Rockin' It

A PS to the earlier Post.  Here's the link to instructions for crocheted rocks from Pearl Soho.  http://www.purlbee.com/little-urchin-crochet-covered/

A Break in the Drought

No, not the one over Texas.  The tropical storm we were hoping would bring rain yesterday fizzled in the face of the extreme heat and drought.  It's rather sad to think that it will take a big storm that will cause damage & distress to some to cure the ills of others.  I won't get into the implications for other things here (politics, leadership, economy) or I'll go off on a rant.

What has happend is that I had a bit of a  personal break thru yesterday. My friend Jo sent this quote  & then offered advise to "just get to work" to counter my resent funk.

"Esoterica: One of the main problems many artists have with credentialed shows is that the effort upsets the natural flow of personal process. The better artists I know get up in the morning, put on their pants, and go to work. Figuring out where the work is to end up and who they are as artists comes afterward. This is the brilliance and uniqueness of our job. Artists who forget this become caterers and polishers of brass. " Robert Genn
I haven't been thinking much of shows lately except to look at fees and decide I can't afford them but this did get me back to the studio.  Why is it we avoid that which has the potential to give us the most pleasure?  I got busy and went to work. (I admit it was late morning but I DID get into the studio.)

1. I Finished another cut up t-shirt top, ironed a stack of clothes & moved them to the closet.

2. I straightened up cutting table and picked red, green, gold fabrics for Elliott & Celeste's quilt

3. I finished quilting the sliver piece from the last post. 

4. I stuffed a pillow for the sofa that's been hanging around for weeks. 

4. I did my 1st Alzheimer's quilt for the DAFA challenge.

5. I crocheted my first rock. These will be gifts & pattern weights.

Today I'm designing the trees for the "Rocking Oaks" sign as Karl plasma cuts it; working on Karlie's birthday book & other random piecing and will do some more rocks during tv time. Karl is moving the hose around the house as it's our day to water and we may do a rain dance. In the meantime, stay cool  & do something creative that you enjoy.

Around and around we go

 This first picture doesn't represent what's going on today but I've been trying to organize pictures in the computer (trying is key word for any tech activity around here). This was the record snow in 2010 and the picture reminded me that it won't always be 100+ for day after day after day. I'm also thinking MOISTURE which we need desperately. I am reminding myself that like the days, the seasons do pass from one to another.

What I have been working on is the 7' long circle quilt that I started last year. I put it away (for the 2nd or 3rd time) this spring when Karlie came to visit and wanted to play with "all those pretty colors". (For those of you not of a certain age that line is burned on my brain from one of Richard Scary's first books, Mr. Paint Pig). Reminder to self: find that book for Karlie as both Ashley & Elliott really loved it, especially when Dad did it in "whiner" voice from Sat. Night Live. Excuse the digression.  I'll blame it on the heat.  Back to circles.

They are all fused and ready to quilt.  This will go in the new house, most likely in our bedroom. I'm thinking with a metal building and tall open ceilings we'll need fabric elements to soften the space and and noise. That's my thinking and my hope is that we get the "new" house in the not toooooo distant future. 
Back to the present...... The circles are 4 layers of silks I collected over years.  The background is my "new fav" fabric, Pakistani cotton drop cloth from Lowe's.  I'm not sure yet how it will get quilted but I'm excited it's to this point.

Not to be ever be accused of wastefulness or cause my dear father & mom to haunt me, I have 6 sheets of this new "fabric" from the silk scraps.  I will also report that I gave away 2 big bags of scraps this week least I be accused of hording. The pieces are small but if anyone would like I'll share more.  Each of these new pieces is the size of my Teflon pressing sheet. One is getting quilted with a sheer background fabric over the batting and most likely will be a birthday pillow. I'm leaning toward using the others together with sashing to become another quilt. It could be a companion to the big one or go live it's own life. Finally, the little bits below came from the final trimming of the circles as I wanted them to touch rather evenly after being somewhat wonky in the insides. These bits are fused to the same cotton dc.  There is one more potential bd gift in a set of 9 circles on silk background. Those got  got set aside based on their colors.  I'm thinking these projects will keep me busy and out of the heat for a while. Hope you can do likewise.

Celebration

I haven't been in the studio lately but have been busy with a different kind of creating. We spent the  post 4th of July week getting ready for a special weekend. Despite recent hail & continuing heat & drought we were outside Sat. evening to  celebrate Elliott & Celeste's marriage. It was truly a celebration of their love with their friend Brady offering beautiful words of wisdom, strength, love, and joy.We have considered them a family for 2 years but now they are officially Mr. & Mrs. Elliott Akers. I pray they have many years together of love & happiness.  

It gives me a  wonderful feeling to have both our children & friends choose our home as a place to celebrate their marriages. This was the 4th and final wedding here for us; Ashley & Frank; friends Susan & Matt Rouser &amp Shari Turner. I wish the new owners of this house much luck in making future happy memories and hope our new home will also be a place for celebrations as well. 

It is pretty amazing that you can bring a party together in a short time. Everyone was busy, busy, busy but I think we all had fun too.  Elliott & his dad were out and about all day Friday.  Celeste, Karlie Ashley, & I ran after flowers and supplies Friday morning and then Friday afternoon  Celeste watched Karlie & Patton taking a break from the heat.

Ashley, Shari & I were codesigners in flower arranging. This is always one of my favorite parts of events like this. Frank joined Ashley Sat. morning as assistant chef doing kitchen magic. Overall I was remiss in getting pictures but attendees will attest to the scrumptiousness of the  charobeans, guacamole, salsa, and Mexican Wedding cookies.  I hope some will come forward to share their pictures of the event as I want to make an album for the newlyweds.

Karlie really enjoyed herself and reminded me of her father as a child. Here she is with  Mommy welcoming the guest who traveled the farthest, Gwendolyn who came from California with her mommy Sarah. She also enjoyed showing off her dancing skills; playing with children & puppies and doing "Marilyn" in front of the fan.

Finally, the cakes were lovely & yummy.  Like the margaritas, they had to stay inside out of the heat until served but that didn't seem to lessen their enjoyment.