k. grace howes - barnyardchatter

Park City Girl: Calling All Quilters!

2009-04-16T17:52:00.000-04:00

New Home

2008-08-14T17:25:00.009-04:00

I've moved!

No, not me silly........my blog.

"It" finally had enough whatever it needed to move all my posts over to Wordpress. I had been trying to import my posts for the last few days and it keep telling me...

....error...Error...ERROR daggumit!

(I'm sure that was blogger and not my new blog server, hee hee)

So now you can find me at www.barnyardchatter.wordpress.com. I will leave this blog up for a little while so you guys won't think I've abandoned you and you'll know where to find me. I anticipate a great future with Wordpress and little ole me.

I can't wait to fancy up my new location (cause you know everyone has to redecorate when you move to a NEW HOUSE......or, for that matter, anytime the urge hits you, LOL) so...

.....come on over to my new loft,
.....settle down on a comfy haystack
.....and keeeeeeeeep reading.

Thanks y'all. I'm so excited (I hear music, don't you?)

p.s. don't forget to update the URL of any feeders you might subscribe to.

See ya next time "In the Hayloff" at Wordpress.

Drive by Photos

2008-08-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

Last year as I was driving home I spotted a tree formation that I had not noticed before. The next time I passed by I was ready with camera at hand. I've continued to do this, taking quick photos (no focusing or anything of course) and love the pics that come from this way of photographing.

I promised the last bit of pics from our trip this past weekend. It's a great way to document a ride that might otherwise be....(dare I say it)......boring. So here goes. Anything is fair game.

Fancy Gap

This first one is a pic of Fancy Gap, that awe inspiring view btwn NC and VA that I actually caught this time, thanks to insistence by the husband. Usually when we travel along here I'm crouching down in the chair, hands over my eyes cause I can't stand see the drop over the side.

Bikers We Be

Next, we followed behind these guys for-ever! But they were cool cause they were booking it just as we were. (oh no, don't call the cops on us). At one point they did some sort of sign language only bikers could understand and then they split and and rode off separately. I couldn't get over that the guy on the right had his feet sticking up for most of the time were watching them. Wouldn't that be uncomfartable after a while??

Big Wheels Keep on Turning

As you know when you travel the highways and bi-ways of the American road you will encounter the large behemouth trucks. Coming from the Bahamas (Grand Bahama to be exact) where it only takes 5 minutes to get anywhere, there's no need for them. This was a new site for me to get used to when we first moved here umpteen years ago. They've now become muses for my camera.

Runaway Trucks?? Oh my!

The next is a pic of the "runaway truck ramp" (that tan dirt area in the background of the pic) that you find every so often along the highway. For the longest time I wondered how/why/what... until I saw a truck (a while ago now) needing to use it. It's scary to think that it works and the truck didn't topple over (it's got large built up ramps of firm dirt along its path). But it worked thank goodness.

In a Blur

This green blurb is a shot of the trees/bushes at the side of the highway traveling 70-ish (yeh right, hubby was driving). I think it's so way cool. I'm gonna have to do something with this one but don't know just yet.

Serenity

And I couldn't finish without a pic of the beautiful sky we had (love to take these).....just before we encountered a really bad thunderstorm. Look at the blues in there! One of these days I'm gonna dye a piece just like that.

Thanks for coming on my adventure on the highway. Hope you enjoyed the view.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Have a Good laugh

2008-08-13T12:00:00.001-04:00

Judy Coates Perez has posted a funny little clip on her blog. In this political age we live in it's good to have a chuckle sometimes . Check it out here.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Pandora Painting

2008-08-13T08:00:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we had our regular Pandora art group meeting. We decided that we need to have more "play dates" in amongst our regular meetings so, with the new Rayna Gilman book in hand, "Create Your Own Handprinted Cloth", we went at it. If you have ever wanted to try some"deconstructed" stuff (or for that matter, to take out any latent frustrations) get this book!

Did you know that just letting loose is F-U-N?

I let all inhibitions float out the window and just painted with abandon. I had originally dyed a half yard of fab and then decided to add to it by dyeing again in blobs (who the heck knew why).

Well.......I ended up not liking the second round that much (1st pic) so I put it aside and eventually would have come back to it. I did name this piece "Potcake" after all for a reason.

When we decided to paint and experiment I thought, why not see what the third time will bring. I started by using the brayer to paint stamps then painted the image that I got on the brayer onto the fab. That wasn't enough!! I then stamped a grid work all over...hand got real messy here...it was soooooo cool.

That wasn't enough either! HA! So I decided to use some Lumiere Paints, Halo Gold and Pearl Blue. I pulled the seal, with included handle no less, off the dark blue that I had not opened yet and held it in my hands. Mmmh....

I screamed with wild joy cause (brainstorm here) I could use the jar seal as a painting tool (so don't throw yours away next time, hee hee). So then, what else? How bout some splatter? Bring out the toothbrush. Started to splatter, took too long then just rubbed the brush in the paints and scratched it across the surface. VOILA!!!!

I LOVE IT! Don't you?

BTWm be sure to check out Susan's post about our painting adventure here.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Catching Up

2008-08-12T22:40:00.005-04:00

Well, here I am again, checking in and glad to be back in my own bed.....you know, the comfortable stuff you know like the stuffy pillow that fits your head right or the lumps and bumps of the mattress you know by heart.

We had a great time, just the few days and my friend (who is expecting twins) is so very exhausted. She looks like she's overdue, poor thing, and she's still got 2 more months to go! Thanks goodness I had them one at a time.

I got a chance to got to New York City with my kids so we took the train from Summit, NJ (where we used to live) into the city. Besides seeing the city again we had a few missions...one wanted to visit a bead shop, the other wanted to visit an art shop and, of course, I wanted to visit a quilt shop in the Chelsea district.

I must say it was like arriving home again. I lived in NY for 2 1/2 yrs and as I stepped out of Penn Station, the ole feeling of "being in NYC" took over. The kids knew they had to bear with me for a few.

My daughter was estatic cause we found 4 bead shops for her to peruse. Funny thing is she came away with only four items. Can you believe that???? Sadly we didn't get to an art store for my son but.....I did find THE shop......yes, I got to shop...again.... in the The City Quilter. Wish I lived closer to it cause I'd be there all the time. It would be so cool to teach in too.

More pics later of my trip home and the"Drive by photos" I like to take. They are so cool.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Down Time

2008-08-06T00:01:00.004-04:00

We're headed on a family trip today so I won't be posting for a few days. Take care all.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Question for You

2008-08-03T16:51:00.006-04:00

I try to post a reply to all my comments (a big hunkin thank you to all of you who leave a comment) but don't know if you receive my reply post as an email.

If you don't, does anyone know how to make it happen in Blogger? or Wordpress?

The reason I ask about Wordpress is I'm actually thinking seriously about switching over to them. My art group blog, FAB (a wonderful bunch of ladies if I say so myself) is there and everytime I go to use it I find it a more managable thing to use. I like the format, ease of use and the fact that your photos are stored rather that have them floating in space with access only thru the posts.

I know some of you use Typepad (a pay-for-use service), how is that workin for ya? Inquiring minds want to know.

Oh...and hear's a peak at one of the fabs I dyed before the family invasion. Just got around to ironing and photographing them. I'm calling this one "Scrumptious Mud Pie". Wanna take a bite????

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Jounal Quilt Entry

2008-08-03T02:46:00.013-04:00

Got in my studio today but don't say hurrah for me just yet. Spent most of the day doing paperwork that had been neglected for the last few weeks. I am all caught up now, but just with the paperwork mind you....not with the computer work, so a small hurrah would be appropriate (smile).

In the next few days I will also have to get to work on updating my website and.........reveal my little secret thing I've been working on. Stay tuned for that.

Here's a pic of my entry for the Houston Journal quilt challenge. I can show you it because I ran into a frustrating problem and therefore didn't get it finished before the deadline.

I painted the whole piece but because I painted a few layers over one section it didn't take to being machine quilted well. I would have to say it protested strongly and must have thought it looked quite good just painted.

Here is the traitor and I've made sure to point out the culprit in the pic above. I was quilting it to resemble a gust of wind (you know...the AIR element silly) coming in from one direction. You can see the first swirl I created. They're some big a _ _ needle holes aren't they?

Thing is I really liked this piece too. This would have been my first juried competition too (pouting lips here).

Oh well.........on to other things.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

I'm Back!

2008-07-27T19:21:00.016-04:00

Grace is ready (well, almost ready) to get back to ART.

Gotta catch my breath first. It's been a whirlwind week with a couple of hiccups but, all in all, I think everyone had a good time.

They all left today and the house is somewhat back to normal. The kids, hubby and I have decided to take the rest of the day off. We'll start putting the house back together again..... tomorrow. As a matter of fact today, I've decided, is a pajama day. Laundry can definitely wait.

We had a lot planned for the visit, didn't get to all of it but that's usually what we do. Have a whole slew of things we want to do and pick from that list each day.

Believe you me getting 18 people ready to go out in 3 cars filled with 5 car seats is a job in itself so pinning anyone to a definite schedule is just asking for chaos to happen.

Some of the places we visited was Lazy 5 Ranch, Carowinds, US Nat'l Whitewater Rafting Center and Discovery Place. And of course, because they all live in the Bahamas, shopping is always a big part of our time together.

Tomorrow I will get back into my studio (which I truly have missed). I have to first clean up, put away to sleeping equipment then put everything back in place so I can find things readily again.

With the little ones around I thought it prudent to put away the really dangerous stuff and the things I wanted no little fingers messing with or breaking.

I've also been pratically hyperventilating about getting back to my lastest addiction.........Dyeing fabrics of course! Can't wait to get my yellow gloved hands back into the pots again and see the magic of colour I produce materialize right before my eyes. That feeling is just something that cannot be bottled.

Also, I've started a new blog but it's under wraps for now. The big reveal will be much later after I complete a few pieces for their deadlines.

Hope everyone had a good week!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Family Fun

2008-07-19T08:05:00.003-04:00

Every year my sisters and brothers, my mother and I gather somewhere and celebrate for a week the fact we are a family. With all the kids and husbands this little group numbers 19.

This week they all descend on my house for the next week as we celebrate a couple of milestone birthdays. My older sister turned _ _, (I'm not getting in trouble for mentioning her actual age), I turned 45 (btw, she is 5 yrs older--she never said I couldn't mention how much older that me she is and I'm sure your math is not that rusty) and my younger sister turned 40 this year.

Also my daughter turned the the BIG 16 yrs old and she decided she wanted to have her big blow out I-am-16-and-I drive-and-have-a-car party when they were all here.

So with that said you can imagine the cleaning and preping I've been doing to get the house ready for 14 people who all arrive today.

I'll be back online and back to my art (I've got to put some of them where ever they fit and my studio is being sacrificed...boo hoo) after they leave.

Have fun whatevever you are doing this week cause I sure will!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Cleaning Out

2008-07-09T07:00:00.001-04:00

If you're anything like me you have LOTS of items in your studio you just don't use anymore.

In trying to keep a fairly tidy area to work in I've decided it's time to purge some of the things hanging around (of course to make way for all the new stuff to come, hee hee)

So with that said I've listed some of these items, books mainly, for sale on Amazon. Check it out here. From time to time I will be updating this list when I dare to delve deeper into the abyss I call a bookshelf.

Have fun shopping!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

July TIF Concept

2008-07-08T07:00:00.004-04:00

Sharon says:

"The challenge this month is perhaps a bit obvious but I am going to ask …What is it to be at the half way mark?"

One of the things I'm proud of concerning this TIF challenge is that so far I've managed to keep up with it (except for May's of course which seems to be an ongoing, ever changing thought process on "how to describe myself as an artist").

I generally tend to finish things I start, mainly because I tend to harangue myself for not getting it done (while still procrastinating about it mind you). So the fact that I am at the halfway mark doesn't suprise me much. The fact that I am up to date with it is definitely knocking me off my chair (and some of you may know this about me...but love me anyway, hee hee).

Sharon took her concept apart and started thinking about it like this.... "Half" /"Way" /"Mark". She sees this leading into all sorts of directions.

One of the things that triggers my mind is the word "mark". I find I'm thinking more and more about mark making in terms of surface design and the workshop with Lyric Kinard I took last month has really brought it to the forefront. Remember I already have a fascination with words since I was a young tot so going in this direction isn't far off the mark...

......get it?..........off the mark????

HA!

Anyway, I've already have a piece started where I'm exploring mark making. I started with this dyed piece of fabric (above).

Then I filled a squeeze bottle fitted with a metal tip (easy to find at art/craft stores like Dharma Trading or Dick Blick) with a 50/50 mix of Jaquard black textile paint and textile medium.

...wrote on it a mind map of words related to my thoughts on this piece.

(sample writing at left)

I then tried flour paste resist, painting on it with Dye-Na-Flow paints. I pinned the fabric down to a base layer of white felt (double layer) and, on top of that, a torn section of an old sheet. [This helps keep the table from getting messy and makes a sturdy pressing base for surface design work].

Above you can see the flour resist painted fabric. I did however unpin the fabric to move to a more convenient spot. NO NO!....don't do that, leave it in position to dry taut, then unpin and scrunch the painted flour paste.

The effect was not exactly successful as you can see. My original idea was not to have the blobs but I think it's still usable, definitely needs more words.

The dots are drips of paint I dropped on it instead of painting in with a brush (very impatient person that I am, want things done now darn it!). The grayed out area in the center is the ONLY flour paste resist area.

So.......I would say it needs more.

Next, I'll use either a sheet of dotted computer paper and/or sequin waste to paint over (or under, haven't decided yet) in another colour.

At right is a smidgen of what I intend to do on this background piece but I've been so obsessed with trying out a bit of surface design that I went ahead with it on this one.

I have been carving some stamps and finally got all my supplies in to make some silk screens. More about that later.

