views there weren't the best. Once down and on the south side of the trail the sun emerged again. Even the local Mainers and Canadians were complaining about the horrid weather. Both are wonderfully kind and considerate people towards tourists. A great place to visit.

I took lots of photos many of which I want to use in future quilts. The old barn peeking from behind trees on a highway in Nova Scotia was a photo op I couldn't pass up as you can see. The Maine coast is mostly rocky and gorgeous with sun on the rocks. The last is a view from atop Cadillac Mountain. Do you see the quilt ops that I see in these pictures?

Owlets

2009-05-27T17:19:00.000-05:00

Sunday I got a call from some neighbors saying they had some owls in their grass and wondering what they were and what to do with them. So I drove over to find two young Screech Owls in their lawn. I convinced them they couldn't feed them anything and only the Raptor Recovery Center could keep them. I picked them up one at a time and placed them on a branch in one of his 20+ pine trees on the edge of his yard. When I placed the second, smaller owlet on the branch I happened to glance up and found a 3rd owlet on a branch above the two I'd just placed in the tree! What are the chances I'd choose the same tree a sibling was already in? I was sure they'd fledged but no way of knowing since the parents were not visible. I worried about them the last couple of days and finally called to see if they were okay. He said he'd checked later that night and the smaller one was back on the ground so he put it back on the tree branch with its one sibling. The next morning he had to get up and leave early before the sun was up and decided to check on them with a flashlight. He found two still in the tree and when he got close an adult swooped down at him making lots of noise. So looks like they are being taken care of.

Gladiolus Finished!

2009-03-27T06:32:00.000-05:00

I finally finished quilting the gladiolus. I stitched from the center of the flower outwards in the shape of the petals. I used a red-orange thread throughout except on the small yellow area to the right. That was the lightest spot and I wanted it to stand out to show the light hitting it directly. I also removed some of the yellow lines on the lower petal. They just didn't seem to be quite right. The yellow-orange background piece seemed to have wavy lines heading upward so I heavily quilted it using the same wavy line pattern. I've never used so much quilting on a piece before and it is very flat!

I probably procrastinated most on the binding. I knew a regular binding would be too heavy for the quilt and a satin stitch would ruin the richness of the quilt. I finally opted to use a very small piping that was left over from a large bed quilt I finished two years ago. I actually put that on before I did any of the quilting. The orange fabric in the piping is not like any of the other oranges in the quilt and I feel may have worked well for that reason.

Small Work

2009-03-13T06:29:00.000-05:00

I've accomplished another small quiltlet about 9" x 11" in size. Winter just won't leave us this year and Tuesday I got up to a coating of ice on everything canceling school yet again. We'll be going all summer at this rate! Anyway, a day at home gave me a day of playing with fabric. I took an old magazine picture from my collection folder and made it using all cool colors. Quilt in a day! Maybe having a day off now and again and confined to the house isn't so bad?

I scanned it into the computer rather than photograph the piece since the colors turn out more natural this way, but the binding is not shown, either. I didn't quite know what to do for the binding when I started but when I laid it atop a piece of dark blue-violet it worked, so I just cut the binding from that which made a nice frame for the quiltlet, too.

Originals

2009-02-28T17:45:00.001-06:00

I thought that maybe I should also post pictures of the original photo of the gladiolus and the contour drawing that I made from the photo before making the analogous picture seen below. I chose to do the flower in the top center of the photo.

Analogous Color Quilt

2009-02-27T19:34:00.000-06:00

The latest step in my book study was to make an analogous color quilt. It took me two hours last night to cut out and fuse all the pieces together into the 8 1/2" x 11" size you see here. I don't know when I'll get it quilted but I don't think it turned out too badly? These are colors I don't often use, although they're in my stash for when I do, so a challenge for me. The photo was of a magenta gladiolus I grew a few years ago. Of course the background was green then but red, orange, and yellow are the analogous colors I chose and in the end the yellow and orange blended fabric worked best.

