I Want One...

Uh-oh, I should have never tried it out last night...while on my supper break at work, the new Huskystar EM10 Felting Machine was calling out to me, "Come and have fun - see what everyone in Europe (and here too) is talking about." At the Jo-Ann store that I work at, there is a Viking dealership, and they just got this little fun-master in, so it's been bugging me for a week.

I want one!!! The manager said I could bring in a project, or play with it whenever I wanted - oh no, now there's a coupon for an additional $100. off through this weekend. Hmmm.....

It's Monday - anyone need a joke?

Irish Viagra (sent to me by a friend today)...just the joke, not the Viagra...it is still March, you know, that's why this is in green...


An Irish woman of advanced age visited her physician to ask his help in reviving her husband's libido

"What about trying viagra?" asks the doctor. "Not a chance, she said. He won't even take an aspirin."

"Not a problem", replied the doctor . Give him an "Irish Viagra. It's when you drop the Viagra into his coffee. He won't even taste it. Give it a try and call me in a week to let me know how things went."

It wasn't a week later that she called the doctor, who directly inquired as to progress. The poor dear exclaimed, "Oh, faith, bejaysus and begorrah! T'was horrid! Just terrible, doctor!"

"Really? What happened?" asked the doctor.

"Well, I did as you advised and slipped it in his coffee and the effect was almost immediate. He jumped straight up, with a twinkle in his ey, and with his pants a-bulging fiercely! With one swoop of his arm, he sent the cups and tablecloth flying, ripped me clothes to tatters and took me then and there, took me passionately on the tabletop! It was a nightmare, I tell you, an absolute nightmare!"

"Why so terrible, asked the doctor, do you mean the sex your husband provided wasn't good?"

"Twas the best sex I've had in 25 years! But sure as I'm sittin' here, I'll never be able to show me face in Starbucks again!"

Quilting Arts - page 97

She's been to Chicago, Houston, Massachusetts, and now she's home again...

In the soon to be out April/May issue of Quilting Arts, there is a gallery article about the Small Wonders exhibit that the IQF has sponsored for the past 8 years, and they chose some from the 2006 exhibit for the article.

And...while showing this to someone today, I was offered a solo exhibit in 2008! Thank you, Kiki of Kiki B's !!!

Happy Birthday, Johann

Ahhhhhh, Bach! Your music made my errands today so wonderful - nice weather - windows partially down - thanks to WNIU 105.7 on my car radio button...

F words

Funky, Fun, Fabulous, Forty of them, and my Favorite: FINISHED ...

March 29th update: Wendy told me there's 350 people signed up for the Samplers, so now we have a new "F" word: FIFTY PIN CUSHIONS finished ~

My wrist pin cushions for the Friday Night Sampler at IQF coming soon to Chicago. I will demonstrating how to make these and will have them for sale, along with one of the supplies that is not readily available in local craft/Fabric stores.

Update: Felicia of Fluffy Flowers
says "Fantastic"...














I became reacquainted with embroidery Floss, and even making French knots. I Found this great website that has video tutorials on embroidery stitches - NeedleNThread - Tips, Tricks, and Great Resources for Hand Embroidery

The Auditions

This was fun! I'm working on my demo for the
Friday Night Sampler - IQF Chicago in April...

I'm presenting my funky wrist pin cushions, and how to create them during the demos. I have heard that I'll only have about 10 minutes for each one, so I'll need to plan some "step-outs" like they do on all those crafty type television programs. What a rush it will be!!!

I enjoy the auditions - planning what fabrics go together, but...

After the red hat ladies invaded this galaxy (and others I'm sure), I have a terrible time putting red and purple together. I tried here on a few of them, but every time I look at them, I get frustrated - - -

Do you experience this too in your life, where you just can't seem to get past the fact that something so trivial has ruined it? Another case in point for me (and this is NQR, by the way): Although I tried to like the movie "Anger Management," when the men were singing I Feel Pretty, I was really ticked. That ruined the image and beauty of Natalie Wood singing the song in West Side Story.

Anyway, if you're planning on coming to Chicago for the quilt festival, sign up for the Friday Night Sampler. Lots of great presentations await you!!!

MIdnight Vigil at the Bead Tree

Lots of beads...little bits of fabrics as accents this time...

This is the small piece I created for the proposal I sent to Lark Books- they are putting a book together on beaded quilts, and asked me to submit...

