December 29, 2018

Let the Stitching Begin!

Now comes the fun part - free motion quilting.  It can be stressful, but I listen to classical music which soothes my soul.  I try not to think about it too much, just stitch with the flow!


December 24, 2018

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!


I wanted to share with you my 2018 Christmas card.  I hope you have a wonderful and glorious holiday!



With all the rushing and stress of the season, I think we could all use a little serenity right about now.

December 17, 2018

On Pins and Needles...

I've been so engrossed with working on this piece (and Christmas too) that I completely forgot to take photos. 

I'm finally at the point to sew the applique foreground on to the background.  This is generally the most stressful part of the whole process (at least for me)!




November 30, 2018

Birds of a Feather...

This project is now complete.  Love how these little birdhouses turned out.  Now all that's left to be done is to box them up and gift wrap!


November 26, 2018

For the birds...

The quilt I'm currently working on has to take a backseat (at least for a while).  Christmas will be here before you know it and I've got tons to do to get ready.  (Our tree and other holiday decorations are up - the day after Thanksgiving - our tradition.)

We usually send our grandchildren gift cards or checks, but I still like to send along a little something to open.  I took a quick run to Michaels yesterday to see if I could find anything to get my creative juices flowing.  I saw these sweet little $1 wood birdhouses and just had to take some home.

Step 1 - gesso


Step 2 - allow to dry then sand, sand, sand!


Step 3 - apply ceramic tile adhesive through sequin waste to form roof tiles


Now I need to wait for these to dry, sand some more and paint like mad!  I'm curious to see how they will turn out.  I don't like to plan too far ahead especially on a project like this...whimsy works best that way at least for me.


November 17, 2018

arm wrestling...

Working on a new art quilt - building it as I go along...so much more to do!



October 29, 2018

Oooh! and Ta Da!

I'm in love with these darlings - so happy with the way they turned out!



Oh boy a new car!

I traded in my dear sweet 2011 Mini for a 2019 Subraru Crosstrek - love my new car!



October 25, 2018

Let's Paint!

These ladies are ready for paint - I love this part of the process!!



October 22, 2018

See ya in the funny papers!



I created my selfie in comic book style - you can too - follow the link https://www.cultofmac.com/583400/how-to-use-ios-12-comic-book-photo-filter/



October 15, 2018

October 14, 2018

Head Shots...

Taking selfies for my website.  It's hard to do...choices to make...

I'm thinking this one is best...




October 3, 2018

Something borrowed, something blue...

I'm so much happier with this piece - glad I bit the bullet and painted over the existing work.

I'm calling this one done!


October 2, 2018

Texture, texture, texture...

I began the painting process today.  There is a ton of texture as one can plainly see.  I don't want to cover up too much of the background peaking through the texture...it's a challenge, but fun!

My woman will have a lot hair...eventually!

September 28, 2018

I'm baaaaaack!

Oh my gosh so much has happened since I last posted.  We went to Brittany, France and had a marvelous time.  Came home for a couple of days - long enough to laundry - packed up and flew to Chicago to celebrate my daughter's 50th birthday.  We had a wonderful time catching up with family and friends.  The day after we returned home from Chicago, my husband was involved in a horrible car accident.  He spent 6 days in the hospital - fractured sternum, a couple of thoracic fractures too.  He's been home for 3 weeks now and is improving slowly but surely thank goodness!

To preserve my sanity, I have been working on an art quilt which is in the final stages of completion.  I'm happy with it but need a break.

What I'm not happy with is an oil painting I did last year.  I'm sure we've all got artwork that for some reason or another just isn't right.  I paint over not toss these works - waste not, want not.  I happened to see some work of artist Andre Kohn in a local gallery.  I love, love his work.  The texture he creates is fantastic.  I could hardly wait to get home and give it a try.

 Painting I'm not happy with - the facial features are "off" - I didn't feel like trying to fix it.


I turned the painting upside down and spread molding past all over.  Once throughly dry, I sanded it enough to get all the loose bits off and smooth it out a little - I wanted to preserve all that gorgeous texture.  Now I need to summon my muse and decide what to do next.  Wish me luck!

July 16, 2018

My Best Bud...

Traveling soon - I'm trying to make sure I bring all the cords, earbuds, etc. with me.  I ordered new earbuds but they didn't come with a case...

Problem solved!


How I did it...








July 9, 2018

I've Got You Covered...

I bought a new purse the other day.  I realized my wallet was too big for this purse - mainly because the wallet had a built-in check book holder.   I don't know about you, but I write about 6-10 a year - hardly worth carrying around in my wallet.  Of course, I had to buy a smaller wallet...but then I had no cover for my checkbook and register - a conundrum!

I started looking around on Amazon, Ebay, etc. and then thought to myself "what are you doing - just make your own!"  Which is what I did.


Canvas cut to 7.5 x 13.5

acrylic paint

Sharpie oil based marker - love these markers! 

When paint was dry, fusible webbing sandwiched between canvas and silk remnant cut to size

trimmed piece to 6.75 x 13 - marked center and 3" from each end; straight stitch over the lines

zigzag stitch over short ends

folded the ends at the 3" marks, pressed crease with steam iron

zigzag stitch over raw edges


insert checkbook and register

I'm very happy with the way this turned out - took about an hour in total to do and didn't cost a cent!



June 28, 2018

These Divas Rock!!

After finding a Swartz Creek kindness rock in my yard a couple of weeks ago, I was inspired to paint some of my own.

I invited friends over to join me in the studio and have some fun - and it was!  I was lucky to get a deal on a bag of open rocks at Home Depot.  After washing them up, we were good to go.


I painted these four rocks.  The red heart was "hidden" in plain sight on a bench at the community park near where I live.  This morning, I felt a thrill of fear and excitement as undercover of dark, I placed the yellow bird in our neighborhood.  I need to think about where to place the two remaining - the beach would be the obvious choice for the beach umbrella, but the face, oh that face, it's going to be hard to give up!  One of my friends made a special FB page, "These Divas Rock" and hopefully the finders of our little treasures will post them to that FB page.





My friends kept busy - we ate pizza, drank wine and painted rocks!