What kind of surface design projects are you up to? Have you tried flour past resist? If you have leave a comment and let me in on the tricks for success....please, please.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Stash Quilt Finished

2008-07-07T13:28:00.016-04:00

I've been told that my "blog needs some loving" (podcast by Alison Stanfield ), that I should pay more attention to it and treat it like a baby.

You know the kind...they pee and poop (on automation) but can't really do anything for themselves. Why I would take on another child I don't know but I do enjoy talking to y'all (you'd think I was feeling my southern roots with the "y'all" thing. I don't have any southern roots in me at all......I'm a tropical lady at heart).

Anywho, I was going good for a while then....poof.......it stopped (I know it really was me that I stopped but I gave this baby life I can give it all the blame too).

So today's post is called catch up. I've been getting ready for my daughter's 16th birthday party and preparing for the Sheppard tribe (my family) to decend upon my house. Plus I am hosting my annual Dye Party next week and still have a couple of pieces to finish for deadlines that are looming. Okay, that was catch up, now on to the good stuff....ART.

Here's the lastest pics of one of things that has taken me away from you. I'm still doing the TIF Challenge and did finish my June piece but never posted about it (yes, shame shame you say). If you recall, June was about stashes. I showed the literal pics of my stash and below you'll find my interpretation of it.

My stash started out real large (the bottom stone) because, if you remember correctly, I went thru my "greedy" phase as if the fabrics manufacturers would run out of fabs at any moment. As I climbed this ever fantastic cairn of stones I've created I realize that my stash did not (yes I said "did NOT") have to be THAT big, especially as I've resigned myself to now making smaller pieces. This one is measures 13" square.

I have not yet reached the peak (come on now......you ever think I'll have that little bit of fabs that represent the cairn's peak????). I don't know that I ever will or, for that matter, want to but I'm getting closer to finding the center, MY center, the comfortable place, the reasonable phase where fabric obsession is not necessary any more. I'd say I'm somewhere between the middle red stone and the gold one.

I am okay with having what just what I need instead of what I think I ought to have.

Have you had a stash redo recently or planning one? Have you made a "stash" piece to represent your "rack of fabs"? Leave a comment and let me know where you are in your stash phase or, for that matter, anything else on your mind.

See you next time "In the Hayloft",

Busy but Still Smiling

2008-06-27T22:08:00.006-04:00

I've been real busy caught in "catch-up" work and didn't realize until yesterday that I did not post this past Monday. What horror!

Naughty, naughty.

Anyway, to make you smile today I found this blog (excuse the title please) that had me taking some time to chuckle. Hope you do too.

Here is "where's Matt?" .....

Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Isn't it funny how everybody really gets into it?

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Reading Blogs

2008-06-17T16:47:00.010-04:00

I love to read other people's blogs, That's one of the highlights of my day (if I get to it) to see what other artists are up to. I've subscribe to about 50 blogs (so far) and am finding new ones all the time.

I came upon a blog yesterday by Peggy (don't ask me how I got there) who is from Germany and, unfortunately, I can't speak or read a lick of German. Now I have an out because my daughter is fluent in the language having attended a German Immersion school since kindergarden. But I would rather read the post myself.

I left a comment for Peggy telling her I wish I could understand what she had written cause I love viewing her work. She wrote back saying it was hard for her to translate all of her posts to English (boy do I understand that). That's when I went googling and found......TaDa.......translation widgets for blogs.

Who the heck knew that!!

I figured if I can't read a blog post that's written in another language then there are artists out there who experience the same when they come to my blog (bummer) so I added another little widget to my sidebars. Check it out now over there on the right...go on...click on your flag.

If you read my blog regularly (and hopefully you are...right???) and your native language is not English let me know how this new widget works. Looking for some good feedback here.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

And the Winners of the Dyed Fabrics Are....

2008-06-16T13:14:00.017-04:00

I'm So Excited!!!!!

Thanks to all of you for leaving a comment on my Dyed Fabrics blog post. I loved what each of you wrote and can't wait to get your little pieces of colour heaven on its way to you.

As I mentioned before I used a random number generator (RNG) to pick the 7 winners of my first dyed fabric give-away.

Each of you were assigned a number and to make it easy I just used the chronilogical order in which you posted, Joyce would be #1; Karoda -#2; Karrin -#3 and so on. Plugging the numbers into the RNG it scrambled your numbers and spit out a list which is (drum roll please).........................

2 - 3 - 9 - 6 - 7 - 10 - 1 - 5 -4 -8.

The 7 winners are Karoda, Karrin, freebird, Karen, Judy, Yetunde and Joyce. Congratulations to all and look for me to have more give aways when I dye more fabrics. (y'all don't know how hooked I am on this now...oh boy, there goes the budget).

(Unfortunately because I got a comment from "Anonymous" I could not put you in the running because I have no way to get in contact with you. Sorry bout that).

I won't tell you which fabric you won because I want it to be a surprise when you get in in the mail so get cracking and email me your mailing address now (see sidebar for my email addy).

Please email me a pic of whatever you decided to make with your winning fat quarter of fabric. I'd love to see them and post them here.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

p.s. don't know if you know but I gave each fab a name, click on the individual fabrics in this post and hover over the enlarged pic to find them out.

Sad Sad News Day

2008-06-15T19:25:00.010-04:00

I am blown away by the death of Tim Russert as I'm sure most of you are that watched his political commentary.

We knew he was really good at his job but the extraordinary man that he was has only been truly revealed to us in the "Remembering Tim" programs that have been airing this weekend.

Seems he was bigger than life and more caring than any of us, his audience, ever suspected.

We will sorely miss you Tim........your insight, your honesty, your tenacity, your BIG heart, your loyalty to friends and, most of all, your ultimate and all consuming love for your son Luke and your Dad, Big Russ.

Our hearts go out to your family. Sleep long and well,

Dyed Fabrics

2008-06-10T10:00:00.002-04:00

I know I gave you just a small glimpse of the fabric I dyed last week. Well here's a close-up.

Wet your appetite!

Feast in the colour!

Indulge your imagination!

Random Drawing

I'm feeling indulgent so for the next week I'll be holding a drawing. Leave a comment and you will be in the running for one fat quarter of one of these lovelies. I will be using a random number generator to pick the winners so everyone gets a chance to win.

Don't forget to leave your email addy so I can contact you if you're one of the winners. Good luck! Drawing ends June 15th.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

New Artwork

2008-06-09T22:25:00.018-04:00

I was priviledged to take a workshop with Lyric Kinard this past Saturday. We worked on a surface design sampler of techniques including carving stamps, screen printing and beading.

Thanks to a fun time and a great instructor, today I actually finished the project from a workshop for the first time. Yippee!

The technique sampler is a great way to to learn a few things without taking an intense workshop on one technique you're not sure you will use again.

For instance I am so into carving stamps these days and learned some great tips from Lyric AND I've discovered I love, love, love screen printing.

So much so that I'm now trying to find a thermofax machine (old fashioned mimeograph) that someone has hidden somewhere just collecting dust so I can make my own screens.

If you know where I can get one on the cheap, let me know PLEASE. Until then I'll have to send out to Lyric to get them made.

I really like the finished journal. I'm thinking Christmas gifts this year.

journal spine

back cover

stamped/foiled word

inside cover

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Colour Play

2008-06-07T09:15:00.006-04:00

For the last few weeks I've been promising myself a treat...to dedicate a day to dyeing some fabs (finally). Let me tell you I am soooooooooo exhausted because Wed is also the day we had a high of 100 degrees. BOY was it hot.

First good decision: do not set up in the back garden which was my original intention. so off to the garage I go and pull down the table and set my area up, my trusty dog Logan right there to keep me company.

It was also better this way cause the large sink was right there to use instead of the garden hose out back.

Today was just experimentation to get back into the groove of things. I went at it with no set agenda, no specific colours to dye or any expectations on the outcome. The only thing I had I my mind was "What if...?".

Safety first, I donned my respirator and made my dye concentrates and went at it. Only had a few dye pots left so I knew this was not going to be a big batch of fabrics I was coming away with.

But experimenting was so very cool. Look what I did...I played with the leftover dye that wasn't enough to dye fabrics with (teaspoons left) and made a small dye study chart for myself. Just kept mixing and mixing and recorded each one.

Now this is nothing compared to the colour study you make when you take Carol Sonderland's workshop. Oooh how I would love to do that one. I keep checking her schedule and one of these days......ooowee!

Anyway, for now I have these to work from. Am about to order more fabs and dyes for my Annual Dyeing Party in July. I am so looking forward to that.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Ouch!!

2008-06-06T17:28:00.008-04:00

I'm in a bit if a pickle today. I finally decided to get the cortisone shot in my foot that had been recommended to me. Can you say BIG big OUCH!!

My husband sat with me (thankfully) as Doc gave me 2 injections and I just about squeezed the bugger out his hand on that second one. That one really hurt. Apparently that injection site was the exact area where I've been experiencing my foot problem.

So 7 hours later here I sit, on my bed, with my foot propped up on 3 pillows wishing I could be at my friend's 1st gallery opening tonight. Boo hoo.

Are you feeling sorry for me yet? Aw shucks forget about me (for now at least), go create something new in my honour. I'll just deal with the pain......sigh...that might last 48-72 hrs.

Oh well, it's all for good. It has to be. I'm taking a workshop with Lyric Kinard tomorrow and my foot has to be able to be hobbled on at least!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Speaking of Revamping

2008-06-04T10:21:00.008-04:00

Please bear with me while I check out some other templates for my blog. As you know I'm revising, rethinking, retooling.........and my blog is obviously not immune from change.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

p.s I think I kinda like this one. whadya think????

June TIF Challenge and Stashes

2008-06-02T13:20:00.021-04:00

I'm hanging in there folks trying to keep up. I really would like to have the whole year done in TIF challenges but....

Anyway, the concept for this month's TIF challenge is all about stashes. Here's how Sharon B describes it: "Stashes are either purchased or scavenged materials that have accumulated over time and as such they often have a story to tell........So this month, the idea is to think about stories that are, and stories that are possible."

My Stash Story

Because I've been retooling, revamping, revising myself as it pertains to my artwork, my stash (much of it is commercial fabrics I no longer use regularly) just sits there for the most part.

I feel guilty...lordy, lordy yes I do...because I went out and bought all it of, no one else helped me (well maybe a friend or two persuaded me to get more than I thought I would get at the time...no names of course but you all know who you are!!!).

For the most part though, just like the rest of you just starting out (and some of you who've been at it for years) I too went thru a "gotta have it" phase.

So for me, my stash represents my greed phase, the "I CANNOT live w/o that loud red/orange/blue psychedelic number or that it-just-jumped-into-my-bag green to match all the other greens I have. I feel guilty for hoarding all this fabric but I do have some cool ideas on how to use it all up.

My working stash on the other hand includes:

...my hand dyes which are yummy, yummy. I used to belong to a monthly hand dyed club run by Judy Robertson but regretfully had to quit that and it broke my heart.

(Judy produces some of the most beautiful hand dyes around and it was like getting a big box of chocolates every month when that mailer came with the 1 yd cut);

...my batiks in all those drop dead gorgeous prints. I came to batiks later than most because I didn't see what the craze was about. Boy was I wrong. NOW I have a batik stash to die for and funnily enough it's not that large at all. I didn;t go crazy with the buying (mainly because the guilt from all the other fabrics I had was already eating me up);

...and my black and whites. Don't know how I started this collection but now love working with a bl/wh background pallette (bottom shelf above).

Now I do have to confess (yes...here she goes you say). The top picture clearly shows my nicely folded stash of commercial fabrics, the 2nd pic my working fabrics. What I have not told or shown most people is the stuff that I haven't laundered and therefore is not folded as nicely. That's the stuff that really stirs the guilt right up.

This 3rd pic is of that "stash". Those fabs that haven't been touched since I moved to the room I now use as my studio...4 yrs ago (What shock! What horror!)

In a space, off to the side (you can't see it when you enter the room thankfully) is this plastic tub full...and I mean FULL...of the last of my commercial fabric purchases.

I periodically rummage thru it looking for that perfect piece to add but, for the most part....it just sits there......staring me in the face.

So now you know my story. I'm gonna have to think about how to put this into a quilted piece.

What about you?...what's your stash story and what's it tell about you? I would love to hear your stories.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Books, Books, Books

2008-05-30T00:04:00.006-04:00

Most of my friends know I have this pact with myself, to add one new book to my library every month. Some months I don't buy any new ones at all but I do love it when a shiny new book arrives in the mail. YUMMY!!!!!!!

Most of the books I buy are reference books (as opposed to those that contain how-to-do-exactly-what-I-do tutorials).

That's because I am in a learn, learn, learn phase and since going to workshops given by top artists is out of the question for me right now, I can take a lesson on some interesting technique thru their book.

So with that said you just have to check out my little library widget that I added on my sidebar! It's just way too cute.

Take Katie Pasquini's latest, "Color and Composition". Such a great book that contains a slew of exercises to help you thru the two things that can stump a new quilt artist.

My latest purchase is "Mixed-Media Collage" by Holly Harrison. Holly takes you on a fantastic in-depth journey with five mixed-media artists, going thru step by step (though not a turorial) as the artists make a particular mixed-media piece their own unique way. She then lets you sit in on her interviews with them as they reveal thier thoughts on being artists. Way cool book!

I have always wanted to share the books I'm reading with you and now I get to thru my "Little Library Book Club".

Happy reading!

What are YOU Drawn to?

2008-05-26T20:41:00.021-04:00

Today is MONDAY!

Time for a post (bet you thought I forgot...HA!).

My FAB group met recently and I posed a question to them. I showed them 4 pieces of work that I had recently finished and asked them to tell me what was the common factor in all of them.

My thinking is that with their input I would get some more feedback on the direction my artwork was taking.

I see myself gravitating in a new direction. Don't misunderstand, I will keep designing quilt patterns because I still love making traditional quilts with a contemporary twist, but I think I'm defining, in a singular way, what kind of artwork really inspires me to create.