Update: not accepted - boo hoo ~

Mardi Gras at Emmanuel

Sunday was our annual "Feast of Fools" celebration at church. Here we see the lovely blonde Brenda (one of the high school youth) sticking her tongue out during the lasagne meal, and the children donning their hairnets and getting ready to perform a skit with Jason...remember Gladys and Tyrone from Laugh-In??? The kids and a few adults had a lot of fun bopping him with purses...in another skit, yours truly played Edith Ann...and that's the truth (insert raspberry)

I Believe in Love

Without love I wouldn't believe in anything that lives or breathes ~
Without love I'd have no anger, I wouldn't believe in the right to stand here ~
Without love, I wouldn't believe ~ I couldn't believe in you, and I wouldn't believe in me without love. I believe in love.

elton john

The last group of notecards

Let there be light!

Oh my...I re-discovered more light in my studio! It was completely covered up by a tall shelving unit which now has been emptied, and all contents are on the floor. But, there's light...

What I also found behind: In 2000, I had to have a hysterectomy because of severe endometriosis. Grieving a bit for different reasons, I wrote a poem that my surgeon's nurse read as the surgery was ending ~

"I was the gift, the fruit that as a seed grew and was nourished by my mother's womb. My son is a gift also, a gift of my womb as fruit to the whole world. I am remembering my mother today, wishing she were here - to help me prepare for what is to come and to learn that even this rite of passage is a cause for celebration. Her spirit is a gentle presence in my life always ~
Blessings to all of you here today, especially to Dr. Moore who delivered
my beautiful son, and who now is providing me the chance to heal by
delivering the womb which has been wounded and full of pain. O Source
of Creation, as the blood now stops flowing from my body, show me that
my creativity will continue and that other gifts will flow out of me instead.
My womb - as a maiden, mother and now crone, I bless you." 11.2.2000

She's Traveling Again

"Green Goddess Dressing" is on her way to Quilting Arts, LLC ...

The green lady in all her naked glory will be included in an article about the Small Wonders exhibits which will be in the April/May issue.

She was supposed to arrive yesterday, but was delayed for some reason that made no sense to me - it made me a little nervous...tomorrow, they said.

When I hear that she's safe in Pokey's hands, I will breathe again...

Wednesday's notecards

Still having fun with these...and I only have 6 blank cards left ~

The whole process of creating these notecards has given me more ideas for future quilts than actually doing small quiltlets and postcards. Interesting - I'll admit that it's been quite freeing to not agonize over thread color, or go through every bead container for once. I've been writing in my journal about all of this, so I dragged out an old journal from 10 years ago when I was heavy into appliqueing. When I started back then, I stitched mostly geometric shapes to make it easier. As I read through my notes and thoughts from back then, I realized that it was more than wanting to keep it simple. As my applique techniques became very good, I found that I still preferred the simple shapes.

It seems that in the past 6 months or so, these simple shapes have been creeping back into my work.

More notecards

When I got home from work tonight, I had one thing on my mind (for a change). More notecards...

These are my favorites so far...the paper underneath the embossing are cut outs from an old calendar of Van Gogh paintings.

We have a winner in the "Tyvek, Anyone?" challenge! Debbie of DubiQuilts - Quilts and Fiber Arts
was the first person to comment on yesterday's
post - congrats!

Now be sure to check back...there's a lot more stash to go through - you never know when I may find something else to give away ~

Tyvek, Anyone?

What to do on a Sunday afternoon when you're not a football fan, and it's freezing cold outside - find a large box filled with scraps from projects '06, have a garbage bag nearby, close your eyes and start pitching some of the scraps (okay, most of the scraps), also have an empty bin nearby to place neatly (???) folded and separated fabrics...
~ooh, I forgot about that piece - where shall I put that?
~wow, this 4x4 square is the only piece I have left of that one (save it for I don't know)
~healthy fused scraps for my students (and me)
~lots of ugly dyed pieces for pressing cloths
~what was I thinking pieces
~pathetic prints to overdye or paint
~how did that Little Debbie Nutty Bar wrapper get in there?















Tyvek, anyone? I have never quite warmed up to this product...here is a shot of one bin of folded and separated fabric with some Tyvek and a small piece of Angelina on the top (sorry, don't like that stuff either). If you would like it, be the first one to comment on this post, and I'll send it to you! It's not a lot, just a few pieces, a couple of them are maybe 10x12...















All that organizing made me hungry for playtime: these are some notecards that I made. Easy! I used some fused scraps of my hand dyes and ironed them on the front of the cards~stamped and embossed images from greeting cards and from an old calendar~put some double-sided craft tape on the backs of the images, and laid them on top of the fused cotton.