Valentine Quilt

I've finished the quilt I started last week. I got my sewing machine back yesterday. I still feel like something isn't quite the same but I'll use it for a bit and see.

Another Heart Painting

We are getting another blast of bitter cold here in North Dakota. This morning it was 20 degrees below zero and our winds are horrendous....making for awful wind chills. The weird part is over the past weekend we had temperatures in the 30s and 40s.

My sewing machine is at the doctor and I had hoped to get it back today, but haven't heard a word. Hubby had his wisdom teeth out Monday morning and I've been nursing him and running and fetching and making soup, mashed potatoes, and pudding. Oh and scooping up plenty of ice cream.

The painting is 10" x 10" on gallery wrapped canvas. It's available in my etsy shop.

Working on Stuff

Here are a few things I've been working on lately. This first item is all Norah's fault. She went and showed off her wonderful altered chip cans. One day I was munching on some chips and I emptied the can (yes I polished them all off - YUM!). I took a second look at the can before tossing it in the trash. Sharon created beautiful art with some of these leftover cans, so I thought, maybe I can too. Well I don't know how beautiful it is, but I'm happy with it. I gotta tell you though, I didn't enjoy painting on the rounded surface. It was a challenge for me.

NOTE: There's been confusion - this is just one can shown above.
I've just taken several photos from different sides so you can see all the way around the can.

Next is a small cat painting that will turn into a small quilt collage.


Here is an altered book I had started a long time ago. It is an old songbook I found at the thrift store. I glued some of the interior pages together and started decorating the pages. I finally just finished the front cover. This book is where I plan to write down all my memories of fun and amazing things that my cats do, and perhaps I'll add in some quotes or poems about cats. I'll paste in cute cat pictures. The pictures aren't all of my cats, I like to collect cute cat pictures and most of mine come from a cat calendar I have.


And last is a heart quilt I've started on. While working on this my sewing machine started acting funny, so now I need to take that in for a check up.

Rustic Heart

I don't know if you remember, but a few posts ago I showed off several items I was working on. One of those items was a canvas that I had started painting on the background. Well I wasn't happy with how it was going so I completely changed gears and this evening I was in the 'zone'. This final painting just kept flowing and before I knew it I was done. That was an enjoyable evening. This is available in my etsy shop.

Fabric Collages

Here are a couple of small fabric collages I finished today. I painted the focal flowers on these yesterday. I love the bright vibrant colors. They are for sale in my etsy store. Hope you are having a great weekend. I'm having a 'brrrrr', 'chill-me-to-the-bone', several degrees below zero weekend.

Collage Submission

I made a fiber collage piece to donate for Virginia Spiegel's Collage Mania II, more information here. This was so much fun to make. I used the hand-painted cotton duck that appeared a couple of posts back. I added a cat design that I had outlined with black gutta and some raw-edge fused applique. There is both hand and machine stitching. The binding is a novelty yarn that I attached with a zigzag stitch.

Wednesday What Nots

Hi everyone! Well it looks like I'm on a Wednesday kick as far as posting goes. I've been working on a few things, as usual. Along with the photos below I've been working on articles for the next issue of Fibre&Stitch. It's going to be a great issue. The first couple of pictures show some gourd bowls that I made for my upcoming gourd class held at Joggles in April.


I made myself a set of coasters using the wrapped clothesline technique. You can learn how to make these in Issue 3 of Fibre&Stitch.


I belong to a wonderful group of artists called Twelve by Twelve and we have a deadline coming up on Feb. 1 to reveal our next quilt. Our theme for this quilt is chocolate. A very good theme, I might add. Well I finished up my quilt in the last week and here's a sneak peek.


Remember this guy? I showed him about a month ago and held a contest to name him. Well I just put him up for sale in my etsy shop. I would have had him in the shop sooner, but I wanted to scan him and my scanner bed was too small. So I bought a larger flatbed scanner and now have a new toy to play with.

What's Up Wednesday

Here's a peek at what I've been working on this week. A couple of gourd bowls, a painting, a painted piece of cotton duck, and a sketch. Actually there are a couple more items that I've been working on but those will be revealed at a later date.

Fabric Painting

I experimented with a little line design and painting on fabric the last couple of days. Hey Vicki, wasn't too lazy for this....LOL! On the first sample I applied a glue line using a small metal applicator tip. The line was quite skinny and the amount of glue I applied didn't penetrate through the fabric so that when the paint was applied the color bled outside the lines. I'm not happy with this scan, it appears grainy.


For the next sample, I applied a black water soluble based gutta resist. By the way, both samples are done on 100% cotton. After the resist dried, I heat set. This resist doesn't sink into the surface of the cotton either and just rests on top, leaving a bit of texture. I knew the paint would bleed past the lines as I've done this before. The paints I used were acrylic paints with no textile medium added. I mixed them with water. I applied the yellow first and then the reds. You can't see in the scan, but the last green I applied was a lime green Twinkling H2O, so there is a tiny bit of shimmer.

New Painting

I just finished this one up. I've named her Caitlin. She's 8" x 8" on gallery wrapped canvas. She is for sale in my etsy shop.

In other news... Next Saturday (1/12/08) I'll be teaching a class at my local Bernina store. The class I'm teaching is SueB's Mini Wrapfolio, pattern can be found here. If any of you are viewing this from North Dakota, call or stop by Sewing Machines Plus in Mandan to sign up. I'd love to see you there.

Etsy Shop Update

I just wanted to let you know that my shop is now open for business. You can find it here: my etsy shop Thanks!

Happy 2008

As I gaze into my crystal ball......NOT! I really don't think I'd like to know my future. I just don't think I'd enjoy each day fully (do I do that now?) knowing what will happen. It's a good thing that it's not possible.

Last year at this time I posted a list of my 2007 goals. Well needless to say, I didn't really reach them. So I won't be listing my 2008 goals as it would seem pointless. I guess I'm not a list following gal.

I do have some things I want to accomplish this next year. Some are new and some are continuations from previous things. I don't really make new year's resolutions, because I can't seem to stick by those either. I really admire those of you who can stick to your lists and resolutions. I guess I need a dose of will-power and dedication. Is that something you are just born with? So I guess my 2008 so-called resolution will be to get my butt into the studio and get to working/playing/discovering.

I want to wish all of you who visit me a happy, healthy, and safe new year. Thank you for taking the time to stop by and visit. I love your comments and for those of you who just stop by and look, thank you. Please don't be shy, I love all comments, even if you just want to say "hey".

The following is a painting I finished recently. I am planning on putting some of my recent work up for sale in my etsy shop. I haven't had anything listed there for a while so I think I'll start using it again. I'm hoping to start listing some work in the shop within the next few days.