Blizzard Work

2009-01-13T10:05:00.001-06:00

The winds were to start yesterday afternoon but after getting up to minimal snow from Monday night as predicted I felt we'd dodged the bullet so to speak. It was my recess duty day at school so I had boots and everything else inside with me. The announcement came about 1:15 that we were dismissing school early since the winds had come up and it was snowing. I had to call all parents to decide what to do with their children. Once they were gone I was free to leave. I had one snow boot on and then decided that maybe I should put on my ski pants in school rather than squirm into them in a crammed car. I have a 7 1/2 mile drive home on country roads and once out in the country it was total white-out conditions. The fastest speed I could attain was 20 mph when I could see bits of the road in front of me. When not, I hit the brakes since I couldn't see where I was headed. I had no idea where I was most of the time and feared I'd miss the turn to head north. Found it and 2 miles from home I was startled to come upon a vehicle in the middle of the road and a person standing beside it!!! I hit the brakes and realized it was my neighbor and her daughter who had gotten stuck in a drift with her mini-van. I could see well enough to 'think' that I could get around them and proceeded to do so barely missing scraping the sides of the two vehicles. Once around I got out and blew back to their vehicle and talked them into getting in with me for the two mile ride to my house. The force of the winds blowing me to them and fighting back to my Honda CRV were unbelievable! We knew where drifts formed on the road ahead but couldn't tell where we were anyhow. We finally made it to my house and she called her husband to come get them. Her husband said he had to stop 3 times in the one mile distance from their house to mine. It took me 40 minutes to drive the 7 1/2 miles home.

The school buses all returned to school loaded with children and I guess the office found places for all of them to stay in town. Some homes had as many as 10 extra kids for the night. Only 3 teachers made it home last night with the rest remaining in town, too. All highways in northeast Nebraska were closed last night many blocked with accidents. Today no school again due to blocked roads. And we're to get another round of snow and wind tonight again! Looks like we'll be having year-round school with all the snow days we'll be making up.

Once home I worked on and finished a small wall hanging for a challenge group I am part of. I have always loved watching birds and their antics, but have only once before included them in any of my quilts. I chose to depict my favorite bird, the Black-capped Chickadee, in this quilt. He looks cold on a bare branch surrounded by Bittersweet.

New Website

2008-12-20T15:37:00.000-06:00

Boy, what a difference a month can make weather-wise. It was fairly warm through Thanksgiving but has gone downhill (way downhill) since. We've been in the deepfreeze for the past couple of weeks with temperatures barely getting above zero. Then yesterday we got whalloped with 10 inches of snow when we were predicted to only get 1-3 inches. The winds started blowing before dawn and haven't quit all day. I wonder how long before the plows are able to get out to move the drifts so I can return to my last two days of teaching before winter break begins on Dec. 23rd at 2 p.m.?

I bought a new Apple computer in September and have been learning to use it since. For a few dollars more per year I even got my own website which I finally got published and running yesterday. Check it out when you have the time!

http://web.me./bluebird47

Second project

2008-12-07T11:09:00.001-06:00

This one went quite easily compared to the following Christmas quilt. I managed to finish it in about 3 days. Each month my quilt guild has a monthly mini quilt made by a guild member. All who attend the monthly meetings may choose to purchase raffle tickets for that month's quilt. The lucky person gets to take the wall hanging, table runner, etc. home with them that night. The monies raised go into the guild's special projects coffers.
My turn is for the January monthly mini. I'll plan to take it with me next week since one never knows what the weather can be like in January and since I live an hour's drive away I feel it best to get the wall hanging there early. I love watching birds and finally decided to make the quilt bird-related. The Cardinals in the corners were fussy cut from some fabric I already had. If you know anything about birds you'll also know that Cardinals won't go near a nest box but their coloring went well with what I'd chosen for the border fabric so I used that.