I've mentioned here already that I'm drawn to colour, line, shape and, more recently, texture (as opposed to pattern).

These are the art quilts that draw me in, that speak to my core, the ones that can suggest realism but does not convey a specific image; the ones that use colour as it's main tool and informs the piece with line and shape.

It got me to thinking about how each of us defines our art. Have you formerly thought about how and why you produce the things that you do?

What draws you to a textile piece in a show or gallery? What about it speaks to YOU?

Are you a person who prefers realistic images, pieces that tell a story and gives you images to respond to or do you prefer pieces that you interpret as you see it, where you get to inform the piece with your own thoughts and feelings?

BTW, the pomagranite piece at left is unquilted. The design you see is done in a dry erase pen on a piece of plexiglass, my way of auditioning quilting patterns.

I take pictures of each one as I draw them and can then refer back to see which one works best. This is not the pattern I have chosen to machine quilt it with.

If you've been reading my blog you've probably seen some of the things I've been producing . What feedback do you have? Any concise thoughts on the direction you see me taking?

No worries on me being offended. I say if you ask the questions then you must be okay with the answers you get.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

What's Coming up on My Schedule

2008-05-21T23:14:00.011-04:00

Just a quick post to let you know that I will be speaking to Foothill Quilter's Guild in Shelby, NC tomorrow night. I'll be giving my presentation "The Evolution of a Fiber Artist", a tongue in cheek look at my life as a quilt addict turned fiber artist.

Also this Sat, May 24th, I will be teaching a class "All About Bindings" at Quilter's Loft in Moorseville for all those who need a refresher on how to put on those pesky bindings.

Keep checking my website RedBarn-Studios to see other classes and workshop I will be offering. Check out the shop's blog to see other classes they offer.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

What Do You Call Yourself?

2008-05-15T08:00:00.001-04:00

capturing ourselves

For the last few weeks I've been thinking about Sharon B's TIF challlenge for this month. I think it's a great question but it's a hard one to answer succinctly AND make a small piece to capture the essence of it.

If I've answered the question of "what do I call myself" (a fiber artist) then why is it so hard to create that expression in a piece of artwork? That then prompts another question...have I fully answered the question?

For a while there, in the last couple of months, I wavered back and forth about the "label" I give myself to be placed out there everywhere to describe what I do but, now that I'm really thinking about it, deep down I don't really like labels for me or anyone else. Why can't I just make artwork and be done with it?

Ya like it or ya don't. End of story!

It's only now that I realize that the label is not for me...no, not at all....it's so that others can recognize me in some way to help them SEE ME better, put me in some subjective category and file me away in some recess of their brain..."oh yeh..Grace, the FIBER artist" (whatever the heck that means they think to themselves).

So if I am to label myself to inform others of who I am and what I do, how do I express that in a quilted piece effetcively? More thoughts to ponder.

May TIF might just not get made in May.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Time & MONDAYS

2008-05-14T10:04:00.010-04:00

"Time is the quality of nature that keeps events from happening all at once....lately it doesn't seem to be working." --Anonymous

You may have noticed that I haven't posted lately.

It's not that I don't want to cause I do. I regularly make a mental list of the things I want to post about then things....finishing artwork....dealing one or another family "crisis".....feeling ill or just uninspired...any number of things get in the way and, frankly, I don't like that.

So I'm gonna try a new thing (yeh right you say?) I'm gonna try an experiment for the next month--to have one day a week for posts and I'll make that a Monday. Monday is my wash/clean day and now I'm adding blog post day to it.

Let's see how far I get.

Oh no!...another goal to add the never-ending saturated list. I'll need to take pics of the things I've been working on for this coming Monday's post. How's that for staying on task?

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

April TIF

2008-05-01T12:22:00.005-04:00

I have actually been working on my TIF challenge for April, just haven't posted about it. I'm also thinking it might be a stepping stone to a bigger piece (probably why I haven't finished it yet) but wanted to let you in on what I was doing.

My thinking with this one was to portray a woman who is shedding the old (don't know if you can see the coat she's dropping) to ascend into the new...the new phase...the new thinking...the new (art)work...the new way of life.

I don't use the word ascend lightly because I truly believe we come into a certain greater wisdom on the other side of all this change we go thru, if we are willing to see pass the pain and conflict that might occur...be willing to walk the path that will lead us to a better understanding of ourselves and the world around us.

I am a firm believer that change, and all that manifests itself thru change is good. We'll see where this one leads.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Simply Spring Cover

2008-04-29T18:43:00.010-04:00

I'm trying to get better at pattern covers and just finished this one for my latest pattern "Simply Spring".

It took a while because I discovered some new tools in Photoshop Elements (PE6) that I didn't know existed. Duh!

You know how when kids get a new game and they start playing it without even looking at the directions, that's what I did when I got PE6, I just dived in. So why didn't someone tell me I could play like this????

Head over to my website if you want to purchase this or any other patterns or just email me and I will send it right out to you.

See ya next time"In the Hayloft",

Funky Cool Spring!

2008-04-24T18:00:00.011-04:00

I've mostly been working on the computer trying to get pattern directions finished but had to get my hand into some art.

I was asked to do a demonstration at the Charlotte Quilt Show that was held two weeks ago to showcase the way I use fusible web in my applique. Using this method I don't have to remember to reverse my pattern image which is a BIG BIG help for me. This quiltlet is such a cute little thing that I decided to finish it with one of my favorite methods of binding...fusible of course!

10 1/2" x 14"

After finishing the machine quilting and binding I thought it would make a great seasonal pattern so look for the "Summer" quiltlet to appear next month. If you are interested in getting this pattern (or others) from me, just drop me an email and I'll put you on the list.

See ya next time"In the Hayloft",

Wednesday Quote

2008-04-23T10:15:00.006-04:00

"We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned
so as to have the life that is waiting for us."

As you know I collect all sorts of quotes and have them posted all over my studio so that I can pause and breath while I work. This one I have had for a very long time and thought it was time to share.

Remember......

...don't stand in your way, step aside and let your path unfurl.

See ya next time"In the Hayloft",

Believe it Baby!

2008-04-17T23:31:00.005-04:00

Check this out.

I happened upon this narrative short film about women and their thoughts on all sorts of topics including their own beauty. Take a peek but don't stop watching until you see the credits roll.

You can find it here at In the Trenches Productions, a website with the tag line "Power to Women Over 40!" (isn't that way cool?) Anyway, scroll down and click on "Believe It Baby" on the left. Have a laugh, ponder a thought and get back to me on what you heard.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft,

Vote for your favorite!

2008-04-17T22:00:00.001-04:00

Some of you know I entered a quilt designers contest and was maniacally rushing to get it finished before the submission deadline.

FatQuarterShop's blog, the Jolly Jabber, held a contest where designers had to use only the fabrics from Moda's "Simplicity" line of fabric to make any sewn item. My entry was a table topper I designed for my breakfast nook table. The pattern is called "Simply Spring" and will be available for purchase on my website (RedBarn-Studios) next week.

The table topper is 's 51 1/2" square and I made it so the triangles gracefully hang off the sides of the table. The photo below shows the quilt in a different colourway.

Now go.....go vote for your favorite design here. Polls close Tuesday (4/22/08) which just happens to be my daughter's 16th birthday. Yippee!

See you next time "In the Hayloft",

My First Presentation

2008-04-15T23:19:00.010-04:00

Whew! I DID IT!!!!

I gave my first ever guild presentation yesterday to the Moorseville Centerpeice Guild. My presentation "The Evolution of a Fiber Artist: The Life and Times of a Quilt Addict" is a tongue in cheek look at my life as quilt addict turned fiber artist.

My stomach was turning, my head was swimming and my nerves were playing up big time until the moment I stepped in front of the group. I was a member of this guild a few years ago and recognized some faces so it made it much easier to get up there and talk. Also, unbeknowst to me at the time, my year as Program Chair for Charlotte Guild had given me a chance to be at ease in front a group of people.

A couple of good friends came to support me...thanks DeLane and Jean (who, by the way, is having an Open House this Sat celebrating the opening of her new studio space in Lincolnton, Front Porch Studio).

When I start to speak, most people immediately recognize that I am not a local girl (those who know me are smiling now) so it was interesting that after my presentation a few people came up to me and thanked me for giving them some insight on where I was from.

Thanks Sandy for inviting me to speak to your guild. You were a gem yesterday and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Should be a piece-a-cake next time right? .........ha!

I will be listing my presentation schedule on my website as they come up.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Greenpiece - March TIF Challenge

2008-04-12T08:35:00.009-04:00

I bet you thought I would never post my March TIF Challenge piece. The very late unveiling is upon us.

I have had so much going in the last few weeks that my duty to my fellow TIF Challenge compadres has been shirked. My apologies. Okay, okay...the challenge piece.

Here's a detail of my stone quilting. I added the bunches of white seed beeds in clusters along the top. My daughter is not happy with the addition but hey...it's my quilt.

The challenge for April is change. Here's is Sharon B's take on what to think about.

"Some people see change as positive while others are fearful of change. People say we have to learn to live with change as change has always been part of life. As soon as we are born we start to grow in other words we start to change. How do you see change? That is the challenge topic this month."

Of course I see change daily in my kids, watching them grow and mature (well some anyway) and there's the change I, as one who is approaching the big 50, is experiencing. I see change in the sky from daylight to dusk; I want to see change in our world so we take care of it and preserve it for future generations; I see a change that needs to take place in us as humans and how we intereact with one another.

Change can be a wonderful thing if we think if it in terms of growth. We all need to grow, to evolve and become better people. Let's see what I can do with this one. Ideas are percolating...

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Thanks Mummy...you're special!

2008-04-09T16:01:00.005-04:00

.....is what my son said to me today. I had gone out to take one of the kids to her PT appt then came back and argued with 18 yr old (again...grhhhh!!!!!) and my youngest comes up to me about a half hour later and just says that to me...out of the blue.

Oh can't they stay their sweet selves all the time?

Hugs to all the special people out there

...oh my...that includes YOU!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Listen to the Whispers

2008-04-08T00:19:00.023-04:00

I am truly grateful for what I have and am thankful for the things I have accomplished so far in my life. My prayers are mostly of gratitude rather than requests, my one main request being strength...strength to get thru whatever struggle I might be going thru at the moment.

Oprah's new show, "The Big Give" is a must for me and invariably I end up in tears because someone in need is rewarded with a Big Give and it's usually a powerful experience. The premise of this show is based on the thought that prompted me to do a Pay It Forward post a while back...giving for giving sake only, with nothing expected in return.

Tonight as I sat and watched the Oprah Show (recorded) with Oprah interviewing the latest contestant to leave the show, Rachael Hollingworth, I was perplexed.

To recap, Rachael and the other three Big Givers were to make dying wishes come true for two people. One of them, Miss Emily's wish, was to play at Carnegie Hall. Miss Emily is on permanent oxygen and sits in a wheeelchair most of the time but from the time she was a little girl had seen herself on stage at Carnegie Hall.

Racheal, who could only see things in terms of herself finnagled her way into doing a solo performance at this dying woman's big event. I was truly upset that she would take some of the limelight away from Miss Emily. She did not see the big picture!

She did not see that she was taking away some of the beauty of the Carnegie Hall moment that belonged solely to Miss Emily. She did not hear the whisper that kept telling her that this moment was not about her. She missed all the cues until Oprah sat her down and explained that she was only the vessel in this life event, not the event itself. She was looking out into the ocean to catch the big waves but missed the ones lapping gently at her feet.

Yes, she will always be able to brag that she sang at Carnegie Hall, but in the sunset of her life she'll always have the knowledge that she encroached on someone else's moment...that it really was not her time. She'll have to come to terms with the fact that she just didn't listen to the whispers...this time.

Listen to your whispers.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

New Class I'm Teaching

2008-04-06T16:00:00.005-04:00

I've had to reschedule my "All About Bindings" class from last weekend to Sat, May 24, 2008 at Quilter's Loft in Moorseville. This will not be a demo class, you will be working on a small sample that you can use for reference at home.

I will show you how to create double fold binding and will be doing a demonstration of bias binding.

For those quilters who get in a "bind" when it comes to joining binding ends after it has been attached to the quilt, I will show you a foolproof way to do this that will not have you pulling out stitches (or your hair...egads!) because binding won't fit flat.

Call Quilter's Loft at 704-662-8660 to register.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

QA Online Festival?

2008-04-05T19:08:00.005-04:00

Imagine going to a quilting festival but not getting out of your jammies!

Quilting Arts will be hosting an online Festival the week of May 29 - June 2nd. It sounds so very cool that I thought I should give a heads up to it.

From what I hear you'll be able to:

Discover new quilting tips and techniques
Shop for the latest quilting, embellishment, and surface design supplies
Meet and chat with quilters from around the world
Take exclusive classes with top quilt artists
Win prizes every day!

Check out their Festival web page here to sign up.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Happy Easter!

2008-03-23T18:37:00.003-04:00

to all those who celebrate this day. Hope it was a day full of family, love, laughter and lots of good food.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Field Trip!

2008-03-18T21:43:00.014-04:00

Today I went with my FAB friends to the shop Random Arts in Saluda, NC.

OMG!!!!!!

If you are into any sort of mixed media or want to expand your quilting to the next heights you must visit this tiny gem of a shop. We spent 2 1/2 hours looking over every inch of the shop, gathering things and then finding a little something else in another corner that had to be added to the pile.

We were exhausted! ...and very hungry.

Jane (RA's owner) and Joyce coddled us and spirited us in every different direction. They answered all our questions about any items we needed explanations on, then noticed us wilting. Joyce shoo'd us out the door, with a solemn promise to kept our little piles of gathered items safe, and sent us immediately to a wonderful little cafe down the street, The Purple Onion.

Off we went to enjoy a wonderfully nutritious lunch with Aaron, our tall, cute waitstaff.

Fully satiated we returned to find our piles of items all ready for purchase. I must say...I did not win the largest purchase award today, that title so rightly belongs to DeLane. Whew!!!

