"It's In The Bag" 2014

On May 8, 2014 the Greater Denton Arts Council will host 

a fundraiser called "It's In The Bag". 

Here are two of the purses I'm entering.

The auction begins at 5 pm on Thursday, May 8, 2014 

at the Center for the Visual Arts in Denton.
You may purchase tickets for the event here.

It's a lot of fun, the food is great and the bellinis are wonderful.

Dye Workshop

You might think that someone who has been dyeing fabric since 1986 would not need to take a dye class. Probably not, but I did. Frieda Anderson taught a workshop in Denton on Saturday. We learned the recipes for four different 12-step graduations and more.

 In the morning we did lemon, fuchsia and turquoise.

 Then we added more water to get a pastel version.

In the afternoon we did yellow, scarlet and cerulean blue.

We added black to the remaining dye and did another 12-step graduation.

I had some bedding factory remnants of an unknown white sateen that I used to wipe out the wash tub we were using. I'm pleased with the hand of the mystery fabric and happy to know that it will take dye. Thanks Marie for sharing your remnants!

I poured some of the leftover pastel dye on two pleat-folded T-shirts, and stuck them in a gallon baggie.

In the afternoon Frieda demonstrated squirting dye on a flat shirt and showed us how to roll in into plastic for the ride home.

...and how to make three layers of ombre fabric on a flat surface.

This shirt was dyed on the ground with dye squirted from a bottle.

Frieda's method is much more controlled that the method I use at our dye retreat. 

Here's a peak at retreat 2013.

I'm happy to have samples of Frieda's recipes.

I'll make swatches and add them to our dye books.

Thanks Frieda.

He's in the NAVY now...

Our son Berek has joined the Navy.

He signed up to be a submarine electronics and communications specialist.

Our neighbors had a going away party for him.

Berek asked his friends to shave his head.

Some of them had more practice with the clippers than others.

 They did a great job!

Jon served two tours on a Navy destroyer during Vietnam.

He found his old sailor hats and they posed for this photo.

We think this will be a great career path for Berek.

Jon and I drove to Dallas to watch the swearing in ceremony.

He's off to Great Lakes, IL for eight weeks of boot camp.

Then 28-37 weeks of school.

 We are so proud of you Berek!

Dallas Quilt Celebration 2014

Wow! It's been an exciting weekend. 

The Quilter's Guild of Dallas' quilt show has ended. 

I was honored to be asked to show a special exhibit of my quilts.

I took everything off my walls and borrowed from my friends 

to collect enough quilts to hang this exhibit.

My parents drove in from Baton Rouge, LA for the weekend. 

My son Berek will be joining the Navy as a Submarine Communication 

and Electronics Specialist on Tuesday, so they come to wish him well too.

Berek posed with his quilt.

All I Want for Christmas...

And so did Jon.

Jon's Big Adventure

When I agreed to the exhibit I didn't realize I would be asked to lecture as well. 

Speaking in front of a crowd is way out of my comfort zone.

My friend suggested I talk about all the challenges 

I have done over the last 25 years.

I had four quilts entered in the Judged show.

The Omelet Sisters, 36 x 21”

Inkjet printed by fotosonfabric.com on hand-dyed sateen.

The leaves were painted with Seta color.

We had four chickens for about six months last year. 

Jimmy’s General Store - 19.25 x 29.75”

Whole cloth, inkjet printed by fotosonfabric.com to illustrate

 the poem "The Doorway of Another Decade" by Beth Honeycutt.

It won an honorable mention in the small quilt category.

Kamon Odyssey - 81 x 94”

I worked on the blocks from 1999 to 2009.

 The blocks are from the book Circles of the East by Kumiko Sudo.

 It was beautifully quilted by Carla Hamm this year.

The Year of the Horse - 42 x 42"

This quilt was made for the Twisted Stitcher's Red Challenge.

The red chopsticks blocks were from an exchange. 

The gold organza horse was appliquéd and embroidered.

It won an honorable mention in the wall quilt category.

My "It's a Bug's Life" challenge block won a blue ribbon. yeah!

I worked with four friends on this group quilt.

4@40 commemorates the 40th anniversary of the dye retreat we go to each year.

I pieced this quilt for our guild president, Judy Kriehn,

and Carol Morrissey quilted it.

I'm so glad to be a part of this wonderful show. 

It's such an honor to be surrounded by such talented friends.