Seven Sisters Quilt Show

Haven't done anything new this week due to getting our house ready for a re-plumbing of water pipes from below the slab to the attic.  We have another leak under the slab and so are going to bite the bullet and get it fixed for once and for all.  Getting your floor jackhammered every 8 or 9 months is not as much fun as one would think.

Speaking of fun though, I helped to set up the Challenge quilts for the Seven Sisters Show on Friday and was there most of today, checking out the show, vendors and then helping to take it down.  Many hands makes light work.

Here are some of my favorite quilts from the fabulous Seven Sisters Quilt Show held this weekend at the Madonna Inn Expo Center in San Luis Obispo.  Hope you enjoy them too.

"Radiant Suns" by Ann Picker

"Ulm Cathedral" by Isolde Lata

"Will It Go Round in Circles?" by Ginnie Murach

"There is Light in the Darkest Forest" by Ann Waskey

Of course, there were many other wonderful quilts of all types and styles.  These were just a few that really caught my eye.

Finished Helianthus, alias, Sunflower Quilt

Finished the sunflower quilt Thursday at about 3:00, photographed it, put together a CD with photos of that and two other quilts I'm interested in entering into the Dimensions show and hurried off to the post office to get the entry materials postmarked by the June 20th date.  Wasn't sure if by June 20th included June 20th or not, so wanted to get a June 19th postmark on it, just in case.

I often find it difficult coming up with titles for my art.  I decided upon "Helianthus," which is the Latin name for sunflower.  Sunflower just sounded too cutsey, which was not what I was going for in this quilt, or for that matter in any of my art. I always cringe when someone feels they are giving me a compliment about my work, using that word.  It makes me reexamine my work.  I'm sure they don't mean it as an insult, but rather don't know what to say.

Detail of focal point.  Ended up doing more hand stitching than originally planned, but like how it looks and always enjoy that process.  The seed stitch behind the sunflower made the flower pop out more and the background recede.

More details

Sunflower Quilt

School's all done for the students and just two staff development days left for teachers.  Today I'm working on finishing my  Sunflower quilt, so I can photograph it and get it entered into the San Luis Obispo Museum's Dimensions Show.  Been working on the hand quilting and am almost done.

Here's a closeup of the block, which is the focal point. I've actually done a little more hand stitching than what this picture shows.  I really enjoy that mix of handwork with the machine quilting.  The green line you see on the outside edges of the petals is the water soluble marking pen.  I am stitching in a yellow orange and a deeper orange.

Happy Fathers' Day to all the dads and the lucky women and children who have the good ones.  My husband is a great father.  He had terrible role models but figured out what a good dad does.  My own father was awesome, even before that word became popular. He provided for all of us  in many ways and I miss him a lot.

Summer Vacation around the Corner and Garden Update

Big weekend for grading projects, entering grades for 180 students into the computer, making awards, blah, blah, blah.  I love the actual teaching of students, no matter what age.  I don't like the whole grading part, but understand the necessity of grades in our educational system.  There are middle school students who will not do something for the pure love of learning, even in art,  unfortunately lots of them!  They'd rather be texting.

So I took a break from grading and went out to check out the garden.  Here's what's happening out there.

Tomatoes are doing well!

One large sunflower almost in bloom.

One of about six pomegranates on one of two trees given to me by my friend Gail. 

Don't you just love those colors! 

Using the Design Wall to Start a New Art Quilt

Having  delivered one of my quilts that was purchased from the May show at Studios on the Park in Paso Robles, I came home and started to plan a new art quilt.  This doesn't mean I'm done with others that I've started, but I like to have projects in different stages.  Sometimes I feel like cutting, other times I feel like piecing or quilting, so it's nice to have options.

The first stage for me is auditioning fabrics so that's what I started to do this weekend (in between lots of work for school.)  Here are pictures of some fabrics that I'm thinking will play well with each other.

All except two are ones I've dyed.  From left to right are:  Ice-dyed, Arahsi Shibori, Itajime, three low-immersion dyed pieces (two of them more than once) with more shibori pieces above and below them.  The two commercial fabrics are the one highest up in the center and the one furthest to the right, going off the edge of the photo.