Jane has papers and books and ribbons and inking supplies and found objects and tiny letters and charms and rubber stamps and magazines and workshops and........I'm exhausted just thinking about everything again. Instead just head on over to Random Arts, a fantastic little shop hidden in the mountains of western North Carolina and tell Jane Grace sent you!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Tag! I'm It!

2008-03-18T21:00:00.002-04:00

My good friend Susan Knapp has tagged little ole me. Susan produces wonderful quilted artwork and applique pieces and is a prolific pattern designer....and, most importantly, a great friend.

When you get tagged you are to post 7 things about yourself that others might not know and tag 7 other bloggers. Being tagged is cool and weird at the same time cause you really have to go to the recesses of the brain to come up with things to list. But it'a also a wonderful way to let the light shine on other great artists out there in bloggerland.

7 things that you may not know about me:

I. My first name is actually Karen (Grace is my middle name) and I was named after Princess Grace of Monaco, whom my father absolutely adored. My mother filled out my birth certificate but....my father first registered me in school, it's been Grace ever since. Don't call me Karen cause I probably won't respond. Isn't she absolutely beautiful?
II. I once attended the Barbizon School of Modeling in the early 80's way back when I lived in New York City (there will be no laughing at this reveal...okay, a teeny tiny giggle is permitted).

III. I am so in love with words that when I was younger I used to keep a vocabulary book handy so I could write down all the words I came upon and their definitions (can you say geek?). It's followed me into adulthood, the top thing on my Christmas list in 2007 was a GOOD Oxford dictionary....and I got it! Now isn't that beautiful!!!!!

IV. I still love to watch Eastenders, that long standing English soap opera that comes on every Sunday night.

V. I now have a new addiction.........Scooby Doo snacks!!! Cinnamon only! Everyone needs to try them at least once. I keep a box in my studio for powerful energy bursts. Well....not really, I just love to munch on them. I even got Susan hooked on them (hee hee). Scooby Dooby Dooooooooo!

VI. According to traditional Chinese lore I was born in the year of the tiger (growl) and my Heavenly Element is water. I am Yang (as opposed to yin). The Chinese believed in five elements--metal, wood, fire, water, and earth. I am metal, gold (although I much prefer silver)and am represented by the planet Venus.

and number 7....

VII. I have never been to the beach in North Carolina although I have lived here for 16 yrs. l Not intentionaly mind you. Just never got there....I'd much rather take a trip to the mountains instead and look at the trees.

So there you have it, a little more about me. I now have to tag 7 others..... I think I'll do that tomorrow.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Smile!

2008-03-18T00:28:00.003-04:00

Somebody you'll pass by today needs a pick me up!

--grace

TIF March Update

2008-03-16T19:40:00.010-04:00

One of the things I still find most challenging is the final process of making an art quilt. My March TIF piece is a study in the dreaded details of machine quilting. I'm usually not that happy with my stitches and had yet to perfect it (to me at least).

A few weeks ago I attended the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, VA and had the pleasure of taking an advanced quilting class from Linda Feidler. She taught us how to start and stop effectively, what to use in particular areas to enhance the quilt and had us quilt a few of the designs that she regularly uses.

Whatever mojo she put on us as we sewed has worked. GreenPiece is homage to Linda for getting me to step into the light. ..and like machine quilting!!! Who knew I had it in me to get down to the details and get it right.

I used a 40 wt trilobal polyester thread in emerald green (muddy greens are just not my thing) on a dark maroon 12" square of fabric. The next step is beading, not too much but just enough to give it some light and shimmer. Here's a detail of the unfinished piece.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

My Website is Complete!

2008-03-15T17:10:00.008-04:00

When I first decided to have a website I had the crazy notion of doing it myself, figuring it would only take me a few months to complete a basic site.

Boy was I wrong. There's this thing called hypertext markup language (the code you write websites in) that tolerates no mistakes, like unclosed tags, or it just won't coorporate with you.

I am so pleased that I have finally have a web presence. You can now find me at http://www.redbarn-studios.com/ (don't forget the hyphen). It still needs little tweaking and I have much more to add like more of my artwork and links and such, but wanted to get it up and running. It is a wonderful feeling to know, no matter how simple it is.....I DID IT!

Go on, check it out and let me know what you think.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft"

p.s. I'm sure some of you were wondering why I chose "Barnyard Chatter "for the name of my blog. Well all along I knew that my company name would be RedBarn-Studios so I figure that when you come to visit me we'll be sitting up in the barn's hayloft shooting the breeze talking 'bout this and that or checking out what I've been working on.

Besides, everyone knows I would happily live in a refurbished red barn if Icould .....and ..........I would have to refurbish it myself of course!

Pay It Forward or Spreading the Love

2008-03-09T00:33:00.034-05:00

I've been noticing something lately, we humans seem to be on the wrong track, too many selfish acts and not very many selfless actions.

Thoughts and deeds that help others, rather than fill our own tanks all the time, needs to be the order of the day on a more regular basis.

I realise that the only way to make the world a better place is to start with ME and to do something small for someone else. One way I can do that is to use my creative talents to bring a smile to someone else's world. My life is always spinning with blessings of all sorts (no matter the down times) and so in that vein I propose an offer to you.

Gift Giving

I will send a little creative gift to the first 5 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay It Forward gift exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet but you'll be getting a little ray of sunshine coming to your post box soon, that's my promise!

The only thing you have to do in return is to pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. Once you leave your comment, copy and paste the above paragraph on your blog and 5 lucky people will be recipients of your creative work.

While you are doing this small exchange, think of how you can do more to pay it forward and help someone in your community or someone across the world who could definitely use a bit of kindness or your help in standing tall once again.

Let's all Pay it Forward!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

p.s. don't forget to leave me your email so we can communicate offline.

March TIF Challenge

2008-03-08T22:12:00.014-05:00

Now that I have posted my completed Feb TIF challenge I can safely move on to March.

This month's challenge is all in the details. Here's Sharon B's challenge description:

"Do you ever notice the little things, the small moments, the details in life? This month's challenge is to do just that, pay attention to the tiny details".

Okay, I'm getting better at thinking ideas thru immediately and "details" didn't come across as minutiae or small things. Instead my mind went to the things that we take for granted, the things we see all the time but never really take the time to notice.

Things like how green that new blade of grass can be or the sadness of a passing stranger's face (what turmoil can they be experiencing?) or the intense sensation of oneness you can get from watching your child sleeping. It is in those details that life is lived and what I hope to capture in my piece this month. Stay tuned.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Making the TIF Piece

2008-03-05T11:37:00.014-05:00

Here's a short synopsis of how I made this challenge piece.

To make the cloud I fused a piece of Misty Fuse to a square of white tulle and scrunched it up onto itself. It you do it while it is still warm to the touch it will stick to itself and stay fairly well in that position.
Thanks Esterita for that tip.

To get the correct shape as I ironed the fusible side fof the tulle to the blue sky background, I positioned the tulle and pressed with iron over a sheet of parchment paper, can be a bit finicky but works none-the-less.

For the names of each crew member I wanted to be able to see thru their names, giving an almost etheral quality to it. I cut a piece of freezer paper to printer paper size and ironed it lightly to one side of white organza, cut to size as well, then manually fed the sheet thru my ink jet printer.

Be aware that the lead edge of the sheet must be ironed down enough that it lays down flat when feeding through the printer rollers or else it will ravel up and cause havoc with your printer.

I cut apart the names, the time and the date, cut a piece of Misty Fuse the same size then ironed in place. Minimal quilting was in order to finish the piece. I really like this one and realized afterwards that it was more cathartic than I'd originally thought.

See the post below for my feeling as as I put together this challenge piece.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

TIF Challenge (Feb) "73 Seconds"

2008-03-05T01:45:00.018-05:00

Finally, a moment to post. Life has been busy for me of late but just because I haven't posted doesn't mean that art hasn't been flowing.

I promised to reveal my TIF challenge quilt so here goes. The one thing that kept pushing its way into my brain was the sad occurence in Jan 28th, 1986. The day was beautiful, clear blue skys and wonderful weather predicted all day.

This shuttle launch had been postponed a few times, but this day NASA gave the go ahead for the launch to take place. Seventy-three seconds into the Challenger Space shuttle launch, it blew up....in front of a large crowd gathered to see the special launch. You see, on that flight was the 1st candidate for the TISP Program - Teacher-in-Space Program.

Christa McAuliffe wanted to be an astraunaut but instead found her calling as a teacher. She was getting her wish though and trained hard after she was chosen to fly in space, along with the shuttle crew in their 51st mission into space.

I stood transfixed by the cloud formation that billowed in the sky after the explosion. I remember feeling tears on my face and thinking incredulously that what I just saw happened did not occur, but sadly it did. That event still has the power to make me weep.

I must say this idea for the TIF challenge came to me right away but I thought it was too serious. Why didn't I parody "Who shot JR? or the fight of Crystal and Alexis Carrington on the hit show "Dynasty" or that long ago writing tool that kids can't fathom...the typewriter.

It was good to get this quilt done. It needed to be done but I did not realize this fact until it was completed. Funnily enough, exactly 15 years later to the day, my son was born on January 28th, a beautiful day with clear blue skies.

How do you remember this day? Post your thoughts on how it affected you and those around you.

See you next time "In the Hayloft",

Feb TIF Challenge

2008-02-15T16:12:00.008-05:00

I had an idea of where I wanted to go with this month's TIF challenge. Remember we are to answer the question
"What are you too old to remember?"

That just got me to thinking bout lots of stuff from personal life like my first kiss (at 5!!!!!) or my first dance with someone I had a crush on (2 totally separate guys by the way). I needed to start using my sketchbook so this challenge proved a good one. First I started with tongue in cheek ideas like:

mini and maxi skirts (who didn't have the shortest mini's allowed)
Mili Vanilli and that lip syncing debacle (you think anyone remembers them?)
Pac-man (never did get the hang of it and still can't do video games well)
Dynasty (remember the famous Crystal and Alexis fight?)
Who Shot JR???????? (if you don't know this one it's not worth explaining)

So then I started thinking out events/things that affected the world we live in like:

the collapse of the Berlin Wall
the 1st artificial heart
the Iran hostage crisis that ended in '81
and then there's typwriters (still can't type properly for dog nor human)
8-track tapes and 45's and 78's (records that is)....the list goes on and on.

In the end I decided not to write about any childhood events because most of those no one knows but me. As I was writing this list one thing kept popping back into my mind time and time again and I was very surprised at my reaction to it today, long after it happened. I've sketched it out but have to think on how best to execute it....but I'm leaving it here for now.

"Aw shucks!" you say, disheartened. Check back later and I'll show you my experimentations.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

A Free Pattern for Valentine's

2008-02-12T08:38:00.008-05:00

I've never been one to celebrate Valentine's Day in any big way because I feel love tokens, notes, etc. needs to be given all year long. This year though I decided that we should all be able to declare our love for that special someone in our lives and I thought a scroll, like those used for town proclamations, was in order.

You can make this "Love Scroll" for your significant other or, if you have a twinkle in your eye for someone new, you can use this scroll to give them a little hint about your feelings.

The finished size of the "Love Scroll" is 9"x 22". Just think, a bundle of love in a little fat eighth! I've even added some ties on the back so it can be rolled up just like a scroll. The heartfelt bee is all dressed in pink for Valentine's instead of his usual worker bee yellow. With the ease of fusible this little declaration of yours will be done in no time!

For the next few days I will be offering this as a free pattern. Email me (click contact me at sidebar) and I'll get your free pattern right out to you. Have fun with it and have a little love on me :-)

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

"Stuff"

2008-02-08T20:26:00.001-05:00

"There may not be enough hours in the day for everything I might possibly want to do but there is always time for the stuff I really really care about...it’s about identifying the important stuff".

This is a quote from an artist's blog I read regularly, Lisa Call. She blogged recently about priorities and finding time to do the "important stuff". These last few weeks I have been committed to getting a few things finished in my studio, stuff to get my business going.

This week however, business "stuff" took a back seat. It has been a fun week but a long one. I found that I scheduled too any things for this one week and am paying the price for it. I AM TIRED! My days were extremely long and my feet are so very sore from constantly standing but, despite that, it's been a good week.

I had the pleasure of hostessing Esterita Austin at our guild meeting on Wednesday. She did a 1-day workshop yesterday and a 2-day workshop held today and continuing tomorrow. She is funny, inspiring and a real hoot to be with. Thanks Teri for making it easy for me. I also taught session 1 of my Beginning Quilting class last night. Whew!

On Sunday I'll be doing one important thing and only one important thing...putting my tired feet up and getting some much needed shut-eye...okay, one eye will be open...y'all know I still have to watch my sunday morning news programs!

Pics of some artwork coming soon.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Take It Further February

2008-02-01T22:18:00.000-05:00

St. Andrew's Cathedral, Wells, Somerset, England

Okay it's February and I've got to gear up to take on the next TIF challenge. This month's concept from Sharon B is an interesting one. It's a question this time:

"What are you old enough to remember?"

Sharon B wrote a little about what she remembers. It includes man walking on the moon, Lennon getting shop, vinyl records (oh my gosh that's a throwback isn't it...records!), using wood stoves and a whole lot more.

Bristol Cathedral, Bristol, England

My mind is reeling with all sorts (not that I'm THAT old mind you) and this month I want to start sketching ideas in my journal so that not only can I record it so you can see, but also to get it the habit of using my sketchbook again to tease out my ideas.

Floor of Roman Baths, Bath, England

I tend to think about things in the early early morning (my brain seems to be on a 3 o'clock idea schedule, definitely need to reconfigure that) and I usually just jot things down on a small post-it pad by my bed. That's not enough for me anymore. I see all sorts of sketchbooks from other artists and love looking at their progression so I have a two-fold mission this month.

Stay tuned, I hope to do more postings as I work thru this month's challenge.

