My sister (and her English Shepherd puppies) with some of her grandchildren!

Good-bye dear Shadow!

Photo of Shadow last October. We had to have her put to sleep today. We will remember her very fondly! [Below, Shadow "helping" me quilt last spring!]

Still quilting and painting.....





Shadow is right in the camera lens again, she has been helping me to pin baste my "Just Breathe" quilt. As soon as I bring it to my Singer 301 and begin machine quilting, she is there to help!





These are two of the blocks from the first "Just Breathe" quilt...given to my brother for his birthday.


Here is the current quilt with the free motion quilting done in varigated thread. [Of course you can't see the thread, but Shadow did finally allow me to get the quilting done!] I am loving the brighter colors, Kaffe Fassett fabrics with others from my stash, and expecially the lime green and the turquoise which "sing"!



This is a photo of me with a quilt I sold a few years ago. It has a very large print by "who else?", Kaffe Fassett, broken up by 9-patches of other fabrics.








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I have also been painting again......first, though, is this painting from classes I took earlier.
We are framing it and using it on our newly painted walls!






Using stylized philodendron leaves and silhouettes of African antelope, I created the " forest".


Extra texture was added by walking on the painting with dark red paint on the soles of my espedrilles and by pressing paint onto the painting with corrugated cardboard shapes.

Below are 2 recent watercolors for ETSY.



An indigo bird with sunflowers and luscious berries....


An old clothespin and a "Rose of Sharon" flower.

And finally, the quilting and the painting come together in this quilted watercolor. Black stitching quilts along black ink line drawing, going through the paper, the batting and the black fabric backing. See ETSY.










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Thursday morning update: see my self-portrait practice and my painting studio here.

A tunic sewn for a granddaughter who will be 9 this week!

Can't help but think how much I will enjoy seeing her in it later this summer when they come to visit! They are in Colorado with other relatives now, hot air balloon rides for the adults and horseback riding for the children.

Perfect birthday weekend! [Below the granddaughter helping with her baby brother!]

Next is our cat, Shadow placing herself right in the lens....she settled in here as I was trying to photograph the "Just Breathe" quilt which is pin basted and ready for quilting. I think I will try a combination of machine quilting (with my classic Singer 301) and hand-quilting (in the center of the blocks).

I have just posted some artwork here.

Quilting and talking with friends....
a cool summer afternoon, we enjoyed having all the windows open to catch any breeze!

Today, my little helper "Shadow", sitting here on some fabric, and I are working on a new quilt top..... (sorry that the photo is not in focus...can't totally blame the moving kitty for that!)
This is a layout of some of the scrappy, wacky blocks which will be trimmed and sewn together to make the quilt top. It is called "Just Breathe" and is in a book called "Tried and True" from quilt designer Sandy Bonsib.

I have made this quilt before and shared the pattern with several friends. I recently gave my finished "Just Breathe" quilt to my brother for his birthday. So time to get into my stash of fabrics and recreate it!!!!

New Baby Photos.....





*********************************************Just received yesterday. My grandson....I can hardly wait to go see him (and his sister) again!
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Now, a funny "kitty" story. Our cat, Shadow, was in here this morning as I was watching the Oprah broadcast of the Monday night Eckhart Tolle class. I was a few feet away from the computer desk, in a comfortable chair...and Shadow had settled attentively on the mouse pad.
I realized that she was watching Eckhart Tolle who looked about 4" tall, was wearing a soft gray sweater and moving a bit, gesturing with his hands.
She was captivated! Eventually she investigated the screen more closely with her paw and her nose, ...no luck! Then, clever old kitty that she is, she walked around to check out the backside of the screen. Of course this didn't yield the prey either....so she tried the front again....for her own sanity, I had to remove her to the great outdoors where she will find something else to pursue!

How to quilt with a kitty!

(action shots taken last week on a cold winter night by Mr. Pear!)

You must of course use a wooden hoop to secure the quilt and a thimble to protect your finger. Get into the wonderful rhythm of making the hand-quilting stitches, Breathe, Relax....only to have the resident pet crawl up to cuddle and investigate!

....Then, decide that there will be other times to quilt, so try to read a book....seems like Shadow* wants to be in on this too! (I really don't think one can quilt with a kitty!)

* Shadow is almost 14 years old. She was a beautiful solid black cat, we thought. I was gone a lot this fall...she was a bit neglected, and her fur which is a nightmare to keep free of mats, was beyond the groomers help. So she had to be shaved....and in the cold month of January! She stays inside now awaiting the growth of her new coat and warmer weather! (Will the fur come back in as black, or will she now be an "old gray kitty"?...time will tell!)