Fall Projects

2008-12-07T10:41:00.000-06:00

Back at teaching and I don't have as much time to do much of anything. Second grade students have a lot more energy than I do and it takes a lot to keep up with them most days. With Christmas approaching they have only one thing on their minds and it's not much on learning so I have to try to make the lessons exciting enough to keep their attention. Phew!

My quilt guild did have a Christmas challenge for "Christmas Around the World" in which we were to choose a country and make a quilt to depict Christmas there. I chose Czechoslovakia for two reasons. The first was because my grandparents, although German, emigrated from there to the U.S. in the early 1900s. The second reason was that I felt no one else would choose this country.

But then came the challenge for me. The Czechs believe that on December 6th Svety Mikalas comes down from the heavens on a gold rope accompanied by an angel and a devil. He carries a book listing all the children's names as having been good or bad. Those who were good get a back of treats and those who were bad get a bag of coal. Nothing I found mentioned the devil or angel after that but I'm guessing that they passed out the bags to those children in the good or bad categories.

I had a hard time putting a devil on a Christmas quilt but in the end came up with a way to do this without hurting the image of the quilt. I chose to make the devil 2-sided using a very heavy Pellon batting. Then I simply pinned him onto the rope. He can easily be removed later and I plan then to replace him with another angel or just leave the quilt as is without him.

Breaking Traditions

2008-09-08T19:56:00.000-05:00

Finally my computer is working again with a new computer! So I can upload and share my entry for Breaking Traditions sewing expo in Michigan. I chose to honor Hospice. They are a wonderful group who cared for my mother in her final hours. They understand so well what the family is going through. I placed a Hospice worker caring for someone encircling them with not only their hands but all of the Hospice workers. Their hands help to brighten a person's final days but in the end must fade away but are still there for the remaining family members as needed.

Neil Diamond's World Tour 2008

2008-07-23T07:04:00.000-05:00

Neil Diamond has always been my first love and always will. Don't tell my husband that, though. He was wonderful to take me to my second Neil Diamond concert in the last 3 years last night. The first concert the seats weren't so great but last night's were 9th row center! I could count the wrinkles around his beautiful brown eyes. He still has less than me, I think, and he's older. ND's voice hasn't faltered a bit from his early years. He still has some great, but not as hard, hip movements. I tried to take some illegal photos last night, but with the stage lighting and the photo police constantly moving around looking to snatch my camera and me and exit us from the show, it was a difficult task. My other camera would have been better but this one fit in my purse so these photos will have to do.
Boy, do I love this man. I could enjoy his show nightly.

Quilt Guild Grabbag Challenge

2008-07-20T17:20:00.000-05:00

Not only did I participate in the Quiltart Grabbag Challenge but our local guild also sponsored a grabbag challenge. WOW! Did I get a bag of neat oriental fabrics and embellishments! Lots of orange that needed some toning down so I added some purples and a bit of yellow. I then found some of my own oriental fabric with cranes, cut them out and fused them to the quilt to come up with "Following the North Winds". Tomme Fent turned out to be the owner of the fabric and resulting quilt.

We exchanged them last Monday night and oh, did we have some great quilts! Mine was made by Catherine Grigg and was definitely the brightest. I love what she did with the fabrics. She titled it "A Postcard from Quilter's Beach'. Isn't it great and wouldn't you love to have it hanging on your wall?

Grabbag Challenge

2008-07-20T13:11:00.001-05:00

I recently participated in the Quiltart Grabbag Challenge. My first and it makes one both nervous and excited. I wondered who received my fabrics and would they like them. Once finished with the grabbag I received I wondered if that person would like the quilt I made for them.

What a relief to finally get mine back. Maureen Lardie did a wonderful job making "Beaded Curtain" from my fabrics and I would not have thought to use them this way ever! I do enjoy looking at it and see new things each time.

I made "Green Mile Squared" for Franziska Gruenig of Switzerland. Lots of greens and purples in this quilt. I added some orange squares and paint to get more color.