If you were doing this challenge what things are you too OLD to remember...that you'd like other people to know of course?

BTW, here's the palette for this month.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Every Little Bit Helps

2008-02-01T14:42:00.001-05:00

Just a short post today about conservation. The county we live in is in stage 3 water restrictions. Been that way for a while now. So to do our part one of the things we did was to find another source for water to water out plants.

For a while now we have had a bucket in the shower to catch excess water. I fill up my watering can and my son and I go around and water all the plants we have around the house (he loves to help me do this). Easy no brainer thing to do, right?

Connor, who just turned 7 this past Monday, took a shower one evening this week as he usually does. Early the next morning when I went to take my shower...this is what I found and I just had to capture it:

I was so overcome with gratitude and love for that little guy, that this little thing we are doing to conserve water he has actually paid attention to and wants to do his part as well. I am so very pleased to know my role modeling is working. Now if only I can see some of the stuff I taught in "The Teenager" (yeh, right!).

Oh......

and another update on the newest member of our family.

Do ya think he's a bit spoiled right now........

his own blankie???????

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

January TIF Challenge

2008-01-30T14:43:00.001-05:00

I finally got round to getting something done on the TIF Challenge. I must admit I had a lot of commitments to finish this month and TIF took a back seat this time unfortunately.

To recap, the concept for this month was to expand on feelings of admiration, to pick someone, something you admire and work from there.

After a few days of thought I chose my friend, Susan. Despite the ups and downs of her life, her ability to produce meaningful, prolific artwork is a quality I greatly admire. Her tenacity and forthright manner and her get up and go attitude is something we should all strive to emulate.

From Within"

The piece I made is called "From Within". It is so named because for many of us like Susan who choose to make a living as artists and trying to maintain some sort of balance in our lives, we call on that core part of ourselves, that inner strength that we sometimes forget we have to carry us forward and keep us centered despite all that we encounter as we live our lives.

My idea came from wanting to depict a life unfolding, constantly moving (the center portion) with wands or tentacles of creativity constantly being developed and reaching out to become full expressions of ourselves, our art as a part of our center souls.

The piece still needs to be quilted. I will add some hand stitching and more machine quilting to further develop the piece. But for now challenge #1 is done (sorta kinda).

Check out other January TIF Challenge pieces here.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

The Piece That Wasn't Supposed to Be

2008-01-24T23:48:00.001-05:00

I design patterns. I like designing patterns. A friend suggested, however, that I design a quilt pattern around a particular fabric line, get some attention coming my way. So off to the quilt shop I went.

I chose 9 different fabrics from the April Cornell line "A Little Romance" by Moda Fabrics . Had the quilt in mind that I was going to do and skipped all the way home (taking literary liberties here...me skip?)

The small quilt I had in mind only needed 1/8th yard of 8 of the fabrics but I got a full 1/3 yard (big spender I am huh?) of the beautiful mint green solid you see below.

I washed and ironed the fabs and got ready to create. I cut a background from the solid green and laid it on my worktable. Somehow, 4 hours later I came up with "Windy Day". Not one blessed piece of the April Cornell fabric made it into the quilt, not that I didn't like the fabs mind you.

Moral of the story, sometimes you gotta go where the muse takes you (yeh, she found her way back to me eventually).

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

A New Addition

2008-01-24T23:06:00.001-05:00

No people, I am not pregnant (oh no, no, no!), no more baked goods coming out of this oven. But we have the cutest thing just join our family. His name is Logan, he's a 4mth lab mix and he's just way too adorable. I say he's lab/boxer mix, DD says lab/german shepherd mix and DH's is going with lab/retriver mix.

We really don't care what type of dog he is because he is as cool a character as cool can be, real laid back. Just take a look at that face. Our neighbor has fallen in love with him as well and is promising to kidnap him but the kids have made a plan to head her off at the pass.

I have a new friend to keep me company in my studio. Aren't you jealous?

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Deadlines

2008-01-22T22:50:00.001-05:00

Deadlines are good for me. They have a purpose. They keep me on track. They help me finish the things I tend to put off.

Procrastination, on the other hand, is an even better friend to me sometimes because I get to delay something my mind can't settle on in the moment. So the question becomes how to not let procrastination take over so much so that the deadline is compromised.

One thing I've found that works for me is to work in small sessions...I mean really small. In those small sessions I might do some prep work (like fuse sheets of fabric) or doodle in my sketching journal (with no pressure to create any one thing) or organize my studio (oh no, I said the dreaded "O" word). This way I let my muse figure out she can come back from her mini vacation and help me out a bit before she saunters off again. I swear she must think we head south for the winter or something.

Procrastination can be good sometimes. Like when you really want to throttle your teenager for doing (or more likely NOT doing) whatever it is they are not supposed to do (see, I can find the good in anything).

With that said I have decided to start a new creativity club for us all . It's gonna be fun. It'll help us overcome all those pesky little obstacles to creativity.

I'm sorry to report though that the first organizational meeting has been put off till next week.

Smile today and give your face a break.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

A New Class

2008-01-12T17:50:00.001-05:00

I've been interested in colour theory for a long time and have wanted to come up with a class that was interesting (not having your students fall assleep in a theory class is a good thing) but also informative, covering everything you ever wanted to know about colour (not really, just the important bits like value).

Today I taught this new class at one of the shops I regularly teach at, Quilter's Loft in Mooresville, NC and it went much better than expected.

I've been teaching for close to 14 yrs (egads! who told me to put that bit of info in) and find that new quilters struggle when picking colours for their quilts, heck I still struggle at times. The class was small, only 2 students, but it gave me a chance to test my concept for the class.

My quilt, Blueberries and Mint Parfait (above), was the teaching sample. The reason I think this quilt works so well is because of how simple it is to piece. Students could quickly get to the theory part of the class without having to think real hard on how to piece the block.

When I teach I like to provide a complete picture of the subject at hand so that students walk away from my class being able to transfer that information to any quilt they produce. I'm finding these days that I prefer to teach techniques rather than how to make a particular quilt or pattern. The satisfaction I get is seeing the light bulb come on (or at least flicker a bit) in a student who was struggling before.

The class was 3 hours long (I hear a big sigh out there) but wait...it included a lot of playtime on the design wall, interspersed with all that scrumptious theory. Even so I think I can expand the class to include some colour exercises so students go home with work they can reference. For now though, I think I did good...or so my students told me.

See ya next time" In the Hayloft",

Mummy-ism

2008-01-11T17:06:00.001-05:00

My mother called me to wish me a Happy Birthday today and, as usual, we started talkin 'bout other things. My mother is West Indian and every once in a while she comes up with these sayings that she heard while growing up.

Let me recap, my husband loves the fact that hes is 7 months and 2 whole days younger than me and relishes the next few months cause I am, in truth, the older and much much wiser of the two of us (he just doesn't realize that part). I told my mother about this and, without missing a beat she says:

"Better to be an older woman's honey that a young woman's sugar daddy!

Well said Mummy!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Today I turn 45!

2008-01-11T12:40:00.003-05:00

And I am quite happy at the prospect. I have never been a person to worry about my age (in my head I'm still 28 anyway) so to reach this milestone is wonderful.

I believe we expound to much energy in worrying about the number we are and not enough time celebrating the fact that we are still alive and get to do all we do. I am grateful all the time for the little things including the fact that I can still see all the beautiful things this world has to offer, can still walk to where I need to go (even if it's just to get in my car and drive) and can still hugs those I love

My mother and sisters called me today to wish me Happy Birthday and we have all decided that since we all turn a significant age this year we'll have to get together at a splendiferous spa to celebrate our wonderful selves.

My older sister is older than me again this year (can't mention the exact number cause I'll get in trouble but I know your math is good enough to figure out her significant number.....), my younger sister is 40 and I am 45. This doesn't happen all the time so we'll have to take advantage of it. At least that's what I'm telling the husband

So come celebrate with me and make this a good day for you as well. Tell me what YOU think my sisters and I should do to celebrate our birthdays this year.

Happy Birthday to ME
Happy Birthday to ME
Happy Birthday to ME- eeeeeee
Happy Birthday to ME

See ya next time "in the Hayloft",

Get Up and Go Has... Been Temporarily Disabled

2008-01-08T23:12:00.001-05:00

It's only a few days into the new year and I feel a bit like a train has struck me. Yes, I've got a bit of the blahs hanging over me and I'm finding that my body is not as young as my mind thinks it is anymore.

It didn't help that I traveled 20 miles to an early moring meeting that really takes place tomorrow and not today. But no matter, tomorrow is another day and another chance to get back into things with fervor (and make the real meeting this time).

What I have been doing though is following the political goings-on in our fair country. As usual I watched my Sunday morning news shows and...lo and behold....I found myself turning the channel. What shock! What horror! What is to become of the world when Grace doesn't watch her regular Sunday morning programs?

It says that there's too much of the same punditry, too many people analizing, too much talk on on the same things time and time again and nothing new being said. I'll still keep watching cause things matter way too much not to, but I wish the over analizing would stop and the pundits (whose numbers have risen over the years don't you think) would just let us see and hear the candidates and make up our minds for ourselves.

Nuff said!

Leave a comment and tell me what you think?

See you next time "In the Hayloft",

Ringing in the New

2008-01-01T17:27:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year!!

I collect saying of all kinds dealing with all things but the ones I love the most have to do with being who you are and feeding your creative muse.

I dreamt about my blog last night in terms of my artistic endeavors. I know I need to start the year out right and commit myself more fully to this creative journey I find myself on. This means committing to it, in a serious manner, in my head. No more hanging about.

With that in mind and today being the first day of a new year, here are a few of the saying that are winding their way thru my mind and hopefully will express themselves in my art:

Find the seed at the bottom of your heart and bring forth a flower.

Break thru your colour barrier and see the world thru your own coloured glasses.

Creativity is allowing ourself to make mistakes; Art is know which ones to keep. Scott Adams

My mission for myself this year is to express myself more openly thru my art, to reach inside and pull out from the depths what I know is there and to not struggle with the how of it, and to push the boundaries when it comes to promoting myself, my art and my business. I have more concrete goals written down but the synopsis of them is such.

My wish for all of you of is to do what you know you MUST do, then do it some more. Keep looking towards the light and keep reaching for the stars.

Peace and prosperity and much success, however YOU define it.

Rolling Out the Old

2007-12-31T20:11:00.000-05:00

So this last day of 2007 came upon the Howes household and what do you think we did? We let it crawl in slowly, and lazily go about it's duty of counting down the hours while the whole household just did the same. We had our last family breakfast of 2007 at 12 pm and just a little heads up for everyone...6yr olds do not get the concept of eating brkfast for lunch. Nada, nope, no way!

I decided though that I should end the year as I want the new one to
start, by making ART! All thru the months leading up to Christmas I saw boxes being made and decided I'm supposed to make one as well. I'd created a fabric collage made from pink strips sewn to a base and then covered with an irresdescent sheer and quilted the heck out of it. It had been staring at me for a couple of weeks and I was tired of it's accusatory look that said "DO SOMETHING WITH ME, DARN IT!"

Whether it wanted to or not, it was going to become a box and it had better be glad I didn't turn it into inchies, doggone-it! Anyhoo I figured out sizes for each piece and started cutting - 1 bottom (4" sq), 4 sides (2 1/2" x 4"), 1 lid top (4 1/4" sq) and 4 lid sides (7/8" x 4 1/4").

I also cut the same from Fast2Fuse.com and a lining fabric. I sandwiched the Fast2Fuse between the top and the lining fabrics, right sides facing out, and fused all three layer between two pressing sheets (no need to get the iron all messed up on what is supposed to be an easy art day). Then came the tedious part of satin stitching all the edges (40 of them to be exact).

You've got to understand something, for some reason, unbeknownst to me, I can't stand doing satin stitching. I don't know if, in an earlier life, my only job was to satin stitched garments (probably by hand, no doubt) or that I resent the use of all that gor-gee-ous thread just for the darned edges or that I could be reading a new issue of Quilting Arts Magazine during that time or what. I just don't like to satin stitch! I'd rather do needle turn applique (which I've actually come to like). When one actually convinces oneself that raw edge applique is now one's favorite form of applique then you really really know that I strongly dislike (I save "hate" for really good stuff) satin stitching.

Okay, don't laugh, truthfully it wasn't all that bad. I got thru it anyway. Above you can see the pieces set up to be joined. I butt the edges and, increasing the length on my machine, I ziz-zag stitched the edges together. I did this in one continous stitch and broke the threads only when I reach the beginning threads. Then I turn it over and re-enforce the stitch form the inside by zig zagging over the butted edges again. Repeat same with box lid.

When finished, the sides of the box and the lid easily fold up. As you can see from the photo above I cut the box top sides in a curve before I satin stitched the edges. Gave it a little more pizzazz I thought. I then folded up the sides and whipstitched the sides into place. I even remembered to hide the knot by starting on the inside of the box (below).

It's fairly easy to hold the sides whilst you sew them up. No pins are needed at all. Be careful when stitching though cause the thread kept getting caught and I'd realize this 4 or 5 stitches away and notice that the thread wasn't pulled all the way thru. No matter, I really like what I ended up with. I really really like the way the irrisedescent sheer fabric is frayed all around the box.

A few hours later here is my finished fabric box. The year 2007 has passed along a great treasure. I am grateful for all the good that rained down on me and mine in 2007; a family to love, a new direction to follow and a belief in myself and my art that was a long time in coming.

In my 2008 Dream Box I will put all my dreams and goals for the coming year, a special space for all the good things to come.

I wish all my friends, and the many more friends I will make in 2008, a wonderful New Year filled of lots of love, happy contentment and creative success thruout the year. Hurrah!

See ya next time, "In the Hayloft",

Take it Further Challenge

2007-12-21T14:55:00.001-05:00

In order to challenge myself and not wallow too deep into procrastination (which has been a good friend in the last few years but needs to find another shoulder to sit on) I have joined the Take it Further Challenge.

