Filling My Journals

This is a page I just finished  for my Sketchbook Diet journal group.

My son is a vegetarian and loves this recipe. So do I.

This is Madison Alexander.

I sketched him from a quilt I am making honoring this sweet cat.

I am using this sketch and painting for my Documented Life Project, this week.

Which was: Monochromatic: use shades tints and hues of one color.

Hard to tell but this is all blues. Camera just didn't catch it.

Here is the quilt I am working on.

It is called 

"The Many Moods of Madison"

In case you are interested here is the story of Madison

in a nutshell.

Bird of Paradise Quilt..

This is my Bird of Paradise quilt, I did as a challenge to myself.

The challenge was sharp points! I think by the time it was finished I had

mastered sharp points. I worked behind "closed doors" for fear someone might hear what I was muttering as I brought out my trusty ripper just one more time.

It is another one of my favorites. I smile when I look at it and

remember how I struggled with it. Today I consider it a dear old friend!

Midnight and Halloween... Mosaic Monday

She doesn't like to have her picture taken (can you tell!)

We have a twenty some lb. (she doesn't like her real weight exposed to the public)cat. She has the name of Midnight as that is the time I first saw her. She is jet black with the most beautiful green eyes. She arrived on our doorstep quite pregnant and had been deserted. She decided we were OK and put all her trust in us. We cared for her and she became part of the family. Her way of thanking us was to present us with nine (YES 9) kittens some weeks later. I must tell you it was a zoo around here with, 2 dogs, 1 cat, 9 kittens, and a cockateil ( who also found us, but that's another story, about the bird). The vet just shook his head when I brought all the kittens and Midnight in for their little surgeries. I was then able to adopt them out knowing that they would not be adding to the feline population. We still have Midnight or should I say she still has us. We love her a lot. I made this quilt in her honor. I do believe she posed for it. LOL

Happy Halloween everyone!

Drop over to Mary's Little Red House to see all the wonderful mosaics.

Thanks again Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday!

Leaf Quilt :Mosaic Monday

This small quilt was a study in shading using bleach.

I drew out leaves and cut them out of freezer paper.

I layed the freezer paper out on black fabric in the pattern I chose. I had a mixture of bleach and water in a fine misting bottle. I gently misted the fabric, making sure not to move my leaves. ( I used some weights to hold the leaves down). Do this OUTSIDE as the fumes can get nasty. I then watched my fabric change to a light brown where the bleach was. When I reached the desired effect I quickly rinsed the fabric on cold water to stop the chemical reaction. Using some hand dyed and some batik fabric I cut out the leaves from the patterns I had made with the freezer paper. I fused them to the black fabric off setting them just a bit to create the shadow effect. I was lucky in finding a fabric with all the leaf colors for the edging. I then quilted the background and quilted the leaf vanes. Fun project. In photographing I found it a little difficult to see the shading. But to the naked eye the leaves seem to pop right off the fabric.




Thanks to Mary at the Little Red House for hosting Mosaic Monday. Drop over and see all the wonderful mosaics people have taken time to create.

My Pineapple Quilt

I have a love affair with batik fabrics. This is one of my very first quilts I made. It remains one of my most favorite today. I have since made some very complex and diverse quilts but this one always

makes me smile. I remember spending hours picking out just the right fabrics. The colors had to be warm, tropical and inviting. I love Hawaii and warm, tropical and inviting describes how I feel about the islands. Deciding how I would quilt the quilt. Learning how to stipple. Picking out an exciting backing. Ah yes it has to be the tropical birds for the back. That would make a sweet surprise.

Yes this quilt was a learning experience and what fun I had. The things I learned enabled me to move on and try new and different styles.

Visit Amy as she has hosted "Bloggers Quilt Festival and it is a treat to see. There are over 500 quilts listed so far. Thanks Amy, this has bee quite a undertaking. You can click on her name or the button on my right side bar. Have fun!

Festival of Color, Outdoor Quilt Show: Mosaic Monday

Saturday morning I awoke to cloudy looking skies and was worried it might rain.This was the day the town of Duvall WA was having the 8th annual Festival of Color outdoor quilt show! It is put on by TheQuilter's Garden, quilt shop on Main Street.

Teddy and I headed North and the skies cleared up to a beautiful day with sunshine and a gentle breeze. Duvall was very busy, lots of people and loads of beautiful quilts. So camera in one hand, dog leash in the other hand we headed out. I love this town for it has maintained its small town charm and yet kept up with the times.

Teddy was

not to sure about this rather large rabbit outside Duvall Books!

Then we came across this large cow just outside the restaurant. Teddy growled. LOL

We finally started our trek through the wonderful quilts. It was hard to pick just one favorite.







They were all so bright and colorful.They were a mosaic all on their own.




A great day was had by all and one very tired dog!Drop over to Mary's Little Red House to see all the other wonderful mosaics people have created. Thanks Mary for hosting Mosaic Monday!

Flower pounding!

I don't recommend this if you have touchy neighbors who live close by! LOL Fortunately I live in the woods and only a few grazing rabbits took notice. I used white cotton suitable for dying. I think it holds the color better. Colors come out quite muted and I really liked that. I shall be trying ferns next. Anyway I layed down several layers of newsprint (plain),then the white cotton, then arranged the flowers face down on the cotton, then more newsprint. I had this all on a large wood board by the way as I really don't think a glass top table would be to good. :-0 ! Took a hammer and started pounding away. Good for relieving stress by the way! You have to do a lot of pounding, checking very carefully as you go. Finally done remove paper and poor squashed flowers and let dry. Then press. I chose to quilt my material and shall be making a pillow out of it. Before I quilted I took a permanent marking pen and added some loose drawn lines to add interest. If you enlarge the photo,I think you can see what I mean.

Pacific Northwest Quiltfest

I spent Saturday with my friend Cathy at the Pacific Northwest Quiltfest at the Seattle convention center. It was a rainy day outside, but the sun was sure shining inside. What wonderful quilts. So many and so little time!! The quilt that won me over came from Medicine Hat Canada, by Fran Lauzon was called, " I Thought I Saw a Blue Cow." I cannot get that quilt out of my mind. It got my vote! All the quilts were fantastic and inspiring. I hope to get some photos on site soon.
There were some amazing vendors at the show too. A gal named Ginny Eckley was showing how to silk screen her designs, using dye and shaving cream. Her work is beautiful. I spent all of my mad money so I best get creating....
A few garden shots to brighten up my site.