All in all it was a great learning experience forcing me to construct something in a short time using another's choice of fabric. Something everyone should do occasionally.

Another Rare Bird Here!

2008-06-17T11:06:00.000-05:00

I can't quilt but I can enjoy the birds. I've been an avid bird watcher since high school when it was a required biology unit of study and I found I enjoyed it. Anyway, we came home from my granddaughter's 11th birthday on Sunday when I glanced out the window and saw a dove on the farthest feeder. Something different about him and then I realized it was a southwestern species: White-winged Dove. He flew before my husband could see him but he flew over twice afterwards when we were out looking for him. I got my camera out just in case and an hour later he finally came back to the feeders. I quickly took several photos of him through the window again digi-scoping. They're good pictures but not as sharp as they could be not shooting through the window.
This is the 3rd southwestern/western species I've had in my yard. The first was a Black-throated Sparrow in 1993. The second was a Say's Phoebe in 1997 and now the dove. Too bad digital cameras and digi-scoping were unknown then. The sparrow was the 3rd documented record for Nebraska. The phoebe is a resident of the western area of the state and appeared here for several years but were never able to establish a long-time residency. The doves appeared in Kearney several years ago and have been seen sporadically in various areas of the state since. This is the farthest northeast reported. He is pretty bird with the bright red feet and blue around the eye extending up from the bill.

Trigger Thumb

2008-06-10T16:53:00.000-05:00

Thi a.m. I had surgery to fix my trigger thumb that developed quite suddenly in March. Not only was it catching badly (difficult to turn a page in a book) but quite painful the past couple of weeks. I worked to finish up most of my 'need to be done' quilt projects since I can do very little with it for two weeks and then gradually work back into doing things. I've discovered I can type fairly well, but slowly and only one-handed, but I almost get dizzy watching to make sure I hit the right keys and then still have several misses to correct. You can see from the photo that it's well bandaged for the next 3-4 days.

My new sunroom was finished just in time for me to sit in and read while my thumb heals. Lovely views of the surrounding farm ground, too.

Washington D.C. Trip

2008-06-08T11:51:00.000-05:00

A lovely time of the year to visit, especially when my only cost was my airline ticket and food. I stayed with my sister in her hotel since her room was paid for by her job. For two days I did the usual tourist things. I always enjoy visiting the National Archives to see those documents that gave rise to the United States. Clear blue skies made for wonderful monument viewing and photographs. My only complaint was the hordes of high school students there on a supposedly 'educational' trip. They are rude in small groups but in great, mobbing numbers awful. They didn't listen to their sponsors, nor were they in any of those wonderful places to learn. They were obnoxious and purposefully disrupted others' viewing, interests. The Holocaust Museum was one of the worst. They had no idea what had happened nor did they care to learn about this atrocity.

After visiting the National Art Museum we walked up a different hill to catch the Metro back to the hotel. We came upon a wonderful little art gallery that had large fiberart figures inside. We decided to go in and were fortunate to meet the artist, Chris Maloney, and had a very informative talk with him about how he made his figures and some of his past. See for yourself by visiting his website: http://cmaloneyart.com/ . You won't be disappointed.

On a whim we made a visit to Alexandria, VA and although there were lots of people there they were polite and non-rude because of course, they weren't high school students. It's a lovely old town with lots of history (shopping, too) and I would suggest anyone visiting the area go there for a more relaxing time.

All my airline connections with Northwest were early and on-time so my flight was great, too.