Sharon B of In a Minute Ago, came up with this one and each month she will post a key concept. Our challenge is to take the idea , develop it and push it towards a resolved design during that month.. She will make it even easier on us by posting a colour scheme as a 2nd option should we not want to complete the design concept. An even cooler thing is I can work in any medium I choose as long as I make one project per month. So for all those other techniques I wanted to try.....here goes!

I really think I'm gonna enjoy this. It fits in with my working small concept but will also challenge me to think on the spot towards a finished project and get me working more on art in my studio. Much like the Houston journal project that I couldn't commit to at the time, I get to work intuitively in a fairly quick time frame which I'm not used to but need to train myself to do.

The Take it Further Challenge (TIFC) begins in January '08. Please visit again each month to see my progress as I have committed to posting my projects each month. Also check out the TIFC blog in my sidebar to see the other 277 artists (can you believe that's how many signed up?) who decided to challenge themselves.

BTW, check out the Santa's new elves. Just click on the link below. Enjoy!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1658668882

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

A New Pattern

2007-12-20T11:22:00.001-05:00

I finally finished my latest pattern called "Bloom Where You Are Planted". Yeh me! It is a small fused wallhanging measuring 24"x 31" (see some detail shots below). Even the black and white border is fused down.

The story behind this quilt started with my 15 yr old daughter who, at the time, was struggling with her identity among her more slighted "advanced" friends and trying to find some much needed self-confidence . Her solution was to move to a diffferent school. Ix nay on that! Things were not insurmountable so I sat her down to talk and basically told her to stand her ground, don't change who she is at the core (which is a very sweet and caring person) and to "bloom where she was planted". No matter the difficulty BLOOM! I think this is a great quilt for a girl's bedroom to remind them that their beauty will shine no matter what.

If you would like to purchase this or any of my patterns please email me at
crzyqults@hotmail.com.

I am planning on launching my website,
RedBarn-studios.com, in January for all the world to see. On my website I will be offering my patterns and original artwork for sale plus a list of workshops I will be doing at shops and nearby venues. Check back soon for notice of my website launch. I can't wait!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

A Gift for a Friend

2007-12-16T22:52:00.001-05:00

Last week I went to a baby shower for a good friend who also happens to be my neighbor. She got all the regular things - car seats, stroller, bottle and breast feeding paraphernalia and all manner of clothing.

Being a different sort of folk I decided to get her the Boon Frog Pod , a cool looking green froggy thing that scoops, drains and stores all those bath toys. Don't know bout you but I always found the job of gathering the toys after bathing the kids a tedious job, especially the ones you had to stretch for at the back of the tub - arrgrh! (we always enjoyed the splashing much better anyway).

As I looked at all the things she received that day I also got to thinking that I wanted to do something different for her. This small quiltlet is the result. I collect all sort of sayings and this one sort of presented itself to me as I went thru my collection.

I had originally intended to put a a sleeve on the back but decided to do something different. I'm going to cut a 3/8" dowel to size, paint it, stitch it to the back of the quilt then tie a colourful chiffon ribbon at the ends for hanging.

She's decided not to find out the sex of the baby so this had to be in neutral colours. It's only about 12" square and came together quite quickly, even for me. I'll see her later in the week and surprise her with it.

Back to writing pattern directions for me. I should have this new pattern (my latest) up on the blog in a few days. Also will have an update on the next few classes I'll be teaching in the new year.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Christmas Has Reached Our House

2007-12-10T22:31:00.000-05:00

We finally finished decorating the tree! After we strung all the lights and plugged them in, the lights in the middle of the tree simply would not work. No matter how much we twisted and jiggled them. It took an extra trip to the shop to get four more sets of lights and no...we did not take off the ones that weren't working, just wrapped the new ones in.

Needless to say taking down the tree this year will be a bear of a task. Only after I took the picture did I notice that Connor jumped in the picture to show off his truck.

Below is the view as you enter our house from the front door with the tree glittering in the sun room in the back. Again, did I notice Connor jumping into the shot from the stairs? But he was too cute to reshoot it. So here are the pictures of the Christmas in the Howes household and one member who refused to be forgotton.

See you next time "In the Hayloft",

Cleaning is Overrated...but necessary

2007-12-03T22:37:00.002-05:00

It must be getting near the end of the year because I seem to be in a cleaning frenzy. My mother has this thing about bringing in the new year with a clean house and I guess I've adopted it (don't we become just like our mother's in the end anyway?)

I cleaned my son's room last week and what a major reshuffle that was. Whew!!! Let me explain something to you...he is just six yrs old but happens to be one of the biggest hoarders I know. He wanted to throw away nothing, NOTHING I say! His pile for keep was gi-normous compared to the throw away pile. I must say though that he was generous with his give-away pile (alright so he has outgrown most of those baby toys but still couldn't bear to throw them away, but giving was okay).

He absolutley loves to draw and draws this superhero he made up, KAP * W (pronounced KAP-STAR-W) all the time. HE IS KAP * W, the stongest superhero in the world! So do you know how many pictures there are of this superhero? I'll tell you...a small laundrey basket full and none could find it's way into the largest garbage bag I could find.

I was even told at one point "you're killing me Mum" to which I said...Okay hon, but only KAP* W pictures we are keeping. I know, I was a sap, a sucker and now have to come up with an ingenious way to store all these papers and probably thousands more to come.

So we are sitting there in a clean room where we could finally see the carpet and he tells me "now we need to paint". I might add that it is not even 5 minutes after we finish heave-ho his room! Do you think Santa can handle that job? No, I mean the real Santa, the one that swoops down the chimney and all.

So now I am finished with his room and will start on the next cleaning job, something I've been putting off for a long time................my studio! It needs a complete overhaul-----new storage (yummy), lots of dusting/sweeping (cough cough) and replanning where things go for easier retrieval. Wish me luck!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

p.s. will post picture of "before" when I've taken picture of the "after". Will not embarras myself w/o showing the bee-u-tiful results.

Punche Needle Mania...Oh No!

2007-11-24T23:11:00.001-05:00

A friend and I have recently discovered punch needle embroidery. Boy is that darned stuff addicting. I finished the above piece in about 6 hours over two days. I just couldn't stop punching that fabric. My kids thought I was obsessed because every time they came into the room there I was hunched over this small frame...poking that tool again and again .

My husband was on a business trip when I started this piece and when he got back he just couldn't get use to the punching noise so I had to stop for the night on day 1. Oooh man was I having serious withdrawal symptoms that night. All I could thing of was the fact that I would get to it tomorrow.....

" Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow,
you're only a day away"

Anywho...I thought to put it in a frame but I have an idea for a small quilt. Hopefully I'll get a chance to finish it this coming week.

Isn't that about the cutest little house you've seen? Speaking of houses, been working on a new house quilt. Will show that soon.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-24T01:26:00.001-05:00

Hubby and 6yr old with my first poinsettas of the season

Hope everyone had a gobbly good Thanksgiving. It was nice just having the family around but it felt strange as well cause we usually have friends over (they also have no other family near them) but this time they chose to have a quiet day themselves. Got a call from one of them and he said he missed being at our house! Ohhhhh. So me thinks we'll end up together again next year as was our tradition for over 12 yrs. Ya live and ya learn.

Yesterday, because we didn't have guests I got to do some of my own thing (which I promised myself to work on) and I finished the look of my website...the struggle with that had more to do with being content with what I produced enough to like it for the long run.

I have a few pages to fill out...one being the "about myself" page, aaagrrh (waxing on about my accomplishments is something I'm still not very comfortable doing) and secondly I need to take good pics of my large quilts to post on my gallery page. Have to set it up outside to get good pics cause I don't have a studio wall big enough.

Wish me luck that it works the first time around so I can finally upload it to a server so that the whole wide world can see me. Yikes! Just the thought of that gives me the heeby geebies but...I WILL NOT GIVE UP, I WILL PERSEVERE!!!! .

I know, I know you're probably thinking"she got a blog for goodness sake, how's that for worldwide" but having a website is somehow different in my mind. Here I'm just enjoying "chatting" with friends.

By the way I usually end my nights just before I go to sleep by finding something everyday to be grateful for. But this Thankgiving I am more grateful than you can imagine for having my family, all my children at home to celebrate the day with. We've been in upheaval for such a long time it was good to just appreciate them all. Of course my 6yr old kept telling me, "Mummy you're staring at me again". What can I say, they make me smile and those tender feeling just rise to the surface.

See ya next time"In the Hayloft",

Quote of the Day

2007-11-13T19:22:00.001-05:00

I love little life sayings, serous and funny alike, and have post-it notes filled with them, some stuck on the wall in front of my studio desk, some in my bedroom, a whole page of them in my sketchbook and some I post on my daughter's bathroom mirror at night so she can take it with her during her day.

The one below I love because it speaks to me everyday. It's in a prominent spot...everytime I look up from the computer I see it. It says:

Who looks outside DREAMS
Who looks inside AWAKENS

Carl Jung

See ya next time "In the Hayloft"

A New Pattern

2007-11-11T20:55:00.001-05:00

My time has not been my own of late and I have not had a chance to create anything new but finally, a new piece "Bloom Where You Are Planted". It's only a small wallhanging that I still have yet to write the pattern directions for but at least the top is done. I originally wanted to make it for my daughter to let her know that her beauty will shine no matter where she is in life.

The ragged boot I absolutely love how it turned out. The only thing is I'm always stymied trying to come up with quilting designs to enhance my quilt tops so I've been auditioning designs on my makeshift design board. It's just a piece of plexiglass that I place over an unquilted piece and draw on with a dry erase pen. It's much easier that way because I get to erase the design without having to unpick any threads.

We all have so many ideas for quilts in our heads and think we'll never get all of them out in a sketchbook, far less in fabric? Well...I'm here to tell you...you probably won't get to them all (hee hee) but every one that's plucked out is another one you can feel good about. And then another 2 are ready to take its place. I'm glad this one is finally out and almost finished. Hurray!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

My First Ribbon!

2007-11-11T20:10:00.001-05:00

Look, look, I won a ribbon!

One of the guilds I belong to is the Lake Norman Quilter's and we had our first show last Saturday. We are a group of about 44 members and we worked our butts off to put on the best show we could muster. We had very good feedback from attendees who loved the variety of quilts (about 224 at last count) we had on display.

And lo and behold. I won a first place ribbon for one of my quilts "ColourBlocks" (which is also a pattern). Yippee!!!!!!! This is only the second show I have ever entered and I am tickled pink to get my first ribbon! I also won a 3rd place ribbon for my quilt "Bluberries and Mint Parfait".

Not bad for a newbie huh?

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Some Rain at Last...Thank Goodness!!

2007-10-25T12:33:00.002-04:00

Whenever I'm on the road I always have my camera at the ready...just in case. On the way into Charlotte for an appt yesterday it was all I could do to keep my eyes on the road, the sky was absolutely beautiful, it looked like a piece of cloth that had just had fun painting. It was heavy with clouds that were bursting with long overdue rain. This little bit we get will just have to tide us over for now.

I wish I had a better shot of this next photo. I forgot to roll down the passenger side window before I took it so you can see the messy glass I shot it thru.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Picture of the Day

2007-10-19T07:23:00.000-04:00

So I'm driving along the road and and I stop at a traffic light just turning red. I know this light will probably take a while to change to green so I thought it a good time to take out my camera to check some recent photos I'd taken (make good use of time my mother always said). I turn the camera on and look to my left. This is what I see.

Hurriedly I take a picture before the car racing up to break beside me cuts off my view. Maybe the people who hung the sign can be excused for being dyslexic or...

.......maybe they forgot that we don't live in Japan where things are read from right to left or...

.......maybe the credit union thought it was a good advertising idea and asked for the sign to remain thus hung or...

........maybe they were pissed at their boss for making them work...yet again darn it!

No matter the reason, me thinks someone is gonna get in BIG, BIG trouble for this one.
We'll file this one under picture of the day.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

I'm Still Here

2007-10-08T10:31:00.002-04:00

Bet you thought I got lost somewhere, never to return again. WRONG! As I mentioned when I started this blog, things (read LIFE here) will get in the way but........I'm back and eager to fill you in on happening things.

First I had such a fun time with Karen Stone this weekend. She came to visit our guild (Charlotte Quilter's Guild) this past week and she was a real hoot...warm, funny and very generous with her knowledge and time. We had so many members sign up for her workshop that I had to ask if she could do two instead of the usual one workshop to accomodate all those who wanted to attend (that was 40 ladies all eager to be near Karen). Sent her off on her merry way on Sat so she could prepare for her daughter's 18th birthday. Happy Birthday Chelsea!

News about my wayward foot...I will eventually have to have surgery done. Remember I told you that I was SPECIAL because I have all those extra sessamoid bones on each of my toes (the nurse still insisted I contact the Guinness Book of World Records to report this). Well apparently the original X-ray (taken in June!!!!) was mislabeled and when my new Doc looked a bit closer last week he could see that one of the small round bones was broken. The only thing with that was it showed I should be having pain in my right foot and not the left.

Got new X-rays done that same day and YUP...one of those little teeny tiny bones cracked right down the middle. That's why I'm still limping darn it, they were all looking at the left foot X-ray which really was a wonderful picture of the right foot with no problems!

So, in the end, Doc decided I should just have those little culprits both removed, hence the surgery and six weeks convalescence for healing...3 wks on crutches and 3 with a boot. Would you believe the best time for that is Christmas??? It's only then that I can almost guarantee that DH will be home long enough (Business Trips'R Him.com these days) to let me recuperate without too much getting up and down.

That's all for now. Will have some pics of new work next time including the new ones of the last piece I posted with the Sonji-like bundles I added to it. Cool stuff those bundles.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Progress

2007-09-22T04:13:00.001-04:00

I'm quite estatic this early morning. I finally have my 1st web page done...well... not really...I have set up a, uno, one page and now need to tweak some images so they show up better. Boy am I happy (can't you just see me doing the happy dance?).

