Murphy

My friend asked me to make a quilt of her cat Murphy.

 I printed the photo on fabric with inkjet, cut him out and fused him to hand-dyed silk. I thread-painted the fur with rayon thread. The background is quilted with cotton.

"Murphy" 10x18"

progress

I had fun making these wool and felt ornaments for my arty friends this year.

This cat entry for the "Quilting Arts" calendar is ready.

 

My Rusty 12x12" is in progress...

as is this commission of Murphy.

Rusty has been busy watching squirrels.

Thank you...

I didn't know my husband until much later.

We have a little corner in our house with photos and medals. 

I'm thankful for the men and women who served in the past ...

... and for those that serve today.

God bless you. 

Happy Halloween!

Hope you had a spooktacular day!

Four Days in New York

Four friends spent four days in New York City to celebrate four birthdays

 within four weeks of each other. 

We had a wonderful dinner in Brooklyn at the home of one friend's son.

We visited the gallery in DUMBO where her other son had a photograph on display,

and road home to New York in an open-air Land-Rover. Beautiful!

We visited Ground Zero,  

 and took a boat to explore Liberty and Ellis Islands.

After a yummy New York-style pizza at John's, 

we surprised one birthday girl with tickets to "Wicked."

I loved it.

We visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 

and climbed on the fabulous installation, Big Bambu.

Big Bambu was on the roof of the MET, overlooking Central Park from March through October.

So cool!

We spent a few hours at the Museum of Modern Art wishing we had more time.

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to buy bagels and cupcakes.

We explored Chinatown and enjoyed a yummy lunch.

I had such a WONDERFUL time. 

I'm so grateful that my family and friends made it possible.

A month ago...

my son brought me flowers for my birthday...

my dear husband hosted my birthday party...

 our talented friend, Dave Thomas, sang and entertained our guests...

 my son danced with me...

 we shared some wonderful food and cake...

and I danced with my dear husband...

It was a fabulous day. Thank you!

"Heart Bubbles"

"Heart Bubbles" 10x16"

I found this piece of marbled silk in Cosette's booth at Houston International Quilt Festival last year. I thought it would be fun to quilt for a donation mini quilt.

I added some beads.

I enjoyed working with the silk.

"Buddy"

Buddy, 12x12" 

My neighbor commissioned me to make a quilt of her dad's cat Buddy. 

She had this great photo for me to use.

I printed Buddy's face on cotton sateen with my friend Linda's big inkjet printer. I fused the fabric onto freezer paper and we fed it into the printer from the back. After several wadded up attempts, we put scotch tape on the leading edge to get it to feed correctly.

I cut out the face and fused it to a fabric background. The machine quilting caused the edges to wave, so he is fused to two layers of canvas to keep him flat.

beaded silk

While tidying up my studio, I found some pieces of silk I had dyed in a class with Ginny Eckley a long time ago. I was looking for some handwork and noticed several flower-shaped tied spots on this one.

"Buzz off!," Said the Flower to the Bee. 13x12"

Deborah Boschert discovered that if you embroidery with felt as your middle layer instead of batting that you don't have as much bearding. 

The embroidery on her "Framing Flourish" quilt is what got me started looking for something to embellish.

I thought it needed a bee.

I liked the random edges of felt poking out from under the silk so I finished the edges with a blanket stitch. I think it's kind of unexpected to have the humble acrylic felt beneath the luxurious silk.

Deja Brew

Years ago I made this teacup as a fusing sample in a class with Robbi Joy Eklow. It's been hanging out on my bulletin board until this spring when I combined it with some marbled and hand-dyed fabric and recycled buttons.

Deja Brew, 14x14"

Think Art, Just Start!

I finished a quilt that I've been working on for a couple of years. I tend to worry over a design for a long time before I can begin. Here's one I finished.

Time to begin again!

Exploring Montréal

Summer is the busiest time of year for my clients so I haven't had much time for personal art. While our son was off to National Boy Scout Jamboree in Virginia, hubby and I spent a week in Montréal.

We stayed at the Hilton in downtown near the Metro and train station.

It's a beautiful downtown with lots of green space, flowers and old mixed with modern. There are tons of huge old churches in the downtown area.

A tour guide explained that real estate developers are requires to spend 1% of their budget on public art. There are beautiful sculptures near all the modern buildings.

We stumbled into the "Just For Laughs" street fair one night.

There was a giant crane that lifted the dancers 15 stories into the air.

The next group of dancers heading for the stage. Montréal is a 

French-speaking city so all the songs were in French. 

The weather was cooler than Texas, so outdoor dining was quite pleasant.

We roamed the city with a Metro/museum pass. 

This artist courtyard was near the harbor. There is an extensive underground with shopping and restaurants that connect a lot of the downtown buildings to the Metro. 

Outdoor dining on McGill College Street.

Atwater Market.

I wish we had found the Atwater Market on the first day instead of the last day. In addition the the beautiful produce, there were shops with cheese, sausage, wine, etc.

I recommend Montréal as a great adult getaway.