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.

Welcome 2013!

A Japanese Iaido teacher named John lives in our neighborhood. Iaido is the modern Japanese martial art of smoothly drawing the sword from the scabbard. 

(Another neighbor calls it martial arts for old men with bad knees.) 

For 16 years John and his students have performed a "First Draw" ceremony in the park at dawn on New Years Day. 

This morning Jon, Berek, Rusty and I got up early to watch.

John says that Iaidoka around the world participate in this ceremony.

It was a peaceful way to start the year. (Even if swords were involved.)

Happy New Year!

Dye Retreat 2011

My son graduated from high school at the beginning of June. 

We are very proud of him.

It's been a whirlwind ever since.

I attended my annual dye retreat in East Texas in the middle of the month. You can read about the history here. It was especially hot this year but the windy heat help dry the dyed fabric very quickly.

Ken added a loading dock to the back of his shop this year. 

It made our rinsing station super convenient.

 Linda watched a lecture on deconstructed silk screening so we had to try it.

Thickened dye is allowed to dry on a clean silk screen overnight.

Thickened water is put on the dry screen with dry fabric underneath.

As the thickened water is forced through the screen, 

the dry dye begins to get wet and transfer to the fabric below.

 You can move the screen and print again, mask parts with newspaper or found objects.

Each pass changes as the dry dye gets wetter.

 This one is another print done the next day.

I used thickened orange dye instead of water.

 My favorite dying method is to scrunch fabric into a wallpaper tray 

and pour dye onto the fabric in bands.

I made shirts for Berek.

This is half of a shower curtain for his college apartment.

 

I had fun doodling with a bleach pen on a discharged shirt.

Kathi did lots of direct painting on fabric and some 

onesies with matching receiving blankets.

Jill did several beautiful velvet kaleidoscope pieces.

We didn't have a dye-of-the-year that everyone wanted to use this year 

and we didn't have to have anything shipped overnight.

We've made our notes and have plans for next year.

I can't wait.

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!

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!