I bought a couple of books (see previous post) and found four more at the library that I thought would help although you know those are really out of date at 3 years old. I considered for a millisecond purchasing DreamWeaver but my budget just ain't there. I decided to go on the web and see if there could possibly be anything else a teensy tiny bit cheaper (like $200 cheaper) and would you believe I found it.

I FOUND THE ANSWER TO MY FRUSTRATION! Yippee!!!!!!

I came upon a little HTML software editor called CoffeeCup. They have been in existence for a while now, since '96, but I had never heard of them before. I downloaded the trial software and two days later....did you hear me, I said 2 DAYS LATER...I have a web page, of sorts.

Tomorrow I will purchase the software (now that I know I can use it.) Next step...to get the other 150 pages finished. Oh people, I'm just kidding, I really only have about 10 or 15 more to do to be able to upload it to my server. Half the battle is over. Yippee!!!!!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

New Small Piece

2007-09-19T03:56:00.000-04:00

I have not had much of a chance to get into my studio lately and sorely miss the action that happens there. So, last week, instead of working on a big quilt I chose to cut up a piece of fabric that I hand dyed last year with my group, Pandora's.

I like to work small sometimes cause it gives me a chance to keep my fingers and head busy with some creative stuff but it doesn't take a ton of time!

I've always wanted to work with just one fabric but I always thought it would be with a commercial fabric, finding some way to try and make each piece I used look different. You know how hard that can be.

For this piece I just cut strips from the yard of fabric, then cut those into smaller rectangles. Because it has a nice mix of toned down blues and purples it worked quite well as a one fabric piece. I wanted to work quickly and not think about things too much so I fused the rectangles to a large piece of fusible web. Next came a frame for it.

My daughter helped me audition the border and we settled on a cool eggplant batik. I cut a rectangle to include the borders I wanted, fused a piece of fusible to the back then...beleive it or not, I cut a whole in the middle for the hand dyed center section. I told you, I really didn't want this too take long. I then fused the two to a larger piece of batting. Top was done!

It's not quilted yet, been testing out some ideas and I still have to add some embellishments, thinking about beads or bundles. Got that last idea from Sonji Hunt (June 25th entry). You have to take a look at her work, the colour is what drew me in at first. Ooohwee!!

Gotta run, you may have not noticed the time of this post but I really should get some rest. I have an early day tomorrow.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

On Being a Pandora

2007-09-10T19:51:00.002-04:00

Today was a good day. Today was a good day to be a Pandora. We four Pandora's hadn't met in a while, not since we had such a blast dyeing fabrics back in July. So it was a good day for us to get together and talk and relax and just be with each other. Don't get me wrong, we see each other quite regularly (all belong to the same guilds and talking constantly by email and phone) but it was nice to come together as the group we formed, Pandora's. We are not, by the way, the Pandora's, we are just...Pandora's.

One of us, Lushorn, had just finished building a pool in her backyard and she invited us over to christen the pool. It was such a hot day that a cool dip in the pool was just what was needed. She, in fact, spoiled us today, us Pandora's.

We all arrived by 9:30 and Lushorn had a small breakfast of fresh fruit waiting for us...smooth cantelope, juicy watermelon and sweet strawberries. We sat outside on her pool patio and got business out the way while we munched on all that gorgeous fruit. When it got to hot to sit still, those who brought swimsuits geared up and went for a cool and refreshing dip.

Thirty minutes later we were called out of the pool to a beautiful lunch of baked salmon and pasta (didn't I tell you we were spoiled today?). Another member, Susan, brought her version of Tiramisu, the fantastic coffee liqueur dessert. Yummy, yummy, yummy. By this time it was just after 1 pm and we all needed to head back to normal life, picking up kids and feeding dogs, etc.

No matter what our daily lives brings it's always really good to be a Pandora. Thanks my friends.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Art Dolls with a Twist

2007-09-06T12:54:00.001-04:00

A friend told me last night at our guild meeting that she likes to read my blog but thinks I should update it more often. Well...me thinks she's right. I have been amiss and will make every effort to keep it better updated. Thanks RM, I really appreciate your honesty. It's not that haven't been in my studio working, I just haven't had a chance to post and let you all see that I've been working on.

It didn't help that my modem got fried (3 days without internet) in the brutal thunderstorm we had last week. The rain came down in sheets and blew patio items all over the place, couldn't see out the windows because the rain was so heavy against the glass themselves. Anyway I am back online and love the new little dolls I made.

Growing up I really didn't play with dolls much, at least not the cuddle up kind. I loved making paper dolls though and all their clothes . I use to forget sometimes to cut out the little tabs that helped the clothes stay on their bodies...whoops! My sister and I had a whole set of them.

I saw an article in the magazine Art Doll Quarterly, summer 2007 issue, and knew I had to make one...okay....I kinda got carried away. I decided to make 6, one for me and a couple of quilting friends.

I painted a large piece of 90lb watercolour paper with Pebeo Setacolour paints in a rainbow effect. I knew that some of my friends liked certain colours and cut out each card with their colour in mind. Then it came time to embellish...yummy! I wrote, painted some more and stamped. To get the charms to stick to the heavyweight paper I use heavy gel medium. These are a few of the finished cards.

Each doll has a different personality and as they sat on my worktable for a couple of days, I contemplated whether I should add more. Alas..........no. In the end I decided just to add the arms, legs and the head by punching holes thru each part and connecting them with square brads (found in the scrapbooking section of the craft store).

I was going to mail them to each person but thought not, even though they fold up quite nicely on themselves (see back of doll below), It was better in peson seeing them unfold their special dolls. I wish I was still as agile as the picture shows.

Here they all are, kicking up their heels in joy at having been created!

The 1st and 4th dolls are obvioulsy way too cute to kick up too much in their pictures but that's not their real life personalities though. Those two really kick _ _ _ sometimes! So watch out for all these girls, they ROCK baby!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Mess has it's Merits

2007-08-26T10:25:00.003-04:00

Okay, so I was watching my regular sunday morning news programs to get my fill of all things political and I hear Bill Geist, from CBS News Sunday Morning say "if I could see more executive offices that look this messy I bet we'd be a more productive nation"...and I sat up to listen.

Apparently mess is GOOD!!! who the heck knew! I constantly bemoan the piles of paper and magazines I have lying around my studio and the few in my bedroom. I stack mags by date with the latest at the top, papers are stacked as well. As the guest, David Freeman said, "Piles have a chronological meaning to them. And people know how many inches they have to go down on a pile to get so many weeks or months back in time, and that makes it very easy to find things."

This is ME!!!!!!

How wonderful to know that I am not just a messy person but a messy person with purpose. There's such a thing as "useful mess". Whoopee!! Halleuah!

Furthermore, Mr. Freeman has these thoughts:

"...Had Sir Alexander Fleming not kept such a filthy laboratory, penicillin would not have been discovered" (big one here folks)

"...employees with messy desks are 36 percent more efficient (tellthat to your bosses)

"...the bigger the salary, the bigger the mess ( yeh but I'm thinking those CEO's also have people to clean up their messes)

and lastly "...Albert Einstein said, "If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk?" Mmmmh?

So some food for thought folks: mess ain't what it's cracked up to be. Go ahead be messy, feel good about it, more efficient production is right around the corner. YOUR ART IS WAITING!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Designing Web Pages

2007-08-25T11:51:00.000-04:00

I thought it would be fairly easy to design my own website (most of you really need to stop laughing at me now). So after days...okay so it's been a month plus but who's counting...of reading ,writing and lots of frustrated behavior I won't describe here, I finally have....a half of a page done!!!! Eh! I can see why people get paid good money to do this FOR you. But...

I WILL NOT GIVE UP, I WILL PERSEVERE!!!! yadda, yadda, yadda.

Actually I'm having a bit of fun reading the books I have, "HTML, XHTML & CSS by Elizabeth Castro and "The Principles of Beautiful Web Design" by Jason Beaird. It's fascinating read believe it or not and I'm learning so much.

Like when I post stuff to this blog and then view it, why the picture of a fruitcake is over there by the description of my husband's best friend (disclaimer: my husband's best friend, who's name shall remain nameless, is not a fruitcake, I'm just using that as an example) or now knowing that the html language that I see on a page is not really some web page designer mouthing off, it really does translate into web text.

Alright, enough goofing off. Hopefully my website, RedBarn Studios with it's new logo (yippee!) will be up and running soon...suppose that depends on your definition of soon...or you might see more posts that aptly describe my frustrated behavior. I'm off to buy MORE school supplies (whatever happened to just the paper and a pen deal?) but that means they go back to school on Monday and I get my daytime hours back to myself again. I think I prefered year round school afterall.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

p.s. As I write this my 6 yr old is playing "bowling" with my beautifully beaded ball and my 24" long ruler propped up on a the drill case. So much for it being MY place for play.

Living Rainforest Finally!

2007-08-17T23:37:00.002-04:00

I know I promised the photos of the Living Rainforest that we visited near Pangbourne in England. Here are just a few. It was facinating walking around because every corner you turned was another interesting and sometimes rare species of life that exist somewhere on this planet of ours.

We'll start with the Pitcher Plant. Its leaves form pitchers that lure insects inside. The insects are attracted to the nectar that is produced at the bottom of the pitcher.

There the insect is trapped and digested by the plant.

This second photo came at great peril I might add. Someone had to hold me by the waist as I leaned over to take the picture of the bug struggling near the bottom of the plant. You can see his poor spindly legs in the middle of the photo. I think he knew he was done for by then.

This next photo intrigued me. My daughter came running to me telling me I have to come see this. Well since the whole environment was like that and I took my time going over. She came back pulling my arm over to where she was and this is what I came upon. I was no more than one and a half feet away from this "flutterby" (as my 6yr old calls them) when I took this photo. There we at least 5 people in the area and the flutterby did not move a muscle to fly away.

The Swiss Cheese plant is aptly named. It's large leaves resemble swiss cheese, duh! It's upward climbing roots are used for ropes in Peru, made into baskets in Mexico and boiled to treat snake bites in Martinique!! I loved the way the leaves formed a canopy over our heads as we walked under them.

These roots were about 2 ft wide by 3 ft high.

There were so many different varieties of plants it's hard to show them all here but I thought the swirl one was way cool...my kids hate to hear me say that, they say it sounds "so not cool Mummy"... so I say it all the time anyway, hee, hee. Anyway, enough about embarrasing my kids. The leaves swirl in bunches so there would be 3 or 4 of them on a branch.

Can you imagine a few of these trees in your garden and the leaves just swaying back and forth? How magical it would look especially when lying down on a large white hammock with a cool drink nearby and someone feeding you grapes...oops, sorry I got carried away there for a moment!

One thing that was not very pleasant was learning the facts about a particular flower, the Madagascar Rosy Periwinkle. I'm sorry that the photo is not a better one. It's a native plant of Madagascar that has been horribly exploited because of the discovery of its anti-cancer properties by western pharmaceutical scientist.

Unfortunately the majority of the profits never made its way back to the country, one of the poorest in the world. Organizations are trying to rectify that but think of the millions lost so far (75 million pounds in profit for that industry) that the people of Madascar will never see. Shameful!

To end on a better note the other photo I have I really couldn't post here on the web. If you want to see a picture of it you'll have to email me and I'll send it to you. As soon as you see it you'll understand why. Whoa johnnie!

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Family Art

2007-08-15T12:12:00.001-04:00

I had planned to upload pics of my latest project then thought you might enjoy this better. It all started when I said to the kids let's make birthday cards for Daddy this year, whose birthday was a few days ago. This is what they came up with. The red is by my 15 yrs old...can you tell she is into drama? Here's the front of the card. And lo and behold, this is the inside of her special card. Her Dad cracked up when he opened it (BTW, Git is a loose English term meaning jerk or sillyhead but in a fun loving way.)

Our 6 yr old loves to colour and draw...right now it's all about Superheros (that's his made-up superhero on the front). I speak "Connor" language so translation of the phonetically spelt words is "Daddy I love U (see inside Love) I am happy that you are turning 44". He had to pause at after he read it too. Ha ha ha ha ha ha...

What a gift...kids!

(Front cover and inside of card)

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

The Year of Me

2007-08-01T00:03:00.001-04:00

The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own.
No apologies or excuses.
No one to lean on, rely on, or blame.
The gift is yours—it is an amazing journey—and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.

—Bob Moawad, Motivational Speaker

This quote spoke to me the instant I read it. I started out this year on a very positive note, saying that this would be the year of me, my beginning so to speak. It is known that if you say something often enough you believe it, well that has happened to me. I KNOW this is the year of me. Not in a stringent goal-oriented way (although I've put to paper all the goals I want to achieve for the year) but more that I will come out of my shell and GO FOR IT!

I truly believe that all who seek shall find...eventually that is.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

A Week at Quilting By the Lake

2007-07-28T08:58:00.001-04:00

It's 9 am and I'm sitting in Syrcuse Airport waiting to board a 12 o'clock flight, the first of two flights to get me back home to my family. It has been a long three weeks traveling but I would not have missed it for the world.

This past week has been wonderful and I feel as if my creativity got a kick-start, a big nudge from a very genourous intructor, Bill Kerr of FUN QUILTS. He and his wife, Weeks Ringle, usually teach classes together but my classmates and I got a rare chance to work just with Bill at the Quilting by the Lake Conference. The staff of QBL and the staff at Morrisville College (part of the SUNY University system) were fantastic at making each participant feel right at home.

QBL started 26 years ago and there are actual participants who have attended all 26 years, if you can belive that! One of the longtimers was Sally Davis, a former quilt shop owner and friend from my NJ days, with whom I had the chance to renew a friendship when we bumped into each other on the grounds of the campus. It really was like old home week for me because a few of the members of the the fantastic guild I belonged to in NJ were there as well and it was good seeing them as well.