Birds Out my Window

2008-05-26T08:21:00.000-05:00

Nothing new to post in the way of quilts yet but since I am also an avid bird-watcher I thought I could post some photos that I've taken. Once the apple trees finally bloomed after a late start due to such a cold spring they were hopping with birds. I've had both Baltimore and Orchard Orioles along with Ruby-throated Hummingbirds drinking the nectar from the blossoms. Cedar Waxwings were actually picking off one at a time the petals from the blossoms and eating them! Robins, Red-headed, Downy, and Hairy Woodpeckers, Brown Thrasher, flycatchers and warblers eat any insects in the trees. American Goldfinch, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Indigo Bunting sit and wait for a spot at my near-by feeders. With all the Orange, Blue, Yellow, Black and White with a back drop of white apple blossoms and green grass makes from a lovely, colorful yard. Besides their color, their song fills the yard with melodious sound. We've even had Wild Turkey in the yard one evening.

The first picture is of a male Baltimore Oriole, the second a male Rose-breasted Grosbeak, third a male Orchard Oriole, fourth a male Indigo Bunting, fifth a male American Goldfinch, and last a gorgeous Cedar Waxwing taken during a rain shower.

To get these pictures I digi-scoped using my small Sony Cybershot camera placed against the lens of my spotting scope. This acts like a zoom lens for a larger camera. I think they're not too bad considering they were also shot through 2 panes of glass.

Rejected

2008-04-23T06:34:00.000-05:00

My Quilting Arts calendar entry was a reject so guess I can post it here for comments. Ah well, it will hang on the wall or become a gift to someone so all is not lost. Maybe next time...

I've always enjoyed coming home in the evenings when it's warm and sitting in my swing with bare feet and enjoying the wildlife and flowers. I live in the country so the beauty can sometimes be breath-taking especially in spring and fall when colors are at their height. My only wish is that I could do this year-round instead of seasonally. It gets too darn cold here in winters! And this year winter just doesn't want to leave. Spring has been darn cold, too!

Dandelions!

2007-05-07T06:54:00.000-05:00

Irritating as they are in one's yard, they are pretty. I have umpteen small scraps lying around I just can't throw away. I started to piece them together and ended up with what I titled 'Dandelion Spring'. Those already going to seed, and it doesn't take long, I constructed with holes in the center. They always seem to be battling with whatever is around them for space so bloom at all heights. I purposefully did not make any of the corners 90 degrees to show the irregular growth patterns of dandelions.

The Contribution of Q50 in Technicolor

2007-04-09T19:32:00.000-05:00

I began this quilt in a rectangular shape and found I didn't like it much. So I cut it into 5 pieces, slid them up or down and fused them to a solid piece of backing. I then cut the backing to fit the shape of the top pieces, satin-stitched around the edges and between the pieces and produced something I've never tried before. It was hard cutting into a piece but I think I like the finished product much better. I'm also planning to enter it into a juried, mixed-media art exhibit. This will be my first attempt at anything like this and it will be interesting to see if they feel that fiberart fits their mixed media selections. If accepted I will be quite anxious to read the judges' comments. What do you all think? This is to represent bridges connecting DNA molecules, thus the title.

Bridge Attempt

2007-03-22T20:36:00.000-05:00

I decided to try cutting old fabric scraps into small strips and see what I could do. I found my biggest mistake was attempting to make the quilt art piece too big to handle well. Although I pinned everything well under the tulle it still wanted to move around. If I try this method again I'll cut smaller pieces and make a smaller quilt than 20" x 24 " as 'Fishing Bridge' now is.

It's been awhile since I've posted

2007-02-22T18:58:00.000-06:00

I guess that means I don't lead a very exciting life. Rather than doing many art quilts I've been working on trying to use up some of those many scraps that I can't seem to throw away. I've been making child-sized quilts to donate to my guild's Sunshine Quilt project for children. I'm now working on #7 and still have enough scraps for probably two more.

It's also the time of the year when I make a throw size quilt with my second grade class. This is the tenth year I've done this. In all but 2 years the quilts have been given to a resident of our local care center. Folded in half it can be used as a lap quilt and open it's large enough to cover them when they lay on their beds. Two years the quilts were raffled for local fund raisers. The first raised $1800 for our new playground equipment and the second raised $450 for a project to purchase snack food items and cards, etc. to send to the soldiers in Iraq from our school. This year's quilt will again go to a care center resident.