Bill's class, "Idea to Quilt" really helped me see that the process to a finished piece does not have to be full of details. His suggestion to distillate an idea to it's barest essentials was so key for me. I realized I didn't have to put the whole cow in the cereal just to get a bit of milk. One of his tools I think I will use from now on...maybe not for every quilt... is to create a maquette. Having never heard the term before I was intrigued. A maquette is a small version (say 8 x 10) of an idea that might just be a colour study or a function study to see if what I envision will work. I came away with all sorts of ideas and different techniques, not to mention a whole lot of valuable information, resources and germinations of ideas for the next few quilts.

I cannot finish without mentioning my quad mates. We we housed in one of the dorms on campus that had four bedrooms, a kitchen and a sitting room or common area as it is referred to. Me and my friend DeLane, who I convinced to come on the trip with me, made two new friends, Sandy and Eva from Toronto, Canada. The evening activities were over by 8/8:30 so we were were usually back in our rooms soon after that. I can't tell you the amount of nights we just stayed up talking and laughing with them. They are a hoot and I miss them already. We promised to try and bunk up together again if we attend QBL at the same time but in the meantime we will definitely keep in touch. Here are the four quad sisters themselves: Sandy, Eva, DeLane, me.

I am exhausted from traveling and I haven't even begun this leg of the journey yet. I have some good memories and made some new life-long friends (especially all my classmates) and will definitely be back at QBL again...maybe not next year but certainly the following year. QBL is an experience you shouldn't miss, think about coming with me next time. It has been a fantstic, fun, brain swamped week and I am eager to get back into my studio and play.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Back and Going Again

2007-07-21T13:31:00.001-04:00

Oh my goodness!! It's great to be back home at least for the next few hours at least. We got back in Thursday afternoon all safe and sound and I got to sleep in my own bed!! What a blast that was! Even after all that traveling and time change can you believe my body still got me up at 6:45am on Friday. It caught up to me though b/c I was in bed by 8pm last night totally konked out.

I'll be leaving tomorrow morning to fly to NY to attend the Quilting by the Lake (QBL) workshop I signed up for. It should be so much fun not doing anything but qulting for the whole week and having my friend DeLane along for the ride. Whoopee!! I am busy packing supplies (and obviously still online) and machine and clothes and all those things I think I shouldn't forget (but probably will anyway and will have to beg to borrow from DeLane or any other poor soul who happens to sit next to me in class).

One quick story...the day before we were supposed to leave I had hubby drive me to a quilt shop I found and afterwards we stopped at a pub he remembered frequenting way back when for a drink. (The English love their pubs and there are plenty of them around to be able to stop for the proverbial drink). Anyway...everyone sat down at a table overlooking the River Thames and what was next door but a beautiful garden...so I proceeded to take out the camera and take some pics (BTW, my daughter accused me of having more time for the camera than her this trip...uhm, so what if she's right this time?).

I am busy clicking away trying to get all sorts of shots of flowers and foliage and water and experimenting with certain views, that I took no notice of the barman come out to ask me to please come back to the pub's side of the area because I was trespassing on private property (cheeky girl) until hubby stepped in to get my attention. Oh the shame of it. NOT! I did returned to the pub side and continued to take pics, with my hubby just smiling and shaking his head. I had informed him when we first started the trip that my focus, including being with his family, was to look at the English world for ideas for all sorts of things depicting line and shape. I came back with almost 700 pics that I now have to sift thru and sort.

It was a good trip and not at all as long as I feared. I promise as soon as I get back from QBL to post some of the pics I took while in England, especially the ones from the Living Rainforest that I promised.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Visiting Friends

2007-07-12T12:55:00.001-04:00

Today we drove to Bournemouth to visit a mate of Dave’s from high school. Craig is as solid a guy as he ever was and Rachel hasn’t changed either, still a happy-go-lucky sole and a lot of fun to be around. They have a 5 and 4 yr old. Together we all prepared a barbeque lunch and sat in their lovely garden under a wide, wide umbrella to eat. So very relaxing that it seems like we sat around and chatted for hours afterwards. Tomorrow it’s off to Bath and Bristol where Dave grew up. He's so excited to show us around.

See ya next time" In The Hayloft",

Our Vacation: Part I

2007-07-07T16:48:00.001-04:00

Tha family and I arrived in England on Thurs morn to visit the in-laws and have a bit of a holiday. Yesterday we went to a place called "The Living Rainforest" which is a little hole in the wall place but with quite an oh-so-facinating set-up. You walk past double hanging plastic sheets (like vertical blinds only heaivier) into an atmosphers that hits you immediately with its temperature change...humidity up the ying yang!! But, the first thing that greets you is a beautiful pink orchid growing off the bark of a tree. What a welcome.

As you walk round and round the area, on planked pathways, you find yourself looking over barriers into pools of water below and while gazing overhead to make sure you're not runing into overhanging plants that jsut beg to be seen. I just went around clicking photo after photo of the most amazing plant life that sometimes took my breath away and animal species that I wouldn't ordinarily want to meet up with at any other time.

We picked the wrong day to go though because 3 charter buses (yes three) full of middle school students had decided to decend upon the rainforest as well and since the paths were very narrow it was harrowing at times walking thru, with everyone trying to take pictures and oohing and ahhing at all there was to see.

To put all the pics I took would take me a long time and you a lifetime to look thru so Ill post them as I post updates. If you ever get a chance to go...it is definitely worth the effort.

Extra Sesamoids?????

2007-06-29T22:41:00.001-04:00

So I go to my podiatrist's office today because I've been limping for a few weeks...okay so it's really been a month and a half. The nurse asks me to put on the dreaded lead "apron" (more like a brick coat) and to step onto the x-ray machine. Did you know that podiatrist have their own x-ray contraptions? Anyway, I digress. After I twist my foot this way and that for all the different angles they needed to diagnose my problem, I settle in my room and wait for the Doc. She comes in, intoduces herself and proceeds to squeeze the beejeezuz out my hand to give me one of the strongest handshakes I've ever had. Now I need to go see another doctor about the pain in my hand!

Doc presses and prods my foot then looks at my x-rays. She is blown away! Apparently I have a really rare condition...extra sesamoid bones on ALL of my little toes-ies, something she's only ever seen during her clinical work. Most people just have them on their big toe but, lucky me, I have two of them on all five toes, on each foot no less. She explains that although it is a rare condition it should not be a problematic condition. She then tries to fit me for inserts and adds pads that she fashions herself, cutting these cushiony soft supports to fit the ball of my foot.

Next it's onto a little bit of papier mache casting of the feet. I'm told to lie down on the examination table face down and the nurse massages (yes, I said massages) a cast-like substance onto each foot thereby creating cute little impressions of my long and slender feet. I'm not kidding, the nurse oohed and ahhed at how "slim" my size 9 feet were!!! Nothing but the genes kid, nothing but the genes (although I could have done without the butt I inherited on my backside. I call that HERITAGE now).

Long story short I now have to wear othopedic inserts in all my shoes---no more heels (not that I wore them much anyway), no more flip flops (which I just discovered how to wear only a few months ago with help from my teenaged daughter who laughed incredulously when she found out that bit of info) and no more slip-ons. What is a girl to do? Obey doctor's orders and wear those sneakers that's what, especially since we are headed "across the pond" to England to visit the in-laws for a few weeks. Notice here no in-law jokes what-so-ever...father-in-law (luv ya Ron) might be reading this sometime.

With all that said, I decided to take sick leave when I got back home. Haven't been in the studio today...I know, I know, how will I produce art if I don't even set hurting foot in the room? Tomorrow is another day...and I'm in there early in the a.m. as usual. With my aching foot I'll...

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Working with Line and Shape

2007-06-27T15:42:00.001-04:00

First a little background on an Art/Crit Group I belong to. There are five of us; Judy, DeLane, Jean, Christine and myself, who meet once a month to crit each other's work and work on any new techniques one of us might be interested in. One of the things we decided to do after each session was try to create piece of quilted art out of the small samples we produced.

At Judy's house we had a fantastic session the other day (okay...so it was a few weeks ago), where she has us working from Katie Pasquini's book "Colour and Composition for the Creative Quilter", in particular, the Line and Shape chapter. Following the directions in the book we proceeded to produce six pieces, four of them in black and white only.

Our first piece we had to use linear lengths cut from a fused black fabric which was then subcut into different widths. There were no restictions on how long or short each shape had to be but you had to choose one of the compositional arrangements from the "Nine-Patch of Composition" suggested in the book. I came up with the piece at left.

It was extrememly hard at first to think of what to do and I just sat there for a long time waiting for something to come to me. The pieces I design are usually not so off the cuff and therefore it takes a little longer for me to produce a finished piece. That's one of the reasons this particular session was so good for all of us...more of a don't think, JUST DO kind of mentality. Something I want to do more of in my work.

Working with fused fabric helped because you didn't have to think about how you were to get it onto the background. There were some anxious moments though trying to get the completed piece over to the ironing board to fuse it in place. Minor expletives were uttered by some.

The second piece was to have no lines parallel to the edge of the foundation and have some form of diagonal placement. When I finished this piece I was not overly enamoured with it. Can't place my finger on just why yet. Sorta boring I'm thinking. You can see where a fused black shape that was part of the semi-circle in the lower left was lost in transport somewhere from Judy's house to mine.

The third piece had to be created solely out curved shapes. By this time I was more confident that I could produce something fairly quickly and was really pleased with what I came up with. It was easy to guess my circular composition layout. If you turn it so the large black shapes are on the bottom it looks like a burning fire. Real cool this one.

At this point in the process I was impressed with what could be produced from different lines and shapes. The shapes I used in the composition were not strictly curves (though not the straight linear pieces I was using before) but their placement suggested a curved shape which I think enhanced the design. I learned a lot from this piece in particular.

The last exercise had us combining any or all of the shapes we'd previously cut but using a fourth composition layout. I wanted to make use of an asymmetrical composition with a negative space without creating unbalance or tension. The heavier shapes at the top add the needed balance (or anchor) to the whole piece that the bottom doesn't have. I also noticed that the curved shape in the lower right and the thinner strips in the bottom center helped to balance the piece as a whole, as well as creating movement, so your eye goes to the negative space and back up to the undulating thick strips. This in turn moves your eye around again. Pleased as punch you could say I am.

Here is a preview of everyones pieces. I think we all did a slam-up job...now to put it into a quilted piece...mmmmhhhh. The coloured pieces were the second part of the exercises we did composing with shape alone and a focal point. these we chose not to include in our finished black and white study. I'll post those as soon as everyone gets them to me.

Jean's and Judy's work

Christine's and DeLane's work

See ya 'In the Hayloft',

Quilt Olympics Event

2007-06-27T10:28:00.001-04:00

It been a long two weeks and I'm still trying to catch up on paperwork and have yet to finish the couple of piece I've been working on. Will post those in a few.

Last night I presented a different program to one of the guilds I belong to. We had a QUILT OLYMPICS event where teams compete against each other for prizes. The game I started at the beginning of the meeting was GOTCHA! In this game there is a forbidden word and anyone who says it has to give up one of the 6 pins they started the night with. It was hilarious because there was a lot of bleeping going on...that is, when they remembered to bleep themselves. As the night went on I added more forbidden words. Bet you can't guess what the original word was...QUILT (or any derivative of it).

At the beginning of the program I had everyone recite the Quilt Olympics Pledge. Check out the solemnity of the occasion with all their right hands raised. Such dedication! One of the things I had them promise, other than to do their utmost best for their fellow team members, was to never pass up an opportunity to buy more fabric. No one seemed to object to that bit...wonder why?

Couple of the events included Frog Stitching...every quilter's favorite thing to do (NOT! ) and Thimble Toss...look at those ladies run! Check out one of the team members helping the thimble into the cup. Priceless!
Team 4 trying to name the 36 blocks I had given them

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We had so much fun laughing and enjoying ourselves I'm thinking we will have to do this again.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Mistake Alert!!!

2007-06-12T20:59:00.000-04:00

So sorry Susan about the weird redirect. That link sent everyone to a site in Bangkok...how I did that I don't know. The correct site is www.bluemoonriver.com. Anyway, you'll love her work.

See ya next time "In the Hayloft",

Finally Done...Yeh!

2007-06-12T17:21:00.001-04:00

Been trying to catch up with paperwork and do get some studio time to finish up some pieces but with kids out of school interuptions abound. Connor, my six year old, just wants to go shopping for Pokemon cards. Will have to indulge him soon to get some peace. Thinking of making a DO NOT DISTURB sign with a timer for my studio door just for these "special" interruptions.

My first child, Andrew, graduated from high school this past Sunday and that was a lovely feeling to experience since it almost didn't happen. As late as two weeks ago he came to me to prepare me for the fact tha he might not graduate but things worked out in the end, thank goodness gracious.

I finally finished an applique piece I had been working on for the past few months. I know, I know...it is small so why did it take so long? It's hand applique people! I just started getting into it so the going's a bit slow...machine work has always been my speed (vroom, vroom).

This one and the other one below are an applique design a friend, Susan Knapp, wanted me to test for her. She did hers all in pink batiks. I told her I'd do four of them but so far have only got 2 of them completely finished. Not bad for a newbie to hand applique, huh? Now for the quilting...hmmm.

See you in the Hayloft,

The Start of a Something Good

2007-06-07T23:20:00.001-04:00

Welcome to ME!

I've always wanted to write down my musings but the thought of a diary was just too much for me, hence a blog to let you know about me, my art and the happenings in my life.

I started quilting a long long time ago and, from the very beginning it seems, was designing my own quilts. In the last five years I got real interested in art quilts and love the freedom it gives me, I do what I want and so much for all the rules. I belong to a couple of art groups that has me reaching beyond my own expectations and it is exhilirating. I still teach at a local qult shop and am now trying to publish my own patterns so look for them from my company RedBarn Studios.

That's all for now. Just a quick heads-up, when I get into a real creative groove or, as is usual with all of us, life gets in the way I'll try to post often but be aware and keep checking back.

See ya next time 'In The Hayloft'.