After initially complaining about it being a 'girl's project', the boys love doing the machine sewing and hand sewing as much if not more than the girls. You can tell by the photo that they all seem pleased with their product. Here they're shown with a handprint that they hand quilted around. I then mounted them in embroidery hoops and sent them home.

Happy New Year!

2007-01-01T12:16:00.000-06:00

I haven't been doing much creatively as of late. Too many other things and not enough time to do a good job or think about what I'm doing. I spent much of Christmas vacation from my elementary teaching job trying to use up some of the many scraps I can't seem to toss and using some of the old fabric I have stashed away. I used them to make 3 small, child-size quilts to give to my local quilt guild's project where the quilts go to children who have been in an accident or removed from a dangerous home situation. I still have LOTS of fabric to use for something along this line.
I am working on a couple of small, more artistic projects of which I'll post pictures later.
I am also an avid bird-watcher so my husband and I have taken some time to search for the few winter birds around this winter. I did add two new life birds (both gulls) in two days time, but had to drive 2 1/2 hrs. for one and 5 1/2 hrs. for the other but well worth it and if you watch birds you'll understand this. If not, wellllll... Today I'm trying to see how many I can tally for the new year of 2007. Thus far I'm up to 14 seen from my warm kitchen window. I'd hoped the snow yesterday would have brought in more species than it has. Maybe it's time for a short walk outside and some very fresh air as a bonus.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-23T07:48:00.000-06:00

We're off to my daughter's soon. It's the first time in many years that I haven't had to cook and clean for a group. Kind of nice to look forward to taking it easier this holiday. It's quite foggy outside, though, so I hope it clears before we have to make the 1 hr. drive there.

I finished the last of the Christmas postcards last night. I'll only send a few to people this year since most will be tossed out anyhow with the regular Christmas cards after the holidays. I've included a photo of a the last two here. Now maybe I can work on something larger again, although the pcs are addictive since they are so quick and varied.

Christmas Cards

2006-11-18T19:31:00.000-06:00

Christmas will be here quicker than I'd like. This year I decided to make a few people a fabric postcard for their card. Hopefully they'll decide it's special enough to keep more than just a couple of weeks. I'll try a couple of more before resorting to the usual store-purchased variety for most of those on my list.

The Jabberwock

2006-10-29T12:22:00.000-06:00

The latest challenge for my Fast Friday Fabric Yahoo group was to make a quilt in one week that depicted the poem The Jabberwock by Lewis Carol. Talk about difficult! When first read it appears to be a dark poem but since it can mean different things to different people I decided to construct a quilt that wasn't quite so 'dark'. I chose to interpret the challenge and to depict the Jabberwock as winter roaming through the forest, settling in, and darkening all things bright and beautiful for several months. I also decided to use brighter colors to show winter as a season beautiful in its own way.
The leaves seem to be hung on the branch not willing to let go of autumn but one by one will fall to winter's rath, as one is depicted as doing. The chilly winds are blowing across the quilt with a mix of the first snow flakes.
Then since I also belong to a Tiny Textiles Yahoo group with the challenge piece not to exceed 10" in any direction I decided to make this a small quilt to fit this group's parameters, too. It's due on October 31st so the two worked together well. The quiltlet is 10" x 6 1/2" in size.
Today's weather is anything but wintry like. But it sounds as though it will be the last since Halloween is to be quite cool again. We plan to clean out our small pond this afternoon and bring the fish into the basement for the winter. Washing my car is also in the plans. Not often we have 70+ degree temps this late in October.

Hot Air Balloons

2006-10-15T18:21:00.000-05:00

Below left: Looking stacked at different heights
Below right: Wakefield, NE from above

For the past 3 years my small community has hosted a hot air balloon festival. Last year was a washout due to rain and strong winds. But this year was perfect! The balloonists were able to fly both Saturday morning and again Saturday afternoon. To me, there's nothing more spectacular than seeing those gorgeous balloons lift so gracefully up and into the blue sky. We've had a family of balloonists stay with us the past couple of years. Lovely family and we enjoy talking to them and learning more about hot air ballooning. If I was 20 years younger I'd have to have one! My husband, Richard, helped out yesterday morning and was rewarded with a flight with the balloonist, Wayne, in his hot air balloon, The Wild Goose. He quickly discovered why I think they're so wonderful. Yesterday afternoon I was fortunate to fly with Wayne. The patterns and colors from above are unbelievable! One floats along in the peace and quiet with only an occasional rush of propane when he fills the balloon with more hot air to keep it
afloat. Wayne said he thought floating at one steady altitude was boring so we were up and down. Once we skimmed the tops of the corn stalks with no harm to the corn and then with a rush of hot air lifted up again. It's an awesome experience and I'd recommend taking a flight to everyone if you haven't had this wonderful experience!

Top left: Inflating 'The Wild Goose'
Top right: Looking up at the parachute from inside the basket.
Below left: Night Glow
Below right: Balloons in the distance at varying heights

More Work

2006-10-14T06:07:00.000-05:00

The apple harvest is winding down giving me more time to be a bit creative, I hope! We've never had so many nice, tasty apples before! I've cut, peeled and sliced 6 gallons into the freezer for use this winter and eaten countless others. Every day for the past month I've taken apples to my students at school (the reverse of students bringing apples to the teacher) for them to eat for an afternoon snack. They were disappointed when I told them yesterday that there would be no more snack apples.

I've completed a few more postcards. Since I'm trying to make each different I sometimes have a creative 'block' but with only one more to make to reach my 24 I think I can do it!

Above left is "Primarily Colored" and right is "Copper Sun Rising".

Since I live close to the Mighty Mo (Missouri River) I thought I'd try a small landscape depicting this sometimes majestic rambling river. Only a few spots remain as they were when Lewis and Clark made their way to Oregon on it.

8 More Postcards

2006-10-01T18:14:00.000-05:00

I finished the second set of 8 postcards for the exchange today. They're fun but I think I'll have to take a breather to finish other things before completing the last set of 8 and sending them off to the recipients. I have to learn to say 'No' to more projects, but they're so much fun!
Hope you enjoy looking at these as much the first 8.

Small Quilts

2006-09-17T14:45:00.000-05:00

I've enjoyed doing some small quilts recently. They are fun and quick to create plus they give me the opportunity to try a different technique on a small basis.

These are two postcards I've made:

Grapes of Plenty

Nebraska Sandhills Sunrise

These two I made for the Tiny Textiles Challenge:

That Blazin' Sun

4 1/2" x 7"

Newest Star on Broadway

6" x 9"

Wild Friday Night

2006-09-16T18:22:00.000-05:00

September 16, 2006

Weather-wise anyhow. Lots of thunder, lightning, hail, buckets of rain. One bolt of lightning banged right overhead and we wondered all night what it hit. This a.m. we couldn't find a thing that was touched so I'm wondering if it wasn't lateral lightning? It was loud and the entire yard was white. Today and into tonight we're under a tornado watch.

I finally finished a queen-sized bed quilt I'd begun last winter but got very tired of all those points and repetitiveness of the pattern. The past few years I've gotten more into smaller wall and/or art quilts. Not that they're any easier to complete, but more satisfying as I work and finish them. Last week I finished a 24" x 36" quilt for Project Kid Comfort that depicted Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale, The Nightingale. Who knows what is next?

I'm thrilled that I will be taking some art quilt classes at QSDS next summer with Esterita Austin and Katie Pasquini Masopust. I've long admired their work and couldn't believe my good fortune to find them both teaching at the same time. That bright spot will help me get through our long, cold, prairie winter not far off.